Hassle-Free, Healthy Eats
This post is for those people out there who think that eating healthy is only reserved for the few disciplined beings who make it in to the very secret, very elite club of healthy eaters. Or maybe this post is for people who already know the secret code and they could use a few simple eats to add to their repertoire. On any note, allow me to grant you access (whether you want it or not) into this exclusive club.
Allow me to start with my healthy eating manifesto:
1. Healthy eating does not equal punishment inducing food. I assure you there are oodles of healthy eats that taste real good. damn good.
2. Healthy eating does not equal hours slaving away in the kitchen and food preparation. I rarely create a meal that takes longer than 10 minutes. I realize this blog could lead you to believe otherwise, when I do spend a good amount of time in the kitchen I feel the need to document it and present it to the world, so it is very convenient that I have this blog.
3. Healthy eating does not equal a dogmatic set of rules in which there are no indulgences. In fact indulgences are a must.
Without Further adieu, here are list hassle-free healthy eats that I consume on a regular basis:
I always begin my day with lemon water:
I cheat and use pre squeezed lemon juice- it is way easier and a wee bit less expensive than buying 7 lemons. Keep in mind this pre-sqeezed lemon juice is not the same as concentrate. This lemon juice is the real deal.
Why start the day with lemon juice? Well… It is a tastier way to drink water and it offers a few health benefits like alkalizing the body and promoting digestion as well as boosting a good amount of vitamin C.
Breakfast:
I generally bounce between:
Perfect Foods Bar and Coffee w/ a dash of nut milk of choice.
or 1/2 Ezekiel tortilla w/ 1T nut butter, 1/2 banana and a wee bit of honey.
Both of these breakfasts take under 5 minutes to prepare and leave me full for a good 2-3 hours. Woot!
Lunch:
every lunch includes a green drink
My current green drink obsession: Super Easy. Super Tasty. Super Nutritious.
- 1/2c organic orange juice
- 1/2c coconut water
- 1 small hunk of fresh ginger
- 1/4 of a frozen banana
- 3-4c mixed kale & spinach combo
- 2t Douglas Laboratories Detox Powder (optional)
- 1/2t matcha (optional)
- dash of cinnamon
- 3-5 ice cubes
With my green drink I usually eat 2 Energy Giving, Hormone Balancing Protein balls. I usually make a batch of these once every 1.5 weeks. They take about 5 minutes to create.
or I eat a plant powered protein wrap
1/2 ezekiel wrap w/ a few beans, 1/4 of avocado, a few hemp seeds & topped with hot sauce, nutritional yeast and and garlic salt.
With either of these meals, I am in and out of the kitchen in under 15 minutes.
Snack:
Snacks are kinda all over the place, but I try to make them more protein based, so I am not famished for dinner. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t
Vanilla Siggi’s with 1T dark chocolate chips or 1T ground flaxseed
My other go to snack is the avocado & egg mash:
Avocado & egg salad = 1/4 medium avocado, 1 hard boiled egg, small scoop of honey mustard (approx 1t), dash of sea salt, fresh ground pepper, & curry powder.
Sometimes I have a few crackers on the side, or if I am really on top of my game I have a few pieces of roasted squash.
Dinner:
is almost always some version of a bowls of steamed greens
I usually take my pick from one these guys:
I then top with, nut or seeds, sometimes a little seaweed, raisins or cranberries, beans, canned salmon or a veggie burger, & hot sauce nutritional yeast, garlic salt and spicy vegan cashew sauce (I make batch of this stuff once a week)
Ta da:
one of many bowls. More often than not, my husband and moi get home late from work, so we need something that we can throw together fast and these bowls are fast, satisfying and nutritious. Who says you need to spend hours in the kitchen to create healthy eats?!
Dessert:
oh how I love dessert. Dessert is usually one (or more) of the fellas below followed by a glass of vino. yumsicles.
On a really good day:
During the week, I really do not set aside a lot of time for cooking, but I still want to eat well, enjoy the heck out of it and not dish out oodles of money to do so. I really believe you can eat healthy with out slaving away, going broke or compromising taste. I hope these ideas help you out in a pinch.
Loves,
Kelli
Hormone Balancing, Energy Giving Protein Balls
Oh boy these balls are good.
Get your mind out of the gutter.
So what makes these balls hormone balancing and energy giving? Well the protein powder, sunflower butter, organic honey and cacao nibs are major contributors to the magical power these balls possess, but what makes these balls extra magical is sir maca. I am on a bit of maca kick. If you have not met Mr. Maca he is a superfood that boosts many redeeming qualities, a few of which include increased energy, endurance and libido. This crafty superfood also balances the endocrine system to help combat stress, so he really his quite super and he kind of tastes like malt powder, which is also super. No?.
The Goods:
- 1big scoop (approx 1/4c) chocolate protein powder- I used Vegilite
- 6T unsweetened sunflower butter
- 3T maca
- 3T almond meal
- 2T honey
- 2T unsweetened almond milk
- 2T Cacao nibs- could also use chocolate chips
- 1/4t sea salt
- 1/2t cinnamon
How To:
- Add all of the above goods to a medium size mixing bowl and stir until combined. If mixture is too dry add a wee bit more almond milk. Your goal is to get the mixture to cookie dough like consistency.
- Roll “dough” into balls. My balls were the size of golf balls and made 12.
- Put in refrigerator for minimum of one hour, but overnight works best
- Store in sealed glass container in refrigerator for up to two weeks- if they last that long.
These make for great post workout fuel or a snack for when you are seconds away from chewing your arm in lieu of incredible hunger.
And with that I am off to pack for Maui. Yes, Maui.
Have a superb week! I will be checking in on instagram (@skinspot) if any body need a dose of sun via social media this week.
Popcorn & Peanut Butter
It is time for another WIAW!
Thank you, Miss Jen for providing this platform for food gawking.
This WIAW is a wee bit different than past WIAWs. Instead of focusing on an entire day’s eats I am focusing on two things that I will eat on Wednesday and every other day of the week. I am obsessed.
First Up:
Bee Nut Butter Bliss. Ummm. Heaven in a jar? Miss Whitney from the blog Whit Likes Fit suggested I try this creation. I believe her description was “it is like a liquid Perfect Foods Bar with sea salt.” Sold. I immediately went on the hunt for this fella. I ended up finding it at Zupan’s, a local specialty food market in Portland. If you do not live in Portland this guy can be purchased off of their website. Phew. This is seriously the best peanut butter I have ever had. When I was checking out two people stopped to tell me how unbelievable this peanut butter is. They were not kidding. Amazing. Last night I enjoyed it straight from the jar. This morning I enjoyed it on half of an ezekiel wrap with a little ‘nana.
I am sad breakfast is over.
However, my other obsession is yet to come.
My only complaint is I have to portion this stuff out otherwise I will eat the whole bag. Other than that, it makes a good afternoon snack that seems to get after my late afternoon snack attack.
And that concludes this week WIAW.
I will leave you with this…
Happy Wednesday!
Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soup
Howdy and Happy Monday!
Yesterday I made another batch of soup for Souper Sunday. This might be my favorite yet.
I used Sarah Bitton’s recipe Garlicky White Bean Stew as my Inspiration. However, my version of this this soup ended up being more of a cleaning out the fridge experiment that actually turned out pretty dang well. I was a little skeptical in lieu of the randomness of the ingredients, but the ingredients worked together. This souper is filling, flavorful and simple. Woot!
The Goods:
- 1T coconut oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1.5t smoked paprika
- dash of sea salt
- 5bay leaves
- pinch of chili flakes
- 1can kidney beans, rinsed
- 1can cannelini beans, rinsed
- 1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes – no/low sodium
- 2 cups brussel sprouts, halved
- 1c up broccoli, chopped
- 1c spinach
- 1 medium Japanese sweet potato, chopped (could also use a yam or regular sweet potato)
- 4c cups vegetable broth
- avocado & hot sauce for garnish- optional
- Heat coconut oil in a large stockpot.
- Add onions to the pot with a couple pinches sea salt, chili flakes, bay leaves and paprika.
- Cook for a few minutes until the onions have softened, then add sliced garlic.
- Add the potatoes and stir for 3 minutes
- Add brussel sprouts and broccoli and stir for 3 minutes- if getting too dry add a little vegetable stock
- Add other ingredients, bring to a boil,
- Simmer for 20 minutes
- A few minutes before serving add spinach & season to taste, and
- serve with a avocado & a dash of hot sauce
I am off to Trader Joe’s to see if they finally have more broccoli in stock. Why is there a broccoli and kale shortage at Joe’s lately?! The horror.
Toodles!
What I Ate Wednesday
It has been a minute since I have done a WIAW.
Thank you Miss Jenn for hosting da food porn party.
I finally remembered to snap pictures of nearly all of my eats yesterday. I am starting to try to do this more to bring a little mindfulness back into my eating. So far, I have gone to the freezer out of frustration to grab “just a few” dark chocolate covered almonds and realized that I really didn’t feel like taking a picture of them, so I refrained from consumption. However, there are times when a few chips or bites of a cookie fall into my mouth and I simply can not take a photo. I am a victim.
Anyway, here are the majority of yesterday’s eats minus the bites of cookie and chips I am referring to above.
Breakfast:
My favorite breakfast of all time. I took a break from these delights, but I am back on the PFB train.
Lunch/ Post Workout Eats:
My favorite green smoothie creation as of late:
- 3/4c carrot juice
- 1/4c apple juice
- 1-3T lime juice (I love sour, so I tend to go more for 3T)
- 3C mixed greens (usually baby romaine, spinach & kale)
- a small hunk of fresh ginger (note the ginger in the pic is not the size I used)
- 1/2t matcha
- 2t Douglas Laboratories Ultra Tox (detox powder)
- dash of cinnamon
- 3-5 frozen mango hunks
- 3-5 ice cubes
Curried Cauliflower Soup
I am on a soup kick. The past two Sundays have been cleverly deemed Souper Sunday.
This Past Sunday I dominated Dr. Andrew Weil’s Curried Cauliflower Soup. I got the recipe from Sir Weil’s latest cookbook True Food. I adore this recipe for how simple and nutritious it is. I pretty much followed the recipe entirely, but I made a few tweaks to up the flavor a wee bit. Here is what my version looks like:
Curried Cauliflower Soup serves: 4-6
The Goods:
- 1/3c raw cashews
- 2t extra virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large head of cauliflower- chopped into small pieces
- 1 (14oz) can light coconut milk
- 4c veggie broth
- 2T curry powder
- 1t turmeric
- 1T cumin
- 2T maple syrup
- 1/2t ground cinnamon
- 1/4t garlic salt
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over low heat add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add chopped cauliflower, cashews, coconut milk, vegetable broth, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, garlic salt, cinnamon and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and simmer until the cauliflower is tender (about 10min)
- Blend soup with immersion blender until desired consistency is reached- this may take a few minute to chop up the cashews and the cauliflower. Be patient. If using a standing blender, allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes. Pour soup into the blender. Hold the lid down firmly with a clean, folded towel over it. Start on low speed and blend until the soup is smooth. Return to pot and reheat.
I topped this gem with Siracha & a few pieces of marinated & baked tofu. Toppings are endless…. pumpkin seeds, greek yogurt, or like Sir Weil suggests caramelized onions & cilantro.
I enjoyed this guy alongside a mixed green salad topped with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and spicy cashew sauce.
yumsicles.
And with that, I am off. Happy Tuesday!
Sometimes You Just Gotta Cook
It is Wednesday and you know what that means…. another WIAW. Woot! Jenn thank you for hosting! If you want to see more eats, pop over to Peas & Crayons.
And for this What I ate Wednesday- here are my Tuesday eats.
I have this funky relationship with Tuesdays. I don’t like them. I don’t see clients on Tuesdays and as a result I save all of the not-so-fun paper work and other catch up activities for Tuesdays and my motivation mojo is always super low on these days, so I basically want to throw a temper tantrum all day long. I realize I am ridiculous. Yesterday instead of throwing a temper tantrum, I decided to stay in my PJ’s, light some candles, plug in the Chirstmas tree throw on the Michael Buble holiday station on Pandora and cook my heart out.
Burt was thrilled about this:
On the menu:
crockpot, vegan apple crisp:
Honestly, I did not love this, so I am not going to post the recipe. It needs tweaking.
I ended up using it as a little topping on some Greek Yogurt.
Next up was Sir Tempeh. I love tempeh from the restaurants, but I can never nail it at home. I think I nailed it yesterday.
I cubed an 8oz packet of organic tempeh, put in a bowl with the marinade below and let sit for 20 minutes.
Coconut Marinade:
- 1/4c lite coconut milk
- 1/4c tamari
- 1t raw honey
- 1T brown rice vinegar
- 1T shredded coconut
- sprinkling of ginger powder (optional)
- squirt of Siracha (optional- could use red pepper flakes if you want a little heat, but don’t have Siracha on hand)
Kale & Avocado Salad:
And for dessert…. Gluten-Free, Vegan Sorta Sugar Cookies
I followed this recipe except I used two flax “eggs” instead of the Ener-G “eggs” and I used sucant instead of sugar. I also used part of Pamela’s GF pancake mix for some of the GF flour because I ran out of flour. oops. I did not frost these bad boys, instead I rolled them into balls then dipped them in a bowl of sugar crystals. I also baked for 9-11 minutes because they are more dense than the flat cookies the original recipe calls for.
These are pretty good, but they almost taste more like scones than sugar cookies.
And today the kitchen is closed. I have work to catch up on, but it was nice to spend an unexpected day in the kitchen.
Happy Wednesday!
Three Things
I just discovered Hilary’s veggie burgers and they are too good to not give a shout out to. They are GMO free, Dairy free, Gluten Free, Corn Free, Yeast Free and they are simply delish. Nailed it. They are sold throughout the U.S.of A, so check their website or your grocery store to see if you can get your mitts on these fellas.
Please forgive the photo. I wasn’t planning on blogging about these gems, but they are just that good.
The fella in this photo is the adzuki bean burger smothered in ketchup & dijion mustard
Another food I am loving is avocado toast. I don’t why it took me so long to try this duo, but I am so tickled that I did.
Ezekiel toast, 1/2 of an avocado, 2t hemp hearts, a bit of garlic salt & red pepper flakes. So. Dang. Good.
And my final thought for the day, is my love affair with Medicine Mama’s Sweet Bee Magic Bee Balm. I am fairly certain that I have mentioned this product before on my site, but it really deserves another shout out. I swear by this product. I use it to remove make-up, on cuts, it is my lip balm and my go to product for any sort of dry skin issue. It is also my secret weapon in getting my skin to look extra glow-y. After I have put on my tinted SPF and my under eye concealer I dab the balm around my orbital bone (the circular area around your eyes).
Exhibit A
Exibit B
good lord that is a photo.
This balm is safe for those battling blemishes as the olive oil in it matches your skin’s on sebum (oil) and the propolis and honey are anti-microbial. However, I wouldn’t slather your skin in this balm if you are not exfoliating appropriately and you are acne prone- this product could be too much oil if the right about of exfoliation is not occurring. This wonder balm can be purchased from their site and some Whole Foods carry it- it is generally near the bandaids.
It looks like this, but I think their packaging has changed a wee bit.
While we are on the topic of acne, if you are battling it, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am all too familiar with sir acne, as I wrestled with him a few times in my years, and I know a thing or two about ridding skin of him.
Here is a recent testimonial I got from one of my clients. I am not sharing this with you to toot my horn, but to offer a resource to any body out there struggling with not-so-clear-skin.
I cannot begin to describe how wonderful Kelli is at Skinspot. My acne was pretty bad when I first visited Kelli, but from my very first facial, I was able to see obvious results from each visit. I can’t reiterate enough, how methodical and progressive each visit is. Kelli is knowledgeable, honest, and gives great practical advice. Above that, though, she is so kind, personable, and understanding about having skin insecurities.
I used to wake up each morning and look in the mirror, desperately searching for any improvement in my acne. Those days seem far away now, as I don’t have to wear make-up constantly and deal with the pain and embarrassment that comes with acne. I was the person who tried every type of facial and every face wash known to mankind, but to no avail. I was never rid of my acne until I saw Kelli, and so to anyone who is looking to clear up their skin or who just wants to know how to take care of themselves, I highly recommend Kelli at Skinspot. She’s a fantastic esthetician , but also such a great gal in general. – Maia R.
If you do not live in my neck of the woods, fear not, we can go through a strategy session to determine the best course of action to get you to clear skin. Honestly, home care is where the results are at, so if you are using the right products for your skin condition & type you will reach your clear skin goal.
To learn more about what I do go to skinspot’s website.
And with that, I am out. Happy Weekend!
What I Ate Wednesday
It has been a minute since I have done one these, without further adieu here is yet another WIAW. Thank you, Jenn for hosting this food porn party. If you want to join in this madness stop by Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons.
Meal Uno:
Ezekiel toast w/ sunflower butter, banana, hemp seeds & honey. Followed by coffee w/ unsweetened soymilk
Meal Duex:
kale, spinach, apple, ginger & almond butter smoothie from Canteen with Abby from Eat Drink and Be Aware.
Meal 2.5
upon arriving home, I munched a few of Trader Joe’s Honey Sesame Almonds.
Meal Three
My beloved
Meal Four
My other beloved. A glass of vino while making din-din
Meal Five
This dinner was so dang good. In this bowl of goodness is steamed broccoli & spinach, roasted delicata squash, quinoa, chickpeas, & avocado topped with a spicy cashew sauce that was heavily adapted from this recipe over at Carrie On Vegan. I basically took this recipe and added 2 dates, a little more nutritional yeast & cumin and a little less cayenne. I also used unsweetened almond milk instead of unsweetened soy milk. I have made this sauce before, but this batch was extra splendid.
Meal Six
I sncked on a few of these while trying to create Averie’s Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Balls.
Her balls:
My Balls:
Far less pretty, but holy mother of Pete are these tasty. I followed her recipe, but added 2T of canned pumpkin & 1T of ground flaxseed. These balls were a little sticky. That is weird sentence to type. This is awkward. Moving on…
I basically ended up eating meal seven straight from the Vitamix. #SorryIamnotsorry.
And that concludes this week’s WIAW!
Happy Wednesday!
Christmas Trees, a New Breakfast and a Schweaty Workout
Howdy and Happy Monday. I hope all had a swell weekend. We had a pretty low key one, which was superb. After much debate we decided to get a Christmas tree and I am so glad we did. For some reason decorating for the holidays has always seemed to overwhelm me. We kept it simple: a tree, a stand and two strands of lights were purchased.
Burt throughly enjoys the latest addition to our abode
Our house smells like Christmas, now I kinda want some bulbs for that beauty. I do believe I could get into this holiday decoration thing. I am seriously thinking of purchasing a cinnamon candle today.
Breakfast this AM was inspired by a breakfast I had at a coffee shop yesterday.
It began with a (1/4c) Museli + 1T chia seeds + 1/2c Unsweetened almond milk. Let stand for at least 10 minutes
add 1/4c of your favorite dry cereal (i opted for Erewhon’s Hemp & Buckwheat flakes)
top with a wee bit of apple, banana, a drizzle of maple syrup & 1/4c unsweetened almond milk
enjoy with a vat of coffee
This breakfast was pretty darn awesome and kept me full for hours. It also fueled this workout:
Schweaty Workout
Treadmill HIIT Pyramid
5 min @ 4.0 @ 1.0 incline
5 min @ 6.1 @1.0 incline
1 min @ 6.0 @ 1.0 incline
1 min @6.5 @ 1.0 incline
1 min @ 7.0 @ 1.0 incline
1 min @ 7.5 @1.0 incline
30 seconds @ 8.0 @ 1.0 incline
30 seconds @ 8.0 @ 1.5 incline
1 min @ 7.5 @ 1.5 incline
1 min @ 7.0 @ 1.5 incline
1 min @ 6.5 @ 1.5 incline
1 min @ 6.0 @ 1.5 incline
1 min @ 6.1 @ 1.0 incline
1 min @ 6.1 @ 5.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.1 @ 6.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.1 @ 7.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.1 @ 8.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.2 @ 8.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.2 @ 7.0 incline
30 second rest
45 seconds @ 6.2 @ 6.0 incline
30 second rest
1 min @ 6.2 @ 5.0 incline
30 second rest
2 min @ 6.1 @ 1.0 incline
3 min @ 4.0 @ 1.0 incline
If this looks confusing I agree, but I assure it is not. The first part of this beast is a speed HIIT and the second part is an incline HIIT. Got it?
I finished this workout with this arm workout from the Tone It Up ladies and 3 sets of squat jacks and a few yoga stretches. I was good and schweaty.
Happy Monday!
