Finally feels like SUMMER

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

Mango Chia Pudding

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!