Quinoa with Roasted Veggies

Today is the 5th  6th day of the cleanse.

So far, so good!

My morning started off with a huge class of water and Yogi detox tea. Love the taste of this tea, it has a spiciness to it. Not in a hot spicy way. More like a cinnamony kind of a way.

For breakfast I had scrambled eggs with some mushrooms and bell peppers thrown in.

• 2 eggs- 1 whole egg, 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Had a VERY lazy morning and it was exactly what I needed. No rushing around, just pure laziness. Lunch rolled around and I decided to have a "Green Monster" protein shake. It had spinach, strawberries, green apple, vanilla protein powder, ground flax and Vanilla Almond milk. Yuuummmmm! 

• 1 cup vanilla almond milk
• 2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder
• Handful of spinach
• 1/2 cut up green apple
• 2 large frozen strawberries
• 1 tbs. ground flax
• A dash of cinnamon at the end

This isn't a regular size blender FYI

For dinner tonight I threw together a roasted veggie quinoa with balsamic. In the oven I roasted chick peas, mushrooms and red grape tomatoes. In a pan I cooked a chopped up red bell pepper and spinach. Tossed the quinoa in the pan to allow it to warm up. I transferred the mixture to a small bowl and added the roasted veggies. Then I drizzled some balsamic on top and tossed to coat.

Quinoa with Roasted Veggies

Ingredient: (Serves 1)

• 3/4-1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tbs. Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tbs. crushed garlic
• 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper (or color of choice)
• 1/3 cup mushrooms
• 1/3 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/3-2/3 cup cup chick peas
• Handful of spinach
• salt, pepper, sage and thyme to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover a baking sheet with foil. In a bowl add grape tomatoes, chick peas and mushrooms. Add the crushed garlic, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and olive to the bowl of veggies and mix to combine. Add to the covered baking sheet, pop into the oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes. On the stove, heat a pan with a drizzle of olive oil (or whatever cooking oil you prefer) and add the bell pepper. Cook for a few minutes, add the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt. Add in the quinoa and cook for about 3 minutes to warm the quinoa up. Add this mixture into a bowl or on a plate. Once the roasted veggies are cooked, add to the plate or bowl. Drizzle with some balsamic and toss to combine. Enjoy!

I'm going to enjoy a kick back relaxing Friday night!

Until next time!

TGIF, literally! Snapshot, Flipcard and Cleanse day 5

Happy Friday!! So happy that it's finally here. TGIF, literally.

Yesterday marked day 5 of the cleanse and it was also Cinco de Mayo. A day some people use as an excuse to go out and drink till they pass out. Haha. Not this girl!

I did go out for a bit last night and hung out with one of my best friends and another close girlfriend of mine. I've been feeling in a bit of a slump lately and last nigh was exactly what I needed to get out of it. A night filled with great conversation, laughter and smiles. Sometimes, something so simple as seeing your close friends can do the trick, and it absolutely did last night.

I had an early start to my day yesterday, a 5:30 a.m wake up call to be exact, or I should say alarm blaring wake up call. Got up and did a quick cram session before my midterm at 8 a.m. Had a bowl of overnight oats consisting of:

• 1/3 1/4 cup oats (Gluten free of course)
• ~3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1 tbs. ground flax
• 1/2 tbs. almond butter

Quick and easy and it kept me full all the way through school and the gym. After the gym I whipped up a banana protein shake, went outside and caught some sun.

The banana shake had in it:

• 1/2 a medium frozen banana (Gives it more of a shake like texture)
• 2 scoops Arbonne Protein powder
• 1 cup Vanilla almond milk
• 1 tbs. chia seeds
• 2 ice cubes

At some point in the day yesterday I was greeted by Jack ready to roll out!

My "roll" dog

Dinner time rolled around and I enjoyed a quinoa spinach salad with bell peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, sugar snap peas, chick peas and a handful of slivered almonds. Just what I needed.

Today marks the 6th day in my cleanse and I'll report later on tonight on how it went!

Oh! I almost forgot! There are 2 NEW ways to view my blog: Snapshot or Flipcard. Check out the picture on the sidebar (To the right of this post) and click on it to view!

Enjoy your Friday!

Funky Tuesday

Tuesday has not gone that well.

Nothing bad happened, it was just an off day for me. A really BAD off day for me. A grump all day and in a funk of a mood. I can only think of two things that can factor in all of this:

1.  PMS-ing really bad (TMI; sorry, I know.)
2. My allergies have been really bad the past few days that it has caused my face to break out into a rash of little red bumps.  NOT HAPPY.

I think I may need to invest in a new allergy medicine. The one I am taking is CLEARLY not working. Miserable today.

Even though my day wasn't the best today, I stuck with my cleanse diet. You'd think I would have had a few slip ups due to my mood today, but I just wasn't going to let it happen. Nope, no way.

Cleanse day 3 : Woke up this morning and chugged down some water and had a cup of detox tea. About an hour later I whipped up a banana protein shake for breakfast and took my usual supplements.

This one had:

• 1/2 a medium FROZEN banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbs. almond butter
• 1 scoop Arbonne vanilla protein powder
• 1 tbs. ground flax.

Yes, it's in a Starbucks cup. It's insulated and keeps it cold!

I was hoping that this shake would pull me out of my funk. 

No such luck. Damn.

I got myself ready for the day and ran some errands. By the time I got home it was around lunch time, but I wasn't super hungry. I was, however, just hungry enough for half of an apple cut up with some almond butter drizzled on top. Who could resist that?! Prepared it and took it outside to enjoy.

Lunch came and went, and yup, still in a funky mood. Not even being out in the sun on a beautiful day pulled me out of it. Damn allergies.

Later on when my mom got off work, I went with her to Trader Joe's and picked up a few things. Ran into my buddy Will, ::Hi Will:: but didn't really chat. My grumpiness got the best of me, I felt bad and texted him and apologized. Anyways, got some more bell peppers, lemons, crushed garlic, green apples, zucchini and some sugar snap peas. Yummmms.

Fast forwarding to dinner. 

I threw myself together a delicious salad. That did make me feel a little better, but not much. I cut up a leftover leek, some asparagus and carrots and then sautéed them in a pan for a few minutes until they were tender but still had some crunch to them. 

Seasoned with pepper, sage and thyme

 On a plate I put a handful of spinach and topped it with some herbed quinoa, the sautéed veggies, some mushrooms and sugar snap peas. Drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic and dug in.   

Topped with a few pistachios 

That's been my day. Still a grump, but I am more tired than anything. I'm going to spend the rest of my evening reading and studying for my psychology midterm.

Hope everyone else had a better day!

XO Jen

Cleanse: Day 1 and 2

Yesterday marked the first official day of my cleanse, and as I stated before it's no gluten, no dairy or no soy. Piece of cake! Eat clean and healthy and oh yea..no alcohol. Bye-bye wine for a month, so sad to see you go! ;( I can already see that this might be a tough one to clear out of my diet for a month.

So since I stated that...I did, however, have one minor slip up yesterday regarding the what I shouldn't have or drink.

I had ONE beer yesterday... ::Palm to forehead:: Oops.

I met up with some friends yesterday and headed to downtown Livermore for it's annual Art and Wine Festival. THe sun was out and the weather was beautiful! I couldn't resist having a cold beer at the Ale House.

Just ONE minor slip up, it won't happen again. I promise.

I did make it to a yoga class with Erika, so that made me feel a little better about the slip up. Just a little.

Here's what my day one meal plan looked like:

Woke up: Had a huge glass of water (Which is pretty standard for me in the mornings 'cause I am always thirsty when I wake up). A cup of herbal detox tea

Breakfast: Green Monster Protein shake- 1cup vanilla almond milk, 1/2 medium banana, 1 tbs. ground flax, 1 scoop Arbonne vanilla protein powder, 1 scoop fiber, handful of spinach and 1 tbs. almond butter. 

Mid-morning drink: Green tea

Lunch: 2 brown rice cakes with hummus and a bowl of strawberries

Mid-afternoon drink: Glass of beer (Oops)

YOGA class @ 5pm

Dinner: Chicken with asparagus and mushrooms

Nighttime drink: Water

Today is the second day of the cleanse and it went great! No slip ups! Woke up this morning and had some water, detox tea and for breakfast I had a bowl of gluten free overnight oats. This bowl I kept it simple. Just 1/4 of oats, vanilla almond milk, ground flax, chia seeds and a squeeze of agave nectar. 

I spent part of my morning outside in the sun just soaking it up! Oh and getting a little tan on. ;)

Walked around my yard taking more pictures of the pretty scenery...and Jack.

I see you...

Snoball flowering plant

One of the many rose bushes in my backyard

Actual color of the rose. So pretty! One of my favorites.

The VOO held me over until lunch time where I made myself a protein shake that consisted of:

• 1/2 an apple cut up
• 1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 1/2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 scoop fiber
• 2 dashes of cinnamon
• 1 tbs. ground flax

There was more, but I drank most of it before taking the picture.

Super delicious and it got me through my work out of 40 mins on the elliptical and then abs, core and weights. Had a cup a detox tea and relaxed until I made dinner.

Tonight's dinner tonight was baked sweet potatoes and chick peas with shrimp and chard salad. My garbage bowl of delicious eats.

Chick Pea Sweet Potato  salad with Shrimp and Chard


Ingredients:

• 1/2 Sweet potato cut up into chunks
• 1/2 cup chick peas, drained and rinsed
• Shrimp (however much you'd like)
• handful of chard
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic powder or crushed garlic
• dried basil and thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with foil. Chop the sweet potato. In a bowl, add the chick peas and sweet potato and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, thyme and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix together to coat the sweet potato and chick peas. Spread them out onto the covered baking sheet, pop into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. While the sweet potatoes and chick peas are cooking, heat a pan with olive oil and add the kale and shrimp. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the kale has wilted and shrimp are pink and cooked through.  Add into a large bowl. When sweet potatoes and chick peas are cooked, remove from oven and add along with the kale and shrimp, toss to combine. Plate and enjoy!

My garbage bowl of yummy goodness!

I had some leftovers from dinner which will be my lunch tomorrow! Yum!

I have set for myself exercise and eating goals, not because of this cleanse but as an everyday boost of motivation and to get a routine down. I go through days where I just don't have the energy to work out or I just wanna gorge myself and stuff my face with food that isn't the healthiest for me. And when I do I am always left feeling not so good.

So I typed up exercise and Eating goals and taped it to my computer, a place that I will see it everyday.

Just a quick update on how the cleanse is going! It's only the second day and I am finding it quite easy! 

Hope you all had a great Monday!

XO

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!

Banana Paleo Pancakes

Happy Friday!! The weekend is finally here and I couldn't be happier!

This morning I thought I'd try making something new. Banana Paleo Pancakes. I came across this recipe on Mark's Daily Apple. They looked super yummy and extremely easy to make. All you need are ripe banana's, almond butter and eggs. The recipe makes about 4 medium sized pancakes and they are absolutely delicious! Tastes exactly like banana bread but in pancake form.

I don't have any step by step pictures this time. I left my camera upstairs and didn't feel like running back up to get it. Lazy, I know.

I started by peeling the 2 bananas and breaking them into pieces to make it easier to mash them up. The bananas are easier to mash up if they are pretty ripe. Once they were all mashed up, I added the egg and milk and combined them all together. Next I added the almond butter and mixed. On the stove I added a small amount of butter to a pan and poured the batter into small cakes. Cook like you would with regular pancakes. My batch made 4 pancakes, I ate only two. And those two filled me up! Super yummy!

For lunch I whipped up a berry protein shake since I wasn't super hungry. The berry shake consisted of a handful of blueberries, handful of spinach, 1/2 scoop of Amazing Grass Amazing Chocolate Meal, and about a cup of almond milk. I poured half of it into a glass and saved the other half for after my work out. It made enough for a pre and post-workout shake.


Banana Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 bananas
1 tbs. almond butter
1 egg

~ 1 tbs. of almond milk (Optional. I used about a tablespoon just to make them a little more moist.)

Instructions:
In a bowl mash the two bananas, add the egg and mix well. Then add the almond butter and combine. Add more almond butter if you want a more pancake like texture. Warm some butter in a pan and pour the batter into small cakes. Brown on both side and serve warm. Enjoy!

I added some blueberries and drizzled a little almond butter on top.

Protein Berry Shake

Ingredients:

Handful of blueberries (~1/2 cup)

Handful of spinach

1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Amazing Chocolate Meal

~1 cup Almond Milk

1-2 ice cubes.

Instructions:

In a blender add the milk and powders first. Then to it add the blueberries and spinach. Blend it all up to the consistency you like. Add in the ice cubes and blend again. Once everything is blended thoroughly pour into a glass and enjoy!