As I mentioned earlier, I am dabbling in the world of pasta for the first time in my life - and yes, I have gone almost 30 years without ever cooking or enjoying pasta (every time I mention this people act like I'm saying I murdered someone) so there's a bit of a learning curve here. Not posted: pasta fails from last week  /:


This one was too easy, we both liked it, and we had leftovers for days. I never considered cooking with fresh ginger until I tried out Blue Apron (for a week) and now I want to add it to everything! I love the flavor the ginger adds! What else can I cook with ginger? Suggestions please!

Servings: 4
Cook Time: 20 mins
Prep Time: 5 mins



Ingredients
  • 6 oz organic pasta, rice noodles, or squoodles (whatever you prefer, I used the organic pasta from Wal-Mart) $2
  • 1 container Trader Joe's Asian Stir Fry Veggies ($4)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced 
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 handful cashews, chopped ($.50)
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (Paleo DIY)
  • Lime juice of 1/2 lime 
  • 2 teaspoon olive oil/coconut oil/cooking fat of choice
  • Salt & pepper

Cook the pasta. While pasta is cooking, coat a large frying pan with olive oil or cooking fat of your choice and heat. Add in the vegetables and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add in the ginger and cashews and cook another 3-5 minutes.

Once the pasta is ready add it to the pan. Add the soy sauce and lime juice and continue to cook over medium heat, covered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Annnd that's it!

Meatless Monday Ginger Soy Veggie Stir Fry

Monday, February 15, 2016

A little over a year ago I ventured into the land of Green Smoothies and failed miserably, learned from those lessons,

Veggie Packed Green Smoothies That Taste so Good I Have One Every Morning

Monday, February 8, 2016

As an extremely frugal and analytical person, I intensely investigate pretty much everything before I commit to spending money on it to find any potential hidden costs and to determine whether or not it will actually save me money. Here are the subscriptions that have saved me money (and some that haven't) and my favorite things to use them for:

The Great Subscriptions:

Amazon Prime

Cost: $99/year

How It Works: Free two day shipping on Prime Items (almost everything is Prime) - BUT if you opt out of the two day shipping for an order you get credit towards e-books. Also includes Prime Video, Prime Music (haven't figured that out yet), free e-books (I haven't taken enough time to investigate this part), unlimited Cloud Storage (hi all the photos in the world), and early access to MyHabit.com (fashion stuff!) and Lightning Deals (aka Black Friday Style sales).

Things I use it for/How I justify paying for it: 
The prices on products are generally pretty low and I can always find random little things that I don't know where to find with FREE SHIPPING. I think the free shipping pays for itself with the $99. I also feel like the free shipping around Christmas time reduces my holiday stress level ten-fold which is worth $99/year. I buy:
  • Dog Food and meds (30 lbs delivered to my door is much nicer than carrying 30 lbs from the Wal-Mart zoo)
  • Transparent (!!)
  • All Christmas gifts
  • Pretty much everything except produce - I'm at a point in life where if I can't get it on Amazon I don't think I need it that bad.
  • Cloud Storage- I have the Amazon Cloud app on my phone which automatically uploads my pictures and videos. I can organize them into files and share them even with people who don't have Prime. Clutch.
  • Access to all HBO shows and movies (hi snow day!)

Netflix

Cost: $7.99/month

How it Works: Free movies and shows streaming to your computer/cell phone/ipad/Apple TV/Smart TV/Video on Demand.

Things I Use it For/How I justify paying for it:
Before I was roommates with Harrison (my current husband who requires ESPN and HBO), I canceled cable and it was fine because Netflix. All the shows and movies- specifically:
  • Master of None
  • Arrested Development reruns for life
  • Documentaries
  • Narcos 
  • Making a Murder 


Cost: $45/month


How it Works: For ~$13 bottle, Club W delivers 3 bottles of wine to your doorstep. You can choose your own or take their suggestions. You take a little quiz in the beginning and they make recs based on that. 

Things I Use it For/How I justify paying for it
Look I'm simple and my knowledge of wine includes only three things: 1) red wine stains my teeth which makes me appear drunker than I am, 2) I only know how to buy 2 Buck Chuck from Trader Joe's and 3) Vineyards are fun and pretty! Therefore, when I'm supposed to bring wine to a dinner or something I am clueless. How much should I spend? What do I bring? Is 2 Buck Chuck acceptable? So I leave it to Club W. I have also discovered wines I really enjoy (I usually drink at least one from the box, except snowzilla when the whole box was consumed) and have ordered those from Club W. Thank you, Leslie for turning me onto this!

Subscriptions that didn't save me money or work out for me for whatever reason (don't hate me!:

Meal box subscriptions (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh): $60 for 3 meals for 2 people? I try to feed 2 people all meals all week for under $100. Not in my price range.

Birchbox (eeek I know don't hate me!): I ended up using 1 or 2 products per box, which made me feel like a sample hoarder with nowhere to store my samples - they started pouring into personal spaces. It was too much. 




Friday Favs: Monthly Subscriptions That Save Me Money and Make Life Easier

Friday, February 5, 2016



Happy Monday! I'm super spoiled because I had a 3 day work week last week (thanks #Snowzilla) and have a 3 day work week AGAIN because I'm peacing out of this winter wonderland for a wedding in Scottsdale, AZ (send any recs my way please)! Cannot WAIT!

This recipe was a classic Pinterest mix-up gone REAL good. I was attempting this recipe, but somehow I left Wal-Mart with an unexcpected bag of hair dye, nail polish and scented candles and left out 30% of my grocery list. Wal-Mart. Always.

Anyway this was originally going to be Pad Thai but I don't know what to call this - Pad Thai-ish? Asiany Pasta?

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
  • 8 oz Rice Noodles (I find them in the Asian aisle and/or gluten-free aisle) ($1.50)
  • 1 lb cage free chicken tenders, cubed ($3)
  • 1/2 Red Onion, diced ($.50)
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 Cup Carrots, peeled and diced ($.50)
  • 1/2 Cup Celery, chopped ($1)
  • 1/2 Cup Mushrooms, sliced ($1)
  • 1/2 Cup Cashews, chopped (1)
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce* - DIY recipe
  • 2 Tablespoons Honey*
  • 1-2 Tablespoons Sriracha*
  • 2 teaspoons Sea Salt*
  • 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil/Coconut Oil/Bacon Grease/cooking fat of your choice

*I added more to my personal dish because I like my food saucier, Harrison likes his food less saucey. Go as crazy as you want with the sauce!

For garnish:

  • Chopped Fresh Cilantro
  • Sliced Vidalia Onion 

Cook the rice noodles according to package directions. While the pasta cooks coat a large frying pan with olive oil/cooking fat of choice. Season the cubed chicken with salt and pepper (don't be shy!) and cook in the coated frying pan over medium heat until cooked through (5-10 mins).

Remove the cooked chicken and add more oil to the pan if necessary. Put the onion and garlic in the pan and saute about 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring a lot to make sure nothing sticks to the pan. Next add the carrots and celery and season with salt and pepper (I use about 1 teaspoon of each) and cook another 5 minutes.

Throw in the mushrooms and cashews (and maybe a little more salt and pepper) and continue to cook and mix for another 5 minutes.  

Now add in the chicken and cooked pasta and mix together well (heat is still on). Add the honey, sriracha and soy sauce and mix in well. Cook it all together for another few minutes.

Scoop it into bowls, garnish with cilantro and vidalia onions and enjoy!








My fav kitchen tools for this meal:

Clean Eating One Pot Honey Sriracha Pasta

Monday, February 1, 2016

I'm late to the party because not one but TWO consignment stores opened within 2 blocks of my office, so full price shopping has been a thing of the past for me. But after a recent "I hate everything in my closet" purge I found myself desperately searching for anything I can wear to work (new rule of clothes shopping: I only buy it if I can wear it to work and personal life, or as long as it can work for 2 parts of life) what did I find but the ole throwback F21 - with clothes for grown ups! Yes, grown ups! Here are a few of my favorite finds (and yes, I pretty much only wear black and white with hints of gray- crazzyy):



Contemporary Bodycon Dress $17.90




Contemporary Slit Back Top $17.90



Contemporary Lace-Back Beaded Top $22




Contemporary Ruched Sleeve Blazer $34 (I may opt for a little less midriff when I wear this to work..)




FOREVER 21 Contemporary Sateen Pleated Midi Skirt $27 (confession: I really wish I had the body type to pull off this skirt, but I look like a hot air balloon when I wear them. I still try them on every time ):  )

I also ordered this, this, and this but even the larges were too tight on the booty and hips. Meh, can't win 'em all, especially when they are less than $20

Forever 21 Has Clothes That Are for People Over 12 Years Old AND that You can wear to work!

Thursday, January 28, 2016




This is the current view from my front porch and I am absolutely not complaining. Harrison was in charge of survival food so we currently have 2 dozen eggs, 6 bottles of peach Andre, 1 jug of OJ, 5 lbs of bacon, a frozen pizza, and enough alcohol to supply the District of Columbia for 3 weeks. I've got Fiesta Chili cooking in the crockpot (recipe coming soon) and have had enough time inside to try every type of necessary cocktail. Here are my favs:

Peach Mimosas


This isn't necessarily winter-specific, but to me nothing says SNOW DAY like a multiple hour brunch with mimosas. This recipe is fail-proof: fill the cup with peach champagne (we use Andre, v. fancy of course), top it off with OJ. Adds a little pizzaz to the typical mimosa. And yes, I drink my mimosas out of a pint glass because I could either refill every few sips or dump half a bottle of champagne in my glass at once. Your choice, but I'm looking for minimal effort on a snow day.


Clean Spiked Hot Chocolate

Something about snow days makes me want to eat everything in sight and the unhealthier the more appealing. I feel better about myself when I am at least drinking clean hot chocolate (even if the spike isn't clean).




Ingredients:

  • Mug filled 4/5 of the way with hot milk - I always use Unsweetened Cashew Milk (while we're at it, I love funny mugs like this, this, and this)
  • 1.5 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Pro Tip: the way to know if it's clean is if the only ingredient on the label is cocoa)
  • 2 teaspoons honey, agave syrup or natural sweetener of your choice
  • 1-2 shots of Grand Marnier (this is my personal choice, it also tastes delicious with Bailey's or whiskey if you're a whiskey person)
Slowly add the cocoa powder to the hot milk while mixing. It takes awhile for this to mix in but it will. Next add the sweetener and booze and mix well. Next, drink at a healthy pace because this tastes so good I accidentally drank it really fast and needed a nap immediately after.

                                  via


Easy Crockpot Mulled Wine (set it and forget it - my fav!)

Am I the only one who hears "Mold Wine" every time someone says this out loud? Either way it's delish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pack of Mulled Wine Spices (I get mine on Amazon here)
  • 1 bottle of Red Wine (I am extremely unsophisticated, no clue if it makes a difference which type you use. I exclusively drink Trader Joe's 2 buck chuck and whatever Club W sends me for the month)
  • 3 cups cran-apple juice
Throw it all in the crockpot, cook on low for 1 hour. 

PS - Club W is a Godsend. If you want to try you can use my link for a free bottle 


The Bet Bloody Mary in the Whole Freaking World

Again, nothing about this screams winter, but everything about it screams snow day to me. 


Ingredients:
  • 1 Pint Glass full of ice
  • 2 shots of vodka (preferably 1 shot regular, 1 shot of bacon infused vodka)
  • Fill the rest of the glass with Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix
  • If you have these items on hand they are delicious additions but by no means necessary - Zing Zang takes care of bloody marys real nice: squirt of fresh lime juice, teaspoon of horseradish, pickle spear, toothpick crammed with as many olives as possible, Slim Jim (gross but works), strip of bacon, banana pepper, chunk of string cheese.

Current Status: Snowed In & Trying Every Winter Cocktail

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Current Status:



Not leaving the house in the foreseeable future because that is my car.

1 crockpot of mulled wine cooking itself.

3 episodes into Man in the High Tower (still on the fence re: if I'll finish the series).

2 bottles of champagne consumed.

1 bottle of sparkling wine consumed (thankyouthankyou, Club W for coming through just in time for Blizzardzilla/Jonas/whatever this is called).

1 Large Frozen Pizza Consumed

Half a dozen eggs, one pack of bacon, and half a box of pancakes down.

1 instance of laughing so hard I peed my pants a little (signs of a GREAT day and/or too much booze)

24 hours of dogs refusing to poop because they are terrified of the snow (beware of those big scary pitbulls!)


LOLOLOL You expect me to do what in that mess outside?

Power: still on (praise!)

Fiesta Chili prepped and ready to eat.



Fiesta Chili

  • 1 lb Grass Fed Ground Beef, seasoned and cooked on the stovetop ($3.50)
  • 1 Large Red Onion, chopped ($.50)
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped ($1)
  • 4 Cloves Garlic, minced ($.25)
  • 1 Can Black Beans ($.88) - I dump the whole can in my chili. Some people prefer to drain but I don't.
  • 2 cans Rotel Tomatoes ($3)
  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste ($.50)
  • 1 lime of lime juice ($1)
  • 1 bunch cilantro, chopped and halved ($2)
  • 2 Tablespoons Paprika
  • 2 Tablespoons Cumin
  • 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Green onions, chopped

Combine all the ingredients except half of the cilantro bunch in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Garnish with green onion and cilantro. Eat all snow day.

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm through Blizzardgeddonzillajonas!



Kitchen tools I used for this:



Easy Snow Day Crockpot Fiesta Chili

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Hi my name is Lindsay and I live in fear of treadmills. Yes, treadmills. The monotony, the whole not-moving thing, the whole inside thing - I'm shuddering just thinking about it (woof). I have my own personal temperature rules I go by for running outside - everyone else does that too right? Like if it's 60 degrees +, I wear short sleeves and shorts, 50 degrees plus = crop pants and long sleeves, 40-50 is a crapshoot depending on wind/sun/etc, anything under 30 is when I turn into a big baby and go for multiple layers/hoods/fleece/anything to keep it warm. Anyone else or is that just me?

 DC doesn't have the most horrific winters, but they're not pretty either. I have invested in a few high quality winter pieces (it hurt to drop those $$ but was worth it) that have lasted multiple winters so far (hence the reason it was worth it to drop the $$), and add on when I find a good deal here and there. Here are a few of my favorite staples and deals:


Asics Thermopolis Hoodie $42 (6pm.com is where I get 90% of my running gear)


Nike Pro Hyperwarm Embossed Tight $39 (I own these and they are so warm I can't even wear them around the house - I start sweating. Super warm, great for the super cold days)

New Balance PolySpan Tights $21 (can we discuss how I bought a pair of New Balance running tights in HIGH SCHOOL AND STILL WEAR THEM TODAY. They have outlived my Lululemon's which cost approximately 100000 times as much. Just saying.)









UA Women's Tech Twist $18 (Most of my tech tees come from past races and I always wear them. I kind of recommend signing up for a race just for the tee..)


Nathan Handheld Water Bottle $13 (DC turns off the water fountains when the temps are freezing which leaves me dying of thirst on long runs. This bottle is so light and the way it fits around the hand doesn't irritate me the way the bouncy belts do)

I got this chapstick in a Voxbox last year and have never turned back. It's the kind of chapstick you put on at night and still feel the fresh coat on your lips when you wake up. Yes please. My lips get super dry running in the cold and this is the ish. 

Where do you find winter running clothes deals?

Friday Favs: Winter Running Clothes & Accessories

Friday, January 22, 2016

I meant to share this one a few months ago but, alas life happens and you find posts from October saved in drafts whoopsies! This is one of my favorite meals - not quite paleo thanks to the buns but meh it's healthy. I mean look at all this goodness!!



Servings: 4 sausages (Interpret this how you want - this is approximately 2 servings in my household - 3 sausages for Harrison and one for me)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients for sausage & peppers (pronounced swausage and peppahs):

  • 1 pack of chicken sausages (I get mine from Trader Joe's for $6/pack. They also have a good selection at Wal-Mart and I'm sure anywhere else. Just check the ingredients- I make sure I recognize all the ingredients)
  • 3 medium bell peppers, sliced ($2)
  • 1 large red onion, sliced ($1)
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil of choice
  • (optional) Buns: 100% Whole Wheat buns from Trader Joe's $3.99



Ingredients for the slaw
  • 1 head of red cabbage, sliced ($2) or a bag of sliced cabbage/slaw
  • 2 carrots, chopped tiny ($1)
  • 3 sticks celery, chopped tiny ($1)
  • 1/4 Cup Honey
  • 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard
  • 1/4 Cup Olive Oil 
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Cook the sausages according to the package directions. While sausages are cooking, season the onions and peppers with salt and pepper and saute in the olive oil over medium heat for about 8-10 mins or until the onions are translucent.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots and celery. In a medium bowl, mix together the honey, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk until it's all mixed up.

Toss the vegetables with the dressing mixture and salt and pepper. Add salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy! 









Clean Sausage & Slaw Oktoberfest Style

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Oh! Hey! It's me! I still go here! Things got a little crazy over the last few months - taking classes on the weekends, changes at work, blah blah same old stuff everyone deals with and somehow manages to maintain a blog. I've also been caught up in all the stuff everyone else has been caught up in:



Throwing plates at the TV and screaming out loud at Making a Murderer



Crying my eyes out to Adele on repeat



Sporting tacky sweaters all holiday season (shoutout to my husband for giving me a gift that combines 3 of my favorite things: tackiness, Christmas, and Drake). I know- how photogenic are we.



Defending my opinion that Jenna Dewan-Tatum's performance was better than Channing's on Lip Sync Battle (Beyonce wins all obvi but I'm saying if it's just between Channing and Jenna)


Purchased Power Ball tickets - FYI when I hit the jackpot I do not intend on telling anyone. We've all seen the E! True Hollywood Story about the lotto curse.

And I also went on a tiny trip to CAPE TOWN with my friends (this trip deserves its own post, more later but for now enjoy pictures on Insta).

Did a little healthy eating and a lot of holiday splurging (whoopsies #notsorry).

Annnnd I signed up for a marathon. Yes, I have officially lost my mind or hit a quarter life crisis or something along those lines. Thankfully I obsessively combed Courtney's blog for everything I could possibly need to know about training - and btw I actually MET Courtney on the street a few weeks ago, I was starstruck! #Blogcrush

This whole marathon thing has changed up my eating plans a little bit with the need for carb loading etc, so after a year (yes a YEAR!) of eating paleo we are adding pasta and rice into the ole meal plan. Random side note: I have never never been a pasta or rice eater. Everyone acts like this is just the craziest thing they've ever heard but it's true. So please do pass along any resources for good/healthy/carby recipes. Because this training has me hungry. as. a. hippo.

Here's my meal plan for the week with a big emphasis on foods that yield lots of leftovers because this is my first week back from vacation and that sucks and no one wants to cook. At all. Also includes my reminders to add CARBS the night before and after my long runs - shoutout to my friend Petar for teaching me Carbs 101.

Note: For the Chicken Broc Pasta Bake with Cauli Sauce I am replacing the cheese with this sauce. It's supes easy. Because *hi* lactose intolerance! Not doing cheese before a long run. Couldn't pay me. You can also find my fav breakfast casserole (oops forgot to link in the plan) here and my green smoothies here.

Oh Hey! It's Me! It's 2016?! + Meal Plan for the week

Tuesday, January 12, 2016