lunch – FaithFueled™ Mom

BruschettaChicken

I live in New Jersey also known as the garden state and for the last three years, I have had a Spring, Summer, Fall garden that is getting larger with every year. We have a small backyard, and I am either going to have to move to some acres or just forget to let the kids play and take the whole yard for my garden. I never thought I would be the type of girl to garden, but it has taught me patience. I usually start my seeds in the winter end of January indoors and by Mother’s Day, they are ready to be planted. Usually around now is where I am reaping my rewards. My herbs are first like my oregano and basil that I use in this recipe and then my tomatoes. This year I have four varieties all heirloom tomatoes. I cannot wait for more garden to table meals to come from them. I have six different peppers. This year will be my first year trying Cruciferous veggies like Broccoli, Orange Cauliflower, and Red Cabbage. I have already harvested my first crop of Arugula, Spinach, Lettuce, Mesclun, and Kale. I still don’t think I could live in the country, but I do prefer my garden fresh over store bought veggies any day.

BruschettaChicken

This meal is a great summer time easy meal you can make in minutes. Its low in fat and high in taste. A real crowd pleaser, and anything that my in between diva can’t get enough of must be good because she has a very sensitive pallet meaning she hates everything. I used to make this meal with a lot more oil, crushed tomatoes and just lots of unnecessary processed extras. Now, that we’re clean eaters I find when I take out the garbage; add fresh herbs and ingredients. It not only tastes better that processed meals it also leaves you feeling better afterwards. All the helpers and one pot skillet starters are no comparisons to fresh ingredients. So, whether these ingredients come from your backyard or the store, please choose fresh over canned when it comes to trying this recipe. Are you a gardener or do you save that for the farmers?

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Meal Time Monday

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Crab Salad in Avocado

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crab salad

What is this Carb Cycling thing I have heard about?

Have you ever heard of Carb Cycling? Carb cycling is basically intermittently switching from hi,low, no carbs (and I mean good carbs not pasta, bread etc. more like carrots, brown rice and sweet potatoes). By eating this way it allows your body to burn fat while conserving muscle. All this hard work I can’t afford to lose any muscle. So, say in a week Monday is low carb, Tuesday and Wednesday is No Carb, Thursday is Low Carbs and Friday is High Carbs and again it’s (Carrot, peas, brown rice and sweet potatoes) not a pizza, french fry and burger buffet. You still have to stay within a certain caloric intake but it’s just the type of calories you are consuming. I am not a fan of diets. I am all about lifestyle changes and this sounds complicated, I know and that is why I have avoided it for so long. After lots of research I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try and see the results are.

If it’s ain’t broke don’t fix it

Until now, I have been doing a heavy weight training routine and lots of HIIT a few girls in my accountability group are doing Carb Cycling and I have seen great results so I figured I would give it a try. I am in the second half of my weight loss journey. I can see the goal but still have a ways to get there. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try a new diet. So, like most things I jumped in and started researching and it became very intimidating. There are so many view points on it and I like my food to be simple. Anything complex and I just give up and reach for the yummiest thing I can find. Notice I didn’t say healthiest. I have come so far so why try something if it’s not broken. So, Carb Cycling eve came and I was on the verge of bailing. With a pep talk from my husband I created a week meal plan. I figured I won’t die in a week and trying something new never hurt. I never thought I could workout with 20 lbs weights or do push-ups or burpees and now those are a part of my routine.

Where do I begin?

So, I did it like all my other meal plans. I flipped to my Meal Plan page (You can download my meal planner here) in my Planner and started planning like I always do but a little bit differently. I usually eat mostly Produce and Protein and Complex Carbs after workouts and before noon. So, I excluded that. So, my meal plan looked like this for a Carb Cycle week:

CarbCycle Meal Plan

So not only did I try a new meal plan but I added a new meal to the menu. I didn’t want to go into total change meltdown but while scrolling on Pinterest I found this yummy recipe and it inspired my own. I basically took the idea and created my own ingredients and it turned out delicious and will be a regular on the meal plan. Have you heard of carb cycling before? What do you think? Could you do it?

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:16]

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