Buffalo Chicken Thighs

This can be served with a salad or other vegetable of your choice. It is a crazy easy recipe with a few ingredients but is tasty with a bit of a kick! 

  

Buffalo Chicken Thighs

Yields: 4–6 thighs

Prep Time: 2 minutes 

Bake Time: 40–45 minutes

4–6 chicken thighs, with bone and skin

1/4 cup peanut oil or clarified butter

1/3 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Depeneding on how many thighs your using it will determine yur pan size. For an 8×8 baking dish you can fit in 4 chicken thighs nicely. 7×11 will hold 6 easily. 

Pat chicken dry and very lightly salt the chicken under the skin. Set aside. 

In a small bowl whisk together the oil(or butter), hot sauce, garlic and onion powders. Spoon a little of the sauce into your baking dish. Place your chicken in the pan and spoon more sauce over it just to coat. The remaining suace will be used later. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered, turn chicken over and pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until completely done down to the bone. The sauce in the pan can be used to garnish with if desired. 

  

And that’s it! You can eat it however you choose, the meat is nice and tender, and it’s not overly spicy. I had mine over a nice cool salad with cucumbers, sweet peppers, and dressing. I did drizzle some of the sauce from the pan over the chicken I cut up, it added a wonderful flavor to my salad! 

I made mention that recipe can yield six thighs because the amount of sauce that is used will be enough for up to six thighs. Since I was the only one eating this dish I just made four thighs and had plenty of sauce to use as a garnish with leftover thighs for a couple of meals! 

Nutritional Info for 1 thigh(based on yield of 4 thighs): 

Calories: 369

Fat: 33.5g

Carbohydrates: 0g

Net Carbs: 0g

Hope you all enjoy and have a very blessed day!! 

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs(LC/GF)

Afternoon all, hope everyone is having a fantabulous day so far! It’s been a great day here in my neck of the woods. Woke up and I’m down a total of 5 pounds, yes very awesome! I posted on Instagram about how it’s weird but I’m actually thankful that I discovered I have this candida overgrowth. Because of it I am being more mindful of what I put in me and realizing the harm of certain foods. I actually feel so much better! This is week three and while I am still suffering from some lower back pain, some soreness in the backs of my thighs, for the most part I do feel better. More energetic, less fatigued, and my mind is clearer. All pluses that what I am doing is making a difference and that I can never stop.

So, Saturday afternoon I had a fun Jamberry home party with a sweet friend. She and her girls invited their friends and moms over for a few hours. We all had a blast! One of my contributions to the party was to bring safe food that I could eat(and yes she provided tasty treats as well). Of the food I brought, I made chicken parmesan meatballs. Found the recipe over at The Iron You blog, very easy recipe!
I wish these were dairy free so I could have them all the time, but it will just have to be one of those things that I only make on occasion. I doubled the recipe so there would be enough for everyone and instead of having 22 balls I had 60…I think I made them smaller than the recipe says to. My go to meatball maker is a melon baller. It just makes the perfect poppable size for meatballs.

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Yields 60 meatballs

2 pounds chicken, ground
2 cup almond meal/flour + extra in a bowl for coating
1 cup parmesan cheese(I used the powdery stuff in the green container)
1 cup lactose free milk(I could have used unsweetened almond milk but I didn’t)
1 tsp kosher salt(I didn’t alter this since I was adding more parmesan cheese)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder

(There are two different methods to cook these and I wound up using both. I first baked them in a 350*F oven for 25 minutes but they didn’t brown up. So I then put some oil a large skillet and quickly fried them up just enough to brown the outside. You don’t have to bake these first, you can skip that step completely. Just fry them up on the stove top and save yourself any troubles. As for the oil, I would suggest a cold pressed organic coconut oil(the one without the coconut flavor). It’s every bit as healthy and better for you than canola, corn, or peanut. )

Grind up chicken in the food processor, I used chicken tenders you can certainly buy chicken already ground up. Place the ground meat into a large bowl. Add in 2 cups almond meal/flour and remaining ingredients. Using a silicon spatula fold the ingredients together. You don’t want to over mix, that would make the meatballs tough. The recipe states that you roll about 1 tablespoon of the chicken mixture up. I just used a melon baller and made them smaller. Works just as good! Roll each ball in a bowl of extra almond meal/flour and fry up until golden brown, draining on paper towels if needed. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce, homemade ranch dressing, or just eat plain!

These were a hit, everyone enjoyed them and were shocked at how moist they were! When you think of chicken meatballs the thought crosses your mind that they’re going to be dry, tough, something that is going to suck the moisture right out of your mouth. But that’s not so with this recipe!

As soon as I get some more almond meal/flour from Kroger I’ll be making up several batches and freezing them to keep on hand. If you’re just wanting something to use to change up your low carb meals in the mornings or for snacks, then these are the best things to go with. However, if you are suffering from candida overgrowth then it’s best to either steer clear or not indulge too often. You know your body better than anyone else, listen to it and know your limits.

Nutritional Information for 1 meatball minus marinara sauce
(courtesy or My Fitness Pal)–

Calories: 45
Fat: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 1 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 0g
Net Carbs: 1g

Have blessed day!!

Rosemary Chicken and Veggies

Yesterday I tried to get this post up and my computer crashed on me and I lost the entire post. In this post there are two recipes, one for the chicken and another for the veggies. So here goes…

Rosemary Chicken and Kale

Serves 2 (can be doubles or tripled)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 1 hour

4 chicken thighs, with skin and bone**
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary or you may use fresh
1/2 dried basil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Kale, chopped
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced and divided
Turmeric

Heat oven to 375*F. I purposely didn’t measure the chopped kale when I placed it in my 8×8 baking dish. I just filled it up to the top, don’t worry it cooks down 🙂

Top the kale with half of the sliced onion. Sprinkle with turmeric if desired or other seasoning. I didn’t use any salt or pepper on the kale and onions. But if you choose to then it would be best to not salt or pepper the underside of your chicken. Set this aside.

   

In a small prep bowl combine rosemary, basil, red pepper flakes, onion and garlic powder. You could also add thyme, sweet summer savory, and oregano. Set it aside and prep chicken with salt and pepper. Be sure to get under the skin as well. Place the chicken thighs on top of the onions and kale, sprinkle with rosemary blend and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until chicken is done all the way down to the bone. You can use boneless thighs, just lower your baking time accordingly(20-30 minutes works good for me). Let it rest for a few minutes before serving!

Italian Seasoned Vegetables

Serves: 6
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Bake Time: 25–30 minutes

1 16 oz bag frozen green beans
1 16 oz bag frozen cauliflower
Remaining onion slices from chicken recipe above
1/2 pack Good Seasons Italian Seasoning
Pinch of salt
Olive Oil

Prep a 9×13 baking dish with a drizzle or spray of olive oil. Bake in the oven along with chicken.

Dump the green beans and cauliflower into the pan. Add onion slices and toss together. Add a pinch of salt and sprinkle Italian seasoning over the veggies. Bake for 25-30 minutes until fork tender.

Nutritional Info for 1 serving of Chicken(2 thighs) and kale:

Calories: 269
Fat: 20g
Carbohydrates: 4g
Fiber: 1g
Net Carbs: 3g

Nutritional Info for 1 serving of veggies:

Calories: 42
Fat: 4g
Carbohydrates: 2g
Fiber: 1g
Net Carbs: 1g

Enjoy!!

What is Candida?

Today I thought that I should share the laundry list of symptoms that comes with candida, but first, what is candida? How do you even say candida?! Thanks to Bing search engine, I’ve been schooled in the ‘proper’ pronunciation…but I’m not diggin’ it! Sounds too much like Canada(not dissing Canada). There should be a distinction between the two words though. Right?! When I played the pronunciation clip, G–Man asked me if the voice was saying Canada. See? So while the proper way to say it is can-di-duh, I prefer can-dee-duh. Y’all can say it however you like I’m not gonna correct you!

Candid– is a yeastlike, parasitic fungus that can sometimes cause thrush. 

We all have this in our bodies, the issue arises when it gets out of control and starts taking over or throwing the balance off with your good bacteria in your body. This is when you may start to notice certain symptoms. And should you let it go undetected for too long you just might want to cry…like I did. I’ve written the word “check” out beside each symptom to indicate which ones I have or had suffered from. It’s nice to know that it’s not all in my head!

This list is provided by the CandidaMD website:

Mental/emotional/nervous system:

• Headaches and migraine headaches (check, woke up with one this morning)
  
• Depression (check)
• Sleep problems — difficulty falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night with a mind that won’t calm down (typically between 1 and 3 am) (check yep, nightly)
  
• Irritability and confusion (check)
  
• Poor memory (check)
  
• Anxiety attacks, panic attacks (check)
  
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (check)
  
• Heart beating too fast or irregularly (check)
  
• Sexual problems — impotence or lack of desire, or excessive sexuality (uh, skip)
  
• Attention deficit, hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD) (check, ADD)
  
• Dizziness
  
• Numbness (check)
  
• Feeling of floating or not quite being in your body (check)
  
• Indecisiveness, difficulty organizing and cleaning messy areas (check, check, and check!)
  

Digestive system:

• Cravings for sugar, chocolate, milk, cheese, vinegar, pickles, alcohol, bread, nuts or fruit (check)
  
• “Metabolic syndrome” which includes the following: large abdomen (“beer belly”), adult-onset diabetes, high cholesterol or triglycerides, high blood pressure (check)
  
• “Beer belly,” also called truncal obesity — excess weight centered around the abdomen (check)
  
• Acid reflux/GERD (heartburn) (check)
  
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) (check)
  
• Bloating, flatulence or abdominal pain (check)
  
• Rectal itching (I know it happens, but does anyone really admit it?!)
  
• Constipation and/or diarrhea (check)
  
• Excessively thin or anorexic/bulimic

Skin, eyes, hair:

• Skin and nail fungal infections (current or past), including: athlete’s foot, vaginal yeast infections, fungal toenails, ringworm, jock itch, tinea versicolor or itchy eyelids (check, especially the itchy eyelids!!)
  
• Skin problems like eczema, rashes, psoriasis (check)
  
• Prematurely graying hair (check, ever since I was 15)
  
• Pupils always dilated (not sure)
  
• Unusually green eyes, or eye color has turned greenish (check, mine are supposed to be hazel but yesterday G–Man noticed my eyes looked more greenish teal very odd.)
  

Immune disorders:

• Asthma and allergies
  
• Recurring infections — colds, ears, bladder, sinus (check)
  
• Autoimmune disease (lupus, hypothyroidism, arthritis, others) (check)
  
• Penicillin allergy

Whole body:

• Fatigue (check)
  
• Muscle or joint pain, fibromyalgia (check for muscle and joint)
  
• Cold feet, cold hands, sometimes cold nose (check, check, and check even in the summer)
  
• Sweating, especially at night (check)
  
• Uncomfortable at any temperature (check, I have a one degree of comfort. Very frustrating.)
  

Women’s health issues:

• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) (check)
  
• Endometriosis (chronic pelvic pain)
• Infertility (female), some miscarriages, toxemia of pregnancy (preeclampsia)
  

Symptoms seen particularly in children up to about 8 years old:

• Early allergy to foods like milk (check for G–Man)
  
• Infections as a baby
• Child had or has frequent ear infections, tonsillitis, strep throat or bladder infections, especially if these infections were treated with antibiotics (Check for G–Man)
  
• Cravings for milk, cheese, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter (check for G–Man)
  
• Asthma
• “Drama king” or “drama queen” — complains quite vocally and often (check for G–Man)
  
• Poor sleep patterns — difficulty going to sleep, sleeps too lightly or has frequent nightmares, and wakes up too early (or sometimes too late) (check for G–Man)
  
• Too thin or overweight (check for G–Man)
  
• Attention deficit with or without hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD)
• Aggressive, poor social interactions, can’t stop moving, frequent fights or arguments, frequent crying (check for G–Man)
  
• Autism
• Pale complexion, dark circles under the eyes (check for G–Man)
  

Still with me?! Phew, I know it’s a long list but this does explain so much of why I have felt horrible for years. And to know the symptoms for kids has me wondering about G–Man. Though I’ve listed which ones he has suffered from I have noticed that some have eased as he’s gotten older. Has me wondering if environment, diet and hormones has anything to do with it.

So hopefully this helps to shed some light for those out there who have been struggling for years. If you’re the person who keeps going back to the doctor, taking one prescription after another and not getting any relief then ask your doctor or naturopath about Candida(can-di-duh). It couldn’t hurt.

Ok, I’m going to post my recipe separate simply because this post alone is approaching 900 words! Rather lengthy. Bear with me, I’ll get that up asap!!

Have a blessed day!!

It’s Not Your Mama’s Pizza…

I never thought the day would come when I would use a vegetable as a base for my favorite pizza ingredients. Having candida will make a person do some wild things I guess. If there were ever a food that I would cheat with it would be pizza. Thick deep dish with EVERYTHING on it! Extra cheese to boot and lots of yummy marinara sauce!!! Ooo and garlic butter to pour on top…ok I’ll stop there, you get the idea.
When I read about how you can take eggplant slices and use them to make pizza I literally scrunched up my nose, said eww and kept looking up other recipes to inspire my weekly menu. Sunday night came and the family ate pizza for dinner…oh the smell was so intoxicating. I was uber tempted to take a small piece but I didn’t. I ate a couple of turmeric eggs over easy with a two slices of ham. Drank an insane amount of water(for me insane is four cups since I never drink enough water) and prayed for the Lord to help me get past that temptation. Monday morning I woke up knowing I needed to do something with that large eggplant that was languishing in the fridge. I went back to my saved links on Safari and guess what? The page where I read about the eggplant pizza idea was still there.

I literally debated with myself. Do I make this or not? Am I THIS desperate?! Yes, yes I was. I dragged myself into the kitchen thinking this whole thing was going to be a disaster, I’m just going to be wasting ingredients and all effort will be for nothing.

I love being proven wrong!

Eggplant “Pizza”

(This is gluten–free, dairy–free, & low carb)
Yields 16 slices/8 servings
Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 20–30 minutes

1 large eggplant, thickly sliced
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
5 sausage patties, chopped, cooked, and drained
Mozzarella Cheese, optional(see following notes at the bottom)

Homemade Pizza Seasoning
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil(or you can use fresh leaves)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or fresh)
1/4 tsp sweet summer savory
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp turmeric

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Begin by slicing the eggplant into thick slices. About 1/4 inch thick, salt both sides and let them sit for 30 minutes to draw out the bitterness. Slice the tomatoes thinly and set aside.

While that sits, begin preparing the onions, bell pepper and sausage. Chop and cook the sausage first, use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove it to a paper towel lined bowl to drain. I cooked the onions and pepper together in the same pan with the sausage drippings. Cook till tender and transparent. 
In a paper bowl…

Prepare the pizza seasoning. Turmeric is something I add to everything now, even my eggs in the morning get a light dusting of turmeric. You can use less if you wish, but since I use it for it’s anti-inflammatory properties I used more of it. Just mix it together completely and set aside.
Once the eggplant is done, rinse it thoroughly and place on a paper towel lined baking pan. Cover with more paper towels and press as hard as you can to draw out the rest of the moisture. I used another baking pan on top and pushed down. Very effective!

Spray slices with a little olive oil(I use a Pampered Chef pressure sprayer thingy). Bake for 20 minutes. Once it’s baked, increase oven temp to 375*F. Start layering your ingredients on the eggplant slices. First place a slice of tomato down, sprinkle on pizza seasoning, add a spoonful of crumbled sausage, and finish with sauteed onions and bell pepper. Place back in the oven for a few minutes to heat through for 10 minutes and enjoy with your favorite salad. My salad was very basic, romaine mix with slices of cucumber and I sprinkled on some of the pizza seasoning.

The cheese mentioned in the ingredients list is an option for those who do not have any allergies or dietary restrictions. The slices I ate were cheese free, but my Dad enjoyed the slices with the cheese. Just note, you’ll want to broil the eggplant pizza if you use cheese to help add some color and firm up the eggplant even more. My Dad absolutely loved this dish last night! Even more so than my eggplant parmesan. O.O I was shocked because I REALLY love my eggplant parmesan A LOT!

And I must say I am keeping this dish around! I love the pizza flavor, yes I miss the cheese but I would gladly sacrifice a little cheese for the sake of my health. In other words, I am so making this next week!!

I hope you all will dare to try this dish, you can make it vegan if you wish, just leave the sausage off. Add whatever pizza toppings you prefer. If you choose to use a pizza sauce instead of sliced tomato, your nutritional count will change. Keep that in mind.

Nutritional Info per two slices/1 serving (according to MyFitnessPal)

Calories: 81
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 9g
Protein: 7g
Fiber: 3g
Net Carbs: 6g

Have a blessed day!

Triple Berry Bake

Good morning everyone! I’m so happy to report that after one week of eating right and upping my level of activity I have lost 1 1/2 pounds!! The first of so many but I’m very pleased with it 🙂 People always commend me for being so open and honest about myself, even online, and I can’t help it that’s who I am. What I’m about to share I’ve only told my family and very close friend. Why post it here on the blog for the world to read? Because for me it’s a major accomplishment in my life!

It’s no lie that I’m a big woman, I’ve been upfront about that with you all. As a big woman daily activities are difficult to do, even just standing at the bathroom sink to brush my teeth or brush my hair. I’m ashamed I let it get that bad, to where I couldn’t even stand for five minutes to brush, floss, and rinse. The pain in my lower legs was too much at times, the only way I could get through the process was to bring a folding chair in and sit down. Yesterday I was getting myself ready for morning church and when I got out of bed I noticed that there wasn’t any pain in my calves and my thighs weren’t aching. Even my lower back pain was barely there! At first I thought about dragging in my chair but then I decided you know what, I’m feeling good let’s see how this goes!

Know what?! For the first time in 2 years I stood at the sink and brushed my teeth along with my other routine and didn’t feel the first ache! Got to church stood and talked with a sweet friend for 5 minutes or so and didn’t feel like I needed to sit down. I moved around for for the fellowship time with ease but by there time the invitation came I could feel the muscles in the backs of thighs quivering. Not wanting to overdo it I remained in my seat and took it easy for the rest of the day. I know most folks who will read this will go, so what? However, for anyone else out there who knows and understands the struggle this is a major deal! Mobility is a big deal in everyone’s life, the lack of mobility can spell numerous health issues, one major one being the heart. Living a sedentary life can put so much strain on the heart leading to coronary heart disease. Not to mention high blood pressure, which that tends to run in my family.

I’ve only just begun, last week I don’t feel like I did enough in the way of exercise to warrant 1.5 pound loss but apparently I did. I am so thankful to the private fitness and health group I’ve joined with the mini challenges that I figured I wouldn’t be able to do. Such as walking for 10 minutes…I even gave myself one of walking up and down the stairs for 10 minutes. As I said in the group, my legs were like jello afterwards. Even the day after it felt like I was a snail that was trying to crawl through peanut butter. Every step was brutal, painful, my back screamed in agony but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was not being able to move around period.

…trying to think of a proper segue into the recipe and my mind is going blank! I did suffer from a sweet tooth this past week though. I was craving something major but didn’t want to blow my progress. That’s when I came up with the following dessert, just something I put together Saturday that really hit the spot!

Serves: 6-8
Prep Time: 2-3 minutes
Bake Time: 20-30 minutes

3 cups frozen triple berry mix(or you can use fresh if it’s in season)
1/4-1/2 cup granulated Stevia in the raw(I used less for a more tart flavor)
1 cup almond flour
2 Tblsp granulated Stevia in the raw
2 Tblsp raw organic coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350*F. Add your frozen berries to an 8×8 baking dish. I didn’t prep my glass pan but if you feel led to do so then by all means use whatever you like. But quite honestly nothing is needed.
Sprinkle the granulated Stevia over the berries and set aside. In a small bowl combing the almond flour, granulated Stevia and coconut oil. You could add sliced almonds or chopped walnuts to the topping for more of a crunch. Disperse the topping evenly over the berries. Bake for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. Serve warm or cold(I prefer cold, the topping hardens up because of the coconut oil and makes for a scrumptious breakfast alternative).

   

Now some folks may wish to add homemade whipped cream on top. This is delicious either way. I know for a strict candida diet I’m not technically supposed to have dairy, but I couldn’t resist. This was the only dairy I had had all day and didn’t suffer from it, as in I didn’t itch afterwards.

The nutritional counts for this are as follows for one serving(minus whipped cream) :

Calories: 192
Fat: 14g
Carbs: 15g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Net Carbs: 5g
Protein: 5g

The more you add to this recipe then the nutritional value changes, just be mindful of that. I personally loved this concoction, my Dad wasn’t too thrilled with the topping but he loved the tart berries. He’s used to brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and granola for toppings which tend to crisp up. While this topping didn’t get crispy, when eaten with the homemade whipped cream it was a nice layer of flavor. But like I said I like eating it when it’s cold and without whipped cream.

Hope you all enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Italian Chicken and Kale

  

Italian Chicken and Kale

Serves 1

Prep Time: 6 minutes

Bake Time: 30 minutes

2 Tblsp oil (coconut, palm, olive, or peanut whichever you like)

2 chicken thighs, with bone and skin

Half packet of Good Seasons Italian Seasoning

Pinch of kosher salt

2 handfuls of kale

1/8 onion sliced thinly

Set oven temp to 350*F. 

Over medium high heat begin heating up your oven safe skillet. Season chicken with Italian seasoning on both sides and under the skin. 

Add oil to the pan and place the chicken skin side down first. Let it sear for 3 minutes to get a nice crust and color. Do the same to the other side. Move chicken to one side of the pan and add kale, onion, and a pinch of salt. Watch out, this will pop like crazy so keep a lid handy. Place covered pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until meat nearest to the bone is thoroughly done. 

  

I have it plated on a dessert plate, trying to trick myself into thinking it’s a lot of food, honestly it mostly worked! I feel pleasantly stuffed and will seriously be making this again! 

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 440kcal

Carbs: 9g

Fat: 31g

Protein: 30g

Sodium: 696mg

Sugars: 2g

Felt Like A Chef Tonight!

It’s not too often that I cook something that is not only amazing but is crazy easy! But tonight was different, I felt like an chef in the kitchen. I knew I wanted to eat lemon pepper chicken for dinner but what kind I wasn’t sure. So, I did a web search for pan searing and baking in the oven…just that. After reading up on the HOW I got busy applying what I had skimmed over–yes you read that right, skimmed! LOL!

Pan Seared/Oven Baked Lemon Pepper and Garlic Chicken

Serves 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 25

2 Tblsp raw organic coconut oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed
lemon pepper seasoning
garlic powder
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup broccoli florets
2 mini sweet yellow peppers, thinly sliced
1/8 cup chopped onion
Healthy pinch dried parsley

Set oven temp to 350*F. Heat up an oven safe pan, I used a heavy copper bottom skillet. Begin heating it up over medium high heat.
Pat chicken dry and rub lemon pepper, garlic powder and salt on both sides of the chicken. Add coconut oil to the skillet and as soon as it’s melted(which doesn’t take very long) add the chicken. Sear for 3 minutes on each side, add in chopped onions, broccoli florets, and thinly sliced mini yellow peppers. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Before serving double check doneness and enjoy!

You can use lemon zest, lemon juice and black pepper for a fresh lemon pepper flavor. Feel free to add whole crushed garlic, and any vegetable combination you like!

According to MyFitnessPal, the nutritional info is as follows:

Calories: 440 kcal
Carbs: 7 g
Fat: 5 g
Protein: 2 g
Sodium: 18 mg
Sugars: 3 g

You can use any oil you like to reduce the fat and calories. I can’t use another except coconut oil at the moment. I am a fan of palm oil, but I’m waiting to get myself some. It’s a crazy easy dish and yet so flavorful! My first bite had my eyes bugging out of my head 😛  Play with the flavors and just have fun!

Have blessed day!!

And it begins…

Today is the day that I start my 8 weeks fitness and health challenge. When I first joined I thought yeah I’ll just see what I can do. But with recent health issues I’ve had to get serious about these changes and last week I decided that since I joined this challenge then I need to give it all that I possibly could. I’ll spare you all my specs(weight and measurements), it’s enough I’ve had to submit them to my friend who is in charge of this challenge 🙂

However, I will be sharing pictures of what I am eating, since I’m doing a lower carb candida diet, and other little changes that I’m making along the way. Will see what comes of this!

So, far the day has been good. First order of business was my weigh in and measurements. Followed closely by lemon water, breakfast and supplements, and finished it off with a single cup of coffee. I’ll just be honest, I’m not a breakfast person at all, at the moment I still feel full and will see about modifying my meals the rest of the day. I’m not adding snacks or eating six smaller meals. I did that once and nearly made myself sick, I’m just sticking with three regular meals, if and only IF I feel the slightest inclination to indulge I might have a low carb/gluten-free dessert.

What was my breakfast this morning? Very simple, eggs over easy with sliced ham. Hindsight is telling me that was too much for Monday breakfast, especially when I’m not used to eating breakfast to begin with.

Candida diet…I’ve had to do A LOT of reading about it last week, especially about what I can and cannot have. Was I recently tested to be a candida sufferer? No, I can’t afford such tests. I am however suffering from candida die off and I have all the classic symptoms for it. A lot of what the diet suggests, especially in the realm of gluten-free, I cannot have solely based on carbohydrates alone. Dad and I were standing in Kroger last night looking for almond flour/meal because it along with coconut flour are my only replacements to flour. Very limiting. But I’m very familiar with both and have several recipes tucked away for those mornings when I want to break away from the eggs and ham routine.

What exactly can I have on the candida diet?

In truth, it’s a bunch of fresh whole foods. I’m limiting myself further by cutting out naturally sweet fruits and vegetables. Yeast, like cancer, needs sugar to thrive and survive. By eliminating refined and naturally occurring sugar I hope to reduce my symptoms over time. There is controversial information out there saying you can and cannot cure candida. I’m unsure which is correct at this time. If all I am able to do is lessen the effects then I’d be content with that. However, it has been my understanding that with such things, going more alkaline does help to cure a lot ailments(cancer included) when one eliminates all sugar.

For this week I have the fridge stocked with fresh veggies, limited dairy(only a little heavy cream for my coffee), frozen berries, and other pantry essentials such as extra virgin coconut oil, flax seeds, chia seeds(used sparingly), almond flour/meal, coconut flour, and stevia as my go to sweetener.

There is still so much more to share, but I’ll save it for the weeks to come 🙂 Hope you all have a blessed day!!!

Boldly Going…

Today I launched my new Jamberry blog (Jonesin’ For Wraps). Basically I wanted to separate my work fun from my food fun 🙂 I already have a brand new post up, if you get a chance I hope you check it out!

To visit—>Jonesin’ For Wraps

Hope you all are having a blessed Thursday!!