Easy Fresh Balsamic Salad

This little salad has been a staple lately. And I stepped out of my comfort zone and did a quick, little recipe video for you so you can see just how easy it is.

I have been making lots of chopped salads with homemade vinaigrette dressings lately. They are super filling when you are watching your calories and they pack a lot of nutritional punch. The best part is that they last for a few days so you can prep a big bowl and eat off of it!

I just use whatever veggies I have on hand, this happens to be a chopped cucumber, handful of grape tomatoes, half a red bell pepper, half of a yellow bell pepper, handful of chopped carrots (gave them a whirl in the Ninja), a little onion, and some thinly sliced Brussels sprouts. I have used a combination of all the following with good results:

• cabbage
• Brussels sprouts
• spinach
• kale
• tomatoes- regular or cherry
• cucumbers
• carrots- big ones chopped up or baby carrots
• bell peppers
• celery
• onion

For the dressing, I do a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon on balsamic vinegar (whatever vinegar you want), teaspoon of yellow mustard, teaspoon of honey (can sub stevia too, or both), a half teaspoon of tarragon, and salt/pepper. Taste and adjust then shake the dressing in a jar then toss the chopped salad with it.

Dinner out on the left, my morning run on the right! About 6 weeks to go to my next photoshoot and happy with my progress and where I am. But this little cut down has been unlike any other. Lifting 4 days a week and running 3 days per week (less lifting and more running than usual). Been eating out 3-4 times per week (way more than normal). I have been fasting about 16-18 hours every day (way more than normal). But it's working! My point is that it is okay to change up things. The perfect idea in your head may not actually work very good for you. As long as you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose fat. As long as you are lifting progressively more than twice a week, you are building muscle. You do you. It may require some experimenting, but it is worth it to find something that works. And what USED to work, might need tweaked sometimes which is my current situation ;)

Sea turtle on my run this morning! It was a first to see one, and we saw 3! Olive Marie, my standard poodle and running buddy, was so confused about what it was, but she left it alone after a good sniff 💜

I was able to do toes to bar hanging ab work this week for the first time EVER! Just keep plugging away and being consistent. It may take years, like for me, or months or days BUT you will get there! You CAN do it if you keep trying. Be persistent! It's the day in and day out grind that slowly takes you places. Slow or fast, progress is progress!
X- Liss

Skinny Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak

I have been wanting to skinny-fy and health-up this recipe for a while now. And finally this week, I happened to have all the ingredients on hand! It was super simple, tasty, and the macros are superb!

In other news, I found a coconut washed up on the beach during my run this week. I ran about a mile back to the car with it in a football hold. It was heavy, like 10 pounds lol Cross training maybe? I want to see if I can grow it into a coconut palm 🌴My husband thinks I'm ridiculous!

I have been busy in the gym too. Bulgarian split squat followed by seated banded hip abductions this morning. This superset really burned the booty 🔥🍑🍑🔥 I did 3 sets of 8 BSS (each leg) followed by 15 abductions. This combo is sure to make you sore!

Latest personal record attempt was a success! 120 lbs for 3 reps on row! Made for a great start to my day :)

...So onto the recipe, since that is what you came for ha! My kids enjoyed this on a regular hamburger bun. I just don't like to waste calories on buns when a thin one will do the trick. Serve alongside a fresh vibrant salad for volume!

Skinny Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 Medium Onion (148 grams), Onion (sliced)
1.33 lbs, Eye of Round Steak (cut into thin strips)
1 Bell Pepper, Green Bell Pepper (sliced)
1/2 tsp Ground Pepper
1 tsp Garlic powder
2 Beef Bullion Cubes
4 oz Hot water
6 slice (1 oz), Cheese, provolone
6 roll, Whole Wheat Thinwich


Directions
Spray your crockpot with nonstick spray, and lay in your onion slices. Top with your eye of round steak and bell pepper slices. Sprinkle in the pepper and garlic powder. Then mix your hot water and bullion cubes and pour in. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information

per serving (includes bun and cheese)

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 379
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 17 g	27 %
Saturated Fat 8 g	39 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 77 mg	26 %
Sodium 467 mg	19 %
Potassium 442 mg	13 %
Total Carbohydrate 27 g	9 %
Dietary Fiber 7 g	26 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 33 g	67 %
Vitamin A	9 %
Vitamin C	73 %
Calcium	27 %
Iron	15 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Malissa's Crack Chicken

Over the past 4 years of working for Venus Index / Venus Factor, I have gotten to know a lot of our clients both in person and online, and am honored to call many of them personal friends. We are all women who are driven and share a mutual love of lifting and nutrition. So when one of my Venus girls shares a recipe, I usually have to try it. We tend to like the same things, remember?

My beautiful friend Malissa 

That is the case with this recipe. My sweet friend Malissa shared it on her instagram account, and we have featured it in several posts on our Venus social media as well. Malissa has the best sense of humor and loves to eat all the things like me ;) we both have busy husbands, kids, and dogs running around. It is only a matter of time before we finally get to meet in person!

Speaking of Venus friends, Coach Jenny recommended that I try this Kodiak Cakes protein pancake mix a few weeks ago. Then another one of my Venus girls, Rhonda, shared about it on her social media too. So I finally got my giant 4.5 lbs box of @kodiakcakes in! The kidlets and hubby were super impressed, tasted like IHOP pancakes! We tried all 3 recipe variations and our favorite was just the mix with water. I heated up 1/2 cups of frozen mixed berries and drizzled 1 tbsp PB2 over mine, with 1 slice of Wrights bacon. All for 293 cals! Excited to make waffles and pizza crust next!

8 weeks out from my next shoot, so practicing a pose instead of flexing haha! I have been lifting 4-5 days a week along with some airbike intervals on the gym front. Going on long distance runs 2-3 days per week. Of course, hitting my calorie and protein goals are paramount and my number one concern, as is good sleep.


So Malissa's recipe was just the thing to hit my nutrition and protein goals. And I knew I had to try it! My family was super impressed. We have only made 1 variation so far, but planning on trying the others soon! It stores well for a few days, I think it actually might get better! We enjoyed it in quesadillas and as salad topping too, very versatile!

Malissa's Crack Chicken

Ingredients:
6 large chicken breasts
1 block of cream cheese
2 packets of taco seasoning (or 2x1/4 cup bulk taco seasoning)

Instructions:
Chicken breast, cream cheese and 1st packet baked (covered) at 425 for 45. Take out cut up chicken and put in 2nd packet. Place back in oven at 275 for 2 hours shred and serve. (I also tried it in the crockpot with good success. Cooked on high 4 hours, shredded, then added remaining taco seasoning.)

Nutrition facts are per ounce

Other Crack Chicken Variations From Malissa

Tonight we decided to spin a little Italian flare on the #crackchicken some went for the roll, some went for the noodles. I chose the zoodles with some @mias_kitchen bistro marinara my absolute favorite #thesauceisthebestpart

(This is the original variation) Crack chicken I saw this on a tasty video so easy, so good, and great on protein. The calorie and macro info is per serving I got 12 servings out of 6 chicken breasts

When you have multi-purpose chicken you must put it to good use ;)

Thanks for the recipe sweet friend!

Pizza Chicken

I ran across this idea the other day on Pinterest and thought to myself how clever it was! I am always down for recipes that my kids and husband will enjoy but will fit into my calorie budget. I am being particularly conscientious of that because my next shoot is 9 weeks from today, so I need to be consistent. So expect lots of lower calorie and higher protein meals in the upcoming weeks ;)

My standard poodle Olive Marie and I have been increasing our mileage this week. We worked our way up in time until I hit my max (60 minutes) and now are slowly increasing our pace which increases mileage. We are down to consistent 11 min/miles with a few 10 min/miles, for running on the sand barefoot, I am very pleased. This week on a run, the herons were out in mass. I think we ran across 4 different birds, which is unusual. I stopped and captured this heron taking flight.The ocean and light was just stunning! I think I need these on canvas for my house, love how they look.

I am still gaining strength in the gym too even while in a deficit. This week I achieved a new personal best for deadlift! 205 pounds for 1 rep max woohoo! My back should have stayed more neutral but hey, I will work on it ;) Working hard in the gym day in and day out pays off! I am on the 12th week of Hourglass Extreme, and it is paying off in PR's.

I have been making lots of chopped salads with homemade vinaigrette dressings lately. They are super filling when you are watching your calories and they pack a lot of nutritional punch. The best part is that they last for a few days so you can prep a big bowl and eat off of it! This is one I made to pair with the pizza chicken. I just use whatever veggies I have on hand, this happens to be a chopped cucumber, handful of grape tomatoes, half a red bell pepper, half of a yellow bell pepper, handful of chopped carrots (gave them a whirl in the Ninja), a little onion, and some thinly sliced Brussels sprouts. For the dressing, I did a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon on balsamic vinegar, teaspoon of yellow mustard, teaspoon of honey, a half teaspoon of tarragon, and salt/pepper. Taste and adjust then shake the dressing in a jar then toss the chopped salad with it.

So let's get to this chicken...

Pizza Chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 lb(s), Chicken Breast (approx 6 - pound them thin or butterfly them)

14.50 oz, 100% Natural Diced Tomatoes, 1 Can 

1 small can (10 tbsp ea.), Tomato Paste (could sub storebought pizza sauce for the 2 cans of tomato)

2 tbsp Italian seasoning (I used a greens blend my friend makes)

1.50 cup, shredded, Cheese, mozzarella, whole milk

1 bag Turkey Pepperoni Slices

Directions
Preheat oven to 400*F. Spray a large casserole dish (I used a 9x13) with nonstick spray and lay out your chicken breasts. Mix up the 2 cans of tomatoes and Italian seasoning and spread on top your chicken. Top with mozzarella cheese, then the bag of pepperoni. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes covered, Then, take off the foil 15 more minutes of cooking time.  Enjoy! This reheats very well, by the way.

Nutritional information

per serving

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 437
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 15 g	23 %
Saturated Fat 6 g	32 %
Monounsaturated Fat 4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 185 mg	62 %
Sodium 1013 mg	42 %
Potassium 479 mg	14 %
Total Carbohydrate 10 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	12 %
Sugars 5 g
Protein 62 g	125 %
Vitamin A	15 %
Vitamin C	18 %
Calcium	17 %
Iron	17 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.