So whoa the last week has been nuts! I feel like I haven't had a chance to sit down! Thank goodness for food prepping on Sundays because otherwise I would not have had lunch this week! I made these spunky red bean burgers and ate with salads, Greek Yogurt, tomatoes and veggies.

Servings: 6 patties
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients
  • 2 cans kidney beans, drained ($2.00)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste ($.50)
  • 1.5 Tablespoons red wine vinegar (balsamic works too)
  • 3/4 red onion, minced ($.50)
  • 1/4 cup parsley (I used fresh parsley for this one, dried is fine too) ($1.00)
  • 1 Tablespoon oregano 
  • 1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats ($.50)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons red pepper flakes (this made my burgers pretty spicy, definitely lay off the red pepper  flakes if you're not a spicy fan) 

In a medium sized bowl, smash the kidney beans with a spoon until about 3/4 of the beans are completely mush. Add in the garlic, tomato paste and vinegar and mix well. (Sidenote: you can do all this in a food processor too).

Next add the onion, parsley and oregano and mix well. Stir in the oats. Next mix in the salt and red pepper flakes.

Let the mixture cool in the fridge for about 30-45 mins. Once they are cooled, form patties and cook over medium heat in a non-stick pan for 6 minutes on each side.





So this crazy nutso week was jam-packed full of grown up things (sidenote: when did I get this old?)!

Thursday my work had our gala which was sooo fun (hello open bar, live band and fancy finger foods!)- I am really fortunate to have fun co-workers! And how do you like my black silk $4 THRIFT STORE dress I wore?
Harrison cleans up nice right?




And as of Friday Harrison and I OFFICIALLY BOUGHT A HOUSE!! Now we get started on rennovations so we can MOVE IN!!! This is us at closing (I'm sitting in shock that after all we went through to buy a house, the actual closing took 15 minutes of paper signing):


And Harrison got us these custom made keychains for our new house keys (fun fact: I used to run an afterschool program where the name "Lindsay" was too complicated. Kids: "Hey yo Linda!" Me: "It's Ms. Lindsay" Kids: That what I said! Linda come here"- and the nickname has stuck. I hate it but it is kind of endearing):



Then I went home to Richmond for the weekend to try on wedding dresses (EEEE)! This is my friend and MOH Meg, me, and Andi on the roadtrip from DC to Richmond



My mom and some of our friends came along and made these scorecards for the dresses- each card had a ridiculous picture of me on it that either meant yes, no, or maybe.


Andi officially has a crush on my friend's dog who could possibly be her twin brother. Andi and Archie. Has a ring doesn't it? I also learned that my sweet puppy is a shameless flirt, and was a bit mortified at her behavior but hey, the girl knows what she wants!
How was your weekend? What kind of food prep tips can you share for crazy weeks like this??



Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip, Much Ado About Monday, Weekday Social Media Blog Hop

Red Bean Burgers + Weekend Recap

Monday, March 31, 2014

Ok so once again I am extremely late to the game, but at dinner the other night everyone was talking about yoga and I was like "am I really the last one in the world to not try yoga?" The answer is yes and the reason is that yoga is freaking amazing. I am really bad about stretching, and yoga is like forced stretching + strength building. I did yoga twice this week after HIIT workouts and my lower back pain and hamstring tightness are essentially non-existent. My goal for this week is to follow every HIIT routine with at least 20 minutes of yoga. I'm not flexible at all so I do the moves the best I can and still feel great.  Anyone have good yoga resources to share?


This HIIT workout was killer. I don't have a kettlebell so I just used my 5-lb dumbbells and it was fine. By fine I mean I thought I was going to suffocate and die at minute 7 but that's a personal problem.



Also finally started using FitnessBlender.com where they have these helpful graphics with each video, as well as a description and why the workout works. Click here for more info on this kettlebell workout.


I followed this workout with one of Melissa Bender's yoga flows here:



Ok and can we just talk about this? Like what? Will I be able to comfortably do that someday?-->


Do you do yoga? Why or why not? What are your favorite yoga videos/classes/types of yoga?

Linking up today at #WOWLinkUp, Weigh In Wednesday, and The Humpday Blog Hop. Check them out for some awesome health and fitness inspiration !

Wednesday Workout: HIIT and Yoga

Wednesday, March 26, 2014


Since winter has refused to end and my ultimatums to mother nature have gotten us nowhere, I've decided to embrace all things winter. When life hands you lemons, make a vodka-water-lemon-juice right? One of my favorite winter standbys is grilled cheese so I decided to make myself a grown up grilled cheese with a glass of red wine while I wait for the impending doom that is 1-3 inches of snow on its way.

Weird sidenote- I used to be so jealous of my friends who got to eat grilled cheese with Kraft Singles because my mom only bought Velveeta. Not gonna lie, I do still get the occasional craving for some super processed chemical-compound-cheese flavored mass once in awhile. And may or may not be looking forward to a few Nats games this year with some nachos drenched in ballpark cheese (cheat days).

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 pieces of Ezekiel Bread, thawed
  • 2 Tablespoons goat cheese
  • 2 slices tomato
  • 2 slices avocado
  • 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 slice onion
  • 1 teaspoon garlic seasoning

Spread the goat cheese on one slice of bread. Top with tomato and avocado. On the other slice of bread sprinkle the mozzarella and top with onion. Evenly sprinkle the garlic seasoning. Heat both slices face up in a toaster oven at 275 for about 4-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. If you don't have a toaster oven you can heat them on a frying pan over medium heat.


PS Harrison and I ate this while watching Jesus Camp on Netflix (gotta finish my Netflix binges while the weather still sucks so much I can' set foot outside..)- anyone else seen that? I grew up going to church camp so def have mixed feelings about it but MAN.

Linking up today at Turn It Up Tuesdays and Delicious Dish Tuesdays

Clean Eating GROWN UP GRILLED CHEESE

Tuesday, March 25, 2014


I made this last week and ate it for lunch every day- it was so easy to cut a slice, pop it into my tupperware and take it to work. It was also freaking delicious and I jazzed it up a little each day with Greek Yogurt or salsa or beans or avocado. Even Harrison liked it!

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients
  • 2 cups quinoa (cooked) ($1.00)
  • 1.5 lb cooked chicken breast, shredded ($2.50)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, diced ($.70)
  • 1 bell pepper, diced ($.89)
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 sweet potato, diced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes - I used Rotel medium - ($1.25)
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste ($.50)
  • 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese ($2.50)
  • 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped chilantro (fresh)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Saute the onion, pepper, garlic, corn and sweet potato together in a large frying pan until the onions are translucent (about 5-7 minutes).

Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste and allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix the sauteed vegetable mix, quinoa, chicken and spices together. Dump the mixture into a 9x11 pan Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over top. Heat in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 





P.S. Anyone else have an amazingly spring-y weekend? I soaked up every second in the short-lived spring weather! 

To celebrate spring's arrival my friends and I went to happy hour, which turned into all-night-marathon-bar-crawl down U Street and apparently sunglasses inside



My friend Kris visited from Macon, GA (in case you didn't know, Macon is the 3rd biggest city in Georgia AND they're on the weather channel) and we went out and saw the sites. I only ever do the touristy thing when friends are in town so it was nice- plus I like to have a reminder of why this city is so awesome, despite the traffic, the red line and the winter.
Picstitch courtesy of Kris. I have on idea how to even start to do this on Insta.


I also scored big time at my favorite thrift store Martha's Outfitters (yep that's a New Balance Sweat Tech Running Tank, Express black cardi,   Land's End button down,  and Zara cardi. ALL FOR $9!) 

Annd working on an attitude re-adjustment re: this never-ending winter including the impending snow storm forecasted for Tuesday. So instead of locking myself in the house and crying until..July maybe?..I'm embracing the last few days (please let these be the last few) of winter. First step: making my favorite gluten-free crockpot chili from Jackie at Chronicles of a Dietician...it's helping my attitude a little?


What do you do to beat the winter blues? What can I do to make sure I'm like this for the rest of this never-ending winter??
VIA

Clean Lunch for the Week: Tex-Mex Quinoa Chicken Casserole + Weekend Recap

Monday, March 24, 2014


Right Marilyn?? RIGHT?

Yall this front porch sittin weather has me in the mood for a serious cold cocktail (fun fact: I was a bartender in college). These are my 5 favorite warm weather drinks and I am making ALL OF THEM at 5 pm today. Get. Me. To. 5.


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1. The White Sharkbite 
Who remembers the Sharkbite fruit snacks? And who had siblings they always had to share with and always had to fight for the ONE white one that tasted so much better than all the others? Well now you can have your own white sharkbite in a glass- and it has alcohol. Really what could be better.

Ingredients:

  • 10 oz beer (you can use any beer but I think it's best with Blue Moon)
  • 1 shot of Amaretto
  • 2 shots of Orange Juice

Combine in a pint glass and savor the taste of childhood. Or, if you are wreckless and young and can handle things that my body no longer can, combine the OJ and beer in a pint glass, drop in the Amaretto shot and chug.
(PS you can BUY this childhood favorite on Amazon here!!!)





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2. Summer Beer/Skippy/Strip and Go Naked
I saw this one all over Pinterest last year and thought "meh" until I saw a pin that called it "Strip and Go Naked". Sold.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
  • 4 light beers (aka Bud Light, Miller Lite)
  • 1 empty lemonade can full of vodka
Combine in a pitcher and mix well. I have no idea how many people this serves because last time I doubled it and it was gone in five seconds. Approximately 5 minutes later everyone was wasted. 






3. Harrison's Throwback Specialty
Harrison (fiance/roomie) is famous for Costco impulse buys. One extreeemely impulsive trip included only the ingredients listed below but resulted in quite a tasty and refreshing drink. I know, what grown man (with no kids) buys $50 of Capri Sun?

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pouch of Capri Sun
  • 1/2 cup Sprite
  • 1/2 cup Passion Fruit Smirnoff
  • Ice
Combine everything in a rocks glass and mix well. 





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4. Vegan Gluten Free White Wine Sangria
My friend- this is a real life friend who has a blog- blogs about vegan recipes and is also hilarious. I mean obviously she's hilarious because who has a blog called Pop, Lock, and Drop the Meat?? Check out her recipe for delicious sangria here.




5. Moscow Mule
Maybe I'm growing up or maybe I'm getting boring or maybe my taste buds are becoming more refined, but this is my new favorite happy hour drink. So light and refreshing and amazing. If you told college Lindsay she would be paying $7 for a happy hour Moscow Mule over the $5 Bud Light she would have slapped me in the face and then said "what the F is ginger beer anyway?" Right. Also I feel weird about glorifying Moscow right now so if anyone has alternative name ideas post em here.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup vodka
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 cup Ginger Beer
  • 1 tsp simple syrup (I pretty much never have this on hand and it was fine without it last time)
  • Ice

Pour over ice, stir and enjoy!


And of course my favorite boozing accessories:
Love this wine glass set from Target. It's just more fun to drink wine without the stem.

Spill proof. Unbreakable. Each one holds an entire bottle of wine. Any questions? Find them here.


There is something that has to do with physics or mass or something that causes spheres to melt slower than cubes. Essential for warm weather drinking. I got mine here

 My mom got me these hard plastic red cup "wine glasses" and they're always a hit. This site just came out with red cup MUGS. And yes, my mom also drinks out of these. Yes, my mom is very cool.


Also who doesn't love koozies? Especially free koozies? Head over to Eat Drink & Be Mary and enter to win free koozies!

Linking up today with 5 Things Friday, Fresh Face Friday, Friday Favorites - Go check them out for lots of other cool lists (because WHO DOES NOT LOVE LISTS)

Friday 5: Favorite Front Porch Cocktails

Friday, March 21, 2014

Remember when we used to not wear white before Memorial Day? WELP that's one for the #TBT. I love the white pants look, maybe because it reminds me of summer or maybe it's because it's so bright and happy (unless it's snow. if it's snow I'm not even acknowledging its existence) or maybe because you can pull off a work look and casual look with them. These are my favorite looks via Pinterest, and favorite places to find the affordable white jean.




VIA


VIA






And saving the best for last, the most wonderful ever, Chrissy Tiegen ahhh I love her. If you don't follow her on Twitter/Instagram you have to. Really, do yourself a favor and follow her because she. is. EVERYTHING. The funniest. I wanted to ask her to be in my wedding party because she would just fit right in but that's creepy and restraining-order status so I'll stick to just extending a bachelorette party invite and hoping she shows?  jk jk jk..kind of..but really..
VIA
$9 Beige Top // Chrissy Tiegen Presence: Priceless. 





The affordable white jean (Sidenote- my go-to for pants is TJ Maxx because they have every type of fit so I recommend starting there if you're not a big online shopper):



Linking up today with Lovely Thursdays, Look What I Got, and Little Friday LinkUp - go visit to find some awesome blogs!

Affordable White Jeans Looks

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Today's guest post comes from my favorite thing out of Europe (never been a Nutella or Beatles fan) and good great friend, Petar. When he's not in class at Catholic University Law School you can find him teaching group class/personal training at Washington Sports Club or djaying around DC- and ladies, he's siiiiinglllleee! Check out his hype mixes (great for working out!) on Soundcloud and his webiste here. Annnd check out one of my favorite pix of us (plus Harrison) at Zinzi Ball last year:


Anyway, I asked him to write up a post on 5 Things Your Trainer Wants You to Know, and here are his tips with awesome illustrations:







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1. Don't Be a Cardio Queen: There is a common misconception among novice gym-goers that the best way to get in shape/lose weight is to chain yourself to the cardio equipment.  It is easy to get trapped into that way of thinking, when an led display on the equipment indicates that amount of calories "burned."  However, spending hours on the treadmill/elliptical/bike is not the most effective way of getting lean.  Any exercise is better than no exercise, but if you are dedicating yourself to a workout routine, you at least want to make sure that it is an effective one.  The problem with aerobic (cardio) training is that your body becomes more efficient the more you do it.  Therefore, the more you do cardio, the better your body is at it, and the less fat you burn.  This article does a great job of explaining this.




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2. Embrace the Iron: Ok, so Cardio is not the most efficient way of getting shape.  Then what is?  Strength training.  Resistance-based exercised breaks the muscles down.  As the body rebuilds, the muscles become stronger, and the metabolism increases.  This means that the body burns more fat and continues to burn fat throughout the duration of the day (not just during the exercise itself as is the case with cardio).  Think about it.  Gymnasts look like this, and marathon runners look like this.
(Sidenote from Lindsay: if you're working out at home EatHardWorkHard has a great post on free online dumbell routines)






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3. Listen to Your Body: It's easy to get carried away.  Maybe you have gone to the gym for several days straight and want to see how long you can maintain that without skipping a day.  Maybe your workout buddy lifted a very heavy weight and you don't want to fall behind.  Maybe you are tired, but have not been in the gym in two days and your guilt is preventing you from skipping your workout.  All three scenarios are dangerous- they have the potential of preventing you from listening to your body.  The longterm consequences of injury far outweigh the risk of momentary satisfaction of pushing your body past its limit.







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4. Drink Plenty of Water:Our body is mostly made up of water.  It only makes sense that the best thing to consume is water.  The body is funny: when it receives little of something, it tends to hoard it.  Whereas, if something else is in abundance, it does not hold on to it.  In the case of water, if you consume little water, you will retain a lot of water weight.  On the other hand, if you are drinking enough water, you will not carry as much water weight.  Water weight = bloated.  Less water weight = more cut and defined.





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5. Try New Things: At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is exercise.  Any type of exercise beats sitting on the sofa.  Trying new things will keep things interesting and it will make it less likely that you get bored.  Further, your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over.  New exercises/activities will keep challenging the body and produce continued results.



Linking up today at WOW , Whimsy Wednesday, Weigh-In Wednesday

Wednesday Workout: Guest Post- 5 Things Your Trainer Want You to Know

Wednesday, March 19, 2014


We survived blizzard #100000000021 of the winter! I would like to thank Netflix and an entire season of Parenthood for making it enjoyable- and also all of my friends who told me I had to watch Parenthood. Anyone else love that show??

 We ate this meal the other night and it was delishhhh. So good. I go through phases with chicken- sometimes I love it and sometimes I think I'm going to throw up if I even smell it. So clearly I'm in an "on" phase with it and am trying to figure out every possible way to cook it.

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 10 mins + 2 hours marinating in the fridge
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • Lemon juice of one lemon
For the chicken:
  • 1 lb chicken breast, thawed ($5.00)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 onion, sliced ($.25)
  • 1 lemon, sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon Rosemary

Combine the marinade ingredients with the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag. Squeeze the air out of it and smush everything around in the bag. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours (usually I do make the marinade on my food prep Sundays, put it in a bag, then add chicken before I go to work the morning I plan to eat it). 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Dump all the ingredients of the bag into a non-stick oven dish- evenly spreading the marinade on top of the chicken. Sprinkle the minced garlic and rosemary onto the chicken and layer on the onion and lemon slices on top. 

Heat in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the insides aren't pink anymore and enjoy!




We ate these with brussel sprouts- K I know I'm late for the party but WHAT!! THESE WERE SO GOOD!! Harrison and I ate the entire bowl while the chicken finished cooking. All I did was toss them with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, put them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, put in the oven at 425 for about 15 minutes (turning once), then sprinkled garlic on top once they were out of the oven. And binge at them. HOLY.

Believe it or not these were a little crispy. Delish.


P.S. I also caught up on Teen Mom 2. What in the world is going on? Why is Jenelle so fertile? And what is with Leah's hair and makeup situation? I just... I think I'm getting too old for this reality tv business.


Linking up today with Time to Sparkle, Delicious Dish Tuesday, and Turn it Up Tuesdays. Go check them out for tons of recipes and project ideas!

Clean Eating Lemon Rosemary Chicken + Brussel Sprouts

Tuesday, March 18, 2014



I have been seeing clean eating pancakes all over Pinterest but a lot of the recipes are pretty complex- by that I mean too much to do before I finish my coffee. But THIS recipe is even more simple than making a breakfast smoothie and only needs things that I already have around the house. Plus they have a banana taste- banana pancakes! Yes please!

Servings: 2 (3 pancakes each)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
  • 4 egg whites ($.50)
  • 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats ($.10)
  • 1 banana ($.10)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla 

Combine all the ingredients in a blender (I use this one from Amazon). Pour 1/4 cup of the mix onto a non-stick frying pan and cook 2 minutes on each side. Repeat for the other pancakes (PS I cooked one pancake at a time in a little frying pan and then remembered we actually have a griddle...like I said, everything is too much before coffee). 

Top with fruit and natural maple syrup and enjoy!

Literally the only 4 ingredients. Amazingness.



P.S. I uninstalled IntenseDebate commenting system this weekend which caused me to lose hundreds of comments- I didn't delete anyone's it just happened! I finally had it with losing all the comments on certain posts for no apparent reason (this happened to 1-2 posts each week) and had zero luck with support from the website. Anyone have recommendations for Blogger commenting platforms? Any suggestions welcome!

P.S.S. Anyone else have an amazing weekend? Andi and I lived it up in the 60 degree weather:

Had a fun St. Paddy's celebration in Dupont involving a leprachaun on a stripper pole:

Made some delicious new red bean burgers (recipe coming soon!):


And some friends came out to the Mall with us to help with our Save the Date Project ("project" meaning "finding ways to do free save the dates") for our Washington, DC wedding (I drag my friends along for this instead of paying someone a zillion dollars- thanks Anna and Kyle!):

Nothing says romance like construction cranes on the mall
Yep I'm marrying someone who insists on wearing a crown.

This is my favorite (I'm vetoing the crown)

Obligatory Sexy Face pic in front of the Nation's Capital


And while I'm not one to complain about a work-from-home day or complain after a beautiful weekend, this is how I'm feeling about the 8" of snow today:

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Linking up today:

Epic Mommy Adventures




Laugh. Eat. Learn.

Clean Eating Pancakes! 4 Ingredient Pancakes!! + weekend recap

Monday, March 17, 2014