Clean Eating on a Budget

Clean eating can be expensive. We all know this, but so can eating like crap. Here are my suggestions for eating clean on a budget.... 

First. Make a meal plan so that you are not buying unnecessary things or throwing away food that goes bad.

Second. Look at the deals before you go to the store. Most stores are now allowing you to load coupons to your rewards card. 

Third. I recently downloaded an app called Ibotta (click here to check it out) which allows you to select rebates before you shop, then you verify the purchase, send a picture of your receipt and you will be awarded money. When you hit $20 you can cash out by sending it to paypal or venmo. Here is the cool thing - they have a whole bunch of bonuses, which you don't know about until you start using it. For example the first time I shopped I got an extra $5 bonus! When I got $5 with of bonuses in one shopping trip they gave me a free $5. It starts to add up. The cool thing with this app is it will let you buy produce and get money! I have got money on apples, onion, lettuce, tomato, lemon, green pepper, banana's! It also lets you add generic things such as any brand yogurt, cheese, eggs, milk. So you can really save if you have an additional coupon or there is a sale going on. Also there is an app called Checkout 51. I haven't had much success with it, but others have.

Four. Try shopping at Costco or BJ's for deals. They also accept coupons. I buy items in bulk at a cheaper price and freeze them. This is especially good for buying meat. 

Five. You don't always have to buy fresh produce. You can buy frozen veggies and save money!

Six. Check out your local paper and see if they are running any deals for signing up. We get the Sunday paper with coupons for less than $1 a paper. I usually save a few dollars each time I go with the coupons I've clipped.

Seven. There are stores like Aldi that have items at a discounted rate. I don't have one near my house anymore, but it's a good store to save money in. 

My best advice is to make a plan and stick to it. Don't go to the store hungry. Avoid the middle isles. Sure the two bags of chips for $6 sounds great, but let's be serious those things start to add up. Don't forget to check out Ibotta. It's been my money saver lately and I'm totally loving it. 

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

I saw something like this on Pinterest, but kind of did my own thing. I am not a huge lasagna fan and my boyfriend is not a huge spaghetti squash fan, but figured I'd give it a whirl anyways. (It has cheese in it - so couldn't hurt).  Let me tell you how amazing it is and I can't wait to make it again.  My boyfriend has already requested it be added to our dinner rotation. 

It takes about 5 min to prep the squash, and total cooking time 50 minutes to an hour.

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash
Cottage Cheese 2%
Ground Turkey
Tomato Paste (8 oz)
Mozzarella Cheese 
Basil 
Oregano
(other Italian spices you enjoy) 

Directions: 
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F 

2. Slice your spaghetti squash in half long ways.  Scoop out the seeds and gook in the middle, like you would a pumpkin. 

3. Rub the inside of the spaghetti squash with some olive oil.

4. Place the inside of the spaghetti squash face down so the outside of the squash is outward.

5. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

6. While that is cooking - chop an onion.  I didn't measure this you can put a little bit or a lot of onion depending on your taste.  I'd say I used about 1/4 a cup.  Put the onion in a pan with some olive oil and let it start to cook.

7. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic to the pan and let that cook for 2 minutes or so with the onion.

8. Add 1 package of ground turkey - about 1 lb. and cook that with the onion and garlic.  Add your spices to the meat at this point and let it cook with the turkey.  I did about 10 leaves of fresh basil chopped and about 1 tsp of oregano. 

9. Once the turkey is cooked add tomato paste and mix it with the turkey, onion, garlic mixture. 

10. Set this aside so the tomato paste does not burn.

11. When your Spaghetti Squash is finished take it out and flip the squash over so the inside is facing up. 

12. Using 2 forks - one to hold the squash in place and the other to scrape the squash into "noodles"

13. Once you have most of the squash scraped - I moved it all to one side and added a spoonful of cottage cheese and a spoonful of the meat mix.  Then move the squash on top and fill in the other side. I then added a layer of cheese - you do not need a lot of cheese just a light sprinkle over the top.  Then add a layer of meat, then another thin layer of cottage cheese and sprinkle of cheese. 

14. Put this back in the oven for about 10 minutes. 

15. ENJOY!

I mixed mine up inside the spaghetti squash before I ate it so I got a good mixture of squash, turkey, cottage cheese and cheese! 

To make 21 Day Fix Approved you can measure out the turkey mixture you add in 1 red, cottage cheese in 1 red, cheese in 1 blue, and the squash as 2 green. 

Guilt Free Wings Made at Home

Football season is here.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE wings when watching Football.  I think the two should go hand in hand.  Literally, one wing in each hand.  I also really like staying home on Sunday's and not going to a bar to watch the game.  ALSO, I don't want to eat fried wings all of the time. Here is my solution.... and I'm sure it could be better for you depending on the sauces you use. 

First you need to get some wings! I got them at Costco and put them in my freezer.  I got 6 packages of 10-12 wings for $13. They are all packaged individually for easy storage.  

Marinade! I take the wings out the night before and marinate them on the sauce.  I did BBQ and Buffalo in my picture.  I didn't have zip lock bags, so I just did it in some Rubbermaid containers. Worked out great.  I let them sit from about 6 pm until around 11am.  

Then we grilled them on Med heat for about 20 minutes.  You should use the excess sauce while grilling.  We have a brush we use.  Just add more sauce when you flip them. 

The first time I made them we were having a party, so I didn't want them to get cold before everyone could enjoy them.  I put them in my crock pot for about 2 hours on low.  (I have a casserole crock pot  get your crock pot here ) Honestly, they were the best wings.  They were crispy from the grill, but still moist from the crock pot! 

I cannot wait to make these again..... this weekend.

Sweet Potato Hash - 21 Day Fix Approved

So I had a pack of Chicken Apple Sausage and had NO idea what to make with it.  Honestly, I hadn't even tried it before.  I found a recipe online and it is seriously, and I mean seriously the BOMB.COM!  I had it for dinner and it made enough for me to have it as breakfast the next two days.

PS it took maybe 20 minutes to make from cutting veggies and cooking.

Ingredients:
Al Fresco Chicken Sausage Apple (you could use different brands)
1 Red Pepper
1 Zucchini
1 Green Apple
1/4 Onion
1 Sweet Potato
Eggs

First thing I did was wash my sweet potato and poke it with a fork.  I cook it in the microwave for 3 minutes on one side, flip and cook on the other side for 3 minutes.

Then while that is cooking, put some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and heat up.  You probably want to use a pan that has higher sides, so that your veggies don't fall out.

Dice your onion first.  I used about 1/4 of an onion, but by all means if you're an onion lover feel free to add more.  My boyfriend calls them poison, so I can't add too many. (even though he doesn't know 1/2 the time I add cooked onion to meals) Add them to the pan and let them start cooking.

Next, dice up a red pepper and add it to the pan.  Once that is added I sliced the zucchini in rounds then cut the round into 4 pieces (so it was 4 triangles). Add that to the pan.

Dice an apple into small pieces and add that to the pan.  I used 1/2 an apple the first time and the second time a whole apple. I like it with the whole apple better.

Once the sweet potato is cooked, you can cook the Al Fresco Chicken Sausage in the microwave! (SAY WHAT!) Crazy right.  If you're using a different brand than what I used check the cooking instructions.  I don't want anyone getting sick.  I cooked the 4 sausages on a plate for 1 min then flipped them over and cooked for another 2 minutes.

Your potato is going to be HOT! So, what I do is slice it so that it can cool off a little bit.  Once it's cooled so you can touch it the skin should come off relatively easy.  Then cut it into smaller pieces.  It's going to be a bit mushy, but that is ok! Add that to the pan with everything else.

Once the chicken sausage is cooked, slice it into smaller pieces and add to the pan.  I sliced it then cut the slices in half to make them go further.

While that is all cooking, cook 2 eggs over easy in a separate pan.  I know sounds weird, but trust me it's so good.

Don't fill your plate with this! Seriously, a little bit goes a long way.  I put some in my bowl and thought that isn't a lot maybe I should add more. Then I said to myself NO ASHLEY, you can come back and get more if you really think you need it.  Top with the fried egg.  Then break the egg up and enjoy!

You can measure everything out with your containers and cook an individual serving or you can try to measure after you cook it all.  I would say it's about 1/2 a yellow, 1 green, 1.5 red, and 1/2 a purple.

PS - if you want to eat it as leftovers at home with a pan where you can cook more egg go for it, but you can also eat it with out the egg and it's still amazing.  I had it at work for breakfast and was in heaven.

I hope you enjoy!!

Egg Muffins

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I decided to try something new for breakfast this week.  I am tired of hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and toast with peanut butter and banana. PLUS it's always good to get in a few extra veggies when you can. 

This recipe was so easy.  The hardest/most time consuming thing was cutting up veggies. 

Ingredients
12 eggs
pepper/salt
1 red pepper
Salsa - make your own/organic
1 floret of broccoli
hot sauce

You will need a muffin tin to make these

*optional - onion, mushroom, carrots... CHEESE if you're feeling jazzy! (I totally would of added cheese if I wasn't trying to be good!)

Preheat your oven to 375 and then grease your pan so it's ready to go. 

Dice your red pepper and broccoli and set aside. 

Whisk 12 eggs with salt and pepper to taste. 

Pour eggs into muffin tin with a little bit of room left at the top - maybe 1/2 an inch.

Then drop your ingredients in each tin and then take a fork and give it a light stir.  If you have any egg mixture left top off the muffins that are low. 

Cook for 15-20 min 

Let cook then take a knife around the outside of the egg muffin to help pop it out! 

You can eat this cold or warm it up! I plan to add some hot sauce on mine to spice it up!

I would count this as one Red - you can add green but there is so little (maybe 1/4) that I don't think it is necessary.  

Enjoy!

PS - The tin is hard to clean if you let it sit so make sure you clean it right away. I learned this the hard way.

Interested in the 21 Day Fix?  Email me ashleyfrancisfitness@gmail.com 

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Chocolate Protein French Toast

Ingredients 
3/4 Cup of Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology (or protein powder you use)
2 eggs
Cinnamon 
Bread - Whole Wheat or Ezekiel bread

Directions
This recipe was so easy! You basically are making regular french toast but adding the protein powder.  I was going to use my ezekiel bread, but it was frozen.  So, if you are like me and keep it in the freezer take out some slices the night before and put them in the fridge they will be ready for use in the morning. 

Start by mixing unsweetened almond milk, eggs, protein powder, and cinnamon in a bowl.  Use a fork to whisk it together 

Use coconut oil on your pan so that the bread doesn't stick.  

Dip the bread, both sides in the mix and put on the pan to cook.  Flip after a few minutes of cooking. 

Use some pure maple syrup or some peanut butter and enjoy! 

Banana Pancakes - No Flour - 21 Day Fix Approved

I  LOVE pancakes, but I know that my love handles and thighs do not!  This morning I tried a new recipe and it's so yummy!! I'm thinking I could even add other fruits to it like strawberries or blueberries!  You don't even really need that much syrup for them!  If you do use syrup I do suggest using the pure maple syrup. 

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
1 Banana
1/2 cup apple sauce
3/4 cup quick oatmeal
1 tsp cinnamon 
1 tsp vanilla 

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.  I suggest breaking the banana into smaller pieces so that it blends completely.  I used the liquify option for about 30 seconds.  

2. Pour onto a lightly greased pan (coconut oil) to make you pancakes.  The first round did not come out as well as next.  Make sure you pan is nice and warm before you pour the mix. 




3.  Enjoy! This will make two servings of pancakes.  

21 Day Fix Friends: I counted this as 1 purple, 1/4 yellow, 1/2 red

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