Talenti Gelato Jars Gone Diva

I'm back!!!!  I know, I know.  An entire year has gone by since my last blog post.  Shame on me!  But it's ok.  I come bearing gifts.  LOL!  Not really.  But seriously, I have some interesting tips to share with you guys and I'm going to do my best to deliver.  Side note: I am heavily considering changing my blog name to "Fat Little Girl" because the word "Fit" is about to fly right out of the window and land on the corner of Broadway Avenue after this blog post. Ahhhh anyway...

The last six months of 2013 and the start of 2014 were tough for me.  Stress overload!  Lots of life related situations happened, emotional eating ran its course and I gained about 30 pounds.  

There is always a bright side though, right?  Well, my bright side happened this year when a divinely orchestrated meeting connected me with a brilliant Holistic Health Practitioner (Mikial New Bey) here in Cleveland, Ohio.  After learning truths about living whole, I started making a life changing transition to plant based living.  As a result, I am now what most Americans categorize as "Vegetarian".  Yes folks, I have not eaten meat, poultry or seafood since March of this year.  The journey has been one of spiritual growth more than anything.  Plant based living stretches beyond food choices.  I expect nothing but greatness from my transition and I plan on sharing it with you guys. 

In the midst of my new lifestyle, there have been setbacks.  I have every intention to transition to a completely plant based lifestyle, but my greatest weakness continues to be ice cream.  Dairy is the Devil ya'll!  Seriously.  Those damn Talenti gelato flavors in aisle 9 tend to lure me in.  I know some of you understand my pain here.  But again, this too shall pass.  

Although my dairy weakness is a personal setback, I'm going to make lemonade out of lemons and show you guys how to revamp those lovely Talenti jars into diva inspired make up brush holders.  By the way, my absolute favorite Talenti flavor is the Southern Butter Pecan!   The good news is, I haven't had any in about two weeks.  

Here's how to make divalicious makeup brush holders using old Talenti gelato jars:

What you will need (most of these items can be purchased at Michaels arts and crafts retail store):  

• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Pure acetone 
• Nail polish remover
• Napkins
• Rhinestone ribbon

Step 1: Wipe the Talenti jars with pure acetone nail polish remover to remove the labeling.

Step 2: Hold the rhinestone ribbon against the Talenti jars starting from the top and down to the bottom.  Cut the excess ribbon off making sure the ribbon spans from top to bottom.  You should now have a strip of ribbon ready to be glued to jar.

Step 3: Apply hot glue to the back of the ribbon strip.  Use the scissors to hold the strip in place on the jar since the glue will be very hot. 

Step 4: Repeat steps 1 through 3 until the entire jar is covered with rhinestone ribbon.

Tip:  You can apply any style of ribbon to the jars.  I also added pearls to a second jar.  Be creative and glue the ribbon as you wish.  You can store makeup brushes, lipstick, eyeliner pencils or even cotton balls in the jars once complete. 

I hope this was helpful for you!  Look out for more posts coming soon including a review on NON DAIRY ice cream!

Fat Little Fit Foodie: A Low Carb Burger That Will Blow Your Mind!!!

OK, OK, OK....I have a confession. I absolutely LOVE burgers!!  I'm the quintessential "burger and fries" chick.  In fact, I'd probably prefer going to Five Guys Burgers and Fries or Cheeburger Cheeburger for a dinner date instead of a fancy smanshy restaurant (but I would never tell him that ::wink, wink::).  Nevertheless, I needed to find better burger options while on this journey toward a slimmer and healthier me.

I've tried the low carb burger using Romaine or Ice Berg lettuce to wrap the burger with instead of bread, but that never really satisfies me.  Luckily, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this GLORIOUS idea to use portabella mushroom caps as the buns for the burger instead of bread!!!! Ummm??? Hell yeah!!! My mouth started watering at the thought lol!

Here's my spin on the yummy idea. I added some Fat Little Fit Girl flavor, lol! :-)

Warning: I love A LOT of flavor so I added seasonings and spices to my burger that some folks probably wouldn't use.  Add whatever you'd prefer and omit what you don't like.

What you'll need:

• Freshly ground organic turkey breast (enough for one sensibly sized burger patty.  Whole Foods will ground whatever amount you need and sell it to you by weight.)
• Green onion
• Garlic clove
• Fresh jalapeno (just a tad)
• Cilantro
• Curry powder
• Italian seasoning
• Black pepper
• Chili powder (just a tad)
• Salt (just a tad)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 2 large portabella mushroom caps
• Spinach
• Tomato (a slice)
• Parmesan cheese (Shredded)
• Olive oil
• Dannon Oikos Roasted Red Pepper Greek Yogurt Dip (You can find this at your local grocery store)

Steps for Portabella Caps:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees
2. Drizzle a tea spoon of olive oil into a small baking dish
3. Place the portabella caps into the baking dish
4. Rub the portabella caps in the olive oil to get them coated nicely and sit them rounded side up
5. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, black pepper and a tad of salt on to the mushrooms to taste
6. Place in the oven and bake until mushrooms are tender for about 10-15 minutes (note: the mushrooms will create their own juices so be sure to use a baking dish that will catch any drippings).
7. Set the cooked mushrooms aside for later use

Steps for the Burger Patty:

1. Finely dice the green onion, garlic clove,  jalapeno (half or less than half) and cilantro.
2. Add the ground turkey, diced green onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro and all of the spices mentioned above (just a tad of salt) to a bowl. Mix everything together really, really WELL and form your burger patty.
3. Add a tad of olive oil to a skillet. Let warm.
4. Place your burger patty into the skillet.  Cook both sides until it's WELL, WELL, WELL done (WARNING: You don't want to eat ground turkey rare)
5. Once the patty is done cooking, place it on a napkin to catch the drippings and prepare to build your burger!

Steps for Building your Burger:

1. Grab your portabella caps and spread the red pepper yogurt dip on the caps
2. Add one slice of tomato to a cap
3. Add a nice helping of fresh spinach to a cap
4. Add the turkey burger patty
5. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on to the patty
6. Place the other cap on top

Serve with half an avocado and a pickle!!!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!  Let me know if you try this yummy recipe!!!! Tell me what you think!!!!

Stay fit and fabulous!!!!

Fashionably Fit: T-shirts with Attitudes

A few months ago, I stumbled across Nike's Attitude t-shirts with cool sayings on them and instantly knew I had to have one for the gym.

"Every Damn Day" best explains how I feel about working out these days.  Why not rock this super cute tee to the gym?  I had to have it! Especially since I love wearing workout gear that makes me feel and look good.

Nike has a number of edgy screen tees for the "fashionably fit" at heart.  Checkout some of these funky tees and get your workout on in style!

Fit Girls:

Fit Fellas:

Nike Attitude t-shirts can be found at Nike retail stores nationwide.

The Bacon Debate: Pork Bacon vs Turkey Bacon

Ok. It's apparent that bacon shouldn't really be part of my diet.  While this is true, I'm human.  Sometimes I can't resist having a strip or two alongside scrambled eggs for breakfast.  I must say that I'm a tad partial to pork bacon, but I tolerate turkey bacon because of it's "healthier" reputation.  This alone prompted me to do my own investigation on how healthy turkey bacon really is compared to pork bacon.  My finidings may surprise you.

At my local grocery store I grabbed a box of Sugardale pork bacon and a box of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon to compare nutrition facts.  The first item I noticed was that the turkey bacon listed nutrition facts for only one strip of bacon, which made the calorie, cholesterol, fat and sodium counts appear lower.  While the Sugardale pork bacon on the other hand listed nutrition facts for two strips.  That's a tad sneaky on Oscar Mayer's end, right?  Take a look (turkey bacon at left. Pork at right):

At first glance the turkey bacon looks like its 45 calories less than the pork, when really it's only 10 calories less if you do the math for the extra strip of bacon (35 calories x 2).

In addition to this, I found (after doing the math) two strips of turkey bacon had 10 milligrams more cholesterol and 70 milligrams more sodium than two strips of Sugardale pork bacon.  Hmmm?  Yeah, I'm shocked too.  But the biggest shocker was that the fat content for two strips of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon was the same as two strips of pork bacon despite the turkey bacon's misleading packaging which boasts "50% LESS FAT than USDA data for pork bacon". 

After looking at all of this, I'm pretty much convinced that if I ever have a craving for bacon, I might as well roll with the tasty, tender, pork version or avoid both at all costs because one isn't really healthier than the other.

Turkey and pork bacon label comparison 

This goes to show that we have to do our own research when choosing what we place in our diets.  My investigation doesn't cover every side of the bacon spectrum.  Of course you can find turkey bacon that's not treated with excessive amounts of sodium nitrate (the substance that increases sodium milligrams found on the label).  And there's also the organic route.  The choice is yours!

Remember to READ and COMPARE labels on the food you're eating. If a food is popular because it's considered the "healthier" option, that doesn't always mean it's healthy.

Stay fit and fab!

Disclaimer: This comparison includes brands that I typically purchase.  Conduct your own research for details on other brands.  (Remember to calculate serving amounts and grams of each slice when comparing)

Beauty Bites: Shea Moisture hair and body products

Last year during one of my monthly “Target runs” for body wash, lotion and other beauty essentials, I was stopped in my tracks by a product boasting the name “Shea Moisture”. Mind you, I’ve been trying to do the whole healthy thing for a while, and my skin is no exception. Knowing that Shea butter is one of the best natural moisturizers for skin, I decided to try the Shea Moisture Organic Coconut and Hibiscus body lotion (which also contains Songyi mushroom extract. Interesting right?). Needless to say I was hooked. The texture is so thick and smooth and my skin was supple to the touch after using only a little.

The positive results I had with the lotion prompted me to try the hair case system. I opted for the coconut and hibiscus hair system (there are several system types available specific to hair needs). I must say, this stuff is magic! I have “thirsty”, dry hair. So the moisture provided by this product is exactly what my kinks and curls needed.

The hair care system comes with the “Curl and Shine Shampoo”, “Hold and Shine Moisture Mist”, “Curl and Style Milk” and the “Curl Enhancing Smoothie” (a staple product of mine). I would recommend this to anyone with dry hair. Currently, I can only speak on how well it does on my natural hair texture, but I honestly think this stuff would work well for women who have dry, processed hair as well.

Overall, I would recommend all of these products to everyone. If you’re afraid to try the hair care products, at least give the body lotion a whirl. The products are priced a little high ($9 on average) but it’s worth every penny. Not to mention, you’d be supporting a black owned beauty product line which is extremely rare these days (Richelieu Dennis – Founder and CEO…. Yes, I had to research this excellent product).

Stop at your local Walgreens or Target and give this stuff a try! Tell me what you think!

Beauty Bites: How to Grow Longer Nails FAST!

"Nail biting is a mild form of self mutilation"

O_o ...........Now what now?!?!

When I read this quote a few months ago I was rocking an acrylic full set covered in turquoise O.P.I polish. I wore fake nails because if I didn't have anything on top of my natural nail, I'd gnaw them off in a matter of seconds.

I've been a nail biter for 24 years (FYI: I'm 24 years old, smh). There has to be an ending somewhere right? Well....... thank God for that quote and my aunt's secret to growing longer nails FAST. I can finally say I am no longer a nail nibbler because I've learned to take care of my own natural nails.

Here's how I've grown my nails from nubs to a pretty decent length in one month (as seen in the pictures above):

Step 1: Remove old nail polish from nails

Step 2: Use a cuticle pusher and your favorite oil to push back your cuticles
Step 3: Soak nails in WHITE vinegar for 5 minutes. Rinse hands and nails with soap and water
Step 4: Rub nails and cuticles with Vitamin E oil. Massage for about a minute per hand, then rinse. Step 5: Coat each nail with Sally Hansen: Hard As Nails clear nail hardener (found in drugstores) Step 6: Choose your favorite nail color. Add two coats of the colored polish to your nails.
step 7: Add one last coat of Hard As Nails as a top coatStep 8: Dry nails using a hair dryer on low

Step 9: Repeat this process every 3 days or as needed. (I recommend 3 days)

Alright! I hope you guys get the same results I did. I'll keep you all posted on my nail growth over the next several months.

Stay Fit....and FAB!

Fashionably Fit: Workout Gear for the Fit and Frugal

I'm always down for a bargain. Whether it's finding a designer handbag at TJ Maxx for half the price or scouring the racks of "vintage" dresses at a second hand store....a deal is a deal. The same rules apply when it comes to my workout wardrobe.

A couple months ago I found some cute workout pieces at two of the most affordable retail stores around: Wal-Mart and Marshall's.

Wal-Mart has thee cutest and comfiest workout sweatsuits. The best part is..... THEY'RE STYLISH!! I picked up a cute pink track jacket and black crop pants to match. The material is excellent and doesn't rip easily. I love my jacket and I plan on going back to pick up a couple more in other colors (although I love me some pink, lol).

I also happened to stumble across a cute pink workout shirt and yoga pants from Marshall's. It's very rare that I look for brands, but when I found Underarmour workout gear priced so cheap, I had to get it. So if you're looking for cheap workout gear with a label, definitely stop by Marshall's for a deal.

Remember, it's important to workout in clothes that you feel good in. I'll continue the search for fabulously fit finds and will share all of the good deals with you guys. Next stop... Targe' (aka Target lol)!!!

Pictured Upper Right: Danskin Track Jacket - $10 (Wal-Mart) / Danskin Cropped Yoga Pants $11 (Wal-Mart)

Pictured Left: UnderArmour Tee - $8.99 (Marshalls) / UnderArmour Long Yoga Pants - $11 (Marshalls)