candice|Chia Seed Me

Feb 11, 2010 Posted by candice on Feb 11, 2010 in dinner | 3 comments

potatoes au grautin

Tonight I made a clean version of an old favorite, and it was delish.

Growing up my mom used to make potatoes au grautin from the box on occasion. Honestly, it wasn’t too often that one would find a processed or “boxed” food on our kitchen table. My mom always made homemade meals from scratch, and she prided herself on feeding us mostly healthy food and everyone coming together at the table for a family dinner. At the time I never really understood why I had to come in from playing outside to sit at the table with everyone, but now I’m so thankful for those memories, and I won’t have it any other way with our (future) children.

But back to the occasional “PAG.” I used to love those cheesy little spuds, but of course nowadays they don’t exactly fit into my repetoire of clean foods. So, tonight I veganfied (?) them!

Alongside a tasty mushroom burger…

Indulgence at it’s finest.

I started out by slicing a sweet potato up, sprinkling the rounds with ground red pepper and garlic powder and baking them for about 20 minutes. Next I mixed up some toasted pine nut hummus, nutritional yeast and water to make my new favorite humnut sauce. After the potatoes were baked, I arranged them on a plate and poured crack the sauce all over them. Yum! Next time I would bake the sweet potatoes for a little bit longer because they were a little too soft for my taste. Otherwise this meal rocked!!

For the mushroom burger, I just sauteed some portobello mushroom wedges in balsamic vinegar until they were cooked through and soft. Chopped onion, tomato, avocado and smushed it all between an ezekiel bun. I may also have added a teensy bit generous spoonful of humnut sauce to the burger as well;)

That’s all I’ve got for tonight. I took the day off from school tomorrow because I am so buried in grading I can’t even see my way out. With sophomore projects and junior research papers both piled high along with several random assignments that are waiting to be graded, I just needed a day at home to catch up and breathe. So after a workout with the hubs bright and early, I’ll have my head in the books papers all day.

It’s going to be a busy weekend even with the day off. Jon is cooking something up for Valentine’s Day, but we’ve planned on keeping it low key because we’re going to Dallas for a couple of days over Spring Break (only 4 weeks away!) as our real Valentine’s celebration. I can’t wait. I live for having days on end with nothing to do but explore and hang out with my favorite person!

Hope everyone is having a great night. TGIF (almost!)

on a scale of 1 to 10…

Hello!

Tonight is going to have to be a quick post because I’ve spent way too much of my time watching The Biggest Loser and grading projects for my sophomores, and I’ve got to head to bed!

I started my day off with overnight oats, primarily because we are out of soy milk, so I couldn’t make my usual green monster. Last night I mixed up 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup soy yogurt, 1/3 cup water, a heaping spoonful of canned pumpkin and cinnamon. I set it in the fridge overnight, and then this morning hubby added in sliced almonds and some blueberries. Yummo! I always love having overnight oats! I usually really enjoy them cold, straight out of the fridge, but it was so cold outside this morning that I decided to heat them up. They kept me warm all the way to work!!

*good oats…bad, bad pic

Dinner tonight was our usual Tuesday night enchiladas, aka “our addiction.” We LOVE this meal. Jon and I honestly just cannot get enough of Mexican food, so obvs. we have to healthify it. I like our version just as good or better as the restaurant version we used to get so often. I feel a heck of a lot better after eating this one though!

* this pic is so bad I almost didn’t post it. Don’t judge the ‘lada because of the sad iPhone pic.

1 Stacy’s whole wheat tortilla (more on these later)
2 slices of portabello mushroom
sauteed spinach
chopped onion
diced green chilis
nutritional yeast (protein)
green enchilada sauce

Wrap it all up and pop it in the over for about 10 minutes, and you’ve got yourself a gooey, smokin’ hot enchilada. Add a big scoop of homemade, healthy guac and a small side of refrien beans – perfection. If you love Mexican food, you would love this meal, promise.

Question for tonight: do you have levels of healthiness when you think about the food you eat?

Let me explain. Even though all the food I eat is clean, I still put it in levels in my mind for some reason. For instance, sauteed veggies over spaghetti squash would be about a 10 on the scale of healthiness, whereas my vegan enchilada meal is about a 5 or 6. In reality, neither meal is “not clean” or unhealthy in any way, but I still put these “labels” on my food sometimes. Does anybody else do this? I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, but it’s kind of curious. Just wondered if I’m the only crazy person food labeler out there.

That’s it for now, friends. I’ve got to get to bed – I’ve got a busy day ahead involving a english department meeting over lunch, meeting with my principal during my planning period and a workout + hair appointment after school. Gotta decide whether to grow it out or keep it short. Ahh, decisions decisions!!

Night!

vegan love

Happy Monday evening! Sabai di mai ka (just felt like throwin’ a little Thai in)? Things are going pretty well here. Sometimes it is sorta refreshing when a day doens’nt go just like you planned, ya know what I mean? This morning I got up, got ready for work and off I went, thinking that today would be just like any other day. But by 10 o’clock, it was snowing hard enough that I decided to get a cover for the classes I teach after lunch and go ahead and make the hour trek home. The bad news is that it turns out I really didn’t need to leave early because the roads never got bad (I feel like an idiot a little bit silly). The good news is that I miraculously got squeezed in for a doctor’s appointment I’ve been needing to have, and I got a little extra grading done on my research papers. Score!

I also had an awesome day of eats! It all started this morning when I decided to have the hubs put a little twist on my usual green monster. Don’t worry, it was still green:) Unfortunately, I didn’t get a pic to prove it, but it really was…promise. This combo was excellent. I will def. be having it again in the very near future. I the sweet husband combined:

a couple big handfuls of spinach
chia seeds!
half a banana
1 cup soy milk
1/2 tbsp almond butter
1 big, heaping spoonful of canned pumpkin
sprinkle of cinnamon
ice

Wooooweeeee this was good! I tell you what, I am hooked on pumpkin. The flavors of the pumpkin, cinnamon, banana and almond butter totally hit the spot. I was going to have him add a bit of nutmeg as well, which I think would be a great addition, but we didn’t have any on hand so that will have to wait. You may have noticed that I left out the usual Amazing Grass. I really did miss it, but as discussed in this post, I’m trying to cut back a bit. I may just start having it a couple of mornings a week as a special treat:)

For lunch I swung through Whichwich on my way home. I hadn’t had a good ole’ tomato and avocado from there in ages, and it totally hit the spot! I always get the same thing (don’t fix it if it ain’t broken, right?) – tomato and avocado on wheat with lettuce, bell pepper, red onion, pepperocini, pickles and crushed red pepper. I could so down another one of those right this second….but I won’t.

I snuck in a couple of snacks while grading research papers – first, a tall soy latte from our local coffee shop and then a mix of yogurt, almonds and a few puffins before going to work out a little later. I don’t usually eat two snacks in the afternoon, but that’s just how it worked out today – like I said, nothing went as planned!

Okay, now for din din. I got this idea from HEAB the other day, and I just tweaked it a little bit. After cutting it in half, I put a spaghetti squash in the oven on 375 for about an hour. After it was done, I scooped out all the insides. Then I mixed a bowl full of “spaghetti” with some steamed turnip greens (microwave for about 30 seconds with a tad bit of water) and the most amazing, creamy, vegan sauce I’ve ever had! This sauce, I believe, was created by Mae. I just remembering reading somewhere about her “humnut” (hummus + nutritional yeast) sauce, and while I didn’t know what proportions she used, I knew I had to try it anyway. So, I basically just scooped about 2 tbsp of roasted garlic hummus into a bowl and added 3 tsp of nutritional yeast (my new wonder drug:) and a little water for thinning. I then poured the sauce over the squash and greens, mixed it all together and topped it off with a sprinkle of black pepper and pine nuts.

(So sorry that the picture is kind of rough. I only had my iPhone. Sad. This meal deserved better.)

Now, I can honestly say this is one of the most indulgent tasting vegan meals I’ve made thus far in my vegan journey, and it was so simple. It took me longer to type out what I did, than it actually took to do it (not counting oven time for the squash)! Seriously! It was to die for. It really did taste like a healthified version of mac and cheese. It was so creamy! I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you.

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post. Too many words, too little pics. I’ll do better next time;) I hope everyone is staying warm and having a great week so far. I’m pretty stoked because I’ve got overnight oats “doing their thing” in the fridge right now. It should be a tasty drive to work tomorrow! Have a good night friends!

BTW…I am so enjoying the Sarah Bareilles station on Pandora right now. Try it out if you get a chance!

Pumpkin Protein Waffles

Happy Saturday blog friends! How is the weekend going so far? Mine is going way too fast. Today, Jon and I went to OKC so I could go to a baby shower for my friend. He dropped me off and went to hang out at Barnes and Noble, and I got to hang out with my girlfriends from college! It was so nice to see them…it had been way too long.

Since I didn’t get a post up yesterday, I want to catch up by highlighting a couple of meals from the last 2 days.

First up is this:

I finally got my Jay Robb! I’ve been wanting to try this protein powder for so long, and it finally came in the mail. The morning after I got it, I decided to try it in my green monster. That was one of the main reasons why I wanted to order it. So, into the blender went:

1 cup soymilk
2 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 a banana
chia seeds
2 tbsp Jay Robb

Okay, I have to admit that I didn’t love Jay Robb. I know, I know. It sounds crazy, but I really didn’t like it much.

Pros
24 grams of protein
short ingredient list- whole grain sprouted brown rice protein, natural flavor, stevia
eco-friendly packaging

Cons
a bit chalky
expensive if you have to order it online
flavor seems off

I just did not like the way this protein powder tasted. I very rarely sweeten things these days, so I think that may have something to do with it. If you are a person who really likes stevia or uses it a lot, you may like the taste of Jay Robb much better. I’m not much of a fan, though. I was a very sad girl, missing my usual green monster all the way to work.

Now, let’s move on from to the more positive side of things. I vowed to never use this protein powder in my morning smoothie again, BUT that doesn’t mean I’m unwilling to use it in other things. And with that I present to you my crazy good breakfast from this morning…

Check out the thickness!

Pumpkin Protein Waffles

1 cup oats
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 heaping tablespoon of Jay Robb

adapted from original recipe from onefitfoodie.com

I threw all the ingredients into the blender and switched it on for about a minute. Then, I poured it into the waffle maker and let it cook for the normal amount of time (until the light went off). The batter was so thick I had to scrape it out of the blender with a spatula. I wondered how the thickness would affect the final product, but it just made it thick and hearty! The pumpkin flavor was subtle and it mixed so well with the almond butter and banana. Also, I didn’t miss syrup at all! The texture of the banana was enough to counter any dryness. Basically, this was just a warm, thick, soft plate of heaven! I topped mine with almond butter and sliced banana, but there are endless possibilities! It was so, so good! And it held me over for a good four hours or so. You’ve got to try this recipe. It will definitely be a good way to still use the Jay Robb because I couldn’t even taste it in the waffles, but it added some much needed protein.

And I’ll leave you with a picture of dinner tonight from Pei Wei. Pei Wei is one of my favorite restaurants to eat out at. It’s pretty clean if you choose the right thing, and it’s so delicious! I ordered the Spicy Korean with vegetables and tofu and brown rice.

I ate about half of this and brought the rest home for leftovers. The only negative about this meal is the high sodium content, but it’s certainly worth it on occasion!! Otherwise, the nutrition stats are pretty good.

I hope everyone has a wonderful night! Until tomorrow…

short and sweet

This post is going to be short and sweet. My students turned in their research papers today (blah), so I’ve got a pile of grading a mile high that I’ve been attempting to sort through. Plus, tonight has just gone by really fast, and this girl has got to hit the sack!

If there is one thing besides clean eating and exercise that I find imperative it’s sleep. Getting up at 5am every morning, it’s nearly impossible to get 8 hours, which would be my dream (no pun intended:). I do strive to get at least 7, though, and it’s going to be pushing it at this point.

I made a fun little run to the health food store after work today. Most people would think I am crazy considering how excited I get at the health food store, but I just love browsing and seeing all the different foods, and of course picking up a couple of special treats while I’m at it. And of course you of all people probably can identify. Here is a picture of my loot.

I’m not going to go into detail about it all tonight, but definitely expect some reviews coming soon because several of these items are new to my repetoire, and so far they have totally blown me away. And with that I present to you dinner:

a little less than an ounce of soba noodles
brussels
broccoli
cauliflower
onion
garlic
turnip greens
mushrooms

First, I sauteed the onions and garlic in a little bit of evoo for a few minutes. Then I tossed in all the other vegetables besides the mushrooms and turnip greens. As I sauteed them, I sprayed Braggs on intermittently. As soon as those veggies were done, I added the mushrooms and turnip greens just for about a minute. Once they were done I mixed them in a bowl with the cooked soba noodles, and then sprinkled nutritional yeast all over it (my favorite part!).

Wow. That’s all I have to say. The veggies played the starring role in this meal, and the nutritional yeast was like the icing on the cake. The soba noodles have probably become my favorite noodle (haha), but I like to say I had some soba noodles on my vegetables rather than the other way around. This was just such a great combo that I could probably have every night. I promise I won’t bore you, though. Definitely expect the nutritional yeast to make a second appearance tomorrow, though!

Okay, that’s all for tonight. I hope everyone had a great day…and here’s to a great Thursday as well:)

more than I bargained for

Hi everyone! How did your day go? Mine has been pretty good so far. We had another snow day today. We haven’t had classes since last Wednesday. If you read the day before yesterday’s post, you can probably tell that the shock factor of being out of school has worn off. I have to say I was initially shocked when I found out last night, but I’m honestly starting to get kind of used to this whole stay at home and work thing. I’m kinda liking it;) Unfortunately, I’ve already received an email today saying that school will be back in session tomorrow, so the fun’s over for now.

This morning was a little more eventful than expected. Jon had to work today, so we got up and went to the gym to get some cardio in before he had to leave. There was also a Pilates class at the gym at 8:15 that I really wanted to go to, so I came home and helped Jon get out the door for work, and then I drove back to the gym to do pilates. I’ve done Pilates several times before and really enjoyed it. While I enjoyed it today, it was HARD! We started off working abs and continued working abs for the first half hour of class, then we worked obliques, arms and legs. By the time it was all over, my body was seriously over it. It did not want to move. So, I stumbled out into the cold, pulled myself up into my husband’s Explorer (he drove my car today), turned the key, and….nothing. Nothing happened but this annoying little clicking noise.

Plan B consisted of walking home because Jon was in an important meeting, and I couldn’t think of anyone else to come and get me. The good news is that we only live a couple of miles from the gym. The bad news is that while the streets are mostly clear of ice and snow, the sidewalks have not been attended to AT All. Also bad news was that all I had on was my spandex capris and a tank top with a light jacket. I figured I didn’t need to bundle up just for the little jaunt between the car and the gym. Either way, I definitely got more than I bargained for as far as exercise today.

My eats today were pretty basic, and unfortunately I didn’t have the camera so all my pictures were taken with the iPhone, and they are not pretty. O’well, you’ll get the idea I suppose.

I started off the day with a toned down version of my usual green monster. When I got back from exercise round one I was really hungry, but just wanted something light and energizing to get me through Pilates. So, I tossed the following into the blender:

2 handfuls spinach
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soymilk
1 scoop Amazing Grass
protein powder

I was a bit concerned about how this was going to taste because I left out my usual 1/2 banana and the other 1/2 cup of soymilk I usually add. It was pretty tasty, though! I never realized that I didn’t need the banana. I’m happy happy though because sometimes I’m looking for just a little pick me up that isn’t overloaded with carbs (not that I have anything against carbs:) and is lower in calories. This was the perfect solution, and it had plenty of protein.

By the time I got home from exercise round 2 and 3, all I could think about was sprinting to the hot shower to thaw out from the frostbite that had taken over my fingers and toes. The pain of the cold had masked my hunger, but man, once I got all warm, my stomach did not hesitate to let me know that it was HUNGRY! So, I made a yogurt bowl.

1 container blueberry O’soy yogurt
2 tbsp sliced almonds
3 tbsp clean granola
small chunks of frozen peaches that I found in the freezer
1 tbsp chia seeds

Yum! Yogurt bowls are seriously one of my favorites!! I love the mixture of crunchiness and yogurt. I don’t know why I don’t have this more often. It’s hard to give equal time to all my favorite things, though;) I’m sure you guys can identify.

Since I was housebound with no car, I spent the morning working on school stuff. Not that I would have done any differently had I had a car…I’m just a workaholic. Seriously, it’s sort of a problem, but a problem for another time and another post. Jon swung by during his lunch hour and picked me up, and we went and jumped the car. Turns out a dead battery was it’s only ailment…thank goodness. Afterwards I decided to treat myself to some Pita Pit.

This baby had the works (the pic does NOT do it justice…don’t be fooled)!

whole wheat pita
babaganoush
avocado
spinach
onion
tomato
bell pepper
sprouts
pineapple
hot sauce!

Love this meal!!

Also had this little pick-me-up a few minutes ago – fuji with cinnamon sprinkle and the rest of our soymilk with another half scoop of Grass.

Well, I’m off to go to the grocery store and then it’s back home to make dinner (tbd), cuddle up on the couch and watch LOST! Any LOST fans out there?? We’ve been waiting months for this season to begin, and I can’t believe it’s finally here!

Have a great night!

a happy weekend:)

Okay, so I’m off work AGAIN tomorrow. I just got the call that we are taking another snow day tomorrow because the roads are still not clear. This has turned into a 5 day weekend…crazy! It’s not that I mind having another day to stay at home and not have to commute, but I’ve got my classes on a planned schedule, and this is really cramping my style! I’m going to have to spend a few hours tomorrow working and rescheduling some things. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be back in session on Tuesday. As of today we’ve exceeded our built in snow days so we’ll be adding on a day in May. Blah. O’well, I’m just going to try to enjoy being home and get ahead a little bit with planning. I know I can’t complain about having a day off work!

Anyway! These last couple of days have been so nice! Jon and I have just been workin’ away on projects around the house.

First this:

This picture doesn’t even do it justice. I’m a little embarrassed to post the before pic because it was so bad. It feels so good to have that task done finally!

Then this:

What can we say? We love quirkiness;)

We’ve been needing curtains for our bedroom since we moved in last May. A few months ago we were at Wall’s Bargain Center and it just so happend that they had gotten a shipment of Anthropologie items in. We scored several things including this cool fabric. I knew immediately that I wanted to use it to make curtains for our bedroom. I’m so glad we finally made them, and we’re really happy with the outcome! What do you think?

And because I mentioned in a post about 3 weeks ago that we got a new bed and pictures were coming…

I also made a little blanket for my friend whose baby shower is next weekend. It’s a tag blanket, and the baby can chew/suck on the ribbons. I promise that moms really use these – any moms out there who’ve heard of a tag blanket??

Now for a list of tasty highlights from the last couple of days -

I made tofu for the first time! It turned out okay, but was a little tough. I need to find a different recipe to make the next batch. My problem is that most recipes I find for tofu marinade include high sodium sauces, which I try to steer clear of. Any ideas out there of low sodium sauces/marinades to use with tofu? Also, do you marinate your tofu before or after you cook it? My recipe said to marinate after cooking, but that just seemed weird to me. Here’s what I did for this meal:

sauteed brussels, broccoli, mushrooms and zucchini
added in some asian sesame salad dressing found in the fridge
heated up some pre-made brown rice
cut tofu into one inch slices and pressed between towels with books on top for one hour
threw the tofu into the pan with the veggies and pressed it with a spatula until brown on both sides
added the rice and a little more sauce and mixed it all together and heated through
garnished with sliced almonds

Overall this meal was really good, but I definitely need to work on my tofu making skills (or lack thereof:)!

Next highlight was dessert!

Banana soft serve with vegan chocolate chips/carob chips. Banana soft serve has floated around the blog world for a long time. I’m not sure who the original credit really goes to, but please let me know if you have any idea!

Breakfast this morning was oats of course!

I added:

sliced banana
dollop of soy raspberry yogurt
almond butter
sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean cereal – Kashi is my husband’s favorite cereal. I thought a small bit would complement my oats quite well – and I was right!

And last…today’s lunch. I had cooked up a batch of whole wheat couscous, but hadn’t yet figured out what to do with it. So, I ravaged the fridge and just threw in some things I had on hand.

leftover steamed green beans
steamed spinach
chick peas
black beans
corn
tiny bit of salsa
seasonings

This was pretty tasty. I love throwing together grain and veggie concoctions! I’ve been doing different variations for a long time, and you really can’t go wrong. If you make up the grain ahead of time and have veggies on hand, it’s super fast too!

What do you do for a quick go to meal? Sometimes I let myself get a little too hungry, and I just want something fast and easy, but healthy/vegan of course. I’d love to get some ideas from you guys!

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend! I’m so excited that January is over, and February is raring to go:)

Oh, and tonight is the last chance to order Jay Robb Protein powder and get 10% off from Heather’s site. I just ordered mine, and I’m so excited to try it. I’ve been looking for a good protein powder.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hi all! How’s it going? We have had a pretty low key but fun day around here. We got up fairly early this morning because Jon had a conference call for work, and neither one of us could go back to sleep! So we did a short ab workout to start the day off. It was so peaceful to be at home because it just snowed…and snowed…and snowed. I think we ended up getting about an inch of ice yesterday and about 4 or so inches of snow today. I just loved watching it out the window as we worked! Totally the highlight of my day.

This was our first time to get snowed in since moving into our house.
Aside from the couple of hours of work I did for school, we spent the rest of the day cleaning up our guest room and doing some more decorating around the house. I love working on projects together…it feels so good to get things done and see what we can accomplish.

For some reason, I can’t get my iPhone to email the before and after pics, so I’ll post ‘em tomorrow. I’m actually kind of embarrassed to post the before picture. Ever since Christmas, our guest room has just become the catch all, and recently it has gotten out of control! We finally took care of it though, and I feel so much better. So, feel free to give us a ring of you’re swinging through good ‘ole Oklahoma ‘cause we’ve got you covered! I definitely wouldn’t recommend swinging though anytime soon, though, because you might not make it out☺

Shall we move on to today’s eats? For breakfast, I had a nice and toasty bowl of oats.

“Gee, wonder how I can get my paws on some of mom’s oats?”

1/3 cup oats
¾ cup water
spoonful of soy yogurt
½ scoop chias
2 tbsp sliced almonds
sprinkle of granola

Because breakfast was not until about 9am, I didn’t eat again until lunch, at which point I had my favorite monster salad. This salad was so huge, and good to the very last bite.

2 big handfuls of organic field greens
2 artichoke hearts, chopped
¼ cup black beans, rinsed
¼ cup chick peas, rinsed
¼ cup corn (no salt/no sugar added)
chopped baby carrots
¼ avocado, chopped
a few tbsp balsamic vinegar

This held me over for several hours. I cannot get over this salad – it’s so filling and so tasty…I could definitely eat it several times a week for lunch, and sometimes I do!

A few hours later, I had a snack of the rest of my soy yogurt from breakfast (about ½ cup) with more almonds.
That’s it for meals – nothing too terribly exciting today. I haven’t even mentioned dinner because it was one of our comfort food staples, which we probably eat a little too often – spinach enchiladas. Dessert was a pear, sprinkled with cinnamon, and a teeny tiny bit of soy dream ice cream on the side. Yum!

One question I want to ask you all before I sign off for the night is how you feel about the price of healthy food. I have become addicted to certain “health” foods, namely chia seeds, amazing grass, almond butter etc., and they are majorly depleting our budget. I’ve decided I’m going to have to start cutting back on some of these items, but it’s so hard now that I’m used to having them. I figured up the other day that my green monster costs me around $4 a pop! Crazy, I know.

Have you had any struggles with affording certain foods that are a part of your healthy lifestyle? I know that I can eat healthy without buying “specialty foods,” and trust me, I love simple, clean food such as produce. But I just love the fun of trying new foods and having foods on hand that I know are really an investment in my health. I really do think of it as an investment, however, it’s got to end somewhere. Thoughts? Suggestions? The more time I spend in the blog world, the more it seems that maybe I’m the only one with this problem, but I know that can’t be true…right? I’d love to hear your insight☺

I hope everyone has a truly amazing start to the weekend!

“I love that man that can smile in trouble, can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine

home sweet home

Hi lovely blogging friends! Today has been quite a lazy day for me, but I did get to spend some fun time reading blogs that I don’t always get to read because of lack of time. We had a big ice storm here today, and it’s supposed to last until tomorrow. I’m off work tomorrow as well so I’m looking forward to a four day weekend! Of course I’ll have to put in some hours working on planning, but that is SO much better than having to commute and be at school all day. Yea! There is something about being “snowed in” that I like – at least for a period of time. Especially if it’s with my favorite person. We aren’t absolutely sure that he’ll be off tomorrow, but we’re thinking he probably will. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, so being home today was especially nice on the food front because I didn’t have to eat transportable things. Yea! Unfortunately Jon took the camera to his office today, so my pictures from early in the day were taken with my iPhone.

I was up, showered, made up and about to walk out the door this morning before we found out that school was closed. And, Jon had already made my green monster. Usually if I’m home for breakfast I like to eat something “chewable,” if you will. Don’t get me wrong, I love my gm’s. But, since I have them every weekeday, I just like to mix it up if I’m home. Since he had already it, though, I went ahead and had it for breakfast as soon as we got back from the gym. It was nice to go to the gym in the morning. I’m really a morning workout person, but our gym opens at the same time that I have to leave for work, so I usually have to go in the afternoon. It was a really refreshing way to start the day!

By a couple of hours after my monster, I was already ready for a snack! I think my body isn’t used to burning so much fuel first thing in the morning, and it wanted food ALL day, which was fine by me:) My snack was a brown rice cake with a smear of AB and half a sliced banana. This is one of my absolute favorite snack…I love the crunchiness of the rice cake combined with the irresistible mix of nut butter and banana. Oh yeah. With a side of Mandarin Orange Spice tea made in the Keurig.

A few hours later Jon got home and we threw together some lunch. I had this tasty pita filled with all kinds of goodness:)

Joseph’s protein and flax pita
1/4 avocado
light spread of roasted garlic hummus
onions
mushrooms
leftover black bean burger from the other night
hot sauce!

After lunch, I seriously laid down and took a two hour nap. I usually have a hard time taking naps because I just can’t relax, but we just got a new comforter and between that and the sound of the rain and ice outside, I was lulled to sleep quite easily. It felt so good to just rest.

As soon as I woke up, my body was telling me it was time to eat…again! So, I had some O’soy vanilla yogurt with a sprinkle of Kashi U walnut and black currant cereal. I love the combination of yogurt and cereal…you just can’t beat it. This Kashi U is awesome tasting, and the ingredients aren’t too bad either. There are few cereals that I really feel good about eating, and this is definitely one of them. It even comes packaged in a recycled box;)

The following is from the Kashi website:

The tasty combination of toasted Seven Whole Grain flakes, tangy black currants, crunchy walnuts, and acai oat clusters is packed full of nutrition:

Cardio Nourishment – 350mg ALA omega 3 from walnuts and 100% of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid
Immunity Boost – 50% of your daily value for vitamins A, C and E as well as zinc and antioxidant super fruits black currant and acai
Strengthen Support – More calcium & vitamin D than half a glass of milk* plus zinc to support bone health
Thrive Inside – 7g of fiber and prebiotics to help the good bacteria grow
Mental Sustenance – Over half of the daily recommended amount of whole grains

And now for din din. I decided to try something new that I’d seen other people do before – a portabello mushroom burger. So, I threw a giant portabello mushroom cap in some evoo and grilled it with some garlic powder, red pepper and balsamic vinegar. I also tossed in some brussels and steamed some green beans in the microwave for a side.

I also added:

hummus (round two!)
pickes
onion
tomato
spring mix

If you haven’t tried this before, you must! The balsamic and seasonings soaked into the mushroom and made it so juicy and flavorful! Interesting fact about me: until about a couple of months ago, you couldn’t pay me to touch any kind of mushroom. Then, suddenly I just started craving them. Random, I know. I’ve been eating them on everything, though!

A couple of hours later, I topped off dinner with a small piece of Averie’s vegan peanut buttter chocolate chip protein bars that I made a few nights ago. These bars are seriously to die for. They are the best vegan dessert I’ve ever made by far! I just have trouble stopping at just one;)

So, that’s a wrap on my day. I think we may watch this week’s precursor for Lost season 6 that we DVR’d the other night. We cannot wait until next Tuesday! Any other Lost lovers out there?

Have a fantastic night everyone!

about me…

If you happen to stumble by my humble little blog today, take a second to check out my long overdue “about” page. I’m still working on my food philosophy – progress, people…progress:)
Hope you’re having a fantastic evening! I’m hoping and praying for the snow storm that’s predicted for Thursday and Friday to cancel school so I can stay home and work blog all day. Fingers crossed;)

Oh, and I promise the vegan blondie recipe is still on its way! And because I can’t stand the thought of a post without a pic, here is another of Olive – for your viewing pleasure:) How can you not love that sweet face??

“hot and ready!”

I seriously cannot believe the weekend is almost over. Let’s face it, no weekend lasts very long, but this one has seemed to go by ultra fast!

I spent many hours over the weekend working on lesson plans for school. Jon is in his busiest season at work so we went up to his office yesterday and today to work. I really enjoy what I do for the most part, but there’s a limit. I start to get antsy and want to forget about work and just do something for fun…like cook, blog and eat! We’re also in the process of revamping our bedroom, so we worked on that quite a bit as well. Either way, updating my little blog got pushed to the wayside Friday and yesterday, so this is a little catch up post!!

Thursday night we did a variation of one of our absolute favorite meals:

Veggie Pita Pizzas

I used:

Joseph’s Protein and flax pitas (for crust)
organic marinara
sprinkle of veggie shreds
chopped onions
chopped bell peppers
chopped mushrooms
organic baby spinach

Just throw everything on the pita (LOAD on the veggies!) in whatever order suits your fancy, and whalaa! That’s what I call “hot and ready!”

Next up: I have to say that I made the most amazing bowl of oatmeal yet on Saturday morning for breakfast.

In this bowl of oatmeal goodness went:

1/3 cup oats
3/4 cup water
1 scoop (a little over a tbsp) of chia seeds
1/2 a sliced banana
1/2 tbsp almond butter
a generous sprinkle of granola
a few carob chips

This concoction was probably a little higher in calories than I would usually aim for. While I don’t count calories anymore, I do still try to be mindful when using higher calorie foods. It was worth every gooey bite, though, and I would will do it all over again next Saturday. Saturday is really the only day that I’m home long enough in the morning to fix breakfast. I’m usually running out the door with my green monster in tow;)

Another A-mazing treat I had for the first time this weekend was a Starbuck’s Awake Tea Latte made with soy and no sweetener. I’d been wanting to try one of these for awhile, but always would forget as I’d hurry to get my usual soy latte. I do think it is my new favorite drink, though. I asked what all goes in it before I ordered and learned that it contains Tazo Awake tea, steamed milk, water, and sweetener (which I skipped of course). This drink doesn’t even need the sweetener. Starbucks uses vanilla soy milk, so just that little bit of sweetness is all it needs. It was delish! And I will definitely be ordering it again in the future. Try it if you get the chance!

I’m not sure what’s in store for din din tonight, but if all goes as planned, there will be a trial run of vegan blondies afterwards. Recipe and review to come!!

Hope everyone has a great start to the week!!

homemade black bean burgers

I’m excited to share a recipe that Jon and I made Thursday night for dinner. It was all his idea, and he found the recipe in The Eat Clean Diet Recharged (the book that changed my life:). So, without further ado…

Paradise Island Bean Burgers

Ingredients

1 cup black beans, rinsed, drained and mashed
1 cup cooked brown rice1 clove garlic (passed through garlic press) (I just used minced garlic to save time)
2 tbsp leeks, whites only, finely chopped (I used onions b/c I didn’t have any leeks on hand)
2 tbsp cooked and mashed sweet potato
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp evoo
4 ezekiel buns, toasted

Method

Mix all ingredients except the olive oil and buns in a large bowl. Coat clean hands with olive oil to mix.
Divide mixture into equal fourths. Shape into patties.
Heat grill pan over medium flame and coat lightly with oil. Add patties and cook five minutes per side or until the patties are golden and crispy
Serve on toasted burger buns.

I topped mine off with some (previously) homemade guacamole, a little bit of hot sauce, some greens, a slice of tomato and some pickles. Obvs. with a side of baked sweet potato fries. This meal was super tasty. The bean burger itself could have used a little bit heavier dose of spices in my opinion, but overall it was pretty tasty. It was pretty quick to put together, too!

a “re-epiphany”

First things first, people. As I mentioned yesterday, I made Averie’s Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars. They are TO DIE FOR. So good! They are gooey and soft, and for me the bitterness of the carob is the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the dried cranberries. All of the flavors mix together in just the right way. Her recipe is pretty flexible, so lemme tell you what I put in them.

- one ripe banana
- 1.5 cup oats
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup carob chips
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup natural pb

- 1 scoop of the only protein powder (soy) I had on hand
- 3 tbsp sliced almonds
- 2 tbsp milled flaxseed – Walmart didn’t have whole flaxseeds. I think whole would do much better.
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

I mixed it up just like Averie suggested. If you notice, I omitted the coconut, which may have made my bars more gooey – not that that’s a bad thing! I certainly have not skipped a beat in slicing off a piece each night;) Definitely try these out if you’re looking for a healthy, vegan sweet treat!

Today I had an epiphany. Funny thing is, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this epiphany. I’ve realized, though, that sometimes in my life I have to learn things over and over. Bad habits tend to come back randomly, and I have to relearn my new, good habits. Here’s the story:

Usually when I come home from work, I run in the house, change clothes as fast as possible and race to the gym. I like to get my workout in and get back home before Jon’s been home from work for too long. Today, as I was driving home I was realizing that my body…and mind, for that matter…were just not feeling a workout. Now, for me there is a difference between just not wanting to get on the treadmill or weights and me really needing a rest day. I could feel it in my bones muscles, and I knew that I needed to take a day off. Plus, I was completely mentally drained. This week has just been extra busy and strenuous, and I haven’t given myself a chance to recoup. So, I was going back and forth in my mind between two things: burn calories and get a good cardio workout in OR give myself a mental and physical break.

I started feeling guilty at the thought of not going to the gym. I was telling myself that I needed to go to the gym no matter what because I needed to burn those calories. Then Jon called. He was headed home early from work and would be home any second. Talk about making a hard situation harder for me. Now I wanted to stay home to be with him, really wanted to rest, but the guilt was warring inside my head. I haven’t done this to myself in a long time. I honestly thought I was past the point of feeling guilty over working out and focusing way more on calorie burning than mental, emotional and relational (when I’m feeling guilty it affects my entire attitude, even toward Jon) health.

So, to make an already long story a little shorter, Jon coaxed me into staying home and resting, but not without a lot of whining and “bad mood” from me. Because of him, I went to lie down for a bit. I started thinking about the whole situation with a little more clarity.

Our physical health is not more important than our mental or emotional health. Sometimes I make the mistake of putting more emphasis on my physical health because it’s outwardly evident. If I gain five pounds, other people will notice and my jeans won’t fit quite as well, however, if I completely exhaust myself, other people don’t have to know. It’s a lot easier to ignore. So, I decided I’m making a commitment to start focusing equally on each area of my life. I’m always striving to find that balance, and while I did have a setback today, I also took several steps toward becoming more balanced.

Do you ever have trouble finding balance between everything that is important in your life? Do you often feel that you don’t have time to take care of every part of your life? How do you try to maintain balance? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Well, it’s about time for me to skidaddle (sp?:) to bed. Jon is trying to coerce me into staying up late with him, but I’m not sure how long I’m going to make it! See you tomorrow for a review of the homemade vegan black bean burgers we made tonight. Good night!

too much or too little – that is the question

Hello blogging friends! How was everyone’s Tuesday? Mine was busy busy! I feel like I just sat down for the first time today, and now it’s almost time to go to bed! Such is life sometimes;)

Today, I started off with a green monster made by the wonderful husband. I am so thankful that he makes my gm’s every day – I don’t know how I’d do it without him! Today, I had him sub in natural peanut butter for almond butter. AB is really my ultimate love, but it’s just so darn expensive! So, I decided that I need to start alternating it with PB, just to salvage it a bit.

I have a feeling I didn’t eat enough today. Since I stopped counting calories, I’m always hesitant about how much I really should be eating. Do any of you have that issue or did you at some point? I basically eat when I’m hungry, or at least as close to when I’m hungry as possible, but I always just have this uncertainty about whether I should be eating more or less. This is probably just paranoia that comes along for the ride during the process of giving up the counting. Thoughts?

For lunch today I had some leftover spaghetti squash with organic marinara and some veggie crumbles. You may remember this meal from several nights ago. I love having leftovers for lunch – so easy!

On my way home from school I had a (little too ripe) pink lady and a small handful of almonds before going to the gym. My gym time was really when the hunger hit me, and it did not subside until I ate dinner around an hour and a half later. For dinner I had vegan enchiladas once again. They are so good, I just can’t help myself!! Tonight I subbed in a Joseph’s lavash wrap instead of the whole wheat tortilla. It was delish! These wraps are a spin off the Joseph’s protein and flax pita. They’re basically just a different shape. Love these! I put veggie shreds, spinach, chopped mushroom, chopped onion, and diced green chilis inside and drizzled green enchilda sauce over the top. With a side of refried beans and homemade guac…Yum!

Now, for the best part: I made a batch of Averie’s Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein bars. I left out the shredded coconut and added some sliced almonds instead. I couldn’t find unsweetened shredded coconut at the store, and I didn’t want the sugar, so I just left it out. If they taste half as good as they look, then I’ll be in business! Review and pics to come tomorrow…

I gotta jet – time to get ready for another day! I love finishing off Wednesdays, so I can’t wait for tomorrow. It’s just feels so good to be over halfway through the week! Have a great night!

i love being off work so that I can work!

Hello! Happy Martin Luther King Day! I was thankful to have a day off work today because I needed to get a lot of school stuff done. Since this is my first year teaching, I have to put a TON of time into planning. So, having an 8 hour day at home with no hoodlums really can’t be beat. I may or may not have been known to take a sick day from work so that I could stay home and work. Am I the only one who has done this? I definitely took advantage of today. I literally worked from about 9 am ’till 5:30 with about a 15 minute break for lunch. I did snack along the way of course, though.

As soon as I get my food philosophy page ready, I’ll be able to share more about my food lifestyle. I try to get in about 5 small meals a day, but it’s hard on workdays because I just don’t have time for a mid-morning snack. So, I eat breakfast (green monster) around 6am and then lunch at about 11. Not ideal, but it works out alright. It was kind of fun today, though, to get in 5 small meals. And here they are in all their glory:

Breakfast was a greem monster right after I got home from lifting at the gym. It was my usual concoction of a little more than one cup almond breeze, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1 scoop Amazing Grass, 1 tbsp almond butter and ice. Like heaven in a glass:)

At about 10am, I was ready for a snack, so I had leftover soy yogurt (about 2/3 cup) and a sprinkle of this awesome granola I picked up at our local grocery store. It’s called blueberry almond granola and is stock full of awesome stuff! Organic rolled oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic pressed canola oil (obvs. could do without this), organic raisins, organic apples, organic almonds, organic oat bran, organic blueberries, and organic sunflower seeds. It’s SunRidge Farms brand, and you can check out their website at sunridgefarms.com. Unfortunately, in my work frenzy I failed to snap a shot of it, but I’ll get it next time;)

Lunch was very basic. I wanted to have something that I wouldn’t normally take to work, so I toasted two slices of Ezekiel bread, smeared it with almond butter and added a sliced banana. It was rather tasty, but about two bites in I decided to forego the second piece of toast. It was masking the flavor of the almond butter and banana just a tad, and we can’t have that!!

With a side of stapler and a macbook;) bad joke, but I couldn’t resist.

A few hours later, I snacked on one of my Joseph’s protein and flax pitas with some Sabra roasted garlic hummus on the side (unpictured). I usually like to base my snacks on fruits or vegetables, but this little combo is to die for! So, I sneak it in here and there:) If you haven’t had this particular hummus, you have got to try it. I’ve tried every brand I can find at the store, and nothing compares!

We decided to splurge a bit for dinner and go to Panera. I always opt for either their black bean soup or their garden vegetable with a whole grain baguette. But tonight they had a little surprise in store for me. They changed up their garden vegetable soup! Personally, I loved it just the way it was. This new version has a couple of different vegetables and big dollop of pesto right in the middle! I am a huge sucker for pesto, so I really enjoyed that part, but honestly by about halfway through, the pesto wasn’t even noticeable anymore. It was really good, though, and a nice break from cooking and cleaning up!

Well, that’s about it for my eats today. I sauntered over to ohsheglows today and really enjoyed the discussion going on in the comments of this post. I just stopped counting calories a matter of months ago, and I feel more free than ever before in my life. I do, however, still weigh once a week. I’m not sure if I feel like I even need to ditch the scale. I don’t really feel like the scale has a negative impact on me because even when I weigh I know in my head that fitness and health are all that really matter. As I was telling myself this, however, I was left with the following question: if weighing doesn’t negatively affect me because I am confident that the number is not what’s most important, then why do I still weigh? Props to anyone who would like to be speak some truth as to your opinion on that. I can totally take honesty;)

I’d love to discuss this more at length at some point, but I’d say this post is long enough for tonight;) Back with more tomorrow. Have a great night!

Btw, sorry for the lack of pictures! I’ve been a bad blogger today. To make up for it, though, I’ll leave you with a picture of our baby. It’s about time she got some face time on the blog.

Meet Olive.

expect the unexpected

Hiya blog friends (haha – I love pretending someone is actually reading:)! You will not believe what the hubs and I did today…or I guess I should say “did not do” today. I haven’t known you guys very long – ha!- so this will be a little insight for you as to the kinds of things we McCoys often do.

We slept in until about 8:30 am, then headed to the gym shortly after. I had piyo (pilates+yoga) this morning, and Jon had his usual cardio workout. After our lovely time at the gym, we came home, showered, got ready, and jumped in the car to head to the city (about an hour away). We had two tasks for the day – I had a baby shower of a college friend to attend, and we wanted to return a few things we received for Christmas. So, there we were in the car, me all dressed up, when we realized that we didn’t grab the bag of “take back stuff” from the house. Bah! I was so mad at myself. It’s just like us to do something like that. Little did I know, things would only get worse.

Before Jon dropped me off at the shower, we had to run to Target to buy a gift. We always end up buying gifts for showers on the day of, and that is seriously a habit I want to break! So, we got the gift, jumped back in the car, running late of course, and headed to the shower. As we approached my friends house, I started to get an uneasy feeling. Why, you ask? Oh, maybe because there were NO cars there, and I was 10 minutes late!! Oh, that’s right….the shower is actually 2 weeks from now! No one is celebrating, playing baby name games or eating cake…and here we sit in the street…FAIL yet again. So, basically, we drove 2 hours to accomplish 2 tasks, and we ended up accomplishing none!

So, let me introduce us again. Hi, we’re the McCoys, and we thrive on doing really dumb things and wasting lots of time. At least we do it together though;)

Really, though. It took me about 10 minutes to get over being mad at the world, then I decided to just get over myself and try to look at the bright side – at least I finally didn’t buy my shower gift on the day of the shower. Win!

Okay, onto my eats. Last night Jon and I were really craving mexican food. A month ago we would have jumped in the car and sped to our nearest favorite mexican establishment (we have multiple), but that was the old us. The new us decided to healthify a mexican feast on our own. Here is our creation.

Hers: whole wheat tortilla, sauteed spinach, chopped green chilis, chopped mushrooms, little bit of veggie shreds, onions, and green enchilada sauce.

His: whole wheat tortilla, sauteed spinach, shredded chicken, onions, chopped green chilis, low-fat mozzerella cheese and green enchilada sauce.

I also whipped up a batch of my favorite homemade guac – 2 organic avocados, chopped onions, garlic powder, ground red pepper, chopped toms, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. We had it with these organic blue corn tortilla chips and some refried beans.

This meal was excellent – and it really hit the spot! This is a perfect example of how you can A. make healthy food taste awesome B. prepare clean versions of old favorites and C. make a vegetarian and meat eater happy with little hassle!

Fast forward to today – which was really wacky in terms of eating times. After I got home from the gym, I threw together the most fabulous bowl of oats. This included 1/3 cup oats, 3/4 cup water, one heaping spoonful of vanilla soy yogurt, splash of almond milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, about 1 tbsp almond butter and a sprinkle of clean organic granola. These were some tasty oats, even though I didn’t eat them until about 10 o’clcok.

We decided that since we had a late breakfast, and the shower (uh huh) was smack dab in the middle of the afternoon, that we would just throw in a larabar (cashew cookie – my fave) for a snack and then have “linner” around 4 when the shower was over. Well, I had just finished off the last crumb of my larabar when we realized we were lone attendees to the non-existent shower, so we decided to wait about an hour and then go eat. About 3 hours later at 4:30 (due to shopping) we landed at PF Changs.

This was only my third time to go to PF Changs, but I always love it! The ambiance is so relaxing and it reminds me of our days in southeast Asia. I have to praise my husband here for a moment because he went all vegetarian with me so we could share an appetizer and an entree. Isn’t he sweet? So, we settled on the tofu lettuce wraps for our appetizer (Ah-may-zing!) and the “Buddha’s Feast” for our entree. Both dishes completely outdid themselves! And score one point for our waitress – she surprised us by bringing out their eggplant appetizer for us to try. I’ve never had that happen before, have you? It was so nice!

Buddha’s Feast consisted of stir fried tofu, broccoli, asparagus, carrots and snap peas in a vegetarian sauce with brown rice with 210 calories for half the dish (without the brown rice) and 15 grams of protein – I can live with that for a restaurant meal! Apologies for the picture…all I had was my little point and shoot camera.

There may or may not have also been a stop through Orange Tree on our way home for some (dairy free) yogurt:)

All in all it was a great day! I just love days off when I get to spend so much time with my favorite person and NOT work on school stuff. Can’t beat it, really. I hope you all had a lovely Saturday as well. I’m off to bed pretty soon so we can wake up in time for our chuch’s early service. Until tomorrow…

chili and chias

Hey hey everyone! How are ya? I’m just sitting here helping watching the husband put together our new bed! Yea! Despite the shock and sadness of the events in Haiti, it’s been a pretty good day. I just feel very heavy hearted over what those people are going through. Other than that, work has been a little more stressful than I’d like it to be the last few days, but I certainly can’t complain.

After work today, I went to the gym and did some serious cardio. I’ve been lifting weights a lot more over the last couple of weeks, and I while I’m really enjoying it, I’ve been missing my cardio. So, I did a thirty minute interval workout which included speeding walking at 10% incline for 10 minutes, running at 6.0 and then upping it off and on to 6.5 to get my heart rate up a little higher. Honestly, it was kind of painful, though. I drank a ton of water on my long commute home, and I’m pretty sure that had something to do with it.

After I got home, I was just so worn out. Jon insisted on cooking dinner (for the second night in a row) for me, while I took a nice, long bath. I hated for him to do it again, but I couldn’t resist agreeing. So, I dictated to him the din idea for vegan “chili” I’d been cooking (no pun intended) up on my drive home, and he delivered!

Sorry for the crappy photo. Jon usually brings home his camera from work, but he didn’t today, so I just snapped this with my iPhone.

This is choppped bell peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots, petite diced tomatoes, corn (with no added salt of sugar), chickpeas, black beans and spinach tossed in at the very end. I also added about a cup and a half of water, a splash of almond milk, some cumin and some chili powder once I took over. The almond milk just makes it a bit creamier, I think. This was a very tasty meal. I really enjoyed it with a pita and some crack roasted garlic hummus on the side. It warmed me up and filled me full of veggies – can’t beat that! I did also sneak in one tiny bit of a chocolate brownie Cliff bar right after dinner. One little piece totally cured my sweet craving. I often find that if I’m really craving a sweet treat, one bite or two will do it…if I’m in the right frame of mind:) I’m getting better at that everyday.

Well, I’m urgently needed for bed assembly, so I gotta jet. I’m not sure how much longer it’s going to take to put it together, so maybe some pictures to come tomorrow? I’m also going to stop by Angela’s and Averie’s blogs to enter the chia seed giveaway! Hope you all have a great night – happy Friday (almost)!

goodbye wednesday…helloooo thursday!

Happy Wednesday night everyone! I, for one, am so glad Wednesday is over. It’s my least favorite day of the week, and today it went so slowwww. That is, it went slow until I got home and had a million things I wanted to do. Of course!

I didn’t get to go to the gym today because I had a hair appointment at 4. So, I had to race home from school just to make it ten minutes late. Honestly, I just haven’t felt very good today. I’m not really sure why, but by the time I got home, I was starving and just really needed some comfort food. Enter vegetarian quesadillas made by the hubs and Averie’s Raw Vegan Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding.

The quesadillas consisted of a protein pita (more on this in a sec), veggie shreds cheese, and bell peppers and onion. Simple and comforting. Not the most nutrient dense meal I’ve ever had, but hey, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. And it was tasty.

While I’m on the subject, I want to put a plug in for these awesome pitas I discovered on the shelf at Walmart (believe it or not). Now, I have to say I usually like to buy things with a few less ingredients, but overall these are pretty clean. They are Joseph’s brand flax, oat bran, and whole wheat flour. They are a great source of Omega 3s and are “super soft!” – as stated on the package:) These boast 60 calories, 8 carbs, 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. I seriously love them, and every time I go to Walmart I fear that they’ll be gone. Does this happen to you guys? I’ll just discover or start loving something, and the next time I go POOF it’s gone. Either way, check ‘em out if you get the chance.

Well, I’m off to have a bit of down time before I go to bed. Tonight has been extra busy because I had to do some work on school stuff. Need more time! Need more time!

Have a fantastic night! Oh, and more to come tomorrow on Averie’s pudding plus our new bed that should be arriving! Stay tuned…

almond sauce stir fry

Hi! I had the best dinner tonight! I was actually going to talk about my green monster from this morning first, but I’m so happy about how dinner turned out that I just can’t wait.

After work today, I headed straight to the gym to do some lifting. When I got back, I was already starving, but Jon had to head back to work for about 30 minutes for a meeting, and I wanted to wait on him to eat. So, I threw a great combo of cucumber, carrot, apple and lemon into the juicer – it turned out pretty good. I’ve only used my juicer a handful of times since I got it at Christmas (review to come!), and I still haven’t figured out my favorite combination yet. Any fun suggestions?

Anyway, so I sipped on my juice and started chopping up some veggies while I waited. I seriously was craving a huge plate of vegetables….but, I’ve been really focusing on getting more protein into each meal, so I decided to try something new by incorporating protein and healthy fat into my “sauce.” I tossed cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, onions and mushrooms in my big skillet and began sautéing them in just a bit of EVOO. Using Thai peanut sauce as my inspiration, I put in a tablespoon of almond butter and a splash of tamari and mixed and heated it through. I did have to add just a touch more EVOO as well to eliminate dryness. When it was all done, and hubby was home of course, I laid the vegetable mixture on a bed of quinoa (more protein!) and tadaa! It was time to eat!

Let me tell you, this meal was so good. It had a bit of an Asian flavor with just the right amount of AB and tamari…and a sprinkle of seeds of course! I could seriously have this meal every night…but I won’t. Gotta keep things interesting!

Before I go, let me tell you really quickly the best thing that happened this morning. I’ve been drinking green monster, thanks to Angela, for about a year now. My sweet hubby gets up to make it for me before I leave at 6am. Ever since school started back up, there has just been something…off…about the texture. I couldn’t figure it out. I had switched from soy to almond milk in an effort to limit my soy consumption a bit, so I thought that may be the problem, but we switched back and saw no improvement! So, I suggested that this morning he should try adding a little more milk and leaving out the flaxseed…and it worked! You have no idea what a happy girl I am to have my beloved monster back to normal…it’s my livelihood at 6am! Yea!!

That’s it for now. I am so looking forward to the weekend already, and it’s only Tuesday! Have a great night☺

spaghetti squash

Hi all! How’s your Monday night going? Jon and I are feeling a little more tired than usual, probably just because it’s the first day of the week. I did, however, muster up enough energy to try a new food out tonight – one that I’ve been wanting to try forever – spaghetti squash!

I stumbled upon Abby’s blog the other night, and took it as an opportunity to get some fun and fresh meal ideas for the week. And that I did! One meal she mentioned having was spaghetti squash. That was all the motivation I needed to go track one down and give it a try.

I was initially a bit worried about the one hour cook time, but I somehow managed to work it into my schedule so that it turned out perfect! I had to stay late at school today, so the second I left I raced home, threw on some gym clothes, tossed the squash in the oven and headed to the gym.

About an hour later, I came home just in time to take it out…and it was perfectly cooked! I let it cool per Abby’s recommendation, then sliced it in half, scooping out all the insides. It seriously has to be one of the coolest foods I’ve ever seen! The only problem I ran into was trying to get all the seeds out. Any ideas? It seems like there has to be an easier way.

Anyway, I had Jon pick up some “veggie crumbles” at Walmart, and I had an organic marinara sauce waiting in the fridge. I cooked the crumbles and added it all together, then sprinkled some cubes of avocado on top (gotta have that healthy fat!).

This meal was fantastic. I will probably have it at least once a week. Although, there is a downside. Seeing as how I’m still new at this whole vegan thing, I never considered that there might be dairy products in the soy crumbles. So, this meal was not as vegan as I thought it was going to be, and while I’ll finish off this batch of crumbles, I won’t buy them again. Any ideas on how to add protein to this meal?

I’m off to make a new seating chart for my hoodlums, seeing as how I promised it to them a week ago. Hope you all have a great start to the week!

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