Morning!
I just finished a total deep clean of the house and its only 9:00! When I woke up this morning it was a MESS. Poker chips everywhere, dice, cards, cups, napkins…..you could have thought we had a big party but nope, it was just Ryan and I! I did a deep clean of the kitchen and living room and swept, mopped, vacuumed and sanitized it all. Ahhhhh much better. 
Anyways, on to the day! I have A LOT of exciting stuff in this post so get ready! Also, get ready for ELR Wine 101 Day 2 with Red Wines for Newbies still to come!
First up was breakfast. I tried my new MojaMix cereal that I had customized myself!
When given the opportunity to customize a batch for the blog, I immediately picked all of my favorites. I started with their “Grains a Plenty” base (wheat flakes, oat flakes, rye flakes, barley flakes and puffed rice) and then added apricots, cranberries, pears, peaches, whole walnuts, pumpkin seeds and raw cacao nibs for a bit of chocolate! 
Nutritional stats were awesome! 11 grams of protein per serving!
I had 1/2 cup of my mix with a vanilla oikos. It was delicious!
YUM! This reminded me so much of the breakfast I ate every single morning in France—muesli and yogurt! I loved the muesli-feel of this mix and the fact that it was just bursting with all my favorite dried fruit. MojaMix, two thumbs up from ELR!
And now another thing I shall gush about for a brief minute is Avocate Skincare. Remember when I reviewed their body lotion last week? Well last night I tried the Body Glow and Collagen Eye Repair for the first time and…….wow.
I rubbed the heavenly scented body oil into my legs and arms after my bath last night and STILL this morning, my skin is softer than it has ever been. I have very dry skin, almost to the point of being itchy, so this is amazing to me. Plus, it smelled phenomenal. Ingredients in the body glow include organic avocado oil, vitamin A oil, vitamin E oil, Egyptian jasmine essential oil, ylang ylang essential oil and frankincense essential oil. It.smelled.amazing. Avocado oil really is a miracle!
The Intensive Eye Repair also was very nice. This was this first time I’ve ever used an eye cream but now that I’m (gulp) in my mid-twenties I am beginning to see the importance of it. I don’t want no wrinkles! I’ve always dealt with under-eye circles, and when applied at night this cream diminishes them almost completely. Hello, travel! This is perfect! I’ve never been a huge make-up girl but under eye concealer has always been the one product I can’t live without. If I didn’t have to use it anymore it would be a miracle!
This cream was very, very thick from the rich avocado butter and felt great massaged into the areas around my eyes.
Okay, on to exciting news number three!
Last week I received this awesome cookbook in the mail:
I basically read the whole thing cover to cover and I just love it. The pages are super glossy, the photos are great and the recipes are mouth-watering. Plus, there are sample meal-plans and nutritional info for every single recipe in the book!
I haven’t made anything yet because I’m still in the stage of flagging all the recipes I want to make (there are many) but I was generously given ANOTHER cookbook to give away to one very lucky ELR reader! How about it?!
So, to enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post describing your favorite healthy adaptation of a typically unhealthy recipe (Gena’s banana soft serve instead of ice cream, for example. Which I still need to try!!! Perhaps today?!). You don’t have to type the recipe out, just tell me what it is….it could be anything! One of my favorites is my mom’s version of pulled chicken which is much lower in fat than typical pulled pork from a bbq joint.
You have until 10 pm tonight to enter and I will pick a random winner at that time! Ready, set, GO!!!!
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Great giveaway! I love to do breaded chicken, but instead of pan searing it in oil, I bake it with bread crumbs on a wire rack. Tastes just as good!
I’ve had to learn a lot of healthy adaptations due to a health disease my sister and I have. One of our favorites is whole wheat oatmeal cookies – yummy! I’d love to have this book for more great ideas!
My favorite is buffalo chicken salad. Rachel Ray has a great recipe that I cute down even further. Basically get a pan and melt down 2T butter toss in a pound of cut up chicken tenders. Cook until done. Add a 1/4 cup of Franks hot sauce simmer for a few minutes. Meanwhile toss together some romaine with chopped celery and shredded carrots. Mix some plain greek yogurt with blue cheese for some blue cheese dressing. Toss together for a delectable buffalo blue cheese salad! yummo!
Roasted sweet potato cubes instead of french fries is definitely my go to!
That cookbook sounds like something I would love!!!
I really love peach cobbler so i make myself a version that tastes somewhat like it but slicing up a peach, stirring in some cinnamon and and microwaving for a minute or so. Then topped with some low fat vanilla ice cream..yum!
My favorite health-ified recipe is homemade baked potato chips. Thinly sliced potatoes, drizzle of olive oil, and 12 minutes in the oven and voila!! Love this cookbook!!!
A lot of my substitutions are like many others. Definitely sweet potato fries and mixing up what I put on my salads instead of plain old dressing. I absolutely love hummus and think that it is a great substitute for anything.
Lentil tacos are definitely my favorite. They have a great mouth feel and I feel like the taste is superior to any meat tacos I’ve ever had!
I love my healthier version of buttery banana bread–whole wheat-oatmeal-banana-blueberry bread.
My fav would be my healthy version of my Mom’s American Chop Suey… Sub whole wheat instead of white pasta, organic ketchup insead of regular ketchup, a small amount of parm cheese instead of a ton of creamy Velveta, and red kidney beans instead of ground beef! This is comfort food at it’s best, but a much more guilt-free version. I looove Eating Well and would be thrilled to win this cook book! Best of luck this weekend at your interview!
OOH, nothing like last minute.
Healthy recipes i like to make is vegetarian chili!!
My favorite healthier treat is to to take low fat coconut yogurt and blend it with frozen pineapples for a low cal pina colada!
Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, which I adore, I make whole wheat pasta with marinara with the following on top:
a 1/3 cup of ground bison (for 2 servings)
half a sauteed zucchini
half a sauteed green pepper
4 giant sauteed mushrooms
onions and garlic aplenty
Saves major fat and cals b/c I use the ww pasta plus only 2 ounces worth. And the veggies bulk it up!
My friend taught me to make a wicked, healthier version of mac & cheese with prosciutto and peas. Mmm…
OHHH boy, a healthy adaptation…
Well, besides Gena’s banana soft serve, which I had tonight I might add… I like to wrap my sandwiches, tacos, anything else that typically has bread, a tortilla, or a bun, in big lettuce or cabbage leaves. Saves me some calories so I can have a piece of dark chocolate for my sweet tooth!
When having spaghetti, replace half the pasta with spaghetti squash.
My skin is the same way… and it is awful. i hate it! hopefully i can get some of this stuff to try out too
for my unhealthy to healthy recipe i would have to say I love substituting french fries with sweet potato fries. love me some sweet potato fries!
-muffy
My favorite healthy adaptation recipe is my dairy-free chocolate mousse, which I make with soy milk, muscovado sugar, cocoa powder, and a bit of cornflour. So healthy, and it has the most luscious texture when cooled down and is so rich in flavor!
I love using Fage greek yogurt in my dips instead of sour cream. It is creamy, tangy, and delicious!
I think my healthiest adaptation I do is my ice cream cake:
I take angel food cake, split it into thirds (horizontally) so I have three rings, then I layer low fat frozen yogurt (my faves are cherry cordial and mint choc chip), in between the stacked layers so I have 3 layers of AFC and 2 layers of FY. Then I ice the cake with low fat cool whip and add sprinkles.
It’s so good as a substitute for b-day cake!
I make a healthy green bean casserole for holidays! I use frozen green beans rather than canned, I sub organic sour cream for the cream of mushroom soup and I top it with sauteed onions and crushed cornflakes drizzled in earth balance!
I love making brownies with black beans, it makes them super delicious and vegan too!
It nothing too spectacular, but I like making ‘spaghetti’ with spaghetti squash, sauce made from canned tomatoes, and lot of herbs and cheese!
The cereal looks delicious!
My favourite dish to make is a “fat free ratatouille”- can’t vouch for it’s aunthenticiy but it’s basically ratatouille vegetables stewed in tomatos and herbs. So good!
mmm my fav is 100 calorie whole wheat fat free banana muffins sweetened with agave and applesauce
The EatingWell cookbook is GREAT! I love all of the recipes, especially the EatingWell Cobb Salad. If you haven’t tried it, it’s a definite must! I also found out about the Vtrim Weight-Loss Program through this cookbook. I started it a month ago and have lost 10 pounds so far!!
I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to lose weight, it’s worked wonders for me: http://www.uvm.edu/vtrim
Agh so hard to choose… I would definitely have to say my healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe — what is life without choco chip cookies?! You replace the fat with canellini beans!
Hi Jenna, thank you for the information on MojaMix. I just ordered my own mix this morning!! So excited to try it! My healthy recipe adaptation is for chicken parmagiana. I bake the chicken instead of frying and use lowfat mozzarella cheese. I’ve made this without breading the chicken and also with breading the chicken. When I do, I use egg whites and organic bread crumbs (from Trader Joe’s).
Have a great weekend and enjoy your stay in California! =)
The mojamix looks delish. I want some!!
My favorite healthy adaptation of a recipe is baked butternut squash fries instead of regular fries!
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