Jamieson Diaries

Married | Mother | Millennial

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Strawberry Iced Tea (Sugar Free!)

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Strawberry Iced Tea

strawberry iced tea
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Strawberry Iced Tea

There is something so special about an ice cold refreshing drink on a hot summer day. This exact idea is what inspired this Strawberry Iced Tea recipe. One of my favorite drinks in hot and cold weather is green tea. Green tea is perfect because it tastes delicious weather served hot or cold. I personally prefer hot tea, but this recipe was the first exception I've made of tasting even better. 

I always see recipes for fresh fruit flavored desserts and drinks that require a cup or more of white sugar. For those of you who are trying to eat cleaner these days, this is not the best ingredient for weight loss, or healthy living. When I make my green tea throughout the year I always use honey and lemon to sweeten my tea. This gave me the idea to attempt a similar summer drink recipe using honey instead of sugar for the natural strawberry flavoring. Not only was it a great idea, but this Strawberry Iced Tea is absolutely delicious, AND you feel no guilt knowing the ingredients are healthy and simple. It really is a win-win situation! 

For those of you who have allergies to strawberries the best part about this recipe is you can use any fruit you would like following the exact same steps. I think I'm going to try mango next time! 🙂 

Course Drinks
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author jamiesondiaries

Ingredients

  • 8 cups water 1 cup off to the side
  • 8 green tea bags
  • 2 cups strawberries quartered
  • 1 cup honey 1/4 cup to the side
  • 2 lemons

Instructions

  1. In two separate pots boil your 7 cups of water, and 1 cup of water, over medium high heat until both pots are boiling.  

  2. When your 1 cup of water begins to boil add your strawberries and 1/4 cup of honey to the pot. Stir frequently to avoid burning. 

  3. Once your large pot of water has started boiling, turn the pot off (to avoid a fire) and add your tea bags to the pot. Let them soak in the water for 10-15 minutes to be sure all of the flavoring has gotten in the water. (I used the Yogi tea "energy" brand/flavor for my tea).

  4. Once your strawberries have cooked down, using a small holed strainer, pour the strawberry mixture in the strainer to separate the liquid and food. Throw the food away once all the liquid has drained out. 

  5. In your pot of tea, discard the tea bags, and pour your tea into a 2 quart pitcher. 

  6. Add your strawberry flavored sweetener to the pitcher, as well as, your remaining 3/4 cup honey. Stir until well combined.

  7. Cut your lemon into halves and add lemon juice to taste. Stir well. (I love the lemon flavor in my tea so I used about 1 and 3/4 of my lemons and sliced the last 1/4 for garnish in the pitcher).

  8. Fill a glass half way with ice, pour your strawberry iced tea over it, and enjoy your refreshing drink! 

 

All Posts, Dear Diary, Desserts, Healthy, Recipes

Halo Top Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake

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Halo Top Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake
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Halo Top Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake

Today is officially the first day of Summer. For those of you looking for a delicious and non-guilty dessert to cool you off this summer, try out this easy and yummy Halo Top Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake. 

I've recently discovered how much I enjoy Halo Top ice cream. Not only is it delicious, but it's guilt free! Most pints are 300 calories or less. Yes, the entire pint is only 300 calories! It's like finding a small piece of heaven on earth. They have so many delicious flavors and my new life goal is to try them all. Ha! But in all seriousness, it's so nice to finally have an ice cream us clean eaters can enjoy, without the guilt that usually comes with it. 

This recipe is perfect for a quick sweet tooth fix. You can even pour the milkshake into popsicle trays and make healthy popsicles for little ones. If you're wanting even more nutrients in this dessert, add a small banana to the ingredients list. I promise it's just as delicious!

Course Dessert
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 3 people
Calories 160 kcal
Author jamiesondiaries

Ingredients

  • 1 pint Halo Top Chocolate Ice Cream
  • 1 cup Almond Milk
  • 2 Tbsp Honey
  • 2 Tbsp PB2

Instructions

  1. Pour your Halo Top ice cream, almond milk, honey, and PB2 into a blender.

  2. Use the "milkshake" option and blend for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Pour your milkshake into your glass and enjoy!

  4. *If you want it with more ice, you can either add ice cubes to the blender, or place a freezer safe cup with your shake in the freezer for 10 minutes, or until ice chunks form.*

All Posts, Dear Diary, Health & Fitness, Healthy, Meal Prep, Recipes

(Meal Prep): Mexican Quinoa

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Mexican Quinoa

Mexican Quinoa
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Mexican Quinoa

For those of you searching for delicious clean eating recipes this Mexican Quinoa is the recipe for you! 

I've been meal prepping consistently for about a year and a half. Over time I have learned how to create my own clean eating meal prep recipes for taste and variety. This recipe was inspired by having a taste for scrumptious Mexican rice. Since rice isn't the healthiest option these days I decided to try quinoa in place of the rice. This was one of my best ideas yet! Lol. 

If I'm being completely honest, it started off being difficult to come up with recipes on my own, because you can easily get discouraged with the amount of terrible ingredients we don't realize are in so many foods we love to eat. Once I got the hang of learning more about food and how my body reacts to certain foods and mixtures, creating delicious and flavorful recipes such as this delicious Mexican Quinoa, are no longer a challenge. 

Although this recipe tastes perfect as is, the best part about it is, you can adjust and add your own ingredients to fit your unique Mexican palette taste buds. For example: I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but I'm sure for those of you who like tomatoes, they would be a delicious addition. (Whatever foods you decide to add to this dish, be sure they are healthy options such as fresh fruits and/or vegetables. You don't want to create a non-healthier dish with the addition of unhealthy ingredients.) 

Let's go ahead and get started!

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 10
Author jamiesondiaries

Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups Quinoa
  • 5 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1 lbs. Ground Turkey 99% fat free
  • 15 oz. Black Beans drained & rinsed
  • 15 oz. Corn drained
  • 1 cup Cilantro
  • 2 Jalapenos chopped
  • 3 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning 1 Tbsp. separated
  • 2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Large Onion diced
  • 2 tsp. Cumin
  • 1/2 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil
  • Sea Salt & Coarse Black Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook your quinoa by the package instructions. How ever many cups of quinoa, use double the amount of chicken stock, to cook in the quinoa in. 

  2. Heat your grapeseed oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat and sautee your onions and jalapenos until slightly tender. 

  3. Add your ground turkey to the pan and break it up into smaller pieces as it cooks. 

  4. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of your taco seasoning into the sauteed mixture and stir until well combined.

  5. Pour your sauteed ground turkey, onion, and jalapeno mixture into the large pot of cooked quinoa. 

  6. On medium low heat, add your drained and rinsed black beans, corn, and the rest of your measured seasonings to the pot. Continually stir to throghly mix the ingredients together prevent the bottom from sticking/burning. 

  7. Add your cup of cilantro (you can chop it into smaller pieces if you wish) to the pot with your desired amount of sea salt and coarse black pepper to taste. 

All Posts, Dear Diary, Desserts, Healthy

Berry Smoothie Pops

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Summer may be over a month away, but here in Montana, we’ve already had a few days of summer-like temperatures, and there couldn’t be a better time to eat a delicious, Berry Smoothie Pop! I take my little one to the park every day to run some of her energy off, and we always find ourselves coming back home looking for a delicious, quick, and more importantly, cold snack to eat. One of her favorite post park snacks is a fresh strawberry and blueberry mix. Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have a toddler who loves and eats fresh fruit like it’s candy? Read More

All Posts, Dear Diary, Health & Fitness, Healthy, Meal Prep, Recipes

Black Bean & Turkey Veggie Soup

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If you follow my Instagram account you probably know I have been into meal prepping and clean eating for a few months now. My go to meals have always been chicken thighs or salmon with veggies and quinoa. One day I was craving a black bean soup of some sort and decided to throw some ingredients together in a pot with black beans and see what happened. Well…it was amazing. I have since made the recipe a few more times and now that I have perfected it I want to share it with all of you. You can use whatever vegetables you like best because you really can’t go wrong with delicious veggies!

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 20 mins | Serves: 5-6 

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1 lbs. Ground Turkey

15 oz. can Whole Corn

(2) 15 oz. cans Reduced Sodium Black Beans

1/2 bunch of Kale

1 large Red Bell Pepper

2 Jalapeno Peppers

1 large Yellow Onion (diced)

1 cup Cilantro

1 Tbsp Garlic

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Smoked Paprika (regular paprika is OK too)

1 Tbsp Honey

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 cups Water

*corn tortillas*

  1. Heat your olive oil over medium high heat for a minute or until really hot. Add your garlic, and diced up onions, red bell pepper, and jalapenos to the pot. Stir for 3 minutes or until soft and add your ground turkey to the pot. Break up and stir ground turkey until browned.
  2. Once your turkey is browned add your can of corn (drained), cans of black beans (NOT drained), cilantro, and spices to the pot. Stir well to combine ingredients and spices.
  3. Now add your water to the pot, stir to combine, then add your pieces of kale to the pot. Make sure the kale is mixed and covered with the soup liquid then cover pot and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  4. Taste your soup and adjust the seasonings to your own taste buds. I tend to like spice and always add more cayenne and black pepper to my mix.
  5. Brown 1-2 corn tortillas and dip in your soup for an even more delicious taste.

You can share this delicious recipe with others or meal prep for 5-6 meals. Remember you can switch and mix it up with your own spices and veggies in this soup. You can even branch out to different types of beans, however, I would research which beans are best for clean eating purposes.

Enjoying a delicious meal without guilt is one of my favorite feelings! 😉 Have a great evening and let me know how you like the recipe!

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Brie <3

[02.17.16]

 

All Posts, Dear Diary

16 Goals For 2016

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Now that we’re in the year 2016 I wanted to make a list consisting of 16 goals to accomplish this year. I chose sixteen goals because who’s really going to write out two thousand and sixteen goals? Exactly. But in all seriousness I like to brainstorm things I would like to accomplish or improve, write them down, and hold myself accountable to these goals. I refuse to call them resolutions because goals that are taken seriously and strategically planned out tend to drive me more than the cliche new year resolutions ever will.

These are the sixteen goals I wish to accomplish in 2016:

1) Bi-Monthly Food Box

 Now that I am getting into couponing I want to be able to bless others as well. I would like to put together a food box at the very least every other month to donate to a local family in need. It’s not major, but it’s a step in the right direction towards helping others beyond volunteer work in 2016.

2) Potty Train Jordyn

I’m pretty sure this is pretty understandable to those who have and don’t have children. However, we would like to talk about another child in 2017 (yes a whole year from now) but the conversation won’t even begin until Jordyn is fully potty trained.

3) Pay Off (A) Major Debt

As your average millennial buried in wonderful college loans, I would like to eliminate some, if not all, debt unrelated to my college loans. I’m aiming for financial freedom as soon as possible.

4) Visit 3 States BESIDES Illinois

My husband and I both are from the surrounding Chicago suburbs. Which means we always to IL for vacations to see family. However, in 2016 I want to explore and travel more than around/to IL.

5) Squat 150+ lbs

Because we all know strong is the new skinny. 2015 has shown us being fit and in shape is more important than being skinny. I plan to work on conditioning and strength this year.

6) More Base Activities

Now that pretty much all of my close friends have moved to new bases and states I need to find more friends. Haha j/k (sort of) I want to be more involved in base activities in general because I believe as a military community it’s important to be an important part of the community.

7) Visit 1 New Montana City

I’ve lived in Montana for almost 4 years and there are many large/popular cities I have never been to yet. Since we live here we need to take advantage of the places around us this year.

8) Visit The White House

We are planning another trip to Washington D.C. to see friends this year since we did not make it there last year. I want to reschedule a White House tour because this is the last year President Obama will be in office.

9) Spend <$100 On Grocery Trip

I’m officially one of those crazy coupon people trying to learn the ways of the couponing professionals. A major goal of mine is to spend less than $100 on a usual two week grocery shopping trip. I believe in me!

10) Take A Cooking Class

I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class. It has always looked like so much fun and would be a perfect date night idea. The husband and I have to make this happen this year.

11) Grow Blog Subscribers By 100+

I currently have 75 subscribers to my blog and would like to grow this list by at least 100 more this year. This is a huge challenge, but it’s one I am up for!

12) Do More Volunteer Work

As most of you know I am a (now level 1 certified) basketball coach for Special Olympics Montana. However, I would like to spend more of my down time helping others vs. doing things selfishly for myself. Selfless vs. selfish is the motto.

13) Eat Cleaner

This goes right back to fit being the new skinny. I want to eat cleaner for my health and my appearance. 70% of losing weight and getting in shape is what we put in our bodies so I need to do better this year.

14) Monetize Blog

I haven’t gotten a lot more serious about blogging. Writing is something I love to do and I would love to merge my passion with my purpose and create a job from it. Who doesn’t want to make money doing what they love?

15) Take A Dance Class

I’m not just talking about any dance class, I want to take a professional ballroom dance class. Learn to salsa, foxtrot, merengue, swing dance…anything!

16) Go To A Concert

Unfortunately living in Montana means we don’t have many diverse, main stream artists come here to perform. This year I would love to go to a popular artist’s concert even if it means traveling to a bordering state to do so. Especially if the artist is worth the hype.

You have officially read my goals (and reasoning) for 2016. I will try my hardest to accomplish all of them this year. What are your personal goals this year? Share in the comments below!

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Brie <3

[01.03.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Health & Fitness, Meal Prep

Meal Prep Tips

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What better time to share some meal prepping for clean eating tips than the day before everyone overdoses on Halloween candy, right? 😉 I started meal prepping for the first time a little over a year ago. It was part of the fit girls guide challenge I did in November of 2014 for twenty-eight days. Although it was a lot of work, it definitely helped save time throughout the week, as well as, have no excuse to grab unhealthy food. However, when I first started meal prepping it was more time-consuming than need be because I hadn’t figured out how to make it easiest just yet.

I have been consistently meal prepping for about 6+ months now and it takes me half the time to meal prep, three times as much food, from when I first started. I have had a lot of people ask me about good meal prepping food and resources which I shared in a blog post back in September. Click here to read it. I have most recently been asked about tips and tricks to make meal prepping a little easier for those who are just getting started or beginners. I’m no expert on meal prepping per se, here are three helpful tips for your next meal prepping session:

Prep in Steps:

Instead of doing EVERYTHING for your meal prep on the same day, break up what you can into different steps. For example, one of my favorite meal prepped combinations is the baked chicken, green yellow and red quinoa (rice) and a veggie of some sort. To do this prep I always cook my quinoa and/or rice the night before and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. While my quinoa and rice is cooking, I season my chicken and place it in the refrigerator overnight as well. The following day while my chicken bakes in the oven, I chop up my vegetables that go in the quinoa/rice combo as well as my vegetable that will serve as my side. Although it takes two days of prepping, it allows you less time in the kitchen overwhelming yourself all at once.

*Cold quinoa/rice is easier to mix in to your cooking vegetables in the pot for meal prep which is why .

Double the Recipe:

Most meal prep recipes are for about a weeks worth of food. However, when making certain foods, you can double or triple the recipe and freeze what you don’t need right away. Look up the guidelines regarding how long certain foods last in the refrigerator and freezer to be sure you’re making sanitary choices. I always prepare two weeks of lunch at a time to save time on doing it all over again in another week.

*If you have a favorite recipe that uses a certain measurement and mix of spices, using a smaller Tupperware container, triple or quadruple your mix of spices and it saves you time for your next 3-4 meal prep sessions by not having to measure each ingredient. 

Switch Up Choices:

Besides being time-consuming, another reason people lose interest in meal prepping is because they get tired of the same foods. So switch it up! There is no rule that says you have to meal prep the exact same food for two weeks straight. Who wouldnt’ get tired of that? Instead meal prep at least two different meals to alternate each day. Once you’ve gotten better at conserving your time and meal prepping quicker, make as many different meals as you choose. Believe it or not, being excited about eating your food helps motivate you to find the energy to get in the kitchen and meal prep in the first place.

*If you don’t know where to start for multiple meal prepping recipes and sites, Pinterest and Instagram are great resources. Or you can refer back to my link at the beginning of this post for more meal prep resources.

Hopefully these meal prep tips make meal prepping for you first timers, and beginners a little easier, and less frustrating. If you have any other questions regarding the tips or extra advice, please feel free to comment below or send me at email (info on my page). Happy meal prepping and clean eating! 🙂

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Brie <3

[10.30.15]

All Posts, Dear Diary, DIY, Healthy, Holiday, Recipes

Healthy Halloween Snacks

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It’s that time of year again where we use all of the motivational speeches in the world to convince ourselves why we NEED to eat healthy and avoid the delicious Halloween candy that will be thrown our way. The only problem with this logic is…it hardly ever works because we don’t think of alternatives. Sure we may eat healthy for a little while, but we eventually give in to the copious amounts of snickers being shoved in our faces, and pretend like we have no clue what the word “calories” means. I was inspired by the company, Nuts.com to share some healthier alternatives to the usual Halloween candy and treats.”

I’m a realistic person who loves the yummy not so healthy foods just as much as the next person. It is because of this realism that I like to find the happy medium in situations such as this one. Having NO fun when eating healthier pushes most of us over the edge to binge eat, and having too much fun reverses months of hard work in just minutes.

With that being said, here are three healthy and easy snack alternatives to turn to this Halloween.

Jack-O-Lantern Oranges:Halloween 1

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like, oranges with faces drawn on them. Not only are oranges an awesome alternative for sweets because of how naturally sweet they are, but you get to be a child and draw/play with your food before eating it. Your Mom would be proud.

Apple Butter Teeth:Halloween 2

I love almond butter because it’s sweet, and is a great energy booster. For this snack you will cut an apple into slices and cut little “teeth” patterns into the slices. To make this look a little more “Halloweenish” I decided to add red dye to the almond butter to give a blood dripping effect. Not only does your food look creepy, but it tastes amazing.

*For some extra sweetness add a few dark chocolate chips on top, or melt it and dip half of your apple in it*

Banana Energy Pumpkin: Halloween 3

I call this little gem the energy pumpkin because it consists of whole wheat bread, almond butter, (I told you I love that stuff) and bananas. As you can see I dyed the almond butter black and the bananas orange for this particular Halloween snack. They are an amazing combo and when put together it serves as a natural energy boost. It is one of my favorite snacks to eat before heading to the gym.

These three healthy Halloween snack alternatives are great for everyone in the family to enjoy. What are some of your favorite healthy Halloween go to snacks? Share with me in the comments section! In the mean time, enjoy these guilt free Halloween snacks for the time being :-).