$50 Designer Jeans & The 10 Minute Tostada

Happy Weekend! I have a couple of deals to share since I had the chance to go to my favorite deal mecca: TJ Maxx (of course)!

Today, I walked out of the store with 2 pairs of designer jeans, a fun designer sun hat and a new Giants shirt all for $130. That might sound not so good to some, but believe me, I got some excellent prices!

J Brand Straight-Leg Jeans, Heritage Wash: Retail Value $168, I paid $49.99!

Joe's Jeggings (I bought them in a lighter wash than what is pictured) Retail $100-$138, I paid $49.99 (again)! These are so comfortable, I was reminded of the "Pajama Jeans" infomercial :)

And here's my Ralph Lauren sun hat! Sorry I couldn't find a picture online. Retail Value $60, I paid $20. I'm excited to wear this over the summer and maybe even this weekend since it's going to be in the 80's!

Another summer discovery lately is that I have really been cheating myself by not wearing Bare Minerals for so long! I received my shipment from Sephora of Bare Minerals Matte, Mineral Veil & Bare Minerals Blush (in Golden Gate). I am so amazed at how much longer this stuff stays on and keeps my oiliness under control all day. I realized just how great the Mineral Veil can be as the finishing touch, and I'm probably just going to convert year-round. I love all of it and my pores love it too.

I know that I've probably made it clear that I like tasty meals that take very little effort most days of the week. This week, I broke out an old fave, Del Real Shredded Chicken and made some tasty Tostadas using these ingredients:

More of the tasty Cosmopolitan Lettuce I mentioned in my Last Post

Freshly cut cherry tomatoes, red onion & cilantro

Fresh Avocado Slices (1 per tostada)

1.5 servings (about 5 ounces) Del Real Shredded Chicken (135 Calories)

2 Guerrero Tostadas (110 Calories)

Casa Sanchez Salsa!

1 Tablespoon Fat Free Sour Cream

1 Tablespoon Litehouse Lite Salsa Ranch

The finished product looked like this (before I added the sour cream, salsa & dressing):

Me gusta mucho!

Stats (including all toppings):  340.5 Calories, 9.13g Fat, 621mg Sodium, 40g Carbs, 6.25g Fiber, 26g Protein, 7.25g Sugar

This was just what I needed after Kickboxing class to tell my body 'Thank You!!' for getting through a long day!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

Fresh Strawberry & Oat Combinations and Bacon Ranch Crusted Chicken

With strawberries being at the pinnacle of freshness and sweetness this time of year, I found myself craving some of them this week. I couldn't believe how delicious they were on their own, but also how much they spruce up a lot of other meals.

After work yesterday, I purchased some ingredients to make an overnight oats recipe I've been wanting to try, and during the preparation of cutting up my berries for the morning, I threw together a really tasty and quick snack that I will definitely eat again.

I used half of a Trader Joe's Blueberry Bran muffin heated for 30 seconds, 4 chopped large strawberries and a 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk to come up with this concoction and OH was it tasty!

I'm planning to have this again sometime this week with a full muffin for breakfast. All of the flavors went together perfectly.

Stats: 145 Calories, 4.2g Fat, 350mg Sodium, 23.7g Carbs, 3.8g Protein, 9.3g Sugar

I'll get to my overnight oats last since I have to explain my recipes in chronological order :)

I found a recipe for Bacon Ranch Chicken through Hungry Girl and gave it a go last night with a few modifications.

First, how could Bacon Ranch Chicken possibly be bad, but second, how could it be good for you?!

The chicken I made was made up of the ingredients below

Spicy Ranch Dressing Mix, Oscar Meyer Bacon Bits (for cooking), Garlic Powder, Dried Onion, Black Pepper, and Free Range Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

The package of Chicken that I purchased was 1 lb. It's honestly impossible to find pre-packaged chicken that is much under 1 lb. in your typical grocery store, but luckily when I opened the package one of the breasts was man-sized (about 10 ounces!) and the other was lady-sized (about 6 ounces) which happened to suit my boyfriend and myself very well!

I pre-heated the oven to 375 first, and covered a baking sheet with foil (and sprayed with Pam)

Next I removed the chicken breasts and coated them with garlic powder, dried onion & pepper on both sides. Once the breasts were seasoned, I took one teaspoon of the Spicy Ranch mix and pressed it evenly over the top side of each breast (1 teaspoon per breast).

I then took 1 tablespoon of the bacon bits (FYI, there are 3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon as I learned via Google since my tablespoon was in the dishwasher last night!) and pressed them evenly over the top of each breast (1 tablespoon per breast)

Here are the prepared breasts before heading into the oven

I cooked the chicken for 25 minutes (+3 minutes for the manly breast) and found that was just the right amount of time.

The bacon cooked really well and I think I'll start making it a staple in my house for baking. One tablespoon is 25 calories, which definitely deviates from bacon's usual unhealthy reputation.

To go with the chicken, I prepared a salad with a new super-human hybrid lettuce I bought at Raley's (seriously it's a cross between Romaine & Iceberg). While my interest was piqued by the hybrid thing, I was mostly drawn to the fact that the lettuce was on sale and pre-washed (awesome). I didn't expect for it to be so crisp and delicious!

To the lettuce I added white onion, celery, chopped carrot, a couple of slices of avocado, cherry tomatoes, fat free feta cheese, a bit more of the bacon (heated up in the microwave for 20 seconds until crisp), and TJ's Fat Free Parmesan Ranch

Yum. It was SO good and Boyfriend approved (big-time)!

Stats (Based on a 6 oz. Chicken Breast w/Salad): 310 Calories, 9.7g Fat, 788mg Sodium, 11.5g Carbs, 49g Protein, 5.4g Sugar

Last, but not least, I tried out a recipe for Overnight Oats (adapted from Fit Foodie Finds) since the strawberries were in need of another food pairing:

1/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/4 Cup Wheat Bran

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix all of the above ingredients in a tupperware container (or something similar) and place in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 2 hours).

Remove container after chilling period and layer with fresh strawberries or any other choice fruit (peanut or almond butter would also be tasty).

I used 4 Large Fresh Strawberries

This was really great and felt like I was having a special treat for breakfast. In the future I may omit the cinnamon just because I don't like fruit and spices together, but that's all up to your preference. I also added a Stevia packet to my oats mixture since I tend to like things a bit sweeter.

Stats: 203 Calories, 6.9g Fat, 75mg Sodium, 34g Carbs, 12g Fiber, 6.3g Protein, 2.3g Sugar

That's all I've got for now. Go out and get some fresh strawberries soon while they're this amazing. I fully intend on going to the Farmer's Market this weekend to get a ton of fresh produce for this week and some new recipes!

The 115 Calorie Cupcake

An Almond Buttercream cupcake for only 115 (actually 113.5) calories?! Yeah, it sounds too good to be true, but it's possible (and delicious!) using these ingredients:

I found out just recently that you can prepare a standard cake mix using a diet soda rather than oil and eggs. I was definitely intrigued, but a bit iffy about the whole thing, so I had to try it for myself with my own little twist.

For the batter, I used a box of yellow cake mix, one can of Diet Cream Soda & 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract (1/2 teaspoon would be okay if you want a bit more almond flavor, but be careful because the stuff is pretty potent). I used a hand-mixer and kept mixing until the batter was completely smooth. The consistency of the batter surprised me since it thickened up really nicely:

The batter divides into 24 cupcakes (1/2 serving of batter per cupcake) if you fill them each 2/3 full

From what I have read, the cupcakes are supposed to cook for the time instructed on the cake box (as well as the temperature instructed), but I only left mine in for 15 minutes and did the toothpick test to make sure they were done at that point.

They smelled delicious cooking in the oven, and they looked amazing when I removed them!

For the frosting, I used Betty Crocker "Whipped" Buttercream Frosting and used a hand mixer to incorporate another 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. A serving of the frosting is 2 tablespoons (100 calories), but I found that a 1/2 Tablespoon was plenty and cut down the calorie count to 25. I also added a garnish of two slices of almond (approx 3.5 calories, which is immaterial, but still included in the total).

They were delicious! And the best part is their stats:

113.5 Calories, 3.05g Fat, 186.25mg Sodium, 20.85g Carbs, 1.15g Protein, 12.3g Sugar

The possibilities are truly endless with the base of using any cake mix with any Diet Soda. Chocolate cake mix would also be tasty with Diet Cream Soda, and the "Whipped" variation of frosting is available in a ton of flavors. I will likely try a Red Velvet Cake mix next with the Whipped Cream Cheese frosting. The portion is fairly small (as it always is for a cupcake) but these are perfect to take to a function for a less unhealthy dessert option.

You'll Go Bananas for this Soft Serve!

This is officially my first time posting twice in one day (and probably my last), but holy moly, I had to share this dessert!

I frequently grab recipes from a blog called 'Oh She Glows', and I recently viewed a recipe for a "Banana Soft Serve" where the only ingredient is frozen banana. Conveniently, I've had a tupperware filled with frozen banana slices sitting in my freezer for over a week now, so it was kind of in fate's hands at that point.

The directions on OSG call for 2-3 bananas, but I just used one medium banana so I would have a serving. The directions also call for running the bananas in a food processor for 5 minutes until smooth, but my janky little guy doesn't have an 'on' button or anything fancy like that, and I didn't feel much like standing holding the chop button for 5 minutes, SO I held it down for 20 second intervals (about 4, scraping the sides each time). Since I only had one banana and I had accepted that a few chunks would add character, I left it at that. Here's what I was working with as far as consistency went:

And here is what it looked like all served up:

But it wouldn't have been complete without just one melted square of Simply Lite Dark Chocolate :)

Oh, and it tasted amazing!! Without the dark chocolate this is completely vegan, so if you wanted to add some chocolate flair without the minimal dairy, you could melt cacao nibs instead. This is so easy and so great. If you've got some brown looking nanners on your counter right now, chop 'em up, throw them in the freezer, and try this tomorrow!

Healthy BBQ Meal Makeover

This week there were a couple of gorgeous sunny days, and I found myself thinking about summer BBQ food when it came time to cook dinner. There are a lot of really tasty but really unhealthy BBQ-type foods out there, so I wanted to capture the essence of flavor but also avoid making a calorie/fat-laden meal. The catch was, I really didn't feel up to firing up the barbie or doing a ton of prep-work :) Predicament!

I drove my tired self to Raley's after work to see what kind of easy-to-prepare foods they had to offer. I like some of the items they have near the meat section, especially their shredded chicken, which is really great for quick tostadas. I found some pulled pork, which sounded so good, but the nutritional facts were disappointing. I finally found a great option with Lloyd's BBQ Pulled Pork:

A 1/4 cup serving has 80 calories, 2g Fat & 6g Protein. When I took out my 1/4 cup measuring cup, I thought, wow, this looks like the tiniest portion ever, but to my delight, the serving was a perfect fit on a toasted whole wheat bun. I added a tomato slice, pickle slice & romaine for some extra flavor.

We all know that any BBQ is not complete without some tasty sides. I'm a HUGE fan of coleslaw, so I made sure to add some plain coleslaw mix (found in the produce department by the bagged lettuce) and I also found some all natural Coleslaw dressing made by Marzetti. A serving of this dressing is 2 tablespoons (at 100 calories), but I only used one since I don't like overly dressed salads. I also have to say their packaging got me. Props to their marketing department for conveying the right message through labeling and bottle-shape alone. I'm okay with admitting that I fall for all of the consumer tricks!

Last, but certainly not least, I found these great red potato fries made by Alexia. A serving is 8 pieces, and they are really hearty, so I just went with 4 pieces instead. I would highly recommend these; especially since they are made with Parmesan Cheese and Garlic (how could that ever be bad?!).

So, I threw all of that onto a plate, and I came out with the masterpiece below; and all with very minimal effort! I apologize for the lack of photographic integrity; my 3G iPhone really doesn't cut it for capturing a moment.

BBQ Dinner Stats:

368 Calories, 10g Fat, 1025mg Sodium, 5g Fiber, 14g Protein

Not too shabby and this one is also *Boyfriend approved* which is a pretty big deal when it comes to making dinners :)

Here's to much more BBQ fare, and hopefully actually using the tool that gives the food its name next time!

Weekend Shopping, Memberships & Brownies That Don't Plague Your Bum

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend, I know I did! I really can't complain since I was able to catch up with beautiful friends at a baby shower yesterday, got a Mani/Pedi with my bestie, went on a date with my man, got a massage today, and THEN went shopping! It was as great as it sounds like it was.

I have to say, I've avoided getting a pedicure for a while, and now that it's getting warmer, it was definitely needed. Luckily my friend Stephanie felt the urge after her work-day was over yesterday and I jumped at the chance to catch up and be pampered at the same time. I went for the full-on Mani/Pedi, French Tip of course (since I could NEVER do that myself), and I love the way they look. I don't love that my thumb is already missing part of its beautiful bright whiteness which reminded me that I probably didn't need to spend $25 on getting that done, but I still appreciate it anyway because it looks pretty :)

I've had a gift certificate to get a 60 min. massage since Valentine's Day thanks to my love, but I have procrastinated getting it until now, which was silly since my back is a tension playground in my shoulders and neck and I get tension headaches for this reason. The girl at The Integrated Massage Center (by Chico Sports Club) did an awesome job and even gave me 20 extra minutes for free because my left shoulder "needed a lot of extra work". I think I should probably try to make the investment to do this more often because it was wonderful.

Last night my boyfriend and I were going to go out for dinner and some wine, but due to overcrowded-ness at our first dining option, we opted for Burgers and Brew downstairs and ditched the wine idea. I had a delicious turkey burger and a couple of glasses of Stella Artois, which is my favorite beer ever and I can't help but to feel classy drinking it because of this genius ad that I always see in Cosmo:

Burgers & Brew even uses the same glasses, so I thoroughly enjoyed my consumption!

After we got home and had a chance to digest, I was feeling a bit of a sweet tooth and remembered that I had a box of Trader Joe's Guilt Free Brownie Mix! I had yet to try the stuff, but it sounded interesting and I've heard good things. All that you have to do is add non-fat yogurt (2/3 cup) to the mix and spread into a baking dish or pan before baking for about 15 minutes (I baked under the directed time because my oven is a speedy cooker) at 350. I had non-fat vanilla yogurt so I used that. The instructions say to "mix with a spoon" but I find that a bit ridiculous since there is very little wetness to work with, so I used my hand-mixer and it worked really well. The brownies were/are SO good and only 130 calories for 1/12 of the pan, which is actually a pretty large square. I just had one for a snack today and they are still as moist and tasty as they were last night. I will probably have them for snacks for a few days.

As far as great deals this weekend, I started off on Friday by taking advantage of Sephora's 15% discount on all purchases for Beauty Insiders. You can become a Beauty Insider by simply signing up and you get points each time you make a purchase, which provides a ton of perks and free gifts. I stocked up on Bare Minerals Matte for the summer-time when I don't like to wear full-coverage makeup. This sale is good through 4/21, so if you're in need of some makeup, sign up and take the extra percentage off! The code to use at checkout is CHIC.

Another site that provides a lot of great deals for simply signing up is HauteLook (Gilt is also great). You get email notifications daily about sales, and they frequently have designer brands at awesome prices. The sales start at 9am PST, so you want to check in early before things start to sell out (which they always do). I found this adorable Guess dress yesterday:

Today after my massage, I was able to go to Old Navy to check out the sale that they are having. I am SO happy I did! The current deal is that you take 30% off of any already marked down merchandise, and seemingly almost everything was marked down! Here are the items I got for myself:

I purchased:

Skinny Cuffed Jeans - $11.33

Jean Capris - $26.55 (These weren't really on the big sale, I just wanted them)

Fuschia Dress (the one I wanted!) - $18.26

Coral Stone-Detail Tank - $2.83!

Dark Green Shirt Dress - $8.49!

I also found a ton of great stuff for the boy, and I learned that their Men's polos will be going on sale for $6 on 4/23, which is a killer deal if you have a man who needs some summer clothing. I particularly like their heather blend polos:

As if my Old Navy escapade wasn't enough, I headed to Forever 21 and got some more deals because I was just in the mood to dig through sales racks. I found a lot of great sale items including this striped yellow & white tunic (maybe a dress to some people, but not this girl) for $4.99:

I also paid full retail price (only $20.00) for this adorable dress along with a few belts at only $6-$8 each full retail, which is a huge steal.

Well, that's all I've got for today. Make sure to check out some of these deals if you get the chance, and DEFINITELY make sure to try the Guilt Free Brownies because they are live-changing!

Zucchini Sticks, New Snacks & Payday Spending Plans...

It's been a little while since my last post and yet another busy week. I want to start off by sharing the recipe I mentioned last weekend for the Baked Zucchini Sticks. I made another successful batch this weekend, but they weren't as good as when I made them the first time. I must have added a little extra Romano Cheese that time :)

All in all, these are very easy and a healthy way to get a little bit of crunch into a snack but still get your veggies at the same time.

Thanks to Gina's Skinny Recipes (my favorite healthy cooking blog) for this one:

Baked Zucchini Sticks 
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 3 • Serving Size: 1 zucchini • Old Points: 1.5 pts (sauce extra) •Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 121.9 • Fat: 2.4 • Carbs: 21.0 g • Fiber: 6.0 • Protein: 6.7 g 

• 3 medium zucchini sliced into 3" x 1/2" sticks
• 1 large egg white
• 1/3 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• cooking spray
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt
• fresh pepper

Here's a picture of the sticks in progress:

And here is the finished product:

I would have whipped up a quick homemade marinara, but I was already pretty food processor-ed out after my Hummus, so I just used some organic tomato sauce leftover from dinner earlier on in the week.

While I love to try out new recipes and make my own meals a lot of the time, I also have nights (more frequently lately) when I just don't feel up to cooking a full-on dinner. I have found a new love in Lean Cuisine's Thai Chicken (and Garlic Chicken) Spring Rolls. I can pop these things in the oven and they're done within 10-15 minutes and I serve them with a simple salad. Voila! The best part is that my boyfriend LOVES them. He even bought some himself at the store, so you know that he's a big fan :)

A serving of 3 spring rolls is 200 calories, 7g Fat, 10g Protein, 23g Carbohydrates. We also discovered that they are delish with Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper soup (the kind in the box, which is AMAZINGGGG). 

Some other great finds of late have been:

Trader Joe's Protein Power Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins. 130 calories, 2g Fat, 7g Protein, 22g Carbohydrates (great heated up in the mirco for 15 seconds)

Luna Bar, Chocolate Dipped Coconut bars... Heavenly. There is quite a bit of Saturated Fat in this bar (because of the coconut) but so long as you limit your consumption for the rest of the day, it's no biggie. 190 calories, 7g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 9g Protein, 25g Carbohydrates

I always have dessert, and these bars do not disappoint. Skinny Cow always does it right, but they have a home-run with their Cookies 'n Cream Truffle Bar. 110 Calories, 2g Fat, 3g Protein, 20g Carbohydrates

I get paid tomorrow (thankfully!) so I'm definitely planning to venture into the shopping world, and I know I'm definitely stopping by Old Navy to check out these dresses (further below) on sale. I can't tell you how many times I've found the most adorable dresses there, and whenever I get complimented on them most people say they would NEVER think they could find such great clothing at Old Navy. Well, you can, it's always affordable, and most of their clothing runs a size larger, so you'll get a confidence boost too!

Pin-tucked Tie-Front Dress $30.00 (Sale)

Embroidered White Sundress $25.00 (Sale)

I'll definitely share if I have any luck in my shopping endeavors or discover any new food finds this weekend. Feel free to share if you have any luck as well! I love getting tips in return from some of you; that's what this is all about :)