Be Happy. Be Healthy. Be Active. Be Amazing

Celestial Tea Winner!

2010-03-16T12:43:00.001-07:00

I cant believe how fast this week has gone! I hope to get back to posting soon but might be another month or so until my schedule relaxes a bit. Which is ok! Things are going awesome though and Im so excited to announce the winner of this fantastic tea give away!

And the winner is….

Joanne from Eats Well with Others!!! She was entry number 25. Congrats girl!! Email me your address when you can and I will forward it.

I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous weather we are having now. I cannot wait for spring. Have a fabulous day!

Celestial Seasonings Wellness pack Giveaway

2010-03-07T21:26:00.001-08:00

Life has picked up in a really great way! I've been super busy, having fun and still takin care of myself. I was actually lucky enough to receive an amazing wellness pack from Celestial Seasonings (could not have come at a better time I might add!) filled with lots of goodies to help keep you feelin’ great.

This time of year I think can be particularly tough. Season changes always bring about lots of stress to the immune system. Not to mention our hectic lifestyles on top of it all. I know everyone is dealing with some insane schedules right now. Yikes! So all you can do is take of yourself the best that you can. I always try to stay away traditional meds as much as possible and I look to foods and teas as a way to keep healthy. When I got this very generous box of goods from celestial seasonings it was exactly what I needed!

It was jammed pack with a variety of their wellness teas and accessories! Perfect! Pretty much everything you need. Honey sticks, cool mug, soothing lip balm, cute bear and some cool reads. Oh yeah and fabulous tea!

Could not wait! I tore into some of their green teas first. I tested out the Honey Lemon Ginseng Green tea and it is delicious. Really comforting and soothing. Not too overpowering, nice taste. The green tea I tried next was just as good. Green tea is just always delicious I think. There is a ton of great information out as to the benefits of including green tea into your diet. I try to drink 2-3 cups per day personally!

I've always been a fan of the sleepytime teas that they have, so this one was a given winner for me. Minty, lemony and calming.

I was really curious about the Echinacea Complete Care tea. I remember when I was little my mom would give me these big Echinacea tablets whenever we started to get sick. (Anyone ever take these?) They were sssoo chalky and strong in taste that I used to have to choke them down. This tea however tasted fantastic. It has a strong peppermint smell when you open the box but there is only a light aftertaste of mint in the tea itself. It has a very clean taste. I like the licorice that is added in as well. It really shines through. Yummy!

The tummy mint was also fabulous. I'm really finding that I like peppermint tea more and more. Peppermint has been used to help treat digestive issues but I also find that it helps with my night time cravings and calms me down after a busy day.

I really enjoyed these teas not because they just taste fantastic but they also are formulated for helping you stay healthy and balanced.

And just in case your curious about certain herbs and how they alleviate certain symptoms the book, Herbs for Health and Happiness, is a really interesting read. I loved paging through it and just looking up certain herbs and learning about what they are used to treat. They have it sectioned off into certain ailments such as calming an upset stomach and building a healthy heart. Great little reference book to have!

Overall awesome wellness pack! I'm such a huge fan of their products anyways so this was so cool to be able to try out new teas. The people at Celestial Seasonings also have offered to pass along a wellness pack to one of my readers. How awesome!

Heres how to win….

1) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite tea or you best way you find to relieve stress and seasonal colds..

2) Add me to your blogroll!

3) Link this giveaway on your site and let me know

4) Become a follower

I’ll pick the winner one week from today..so March 15th. (omg its already almost mid March?!)

And Id just like to say you all make my day!! I loved all your sweet comments and thanks for excusing my absence lately. =) Its all about keeping everything balanced though and keeping your body happy and healthy.

Have fabulous week!

Where have I been?

2010-03-03T12:51:00.001-08:00

I've fallen off the face of the earth. Well kind of. My schedule has completely kicked up and my main focus is being able to get enough sleep at night. I'm so sorry I haven't been around for awhile. I will be back soon and I so cannot wait to see and read what you all have been up to! I hope everyone is having such a fabulous week and thanks for understanding. Will be back to regular posting/reading very soon! Can’t wait!!

xoxox!

Its back…..!!

2010-02-21T20:31:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to thank you all so much for all your awesome comments on my last post! Rockin advice! So my cereal is back.

I think my main problem was I was eating a big bowl of cereal right before bed. While I don't think this is a huge thing it made me feel kind of restless at night. The tofu pudding went down way easier today so I think Im going to keep my cereal eats for afternoons or mornings. I think its just more what my body handles a bit better. So thank you all so much!

During my trip to While Foods I did find this and I thought it sounded kind of great.

It was really tasty! Not overly flavorful but awesome with the cinnamon and goes really well with almond milk. What I really like was the ingredient list.

Wheat bran, whole grain corn flour, whole grain wheat flour, corn bran and cinnamon. Thats it!

But enough about my cereal! Today was some serious cookin! After my usual gym run and Whole Foods shop a thon I came home and had to whip up some of Averie’s PB cups. It was one of those things that I have been meaning to make forever since they look absolutely amazing. I was on my computer at home looking them up and my husband walked by and says....”Why have you not made those yet?!”

So PB cup time it was!

I made some white chocolate and dark chocolate ones. All stuffed with loads of peanut butter.

I topped a few with sea salt. I love the salty sweet combo. And some with cinnamon.

Thank you Averie for some awesome cup recipes!!

While my hubs was away getting a massage I decided to bake him a cake too. (Hes spoiled, JK!) ;)

Its a pecan pie cake hybrid. Pecan pie on the top and a fluffy vanilla bourbon cake on the bottom.

Sounds awesome, right? Only I made one horrid mistake on this pup. Heres my lined spring form pan..

Instead of using one piece of aluminum foil I used a few. Total fail. When you pour the pecan pie filling in first, top with cake batter and throw in the oven it leaks out everywhere. Im sitting on my couch and all of a sudden billows of black smoke are pouring out of my oven since some of the sugar mixture leaked out of the pan and onto the bottom of the oven. Awesome.

No matter! I pulled out the cake (opened all the windows so the smoke alarms wouldnt go off..) cleaned the oven like a crazy person, lined the oven with foil, shoved it back and in and prayed it wouldnt fall.

Luckily sucess!! So next time when making this cake…leak proof the pan first. =)

Overall the cake is super fluffy, light. The pecan pie topping seeps a bit down into the cake, the hubs loved it! So total success.

Pecan Bourbon Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

For the Pecan Layer:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups pecans, toasted and diced

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper and butter the paper. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil. (Leak proof it!)

Make the pecan layer:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar, corn syrup, kosher salt and vanilla. Spread in the prepared pan and scatter the pecans on top; set aside.

Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking soda, nutmeg and fine salt in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, bourbon and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat the butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 10 minutes. With the mixer on low, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with flour. Fold in the pecans.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack, 30 minutes. Remove the springform ring, invert the cake onto a plate and remove the paper.

Tips on unwrappin the cake:

Let cool for about 30 minutes. Then pull up on foil.

Remove springform pan and push down on foil to get it out the way.

With your hand or a plate (my case my hands) gently flip your cake over so pecan topping is on top.

Remove all foil and Done!

Whew and now Im tired. One gross oven later I had one tasty cake. Actually after my sugar faux pas this was a pretty easy cake to whip up. Although I’ll make a confession. I dont really like pecan pie! Ack I know! I just never did. My hubs on the other hand, LOVES it.

Its his favorite so of course I always look for ways to make it once in awhile. So he was my taste tester on the cake and it passed with flying colors!

Do you find yourself making things you don't necessarily like just for others?

Tommorrow starts another week! Woohoo! Circuit training, spinning, weights and elliptical action. Im ready for it all! Any big plans for the week?

Happy Monday!!

First week circuit training down..

2010-02-19T22:38:00.001-08:00

Hey! How has everyone’s week been? Super busy I'm sure! I finished up my first week of circuit training and I'm loving it. I was really incredibly sore (which I love!) I took today off since my legs were really tired. I'm trying to somewhat stay on a schedule, aiming for 6 days a week but will allow for a rest day when needed.

My new favorite thing ever though…?

The foam roller!

I have never used this before and I cannot even tell you why not. Its amazing!! Its hurts a bit at first but after using just even a couple of times I could really feel the difference in my back and legs. Highly recommend it for sore muscles! I love rolling out on the floor while watching a movie at night.

The eats for the day consisted of plenty of lentils! Im on a super lentil kick..

Roasted beets, zucchini, squash and lentils. I made a quick dressing with horseradish mustard, apple cider vinegar, stevia and plenty of Italian seasoning.

So good!

Dinner was a quick egg white omelet, veggies and some marinara sauce and parm.

I've been trying to adjust my diet and bit and just stick to proteins and veggies. Which is mainly what I eat anyways but I have to try and give up my beloved cereal (just a bit anyways!) I always get hungry at night for some reason and was told protein was a better snack before bed since it feeds the muscles. Thoughts??
So I swapped my cereal and ended up eating some greek yogurt with cocoa powder. This was ssssooo good! I added 2 Tbsp. of cocoa powder and it got insanely thick and tasty. Topped off with some cacao nibs and I was set to go!

Definitely not the most beautiful thing ever but delicious. I made some cinnamon muffs for the hubs earlier in the week. I completely forgot to take some pics so I snagged one while he was in the middle of eating. Lots of cinnamon in the middle of those puppies!

So I think for the next few weeks I'm really trying to clean up my diet a bit and stick with mainly veggies and proteins with some healthy fats and a few grains here and there. I’d like to really get my body stronger so I'm hoping that now I have a new workout plan my new diet clean up action will get me to where I want to be.
Have you ever rearranged your diet in any way? If so was it to meet a specific goal or just because you felt it was more healthy? Did you find it difficult?

I've been feeling stagnant in my workouts so this week really excited me to get back in action. I think its so important to try new things out whether it be in the form of diet and exercise just to see how the body responds. Have you revamped a certain way of doing things? Were you happy with the results? I'm just really curious is hearing about all your experiences with this!

Stay tuned for wellness week and to kick things off a super wellness giveaway!

Averie is having an AWESOME peanut butter and coconut giveaway!
One amazing Sahale giveaway !

Quickies and a winner!

2010-02-16T21:58:00.001-08:00

Aahh yes…I love President’s day..why? Day off! No shopping plans really, more like some serious couch time! But today, back to work!

The morning started off with my usual big bowl of oats that I love..

And of course coffee. My favorite things about my mornings is my huge cup of coffee. There is also nothing like kicking back and slowly eating some awesome breakfast and coffee.

This morning I trainer at the gym and got my ass kicked. Score!!

Quick rundown:
10 push ups
10 little bigs
10 chest pulls
10 leg lunges, each side
10 russian twists
10 burpees
Repeat 6 times..
Then some plank work and jacobs ladder followed by cardio action. Ouch!

Lunch was a huge salad with of course some slaw dressing, lentils and almond butter with fiber crackers. SO good. New Oxygen mag came in the mail too. I love paging through that!

For a quick snack I ate some cottage cheese lettuce wraps. I am so loving these! Just cottage cheese, red pepper slices and some jicama with pepper. So good!

Dinner was a quickie today (big surprise!)..
Steamed Kale with veggies and sautéed shrimp. I topped it all off with some Peachy Pecan bbq sauce which was quite good!

Later on though my chocolate cravings kicked in and I whipped up some chocolate coconut tofu pudding. I tossed some puffed kamut on top. I like something crunchy with my pudding usually.

Whew what day! Time has been flying by!
Now time for my giveaway winner!! I popped on over to the random number generator and the winning number is……

Gina from the CandidRD! Congrats girl. Email me your contact info so I can pass it along!
The thing I love about giveaways is there are always more giveaways! Stay tuned for a super wellness giveaway coming soon!

Whats your favorite go to quickie meal on the go?

awesome nut butter giveaway!
Cool dressing giveaway!
Vegan anniversary giveaway!

Hotels, Cigars and Training…

2010-02-14T20:32:00.001-08:00

New post finally! sheesh! This past week has been insane! But in a good way. Lots and lots done but little time for anything else. Ah well, c’est la vie.. right?

Fitness:

To recap a few things I had my first training session. Gotta start off by saying I FINALLY found a good trainer. I've had some really bad ones in the past so I was really hesitant. This girl really knows what she's doing and gives me lots of attention, which I like. I guess Im needy.

As I was working through certain moves she was constantly correcting my form and talking me through it. I really like that because it keeps me really conscious of what I'm doing. I’ve had trainers in the past that have actually walked off mid set to chat with people. So all in all I'm super sore and super happy!

Fun:

What else has been going on? Well my hubs surprised me with a trip to the historic Biltmore hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Awesome! I haven't ever been there and it is gorgeous. Its only 15 minutes away from us but it was really great to just take a brain break for everything and get away for awhile.

Gorgeous Chandeliers..

and doorways…

We went out to this seafood restaurant for dinner and I hate to say it but I got mad sick. The place seemed really nice and it seemed really fresh so I have no idea what I got sick on. We don't eat out that often so maybe it was just the change of food? Who knows…it was fun anyways! Despite the late night Pepto..Luckily I woke up the next morning feeling great! So all good!

Even though we were only gone for one night, I came back smelling something ripe. Banana-ey kind of ripe. So I went on the hunt. I found some lovely black bananas in my fruit bowl and I got super excited. (Am I the only one to excited over brown bananas?)

So I thought at first maybe to make some banana bread but then decided I wanted to play with my dehydrator. I was going to be home all day, when does that ever happen? So I remember an old Emeril recipe from awhile back and using that as inspiration I made my own.

Banana Cigars with a Mango and Blood Orange Salsa and Vanilla Cream:

Cigars:

2 ripe bananas

Cream:

1/2 box silken tofu

1 tsp. coconut extract

1 vanilla bean

stevia to taste

Mango salsa:

1/2 mango

1/2 blood orange

1 Tbsp. shredded coconut

1/2 lime juiced

1 tsp. coconut extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 pinch ginger

1 Tbsp. coconut shreds

Garnish:

Agave

cinnamon

pistacios

coconut

To make banana cigars:

First puree bananas and roll out onto a piece of parchment. I spread it out to about 1/4 inch thick and popped it in the dehydrator for about 5 hours at 135 F. Once done it will look like this:

Peel off parchment and cut into strips. Fold into a cigar shape and set aside.

Make the “cream” by adding all the ingredients into the food processor and blend. Mine was pretty thick but additional gums might help to thicken it a bit more.

Now salsa time! Chop all ingredients and set aside to chill out for a bit. The longer they sit the more the ingredients will marry.

Once you are ready to eat, pipe the cream into the bananas..

Put a generous dollup of salsa on plate, top with banana cigars and garnish with a drizzle of agave, cinnamon and crushed pistacios.

Enjoy!!

Now I had some banana leather left over. So I decided to make another version of this!

Place mango salsa at the bottom of a shot glass. Roll banana leather into a cone this time.

Fill with cream and place into shot glass. Garnish!

I served this with some fresh ground chocolate on the side! Delish. There are so many variations. Wouldn't it be awesome to make a grilled mango salsa?? I think next time I might make some chocolate PB pudding and make a fudge sauce with maple syrup and cocoa powder to drizzle. Possibilities are endless with this. I'm so enamored with this fruit leather now. Ha!

Anyways I hope everyone had an awesome and amazing Valentines Day! Do you have off for Presidents day? If so any big plans? Mine is to sssoo catch up on everyone’s blogs. I cant wait to read up on what you have all been up to!!

What's your favorite new cooking tool? Any new technique or fun gadget you cant live without?

Have a great night everyone!!

P.S. Check out this awesome blender giveaway!

Oh the Little things in Life….

2010-02-08T21:36:00.001-08:00

Aahhh what a good day. I find that sometimes I take the small things in life for granted. I came home from work yesterday only to find my heel swollen and sore. I know, in perspective, not the most horrible thing in the world but I have to say I was bummed out. I have a hard time sitting still and to be down and out for some time would have been so difficult. I immediately made a doc appt. Now I can handle pain as long as i know I'm not going to make it any worse but I went in to my appt fearing the worst.
Now I gotta say my doctor rocks. He really knows his stuff! He fixed my knee right up last time I started having pain in it. He took a few minutes and said I had Plantar fasicitiis and that I would be ok. I was ssoo relieved. I even asked him if I could continue with my workouts and he said as long as it doesn't bother me too much to go for it. Just wear really good shoes. (Done!)

I left a happy girl and very much in the mindset not to take the little things in life for granted.
I finally even got a call back from a trainer at my gym and we have an appt. for 6:30 am on Wednesday. So glad to start up a whole new routine! So between my heel in recovery and a new trainer I was one happy girl!
A big bowl of oats with greek yogurt and apples also made for a great start to the day!

Know what else makes my day?

Shiatsu Foot Massager! Anytime I can take a piece of the spa home with me it makes my day. I was skeptical at first. Some of these automatic massager things kind of hurt. But this one is awesome. (I’m using it right now as I type even!) Its not too loud, fits under my desk and massages my poor achin feet! Did I mention theres even a heated option?? Aaahhhhh…oh the little things…
My husband likes the fact that it had some free shipping on it from amazon.
Another thing that makes my day??
Home made guac..

The trick to a fabulous guac is hands down the avocados. Overly ripe, strong avocados. Always give them the squeeze and sniff test before buying. There's no real recipe for guac..just the usual goods..

We are spoiled here in California by our abundance of amazing avocados. Cute side story that I found funny. Now I'm originally from Pennsylvania. Guacamole isn't a common condiment there like it is here. When visiting my parents back home I sent my sister to the store for some avocados. She came back with some really bad ones so I told her to return those. She went up to the counter and told the guy..”Hi, Im here to return some guacamoles…” hehehe. Made me laugh a bit. She's so cute, I love her. Ah anyways..the trickiest part to guacamole is removing the pit. Which is made easy by this technique.
1) Carefully slice into the pit

2) Twist

3) Pull

Easy! Just make sure to use a very sharp knife.
I also made my husband some quesadillas. Shredded pork marinated with chilies, cumin, garlic, onions and a bunch of other stuff tossed in a pan and slow simmered.

I fired up our grill pan and toasted up some tortillas.

So good and fragrant! Again no recipe. I just eyeball it all.
My dinner was a big salad with lentils! Im on a huge lentil kick at the moment..

And some Ezekiel toast with laughing cow cheese.

I finished out the night with a big mug of tea. I love making little tea mixtures. I was thinking back to the strawberry tea that i bought earlier. Its mad good but pricey. I can so make my own cheaper. I bought some strawberry tea from Celestial Seasonings..($2.99!) Added in 1 tsp of cocoa powder and chocolate stevia and it was delicious!

What a way to end the night.

So overall it’s been fab. Heel is healing, new trainer so on my way to total body makeover and some good eats. Its the little things in life that I just love so much. What about you?? I would love to hear about the little things that just make your day!

P.S Dont Forget to enter my giveaway!

More Giveaway fun:

Check out my girl Averie for a fantastic coconut oil giveaway!
The amazing Jamie is having her first giveaway with some chobani!
Ice Cream maker goodness!
A rockin chocolate covered NuNaturals giveaway!!

Giveaway!

2010-02-07T23:10:00.001-08:00

Today has been the first warmish day in awhile. Its been cold and rainy here for a bit here and I don't know about you but I'm ready for spring! It got me thinking about getting the place up and ready for some fun outdoor parties.
Me and my husband absolutely love to entertain. Cooking and indulging in a good red wine are some of my favorite things to do! Our porch though…a bit on the sad side. Its been morphed into the plant ICU at the moment. It’s pretty sad. Its time to revitalize everything and get ready for some bbq’in! First things first though..
We need new porch furniture. (I gotta have places for people to sit, right?)
So I've been searching around for some new furniture ideas and I came across some great bar stools.

So cool! They also have tons of other really fun items.

Margarita anyone?

They have such a huge array of products. From classic to modern and everything in between.

It took me awhile to look through it all!
Not only do they have bar stools but tons of other great products as well.
From baking pans..

To yogurt Makers..

To steamers!

The very generous and amazing people over at AllbarStools.com recently contacted me and offered me the chance to giveaway one of their great products.
So would you like to win either the baking pans, yogurt maker or the steamer? Heres how!

1) Leave me a comment telling me which one you would like!

2) Add me to your blog roll and leave a separate comment letting me know that you did so

3) Become a follower

4) Link this contest on your site and let me know..

5) Head on over to allbarstools.com and let me know which product you like the best

I will announce the winner one week from today. (February 15th)
Good luck and I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!!!

Xan Giveaway Winner!

2010-02-05T22:13:00.001-08:00

First up Id to thank everyone for all your awesome and amazing comments. They really truly make my day! I love reading each and everyone of them and I wanted to thank you all so much.

And now on to the chocolate giveaway winner!!

And the winner is…….

Abby from Abby’s Vegan Eats! Congrats girl! I will be contacting you on how to collect some chocolate.

Now Id still love to give another chance for some more cool prizes…Look Monday for another giveaway! This one featuring some baking dishes, a yogurt maker or a veggie steamer! Woohoo!

Also stay tuned for some fun spa finds…

Have a fabulous Friday!

Lost!!!

2010-02-03T21:11:00.001-08:00

Ok so who saw Lost last night?? Im sssoo totally excited. I have been waiting for this for a long time. I have not been this excited for a tv series in a long time. I'm so curious to see how they wrap it all up. I know they cant possible tie everything up but at least I hope we learn the whole secret to the island/time travel! Anyone have any Lost predictions?? Whose your favorite character? Mine is probably Sawyer.

So I've decided that I am going to change up my workout routine! I've been kinda staying the same for awhile which is ok, but Id like to really put on some mean muscle and kinda shift my whole body around. Im looking into hooking up with a trainer and I cannot wait to revamp my routine. If anything I think its totally refreshing to start something new! At my gym, you have to fill out a questionnaire so that they hook you up with the person that can help you the most. Awesome. Im ready to look leaner and be stronger!
But onto some eats!
I was hopping around this weekend and I came across this tea..

It is soo good. Lovely hints of strawberry and chocolate. Plus its caffeine free! I like to drink it with some chocolate stevia at night. Helps with the sweet tooth!
Lunch consisted of lots of veggies! Roasted broc, onions and spaghetti squash with Kale. So delish! I love veggies because not only do they taste awesome and are fantastic for you but you can eat in volume! ha!

I also have been in the mood for something new. I tried out April’s Low Carb sweet Bread..AWESOME!

Look at that huge loaf it made! I was surprised as to how much it poofed up. It was really moist too.

I cut myself a big slice. I later had another topped with some Barney butter (which is my go to almond butter) Great stuff!
Speaking of Barney Butter…

Thanks for the awesome T-shirt! Its super soft actually which is really nice.
Through out the day I snacked on my new favorite chips.

I cant get enough of these. They are so good!

So much cinnamon and sugar goodness. I do try to avoid sugar when I can but these are such a treat! So good.
Aahh and now its time to curl up on the couch and relax for the day. Maybe with some of my strawberry chocolate tea. Who knows?
So kinda random but I pulled something..I have no idea what..All I know is that my heel hurts like crazy. So Im icing it with some frozen produce. It feels better already! (Although this picture totally reminds me that it needs to get warm soon so I can hit the beach and stop looking so pasty!)

I hope this trainer will contacts me soon. You know when you get super excited for something that its hard to wait? I feel like that now. Time to build some muscle! What are some of your favorite weight training moves?
Any Lost predictions or hopes? Whats going on with Jack, Sawyer and Kate? Do you care to find out more about the characters or the more the island?

I hope everyone is having an awesome week. Almost Friday! yey! Although I am working this weekend. Ah well. Weekends are still good in my book! Night loves!
P.S Dont forget to enter my chocolate giveaway! Deadline is this Friday!

Also check out this awesome water giveaway!
Love Zevia? Check out a giveaway for some here!

Fun Mail finds and Movies…

2010-01-31T12:53:00.001-08:00

Hey my lovelies! How are you all? I hope you are all having one fabulous Saturday so far. Mine has been pretty jam packed so far!

First up Id so wanted to thanks the amazing peeps at POM Wonderful for sending me this amazing goodie bag full of fresh POM juice. Im so super excited to play around with it! I cracked open a bottle and holy yum is it good. Thank you so much!!

I also received some awesome cream from Emily . Thank you so much girl! I plan on trying this out tonight to see how my knees are.

I slept in, well till 8, and thats late for me! Started off my morning with some coffee and my new favorite breakfast.

I make one serving of oatmeal, cool it down for a few minutes. Stir in some greek yogurt with vanilla stevia and some cinnamon and top with tons of chopped apples. So good!!! The texture of the oatmeal and yogurt mix is similar to cottage cheese. It is awesome. Im in love. I used to just eat all oats in the morning but I love that I know can combine some good protein and fruit into my morning meal and still have my oatmeal. Love it!

I worked them out HARD this morning. I had a large (and i mean LARGE) cup of coffee this morning with my breakfast and with all that caffeine running rampant in my system I was on fire. I am a coffee addict and Im not going to change that! This morning coffee flavor of the day was Egg-Noggin!

I was hoping to get my cardio in the morning and finally get a trainer at night so I can properly learn to lift but I just started OT at work. So I’ll think of something because I am determined!

Lunch was my usual salad but I topped it with some canned salmon. Not too bad. I haven't ever had canned salmon, usually just eat fresh salmon but this tasted pretty good on my salad. What are your thoughts on canned salmon?

After lunch it was definitely time to treat myself. I love mani/pedis. They are one of my favorite splurgey things to do. I met up with a friend and we both got some cute pedis!

My toes look kinda weird in this picture. haha.

So I was on a major movie spree this weekend. I watched White Out with Kate Beckindale, The Stepfather and Pandorum. Pandorum was by far my favorite. (I love weird sci fi flicks) White Out made no sense to me and had no character depth, I got bored about half way through. The Stepfather wasn't good but it wasn't terrible either. Nothing to rush out and see just a typical mystery/horror movie. Nothing too note worthy. I feel like the last really good movie I've seen was Avatar! Any good movies you all have seen that maybe I could check out? Any ones you are looking forward to seeing?

While watching my movies I snacked on some snap peas and mustard.

Then din was some sauteed veggies with pico and egg whites…

And for dessert..Kaboucha squash with almond butter!

Ahhh I love days where I feel like i get a lot done but I still get a chance to relax in the evenings. Im a huge movie buff (which I guess is good since thats where I work!) But it feels so good to settle in on the couch after a long day and watch a good movie. What are your favorite flicks? Any ones you are really looking forward to?

I hope you all are having an amazing weekend! xooxxo!

P.S..Don’t forget to enter my Chocolate-y giveaway!

Xan Chocolates Giveaway!!

2010-01-29T12:53:00.001-08:00

Ive been such a fan of Xan Chocolates for a long time. They offer delicious amazing tasting chocolates that are pretty guilt free. I love keeping a stash of them in the fridge or freezer to help curb my chocolate cravings. Oh and did I mention they offer vegan AND gluten free options?! Oh yes. And at only 30-60 calories each as well! The ingredient list on these chocolates is pretty impressive too…Soo…would you like to win some??? The folks over at Xan Confections have so graciously offered to send one reader their choice of a 5 pc. box set of either the Jewels, Saintly sins or Signature chocolates.
(Note: The jewels and saintly sins are vegan and the signatures are not)

The Jewels collection are vegan , gluten free caramels that come in flavors like Coconut Pecan Caramel, Ancho chili Caramel and Espresso Almond. The Saintly Sins are also vegan come in flavors such as pineapple, raspberry and strawberry. They also offer Signature chocolates as well with such flavors like cappuccino and honey truffle. Delicious!

So if you would like to win your own 5 pc. box set of either the Jewel, Saintly Sins or the Signature. Heres how:

1) Head on over to Xan Confections and tell me which collection you would like!
2) Become a follower of my site
3) link this giveaway on your blog and let me know that you did so

Good luck everyone!! I will announce the winner one week from today.

Back from a little vacay…

2010-01-26T19:28:00.001-08:00

Back from my little weekend getaway. I absolutely love little mini vacas once in awhile. It felt so great just to get away for a bit and just completely reset. Oh yeah and it was in vegas!! woot! Did I win my millions??…sadly no..but I still had a great time. I hit the gym every morning and played alot of Pai Gow. Unfortunately I took my crappy camera with me..(I wasnt about to take a good camera to vegas..!) and I so forgot to charge it. So no pics. Ahh well. I think they frown on that anyways inside the casinos. Despite having a good time I was glad to be back.

Back to my huge wonderful veggie bowls…

A wrap with some laughing cow cheese, radishes and tomatoes..

Yum.

And even an awesome workout to boot too! Ahh good to be back.

I was seriously craving all this stuff while I was gone. Even though it was only a few days its funny the things that you start to miss.

For dinner I really just wanted a huge filling pile of veggies. No real recipe but just kind of what I threw together.

Sweet Potato with Kale and Ancho Chili Cherry Beans

1/2 sweet potato

2 c. kale

1/4 onion, sliced

1/2 c. beans ( I used kidney beans since it was what I had, but black beans would have been awesome too!)

1 Tbsp. garlic

3-4 large cherries, pitted and diced

1 tsp. ancho chili sauce

stevia in the raw ( I used roughly 1/4th packet to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Steam bunch of Kale. Place steamed sweet potato on top. Grill up onions and pile on. Heat beans, cherries, garlic and anchos. Slighty smash and pour on top. Season to taste with stevia, salt and pepper and enjoy.

So fast, easy and tasty. Kind of a sweet and spicy combo.

When I got back I had to run to Whole Foods and grab up some of my beloved squash.

Roasting in the oven now and getting ready to be topped with some almond butter.

Right now its cold and rainy again…(cant believe Im saying that! ha!) and Im so rocking the jammies and getting ready to put on a movie. Its just one of those perfect nights for it.

Do you enjoy little mini vacas? If so what are some of the things that you miss the most while you are gone? Do you have any favorite places you like to hit up?

Cookie Dough Hummus and rest days

2010-01-20T20:42:00.001-08:00

Oh man, there is nothing worse then bonking out. I woke up Tuesday, hit the gym my usual 6am and about 50 minutes into it my body just totally gave out. Super tired. I can usually push myself if I had to but not that morning. So I just knew something was a’goin on. Listening to my body (most important things I've learned recently) I showered up and just went to work early. I was still sssooooo unnaturally tired. I noticed that I never get sick anymore really, I just get amazingly tired, sleep for hours and then I wake up fine. Its like a fight going on inside my body, I shut down and my body always wins. Yey for healthy eating and exercise! So I did exactly what my body needed. I went home from work early and slept like never before. Ahhh it felt great. I did however manage to wake up and make myself some delicious tea.

Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, stevia and some almond milk I heated then seeped in some vanilla black tea for a quick mock chai tea. It was really tasty.
Then no kidding, I passed out for like 14 hours. Who does that?! Me I guess. But only once in awhile, when my body is in fight mode. I let myself sleep in and went to work totally refreshed so it was worth it!
I was craving turnips and brussels sprouts. hahaha. Weird food craving!! But I indulged myself.

I also made up some quick oatmeal crackers. The thing I love about these is that there is no recipe. I just dump in some oatmeal, mealy bananers, and spice that up. Roll out and pop in the oven till crispy. So yummy. I like to cut it into strips, throw in the toaster and eat with almond butter.

For dinner I wasn't overly hungry and just made up a quick shrimp salad. I used some mustard, chipotles and thinned it with some water and apple cider for a dressing.

I did however receive an interesting email about a cookie dough hummus. Sounds delish, right?! So I gave it a whirl and adjusted it a bit. This is what I ended up with.

Cookie Dough Hummus

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tsp. maple extract
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 tablespoon instant oatmeal
1 tablespoon shredded coconut
2 packets Stevia in the Raw
pinch of sea salt

Place all ingredients into food processor except for the beans, oatmeal and coconut shreds. Process until smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste.
I really liked this. I was skeptical at first but dipping into it the maple flavor was really nice against the chickpeas. Yum! It was something different and I think I'm going to be eating this a lot! I have it sitting in the fridge and I think it will be even better tomorrow once the flavors marry up a bit. Would be awesome with some dried fruits or dark chocolate chips pieces maybe.

I've been really loving Stevia in the Raw lately. I don't really use a lot of sugar or like my foods too sweet but once in awhile I really like adding this for a subtle flavor. Although right now I do have a bit of a sweet tooth and I found these chips that are amazing!

OMG! They taste like churros. So good. They are super crunchy, short ingredient list with all recognizable ingredients and only 110 calories for 27 chips. I used to be a huge calorie counter (Im trying to get away from it..) But it had some good stats I think. I already ate a bag this week. So good! It really curbs my crunchy sweet cravings big time.

I gotta say, I'm a bit glad for my rest days. I was charging ahead a bit too hard and when you bonk I think its just your body’s way of slowin down. But now I feel really rested and am ready to get back in action! Did you ever have days where you hit walls? I've been a bit MIA due to my in-laws in town (which was really fun) and my sleep-a-thon. So I was hoping everyone’s week has been going awesome!! Id love to hear about it! Any news? I'm off to Vegas this weekend which will be fun. Its been raining like crazy here, no kidding it even hailed here. I had no idea L.A even got hail! Crazy I tell ya, I hope it lets up soon…its a monsoon out there!!
I hope everyone is having one fantastic week so far!

Fabulous Jewlery giveaway!
Fun cookware giveaway

Its a Chocolate Covered Day…

2010-01-16T23:57:00.001-08:00

How is everyone’s weekend going? Mine is going great! My in-laws are here and we spent the day hanging out and hitting up The Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Great stuff!! I didn't have too much time to take some food photos though but I did however find some time to try out some awesome new recipes. The football game was on with two teams Im neutral on, so this gave me a good 2-3 hours to test out some stuff.
Ive been wanting to try out these wonderful sounding recipes by Katie for awhile and in spirit of her amazing giveaway I decided to rock it out and have a chocolate covered kind of day!
First up, I made some 24 Carrot Cake Cupcakes. They are super moist and delicious. I added a ton of cinnamon to these muffins which was really tasty. I loved the chunks of carrot in it as it gave the muffin a really nice texture. Some of them I topped with some coconut butter as well. These are a keeper!

Next up, I really wanted to try the Love Muffins. I love this recipe because it’s versatility, although its great on its own too. Fabulous! I made a couple of versions, first up was the Elvis. Lots of peanut buttery banana goodness in these little muffs! Some I even topped with a quick peanut butter icing and some crushed banana and peanuts.

And I also had to try the Jelly doughnut version…

These recipes were all fabulous! And I knew that at the end of my baking extravaganza I would have to end the day with some babies. Peanut butter cup babies to be exact!

Overall Im so happy with all of these recipes! They turned out great and I loved the flavor and texture of them. None of them were overly sweet which was really nice too. So you can definitely eat them any time of the day. Thanks Katie for some great recipes!

How is everyone’s weekend going so far?? I’d love to hear what you all have been up to lately! Tomorrow is my family’s last day here so we are gonna just be hanging out and watching some football in the morning I think. Then after we take them to the airport its massive laundry and grocery shopping time for the week! Have a lovely weekend everyone!!!

Cool bar giveaway!
Awesome book giveaway..

Coffee Banana Balls!

2010-01-13T22:36:00.001-08:00

This morning workout was mucho better than yesterday. My legs were unbelievably sore from Core fusion I think. (Which is good! Breaking in some new muscles, awesome!) But finally today all was a-ok. Although I gotta say Im so looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. Woohoo! Ive been rockin’ the cardio pretty hard this week!
Unfortunately this is going to be a bit of a short post. My in-laws are coming tomorrow which means some major cleaning has got to be done! And I've totally procrastinated as usual.
I did however, had a huge craving for something banana-y today and so I whipped up some Coffee Banana Balls! (Anything to keep from cleaning!)

Coffee Banana Balls
30 grams cashews
80 grams dates
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Coffee beans
1/3 c. Just Banana chips*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp water (if needed for consistency)
pinch of sea salt
I combined all my dry ingredients and blended those up first. Then Added in the dates, maple syrup, vanilla and water if needed. And voila! I also crushed some dehydrated banana chips and rolled a few in them.

*These are the banana chips that I used. Just dehydrated bananas. You could make your own too. Im sure that would work just fine.

Overall these had a really awesome strong coffee flavor with just a hint of banana. Soo tasty! I do love my coffee! And you can never go wrong with bananas that's for sure.

My day also consisted of the usual salads but I did finally try out Averie’s Tahini Cesar dressing and it is awesome!!! Love it. It just added such a wonderful flavor to my veggies.

I ended the day with a big pile of veggies and some egg whites.

This has been my go to meal for awhile. Might be a bit boring but I find it tasty and super fast. I love it with a big pile of ketchup on the side.
So have you ever found a product that has just totally helped you out big time? I just did. Fit Flops! Granted not the most stylish things in the entire world but they are the coziest shoes ever. I used to get these major charlie horses for awhile. I could not for the life of my figure out what was causing them. I kept asking people and got answers ranging from dehydration to Potassium deficiencies. But they were really frequent and hurt! But I started wearing these a few times a week and my feet and leg muscles do feel way better. I don't know if its because they offer more arch support, but wow, what a difference.

Love the Fit Flops! Do you have any products that just totally helped you out in a big way? Would be great to learn about some new items that out there on the market that actually work pretty well.
Anyways I must be off now for some cleaning and packing for the fam. I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!! (Its almost Friday!!) Any big weekend plans coming up?
Im so sorry if some of you had problems commenting (blogger was acting up!) Should hopefully all be fixed by now but if not just let me know. Thanks so much Ameena for testing this out for me. I totally appreciate it!

xoxoxo!!!

Congrats Bradi on your blog anniversary! Thanks for a great Giveaway!
Shelley has an awesome giveaway going on.

I have been wanting one of these for such a looong time! Thanks Katie!!!

Ive met my match!

2010-01-10T19:40:00.001-08:00

I used to think there was never a fruit or vegetable I didnt like until I picked up this juicy number at the grocery store. It had potential. Melon? Yup…I like melons…..

Looked tasty enough…

Final verdict…hit the trash! Grosssssss! It had a weird flat acidic taste to it. Bleh, funky texture (mealy) and overall nasty. I cant even describe it. Even when things are gross I still have my husband try them.

“Eww this is sssoo disgusting, wanna try?” haha. But not this time. Maybe I just got a bad one at the store or something. But now I can officially say I've met my fruity match.

Moving on though today started out like any other day. Its a gorgeous 75 degrees out and I whipped up myself a big bowl of oats and some eggnoggin’ coffee and then hit the road for the gym for a rocking spin class. After that was a quick swing by Whole Foods for some staples. (I was out of squash and almond butter!) and when I went to put my groceries in the trunk I saw this…

Really?! Not even a note. I'm not a fanatic about my car at all and seriously it would have been way more of a hassle to deal with the insurance companies to just bang out a small dent. So I would have just let it go. But it kind of irked me they didn't say anything or leave a freakin note. Its not even like a small knick either! That's a decent size hit to my car. So not cool.

Ok done now. I'm just more ticked that they didn't say anything is all. Aahh well! I believe in Karma big time so its ok.

Came home and unpacked the groceries then time for lunch. I ended up with a salad. Big shock! I made a quick dressing using some strawberry jelly, balsamic Vinegar, mustard and black pepper.

and lots of apple and yogurt action!

I was so excited since I finally got to try out the Core Fusion DVD that I had!

I was a little sore from spin this morning but I still wanted to try it out. So I moved the coffee table and set up my little mat.

The dvd requires you to have a chair available, some small weights and a belt. Its divided up into 5-10 minutes sections which are: arms and upper body, legs, glutes, abs and then some stretching. This is such a fantastic workout. Whew. Ive tried other workout dvds and never felt like I got too great of a workout from them but this one hurt! You basically use all your own body weight in order to do different lifts and strengthening exercises. I LOVED it. Very sore now but sooo worth it! Im doing the 30 day challenge with Dori and cant wait to see my results. Its was about $12 bucks at Best Buy. Totally worth the cash in my opinion!

After that I made myself a huge glass of hibiscus tea.

I added a little vanilla stevia and it tasted like fruit punch. Completely delicious and refreshing!

Then I embarked on massive amounts of cleaning. It was such a productive Sunday. Not just beauty cleaning but like ripping stuff out of cabinets and rearranging stuff type cleaning. Glad that's over with though! I got some great looking shrimp and made up a little seafood zucchini pasta toss.

I flavored it all up with some parsley, basil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, black pepper and a bit of parmesan. Really hit the spot.

So over all despite the fact that someone smooshed my car I still had an excellent day. Have you ever had anything like this happen to you? Im also on a huge make your own sauces and dressings kick. Any favorite go too mixtures you have created lately?

Workout song for today - “Fever” by Cascada

I hope you all have a wonderful and fabulous start to your week.

xoxox!!

Waterpik toothbrush giveaway!

Soup-er giveaway from Missy!

Keurig giveaway!

Vegan Thursdays!

2010-01-08T19:22:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I was sssoo unnaturally tired. Usually when this happens my body is fighting something so I decided to rest up! I spent the night relaxing and hanging out with the couch and now Im feeling much better! But late to post… I did however rock out to Vegan Thursdays thanks to the lovely and talented Miss Katie! Awesome idea!! Vegan or not I think incorporating more fruits and veggies into our diets is a great thing! So for last nights meal I decided to make one ginormous amazing salad. There's no real measurements here. I just eyeballed everything. Would have been killer with some lentils too but I was out=)

Roasted Veggie Salad with Tahini dressing and Romaine

Handful of Romaine

cilantro

basil

eggplant

broccoli

butternut squash

garlic

ginger

cinnamon

Tahini

1/2 lemon

pepper

water

Chop your broccoli, eggplant and butternut squash and sauté up in a small pan. Season with garlic, ginger and cinnamon. Meanwhile chop some romaine and toss with cilantro and basil. Place onto plate. Pour roasted veggie onto Romaine mixture.

Dressing:

I took about 1 Tbsp. of tahini and watered it down a bit with some water and lemon juice.

Pour dressing all over salad and top with lots of cracked black pepper and enjoy!

I gotta say I loved the warm veggies over the crispness of the romaine and fresh herbs. The dressing just seemed to marry everything together a bit more. Delish and super fast! This whole salad made a HUGE plate, filled me up and was less than 200 calories to boot! (Dont worry there was plenty of squash and almond butter action happenin later on)

Today, since Im feeling mucho better I decided to make this tasty amazing vegan breakfast cake. This recipe takes 5 minutes to prepare and is awesome. I grew up eating this and always look forward to it. Its still a favorite even after many years. The recipe has been passed down in our family for generations. My mom took the original recipe and veganized it. It can be found here:

But in case you dont have the book Im going to post the recipe anyways!

Vegan Crumb Cake:

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 c. flour

1/2 c. vegetable shortening (preferably non-hydrogenated like Spectrum)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer

1/4 c. water

3/4 c. vanilla soy milk

-Preheat oven to 350 coat an 8x8-inch square baking pan with non stick cooking spray

-In bowl, combine sugar, flour and baking powder. Cut shortening into flour mixture with 2 knives until shortening is smaller than pea sized. Remove 1 c. of dry ingredients and set aside.

-In measuring cup mix egg replacer with 1/4 c. water and stir. Add vanilla. Fill the cup the rest of the way with the soymilk. (Should be about 3/4 c) Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir to combine.

-Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with reserved dry ingredients. Bake for 45 minutes or until tooth pick insertered into center comes out clean.

-Allow to cool before serving

Variations: This is amazing with all kinds of fresh fruit topped or added into to the batter.

Enjoy!!! This is my quick go to cake too when people are over. Turns out great everytime and is always a winner! The crust is nice and crunchy and the cake is super moist.

Not only did this huge salad and cake make my day but Morgan also passed on this awesome award to me! Thank you ssoo much!!

And now 10 things that make my day!

1) my family, friends and bloggie friends. You all make me smile so much!

2) Coffee…is there anything better than a big cup of fresh coffee?

3) Working out! I love my sweat seshs

4) Red Wine…I am in love with a glass of good quality red wine..ssoo good! (What are some of your favs?)

5) Being outdoors..I LOVE being outside even if its just laying out and reading. I love the feel of the sun on my face

6) Cooking!

7) My health..Its something I used to take for granted but no more! I really appreciate the ability to be able to do all the things Ive always wanted

8) Massages…There is nothing like a good massage!

9) My sense of humor. Its gotten me through some rough times=)

10) Entertainment…anything from movies to music and everything in between.

Thank you so much Morgan! You rock!!

And now Im off for the night. I hope you all have a wonderful start to your weekend!

xoxoox!!

Back to work!

2010-01-05T20:12:00.001-08:00

Hey my sweet bloggies!! How is everyone doing? I hope you are all having a fantastic week so far. Getting closer to the weekend ;) I started getting up and doing the morning workout thing again. 6am! not too bad compared to my 4:45am workouts from before. (Now that was tough for me!) but 6 is waay more reasonable. My body likes this as I found I have the best workouts in the morning. Nice and fresh and no food in the tummy yet. So makes for a fab workout sesh!

Just a quick note but do you ever notice that when January rolls around there are a TON of ads stating claims like “Eat this and lose weight!” “Lose 10 lbs in 3 weeks!” etc etc…They are always around I just notice they are really kicking come January. I think its weird since I don't think there's any “miracle” weight loss plan. Do you ever notice all these ads too? Crazy I tell ya!

But I digress…my workouts always leave me hungry. So of course I had my oats for breakfast (no pic since I ate these at work) and for lunch and big salad complete with vegan slaw dressing! Does this ever get old? Apparently not cause I eat it every single day!

Always a winner in my book. Moving on though, I spiralized my little heart out for dinner tonight.

I was using up veggies in the fridge so sauteed up some leftover turnips and cauliflower and then tossed in the zucchini noodles. Added in tons of garlic, onion powder, some Braggs and hot sauce. Then once on the plate I topped it with tomatoes and some eggplant hummus. Sounds like a weird combo with the braggs, hot sauce and hummus but it turned out super good! Kinda salty, spicy and smokey all in one bite.

And again Im in the squash and almond butter. I just ate my way through my second Kaboucha this week so far. And now I have to make an emergency run to the market for more..

I sat down with my big steamin bowl of squash and watched Tabitha's Salon Takeover. I needed to turn the brain off for a little tonight and just veg. It amused me for a bit!

Later on I indulged in some chocolate raw balls right out of the freezer. Dark chocolate with an almond piece inside and rolled in coconut. Sooo good.

Im kinda get on food kicks at times. Where I just crave the same thing all the time! Do you ever get food cravings? If so what food kicks are you on? I think right now mine are pretty much all the foods listed. Ha! Although since Im running out of those staples Im gonna get a bit more creative tomorrow!

xoxoxox!!

Greek Yogurt giveaway!
awesome Chobani Giveaway!

Out with the old and in with the new!

2010-01-03T19:34:00.001-08:00

Last day of my fabulous and wonderful vacay. I was lucky enough to get two full weeks off and I enjoyed it to the max. Now time to buckle down and get back to real life tommorrow. Today was so toasty warm out so I ended my vacation by taking a fantastic walk. I just wanted to be outside so I wandered around all afternoon. It was a perfect day.

The morning started off with the usual oats and workouts. My goal has been to expand my workouts and try all new stuff. So after my cardio sesh I hit up a new abs class. It was f-AB-ulous. (couldn't resist) Little sore but doing good. What I love about working out is you can keep the whole ‘out with the old and in with the new’ mantra the whole year! Each day no matter what, you can always hit the gym and sweat out your old self and break in a new healthier version. I love this outlook and being able to start over new and fresh each day.

I was having a BPD (Bottomless Pit Day) Couldn't stop eating everything in site! Which is ok. It happens!

Some of the eats included:

Tons of salads..

And plenty of squash with almond butter.

I also cut up some grapefruit and added some shredded coconut and toasted almond slices on top. It was great. Came in a cracked bowl and everything!

Then came the time to take down the tree. So sad. Its so festive but I knew if it didn't get done now we would have to wait until next weekend. (I’ve mastered the art of procrastination) So down it went! Picture also features some lovely cat tape we have on our couches. Awesome.

And tonight I tried something new (to me) Protein ice cream. Wow is this awesome. I took the basic recipe that the lovely Heather uses. Ice, protein powder, almond milk, stevia, xanthum gum and a dash of cinnamon. It was ssoo tasty. Mine was more runny though, I was hoping for more soft serve so maybe i need more ice? Either way it hit the spot.

The ‘out with the old and in with the new’ is an approach I love to incorporate into my day. I love being able to start my day fresh and new each morning. Its time to kick off the new year healthy, fresh and vibrant!

I hope you all have a wonderful evening!

xoxox

Cool giveaway from Merit to the carrot!

Awesome nut butter give away!

chocolate bar give away from the amazing Morgan!!

Happy New Years!!!

2010-01-01T19:18:00.001-08:00

Happy New Years everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and fabulous holiday! Mine was pretty low key. I’ll recap my NYE.. Started off my day with some oats and a workout!

Yeah calorie buster! When I got back though it was definitely time for some lunch. I made a quick salad with cucumbers, broccoli sprouts and some mandarin oranges. (With some vegan slaw dressing of course!) It was a wonderful combo of sweet and tart!

I roasted up some Kaboucha squash and I was really excited because i had an empty almond butter jar. I whipped up my steamy squash with cinnamon, vanilla stevia and a splash of almond milk and dumped it into the jar. It was AWESOME!! Why have I not tried this before? The hot squash melted all the almond butter into it and made for a super delicious combo. Im hooked!

For New Years eve we tried to go out to my favorite restaurant ever, Kay N’ Daves. I was super excited for some awesome healthy Mexican food and was so bummed that when we got there, they were closed for New Years!! aahh. Bad planning on our part. Super starving and I so didn't have the patience to drive around on NYE so we stopped by the grocery store, picked up a few things and booked it home. So no worries. We whipped up a quick and tasty instant dinner! Sometimes I think its nice when things happen just randomly. Makes it more fun in a way.

I ended up making my own pizza kind of thing. Just a ton of veggies with some melted mozz and then some marinara to dip in.

Craving some veggies too so a repeat of lunch.

Austin had some ‘real’ pizza! Meat lovers on a rising crust.

We spent the night curled up and watching a bunch of movies. We saw 500 Nights of Summer, Slumdog Millionaire and The Box. My favorite was Slumdog by far.

Today though I havent been too hungry for some reason. It happens so Im just kinda picking my way through the day and making some New Years Goals!

New Years Goals:

1) Enjoy and appreciate my health to the fullest. I plan to try and do what's right for my body and not necessarily what I “think” I want it to be. =)

2) Live in the moment more and stop worrying about the future so much. Just enjoy what I have right now!

3) Visit family much much more.

4) For my workouts Id like to step it up and mix it up!

5) Stop calorie counting and just eat intuitively.

6) Plan for some new adventures! Id like to travel more or at the very least find some cool things here in L.A to explore. There's a lot to do!

7) Say hi to random people on the street more.

8) Be happy and Healthy and find an inner peace!

Thats all I got at the moment. Might end up tacking some more on. Even though these are a bit vague I think they will help me find a balance for the New Year which Im very excited for.

Since I've been in a snacky mood I made up some Oh She Glows inspired crackers. I'm still playing with the recipe and will post when I get the consistency a bit better. I used brown rice, quinoa, chia seeds, poppy seeds, roasted garlic, caramelized onions and braggs in mine. (Along with some sea salt and pepper). They were very crunchy which was nice. Very hearty.

Dinner tonight was some black eyed peas and greens. I gotta have some good luck in the coming year!

I guess I am a bit superstitious! Do you have any good luck foods that you eat on New Years?

Growing up my mom always made pork and sauerkraut (well Tempeh and sauerkraut to veganize it) and black eyed peas. Id love to hear what good luck foods you made for New Years!

Take care and happy new years everyone!!!

Mom on the Run is giving away a great cookbook.

Cool VitaTop giveaway!

Rawtastic!

2009-12-30T22:25:00.001-08:00

Today I finally went to this raw vegan restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica called Rawvolution. Im ssoo glad I went because I had the tastiest food ever! Im very comfortable with eating vegan since its how I grew up but I very new to the whole raw food scene. (I have alot to learn) But I went there totally excited to try out some new things. Plus the Best of Raw awards were being broadcasted from there which was also really fun!

When I got there I was a bit surprised how small the place was. For some reason I was expecting it to be bigger. Although to be honest most places Ive been to on Main Street are very small. Anyways…I was totally loving the wide variety of foods. From pastas to pizzas and even sushi there was a bunch to choose from. It took me forever to decide but I ended up getting the Simplicty Roll and my friend got the Zucchini pasta with sun dried tomato sauce and onion bread. We decided to split since we were having a tough time choosing.

The pasta was ssssooo good. Honestly, a bit better than I was expecting. I was so mad I got full really fast! I just wanted to keep eating! The zucchini had an awesome crunchy texture and the sauce was super flavorful and paired perfectly with the pasta. I was really excited to try the onion bread too. It was very very onion-y but oh so delicious. Very chewy and tasty. I couldn't stop eating it. I was really excited about the onion bread because I keep hearing how awesome it is. And it totally lived up to the hype. (Anyone know how to make this???)

The Simplicity Roll was amazing as well. Daikon, kale, collards and sprouts all wrapped in a gigundo piece of Nori. I've eaten a lot of sushi before but Ive never had a large piece of Nori rolled liked a burrito before. It was a bit fishy smelling right as you start eating but had a completely neutral taste. There was a miso ginger sauce to dip in which was phenomenal. I am so going to have to make Nori rolls a staple in my diet. It was delicious!!!

I really wanted to try dessert but I couldn't fit any more food in. So I HAVE to make a trip back for some dessert soon. I even saw some raw balls on the way out! yey!!

Look at those Balls! Yum!

The awards ceremony was not too bad. We didn't get to stay too long but the opening speeches were very nice. They were having some entertainment before the awards were announced. I gotta say the place was packed. Which was great. Overall it was an awesome night and I cant wait to try more raw foods out!

Yummy Coconut ice cream giveaway!

Vanilla balls and Secret Santa

2009-12-29T19:08:00.001-08:00

The morning started off with one rockin workout!! 60 minutes elliptical and a cool down sesh. Nice! Then back to the apt. for some chocolate oats! Looks gross but tasted great!

wahoo!! Later on today its massage time, my legs need some love! I try to get a massage once every couple of months. I really think it helps the body rid itself of toxins and just moves everything around in general. Very healing.

I have the entire week off which is really fabulous so Ive been spending some more time in the kitch. Im out of balls! Since I ate most of them over this past week I decided to try and work on some new flavors. This time I created a goji and vanilla bean Raw ball.

Goji and Vanilla bean Raw Ball *

30 grams cashews

80 grams pitted medjool dates

1/8 cup goji berries (dried)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 vanilla beans

3 Tbsp. oatbran (oatmeal or ww flour works too, whatever you have on hand)

2 tsp. maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Put cashews into food processor and blend to a fine powder. Add in dates. Seed your vanilla bean. Slit bean down the side and using the sharp side of your knife carefully scrape the beans out.) Add these to the food processor. Take goji berries and add to boiling water for 2-3 minutes. This will plump them up alot more. Add them along with the rest of the ingredients and pulse. If too wet just add more oatbran until a good consistency is formed. Roll into balls and pop into freezer, fridge or mouth.=) Enjoy!

*Ball Disclaimer: The raw balls are not truly raw. Its just a name that stuck. Raw cookie dough batter balls was a bit of a mouthful so I abbreviated.

I just wanted to say thank you to Rose from On a Lobster Placemat!! She sent me these WONDERFUL oatcakes. Oh gosh they are so good. Me and my husband tore into these bad boys right away and man are they tasty!

Thank you so much!! So incredibly kind of you!

For lunch I loaded up on a cucumber salad with some of Averie’s slaw dressing. (Which is amazing btw!!! Im eating it on everything right now)

Also some greek yogurt and apples. (Surprise!)

The rest of the day was random housey stuff and errands. Then onto dinner! I like to munch while I cook and right now Im hooked on this amazingly hot and spicy mustard with cucumbers.

So delicious!! Super spicy which I love too.

Dinner was just some sautéed veggies and a miso and nooch gravy which turned out just ok. I think it still needs something though so I’ll have to keep on playing with it.

Then finally time for dessert! The usual Peanut butter tofu pudding and some naners and chia seeds for crunch.

Tomorrow Im really excited because Im hitting up Rawvolution in Santa Monica. Seems to awesome. Im hoping to learn a few things and try some fabulous new raw foods.

Anyways I hope everyone had a fantastic evening!!

xoxox!!

Cool soup giveaway!

Award!

2009-12-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

I was lucky to be presented with this amazing award! Averie passed on the Beautiful Blogger award to me and a few other incredible ladies and I'm so incredibly excited and humbled to receive it! Thank you so much, you are too sweet!!

Here are my 7 facts….

1) I work in the film industry as a digital lighter. Basically I light cg shots, so fun! (If your curious my reel is here)

2) When I was 12 I was “adopted” into the Leni Lenape tribe along with my grandfather. It was such an honor to be accepted as a friend.

3) When I was 13 I got to travel to 7 different European countries with a student ambassador program. It was an amazing life changing experience for me.

4) My absolute favorite type of food is mexican/tex mex. I could eat it 24/7 if I could. (And wash it all down with some amazing tequila!)

5) My absolute favorite scent is vanilla. I love vanilla anything from ice cream to perfume and everything in between. Its my favorite!

6) I have one sister and one brother both younger who just make my day. I'm incredibly close with my family and I talk to them at least once a day even though we live across the country from each other.

7) I hate the cold so much! If it gets below 50 degrees I have to start layering on the sweatshirts and complain to everyone around me about how cold it is. Yuck! I think it looks beautiful when it snows and everything but I just cant be outside in it for a long period of time.

Good stuff, thanks again!! I find it actually a bit hard to write about myself. Its feels a bit strange but I did my best.

Ive met sssooo many incredible and inspiring people through this blog. I think that has to be one of my favorite things. So please share fun facts about yourself!

Anyways this morning I went off to my favorite Spin class. Felt good to get a great morning sweat on. I came back cleaned up the apt. a bit. Super messy still from our Christmas eve soiree. Definitely was procrastinating as long as I possibly could. I made up a quick lunch though. My stomach was growling…

A big cucumber salad with a veggie burger and dressing. Also some apples and greek yogurt. Delish!!

After that I was ready to really tear up the house. 2 hours and 3 loads of laundry later it was definitely break time. They had a Deadliest Catch marathon on that I was watching while I cleaned. (I always have to have something on in the background.) I have incredible respect for those guys. Wow!

Later on for dinner I made a big spinach salad with veggies and some seitan “beef” strips which weren't too bad!

So good!! Well I think Im about out for now. Im off to get the jammies on make a nice cup of tea. The Surrogates just came on so Im off to watch that too.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and amazing night!

xoxo!

By the way…check out this amazing giveaway from the lovely Katie!

Vitalicious give away from IowaGirlEats!

awesome yoga mat giveaway!

Christmas Eve Extravaganza!

2009-12-26T19:29:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone!! I hope it was full of friends family and good times! I wasn't able to visit family this year but I was lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends. I woke up yesterday morning totally excited to cook. I was really tempted to skip the gym but I have to say, I was really glad I ended up going. I did a 90 minute power cardio workout! I knew since there would be lots of treats and good drinks some extra minutes in the gym would do me good! I blew through about 650 calories! Wahoo!

Now on to the good stuff…

Everyone came out around 4ish and I started off by making some appetizers for everyone.

There was some tomato basil bread pudding with a basil cream and balsamic reduction.

Then I made some artichoke and roasted red pepper bruschetta on crostinis. (bad pic…)

Lentil Pate on Endive with cranberries (a take on the traditional liver pate, vegan and delicious!)

Then I just had a veggie platter and some shrimp and cocktail sauce as well.

I finally got to put together my cookie tray as well!

Complete with plenty of raw balls. (they were all gone by the end of the night!)

More random pics..

Then finally after much wine and appetizers it was time for dinner! My friend Di made an excellent turkey!

Followed by some roasted root veggies (these always make an apperance at my holiday parties!)

Sauteed green beans..

and mashed potatoes which I actually didnt have a picture of. Ah well=)

I also made some of the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon (which are amazing!!)

Overall it was tons of fun! Im so glad I had wonderful friends to share the holiday season with!! Although I have to say my holiday was complete with this gift from my husband. I found under the tree….

A banana bunker!! hhahaha. Im totally excited. I have to say I couldnt stop laughing.

and also an amazing new camera=)

Complete with tons of different lenses and all kinds of good stuff. Im going to be a picture taking machine! Im so excited!!

Sorry to be a bit MIA, the holidays have kept me quite busy but Im ready to get back to some regular posting time. I was recently graced with an award and I’ll be sharing that soon!

Anyways I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday! I cannot wait to hear all about it!! What was your favorite dish you or someone else you know made this holiday season?

Take care!! xoxo!!

Workouts and baking bonanza!

2009-12-23T20:07:00.001-08:00

Im usually a very early riser but today, for the first time in months, I slept in until 9am! Whoa! lol. Not that late but late for me! Im usually up at around 7 am for some reason. I think my body is just used to getting up then. So I feel really rested but a tad on the groggy side. Nothing a big cup of coffee cant fix though. My amazing mother sent me some more coffee. Seriously I cant find a great coffee place in L.A! If anyone knows of one Id love to find out…But anyways she sent me a coffee called Holiday Spirit which is chocolate, caramel and awesomeness in a cup. Next up was a pound of eggnog coffee. Im in love. My brother even rocked out and sent me some coffee too. What a fabulous family. Jazzy Java and Jamacian Me Crazy. Thanks Drew!

I drank two gigundo cups out of my pumpkin mug then its off to the gym!

My legs are sore!!! Yowza! My brain is having fun but my legs are saying stop. I did about 60 minutes on the elliptical with a 15 minute cool down. Fabulous! Ive been really hitting the cardio up. I usually do this on holiday week so that I can enjoy some extra treats that I normally don't have. It helps me balance it out a bit.

So my cookie-a-thon continues! Peanut butter cookies with a dark chocolate drizzle, Jackson Pollock style, and then I showered them with some crushed, toasted nuts and some cane sugar.

I found this cane sugar at my local health food store and I love it! Although I think its a bit like brown sugar as it clumps real easy. I’ll have to throw some bread in the next bag.

I like it because it has a very nice rich molasses-y taste to it.

Then of course I had to make the infamous rum balls. I hope mine hold up to Mimis!! Pressure is on. They are still solidifying in the fridge though at the moment.

I made a quick lunch of some spaghetti squash and roasted broccoli.

Also, the people from Okinos were so incredibly kind and sent me a few coupons for some free yogurt to try out. I tried out the plain first and topped it with some chopped apples. Very tasty!!! I enjoyed this alot for lunch.

Ah finally raw ball time. These are my favorite snacks!

I started off making some dark chocolate ones..

Then I had to make the cranberry bliss ones. I think these are my favorite so far.

Then I finished up with some classic gingerbread balls.

I took some of the chocolate ones and rolled them in some crushed peanuts as well for some added crunch.

I cannot wait to tear into these tommorrow! Although I made sure to save some dough for myself=)

Aahhh I love being able to lick the bowl guilt free!

For dinner I was trying to clear out as much space in the fridge as possible to make space for the feast tomorrow. I ended up using up the last of the spaghetti squash, brussels sprouts, onions and veggie burger. I sautéed these all up until nice and crunchy and topped it with a quick dressing of sour cream and salsa. Very cool little mixture!

And now its time to decorate some sugar cookies and also prep for tomorrows feast. Going to be so fun. I plan to wake up early so I can get a good session in at the gym before I start cooking in the morning. It will feel so good to stretch the muscles out as I am a bit sore today. Even Max was giving me his best stretchin pose..

They will be feastin too tommorrow on tuna and cat treats=)

Do you have a favorite stretch? Anything you like to do in order to help relieve some muscle tension?

Have a fabulous evening everyone!

I love Christmas cookies..

2009-12-22T19:58:00.001-08:00

Actually I like making them more than I like eating them for some reason. I get such a kick out of it. Each year my mom makes an AMAZING cookie tray. Oh gosh. We used to work on it forever and by the time Christmas finally rolled around our freezer would be full of cookies. This year though, since Im staying here and not flying home to visit, I decided to make my own tray!

So of course I had to start with the classics..

Chocolate chippies!

Then onto some oatmeals (my personal fav…)

Then I baked up a bunch of sugar cookies. These are just waiting for me to ice them. So I will be back with some iced cookie pictures!

Then I made some Peanut Better bars from the Cooking with PETA book. Love these! My mom made these for us each year and they were always a fav.

Crunchy, peanut buttery and chocolaty.

Next up..Peanut butter and chocolate cookies, Carob thumbprints and some Peanut butter spelt cookies. Also on the list some rum balls (Austin’s fav..his grandmother Mimi makes some great rum balls so I gotta do it up Mimi style!) And I also plan on a slew of different raw balls. Cannot wait to start those either. I gotta get movin!

My Aunt flew in from China yesterday so I got to hang out with her for a bit. She was too sweet and treated me to some rocking new baking pans from Williams Sonoma. My cookies come out fabulous with these new baking pans!! (complete with flour still on them=)

I had some old crappy pans earlier and was finding my cookies were burning on the bottom and not finished baking in the middle. Aaahh the wonders of insulated baking pans. The second I started these my cookies are turning out perfect. Some good pans are worth the cash!

So I was shopping around and came across some interesting peanut butter.

I had to pick some up just for curiosity’s sake. Its not the greatest for you as it has a decently big ingredient list but it tastes great and is very decadent. I’ll honestly probably just eat this once in awhile, but its great as a small treat!

I finished up the night with a big huge salad. I needed something to balance out all that baking! Grilled onions and peppers on a huge bed of lettuce with small veggie burger and a quick dressing of just some sour cream and spicy smoky salsa. Sooo good!

Since we are hanging around we decided to have a get together with all our friends that will still be in town. So far on the menu:

Appetizers:

Tomato Basil bread pudding bites with a balsamic reduction

lentil pate in Endive with cranberries and pistachios

Fresh artichoke and caramelized onion crostinis

Shrimp (!) with cocktail sauce

Veggie tray with a onion dip (and a vegan version too)

Desserts:

cookie trays

vanilla bean layer cake with hot chocolate icing

Assorted raw balls

rum balls

Looks like alot but oh well. Its fun! I cook as healthy as I possibly can but I try not obsess about it around the holidays (the rest of the year is a different story, ha!). I find that just keeping everything in moderation, enjoying friends and of course keeping up with workouts is the key to preventing any added weight during the holidays. I think that's the best way to get through the holidays. No stress, relax, hit the gym and have a good time.

Tomorrow I plan on going to my spin class and continuing to prep. If its nice out (It was sunny and 75 the other day!) I might bike around for awhile too.

Anyways I hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far!!

How's the holiday shopping going? I think mine is all done. (Finally!) Do you have any special treats you look forward to only at the holidays?

Take care!! Im on to Part 2 of cookie baking…

Shopping..more shopping and banana cookies!

2009-12-17T22:41:00.001-08:00

Hello! I hope everyone is having one fab-U-lous week so far. Mine has been full of holiday shopping, perfume dodging and cookie baking.

Just wanted to say thanks to Averie! I received my awesome Amazing Grass package in the mail. Thanks so much!!

I cannot wait to try all this out. Im sssoo excited!

The rest of my day was pretty great as I got alot of stuff done. I rocked the gym during my lunch break today, 60 minutes of elliptical action with a 15 minute cool down on the treadclimber. Then made a fast lunch of leftovers. Im in need of some serious g-shopping so I scrounged. Cabbage and onions with egg whites. Did the trick!

After work, I came home and roasted up a spaghetti squash with some marinara, parmesan cheese and some seitan. It doesnt look too stellar on the plate but tasted great!

Aahh my poor little seitan strips look so sad. hahah.

I hit up some shopping later. I finished grabbin up some goodies for the blogger secret santa so I can send that out tomorrow. I'm so excited about it. I also found some things for Austin.

Aaaahh, what a sad little wrap job. I honestly did not inherit the beautiful wrapping gene. Oh well. My husband on the other does an amazing job. I wish he could have wrapped these for me.

In between bouts of crappy wrapping I did however make some killer cookies. These are amazingly delicious. Half the batter in my face, and a few when they came out of the oven. They are Banana and Date Oaties and they rock my socks off!

Banana and Date Oaties

3 ripe bananas

2 c. oatmeal

1 c. dates

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. maple extract

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

Mash bananas in food processor until smooth but still a tad lumpy. Transfer to bowl and mix with oats. Then in the food processor mash you dates and then add this to the banana and oat mixture. Add rest of ingredients and stir to combine. (If you find you batter a bit wet just add a tad more oatmeal or even some whole wheat flour would work too) Then bake at 350 for roughly 15 minutes.

These were so tasty. Big chunks of banana with maple and cinnamon. They bake up in whatever shape you want. So mold away. I used a cookie scooper for mine so I got banana balls but you could always squish them down into a more cookie like shape.

And just in case your bananas are in need of protection, fear not!

The Banana Bunker protects smooshy banana accidents in your bag.

Whew what a relief.

And on that happy note Im out! I hope you are all having one fantastic week!! Happy Baking!

Happy Monday!

2009-12-14T22:50:00.001-08:00

This morning started off great! Sweet spin class…then lunched on some veggie soup and a quick wrap with some tofurky, mustard and cucumbers and a fresh satsuma orange.

The Tofuky I tried out in my wrap was really good. It was a cranberry and stuffing flavor. Pretty holiday-ish.

Delicious! I showered fast with some Klean whipped body polish. I cannot get over how awesome this stuff is! I used a Pumpkin spice whipped body polish followed up with some Angel food cake smelling body soufflé. Yum! I smell like dessert. Its great.

Then back to work time. After work though I had to get my shop on! The realization that the holidays is just around the corner finally hit me. Ack! Time to get it in gear. I finally went to this new mall that just opened. I have been avoiding it because well it just opened and its the holidays..so I thought it was going to be a total mad house. But really not so bad. I ended up walking out with too many things for myself. I hate when i do that! hahah.

Massive perfume headache now though. I think I must have tested out about 50 perfumes. Ugh. Do you ever avoid malls and stores around the holidays? (I certainly do! Well certain ones anyways=)

When I got back I was super hungry for some reason. I whipped up some tofu peanut butter pudding and topped it with some chia seeds, coconut, goji berries and some raw cacao nibs. It was ssooo good!

It was super comforting and just hit the spot. Now Im off to see if there is a Criminal Minds on. (When is there not?) I absolutely love that show. Anyways have a fabulous night everyone!

Tommorrow morning tickets for the UT game are on sale. Its gonna be tough to get but we are getting ready for it. Wish us luck!

We cant Say Its Cheese…

2009-12-12T19:55:00.001-08:00

So I recently came across a new vegan cheese called We Cant Say its Cheese and the people over at Wayfare were kind enough to send me some samples to try out there product.

Now I’ll be honest, I'm usually not a fan of vegan cheese. I was vegan for about 6 years I believe, and that whole time I just didn't eat any vegan cheese type products. But I was a bit curious about this one.

What really caught my attention was that the first ingredient was oatmeal. Now, since oatmeal is definitely one of my top foods I was super curious. Flipping the container over I checked out the ingredient list.

Nice! All ingredients I recognize which is a bonus. I don't like eating foods with indecipherable ingredients. Real food please! So thumbs up on this.

Next up..I gotta check the nutritional stats..cause well…I always do!

Not bad either. So far looking very promising. Now the real test…the taste…

It comes in three flavors:

Hickory Smoked Cheddar Style spread

Mexi Cheddar Style Dip

Cheddar Style Spread

Cheddar Style Dip

The difference with the dip and the spread is consistency. The Spread is way more thicker than the Dip. I think of the dip more like a sour cream consistency and the spread like a cream cheese.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the taste. It doesn’t taste exactly like cheese but to me its a wonderful substitute. The mexi had a great kick and the cheddar has a real nice overall flavor to it. My favorite though was the hickory smoked. Its wonderful. It just has such a lovely smoky flavor that would great for all kinds of dishes.

Another plus to me was that it was meltable. Oh yes. That is something that is hard to get with a lot of vegan cheeses. I used some of the cheddar dip and popped it in the micro for about 30 seconds and I had the most wonderful melty spread. Pour it over some noodles and voila! Delicious mac and cheese. I love the fact that this product is so versatile. I decided to test it out in different ways:

Vegan Cheesy Sweet Potato Soup with Ancho Chilies and a Fire Roasted Corn Salsa

Soup:

1 large sweet potato (small dice)

1 large carrot (small dice)

3 dried chili peppers

4 c. water

1 ancho chili

1 tsp. of adobo sauce

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh pepper

3 large Tbsp. We Can’t Say its Cheese Cheddar Cheese Spread

1/2 lime

Salsa:

1 ear corn

1/4 onion (small dice)

1/2 large red pepper

1/2 lime

cilantro

salt

Toppings:

crushed blue corn tortilla chips

Directions:

For the soup Boil about 2 cups of the water with the diced sweet potato and carrots. Add in the 3 dried chili peppers and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender. Remove and toss dried chilies. Drain and toss into the food processor and blend. Add puree back into pan and add remaining 2 cups of water. Add in seasonings, bouillon cube. Finely chop your ancho chili and add that to the soup. If you like it spicy add in about 1 tsp of the adobo sauce. Simmer for about 20 minutes or so uncovered. Soup will seem a bit thin but this is ok as it thickens once you add in the cheese. Right before serving, add in the cheese and squeeze of lime, whisk and heat for about 5-6 more minutes. Soup is finished!

Salsa:

For the salsa fire up your grill and sear the corn and red pepper. While that is cooking, dice up your onion and add to a small bowl. Once pepper and corn are charred remove from heat. Take the charred skin off the pepper and small dice. Add to onions. Take the corn off the cob and add this to the bowl as well. Season with salt, juice from 1/2 of lime and cilantro.

Assembly:

Spoon soup into bowls. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of salsa an the middle. Top with crushed corn chips and enjoy!

Next up some potato skins! No real recipe here. I mainly just filled some wonderful purple potatoes that I found at the market and stuffed them with caramelized onions. Then I made a quick salsa and had a side of the cheddar style dip to dip the potatoes in. Easy and great!

Next up I whipped up some ultimate comfort. A very easy and mighty cheesy cauliflower gratin.

Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

1 head of cauliflower

4 Tbsp. Earth balance butter

4 Tbsp. Whole wheat flour

2 c. soymilk (or other nut milk)

6 big Tbsp. Hickory Smoked Cheddar Cheese

3 green onions, fine dice

1 tsp garlic

1/4 c. panko bread crumbs

sea salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Chop cauliflower into small florets. Put into boiling water and boil cauliflower until al dente. (soft but not mush, still has some crunch) Strain cauliflower into colander and place into greased baking pan. Using a medium skillet heat butter until melted. Whisk in flour making a roux. Stream in milk and keep whisking until it boils. It should now be a thick consistency. Add in cheese and whisk until all combined. Remove from heat and add in green onions and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the cauliflower. Top with panko crumbs and garlic. Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Pop into oven and bake 20 minutes. (or until nice and bubbly)

Note: if you like your gratin super cheesy just double the recipe.

Overall I would definitely buy this product again. I think its healthy alternative to cheese and it offers a lot of possibilities. It offers a good taste on its own but also pairs up well with other products and heats nicely.

Wow! What a week…

2009-12-12T10:33:00.001-08:00

Wow! It feels like forever! I feel like Ive been MIA for awhile. And well I have been. This week was crazy, between work and family flying in and all sorts of other things it has been exhausting. In a good way though=) So unfortunately I have been neglecting my writing..but no worries! I think things are calming down now so whew!!

So far Ive been sticking pretty close to my goals so Im happy! Despite it being crazy I did have time to make a few of Averie’s raw gingerbread cookies.

They are amazing!

Yuuuuuuuum!

I've also been working on a huge product review which Im super excited about too. So will have that ready soon. Today is most definitely Christmas cookie day! I used to do this all day with my mom. Its a tradition. She always bakes up the hugest plate of cookies which is amazing. We actually used to start making them weeks in advance and then just freeze them. There's something about freezing them too which adds to the texture a bit I think. Aahh well…its mainly for the nostalgia and since I cant be there to visit them this year I'm baking up my own plate!

I got an email the other day too with some great baking tips that I thought that I would share…(from myrecipes.com)

Baking Tips: (myrecipes.com)

Split the dough.

Work with half of the cookie dough at a time when rolling and cutting cookies. Too much handling of the dough makes cookies tough. Keep the other half refrigerated. Chilled dough is easier to handle.

Choose baking sheets wisely.

Bake cookies on shiny, heavy aluminum baking sheets. These sheets with no sides are designed for easily sliding cookies onto a cooling rack. Dark sheets may absorb heat, causing cookies to brown too much on the bottom; nonstick baking sheets work well if not too dark. Insulated baking sheets require a slightly longer baking time.

Know how to grease.

Grease baking sheets with cooking spray or solid shortening instead of butter or margarine. Avoid using tub butter or margarine products labeled as spread, reduced calorie, liquid, or soft-style. These contain less fat than regular butter or margarine and do not give satisfactory results.

Purchase parchment paper.

Use parchment paper to eliminate the need for greasing baking sheets. It also promotes even browning.

Don't overload the oven.

Bake one sheet of cookies at a time on the middle oven rack; if you need to bake more than one at a time, rotate the sheets from the top rack to the bottom rack halfway through baking to encourage even browning.

Make a better bar.

To make brownies and bar cookies, line a baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil; allow several inches to extend over the sides. Lightly grease the foil. Spread the batter evenly in the pan; bake and cool. Lift from the pan, using edges of the foil. Press down the foil sides; cut cookies into the desired size and shape with a dough scraper (available at kitchen-supply stores).

Be careful with overbaking.

Check cookies for doneness at the minimum baking time.

Use cooled baking sheets.

Cool baking sheets between batches before reusing; wipe the surface of each with a paper towel.

Short on cooling racks?

Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter and sprinkle it with sugar. Cookies will cool without getting soggy.

Cool before storing.

Cool cookies completely before storing them in airtight containers.

I thought these were pretty good tips. Ive been baking for a good while but didnt know the trick with the cooling racks. So just wanted to pass it along!

On the menu today:

Chocolate spelt cookies and Peanut butter teff cookies. Yum!!

Also on the agenda:

-Rockin out at the gym

-grocery shopping

-manicure (most needed)

-cooking and baking time!

Well Im off to get my gym thang on. Have a wonderful day everyone!

2009-12-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Delicious coffee giveaway! Check it out...the flavors look great.

Cranberry Bliss Raw Balls, Craft Fair and a Give away Winner!

2009-12-06T20:30:00.001-08:00

Fabulous day so far! Hit up the gym and had one kickin workout…I rocked the elliptical and then tried out the treadclimber. If havent ever used the treadclimber before one word of advice, pay attention to what you are doing. I got in the zone and started listening to some music and then I just about bit it.

Lets just say I stepped in the middle of the treadmill. Bad move. Still had an awesome time though despite the massive ego blow!

Do any of you have any fun embarrassing gym stories you’d be willing to share? (I’ll admit, I’ve taken a tumble or two off the treadmill and one almost toppled off my spin bike….)

Today I went out the Unique L.A craft show in downtown L.A where my friend was selling some her amazing crafts. Will be cool! She does amazing work so I'm pretty excited to see what she's been making!

I packed some road snacks..Go Raw bars..LOVE these!

Also some club soda with blueberry stevia in it. This stuff rocks my socks off. Not too sweet and just tons of blueberry goodness. You can put it in almost anything. I like it in water, gives a nice light fruity taste without that sugary taste. My mom actually found this at a health food store near her. Good find!

When we arrived there were tons of amazing artisans there selling everything from jewelry to clothes to tea. You name it, they had it!

Wonderful smelling aromatherapy goods.

Delicious teas! I sampled a chocolate, caramel hazelnut tea. Yummmy!

I stumbled upon a wonderful bath and body company. Its called Klean and wow is this stuff amazing. I think I spent about 30 minutes here testing and smelling everything. I ended stocking up on things for myself and some gifts as well!

The Whipped Body Polish is amazing! Not greasy like some body scrubs are. But it left my skin so incredibly soft. Highly recommend these products as they are fabulous. They also come in the most amazing scents ever. I like more vanilla scents usually and I bought the Where Angels Go scent, which is a vanilla angle food cake, some whipped Body polish in Perfect Pumpkin and Brown Sugar and some whipped shea butter in cocoa. Amazing!!!

They also had plenty of delicious foods! This was one dangerous stand as all the cookies look out of this world.

But finally I came across a favorite of mine…

I was ssooo excited when I saw this!! I LOVE this chocolate. I walked away with Coffee and vanilla bean chocolate, Bing cherry, almond and black peppercorn chocolate, orange spice and my favorite a pure 85% cocoa bar.

On my way out I picked up a cute BeerDeer ornament my friend was selling. Cute!

What a day! I came back five hours later shopped out and ready to cook! I whipped up some turkey chili for Austin. Ground Turkey, cumin, chipotle peppers, masa harina, dark beer, chocolate, cumin and tons of kidney beans and veggies.

And some pumpkin pudding for me. (With just a half serving of fiber one! ahha. Im still sticking to my goals…;) )

But this was a container of Chobani, 1/2 c. of pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, a splash of coconut milk, vanilla stevia and some Fiber one on top. I gotta have the crunch in my pudding!

And I got around to making some Cranberry Bliss Raw Balls! These might not be completely raw…but for some reason that is just what I keep on calling them. I used the nut to date ratio from Katie’s fudge baby recipes. It works out great!

Cranberry Bliss Raw Balls:

30 grams of cashews

80 grams of medjool dates

2 Tbs oatbran

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 Tbs white chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. maple syrup

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. craisons

4 Tbsp coconut flakes (just enough to roll the balls in)

Blend the cashews, oatbran, cinnamon, ginger, salt and chocolate chips together in food processor. When this is ground down fine enough. Add in the dates, maple syrup, vanilla extract. Blend again. Put into bowl and mix in your craisons. Roll into balls and roll in coconut flakes. Top with some cinnamon.

And finally Contest time!! The winner of the Kind Diet Book by Alicia Silverstone is……

Naomi of one Fit Foodie!!! Congrats girl!!!!

Anyways I hope everyone is having a fantastic Sunday evening and have a great start to the week!!

Check this amazing Raw give away~!

If you love Larabars you will love this giveaway!

Happy Decemeber!

2009-12-05T08:37:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe its already almost Christmas. I'm so excited. I love this time of year. It totally energizes me completely and brings so many memories or warmth and comfort. I've had to take some time off from working out which has been really hard for me!! I had my RMR tested this week and basically wasn't allowed to work out for 48 hours prior to the test then after some bad planning on my part (late nights at work) I missed out. Although I did squeeze in 3o minutes tonight on my trainer so at least it was something! Gotta love indoor biking.

So I wanted to make some changes in my life. I'm not trying to lose weight more just maintain and I just feel like I've been eating too much cereal and simple carbs and sugar! I feel like a puffed marshmallow.

Yuck! The RMR test really helped me too as I know have something to aim for!

So some of my healthy challenges this month for me is:

1) Eat way less sugar…not cutting it out completely but I really have to start limiting my FroYo obsession

2) Watch my cereal intake. While I don't think cereal is a bad thing, eating large quantities in one sitting is probably something my body doesn't need

3) Get on a more regular workout schedule. Ive still been maintaining 4-6 days per week but its all at random times

4) Change up my routine a bit

5) Spend way more time with the hubby and my kitties.

6) Get more sleep and de-stress more!

I just wanted to write these out because I think that once its typed out I will hold myself more accountable for it. And the last one is a huge one for me….

7) No more late night snack attacks!! <—this is huge for me as I sometimes eat when Im not even hungry! Gotta Stop.

So these are my challenges for the month. It takes21 days to make something a habit (or so Ive read) So I’m hoping by Christmas I’ll have some healthier habits. Wow sorry this was long..Probably boring too.

Ok now on with the good stuff!

This week has been crazy!!! So Ive been a bit MIA. So crazy I even had to hit up my trainer instead of the gym. Ignore the mess. Cleaning day is today ;)

I did this while watching Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Such a great show. Im looking really intense too..hahah.

Eats were fast that day..

Beans with loads of garlic and onion seasoning.

Quick wrap with some cheese, cucs and mustard. And finally some apple cereal!

Yum! There was definitely some cereal action happening too that isn't pictured.

Anyways I'm off for now. But will be back later with some recipes and to announce the winner of the Alicia Silverstone book! Have a great morning!!

Gingerbread balls!

2009-12-01T21:16:00.001-08:00

Today was a fudge baby raw ball making day! They are so tasty and highly addicting. For the holiday season I made some gingersnap flavored ones! I also have a few other flavors I’m working on but I still have to nail down the recipes. So I can post back later with them.

I took the base recipe from Katie’s chocolate chip cookie dough babies (which rock by the way!) and just modified them a bit. The basic recipe came out to be:

30 g. cashews

80 g dates

2 tsp. unsulphured blackstrap molasses

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp ginger

1 Tbsp. oatmeal

sprinkle of cinnamon

pinch of salt

optional: sprinkle with some crystallized ginger pieces

Throw it all in the food processor and give it a whirl. Once all nicely chopped, roll your balls and pop in the fridge. C’est fini!

Tastes like a gingerbread cookie! Yum!

Other flavors I have made are the original chocolate chip fudge babies. My poor little processor just can’t quite seem to chop the nuts and oatmeal too fine, so it came out with some bigger chunks, but still tasted great! I also topped with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

And some of Katie’s Hot chocolate fudge babies!

Gingersnap cookies have always been a favorite of mine but this year Im trying to cut back on the amount of flour and sugar that I eat. So to me these are a fantastic compromise. I love taking old treats and updating them in a new and healthy way!

Are their any holiday treats that you plan on giving a healthy makeover this holiday season?

Remember to sign up for my give away!

And check out this Healthy and Sane give away.

And for some holiday cookies check out Peanut Butter and Jenny

An amazing glo bar give away!

Yoga mat give away!

Lazy Sundays…

2009-11-29T22:56:00.001-08:00

Aahh Sunday, I really wish there was one more day to the weekend. Honestly..where did this weekend go? I woke up this morning to some oatmeal and oatbran mixture. It was tasty! I impulse bought some chocolate peppermint flavored coffee from the Coffee Bean and Tea leaf the other night that I busted out as well. I really had some high hopes for it, but overall not too flavorful. Maybe I buy the wrong stuff or something but overall I haven't been too impressed with anything that I have gotten there. Anyways I hit up my favorite spin class this morning…Sundays are the best, the instructor is so energetic and just rocks!

When I got back I was pretty hungry so I made up a quick wrap and some roasted Kombucha squash. The wrap was just some eggplant hummus and chopped veggies.

Overall pretty good. I started to clean up the place a bit and ended up hitting the couch for a bit to relax. I made a big bowl of fruit cereal! I found this idea while reading Sarah’s blog, The Foodie Diaries. A chopped up apple warmed up with some almond milk and topped with pumpkin pie spice and pom seeds. Yummers!

Dinner was pretty simple but delish. Some veggie soup and sweet potato fries. I had this veggie bouillon that I have been using for awhile. I finally checked out the stats on it and realized that it had a days worth of sodium in it! Yowzas! That will teach me to start checking out all labels more closely. So I went without it. Anyone know of a really good low sodium bouillon out there?

Overall wasnt bad though, pretty filling!

Also tried out some new tea. It was pretty tasty. A bit minty with a twist of cinnamon. Nice and comforting.

After dinner I tackled some more Christmas decorating! I finally got some ornaments up on the tree. Sammers decided to help me..

And now its back to work tomorrow. I actually had a week off last week and it went so incredibly fast! I feel like my vacation should have just started. Oh well. A start to another fabulous week! Have a great night everyone!

Don’t forget to check out this cool give away! Im so excited about this one!

Give Away Time!

2009-11-28T09:47:00.001-08:00

I wanted to kick off the holiday season with a new give away. Instead of a food product I thought it would be fun to give away a new cookbook! I picked up The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. In the beginning of the book she gives reasons as to why she's vegan and some easy steps for incorporating more vegan meals into your diet. In the second half of the book there are a bunch of yummy looking recipes.

Some of the recipes include, Black Soybean and Kabocha Squash Stew, Eggplant Chana Masala, Artichoke, Mushroom and Leek Crostini with Pesto, Maple Roasted Lotus Root, Sunchoke and Leeks plus much more! Overall she has some interesting recipes and its worth checkin out.

Wanna win it?! Yesss! Ok heres the deal:

1) Let me know your favorite movie!

2) Become a follower of my blog

3) Link this contest on your site and let me know that you did so

4) Add me to your blog roll

I will be picking the winner next Saturday, December 5th, at noon! Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:49:00.001-08:00

Whew am I stuffed! Good food, family, friends..I love the holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday as well! There are so many things to be thankful for this year. We couldn't be with family this year unfortunately so me and my husband just had a little thanksgiving of our own. Its our first holiday being married so kinda cool!

When I woke up this morning I hit the gym bright and early. Its really hard to for me to break my routine and I especially think its important during the holiday season. With all these good eats around I gotta make sure I keep on movin! When I came home though I was super energized and whipped up some homemade pumpkin pie pancakes for Austin to have for breakfast.

Oddly enough I just kinda wasn't in the mood for pancakes so ended up just eating some eggs and fruit instead.

Ok so what I’m NOT thankful for are those annoying fruit stickers! Arg! I find them everywhere. How annoying.

Since we ate brunch pretty late and I wanted to make sure I was super hungry by the time dinner rolled around, I went out and bought some shrimp for a appetizer. Not too traditional but some good protein during the day always helps!

Our cats Sam and Max loved this too=) Sammy took off with one. What a wiener.

Today was a gorgeous 75 degrees and sunny out. How awesome?! So we ended up taking a nice long walk through the neighborhoods. It was really quiet and you could actually see some of the color changes in the trees which was really nice. Quiet near where we live is an oddity so it was a great change of pace.

When we got back I was too excited to start making dinner. Since it was just the two of us I kept it simple. I asked Austin what he wanted and put that on the list to make. I just wanted tons of roasted root veggies and green beans for some reason. But before I started cooking I made myself some flavored water.

Its just chopped cucumbers, orange and some mint. Its really refreshing! I had to have it in a guinness glass too!

First up was the bread. I LOVE home made bread. The way it makes the whole house smell is the ultimate in comfort! I rolled mine into small balls so it would be easy to tear apart.

Yum!

Next up was the root veggies. For these I used turnips, sweet potatoes, onions, brussels sprouts and parsnips. Roasted up with some rosemary and sage.

I roasted up some garlic cloves to throw into the smashed potatoes. I’m usually not a huge fan of mashed potatoes and I don’t eat them that often but when I do I love them super garlicky and with tons of fresh pepper.

Not a very flattering picture but they were pretty darn good!

Some roasted green beans with toasted almonds and garlic. Some of my almonds got a little too toasty but I still ate them. =)

And finally the turkey breast! I squeezed on some fresh orange juice and some sage and rosemary. Simple and delicious!

What a spread! It was quite a feast for two people. We will be eating well for the next couple of days. The strange looking stuff in the bowl is just gravy. I couldn’t find anything to put it in. I gotta hit up the Bed Bath and Beyond soon.

And for the grand finale…..

Chocolate pecan pies!

Aaahhh and now I have one gigantic food baby going on. I think its time to curl up under the blankets and put a movie on.

Some super cool giveaway! If you like Newmans check this out!

I hope everyone had a super amazing and absolutely fantastic holiday!!

2009-11-26T07:44:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Its time for Thai!

2009-11-25T10:49:00.001-08:00

Wow this morning was a hiney kicker. I took a spin class with an instructor Ive never had before and wowza! She took no prisoners. I like it!!=) Today, uber busy but so fun! I ran to my class, got home, finished up some secret projects (hehe) Then vacuumed and cleaned like a crazy lady then off to the store for dinner supplies.

Tonight is thai night! My friend Holly is coming over and we are cooking up a feast. Whats on the menu? Well some lemongrass infused jasmine rice with a coconut curry veggie stir fry and some thai veggie rolls! Super light and tasty.

Before we started cooking though I had to try something. I’ve been trying to buy fruits and vegetables I’ve never had before just so I can try new foods. I found this horned melon at Whole Foods and thought to give it a go.

It was interesting. It was very gelatinous, almost jello like. It was like eating a jelly like melon tasting orange. Odd but not bad. I don't think I could just sit down and eat this everyday, but it was cool to try…Ok now on with the cookin!

First up we started with the veggie spring rolls.

We stuffed these rolls full of carrots, spring onions, cucumbers and tons of fresh herbs. A quick sauce was made with some Braggs, peanut butter, sesame oil, chili flakes and some agave. It made for a great appetizer and went perfectly with our wine!

Austin’s mom was so awesome and bought us some amazing wine from a winery in Solvang, CA. It was awesome!!

Next up was the main attraction! Jasmine infused rice and some coconut vegetable curry. Curries have the potential to be super fatty and high calorie, but we kept ours light, healthy and tasty!

For the rice we sautéed up some onions, lemongrass ginger and garlic..then I tossed in the rice and toasted it in the pan until lightly browned. I think searing the grains before adding liquid really brings out a fantastic nutty quality in the grain. Then I tossed in some water and bouillon cube and let that cook away!

We chopped up tons of veggies like broccoli, zucchini, carrots, brussels sprouts and tons of fresh ginger, garlic and basil and let that sear up in the pan. The sauce was made with a lite coconut milk, red curry paste, peanut butter, basil, fish sauce, chili flakes and a squeeze of fresh lime. To help keep the calorie count low I just drizzled enough sauce in the pan to wet the veggies and then put the rest of the sauce on the side so you could add your own. Top with fresh cilantro and eat up!

Sorry for the lack of pics..I had the dreaded battery of death right in the middle of dinner! aahh! I forgot to charge it up. Aahh well…

Anyways overall it turned out to be an awesome dinner! Lots of fun! Thanks Holly for coming over and helping out! It turned out fabulous.

Dont forget to check out this amazing giveaway from Healthy and Sane!

Macroons and bars take 2!

2009-11-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

So my first batch of macroons turned out a bit dry..I think I left them in the dehydrator too long. My second try though i left the batter a bit stickier and dehydrated them for less time and they turned out great! A bit crunchy on the outside and gorgeously sweet chocolaty and chewy on the inside. Awesome!

I also love these goji bars that I found at my local health food store. They are almost $3 bucks a pop though so a tad pricey for me. Looking at the ingredients I figured I could make my own. Coconut, almond meal, goji berries, dried figs, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt make up this bar. They turned out pretty close to the original. (Although I think they need a bit more of that wonderful coconut flavor)

On a side note though, I finally found some more PB&J Larabars at Whole Foods again. They were out for ages and I got so excited when I saw them again. I stocked up lets just say=)

Pomegrante Mousse with a Chocolate Oatmeal Crust

2009-11-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Pomegrante Mousse with a Chocolate Oatmeal Crust:

Crust:

1/4 c. cocoa powder
3/4 c. oatmeal
2 tsp. cane sugar
1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. cinnamon

Pomegrante Mousse:

1 box silken tofu
1 c. pomegranate juice
2 Tbsp. Agar
2 tsp. NuNaturals Baking stevia (or you can sub. powdered sugar or sweetener of choice)

optional toppings:
pomegranate arils
mint
crushed pistachios
cocoa powder (for dusting)

Crust:
for the crust, place oatmeal and cocoa powder in food processor and blend until fine. Add rest of ingredients and pulse. Crust will be a bit crumbly but this is ok. Spray a mini muffin pan well. Press crust into the muffin pan and work up the sides of the pan. If crust is too dry, wet your fingers will you do this. I had to press pretty hard into my pan to get a nice shape. Place into a 350 degree oven for roughly 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely.

Mousse:

Place tofu, stevia and vanilla extract into food processor and blend until it forms a pudding like consistency. Meanwhile, bring the 1 cup of pom juice and agar to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until agar flakes disappear. Let cool. Add to tofu mixture, blend quick and place into a bowl. Place in refrigerator until set.

Once ready to serve, dollup the mousse into the chocolate cups and top with pomegranate arils. Dust with cocoa powder. Add Mint for garnish or chopped pistacios.

Enjoy!!

One of the many reasons to excercise...

2009-11-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

Waking up this morning I was really just in an overall bad mood for some reason. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I felt like hiding under the covers, eating my weight in junk and napping the whole day. Instead though I told myself to just get up, make it to the gym and then I can decide what I want to do. I ate my usual breakfast of oatmeal and I made a push to go. And man, was that worth it! I got into the zone super fast and had one amazing workout! I felt so great when I left, my bad mood was gone. That is one of the many reasons to workout. All those good endorphines can really do your body good. The whole rest of the day too I ate amazing foods, got some errands done and ended up having a pretty great day overall.

I even attempted to make some raw dark chocolate macroons! I whipped them up and into the dehydrator they went. I cannot wait to try these babies out tommorrow. My whole apt. smells like a chocolate factory. I tested some of the batter out before rolling them up and they are ssoo good. I cant believe I havent made these before! Im really interested in seeing what the health benefits of coconut butter was and was amazed at the benefits that I have found so far. I even bought a book on it and am going to read it tonight. (Yup, Im a nerd) =)

Tonight I was more in to mood for a light dinner. Plus lets face it, since I worked it hard at the gym I wanted to save some room for some tofu pudding! But I sauteed up some green beans with some fresh grated ginger and garlic. I added a splash of some coconut vinegar that I found at the store. I topped it off with some fresh chopped persimmons and some shredded coconut. Loved it! I havent had a Persimmon in awhile and I forgot how much I loved them. The persimmons added some nice sweetness against the tartness of the coconut vinegar.

I was mentioning this morning to my husband, Austin, that I need to get some more music for my ipod. I just got a few new songs but I have some old ones that have been on repeat for awhile. Time to clean the list out! So when my husband got home tonight he brought me back a giftcard so I could get some more music to listen to while at the gym. I just thought that was such a nice gesture. It made my night. So overall my cranky morning turned into one fabulous day!

Do you ever have days like this? If so, what are some of your ways of turning that bad morning into a good day?

Jam of the day: Evacuate the Dance Floor - Cascada

This song just really got me in the zone this morning.

What a day!

2009-11-21T18:21:00.001-08:00

Whew what a day! I was out and about running errands and getting things done! I love days like this. I was starting to feel really backed up and now Im startin to catch up. Fabulous! =) I hit up my favorite store, whole foods. Then I had some appointments to hit up. Finally Im home sitting on the couch relaxing and eating some yummy dinner. Tonight's dinner was pretty simple but good. First I spiralized up some zucchini. Then, I caramelized some onions, brussels sprouts, and red peppers. I tossed in some lentils, fire roasted tomatoes, hot sauce and some Smokin Willie's seasonings. This seasoning blend is nice and smokey. I love it. Threw that mixture on the zucchini and finished the dish off with some chopped cilantro. Excellent!

Dessert was a pumpkin pie pudding. Pumpkin puree, vanilla stevia, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and topped off with some Kashi Go Lean Cereal. Ive been really eating everything topped with cereal lately for some reason. It tasted great though!

On that note I'm off to attempt to try and find a good movie on. Wish me luck=)

Yummy Nutridel cookies!

2009-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

I started off my weekend by sleeping in. Felt sssoo great but I missed my favorite spin class. Ah well. Im kinda bummed but its Saturday so I do have all day to hit the gym later this afternoon. One of the many perks about not working on the weekends. I staggered into the kitchen this morning and saw that I really did leave it a huge wreck from last night. So while the coffee was a'brewing I got my cleaning gloves out and attacked that kitchen! Chrysta = 1, Kitchen = 0. Its all nice and sparkley now! I decided to reward myself with a bit cup of pumpkin Spice coffee and some nice oats. Nothing fancy, just my vanilla stevia with cinnamon and pepper in it. Its good though!

I have to say I was really excited today though! I received some amazing cookies in the mail that the people from Nutridel so generously sent me! (Thank you!!) I got two flavors, pecan and flax. I started off with the flax cookie. I took a big ol' bite of this cookie and was in heaven! It was light and crunchy and had a wonderful cinnamon undertone to it. It reminded me of some oatmeal cookies that my mom used to make when we were little. It was sweeter than I was expecting but in a good way. I thought the light texture and crunch from the flax was the perfect combo. The taste was just right. I broke one of the cookies up and had it in my greek yogurt for lunch. I left it sitting in there awhile, as I usually work while I lunch, and I found that it didn't get too soggy. Still crunchy even after minutes of being left to sit in the yogurt.

The Pecan flavor was just a good. Not quite as cinnamon-y as the flax but delicious all the same. What I really love about these cookies is the amazing nutritional stats that it boasts. I'm pretty picky about what I eat and buy and I was really impressed with this ingredient list. And only approx. 60 calories per cookie?! Yes Please! I think this cookie would be great crumbled on top of a salad too.

What I noticed as well was that they were a really good size cookie. A lot bigger than I was expecting which is always a plus when you need a filling snack on the go!

Overall I really really liked this cookie a lot. I love the ingredients and it tastes great too! I will definitely be ordering these again real soon. So check em out if you haven't already! Thanks Nutridel for a great product.

Is it Friday yet??

2009-11-18T19:47:00.001-08:00

Today was my gym day off. I had an absolutely fabulous gym sesh yesterday though. I blasted through my spin class and even did a cool down on the elliptical, followed by some abs. Nice!! But the one thing Ive learned is to let the body rest. I personally like to take 2 days off a week. Its just what works for me and I just try and listen to my body on which days to take off. So today was a rest day for me! I have definitely been a victim of over training and its no fun. So take care of yourselves, its important!!

I had a quick lunch today of some scrambled egg whites, corn tortillas and some kale, cucumbers and tomatos. Super yummy!

I was having one of those super hungry days too, ya know those days where you can eat anything thats not nailed down? yup, that hit me today! So I obliged and made a bowl of cereal too. I kind of have aADD when it comes to cereal and I cant just eat one kind at a time. oh no. I mixed up 5 different kinds in this bowl! Theres some Puffed millet, Puffed Kamut, organic crispy brown rice, Fiber one and some Peanut butter balls sprinkled on top. Ate this with some cold almond milk and it was amazing!

One of the many things I LOVE about reading people's blogs is all the amazing ideas everyone has! Im continuely impressed and I love to learn new things. Purusing around I checked out LighterPortion's blog and saw some great lookin' oats! So I had to make some for dinner. Mine is pretty similar but here what I did:

Savory Oat Bran:

1/3 c. oatbran
1 c. water
1 laughing cow cheese wedge
sprinkle of chili powder
sprinkle of garlic powder

1/4 c. chopped onion
3 c. fresh spinach
4 Tbs. salsa
cilantro
fresh pepper
salt to taste

Easy dinner! All I did was carmelize up my onion in a dry pan and tossed in my spinach. While that is going I put my oatbran, water, cheese wedge, chili powder, garlic powder in a bowl and heated until done. Then I tossed in the onion mixture and stir it up! I topped it off with some salsa, cilantro and some fresh ground pepper.

This was better than I expected. It was warm, creamy and amazingly satisfying. I will definitely be making this again.

Then for dessert I had some chobani yogurt with cereal (Ive been on this cereal kick now for days) and topped it with some pom arils.

And for Austin (my husband) I made a huge crazy mound of banana soft serve with granola and some chocolate and PB chips. Look at that huge pile of banana goodness!

I hope everyone has a great night!!

Also, One FitFoodie is having an AMAZING chocolate/coffee giveaway! Im so excited about it!

2009-11-18T08:59:00.001-08:00

awesome Campbell's giveaway here!

Fun With Vegan Cooking!

2009-11-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

My cooking class that I went to on Sunday was amazing fun! Oh my goodness!! I think they are a great way to get out, meet some new people and talk about one of my favorite topics...food!=) I havent made seitan in awhile so it was a really great refresher. I loved the demonstration aspect of the class and I even got a chance to knead some seitan for our nuggets! We made seitan nuggets with a ranch dipping sauce.

The seitan was nice and crunchy and perfectly, dare I say, meaty on the inside! The ranch sauce had that tang to it which was nice. Overall fantastic.

The Lentil Pate was smooth creamy and basically thanksgiving with a crunch. Total comfort. We made the lentil pate and then scooped it up and put it inside some endive leaves and topped it off with sunflower sprouts. The sprouts and endive leaf really lifted the heaviness of the lentils and made for a fantastic appetizer.

Next up was a lemony quinoa salad with warmed maple glazed pistachios. Holy yum, was this ever good. The quinoa was nice and bright and the added pistachios really rounded out the dish quite well. The pistachios were caramelized with maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Very nice contrast of flavors and textures. I ran home that night and recreated it!

Last but not least we made a chocolate and PB torte. I'm going to remake this and take some pictures of it! I got too excited and ate it before I could snap a photo! Ha! Oh well that just means I have to make it again for some photos. Darn! ;)

Tonight Im off to a power spin class! The teacher tonight is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to it. My legs are still a bit sore from the hike on saturday but that's ok. I find once I get moving and warmed up they feel a lot better. Its funny, I've been working out for awhile now but this little hike really kicked me in the butt. Just goes to show what mixing up the routine a bit can do for ya! So its a good thing...makes me use some muscles I've been neglecting for awhile.

Do you ever mix up your workouts on a regular basis? Like maybe every couple of weeks or so and make up a new routine?

Have a great day everyone!

2009-11-15T21:04:00.001-08:00

Yummy bar contest!!

We have a winner!!!

2009-11-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

I just want to say, before I announce the winner, that you all rock!! I love reading your comments and the support that I've gotten from my blog so far has been amazing. So thank you so much! You make my day!=)

And now without further delay...the winner is......

Random generator says number 23~!

healthnuttxo said...: fav comfort food is amy's non dairy pot pie.
whenever im sad i just pop that in the oven and its like my day is alll better =)

So congrats to healthnuttxo! I will be having another giveaway soon so stay tuned!

Getting out in the fresh air hiking!

2009-11-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Wow am I sore! I went on an amazing 3.5 hour hike with my good friends and my legs are hurtin! Its a good feeling though. I was set on attending my Spin class today. (My favorite instructor only teaches on sunday...arg..) but I'll be honest I dont know if this is going to happen. I might end up just doing some yoga later in the afternoon to try and stretch it all out. It was the perfect weather though. Air was a bit chilly but it was warm in the sun.

Honestly its just really nice to get out into the fresh air for a change. I live in an area thats very congested and this just felt so awesome. We walked up into the canyons and got some amazing views!
Aaahh yes Im looking pretty stellar here...haha. JK! I was pretty tired but the end here. But had a blast! Im looking forward to some more hikes.

One of the great things about it I think, is changing up the muscle groups that you work. My legs are very used to biking and training on certain machines at the gym. Getting out and trying something new just works a whole different set of muscles (I can feel each and every one of them this morning) and I think its a great way to keep some variety to your workout routines.

Today is gonna be great. Hopefully I will have some amazing pictures later but Im getting ready for a vegan cooking class I signed up for. We are making:

-Homemade seitan for seitan nuggets and a ranch dipping sauce
-Rich pecan and lentil pate in endive leaves
-Light lemon quinoa with fresh herbs and glazed pistachios
-Peanut butter mousse pie with a cocoa crust

Sounds ssoo good. The rest of day is getting my shopping done and cleaning the crazy messy apt. Anyways I hope you have a terrific Sunday!

Baked Tortilla Salad Cups

2009-11-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday everyone! This morning the sun is shining and the air is chilly. Im on my way out for an all day hike today which I'm super excited about. I started my day off with a bit of tea.

The tea is nice and light with a berry tasting finish. The cocoa flavor isnt too strong but overall its nice. For my hike today as well I made some of Katie's chocolate chip cookie dough babies. They are ssoo yummy!

I added some vanilla extract and sprinkled them with a coarse sea salt. Super amazing. Its so hard not to eat them all at once!

So while I was making my the cookie dough balls, I realized I have an amazing amount of pumpkin tortillas! Now granted I could eat burritos every single day but I kind of wanted to think of a new way to use them up. So the idea of a baked salad bowl came to me! The fried ones you get at any mexican restuarant, while super tasty, are hugely fattening. (And not the good kind of fat either!) So I like to just bake mine. They hold up really well and are a snap to make. Plus they look really pretty.

To make the bowls I first make four cuts into the tortilla.

Next up fold the corners on top of each other and press into a cupcake pan.

Press down lightly into pan. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.

I used mine as a salad cup. It was the perfect size for this. I filled it with some fresh baby spinach, some chopped veggies and a quick pumpkin dressing. I topped it off with some Pumpkin pie spiced chickpeas and some Pom! The dressing was some pumpkin puree, balsamic vinegar, chinese chili sauce, agave, water (to thin it out) and a bit of cinnamon. Made for a fantastic quick snack before my hike.

And now Im off to hike! Have a super Saturday!

2009-11-13T13:15:00.001-08:00

Super Penny-licious give away. Ive never seen these products before. But they sound super tasty!

2009-11-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

Love the Foods should taste good giveaway! Check it out here!

Spicy Pumpkin Spelt Tortillas

2009-11-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

Tortillas are a staple to me. I love a fresh home made tortilla, especially right of the grill. Nothing better than that warm crispy fresh taste. I decided to use some pumpkin in these as well as some cayenne for some kick. These tortillas are not overly flavorfull...the pumpkin is very subtle, which is what I like. I love the flavorfull fillings and my tortillas compliment those flavors.

Spicy Pumpkin Spelt Tortillas

1 1/2 c. Spelt flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. water
4 Tbs. pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
pinch of salt

Add dry ingredients together into a bowl and stir to combine. Then add in the pumpkin and slowly add the water. 1 1/4 c. was enough in my batch but you might find you need more or less. Your dough should start to pull away from the edges when combined. Flour your board with either flour and form into ball.
Knead for about 5 minutes. Dough will start to feel elastic to the touch. Next roll out and shape into rectangle and cut into roughly 12 pieces.

Roll into balls and cover with a warm paper towel. You dont want these dough balls to dry out. That will make them really tough to roll out.

Next flour your board again and roll out into a pancake shape one at a time. Once you roll the dough out on the board, pick it up and stretch it to make it as thin as possible. Be careful not to break it!

Toss onto any heated grill or pan and heat for about 3 minutes on each side. Cool on rack.

Give Away!!

2009-11-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

So today I was completely flat out sleep all day kind of sick. I woke up and couldnt breathe, throat hurt, the whole nine yards. Gross. Full blown head cold. I slept most of the day and luckily Im feeling way better. All I wanted was pure comfort today. Chocolate and peanut butter! Yum yum! So on that happy note, I thought that I would start up my first give away with some amazing chocolate and peanut butter products!!

I had to include some Barney Butter, my new obsession. I also though I would include some MaraNatha Dark Chocolate Almond butter. It is smooth, ultra creamy and chocolaty. Its fabulous on just about anything. Since its getting chilly I thought that I would include some Chocolate Chai tea from Zhena's Gypsy Tea. Its a complex blend of roobios, cinnamon, cloves, cacao and many other ingredients. Its super comforting and delicious!!

So here's how to win...

1) Leave me a post letting me know your favorite comfort food or drinks
2) Link this contest up on your site and let me know you did so
3) Become a follower
4) Add me to your blog roll

Each item will earn you one entry.

Contest will end on Sunday Nov. 15th at 9am. Hooray! Now go and get yourself some chocolate and peanut butter!

Happy Tuesday!

2009-11-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

Aaahhh Tuesdays....a start to a fabulous week. I kicked mine off with a powerhouse 75 minutes of heart pounding cardio! I had some new Kelly Clarkson jams on the ipod what can I say? Its a guilty pleasure. Its like my secret love for the Desperate housewives show. I know, I know....horrible but still....I can't stop watching it! I was excited too, yesterday I scored big at TJMaxx with some new workout clothes. I LOVE this place. Its hit or miss, but yesterday was a definite hit. I love finding good deals!

I was planning on having some time to make lunch. But I had to make it a fast one today. It happens, so maybe tommorrow. Im hoping son to make some more vegan mac and cheese! (this time the sauce has pumpkin in it!!) But today was just some quick veggies and a bruschetta veggie burger! Simple, fast and tasty.

So for dinner though I decided to bust out the new griddle I bought this weekend. Yes!!!

I threw on some acorn squash and various other veggies and grilled those bad boys up! Look at those awesome grill marks on that eggplant! The veggies were super crunchy on the outside. Perfect. I sealed the deal tonight with some peanut butter tofu pudding. Topped with Fiber one and some dark chocolate and peanut butter chips.

So delicious. All in all a good day! Great workout. Good food. AAAaahhh nice. Now its time for some quick errands and then off to bed. Have a super night.

P.S squash..Im coming for you tommorrow night! haha.

Nutty giveaway

2009-11-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Awesome nutty products! check this out!

Cool Beauty Products

2009-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

Eco Store USA provides alot of fabulous green products that contain no harsh chemicals and are made from all plant and mineral based ingredients. Super cool! Averie is so gracious enough to be offering a give away so that you can try some of these products out! Check it out here.

Super give away!

2009-11-08T09:38:00.001-08:00

Katie is have an awesome give-away on her site! Check it out ladies and gents!

Body Rockin Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies

2009-11-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

My fabulous chef of a mother shared a delicious recipe for healthy chocolate bran brownies with me this morning. And let me tell you...these things rock my socks off! Thanks mom! I subbed the 1/3 c. oil for 1/3 c. pumpkin to make them even more healthy. Give them a shot and let me know what you think! Note: These make more of a dense brownie. Not overly fluffy but very fudgy. I only used 1/2 c. of sugar so they are not overly sweet either. You can add more sugar if you like yours more on the sweet side.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bran Brownies
Makes about 10 bars

2 c. bran cereal (ground to a flour)
3/4 c. spelt flour (any flour will do here so use what you have on hand)
2/3 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. coffee (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. backing soda

1/2 c. sweetner of choice (I used NuNaturals Baking Blend Stevia)
1 tsp. vinegar
1/3 c. pumpkin puree (or oil)
1 1/2 almond milk

handful of chocolate chips
1/2 c. peanut butter (optional)

Mix dry ingredients together. Then mix the wet. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased baking pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Optional: Melt peanut butter and while brownies are still warm drizzle on top for a lovely peanut butter icing.

Nutritional Info:
Serving Size: 1 Brownie
Calories 128
Fat 4g
Sat. Fat 1.7g
TransFat 0g
Cholestrol 0 mg
Sodium 57 mg
Carbohydrates 25.2 g
Dietary Fiber 8.5 g
Sugars 7.3g
Protein 3.5g

Vit. A 35% Vit. C 0% Calcium 2g Iron 8%

Note: Nutritional info does not include peanut butter topping.

Shopping Success!

2009-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up super early. Not sure why. I think my body is just getting used to waking up early again during the week that its kinda hard for me to sleep in. Anyways I made some pumpkin spice coffee and a bit bowl of oatmeal. I sifted through the mornings emails and then got ready for the gym. There was a super challenging spin class at 7:45 am this morning that I went to. It was awesome. The instructor really pushed us and when I felt a HUGE sense of accomplishment. I love that! Anyways I love Saturdays because I can lazily get to the gym and then it's time to shop. Do not ask me why but for some reason grocery shopping relaxes me. I'm constantly on the look out for new products and cool things to make. Besides the huge cart of veggies that I usually buy I found a few new things this week and a few old favorites. I found these HUGE honeycrisp apples. Oh yum...so the second I got home I had to cut one up and eat it with some Barney butter. Heaven I tell ya!

I found this coffee replacement product I guess you could call it. Its called Teeccino.The ingredients include all organic carob, barley, chicory, ramon nuts, chocolate flavor, cocoa and chili flakes. Total Yum!! Its decaffeinated which is nice. Ive been looking for a nice soothing drink to have at night and this seems perfect. When I opened the bag it definitely had a rich chocolaty smell. I made mine a bit weak I think but it had a really nice chocolate flavor to it. Kind of toasty as well. I really liked this product. Its very comforting and a change from the norm. On the package there are directions for adding it to coffee as well. It boasts many health benefits such as heart healthy potassium, soluble fiber and its a prebiotic. Overall its a winner in my book! I also found this snazzy new water bottle. Sweet!

My holiday teas are back! Hooray!! I LOVE these teas. My favorite being the sugar cookie sleigh ride flavor. I love a rich vanilla flavor and I have yet to find a tea that matches it. To me its just super comforting. Also extremely cheap so that's always great as well!

I also found a great non food product. When I first tried this product out I was surprised by how warm it got! It did say warming facial scrub on the bottle but to be honest Ive tried other brands similar and non heated up this did. It took my eye make up off in one swipe and left my skin really soft. Its a facial in a tube. Love it. Its down side is that its a bit pricey, but I do find a little goes a long way. So its worth it! It also has a nice light smell.

Overall total score at the Whole Foods! Love it! Now Im off to make some babies. Some fudge babies that is! You can find the recipe for them on Katies amazing site! I cant wait to try them out. Peace!

My Love for Barney Butter

2009-11-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

So you all know my love for Barney butter...well click here for a chance to win some!! Gina is giving some away! Rock on!

Mornings Rock my World

2009-11-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

I am hands down a morning person. I know everyone is different. I tried this whole going to the gym after work thing and it so doesn't work for me. I just cant motivate myself. Especially now with the fabulous fall weather, a part of me just wants to turn a great movie on after work, cook some dinner and curl up on the couch. But in the mornings the cold air just super invigorates me and I love it. So I think Im going to stick with my morning workouts. Everyone is different for sure, its just what works for me and what my body likes more.

Todays workout was a fabulous 60 minutes on the elliptical with a 15 minutes cool down. Fantastic! My legs are finally not quite as sore anymore from Yoga. I think that with all my spin classes my hamstrings are really super tight. But the Yoga really seems to be helping with this. Plus its just so relaxing and fun to do anyways! Lunch today was the usual, I was going to post pics but thought maybe all the pictures of my bean burritos would be repetative. haha. But I did also make a quick zucchini salad on the side. Chopped zucchini, fresh onion and some salsa. Quick and easy.

For dinner I was also looking for something quick and fast. Eating healthy doesnt have to be complicated to hard to do. I chopped up some brussel sprouts, eggplants, onions, kale and broccoli and sauteed it up until it was nice and crispy. Then poured some enchilada sauce on it and threw a small handful of low fat mozz on top and I was one happy girl.

Dessert was totally rockin tonight! Banana ice cream. Complete with granola and a few dark chocolate pieces of course.

Im thinking next time maybe adding in some cinnamon and pumpkin...Either way it is amazingly tasty!!

What time of day do you find you like to work out best? Do you find you work out better at a certain time of day? Or is it more for scheduling? Im just curious how everyone else works it!

Mock-0-Bell

2009-11-04T12:22:00.000-08:00

SO back in my unhealthy years as I will call them, I loved the TacoBell. (Anyone with me on this?!) I always got the same thing, two bean burritos with no cheese and extra onions. While this isn't uber terrible it wasn't that great either. Watch out sodium! But I do still crave it every now and again and decided instead of never eating it again, I'll just make it. It tastes great, fast, easy and super filling. Score! I think that's the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. No foods should ever be off limits. I just find healthier ways to eat them and always in moderation.

Its basically just two corn tortillas that i bought from whole foods, refried beans, chopped onions and enchilada sauce from Trader Joes. I was really impressed with this sauce. I try not to eat alot processed foods but this tasted great and what a time saver!

That is one ripe banana in the background! haha. When my banans start to go I let em ripen up for a bit them throw them in the freezer for banana bread or some banana ice cream! Yum!

Then for dessert I decided upon some almond butter and apples. Delish. Although disaster almost struck whenI went for my almond butter that I had in the cabinet and realized.....

NNOOOO!!! How I forgot that I emptied the jar yesterday I have no idea, luckily I had backups. Whew!

Tonight I'm packing a quick dinner so I can head off to the gym for a good cardio workout. It is super fall-ish outside which is making me feel great. I can wait to bust out the cozy sweaters and some fabulous boots!

Chocolate Covered Kindness

2009-11-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

What makes my day is when I hear about people helping others in need. Truly its one of the best gifts you can give. When I heard about what Katie was doing over on her blog I was elated. What a fantastic idea. I encourage everyone to support Katie in Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness! Do it up peeps!

Sweet give away!

2009-11-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

Love Veggies and Yoga is giving away chia seeds! Hooray!!

Vegan Bean Balls

2009-11-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ive been on a real zucchini pasta kick lately. Does that ever happen to you? To mix it up a bit though I took a recipe from Veganomicon (which is fabulous!!) and came up with some delicious bean balls to add to my pasta. It made for one tasty dinner!

Vegan Bean Balls:

1 15oz. can kidney beans (1.5 cups)
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. Braggs
1Tbs. garlic
.25 c. oatmeal (chopped in food processor to a coarse flour)
dash of Braggs seasoning
pepper
chopped parsley
1/2 lemon juiced

Take kidney beans, tomato paste, Braggs and garlic and mash together to where the beans have turned into a paste but still contain a few big chunks.

Add in the rest of ingredients and stir to combine. Then mold into ball shapes and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Bean balls will be nice and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Thats all! Pretty easy!

I spiralized some zucchini that I had and roasted up some veggies as well. I tossed all this together and added a bit of my favorite marinara sauce from TJs and a small sprinkle of parm and I was in business.

Some ingredients I really thought worked well for this recipe were my Braggs sprinkles. I always look for spice mixes without salt, since I like to add my own amounts, and this particular blend is perfect for any type of recipe. Lots of rosemary, oregano, thyme, pepper, basil, garlic, kelp and many other great ingredients. I love this stuff.

Another great product is tomato paste in a tube! You don't know how many cans of tomato paste I've chucked because Ive had the tiniest amount left over. Plus I hate opening an entire can for maybe 1 Tbs. I've always tried to use the leftovers but sometimes then end up sitting in containers in the fridge for too long. The tube works out so well since i can squeeze out what I need and throw it back in the cabinet.
Then i made some peanut butter pudding and topped it off with a bit of fiber one. Great dessert and now its movie time for me! Have a great night!

Its November already?!

2009-11-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

Wow time is flying. I cant believe its November already! Im already starting to think about what I want to make for Thanksgiving!! How sad is that? Anyways, this morning I have some super classes scheduled. Spin this morning (of course!) and then a yoga class later. Should be super fun. I forgot about the daylight savings time. I love getting an extra hour of sleep! That gave me mucho time for a nice hearty breakfast before heading to class.

For lunch I wanted some zucchini pasta again so I baked up some veggies and tossed in some sauce I got from Trader Joes, along with a sprinkle of parmesean romano. I love really strong cheeses. Since cheese is usually loaded with alot of fat and calories I like to buy cheese that is veyr strong in taste. That way a tiny bit goes a long way. It got a little watery from my zucchini noodles. I forgot to pat them down with paper towels to get rid of excess water. Oh well. Still tasted pretty great overall.

And some apples with cinnamon and mesquite for dessert. Tasty!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite snacks! The rest of the day is shopping and errands. But tonight I plan on cooking a nice dinner. Some chick pea cutlets and roasted veggies. So I will post back about that then. I hope everyone had a safe and fabulous halloween!

Yup I did it...

2009-10-30T09:09:00.001-07:00

Yup I did it...I was tired last night, crabby and ended up eating way more than I should have. I was one cranky Chrysta. I wasn't hungry I just wanted to eat something. None of it horrible, at least it was healthy foods but still more than I should have. This morning I was thinking about why. Reasons being, just tired and wanted some instantaneous comfort I think. In a way I think its a good thing, making mistakes allows you to learn from them. Next time I feel this way I can think back to last night and really analyze whether or not I'm truly hungry or just wanting that instant gratification. I think the key is realizing that you can't be perfect all the time and expecting to never err is completely out of reach. We are all human and make mistakes sometimes and the best thing to do is just to learn from them and move on. So instead of feeling horrible I decided to treat my body well today by filling it with amazingly healthy awesome foods and a great workout. I think this is the best way to get over a night of not so great eating.

So on that happy note, I started my day with Pumpkin Spice Coffee (Thanks Mom!! She always sends me flavored coffee from this coffee shop back in PA that I LOVE! And this month she sent me Pumpkin Spice and Hawaiian Coconut) and also a big bowl of.....you guessed it! Hot oatmeal! Nice!

Lunch consisted of Kale and tahini and some eggwhites on the side. I also picked at some granola.
Mid day snacks were crackers Barney butter! So delish. I hit the gym after work and had one rockin workout. I ended the night with a huge plate of apples with cinnamon and mesquite and a greek yogurt with some cocoa powder and stevia. After my sweat fest and day of fabulous eats Im already back on track and feeling great. Heres to a great start of a new weekend!

Cauliflower "Pizza" and some ramblings

2009-10-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

So I had some creative juices flowing this morning and came up with an idea for a mock pizza. (Picture is not the best, sorry about that, it just doesnt do it justice...it was quite tastier than it looks!) While not a traditional pizza by any means it was super tasty and made an excellent lunch! Started off with a crunchy cauliflower crust, a spicy pumpkin sauce and topped it off with sauteed onions and seitan! So maybe pizza isn't the right word for it, but hey as long as it was tasty! I still have to play around a bit. I think i need more egg to bind my crust together better but the flavors were great. And due to lack of time, since I made this over my lunch break, Id like to caramelize the onions for longer and sear up the seitan more. But all good! There's always a next time.

Basic idea was to make a cauliflower crust with smashed cauliflower and egg whites. Then some added garlic and pepper to spice it up. I made the pumpkin sauce from pureed pumpkin, garam masala, garlic, all spice and a bit of cayenne for some kick. Then I seared up some onions and seitan with a bit of sage to top it off. Made a tasty lunch!

I followed up with some trail mix that I made. Oh my gosh, next to granola, this is my weakness. Raw almonds, peanuts, organic raisins, goji berries and dark chocolate pieces. (Ok and you might find a rogue grain sweetened SunChip in there too!) Heaven I tell ya! I try to restrain myself because I know far too well that its easy to way overdo it on something like this. While super healthy, it is high in calories and that is something that you still should be aware of. I find though with foods like this, I do allow myself to eat in moderation. Just with personal experience placing certain foods off limits just makes you crave them even more and puts you at risk for way overdoing it once you do eat them. Its like when you were in high school and your parents told you no, you just wanted to do that even more just because you knew you weren't allowed. Well to counter balance this I don't place any foods out of reach. Just certain ones I watch my portion sizes a lot closer than others. This seems to work pretty well.

Oh and another side note, its interesting to see how you change along your way too. I think about 2 years ago my splurge item might have been some onion rings or some other fried food and now its trail mix! I do love change=)

And I ramble on, its just something Ive learned along the way. Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Ok, I get it now....

2009-10-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, I totally get it now. I LOVE Barney butter. At first bite, I'll admit, I didnt understand what the fuss was about. Then on second bite I thought myself.."hhmm this is prettty tasty, texture is nice..." But I put it in the cabinet and moved on. The next day, while hunting around in the cabinents for a little snack I found the jar again. I decided to put it on my crackers and then it was all over. I found myself putting it on everything. (Yup, I even licked out a container I had in my lunch bag) Smooth creamy and oh so delicious, Im hooked. If you haven't tried this stuff yet I recommend you give it a go. Its worth it!

Crunchy chicken strips with a spicy banana sauce

2009-10-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today was my rest day. I got to sleep in a bit, have a slow morning and all together start the week off nice and rested. I ate my crepes that I posted about earlier for lunch, which was super fantastic. I love the fact that they take only about 10 minutes to cook up and is super filling. But for dinner I decided to make some dinner for Austin and I. He loves chicken fingers, the kind that comes fried in a basket with a side of honey mustard. Although I know he wants to start eating alot better. So i decided to make some crispy baked chicken strips with a spicy banana "ketchup". This was based off of a recipe I found off of Eating well.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips with Banana "Ketchup"

Chicken:
1 Chicken Breast
1 egg
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. panko
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. pepper
pinch of salt

Banana Ketchup:
1/2 banana
1/4 c. onion
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. all spice
1/4 c. apple cider Vinegar
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. chili flakes
1/4 c. water
splash of evoo

For the chicken, cut into strips and rinse clean. Put egg into one bowl, flour into another bowl and panko with seasonings into a third bowl. This works best with a shallow bowl or plate. Dip chicken into flour first, then egg wash and lastly into panko mix. Place chicken strips onto a greased baking pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so. (Depends on how thick you cut your chicken)

For the ketchup dice onion and add to sautee pan with olive oil, ginger and chili flakes. Cook until onion starts to soften. Add in all spice and cook for another minute. Add in mashed banana, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and water. Cook over low heat to reduce. About 10 minutes. Let cool, move to food processor and blend.

They came out super crunchy and moist on the inside. The sauce was really delicious. Just a perfect blend of banana with a bit of a kick. The vinegar helped to offset the sweetness in the banana. Really tasty! I thought that it went well with the crunchy chicken.

I wasnt overly hungry tonight unfortunently so I just took a few bites of the chicken that I made for Austin. For myself I made a great giant salad with carmelized onions and peppers. I threw together a quick dressing with balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic and a bit of coconut vinegar. I also love to throw fresh herbs into my salad. Tonight in some cilantro I had lying around. Delish!

And now Im off to bed. Tommorrow is spin which means early morning! Have a super night.

Happy Sunday!

2009-10-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

I hit up a different Spin class this morning. Ive been really trying to try new teachers and classes lately just to mix things up alot and this teacher was so incredibly motivational. He was super energetic and really into the class. Its amazing how much of a difference this makes. I love his philosphy of "sweating out your old self to bring in the new...spring cleaning for the body" Its so true and really keep me moving hard.

I came back from class and was famished! I decided to make a spelt and egg white crepe on a bed of kale with some tahini on the side. I followed it up with a huge, sweet amazing honey crisp apple. I'll tell ya, there is nothing like apples in the fall! I had some mesquite seasoning and sprinkled some on a la fitnessista style. It was a fabulous combo! It sure hit the spot.

Then it was on to start dehydrating! Im a huge snacker so Im making some zucchini, eggplant and sweet potato chips!
So i popped these veggies into the dehydrator and 8 hours later I had sweet crunchy veggie chips! Yum!

After all my chopping efforts I made a nice big bowl of chocolate chia pudding and peppermint green tea. Time to kick my feet up and enjoy the rest of my evening.

Figgy Bites

2009-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

These little mini bars are perfect fall snacks! Packed with oats and dates, they will definitely satisfy that sweet tooth in a perfectly healthy way! Plus they make your kitchen smell amazing.

1/2 c. regular oatmeal
1/2 c. regular oats ground to a fine flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbs. Agave
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/8 c. water
pinch of salt

Filling:
4 oz (115 grams) prunes
56 g. dates (about 4 medium sized dates)
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger

2 Tbs. almonds slices

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine all the ingredients for the filling into a food processor and pulse to a paste. Set aside. Spray down a mini muffin pan. First take the crust and press down into the bottom of the pan. (this is way easier if you just use your fingers as the crust is a bit sticky=) Take the filling and press down on top. Sprinkle with a few almond slivers. Bake in over at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes. Makes about 16.

Enjoy!!!

Mac and Cheese

2009-10-24T12:15:00.001-07:00

One of the things that I used to love was macaroni and cheese. There was something about all that meltey gooey cheese baked with luscious fresh pasta that brought about the ultimate feelings of comfort to me. It was my food comfort blanket. Now that I'm older I realize that maybe all that gooey cheese (although while still quite delicious) isnt something that i need to be eating regularly. I started playing around with a recipe off of fatfreevegan.com and she has a fantastic vegan mac and cheese recipe. Its going to take some playing with as I cut the recipe down a bit. So once i get my measurements in order I will post the recipe. But I must say, this totally hit the spot. It was super creamy, delicious and above all good for you!

My food philosophy is that you should never feel guilty about eating a certain food. Food should make you feel awesome and fantastic! Not hiding in shame.

Close up of the creamy goodness! I rounded out my meal with yummy cheery tomatoes and cut cucumbers.

This morning I hit the gym as usual. I went to my 75 minute Spin class which rocked out. New instructor and she worked us hard. Which i love. Hey, if I'm going to spend my free time at the gym, I want to make it count and put my all into it! After lunch though, that was a totally different story...I grabbed some yummy tea and a gossip mag (guilty pleasure) and hit the couch for a bit of well deserved R&R! I love saturday afternoons! I plan on cleaning and cooking up a storm though later. And going for a walk as its gorgeous out today. So will post back later! Have a good one!

Today is rockin! Loving my Fridays!

2009-10-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today is rocking!! I missed my workout yesterday cause the alarm clock decided to completely die out on me. Scary. I'm glad I woke up in time for work though! Whew! So I charged on over to Bed Bath and Beyond and crisis has now been diverted.

So I usually end up taking Fridays off but I hit the gym today since I missed yesterday. Gotta be flexible with the schedule! And today just rocked! I tried out a new spin class, muy bueno. 60 minutes of heart pounding fun. Plus I got a great workout and cool down session in too. I'm feeling amazing. I made an appt. with a trainer for next week too which I'm really excited about. Id love to learn some new things. I think its super important to mix up your workout routines. Shakes the body up and plus you don't ever get bored! I grabbed my usual bowl of oats and coffee and time to start my morning!

Lunch was quick, simple and above all delish! ABout 2 giant handfuls of fresh spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomaoes (they were super sweet!) I can of tuna and salsa on top. Had some crackers with cheese on the side too. Pretty tasty. I grabbed some chocolate tea for the afternoon as well.

Later tonight we hit up Menchies. I have a huge froYo fan and this completely hit the spot. I swirled in French Vanilla, with a bit of pumpkin and strawberry shortcake. Delish! Austin added a bit more to his!=)
Have a great friday night!!

Spaghetti Squash with a Cilantro Pesto

2009-10-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at my usual time. 4:45. It was super chilly. In my opinion anyways although I think some people would disagree. (Hey I love the hot weather!) and hit the road to the gym. I was a little sluggish today for some reason, so when I came home I made sure to chug a huge water bottle of cold water. For some reason this really help to perk me up. Then packed up the oatmeal for breakfast and off to work! I chopped up some veggies before work real quick that I could roast up for later. Gotta multi task!

Im thinking today for lunch I need to do something with all that spaghetti squash I have lying around left over from my pancakes I made the other night. Using up the ol' leftovers. I actually love left overs. Gives me a chance to make some totally new from something old. Spice it up a bit.

I did a little research of squash first. I like to see what health benefits my foods have. In general its good to stay away from empty calories. Meaning limit the amount of calories with no nutritional value you take in. I LOVE this post by Katie.

Her example is spot on! A 100 calorie snack pack vs. banana. Sure banana might have a few extra calories but oh man are you getting a TON of amazing vitmains and nutrients that you body needs in that banana. If its your thing though, just keep it in moderation!! More bang for your buck and thats the way I roll! Snack pack is pretty much 100 calories of nadda. Well sugar and chemicals=) If its your thing though, just keep it in moderation!!

Ok, back to squash peeps. Squash is an amazing source of Vitamin A, Folate, Omega 3 acids, pantothenic acid and niacin. (Thank you George!) Vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene, has amazing anti inflammatory properties as well as many antioxidants. It helps protect against heart attacks and strokes. Squash is also good at regulating blood sugar levels. And I don't know about you, but when my blood sugar spikes I turn into a huge sugar monster out to destroy any innocent little cupcake that might be lying around. So regulation is a good thing=)

So for lunch today I made a quick spaghetti squash pasta toss. I love the delicate sweetness from the apples and squash. Its offset by the slight firey kick from the chili peppers. Delicious. Shrimp add a nice bit of protein to the whole toss.

Spaghetti squash and Shrimp Toss

1c. spaghetti squash
1/2 c. tomatoes
2 Tbs. diced onion
2 cups spinach
12 small shrimp
1Tbs. garlic
squeeze of lemon
pepper and red chili flakes to taste

In a small pan heat spaghetti squash on medium heat until slightly crunchy. Next add in Shrimp. When the shrimp are done add in the spinach, tomatoes and sautee for about 2-3 minutes or until spinach is wilted. add in garlic, lemon, pepper, chili flakes and parsley. Serve hot and enjoy!

I then packed up my snacks for the day which normally is peanut butter on crackers but i decided to switch things up a bit and eat my pudding instead for a snack. I find at night I get super pickey so Im thinking that if I avoid sugar at night it might help with this. Today is an experiment! So in the bag went apples and pudding! (Along with all the fixin's!)

Its a Glo-Bar kind of Day!

2009-10-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I got the most amazing package in the mail today. My Glo-bars!! Oh man, I could not wait to tear into these puppies. Even as I opened the box, they looked incredible! I immediately went for the Revive bar. Dark chocolate and Peanut butter?! Yes please! When I opened the package a waft of delicious chocolately goodness hit my face. At first bite they were an instant hit. They taste amazing, texture is nice, soft and chewy. Love it. It tastes so decadent but its full of wholesome wonderful ingredients. This one gets two thumbs up in my book!! As you can see in the picture, I took a bite before I even took the picture! ha!

Next up the Endure Glo bar. I LOVE spelt and was really curious how this would taste in a bar. First bite..oh gosh, vanilla heaven. I had to take all my will power and put this one back in its wrapper before I ate the whole thing. Im gonna go out on a limb and say I like this one a bit better than the Revive bar. The vanilla flavor is wonderful! Wow. Hits of cranberry and coconut are present and make this bar a fanastic treat. Great flavor.

Renew bar was fabulous too. Slight bit of sweetness but not overpowering and I love the fact it has Chia seeds in it. I do love my chias! Had a nice little crunch to it which I found to be nice.

When I work out I don't like to eat things that are too sweet. And the Run Glo Bar is exactly what the type of thing I would take with me. The aftertaste has slight notes of peanut butter and vanilla. So yummy. I can see myself packing some of these to the gym or on one of my rides. It doesn't have that overpowering sweet taste that a lot of bars have. It tastes way more natural to me and that gets a huge two thumbs up in my book! I already put a few in my bag to take to the gym with me.

Last but not least is the Classic Glo bar. Cant go wrong with a classic right? Right! This ones a winner. Peanut buttery taste, slightly sweet. Reminds me of the Run glow bar. It has ground flax and hemp seeds in it which Im always looking to eat more of in my diet.

Overall thoughts? These are A-mazing. As I was saying earlier I love the non-commerical very organic natural taste that they have. The bars are chewy, not too sweet and made with wholesome ingredients. I would hands down recommend these to everyone I know. I love the inclusion of Omega-3 and Omega-6 stats in the nutritional info as well. They are 100% vegan, (which means Im so sending my mom a case of these) and 100% organic. Rock on! Each bar is filling, delicious and the perfect snack for anyone on the Glo...I mean go!=) Be warned though, they are crazy addicting. (I had to put mine in the cabinet so I wouldn't eat them all in one night)

Thanks Angela for the amazing products. I know I will be ordering a bunch more in the near future. I cant wait to try the granola as well!

Autumn is here!

2009-10-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love fall. Its my favorite time of year. The trees are changing, the air is crisp and chilly and everything just seems so comforting and amazing to me. I woke up this morning and curled up on the couch with my big warm bowl of oatmeal and a steaming hot cup of coffee. Its the usual, but always hits the spot. I went to the gym and hit the elliptical for 75 minutes today! Crazy! There was a good show on, I couldn't stop watching. The time jsut flew by. I have to say I love days like that. After a great gym session I came home and was starving. Definitely in a bottomless pit kind of way. I ended up eating some fiber crackers with 1 Tbs. of peanut butter. some cereal and a apple. Overall not too bad. I definitely could have don't more damage. Then onto making some dinner. Since I was feeling festive I decided to make some spaghetti squash pancakes with a spicy pumpkin and black bean salsa on top of a bed of roasted spinach. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine was. They were super crispy, a bit spicy and sweet at the same time.

But first I had to curb my sweet tooth before I cooked so I popped a few of these. Delicous...chewy, sweet..did the trick. If you love black licorice I highly recommend these. It only takes one or two pieces to satisfy me.

I had two beautiful fall squashes lying on my kitchen counter that I could not wait to use. Spaghetti squash and a sugar pumpkin. Tasty and versatile they are a great choice for dinner or even dessert dishes! Super healthy to boot too! (And did I mention low calorie?) I started off my cutting my squash in half. I laid each half into about 1 inch of water and covered with foil. Then about 30 minutes later its time to shred!

In about two minutes I had a huge bowlful of shredded spaghetti squash. The pumpkin takes a bit more time but super easy. I cut into big cubes. Carefully cut the outer skin off then cube. I plan to use the pumpking for my pumpkin and black bean salsa and the other half for my dehydrator to make some pumpkin leather.

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes with a Spicy Pumpkin and Black Bean Salsa:

Pancakes:
2 c. shredded spaghetti squash
3 Tbs. liquid egg whites
4 Tbs. whole wheat flour
pepper to taste

Salsa:
1 c. cooked pumpkin, small dice
1/2 c. black beans
1 Tbs. garlic
1/2 c. tomato, small dice
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp. chili powder
pinch of salt and pepper

Put cooked squash into a big bowl. Add in egg whites and flour and pepper. Mix. Heat a griddle, spray with your favorite non stick cooking spray (these puppies will stick horribly if you don't) Take a small scoop of the "batter" and form into a pancake shape. Put into pan. Cook on medium heat until heated through. Flip and cook opposite side.

For the salsa:
Add all ingredients into pan and toss to combine. Set aside and let the flavors marry each other. Longer it sits the tastier it is!

When pancakes are done, place onto plate, scoop salsa on top and enjoy!

I enjoyed mine with a side of sauteed spinach. It was amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Have a wonderful evening!

Yoga and Snacks

2009-10-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

I went to my very first Yoga class yesterday and it completely rocked! Im used to doing alot of long endurance type cardio but this was amazing. It really stretched my muscles out, relaxed me and felt like a great workout for my core. Which is something that I really need to work on more. Overall I cant wait to take another class, its definently something that I want to start doing on a regular basis. If you haven't taken one before, its just overall fun! Don't worry about keeping up or not understanding the poses. I was a little slow at first since I didn't understand the different poses but you pick it up quickly. Plus I had a great instructor that really helped me out.

When I got home I had the picks! I just wanted to snack a bit so I made up some spicy chipotle lime toasted chickpeas and my "famous" guacamole. (Not to toot my own horn but I make a mean guac!) I love chickpeas. They are a fantastic source of fiber, protein, folate and maganese just to name a few. And if you watching your budget, dried chickpeas are super cheap and can be stored for months in a an air tight container! So chick pea it up!

Spicy Chipotle and Lime Chickpeas:

1/2 c. dried chickpeas (or 1 can if that is what you have on hand)
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs fresh garlic
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. garlic
2 tsp. ancho chili powder

juice from 1/2 lime
dash of hot sauce
(salt and pepper if needed-I didnt use any, but you can add in whatever you'd like!)

soak chick peas in water overnight. Drain, rinse and throw into pan with enough water to cover. Add in fresh garlic. Boil until soft. Drain and add to bowl. Toss in your spices, lime juice, hot sauce and sprinkle onto baking sheet. Toast in oven at 350 until nice and crispy. Enjoy!!

(My husband says these remind him or corn nuts, HA!) Also, being a huge football fan actually ate a bowl of these instead of the usual chips which watching the game. Total score!

And now for the guacamole! The trick to amazing guacamole is just finding the ripest most delicious avacados that you can. When Im at the store I always squeeze and smell my avacados before I buy them. If they squish a bit, I will buy those as they will be pretty good for guacamole. Avacados are amazingly healthy and full of healthy fats (the monosaturated kind). Sine they are high in fat though you should eat them in moderation. This recipe is simple, delicious and takes no time to prepare. Its fanastic with some warmed up tortillas or fresh cut veggies.

Guacamole:

3 avacados
1 lime
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 sweet onion
2-3 jalapenos (depending on how spicy you like it!)
salt
pepper
1 heaping Tbs of fresh garlic

Peel and rough chop avacado. Once the pieces are all in the bowl, add in your lime juice. The lime juice not only adds to the flavor but the acid in the lime prevents the avacados from browning. Not take a fork (or hands!) and mash away. small dice your onion and jalapenos and mix it. Season with garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Toss in cilantro. Mix.

Thats it! Easy and delicous. I like to eat mine margarita style!! Enjoy!

Gorgeous and Sunny!

2009-10-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

This morning was amazingly gorgeous, warm and sunny outside. Its been super cold and rainy so its been such a great change! I woke up, had my usualy tasty breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and hit the road. I had my spin class this morning and it was fabulous. Lots of hill climbs and speed work. Perfect way to start the morning. Then after class I was off to Whole Foods. This place is super dangerous. I know alot of people say its pricey but really I dont find it to be way more than other grocery stores. You just have to really shop around and look for good deals. Their 365 brand of products I think are very quality and reasonably priced. I must say I so totally scored this morning! Yessss! Heres some of the booty:

Ok so my puffed Kamut 2 for $2! Good deal! I love this stuff. Im such a grazer so I love to just keep it around and snack on it. Turbinado raw sugar just $2.99..I checked, its the same price at Trader Joes so thats cool! Pure Maple syrup is always a bit pricey but worth it. I paid 15.99 for this. (Its a 32oz bottle) I dont know if this is a super steal or not but considering I sent my husbands to the grocery store the other day and bought me a Ralph's brand maple syrup that was only 12 oz for $14 bucks I think he said. So to me this seemed like a decent deal. I also found some Barney Butter! Ive been hearing so much about it and have really wanted to give it a shot. So I'll post back later on that one. And my dark chocolate chunks. I plan to do a little baking today so I needed these. They are 70% pure cocoa. Its the highest I could find in chips and it was pretty cheap as well. I also bought bags full or organic veggies and fruits but I'll admit, i do splurge alot of my veggies!

On the agenda today is cleaning. Fun stuff! But also I plan to do some cooking, baking and I also have a new class I'm attending today! Its a mix of pilates and spin. Sounds way interesting so Im super excited! Texas game is on today and my husbands and our good friends are making there legendary game day tater tot nachos. They tell me this is something you should never eat if you value your health. HA! Hey, all in moderation though, right? I'm definitely going to post pictures of their master piece once its finished. Have a super day everyone!

Peanut Butter Pudding Love!

2009-10-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

So I just completed my metric century last weekend. I'm a bit gung ho about it and I read about another one that takes places in a month! hhmmm.... I was thinking about giving myself a mini break but this one seems really fun. So I'm kind of contemplating whether or not to go for it. In the end I think I will, just to challenge myself. But we shall see.

Today was waaay warmer which was awesome. After work I got to curl up and watch a Sons of Anarchy episode that I had recorded (which totally rocks! its like Spranos but with a biker gang!) and suddenly realized that I was out of my all time favorite dessert! My Peanut butter tofu pudding! Im the kind of person that has to have some type of dessert every night and for me it fits the bill! Plus its somewhat healthy so I can justify eating it everyday! First up I gather my ingredients. Its super super super simple to make. In about no time flat you will be in peanut butter pudding heaven!
All you need is some Silken Tofu, PB2 (you can always use any nutbutter, its delicious anyway you make it!) and some stevia to sweeten it a bit.

Throw the tofu and Peanut butter in the food processor and let 'er rip! You might have to add a bit of water depending on thin or thick you like it. Thats it! Wow easy! I usually just spoon some into a bowl and sweeten to taste with some stevia. My favorite toppings are some bananas, chocolate chips and granola. Super tasty snack!

Check out these awesome give-a-ways!

2009-10-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

This morning I had such an amazing Spin class. Lots of hill climbs and sprints. It definently rev'd me up for the day! I guess it made me feel lucky and I wandered across all these sweet give aways! Rock on! These sites are amazing and who doesn't love free stuff? I recommend checking these out for sure! Good Luck!

Jocelyn's big A-mazing give away!

Agave Give away!! Check this out!

OneFitFoodie is giving away some awesome coupons for Nasoya Product. Love it!

Eat,Live,Clean,Green is giving away some awesome Nature's Path products!

Spelt is a girls best friend

2009-10-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was on a baking roll today. I had a huge monster cookie craving and just had to do something about it. Luckily while surfing around I found an amazing recipe for vegan spelt chocolate chip cookies. These seemed ungodly amazing. The velvet texture of the spelt flour combined with pure golden maple syrup, raw crunchy almond butter and hints of cinnamon and pure vanilla seemed like just what I needed. These were crunchy on the outside and moist and delicious on the inside. Warm from the oven the chocolate chips just oozed everywhere. Pure heaven! This so completely made my night and I went to bed a very happy girl!