Melissa-Brooke-Macrina

SAY WHAT!!??? BUT HOW!!!!!????? Yes, here it is.... I know most of you can have cheese, but this girl CAN NOT! So, here is my cheese substitute for my taco nights :) soak RAW cashews in water for about 4 hours drain and rinse place cashews in food processor or VitaMix with 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice and blend away add water until you have your desired consistnency add a bit of salt to taste and there you go....super easy "cheese"    ***It's great on rice, tacos, to dip veggies in or corn chips....but remember don't indulge too much...cashews are good for you, but too many can add too much fat to your diet :) So eat in moderation and shoot for a serving size no larger than 1Tbsp.

This is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE RECIPES!!!! I've been making it for years and you can use it in so many different ways!!! I love using it as a side salad at BBQs, or scoop some up on a corn chip -remember serving size ;) or use it as a salad topper as shown below. I thought I posted the recipe here before, or on my Instagram or on my Facebook, but for some reason, I cannot put my hands on it! I know my dear friends Nicole and Leslie have requested this recipe from me several times and I swear I posted it....Well if it did so happen to slip my mind, it's here now...for ALL TO SEE :) Here you go!!! This recipe will make about 3-4 servings: 1 can rinsed low-sodium black beans 1 can rinsed low-sodium corn 2 vine tomatoes chopped 1/8-1/4 red onion chopped 1/2-1 whole green pepper chopped 1-2 jalapenos chopped...depending on your love      for fire in your mouth ;) A good amount of fresh chopped Cilantro 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EEOV) Juice of 1-2 l...

Sweet meets.... SPICY!!!! For those of you who know me I am a pretty simple, healthy eater...but the ONE thing I love more about food than those two things is SPICY!!!! I HEART SPICY!!!!! I used to eat grilled cheese at work...you know, as in the SCHOOL LUNCH grilled cheese??? The one that was OH SO YUMMY!!! The one that they used to smother with butter and then bake!? Yeah, that grilled cheese...the one I used to eat BEFORE I discovered that I CAN'T eat cheese?! Yeah, that one. Anyway, I was the girl the cafeteria staff died laughing at as I doused that yummy deliciousness with some HOT SAUCE (as in about 1/2 a bottle)!!! HELLO SPICY!!!! HELLO LOVE IN MY MOUTH!!!! ***Confession***To this day, I keep a bottle of hot sauce AND a bottle of sriracha in my fridge at work....YES.I. DO. I may not add hot sauce to everything, but I do add a little spice to just about every meal or snack :) THIS is the YUMMY #CleanEats salad that I made for lunch! Oh, and what's even better...

mmmmm.....cupcakes...... No, no, no silly....not your junk food junky cupcake. As yummy as that sounds, this girl needs to pass on those. With these cupcakes, #21DayFix approved I may add, I can have TWO "cupcakes" in each hand!!!! SO, I saw this awesome recipe on...Pinterest!? Yes, Pinterest...ME on Pinterest? NEVER! OK, OK, GUILTY! Well, the recipe was for a breakfast-for lots of people- you know, for family get-togethers (which I totally missed the boat on when I was home in NY two weeks ago) or even for a baby shower-which one day I will have (after I meet Prince Charming) and my friends will have the rest of the day to themselves after enjoying cupcakes and mimosas. Anyway, here it is... a picture of MY cupcakes and MY rendition of the recipe I found on the one and only Pinterest... According to the 21 Day Fix, 4 of these bad boys is ONE SERVING and counts as 1 red container (protein) and 1 green container (greens/veggies)!!! In order to prep f...

Besides the fact that I don't have to report to my teaching job over the summer, therw are quite a few other things that I just #LOVE about summer! I love that I can get up and go for a run at 6:30am and run for as long as my little heart desires. I love that I get to take these summer days and focus on me...my health and fitness journey and spend more time helping others with their journeys as well. Oh, and I just LOVE the yummy, sweet fruits that come along with these summer months! Berries, berries and MORE BERRIES and the health benefits that we reap when we add these bad boys into our daily diets. You may be wondering what that YELLOW IMPOSTER is... it is NOT a berry as you probably gathered and NO, it's not balled pineapple...that would be SUPER ANNOYING! It just so happens to be........ .......YELLOW WATERMELON! WHAT? I know, I know....it was crazy, I think I've heard about it before, but not so sure if I had ever seen it in person! Well, I...