20 Minute Fish Wrap Meal

10 steps to the easiest fish dish you have ever added to your family's dinner schedule!  I promise this is a super quick, easy dish and is a great way to add fish into your family's diet.  This fabulous recipe I found somewhere (I have no idea now, I have been making it by memory for so long).  I tried to Google it, but couldn't find it any more- boo.  So anonymous props to the chef that came up with this!

Dinner consists of the following:
Quinoa
Asparagus
Carrots
Tilapia
Edamame
Beverage of your choice

Pretty sure this hits the "health-o-meter" Xs 100.

Prepare Edamame and Quinoa as directed by your particular packaging.  Both are incredibly easy to eat (kid friendly if you are worried about that) and super healthy for your family.  If you haven't tried either, this is the meal to start- you will be hooked! 

What you need for the fish wrap:
4- 2.5 oz Tilapia filets
1 Orange (sliced, halved)
8 Carrots (quartered, length wise)
16 Asparagus stalks (bases trimmed)
Mrs. Dash Garlic/herb seasoning (I use this because we don't use salt)
Parchment paper
Olive Oil (please, for the love of all things Italian, get the good stuff!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Final prep before folding

1.  Tear your parchment paper into 12 inch squares.  Fold in half length wise.  (Basically, you are making a pouch for each filet to bake in.)
2.  Lay filet inside folded flap.
3.  Add 4 Asparagus and 4 carrots on top of the filet
4.  Sprinkle Mrs. Dash over all ingredients
5.  Drizzle Olive Oil on top- not too much
6.  Place 2 halves of Orange on top
7.  Close parchment and double fold sides, then fold top down.  This is in essence closing your pouch of food.

Parchment Pockets

8.  Lay on baking pan


9. Bake in oven for about 12 minutes (until fish is white and flaky and veggies are crisp).


10. Remove from oven, open pouch and use spatula to place food on top of quinoa dish.  Add Edamame as a side dish and VOILA!  You are finished! :)

Now all you need to do is pick your beverage of choice (no suggestions from me on this one)!

Yummy goodness!

Next time you are trying to incorporate more fish into your family's diet, try this; it is super easy, doesn't have a "fishy" taste and I promise you will love it!

Be Blessed.

30 Things to do Before I'm 30, Pt. 4

Quick refresher on PART 1, PART 2, & PART 3.

And here is part 4...

Focusing on enhancing my personal reading goals!

16. Read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow all over again, just because.  Visit Sleepy Hollow in October after I have read the book, just because it is beautiful.

17.  Start reading with a book club, again.  Re-prioritizing what is important (ok, I could have read 15 pages while I was reading mindless Facebook updates).

18.  Read 12 books (one per month of the year).  Be sure they are from different genres, branch out sister!

19.  Share the books I read throughout the year on the blog and with friends.  What better to do than to share one of your life's passions?

20. Read to Isabella every day.  Even if she likes reading different genres, I want her to understand why reading is so important.

30 Things to do before I turn 30 pt.1

So, as you all know, I recently turned 29.  I decided to make sure that my 30th year was the best yet! :)

Here are the first 5 things I came up with and decided I wanted to do before I turn 30.  They are certainly not in order as I am NOT putting myself in the icy Susquehanna River to achieve the first on the list here... :)  They have varying meaning for both myself and my family.  Feel free to ask more about them if you are interested.

Kayak down the Susquehanna River.  Way cool.  You can make stops on one of the many islands along the way back to City Island.  What better way to see the city than from the river?  Last time I saw a city from the river, I was in London on our honeymoon.  Bliss.  We will make our own little Honeymoon in Harrisburg- haha!  Maybe I will plan this as part of our anniversary this year!!  :)

Run road races again.  This is something I LOVED to do when I was in high school and I still maintained it in college, but then the real world set in and I just never made the time to continue to do this.  It is one of my true fitness loves and Matt (Mr. crazy runner man) is going to hold me to this! 

Eat 30 new things. While this sounds simple enough, I actually like to try new things, so it will be challenging to find 30 things I haven't already tried!  :)  I will definitely tell you about these things when I come across them!

Grow a garden. I don't mean a rinky dink one.  I mean a real garden.  My grandmother and grandfather raised me on gardening and I would love to honor them by continuing with the tradition. Last year our little garden made enough to feed Isabella all through her winter mushy food months, so my goal is to can enough for my family that we don't have to buy it in the off-season.

Be Thankful every day.  Enough said.  We are all part of God's plan, we just don't always know how it is going to play out.  He has blessed my family so much in 2010 and I have faith he will continue to do so.  I want to work on being even more Thankful and less 'complaint filled.'  I read so many posts on Facebook and blogs about people complaining (while to each his/her own); I just think that there are so many good things going on out there- why complain??

Okay. So I am going to post these in increments of 5....so as not to overwhelm myself and to remind myself how much each one means to me.

Be Blessed.

Working Off that Baby Chub

Well, I was released for physical activity at 5 weeks, so since then I have been running, although I have struggled to keep a regular routine with having a small newborn.  Matt has been great to watch Isabella while I go out...but I find myself lonely running (I never was before!) and it is getting dark earlier.

Matt and I regularly went to LA. Fitness prior to getting pregnant and I continued to go through my second trimester.  We did a rotating routine of lifting, legs, and running and cycling (I did pool work during the pregnancy).

I like going there, they have great classes, they have free childcare (or else it is only like $5.00 a month), they have a pool I can do laps in, and the equipment and locker rooms are always spotlessly clean (I am not a fan of germies from other random strangers).

I have recently discovered Zumba with my 'sister' Lindsay.  It is TOOOOO fun! ha ha ha.  Now, I am athletic by nature-I always have been- from dance to running to basketball.  Zumba however is a challenge for me and I like that it is a NEW challenge, as I find myself getting bored with the 'same ol' thing'.

I'm happy with my weight loss progress- I have lost 32 pounds since having baby Isabella, now I am ready to work on toning and my health.  Since she was born I have been eating muuuuch better.  It is funny how you don't crave the junky foods any more :).  I would like to continue to loose a few more pounds and tone up again- it was kinda scary how flabby my stomach was after giving birth (Ok, I get I just had a baby, but please respect that it is something I am not used to).

I'm not sure exactly what I want my routine to look like, but I think that with the success we have had following our cleaning schedule as a team, I am thinking that I need to create a workout schedule, so I can have another list to "check things off on."  And so I can add another calendar to the fridge. ;)  I want my schedule to be varied and fun- not like a job.  I have had several suggestions on what to incorporate, but more suggestions would definitely be welcome! :)

I will continue to post about my progress- maybe having my plan out there will be even more motivation for achieving my goals. :)

Keep asking me how my workout schedule is going.  I have set a definite goal so far- to start running road races again.  I miss them, they are fun, and its a good environment to be in, plus the health benefits are superb.

Midnight Brownies

So there are a couple of reasons for posting this recipe.  First, as most of you guys know, since being pregnant with Isabella, I have had VERY LITTLE desire to eat meat.  In fact, during my first trimester I definitely lurched at the thought of cooking meat (poor Matt!!!).  Well, after she was born I figured I would go back to eating meat like I normally did...not so much.  I still eat very little meat (I can probably count on one hand the times I have eaten meat since July 8th). 

Well, while I was at home I was watching a Dr. Oz Show rerun (oh my, how I have become the mom at home!) he had a guest viewer- Kim Bensen- on his show that had lost over 200 pounds!  More power to her- that's awesome!  Well, anyhow, she had these secret ingredient brownies that are a lot healthier for you (especially if you like sweets).  Well of course I was hooked, I wanted to know what was in the brownies!! (Second reason for the post: get her awesome story and the secret out!)

So, she finally revealed that her brownies contain BEANS!! WHAT!?! Serious?  Yeah, okay, so I want to try this recipe, because it appeals to my "bean" side, haha- I've been eating a lot of beans during dinner, so cool- beans. 

So, word to the cautious...I haven't tried this yet, I just found it on his site and I plan on trying them this week (as long as I have all the ingredients).


Midnight Brownies

Brownies

Ingredients

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup agave syrup

1/2 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup egg whites

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 tbsp  vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 8x8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a food processor, mix all brownie ingredients (except chips) together. Chop on high, until smooth. Clean off sides and blend for another 20 seconds. Add the chips and stir well. Spread into the 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 1 hour at room temperature.

Frosting

Ingredients

6 oz. fat-free cream cheese

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp semisweet mini chocolate chips, melted

Directions

With a whisk attachment on an electric beater, blend all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over the top of the cooled brownies. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the 2 tbsp of chips with a 2-second spray of nonstick cooking oil. Using a spoon, swirl the chocolate on top. Allow it to set in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy. Don't forget to have seconds! 

You can find the recipe on Dr. Oz's Recipe Page as well!

You can read more about the guest that presented this recipe in her book Finally Thin.