Friendly Competition and Freekah Parfaits

Let me tell you guys something that I am excited about this month.  It's a little friendly competition that I have with two of my friends to become healthier and get back on track so that my pants fit a little better.

I am a very competitive person and always have been so this has been great way to jump start my road to getting healthier!   Again this is just a friendly competition so we are all in this together for the end goal of refocusing our life to become healthier with a little fun!

Here is the email I sent out with the rules: 

"Alright so it's the first day of our 21 day healthy challenge, done on June 21st!!

I'm excited to do this with some fun and crazy friends and get our fitness together!

So here's the rules so we are clear:

#1. You get 1 cheat food day a week to maintain balance in your life, any other food cheat days will cost you $5 to the "kitty"

#2  work out each day!  Remember this should be hard for you so be honest and if you don't meet it each day $5 to the "kitty"

#3. Vodka!  You can have 3 drinks a week, any drink past that is $5/ea to the "kitty". You are allowed 1 "binge day" for drinking in the 21 day challenge. 

Whoever contributes the least amount of money to the kitty will win all the money.

If nobody contributes money than we will plan a fun girls night of sushi and vodka!!!

Good luck all.  I don' t like to loose so it's on!

Use this email to respond when you all owe me money"

I am a very cheap person so this competition is keeping me motivating because I don't like to spend money.  Especially if all I have to do is eat more health focused meals, exercise more, and drink less.  

One of the many trails I have discovered around my house because of this competition.

Because of this competition I have gotten back to having grains and proteins already pre cooked in the fridge for the week to use for healthy and convenient meals.

This brings up my recipe of the week that fits into all diets and lifestyles.  It's a freekah parfait.  If you have never heard of freekah it's an ancient grain that has a very nutty flavor and a chewy texture.  It's has 4 times more fiber than brown rice and has about 6g of protein for a cup.  

Freekah is delicious for all sorts of recipes.  Anything you would use rice or quinoa for you can use freekah for.  This recipe is fun because it brings more bang for your buck to a fruit and yogurt parfait.

Look at these cute little treats!

All you need to get started! As you can see I have just scooped out the freekah from the fridge that I had pre cooked to use all week.

 

After the freekah is cooked and cooled, just add in the cinnamon, agave nectar and almond milk and mix until all incorporated.

Next divide the freekah mixture equally between the 4 bowls/ cups.  Add the vanilla Greek yogurt on top.

Finish off each one with some assorted berries and banana slices.  I choose blueberries and raspberries this time because they were on sale and looked delicious.  Mix it up to keep things interesting. I will tell you that I have done coconut yogurt with mangoes and pineapple for the fruit and it was also good.

So delicious and makes me feel more satisfied when I get done eating it, rather than a snickers!!

Happy hump day all!!

Freekah Parfait

Serves 4

2 ½ c. water

1 c. Freekah, uncooked

½ c. Vanilla Almond Milk, unsweetened

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp. Agave Nectar

2 c. Assorted Berries 

1 banana, sliced

1 c. Vanilla Greek yogurt

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add freekeh and reduce heat to a simmer until liquid has absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  In a medium bowl add the cooled freekah, vanilla almond milk, ground cinnamon, and agave nectar and mix until combined.  Set aside.  In another medium bowl mix the berries and sliced bananas together.  Set aside. 

To assemble: Take 4 plastic cups and equally divide the freekah mixture, top each with 1/4 c. of Greek yogurt and top with about 1/2 c. of the fruit mixture.  Enjoy!

Cool

"What the What?" Wednesday and Popsicles for Breakfast

Have you ever seen something that looks so easy that you think, "Why didn't I see this sooner? Obviously that is a great idea that I should adopt for my everyday life."  And when the idea is also easy, cheap cost effective,  healthy, and fun for the whole family, that's when you just have to say "What the What?  Why am I not doing this!" Okay so I'm going to give you not a mind blowing recipe today because I don't really even have a recipe for this but it's more of a mind blowing idea that you can have popsicles for breakfast!

Yeah I said it, POPSICLES FOR BREAKFAST.  Sorry, I get a little excited, I didn't mean to yell.  If you have kids or even if you are a kid at heart, don't you feel like your mind has been blown?  Popsicles for breakfast is a win win situation that will leave your kids happy and full and parents happy because they know that their kids are getting a nutritional on the go breakfast that doesn't take much time in the kitchen.

So I received these popsicle molds for a gift quite awhile ago and never used them.  Then one day I looked in my fridge and saw a couple of Greek yogurts that need to be used up.  I put a couple of them in the mold to freeze overnight and it changed my mind of this little gadget.  These little molds are perfect to make Greek yogurt breakfast pops.  Okay I know you don't have to just eat them for breakfast, you can have them for a snack or dessert, but when do you ever get to say you had popsicles for breakfast?  Check out this "cool" idea!

This is all you need!

 

All you need to do is get two containers of yogurt.  They can be the same kind or different, it's your call, it's your popsicles, it's your breakfast.  I decided to go with a blueberry/ strawberry mixture to get a couple different flavors that compliment each other.  I decided to go with Siggi's yogurt because it is nice and creamy, it's lower in sugar than most yogurts, lower in fat, and higher in protein so that it keeps the kiddos full throughout the morning.

If you do not have a popsicle mold you can get one at any retail store for about $10-15, or you can use cute little dixie cups and then put a plastic spoon in it for the handle.  Easy peasy!  Whatever you do, just start eating these popsicles for breakfast!

Step one (if using two types of yogurt), mix the two containers of yogurt in a bowl 

Divide the yogurt into the molds, or Dixie cups.

Drop the mold or cups a couple times on the counter.  This will take out some of the big air bubbles and compact the yogurt into the bottom of the mold.

There's still going to be some air bubbles but it's okay!

Put the top of the popsicle mold on, or this is when you would insert the plastic spoon straight into the dixie cup.

Place them in the freezer for at least 4 hours, but preferable overnight.

Take them out and get prepared for the reaction on your kids' face when you tell them you are having popsicles for breakfast.

You just have to turn the cover a little.  If it sticks I run it under some warm water for a couple seconds and the cover comes right off.  If you are using dixie cups, just tear the paper off!

With the fake ice cream cone handle they look like you are having ice cream for breakfast!

Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!

-Cool