Overnight Oats with Banana & Blueberries

Almost everyday I share my breakfasts on Instagram – here . They are most of the times overnight oats recipes that I add some twist to break the dullness, but always healthy and, whenever possible Paleo. For my friends who don’t have IG, I whatsapp the photos hihihi.

Skinny Enchiladas

I love food! (good entrée, right?)

Seriously, I love food! Moreover, I love great, delicious and highly nutritious food. That is why, this recipe is one of my favorite recipes of ever! The downsize of it, is being a bit complicated to (or to clean after). If not so messy, I would have enchiladas every weekend!

I have been discovering a new side of mexican cuisine I had never noticed. Sure, I noticed several years ago how delish mexican dishes are, but, now I am looking at them from the health point of view, and, is amazing! Naturally, one can always cook mexican with a healthy twist – cut creams, use sweet potatoes instead of white ones, replace fatty cheese for low-fat).

I usually serve these skinny enchiladas with a portion of guacamole  and pico de salsa, I think it really brings colour to the plate.

Looking into some ingredients present in the mexican cuisine, one can start to understand that there is more to it than being superb:

Avocados (oh guacamole, I love you!)

Yes, avocados are fatty (and this is the reason why I avoided avocados for the last 30 years and) but is a healthy fat. Avocados are known for promoting heart health, for the wide range of anti-inflamatory benefits – some studies suggest that is a great food for people with arthritis. Avocado promote blood sugar regulation and have anti-cancer benefits. If you are interested in learning more about the health benefits of avocado, check this website.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes have powerful antioxidant content, promote heart health, supports bone health, have anti-cancer benefits and some studies even suggest that diet rich in tomatoes might be  linked with reduced risk of some neurological diseases (including Alzheimer’s disease).

Enough said, vamos comer!

Makes 8 enchiladas

Colourful and rich!

Ingredients

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Some weeks ago I cooked Quinoa stuffed bell peppers and posted it on Instagram  (you can be sure that I update IG much more often than the blog, follow me here ), and had immediately a friend telling me how gifted I am in the kitchen.

I don’t particularly take it as a complement (I still find cooking dreadful) but, she meant well ;-). I have a measure to evaluate cooking: the less pans/pots/kitchen appliances I use, the easier it is, on the opposite, if a recipe requires me to use more than 2 pan/pots/oven trays I consider it to be extreme difficult.

Quinoa stuffed bell peppers fall on the easy recipes because one only needs a pot or sauce pan and an oven tray. In fact, this easy recipe is perfect to dazzle your guests who still doubt about weird stuff you have starting to eat, like Quinoa, and associate clean/healthy eat with diet!

This is the perfect opportunity to show to all the non-believers, how delicious healthy good can be!

Beautiful and Delicious – Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Bikini Fitness Challenge Phase III part I

Here we are again, phase III and not going so well from my side. Lack of time has been keeping me away from the gym, was planning a come back last Monday, but my earphones died on me so had to search for new sport sweat and water-resistant earphones (which is not that simple as one may think).

Of course there are great brands with high quality products at a high price, but experience tells me that no matter how pricey they are, they will “die” always sooner than expected. Knowing this, I don’t have great expectations, usually don’t spend more than 30€ and know that for this price range I can expect a life span of 1 to 1 and half-year. This is sadly the truth.

So, if you happen to know any good brand/model  – preferably not in ear (I hate feeling stuff inside my ears) that can live through sweat, tears, some blood and more sweat (kidding on the blood), please advice!

Today’s superset are exercises taken from Nike Training App. I usually take a couple of workouts from the app and incorporate them on the routines and superset, but for phase III, I am going 100% Nike Training App.

Superset 1

• Plank front raise to rotation – 25 – 20 -15 -10 reps

Plank with front raise and rotation – Image from the internet

you can do the easy way (picture) or raise the legs to a full plank (challenge way), guess which one I do?

Skinny Tacos with Cilantro Dressing

Mexican cousine is so rich, the use of fresh, vitamin packed and delicious foods plus, the spicy makes it one of my favorite! I haven’t been to Mexico yet, have a couple of Mexican friends, but they haven’t thought me any of their home-made food (I haven’t asked, though). In Portugal, I used to go to an awesome Mexican restaurant, localized in one of the best places – near the river Tejo and with a head over heels view, maybe that it what makes La Siesta so fantastic, or maybe the margaritas, that come in 2liter jars… no, I am pretty sure that are the exceptional quality of the foods they use. I don’t have a favorite dish, my most recurrent order was Fajitas, but I pretty much had almost every item on that list!

 

With this view and delicious Strawberry Margarita, one can easily be spoiled – At La Siesta, Lisbon

Here, in Munich, I have been to a couple of Mexican restaurants ranked as the best in Munich, but, must confess, they can’t beat La Siesta (it might be the view).

The other day I felt inspired and decided to try some Mexican dishes at home, would never be the same as a real home-made Mexican, but, hell yeah, some spicy twist to my skinny menus!

Apart from the taco shells, who, I don’t really have a choice, as there is only one brand, and I am not sure if they are whole grain/low-fat, all the ingredients are fresh and healthy!

Having said that, hope you enjoy.
Yield 2 portions

2 Ingredient Paleo Pancake

This recipe came as a way to substitute my usual oatmeal breakfasts, not that I had a change of heart, but they were taking too much time of my mornings.

The 1st ingredient is eggs, which as said here and here are the best protein source on the planet. Not only eggs contain vitamin B12, which the body needs to metabolize at, but they also have a great balance of essential amino acids, plus, several studies indicate that when people eat eggs in the morning, they felt less hungry throughout the day because the protein and fat in the egg may be contributing to the feeling of satiety.

The 2nd ingredient is banana, it is a personal choice, as I like bananas. They are great breakfast/pre-workout foods because they sustain blood sugar, protect against muscle cramps during workouts and leg cramps, improve the mood and reduce PMS symptoms, strengthen the blood and relieve anemia with the added iron found in bananas. Additionally, bananas are also high in potassium and low in salt, having being officially recognized by the FDA as being able to lower blood pressure and protect against heart attack and stroke.

 

2 ingredient Paleo pancake topped with fresh red berries and strawberries

Skinny Stuffed chicken breasts with fresh herbs and sunflower seeds

I am not a meat lover, however, sometimes, when the result is delicious, I make exceptions 🙂

As a way of  shaking lean meat recipes a bit ( because let’s be honest, plain grilled chicken breast and turkey fillet are a bit dull) I am always looking for delicious, yet healthy recipes. Stuffed chicken breasts are one of the ways I do it, being this recipe just one of the several I often use to bring some emotion into a healthy diet.

For this recipe I used parsley, basil and cilantro, because they are the only herbs I grow here (at the time I am writing this blogpost, the basil has perished), and I love their flavor.

 

Of course, paired with the one and only Paleo Noodles (recipe bellow)

Quinoa Crusted Salmon

I always seek to eat as much nutrients and vitamins per meal as possible, therefore, having a Omega 3, Protein, Fiber, Magnesium, Iron loaded dinner seemed like a hell of a deal!

Both salmon and Quinoa are considered as the worlds superfoods and the two of them combined… well… seems healthy, right? 😉 While salmon is a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids, these are known for lowering heart disease risks, have anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties and, guess what, may offset memory loss; Quinoa is high in protein fiber, packed with iron (which increases the brain function), magnesium, and improves the energy metabolism within the brain and muscle cells, among other amazing health benefits.

I first saw this recipe on Gabriela’s blog Tips4Life (Portuguese)- Gabi is a brazilian fitness blogger, who shares with her readers her passion for a healthy life and I really enjoy reading her blog.

 

paired with paleo noodles aka zucchini ribbons

Hello Bikini Body Fitness Phase II part II

uff….

So, I have something to confess… last week took a short vacation/large weekend and went to the North of Italy, moreover, Lago di Garda (Garda Lake). It was partly a sport~ish getaway, as the northern side of Garda’s lake is surrounded by breath taking mountains and I intended to hike them all. Which I did, I went on 2 very small and easy hiking trips, so, one may even say mission accomplished… the downsize is that the other days I “kind” of indulged in northern Italy food and wine culture, which means that my Hello Bikini Body Fitness project faced a setback, both in terms of fitness as in terms of food (you know I believe abs are made in the kitchen).

Now that I have came clean, I am so happy to introduce you to the 2nd part of phase II of Bikini Body Challenge workouts. The clock is ticking and beach days are very close!

Let’s get moving, shall we?

 

As a result of my heavy conscience, I am now introducing more HIIT on my supersets.

Superset 1

• HIIT – Burpies – 30 reps

Burpies

Berries oats muffins, because I love you!

I am a sucker for heart-shaped cook~ish things, if colourful, don’t even try to stop me! There is this awesome shop here in Germany, called Tchibo, every week a new theme, with very affordable prices, if you think of the common German prices. Every time the theme is related with household, I am about the 1st to walk in the store (well…not really).

I was targeting silicon moulds for some time, as one does not has to grease them, and that is healthy, right? besides, they are sooo cute!

I debuted my new heart-shaped silicon moulds with these delicious berries oats muffins, 12 medium-sized muffins were eaten in 3 days… yikes!

As you might have notice, or may come to notice, I pretty much DIY almost everything, from oats flour, to almond flour, almond milk, almond butter… I love it, well, not the cleaning after, I love the moment in which I am creating something from scratch, not to mention that is more affordable and healthy!

Hope you enjoy, and if possible, share the love!

Yield 24 small muffins or 12 medium-sized

Fluffy, moisty and really, really delicious!