FREE Crockpot Cleanup Group

Do you use your crockpot on a weekly or even monthly basis?  

They used to collect dust in my house because the only recipes I could find to use were full of canned soups, salty packets, and, well....junk.  

Then I found ways to use my crockpot AND stick to my meal plan!!!   Win!  Win!

Now, I use my crockpot on a weekly basis and still serve my family healthy foods that they LOVE!!

Would you like to learn my favorite recipes complete with a shopping list?  

Great news!    

I am hosting a FREE Crockpot Cleanup Challenge this month!!!    Just click the link below to join us!

We will have one week to prep everything, talk about nutrition, get ready for our challenge and then the next week we will put those recipes to use!

Click here to join in the fun!

I'm Sorry

ATTENTION PLEASE!!!

Apology Post!!!

1.  I want to apologize for not having a mind-blowing transformation picture to share.  

Nope.  

I didn't lose weight by exercising and ridding my diet (mostly) of crappy foods.  

The truth is, my transformation has little to do with my outside appearance.  Yes, my pants fit looser and I have ab muscles now but if you hadn't seen me in 2 years, you wouldn't be blown away.  

Which leads me to apology 2.  

2.  I apologize for not being ME for 6 1/2 years.   You see, if you knew me before I took back control of my life two years ago, you probably knew a stressed, self-conscious, out-of-shape, soda-guzzling, stressed (did I mention that?), tired me.   That's not me.   That's the me that had time to take care of everyone else but not herself.   I actually cringe at the thought of how I let myself go.   

Exercise used to be a HUGE part of my life but once I had kids, it didn't just take a back seat.   It didn't have a seat.  I kept my weight down by chasing kids, barely eating a full meal, and grabbing a meal bar (gross) and diet soda (I'm so sorry, bones).  

The truth was, though, I was missing a big part of Lucy.   Ask anyone who knew me back in the day before kids.  I had to exercise.  It was a part of me.  Not exercising after kids literally took a piece of me away.  That piece was replaced with something  not so great and a lot of resentment.  

I'm not proud of it but I know I'm not the only one.  

So, after two years of getting myself back to good, I want to invite others to do the same.  

Apologize for not giving YOU a chance to be you again and then do that thing that you miss. 

Maybe you're like me and it's exercise.  Maybe it's painting or playing the piano.   Maybe you like to play organized sports but haven't since high school.  

You HAVE to be you so go out and do it!  

Start TODAY!!!

You can follow my journey back to fitness at www.facebook.com/youcanloseitwithlucy 

Low Carb Spaghetti Pizza

You know how I LOVE spaghetti squash and I LOVE to "fix up" recipes to fit my meal plan and make them healthier, right?

Well, the other day one of my friends tagged me in a Facebook post about a spaghetti pizza recipe.  It looked delish but she said that she wondered if I could use spaghetti squash in place of regular spaghetti.

Challenge accepted.

My family LOVES pizza and we USED TO have a tradition of ordering delivery pizza on Fridays.   We have since broken that habit and bought frozen instead.  Cheaper but equally yuck in the matter of nutritional value.

Today was a partial snow day - early out and maybe a snow day tomorrow so it sort of feels like a Friday and I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out my "new" pizza recipe.

Here's what I did:

First, I made my fool proof spaghetti squash recipe (see here)

Then, I added one beaten egg and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese 

Next, I spread the squash, egg, and cheese mixture on a prepared cookie sheet (next time, I'll use a pizza stone)

Make the crust at 400 degrees for 5 minutes ( mine took 8 to get a good crusty layer, though).

After the crust is semi-done, take it out of the oven and prepare like a normal pizza.   The crust was not hard and it truly never got hard this time around but still tasted great!  

I added pizza sauce and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.   To make it higher in protein, you could always add meat as you would any pizza.

Cook for another 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust has become sturdier.

Serve and enjoy!

I thought it had a great flavor and even my husband, who does not care for spaghetti squash, liked it.  The crust did not get as hard as regular pizza crust but I think next time I will make sure to squeeze out any excess water from the squash and use a pizza stone to make the bottom more crust-like.   

We only had one piece out of 8 left so I would say it was a hit!   

Try it out and let me know how it goes in the comments below!

For more nutrition and fitness tips, follow my journey back to fitness at Lose It With Lucy

Cheesy Spaghetti - with Cauliflower?

I know, I know....

Cheesy spaghetti sounds delicious, especially if you are craving comfort foods in the winter like I am right now.

But, hold up!

Cauliflower?

How do Cheesy Spaghetti and Cauliflower go together?

Well, let me start by saying that I got the inspiration after watching an episode of My Diet is Better Than Yours where Registered Dietitian, Dawn Jackson Blatner made a superfood swap of mac n cheese.

My oldest LOVES mac n cheese, the cheesier the better and quite frankly, I shutter at the thought.

So, I looked up Dawn's original recipe and if you know me at all by now, of course, I experimented with it a little.

Cheesy Cauliflower Spaghetti

First, cook up 16 ounces of whole-wheat spaghetti noodles.  I haven't tried this with my beloved spaghetti squash yet but I'm planning to experiment this weekend ;)

Then,  break up a whole head of cauliflower and put in a food processor or, like I did, my Ninja Blender to break into tiny pieces.

Put the cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl for 6-8 minutes or until soft.

Then, put the cauliflower back in the processor or ninja and add 1/2 cup of milk (I used almond milk) and one cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  

Blend until smooth or the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Stir in pasta, cauliflower mixture and an additional 3/4 cup shredded cheese.  

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, stir and serve!

I've also broken this down into fix containers:

For 14 1/2 cup servings:  1/2 green container, 1/2 blue container, 1/2 yellow container

Let me know below what you think of the recipe!   

Topless Peanut Butter Cups

I am in the middle of a Clean Eating Challenge and although I am getting back on track from the holidays (whew!  it is HARD to get back on track) I can't shake my sweet tooth.  I LOVE sweets and I'm always trying to come up with ways to feed my sweet tooth without blowing all of the hard work I put into my workouts.

I found a recipe for peanut butter cups using Shakeology and tried it out myself - with a twist.  You know me.  I can't leave a recipe alone without giving it a tweak or two ! :)   I call this recipe topless because it only has one layer of chocolate.   Why not two?  I honestly like a little more peanut butter than chocolate and thought two layers might be a little much.

So here's the step by step of how YOU can feed that sweet tooth, get 70 superfood nutrients, and NOT undo all the good you've been working towards!

After you try it out, post below and tell me what you think!

First, take two Tablespoons of coconut oil and microwave for 30 seconds or until melted.

Second, stir in 4 Tablespoons of chocolate Shakeology and stir.

Third, pour mixture into mini muffin tins.  I didn't have a mini muffin tin so I put it in a regular muffin tin.   It makes 8 minis or 4 regularly sized treats.

Next, put in the freezer for 10 minutes or until solid.

While the chocolate is in the freezer, prepare the peanut butter.   I used peanut butter and PB2 to show the difference.  PB2 has hardly any fat or calories of peanut butter so if you are watching either, you can try this alternative.
For this recipe, use 4 teaspoons of peanut butter OR 6 teaspoons of PB2 mixed with 4 teaspoons of water until smooth.

After the chocolate is frozen, pop it out of the muffin tin.

Spread peanut butter on the top of the chocolate.

The one on the left and top is made with PB2, the other with peanut butter.

Enjoy!

*One regular sized cup or 2 minis count as one serving.

For more recipes like this, go to my page Lose It With Lucy

It's never too late to be what you might have been.

Want to know a secret?

For years, I wanted to be a stay at home mom.

Even before I had kids, I just assumed I would be. I mean, my mom was one and was awesome at it and loved it so I would love it, too.

Then I got my dream job. It was the kind of job I made up in my head and then I actually got PAID to do it! That was EXACTLY the same time I became a mom.

Like I said, deep down inside I just assumed when I became a mom THAT would be my one job but life had a different plan. Turns out I was NOT awesome with newborns (especially ones with colic who DID NOT SLEEP), I loved my job, and we had a lot of debt to pay off. In short, staying home was off the table.

Twenty one months later, I became a mom again but this time was different. Two little humans were depending on me, my husband started back to school again, his job was crazy, and I was working full-time. I still loved my job but I couldn't do it all and that feeling crept into my mind again.

I wanted to stay home more with my kiddos. Thankfully, a part-time position came open and it was perfect. My passion - helping others get healthy and my purpose - being a mom were being fulfilled.

Then we moved.

I took a full-time job but man, I missed those babies, er, I mean toddlers. I missed our play dates at the park and our impromptu dance parties. I missed snuggling at nap time most of all.

I thought, "It's crazy to think I of being at stay at home mom NOW. My oldest was going into kindergarten the next year. I have missed my chance."

You know what, though?

It's never too late to be what you might have been.

That idea you had of who you would be, you can STILL be that person.

It's not too late. It's not too late. It's not too late. It's not too late.

If it's a stay at home mom, a college graduate, a marathon runner, learning to play an instrument.

Whatever it is, get your plan in place and DO IT!

I didn't like shakes either......

"I don't like shakes"

THIS is the statement I hear SO often when talking to people about Shakeology.

I get it.

I didn't like shakes either.

You see, the only reason I started researching Beachbody was because my husband was looking for something to get him over his plateau.

He was working out for over an hour a day, cutting back on portions, and not seeing any progress on the scale or his pants size.

Sound familiar?

He was just about to give up and said,"Find me something to take or do that doesn't take as much time."

I had NO intention of drinking a shake everyday.

I had been there, done that with shakes.

They were chalky, gritty, and I was NOT going to drink my meal everyday.

Then I looked at the nutrition label - WOW!

Then I tasted it - for real!!

I also knew hubs was NOT a fan of shakes or breakfast so whatever I was going to give him HAD to be spectacular!

If you would have told me that not only do both of us actually LIKE Shakeology but that we have both used it as a daily meal replacement for the last 15 MONTHS, I would have laughed in your face!

I hated shakes before this!

I invite anyone else who hates shakes to give it a try. All shakes are NOT created equal so if you've had a bad experience with them in the past, don't discount them all.

As they say, don't knock it until you try it.

I'm SO glad I opened my mind enough to at least give it a shot. My whole family has benefitted over the last year from our decision!

Check it out here!

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