Southwestern Spaghetti Squash

This could not have been any easier. I found this amazing chili with veggies and beans and great flavor. Cooked it up with some ground turkey and voila! Cheap, easy and flavorful!

Ingredients:

- 1 large spaghetti squash

- 1 pound ground turkey breast 7% fat or less

- 1 can Staggs Chili Vegetable Garden 99% Fat Free

- 1/2 yellow pepper diced

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions:

·         Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

·         Cut the spaghetti squash in half and put both halves face down on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until you can easily slice a knife through the skin of the squash. 

·         While the squash is baking - combine, can of chili, ground turkey, garlic, and peppers in a large skillet and cook until turkey is no longer pink.

·         Once the squash is fully cooked use fork to scoop out all the seeds and toss those. The squash will be very hot, so use an oven mitt.  

·         Using a fork carve out all the squash and throw away the skin. The squash will come out in strands like spaghetti!

·         Top 1  to 1 ½ cups cooked squash with the ground turkey mixture and then I like to top is all with a tbsp. of plain greek yogurt

Just Show Up!

Anyone tired and weary? The monotonous daily activities that get us from sun up to sun down, the things that we wake up everyday and have to finish can cause us to feel like a car with flat tires. This life is going to throw unimaginable things your way. It could be a sickness, a broken family, abuse, or just overall loneliness. There are plenty of days where I do not want to show up, I want to push my alarm one more time. I want to let go of my responsibilities and hide in the corner, because it is just OVERWHELMING. Every great outcome was produced by small baby steps. What if you went into each day and decided that you were going to take everything one day at a time? Not think about whats behind or what is before but showing up that morning with an understanding of what you are capable of. Each of us has gifts and has amazing talents, actions, words to offer this world.

If you are weary with your health or faith or just in life in general - do one thing; just show up! No expectations. Do not allow anxiety to take hold and your brain to leap from thought to thought. Show up with your hurts and insecurities, your vulnerabilities and just allow yourself to live in the moment. These are things that you need to lay at God's feet so that you can enjoy a healthy and happy life. For me, pushing play and getting that workout in can be a daunting tasks on certain days. But I know that if I show up and push play even for 5 minutes this could ignite an energy and clear my head. For me, prayer can sometimes be difficult - so sometimes I just show up with a deep agonizing sigh and I know God is listening. Come with what you can and know you are loved in all circumstances by God. His favor and love for you is always available.

I found there was one big factor missing in my Beachbody accountability and challenge groups; faith. What does faith look like to you? I ask myself that question and I can define the word but it is difficult for me to apply it and live it in my life day-to-day. If you are reading this and it resonates with you, consider messaging me to be apart of my Challenge Group starting June 2nd. I am looking for a group of women to go on a Faith & Fitness journey with me! There is no requirement to buy a program or purchase any Beachbody product. Only that you are willing and ready to go through a book called 'The Faith Dare' that is 30 days while focusing on fitness and clean eating.

You may already be in one of my challenge groups, you may be a friend of a friend, you may want to learn more about clean eating or you may want to be apart of a group of women who are daring to take their faith to a new level - whatever the reason, please message me. I'm beyond excited for this and cannot wait to see who will go on this journey with me. If this blog post resonated with you or you want to talk more about your faith, fitness or health goals please do not hesitate to reach out to me: marisfit@gmail.com

Happy Sunday!