Autumn Calabrese's FIXATE Cookbook - 21 Day Fix Recipes

• 101 Personal recipes to use with the 21 Day Fix Portion-Control Program
• FIXATE Includes:
• Easy-to-follow recipes designed to work with 21 Day Fix, 21 Day Fix EXTREME and Portion Fix
• Each recipe is marked with their color-coded container equivelents
• Includes Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free and Paleo recipes

Have you tried this cookbook? If so, what did you think about it? I don't use the Beachbody workouts anymore because they are too tough on my hips and knees, but I still own and sometimes use the 21 Day Fix containers. 

I have been eating too much junk food and drinking soda since the pandemic, so I need to get back into exercising and eating healthier. 

Book Review: The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook by Megan Flynn Peterson

Did you go Paleo? Are you thinking about going Paleo? Are you just looking for some great recipes that are healthier alternatives to dishes you already enjoy? Then The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook by Megan Flynn Peterson needs to be added to your often used cookbook collection.

In this book, you'll find over 150 Paleo recipes to help with meal planning. After the author's introduction, you'll find instructions on how to change over to a Paleo diet if you go cold turkey, including: a list of pantry items and a yes and no food list. Each of the Big 15 is then given its own chapter filled with recipes and numerous variations of them. Interspersed throughout the chapters are pantry basics (sauces, marinades, and dry rubs) that have been made to match the Paleo diet--like the homemade mayo that my husband is sure to like because it doesn't include the dairy product that gives it the texture he's not fond of.


I'm not ready to go full in Paleo, but I asked to review this book so I could learn more about it and see how I could add healthier options into our diets. I like how Peterson acknowledges going Paleo is tough on the budget and that we should strive to do our best with it. Her philosophy is that taking as many of these steps as you can will get you moving in the right direction; though she does encourage you to go full in from the start. Surprisingly, I found many of the recipes were ones my family would enjoy because I make some of these foods already. With just a few tweaks, they are Paleo. Changing our diets doesn't sound half as intimidating as it did before. I can't wait to try out some of these recipes.

Highly recommended!


Paperback: 238 pages
Publisher: Rockridge Press (August 16, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623157692
ISBN-13: 978-1623157692

I received a free digital copy of this book from Callisto Publisher's Club. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Spotlight: 10 Things You Need to Eat by Dave Lieberman and Anahad O'Connor

New York Times health columnist Anahad O’Connor teams up Food Network chef Dave Lieberman for The 10 Things You Need to Eat—a hip, straightforward, and appealing guide for understanding and incorporating the 10 most healthy foods into your diet, with more than 100 easy and delicious ways to prepare them. A fun and unintimidating approach to Super Foods—filled with mouth-watering, user-friendly recipes—The 10 Things You Need to Eat is ideal for foodies and non-foodies alike who want to be healthier, look better, and live longer without having to sacrifice when it comes to taste.

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; Original edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061780278
ISBN-13: 978-0061780271

Order here!

The digital version is on sale at online retailers for only $1.99!

Healthy Recipe Ideas

Part of the challenge of eating better is meal preparation. Honestly, that's probably the hardest part for me. I want to eat right, but I have limited time during the week. On the weekends, when many people I know are preparing their meals, I am working.

Thanks to Pinterest and the Facebook group I belong to, I've discovered some healthy recipes to try. Below are links to some that I plan to make.

Blender Banana Oatmeal Muffins - no refined sugars or added fat.

Oatmeal Energy Bites (no bake)

Burrito Bowls

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

One Pan Balsamic Chicken and Veggies

Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls

Do you have any recipes to share? Feel free to add links in the comments section.

New Year's Resolution Solution Update

Saturday made all the difference for me. The workout, while intense, came easier. Breakfast was Blueberry Mornings cereal with raisins added and my usual decaf. Organic nuts and berries for a snack and then cheated with a slice of pizza for lunch. (Bad girl. Bad girl.) Yogurt for my afternoon snack and then butternut squash, chicken, and rice for supper.

Sunday is where it all falls apart. Someone said I really should give my muscles a rest. So I did. Silly me. Had to rush to church in the morning, so I didn't plan to exercise until later. Never did. Still stuck to my healthy foods, though: oatmeal with banana slices and a hard boiled egg for breakfast, one small brownie for a snack at church, salad for lunch, nuts and a pear for snack and then squash and fish with rice for supper.

Monday came, no workout again. Early morning appointments make life tough. Still no fast food and only a treat or two. Hopefully tonight I can exercise a bit.

New Year's Resolution Solution - Post Day 5

I didn't even have the strength to take a picture of my workout today. LOL! Day 5 was a tough one simply because my work schedule was crazier than it has been all week.

Breakfast was quick because I had an early appointment--Greek yogurt and some walnuts with a cup a decaf tea. Snack was walnuts and raisins because they were easy to take on the road with me. Grabbed a salad and water on the road this afternoon and didn't have an afternoon snack because I had another appointment. 

The Lil' Princess made supper for me tonight--tilapia and rice. Chomped some carrots before sitting down and drank more water, so it was a nicely balanced meal. 

Workout was horrible. Focused on abs again, which are still aching from Monday; though not as bad as they were. I couldn't do three sets of all the exercises, but I am working out more than ever before so I am happy with my progress. 

Thank God it's the weekend!

New Year's Resolution Solution - Post Day 4

Yes, that's me. I've totally collapsed and decided to take a snooze on my exercise mat. Well, not really. It made for a great photo, though.

It has been such a hard, hard week: getting the kids off to school on time then rushing home to make breakfast; working out--which I haven't done in years in case I didn't mention that before; hopping in the shower real quick and then getting myself off to the office or appointments.

I am so sore! Everything hurts. First day I worked abs. Second day it was arms. Third day was buttocks. Today was the "Wake up! and make it happen" routine with reps of burpees (had no idea this was an exercise), push ups, mountain climbers, and planks.

My chicken arms aren't meant for push ups and planks. What are these people thinking?

Today's breakfast was oatmeal with bananas and walnuts with a cup of decaf tea. Lunch ended up being a salad from Subway, then supper was a small portion of homemade Shepherd's Pie and a side salad. Had water to drink both times and drank water throughout the day. With a couple of healthy snacks in between meals I was full. I did cheat and have one waffle since I made them for the hubby's dinner. Other than that I was good.

No idea what the exercise routine will be tomorrow, but every time I need to go up or down the stairs it is horrible. Hopefully by next week my legs won't hate me so much.

New Year's Resolution Solution - Post Days 2 & 3

There are days I think I must be crazy to do this. After the first day, my middle hurt. On Day 2, we worked our arms, so they are sore. Then today, we worked out buttocks. Half an hour later my legs still felt like spaghetti. By tomorrow, I won't be able to out of bed.

For the most part, I am sticking to the healthy eating portion of the program too. Breakfast is either oatmeal with fruit or Greek yogurt and a hard-boiled egg. Lunch is usually a salad of some kind. Dinner--I grew up calling it supper--on Day 2 was brown rice, teriyaki chicken, and broccoli. I ate lunch late today, so tonight I opted for some seafood salad (no dressing) in a whole wheat pita with some greens.

Confession time: I cheated at lunch today and had a Pepsi. Gosh, I miss it. I'm thinking, though, if I went from having two 12 oz. cans a day to one every three days, I'm still doing better than I was before. The head aches a bit, but not overwhelming.

The one challenge I am having is getting enough sleep. I really need to get to bed at least an hour earlier.

Not sure what is on tap for exercise on Thursday, but I don't think I have many body parts left that aren't in pain.

The Friday 56 - Week 176

Welcome to Week 176!

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to the Linky at Freda's Voice. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Recent health issues have made me consider my eating habits. While I know I am headed for some changes, I'm not sure I'll have the willpower to accomplish everything. We'll have to see. I pre-ordered I Quit Sugar  in January, after visiting Sarah Wilson's blog. Here is the official Amazon description of the book:

A week-by-week guide to quitting sugar to lose weight; boost energy; and improve your looks, mood, and overall health, with 108 sugarfree recipes.

Sarah Wilson thought of herself as a relatively healthy eater. She didn't realize how much sugar was hidden in her diet, or how much it was affecting her well-being. When she learned that her sugar consumption could be the source of a lifetime of mood swings, fluctuating weight, sleep problems, and thyroid disease, she knew she had to make a change.

What started as an experiment to eliminate sugar--both the obvious and the hidden kinds--soon became a way of life, and now Sarah shows you how you can quit sugar too:

* follow a flexible and very doable 8-week plan
* overcome cravings
* make food you're excited to eat with these 108 recipes for detox meals, savory snacks, and sweet treats from Sarah Wilson and contributors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Curtis Stone, Dr. Robert Lustig (The Fat Chance Cookbook), Sarma Melngailis (Raw Food/ Real World), Joe "the Juicer" Cross, and Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows)

I Quit Sugar makes it easy to kick the habit for good, lose weight, and feel better than ever before. When you are nourished with delicious meals and treats, you won't miss the sugar for an instant.

"When I quit sugar I found wellness and the kind of energy and sparkle I had as a kid. I don't believe in diets or in making eating miserable. This plan and the recipes are designed for lasting wellness." -- Sarah Wilson


Page 56 is a picture, so here is a teaser from page 57:

1. I hate waste...

So I've devised recipes that use the same core ingredients over and over, in different ways. Some might not be familiar to you, or might be a little hard to find in your neighborhood. You might like to buy one or two at a time and see what grabs your fancy. I don't deal in "exacts," so many ingredients in my recipes can actually be replaced if you've run out or don't want to buy a whole box of new stuff.

Mailbox Monday - April 14

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

I honestly didn't expect last week to be such a busy book week, but a book I had pre-ordered from Amazon arrived, plus three books I'll be reviewing for book tours.

I've read all the previous books in Charlotte Hubbard's Seasons of the Heart series, so when I learned the latest was available for review, I signed up for the tour right away.

As a bright season brings a fresh start to Willow Ridge, Annie Mae Knepp feels she can never make peace with the past. Her disgraced ex-bishop father is furious she has taken her five siblings to live with her. She's never been truly at home in her faith. . .or believing in herself. And Annie Mae fears no man will want to take on the responsibilities she's gladly shouldered. True, her quiet neighbor Adam Wagler has been steadfast and unshakeable helping her through her trials, but he surely couldn't think of someone so lost as more than a friend. Believing she is unworthy because of her doubts, Annie Mae will find in a moment of surprising revelation that God can work impossible miracles--and that love makes all things new.

Historian and Washington descendant, Austin Washington, is touring with his book, The Education of George Washington: How A Forgotten Book Shaped The Character of A Hero.

George Washington—a man of honor, bravery and leadership. He is known as America’s first President, a great general, and a humble gentleman, but how did he become this man of stature?

The Education of George Washington answers this question with a new discovery about his past and the surprising book that shaped him. Who better to unearth them than George Washington’s great-nephew, Austin Washington?

Most Washington fans have heard of “The Rules of Civility” and learned that this guided our first President. But that’s not the book that truly made George Washington who he was. In The Education of George Washington, Austin Washington reveals the secret that he discovered about Washington’s past that explains his true model for conduct, honor, and leadership—an example that we could all use.

The Education of George Washington also includes a complete facsimile of the forgotten book that changed George Washington's life.

This is a book by RL Keller that I am promoting through Pump Up Your Book.

Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi has been quoted as saying “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” This is a sad indictment of the Christian community as a whole. Is it true? Are believers in Christ the reason people keep their distance from Judeo-Christian beliefs and the God we embrace? I feel there’s no question that we’re partially to blame. In this book I touch on a wide variety of topics, but in the end call out Christians to immerse themselves in a time of reassessment as we all strive to be more genuine and consistent in our faith.

I discovered Sarah Wilson's blog while browsing another site. When I saw she had a book coming out in the United States that shares how she decided three years ago to quit sugar and offers a program for how you can too, I immediately pre-ordered it. My hubby has a history of diabetes in his family, and years ago he had been borderline diabetic--which was the main motivation for him to change his diet and begin a five-day-a-week exercise program. I'm at the point where I'm ready to consider a larger push toward healthy eating for all of us.

A week-by-week guide to quitting sugar to lose weight; boost energy; and improve your looks, mood, and overall health, with 108 sugarfree recipes.

Sarah Wilson thought of herself as a relatively healthy eater. She didn't realize how much sugar was hidden in her diet, or how much it was affecting her well-being. When she learned that her sugar consumption could be the source of a lifetime of mood swings, fluctuating weight, sleep problems, and thyroid disease, she knew she had to make a change.

What started as an experiment to eliminate sugar--both the obvious and the hidden kinds--soon became a way of life, and now Sarah shows you how you can quit sugar too:

* follow a flexible and very doable 8-week plan
* overcome cravings
* make food you're excited to eat with these 108 recipes for detox meals, savory snacks, and sweet treats from Sarah Wilson and contributors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Curtis Stone, Dr. Robert Lustig (The Fat Chance Cookbook), Sarma Melngailis (Raw Food/ Real World), Joe "the Juicer" Cross, and Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows)

I Quit Sugar makes it easy to kick the habit for good, lose weight, and feel better than ever before. When you are nourished with delicious meals and treats, you won't miss the sugar for an instant.

"When I quit sugar I found wellness and the kind of energy and sparkle I had as a kid. I don't believe in diets or in making eating miserable. This plan and the recipes are designed for lasting wellness." -- Sarah Wilson

What books made their way into your mailbox last week?