Category: Recipe
The Best Green Juice Ever
| January 24th, 2013 | Recipe |
Yep. I’ve made the best green juice ever. I’ve been drinking my Spinach Protein Shakes for months now and I still love those, but when I want something more refreshing I like juices. No, I don’t have a juicer, but I made it using my blender and I think it still came out amazing! A juicer is definitely going on my wishlist though.
Ingredients
Handful spinach
1/2 apple
1 stalk celery
1 cup almond milk
1/2 banana
1/2 tablespoon vanilla protein powder
splash orange juice & ice
Instructions
Place all items in blender
Blend and serve!
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There you have it. It’s super easy, just like most juices or smoothies. All you have to do is take the time to chop up the fruits and veggies. We don’t have the most powerful blender so I have to make sure there aren’t large chunks of food, because otherwise it won’t blend.
I was feeling a bit off last weekend, so this drink made me more energized! Although I stayed in comfy clothes for most of the weekend, I made sure to chose healthy food options. There’s nothing worse than feeling crappy, eating crappy food, and continuing to feel even worse.
If you’re looking for an easy pick me up, this is the drink for you. I don’t like drinking too much caffeine, so when I need some extra oomph I go for lots of fruits and veggies.
I recently came across this Youtube Channel, FullyRawKristina she has some great tips for consuming produce, how to store your produce, and when to tell if your produce is ripe. She’s a fully raw vegan, so she only consumes uncooked fruits, veggies, and occasionally nuts and seeds. No, I’m not choosing to be a fully raw vegan, but her videos are definitely interesting so you should go check them out!
Talk to Me
- Do you have a juicer? If so, which brand and model is in your kitchen?
- Do you love watching Youtube videos as much as I do? Tell me some of your favorite channels!
- What’s your favorite fruit and favorite vegetable?
Berry Spinach Vanilla Protein Shake
| January 10th, 2013 | Breakfast, Food, Live Fit Trainer, Recipe |
I’m finally back into the swing of things! Yes, it took some time, but I am finally starting to get back into my old routines again. Yesterday for breakfast I made one of my protein shakes. This time instead of strawberries, I used frozen mixed berries. It definitely tasted different than usual – not bad, just different. Want to make this too? Here’s what you need.
Berry Spinach Vanilla Protein Shake
[Ingredients]
1 cup frozen mixed berries (mine had blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
large handful of spinach
handful of ice cubes
one scoop of vanilla protein powder – same kind used here
1 cup Original Almond Milk
1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
a splash of orange juice
[Instructions]
Place ingredients into blender
Blend
Serve
Nothing that complicated. I have the same core ingredients in all of my shakes, but from time to time I will switch it up and 90% of the time the outcome is tasty. Because this time I didn’t have any bananas on hand, the shake was a bit more icy than I’d like. Don’t worry I stocked up on bananas for the rest of this week!
Jamie Eason’s Live Fit – Day 1
I told you yesterday that I’d be finally starting the Live Fit Trainer again. Half of you probably thought, “No, she’s not. She keeps putting it off. She’ll never actually try it again.” Well, my friends. I did it.
**EDIT: clearly I don’t know what year it is…
After getting home from work, I had two pieces of bread for some needed carbs, and headed to the gym. Goodness, it was crowded! Both treadmills and both bikes were taken, so I started with 15 minute warm-up on the elliptical. My gym has a hybrid of a stair stepper and an elliptical. The machine was definitely more difficult than a normal elliptical. I stayed on it for 15 minutes at resistance #6.
You can see the weight training exercises above. The only thing I didn’t do was the narrow pushup exercise. My arms were absolutely burning after everything else. I definitely have more leg strength than arm strength!
I didn’t take my binder with me, and I’m glad I didn’t. There was way too many people in the gym and I didn’t want to misplace my binder or worry about moving it around the gym with me. Instead, I wrote all the exercises I needed to do in Notes on my iPhone, and filled in the weights as I went along. When I got home, I added everything to the workout sheet.
So far so good. I’m looking forward to keeping up with this routine and seeing how my body changes with the weight training.
Talk to Me
- What’s your favorite ingredients to add to your shakes or smoothies?
- Do you have more leg strength or arm strength?
- Do you use a community gym at your housing complex, a gym at home, or a larger gym like a LA Fitness?
Falafel Goat Cheese Salad
| September 26th, 2012 | Dinner, Food, Half Marathon Training, Recipe, Running |
Yesterday after work I made my way over to the gym with Bry for a short run. On the schedule for yesterday was 3 miles, and surprisingly I didn’t back out of this one. I categorized the run as “great” on DailyMile!
*Note: I did not do this run 2 minutes ago. It was done last night. Not sure why that time is wrong…
Let me break down this run for you.
Mile 1: The first mile went as expected. My legs were a bit tired when I started, since I sat at work all day long, but after the first mile they seemed to be getting used to the run. I didn’t look at the time too much during this mile, because I wasn’t bored yet.
Mile 2: Holy crap this mile felt like forever. I actually stepped up the pace a little bit on the second mile, but it felt so long! Nothing too good was on TV. I was watching a crime show that was freaking me out. I couldn’t change the channel on the treadmill TV because the remote was broken. Better than nothing, I guess.
Mile 3: This mile was the best of the three. I sprinted for the second half of the mile and it went by quickly! I started getting hungry towards the end, which gave me the extra push to finish fast and get home for dinner.
Today’s run is going to be 4 miles. If the weather is okay, I want to get outside for this run!
Falafel Goat Cheese Salad
Oh dinner. Dinner was a bit random last night. I made a delicious salad that I’ve had in the past. It’s a random salad I make sometimes when I need to use up random items in my kitchen.
[Ingredients]
lettuce – I used crunchy romaine
goat cheese
falafel
seasoned croutons
red wine vinaigrette
[Instructions]
-
Heat falafel in microwave for 45 seconds.
-
Cut falafel in quarters.
-
Mix all items together.
-
Serve and enjoy!
It’s super easy. Sometime I wonder why I even share these recipes, because it’s basically just throw random items together and eat!
This all would be amazing if I didn’t take forever to eat. Bry’s dinner wasn’t ready when mine was so I waited for him to eat. I also took some time to take pictures of my dinner, like a typical blogger. By this time the falafel was cold and I wasn’t in the mood for the salad anymore. Luckily it didn’t go to waste. Bry decided to eat some of it alongside his BBQ chicken sandwich on an everything bagel.
What did I actually eat for dinner last night? I didn’t photograph it, but I had a mix of Special K cereal and Honeycombs. Yes, I am one of those weird people who like to mix their cereals. Don’t hate me!
Talk to Me
- What did you eat for dinner last night?
- Do you mix your cereals? What’s your favorite kind of cereal?
- What is your favorite TV show to watch during your runs?
Italian Goat Cheese Salad
| September 4th, 2012 | Dinner, Half Marathon Training, Recipe |
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, but it feels like Monday. Aren’t we all glad it’s not the first day of the work week, but actually the second! This morning the alarm went off at 5:15. This gave me enough time to roll around in bed, scroll through Instagram, get dressed and brush my teeth. It was really dark this morning, so I drove to the gym.
Day 9
Since it’s Tuesday, it’s the first run of the week according to my half marathon training plan. After missing last week’s long run, I knew I had to really get on track this week. On today’s agenda was 3 miles. As much as I told myself that I’d rather just run after work when I was semi-awake, I knew that I would feel a lot better getting the run in before work.
I started my run with 1.5 miles at 9:50 pace and slowly increased my speed until I got to 2.5 miles. The last half mile I sprinted. My run this morning wasn’t easy. The first mile or so was okay, but by mile 2 I just wanted to be done. Bleh. We all have days like these right?
Italian Goat Cheese Salad
Bry and I went food shopping last night before dinner. Everyone was at the grocery store because most people were off from work and the store around the corner from me is open 24 hours. I hate shopping when there are crowds. There are too many people rummaging for the best milk, non-cracked eggs and first spot at a newly opened register. Okay, I’m ending this rant now.
After we got back from an hour long shopping trip, the last thing I wanted to do was cook anything that took time or energy. Thus, I came up with the perfect Italian Goat Cheese Salad for us to have for dinner. You don’t need instructions for this recipe. Just gather the ingredients and mix. Easy, healthy and delicious!
1. tomatoes // 2. cucumbers // 3. goat cheese
4. Olive Garden Italian salad dressing // 5. Italian croutons // 6. spring mix
Talk to Me
- What are your favorite veggies to put into salads?
- How are you starting your work week?
- What is your least favorite veggie?
Banana Pancakes
| July 16th, 2012 | Breakfast, Recipe |
“Baby, you hardly even notice when I try to show you this song is meant to keep you from doing
what you’re supposed to. Waking up too early maybe we can sleep in, I’ll make you banana
pancakes. Pretend like it’s the weekend now.”
–Jack Johnson “Banana Pancakes”
Sunday morning, as I mentioned in my Weekend Recap, was spent drinking mimosas and eating banana pancakes. We bought 5lbs of bananas at Produce Junction on Saturday and had to use them! The plate below is Bryan’s. (I could only eat 3. My eyes were bigger than my stomach) Lets just say he liked them so much that there were none left after he was done with them!
Banana Pancakes— makes approx. 10 pancakes
[Ingredients]
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
[Instructions]
- In bowl 1: mix together flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In bowl 2: mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and bananas.
- Stir bowl 1 into bowl 2. The batter will be a tad lumpy, because of the bananas.
- Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.
- Pour the batter into the pan using approx. 1/4 cup for each pancake.
- Once the pancake starts to slightly bubble, flip over.
- Cook for approx. 1-2 minutes on other side.
- Serve hot with syrup. Enjoy!
I can’t wait to make these pancakes again! My favorite part were the lumps of bananas. Next time, I will probably top each pancake with a few strawberry pieces for even more fruity flavor. With or without the strawberries, these pancakes are a win.
What’s your favorite type of pancakes?
Do you do anything special for Sunday brunch?
What’s your favorite thing to have for breakfast?
Lentil Couscous Salad
| April 16th, 2012 | Recipe |
Good morning, everyone. I found a recipe online the other day for a lentil couscous salad and thought I’d make some changes and give it a try. I absolutely love the couscous salad from Whole Foods, but trips to Whole Foods for lunch everyday adds up. Trust me, I hear my wallet crying sometimes. I love this recipe because it makes approximately 6 servings– perfect for lunches all week! You can add whatever type of fruit you want. I personally like craisins over regular raisins any day!
Lentil Couscous Salad — serves 6
[Ingredients]
1/2 cup dried lentils
5 cups water, divided
3/4 cup uncooked couscous
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup craisins
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons EVOO
[Instructions]
Place lentils and 4 cups water in medium pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water.
Bring 1 cup water to a boil in small pot. Stir in couscous and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Remove from heat. Cover pot and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine lentils, couscous, and all other ingredients in a large bowl. Cover with foil and place in refrigerator. Serve cold.
Spinach Protein Shake
| March 30th, 2012 | Recipe, Running |
I thought I already posted about my daily spinach protein shake, but I guess not. I posted here about Clare’s Vanilla Banana Protein Shake, but I modified it a bit for my routine now. I drink this in the mornings as my breakfast for the days that I go to the gym. I promise you that it’s delicious and don’t be afraid of protein powder! All you need are the ingredients below and a blender.
[Ingredients]
(1) A splash of orange juice
(2) 1 rounded scoop of vanilla flavored protein powder- I got this brand from Whole Foods
(3) 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
(4) 1 cup Original Almond Milk
(5) A few frozen strawberries and half a banana
(6) Ice cubes
(7) A large handful of fresh spinach
[Instructions]
Place ingredients in order into a blender (this makes it blend easier)
Blend
Serve
It’s super easy and really delicious! I was a bit wary to try that vanilla protein powder, but the reviews I read online said that it tasted pretty good and didn’t taste like chalk. Perfecto.
Gym
Today’s gym trip was rather short. My legs were aching from yesterday’s run. I should have used Mr. Foam Roller last night, but I forgot. Oh boy, was I hurting at the gym! I decided to listen to my body and do a quick easy mile on the treadmill instead of the 3 mi that I have been doing. 1 mi in 11 minutes. BLEH. I can’t wait to start running outside again. I honestly think that I just run slower on the treadmill because I am so bored! Does any one else feel this way?
Mac and Cheese Cups
| February 22nd, 2012 | Recipe |
“What is this,” you ask?
Well… I spend a lot of time reading blogs and e-magazines of various topics. One blog that I’ve enjoyed reading for years is Cupcakes and Cashmere. Every morning I wake up and make sure to check her blog. Yesterday morning, I came across a post about mac and cheese cups. Although I didn’t make my mac and cheese from scratch, I wanted to try something fun for dinner last night. Need less to say, I DID use Kraft blue box mac and cheese… but Bry was pleasantly surprised when he walked in the door and saw these cute little cups.
I wasn’t even going to write about these cups until I made them from scratch (thus, I apologize for the half-decent photos), but Bry thought I should at least quickly mention them on my blog, because of how simple and easy they are to make.
What’s the easiest recipe you’ve ever followed?
Lemony Shrimp Asparagus Spaghetti
| February 20th, 2012 | Recipe, Uncategorized |
Lemony Shrimp Asparagus Spaghetti
[Ingredients]
a dozen medium raw shrimp
6-8 asparagus spears
1/2 pound angel hair spaghetti
1 tb olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice and 1/2 lemon
sea salt
pepper
sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
[Instructions]
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
While waiting for the oven to heat up, place shrimp in cold water and boil a pot of water
Once thawed, remove shell and tail of shrimp
Place asparagus on a foil-lined baking sheet with olive oil, salt & pepper
Place asparagus in oven for 12 minutes
Break angel hair spaghetti in half and fan out in boiling water
Lower heat and cook for 7 minutes
In a hot frying pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and raw shrimp
Add sea salt and pepper and fry for approx. 4 minutes each side
Mix all ingredients into a bowl
Top with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice & Parmesan cheese
Serve!
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Last night, after almost an hour in the grocery store, Bry & I ended up throwing together a bunch of ingredients and out come this amazing dish! It’s very simple, but even more delicious. I find that although I have more time to plan and cook meals on the weekends, I still like the simplicity of throwing together a few ingredients and making a fresh, crisp meal. My favorite part about this meal is the lemon zest and juice. The tang of the lemon pairs well with the sea salt and olive oil.
What’s your favorite meal using lemon?
Grateful for Muscular Legs (Live Fit Day 3)
| February 2nd, 2012 | Live Fit Trainer, Recipe |
As a former dancer, I’ve always had a strong core and leg muscles. I couldn’t tell you how long it took my legs to build those muscles, but I’ve been dancing since I was 5 years old. I was teased for having muscular legs when I was younger, but times like these couldn’t make me more proud of my strong legs. Yesterday (Day 3) was legs/calves day in Jamie Eason’s Live Fit program. I had to make some adjustments to the exercises, because my complex’s gym didn’t have some of the equipment needed.
I started off with 15 min light cardio. (I know, I know.. I’m not supposed to be doing cardio during Phase 1, but I like to do light cardio to warm up my muscles). I hopped onto the elliptical and peddled for 1.24 mi.
I completed the majority of the exercises without modification. Let’s take a look at my fitness log sheet.
Leg press and leg extensions I did exactly according to the plan. However, my gym did not have the equipment needed for the sumo BB squat, standing calf raises, and seated calf raises. In order to try and target these muscles anyway, I did calf raises using my body weight. I stood facing a wall and completed 6 sets of 12 reps of calf raises without any additional weight. My gym only had one machine for both leg extensions and curls, so I had to do the leg curls laying on my stomach.
If you live in the Philadelphia area, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather we are having. It went up to the 60′s yesterday! It was so nice that I didn’t freeze when I drove over to the gym in shorts! SHORTS in February!
don't mind that strange face.
After coming back from the gym, I decided to try out Clare‘s vanilla banana shake.
[Ingredients]
1 rounded scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1 cup almond milk
1/4 teaspoon xantham gum = used to thicken shake
1 frozen banana
ice cubes
[Instructions]
Place all items in blender.
Blend.
It doesn’t get any easier than that my friends. The texture of the xantham gum was a bit strange. I accidentally got some on my hands, and when I went to wash it off it had a lotion like feel. Kind of gross. However, the taste of this shake is delicious! The protein powder was not chalky at all. Next time I think I might add some more fruit or peanut butter for added taste.
What’s your favorite protein shake recipe?
