It is super easy and you only need 3 ingredients: Masa Harina, a pinch of Salt and Water.

Masa Harina is a special type of corn flour that is made from corn that is soaked in lime, dried, then ground in to a fine flour.  It is different from corn flour or corn meal, so make sure that you pick up the correct flour for your tortillas!  I had trouble finding the flour in stores, so I ordered it online through Nuts.com.  I got it the very next day!

Lets walk through the process!

Mix together 2 cups of masa harina, 1 tsp salt and 1.5 cups warm water and let sit for about 30 minutes for that it can set and form a dough.  As you wait for the dough, you can prepare your toppings!

Take your dough and form into balls about the size of a golf ball

Individually, place each ball of dough in between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll (flatten) into a patty about 1/4inch thick

Keep some thickness to them because it makes it easier to place on the grill, flip and stuff with your favorite toppings!

Cook in a pan or on a griddle for about 2 minutes on each side until browned and the edges start to curl up.

While the tortillas were cooking, we got all of our toppings ready to go:

The beauty of fajitas/tacos is that you can make any creation that you want!  We had a little bit of everything: grilled chicken, black beans, peppers & onions, roasted corn, salsa, pepperjack cheese, avocado, sour cream, fresh limes.

The fresh tortillas are perfect piled high with all of your favorites

And, they don’t fall apart when you are eating!

This was a completely delicious meal and so worth the few extra minutes it took to make the tortillas!  The tortillas still tasted great the next day, so you could even make them ahead of time is you need to.   Yum!

Amy’s five new Light & Lean meals all contain less than 300 calorie and 5 grams of fat.  They are:

• Bean & Cheese Burrito
• Roasted Polenta
• Spaghetti Italiano
• 3 Cheese Penne Marinara
• Sweet and Sour Asian Noodle

You can find them in the freezer section of many grocery stores for under $5.00.  Don’t the flavors sound good?

Bean & Cheese Burrito

Since I really enjoy Amy’s other Burritos, I already knew that this one would be good!  The wrap is filled with plenty of beans and cheese making it taste great.  The burrito was a little bland, but I would much prefer that than it being overly salty, as many frozen meals are.  This burrito clocks in at 280 calories and 5 grams of fat.  Add a piece of fruit, and this would make a perfect quick lunch.

And, the best part?!  The ingredients are R-E-A-L!

(from the website) Ingredients : 0g Trans Fat/No Added MSG/No Preservatives Organic pinto beans, organic wheat and whole wheat flour, filtered water, organic brown rice, organic tomato puree, organic onions, organic bell peppers, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses (pasteurized milk, culture, salt, annatto, enzymes [without animal enzymes or rennet]), sea salt, organic sweet rice flour, spices, organic wheat gluten, organic garlic, organic cornstarch. Contains milk and wheat.

Roasted Polenta

I was most excited to try the Roasted Polenta.  I don’t eat polenta very often, but when I do, it always tastes so good!  And, it is paired with swiss chard – yum!  This meal was by far my favorite!  I heated this in the microwave and the polenta was soft, but the outside was still a bit crisp.  The combination of the polenta, swiss chard and tomato sauce was delicious.  Really good for a frozen meal!

At only 140 calories and 4 grams of fat, this would make a really good snack!  Or, pair it with something else to make more of a meal.  I don’t know about you, but 140 calories isn’t enough of a meal for me.

(from the website) Ingredients : 0g Trans Fat/No Added MSG/No Preservatives Organic tomato puree, organic zucchini, organic swiss chard, organic lowfat milk, organic cornmeal, organic onions, filtered water, mushrooms, Monterey Jack Cheese (pasteurized milk, culture, salt, enzymes [without animal enzymes or rennet]), organic bell peppers, extra virgin olive oil, grade aa butter (cream, salt, annatto), organic garlic, sea salt, organic evaporated cane juice, black pepper. Contains milk.

Spaghetti Italiano

This spaghetti and meatballs dish tasted yummy, but there wasn’t anything particularly special about it.  Don’t get me wrong, I ate every last bite because it tasted great.  The meatballs were crumbly and mixed in to the pasta, which I liked.  The meatballs are made of lentils, quinoa and tofu and I could see bits of lentils and quinoa.  The other thing I liked – there were whole pieces of broccoli!  It was nice to have chunks of veggies in the meal.  At 240 calories and 5 grams of fat, this could be a good meal paired with a slice of toast.

(from the website) Ingredients : 0g Trans Fat/No Added MSG/No Preservatives Organic pasta (organic semolina flour, organic whole wheat flour, water), organic tomato puree, organic zucchini, organic onions, filtered water, organic broccoli, organic long grain red rice, organic tofu (filtered water, organic soybeans, nigari [magnesium chloride, a natural firming agent]), organic quinoa, wheat gluten, extra virgin olive oil, organic green lentils, organic bell peppers, se salt, organic garlic, organic unbleached wheat flour, basil, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, flax seed, spices, organic evaporated cane juice, black pepper, fennel seed, honey, natural hickory smoke flavor, yeast. Contains soy and wheat.

3 Cheese Penne Marinara

I was pleasantly surprised by this meal!  It is a freezer meal, so my thought it that the pasta would be mushy and the meal would be flavorless.  I should have known better from Amy’s, though.  It tasted a lot like baked ziti, which I love!  It had a decent amount of cheese, too.  Not exactly like homemade, but perfectly fine in a pinch.  I really enjoyed it!  It clocks in at 270 calories and 5 grams of fat, so pair it with a side of veggies or a big salad and you could have a good meal.  I roasted some broccoli and stirred it right in to the penne.

(from the website) Ingredients : 0g Trans Fat/No Added MSG/No Preservatives Organic pasta (organic semolina flour, organic whole wheat flour, water), filtered water, organic tomato puree, organic onions, whole milk Mozzarella Cheese (pasteurized whole milk, vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, enzymes [without animal enzymes or rennet]), Fontina Cheese (pasteurized milk, culture, salt, enzymes [without animal enzymes or rennet]), Parmesan Cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, culture, salt, enzymes [without animal enzymes or rennet]), sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, organic garlic, black pepper. Contains milk and wheat.

Sweet and Sour Asian Noodle

This was the only meal that I didn’t really like.  And, I think it was because of the flavors.  The noodles were not mushy and there were chunks of veggies and tofu, which was great.  But, I tasted too much sesame oil, and I’m not a huge tofu fan.  I still gobbled it right up, paired with a fresh salad, but it just wasn’t my favorite.  The meal has 250 calories and 3 grams of fat.

(from the website) Ingredients : 0g Trans Fat/No Added MSG/No Preservatives (Vegan) Organic rice pasta (organic rice flour, water), organic broccoli, organic green beans, organic carrots, organic tofu (filtered water, organic soybeans, nigari [magnesium chloride, a natural firming agent]), organic cabbage, organic tamari (water, organic soybeans, salt), pineapple juice, organic evaporated cane juice, organic bell peppers, organic green onions, organic onions, filtered water, organic lemon juice, organic ginger, organic sesame seed oil, organic cornstarch, organic garlic, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, spices, black pepper. Contains soy and sesame seed oil.

Overall, I really enjoyed these meals and would definitely consider purchasing them to have as back up in my freezer for nights when cooking isn’t an option.  But, I still prefer home cooked meals if I have the time.  With kids, though, you never know what is going to happen.

Amy’s Kitchen has a large variety of other frozen dinners meals, such as pizza, desserts, chili, breakfast bowls, snacks, etc.  I would definitely try feel comfortable buying these meals due to the real food ingredients, and because they taste pretty good!  Since these Light & Lean meals all come in at under 300 calories (some well under 300 calories), I felt that I needed to eat something else along with the meal.  I mainly ate the meals for lunches and paired them with a yogurt and a piece of fruit.  By doing that, they made a perfectly satisfying meal.

Thanks, Amy’s Kitchen, for letting me try these meals!

Two of my favorite veggies are sweet potatoes and kale.  My favorite ways to eat them?  Low and slow sweet potatoes and kale chips!

Low and Slow Sweet Potatoes

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Wash your sweet potato and cut into round slices.
• Place your rounds on a cookie sheet and brush with coconut oil.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then increase the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
• Serve with coconut butter!

They come out perfect every time!

Kale Chips

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Tear kale into bite size pieces and wash.
• Spread out on a cookie sheet, mist with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake at 400 for 5-7 minutes until edges are browned.
• Serve with ketchup!

YUM!

With these two delicious veggies, all you need to add is a protein.  I grilled up an apple and sage Field Roast Veggie Sausage, but I served this to my husband with a piece of chicken.  Anything would work.

This meal was perfect after a long day at work.

Enjoy!

On the menu tonight – Lentil Bolognese.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):

• 1 lb whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 1 cup green lentils
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large carrot
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 zucchini
• 6 white mushrooms
• 2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)
• 2 tbsps tomato paste
• 1 large handful fresh basil, chopped
• pinch red pepper flakes
• salt + pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Start by putting 1 cup of lentils in a pot (or rice cooker) with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, until tender.

2. Next, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add your pasta and cook until al-dente, about 7-9 minutes.  Drain, rinse with hot water to prevent sticking and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, get to work chopping your veggies! Mince your garlic, onion, carrot, celery, zucchini and mushrooms.

4. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil.  Add your onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

5. Add your chopped carrots and celery and cook for 3-5 minutes, until tender.

6. Then, add the zucchini and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until just tender.

7. Add the 2 cans of tomatoes and tomato paste and cook on medium-low heat until warm.

8.  Add cooked lentils and basil.

9. Mix everything together and simmer until ready to serve.

10. Serve warm over pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast.

This makes a terrific weeknight dinner because it only takes about 40 minutes to prepare start to finish and tastes delicious!  Vegetables make super simple dinners and when you pair them with beans or a grain (or both!), you add protein to keep you satisfied.

This recipe will serve 6-8 people.  You can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and save it for leftovers.  It keeps very well in the fridge or freezer!

But, my goals didn’t stop there.  Cooking more and eating healthy real food has been even more of a priority for me.  I have only been shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store (except for a few items) and picking up delicious fresh fruits and veggies each week.  It is really easy to eat healthy if you only have healthy foods in your house.  I used to be so good at this (check out my pantry here!), but after having a baby I got a little off track.  But, I’m back!!

My pantry is re-stocked and I am getting back in to cooking delicious and healthy meals for my family.

It is the end of the week, so our fridge is looking a little bare, but that didn’t stop me from making a delicious lunch!

Tuna Bean Pasta

serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are

Ingredients:

-1 can tuna, white albacore

-1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

-1 cup whole wheat pasta, cooked

-1 cup frozen broccoli, thawed while cooking pasta or in microwave

-2 tbsp dijon mustard

-1/4 cup relish

-pepper to taste

-avocado for garnish

Throw everything in to a bowl and mix!  Viola!  A simple, delicious, healthy meal!!

This meal was delicious.  If you like tuna, it is a must.  You could even serve it over a bed of greens to get in more nutrients.  It would be a perfect meal after a long day at work, or something that you could make and grab for lunch each day.

With the addition of the avocado, this meal is a great balance of protein, veggies, fat and carbs.

Try it!!

The past week, I have been starting my day off with a glass of fresh squeezed juice.  I have been feeling dehydrated, tired and just crappy lately, so starting my day off with a lot of vitamins and nutrients is a great way to start the day.  I feel re-energized!

Beets, carrots, apple, 1/2 lime and a knob of ginger were in the mix.

Refreshing and delicious on these hot and humid summer days!

Juice is a great way to get a natural boost of energy and essential vitamins in to your diet.  The calories do add up, but a glass every morning or every few mornings won’t do any harm as long as you eat healthy the rest of the day.  Healthy eating makes me have more energy and feel much better about myself.  And, now that I have a little one to raise, it is important to me to get her on a healthy track right from the start.

On Saturday morning, we took Hayden out for a walk through the trails at Elm Bank in Wellesley.  It was a gorgeous day; perfect for some exercise!

After our walk, we toured the gardens, including the children’s garden!

And, we had a picnic on the grounds and relaxed.

Once home, I made up a batch of Angela’s Veggie Burgers and we had a delicious meal!

These burgers are delicious!  Jam packed with oats, beans, nuts and carrots, these burgers are filling and healthy!  I piled my burger high with cheddar cheese, avocado and a slice of tomato.  And, served them with sweet potato fries and corn on the cob.

What a perfect day!

I haven’t posted in just over a month, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been having tons of fun.  My 8th month of pregnancy was pretty good!  I continued to feel great and tried to get in as many walks as I could with the snowy and cold weather we have had here in Boston.  We spent the majority of our time relaxing and getting ourselves ready to have our baby.  The nursery is almost complete (pictures to come when it is complete!) and we have just about everything that we need for our little one.

Tomorrow marks the end of my 36th week of pregnancy, which means that I am considered full term, so the little one is fully developed.  Our due date is a mere 3 weeks away!

Week 32

Week 34

Week 36

The baby keeps growing bigger and bigger, but I am still right on track where I should be.  Everyone is healthy and happy.

I have been trying to keep up with the healthy eating, which really isn’t that difficult when you make delicious healthy dinners, like Angela’s Mandarin & Maple Quinoa!

Delicious ingredients combine to create a sweet and spicy quinoa dish.

Overall, I have been feeling good.  Definitely getting more and more uncomfortable, especially while sleeping, but nothing that won’t be worth it in the end!

I head to the kitchen for some cereal to hold me over.

Pomegranate Blueberry Crisp from Trader Joe’s.

It is delicious, but a little too sweet for me in the mornings.

I also usually whip up a smoothie to drink mid-morning at work, when I knew I will be hungry again.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• 8 frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tbsp pepitas
• 1 cup water

I love smoothies as a morning snack!  They are filling and refreshing.

For lunch today, I made an old favorite, which was pieced together after scouring through our empty cabinets and fridge for lunch.

Almond Butter, Banana and Jelly Sandwich on Millet Bread.

(this is a recycled photo, but you get the point! )

I seem to get hungrier for snacks than I did before and I think it is because my meals have been smaller.  I don’t have as much room for food in my stomach anymore (!!), so smaller meals and snacks sit much better with me.

Snacktime  – Hummus & Spelt Pretzels

And, for dinner, I stopped at Panera Bread on my way to our Newborn Essentials class!

Thai Chicken Salad, which was packed with romaine lettuce, chicken, peppers, carrots, edamame, wonton crisps and a light thai dressing.

This salad was great!

And, during class I snacked on a Blueberry Muffin Larabar, which is a new flavor that was sent to me from Larabar as a sample.

This flavor is delicious!  It smells just like fresh baked muffins and tastes just as good.

I started the chilly, snowy day off with a bowl of warm oatbran.

I cooked the oatbran with milk, a mashed banana, a dash of vanilla and a shake of cinnamon.  It came out great!

I stirred in some dried blueberries towards the end and topped it with chocolate peanut butter, cranberry almond butter and a sprinkle of coconut.

A great breakfast on such a chilly morning.

Next on my list for the day was to try out my new breadmaker that we got for Christmas!

I had been dying to try it out.  So, I looked up some recipes and got started with some Cranberry Almond Apricot bread.

It is extremely important that you put the ingredients into the breadmaker in the order shown.  Wet ingredients must be first, then dry on top.

Then, place the pan into the breadmaker.

Close the lid and make your selections.  For this bread, I used the White Bread setting for a 1lb. loaf on light (next time, I would do medium).

Three hours and 21 minutes later, out came the perfect loaf of bread.

A crust formed on the outside, and when you sliced into the bread it was soft and doughy.  Just the way I like it.

A little while later, I sliced up a piece of the warm bread spread on a little butter and served it with a smoothie for my afternoon snack.

A chocolate cherry bomb smoothie!

Yum!

Now, I know not everyone has a breadmaker…and you could definitely make this bread without one and bake it in the oven.  It just takes a little more work because you are waiting for the dough to rise, etc.  But, I’m sure the bread would come out just as good!

This week, my newest obsession is cereal. But, not just any cereal…crunchy cereal! The last few days, I have been loving Kashi Go Lean Crunch – Honey Almond Flax.

It is crunchy and sweet, without being overly sweet.

And, I love it topped with banana and served with freezing cold milk.

The ingredient list isn’t so bad, and the nutritionals are definitely up to par. With 200 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 8 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein it will keep you full and satisfied for awhile.

Other favorites for lunches have been hummus sandwiches made on homemade bread (made with my new breadmaker!!) filled with hummus, spinach/lettuce and cucumbers.

This might be my absolute favorite lunch…it’s delicious and satisfying. Two really important things!

Along with my sandwiches, I try to eat a piece of fruit and a yogurt for more staying power.

And, for dinners I have been craving carbs! So, the other night we decided to make up a lighter Mac & Cheese that I found in my Women’s Running magazine.

It was delicious! Made with butternut sqaush and a limited amount of cheese…it still tasted cheesy!

We cheated and used frozen butternut squash, which made the dish extremely simple to make.

You just mix everything up.

Pour into a baking dish, sprinkle on a breadcrumb and parmesan mix and bake for 30ish minutes!

It bakes up with a crispy, crunchy top which makes a perfect mac & cheese.

This is definitely a dish worth making…and it served us both for 3 meals!