**update: here is the link to sign up for the challenge: http://totalfitgroup.com/challenge/
I feel like every Wednesday I say "I'm really seriously trying to get back on track!" and then have ten million reasons that I can't eat clean and can't find time to exercise. I signed up for the Mr. Shut Up and Train 21 Day Fall Challenge weeks ago and when it started on Sunday I was like "oh I just got back from my bachelorette party I can't exercise" and then have had some excuse every day since, so imagine my shock when I opened up my email this morning to this little ditty from Mr. Shut Up himself:
Excuse me, sir, have you tapped my phone? Are you reading my mind?
So despite the fact that I have a friend's birthday happy hour to attend, I'm making it work today. The rules are simple:
Simple to understand. Not so simple to follow. No booze for 21 days?!?!?
So, food rules above + doing the damn thing (aka the videos he emails every morning) = results. I've done his challenges before and been really pleased with the results, in fact the first time I did a challenge with him my only goal was to "try" this whole clean eating thing (he's who got me hooked!) and to be able to do 10 pushups without having to go on my knees. By the end I could do 30 traveling pushups. So, yeah.
This is going to be the kick in the butt that I need. Let's. Go!
Click here for more information and to sign up. Who's in?
First off, things are going to be a little sparse around these parts for the next week or two as I settle into a new schedule and figure out how to balance a bunch of new things that have popped into my schedule this fall (new programs kicking off at work, new volunteering position, dog training classes, small group, online classes etc etc).
Second off, I made this really simple Barbecue Chicken with frozen veggies the other night and it was so good for some reason:
Servings: 5 Prep Time: 10 mins + 7 hours marinating (I marinate while I'm at work) CookTime: 25 mins
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs chicken thighs (I used this organic free-range chicken I got at our neighborhood farmer's market (PS has anyone seen Food Inc on Netflix? After watching, we decided we're only eating organic/grass-fed/etc which is expensive which means we eat less meat)
1 bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix (no seasonings added, no butter, nothing, just the straight up bag of frozen veggies)
Before you leave for work in the morning, place the thawed chicken in a giant ziploc baggie with the seasonings and 1 Cup of the BBQ sauce, seal the bag and put it in the fridge.
After sufficient marinating time: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put your chicken into a baking dish and top it with the juices from the bag. I added some extra salt, pepper and garlic powder to the dish too. Cook for 25-30 minutes.
Heat up your bag of broccoli and cauliflower and mix the veggies, quinoa, chickpeas and chicken together, top the chicken with some extra BBQ sauce and enjoy! Also, play around with the seasonings and let me know if you find a good combo, I've been experimenting.
And now onto the bachelorette party weekend! I mentioned that I hate typical bachelorette party stuff, and my friends did a great job accomodating this. I'm going to do a post Friday about all the ideas they came up with that were perfect for the not-so-basic-cheesy-bride. For now, here are some pix:
Beach bar:
Some of our group at the beach bar:
Atlantic City is full of great sites:
They made me a poster of my Bridesmaids Invites, aka a poster of me as Beyonce which made the week:
Providence Night Club (the nightclubs and all the restaurants we went to were in our resort- the Tropicana- so it was 10 x easier to do a 20+ person bachelorette party)
Giant jaccuzzi IN our suite (not in the bathroom, in the bedroom. Why? Because Atlantic City)
And nothing says classy like a faux fireplace with slow-motion flames
And loved loved loved this dress I got from Rent the Runway
I think we're finally getting adjusted and I feel like I'm about to get back on my regular-scheduled-blog-game. Slash regular-scheduled-life. I didn't do a weekend recap yesterday but that's because I did just what you think: played with the dogs. No humans, aside from happy hour and dinner on Friday and church on Sunday. Just me and dogs all weekend. And food. And wine. And Revenge on Netfllix (which oddly reminds me of The OC? Anyone else?)
A few weeks ago I had pizza at a restaurant (cheat day summer) that sounded super strange (it had the words "mushroom cream sauce" in it which made me think cream of mushroom which has no place on a pizza). The pizza turned out delish and this was my attempt to re-make it. Disclaimer: I really messed it up but I know exactly how to fix it, which I'll share at the end.
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
We added crushed red pepper, black pepper, and some garlic powder.
Make the sweet potato crust. While the sweet potato crust is cooking, caramelize the onions. In the last 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and garlic to the cooking onions and mix together (add olive oil if needed to saute them a little).
After heating the crust for 15 minutes, pull it out of the oven and top the crust with the goat cheese, mozzarella cheese and mushrooms/garlic/onion mixture (note: this is where I messed up. I put the pesto directly on the crust. Yeah, no. The oil from the pesto seeped into the crust and it was suuuper soggy. woof. So lesson: add the pesto at the very end, after it's all done cooking).
Put the pizza back in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove it and top with the pesto. Slice up and enjoy!
Tell me: what is your favorite non-traditional pizza? ideas?
And I leave you with this from my weekend:
My guard dogs:
Andi still can't figure out what to do with a frisbee. She's trying though, slowly learning how to be a dog (thanks to Ziggy!)
Hey hey it's already Tuesday! Yay for short work weeks!
First of all- have you ever tried making lasagna with zucchini as the noodles? Thisis my go to recipe, but it is always suuuper watery. So I did a little research, combined a few ideas, and made an amazing zu-sagna this weekend! I sliced the zucchini strips first, then laid them out over bowls and covered them with coarse sale (sea salt)- about 1/2 teaspoon per slice. I prepared the rest of the ingredients while the salt did its thing, and about 20 minutes later each bowl was full of water from the zucchinis! I rinsed off the zucchini strips with cold water then proceeded with the recipe.
And now for the weekend recap. This was a good one. A really really good one.
So we have been thinking about getting a second dog, and this weekend did a "trial weekend" with a guy named Ziggy from an amazing rescue group called Pitties & Purrs. Andi had a rough start- only child syndrome- but Pitties & Purrs set us up with a trainer who has been to our house twice and called every day to check in and give us advice- WHO does that?? So with all the support, and the amazingness that is Mr. Ziggy Man, we are keeping him and I am so. EXCITED! Just look at this guy- he's a REAL dog, unlike Andi who I vented about last week:
This is Zig trying to teach Andi how to play frisbee. She does not get it. At all.
Saturday was COLLEGE FOOTBALL! In the morning we went down to Georgetown to tailgate and watch the game (yes, Georgetown has a football team. Harrison played for them in college so it's real).
Saturday evening I went to watch Georgia MURDER Clemson. Afterwards we went to one of my old college friends' apartments and he has the best view. Sometimes I forget to appreciate how great DC is, and how cool it is to live close to so many things that people vacation to see:
Sunday we cooked out at our house. Harrison made a last minute purchase at K Mart (yep, they're still here!) that turned out to be clutch as the skies opened. Something about sitting outside in the rain is just really great.
We also played some flip cup and, like so many other grand talents, I have lost this one since college. So not only am I now an atrocious flip cup player, I also wake up with killer hangovers from a mere 3 rounds of the game.
I also love Andi's photobomb in this picture:
Monday we sat around and did nothing but play with the dogs, put together wedding registry (all online thanks to advice from Kelly). and I spent a little time sitting in my kiddie pool (another clutch K Mart purpose) soaking up the last summer sun and reading all the fall things. I'm actually so ready for fall- bring on the sweaters and boots and comfiness!
So tell me: do you have tips for cooking with veggies? Do you sometimes forget to love your city?
Ok, Tuesday. We can do this. 3 days of work stand between me and a 4 day weekend. I can do this. WE CAN DO THIS!
Before my friends left for their honeymoon they dropped off produce that was going to go bad over the week they were gone which included two (yes 2) heads of cabbage. I did extensive resesarch typed "cabbage recipes" into Pinterestwhich came back with a clean coleslaw (major fail, likely user error) and someone's grandma's cabbage rolls. Here is my version of these cabbage rolls gone clean- just an FYI these are in no way authentic. I read that you are supposed to mix brown sugar and sauerkraut in with the turkey- neither of which I had at home so I seasoned it my own way.
Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins Servings: 5
Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 eggs
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons parsley
3 cups tomato sauce of your choice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put the head of cabbage into a large pot and fill it with water (fill it up to the water running about an inch over the top of the cabbage). Remove the cabbage from the water and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the cabbage head to the water and leave it (leave the stove turned all the way up too) about 3 minutes or until the leaves on the outside are soft.
Remove the leaves from the core of the cabbage and set aside.
Combine the turkey, rice, seasonings and eggs and mix well.
Pour about a cup of the sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Now scoop a few spoonfuls into the bottom of a cabbage leaf and roll the meat up Chipotle-style (if you don't know what I mean, this videohas a great example right at 1 minute mark). Place your roll into the casserole dish.
Here's a picture of a Chipotle burrito being rolled (PS those guys are pros. I've seen them roll like 10 lbs of ish into the tortilla. Amazingness)
Repeat until you run out of turkey mixture. Top the cabbage rolls with another cup of tomato sauce and put them in the oven for about an hour and a half.
Cut at least one open to make sure your meat is totally cooked (no pink), add more tomato sauce when serving and enjoy!
In other news, I'm trying really hard to stay on track with exercising (21 days to re-build a habit, right? is this the longest 21 days or what?!). Yesterday I completed day 5 of Fitness Blender's 5 Day Challenge. I'm going to try to go for a nice light job because let me tell you, I'm suffering today.
Question: How are you doing with staying on track? Have you ever had stuffed cabbage rolls and if so how do you season them?
It's Monday and honestly I need to sleep off this weekend. More about that later. For now: breakfast.
Disclaimer: Harrison made this breakfast on Saturday while I sipped a mimosa and played with Andi. I know, my life is really good.
Servings: 2
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Egg Scramble Ingredients:
5 large eggs, whisked
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1/4 onion, sliced
2 teaspoons garlic powder
handful fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Pour the egg into a large frying pan and cook over medium heat for about a minute before adding in the veggies. Stir them all together the whole time you're cooking the egg mixture and voila- clean breakfast scramble!
Stove Top Sweet Potato Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato cut into chunks
1/2 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon garlic powder (less if you're not a garlic freak like us)
1-2 teaspoons Season-All
2 tablespoons Olive Oil (or oil of your choice)
Mix all the ingredients well and pour into a frying pan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. They are great.
Just like this breakfast, this weekend was great but almost too much.
Friday we went to a Nat's Game...confession: I hate baseball. I love drinking outside and that's about as far as my affection for baseball goes. I had to call it quits during the 7th inning to go the heck home (this was after I arrived during the 3rd inning due to excessive tailgating at The Bull Pen, sorry). It was a great night to be outside though!
Only in DC does everyone get all turned up about presidential mascots:
Saturday we went to Trillectro, DC's hip hop/electronic music festival.
Rained all day.
I was so confused by a lot of things at this music festival including but not limited to:
Is everyone's clothes straight out of 1998 Delia's catalogue?
Am I so old that this is like when flair jeans got cool and my mom said "I used to wear flair jeans they were so cool when I was younger too!" and I thought she was so lame?
I am actually a decade older than the youngest attendants at this show?
My feet and ankles hurt, how do people do this? How did I used to do this on the reg?
I have heartburn for the first time in my life? Philly cheesesteaks from a food truck aren't my thing?
I also caught up on a little Teen Mom and as usual am also in a state of confusion re: Leah. When it's not the hair or makeup, it's everything else.
And Andi had an all out battle with the vacuum cleaner (I hate vacuuming too, Andi) during Sunday Cleaning.
Question: Has anyone else noticed that festival fashion came directly from the pages of Delia's 1998 catalogue? Was anyone allowed to order Delia's? I wasn't because it was too expensive but I studied that catalogue like my grades depended on it. Linking up with Biana!
Happy Monday! Big surprise this week- I'm on top of my game enough to have a post out on Monday!
We had friends over for dinner the other night and Harrison and I came up with this awesomely crispy chicken parm. I've never been a big chicken parm person but this was good, and we were able to throw it together pretty quickly.
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs chicken breasts, thawed (we flattened our's out with a meat tenderizer then sliced each one into about 9 strips) ($6.00)
3 eggs, whisked ($.50)
1/2 cup corn starch ($.40)
2/3 cup ground flaxseed (PS I found ground flaxseed at Trader Joe's for the best price)
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 medium sized squashes, sliced into strips with a Mandolin
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups of your choice of spaghetti sauce (I use garlic & basil sauce from Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set up your stations: 1 medium sized bowl with the corn starch, 1 medium bowl with the eggs, 1 medium bowl with the ground flaxseed mixed with the Italian seasoning and garlic powder, and a non-stick baking sheet.
Dip each chicken strip into the corn starch, then the egg, then the flaxseed/seasoning mix, then set on the baking sheet. Do this for all the chicken strips. Bake for 25 minutes. While chicken is baking, cook the squoodles . After 25 minutes, remove from the oven and glob 3 spoonfuls of the sauce onto each chicken strip, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Top the squoodles with the chicken. We served it with my friend Allie's caprese salad and it. was. banginnnn.
So on to the weekend recap. If you read this blog you may or may not have picked up on the fact that I am nerd alert central: I get my rocks off crunching numbers in Excel, making charts and graphs, learning new statistical methods, reading studies, and all things NPR. So when I found out that you can go on TOURS OF NPR'S HEADQUARTERS I booked that immediately. We did it Friday and OMG:
When you're listening to Morning Edition and other national NPR programs, this is where the producers sit:
We got to sit in the actual sound studios, put on headphones, play with microphones, nerd out big time. Fun fact: NPR listeners on the West Coast hear the best quality shows because of the 3 hour delay- producers can go back and fix little things they don't like by the time it airs in California, but here on the East Coast we have a mere 3 minute delay so there's not that kind of time. Crazy huh? Or is that just me?
We hit up the Building Museum to see the giant human maze and I had a panic attack just looking at it:
That evening we went to Jazz in the Garden, then tried out a new restaurant rooftop called 1905 for a friend's bday (def recommend- food menu looked good and great beer and cocktail options):
Saturday I went on a Boomerang Tubing Tour (we decided to do a redneck theme for our party) for a friend's bday we loaded a coach bus with booze and food and rode 2 hours to the Shenandoah valley..beautiful and so fun!
Nothing says redneck like temporary tats and lime-a-ritas. I don't even want to talk about how hard I scrubbed my arm to get my tats off before church the next morning...
Sunday we hit up a new DC brewery called Right Proper Brewing Company and they had this super funky mural that I am obsessed with:
I get emails and comments asking a lot of questions about clean eating that I have no idea how to answer because I'm not certified in anything food related- I'm just a total nerd who loves to look at data, read research, and experiment in the kitchen. SO when I was at the happiest reunion of my life last week in ATLI forced convinced one of my college franz Carolyn, who is also a real life Registered Nutrition Dietitian, to answer some of these questions.
Bonus: she is hilarious and really needs to have her own blog. For now you can check out her websitethat has informational videos and services. She specializes in weight management for men and women with a focus on real, unprocessed foods (umm hello yes!) and offers all kinds of services like cooking classes, nutrition counseling, grocery store tours, or you can go to her Battalion Boot Camp class (scary!). Check out here services here. AND she's on TV just look:
Now onto the questions:
Q: What kind of meats should I be eating? CB: I do think that meat is a place to splurge rather than save. Organic meats will be free of hormones and antibiotics which is great, but to ensure the highest quality you want to look for pasture-raised (for any meat) or grass-fed (for beef). This is NOT the same as "free range" or "cage free".
Animals raised on pasture have healthier fats, including a fatty acid called CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) which can actually help to reduce stored body fat. CLA can also be found in grass-fed dairy and butter. This is how I would rank quality of meats:
Organic and pasture-raised/grass-fed
Pasture-raised/Grass-fed (non-organic)
Organic (non pasture-raised)
Antibiotic- and Hormone-free (don't buy anything less than this)
Ed note: I am writing all of this down and taking it to the grocery store this weekend.
What kind of seasonings are clean??
CB: Most seasonings are "clean" as long as they are pure and not blends. Example would be taco or ranch dressing seasoning packets - those often have MSG and other junky ingredients. You're better off buying the individual ingredients and making your own blend to store in a jar.
Ed note: You can find my recipe for taco seasoning here
What should I eat before I exercise?
CB: The best pre-workout snacks are high in carbohydrates and low in fiber, fat, and protein. The carbohydrates are going to provide an immediate energy source for your exercise since their digestion won't be slowed down by fiber, fat, or protein. Examples include bananas, melon, toast with jelly, and graham crackers. You'll ideally consume this snack 30 minutes to an hour before exercise. Test your tolerance to see what foods work best - everyone is different!
Can I eat dessert slash WHAT CAN I EAT FOR DESSERT????
CB: Good news - technically you can eat any kind of dessert you want! With dessert it's important to remember that no food is completely off limits. Restriction/deprivation can often lead to intense cravings so it's important not to eliminate any foods you truly enjoy. That being said, you do want to limit refined sugars as much as possible because they can be addictive on a physiological level (i.e. birthday cake once every few months is okay but donuts every Friday at work... not so much). Some "clean" dessert options include dark chocolate (70% cacao or greater), berries, homemade granola sweetened with honey, and dried fruit.
What's the deal with snack bars? Can I have energy bars? Protein bars? Energy gel? WHAT IS ALL THIS???
Want more information on weight management? Hit up Carolyn's website!
Tell me: what other questions about clean eating do you have? Do you eat snack bars and if so what kind? What is your favorite pre-workout snack?
Linking up today at WOW, Weigh In Wednesday, Humpday BlogHop
Ohhh hayy, Monday! You came back so fast! This was one of the first weekends all summer that I've been in town with NOTHING I HAD to do and it. was. amazing. But first, a clean pizza recipe that I made with SWEET POTATOES. YALL. The crust was crispy and not soggy at all and I am def def def making this once a week for pizza night because OMG.
Servings: 3 (same size as a medium pizza so depends on how much people normally eat) Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
2 mashed sweet potatoes (I just poked holes in mine and microwaved them for 8 minutes and scooped the mash out of the skin)
1 cup oat flour (old fashioned oats in the blender)
2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Toppings: I used Trader Joe's Garlic Marinara, Mozzarella, fresh basil, mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the mashed potato, oats, flaxseed, baking soda, Italian seasoning and garlic powder well. I had to use my hands for this part. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes, add your toppings, pop it back in for about 5 minutes, and enjoy this amazzzing pizza crust.
Onto the weekend! I had the day off Friday so I lounged around fora while then hit up the Target clearance sale where I picked up these$11 sandals, these$12 sandals, this v neck T ($12), and thisfloral open backdress ($17!!). Success. I felt a little crazed as I was just throwing things into my cart in every size:
Friday night I ventured out to Arlington (the suburbs) for a dinner at Rustico with high school friends and their spouses/significant others where I drank lots and lots and lots of delicious beers and not enough water.
Saturday I got up on a MISSION. After the last few weeks of traveling and having a combined 5 minutes of alone time, I was determined to sit in a pool and unwind with zero human interaction. Thank you, K-Mart for being the only store with kiddie pools left (I guess no one knows K-Mart is still alive and well- my little secret). This was enjoyable for the 15 minutes I had until a sudden burst of rain came, but I did feel like the neighbors were probably like "that new girl is so odd" and I felt a lil insecure about that.
Saturday night some friends came over and we ate pizza (real pizza oopsies) and binge watched New Girl. Sooo was no one going to tell me about New Girl? I think I like it so much because I spend time with people who are veerrrryyy eerily similar to characters in the show. I just love love love it.
Sunday after church I had brunch at Veranda with some friends. They had cute jelly, and everything was downhill from there. The food was suuuppper average and they were out of PANCAKES. How does a brunch restaurant run out of pancakes?!?!
Spent the rest of the day cleaning and hanging out with this lady:
And I just have to share this incredibly romantic meme Harrison sent me:
So tell me: have you tried sweet potato crust before? What did you think? And do you watch New Girl?? Linking up with Biana- come join!
