Category: Recipes

30 Calorie Home-Made Iced Coffee

Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a wonderful start to your weekend 🙂

The past two days have been extremely productive for me. There were 100 little things that I needed to do, but just kept putting off so that I could go lay out in the sun instead. To keep myself refreshed and motivated, I was extremely reliant on my iced coffee.

Usually, I order a cookie dough or caramel swirl iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts with cream only. However, I recently learned that one medium coffee can have as many as 260 calories! Not to mention all of the sugar and artificial flavoring mixed in. I couldn’t believe it and immediately vouched to start making my own iced coffee. It took me a few tries but I think I finally found the perfect recipe. 🙂

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It only required three ingredients and was only thirty calories for a mason jar full! I brewed my coffee and let it chill in the refrigerator overnight. This allows you to avoid the watered down coffee you get by chilling it with ice cubes.

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By Friday afternoon, I had finished up just about everything that I needed to do. Conor got out of work around 3pm and we decided to go on an adventure! We headed down to Purgatory in Sutton, MA. We hadn’t been there in a few years but Conor had by dying to go on a good hike!

We got there around 5:30 and began exploring. It was beautiful and really reminded us to appreciate nature.

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After an hour (and many mosquito bites), we decided to head back to the car. On our way home we were trying to figure out where we wanted to stop for dinner when we saw a cute little farmhouse coming up on the right. As we got close we saw that there was a mini golf course, go carts, and a corn maze attached. There was also a sign for home-made ice cream. Conor knew to pull in without me even asking! 🙂

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We ended up each getting an ice cream cone in place of dinner (oops) and sitting out back by the lake while we ate them.

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Spontaneous nights like that are always my favorite. 🙂

xo,

Jaclyn

 

Q. When was the last time you did something spontaneous on a weeknight?

Southwest Chicken Wraps

A few nights ago Conor and I decided to whip up a healthy and delicious meal of southwest chicken wraps that I found on Pinterest via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe . We had no food in the house, so I made him a list and sent him off to the grocery store while I fit in a quick 25 minute workout with my mom. By the time he came back with all of the ingredients, we had worked up a good sweat and were ready to eat. This recipe was super simple, and truly delicious. Even my brother said that he felt like he was at Mexicali Grill after trying one! The best part is that with just a few simple swaps, we were able to make this a healthy dish. We also whipped up a copycat recipe of the Outback Steakhouse buttermilk ranch dressing to serve with the wraps. Outback has always been one of my favorites.

We prepared the ranch dressing first, as it had to chill for 30 minutes before being served.

Ingredients for Copycat Outback Ranch

– 1/2 cup Buttermilk

– 1 Cup Mayonaise

– 1 Teaspoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

– 1/8 teaspoon paprika

– 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

– 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

1. Thoroughly mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl.

2. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

 

Ingredients for Southwest Chicken Wraps (Makes 7 Wraps)

– 2 cups of cooked brown rice

-1/2 red or orange pepper (Chopped)

-1/2 large onion (Chopped)

-1 package of wheat wraps

– Rotisserie Chicken (Shredded)

– 1 Bag of Skim Mexican Blend Cheese

– 1/4 Cup of Fresh Cilantro (Chopped)

-1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder

– 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

– 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

– 1 Can refried Beans

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients in with the rice besides the cheese and refried beans. I eyeballed the amount of ground cumin, chili powder, and garlic salt that I used and it came out just fine.

2. On a tortilla, spread a scoop of refried beans and sprinkle as much cheese as you would like in the middle ensuring that you leave a 1/2 inch border from the edge.

3. Dab a spoonful of the buttermilk ranch dressing on to give it a rich and creamy taste when finished.

4. Place a large scoop of the rice mixture down the center of the wrap and fold over the edges of the tortilla so it is completely wrapped up.

5. Spray the top side of the tortilla (with edges visible) with canola oil cooking spray and place face down in a non-stick skillet on medium heat.

6. Before flipping over, spray the other side lightly with canola oil.

7. Wait until the wraps are a golden brown color before removing from the skillet and enjoying with a side of ranch.

 

I hope you love these wraps as much as we did!

xo,

Jaclyn