Favorite Recipe: Sante Fe Skillet

My mother has some recipes that she has made FOREVER and therefore they are some of my favorites. There were several recipes that I took with me to college and now re-create in the Foster home. One of these is Santa Fe Skillet.

Santa Fe Skillet is cheap, quick, easy, absolutely delicious and not to mention healthy. Yep, you heard me, its a Weight Watcher's Recipe, and you would NEVER know! After feeding this to Greg, I let him in on the secret that it was a Weight Watcher's recipe and he was shocked! So, needless to say, this is one that the men absolutely LOVE!


What you need:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 3/4 cup onion, chopped
• 3/4 green pepper, chopped
• 1 can Rotel, drained
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cup instant rice
• 1 1/2 cup beef broth
• Grated Mexican Blend cheese (or cheddar)

What to do:

In a large skillet, brown the meat with the onion and green pepper. Once browned, drain the grease off of the meat. 

Add the rotel, salt and pepper, instant rice, and beef broth to the skillet. Immediately cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and re-cover for two minutes. Once the cheese has melted, serve with tortila chips and a salad. Viola!

Fitness: Best Treadmill Workout I Have Found

Hehe. Yep I do this. Every time. Competitive Much?

At the beginning of last December (December 2011), I decided to commit and go against all odds and become one of those "hard-core-I-wakeup-at-the-crack-of-dawn-and-workout-before-work" kind of people. It was really an experiment. More of a challenge. 

There was a day when my sweet endearing husband said "I don't know if you could do it". Of course, he only said this because my nature is to stay in bed and sleep till noon, given the choice. Well, if anyone knows me, they also know that me being told that I "can't" do something is straight up a challenge. Something to immediately prove that I CAN do. And that's also what he was doing. By telling me that I couldn't do it, he knew that it would spur me to want to prove him wrong.

And it worked! Almost 8 months later, I still wake-up early 4-5 days a week and go get a good workout in. Naturally, I've had to change my workout every so often to give me something to look forward to, but I've gotten into a rhythm and have developed some staple workouts throughout my week that I absolutely love. One of those workouts is the one that greets me every Monday Morning.

Brace Yourself.

I start out every Monday with some cardio. Actually, let me clarify. Its hill intervals on a treadmill. Aka death on a Monday. On the blog I pulled this from, Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life, she titles this workout "Sweaty Mess" Incline Intervals. That should give you some insight into what you could get yourself into here. But in the end, after I'm sweating profusely and vastly out of breath, I love it!

If you're looking for something that will burn a TON of calories, help improve your endurance, and tone up your legs, this is a great workout to try out this upcoming week. Keys to success for this workout: a water bottle, some good tunes to keep you pumped up, picking your knees up on the hill sprints, and "driving" your elbows to keep you moving. You'd be surprised at how easy hills become when you pick your knees up and drive/pump those elbows. Just a little trick I learned from my distance running hubby.

Have funnnnnn! :)

Sauteed Chicken with Mushrooms & Asparagus

Photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

This has been a week of good eats in the Foster Household. I love branching out and trying new recipes. Some have been disgusting, some have been okay (but probably won't make again), and some have been fantastic finds. Like this little gem we tried last night. Best of all, this is a super lean meal that is incredibly healthy!!

***Disclaimer: I get weary of trying "super healthy" meals, because well, I'm from the South, and I like to eat Heavy Whipping Cream and Butter. To me, most "healthy" meals are uneventful and rather bland. Not a fan. Have no fear, this is one that you'll be sure to love. I fed it to my used-to-be-non-veggie-loving husband and the first words out of his mouth.... "Now this is delicious!". So enjoy! Not only am I providing you with a safe way to branch out from the typical meals you might tend to always make, but I'm also helping you with that not-so-new New Year's resolution of being healthy! You're welcome....

What You Need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch bite size pieces
• Coarse Salt and ground pepper 
• **Spring for actual "Course Sea Salt" next time you're at the store if you already don't have some. I usually think that normal salt will do the trick, but I finally caved and made the purchase, and boy did it work wonders!
• Italian Seasoning (or really any kind of seasoning that would just add a little something extra to your chicken. Not a kitchen pro? Try lemon pepper, a table blend, etc.)
• 1 carton button mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 bundle of asparagus, tough ends removed
• **Know how to effectively remove the tough ends? My friend Erin showed me a neat trick! All you have to do is bend the asparagus and it snaps off in the perfect place! Genius!
• **The original recipe says to cut these into 2-inch lengths. I missed this and just cooked them whole. Personal preference!
• 1 cup water
• Cooked noodles or Rice (optional)
• **I used a package of egg noodles and found it to be quite fitting.

What to Do: 

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper once cut and before placing in the skillet. If you have a lot of chicken, or a smaller skillet, cook in two batches, turning occasionally, until browned (6-8 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Without turning the heat down, add the mushrooms, asparagus, and 1 cup water. Season with salt and pepper as you see fit (I also added some "Italian Seasoning" that I found on our Spice Rack. The original recipe didn't call for this, but again, I'm from the South and love my food to have flavor and was nervous that the salt and pepper wouldn't cut it). Cook, tossing once and scraping up browned bits, until vegetables are crisp-tender (or the mushrooms have browned and the asparagus is a good shade of Kelley Green). This should take about 4-6 minutes. Add the chicken back in with the veggies, cook, tossing, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Serve on top of noodles or rice, if desired!

What We Paired it With:

Since this is an all-encompassing meal with your carbs, lean meats, and veggies, we just paired it with a massive delicious fruit salad filled with a banana, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges and even some tiny marshmallows. (The marshmallows was how my mom tricked us into eating fruit salad when we were younger. Yes, I am an adult and still love eating it that way. Don't judge me.)

Lowfat Oatmeal-Banana-Apple Muffins

Tried these little babies out last weekend and they were a win. Not only were they delicious, but guilt-free and healthy! Not to mention, with the apple and banana in the muffin, they stay super moist! Everyone who has tried them commented on how delicious they were.


Why I'm a fan: Healthy, Delicious, Not overly sweet like a ton of muffins can be, Filling.

Makes about one dozen.

Mix together and set aside:

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 cup flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat together until fluffy:

2 eggs
4 tbsp vegetable oil
6 tbsp sugar

Blend in:

2/3 cup milk

Fold in the dry ingredients and when the flour is almost incorporated fold in:

1 cup mashed ripe banana

1 cup grated apple (approximately one large apple)

Do not over mix. Fold in only until the fruit is mixed through the batter.

Spoon into greased or paper lined muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 -25 minutes (**Mine only took 20 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.