Healthy Travels

I'm back from vacation! I went to Florida to visit my beautiful best friend and we went to Universal Studios. I finally got to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. If you know me, you know that I love Harry Potter. We went to Halloween Horror Nights on Thursday and Friday night and got sufficiently scared by all of the zombies. I had so much fun! I want to go back right now.

Matching cupcake temporary tattoos because we're awesome. Yes, that is a zombie in the bottom corner.

I always allow myself to go wild on vacations. No counting calories for me! I mean c'mon I'm so much more active on vacations anyways since I sit at my desk ALL day long at work. Case in point, I wore my Fitbit around the parks and racked up over 30,000 steps each day, which is almost 10 miles per day. So I will allow myself a delicious Butterbeer without any guilt.

I will never say "No" to Butterbeer! 

But when it comes to flying I like to keep it clean. Since my parents live on opposite coasts (Mom's in California and Dad's in North Carolina. That's about 7 hours in the air, plus any time during a layover) I fly A LOT and the flights are always extremely long. I've gotten pretty good at packing exactly what I need on a flight so that I don't have to pay the $10+ for a box of crackers and cheese on a plane and I won't feel tired or gross when we land.

1. First, and most important, I always pack a reusable water bottle. Preferably one that has a built in filter so that you can refill it at the water fountains through out the airport.  In case you didn't know, TSA does not allow you to bring a full bottle of water through security. I refuse to pay $5+  for a bottle of water at the airport and the little cups they give you on the plane are gone in a sip. Flying really dehydrates you so it is important to keep water on hand at all times. 

2. Healthy snacks are key to any flight. I like to pack granola bars and prepackaged bags of almonds. Apples, Bananas, Babybel, or 100 calorie pack snacks would also be a great options.

3. Bring your own meal. A lot of people aren't aware that it is totally acceptable to bring your own meal to the airport. I love to go to the grocery store the night before a long flight and pick out a fresh prepackaged salad. Place it in a safe spot in your bag so that it doesn't get crushed and enjoy whenever you get hungry. This saves me probably over $5 since this Kale Crunch salad that I bought was about $4 and the salads at the terminals are about $10. 

4. Since flying completely dries out my skin I need to bring a thick body lotion and a good lip balm. Always remember to apply generously before you board and then keep it close at hand during the flight. I absolutely hate getting off the plane with chapped lips.

5. Hand Sanitizer and Anti-Bacterial wipes are super important when flying. This may seem crazy but I feel so much better if I just wipe down my tray table before I use it. I would rather look like a germaphobe than get to my vacation destination and be sick.

And of course magazines to keep entertained during the flight. I also like to download movies to my iPad the night before just in case they don't show any on the flight. 

If you do have a layover try to walk as much as you can during your time there. I know most people already have to run from one side of the airport to the other to catch their next flight but sometimes I have a layover that's 2 hours or longer and it's good to just walk and stretch my legs.

What are some of your tips for healthy travels?

Baked Veggie Egg Rolls

It's been one of those weeks. The kind of week that I'm mentally begging myself to just give in have the really bad food, the high calorie, greasy stuff. The week where I can't seem to motivate myself to hit the gym at all.  We've all been there right? I figured I would make a compromise with myself and make a treat. I've had a hankering for Chinese take-out lately, which led me to create my own so that I can conserve the calories. One of my absolute favorite things to order is egg rolls and most of the time they hardly ever make it home.

Ingredients:

1 Large Package of Coleslaw mix or 4 cups

2 Cups Broccoli

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce (or Low Sodium)

1-2 Tbsp Sriracha (Depending on your heat tolerance.)

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp ginger powder

2 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Spray a pan or wok with PAM, throw in the coleslaw mix and allow it to cook down on Medium heat. You could also add in water chestnuts, bell peppers, or whatever else you want in your egg rolls.

While the coleslaw mix is cooking down a little bit, chop up the broccoli, then add it to the pan and put the cover on. 

Let the Broccoli and Coleslaw mix cook down and mix together the remaining ingredients.

Wait until the Coleslaw mix and broccoli look like this.

Pour the sauce mixture over the veggies.

Stir it up until its all evenly coated and yummy.

I used these egg roll wraps which I found in the produce section of the grocery store.

Here's the fun part...

Lay the egg roll wrap down in a diamond shape, corner facing you.
1. Place the seasoned veggie mix in the center.
2. Cover the veggies by pulling up the bottom corner towards the middle.
3. Tuck in the right and left corners towards the middle.
4. Roll it the rest of the way up.

Spray with PAM and place in a 400 degree preheated oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Delicious and only 148 calories each! Yay!

The best part is, I was able to treat myself to the food I was craving and stay healthy. Plus, I saved money because I didn't end up at the Chinese Restaurant where I would have splurged and spent a bunch of money on food that would end of making me feel guilty.

I also wrapped these individually and stored them in the freezer, like my freezer burritos.  

                                                                    What is your favorite thing to order at a Chinese Restaurant?

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size One Egg Roll

Amount Per Serving

Calories 148 Calories from Fat 17

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 1.9g 3%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 7mg 2%

Sodium 623mg 26%

Total Carbohydrates 27.4g 9%

Dietary Fiber 2.0g 8%

Protein 4.8g

Vitamin A 6% • Vitamin C 59% Calcium 4% • Iron 9%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Saving Money with Homemade Freezer Food

I've been trying my hardest to save money lately. I have an addiction to weekly retail therapy and I love going out to lunch. But since I am going to Italy in May! (I'm so freakin' excited!!) I really need to buckle down and save as much as I can. I thought what a better way to save than to start bringing my lunch from home everyday. I began this mission last week and the only thing I could think of bringing for lunch was Lean Cuisines and Progresso Soup, that is until I was totally sick of it and ended up getting Chick Fil A because I couldn't stomach eating one more Lean Cuisine.

Then I thought about making freezer burritos. Less calories than the ones at the store and less mysterious. It seemed easy enough and I do love burritos.

The ingredients were simple, too. Just flour tortillas, shredded Mexican cheese, black beans, Target's Cilantro lime rice (it's in the freezer section and it's just like Chipotle's  rice but with corn in it) and shredded chicken.

The chicken I made ahead of time by throwing it in the crock pot for 8 hours on low with a little taco seasoning and hot sauce. 

Prepare the cilantro lime rice as instructed on the bag and added the can of black beans. 

Take a heaping scoop of the rice and beans and plop it on the tortilla.

then add the chicken.

(Brian wanted to add more spices and hot sauce to his burrito) then sprinkle on the cheese.

roll the tortilla up as tightly as possible.

Then individually wrap each burrito in saran wrap before throwing them in a large zip-lock and putting them all in the freezer.

Whenever your ready to eat one just take it out, remove the saran wrap and microwave for a minute. It's a really quick and cheap work lunch alternative and it's pretty healthy.

The next thing I decided to try was pancakes. I make pancakes almost every Saturday morning. I LOVE PANCAKES. But, I always have left overs and never end up finishing them all. I don't know why I never thought about freezing them before.

First off, I cheated and just made a double batch of Bisquick blueberry pancakes. (I am on the hunt for a low calorie healthy alternative that doesn't call for crazy ingredients that I would never normally have on hand. I'll keep ya posted if I ever find one.)

After stuffing my face, I began stacking the pancakes with wax paper in between each one.

and then I just stuck them all in a Freezer Ziploc Bag. 

When you're ready to eat them, take out as many as you want and nuke them in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. 

Time & money saving deliciousness!