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Archive for the ‘3-minute Healthy Recipes’ Category
Lentil Bean Tacos
Lentils are great because they have no sodium, high protein, no fat, and moderate carbs (low-glycemic) with high fiber content. I like them because being a pescatarian [someone who eats only fish for protein- although I enjoy my egg whites and whey shakes, too] 
They are definitely a great protein source for vegans, and really, lentils are great for anyone who is trying to be healthier and stronger. I recommend them as part of a high protein diet, as well as part of a diet that requires more fiber.
“Simple, fast and healthy meals are my only alternative.”
The best part about them is that they require little to no work for preparation. “3-minutes or less in prep time” is my rule, because as a single mother to three children who are all busy with their own careers and school and training, I simply don’t have time for anything more than this, whether I’m cooking for them or for myself. Simple, fast and healthy meals are my only alternative.
As far as the taste of lentils, they can vary based on the spices used, of course. My personal preference is the Indian combined with Mexican spices. I am posting that style of lentils in this recipe today. They taste so good, even my children like them! And the texture is so smooth, that you can even mash them into a paste and spread them like hummus. They are absolutely delicious! See me son here to get his feedback on them! In the meantime, feel free to post comments and join my facebook page or join our group at AmericasHottestFitMoms.com to interact with the rest of the Fit Moms in the group and maybe talk about lentils and other fitness recipes and the fitness lifestyle. In the mean time, enjoy the lentils and BE PHENOMENAL!
Makes 2 servings:
1 cup lentils
1.5 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
in desired amounts:
onion powder
garlic powder
curry powder
cumin powder
red pepper (cayenne, or dried red chili peppers- whichever you prefer)
himalayan salt (mild amounts for those who are sodium-sensitive)
and finally,
4 corn tortillas (i prefer yellow due to the rich flavor and also higher nutrient content)
Directions:
1. pour all ingredients, minus the corn tortillas, into a soup pan.
2. boil at medium heat (i usually boil it all for about 30 minutes).
3. turn off heat, stir, and cool until water is nearly dissolved.
4. as you wish, you may also add a little fresh squeezed lemon juice
5. spread onto your corn tortillas and munch away!
Nita’s Favorite Fit Mom QUICKIE Fitness Recipes
There are a lot of fitness recipes available online, but the problem I have with most of them is that they take too long! Fit Moms don’t have the time to spend an hour in the kitchen preparing meals. I certainly have never been one who could cook, who enjoyed cooking, much less was I someone who could make the time to prepare anything extravagant or luxurious in the kitchen. I personally have always been the type of mom who, fit mom or not, I have been on the go! Like a lot of fit moms, I get out of bed super early every morning because that’s my only real personal time, when I can read, eat alone, work out, or just meditate.
EVEN IF YOU’VE BEEN UP SINCE 4a.m., WHEN THE KIDS GO TO SCHOOL, YOU ARE JUST BEGINNING!
A lot of fit moms do this, and it’s been proven time and again for every mom, these quiet peaceful mornings give us a chance to rev up the engine for the day’s events. Once any mom finishes the morning mommie routine though, it’s on! The children get up and start getting ready for school, Fit Mom makes breakfast, packs lunches, preps for the work day, and takes the children to school! After the kids get to school, people think a mom may be able to rest. Nope. Every mother knows that when mom time goes down, work time goes up. It’s all about packing in as much work and daily tasks and responsibilities as possible in the 6-8 hours that the kids are gone. That means, work, mail, filling out papers and making appointments for family affairs (medical, dental, school, recreational activities, etc), attending appointments, working at the office, keeping meetings, work events, and then being done with everything in time to go pick up the children from school.
After school, there’s homework time, dinner time, chores, (and often times, arguing with the children to get them to do chores), more responsibilities & organization, and then bedtime for the little ones. Then you get started on prepping for the next day. It doesn’t end here either. A lot of times there are things we’ve forgone to do other things throughout the day, so when the kids are in bed, all moms know that it’s time to finish up daily tasks that didn’t get done, fill out the next day’s check list, and then finally, we can go to bed!
AFTER SCHOOL, THE DAY IS STILL IN HIGH GEAR! YOU CAN’T REST. A MOTHER’S WORK IS NEVER DONE. SO HOW DO YOU FIT COOKING IN?
It can be tempting to get fast food with this type of schedule. For even the fit mom is exhausted and doesn’t want to cook. So what can you do? In this busy life we lead these days, Fit Moms are not the only ones on the go. Everyone is looking for fast meal solutions that are also healthy.
There are answers to our wishes for convenient, fast and healthy eating! If you like lean fish, you’ll love these recipes. Two out of my three children love fish. My third usually just eats chicken off of the foreman grill when we have fish for dinner. I started doing these 3-minute or less prep time recipes to ensure that everyone in my home is satisfied and healthy. And since I don’t like cooking, and like a lot of parents, I don’t have the time, I have a motto for this: ”If it takes me more than 3 minutes to prepare it, I won’t make it.”
Here are the recipes via my youtube channel. I’ve done them in video format because, well, typing isn’t fun, and videos are easier to follow. So here ya go! Enjoy!
Pan Fried Tilapia (breaded but lean!)
Tilapia Tacos (here’s the “after” video)
All of these can be made with veggies or yams and taste delightful without adding junk into the mix… Enjoy & Empower all you Phenomenal Fit Moms!
Don’t forget to visit the group on facebook, and you can join us at AmericasHottestFitMoms.com
And of course, always remind yourself to BE PHENOMENAL! You are Worth the Work!
-Nita Lee Marquez
www.AmericasHottestFitMoms.com
Single Moms, Working Moms, Fit Moms! Eating Healthy is Easy!
Ever since I started having children, I was increasingly more intrigued by the idea of being a Fit Mom. I would run in the mornings around the man-made lake near our tiny apartment in Arizona. When my husband and I first had our oldest of three, I was not the most fit person you would see. You couldn’t actually tell that I worked out ever. I was on the other side of chubby, but not quite in shape yet. Being fit, especially after having children, has certainly come at a price. Many things were sacrificed along my way toward becoming the Nita Marquez that people see today. I am often asked if I was always athletic, or if I was always thin. No to both. I was athletic at eating when I was growing up, and I was made fun of for my weight, even by my own parents. Weight, food and diet were always either very foreign to me, or extremely unfriendly. I didn’t synergize well with this fitness lifestyle at first, so I learned to take baby steps, and for the amount of sacrifices, there are A LOT of baby steps involved. Likening this journey to that of a baby growing up, I will say this, you do have to learn to walk before you can start doing sprints, and that almost always starts out with a crawl.
As a mother who was married at one time, I had the luxury of a second adult in the household to ease the stress at moments of overwhelm. I had someone there at night telling me they love me, just like I do my children. The affections and praises of another adult make all the difference in the world when it comes to replenishing our energy stores. There is something to be said about being a mother in a two-parent household, even if it’s not picture-perfect, which mine wasn’t, it’s still an ease on the daily tasks of motherhood when someone else can take the kids to the amusement park or do something outside the house with the children so a mother can have peace, quiet and solitude, and of course, have another grown up say, “You’re doing great,” to make you feel appreciated and valued. It also gave me time to start focusing more on myself and my fitness goals for myself and my family.
After I became a single mom, I went through the jolting reality of how much that other adult’s presence in my life meant. Being a fit mom by then, yes, I certainly had an advantage in being already settled into some of my fitness habits, and it certainly helped my self-esteem to be getting into better shape even though I was a single mother of three. Most people expect that a woman falls apart physically in such scenarios. Still, I was by myself with these three, one of whom, is diabetic, my little infant son (now 9). It was harder than before to keep moving along so energetically on a daily basis, even though I had already built a lot of those fitness habits.
There was a point though, where I was finally able to make the correct adjustments that have come to be my hallmark as a fit mom today, the adjustments of efficiently living fit as a mother. There are many efficiency points in living the life of a fit mom, but all moms, especially fit moms, understand the value of making choices that help us capitalize on our most precious asset (aside from our kids, of course): TIME.
Integrating my family time with my fitness time was a great option for me, and evaluation of my life choices, helped me see how I could make more time available for both. Taking inventory of our personal choices is key. If you want to have the life of a fit mom, it’s about choices. Not that we won’t make mistakes, but taking inventory on ourselves helps us realize the places where perhaps our choices aren’t paying off. Being a fit mom isn’t as hard as it seems. Choices can make life efficient, and there are plenty of choices that help in streamlining our efforts for living the fit life and being a mom. I made the following adjustments in my life, and adapted to not only being a single mom, but also a mom who was more fit than ever!
1) Avoid nights out at the bars and happy hours. Why? Because for one, alcohol makes you fat, whether people want to admit it to themselves or not, and two, that time spent would cost me more time in the gym and it was already taking time away, so it’s a double-whammy.
2) Take the kids to the track or the park instead of to the movies and McFastFood. Being active at these places helps make life the fit mom more fit, the kids get more fit, and when they see you doing sprints or even racing with them, they are not only with witnessing that their mom totally rocks, but they are gaining a totally different type of bond with us if they grow up with that image instead of the images of sitting around a TV eating junk food. How do we fit moms really want our kids to remember their childhood? Let them go to the gym with you, if you have that ability, or go for walks or bike rides. Fit mom time made family time creates a completely different bond with us to our children.
3) Cook foods and meals that are fast and easy AND fit! It’s possible. I started coming up with these quirky little quickie recipes because I never liked cooking in the first place. I was more of a salad and sandwich mom when I was married. However, I did have a Foreman Grill. With that thing, I can cook meats from the frozen state , and have a meal in less than ten minutes, with only a couple of minutes of prep time. I have begun posting some of those recipes that my children like and I benefit from the healthiness of because everything I make in my 3-minute-or-less prep time recipes is low-sodium, low-fat, low-carb, and high-protein. This is great because all of these recipes are already tasty and the taste can be even more enhanced with your favorite spices, sauces, yet still stimulate your metabolism (your body’s ability to burn fat).
You can find some of my 3-minute-or-less prep time recipes on my YouTube channel, fitnita.
One sacrifice you do NOT have to make in living the fitness lifestyle is family. There are a lot of Fit Moms out there who have learned to maintain their fitness lifestyles while still managing to keep the family first. Learn more about family-first fitness here at www.NitasWorld.com and we now have a group of moms who have come together to support each other. Find out about joining the group at the America’s Hottest Fit Moms site page.
Here are some links to my yummie (but slightly cheesy) Fit Mom 3-Minutes-or-Less prep time recipes:
Tilapia Tacos Part 1 (you could use chicken in this process as well!)
Lentils (My son Quinn is in this video too! Funny!)
There you have it America’s Hottest Fit Moms and friends, fitness lifestyle made easy. Don’t forget to comment on this blog so I know how helpful it is for you! I will always adhere to the readers interests, so keep me updated on what YOU want!
Be well. Be You. Be PHENOMENAL! You are Worth the Work!
-Nita Lee Marquez
Easy Recipes, Empowering Thoughts and Great Support for Fit Moms!
A lot of fitness links and articles are highlighting fitness recipes. Well, I’m all for the healthy food, but what Fit Moms have time to cook meals that require long prep time? Not me, and nor do a lot of America’s Hottest Fit Moms. As Fit Moms (and Fit Dads) or fitness enthusiasts in general, we all have TONS of responsibilities beyond our fitness endeavors. We want to be fit, but we want to take thorough care of our responsibilities, especially those responsibilities we love and cherish, like our children. That being the case, those of us with families who care about living the fitness lifestyle, well, we have a need to live our fitness in a family-first fitness fashion. And the career people who haven’t had families yet, we are still building our dreams, so who has time for lengthy meals that require lots of prep and a long sit-down at the table?
The family-first and career-driven fitness enthusiasts give me many reasons to share easy and fast healthy recipes with you. Since I built America’s Hottest Fit Mom™ as the fitness brand that represents Fitness Empowerment for Everyone, I feel this compelling need to be sure to address everyone, as well as the Fit Moms in all the articles, and also, I want to be sure to tailor everything in a way that it is going to help anyone who views the videos and reads to articles. Just like our lifestyle is fast paced as Fit Moms (and Fit Dads), we have a need for quick, easy, hi-protein/lo-fat/lo-glycemic-carb/lo-sodium recipes. Just as we don’t have time to prepare food, it is necessary to present those recipes and steps in a fast fashion so you can learn how to make the foods within 3 minutes, too! It wouldn’t make much sense to do a 30-minute video on 3-minute meals.
Now, I am going to share my own America’s Hottest Fit Mom™ Fit Tips and 3-minute Recipes via video. I’m no camera woman, so don’t go expecting Martha Stewart-esque production quality. These 3-Minute recipes are going to be done with my web cam Just like I need my life- Simplified! Here’s the first one. We would love it if you joined our group on Facebook and became a member so we can answer your questions, helping you become a Fit Mom (or Dad), or just getting you more fit in general.
Remember, America’s Hottest Fit Mom™ means Fitness Empowerment for Everyone!
In our group, you’ll learn how to live more fit in a very time-efficient and pragmatic fashion. Parents know that this is absolutely necessary for being fit and raising a family. America’s Hottest Fit Moms™ Facebook Group is for anyone, as well as Fit Moms or Dads out there! Anyone wanting to learn more about living the fitness lifestyle in a way that makes sense, join the Nitasworld.com Mailing list and join our Facebook Group Now! All of America’s Hottest Fit Moms are here to empower ourselves while we empower others!
see an easy lo-fat/lo-carb/lo-sodium/hi-protein meal here!
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Get Fit. Stay Fit. You are Worth the Work!
Be Phenomenal!
- Marquez Family Fitness