Category: Healthy

Mocha Protein Cupcakes

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Yesterday, I took Jesse to the airport.  He’s off to New York for almost 3 weeks for a training course.  I hate to be that girl, but I miss him already.  So in the meantime, I plan on baking a lot.  Because baking makes the world a little bit better.

After I did my search for the best protein powder, Garden of Life sent me some more of their flavors to try: Garden of Life RAW Protein Marley Coffee and Raw Fit.

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I automatically fell in love with the Raw Fit, because it kept me so full for so long, but I had a hard time with the Marley Coffee flavor.

Given that I’m a coffee fiend, I thought I would love the coffee flavor, but I’m going to be honest, I didn’t love the flavor on its own.  So instead of devouring the Marley Coffee flavor like I did the Raw Fit in my usual breakfast smoothies, I’ve been trying to find other delicious ways to use the Marley Coffee Protein and here’s my most recent creation.

mochaproteincupcakestextIt’s no secret I have a ridiculous sweet-tooth, it’s also no secret that I generally try to balance it out with healthy eats.  So I decided to try to combine my love of sweets with a dose of healthiness.  These cupcakes don’t contain any butter or refined sugar and each one has 7g of protein and only 125 calories.  Drizzled with a bit of almond butter, they’re the perfect healthy-ish treat.

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Mocha Protein Cupcakes

1 medium banana, mashed
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup Garden of Life Marley Coffee Raw Protein
1/2 cup almond meal1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat over to 350F.

Mix together mashed banana, almond butter, maple syrup, egg and almond milk.  Add cocoa powder, protein power, almond meal, baking soda, baking power and salt.  Stir to combine.  Pour batter into 11-12 lined cupcake pan.  I got 11 cupcakes out of this.  Bake 15-18 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

mochaproteincupcakes2You can eat them plain, top them with whipped cream or drizzle them with almond butter.  What I really loved about these cupcakes, other than the awesome nutrition stats:

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Was the texture.  They’re light and crumbly like a good cupcake should be.  The coffee flavor isn’t ultra strong, honestly these taste more like great chocolate cupcakes.  After all, it’s pretty common to add coffee to chocolate baked goods for flavor.  This protein added that perfect hint of coffee flavor that makes chocolate baked good extra delicious.

mochaproteincupcakes3So if you’re looking for a healthy cupcake, this is the one for you.  Be sure to check back later this week, I have some great things planned for you all!

 

**Note: Garden of Life provided me with the Raw Fit and Marley Coffee RAW Protein, but the opinions are my own.

Farm Fresh to You: Get Produced Delivered, Eat More Vegetables

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I’m going to be honest. This is not what I had in mind for dinner tonight.

salad

I had a salad for lunch and because I’m all about balance, I’m generally of the belief that if I had a salad for lunch, I’m certainly not having one for dinner.  But here I am.  Having a salad for dinner after I had one for lunch.  I don’t want to be one of those girls.  I’m not one of those girls.

Let me tell you the story of this salad, because really it started a few weeks ago.

Several weeks ago, Living Social was running a deal for Farm Fresh to You. It’s like a CSA delivered to your house, but instead of buying in at the beginning of the season, you can just order whenever you want it and pay weekly.  So I saw the deal: $15 for a delivery box of vegetables.

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If you used to read my blog when I was in grad school, you’ll know that I had a CSA share in Ithaca, NY from the Early Morning Farm and I absolutely loved it.  Every week I was so excited to pick up my share at the farmer’s market.  I got to try new and exciting vegetables like rhubarb and kohlrabi.  For a foodie writing her thesis on Sustainable Food Systems, you can probably imagine how amazing that was for me.

When I left Ithaca, I was sad that I wouldn’t have a CSA share to pick up weekly anymore. CSA shares in Southern California are basically twice as expensive as my share was in Ithaca (I paid about $20 per week back then).  So I was bummed.  I couldn’t afford to get one.  Let’s be honest, healthy living can be expensive.  (Remember how I got a second job to pay for Crossfit… omm yeah).

So when I saw this Living Social deal for Farm Fresh to You, I was all over it.  Last week, I placed my order and my box arrived today.  I had it delivered to my office because I was worried I wouldn’t be home when they delivered it and the heat wave here has been rough.  Now let me tell you, during my drive home, I was thinking about all the possible things to have for dinner, completely forgetting the box was in the backseat.

By the time I got home I had pretty much decided I wanted polenta with a poached egg.  But then I remembered the box full of vegetables.  I unpacked them and saw everything that was inside:

  • 1 head of lettuce
  • 1 honeydew melon
  • 2 delicata squash
  • 1lb potatoes
  • 3 apples
  • 2 oranges
  • 2 pears
  • 1 pack of Berry Kiwi
  • 1/2 lb green beans
  • 1 bunch of carrots

That’s when I remembered: Oh yeah, I used to eat salads all the time because that shit goes bad real fast AND I hate to waste food. There’s no two ways around it, you have to be a voracious vegetable eater if the box is just for you (and that’s the case for me, since I live alone).

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And you know what goes bad first?  Lettuce.  You can wrap it in a paper towel to keep it crisper longer, but let’s be honest, it’s not making it past 4 days.  I wish the box included kale instead of lettuce… but alas not reality.  So that’s when I knew salad was for dinner.

Instead of that polenta and poached egg dinner I had in mind, I threw together a salad of lettuce, carrot, edamame and a Moringstar Farms Veggie Patty.  For dressing, I mixed together some natural peanut butter, hoisin sauce, sriracha and vegetable broth, for a little Asian inspiration (Note: that’s basically how you make the dipping sauce for Vietnamese Spring Rolls).

So you’re probably thinking… good for you! Pat on the back for having a salad! Who gives a crap!?! 

Well really the whole point of all this was to tell you one of the top benefits of having one of these produce delivery services (or a CSA share) and why I’m considering getting it again: it forces you to eat more vegetables.  And not just that… organic vegetables, even better!

Farm Fresh to You brought my count of vegetables for the day from 4 to 6 (plus 3 servings of fruit).  While I probably would have added spinach to my polenta with poached eggs, the box diversified my vegetable intake, because I already had spinach in my smoothie this morning.  Even better, different nutrients!

Overall: I was pleased with what was in the box.  It had a little too much fruit for my liking, but I love the idea.  I think in the future I’ll just choose the vegetable-only box.  I’m all for eating more organic vegetables, because with a sweet tooth like mine, I can always use extra vegetables to balance it out (I’ll be completely honest, after the salad I had a spoonful of peanut butter mixed with sweetened condensed milk for dessert… I know… we won’t talk about it anymore).

Oh and just so you know, I was not compensated by Farm Fresh to You.  I bought the Living Social deal on my own and these are just my opinions.

Have you tried a produce delivery service?  Did you like it?

The Perks of Living Alone and a Plum-Almond Tart in a Buckwheat Spelt Crust

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Living alone can be absolutely fantastic.  Sometimes I think I’m borderline hermit, because there’s nothing I love more than crawling into my batcave and not talking to a single person.  A lot of people ask me if I get lonely living alone.  Honestly, some days… YES (especially when I hear a noise on my patio, even though I’m 99.9% sure it’s the fat black cat that likes to hang out).

But then other days, I cherish the fact that I’m independent.  So in case you’re wondering, here are some of the perks of living alone:

1. Permanent No-Pants Party.  Pants are over-rated.  When you live alone, you can walk around with no pants.  There’s no one to hide from or be judged by.  It’s just you and your thighs, hanging out.

2. The peanut butter jar is yours and only yours. 

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You can dip your fingers in peanut butter, eat huge bowls of ice cream, have handfuls of chocolate chips, and pretend like calories don’t matter, because if no one saw you consume it, it didn’t happen.  Ok so I’m kidding, but really you can have ridiculous eating habits and no one will judge you.  Jesse saw me devour a banana with almond butter one day and was completely horrified.  I keep it private now.  (Note: the obvious exception to this is the awesome roommate who goes to the store to get half moon cookies and coconut popswith you at midnight… looking at you Christina!)

3.  You’re the Queen of the Remote.  This is pretty much self-explanatory.  You decide what’s on TV… I’ve watched the same 2 episodes of Catfish like 5 times… When Jesse comes over and I turn it on, he comments on how we already saw that one… Oh yeah…

4.  You can fart if you want to.  Totally not lady-like, but let’s be honest, everyone farts.  It just happens.  When you live alone, you don’t have to worry about anyone else hearing you, because no one is around.  You can keep up lady-like appearances in public when you know you can let loose at home.

5.  You can hog the kitchen and bake whenever you want. 

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I’ve been lucky and have generally had roommates who are cool with me dominating the kitchen.  Only one roommate was not ok with it (there’s a reason I live alone now…).  But the best part of living alone, for me, is being able to spend hours with baking experiments, like this plum-almond tart.

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I’m going to be totally up front and honest with you.  I have mixed feelings with this recipe so I decided not to share my recipe.  I’m going to try again until I get it to taste awesome.   I wanted to love this tart, because it has all the makings an an awesome blog post: healthy alternatives, unique non-wheat flour, no added refined sugar (does maple syrup count? It’s still sugar).

The crust is made of buckwheat and spelt flours.

buckwheatspeltcrust

Honestly, this crust tastes a little too “healthy” for my liking, and the texture is a little too crumbly, not flakey.  The filling on the other hand, I liked.  Moist but nutty and slightly “healthy” tasting.  It involves almond meal and maple syrup.  And the plums.  Divine.

plumalmondtart2

Ok so at this point, I’ve told you why living alone is great and why it’s not so great.  I’ve also told you why this tart was awesome and also not so awesome.

Do you live alone? Do you love it? Hate it?  Do you have roommates/friends/partners you live with?  What’s best?

 

My Search for the Best Protein Powder

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I read a lot of health and fitness blogs.  I’m definitely a fan, but one of the things that sometimes irks me is that their lives don’t seem real to me in the sense that many of my favorite blogs are run by full-time bloggers.  They work from home, and have a schedule where they can work out at a variety of different times and can prepare their meals just before eating them since they’re at home.  In that sense, I can’t really relate.  My breakfasts don’t normally look like this:

pancakebreakfast

Ok so they don’t have breakfasts like that everyday either, but doesn’t it seem like it sometimes?

During the week I don’t really have time to make elaborate breakfasts.  Most days sleep and convincing myself to get my butt to the gym are more important.  Consequently, most mornings are a little bit like this:

Rushing out the door with a smoothie in a jar, my purse and my lunch bag.  A smoothie for breakfast is great, because I can drink it in the car or at my desk when I get to the office.  Lately, I’ve been trying to add protein to my morning smoothies to help keep me fuller longer.  I’ve had a container of protein powder sitting in my cupboard for over a year and honestly, I hated the taste.

I decided to go on a mission: to find the perfect protein powder.

My criteria are pretty limited: calories and taste.  I don’t want something too high in calories or sugar, but I definitely want it to taste good and keep me full til lunch.  So I went to the store and found as many single serving protein packets as possible.  Let me tell you about some of the ones I tried.

As a control, I mixed all of these protein powders with: 1/2 banana, mango chunks, spinach, kale, water, ice.  I figured that’s what I normally would want to have it with, so if it tastes good with that, I’d be pleased.

Just a note: I bought all of these protein powders on my own, I was not compensated for any of this.  This is just my opinion based on my palate.  I’m not a nutritionist or any type of expert on protein powder, I’m just a consumer sharing an opinion.

1. Garden of Life: Raw Protein

gardenoflife

Flavor: Real Raw Vanilla (they also have a chocolate and vanilla chai, I believe)

Taste:  Good.  A little on the sweet side.  It’s sweetened with stevia, which isn’t terrible.  I guess if you just mixed this with water or almond milk it might be the perfect sweetness (since mango and banana I mixed it with are sweet also)

Texture:  A tiny bit gritty, but not too bad.

Price: the small packet I got was $2.79, which is kind of expensive for a single serving.  On Amazon, a 22oz (approx. 28 servings) container costs $25.83.  That comes out to about $0.92/serving.  Not too bad, price wise.

Calories: 90 Calories for 17g of protein.  Keeps the smoothie pretty low cal, which for me is great.

Overall: I really like this one.  The flavor is great.  It was a little grittier than the others but I didn’t mind it.  I definitely like that it’s vegan, raw and plant-based.  I’m considering buying the large container of this one.

2. Vega One All-in-One Nutritional Shake

vegaone

Flavor: French Vanilla

Taste: Super tasty!  It reminded me of a milk shake, but that makes sense.  This isn’t actually protein powder.  It’s like an all-in-one nutrition shake, that said it had 15g of protein so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Texture: Super smooth.  I was definitely a fan of this.

Price: Probably the most expensive one.  Roughly 22 servings for $55.99 on Amazon.  That comes out to about $2.55 per serving.  Priceyyyyy…

Calories: 135 calories for 15g of protein.   BONUS: 6g of fiber! 50% of your daily vitamins and minerals.

Overall:  This was really good.  Loved the flavor and the texture.  It kept me full for a long time, but honestly, the deal breaker for me is the price. Woh woh.

3. 100% Whey Gold Standard

Image Source: http://www.vitacost.com

Flavor: Chocolate. I’m not really a fan of chocolate protein powder but I gave it a try anyway. My Co-worker gave me a serving of this to try.

Taste: Ok, not too chocolatey when mixed with the fruit and greens.   My complaint is that it has that whey protein after taste that I’m not a big fan of, but that’s subjective and also sorta just the nature of the beast.  I found myself guzzling this as quickly as possible just to get it over with… womp.

Texture: Very smooth!  Not gritty at all.  Definitely a bonus.  If you like frothy (which I hate), this (like other whey powders) gets frothy in the blender (even just mixed with water).

Price: On Amazon, it costs $53.99 for 73 servings.  That comes out to about $0.73 per serving.  Can’t beat that.

Calories: 120 calories for 24g of protein, pretty darn good.

Overall: Not bad.  Don’t think I’ll get it just because of the after taste but I’d be curious to try the other flavors like banana or vanilla.

4. Designer Whey

Flavor: French Vanilla

Taste: Ok so this is the protein powder that started the search.  I bought this one at Trader Joe’s and at the risk of sound harsh.  I hate the taste of this protein powder.  I don’t like the after taste at all.  It’s really hard for me to even finish a smoothie with it, and I am definitely not a picky eater.  A lot of times I found myself adding scoops of unsweetened cocoa powder to my smoothies to cover up the taste.  No bueno.

Texture: Smooth, frothy, not chalky.

Price: On Amazon, 4lbs for $45.19.  Not bad in terms of price.  Comes out to roughly $0.72 per serving.

Calories: 100 Calories for 18g of protein.  Not bad.  I think I’ll take Garden of Life over this one any day…

Overall:  I just can’t stand this one.  I’m pretty much convince I just don’t like the taste of any whey protein powder.  If you mix it with water and chug it, it’s fine, but if you’re going to sip over the course of half an hour (like I do with my morning smoothies), it’s not pleasant.  This one is a no-go for me.

5. Plant Fusion

Plantfusion

Flavor: Vanilla Bean

Taste: The package says “Amazing Taste.”  It’s good but I’m not sure I’d call it amazing.  It was a little sweet for my taste (sweetened with stevia).  To be honest, the taste was sorta “meh” for me.  Maybe I’m raising my protein powder flavor standards?

Texture: Smooth, not chalky or gritty when blended up.  I was a little concerned because there seemed to be a lot of powder in the packet, but it all smoothed out.

Price: On Amazon, it’s $30.31 for 2lbs, that’s about 30 servings.  So about $1 per serving.  Price isn’t terrible.

Calories: 120 calories for 21g of protein.  That’s pretty good in my opinion.  Up there with the 100% Gold Standard Whey, which probably had the best calorie to protein ratio, but I will say I much prefer the taste of this one.

Overall: This one is not bad.  It’s probably my second choice in terms of protein and price.  This one is a blend of pea protein, artichoke protein, amaranth powder and quinoa powder.  I’m definitely a fan of the fact that it’s plant-based.

I think so far, Garden of Life Raw Protein is the winner for me.  I love that it’s plant-based (we love the Earth, right?) and it tastes pretty darn good.  The fact that it’s low calorie just sort of sweetens the deal.

I’m going to keep trying more to find what I like but this was a good set I tried so far.  I’m really interested to try egg white protein powder.  I think I just need to stay away from whey.

Do you use protein powder? If so, what’s your favorite kind?  Suggest away because the search continues for me (maybe)!

Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

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I love dessert, and I love feeding people dessert almost as much (or maybe even more) than I like eating it myself.  But some days,  I have a major guilt trip.  Today is one of those days.  I know sugar is terrible for your health.  I shouldn’t eat so much of it, and sometimes I feel guilty that I feed my loved ones baked goods so often.

I generally think I’m a pretty health-conscious person,  but then I turn around and make things like this:

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I know dessert makes me happy, but I also know I shouldn’t be eating it all the time so I give it away.  So pretty much I’m a jerk, a jerk that pawns off things that are too unhealthy for her to eat onto other people.  And when jerks feel guilty, they turn to fruits and vegetables.

I swear this has nothing to do with the fact that I’m about 293048292 years late to the party and finally watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and this article I read in National Geographic about Sugar.  That documentary didn’t convince me that I need to start juicing, but it did remind me that fruits and vegetables are always a good idea. The sugar article just reinforced my original idea that I need to eat less sugar. I’m not a nutritionist, but it seems like juices are lacking fiber and all the healthy things you get from the skins of fruits and vegetables. No? So instead of juice, I’m sticking to smoothies and less sugar.

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I’ve been having green smoothies for years.  My normal go-to combination was strawberry, banana, spinach.  But I decided to try a new combo to help me get past my enormous cravings for big handfuls of chocolate chips in the evenings.  It’s a bad habit.  So let’s replace it with something better:

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Healthy Chocolate-y Smoothie

1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks (I eye ball it)
1-2 cup frozen spinach (I really just grab a huge handful and shove it in the blender)
1 date, pitted
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (or more if you want it more chocolate-y)
1 cup ice
1/2-1 cup water or almond milk (this might vary)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  In my Vitamix, I don’t need that much water and I can get it to be pretty thick.

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I actually eat it with a spoon!  Note: This makes one large smoothie for one person.

The key here is really the cocoa powder.

cocoapowder

You get the chocolate-y flavor without all the sugar.  The sweetness here comes from fruit, particularly the date.

It’s not like eating a Wendy’s frosty. Let’s be clear.  It’s not.  But it’s pretty darn tasty and it definitely helps me get my chocolate fix in a much healthier way.

So what do you think?  Is it bad to feed your friends and family unhealthy foods?  Should I (or you) feel guilty about it?

Green Dinner and a Vitamix

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I think this week I overloaded my body. I had a hard time sleeping, I ate wayyyy too much sugar and I have a panic attack pretty much daily Monday through Wednesday.

I mentioned last time that I’m taking the first step at trying something new… so in doing so, I invested in some technology, mainly a camera and a new computer. I really was due for a new computer anyway (5 years for a laptop is a good life), but let me just tell you a little bit about myself: I get major anxiety when it comes to making large purchases.  I have no idea what’s going to happen to me when it comes time for me to buy a house.  I’ll probably need therapy.

So new camera. New Computer.  That was a lot of new technology for me.  But let me tell you about something else. You know what a Vitamix is?

Of course you do.  You’re reading a food blog.  Ok well.  I won a Vitamix.  I know.  I was shocked.  My brother-in-law told me he thought I was going to explode when I found out.   How did I win?  Way back when, I entered a Driscoll’s Berries sweepstakes.  And I won!  Crazy, right?

If I wasn’t sipping a smoothie I just made in the Vitamix I probably wouldn’t believe it myself.

vitamix

Because of the new computer, Vitamix and camera, I sort of freaked out.  My reaction was to not touch it all and to eat a lot of chocolate and peanut butter.  Seriously so much chocolate and peanut butter that I thought for a minute I did some major harm to my body.

So after some sleep and a self-pep talk, I’m back into my whole be-good-to-yourself-for-your-birthday-deal.

Roasted Chicken2

I ate roasted chicken with vegetables for lunch.  Then for dinner, I wanted green things.

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I had a smoothie made with Banana, Mango, Spinach and water, and because I like to chew things: my favorite 7 Superfoods Salad from Costco.  Delicious.

Ok so I’m done freaking out.  I promise.  I’ll continue to be a normal human being again.  So want to know what’s coming up soon?

Well I’ve got these guys to tell you aboutbuttermilkbars

and Sunday I have another EPIC food party planned.  Remember the Chicken and Waffles Party?  Think similar but with peanut butter… There might be some free PB in store for you guys too!

Thanks for baring with me while I had a mini freak out caused by technology.

Have a fantastic night!

Easy Roasted Chicken with Vegetables and Being Fearless

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My friend Liz texted me this weekend with a quote from a book she’s reading: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

This couldn’t come at a better time, because I spent half the day having a mild panic attack. I made a very large purchase.  An investment is more what I like to call it.

It arrived around 11am, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it until about 7pm.

I bought a new camera.  You’re probably thinking… are you nuts? I’d be so excited.  I am!  But I’m also slightly scared out of my mind, because not only am I terrified of spending money but I bought this camera with a purpose.  To try something new and pursue something different.  I’m going to be vague and all sorts of mysterious until I get my act together.  But what it comes down to is that I need to be fearless, because I have no reason to be afraid.

I realize that to many people I might seem like a risk-taker.  I’m perfectly fine with traveling across the world on my own.  I’m not scared of getting lost or trying new things.  I love walking around foreign cities on my own.  But everything I do, I do because I know I’ll be good at it.

I know what I’m good at, and I hate being bad at things.  So sometimes I stay in the safe zone.

The best comparison I can draw is roasted chicken.  Like this roasted chicken dinner that I shot with my old Canon Rebel Xsi on my Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens…

Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken is safe and simple.  We know it’ll taste good with minimal prep work required.  All you need is olive oil, salt, pepper, chicken, onion, tomato and summer squash, put it in the oven at 425F for 45-60 minutes.

The oven does the work for you.  It’s quick, easy and safe.  Roasted chicken is one of those things I know I make well.   Roasted Chicken2

But for now, I’m working on being fearless.  No more roasted chicken for a while. I’m lucky enough to be in a position to try new things and invest in things I want to accomplish.  I shouldn’t let fear get in the way, because fear only makes matters worse.

So I pose that question again to myself, and to you: what would you do if you weren’t afraid?

 

July: Birthday Month

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Happy July 1st and Happy Canada Day to all my readers in Canada (Thanks for the reminder, Krista!)

July is also my birthday month.  You know me.  Normally the most important part of any birthday is cake

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Oh and pie.  Pie is very important.

 

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And I definitely don’t want to forget those two things.  But for my birthday month, I want to concentrate less on cake and pie and more on health.

I’ve decided this year to give myself the gift of wellness (and a new computer), because those are things no one else is going to do for me.  That’s not to say that health and wellness shouldn’t be a priority all the time.  They are, but recently I’ve caught myself slipping.  What better way to celebrate my birthday than to jumpstart my health.

My birthday is July 30th, but  this is not a 30 day challenge (we all know I don’t do well with those).  But I have a few goals for next month (that hopefully will go beyond 30 days):

1. Aim to exercise 5-7 days a week.  This is not an outrageous goal, but recently I found myself only working out 2-3 days a week.  Better than nothing but not ideal.

2.  Make sure sweets are a treat, not a way to fill me up.  Won’t a big piece of birthday pie taste amazing if I didn’t have a big fat piece the day before? Absolutely.  I’m going to aim for 1 sweet treat per week (as opposed to my current 1 sweet treat per day).

3.  Exfoliate 3-4 times per week.  I know this is totally a weird thing to strive for, but I forget to exfoliate all the time.  It’s good for your skin.  I should do it more often.

4. Hot Water with lemon.  At least 1 cup per day.  Cleansing and tasty!

5.  Think nice things about myself.  I’m my own worst critic.  This month, I’m going to stop myself from criticizing parts of my body or not believing in myself, because that’s just silly.  I have a few major things I want to accomplish and I think this is a great month to get started and be fearless in the process.

So that’s pretty much it.  Nothing too crazy, but I think these small changes will be great gifts to myself.

How about you? Do you have a birthday coming up?

What’s your gift to yourself this month?

Arugula Salad with Mozzarella, Prosciutto and Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette

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I have to tell you, I’m really itching to bake something.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve kept it healthy as of recent…

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash = Local carb, quick and easy.

Black Bean Enchiladas= Delicious, quick, vegetarian and good for you.

Eggplant Rolls with Goat Cheese = light and divine.

The last thing I made was an epic chocolate raspberry truffle cake and a bluberry-rhubarb crisp (to die for! Must remake!) for my friend Sara’s wedding rehearsal

IMG_3828The wedding and the rehearsal were in this barn… on a flower farm.  Isn’t that the cutest?!  Ok back to food…

I love making healthy things to eat, but let’s be honest.  Making pie is just plain fun.  I’m starting to miss it.  Fourth of July is next week, you bet your buns I’ll be making a pie (Remember when I made Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with a touch of bourbon last year?).

But before we get all patriotic and start playing with butter, let’s do a little more green and talk about a super tasty salad.  This salad is guaranteed to satisfy.  It’s light but has enough fat in it to keep you satisfied.  We all hate the word fat, but when was the last time you were hungry after eating a few spoonfuls of peanut butter?

Fat keeps you full.  Enjoy it.  In moderation.

But really, prosciutto is probably not the kind of fat that’s good for you, but luckily it’s so intense that a little bit goes a long way.

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Arugula Salad with Mozzarella, Prosciutto and Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette

2 cups Arugula
1-2 oz prosciutto (I used 1)
2 oz fresh mozzarella
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp capers
2 tsp fresh chopped oregano
pinch of black pepper

Lay arugula on a plate.  Top with prosciutto and mozzarella.  In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, capers, oregano and pepper.  Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.

ArugulaProsciuttoMozzarella3I am completely in love with this salad.  It’s pretty much perfect for one person or two.  I’ve made it at least 4 times (probably because I bought a 4 oz pack of prosciutto), shared it twice and it’s delicious.    You know what else I’m in love with? Showing you pictures of this wedding.

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It was also pretty much perfect.   Ok ok, you’re probably over it right?  I’ll keep my wedding obsession on my pinterest board and try to stick to food.

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4th of July and Pie is coming up.  What are you excited about?

Eggplant Rolls with Goat Cheese

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In the past week, I flew to New Jersey, drove to New York, prepared for a wedding, went to a wedding, drove back to New Jersey, took a plane back to California with a stop in Chicago, then drove from Orange county to Riverside for a graduation.

On Sunday, I was in 4 different states all in one day.  It was amazingly busy but totally worth it.   The wedding I went to was fantastic.

saragabecar2It was my friend Sara’s wedding.  You might know her as the Biscotti Queen.  She’s the lady who taught me to make biscotti, so clearly it was a wedding I couldn’t miss.   Their wedding was one of the most fun and unique weddings I’ve ever been to.

There was no assigned seating (or even enough tables for everyone to sit at), instead you mingled around, stood at cocktail tables, sat around fire pits, in adirondack chairs and generally enjoyed the company of great people.

Instead of a sit down dinner, the night was filled with amazing appetizers and desserts.  I thoroughly enjoyed the smores.

IMG_4297One of the many appetizers served was Eggplant Rollatini, perfect given Sara’s very Italian family.  As I was looking through my photos of the wedding mixed with some photos of foods I made before heading to New York, I realized that the day before I left I unknowingly made my own non-Italian version of Eggplant Rollatini.

I won’t call it Eggplant Rollatini, because it’s not exactly the same.  I’ll call it Eggplant Rolls with Goat Cheese

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Eggplant Rolls with Goat Cheese

1 eggplant
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 oz goat cheese
1 tbsp capers
4 tbsp fresh chopped herbs (I used basil, oregano and sage)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juices
1/3 red bell pepper
1/2 a small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil (plus more for brushing eggplant or use cooking spray)

Pre-heat oven to 400F.  Slice eggplant lengthwise into thin slices.  Lay on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt pepper, and paprika.  Bake for 7 minutes, flip then bake for another 7-8 minutes.  Remove from oven, turn oven down to 350F.

In the meantime, make your sauce.  In a blender, blend together tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic and 3 tbsp fresh herbs.  Add salt and pepper if you like (I only added pepper since I used canned tomatoes).

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet, add sauce.  Cook for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally while you prepare the rest of your eggplant.

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In a bowl, mix together goat cheese, capers, and 1 tbsp of herbs.  Once your eggplant is cool enough to handle, lay some of the goat cheese filling on the eggplant then roll and place seamside down into the sauce.  Repeat until you’ve rolled all your eggplant (you might have some left over filling which I like to sprinkle on top after baking).

Bake for another 10-15 minutes, sprinkle with remaining goat cheese/herb filling and serve.  One eggplant (depending on the size) should serve 2-3 as a main dish.

eggplantrolls2This eggplant was totally different from the one at the wedding, but in my opinion equally delicious.  Let’s be honest, anything with goat cheese is amazing and I love lightening up heavy dishes like this.   I should also note it passed the taste taste from Jesse and my co-worker from New Jersey.

That totally makes it legit, and now it has an amazing memory of an awesome wedding attached to it.

Overall, the travel and craziness of the weekend were totally worth it.  I got to visit an amazing friend, see a few others (although I missed a few friends I didn’t get to see), and was so happy to be a part of a wonderful couple’s special day.

I have so many other things to tell you about.  What do you want to hear about next? An AMAZING salad?  More about this wedding? Do you need a dessert in your life?  Tell me!