Quinoa Stuffed Portobello

I love my portobello's! Yet another way to stuff these tasty 'shrooms and they're ALMOST completely vegan. If I didn't top it with the goat cheese it would have been. Haha. So the goat cheese is completely optional!

I had to use up the last of the goat cheese since I won't be able to have any starting tomorrow when I start my cleanse. :(

For this stuffed portobello, I chopped up half of a leftover red bell pepper 

and 6 asparagus stalks. 

(By the way, I stuffed only 2 portobello mushrooms. One for me and one for my mom)

Next, I added about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sauted about 3/4 cup of chopped up onions and 1 tbs. of crushed garlic (Trader Joe's kind) until the onions were translucent. I then added in the asparagus and red bell pepper and cooked them for a few minutes until they were almost tender but still crisp. Reason for this is you'll be baking/cooking the portobellos in the oven and you don't want the veggies to become too soft and mushy.

Once the veggies were tender yet still crisp, I'd say about 3-5 minutes over medium heat, I added in about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of leftover cooked quinoa (I eyeballed it). Stirred to combine and seasoned with salt, pepper, dried basil and thyme to taste. Always taste the food you are cooking!

Took the quinoa mixture off the heat and set aside. I got my portobello's ready by wiping with a damp cloth (or paper towel) to remove any dirt, cut the stem off and scraped the gills out. I layered the bottom, or insides, with chard leaves and then stuffed them with the quinoa and veggie mixture!

Topped them with some goat cheese, again completely optional, and popped them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the outsides of 'shrooms were soft.

Serve and enjoy!!

Next time I'm going to add to this chopped up shrimp!

(Sorry for the picture being a little dark, didn't have good lighting)

Chill Saturday

It's been nothing but a chill Saturday.

For breakfast this morning I enjoyed a piece of whole grain flax seed toast with some almond butter and a cup of green tea.

This afternoon I spent most of my time outside in my backyard just soaking up the sun and taking some pictures. Today is the last day in April and May will be gracing us with their presence tomorrow!

I wasn't super hungry when lunch rolled around but I was hungry enough for two brown rice cakes with hummus. Delicious!


After finishing the rice cakes with hummus I walked around my backyard taking pictures, with an app on my iPhone called Hipstamtic, of the scenery and flowers. I love the way my backyard looks in the spring and summertime when all the plants are green and the flowers are blooming.





Jack was following me around like my faithful dog, yet he's a cat. And whining at me like he was a child.

Jack being a little nudge and wanted nothing but my attention.

Jungle Cat Jack

Tomatoes plants, there's at least 7 more in the yard.

That's been my day so far! Off to do some errands and BBQ later with the folks.

Happy Saturday all!

XO Jen

Just a regular Thursday

Just another Thursday, nothing special about it.

Woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m, a whole half hour before I needed to get up. I hate when that happens! I rolled myself outta bed and proceeded to get ready for school. Lagged a bit this morning, that's for sure. Before I headed out of the house, I made myself a Green Monster for breakfast to drink on the drive to school.

This Green Monster consisted of:
1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1/3 cup water
1/2 a banana
handful of spinach
1 scoop Arbonne Vanilla Protein
1 scoop Arbonne Fiber
1 Tbs. Chia seeds

Mmmm...exactly what I need this morning!

Driving to school this morning, slightly cloudy.

When I got home today I received a message on my Facebook from my best friend Jenna, who is the one running the Detox Cleanse, with a list of "Detox Do's and Don'ts". It's basically a list of foods and items that we should avoid and foods that we should consume. When people hear the words, "Detox Cleanse" some immediately think it's a cleanse where you don't eat and depend mainly on liquids. That is soooo not the case for this type of detox cleanse! Basically it's cutting out all the unhealthy foods and drinks (no soy, dairy, or gluten) and eating clean. I.e.- more veggies, lean proteins, foods with a higher fiber count, less sugary foods, and fruits and veggies with a higher ANDI score, just to list a few. You still get to eat on this! Just no overeating or snacking.

After going over the list I won't have to change much in my current diet. I do and eat pretty much everything that is listed on the do's and the examples of healthy foods. SCORE! What made me super happy was the fact that GLUTEN FREE OATS was on the list of things I can eat, I can still have it in my diet!! Yeaaayy!!

I am excited to get this started, 3 more days!!

Oh and I had this for dinner too! Turned out so good! My first time cooking and eating brown rice pasta(gluten free!)

This bowl of goodness consisted of brown rice pasta, left over honey dijon chicken, kale, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, seasoned with dried basil and thyme and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Yum!

Honey Dijon Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Chard

It's hump day!! Just a few more days till the weekend. No exciting plans as of now, but that's ok. A chill weekend would be nice!

I really want to go see "Water for Elephants" starring Robert Pattinson. So hot. Haha. Plus I read the book a while back and absolutely loved it! I read it in 3 days, I couldn't put it down. Maybe I'll go see that this weekend.

Today, before the gym, I made a Trader Joe's and Fresh and Easy run. Stocked back up on some of the necessities. Just to name a few: Almond butter, Bob's Red Mill GLUTEN FREE oats (SOOO happy when I found these at Fresh and Easy. I can still have my oats while on my detox cleanse!) agave nectar, baby spinach leaves, pistachio nuts, dried tomatoes, dried cranberries.

Earlier today I marinated some chicken in olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, crushed garlic and some salt and pepper and let it sit in the fridge for about 5 hours. Cooked it up tonight with some sautéed chard with bell peppers (that I had left over) and baked sweet potatoes. When you see the picture of the sweet potatoes you might wonder why they aren't orange. Reason why is... most people are cooking with YAMS, not sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes aren't orange in color, yams are. Yams and sweet potatoes don't taste much different from each other. If you didn't know the difference before, you do now!

On the left is a typical yam that is sold in the U.S. and we see in stores,
on the right is a sweet potato that is also sold in stores.

Okay, continuing on!

Chard cut up and ready to go!

Chicken cooking in the pan.

Doesn't it look good! It smelled good as well.

Finished product! It was so delicious! See?? Sweet potatoes really aren't orange. But they taste just as good, if not better!

I brushed the sweet potatoes on both sides with just a little olive oil and seasoned with basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Baked in a 425 degree oven for about 30 mins. Unfortunately, I do not have the exact measurements for the marinade I made for the chicken. I eyeballed everything according the the amount of chicken I had. It wasn't large quantities due to the fact there was only 3 chicken tenders cut in half. I'll make it again and I'll be sure to measure and I'll post the recipe!

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!

Now time for some t.v., psychology reading, shower and bed.

Chocolate Oat Bars and Stuffed Bell Pepper

Hello Ta-ta-Tuesday! (haha)







Went to class today and my campus finally has a Starbucks on site!! This made me very happy today because I absolutely love their Zen green tea. It's pretty much the only thing I get at Starbucks, hot and cold. Yuuuum.

When I got home from class today I put together some Chocolate Oat bars from a recipe I came across on Love Veggies and Yoga  and adapted it a bit. Super simple to put together and oh so yummy! My oat bars consisted of chocolate, almond butter, oats, chia seeds, agave nectar, raw almonds, dried cranberries and dried plums. I don't think I'll be able to eat these once I start my detox cleanse so I might as well now! Haha. (Don't kill me Jenna) I'm pretty sure if I nixed the chocolate out of these, I probably could. Right?? lol. I'll have to run it by Jenna. :)

Oooo wait!! All the ingredients except the chocolate chips are gluten free... bought at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. YEAAY!!

Okay, back to the making of the Chocolate Oat Bars:

First I melted the almond butter and chocolate in the microwave 

with 2 tablespoons of vanilla almond milk for about 30 seconds. 

Make sure to watch it so it doesn't burn. 

Then I added all my other dry ingredients in a bowl and poured the 

chocolatey goodness over. Stirred it all together to combine all the ingredients. 

You want this mixture to be fairly dry. If the mixture isn't dry enough add more oats one tablespoon at a time. Press the mixture into bars or into balls.

Pop in the freezer for about 30 mins, or until it has set up, and then enjoy! 

(After it sat in the freezer for a while.)

I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap then put them in a 

plastic zip top bag and back in the fridge.

Rice puffs would also work great with this. I'll have to try it out next time!

Here's the recipe for the Chocolate Oat Bars which I adapted a bit from Love Veggies and Yoga

Chocolate Oat Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup of oats
2-3 tablespoons chocolate chips
2-3 tablespoons milk
*The ingredients listed below can be switched up and substituted with other items. :)
1 tablspoon chia seeds
~ about a handful of almonds
dried crandberries (eye ball it)
dried pitted plums, cut up.
~ 1 tablespoon agave nectar

Oh yea, and a stuffed bell pepper for dinner tonight. No biggie. ;-) It was a yellow bell pepper cut in half stuffed with quinoa, cut up red and orange bell pepper, spinach, mushrooms, and onions with garlic, salt and pepper (All the ingredients, minus the cut in half bell pepper, were cooked before stuffing the pepper). YUUUuummmmm! Threw it in the oven and baked it at 375 (preheat oven before hand!) for about 25-30 mins, or until the bell pepper is slightly soft but still somewhat firm.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a blast!

For the past few years now, my uncle Mike and aunt Meghan throw Easter at their place. And every year it is always so much fun! My Aunt is a fantastic cook, so we always look forward to what ever she cooks. The kids had their easter egg hunt and even the adults had some fun. Haha, see pictures below.

My cousin Deena riding the low rider bike that my uncle built

Craig riding the second one

Even my mother got in on the fun!

Now that the fun Easter day has come to an end, on to Monday! Today so far, I have spent my day job hunting, writing a letter to my college, cleaning house, and prepping some food for the week. And it's only noon! I also cooked up some quinoa while sipping on my Green Monster. Delish!
 
My green monster today consisted of:

• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup water, handful of spinach
• half a frozen banana
• 2 large strawberries. 

Simple yet delicious.

 I also threw together some tuna that has greek yogurt instead of mayo, shredded cabbage and some salt and pepper to taste. Dumped it in lock-in-lock, put in the fridge to have later this week.

Off to the gym I go in a bit!

Enjoy your Monday!

Detox Cleanse

Starting May 1st, I will be beginning my first detox cleanse. I am so excited! What makes it even more exciting is that I will be doing this with 2 of my best friends and a few other close friends. By doing it together I believe it will help all of us stay motivated and on track.

My protein powder and fiber arrived in the mail today and it just made me even more excited to get this cleanse started!

This detox cleanse consists of a shake a day, plus the fiber which is easy to incorporate into the shake since it's powder. The cleanse is based on the Paleo diet, and I pretty much follow that now as it is. Also, no soy, no dairy or gluten. I won't have to change up my diet much since I already don't do soy, dairy (I'm slightly lactose), but I do incorporate a little gluten in my diet so that might be a little tough. Of course exercise and since I'm a gym bunny anyways that won't be tough at all. Oooh and did I mention cutting back on alcohol or cutting it out completely during the cleanse? Yup. This might be a toughie... I'm a social drinker when I go out and enjoy a couple drinks. Plus I do enjoy my glass of wine here and there too!

I am super excited to start May 1st! It can't come soon enough!

I already tested out Arbonne's vanilla protein powder and it tastes good!

Banana Plum Shake

Ingredients:

Half a banana

3 dried pitted plums

1 scoop Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder

1 Scoop Arbonne Fiber

~about 1 cup vanilla almond milk

Directions:

In a blender add the vanilla almond milk then the powders. Next add the dried plums and half the banana. Blend up until everything is incorporated and blended all together, pour into a glass and enjoy!

Egg Bake

Happy Monday all!!

As promised in my last post, I said I would be whipping up something to new to eat! Today for lunch I threw together an egg bake. Super simple and easy. Also, it is VERY delicious and good for you.  I only used one egg since I was only making this for myself, but if you are going to prepare this for more than one person just increase the ingredients. Feel free to add any other ingredients you would like to this! The ingredients listed below is what I had on hand.

Egg Bake

Ingredients:
1 Egg
1 ramekin
1 tablespoon EVOO or coconut oil
handful of spinach
1/4 cup diced onions (or less, depending on your liking of onions)
Prosciutto
Salt and pepper

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a pan, heat the olive oil and add in the onions. Cook until the onions are translucent. Then add the spinach and cook until the spinach is just wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste to the mixture, mix well and then add it to the ramekin. Next, carefully crack the egg on top of the veggie mixture into the ramekin. Place the ramekin on a baking sheet and place into the 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg whites are set but the egg is still a little bit jiggly so that the yolks are not completely cooked all the way through. Towards the end I sprinkled on top a little prosciutto. (Completely optional). Scoop the egg carefully out of the ramekin and either serve on a small plate or in a bowl.  Feel free to get creative with your ingredients! There are so many ways to make this. Enjoy!

Sunday Realization

I haven't really made anything new as of late to post on here. Just the usual eats: my protein shakes, Green Monster, VOO, Quinoa salads.

I am, however, going to whip up something I came across the other day that sounds delish. I'll post it up as soon as I make it. Stay tuned!

                                                                    (Pretty picture I took)

My Sunday Realization:
I have come to the realization that I need to separate myself from unnecessary negativity; whether that be people, situations, places, certain topics, etc. It just brings me down and exhausts me. I am going to have to distance myself from the people who just bring me down/exhaust me and don't bring anything to the table.

I believe when there is more positivity in a persons life, the more they can find feel happiness. With constant negative vibes it's hard to feel happy. Negativity can bring a person down and be exhausting. So sit down and think about what negativity is  bringing you down and what you can do to change it.

I have an amazing little group of close and best friends who give off nothing but positivity and good vibes. You know who you all are and I love you all to death! You are my second family, real talk.

Have a happy Sunday <3

xo Jen

Stuffed Portabella Mushroom

Good evening all!!

I just had the most amazing, delicious dinner!!

I took the recipe Stuffed Portabella Pizza from Oh She Glows and adapted it a little bit. For the "cheeze" sauce she uses nutritional yeast. Instead of using the nutritional yeast, I used goat cheese and oh my gawd it was yummy! I also cooked up and added some spicy italian sausage to it. Why?? Because my dad HAS TO have meat and I cooked this for my parents and I. So I added the italian sausage to his portabella and left it out of mine.

It was a hit! I knew my mom would love it, her taste in food is similar to mine. The main person I was worried about was my dad. He loves his meat whereas I can do with out it. I'll still consume chicken and fish, but all other meat is off limits. NO WAY JOSE! But he loved it! Mainly because there was meat in it, haha.

Stuffed Portabella Mushroom


Ingredients:
4 Portabellas (or how ever many you want)
1 cup pizza sauce
Goat cheese
2 cups spicy italian sausage
1/3 cup of each- red and orange bell pepper; diced
1/3 cup sweet onion diced
Red pepper flakes
2-3 large basil leaves, finely diced

Method:
Preheat oven by setting the broiler on low. Take a baking sheet and line with foil, silicone non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. Makes it easier to clean up. :) Remove the stems of the Portabella and gently clean/rub the mushrooms with a wet cloth. Place the Portabellas "belly" side up on the baking sheet. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce into each Portabella, then crumble on the goat cheese on top of the pizza sauce. Next chop the onion and bell peppers and sprinkle on the Portabellas. If you want to add the spicy italian sausage, cook before adding to mushrooms. Add to mushrooms after adding the goat cheese and before the bell peppers and onions. Finally shake on the red pepper flakes and sprinkle on the basil. Pop them in the oven on the middle rack and broil on the lowest temperature setting; takes about 10-12 minutes to cook. Serve immediately and most importantly ENJOY!

Tuna Salad and Kale Chips

I thought I would test out a new recipe and spruce up and change around an old one!

What are these recipes?? Kale Chips and Tuna salad.

First up...Tuna Salad. You see, I'm not a huge fan of mayo or pickle relish in my tuna salads. I'm not a huge fan of mayo for that matter. So instead of using mayo I substituted it with greek yogurt. I added some shredded cabbage to the mix and a small handful of almonds. Delish!

Tuna Salad (My way)

Ingredients:
1 5 oz. can tuna, drained
3 tbs. Greek yogurt
1-2 cups chopped shredded cabbage
Salt&pepper
1/4 cup chives (optional)
Handful of almonds (optional)

Method:
Shred the tuna with a fork and add the rest of the ingredients. Taste then add salt and pepper to taste.

Next up...Kale chips! I can not begin to tell you how delicious these are! I was skeptical at first, but I am so glad that I made them. Super easy to make and prepare.

Washed the kale and spun it in a salad spinner to get rid

of the excess water.

Put on baking sheet (after removed the stems) and drizzled 

with EVOO along with salt, pepper, and onion powder.

Viola! What they look like after baked.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

Kale

Extra virgin olive oil

salt&pepper

Onion power (optional)

Method:

Wash kale and remove the stems in the middle of the kale. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place the kale on the foil. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Add the salt, pepper and onion powder. Bake in the over for about 10 mins or until the edges turn brown.

The kale can be seasoned how ever you would like.