Fit Foodie Finds: Guest Post: No Sugar Sweet Life

Hello, FitFoodieFinds readers!  I'm excited to be able to share with you today.  My name is Kelly, and I blog over at No Sugar Sweet Life. 

I am a fellow healthy living blogger AND a fellow upcoming Blend Retreat attendee where I will finally get to meet Lee in person :)  Struggling with my weight for my entire adult life, I finally decided life is too short to live perpetually unhappy.  I recently lost 40 pounds after celebrating my daughter's first birthday (Lee here: just saying....THAT'S AWESOME KELLY! You are an inspiration.), but still have another 40 to go.  My blog is the next step in the journey towards a happy healthy life... the sweet life, no sugar added.  I am a busy full-time mom of a 19 month old toddler, who also has a full-time job as an accountant, who is a wife and helper to an amazing man, and who thought it would be fun to start a blog!



I have come to realize a few things during this journey:

1. I don't actually HATE cooking.  It was always such a chore. It was always so messy. It was so tedious. I wasn't very good at it. I was always missing ingredients. But what I realized is: I just hate following complicated recipes.
2. Weight-loss (the good kind) takes time and perseverance.  It's all about a lifestyle change, not a quick fix or fad diet.
3. I am busy busy busy and need EASY healthy meals.  Believe it or not, I'm not superwoman... and my time is very limited.  So I need easy healthy meal ideas and substitutions, and that is what I bring to my blog for other busy busy busy people (like you!) and why I enjoy reading FitFoodieFinds so much!
4. I love veggie juice. I love the nutrient rich blend/boost I can give my body with fresh vegetable juices.  A few of my favorite are:  Pink Kale Juice, Cucumber Melon, & Mean Green.

Lee Inspiration:
Lee doesn't know it (yet), but she has inspired me in a couple of different ways: She inspired me to go out and buy my first bag of quinoa because of this post.   After the initial sticker shock, I was thankful to realize that a bag would make a LOT :)  She inspired me to take my overall "look" more seriously, because afterall, good things happen to good outfits!  And she taught me that I can grill particularly juicy burgers / patties directly on top of foil on the grill... who knew?!

So now, without further ado, I'd love to share with you a couple of my favorite recipes:

Honeydew Caprese Salad:
I've been doing a lot of experimenting creating in the kitchen over the past couple of months... which has been really FUN!  I want you to know, I officially outdid myself with this one.  The flavors were exquisite, each bite juicy and mouth-watering:  a perfect blend of sweet and tangy and savory.  It was light, refreshing, and spring-y.  The honeydew melon was such a wonderful and surprising addition.  (I originally bought it to use in the cucumber melon juice recipe).  Seriously, honeydew melon has found its calling in life. 

Honeydew Caprese Salad ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 10 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 16 oz block of mozzarella cheese, cut up into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup diced honeydew melon, ripe

Directions: 
Cut everything up.  Then, mix all ingredients together and enjoy!
~ Serves 4-6


Here is a close-up of the fresh minced garlic:

Everything tossed in a big serving bowl:

And voila, Honeydew Caprese Salad:

Citrus Confetti Quinoa (single serving)
Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp McCormick Baja Citrus Marinade (dry packet)
• 1 Tbsp Orange Juice
• 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 Tbsp Water
• 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 a yellow bell pepper, diced (or whatever color you'd like)
• 1/2 cup of broccoli, diced
• 1 chicken sausage (I used Hillshire Farms Apple & Gouda variety)

Mix the first 4 ingredients (into a wet marinade):

Boil the quinoa (I did this the night before, so just grabbed my cooked quinoa out of the fridge).   Mix the quinoa into the marinade so the granules are covered with the sauce.  (The mixture will still be pretty "dry")

Steam the peppers & broccoli.  I microwaved mine for about 1.5 minutes with a bit of water in the bottom of the ceramic bowl.

Cook the chicken sausage.  I microwaved mine for 45 seconds, per the instructions.  Here is the packaging in case you want to try the same kind.  It is delicious!!  It's a "bit" higher in calories than a few I've seen, but it does include gouda cheese, so it's not necessary to add cheese into whatever meal you're preparing with it.  And it is sooooooo savory.  Mmmmmm.

Slice the chicken sausage:

Put everything into a mixing bowl to stir it together:

And, voila... citrus confetti quinoa: a healthy, hearty, veggie & protein-packed meal that is sure to satisfy!

 You'll have to let me know what you think if you try them!

Questions:
1) What is your cooking "style"?

2) What has Lee inspired YOU to do lately?

-Kelly