Skinny Spring Rolls

We made these spring rolls at my girlfriends house the other day. I really like the combination we came up with. These wraps are what made me loose 30 pounds after I was pregnant. They are not only low calories but they are healthy. Eating these will make you feel great. You are what you eat, right?!

We put white rice in them which I never recommend especially if your trying to change your lifestyle or loose some weight. My family eats plain white rice about once a month. Better alternatives are quinoa (my favorite) brown,red and black rice. When I really try to shed some weight, I cut all the grains out and eat fruit for my carbohydrates.

Ingredients:
Cilantro
Roasted Red Peppers
Avocado
Onions
Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Rice (optional)
Rice paper

Sauce:
Peanut butter
Housing Sauce
Broth, we used vegetarian.
Crushed peanuts

Add hoisin and peanut butter equal parts. Add broth to liquidify it. Top with crushed peanuts.

Get the rice paper wet. Layer veggies in then start rolling! It will take practice to get this down!


               Christine

My Favorite Weight Loss Foods

I wanted to share my absolute favorite foods I ate for weight loss. There are many different ways to loose weight and everyone needs to find what works for them but these are what really made me loose weight.
I posted below spring rolls and hand rolls. Now I know these are typical oriental foods and people always tend to match them with oriental spices but I don't. I mixed them with anything and everything possible. There are two ingredients I always use, a type of protein and a type of vegetable. I stayed away from foods high in carbohydrates like rice, bread and noodles. The rice paper and seaweed are great substitutes for those. If I made tacos for my family I would replace my tacos with rice paper. I have also made mediterranean spring rolls with a greek yogurt sauce that were great also. What ever protein I cooked for my family whether it is steak, chicken, shrimp, beans, etc the list can go on and on I mixed with whatever veggies I have. These are really healthy and nutritious for you and are low calorie. They taste amazing also!

Another reason why I also recommend cutting out foods high in carbohydrates is because I don't feel tired everyday. I use to feel so sluggish and exhausted all the time I could barely get house work done. I feel full of energy now and I love it. I also don't feel bloated and full which is really nice.

Quick tip for seaweed rolls. Make sure whatever you put on the seaweed first is warm. I heat up my hummas then spread on the seaweed. The heat softens the seaweed so it won't break.

Roasted Seaweed handroll with hummas, clover sprouts, cilantro, red onions, cucumbers and mint. 

Spring roll with hummas, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, green bell peppers and red onion

Roasted Pine Nut Hummas

Laugh and Love

Christine

For more Spring Roll recipes you can use the search box to the left of my blog page. Type in the word spring roll. Thanks!! ;)

Chia Pudding

I am super excited because an Organic Market opened up right down the street from me this week. I can't tell you how excited I was. When I lived in California I lived 2 minutes away from Sprouts so when I moved here it was a big change I didn't want to get use to. Now, I don't have to order any of my health foods online and I can pop in and out and get fresh ingredients. Did I say how happy I am?!! 

I made some chia seed pudding with what I bought this week. I literally drank mine it was so good.

If you would like to browse other chia pudding recipes you can type the word chia in the search box to the left of my blog page. It will bring up more recipes.

Recipe below ;)

Serving: 2 cups
2 tablespoons chia seed
2 cups plain hemp milk
2 tablespoons goji berries
Mint leaves

Mix the chia seeds and hemp milk together. Let sit atleast 2 hours.  The seeds will expand the longer they sit but I don't recommend letting them sit longer then overnight. They get a little mushy for my taste if they sit too long. Top with goji berries and mint leaves and eat up!

Laugh and Love

Christine

Steak Leftovers

A super easy way for me to eat healthy is salads. I know your probably feeling blahhhh when you hear that because I know salads can be boring! I definitely can relate, but for me it is all about the end result. Being able to discipline yourself or having self control is definitely worth all that hard work paying off in the end whether it is for losing weight, being healthy or just a mental challenge. I know eating healthy is very hard when you start in the beginning. You feel like your an alcoholic not being able to drink but after you start eating healthy on a regular basis all that junk and crappie food you ate will eventually sound gross to you! If your a junk food junkie and are trying to start eating healthy don't get angry with yourself for going off track! If your eating healthier then you were before then your off to a great start. Just keep it up and slowly add more healthy foods in your diet ;)

ON TO THE SALAD

 During the winter on cold days I always want something nice and hot to eat and eating a cold salad is just not satisfying! I will grab whatever vegetables I have in the fridge and cut them up. I will also get whatever protein I have as leftovers which was steak for me and sauté them in a pan, with olive oil and garlic until it is wilted. I'll pour some dressing (I used balsamic glaze below) and have a nice hot meal that is super lean and healthy!

* I try to not eat red meats too much and tend to replace it with chicken, beans or seeds. Everything in moderation!

Laugh and Love

Christine

Link up with Fitness Blondie, Pig and Dac