Showing posts with label Clean Mexican. Show all posts

Happy Monday! I can barely sit still because I am SO excited for my friend's big fat Greek wedding this weekend (it's literally a Greek wedding) and I'm going to be reunited with some of my favorite people ever at 5 pm Friday. Until then I'll be practicing Greek dances via Youtube haha.

Our oven is officially fixed so rest easy, this is the last crockpot recipe for awhile. Again, laughably easy. This was my lunch for the week.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs chicken breasts ($4.00)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Rotel) ($.99)
  • 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning (clean eating taco seasoning = 2 Tbs ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper)
Combine the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 7 hours. I switched up how I ate it each day- some days at it on a salad, some days in Ezekiel tortillas, some days with black beans, added some salsa, added Greek yogurt. It was so good!

Anyone else have an amazing weekend? I have back to back weddings for the next 3 weekends (Richmond, Boston, and Lancaster here I come!) so I HAD to be productive- at least for part of the weekend

Friday night I stayed in to watch Orange Is The New Black which I have been anxiously awaiting for the last...oh you know year or so. I'm a grandma so despite my excitement and how much I was loving it, I passed out somewhere around episode 4 (DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ME OR I WILL KNIFE YOU). Andi was unimpressed however.


My storage unit, which was packed to the brim with furniture from my old house that I have not even thought about for the last year, was dropped off on Friday so we spent the weekend throwing a pseudo yard-sale. We didn't have a backup plan so I was super stressed that we'd be stuck with all this stuff and nowhere to put it so I threw a few tantrums (sorry, Harrison).

We got rid of all the big stuff, so a few boxes will be headed to Goodwill this week. Temper tantrums were 100% unnecessary.

I also found tons of pictures from back when I used to print out pictures, like this little throwback of Harrison and me 3 years ago when we FIRST started dating:



Saturday was my friend Kyle's birthday so we cooked out and I ate about a million pounds of food.

Played an insanely intense round of Taboo (girls vs. boys- always gets out of hand). For the record, "starts with letter V" is NEVER OK RIGHT??? NEVER! Sorry for being a rule follower.:


My friend Anna who makes everything look super easy (oh don't minder her just completing a post-bach med school program and cooking her husband's birthday dinner for 50 people 2 days before HUGE tests. I mean really) made this delicious apple/kale/quinoa salad that I MUST eat again soon. She said she just looks at SweetGreen's salads and then makes them herself. Genius. She also made this ice cream pies:


Listen to how she made these pies. Scooped ice cream into a pie crust. Let the ice cream soften and melt a little. Put it back in the freezer. So like I said, she makes everything so freaking easy.

Sunday was insanely productive. I cleaned (PS if you have wood floors you HAVE to use Muprhy's Oil. Decent price, I just spray it on our wood floors and dry mop right over it- our floors are IMMACULATE). Andi and I went for a run in the park and took a break for a selfie photoshoot:


Annnd of course threw in a few episodes with Piper and the crew in the clink.

 Tell me: can you EVER say "starts with a [insert letter here]"?? And what is your favorite salad?

 Linking up today with LeeAnn, Kimberlee, Biana, Much Ado About Monday, Motivation Monday

Clean Eating 3 Ingredient Crockpot Mexican Chicken + Weekend Recap + Ice Cream Pie

Monday, June 9, 2014


Ugh, Tuesday after a long weekend is like Monday on steroids. Fortunately I had a great/refreshing weekend and made a few delicious ovenless meals like this green chicken- I threw the 2 ingredients in the crockpot before I went hiking and when I came home it was ready!

This dish is also Tonii-approved which means anyone will like it (backstory: Tonii was a roommate who had never tried hummus , avocado, and a whole host of other "white" foods before we lived together. For the record- he would never choose to eat hummus or avocado but if they were the last 2 foods on the planet he could handle it).

Prep Time: 1 min (to pour stuff in the crockpot)
Cook Time: 6-8 hours
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
  • Green Salsa (I used the one pictured below from Wal-Mart for $2.00)
  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast ($3.50)

Throw it all in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. Cut off the crockpot and allow to cool and absorb the juices for about 45 mins before serving.

I ate it with a black bean salad which was just a few spoonfuls of black beans, shredded lettuce, a scoop of fat-free Greek Yogurt and a scoop of salsa. I had leftovers as a salad the next day. MMM mmm.

This weekend some friends came over and we christened the front porch with a happy hour and some Sam Adams Summer Ale (y'all I wait all year for these and hoard them like Cadbury Mini Eggs).


Some friends and I went hiking in Great Falls on Saturday and I remembered why DC is the greatest city ever to live in, I mean really this is amazing:





My friend Tonii (as in Tonii-approved chicken) came home from Boston and we ate green chicken and watched the Ana Nicole Smith Story and Jodi Arias Story on Lifetime (Lifetime please give me more of these "docudramas")



Sunday we got up and went to see Christine Cain speak at church and ohhheemmmgeee I am ready to stop making excuses and do something with myself- this woman has done so much in her life, and had a major impact on human trafficking. Really take a lunch break and watch this video about not making excuses and putting our pride aside. And in case you don't want to click I put the video right here because this talk is THAT necessary to hear:



We at on the porch of Desperado's on U Street after- the drinks were good and my portobello burger was deelish!

Cooked out with some old friends Sunday night, had a lil photoshoot in front of an American flag:

FYI that's Tonii in the middle


Monday I made a green soup that I read is Zooey Deschanel's favorite to serve friends and ate it for lunch with a limited edition Sam. Obvi it was amazing:


Cooked out Monday night with Harrison's family and now to get back to some serious clean eating.

Linking up at Turn it Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesdays,

2 Ingredient Crockpot Green Chicken + Weekend Recap

Tuesday, May 27, 2014


Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? I celebrated the 7th anniversary of my 21st birthday- do I seem older??

Today's recipe is one I made as my lunch for the week last week. The plantains and sweet potatoes added a nice sweet complement to the cumin, turkey, garlic and beans. It was delicious!

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb lean ground turkey, browned ($2.00)
  • 1 ripe (brown) plantain ($.50)
  • 1 avocado, chopped ($1.00)
  • 1 can black beans ($1.00)
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.89)
  • 1/2 large onion, diced ($.50)
  • 1 large tomato, diced ($.80)
  • 1/2 sweet potato, diced ($.40)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder (less if you don't love garlic as much as I do)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
Combine all the ingredients except the avocado, mix well, and cook over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add the avocado, and voila! You've got lunch for the week! Serve with salsa and Greek Yogurt.

I switched it up and ate it plain on Monday, on salad Tuesday, as a lettuce wrap Wednesday, on an Ezekiel tortilla Thursday, and plain again on Friday. It was so good!

Sooo as for the weekend, my birthday was pretty low key this year, which was what I wanted- I'm so focused on the house right now and wanted to be able to get up Sunday and paint/work (which didn't happen anyway because the baseboards weren't installed yet). Friday night a few friends from the neighborhood came over and we had beer and hookah on the balcony (yay nice weather!)

A few friends of mine from high school who live in DC came along for my favorite bottomless mimosa/bottomless buffet brunch at Front Page (on the porch!!) on Saturday, then we went to Local 16's rooftop (my other favorite). We bopped down the street to Chi-Cha Lounge for awhile, then capped off the night with some jumbo slice (thank you, DC).




Sunday we got up early and went to the house to check out progress. There wasn't much we could do but I need some advice! HELP!


This is our new walk-in closet (!!!!). The floor is slanted on my side- any ideas how to use this space so it's not just wasted? I'm thinking I might put some shelves over the slant? Not sure though? Thoughts? Ideas?




This is Andi attempting to look 100% uninterested in Max, her new neighbor- look how hard she's trying! I love this pic. BUT- Andi is a climber. Even while I was out there with her she tried to climb the fence! Anyone have ideas for how to keep her in? We are putting up a new fence soon, but it's just not in the budget right now.





Our new kitchen faucet came in. This house stuff has taught me A LOT about compromise, and about how different Harrison and my ideas are about decor... This hose faucet was a compromise. It reminds me of the giant things we used to clean dishes at the restaurants I worked in... This faucet is even removable and stretches...what do you think? Is this cool? Am I just scarred from years cleaning dishes at restaurants?




And now for some before/after pix, because these make me feel 100x better about the progress, and the fact that we are at T-Minus 10 days out from the day we have to move out of our current place (EEK):

The downstairs bathroom- can we just talk about WHY anyone ever wanted PINK toilets?!?!

New floor, new toilet, cleaned walls make a humongous difference. We have a pedestal sink going in soon- pix coming! If there needed to be any more evidence of how much of a NON DIY person I am, please observe the fact that I couldn't even figure out how to move this door out of the way for the picture..sorryyy!



Master bathroom during- again, who wanted a blue tub?!



Master bathroom: almost there! I love the subway tiles, and on last Tuesday's post I asked for suggestions on backsplash and paint colors- there were SO many good ideas (THANK YALL!) and Julie at The Natural Junkie suggested subway tile for the backsplash and I was like WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!, so we just ordered some more of this in a smaller size! Still working on the paint color.



 And that's it! Leave any advice in the comments- I appreciate it! And I hope everyone has an awesome Cinco de Mayo! This is actually a day that I drink margaritas at home because I refuse to fight the crowds of drunks in sombreros and pay for overpriced margs. I prefer be a drunk in a sombrero in the safety of my own home, with cheap tequila and no lines. #sorry




Linking up today with Weekend Recap, Much Ado About Monday, Monday Morning Gossip

Clean Eating Mexican One Pan Meal + weekend recap

Monday, May 5, 2014


Happy Tuesday! Is anyone else really not feeling this Tuesday? Is it summer yet? Is it time to move into the new house yet (the answer to that is no- more on that later).

Last week I made this yummy fiesta stuffed chicken, and here's the recipe just in time for one of my favorite holidays- Cinco de Mayo (which happens to fall the same weekend as my birthday- Lindsay de Mayo sooo..)

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 Chicken Breasts, thawed ($5.00)
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 Bell Pepper, diced ($.80)
  • 1/2 Large onion, diced ($.50)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Lime Juice of 1 lime ($1.00)
  • 1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro, fresh ($.50)
  • 1 Tablespoon Cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon Paprika
  • 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts (see here for a 10 second tutorial). Season the chicken breasts with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.

Combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic, lime and cilantro- now you have pico de gallo! Spoon the pico evenly onto one half of each chicken breast (one butterfly wing?). Fold the other half over so you basically have a taco with a chicken shell and pico stuffing.

Place the chicken breasts into a baking pan and add the chicken broth. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are cooked all the way through. 

I chopped up some sweet potatoes that I seasoned with cumin and sea salt, and cooked in the oven with the chicken breasts and topped with some extra pico de gallo that I made. YUM!




And now for Home Renovation Update: Self Reflection Edition. In this process I have learned a few things about myself:
  1. I am extremely Type A (Type A + perhaps?)
  2. I need to control everything
  3. There are approximately zero things I can control in this project
  4. I live by deadlines, timelines and checklists. If all my boxes aren't checked off, then the day is not over yet.
  5. Deadlines, timelines and checklists are mere suggestions for contractors. Checklists apparently do not exist in this industry.
  6. When things are off schedule, I am thrown into a tizzy and get completely stressed out (sorry, Dad, for my major temper tantrum the other day re: things not running on schedule)
  7. Nothing in construction runs on schedule.
  8. I feel like when I can't oversee everything, nothing will happen right.
  9. I haven't overseen anything for the last week and everything is completely fine.
So I guess God is telling me to let go of some control huh? It's hard to teach this old dog new tricks, but I'm trying to give over some of the control and be a little more Type B about this. I'm so thankful to have my parents helping out and doing so much of the projects because a) I trust them and b) they understand how psychotic I am because they made me and c) they explain everything to me, including WHY things have to run behind schedule. 

So now for picture updates:

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen Before:


 Kitchen ALMOST THERE! HELP- what color would you paint the kitchen? What kind of backsplash would you use?!?


Master closet before:

Master closet during (it now takes up AN ENTIRE WALL)


Linking up today at Turn It Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesdays, MaMade, Tuesday Recipe Swap, Tough It Out Tuesday, What We Eat Wednesdays

Clean Eating Fiesta Stuffed Chicken + Home Reno Updates!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014


Happy Monday! We survived another weekend of home reno and we are finally getting into the part I like- where we are starting to SEE the changes! It's really exciting, I'm just so ready to MOVE IN! 

Since things were chaos I didn't have much of a meal plan or a grocery list and just bought $40 worth of goodies at Trader Joe's (oopsies!). With the random assortment of TJ's sale items I came up with this Mexican Pizza:

Servings: 3
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
  • 2 Tortillas (I use Ezekiel)
  • 1/2 lb lean ground turkey, cooked ($1.50)
  • 2 tomatoes, diced ($2.00)
  • 1/2 large white onion, diced ($.50)
  • 1/2 package of diced butternut squash (this is about 1 lb) ($2.00)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup salsa ($1.50)
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded ($1.50)
  • 1 avocado, diced ($1.00)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Saute the onion, butternut squash and garlic together.  Place the 2 tortillas in a baking dish. Evenly distribute the turkey onto the tortillas. Top with the sauteed veggies. Layer the tomatoes on top of the veggies. Top the veggies with the mozzarella cheese. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, slice up and enjoy! I took the leftovers to work the next day.


We spent Easter weekend working on the house- have I mentioned how grateful I am to have parents who drive 2 hours just to help out with this home reno stuff? It's getting to the fun part where we can actually SEE the progress:

My mom and I painted the cabinets, and the granite guy came and gave us counters! And thank you, Mom for coming to Home Depot to help me cope with my semi-mental breakdown over gloss vs. semi-gloss vs. eggshell paint and choosing between approximately 682 shades of almost-black paint...


Here's what that same wall looked like before:



And we added a wall to the bedroom to give ourselves a WALK IN CLOSET WITH TWO ENTRANCES (the opening and the door go into the same closet). Next stop: Ikea!

My mom and I went to Community Forklift, which, if you are in DC you have to go. It's basically a thrift store for home goods. I found this and can't wait to buy it to put in the dining room:

Since my parents are in town we still had a semi-easter celebration. I tried to make resurrection rolls (family tradition) and failed. See the marshmallow inside the crescent roll is supposed to be "Jesus", and when you pull them into the oven aka the "tomb", the marshmallow/Jesus is gone! However I just ended up with Jesus as a sticky mess all over the cookie sheet:

And since I have no life outside of this house stuff right now (socially this consists of my parents, Harrison, and about 4 contractors who don't speak English), I live through everyone else and can we just talk about this fabulousness that was happening down the street? Michelle! I don't care what your political views are, you gotta admit the Obamas know how to dress!


And Andi's Thundershirt came just in time for the thunderstorm and wind storm we are supposed to have this week- look at that model workin it! She let me put it on which is a good first step...we'll see how this goes...

Anyone have recommendations for dog anxiety? And recommendations for walk-in closet organization? 

 Happy Monday! Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip, Much Ado About Monday,  Healthy Tips. Weekend Recap

Clean Eating Mexican Pizza + Weekend Recap

Monday, April 21, 2014

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