Lemon Garlic Tilapia: Recipe #1

Hello Bloggers! Happy Hump day! 

From time to time I'll be posting some of my favorite recipes that I've used, discovered, created or have been given. I'll try to do this at least once a week and tag it for easy searching later. I've used this recipe with Tilapia (of course), but also with Cod and Catfish. Blogger Note: Cod, depending on the size will need to cook longer, about 20-25 minutes at a 400 degree oven. I've also altered it with Hatch peppers...yummmmm Hatch peppers...so experiment! Don't be afraid, it won't bite :)

Try it tomorrow and let me know how you like it!

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

Ingredients:

4 Tilapia fillets

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Margarine (The recipe originally calls for Country Crock Sheds Spread)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

Dash of salt

Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400

Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray

Melt butter in microwave

Add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and parsley and sautee for a few minutes

Pour over tilapia fillets in baking pan

Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top of fish

Bake in preheated over for about 13 minutes (see above note for cod bake time), and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes. 

Number of services 4.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Fat: 6.2g

Carb: 1.8g

Calories: 128.5

Protien: 18.2g

*Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user JENNAGUERRA

A tisket, a tasket....

Today I fell into one of my old habits. Scary thing was that I didn't notice until after it was to late. It wasn't one of those conscious decisions to overeat or binge. It was one of the easiest traps that anyone can fall into. Snacking...


Now don't get me wrong, snacking is great, but in moderation. My normal eating day consists of 3 meals and two snacks. The snacks are usually a measured amount of almonds, a piece of fruit, greek yogurt or an organic energy bar. 


Todays afternoon snack were almonds. However the difference in todays snack was that I made one big mistake. I just took the whole package instead of doing what I normally do and count out a serving size and put it in a sandwich bag. At about 3pm today while working on some legal documents I took out my almonds....at about 3:20 they "mysteriously" vanished, and I was oddly stuffed to the point that I felt ill.


Just like that my well thought out eating plan for the day was blown and with it my determination. That damn domino effect again! It wasn't a wellness filled day for me today, but I'm putting it behind me and starting fresh, and a little better organized, tomorrow.


So, what are some good ways to control this from happening?? It's all about portions and planning.  


Make sure to check that label before you leave the house, or even the night before. Plan, prepare and portion your plate!

What is Wellness?

For the last 12 weeks my office has been offering nutrition classes for their employees. It’s part of our company’s initiative to have healthy, happy employees. Do they know that mandatory 3 day weekends would help us achieve that goal too?! :)

Today our lesson centered on Wellness. The nutritionists definition of wellness was the perfect balance of Body, Mind and Spirit with a focus on the body. 

For me, my definition is the center of myself; my core, my joyous mental state and my low “badness level” as my favorite Disney Character Stitch likes to call it.

My body gives me clues if I’m feeling unbalanced. I’m sluggish, irritable and my sleeping patterns are WAY off. I also find myself wanting to eat poorly when I’m unbalanced. I’m not as diligent on the label reading or I tend to eat out a lot. I’m also more app to choose that unhealthy item from the center of the grocery store rather than shopping the perimeter. We'll talk about shopping the perimeter in a later post. 

Good thing is, your body gives you clues when you're doing things good too! Have you ever noticed that when you practice wellness and focus on healthy eating you lean towards doing better things for yourself? Your mind is conscious and your body wills it to make smart choices and informational decisions. You have more willpower, more drive, a higher success rate at whatever goal you try and set for yourself. It's a wonderful feeling, you really should try it! 

Go, be well my friends.

**Company wellness talks provided by sCULPture Nutrition & Fitness, LLC.-sCULPturetexas.com

You are what you eat!

Today, I thought, is THE day. The day to start a blog. It's not like I've had an uneventful day, and needed something to do, quite the opposite in fact. For the last 13 months I've been consistently busy and engulfed  in wedding planning, my own in fact, but I wanted a different kind of busy. I was sitting here, messing with Facebook and just thinking quietly to myself. So many thoughts going through my head, and I just wanted a place to write them all down.

As I sit here watching my 2 year old Staffordshire Terrier try to catch a fly buzzing around the window I think to myself that the old phrase "you are what you eat" is really true...then I thought, wow...that was a strange place to have THAT epiphany. That would mean my dog would be a fly, or something completely twisted like that.

I was thinking how much better I've been feeling, both emotionally and physically since I started my new life journey. How much better my body feels since I started eating whole grain and non enriched breads. How much stronger and empowered I feel since I started strength training, and working out on a regular basis and how much more informed I feel now that I actually read labels!

You are what you eat!

More times than not if I can't pronounce it, I won't eat it. Why on EARTH would I want to eat anything that has  'Natural Flavoring' in it? bugs, guts and naturally occurring chemicals are considered "natural". Nala, my dog, just caught and ate that fly... Does that put it in perspective for you?

Take baby steps. Start slow. Eliminate or change one thing about how you're eating now. Just one. You don't even have to give UP anything...yet, but instead how about drinking one more glass of water today than you did yesterday? How how about purchasing one fresh, in season, organic or local farmed fruit or vegetable that you normally cook from a can. Just small choices to start, can make the biggest difference. It's like a domino effect, and there is no guaranteed tomorrow, so start today!

~Heather

*Some excerpts taken from Lynne's Health Highway: www.lynneshealthhighway.com