Type A Meal Prep

I really felt the need to do a post on meal prepping because I want to break it down for people - while it takes time and effort, it is very doable, even for people with busy schedules. It was actually my saving grace during my busiest seasons of life (i.e. tackling my thesis or taking 3 classes while working full-time).

Essentials to meal prepping:

1. Carve out 3ish hours per week to plan and prep: This does not include grocery shopping - this is simply planning around foods you need to use up, foods you need to get and prepping said food (we will get into more details later). This may seem like a lot, but these 3 hours will save you a significant amount of time and brain energy during the work-week grind. I fit these 3 hours in whenever I can - Saturday afternoons/evenings (when we don't have plans to be social), before church (it's amazing what you can accomplish before 10:30 am), but mainly it has been Sunday afternoons usually between 1:00-4:00.

2. Get a notebook: This can be any old notebook you have lying around your house or to motivate yourself, buy a cute notebook just for meal prepping. I will talk through my template below, but I find it helpful to use 1 notebook for meal prepping. When I am feeling stuck on meal ideas, I can flip back and revisit another week's plan. Don't recreate the wheel, people.

3. Breathe and charge your laptop to binge your favorite Netflix show: Seriously, my husband is amazed at how quickly I plow through Netflix series, but honestly, I usually only watch these solo series when I am meal prepping or cooking throughout the week. I thoroughly enjoy working with food, but I feel like I am also staying current by having OITNB on in the background.

The planning phase and template: You will create 3 different lists!

List 1: Foods that need to be used. This can be meat or poultry that has been thawed for one too many days and needs to be cooked ASAP or the produce that is on its last leg, because we all have produce that gets forgotten. Force yourself to figure out a meal to use these! Roast the produce as a side with a chicken breast or throw the meat in a crockpot or in a casserole. By taking a couple minutes to sort through your fridge, this not only minimizes food waste, but also saves you time and money at the grocery store. One action item that we are trying out is setting up a small whiteboard near our fridge to list out what is in the fridge. I swear Mr. Lukas is a human garbage disposal, but if he had to find food in the fridge himself, he would starve to death. This was actually his idea to help minimize food waste (swoon!), but seriously, he gets really annoyed when we have to throw meat loaf or shredded beef simply because he didn't know it was in there.

List 2: Meal ideas. Obviously, these meal ideas should include the foods that need to be used up. Also, incorporate some favorite meals that you will want to eat as well as quick meals for the nights where you can't imagine cooking or worked late because those are going to happen. One of our favorite meals are steaks with sautéed mushrooms and onions, a roasted sweet potato and broccoli - with a glass of deep red wine. This meal will stop us from going out to eat or ordering DoorDash. Quick meals for us include spaghetti with red lentil noodles (Trader Joe's gets us), a frozen pizza (gasp!), breakfast for dinner (think over easy eggs with toast and avocado) or leftovers. Give yourself a buffer because if your week turns into a serious grind, you are ready for it. Also, be sure to plan snacks and desserts! Are you going to have apples with almond butter, a couple yogurts throughout the week, beef jerky, hardboiled eggs? I know that I am not the only one who doesn't stick to just 3 meals/day so by planning ahead, you will avoid hanger and driving through a silly drive through or gas station for an overpriced and most likely, an unhealthy tie-over snack. Also, desserts - we throughly enjoy Trader Joe's cookie ice cream sandwiches as well as Ben and Jerry's. It is what it is and I am not about to try to be someone that I am not.

List 3: What you need to get from the grocery store. Connect the dots between what you have and what meals you plan to make. Hopefully, you can minimize this list by using up what you have leftover from the week before.

Once you have your lists, on another sheet of paper (or I use the backside the lists), plan out your meals throughout the week! What nights do you know you are going to need something quick or maybe a crockpot meal that is ready to go when you get home from work or events? These nights for us are often when Drew has a soccer game or I plan to meet a friend for a workout. Are there any nights where you may be going out to dinner with friends or family? Some evenings, I have Beautycounter meet-ups or Board of Directors meetings, where I will be out for dinner, but Drew is on his own. Plan for a leftovers night or two! We often filter in leftovers as either a quick meal or solo meals because we are independent people. I can't say it enough, set yourself up for success by filtering in a couple quick meals or leftover nights.

The action phase:
1. Go grocery shopping! Hit up the farmers market, co-op, Trader Joe's or wherever you shop. This week, I happened to get groceries from 4 different places: the farmers market, Trader Joe's, Mississippi Market and Whole Foods. This is not a regular thing for me nor is this me bragging because I felt like I was losing my mind - truth be told, I was on the hunt for figs (long story). My usual weekly trips include the farmers market and Trader Joe's. Pro tip: eat before you go grocery shopping! Do not fall into that trap - you are more likely to stick to your list on a full stomach.

2. Prep! What can you do ahead of time to set yourself up for success? Most Sundays, I make a sweet potato hash to throw in with eggs for breakfast throughout the week (some weeks I tell Mr. Lukas this exists, but not all weeks because I want to hoard it for myself). Historically, I have also made 5 salads on Sunday - one for every day of the week and yes, they stay good, if you store them in glass containers. I also try to cut up and portion out fruits and vegetables as well as hummus, nuts, and other snacks - again, try to store these in glass containers as they are less likely to oxidize. I also put the meat/poultry that we will use throughout the week in a bowl. This will allow them to thaw and be ready to cook! It also makes you commit to using that meat before it goes back (aka skip going out to eat).

To help get your lists started, here are foods that are on my list every week and mainly because they are versatile staples:
- sweet potatoes: great for breakfast hash or as a side to meat for dinner
- peppers: used for the breakfast hash and snacking with hummus
- meat, mainly chicken or pork: for the past few years, we have been buying red meat in bulk, direct from a farmer, so we are usually just filling in the gaps with either chicken or pork. Typically,  I plan out something with ground beef, a roast and a lean meat throughout the week.
- butter: organic, grassfed salted butter
- milk/almond milk: organic whole milk for Drew and almond milk for me
- apples: super great snack on the go, ideally with almond butter or a cheese stick
- avocados: no explanation needed here
- shredded cheese: again, no explanation needed
- natural almond butter or peanut butter: we go through a lot of nut butters around here
- spinach: can be used for salads, in scrambled eggs or smoothies
- cruciferous veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts - all of these are great raw on salads or roasted as a side dish for dinner
- other veggies: think carrots, cucumbers,  snap peas, tomatoes - great on salads, but also great for snacking with hummus or roasting for dinner
- yogurt: I realllllly like Sigg's 4% yogurt, it is pricey, but I usually only get 3 or 4 as an optional snack throughout the week.
- Sprouted whole wheat bread: Yes, we eat bread, minimally and almost always sprouted.

Ok ya'll, do you get that I take my food very serious? When I was really stressed out during grad school, Drew tried to take over grocery shopping and meal prepping and I actually lost my mind. This dude was going to by 3 different types of bread in one week (hot dog bugs, hamburger buns and sourdough) - I almost lost my damn mind thinking of how we would never use all of that bread before it went to waste and I wasn't sure how I could have married someone so inefficient. Kidding....kinda.

Baby steps ya'll - maybe plan out your snacks and 3 meals your first week and work up from there. Do not bite off more than you can chew (is that a pun because we are talking about food?!) - truly, I would realllllly hate for you to become annoyed and discouraged after hitting it hard for 2 weeks. Practice radical self-love and flexibility.

I would love to hear how meal planning is going for you! I am also working on a downloadable template for my readers to download and use on a weekly basis for meal planning (stay tuned!).

Here is our new "What's in the fridge" whiteboard. Also pictured, is a cute notepad, found in the $1 aisle at Target that is a Monday-Friday Menu. It magnets to our fridge and is where I plan out our dinners. Easy peasy! 

I tried to make this as big as possible to make it legible. The top list says foods that need to be used, to the right of that are meals and the bottom is a checkable grocery list. Yes, I do bring my notebook with me to the grocery and yes, sometimes, I do cross it off. Also, the check items in the top right corner are reminders for me to check stock on items. There is nothing worse that assuming you don't have something and unnecessarily buying it or assuming you have it and don't buy it. 

This was my most recent list. Surprisingly. I didn't have anything that needed to be used up! Again, you see the check items in the middle to check stock.

This my friends is my meal prep station. Here I was making the vanilla date turmeric energy bites while eating come chips and guac for a snack and watching OITNB on Netflix. This is real life, people. 

Much love ya'll
XOXO,
Dee

.:sugar hangover:.

are you, like MANY other people, feeling hungover from too much candy and sugar? even though it is Friday, i am getting a sluggish feeling from A LOT of people.

well, here are a couple (pumpkin) recipes that will help you continue your fall celebration, but also recover from that wicked sugar crash (or help you fit back into your jeans sooner).

pumpkin protein shake:.

again, this is a recipe that i have seen everywhere - Pinterest (duh!), Chris Freytag, Heidi Powell, etc. i decided to mesh together a few recipes to create something that i would like best and to include ingredients that i had around the house, per usual.

>> 1/4 - 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
>> 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
>> 1/2 scoop Garden of Life Raw Vanilla Chai protein powder - this was a sample packet from Vitamin Shoppe, pretty good!
>> 1/2 scoop Garden of Life Raw Vanilla protein powder (the chai one scared me, so i played it safe)
>> 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
>> 1 tbsp maple syrup
>> 1/2 cup coconut milk
>> 1/2 cup oats
>> 3 ice cubes (i am not a big fan of putting too much ice in my smoothies because 1. i don't like being cold and 2. i would rather have room for more substantial ingredients....)

blend!

i am slightly disappointed that i forgot to add almond butter, but peanut or almond butter would work well with this recipe! also, you could obviously substitute your favorite protein powder in for the Garden of Life that i used. i should probably do a post on protein powders and what to look for, but i have 2 different types of protein powder - one for after workouts that really targets repairing and recovering muscle tissue and the Garden of Life that i use in my morning smoothies which is easier to digset. i intended to make this smoothie after yoga sculpt class on wednesday night, but i was in 'hangry' mode. i had also preorded Chipotle, so i couldn't stop myself from tearing into my burrito bowl to make a pumpkin smoothie. let's be serious, i am human.

play around with this recipe and see what you like - there are endless substitutions!

pumpkin granola:.

before i dive into this recipe, i would like to mention that this granola does not explicitly taste like pumpkin, it has pepitas in it, but you will not get a lot of pumpkin flavor (unless you want to)

>> 3 cups rolled oats
>> 1/2 cup pepitas (unhulled pumpkin seeds - ok, bascially pumpkin seeds without the white shell that you dig out of your pumpkins)
>> 1/2 cup slivered almonds
>> 1 cup flaked coconut (or 1/2 cup shredded)
>> 1/2 cup olive oil
>> 1/3 cup maple syrup (agave nectar or honey would work well too!)
>> 2 tsp vanilla extract
>> 1 tsp cinnamon
>> 1/2 tsp nutmeg
>> 1/2 tsp salt
>> 1/2 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds
>> 1/4 cup pecan pieces
>> 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
>> a couple shakes of pumpkin spice (depending on how much 'pumpkin' you want to taste)

preheat oven to 300 degrees. in one bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: oats, pepitas, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, salt, ground flaxseed, sunflower seeds, pecan pieces. in another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: olive oil, maple syrup and vanilla. add wet to dry and mix well - you want to make sure it is evenly coated. ideally, you will want to spread it out on a cookie sheet, but some people (me) ruined their cookie sheet in the grill (don't ask) and found that a cake pan will work well too! *be sure to spray the pan* (speaking of spray, i recently discovered the coconut oil spray at Trader Joe's, awesome!) bake at 300 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure it bakes evenly. since i used a Pyrex cake pan, i had to let mine cook longer - i think because it wasn't 'spread out' and needed more time to fully bake. let cool and store! i store mine in mason jars, i feel better when they are sealed nice and tight! plus, i just have a thing with mason jars.

i have tried MANY granola recipes and this is the first one i have found that actually made crispy granola, not soggy stuff that will mold in days. gross. i love mixing my granola in yogurt or eating plain by the spoonfuls.

i hope you enjoy these recipes and use them to help 'reset' over the weekend - speaking of resetting, don't forget to reset your clock this weekend, you do NOT want to be the dork who missed the extra hour of sleep!

always striving for more,
dee b.

recipe was modified from: http://www.thedailymuse.com/lifestyle/the-easiest-homemade-granola/ which was featured on http://greatist.com/health/best-healthy-pumpkin-recipes-102113.

pumpkin goodness and goals:.

'tis the season, right?! for pumpkins, that is!  i am a big fan of pumpkin, but i can't go too overboard since drew doesn't help me eat ANYTHING pumpkin - it's just not his thing, yea, weirdo, i know! i have been anxiously waiting to have some free time to try these pumpkin muffins - my plans were pushed back even further when i realized the canned pumpkin in my cupboard was expired. i found this recipe thanks to Daily Garnish - a great blog that i found for recipes a couple years ago. most of the recipes posted on her blog are easy and all of them are healthy.

per usual, i adapted this recipe to better fit me (and my cupboard), but they turned out great and i am kicking myself for not making a double batch!

pumpkin pecan muffins:.

>> 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour (or flour of your choice)
>> 1 teaspoon baking soda
>> 1/2 teaspoon salt
>> 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
>> 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
>> 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
>> 1/4 teaspoon allspice
>> 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
>> 1/4 cup brown sugar
>> 2 whole eggs
>> 1 cup canned pumpkin (or however you get your pumpkin)
>> 1/2 cup maple syrup
>> 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
>> 1 teaspoon vanilla
>> 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. start by mixing all of the dry ingredients from the flour to the sugar(do not add the chopped pecans, yet). in a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients from eggs to the vanilla. be sure that you are ready to mix in the melted coconut oil as soon as you take it out of the microwave - it hardens pretty quick! add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed (obvi). add the pecans or walnuts. plop the mixture into your favorite muffin pan (or in my case, the cheapest muffin pan in the world). be sure to spray or grease the pan to make your life easier. bake for around 25 minutes - this may vary depending on the size of your muffins and oven.

that's it! the original recipe calls for walnuts, but i prefer pecans (they were also 1/2 the price of walnuts at Trader Joe's). the original recipe also calls for crystallized ginger - maybe someone can enlighten me, but i CANNOT find crystallized ginger. i have looked at Target and Trader Joe's before i decided it wasn't necessary - i know not very diligent, but i am not a big fan of ginger anyway.

i am slightly bummed that i wasn't able to taste these when they were fresh out of the oven - forgive me, i was very full from an awesome dinner of grilled teryaki chicken and sauteed, garlic-infused asparagus and green beans which was followed up with leftover cheesecake from date night at the Cheesecake Factory (wow). i promise that i did try these before i decided to post about them JUST to make sure they were as good as they sound (you're welcome) and let me know tell you, they are pretty darn good! they are filling, but not heavy like regular muffins. i may have to make this into a loaf of bread next time....

i haven't done or set any goals lately because, well, i haven't just haven't felt compelled. with the transition of seasons, i am feeling a little more motivated!

1. take care of my body:. i am obviously passionate about wellness and taking care of my body, but i need to take extra special care. i have been having back issues off and on for the past 2 months
along with an insane case of plantar faciitis. i resorted to buying a PVC pipe to roll out my IT bands at home, along with constant hip flexor stretches and breaking up my plantar fascia. glamorous
and sexy, i know, but if it is going to keep me on my yoga mat and in the weight room on a regular basis than i will ask drew to rub my feet with a butter knife every night - he truly loves me! :)

also, about this time last year, i was recovering from either my 3rd bout of strep or the stomach flu - remember this post? drew has already fired up our economy size humidifier, but i still need to be REALLY conscious of getting enough sleep, eating right, drinking fluids, the works - here is hoping for a much healthier hibernation season!

2. get myself on new budget - drew is REALLY good at budgeting and moving money. i used to be when i was at my old job, but i have let that slip. we have a big trip to Playa del Carmen this winter
for my brother's destination wedding (SO exciting!). we have the flights taken care of, but we are staying at an (expensive) all-inclusive. also, drew and i are staying a couple extra nights to have a mini-vacation. that is a main reason for getting back on a budget, but there are many other reasons (like, i still have an insane amount of student loans). for instance, every pay day morning, i pay ALL of my bills that are due during that period, put some in my savings and most likely, treat myself to a bottle of wine or something special. on monday, 2 short days after pay day, i wonder where my paycheck went and instantly start planning how i am going to make it through the next 11 days on scraps - getting KINDA tired of it.  to help jump start this whole budgeting thing, i just bought "Pocket Your Dollars" on my iPad. seems counterproductive to BUY a book on budgeting, right? well, from now until October 27th, the e-book is on sale at Amazon for $3.49. $3.49!!! i couldn't resist - plus, the author is local, from Mpls, so even better! i will let you know how this goes.....

3.  i may just be adding this to the list so i can immediately cross it off. i have been wanting to clean out our front hallway which stored all of our camping stuff, our bikes and our accumulation of "Goodwill" things. my girlfriend from college comes over every Monday to watch Teen Mom - do not judge - we have done it since we met our freshman year of college and it makes us feel better about our lives. anyway, for about the past 3 weeks, i had to warn her before she came over 'still haven't gotten around to cleaning up our front hall, good luck climbing over everything on your way in - i suggest stretching before!". drew and i tagteamed the hallway this weekend - i did my part while he played FIFA and he continued while i went yoga - we are so good at compromising. all of our camping stuff is in storage and the Goodwill bags are in my trunk (i promise i drop them off......tomorrow). doesn't it feel so good to get rid of 'junk'?!?!

4. give my blog some love - i would like to figure out how to categorize my posts (mainly, my recipes), so they are easier to find (mainly, for myself). i also have been working with drew on another cool feature - i don't want to give too much away, but it will help you put your own workouts together! i have had several people ask me to put a workout plan together for them - i'll be honest, i have a hard time putting my own workout routine together, but i'll see what i can do! and, i truly love talking about fitness or nutrition so here i just another avenue for it....

ok, that is all for now - geez, i don't post for a month and suddenly i think you want to read 'all about me'?!

i guess i will get back to work and check my ego on the way.....

always striving for more,
dee b.

.:green smoothies:.

green smoothies are becoming a 'health staple', something that you hear about more and more. it's a great way to sneak extra veggies, especially greens, into your diet and let's be honest, with the cold weather upon us, it is always difficult to incorporate greens when the warm, comfort, carb-loaded, holiday foods are calling out to you. also, green smoothies can be intimidating and deceiving! my girlfriend recently texted me to say that she got a blender and is excited to try out new smoothies. when i mentioned green smoothie recipes, her response was, 'ugh, i think i need to work my way up to that'. i get it. the green color isn't all that appetizing and the thought of drinking spinach or kale would probably make some people gag.

well, i drink several green smoothies a week and i promise i have never gagged, so let me give you a few pointers on exploring with green smoothies!

choose a green base:. if you are just starting out, spinach is great! the taste is easily hidden and it blends really smooth. thanks to the Farmer's Market, i have had heaps of kale around the house, so i mainly use kale which can have a bitter taste if you aren't used to kale. another simple option is romaine lettuce which has a lot of water content and also can be easily concealed.

add protein:. while greens are great, most of them lack protein. i  add greek yogurt (plain or vanilla to avoid sugar overload). i typically add protein powder for an extra boost - Garden of Life Raw Protein in Vanilla - because of its 'chalkiness', i would never use this type of protein for after a workout, but throwing it into a smoothie is a great way to mask it.

add fruit:. while some of you won't believe me when i say this, but it does not take a lot of fruit to hide the 'green flavor' - i PROMISE! when adding fruit, please be mindful that you are also adding SUGAR, mostly natural sugar, but sugar nonetheless. i have added several different kinds of fruits and they all work great - fresh apples, peaches, bananas, frozen mango and fresh or frozen berries. i have also 'acquired' the taste of grapefruit (blah!) because it has a high water content and is a great metabolizer (friendly note: grapefruit actually tastes better when it is stored in the fridge, it helps with the bitterness). choose something that you like and play around with ratios and flavors. i started with the basic strawberry and banana, but my new favorite is blueberry and mango.

add boosters:. my go-to boosters are chia seeds and oats, but you can make almost anything work - avocado, peanut or almond butter, cucumber, flax seeds or maple syrup. again, you will be surprised by how well fruits and avocados and even almond butter and kale work together.

blending - i have gone through a few blenders in the past few years, but there are plenty of options that work extremely well. i started off with a Hamilton Beach single serve blender - you can find it at Target for around $15, it is great quality, but only comes with one blending cup. after almost 2 years, the cup (filled with my smoothie) fell out of my backpack as i was biking to work - i am fairly certain i teared up when i saw my breakfast shatter on busy Snelling Ave and i could nothing, but keep biking. after that tragedy, i bought a GNC blender set - this comes with an insane amount of cups, different sizes, shapes, tops and even a big pitcher. i splurged $30 for this one, i love it and still use it as my back up, but have most of it stored away since there are SO many attachments. drew recently decided that we needed a nice blender (he was thinking malts, not green smoothies), so one night after i worked and nannied, i came home to a Ninja blender (things can get dangerous when i am out of the house for 14 hours). i have to give it to him, this spendy blender is pretty sweet. it came with a large pitcher, as well as 2 single serve sizes and this is now my go-to. I believe Ninja blendors range from $100-$200 depending on the model and can be found at most retailers like Target, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

i have a technique where i blend my greens, grapefruit, yogurt and chia seeds first - then with the rest of the space left, i fill it with the protein powder, boosters and fruit. it allows things to mix well without overworking the blender and it also forces me to use more greens than fruit.

sound like a lot of work? well, its not, but if your mornings are similar to mine, check this out: fill up your blender the night before, but don't blend it! if i want a green smoothie for the next morning, i fill it with my greens, yogurt and grapefruit (i would hate to spend my busy morning cutting and
peeling grapefruit), then i put it in the fridge over night, pop it on the blender and throw in the 'easy' stuff in the morning. you may have noticed that i haven't mentioned ice, but that's because i don't use it (most of the time). i feel like the single serve blenders are already limited on space, so i'd rather fill it with other stuff. however, if i am biking to work or heading to yoga and know i won't drink it right away, i will put a few ice cubes in after its blended - i think of it as a morning happy hour, kale on the rocks! i haven't had an issue with things separating too much that a simple shake won't fix. you can blend and throw it the fridge/freezer overnight and grab it in the morning, but i like to know the ingredients were freshly blended (nutrients not exposed to air) and i have a thing with patience, i don't want to wait for it to thaw to drink it.....call me high maintenance.

the ingredients that you use in a green smoothies can be extremely beneficial to your health and nutrition and will keep you glowing even as our arctic season approaches. green smoothies are also a great way to 'sneak' veggies into your significant other's or kids' diet - they MAY notice the color, but they certainly won't notice the taste.



green smoothie with my morning Americano :)

what do you put in your green smoothies? i am always looking for ways to change mine up!

always striving for more,
dee b.

.:overnight oats:.

after a long and much needed hiatus, i have decided that it was time to give my blog some love. while it was a nice break, i truly enjoy blogging and have missed it! i thought no one would really notice my absence, but since taking a break, i have had many people asking and wishing that i would update. thank you to those who appreciate my blog, i appreciate you!

how is it already the end of AUGUST?!?! summers in MN are short and much appreciated, but the emphasis on short creates almost a scrambling effect to fit in as much as possible before we hibernate for 6+ months. like past summers, drew and i have been BUSY - busy with family, friends, birthdays, soccer (him playing and me watching), weddings, house work, work and our new hobby, camping! more on all of that later, i wanted to write a (quick) post on a new healthy, staple for me that is incredibly easy for on the go!

mornings to me can mean a 6 am yoga class, biking to work or simply cherishing every minute of sleep that i can before facing the day. either way, i find myself running around the house trying to put myself and food together. while i am OK with going to work with wet hair or no makeup (although i try to avoid it), i refuse to compromise my food, especially breakfast! overnight oats have made my mornings easier, WAY easier. while this concept isn't new for many, it is to me, so i wanted to share the recipe for those who haven't seen the light!

overnight oats:
>> 2/3 cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice: almond, regular, etc)
>> 1/2 cup oats (i use Trader Joe's gluten free rolled oats)
>> 1/2 cup greek yogurt (i use a regular Chobani either vanilla or plain)
>> toppings: berries, cinnamon, pure maple syrup, raw honey

1. the night before, mix together all of the ingredients in a travel-friendly container - i use a short mason jar, very hipster (i'm told). if i know that i will have 5 minutes to spare in the morning, i may hold off on the toppings.
2. refrigerate the mixture overnight - they will be ready in 3 hours, but taste best overnight
3. throw it in your purse, work bag, gym bag and off you go!
                                
why overnight oats are so awesome -
>> they are versatile for your taste and you can even change it up so you don't get tired of the flavor
>> full of protein (hello greek yogurt - you can even hide some protein powder in there)
>> travel easy
>> oats are great for metabolism
>> it's filling! i LOVE breakfast and i love having a breakfast that keeps me full until lunch
>> you can make a few servings at once and have breakfast ready for several mornings!

i promise to give updates more frequently now that i think things are slowing down....

always striving for more,
dee b.

.: juicing addict :.

if you follow me on any type of social media (Twitter: @sweetdeesnuts or Instagram @lifeonthedeelist), you've seen me blasting pictures of my new juicer and all the fun i have been having with it! i am SO excited to finally have a juicer - i literally have been doing research for the past year and a half on juicers. i originally boughta  $100 JuiceMan from Target a couple years ago, but immediately returned it because i was overwhelmed by how much produce it required to just get a cup of juice! i couldn't afford the time or the money at the time for a juicer. well, i'm now another year further out of college and further into my career and decided that i wanted to give it another shot. plus, being a wellness coordinator, i should probably continue to work on my wellness, right?

after talking with a few of my 'juicing expert' friends and a few nutrition professionals, i knew that i wanted to get a Breville, but there are SO many makes and models, it was overwhelming. i researched the capabilites and reviews of every Breville model that i heard of. i wanted to give you guys an overview of what i found, in case you are looking for a juicer!

Breville JE98XL - this is going to be the most basic juicer. if you have ever seen 'fat, sick and nearly dead' this is the juicer he uses. if you haven't seen it, you should. this is a great start for people who are tip-toeing around the possibility of starting to juice. it's fairly inexpensive and easy to find - Best Buy happens to sell this one for $149. this will juice your most basic produce - this apples, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers. it is dual speed for both hard and soft produce.

Breville JE510XL - this is a step up from the basic juicer - it has 5 speeds to adjust depending on which produce you are trying to juice. this also has a Nutri disc which easily separates the pulp and the juice. some people may find this desirable while others prefer to have some pulp - completely personal preferences. this juicer runs about $199 at Macy's.

Breville 800JEXL - this is going to be another step up, yet. it runs about $299 from Macy's or Williams Sonoma. this one is also a dual speed, but will juice more efficiently than the JE98XL - it will give you about 30% more juice! the opening to this juicer is extra wide which cuts down on all the chopping and preparing of the produce - i have found that this is a huge plus for obvious reasons!

now i get to talk about the juicer that i bought - my plan was to get the JE510XL or 800JEXL, but i was also hoping for a store associate to shed some light on which one would best fit my lifestyle. the guy at Williams Sonoma, not only loved his job, but was very educated when it came to juicers right down to the sound differences of them....

anyway, he broke down all the juicers from the most basic to the mack daddy of juicers including a Hurom slow juicer (which is also another great choice, but he mentioned that his fellow co-workers returned the Hurom for a Breville). after talking with him and hearing his lovely and accurate sound effects, i decided on the Breville BJS600XL. it only has 1 speed, but it is a slow juicer, so it really gets the most of out of the produce. with that being said, it is extremely efficient - i can juice AND hand wash all of the pieces in about 25 minutes and that's been the first couple times i used it. i fell in love when i realized how much juice it sucked out of everything! it also leaves some pulp which is great not only for nutrients, but for the volume of your juice! apparently, my past experience with the JuiceMan traumatized me enough that i literally washed 2 cucumbers, a mango, 2 kiwis, 3 apples and a handful of carrots for my first round of juicing (see picture below). i think i was halfway through the batch when i realized that the jug was already full! to give you a better picture, when the jug is full it fills about 2 1/2 mason jars (the standard size, not the jumbo). most of the parts are dishwasher safe, but since i use my juicer almost everyday and don't run the dishwasher everyday, i have been handwashing the parts. super easy to do!

a couple other things worth noting, this juicer is fairly small - we don't have a lot of counter with all the kitchen appliances we have, but this juicer fits really nice next to our espresso machine and even underneath our cupboards! i love being able to leave it out on the counter all the time! this juicer also has the capabilties to turn flax seeds into oil or peanuts into peanut butter. i doubt i will rely on that often (i haven't gotten into flax seeds, yet and i'm allergic peanuts), but it's nice to know that it is an option.

anyway, i just gave you the VERY basics of all SOME Breville juicers - there are a ton more reviews and information on good ol' Google or even Amazon. check them out!

i am clearly already a huge fan of juicing - i am excited to start playing with recipes and see what it can do for my health. this week is really busy for me with hosting biometric screenings, but i feel comforted in knowing that i can bring some juice to get my nutrients and hold me over until i get the chance to eat.

always striving for more,

dee b.

.: pomegranate salsa :.

i wanted to throw this quick post together for a few reasons:. 1. i truly feel bad for slacking on my blog lately, i just can't seem to find the brainpower to do this at the end of my days right now. 2. i have been a little out of control with posting Instagram pics of my food lately (see right) and i have had a lot of requests for the recipes 3. it is the middle of dead fricken winter - i don't know who doesn't need a little spring in their step and this recipe just may do it!

i got this GREAT recipe from drew's mom - she's an awesome lady and forwards me a lot of good recipes to try and this one was no exception!

pomegranate salsa:.

>> seeds from 2 pomegranates (i cheated and bought package of seeds, but feel free to seed your own!)
>> small onion chopped (i used about 1/4 of an onion)
>> 10-15 sprigs of Cilantro, finely chopped (surprise, i cheated and used about 8 tsp of the dried stuff)
>> finely, finely chopped hot peppers to taste (i used 2 serrano peppers without the seeds and that was plenty for me!
>> 2 Tbsp of honey
>> juice from 1-2 limes : i had a crazy juicy lime so 1 was plenty

>> salt to taste (extra for me!)

mix it all together and voila! salsa that is all sorts of fancy and 'churched up'. i have heard that this salsa is better once it sits over night - there is a lot of juice that needs to be absorbed, it is still SO yummy the same day!

you can serve this simply with tortilla chips, on top of bruschetta bread, with quinoa (seriously, what doesn't go with quinoa?) and i am going to bring it to work the next couple days on top of a bed of spinach. this isn't the type of salsa that i could hammer in one night, but who knows? play around with it!

****this calls for 4 asterisks and more!!!! serrano peppers are SUPER hot - i figured that out, not only when i had a coughing attack from inhaling the fumes, but also when i went to take out my contacts 3 hours later! i even researched it once i could see again - do yourself a favor and rub some olive oil onto your hands before and after cutting up the serrano peppers. the juice will literally stay with you for hours - i may not even attempt to put my contacts in tomorrow morning.

enjoy! let me know what you think and what else you serve this fun salsa with!

always striving for more,

dee b.

a healthy fridge!

several times i have been asked, 'what do you eat?', 'i need help eating healthier' or my favorite, 'what the heck are you eating now?'. i'm not writing this post to declare that i am the cleanest and healthiest  eater. i'm 23 years old, i still live for happy hours, late nights and quick meals on the go. so, i am writing this post to help with a few guidelines and maybe help you with making healthier substitutions at the grocery store! 

ok, let's start at the top of the fridge. cottage cheese is wonderful for many reasons. you can eat it plain or mix it with fruit or veggies and it is packed with casein protein-a slow digesting protein. note: i try stay away from anything that straight 'low fat' or 'fat free'. read it as 'filled with junky air to make it less dense'. you can barely see it the top right corner, but it's a carton of Archer Farm organic brown eggs. another great source of protein and it REALLY helps that the chickens were fed well (i am hoping to write another post soon about what is worth buying organic and what you can buy from a conventional source). no, i didn't purposely skip over the 'to-go' box hoping you would miss it, it's probably left overs from a happy hour. again, i am not proclaiming to be perfect. the other tupper-ware is my salad for lunch! however, i will not take responsibility for the Red Bull that is tucked away on the left, i am not a fan of energy drinks!

moving down to the second row. Chobani is a staple around our house. It is packed with protein and awesome on the go for breakfast, before a workout, or to hold you over until dinner time. they are SO yummy and SO much better for you than it's popular competitor, Yoplait. i know, it can be hard to swallow paying over $1 for a yogurt, but your body deserves it, trust me! besides all that Chobani, there is a pack of edamame, one of my favorite snacks to have while i sit in my cube. this is a great snack heated up a bit with some soy sauce and sea salt! beneath the edamame is tortellini. we try to keep a small stock of 'quick' meals on nights we work out late or find better things to do than cook. next up is meat and poultry. drew and i love to hit up the local Trader Joe's for our meat. the prices are reasonable for great organic, grass fed meat and chicken. here, i believe we have ground hamburger, various cuts of chicken and porks, stuffed and regular. now that we have gone organic with our meat, i don't think we will ever go back! meat is one thing that is worth splurging to buy organic or grass-fed. happy animals=happy, nutritious  meat!

deli drawer--this can get a little random, but we can never go without string cheese! another good source of quick protein (notice a trend here?). most of the time we also have a bag or two of shredded cheese and/or a pack of tortillas!

bottom shelf--here is obviously where our bigger stuff resides. drew drinks whole milk while i enjoy coconut milk. reasoning behind this? i eat a lot of dairy between yogurt and string cheese, so i try to cut down on dairy by drinking coconut milk. plus, it makes my morning oatmeal taste SO much better. the whole milk? well, that is what drew likes, so that is what drew gets :)

kefir! as you can see we love kefir just about as much as we love Chobani. kefir is a great probiotic for gut health/digestion, it also is an awesome compliment to any breakfast as well as a something to put in your stomach without actually 'eating'. while plain kefir is recommended (less sugar), we cannot stop buying the fruity stuff, especially raspberry or blueberry. when trying kefir for the first time, do yourself a favor, buy a flavored one. plain kefir can be a little tart since it is essentially fermented yogurt, but i promise it is delicious and your tummy will thank you! i think there is a pitcher of green tea off to left. i LOVE keeping a pitcher of green tea on hand, it's cheap and easy to make and it's a nice alternative to pop, coffee, and water. plus, no one can deny the mile long list of benefits you can get from green tea!

last, but certainly not least, the 'crisper' drawers--i can get strategic about what i put in these because i don't want it to go to waste! in this picture, i believe there is a mixture of produce from Trader Joe's and Target! there is for sure a bag of organic kale, it's my newest addiction!  this particular trip, i know i picked up cucumbers, grape tomatoes, brussel sprouts (cannot get enough), yellow onion and most likely carrots. when i am buying produce, i try to buy items that can be used multiple ways (i.e in a salad, can be steam/grilled/baked as a side or maybe just something to munch on in my cube). this saves waste and money! a future goal for myself to expand my produce list beyond the 'typical' and force myself to find a way to use it!


now you may know a little more about our diet than what you may like, but we do take pride in stocking our fridge with quality food! while we may be struggling to still get 'our feet beneath us' after graduation, we found that we would much rather spend extra money on groceries than we would on clothes or 'material' things. (i know, hard to believe for those of you that knew me through college!).

either way, i hope this can somewhat help you next time you hit the grocery store!

always striving for more,

dee b.

.:act great, feel great, be your best:.

what's the best way you get your body back in equilibrium after thanksgiving?

before, it was the typical 'watch what i eat for a fews day' and exercise a little more to get back to pre-thanksgiving health, but this year i am trying something different.....a DETOX diet.

trying a detox has always been something i wanted to try, but never knew where to start! to be honest, i still don't know what i am doing, so i decided to make my own rules for it.

i am at day 2 of a 3-day detox and let me tell you, it's not easy, but it's not too hard either. maybe my rules are a little too lax?

here are my rules:.

>eating only fruits and veggies--cucumbers, avocados, tomatoes, spinach, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, aparagus, carrots, bananas, blackberries, strawberries, apples....
>drink lots of lemon water and water in general--i've read that by adding lemon to water is great for creating an acidic pH balance within your body. the lower your body's pH level (read more acidic), the less likely you are to manifest illness, disease and cancers. now, this is what i've read from a few sources, i would like to research this theory a little more...
>no coffee, dairy, carbs, gluten, sugar (besides what is in the fruit)--i have adjusted to this by drinking lots of herbal and green tea which still does not suffice my caffeine headache, but it makes me feel like it's doing something.

i started out this detox diet by getting all of my produce from whole foods, if i'm detoxing, i better use organic, right? i am sure there are better "detoxing fruits and veggies" then the ones that i purchased, but like i said, this first time around, i'll create my own rules.

here's a recap of day 1:.

i did weigh myself before this adventure began....my starting weight was 141 lbs. i know as a female i am not suppose to be comfortable sharing this with the world, but whatever, i'm not a normal female and as long as i am healthy, the number on the scale doesn't matter to me.

breakfast:.
banana and a cup of strawberries and blackberries

lunch:.

this was a mixture of cut up cucumbers, avocados and tomatoes. SUPER good! i actually put it over spinach as the 'dressing', but i ate that before thinking about taking a picture of it. since i'm being honest here, i didn't get around to eating the carrots and snowpeas....

snack:.

an apple and banana

dinner:.

ok, i may have cheated here a little bit by steaming the veggies before i ate them, but to my defense i was very cold after watching my mf's soccer game and the thought of eating more cold veggies made me shiver.

anyway, my dinner consisted of a big basket of steamed veggies:. asparagus (yum!), snowpeas, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers (green and red) and maaaaybe a little bit of salt for taste. although i was drooling over my mf's streak and sweet potatoes, it was actually surprisingly filling and satisfying (and i may have stolen a few sweet potatoes slices).



anyway, reflecting on day 1, i can say that it was pretty easy, there were a few times when i really wanted to eat just 1 starburst, drink 1 cup of coffee to get rid of my headache or get pizza for dinner because i had ate so well all day. NO! it is 3 days, i can suck it up for 3 days...

this is currently my main goal and focus, i don't think i'd be able to accomplish it if it didn't have my full attention, so my list of goals will have to put on hold except for 2:. get an oil change and make spare keys for our house (both getting done before practice this evening).

always striving for more,

dee b.