Live Life Love (2b)Healthy

Rosemary Parmesan Chicken Burgers with Caramelized Onions

2011-07-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hello my precious readers!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a great Monday as well.

I have a little surprise for you all....

A new recipe!

It's been a while since I've posted up a new tasty recipe for you all to enjoy and make.

The past few days I had been contemplating making chicken burgers. But not just any plain ole chicken burger.

I wanted one full of flavor.

Rosemary pairs so well with chicken and so does parmesan. So I thought, why not combine them all together as a chicken burger!

Great idea, Jen.

So today, I got down to business and whipped these babies up.

Rosemary Parmesan Chicken Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground chicken

2 tbs. minced rosemary

1 tbs. minced basil

1 tbs. crushed garlic

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs. olive oil

1 red onion; sliced

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl combine the ground chicken, minced rosemary and basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine, or get down and dirty and use your hands to combine. Form into 4 equal sized patties and set aside.

In a medium sized pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and the onions. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until the onions have caramelized, they will be a golden brown. This should take about 15 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from pan and place into a bowl and cover to keep warm. Using the same pan, cook the chicken patties. It should take 3-5 minutes to cook on each side. Once the juices run clear, the burgers are cooked all the way through. 10 minutes in total.

Serve the rosemary parmesan chicken burgers on a plate and top with the caramelized onions.

Enjoy!

They were delicious!! The parentals loved them! I paired it with mushroom couscous and zucchini.

There were absolutely no left-overs whatsoever. Which, I must admit, made me a little sad.

That's all for now! I hope you love these as much as I did.

For now, I'll leave you all with an amusing picture of my "child".

Stank Face

Hahaha!!

Have a great rest of your evening lovelies!

XO Jen

Through Pictures

2011-07-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Life lately through pictures

Chuck Love <3

Pasta Dinner

Pour, poke and spread eggs

BFF playing a racing game

Bonfire <3

Kale chips; these are amazing!!

Where and How I found Jack sleeping.

Peeking out

New all black Chucks!!

WIATW

2011-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

What I Ate This Week (WIATW)

Yeah, yeah, I know... I still lagged on my blog this week. It's been one of those weeks where I just didn't have the motivation.

BUT I do have a few fun things to share with you all!!

As I said before in an earlier post, I won Jenny's shoe giveaway and I will soon have the pair of boots I picked out! Thanks again, Jenny!

These are the one's I picked out:

Can't wait to get them! Aren't they cuuuuute?? Haha. I've never won anything before, so I am super excited about it.

On Tuesday I went up to visit my grandma in the hospital. Man oh man was it ever tough to see her looking the way she did. My grandmother is one tough lady and for the past 28 years that I've been alive, this is the first time she has ever been admitted into the hospital. She had been in there since last Thursday.

Luckily, the doctors said she was well enough to go home, so on Wednesday they sent her home. I'm glad that she is doing and feeling better. I've been super worried about her.

Later on Tuesday evening, when I returned home, I made myself a quick veggie bowl for dinner. I roasted chickpeas, zucchini and mushrooms in the oven with a drizzle of EVOO, salt, pepper and dried sage to taste. While that was cooking, I sauteed some kale. Combined all the veggies in a bowl and topped it off with some goat cheese.

It was delish! Exactly what I needed after a rough and tough day.

One of these mornings this week, I had a bowl of blueberry overnight oats. In the morning I added the almond butter and a 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries. It was soooo good!

On Thrusday, my mom and I took a trip to Sprouts. It just opened up this week. I've been waiting months for this grocery store to open!!

So off my mom and I went. OMG... I LOVE Sprouts! They have all the healthy, organic food that I love!! We did a little grocery shopping and got some produce. They had strawberries for 77 cents each! Awesome deal! And I also got myself a little snacky-snack.

Actual, real, veggie chips! They are delish. The green beans are my favorite!

And now it's Friday.

TGIF!!

I finally had my first homegrown tomato this summer. Well, it's not my first time eating one, just the first one I've had this summer.

I cut it up and made myself a tomato sandwich. My fav. :)

There are the tomato plants off to the right.

One of my BFFs is having a get together at her apartment tonight. I decided to make Angela's Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats to bring!

It was so hard to not eat one. They look so good!

That's all for now! I'm off to the gym!

Enjoy your Friday!

Lagging

2011-06-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've been seriously lagging on my blog posts.

And for you, my dear readers, I deeply apologize!

This past week had been hectic one. Summer quarter started up and I was stressed out with trying to add into a couple classes, and since it is summer quarter CSUEB isn't offering as many classes as the other quarters. Luckily, I was able to get into ONE of the classes I needed. I guess it's better than nothing.

Then a family situation emerged that had to do with my grandma. I was and still am very worried about her. This Tuesday I am going up to see her.

The rest of the week was filled with the gym and this weekend I spent it with my family.

My eating has been all over the place lately, so I am dedicating this week to getting my normal eating habits back on track.

OOOhh!! For an exciting piece of news... I entered to win a shoe give away on Jenny's blog, Peanut Butter and Jenny, and WON!! I am soooo excited!! A huge THANK YOU to Jenny for choosing me as the winner!

I spent the majority of my day today outside and snacked on one of my favorite snacks-- frozen grapes. The weather was perfect for it, and my baby booboo joined me for most of it.

Tonight for dinner, my dad grilled up some tuna. I had been waiting in anticipation all day for it!

I marinated the tuna in:

1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tbs. crush garlic garlic
1/2 tbs. ground ginger

Added all these ingredients to a bowl and whisked them together. Poured over the tuna and let them marinate for about 1 hr 30 mins.

The tuna was delicious! I like mine to be seared on the outside and raw on the inside.

My tummy was definitely happy after this meal.

That's it for tonight my lovely readers! I promise to post more this week!

Hope you all have a great rest of your night!

XO Jen

Finally feels like SUMMER

2011-06-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

It finally feels like summer here in northern California!!

It's been a long time coming. Just a few weeks ago it was cold, cloudy and it even rained!

Now the sun is out shining down and the warm weather is upon us! I couldn't be happier. I can finally tan these pale legs of mine.

With the warmer weather comes the lighter meals and more green smoothies.

Today I made a summer quinoa salad with a balsamic vinaigrette that will last me most of the week!

Summer Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

2/3 cup COOKED quinoa
1/2 a red bell pepper; chopped
1/2 a orange bell pepper; chopped
1/2 cup mini heirloom tomatoes; halved
1 cup mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded carrots
~handful kale; de-stemmed
~1/4 cup balsamic
1 tbs. honey
salt and pepper to taste

(These are rough measurements; please forgive me!)

Directions:
In a large bowl add the chopped up bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms and kale. Next, add the 2/3 cup quinoa and stir to combine. In a small jar or bowl, add the balsamic, honey, salt and pepper to taste. Stir or whisk together to combine. Pour the dressing over the veggies and quinoa and stir well to combine. I like my vinaigrette to have a bite to it; if you don't then add a little more honey to it.

**If you don't have any cooked quinoa on hand, cook 3/4 cup dry quinoa with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then cover and let simmer for about 15-20 mins, or until all the water has been absorbed. Then use about 2/3 cup of the cooked quinoa for the salad.

I also made myself a Banana Mango Green Smoothie for lunch and enjoyed it outside while soaking up some rays and tanning my legs!

Banana Mango Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 a frozen medium banana
3 slices frozen mango
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 c water
handful spinach
1 tbs. ground flax
1 tsp. agave nectar (optional)

Directions:

In a blender, add the water, almond milk, banana and mango. Blend until smooth. Next add the spinach, ground flax and agave nectar; blend again until thoroughly blended. Pour into a cup and enjoy!

After lunch I uploaded some new music onto my iPhone and did some strength training with hand weights and then abs/core. Then I took off to the gym and did 40 minutes worth of cardio.

Came home and made myself up a small bowl of the Summer Quinoa Salad and laid out in the sun for a while.

The sun and warm weather was calling my name, I had to take advantage of it.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday so far!

XO

Lately..

2011-06-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been eating some good eats!

A lunch and dinner meal:

Angela's 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta

I used brown rice pasta and I didn't have any basil on hand so I substituted with spinach. For the veggies I used some zucchini, asparagus and yellow bell pepper. It was delish!

For dinner one night I threw together a Roasted Vegetable with Balsamic and Quinoa.

I lined a baking sheet with foil and preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I then got my vegetables ready, which were zucchini, mushrooms and chickpeas. Tossed them with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Placed them on the lined baking sheet and cooked in the 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

I always have pre-cooked quinoa on hand, so I just added about 1/3 cup into a bowl and heated up in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Once the veggies were done cooking, I added them to the quinoa and drizzled with balsamic and topped with a little parm.

Yum!

For breakfast this morning I tried out Ashley's Pour, Poke, + Spread Eggs from The Edible Perspective.

Sorry for the terrible lighting in this picture.

I sautéed a small handful of spinach in a pan and sprinkled with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Once the spinach was almost completely wilted, I added the egg and followed Ashley's instructions on her recipe.

It turned out delicious! It is now my new favorite way to cook eggs. Super easy and quick.

The other night, Monday to be exact, I popped open a bottle of Ryhan Estates Sparkling Almond Wine. It had been sitting in the outside fridge for some time so I figured I'd open it up and drink it. Hehehe.

It was perfect for a warm summer night. It hit the spot!

That's all for now! I'll leave you with a couple pictures :)

Do you see the heart??

Hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday!

Mini Bite

2011-06-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made another batch of the Ultra Fudgy Brownies, but instead made them into mini brownie bites.

It made roughly 28 mini bites and I tasted a couple of them to "make sure" they turned out perfectly.

The verdict is: They did! Perfectly scrumptious and bite sized!

I hope everyone tonight likes them. :)

I had my psychology final on Tuesday, the final and class that I've been stressing over, and received my grade on the final and my final grade in the class.

Are you ready??

Grade for my final: 39 out of 43

Whoo hoo!!

Final grade for the class: 101 out of 110 points! (The points were based on the quizzes, the one midterm we had and the final.)

Yesss!!!

I got a B in the class!! I know, you may be thinking, "How is that a B??" According to my professor's grading scale a 91% is a B, not an A.

Suuuuuper lame. But nonetheless I am perfectly content with my grade. I passed the class and that's all I care about. It's better than a C, D, or F.

My stress levels are down and I am feeling much better.

That's all for now! I'll leave you with a couple pictures I took of Jack. He's the best picture model. Haha

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. =)

3 in 1

2011-06-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

3 recipes in 1 post!

Amazing!

Aren't you excited??

Well... you should be!

I am.

Yesterday I whipped up a batch of Ultra Fudgy Brownies from Angela's Oh She Glows blog that she got from Sweet Freedom.

I swtiched up some of the ingredients though. The recipe calls for spelt flour, sucanat sugar, ground chia seeds or flax, and Himalayan sea salt.

Instead of spelt flour, I used 1 1/4 cup of gluten free All Purpose Baking Flour (Bob Red's Mill), brown sugar instead of sucanat, ground flax and just plain ol' salt.

For the complete recipe go HERE.

One word to describe these brownies--- AMAZING!!

I ate one today along with my lunch which was a bowl of Chia Cherry Pudding.

Yup, fat kid status.

Super delish though! I topped it with a tablespoon of equal parts almond butter to almond milk blended together and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Chia Cherry Pudding

Ingredients:

5-6 cherries, pitted
1 tbs. chia seeds
1/4-1/3 cup almond milk
1 tbs. blended almond butter (or regular)
1/2 tsp. pure maple syrup (optional)

Directions:

In a bowl add the cherries and lightly mash them up. Next add the chia seeds and milk, stir to combine. Cover and let sit overnight (if you are making these the night before) in the refrigerator or for 2-3 hours. Remove from fridge, stir the chia and cherry mixture to loosen up, if it's too thick add just about 1 tbs. worth of milk or water. Top with more cherries and the almond butter. Enjoy!

For the blended almond butter:

3/4 cup almond butter

3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (I used unsweetened)

Combine in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a container or the empty almond butter jar and store in refrigerator.

**If you have more than a 3/4 of almond butter just make sure it's equal part ratio of almond milk to almond butter.

I crumbled my brownie on top of my chia cherry pudding. YUM!

Lunch and dessert all in one! Score!

After enjoying my lunch outside, I walked around my backyard and took a few pictures.

It's FINALLY nice and sunny out! It's starting to finally feel and look like summer.

Tomato plant

Jack coming to see me

My baby booboos!

Today is a good friend of mine birthday, so I am saving the rest of my appetite for sushi dinner tonight! I can't wait to see everyone.

Oh and one last recipe!

Last night for dinner I made roasted balsamic eggplant and asparagus with quinoa. It's super easy to throw together and not to mention seriously good eats.

Roasted Balsamic Eggplant and Asparagus with Quinoa

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 small-medium eggplant
5 stalks of Asparagus
1/2 cup COOKED quinoa
Balsmaic
1-2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
Small handful of spinach

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Set aside. Cut the egg plant into 3-4 slices, and 1/4 those slices and cut up the asparagus. Put into a medium bowl, drizzle with the olive oil, add the salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste, mix to combine. Add the eggplant and asparagus to the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Heat a medium size pan and add the 1/2 cup quinoa and spinach to heat through. Once heated through remove from stove and place the quinoa and spinach either on a plate or bowl. Once veggies are done cooking, remove from oven and add them to the quinoa and spinach mixture. Drizzle some balsamic over the top and garnish with some parmesan cheese (optional). Enjoy!

I'm Free!

2011-06-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

I'm done! I'm free from school!!

Well, for the next couple of weeks until I go back for summer quarter.

But nonetheless, I AM FREE!!

The past week I've been nothing but one huge stress ball and not that much fun to be around. I've been stressed over one class that I ABSOLUTELY need to pass in order to move on and take other classes that I need for my degree.

Stupid prerequisites.

I'm still somewhat stressed over what I'm going to get in the class, but not AS bad.

I haven't really experimented with anything new as of late. But on Friday I am going to make Ultra Fudgy Brownies for a get together that night. I came across this yummy recipe on Angela's Oh She Glows blog that she got from the cookbook Sweet Freedom. They sound AND look delicious!

I can't wait.

I might make them tonight to make sure they do taste as good as they look and sound.

This week I got back into my gym routine after going through a bit of a rough patch last week. I was in a down and out mood last week and super stressed. I wasn't feeling that great about myself and just took a week off from working out completely. To some people I may come off as if I don't have a care in the world, that I have it easy or that I'm not self-concious at all about myself, how I look, so on and so forth.

That couldn't be farther from the truth!

I'm going to open up a little bit on here, I almost wasn't going to post this. I have a hard time opening up and I tend to keep things bottled up until the last possible moment.

Once I do open it, it ALL comes out. I sound like a blubbering idiot or I my words are just completely jumbled.

Definitely not healthy.

The truth of the matter is, I am very self-concious about the way I look and my body image. I may not come off that way, but deep down I am. It's been something I've struggled with since high school and until now. I believe it's something that most women struggle with and men as well. I've slowly started to accept the way my body looks. I know that I will never have the perfect little toned body or flat stomach. I'm not going to over work myself or drive myself crazy to achieve it either. I workout and keep in shape for myself. I eat healthy and I'm not going to starve myself just to look a "certain way".

Please, I don't want anyone to take what I've put the wrong way. I'm not putting down anyone who is training towards a certain goal, like my best friend. I am so proud of her and support her 110%! I'm not judging or putting anyone down. This is strictly towards me, I've struggled with this for years and enough is enough for me.

I've learned that I CAN NOT compare myself to others. I've realized I have a different body type from others and that I'm built differently. We ALL are. If someone can't accept me for the way I am and how I look then they can keep on walking.

A couple weekends ago, Memorial weekend to be exact, I finally lost it, crying and all, and opened up to one of my best friends about what has been going on. I felt so ashamed and horrible that I didn't open up to her sooner and I hope she doesn't hold that against me. Or any of my other best friends and family for that matter. Sorries!

I don't want to bother anyone with my problems and a part of me feels ashamed. And I know, I need to get over that.

I've been super stressed with school and other things. I haven't been entirely happy with where I am at this point in my life. At almost 28 years old I really thought by now, at the age I am, I would be further along with my life. I thought that I'd be graduated from college and have a steady job. A place of my own. In a steady, healthy and loving relationship. I have none of those at the moment. I am, by far, the hardest on myself.

When I told her all this, my best friend told me something that really put me more at ease. That life doesn't always go according to plan or how we want it to.

Of course, she said some other things to me that I won't get into detail about, but that sentence really struck home. Something so simple as that sentence seemed to make me feel better. It's so obvious and yet completely true.

It's something that I've told many of my friends before, yet I couldn't recognize it myself. It took my best friend to point that out for me to finally realize it. I am such a control freak when it comes to my life, that I completely forgot that life doesn't always go accordingly to plan or how I want it to. There's always going to be speed bumps or massive potholes along the way. The best thing that a person can do is get over it and keep on moving.

Shanel- Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so very much.

To my best friends- I love you all so very much! I don't know what I would do with out you all. You truly are family to me. I am so lucky to have you all in my life and very grateful! I appreciate and love you more than you know!

Mango Chia Pudding

2011-06-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything up since Tuesday.

I've been in a bit of a slump and stressed over school, among other things.

But I wanted to share with you all this really good eat!

In my opinion, anyways.

Mango Chia Pudding.... The chia seeds form a gel like substance/texture when added to liquid, therefore the "pudding" term.

This is absolutely delicious!

Let this either sit overnight in the refrigerator or for at least 2-3 hours before you eat. I made this in the morning and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours so I could eat it for lunch.

Mango Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

3-4 slices of mango
1 Tbs. chia seeds
1 Tbs. almond butter (or any nut butter)
1/4 cup of almond milk
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
In a bowl, lightly mash up the mango slices so that they are still a bit chunky. Then add in the chia seeds, milk and almond butter. Stir well to combine. Cover and put into the refrigerator either overnight or for at least 2-3 hours. Before you dig in, sprinkle the cinnamon on top.

The end result:

Satisfyingly fulfilling deliciousness!

8 Ways to Self-Actualize

2011-05-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Abraham Maslow was an American Psychologist and has been someone that I've studied before throughout some of the psychology courses I've taken. He is best known for his theory of "Hierarchy of Needs" and is also considered the father of humanistic psychology.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid

While doing some reading about Maslow, I find his theories so interesting, I came across his 8 Ways to Self-Actualize.

It basically describes 8 behaviors that lead to self actualization. I find these 8 to be really interesting and something that everyone, including myself, can apply to our everyday lives.

Abraham Maslow's 8 Ways to Self-Actualize

" *Concentration: Experience things fully, vividly, selflessly. Throw yourself into the experiencing of something: concentrate on it fully, let it totally absorb you.

* Growth Choices: Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth): Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.

* Self-Awareness: Let the self emerge. Try to shut out the external clues as to what you should think, feel, say, and so on, and let your experience enable you to say what you truly feel.

* Honesty: When in doubt, be honest. If you look into yourself and are honest, you will also take responsibility. Taking responsibility is self-actualizing.

* Judgement: Listen to your own tastes. Be prepared to be unpopular.

* Self-Development: Use your intelligence, work to do well the things you want to do, no matter how insignificant they seem to be.

* Peak Experiences: Make peak experiencing more likely: get rid of illusions and false notions. Learn what you are good at and what your potentialities are not.

* Lack of Ego Defenses: Find out who you are, what you are, what you like and don’t like, what is good and what is bad for you, where you are going, what your mission is. Opening yourself up to yourself in this way means identifying defenses - and then finding the courage to give them up. "

SF Sunday Funday

2011-05-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

As promised here is my post about my Sunday Funday with my crew of friends.

This day of shenanigans was planned by my friend Erika and had been planned for a couple weeks now. It just so happen to fall on Memorial Day Weekend.

I got up bright and early, well for a Sunday anyways, to get ready and head out the door by 9:30.

We went with an 80's Geek theme. I don't have much 80's themed attire so I went with what I had. I borrowed a pair of bright pink socks from my best friend to wear over my leggings.

It worked!

A bunch of us were heading out to the city to a place in the Castro District called Lime. On Sundays they have a $9 bottomless mimosa brunch and the place is always packed! So in order to get a table at a decent time you must arrive there no later than 11:30.

Last time we only waited about a hour and a half for a table.... this time it was 2 hours!

Holy crap.

Luckily we had a few shots to hold us over, lol.

Spark Plug Shot

While waiting for out table it was picture taking time.

Of course.

What else are we going to do while we wait??

And wait...

Still waiting....

And wait some more...

Whooo-hooo!! We have a table! Time to cheers with some bottomless mimosas!

The food at Lime is really, really good! I have no pictures of the food because well... I just don't.

I just forgot. I was so hungry that it didn't even cross my mind.

I had a veggie frittata that was delicious!

After Lime we walked down the street to a bar called the Lookout.

It's a gay bar and it was so much fun!

We dragged the boys to it... and despite what they say we all know they had a good time.

Muahahaha!

Oh and some shenanigans on the walk back to BART.

Don't ask me what promted us to do this...

I'm just going to blame it on the alcohol.

Overall, it was a fantastic Sunday Funday with some great friends! It was full of laughter, smiles and fun!

I might be somewhat MIA from blogging this upcoming week. I have finals next week and I really need to buckle down and focus on school and on myself.

So my posts might not be as frequent until finals are over and I have figured some things out!

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

XO Jen

Eggplant burgers with Balsamic Veggies

2011-05-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

It's Friiiiiday!!

The weekend is finally here!!

I don't have much planned for this Memorial Day Weekend. It definitely going to be a chill one, except for Sunday.

Ohhh I can not wait for Sunday! It's going to be a Sunday Funday outing with my girls and guys out to SF. I'm not going to get into much detail about what we will be doing or going. I'll put up a post about it after we go!

I'll just tell you this one thing...

$7 bottomless mimosas.

Hells ya =)

To start my Friday off this morning, I had a bowl of hot oatmeal with a blob of almond butter and half of a banana cut up. It was super delish and filling. I was only able to eat half of it.

This was a 1/4 cup of oats, 1 tbs. ground flax with a 3/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, cooked on the stove top in a pan. Once cooked to my liking, I poured it into a bowl and topped with the bananas and almond butter.

I spent the majority of my day doing laundry... 5 loads to be exact.

Ugh. I hate doing laundry... especially the folding and putting away.

But I did it. Folded and put away.

That's only half of my closet! You can only imagine what the other half looks like, yikes!

And yes, my closet is color coordinated. Makes it easier to find things!

I'm an Apple product FREAK! iMac, iPad2 and an iPhone. I also have their old iBook G4 that's not pictured. I'm a tech geek <3

Okay, back on track...

While I had laundry going, I got an early start on dinner. Well, I prepped the first half of it. I decided to make Eggplant burgers since I bought a large eggplant the other day. And since my dad wasn't going to be home for dinner, tonight was a perfect opportunity to make the eggplant burgers for my mom and I.

The first 2 paragraphs of the directions is what I prepared ahead of time and covered the bowl and placed into the refrigerator until I was ready to finish making them.

Eggplant Burgers

Ingredients:

One large eggplant

3/4 cup quinoa flakes (Bread crumbs would work as well. I suppose a GF oat flour, brown rice flour, ect. could work too. I'll have to try that next time.)

1/2 a medium onion chopped

1 Tbs. crushed garlic

1 cup cooked lentils (I used green)

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried sage

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. agave nectar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Remove the top of the eggplant and cut in half lengthwise. Place cut sides down onto your lined baking sheet. Place into the preheated 425 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes. The egg plant will be tender and somewhat sunken. Remove from the oven and place into a large bowl or dish.

After the eggplant has had time to cool, dump any liquid and scrape the flesh away from the eggplant. Place the pulp or the insides of the eggplant into a food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture is a coarse puree. Place the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients to it. Mix well to combine and let the mixture stand at room temperature for about 20 mins.

If you are preparing this ahead of time, cover the bowl with saran wrap and place into the refrigerator until you are ready.

Preheat oven again to 425 degrees and re-line the baking sheet with foil or parchment.

In a large non-stick pan, heat over medium to high heat and spray with cooking oil. Using a large soup spoon, scoop a pretty decent amount of the eggplant mixture and add to the pan. Flatten with the back of the spoon so the patties are about 3 inches wide and 1/2 an inch thick. I cooked 2 at time until they were lightly browned before carefully flipping them over to cook on the other side.

Remove and place on the lined backing sheet. Bake the eggplant burgers for 20 minutes in the oven until they are cooked through!

I served these along with some balsamic zucchini and orange bell peppers.

Enjoy!!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and Memorial Day! Lets take the time this weekend to thank our brave soldiers for all that they do and have done for our country!

XO Jen

Quarterlife Crisis

2011-05-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

Lessons of Your Quarterlife Crisis

The above link is such a good read! I know there's many of us out there that's experiencing this. I know I am and it was nice to know and read that I'm not alone in feeling the way that I do.

The emotions, the constant questioning of myself and the doubts I put upon myself.

On the outside it may seem like I have it all together and that I don't have a problem or a doubt in the world. But in reality, I don't have it all together and I do have major doubts about myself and other things.

This article really made me feel better about what I am going through and dealing with. It made me realize that I am not entirely alone and that it's ok and perfectly normal what I am feeling.

So please, give this article a read! Especially if you feel like you might be going through a similar situation.

:)

XO Jen

Accident

2011-05-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

The other night I had a slight accident...

Sliced my thumb open. Took this today after a couple days of healing and no bloody mess.

The culprit...

The food processor blade.

How did I do this you may be wondering?

I was carelessly putting away the food processor and sliced it that way, not quite sure how I managed doing that.

So, after school today I went and bought a box of band-aids that fit and work for my injury.

I was surprised at how deep the cut was. It doesn't hurt as much, only when I bang my thumb on something or trying to put bobby pins in my hair. I'm thumb impaired for the next few days or so. I've been having difficulty buttoning and zipping my jeans, pulling my hair up into a pony tail or messy bun, texting on my phone, etc... I don't think many of us realized how much we need our thumbs for everyday uses!

Oh, and did I mention that this is my right thumb and that I am right handed??

I'll survive though, haha. I just like to complain about it.

Anyways, the other morning I had a bowl of strawberry blended overnight oats. It was creamy, strawberry goodness!

Strawberries 'n' "Cream" Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup Almond Milk
3-4 medium to large strawberries
1 tbs. ground flax
1 tbs. almond butter (optional)

Directions:

Night before add in the blender cup the oats, almond milk, strawberries and ground flax. Cover and refrigerate over night. Next morning blend up, pour into a bowl and top with almond butter.

Oh! My parents absolutely loved the Chile Verde Chicken Casserole! There was only a very small portion leftover. :) My mom informed me that it did thicken up more. Thank goodness!

Success!!

Tiny Wisdom: On Being Openly You

2011-05-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Tiny Wisdom: On Being Openly You

This is such a positive read and I believe it's something that everyone can benefit from by reading!

Chile Verde Chicken Casserole

2011-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

I adapted the following recipe to fit my liking and what I had on hand, for the most part.

I cooked this up this afternoon for my parents to reheat and to have for dinner. They're usually my guinea pigs when it comes to me testing out new recipes. Muahahaha!

In Mama Pea's recipea she uses a 14 oz. can of tomato sauce. I used 14 oz. of green chili sauce, in reality I should have used 7-10 oz. of it. It came out a little soupy, not what I was going for. Still delicious though!

If you are going to make this with the green chili sauce I recommend not using 14 oz. Start with 7 oz and if it looks like it needs a little more, add a couple more ounces to the mixture.

I also added in some diced green chili's and omitted the beans since I didn't have any on hand. I added corn into the mixture and used chicken instead of tempeh.

Chile Verde Chicken Casserole

(Adapted from Mama Pea's Tempeh Tamale Pie)

Ingredients:

For the filling:

Chicken tenders cut up into bite sized pieces
1 medium onion or 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 Tbs. crushed garlic
2 tsp. chili powder (Use 1 tsp. if you want it less spicy)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. apple cider or red wine vinegar
1 tsp. maple syrup
One 4 oz. can of diced green chilies
One 7-10 oz. can of green chili sauce (comes in a can)
One 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup defrosted corn

Crust:

2/3 c. cornmeal
1/3 c. brown rice flour (or flour of choice)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. non-dairy or organic milk
1 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. unsweetened applesauce
1 c. frozen corn, defrosted and drained
1/3 c. non-dairy cheese or regular cheese (optional; your choice)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large skillet or pan add the cut up chicken and cook until it's all the way cooked through. Remove from pan and add into a bowl. Set aside

Spray the pan with cooking spray or 1Tbs. of olive oil, add in the onions and corn. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Next add back in the chicken to the pan and to that the chili powder, salt, crushed garlic, apple cider or red wine vinegar, green chili sauce, maple syrup and the diced green chilis. Stir well to combine and let simmer for a few minutes so the flavors can meld together.

Remove from heat and carefully pour into the greased casserole dish. Next in a large bowl add the dry ingredients for the crust. Corn meal, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.

In a glass measuring cup add the unsweetened almond milk (or dairy of choice), apple sauce and maple syrup. Stir to combine and then add to the dry ingredients. Stir until it's combined. Then carefully fold in the corn.

Carefully spread the corn mixture over the top of the casserole dish. I used my hands and placed pieces of the mixture on top, it was easier for me.

If you are adding cheese, sprinkle it on top, pop into the 400 degree oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust is set.

I had to serve mine in a bowl since it came out a little soupy. Too much green chile sauce. Like I stated above, if using the green chile sauce start with 7 oz. of it and add more if needed.

This still tasted great despite that!

Chickpea Burgers

2011-05-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

I came across a few various recipes for veggie burgers and chickpea burgers. And the one I went with was one from Angela's Oh She Glows blog. Her recipes never seem to fail me and I always love them!

Wasn't too sure how these were going to taste or turn out. Lately, it seems like I've had a bit of an obsession with chickpeas.

Is someone in need of an intervention??

These took no time to whip up and make. Maybe all of 15-20 minutes. I tend to get distracted and maybe slight OCD with cleaning up while I cook. Messiness drives me nuts.

I might need some help with that too.

Chickpea Burgers

(As adapted from Oh She Glows Spelt Veggie Burgers)

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked chickpeas (I buy them in the can; make sure to drain and rinse them)
1 small carrot, peeled and cut up into pieces
1 small onion, chopped up into large pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, cut up into larger pieces
1/4 cup spinach
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp thyme
Small dash of cayenne
1/4 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
1 Tbs. crushed garlic or 1 clove
1/3 cup cooked green lentils
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 Tbs. chia seeds
3/4 brown rice flour (or any flour of your choice)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and cover a baking sheet with either parchment paper or non-stick foil. In a food processor add all the ingredients except for the flour, green lentils, sunflower seeds and chia seeds. Process until the mixture is well blended together. Remove the mixture and add it into a large bowl. Add to it the green lentils, sunflower seeds and chia seeds, mix well to combine. Next add the flour in 1/4 cup increments, stir well to blend together thoroughly. Shape into medium sized patties and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, flip and then bake for another 10.

Makes 6-8 patties

I served these chickpea burgers along with some sesame kale. The burgers were delicious! I was pleasantly surprised. I ate three of them... fat kid status. But I couldn't help myself. They are so good.

I accidentally added the whole can of chickpeas instead of the 1 cup. I didn't read the ingredients list properly while I was making it.

My OCD of cleaning distracted me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I suggest just doing the 1 cup and not follow my mistake of dumping in the whole can of chickpeas (make sure they are drained and rinsed) into the food processor. It would explain the texture of them after they were baked in the oven, not a bad texture.

They were still super delicious though!

My mom ate 2 of them with one leftover. Can't wait to scarf that last one down tomorrow!

Weekend recap

2011-05-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a busy one!

Spent it with my family and close friends.

Friday night I met up with a few of my closest bestest friends at a place called Redcoats.

The only two people missing were Jenna and Haili, my other two best friends.

::sad face:: :(

Saturday morning I was up bright and early at a time of 7 a.m.

Why?? Oh because my family and I were having a garage sale. And it started at 8 a.m. and I had to set up the items I was selling.

My little table of items that consisted of flip flops, tops, a couple

hats that I wore like twice and dresses. In the box there

were old purses and wallets that I never use anymore.

All the other items that my parents were selling.

The first person to show up bought my brothers weight bench set for $40 and my parents old tv. They made about $140 and I came out with $37.

SCORE!!

We did good. :)

I had to leave halfway through the garage sale to make it to my much needed hair appointment.

My hair needed a dye job to cover some ::cough, cough:: gray hairs ::cough, cough:: and a much needed trim. I dyed the underneath a dark dark brown to almost black and the top is a reddish brown. Loving it!!

I'll post some pictures ASAP.

Came back home to a very nice surprise....

My twin brother was home visiting!! AND my aunt dropped by with her grandkids, my second cousins who I loooove, to visit for a bit.

Madelyn a.k.a my Mini Me, as I like to call her, is starting to look so grown up. She's going to be 11 and I can not believe it. It feels like yesterday she was a baby.

4 p.m. rolled around and that meant the SF Giants game was on against the Oakland A's. Battle of the Bay game series!!

My brother and I settled down and watched the game.

I'm a huge Giants fan, my brother more so, so I was looking forward to watching them beat the A's, which they did of course. They won all three games against them... SWEEEEP!

Later on that evening I headed on over to my best friend's house, Shanel, for a girls night in! Erika and Hillary came over too and it was such a fun night. A much needed, chill, tons of laughter and stories, night.

Sunday I took it easy and recovered from the hectic, yet fun, weekend.

I'm whipping something new up for dinner tonight so stay tuned!

End Of The World As We Know It

2011-05-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the world as we know it... (Are you humming that song now?? I know I am)

Gaaahhh...ZOMBIE..

But I'll get back to that in a minute...

Friday morning started out like any other morning....

With some overnight oats!!

Blended!

With chopped up green apples!

Yup, this bowl made me very happy this morning and satisfyingly fullfilling.

Green Apple Blended Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats)
1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 tbs. almond butter
1 tbs. ground flax
1/2 a green apple, cut up into pieces
A drizzle of agave or honey

Directions:
Night before, in a blender cup add the oats and milk. Cover and refrigerate over night. Next morning, remove from refrigerator, add in the almond butter and blend up. If it's too thick add a little more almond milk. Pour into a bowl and top with the green apples, ground flax and honey or agave.

I had the remaining ChickPea soup that I made the night before for lunch today. It tasted even better the next day!

Tomorrow morning my family is having a garage sale... part of our garage is full of the items that we are selling. I am hoping to come up on some money selling some clothes that I never wear anymore, shoes, purses and other miscellaneous items.

Oh, and supposedly tomorrow is the end of the world as we know it. I guess tonight I should partake in some End Of the World celebration!

In all honestly, I don't see it happening. There are way too many gullible people in this world of ours. Horrible, natural disasters can happen at any time, on any day of any week, month, or year. And if the world does end tomorrow, then I guess you all can tell me, "I told you so..."

But then again, I guess no one would be able to if the world ended tomorrow.

I keep saying it's going to be a zombie apocalypse!

Zoooommmbieee

Zombies for Halloween in 2010

So, I'll end my blog with this food for thought: We aren't guaranteed a tomorrow; so live your life to it's fullest and have no regrets. Quit living in the past and referring back to it. It's called the PAST for a reason. Work towards your goals and live for yourself. Live in the here and now! Love the people who love you and whom you love. Don't worry about what other people think about you, because chances are they are worried about and thinking the same exact thing. And laugh and smile at every possible moment!

Hope everyone has a great evening!

XO Jen

Chickpea Soup and VBlog

2011-05-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I thought I'd switch up my blog and try out something new.

Enjoy!

Oh and below the video is my critique on the chickpea soup.

My very first VBlog! Hope you all enjoyed! I tend to mumble sometimes, so I apologize. Bad, bad habit. Lol. But overall I had fun doing it and felt somewhat dorky basically talking to myself, haha. I'll do another one sometime in the near future!

Anyways, tonight I made a chickpea soup from yet another recipe I came across on from Angela's Oh She Glows blog. I absolutely love her recipes, they are always so yummy and healthy!

I wasn't so sure how this soup was going to turn out or taste but to my surprise it turned out really good! The soup is creamy and thick and if you like hummus you'll love this! If you don't want the soup as thick, just add a little more veggie or chicken broth to it.

I did some adaptations to this recipe since I didn't have a few things that she added and listed. I also cut it in half since I was making it for myself and it came out to be a little over 2 servings.

Leftovers!!

If you want her complete recipe go here.

Chickpea Soup
Serving: ~2

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans; drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth (vegetable works just as good, I had chicken on hand)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbs. Tahini (optional)
1 1/2 tbs. garlic (less if you don't want it so garlicy)
1/2 tbs. dried sage
1/2 tbs. dried thyme
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt or more to taste
Pepper to taste
Olive oil and mini heir loom tomatoes to garnish

Directions:
In a large skillet, add the 1 tbs. olive oil and add the chopped onions, heat over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring. After a few minutes, add the garlic and stir. After about 5 minutes, add in the cumin, salt, dried sage, thyme, pepper and lemon juice. Stir well to combine and cook over low-medium heat for another 5 minutes.

After about 5 minutes, add in the chicken broth (or vegetable broth) and water, the tahini and chickpeas. Stir and let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple minutes.

Carefully pour into a blender and blend until smooth. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add a little more water or broth, blend again.

Pour into bowls and garnish with tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.

And most importantly-- ENJOY!

I scarfed my bowl down, it was sooo good!

Photography & Protein Power Bowl

2011-05-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

The other night I tried out a new recipe that I came across on the blog Oh She Glows called Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl.

It sounded and looked delicious so I just had to try it out.

I gathered up all my ingredients and went at it.

It was surprisingly simple to put together and make and it turned out delicious!

The picture of this looks far better on Angela's Oh She Glows blog. If you want a better picture of the recipe and final outcome, check her blog out!

Today I had breakfast on the go which was a blended up VOO (Vegan Overnight Oats) with some ground flax and almond butter. Kept it quick and simple since I was running late heading to school.

Took the picture looking down into my cup

Eating this while driving to class this morning was no easy task!

While at school today I decided to take some pictures... got a little creative and I think, personally, they came out great.

But then again, I'm biased.

Waiting for class to start...

And a little added extra bonus......

Me!

Lunch today was another Green Smoothie with spinach, kale, half a green apple, 3 large strawberries, half water and half almond milk, Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder, ground flax and cinnamon.

Tonight for dinner I am going to try out a blended chickpea soup! I'll report back tomorrow and let you all know how it was!

Until then!

Xo Jen

Nothing out of the ordinary; Strawberry-Red Pear Green Smoothie

2011-05-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

I know.

I've been MIA from blog writing the past ~~couple~~ few days.

The weekend got busy and yesterday I was playing catch up with school.

Oh! I'm a FoodBuzz Publisher! So the ads to the right of this post are legit. =)

My weekend was an enjoyable one though! I spent it with my friends and went to a couple of our usual spots to hang out and dance.

Well they danced, I wasn't up for it. I watched all the crazy shenanigans go down.

Friday night me and a few of my favorite ladies went to our local watering hole, The Outpost.

Since I'm on my cleanse I'm not drinking, so there was no alcohol for me this weekend!

Saturday night we went to support our friends' party they were hosting at a spot that used to be called Aura. Then new ownership took over and it got renamed Status and now it's called Playhouse.

One of my best friend's and I

Ehh... not a fan of the new name...Playhouse?? I feel like it should be the name of some daycare center or a kids fun zone. Does anyone remember Discovery Zone?!

Anyways, the cleanse is going great! Starting last Wednesday we went up to have two shakes a day and one meal. I find this soooo much easier. Why?? Because all I have to do is throw things into a blender, whip it up and a few minutes later my meal is ready. Quick and easy! I've been doing a shake in the morning and one for lunch and then a meal I make for dinner.

Lately, I've been eating my usual eats. Over night oats in the morning, except now I blend them up. Super yummy. Lunch is a green monster protein shake and dinner lately has been chicken with veggies and quinoa, or a veggie quinoa bowl. I haven't really experimented with anything new, just haven't had the time!

I did, however, whip up a new green smoothie concoction and it's delish! Below is the recipe.

Strawberry- Red Pear Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup kale
3 medium to large strawberries
1/2 red pear, cut up into pieces
a 1/4 of a banana; frozen (Frozen is optional)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
Vanilla protein powder (optional)
1 tbs. ground flax or chia seeds
Cinnamon

Directions:
Add to the blender first the milk, water, spinach and kale. Blend until smooth or at a consistency you like. Next add in the ground flax or chia seeds and protein powder (that is if you are adding any), blend again. Then add in the remaining ingredients; strawberries, pear pieces and cinnamon. Blend again. Once blended thoroughly, pour into a glass and enjoy!

The weather in northern California has been super weird. It's been cold, overcast, cloudy and rainy the past few days. And it's MAY. What the hell?!

Where is the sun and warm weather?! Coooome baaack!

Which means Jack has been spending a lot of time indoors with me.

No, no, scratch that.

With MY bed and on MY Giants blanket.

He has his own blanket. (Yes, I know that sounds weird, a cat that has his own blanket, but he sheds like crazy and he's my "child" haha). See the red blanket above??

Yeah, that's his. See where he is laying??

Yeah, that's mine.

He's in right now as I post this.

But on his blanket this time.

Because the weather looks like this.

Okay, I'm done with the crazy cat lady talk.

I'm off to finish some cleaning of the house and then off to the gym!

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

2011-05-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!! The week has finally come to an end!

I always love when the weekend is here. I get to see my friends, relax and chill.

There isn't going to be much content to this post, just three recipe ideas that I wanted to share with you all. The first two is a breakfast and lunch smoothie idea and it's actually what I had today. And the last is a dinner or anytime recipe that I cooked up last night for dinner!

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Breakfast Shake

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oats (*If you do a 1/4 cups oats then do a 1/2 cup almond milk)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tbs. almond butter
1 tbs. ground flax
handful of blueberries
You may add protein powder to this if you like, optional though.

Directions:
Night before add to the blender cup the oats and the almond milk. Cover and refrigerate over nights. In the morning add almond butter and protein powder (if you add any) and blend together! Add just a little more milk or water if the mixture is too thick. Pour into a bowl and top with the ground flax and blueberries. Chia seeds would work great with this too!

Look at the thick consistency! (After I mixed the blueberries and flax in)

Spinach-Kale Banana-Strawberry Green Monster

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup kale
1/2 cup spinach
1/4 medium banana
3 medium strawberries
Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder (Omit protein powder if you want, optional)
1 tbs. chia seeds
cinnamon

Directions:

Blend together first the water, vanilla almond milk, kale and spinach. Once the kale and spinach are blended thoroughly, add the strawberries, banana, protein powder, chia seeds and cinnamon. Blend together until everything is blended completely, pour into a cup and enjoy!

Roasted Chickpeas with Swiss Chard and Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 tbs. Extra virgin Olive oil (or oil of choice)

1/3 cup drained and rinsed chickpeas

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup chard (cut up)

Handful grape tomatoes

1/2 cup sugar snap peas

1/4 cup diced onions

Garlic powder

Dried Sage

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Use a 1/3 cup of the chickpeas and add to a bowl. Add to the chickpeas a drizzle of olive oil, the garlic powder, dried sage and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to combine to coat the chickpeas. Pour onto the lined baking sheet and cook in the oven for about 25 mins or until the chickpeas start to turn a golden brown. While chickpeas are cooking, heat a pan with the 1 tbs. of EVOO and cook the onions until they start to turn translucent. Next add in the sugar snap peas and tomatoes, cook for 3-5 mins. Add in the chard and cook until it starts to wilt. Next add in the quinoa just to heat it through. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Add the mixture to a bowl and top with the roasted chickpeas.

Blended VOO and Kale Green Monster

2011-05-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

The week has been going fantastically so far!

There's been good eats, great friends and great workouts.

Yesterday my best friend put together a Healthy Happy Hour to talk more about the cleanse and to sample some good eats and products of Arbonne. It was a blast! I made a roasted vegetable quiche to share with the ladies and there were a ton of other good eats. Hummus, rice crackers, veggies and a homemade Babaganoosh that our friend Christine made. Soooo good!

I wish I took pictures to show you all! Some people have this misconception that all detox cleanses cut out food. This one doesn't! It's all about clean healthy eating and replacing 2 meals with a shake. I am feeling so much better and have a ton of energy. I feel it working and will be something I'll be sticking with, food wise.

Today I started my morning with VOO... but I put a little twist to it, changed it up.

Any guesses??

I blended it up so it had a shake like texture. I know it sounds weird but it's sooo good! I sprinkled on top some ground flax and a blob of almond butter.

You must try next time! All I did was add my ingredients to the blender cup (oats and almond milk. I added the ground flax in the morning) covered and refrigerated overnight. Removed from the fridge in the morning and blended it up! If it's too thick, just add a little almond milk to it and blend again.

It's thick and creamy and oh so good!

Blended VOO

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbs. almond butter
1 tbs. ground flax
A drizzle of agave nectar (optional)
What ever toppings you like

Directions:

Night before add the oats and almond milk in the blender cup, cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove from fridge add the almond butter (half of the tablespoon) and blend. Add a little more almond milk if necessary. Pout into a bowl and top with the ground flax and the other half of the almond butter and what ever toppings you like. Strawberries and blueberries would go great with this!

Made a quick trip to Trader Joe's since I ran out of almond butter and I absolutely have to have my almond butter. There's no if's, and's or but's about it. I wandered around and noticed that they carried bagged kale! Needless to say I swooped up a bag along with an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and hummus.

Since I bought myself a bag of kale, I decided to put it to good use. Instead of putting spinach in my "Green Monster", I used the kale. It had a slightly different taste, but just as good! Downed it, did some reading for my classes and got ready for the gym.

Kale "Green Monster"

Ingredients:

Kale (about a handful)
3 strawberries
1 scoop Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. chia seeds
1/2 Tbs. cinnamon

Headed to the gym for a session of cardio on the elliptical for 40 mins then back home for some strength training.

Dinner I made another portobello mushroom. It was stuffed with quinoa, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. Simple yet satisfying.

That's all for now! Sorry that this post isn't super exciting, I've been swamped with school!

Hope everyone is enjoying their week!

XO Jen