Better for You Turkey Nachos

Nachos have always been one of my guilty pleasures. There's something about the cheesy, melty goodness that makes my mouth water and my stomach grumble. BUT they are so not good for me that it's become a very occasional treat. We substitute ground turkey for ground beef in just about every recipe we make to help cut the fat and calories and we've made our own tortillas before to spare ourselves some of the extra preservatives so we decided to combine the two and make homemade nachos with homemade tortilla chips. The result was DELICIOUS!!! So, of course, I thought I'd share the recipes with you so you can make your own cheesy awesomeness without quite the guilt.

So to start: Tortillas

We adapted our recipe from TheCafeSucreFarine. Swapping for whole wheat flour and avocado ups the fiber, vitamins and antioxidants.

1.5 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 c pureed avocado
1/2 c warm water

1. Stir together dry ingredients
2. Mix in avocado and water until smooth. I mixed by hand - less dishes that way! Whole wheat flour tends to be a little drier so you may need to add a little more water.
3. Divide into 8 equal balls. Place on greased cookie sheet and cover. Let rest for about 15 minutes.
4. Spray skillet and heat on medium high.
5. Roll out tortillas as thin as you can go and place, one at a time, on hot skillet. When it starts to bubble (about 1 minute), flip. Another quick moment then remove from heat.

*This made just enough for my husband, myself and our two littles. I'd recommend doing the full recipe (ie doubling what we did) for anything more than that.

I can't roll a perfect circle to save my life (as those who follow my Facebook page have probably noticed from my pizza attempts...). That's ok, though, since we're going to be cutting these up for chips anyhow!

Better start pre-heating that oven. 350 degrees should do it.

Next step is to get your taco meat going. As I mentioned, we use ground turkey in place of ground beef. Less fat and with the seasoning you don't even notice the taste difference (at least I don't). <-- Great if you're trying to sneak healthier foods in!

1. Brown your meat as you normally would. Drain.
2. Add seasoning and water.

You can use pre-packaged seasoning. We make our own - healthier and cheaper. Super easy, too! It's 1 part chili powder, 1 part ground cumin, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part onion powder and 1/4 to 1/2 part cayenne (to taste). Just mix it together and you're good to go! Recipe from 5 Dollar Dinners. Notice there's no salt?? Better for you and you don't even miss it. Super tasty recipe.

Ok, so now that your meat is browning and your oven is preheated, it's time to make some chips! Lightly spray each side of your tortillas with cooking spray. Lightly salt* one side then cut in sixths. I stacked 'em 4 high and took a pizza cutter to them. Made light work of it. Lay them out single file on a cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. That easy.

*Feel free to get creative with your seasonings. Next time I might try a dusting of cayenne or maybe a light splash of lime juice.

This is my first batch out of the oven. A nice browning from the skillet and crunch from the oven. Just a hint of salt. Yum!

Last step is to assemble your nachos. This is really up to you. I like to layer the chips with a little bit of cheese, some black beans, onions, taco meat, black olives and microwave for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese. Finished off with some fresh diced tomatoes, avocado and hot sauce. Really whatever I've got lying around the house at the time. Enjoy!!

Voila! The finished product!!

Shakeology Cleanse - Day 3

Didn't sleep well last night - had a hard time falling asleep and a hard time staying asleep. Didn't help that my 4 year old was up at 5am again. Woke up with a headache, which is really unusual for me. Not sure if it's the cleanse or something else but it's rare for me to get headaches. Stepped on the scale and saw I somehow managed to gain 0.6lbs since the first day... and got a visit from Mother Nature. :o/ Not a great start to the day. Work was more stressful than usual today, too. Kept up with the cleanse as best as I could mentally.

Food - Chocolate Shakeology for breakfast followed by a glass of green tea. Apple for snack. Spinach salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken and low fat French dressing for lunch. Decided to cheat a little and get a coffee after work to help bolster myself for an evening with the kids. I don't think they rinsed their machine out right because it had an acrid, chemical taste that burned my throat. :o( I figured it was karma getting me back for cheating. I'm an emotional eater - always have been. Gave in to temptation when I got home and grabbed some pretzel crisps. Salt and carbs - a definite no-no on the cleanse. Like I said, not a great day. Chocolate Shakeology followed by green tea for dinner. I will say, I did have a small victory today. My birthday is Saturday (yay me!) and the secretary always makes these delicious, homemade "birthday cookies" for staff. I figured I was safe and wouldn't get it until tomorrow. No such luck. She delivered that chocolate-y goodness to me this morning. I was strong, though, and resisted temptation. I put it in the freezer at school to save for tomorrow. Small victories!

Exercise - Got in a 1.6 mile walk at school and a few trips around the grocery store this afternoon. Very lethargic feeling today. I'd planned on doing a little something today but by the time I got home from work and grocery shopping and got the kids unloaded and settled in with all needs met, I was exhausted! :op

Mood - Overall ok. I was tired from lack of sleep, stressful day at work and dealing with the little ones alone for almost 6 hours this evening while my husband was at work. Survived though. :o) Looking forward to being able to eat again tomorrow. Seems all of the commercials are suddenly food related!!

Shakeology Cleanse - Day 2

Whew! Two-thirds of the way done and still going pretty strong. Fighting a headache through a bit of the day but I don't know if that's due to the cleanse, an incident that happened at school yesterday or my running last night (I sometimes get a headache an hour or so after I run for some reason).

Stepped on the scale this morning and I was down 2.2 pounds. Yay! I realize it's mostly "water weight" but it's nice to see that number move - motivating to keep going.

Food - Had my chocolate Shakeology for breakfast followed by a cup of green tea (forgot to mention the teas that I drank yesterday). Lunch was a spinach salad topped with cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices and 4oz of grilled chicken seasoned with pepper and garlic. A squirt of low-fat French dressing to top it off. After school I gave in to temptation and had a small serving of Chex Mix - had a serious craving for salty and crunchy (probably because most of my meals have been sweet and liquid). Had a chocolate Shakeology for a snack and then another for dinner, followed by a final glass of green tea. As with yesterday, no need for the extra fruit. Lots of water and I'm feeling pretty well sated.

Exercise - Walked 1.6 miles at work (we do most days) and did some light cleaning around the house. Contemplating some yoga or ab work once the kids are in bed. Nothing as intense as the run yesterday.

Mood - A little tired today but nothing unusual given the late bedtime (11:30 last night - yikes!) and the 5am wake-up with my oldest. A little crabby but, again, given the lack of sleep and chasing after a 1 year old and a 4 year old, nothing out of the ordinary. Overall, I'm finding this easier to follow than I anticipated (though I've not been as strict as it calls for with my after school snack).

One more day! :o)

Shakeology Cleanse - Day 1

I have to say, today wasn't as bad as I expected. :o)

Food - I had my Shakeology for breakfast with just water. It was a little thinner than I'm used to but not bad. Apple for snack and my salad for lunch. I did "cheat" a little and use the other half of my turkey burger (without the bun but still with the bacon and cheese...) from dinner last night as my lean protein. I also had a salad with baby spinach, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with just a squirt of low fat French dressing. Shakeology "snack" when I got home from work and then another for dinner. LOTS of water. I was pretty excited that I wasn't even tempted to have a taste of dinner when I was cooking for the kids. Didn't even need my second fruit today.

Exercise - It's normally not recommended that you do vigorous exercise so as not to over-tax your body. I got a new pair of running shoes yesterday and since this is the first day of the cleanse (and my body hasn't figured out that this is it yet!) I decided to hit the treadmill a little. Definitely kept it easy, though. Once my body catches up with the idea that there're fewer calories coming in, ie tomorrow, it's down to yoga.

Energy - Pretty good today. I expected to be tired, especially chasing after two little ones. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

I stepped on the scale this morning before my breakfast shake. We'll see what it says tomorrow morning. 'Night all!

Decide. COMMIT. Succeed.

The Beachbody motto is a straightforward, three-step process. Step 1: Decide what you want. Step 2: Commit to making it happen. 3. Achieve success. I initially joined as a coach in August as part of a challenge group so that I could get a discount on products. Since then, I've decided I'd like to take a more active coaching role. I love the idea of helping other people achieve their health and fitness goals, too! There's something exciting about realizing you don't have to squeeze to get into your jeans when you pull them out of the dryer - I want to help other people find that feeling.

This neverending Michigan winter has zapped a bit of my energy and drive, though, especially in the last couple of weeks (woke up to snow falling today.... AGAIN!). In order to recommit myself to the cause (and my own fitness) I've decided to take on the Shakeology 3 Day Cleanse. Unlike other cleanses out there, you still get to eat. You replace 2 meals a day with a shake (I already do one, anyhow) and have a dinner full of vegetables and lean protein. Green tea, fruit and a bonus shake for snacks. While a little weight loss is expected during the cleanse, that is not the focus. The main idea is detoxing and jump starting the system. It's a physical and mental way of getting yourself back on track. I'm starting my cleanse tomorrow and will post updates as I go so you can see my progress. I've also included the cleanse plan below for you to check out. Let me know if you have any questions!

TurboFire Day 5

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a crazy week. We had a kitchen pipe burst so between meeting with the plumber, back to school meetings and a trip out of town I've been swamped. It'll be short and sweet today. Fifth day into my Beachbody challenge group and our daily goal was to post a picture of ourselves working out. Easier said than done I learned! I thought I had my camera set up alright but when I went to view the video it was all torso. I figured no one wants to see all that jiggle :) My 3 year old grabbed the camera and caught some of the cool down on camera. I hate watching myself on film but I figure if I do and share it, it provides more incentive for me to improve. Just wait til day 35!! No more jiggle I hope. hehe

P.S. I have a workout challenge group going on my Facebook page. No cost to join/participate. We're only halfway through the first week so there's still time to jump on in. It's an 8-week challenge total. Come check us out! Fast&Furious Fitness

Beachbody Challenge Day 1

The challenge group I'm participating in is 3-pronged: 1. exercise (duh), 2. Shakeology (really kind of enjoying this) and 3. clean eating. Ugh. That last one is going to be my biggest struggle for sure. I can make time to exercise. I can do a chocolate shake a day. In order to "eat clean" I have to overcome 31 years of bad habits. Eating clean basically means eating foods in their most natural state (or as close to it as you can safely get). Lean meats. Fruits, veggies. No packaged foods, no preservatives, no Taco Bell, McDonalds or Wendys. Oh, and no pizza. Well, not the commercial ones at least. This is going to be hard. Those meals of convenience have become a bit of a habit in our house. Heck, Friday night has become "pizza night." We eat out more than we should. I know that. But cutting everything out cold turkey... yikes! It didn't help that when I went on a message board for Beachbody coaches this morning I found a post from a coach lamenting the fact that a member of their challenge group had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. What?! I mean, I realize they're not the greatest for you. Sugars and all that. But really?! I'm not perfect. I'm going to mess up. Probably a lot while I get the hang of this. But there are a lot of worse things the person could have been eating... like Fruity Pebbles (which I happen to have on top of my fridge right now, by the way...). Therefore, I solemnly swear if I'm ever your coach, I am not going to freak out about an occasional slip up.

I really believe that you get out of the challenge what you put in. I enter it with that full knowledge and acceptance. If I eat a slice of pizza, or a bowl of cereal, I'm the one who suffers for it. And I'm ok with that. I don't want to develop such a complex over the clean eating that I feel guilty if I have a beer with friends or cake at my daughter's birthday party. Every healthy choice I make makes me that much better. I'm going to work hard. I'm going to 'challenge' myself to do better, to be better. But I'm not going to strive for 'perfection," that's just setting myself up for failure. As a special education teacher, setting goals is something that has been ingrained in my education. Goals have to be SMART - Strategic/Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results oriented and Time bound. So I'm setting attainable goals for myself. :o)

P.S. My first official workout of the challenge went well. I burned 458 calories according to the HRM. Pretty stoked about that!