90 Day Challenge Update - Week 4

Well, unfortunately, week 4 was not the success I had hoped for.

Not only did I fail to get all the work outs in I had hoped for, The scale wasn't my friend this week either. Yesterday's weigh in says I have actually gained a pound this week!!! A whole pound!!!


Gaining a pound puts me off of my target weight loss by 3 pounds in total. The two pounds I SHOULD havd lost this last week, plus the pound I gained... :(

Goal for week 4 = total loss of 8 lb
Actual for week 4 = total loss of 5 lb

So I am trying to get back on the band wagon this week.
I started today off on the right foot....

Breakfast
♦Quinoa with hemp hearts, sesaeme seeds, cinnamon and soy milk.

Coffee Break
♦Boiled Egg
♦Carrot Sticks

Lunch
♦ 6 Bean and Wild Rice Chilli
♦ Mandarin Orange

Afternoon Snack
♦Veggies

Supper
♦1/2 baked potato
♦ Baked Chicken
♦ Raw Veggies

Snack
♦Banana

Hopefully, I can get back on track this week and regain my momentum....
Wish me luck!!

In the mean time...Keep it "Natural"!

Amazing Quinoa Brownie Cake

I have been cooking and eating Quinoa for quite some time, but I have been wanting to try a new recipe I read about for some time. I wanted to make Chocolate Quinoa Cake. This cake is made using Quinoa seed, no the flour.

If you haven't heard of Quinoa yet, its time you did. Quinoa is the current media favorite. You see it cropping up in all the magazines and cook books, and for good reason! Quinoa is gluten free, making it suitable for those with Celiacs. It is a low glycemic-index carb, which makes it great for diabetics. Quinoa is a complete protein - great for the vegetarian in your life.

There are several different types of Quinoa, most of which grow high in the mountains of South America, the native home of Quinoa. South American varieties include White Quinoa, Red Quinoa and Black Quinoa. Due to its unique growing requirements, Quinoa does not grow in the USA and only one company grows it in Canada. I am using the Canadian Grown Golden Quinoa, purchased from Northern Quinoa Corp. in Saskatchewan, Canada. It can be found at http://www.quinoa.com/. While most Quinoa is rather tasteless (like white rice), Golden Quinoa has a nutty flavor that lends itself well to baked goods!

So lets get cooking!!

The first step in this amazing concoction is to cook the Quinoa. Since I am using Golden Quinoa, I am jut boiling my Quinoa with equal amount of water until done. The water cooks off and you can see the little "tails" of the Quinoa seed uncurl.

 Golden Quinoa cooking away!

Once the Quinoa has cooked and cooled, I began to assemble the rest of the ingredients. They were pretty simple, soy milk (family is lactose intolerant!), water, eggs, extract, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and butter.

The rest of the ingredients!

To assemble the recipe:

I blended Soy Milk, water and rum extract in the blender until smooth. I added the cooled Quinoa and butter to the blender and blended until smooth.

I then mixed the following dry ingredients in a bowl: sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the ingredients in the blender to the bowl and mix well.

Mixed ingredients poured and ready for the oven.

Once ingredients are well blended, pour them into a greased pan with parchment paper on the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until done.

Just out of the oven...

Cut and about to try it out.....

Yummy!! Wow is that rich!

This cake ends up with a very brownie-like texture and it is VERY rich! So how did it go over? Only Two hours after coming out of the oven, the cake was almost entirely gone!! I saved a few pieces for morning lunches, but I had to fight to get those!!

The recipe is easy and quick to make. It is a wonderful alternative to the typical wheat chocolate cake and way richer. If you did not tell people what it was made of they would never know that it didn't have flour. But they would rave about the taste!!

So here is the Recipe.

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/3 cup soy milk

1/3 cup water

4 eggs

1 tsp rum extract

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 & 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Mix soy milk, water, eggs and rum extrat in blender until smooth. Add Quinoa and butter and blend until smooth. If thick, add a bit more water to mixture.

In bowl blend cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add contents from blender and mix well.

Grease baking pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Pour batter into pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let the cake cool completely and the turn upside down on plate and remove parchment paper before cutting and serving. 

Decorate as you wish, though this cake doesn't need it!! It is amazing all on its own!!

PLEASE NOTE: This is a variation/modification of a recipe found in "Quinoa 365" by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming.

90 Day Challenge - Week 3!!

Well I am happy to report that week three is over and I am still on track with my goals. I am currently down 6 lbs!!! I do have to admit, however, that I am having more problems with the eating plan than I wish to admit. While the first week was very clean, my old eating habits seem to be coming to the forefront once again.  Specifically, I am having trouble with eating out too often. Life seems to get hectic and suddenly I find myself saying "Let's just grab something on the way...." This is never healthy, especially where I live. This is burger and Fries country.

I will be trying to tighten up the eating this week. I need to take an evening to prep foods for the week, and while that should have been Sunday, I was unable to do it then. I will have to go home tonight and get some meal prep done and packaged so I can grab and go for the rest of this week.

My treadmill and I have been getting along though. I have continued with my work outs and plan to begin my HIIT training tomorrow. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I will start my program with a 5 minute warm up and will then cycle through a Run/Walk workout. I will run as hard as I can (about a 9 on a scale of 10) for 30 seconds and then walk to recover for 90 seconds. Each cycle is 2 minutes, so I will try to do 10 of them in a row, and then finish with a 5 minute cool down. I have done these before and they are very hard for me, but they yield results! And results are what I am looking for!!

I also want to try some new recipes this week, so watch for new postings and pictures of some yummy and healthy foods!!

I will see you later in the week....

Til next time....Keep it "Natural"!!

Pantry Building 101

Kitchen Renovations are still underway. Excitingly, my husband and our friend Bill have built me a custom pantry unit. The unit is now complete and installed! The unit measures 8' tall by 34" wide and 2' deep. Can you say "HUGE"!! My kitchen has been lacking in storage space for so long and I am very excited for the completion of this unit.

Preparing to cut the pieces. Remember to measure twice and cut once!!

Assembling the Shelves.
They glued and then used an air gun to nail the parts together. 

It should hold through just about anything!!

Here the guys are assembling the back of the unit.

This is the final piece before they can move it into the space that will be its home!

Perfectly Level!! Way to go guys!

The pantry is now secured in place! Looks great.

Proudly showing off their hard work!

The next stage of the kitchen renovations is to refinish the cupboards, paint the pantry and put in the new counter top.

Watch out for these and other new additions to the Kitchen Renovations!!

See ya next time.

Until then....keep it "Natural"!!

90 Day Challenge - Week 1 Update

So I have completed week one of my 90 day challenge. This was a difficult week due to some family issues. I was not able to do everything exactly as I wanted, but for the most part, my week was good.

I began by adding a daily walk on my recently purchased treadmill. I bought the treadmill through the local buy and sell for a fraction of what it would have cost new. The treadmill had barely been used and is suiting my needs perfectly.

After a couple of days using only the treadmill for exercise, I added in a lower body weight work out and an upper body weight work out. I did each of these on successive days and then took a day off from weights. It has been a long while since I have done anything with weights and boy was I sore for several days after the lower body work out! It took probably 4 days for my quads (front leg muscles) to quit complaining. I had planned to do a second of each work out but ended up having to go out of town so I only had the two weight workouts in this first week.

My eating plan was the hardest part, I think. I cut out all processed foods, sugar and salt. I also limited my carbs to the first half of the day. My diet looked something like this:

Breakfast (post workout)
Protein shake with fruit, soy milk, yogurt and whey protein powder.

Mid Morning Snack
Boiled Egg
Veggie Sticks

Lunch
3 bean chili
Veggies
Grapefruit

Mid Afternoon Snack
Yogurt
10 almonds
Apple

Supper
Chicken Breast(baked)
Large Spinach Salad

Evening Snack
Either yogurt and fruit
Or fruit and nuts

I prepped my eggs, veggies and slow cooker chili on Sunday so I could just pop everything into a zippered cooler bag and take it to work with me.

I also worked on upping my water intake throughout the week. I probably tripled my water intake altogether. I had not realized how little water I was actually drinking!!


The addition of a clean diet, 5 cardio work outs and 2 weight work outs and tons of water have resulted in a two pound (2 LB) weight loss in this first week.

2 LB LOSS!!!!!
Yah, right on target for my goals!!


I am now entering week two and this week I need to try and get in all 4 weight work outs (2 lower and 2 upper body work outs!) plus the 5 days of cardio!


Wish me luck!!!!
Keepin’ it Natural!

My 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge - Day 1

I did it!! I can't believe it!

Wait, let me back up and give you a bit of history. I am overweight. I have struggled with my weight since I was about 14 years old. I am currently at my highest ever weight of 195 LB!! I am only 5'7" tall. This does not make for a nice figure! I wear a size 18 and tire going up even a single flight of stairs! I hate looking in the mirror and I don't like having pictures taken of me. I am not happy with myself.....

Well, I have decided it is time for a change! Life is too short to live this way and I am wasting time!! I have decided to participate in a 90 day challenge. I will eat right and exercise and monitor my results for the next 90 days. I hope you will share in my adventure!

My Goals for the next 90 days:

♦Exercise 6 days a weeks

♦Combine cardio and weight training in my program

♦Eat 5 small healthy, clean meals a day (eating foods in their natural state!)

♦Remove processed foods from my daily diet

♦Stopping eating out

Results I am Aiming for:

♦ I want to lose 2 lb a week x 12 weeks for a total loss of 24 lb!

♦ I would like to build some muscle

♦ I want to lose 4 clothing sizes

♦ I hope to gain energy

♦ I look forward to being able to bend down to strap on a snowboard this winter!

My Start:

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 195 LB

Measurements: Chest- 43 inches

                        Waist- 39.5 inches

                         Hips - 47.5 inches

So, what did I do that I am so excited about?!?

I walked an hour on a treadmill. That's right a whole hour!!! I am very excited by this because I have not walked a whole hour in a VERY long time. And yes, it was hard! I had to talk myself all the way through it. I told myself I would walk 15 minutes. When I reached that goal, I told myself "only 10 more minutes. You can walk for 10 minutes!". Well, you get the idea! And I did it! I am pouring sweat and huffing like a pack-a-day smoker, but I did it!

I hope to up date you every week through the 90 days of this challenge with how my planned exercise and eating have gone. I will tell you in the coming weeks what I have changed in my diet, how I am feeling, what exercise I am doing and what my weekly weigh in is!!

I hope you will join me for this exciting challenge! I could use all the support I can get!!

Thanks you reading and don't forget to.....

Keep it Natural!

Pursuing Natural Options with and for My Head!

A few years back I decided that I was tired of using products with so many chemical and ingredients I couldn't pronounce. I wanted to try more "natural" ingredients in my body and skin care routines. 

I use "natural" in quotations because it is defined so many different ways by different people. To me, natural meant using something without chemicals, with ingredients I recognized and that I could make myself.

I was saddened, and a little frightened, when I read all of the ingredients in our shampoos, soaps, body washes and the like. Worried about sulfates and other chemicals my skin was absorbing when I washed my hair, I started with Shampoo and Conditioner as my first experiments. 

I then continued the experiment with lip balms, sugar scrubs, makeup removers and skin moisturizers and toners. I found natural ingredients at my local stores and markets that I could use. I researched the various additives and preservatives available. I looked at scents and how my body reacted to them. 

I started with simple recipes that have evolved over the last several years. Some of these experiments were the start of products that I sell at Craft Fairs. This includes the Lip Balms I sell online at www.ritzysallnaturals.etsy.com. These lip balms are available in 5 flavors and include only natural ingredients.

The recipe I want to share with you today is a simple one that you can make at home with ingredients you probably already have on hand. This is one of the first recipes I used for myself and I still use it today, although the scents I use now have become a little more complex. So here's the recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Revitalizing Orange-mint Comditioner


You will need the following:

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Egg Yolk

1 cup Distilled Water

4-7 drops of Essential Oils (I use 4 drops Sweet Orange & 2 Drops Peppermint) 

2 Capsules Vitamin E Oil (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix the Olive Oil, Egg and Water in the blender until smooth.

2. Carefully add your Essential Oils. It does not take much to change the scent of the conditioner. Unless you REALLY like peppermint, use it sparingly, as it is quite strong!

3. Using a sterilized sewing needle, poke a hole in the Vitamin E Oil Capsule and squeeze the oil into the blender. The Vitamin E is a natural moisturizer and preservative.

4. Blend all ingredients completely.

5. Pour into convenient bottle.

For longest usage, store the container in the fridge. This recipe adds no chemical preservative so only make what you can use in a week or two.

That's It! There you have a very simple way to incorporate a natural alternative into your daily routine. Customize this recipe by substituting your favorite Essential oils. Have fun with it! And let me know how it turns out!!

That's all for now - until next time...Keep it Natural!

Interested in more information on the Lip Balms mentioned above? Check out www.ritzysallnaturals.etsy.com!