Pumpkin Spice "Latte" Smoothie

I know it's not technically Pumpkin Spice season but it's been freezing here in Nor Cal this week (and by freezing of course I mean temps in the 50's), also I saw a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice smoothie in my new cookbook (the 21 day sugar detox cookbook) so I modified it to make it a breakfast smoothie and it came out delicious, I drank one almost every morning this week!

• a few cubes of ice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk (in the can)
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1-2 scoops of vanilla whey protein
• half a banana
• 1 instant coffee packet (I use VIA from Starbucks)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Blend all of the above ingredients in your high speed blender. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Zucchini Chicken Pasta with Homemade Pesto

I never thought I'd say this but after making paleo "noodles" with both spaghetti squash and zucchini, I seriously don't even miss pasta. If you don't have a julienne peeler you need to go out and get one stat (or ask for one for Christmas). They are awesome, my only issue with it is that it's really hard (or impossible) to julienne every last bit of zucchini, I usually end up with a few thick slices in the pasta but better than wasting it!

I first made this recipe with regular pesto that I bought at Whole Foods but it gave me stomach issues so I decided to use my awesome Vitamix (seriously, is there anything that thing can't do) and make my own cheeseless pesto, but you can always use pesto from a jar. You can also try adding sundried tomatoes to the pasta.

Ingredients for one serving:

• 2 large zucchini squash (julienned into noodles) 
• 1 tsp sea salt 
• 1 tsp black pepper 
• 4 chopped artichoke hearts packed in water 
• 4 large raw walnuts 
• 4 oz chicken breast, seasoned and baked with garlic powder, salt and pepper, then cut into slices
• 2 T homemade cheese-less pesto (see below) 

Homemade Cheeseless Pesto:

• 1 bunch basil
• 1/2 cup (60 ml) olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 oz walnuts 
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Blend in Vitamix for 1 minute at Variable 7 (start at Variable 1). It will make about a cup and will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Pro Tip: Peel 6-8 zucchini all at once and store the "noodles" in a tupperware, and bake and slice several chicken breasts at the same time, then you have 4 meals for the week, and all you have to do is assemble and heat up. BOOM

Low carb pasta! Yay

Paleo Crockpot Butternut Squash Chili

The end of summer and the beginning of fall means less fresh berries (boo) but more winter squashes (yay)! I bought a butternut squash a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't really sure what to do with it. I looked up what to make with it, found some Paleo chili recipes, and took some ideas from a variety of recipes to come up with the following concoction:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups butternut squash, cubed
• 1 lb grass fed ground beef
• 4 pieces of bacon
• 2 cups broth (any kind, I used chicken because that's what I had)
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can green chilis
• 2 T chili powder
• 1 T smoked paprika
• 1 T cumin
• 1 T oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• Sliced green onions for topping
• Avocado or guacamole for topping

You'll notice I didn't include tomatoes, which is usually a staple in any crockpot chili recipe. The thing is, I am not a fan of cooked tomatoes. I noticed when I would eat dishes that had cooked tomatoes, I would push all the tomatoes to the side. So I decided just to omit them and see what happened.

Steps:

Brown the ground beef in a pan, put in crockpot
Saute the bacon, squash, garlic and onions until cooked, put in crockpot
Add the broth, spices, and chilis to crockpot
Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 3 hours. Add spinach and cook for an additional 30 minutes on high.
Top with avocado or guacamole and sliced green onions.

I haven't actually tried this yet but it looks amazing, I can't wait for lunch tomorrow. I had extra butternut squash so I roasted the extras with salt, pepper and olive oil for 40 minutes at 400F, it was a delicious snack.

I also made this Simple Creamy Cauliflower and Artichoke Soup from PaleOMG. It was super yum!! I precooked the chicken yesterday in my crockpot with low sodium chicken broth and some garlic powder. I kind of doubled the recipe, I used a whole head of cauliflower and a can of artichoke quarters packed in water. Another awesome puree done by my one and only Vitamix.

I'm getting a little tired of eggs, I've been eating Omelet Muffins the past 2 weeks, so I decided to whip up some protein pancakes for tomorrow morning and Tuesday. I'll probably eat em with almond butter, or maybe I'll splurge and whip out the maple syrup (organic of course :P)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Paleo Shepherd's Pie and Green Smoothie

I never posted the Paleo Shepherd's Pie I made. I looked through a few recipes, and finally ended up using the recipe from Eat Boutique, as some of the recipes I found used peas (not paleo) and Worcestershire sauce (also not paleo, unless you make it yourself), and if I'm going to make a "paleo" dish then it better be all paleo. The only thing I didn't do was bake them individually, I don't own ramekins, in fact I just learned the word ramekin from reading that blog. I definitely recommend trying this recipe. Here's the link: http://www.eatboutique.com/2012/10/05/paleo-shepherds-pie/

The most impressive part of this dish for me was the mashed cauliflower on top, it made me fall in love with my Vitamix all over again, it came out SO smooth!

Looks just like potatoes!!!

My friends and I got together for a girls night last night, complete with wine, chips and salsa, rice krispie treats, bread and spinach dip, etc... basically everything that's NOT detox approved :) But the detox is over so I could freely partake... and that I did. I don't feel terrible today, but I don't feel great, and I slept a ton. I made this green smoothie for breakfast in, you guessed it, my Vitamix, along with coffee with coconut milk and 100% cacao powder... yummy! I added the protein so it would be a complete meal... now I think I am going to head out for a quick run. I have no plans this weekend, and I love it!

1 scoop Amazing Grass wheatgrass
1 scoop Jarrows Whey Protein Vanilla
2 celery stalks
1/2 avocado
1/2 banana
1 cup coconut water
1/2 cup water
a few cubes of ice

I made it to Crossfit 4 times this week. Yay! Yesterday was burpees and deadlifts. I love deadlifts, I hate burpees. The WOD was 5 deadlifts and 10 burpees, 5 rounds. I hate round-based WOD's because I always think I'm going to be last. Which I was, but only by a couple of burpees. The best time from the day had been 3:22, I finished in 7:22. I love Friday evening classes because they are so small, so it was me and 7 others. That's also why I like the morning classes, that and getting it out of the way before work. We played "crab soccer" during the warmup, if you don't know what that is, google it. It was entertaining to say the least :)

Oatmeal & Strawberries

First off, I must apologize. My last blog post was titled "No excuses" but I'm about to sit here and spout off excuses as to why I haven't updated this blog in over two weeks. The week of that post I was doing pretty well with working out. Then I developed a toothache, which ended up in getting a wisdom tooth pulled. So even though it's an excuse I think it's a pretty good one ;)

Taking it day by day now, I'm not promising to do any challenges at this moment in time... :) I wasn't supposed to do any strenuous exercise for a week after the tooth pulling (I did do yoga once though), so after a week had passed, I decided I missed strength training and decided to do the first workout of "New Rules of Lifting for Women". Wow, what a difference, it was really difficult for me since I haven't been strength training consistently. But at the same time it felt amazing and I am looking forward to including that back into my routine. I am traveling for work starting tomorrow and am packing my gym clothes!

Now to address the topic of this post... today's breakfast recipe.

A 2 lb container of strawberries were on sale at Safeway last week, so I've been eating strawberries almost every day. I sliced up a bunch of them and have been using them on Greek yogurt and oatmeal. Yummy!

Today I made a delicious bowl of oatmeal with unsweetened coconut milk, vanilla protein powder, about 6 strawberries and added some granola (Open Nature Cranberry Nut Goodness). This protein infused take on oatmeal tasted great and lasted me well until lunchtime.

Ingredients:

1/2c old fashioned oats
1/4c unsweetened coconut milk
1/4c granola
5-6 sliced strawberries
1T vanilla protein powder

Instructions:

- Heat up oatmeal with enough water to cover, in microwave for 90 seconds
- Add ingredients and enjoy!


367 calories, 60g carbs, 8g fat, 15g protein, 107mg sodium, 13g sugar

Get Some!

I think "Get Some" is like Jillian Michaels' favorite saying. I've done the week 1 workout several times in the last few months (I'm ashamed to admit), so I almost have it memorized.

This is my way of announcing that I finally got back on the JM wagon today, I had planned on doing it last night after work but ended up getting home later than expected. I even put on my gym clothes, but after I ate a late dinner (leftovers from Sunday night) I was full and tired, and ended up falling asleep on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory with my cat.

Aren't we cute?

So I woke up this morning determined to get back to it. I did some modifications to see if that would help with the knees, we'll see if they worked. I'll elaborate more on that in the next day or two, but today I wanted to focus on the most important meal of the  day - breakfast! I usually eat a light breakfast (a slice of toast and almond butter), wait 30-45 minutes, and then do the video. But this morning, I was still pretty satisfied from having a late dinner, so I had half a cup of coffee and went for it. So after the workout I was ready for breakfast, and decided to whip up a protein shake in my blender, something I haven't done in a while (I usually just mix protein and water in my blender bottle after workouts). I had some frozen pineapple tidbits, which goes really well with vanilla protein powder.

Pineapple protein shake

Pineapple Protein Shake

2 scoops vanilla whey protein (I use Jarrow's)
3/4 c frozen pineapple tidbits
1 Tbsp chia powder
1 Tbsp flax seed
Enough water so that everything mixes

Blend the pineapple and water until it blends smoothly, then add the other ingredients.

This comes to 342 calories, 36g carbs, 6g fat, 38g protein, 83g sodium, and 22g sugar.

Another go-to breakfast staple is oatmeal, which I had yesterday. I added a serving of fruit & nuts (Costco's "Wholesome Fruit & Nuts"), cinnamon, and a splash of coconut milk to make a delicious 314 calorie breakfast.

Oatmeal with Fruit & Nuts

Oatmeal with Fruit & Nuts

1/2 c rolled oats
3 Tbsp (30g) Kirkland Wholesome Fruit & Nuts
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk

Put oatmeal in a bowl and add a bit of water to your liking. Heat in the microwave for 90 seconds. Then, add the rest of the ingredients.

314 calories, 44g carb, 12g fat, 10g protein, 8mg sodium, 12g sugar

As a side note, did you know that 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa? Pretty interesting... think I'll have some quinoa for dinner :)

Crockpot Broccoli & Vegan Sausage

I love my Crockpot. As a single person the 4.5 quart size is perfect, it allows me to make dinner plus leftovers. Sometimes I have to be careful not to get carried away and make too much otherwise I won't be able to eat it all within a few days. I have this one from Target, it's nothing fancy, but works fabulously.

Before I had a crockpot, I had stumbled across crockpot365.blogspot.com and had forwarded it to my sister who had one, and soon she was raving about all the things she could make with it including recipes from the blog. Within a couple of weeks, I bought my own and I just love it. My sister & I frequent the above mentioned blog often for recipe ideas. Last night I was over at her house and I was starving, and I was about to cave in and order a pizza when she mentioned she had made a broccoli dish and if I wanted some of the leftovers. At first I was skeptical especially after having a couple of beers with my brother-in-law (yep, I used up 1 of my 3 alcohol days), and broccoli isn't generally my go-to culinary choice after a few beers but she served it to me over white rice and I added a little bit of soy sauce and it was actually really good! So good in fact that I went out and bought the ingredients today to recreate this magic in my kitchen ;)

It's basically the Broccoli With Toasted Garlic and Hazelnuts recipe from Stephanie O'Dea, my sister made it a full meal by adding Tofurkey Kielbasa (she's semi-vegetarian) and serving it over rice. I decided to try it over quinoa.

2 pounds of broccoli
1 cup of whole hazelnuts
2 lemons
2 Tbsp olive oil
9 cloves of garlic, minced
2 links Tofurkey Kielbasa Meatless Sausage
1/4 tsp Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning (this stuff is the best, I swear)

Cut up the broccoli and sausage links into manageable pieces, stick it in the Crockpot. Then add the hazelnuts and garlic, and drizzle the lemon juice from the 2 lemons and the olive oil on top, and add the seasoning. Cook on low for 2-3 hours depending on how you like your vegetables cooked (I cooked them for about 2 hours and the broccoli was still a bit firm, but I like it that way).

Before

In the future I would use fewer hazelnuts and actually maybe less of everything, this made A LOT of food for just one person. But it is a really good vegetarian meal. It makes about 6-8 servings depending on how you split it up, at 6 servings it comes to approximately:

329 calories
22g carbs
23g fat
17g protein
290mg sodium
5g sugar

per serving.

Serving it with 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa adds 128 calories, 23g carbs, 2g fat, 5g protein, 1mg sodium and 2g sugar.

Served over quinoa

As for the January Challenge, on Thursday my knees were hurting a bit and I realized this happened to me last time I did Ripped in 30... and googling shows I'm not alone :( I don't want to give up though, so I'm going to try it again with some modifications. I am super sore from snowboarding yesterday, but I'm planning on starting the video again tomorrow.

Good night!

Crab & Kale Quinoa Salad

I was debating on what to have for dinner tonight as I didn't plan my meals for the week like I usually do due to it being a short week. I did however make up a batch of quinoa when I got home last night (I told you I loved quinoa), as I planned on making Winter Morning Quinoa for breakfast at least a few times this week.

I thought back to the dish I had made the other night with quinoa, tuna and kale, but wasn't really feeling the idea. But it made me come up with another idea that involved canned crab meat and making it into a cold salad instead of a warm dish, and came up with this salad that turned out to be quite delicious! The best part was that I had all the ingredients on hand, and it was really quick to make.

The ingredients (makes 1 salad):

A couple of handfuls of pre-chopped kale, blanched
2 oz crab meat
3/4 cup cooked quinoa, cooled or chilled
1 lemon
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 dash salt
1 dash pepper

Instructions:

Whisk the lemon, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Combine the quinoa, crab meat, kale, and the dressing.
That's it!

This was the result:



Yum... and less than 300 calories!

Nutritional breakdown:

Calories 286
Carbs 37g
Fat 10g
Protein 15g
Sodium 520mg
Sugar 3g

I heart Quinoa

I love quinoa, I really do. It's easy to make & is super nutritious. I usually buy the TruRoots Organic Quinoa from Costco and I don't rinse it beforehand even I've heard that you should due to the saponin causing a bitter taste. The one time I tried to rinse it most of it got stuck in the strainer and just created extra work and a big mess, and since it tastes fine to me without rinsing, I never tried rinsing again. I've been looking for delicious recipes to make with quinoa and one thing I had never done with quinoa was eat it for breakfast, so when I found a recipe in Oxygen magazine for Winter Morning Quinoa I was excited to try it. It's so good & really filling! I've eaten it probably a dozen or so times since I discovered it about 3 weeks ago, and again this morning since I had some leftover quinoa (I usually cook about 4-6 servings at once at the beginning of the week so I have it readily available throughout the week). The only modification I make is that I don't use Splenda, I use a half ounce of walnuts instead of a full ounce & I usually add berries on top.



The recipe as I make it comes out to approximately 388 calories, 55g carbs, 13g fat, 15g protein, 22g sugar (per MyFitnessPal).

This evening for dinner I ended up eating quinoa again since I had about one more serving left, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as breakfast :) Since I was feeling a little run down a friend advised me to eat a lot of dark greens (like kale), and suggested I blanch the kale and mix it with quinoa and a can of tuna (I had albacore on hand).

This was the result:




Doesn't look like much, does it? I squeezed about half a lemon on top, heated it up in the microwave for a minute, and it turned out to be a filling and semi-tasty quick meal.

What's your favorite way to make quinoa?