Give Me Greens And No One Will Get Hurt

Holy Greenie!

You all must have REALLY wanted those greens, huh?! I LOVED reading about all your green veggie ideas!! Everything sounded fabulous and I got some great veggie ideas! With that being said, the winner of the Amazing Grass giveaway is……….

Comment number 422—Paige!!!

Paige says, “My favorite green veggies is broccoli. Roasted with olive oil and garlic. So simple and delish!” Congratulations, Paige! Please shoot me an email with your mailing address so we can get your greens package right out to you!!! =)

Anyways, how is your humpday goin’? Mine is going very well…I got a raise at work today!!! Nothing huge, but every penny counts! To celebrate, I’m getting my hair cut and highlighted on Friday afternoon. What should I do?! I don’t want to lose the length but I want something a little more trendy…. I LOVE getting my hair done. My co-worker’s girlfriend works at an Aveda salon in town (my favorite!) and is doing it for a discounted price. Yeah, baby! 🙂

To get back to the food, I started this lovely humpday with an amazing bowl of holiday chia pudding!

Every bite was bliss. I’m telling ya—you HAVE to try this recipe. Who knew raw pudding could be so good…..and so healthy?! I love eating desserts at all hours of the day, like 3:30 in the morning! Chia seeds are SO good for you, too. Read more about them here. This bowl (I probably had two servings?) was incredibly filling and good thing, because my morning was INSANE and I didn’t end having breakfast til almost 6 hours later! holy moly!

I also had a healthy serving of greens, as usual. Drinking the greens in water is getting easier every day. Just takes some practice I guess! I totally blame the greens, by the way, for the AMAZING energy I had all morning. Not a drop of caffeine! I was like energizer bunny on crack actually. Even my boss commented on how fast I was working. Ryan wanted to bring a loaf of bread to one of his clients today who is from Germany and claims he can’t find “any good bread here” so Ryan wanted to prove him wrong. I busted my butt to get the sunflower flax done and out by 8:30 so he could pick it up! I hope he likes it!

Breakfast was very late but delicious!

I made more blended oat groats yesterday to take. This is so easy to make the day before and pack to take with me. I did the same thing as yesterday—soaked 1/4 cup groats in water overnight, but then blended them with a new and fabulous ingredient!!

So Delicious Coconut Milk

• Dairy Free / Lactose Free
• Soy Free
• Gluten Free
• Rich in Medium Chain Fatty Acids
• Excellent Source of Vitamin B12 (vegetarian friendly)
• Formulated for Maximum Calcium Absorption
• Cholesterol Free
• No Trans Fats
• Certified Vegan

I used 1/2 cup of the vanilla coconut milk to blend with my groats and it did NOT disappoint, let me tell you! It made the groats incredibly creamy and I recognized just a slight hint of coconuty goodness. For only 90 calories per 8 oz serving, this is a great dairy-free substitute! I also added a whole banana, cinnamon and a half scoop of Sun Warrior to the Vita Mix and then this morning I topped my creamy (and raw!) creation with a big ol’ scoop of the good stuff—-

This is my first time trying Naturally Nutty Almond Butter and I have to say, I am a fan! It tasted a little nuttier than regular almond butter because of the addition of ground flax and hemp. Here’s the nutritional info…looks fab!

I like the fact that there is no added sugar, of course, and hemp seeds are SO good for you! Love those healthy fats, baby! 🙂 I also have on hand the White Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter as well as the plain almond butter so reviews for those will be in the not too distant future.

Those groats really are filling! I was going strong all morning long and after work snacked on one of these bad boys on the way to the pool:

And then I had my best swim practice ever!! I really pushed myself today and swam freestyle laps for the whole 30 minutes (with only one kickboard drill in between). I kept saying “just one more lap, then you can rest…” over and over to myself and just kept on going! Honestly, I could NEVER have done this a month ago. I love the feeling of improvement in sports and I feel like I have improved 100% in swimming. I have never been a swimmer…never had swimming lessons…never even LIKED to swim but now I feel so much more comfortable and much stronger than ever before! Even after my triathlon, swimming is definitely an exercise I will keep up in the future!

After I got home I refueled with my favorite juice combo with added cucumber for an extra kick!

This is called “apple pizazz” at my local health food store and I just love it. So refreshing, especially with the added cucumber!

I also had a piece of Ezekiel toast with an ounce of raw goat cheese. I love simple yet satisfying snacks like this!

Cheese really is something I don’t think I could ever live without. I swear. You can take the girl out of France but you can never take France out of the girl. 😉

I was going to shred again today but, honestly, shred without the cardio is just sort of “meh” to me. My shins are feeling SO GOOD with the break from running and I don’t want to add any extra stress right now (like Jillian’s insane plyometrics). So instead, I just answered some emails and then got to COOKING! For the past two weeks I have had the most intense Indian food craving. Ask Ryan…its all I have talked about! I’ve been trying to figure a time to go get take-out from my favorite hole-in-the-wall place but Friday night just seems sooooo far away and I needed it NOW!

So I made this:

Channa Masala

Serves 4-6

• 1 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes in juice
• 2 15 oz cans chickpeas
• BIG glug of olive oil (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 heaping tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup water
• big pinch red pepper flakes
• pinch dried cilantro

1. In a large pan or dutch oven, heat the oil to medium high and add the onions. Cook the onions for about 10 MINUTES or until deeply caramelized. I know it can be scary to cook onions for that long because you think they will burn, but if you have enough olive oil in the pan (and you should), you will be fine. They should be this color or a tad darker….stir occasionally:

2. Add the garlic and spices and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes (crush ’em first) and juice and bring mixture to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the chickpeas…stir well to combine and cook for about 10 minutes on medium low.

4. Serve with a dollop of thick Greek yogurt or plain. This dish only improves with time…the flavors intensify and it is even better on the second or third day! My favorite way to serve is along side hot whole grain naan. Obviously. 🙂

It was delicious! I served my portion, of course, with half of a whole wheat naan that I had warmed up til toasty in the oven. It hit the spot perfectly. Next time I am going to make it even spicier though…I like my Indian food so spicy that it brings tears to my eyes!

SO glad I have enough for leftovers! I still might get Indian food Friday night but this was a pretty darn good substitute.

Dessert was a little piece of heaven—

This has to be one of the best 100 calorie treats out there. When I was a kid, my favorite dessert was ice cream sandwiches and these bring so much melty delicious nostalgia. I have to say, I am not a big strawberry ice cream fan though, so I do prefer the plain vanilla Turtle Mountain ice cream mini sandwiches. However, if you ARE a strawberry ice cream fan, you will love these!

Thank God tomorrow is THURSDAY!!!! After work I am racing my bike over to Sarah’s house for week 8 of our Esther bible study and then biking more after that….followed by hopefully some YOGA at home. I need it!

Have a fabulous evening, my friends. I will see you tomorrow!