Creamy Fruit Salad

I put this recipe together at the end of March for my kids.  Both were home and wanted a snack.  I threw in the fruits that I had readily available.  Really, you could make it with any combination that you want.  I personally wouldn't do bananas, because I don't like when they get slimy in a salad.  That's just my opinion though! I think it would be really good with pineapple and raspberries too.  You could even sprinkle some chopped walnuts or shaved coconut into it.  It is an easy recipe to personalize to best suit our tastes or what you have on hand - no need to buy anything special for it!  It turned out so well that I thought I'd do a video and a post of the recipe!  Depending on how sweet you like it, you might want to use more or less honey.  I melted it in the microwave for a few seconds so it was easy to pour and mix into the cold yogurt.  I hope you enjoy it!  Here's the video, if you want to watch it.

Here's the written recipe:

Creamy Fruit Salad
makes 6+ servings

1 cup Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp Honey (more or less for your taste)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Combine the above ingredients.  Stir well and set aside.

1 Apple chopped
1 tsp fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 cup Grapes slice in half
1/2 cup Blueberries
1 cup Strawberries sliced

Add apple and mix with lemon juice in a large bowl.  Add the remaining fruit and yogurt mixture.  Mix well.  You can serve right away or allow to sit overnight.  The longer it sits, the better the flavors will mesh.

Help -- My Sweet Tooth Strikes Again!

We traveled over Easter back home.  We are getting ready to put our old house on the market, so we went on a whirlwind 4 day weekend of painting, painting and more painting.  We were so busy, and takeout was the easiest option.  Plus, we were able to indulge in foods that we haven't had in over a year and a half.  Oh, how I missed a Capriotti's Bobbie!  It also happened to be Easter, and my parents made delicious baskets for the kids.

I wound up with 4 days of basically carb loading and SOOOOO many treats to come back home.  Since I started my health and fitness journey 10 months ago, I try my hardest not to buy sweet treats that I will want to eat.  I make sure if the kids choose a treat, I don't really care for it.  This way, I'm not tempted to eat it!  Well, we came home with many delicious options!

I have found myself indulging in way too many sweets for the past two weeks!  I had a killer sweet
tooth that I managed to reign in for so long.  I'm really struggling to get myself back on track!  Each day I do a little better, so I am hoping to get the cravings completely under control in the next few days.  Here are some tips I've learned along the way to help keep my pesky sweet tooth under control!

1 - Stay Hydrated!
I find I crave more sweets on the days where I don't drink enough water.  When a craving hits, I try to first drink a big glass of water.  It usually goes away on it's own!  My goal each day is to drink half my body weight in ounces of water.



2 - Eat Something Else
If extra water doesn't help, I assume that my body needs nourishment.  By afternoon, when the cravings hit, I usually have greek yogurt.  I've found the Oikos zero is quite delicious.  It is sweetened with Stevia, so I don't feel too guilty.  Other times, I will have some fruit.  Clementines, berries, apples, grapes and pineapple all tend to help.  When it is in season, I love to have watermelon too!  I only eat two servings of fruit per day.  If the cravings are bad, I will have a third serving.  I figure it's better than eating a cookie!


3 - Cut Out the Artificial Sweeteners
They seem to skew my ability to sense natural sweetness.  I guess it's because they are so overly sweet.  Since eliminating them from my diet, I find that natural foods are so much sweeter and taste better!




I am not a Registered Dietician or a nutrition expert, but these are helpful tips I've discovered along the way.  If you need help with your sweet tooth or sugar cravings, let me know!

21 Day Fix Tips for Success

When I first started the 21 Day Fix, I was on my own.  I ordered the program on a whim from Amazon.  I didn't have a coach and didn't even know coaches were available.  I was overwhelmed, but determined to make it work!  I hit Pinterest and pinned about a hundred pins in one day.  The 21 Day Fix has been the program I needed for so many years!  I love that the workouts are quick and effective.  Also, the nutritional plan has changed the way I eat and think about food.  It is now just habit to think in colors and container sizes!

My first round was a learning curve.  I made many mistakes, but lost about 8 pounds!  Now that I am a coach, I try to help my clients avoid the bumps I did in the beginning.  I put together this list of my top 4 tips to get you started on the 21 Day Fix.  If you need help, please let me know!  I am always happy to help people get started, refocused or just keep going.  Send me a message here, on my Facebook site - Fit With Brie or email - fitwithbriec@gmail.com or brie259@yahoo.com

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

I had a busy night yesterday!  I needed dinner that was fast and easy.  I didn't have time to sit at the stove and cook a meal.  I found a small pork tenderloin on sale at the grocery store, and I knew it would bake pretty quickly.  I pulled some veggies from the fridge and made a quick Sweet and Sour sauce to pour over it.  To make it a complete meal, I cooked a blend of brown and wild rice with a little chicken broth.  Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try!

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

-Pork Tenderloin sized to feed your family
-1 Green Pepper sliced
-1 Onion halved and sliced
-Carrots sliced
-Mushrooms halved
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauce ingredients
-1 cup of pineapple juice
-1/4 cup water
-2 Tbsp vinegar (white or rice wine)
-1/4 cup tomato paste
-1 Tbsp honey
-2 Tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place pork tenderloin in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.  Add vegetables around the pork.  In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients.  Pour over the pork and vegetables.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Apple Cider Vinegar?

I've been doing some extensive research about drinking raw Apple Cider Vinegar each day.  I've learned some very interesting things!  The claims are all over the place; they range from ending your flu quickly to helping you to lose weight.  I've decided to experiment with some recipes that I've found.  I'm going to give each recipe two to three days before switching to another.  I plan to drink it every day for a month.  Each week, I will give an update as to the recipes I tried and my thoughts on each one.  I will make sure to link you to the sites where I found the recipes, if you want to try them yourself.

Let's start today with some the the potential health benefits of drink unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar.  There was a study in Japan that actually linked drinking it daily for 12 weeks and a minor amount of weight loss.  It seems that it is surely not a quick fix, but might help with the breakdown of fats in an already healthy diet.

There are links established between Apple Cider Vinegar and it's anti-glycemic properties.  Researches at Arizona State University have found that it blocks the absorption of some starch.  It won't be a quick fix if you already have diabetes, but it might help to regulate blood sugar levels in small amounts.  It seems that it might be beneficial to drink it with a starchy meal.  Others suggest to drink it before bed to reduce your sugars overnight while fasting.

It seems that it isn't going to cure cancer, lower your cholesterol or make you lose a ton of weight fast, but it does seem that there are benefits that I want to explore!  I am starting Monday on my month of Apple Cider Vinegar.  I will do my pretty unscientific study to see what happens!

7 - 21 Day Fix On the Go Lunch Ideas

As the warm weather comes, our lives only seem to get busier!  For those of us who are following a clean eating program, for me the 21 Day Fix, it is essential to keep your body fueled.  When on the go, it is easy to just skip a meal or pick up not so healthy food!  You either wind up irritable due to not eating or sluggish due to poor food choices.

If you plan ahead and bring your food with you, you will be satisfied and stay on plan!  Here are 7 ideas that you might want to prep on the weekends to bring with you throughout the week!  I've given my best estimates of the fix containers, which will depend on the actual brands you buy and how you prepare things!

*Tortilla with peanut butter, banana and berries and greek yogurt -

1 Yellow, 1 tsp, 1 Purple and 1 Red

*2 Hard boiled eggs, sliced peppers and carrots with hummus - 

1 Red, 1 Green and 1 Blue

*Nitrate free, low sodium ham, cheese and lettuce rollups - 

1 Red, 1 Green and 1 Blue

*Mixed greens with grilled chicken, strawberries and blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette - 

1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Purple, 1 Blue, 1 Orange

*Taco Salad - mixed greens with seasoned ground meat, salsa, shredded cheese, and tomatoes - 

1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Blue, 1 Purple

*Turkey and Veggie Pasta Salad (whole wheat pasta, cubed turkey, cheese, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, onions and vinaigrette dressing)

1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Blue, 1 Green, 1 Orange

*Honey mustard chicken pita (sliced chicken, mustard mixed with honey and greek yogurt, lettuce, veggies of your choice)

1 Red, 1 tsp, 1 Yellow, 1 Green

Southwest Chicken Wraps

Yesterday was a crazy evening in our house!  My husband's truck was in the shop for a few days.  It was finally ready to be picked up, and luckily, it wasn't too expense to repair!  I am also thankful to not have to take him to work in the morning anymore.  It made my busy mornings even harder!  Any way, we had to drive into town to pick up the truck from the repair shop, and I had to make a run to Walmart.  My son's 100th day project was an epic fail.  I needed glue fast!

Since we live pretty far out of town, this took awhile.  I knew we would never be able to eat dinner at a decent time if I made what was planned.  I contemplated doing drive thru or grabbing a pizza, but that wasn't going to get me to my health and fitness goals.  I decided that while searching for a better glue in Walmart, I'd grab something for dinner.  It needed to be fast and it needed to be healthy!



Finally, some inspiration hit!  I found some whole wheat tortillas and grabbed a rotisserie chicken.  I had shredded cheese at home, but I needed veggies!  I went to the frozen food aisle.  I found a blend of sliced red and green peppers and onions.  Perfect!  I can sauté them in no time, and the bonus was that I didn't have to chop anything.  I wanted something else too.  Two freezers down, I found a Southwestern quinoa blend with mango, black beans, peppers and corn.  It looked delicious and cooked in 4 minutes!  I had some salsa verde at home.  Dinner solved!

Final score -
Take out - 0  Brie - 1

And, as a bonus, the new glue worked much better for those pesky eyeballs!

Southwestern Chicken Wraps

Whole Wheat or Corn Tortillas
Shredded Chicken
Shredded Cheese (I had sharp on hand)
Peppers and onions sautéed in olive oil
Path of life Southwest Quinoa
Salsa Verde

Combine ingredients on your wrap.  Fold and enjoy!  It couldn't be easier!

21 Day Fix containers - 1.5 yellow for wrap and quinoa, 1 red for chicken, 1 green for veggies and salsa verde, 1 blue for cheese, 1 tsp for olive oil