Black Bean Enchiladas

Happy Easter everyone! I forgot to post my foodie recipe on Friday, so here it is! This week's recipe is for black bean enchiladas. I made this last night because my friend is a vegetarian and can never enjoy my wonderful cooking when he comes over. The original recipe called for chicken broth, but I took that out and added other things that I think make it even better and vegetarian-friendly. Let's get to it.

What you will need:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
• 1-1/2 cups picante sauce, divided
• 12 flour tortillas (6 inches)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3 cups shredded lettuce
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

Here's how you make it:

• In a nonstick skillet, cook and stir onion and green pepper in water with cumin and salt
• for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Mash one can of black beans. Add to
• the skillet with 3/4 cup of picante sauce and other can of beans not mashed; heat
• through.
• Spoon 1/4 cup mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and
• place, seam side down, in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with
• cooking spray. Combine tomatoes and remaining picante sauce; spoon
• over enchiladas.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with
• cheeses. Bake 5 minutes longer. To serve, place 1/2 cup lettuce on 
• each plate and top with two enchiladas. Garnish each serving with 1
• tablespoon sour cream. Yield: 6 servings.
• 
  

Easy huh? And because it yields 6 servings, you will definitely have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Try this out if you want to try a delicious vegetarian meal that even the manliest of mans that live off meat would devour. 

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Think Healthy Every Day

Hello! A nice 3 day weekend is upon us and I could not be happier. It will be a test for me to stay on path over a long weekend, as I will want to go out and be social. Today on Training Thursdays, I will talk about how you can keep your mind thinking healthy every day, even when you don't go to the gym. I will talk about activities to do on your days off and ways to avoid taking steps back.

Earlier in the year, when I started my health kick, I would tend to let days off be free days where I could do whatever I want because I know I was going to the gym the next day. This ended up making me lazy on days off and taking small steps back, forcing me to work harder on gym days and not advance as much as I would of liked. So what did I change? I would either take an early jog before work or go to the bike trail with the family after work for a nice 3 mile walk. Sometimes schedules get hectic and I can't do either of those. In this case, I would focus heavy on my diet.

When you aren't as active throughout the day, you don't need all the calories that you would intake on a normal exercise day. I usually shoot for around 3000 calories on active days, because I am a tall dude and need those calories, but on days off, I would shoot for around 2100 calories. I would also avoid bread as much as possible and absolutely no fast food of any kind. My typical off day diet would consist of:

• Breakfast: Apple, Orange, and big glass of water (very important in the morning)
• Lunch: Chicken breast, green veggie, and potatoes (leftovers from night before)
• Snack: Small candy bar (trick or treat size)
• Dinner: Pork Chops, green veggie, and corn

This is just a quick example, I usually make it a little more fun than that if I can. The key is to also drink a lot of water that day so you don't feel as hungry and snack a lot. On days you workout, snacking and getting hungry is perfectly fine because you need to replenish your body.

So on this long weekend, keep a conscious effort to stay in healthy mode. If you find yourself spending all of Saturday on the couch watching college basketball, drink water whenever you feel the need to eat a snack and get up during commercials or halftime and walk around a little bit. I'm not saying you can't have lazy days, you just have to make sure not to ruin your success by eating a whole pizza to yourself because you have been dormant all day, yes I have been guilty of this in the past. Stay healthy, stay fit, stay strong, and most importantly, stay happy.

* Although tomorrow is my day off, I will still post a recipe for Foodie Fridays. I know this is one of my more popular posts.

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Ingredients to Avoid

TGIF! I'm sure everyone is excited for Friday, except people who work on the weekends, and today on Foodie Fridays, I am going to talk about ingredients you need to avoid when choosing what to eat. I will cover both fast food and food you get at the grocery store. I won't make this too detailed since I know everyone has somewhere to go today. So here's a quick little list to keep in mind over the weekend when you are grocery shopping or eating out.

Avoid These When Eating Out
- Cheeses, unless locally made
- Condiments, except oils and vinegars
- Bread, unless made that day at the bakery
- Red Meat, unless local beef
- Chips and Salsa at Mexican Restaurants, I know this one is brutal for my Houston peeps.
- Only thing healthy at a Chinese Restaurant are the lettuce wraps.
- Sauces, unless homemade, Olive Garden sauces are horrible for you.

Avoid These at the Grocery Store
- If you need a chemistry degree to understand items on an ingredient list, you probably shouldn't eat or drink it.
- Avoid the middle aisles at the store as much as possible, this is where all the processed foods are located.
- "Enriched" or "bleached" listed on your bread is just not good for you.
- Low fat options of food are usually not better for you because they have more calories and sodium most of the time. Sodium and calories combined is a lot worse for you than fat that often is good for you.
- Soups. I have not found one soup that is remotely low in sodium.
- Cereal. Yup, all of them.
- Always get Whole Milk

That should be enough items to piss you off. LOL. This is a pretty strict list to follow, but if you can try to achieve them all, you will definitely notice your stomach getting flatter even without working out. Start off by following a few rules if you want and work yourself up to more.

Although you might feel that I have just taken the fun out of eating, I will tell you that I follow this list pretty strictly and I eat new and exciting meals everyday. Get creative and use Google to find millions of recipes and options for when you go out. Keep it local when choosing a restaurant. Have a good weekend!

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Chili Over Baked Potato

TGIF everyone! Time to share a yummy recipe with you all. This week I am sharing my Chili Over Baked Potato.This is great for many occasions and yields a lot of food. So let's get started!

First you will need:

• 1.5 lbs of ground beef
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (16oz) chili beans, undrained
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4-6 baked potatoes

Once you have everything, get started:

•  In a dutch oven or big pot, cook the beef, onions, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. 
• Drain the grease.
• Add tomatoes, beans, sugar, and seasonings.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes
• Serve on top of a hot baked potato.

Not too hard, right? This is a pretty healthy recipe for being something so delicious. You can also add butter to the baked potato before you pour the chili on. Have a great weekend and enjoy!

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My Wife's Workout

Thursday already? Sweet! This week on Training Thursdays, I am going to share an exercise program I am giving my wife that she will use at the gym. Guys can also do this program, but I made this to meet my wife's goals.

My wife gave birth to our beautiful daughter back in June. She has been dieting fairly well with me, but has not been very active in exercise yet. Since she is more fragile than normal right now, I don't want to push her too hard at the beginning. After a few weeks, she can go back to full workouts. So let's get to it. She will start on a 2 day routine per week. Here's what she needs to do:

Day One

• Stretch for 5 minutes (Important because we will be focusing a lot on her legs)
• 30 minutes on a cardio machine (Elliptical, Treadmill, Bike)
• Stretch for 5 minutes
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Squats (For now, I would recommend machine squats)
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Calf Raises
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Machine Leg Curls
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Back Extensions on Roman Chair
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Captains Chair Leg Raises
• Stretch for 5 minutes

Day Two

• Stretch for 5 minutes (Important because we will be focusing a lot on her legs)
• 30 minutes on a cardio machine (Elliptical, Treadmill, Bike)
• Stretch for 5 minutes
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Machine Bench Press
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Bicep Curls with Dumbbell
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Overhead Press
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Lat Pulldown (Make sure to bring to chest, not behind neck)
• 3 sets of 10 reps : Tricep Dips (Machine or on a bench)
• Stretch for 5 minutes

That's it. This workout will probably take about an hour or so to complete on each day. I would recommend increasing weight on each set, so start off with something comfortable. I know some of you are saying this is pretty light of a workout, but remember this is for anyone who has not worked out in a while and needs to build up some strength before working out to the max.

In conclusion, work out! Make sure not to push yourself too hard if you are getting back into lifting weights. Wait 2 weeks before maxing out and pushing yourself to the limit.

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Insanity is Insanity

What up!? This week on Trendy Tuesdays, I'm going to talk about the workout program called Insanity. I will discuss some good and bad things about.

My wife and I tried this program out a few years ago at our townhouse. We were pretty pumped up about it and really wanted to get in shape fast. We had the schedule they provide and were ready to follow it. The first day we did it, OMG, we were dead tired. It reminds me a lot like basketball drills. Bunch of running and jumping and twisting and shouting going on. I won't lie, it was a great workout and hard enough for even athletes. The one big mistake we did, was not to drink the smoothie they tell you to take after each workout to rebuild muscle and all that fun stuff. It didn't bother us at first, but after a few days of working out like this, we were out of energy. After about 6 days, we decided to throw in the towel.

If we would of taken the smoothie like directed, I'm sure we might of lasted a little longer. I do not think we would of lasted to day 60 though. We had not worked out in over half a year and were not in the best shape. When I first started this my friend Larry told me that the failure rate for this program was around 90%. I took this as a challenge and decided I was going to finish this. Boy was I wrong. The constant cardio and burning of calories depletes your energy so fast, that if you are not nurturing your body constantly, then you will burn out fast and quit.

Does this mean that Insanity is a fraud and no one should do it? Absolutely not. I would say if you are in great shape and/or an athlete, this can be a challenging exercise you can do at home instead of hitting the gym as much. It works every muscle in your body, is an intense cardio workout, and is safe if you follow directions. If you have any health problems, definitely consult with your doctor before trying it. This is not for beginners.

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Enchilada Casserole

TGIF everyone! I hope you are ready for the weekend as much as I am. On this week's installment of Foodie Friday's, I show you how to make Enchilada Casserole. I made this earlier in the week and my wife went crazy for it. It was even better as leftovers the next day. Let's get to it.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 large onion
• 2 cups homemade salsa
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Once you have everything prepped, get to cooking!

• In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
• Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, taco seasoning and cumin. 
• Place three tortillas in an 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. 
• Layer with half of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat layers. 

• Cover and bake at 400° for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. 
• Let stand for 5 minutes; top with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. 

Easy stuff huh? This is one of the easiest and most delicious meals I have made in a long time. The tortillas create a soft crust and the filling is so good. Make sure to rinse and drain the black beans, the extra juice in the can will mess up your filling. Also, make sure to drain the grease from the meat, or else the grease will surface while cooking and be unpleasant to look at.

Try this meal out next week or over the weekend for your family or friends. I guarantee they will love it! It is cheap and yields about 8 servings. Bon Appetit!

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