Crock Pot Steak Fajita

Ingredients:1 lb. flank or skirt steak
1 medium onion
1 Cup beef stock
1 packet Mrs.Dash Fajita Seasoning
Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime
1/4 Cup chopped cilantro
1 can diced green chilies
Tri-colored bell peppers
Whole grain tortillas
Toppings of choice

Directions:
1. First, slice the flank steak lengthwise, then cut into strips.

2. Next, chop onion and layer in the bottom of the crockpot.

4. In a bowl, whisk together beef stock, lime juice, fajita seasoning and cilantro.

5. Add the steak to the crockpot and top with green chilies.  Then cover with seasoning mixture.

6. Cook for 6-8 hours on medium to low heat. Add sliced peppers to the crockpot 30 minutes prior to serving.

7. Build your fajitas using whole grain tortillas and your favorite toppings such as low-fat sour cream, shredded cheese, fresh salsa, and my favorite, guacamole! Garnish with additional fresh chopped cilantro for added flavor!

8. Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend is synonymous with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and ice cream. So is this a free pass to eat anything we want since it’s a Holiday? The answer is NO. Whatever your plans may be this weekend, remember this. This is a lifestyle, not a diet. Choose healthy options, use portion control, and keep your eye on the prize and you can't go wrong!

Here are some tips for any given holiday:

1) If you do plan to have some adult beverages limit it to 1 to 2 servings at the most. Make sure to drink a bottle of water in between the 2 drinks.

2) Bring a couple of Ziplocks filled with nutritional snacks. Almonds, raisins, grapes, or a protein bar ( my favorite is Quest)

3) Hold a glass of water in your hand and sip your water a little at a time while mingling or standing around at the appetizer table.

4) Don't fill up on appetizers. Treat yourself to one or two so you do not feel deprived, but have a limit in mind beforehand. Save your calories for the main course. Do make wise choices and focus on selecting things that are good for you like fruits and veggies.

5) When going up for the main course make sure you start in the middle and work your way out. Usually the meat is at one end and the desserts at the other. The fruits, vegetables, and salads tend to be in the middle.

6) Keep yourself busy. Socialize, mingle, help out in the kitchen, play with children.

7) Keep your exercise regime on track. A twenty five minute workout is about 2% of your day. Make sure to get one in. This will help keep your metabolism working efficiently throughout the holiday festivities

8) Make your earlier meals of the day lighter and reserve more calories than usual for the holiday meal

The whole point is to do everything possible to set yourself up to succeed and continue to make progress.
The key is to make wise choices while not feeling deprived.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

Cookie Dough Dip

This dip is high in protein, gluten-free, and it can even be sugar-free!

1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained) (250g)
1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 T. If you use peanut butter, it’ll have a very-slight “pb cookie dough” taste, so if you don’t want this, you can sub oil.)
up to 1/4 cup nondairy milk (Start with 1 T, and add more as needed)
Sweetener (see note below, for amount)
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 to 3 T oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit, but also omit the milk if you do)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a blender or food processor, and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate

Sweetener Notes: I used 2/3 cup brown sugar when I first made this for the party. Liquid sweeteners (agave, maple, etc.) are fine as well. You can easily get away with less sugar– some people will be perfectly fine with just 3 T for the whole recipe! And if you don’t want any sugar, be sure to check out the “no-sugar” version linked above. (You can also use stevia, if you like the taste of stevia-sweetened desserts. Try 2-3 packets of NuNaturals stevia, and add more sweetener if needed. I wouldn’t recommend serving an all-stevia version to party guests, though.)

What is PiYo?

What Is PiYo?

What is Piyo

If you follow Team Beachbody, Chalene Johnson or my fitness journey then you know that I absolutely love and adore Chalene Johnson.  My first experience with Chalene was in Turbofire which is a high intensity, cardio kickboxing, HIIT workout!  I am a cheerleader at heart and this was like a dance party for adults.  Then, I found that Chalean Extreme was a great workout to learn how to incorporate strength training into my life.  The results were off the hook.  I never had muscle definition and tone in my life.  So when Beachbody announced that they will be launching another Chalene Johnson home fitness program I was ecstatic.  I had the pleasure of trying Piyo at our Team Beachbody Leadership Retreat in Dana Point California last fall.  It's an awesome combination of high intensity, low impact moves to improve your flexibility, stamina, and strength.  It is yoga and pilates inspired but it pulls it all together to actually give you a cardio workout as well.

The key is that it gives you results such as defined muscles, abs, core strength without the weights, the pounding of your joints and jumping around.  It's the perfect workout for those with mobility, joint and limitations due to injury or past experiences.

So why do I think that Piyo is going to be an awesome program to have?  

A move in the Piyo Sweat Workout

Because it is unlike anything else out there.  You can still get a cardio workout, without the stress on your joints.  You can have Chalene's awesome motivating and inspirational personality every day for 90 days in the comfort of your own home.  You can feel the burn for days afterwards!  I had the opportunity to test out a Piyo workout myself. Each Elite Coach got a copy of Piyo Sweat as a sneak peak.  Let me just tell you that I left the 35 minute workout sweating, my booty was burning and I could feel it the next day.  But I wasn't bouncing around, jumping or doing crazy complex moves.  It was a controlled movement that left me actually feeling energized vs defeated.

I am asked quite often why Team Beachbody doesn't have a Yoga Series.  Well this is it! This is going to be a game changer for so many people who love Yoga and want an option to do it from home.

So PiYo will be released right after our Coach Summit in June.  My estimated guess for the release is Monday June 23rd.  So keep your eyes out for the official release and how to score your copy.  I will be updating my social media sites with all the latest information so make sure to follow me on Facebook, and Pinterest!

So do you want to be in my PiYo test group when this program comes out?  Make sure to reserve your spot on the list of the first people to get their copy!  Complete the form below to be updated on all the news and information about the new workout!