A few of my favorite things! (Healthy Alternatives!)

The other day I was grocery shopping for my week, and I noticed the amount of people just grabbing jars and boxes without ever looking at a label. I picked up a few of the items and snagged a picture. 

Let's start with this "healthy", organic soup. The front of the box makes it look super healthy, right? I mean, only 90 calories? 

And then you look closer. 90 calories per 1/2 cup serving. Who only eats a 1/2 cup of soup?! Then sodium.. Holy mother of Pearl. 850mg * 2.5 servings in this box = 2125 mg sodium. Yikes! 

Next up, black beans! These cans look very similar, but the one on the left has no salt added. 1400mg sodium in 1 can of regular black beans..... Scared yet?

When I look at labels, I look at sodium, Sugar, and I quickly browse the ingredients list. I'm not going to get into the specifics of what you need to look for, but I'm going to share with you my healthier alternatives. 

If you want to learn more about food labels, try watching some documentaries.  Some of my favorites are "Hungry For Change", "Food, Inc", "Food Matters", & "Sugar coated". It'll change the way you eat. 

So what do I do? 

1. Buy fresh over canned. Rarely do I buy ANYTHING in a can. Veggies are fresh or frozen, and even my frozen veggies are plain frozen ones. Don't get the kind covered in cheese or flavoring. Fruits are ALWAYS fresh or sometimes I get the plain frozen berries. 

2. Black beans & Brown rice - I buy them in the bags and make them myself. It does take longer, but it's WAY healthier.

3. Pasta sauce? I make my own! 

No, I am not a distributor for Wildtree, but I stand behind their products 110%! They have healthy BBQ sauces, taco seasonings, fajita seasonings, spaghetti sauce blend, and bouillon bases. I use them every single week during my meal prep. My cupboard... :)

If you dont want to pay the money for Wildtree, some over the counter alternatives are Tony's salt free seasoning  (Again, make sure you get SALT FREE), and Mrs. Dash.  

4. Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce. Click here  and you can actually sign up to get some free samples. 

5. Plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, butter, milk, or mayo. I just swap it out when I make things. My favorite is Chobani. I also use almond milk instead of regular milk in a lot of my recipes as well.

6. Save your money and your health, do not even buy a single pre-packages frozen meal... 

7. Noodles? Buy whole grain, or use spaghetti squash or make zoodles! (Zucchini noodles). Don't make this feel like a diet, you CAN still eat pasta, there's just healthier alternatives. :)

8. Bread & wraps-  I LOVE Ezekial brand. In frozen health food section. 

9. Drinks? My most consumed beverages are: A. Water B. Spark C. Rehydrate D. Plain black coffee. When you have energy & you FEEL good, you start to show it in your smile and the way you carry yourself. Don't be the girl on the left. The life sucking, exhausted, negative Nancy.

Looking at what you're drinking is very important. It's always the added ingredients that go unnoticed. The sugar in the sweet tea & juices, the crap in the creamer for your coffee, the energy drinks - don't even get me started. I did a lot of research to find healthy alternatives, and I chose to use the products that Doctors & pro athletes use. 

10. Your mindset. It's important to understand that the things I listed above should never make you feel like you're on a diet. IF you go out to eat or go to a party in which you consume something not so healthy, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. I host challenge groups solely to teach others what they SHOULD eat, how to swap ingredients, and that this is a lifestyle change with the goals of eating 80% healthy, and 20% whatever. This is coming from a girl that just ate a cold slice of leftover pizza before I go running with my dog. #balance

Be strong. Be fierce. And continue to make small changes each day. Over time, BIG changes occur.

Happy Sunday, ya'll! Hope to see more of you joining the next round of our challenge group! 

Chicken & Quinoa Chipotle Jars

This one is SO delicious!! This recipe is nutritious, simple, and so filling! 

Ingredients:
- 1/2 c black beans
- 1 c quinoa
- 1 sweet potato 
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 c cilantro
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 rotisserie chicken OR 2 chicken breasts, cooked
- Taco Seasoning
- Chipotle Seasoning

Directions 

1. Cook 1/2c raw black beans per package until done. If you used canned black beans, make sure you get low/no sodium! 
2. Add 1c quinoa, 2c water, and season to taste with taco seasoning. Cook per package, usually simmering 20-25mins. (Note: I use Wildtree because it's low sodium, but there's many options to make your own! You'll hear me say this over and over, I do not get paid to endorse Wildtree seasoning, its just healthy and I love it! Nor do I sell the product.) 
3. In a frying pan, cook 1c diced sweet potatoes in 1 tbsp coconut oil. Season to taste. I used chipotle seasoning!
4. When quinoa is done, add 2 tbsp lime juice and 1/4c chopped cilantro. Mix up, set aside.
5. Shred rotisserie chicken, or cook and shred chicken breast. I use rotisserie chicken because I make multiple meals out of it, like chicken Caesar salads (see next post)
6. Layer in a jar! I did sweet potatoes first, then chicken, black beans, and quinoa. You could top with salsa and a spoonful of greek yogurt instead of sour cream when you're ready to enjoy!

More yummy recipes in my Meal Prep Mania challenge group! 😍 You're always welcome to join us! 

Message or email me if you want to join us!

 

Message me on IG (@Jnferrell)

Email: Jesolgat@gmail.com 

In good health,
Jessie 

Healthy Chicken Burrito

In the Ferrell house, we could eat tacos and burritos EVERY single week. I'm always discovering ways to make them as healthy as possible, and I finally nailed it. 

Ingredients:
-Ezekiel tortillas (Found in health food section in the freezer!)
-2 chicken breasts
-Salsa
-1/2c black beans 
-2c brown rice 

- Cheese

Recipe:

1. Throw chicken breasts (frozen or thawed) in crockpot.. Season with some low sodium taco seasoning and cover in salsa. (I use Wildtree taco seasoning because it's super healthy. No, I'm not paid to endorse them. I literally just love their products. Some people make their own. Others just buy low sodium kind. Do what is best for YOU!) Cook on high 4 hours.

2. Black beans- (I use raw) cook per package. They simmer for about 1.5-2h
3. Brown rice- (I use the plain kind in a bag). Throw 2c rice, & 4c water into pan and bring to boil. Season to taste, so it is like Spanish rice (I use Wildtree taco seasoning and throw in 1/4c salsa). Once boiling, let simmer for 45mins.
4. Once chicken is done, shred with a fork. Add more salsa if it needs it. Put shredded chicken. Black beans, and a pinch of cheese in tortilla. Rolls up like a burrito. Place it in a pan with a small amount of coconut oil so each side is crispy and the burrito stays together.
5. Place in Tupperware for the week. Makes 6 servings!!

More yummy recipes in my Meal Prep Mania challenge group! 😍 you're always welcome to join us! 

Message or email me if you want to join us!

Message me on IG (@Jnferrell)

Email: Jesolgat@gmail.com 

Meal Prep Mania - Week 1

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the new Meal Prep Mania challenge group! I am so excited! Before I dive into what I did to prepare, let me just give you an overview of what the group is. Although we are officially starting Day 1 tomorrow, we are still welcoming others to learn tips and tricks of fitness and nutrition.

The group was created by 3 women: Robyn, Meg, and me. Although we are scattered across the globe, we used the same method to regain our health and confidence, and so we are paying it forward and teaching others.

Meg McCarthy - Georgia 

I've never formally met this woman, but I have watched her transformation from the sidelines. She is one of the most positive, inspiring women you will meet. She isn't afraid to be transparent and share the good, the bad, and the ugly about her journey. You will ALWAYS see a smile on her face - and if you follow her social media, she is always 100% with meal prepping, taking her products, and exercising.

Robyn Partin - Tennessee 

Despite being in another state, Robyn is one of my BEST friends. She works full time as an exercise physiologist, but she is always willing to help others outside of work. She was a collegiate athlete and then trained pretty intensely for decathlons.  She literally trained herself into the ground. She joined one of my challenge groups a few months back and has been hooked ever since. She's now stepped up to teach others about fitness, nutrition, and the importance of supplementation. 

Jessie Ferrell - Texas

Yes, that's me. I work full time as a PA, but I've always had a calling to help more people. After I gained confidence and self love through my fitness journey, I felt compelled to share what I learned with others. I love meal prepping, AdvoCare, and all things fitness. 

Did you notice the similarities between us? 1. We meal prep. 2. We exercise 3. We use the world's best and safest nutritional products to fill in our nutritional gaps. We decided to launch a challenge group that focused on those 3 key areas to help others transform their health and fitness the way that we have.


So now that we covered that, lets dive into what I did to prep for this week. If you belong to my group already, then you also have a grocery guide that shows you how to create a well balanced meal. You also have some money saving tips.

1. Check inventory - freezer, pantry, etc. If you have things on hand, USE THEM. :) Write down things you have like brown rice, black beans, frozen veggies, meats, etc

2. Check ads for things on sale. Again, stick to the grocery guide. If pizzas are on sale, walk riiiiiiight by. This is about eating clean and healthy.

3. Once you checked inventory and ads, start looking up recipes you can make with those. My favorite is Pinterest.

4. Grocery store then home to prep. ;)

Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes 

When prepping, I always start with things I can throw into the crock pot since those take the longest. For this week, it was the pulled pork stuffed sweet potatoes. The recipe called for 2# pork loin, so I cut my loin in half and threw the remaining 2# in the freezer for a recipe next week. :) 

Next, sweet potatoes. I threw them in the oven for 45 mins. When they were done, I just let them cool and placed in the refrigerator until my pulled pork was done.

Final result:

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken

Since I have 2 slow cookers, I try to do 2 slow cooker recipes, and remaining between stove top and oven. Gives me more options to multitask. This recipe was SUPER easy! 

 Because this recipe calls for rice, I went to stove top recipes next. Brown rice cooks for 45 mins, so I placed that on the stove first and then began prepping for my next stove top meal.

When it was all done, final result:

Sauteed chicken chunks, quinoa, and broccoli

The original recipe calls for brown rice, so I could've made a double batch of brown rice on the stove top, but for whatever reason, I decided to do this recipe with quinoa.

See - chicken, quinoa, and brown rice going. 2 slow cookers going to my left also. MULTI TASK! :)

When my chicken was done, I set it aside and then sauteed the veggies to add to the cooked quinoa. Sooooo good. 

My next 2 recipes called for grilled fish and chicken. Since I don't have a grill, I broiled them at the same time, but on 2 separate pans. I just realized I didn't take a picture of this - but that's ok! 

Broiled Flounder, Asparagus, Cauliflower mash:

I took my 4 flounder fillets and put chipotle lime rub on them from Wildtree. I broiled for 3 mins on each side.

Asparagus, I just sauteed in a pan with some olive oil and seasonings.

Cauliflower mash : here's the recipe. After I got the chicken and the fish in the broiler, I started steaming the cauliflower.

Sriracha Lime Chicken Chopped Salad

Remember when I said I broiled chicken with the fish? Well, the chicken is for this recipe.  It looks soooooooo good. I cannot wait to dive into this!

I always make my salads in jars becase they keep better in the fridge. Layer dressing, chicken, veggies and pineapple, lettuce. (I used romaine)

No Noodle Pad Thai 

Since I made Thai peanut chicken and had all of the ingredients, I figured I'd make this easy recipe also. It involves tons of veggies so I did my chopping after I chopped veggies for the above salad. (Note: I probably should've left the peanut sauce on the side and mixed right before eating - but I guess now I know for future reference!) 

Lastly - snacks.

I ALWAYS make sure my fruits are washed and chopped and put into appropriate containers. Its much more convenient and I don't waste produce.

Well, that's all for today. I cannot wait to see what other recipes the members of the group come up with! Check out the past blog posts for more recipe ideas. :) Happy Sunday! 

Quick & easy meal prep!

In the perfect world, I'd meal prep on Sunday's after church. In my world, it's based around my husband's shift schedule. He works multiple day stretches at 3 fire departments, so there's many days I don't see him. Today is his first day home in a week, and he's gone again tomorrow. So today, I meal prepped. 

We were out running errands, so I had to think on the fly. I had a savory sweet onion chicken freezer meal already frozen. I also had brown rice, ham, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots and onions. 

I purchased broccoli, lettuce, 1 onion, 1 bell pepper, apples for snack, a rotisserie chicken, and some hot sauce, and together I created this: 

The cabbage soup is an old childhood favorite. I don't even follow a recipe, I used whatever I had. 

After that was going, I threw 2c of brown rice in a pot, 4c water, some carrot slivers, onion, and some of my favorite seasonings for more flavor. (a low sodium, all natural chicken bouillon base by Wildtree, pepper & garlic powder). Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. 

Next, the rest of my red skinned potatoes before they spoil. I cooked them in some garlic Grapeseed oil and seasoned with pepper. 

Next, broccoli and green beans for my veggies! Just steamed them. 

My stove- multitasking is key!

After all of that was done, I grabbed out my rotisserie chicken. 2 meals were prepped using one of the chicken breasts from the chicken, some green beans, and some red skinned potatoes. 

The rest of the chicken was shredded and thrown in bowl with a few tsp of buffalo sauce. I mixed it up, and layered them in jars. I LOVE salads in jars, they literally don't spoil or get soggy! 

First layer: Bolthouse Farms Greek yogurt ranch

Second: buffalo chicken

Third: salad toppings 

Fourth: lettuce! 

Made 8 jars! 

Last step, throwing everything else into containers. My savory sweet onion chicken that was cooking in my ofher crockpot was enough to make 8 meals. So I measured the rest of the potatoes/brown rice as my carbs, and green beans/broccoli as my veggie. 

I like to smash down my rice and throw some of the extra broth from the chicken on there so it doesn't get hard in the fridge. 

This whole, last minute meal prep didn't take me long at ALL. 

Buffalo chicken salad- 8 servings 

Savory sweet onion chicken, a carb & veggie - 8 servings 

Cabbage soup - 8 servings 

Rotisserie chicken with a carb and veggie - 2 servings. 

That's 26 servings! 

We also have extra lettuce for salads or lettuce wraps with these tuna packets: 

 

Snacks, since we eat EVERY 3 hours! 

And of course, breakfast is always covered ☺️

Some people are overwhelmed about meal prepping, but I PROMISE it makes your life so much easier. Check out past blogs about where/how to get started. 

In good health,

Jessie 💜💪🏼

1 week meal prep PLUS a head start on Thanksgiving dinner, $98.47 at HEB!

When I was in PA school, my professors used to tell me to study smarter, not harder. I would sit in a classroom ALL day, sometimes up to and exceeding +/- 12 hours, and then go home to study more. I quickly learned to divide and conquer with some of my best friends. We did this by using study guides that were already created, or creating new ones by dividing the material within our group.

The same principles can be applied to meal prepping. Prep smarter, not harder. Many people ask me how I plan for a week, let alone grocery shop, prepare, AND use coupons. I will start from step 1 and walk through the process.

1. What is a meal?
When I first began to meal prep, I started with the first step - what constitutes a meal? The term "well balanced diet" was thrown around often, but I couldn't wrap my head around what that meant. About 3 years ago, as I am trying to familiarize myself with nutrition, a friend told me about the The 24 Day Challenge . This program became the foundation to what I follow to this very day.  The Daily Guide includes portion sizes and food suggestions, and the cookbook contains 34 pages of yummy recipes. I completed the first 24 days with my coach, and after that, it became a habit.

I simply learned to create a meal using a protein, vegetable, & complex carbohydrate.

With the above link, you can download this meal guide and cookbook, too! 

2. Where do I get recipes?
Pinterest, cookbooks, or simply pick one protein, one complex carb, and one veggie on that daily guide and cook with seasoning of your choice. I hardly EVER create my own recipes though. The most I do is substitute ingredients out for different ones, but the basic recipe outline was from another source. If you are cooking for yourself, remember that a typical meal has about 4 servings in it, so that is 4 meals checked off.

3. How do I save money?

I wrote a blog about meal prepping on a budget, that explains looking at ads, using coupons and rebates. That is how I shop every week. This week I took a look at the ads, and kept in mind what I had in stock already.

I wasn't planning on making salmon this week, but with this price, I couldn't pass it up. I purchased some and threw it in my freezer for a later date. 

Lettuce. This is how I ALWAYS buy my lettuce. It is this same great price week after week. As for the potatoes, I have a Thanksgiving dinner coming up, so I snagged some potatoes for that.

Broccoli! My husband LOVES broccoli, so I basically try to make it every week. 

WHAAAAAT! This made my day. I bought a ham for $30 (I'll make ham and soups and all sorts of yummy things later on!), and received a 12lb turkey for free. Thanksgiving is covered. :)

This receipt basically shows how CHEAP produce can really be, you just have to plan ahead. I splurged on Honeycrisp apples. Normal price is usually $2.47/lb though!!

I also got split chicken breasts at $1/lb, and Turkey wings for just over $1/lb.

4. What recipes can I use with these sales? 

-The ham and salmon were placed in the freezer for a later date.
-The turkey & potatoes = Saturday's "Friendsgiving"!
- The chicken was used to make slow cooker BBQ chicken & slow cooker chicken burritos.
-Black bean quesedillas and brown rice were on the menu since I had all of the ingredients to use up.
-The turkey wings were used to make gravy for friendsgiving, and after that, the meat was used for turkey noodle soup!

All of those meals at HEB for $98.47.

5. Final Product

This week I utilized 2 slow cookers. I removed the skin, fat, and bones from these chicken breasts and split them up between 2 slow cookers. The first slow cooker I poured in BBQ sauce of my choice until each piece of chicken was covered. I turned on high for 4 hours. The second slow cooker I followed the "Slow cooker chicken burrito" recipe from the 24 Day Challenge recipe collection (Link above). I turned that on high for 4 hours. 

While that was cooking, I baked sweet potatoes, steamed peas and broccoli, and made some fiesta brown rice.

As items cooked, I divided them and placed them in appropriate containers.

I forgot tortillas for the burritos, so I poured the chicken/salsa mixture over brown rice.

BBQ Chicken, broccoli, and sweet potato. 

While my slow cookers were cooking the above 2 meals, I started making the make ahead turkey gravy to prepare for Saturday. 

While that big ole' pan of turkey wings, veggies, and herbs baked in the oven, I started the black bean quesadillas.

VERY simple. You will need strained black beans (If you buy canned, get the ones without sodium added), cheese, corn tortillas, and some taco seasoning. Throw cooked (or canned) black beans in my blender with a splash of salsa & taco seasoning until peanut butter consistency. Spread on corn tortilla. Add a pinch of cheese and top with another corn tortilla. Spray frying pan with cooking spray, and cook quesadilla evenly on both sides. Voila! Pair with some of the fiesta rice from earlier and you have a complete protein.

Lastly, after the turkey wings were done baking, the broth was used to make the gravy for Saturday. I removed the turkey meat from the bones and used it in this delicious turkey noodle soup recipe. 

I hope this helps you learn to meal prep! Download those guides and start making balanced meals for yourself! Take a look at previous posts for more meals. :)

In good health,
Jessie