The BEST Cookie Snack and My Fav. Fish Tacos

Today was another pretty busy day.  I added some cinnamon to coffee to get me through the afternoon. I actually had two cups- oops.

Today was a rest day from the gym so we went to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things and then came home and had some fish tacos. The great thing about tacos in general, you can make them so many different ways you can have them once a week and do something different each time.

I like to use this sauce recipe  from Soup Addict for the tacos, a slaw recipe that is just a mix of red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, splenda, salt, and pepper, and make baked fish.

I cut the tilapia into small pieces, then coat the tilapia in egg and panko bread crumbs (which I season a little differently every time), then bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  I also like to use corn tortillas rather than flour tortillas.

This corn salad is also really easy. Today I used frozen corn, but I really recommend using fresh corn on the cob. It has a much better flavor than the frozen corn and has a firmer texture.  First you cook the corn (I usually use 1 ear per serving) and cut it off the cob. Then add 1 tbsp sour cream and 1 tbsp lime juice for every two corn cobs. Add some salt and pepper. Then add red onion and cilantro to taste. Sometimes I throw in a sprinkle of chili powder.





Now let's talk about snacking. I really like desserts and sweets, especially baked goods. I also love baking but then I feel pressured to finish it all and eat it all before it goes bad.  I have a food hoarding problem when I really like something I save it and it winds up going bad before I get to really enjoy it.  Whenever I find something I can enjoy that is easy and convenient, won't break the bank, or kill my calories, it's a huge win. That is how I feel about these Hannahmax Cookie Chips.

Cookie chips from left to right: Oatmeal raisin, cinnamon sugar, original, dark chocolate, and sea salted peanut butter
(not pictured: chocolate chip)

They can be really hard to find in some stores but you can try to find sale locations on their website. I recommend if you're going to order them online to use the Hannahmax website because they use better shipping methods.  When I ordered them from Amazon, they were all crumbs.  These come in multiple flavors (sorry the chocolate chip cookie are all gone so no picture) and I can't decide which is my favorite. They are all great! Now the best part is they are DELICIOUS and what is even better is you can have five for only 120 calories! If you love sweets you know that's a pretty good deal. The cookie flavor is delicious. They are crunchy not soft, but as someone who prefers cookies that are soft in the middle with crunch around the edge, I'm in LOVE with the crunch of the cookies.  I recommend that you try them, in case you didn't get it, I'm in love.

I've finally had time to start playing catch up on Season 6 of Parks and Rec. I've loved this show since day one. I'm stuck between about 3 to 4 TV characters/ celebrities that would be my spirit animal, but Leslie Knope is definitely at the top of my list (Mindy Kaling, and Louise and Tina Belcher are on there, too).  I love Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope, she really speaks to my soul when I want to give up - she inspires me to keep going.  Most importantly she reminds me that it's okay to inspire yourself.

Overnight Oats and Turkey Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Plantains

So as you can tell, I can get into grooves where I do the same thing for a while then switch it up, especially when it comes to food. I am a big fan of my GNC Total Lean breakfast shake in the morning made with two scoops of protein powder and a cup of milk in a blender and then having a snack around 10:30am.

This morning I decided to try this "over night oats" thing.  It is much higher in calories than my normal breakfast so I decided to try it and see if it kept me full without snacking. I decided to start with this cinnamon roll overnight oats recipe from Creme de la Crumb.  I bought 4 jars from the dollar store yesterday because the jars I had were either way too big or way too small. I lightened up the recipe a little bit. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and added a packet of stevia and used 1 Tbsp of powdered sugar instead of 3. I also made sure to use a light cream cheese.

Verdict: It filled me up and was delicious. So while I had more calories at breakfast, I wasn't really hungry again until 11:30am.
I wish I had photographed the process but it seriously took me 10 minutes to make this. It went right into the fridge last night and sat there until this morning. Steve loved it too. It's definitely a winner although I don't think I'll eat it every day!

Tonight I also made these Turkey Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Plantains from Skinnytaste.com

I thought they might be good, but I had no prediction as to how amazing they would be. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty and filled me up by pairing it with brown rice. I've been using Trader Joe's quick cook brown rice.  It is just quicker and turns out fluffy and yummy. They are only about 338 calories each!





















Today I read this on instagram from the My Fitness Pal Account. It was so much of what I needed today. I hope it gives you a little motivation, too! It made me think that my decisions get me to where I am - good or bad. I need to own those decisions and realize that until I make that connection I'll never make the improvements I want.