Tortellini Chicken Soup

First recipe of 2021! Here we go! 

I’m always game for a good one pot meal, especially with 3 littles running around. I love how this one is only 6 ingredients and virtually no work! If meat isn’t your thing, you can always omit the chicken sausage! Or, if you wanted, you could use Italian sausage. If you want it a little on the creamier side, add more cream cheese than 8 oz! I served mine with some bread on the side! 

Let me know how yours turns out! 

Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes 

6-8 oz Cream cheese 

3-4 cups Spinach 

Chicken sausage (I used 6) 

4 cups Vegetable broth 

Tortellini 

1. Slice sausage, brown for 3-5 mins in saucepan.

2. Cut cream cheese into squares.

3. Pour vegetable broth, diced tomatoes and cream cheese in crockpot. Add browned sausage.

4. Cook on low for 3-4 hours

5. Put tortellini in crockpot. Let cook for 7-10 mins. Add spinach, in batches, if needed. Cook until wilted.

6. Serve & enjoy!

Fast Shrimp Paella

Happy Monday friends! I threw together this meal for the first time tonight and its definitely a keeper! Easy, not a lot of ingredients, tasty and quick!

For this recipe, I used brown rice and frozen peas and shrimp. This meal took me about 30 minutes all up to prepare and cook for (and thats including an intermission to get something for my son who came down from bed! Ha!)

I love this meal because using frozen shrimp and peas really cuts down on prep time. Rice is a super easy carb to make, and you throw it all into one pan! Also, tumeric is an EXCELLENT spice to use - there are so many health benefits to it (google it!).

Enjoy!

Easy Shrimp Paella

Ingredients:

1 cup of rice 
Olive oil 
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 cup chopped pepper (your choice what color) 
1-2 cloves garlic, minced. 
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup water
1.5 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (I use frozen) 
Salt and pepper to taste 
Cilantro for garnish (optional) 

Directions:

1. Cook rice as per directions 

2. Heat olive oil, garlic and tumeric in a frying pan. Cook until fragrant. Add peppers. 

3. Add shrimp and cook until no longer opaque. Add peas. Add water if needed (I had a little leftover water as the shrimp were defrosting, so I did not even need to add it!)

4. Mix cooked rice and mix. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. 

5. Top with cilantro. Enjoy!

Hope you all had a great Monday!

xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday: Peanut Tofu Rice Bowl with Avocado

It has been a minute since I shared a Meal Plan Monday, and I’ll be honest it is a HUGE goal of mine to share more recipes in this space! I know so many of you follow me not only for fashion, but also for nutrition & fitness which is why I want to share more behind the scenes of what I eat on a daily basis. My goal is to share two recipes a month, if I can churn out more, great! The hardest part is that I am a creature of habit…so writing new blog posts on recipes means I have to make new ones! ha!

I meant to make this recipe last week, but I just reverted to making pancakes for dinner because by the time I got all 3 kids to bed I was tired AF! Trust me when I say that this recipe was worth the wait! This is hands down one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever made for the first time and I’ll definitely be adding this into the rotation. Its fast, easy, and not a lot to cut up (this is key for me in my stage of life!).

Keep in mind that you definitely don’t need to use Tofu (you could totally use chicken), but I thought it would be good so I went for it!

Peanut Tofu Rice Bowl with Avocado

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup spinach leaves (you can use more or less! Up to you!)
1 cups broccoli florets
2 teaspoons olive oil or additional sesame oil
16 oz extra firm tofu (I used firm and it was a little mushy so I would recommend extra firm!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Avocado

Peanut sauce

1–2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons chili sauce
1/4 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut tofu into small cubes. Warm olive oil in frying pan or wok. Sautee tofu until lightly browned. While tofu is cooking, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce (sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, chili sauce, peanut butter) until creamy and smooth. Add sauce to the tofu bowl and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cut Broccoli and mince garlic. Sautee garlic until fragrant. Add the broccoli for 3-5 mins.

Add tofu, in batches, along with the marinating sauce until crispy and golden browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add shredded carrots, and spinach. Cook until spinach begins to wilt. Add 1/4-1/2 cup water depending on how thick you want the sauce. (I used 1/4 cup)

Top with Avocado & Enjoy!

xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday: Stir Fried Pork with Vegetables

Meal Plan Monday

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. I’m here to share a really good recipe that I think you all will enjoy! This is a family friendly recipe that is pretty quick, easy to make and has great flavor. It’s been one of my favorites for years, mostly because its so different. Anyone else feel like they eat chicken every night??!! #ME. This is a one pan meal that encompasses everything: protein, fats, carbs….meat, veggies & starch! Also, you can prep this ahead of time and save about 10 mins. (Marinate the meat in the morning or early afternoon, slice the veggies)!

As you can see below, there are some parts of the recipe that are optional (like sugar), and things that can be substituted to make it easier for you at the grocery store (olive oil vs peanut oil!). I also love that you don’t need a bunch of sauces to make this-its just one kind of sauce and the flavor is so good!

Also…I am not a HUGE pork fan so take my word for it that this is a good meal!!

Hope you all enjoy this meal! xo

Stir fried pork with Vegetables

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound Pork Tenderloin
3 scallions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 one inch piece of garlic, peeled and minced
Broccolli, cut
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar (optional, I did not use)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1-2 teaspoon Sherry or Shaohsing wine (optional, I used water today)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
5 tablespoons peanut oil (can be substituted with olive oil)
3/4 pound sugar snap peas
1 green pepper, sliced
Salt & pepper to taste
1.5 tablespoon hoisin sauce
Brown Rice

Directions:

1. Toss the pork with the scallion whites, half the garlic, half the soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, the sherry and the sesame wine. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. (You can also marinate early in the morning before you leave for the day). Mix the remaining 2 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water.

2. Start cooking your rice.

3. Heat a skillet or wok over high heat. Add peanut il and heat. Add the green pepper & broccoli, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add sugar snap pas and the remaining garlic, ginger; stir fry until the sugar snaps are bright green & crisp. Cook in batches if needed. Pour into a large bowl.

4. Heat the same wok/saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the pork mixture (add in batches if necessary). Stir fry until slightly brown, 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar snap peas. Add the hoison sauce and cornstarch mix. Cook until the juice thickens, about one minute.

5. Spread the stir fry over rice on individual plates. Enjoy!

Let me know what you all think!

Happy Cooking!

xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday: Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Happy Monday! I’m a week into FASTer Way to Fat loss and I’m feeling great! I can already see a difference in my body and my milk supply has been great! I’m so excited to go through the full 6 weeks and share results!

Its been awhile since I threw a recipe on here…mostly because I have been eating the same thing over and over the last month or so #BASIC..haha. I did try this recipe at home yesterday though and it was easy to make so I had to share. It IS kid friendly but I would lay off the paprika in the dredge if you have young kids.

This meal is literally bomb.com and some of it can be prepped ahead of time (rice, and sauce!). I can’t take credit for this amazing-ness though-a friend of mine made it for me during my postpartum phase and it was pretty much heaven on earth. This is pretty much the first stir fry that isn’t sunbasket that I’ve made that actually tastes like a legit stir fry! So I’m here to tell you that this recipe can be mastered by anyone! Special shout out to my friend for this recipe! xo!

Anyway, enough talk. Let’s get to this stir fry!

Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound chicken breasts sliced into frying pieces
Canola oil for frying
Broccoli
Rice

Batter:

1 C Flour
3 t paprika
1 t garlic powder
2 t salt & pepper
Mix above ingredients in large dish for chicken to be dipped in.

Dipping:

2 eggs beat (separate bowl)
1 C corn starch (separate bowl)

Sauce:

5 oz Mae ploy sweet chili sauce
5 Oz water
1/4 C low sodium soy sauce
1/8 C rice wine vinegar
1/4 C honey
1 t Thai chili sauce (more if want spicier)
1 T sesame oil
2 T corn starch

Combine all ingredients except cornstarch and mix well.

To Serve:

Sesame seeds
Cooked rice
Steamed Broccoli

Instructions:

1. Heat adequate oil in large frying pan

2. Dredge the chicken in the cornflour, then dip in the egg and then dredge in flour mixture.  Add to the frying pan and cook on medium high heat for 7-10 minutes or until brown on both sides.  Remove from the pan and place on paper towels.

3. While chicken is cooking, cook rice. Remove broccoli from stems, and steam.

4. add all the sauce ingredients to a hot pan. Mix in corn starch with whisk through fine sleeve to prevent clumping. and cook to thicken, generally 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy!

xo

Alex

Appetizer 101: Rustic Guacamole

Tuesday Vibes

Happy Tuesday friends..can get a heck YES for a 4 day week??! So basically its really like Wednesday or Thursday?? Something like that. Whatever. Its a short week! YES! Its going to be freeezing here Thursday on Thanksgiving day so I’m already thinking it might be perfect weather for an afternoon snooze (something I never get to do these days because #thatworkingmomlife!

I’m so lucky that my brother and sister in law host so I get to chill (which is esp amazing bc I’m pegnant AF rn) I’m planning on decorating my house for Christmas on Thursday, or at least starting it out ha. My 4 year old has asked me about 18 times when we were decorating so we are going to get that party started! Have you guys already started decorating?

Rustic Guacamole Recipe

I thought I would share an awesome appetizer you can all make now that we are in the height of entertaining season! This is one of our go-to’s to make when we have some company over and it is def a big hit! You can make it all year round and serve it with chips (of course) but also with any sort of cracker, veggies or even throw it in your taco/fajita if you’re just having a quiet night with family for taco night!

Ingredients:

2 Avocados (picking good ones is key!)
1 diced roma tomato
2-3 cloves garlic minced
Cumin
Cayenne
Cilantro
Salt
1/4 cup onion (optional)
1 small jalepeno pepper diced

Directions:

1. Cut the garlic, tomato, cilantro, and jalepeno and onion (if using).

2. Mash the avocados

3. Mix in all of the above ingredients

4. Add water if needed (you will be able to tell if it is too pasty!)

5. Lastly, add your cumin, cayenne and salt. This is based on how spicy you like yours! We like to use a decent amount and the first time make sure you take a taste as you are sprinkling in!

   Normally, we use onion but lately we haven’t been adding it just because I get the worst indigestion with pregnancy! And honestly I don’t even really miss it that much!! So its worth a try, and if you don’t like onion, this recipe is still AWESOME!

   Hope you guys have a great afternoon and let me know what you think!

   xo

   Alex

Monday Meal Plan: Breakfast

Hi friends!

Ok, so…lets get to it. I’ve gained and lost 135 lbs over the last 6 years so I have a little experience in getting your body back after baby. I always get questions about what I eat! Today I’m focusing on breakfast.

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals. I truly believe it is so important to have a good breakfast and set yourself up for the rest of the day. .

So, whats the best thing to eat?

Stay away from:

-Anything sugary, high refined carbohydrate (a lot of cereals, bagels, donuts, muffins, pastries have these high refined carbs etc.) This will avoid you having sugar crash and energy lull.

What you SHOULD eat:

Eggs, omelette, egg whites, Turkey Bacon, Chicken Sausage, Oatmeal, whole grain toast (I never have toast any more but its definitely better than muffins/other carbs!), nut butters, yogurts, fruit. All of these are excellent choices!

Intermittent Fasting

I do want to say that I have done intermittent fasting in the past, but I came back to eating breakfast because I just feel better eating it! I do try to give myself 12 hours between eating the night before and eating the next morning. So, if I snack at 8:30 pm, I’ll wait until 8:30 am to eat breakfast! According to some researchers, fasting for 10–16 hours can cause the body to turn its fat stores into energy, which releases ketones into the bloodstream. This should encourage weight loss. This is why I do the 12 hours!

Breakfast Favorites

Last week's Meal Plan Monday was my go-to in the morning for breakfast- Peanut Butter Oatmeal.

Oatmeal is a great slow burning carb to start the day with! I also make sure that at every meal I have 20-30 g of protein so today I'll be sharing what I've started to really enjoy in the morning with my oatmeal! 

I'll talk more about my "macro" goals and what I focus on at a later date to lose "the baby weight" as well as different supplements I use, but I always find that hitting your protein goals for lunch, dinner and snacks is relatively easy. There are tons of different recipes and and foods that you can make.

Breakfast on the other hand...meh. I feel like I have fried eggs. Or an omelette. Or Scrambled eggs. And occasionally some chicken sausage. It gets REAL old, fast. 

Last week I tried something completely new and its rocked my world. Honestly, it is something SO simple and I don't know what took me so long to try it! 

Turkey bacon and Egg sandwich. Bingo. This is so easy and fast to make and you NAIL your protein breakfast game with 24 grams! This keeps you full for the morning and starts your day out right. You can use any kind of turkey bacon, I just buy the Wegmans organic but you could find a flavored bacon if you like that.

I throw them on a frying pan, let them cook for 2-3 minutes and crack two eggs right on top. Then just flip them when the eggs have reached your desired level (I like mine a little runny). Something about the two combined tastes SO SO good and you don't have to force 3 or 4 eggs down in the morning! 

Have a great week everyone! xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday & snacks I'm loving

Anyone else have a sunshine hangover? Can we all just skip work today and celebrate SPRING and no more snow?! Kidding...{kind of} Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready to get after this week!

Today I'm sharing a unique recipe... Pork is not something I have in my usual meal rotation but this meal is actually super tasty, healthy, and even kids like it because its more sweet than spicy. The Hoisin sauce I use to flavor this meal is pretty low in sugar and carbs which makes me love this recipe even more.

Pork Stir fry with Snow Peas

Pork Tenderloin, cut into cubes
4 cloves garlic
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & minced (2 tablespoons)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2/3 pound Snow Peas
1/2 Red & Green Pepper, chopped
Mushrooms
3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup water
Rice

1. Toss the pork with half the garlic, half the ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. 
2. While pork is marinating, start cooking the rice. Heat a skillet over high heat and add olive oil.  Add the remaining garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add mushrooms and peppers. When mushrooms begin to sautee/peppers soften (3-4 mins), add sugar snap peas. Cook for 2-3 mins. Remove into a separate bowl to cool. 
3. Heat the same skillet used for the vegetables and cook the Pork mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return the vegetable mixture to the skillet when Pork is nearly cooked through. Add the hoison sauce and soy sauce to taste, cook until juices thicken. I like to add 1/4 cup of water as the juice thickens- I think it makes it perfect to spread over the rice! Totally up to you though. 
4. Serve over rice and enjoy!! 

Snacks I'm loving

Also, I wanted to share a few snacks that I've been loving for me...and a few for the kids. My boys love the Nature's Bakery fig bars. I just saw today that they have an Organic Oat and Honey option so I snagged it and they LOVE them. I like how there is no high fructose corn syrup, that they're organic, and not too messy!

Strangely enough,  Neither of my boys like cow's milk. I don't really force it because I'm not super sold on cow's milk anyway...so we try to get their dairy through almond milk in their oatmeal, yogurt (Seb really isn't feeling it at the moment..hopefully that changes!) and various cheeses. These Horizon cheese stars are Max's favorites. I think he likes the taste as much as the different shapes :) These I have only been able to find at Target. Just what I need, another reason to "force" me to go into target..ha. 

I've completely overhauled my diet the last 3 weeks and cut out all sweets so finding alternatives for my sweet tooth has been a challenge to say the least. I've been loving the thinkthin Cake pops lately though. My favorite flavor definitely has to be the chocolate. Low sugar and it hits the spot after dinner when I crave something sweet!

Last but not least... is this Buff Bake Peanut Butter spread. GUYS. This is so freakin good. Not nearly as good as Nutella, or Peanut Butter Company  {{these are clearly off limits at the moment}},  but it certainly satisfies and packs some extra protein. Beggars can't be choosers at the moment so I'll take what I can get,  I love how these two treats are somewhat guilt free and help me satisfy that sweet tooth that never seems to disappear! 

Have a great week everyone! 

xo

Alex

MealPlan Monday: The best healthy Sweet Potato fries

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!

I plan on sharing more recipes on the blog moving forward and I thought I would start today because, why not?!

For those of you who don’t know, I did the Advocare 24 day JumpStart after Max weaned and I had amazing results. It was definitely really challenging for me from a diet/nutrition standpoint but it opened my eyes to what works for my body now that I'm getting older/being a mom. Its completely changed my nutrition (for the better) over the last 2 years!

Like anyone else I definitely loosened up my nutrition while pregnant. I mean who doesn't, amirite-its the least we can do when we are waddling around and can barely sleep. Postpartum I worked out and eat pretty healthy, but I FOR SURE have a SAVAGE sweet tooth that kills some of my gains ha.

I'm super excited to get back on the wagon now that I'm done nursing and have no more excuses ("I can't lose weight while nursing,..my body holds onto the fat lollll" ) and getting serious with this 'ish!

I'm always trying to find great recipes that still taste good. I love eating clean, feeling good and looking good...but you will not find me eating fish and asparagus every day! I LOVE food! The below recipe has lots of flavor but it is as healthy as can be. I am obsessed with these sweet potato fries...and so is my hubby and youngest son (I just don't put the spice on the boys portion)

Here we go...Recipe of the week: 

Paul Prudhomme's Chicken with Baked zucchini and Sweet Potato fries

Paul Prudhomme's Poultry magic is of my favorite poultry spices- it is fantastic. They don't sell it here in upstate NY anymore but they do in Florida, and I bought mine online at vitacost.com. It is actually a really great meal prep spice to use if you are making chicken in bulk. It definitely has a little bit of a kick to it which I love because well..we eat alllll of the chicken when meal prepping lol! Also it is so EASY and FAST to use with plenty of flavor so I'm all for it! 

Ingredients: 
Chicken as desired
Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic spice
2-3 Zucchini
1-2 Sweet Potato
1 egg white
cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil

Heat oven to 450 F. (Keep the pan in the oven while it heats) Wash and Peel sweet potato. Cut lengthwise and then again into quarters so you have "fries". Pour egg white into small bowl. Sprinkle cayenne, garlic, salt and pepper as desired in egg white. Dip fries into the egg white mixture. Place on parchment paper (make sure they do not touch). Drizzle with olive oil if desired. Bake on one half of the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, then flip. Cut Zucchini in half, then into half moons. Place on other half of baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper when you flip the fries (so halfway through). Cook for 10 minutes or until soft.

                                                                     Ingredients

While the sweet potato fries are cooking, Cut the chicken in small pieces (or leave as a breast if desired..I usually find diced is best because you can throw the leftovers really easy in a salad!). Warm oil in pan. Place chicken in oil, and shake desired amount of spice onto chicken. Stir While chicken is cooking. Serve and enjoy :)) 
 

                                                           Spread out on the pan

                                                           The finished product :) 

 For those who are interested in anything Advocare or want to know more about the Jumpstart...just DM me at @alexsahlen2 on instagram, or email me at peanutbutterblondie@gmail.com.

Have a great day everyone and enjoy! 

xo

Alex

Friday Free For All

Hey everyone! Wow..its friday and its SEPTEMBER. Bring on the cardigans, booties, chunky sweaters, and thick socks. I swear that every month I'm like "omg, I can't believe it's already ___" And this month is no exception. How is it almost FALL already? It's somehow shocking to me (still lol) how fast time can go.
 

                                                            Hellooooo September!!!

Last year at this time I was just flat out scared. totally. absolutely. scared. I had no idea what was coming my way with adding little Seb into our family. I'm really looking forward to this fall. The hardest days are in the past (well at least in terms of sheer exhaustion and lack of sleep), and I'm looking forward to embracing the routine of school starting the week of the 11th for Max. He'll start going 3 mornings a week and while I love my time with him, I know how important it is for him to feel comfortable away from his "safe place" at home. He's definitely a shy boy and is super attached so getting out in a school and socialization environment is great for him. Also, I'm going to embrace having mornings on my own to spend some time with my almost one year old ...(tear). 

Easy Breakfast

With the 1st day of school quickly approaching next week after labor day for kids in our area, I thought I would share one of my go-to quick but healthy breakfasts. This is an awesome one for hectic mornings especially the first few weeks of school when everyone is still adjusting to a routine. All you need is any kind of bread that you (or your child likes), a cup, and an egg! To make the "gas-house egg," grab your bread and a small cup (Your kids cups are perfect- you don't want the hole too large). Press down into the bread making a circular indent enough to take the indent out of the bread. Next, place the bread on the pan. Crack the egg in the open, circular area and cook to desired liking and flip. I also place the small circular piece in the pan so it gets a little toasted. My boys like it when I add jam to the toast when its finished cooking, but you can add whatever you want (peanut butter, butter) or nothing at all if you like a nice runny egg to dip your toasted egg in! There's something about the way this tastes cooked inside the bread that is just super tasty! Protein & carbs to keep you and your little ones going all morning, all in one shot! 

                                                                  The final product!!!

Bobs Double Stroller

If you follow me on instagram, you probably have seen my post on the Bobs double stroller. I have had the Bob single running stroller ever since Max was 9 or 10 months old and have loved it. Ever since Seb was "of age" to take a run, I've been eyeing the double stroller but the price always stopped me in my tracks. I thought that someone, SOMEWHERE would be wanting to offload theirs and I could get a used one? Please? Someone? .....Anyway weeks turned into months and I honestly could not find a used one for under $300 or $350 which I thought was completely outrageous. Fast forward to last week. I'm just done. Done having to rely on other people to get my cardio in and at this point in time, a lot of the time I'm still up once a night, so waking up at 5 am to run just isn't going to happen. The Double runner was my answer. 
 

SO.  I went to buy buy baby over the weekend to "test" the double out. I was honestly worried that maybe it would be too tough to push with the two boys in it? Anyway, I went to the store with the mindset that I would just have a look at it and keep waiting for A. a huge sale or B. a used one, if I liked how it moved.
 

                                Testing the BOB Double stroller out in store. They look thrilled! Ha!

I LOVED HOW IT MOVED, guys. So I'm sure you can finish the story for me. I BOUGHT IT. But- the catch is I got it for 15% off PLUS another 20% off.. #WINNING. Best thing I ever did. I am such a big proponent of online shopping but sometimes it sure does pay to go to actual stores. 

I would definitely recommend the stroller to anyone who runs consistently during the week and has two little ones. It glides and is super easy to run with. I was pleasantly suprised that my splits weren't much different than with the single! And yeah, when anyone asks me about my stroller I'll definitely be bragging not only about my mileage, but how cheap I got it for :) 

Hope you all have an amazing labor day weekend :) 

xo

Alex