basil feta stuffed peppers with garlic tahini sauce

i am pretty proud of this recipe because instead of modifying this recipe, i created it from scratch. in the past, i have made stuffed peppers with a Mexican flair to it, because what goes better with peppers (and life) than Mexican food?

this recipe was inspired by my financial stress (remember this?) and forcing myself to put something together on what was in our kitchen versus finding a recipe and heading to the grocery store to put it together. thanks to Sam's Club, we had few ingredients, but in bulk....

basil feta stuffed peppers with garlic lemon tahini sauce:.

>> 4 peppers
>> 1 cup of quinoa (red or white), cooked
>> 1/2 cup mushrooms
>> 1/2 cup broccoli
>> 3 tomatoes (i used Roma, but obviously any kind would work), diced
>> 1 lb of ground beef
>> 1 cup feta cheese
>> basil (i used dried, but would prefer fresh)
>> 2 cloves of garlic, minced
>> salt and pepper
>> coconut oil (or olive oil)

preheat oven to 300. in a large pan, heat coconut oil and garlic. once the coconut oil is melted, sauté mushrooms, broccoli and tomatoes. in a separate pan, brown the ground beef. add the cooked quinoa and browned meat to the large pan of vegetables, remove from heat. stir until well mixed. add basil, salt and pepper (how much you prefer) and feta cheese. stir until well mixed. while everything is cooking, you will want to prepare the peppers - cut tops off (not too much, just enough to open it up) and 'gut' them. once the quinoa/meat mixture is cooked, stuff each pepper with the mixture and drizzle the top with olive oil to prevent the quinoa from drying out in the oven. place in a pan that allows the peppers to stand up (i used my infamous Pyrex cake pan). bake at 300 for about 30 minutes.

garlic lemon tahini sauce:.

>> 1 clove of garlic, minced
>> 2 tbsp lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
>> 1/3 cup tahini sauce
>> 1/3 cup water

mix well with a fork and put in the fridge to stiffen - should have a yogurt consistency. drizzle over the peppers once you pull them out of the oven. warning: you may want more than that, so you should probably keep extra on your plate.

                                     

this recipe made plenty - you could either use it to stuff 6+ peppers or save the leftovers for something else. i used the leftovers to mix in with spaghetti squash a few days later.

i promise the recipes that i post are easy - do not let the 'different' ingredients trick you!

give it a try and let me know what you you think!

always striving for more,
dee b.

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.

.:we often take for granted, the things that most deserve our gratitude:.

back to the grind after a refreshing 4-day weekend...

it's monday morning (grrr) after thanksgiving and i'm sitting in my cubicle thinking about how many things i have to be greatful for. do you find it easy to just go through the motions of 'thanksgiving' with all the traveling, food and family? what happens to your gratitude after all the events die down and you're not 'forced' to think about it?

i have many things to be grateful for and most of them are simple and basic...

1. FAMILY--this seems to be the default answer for everyone when asked what they're thankful for....

we're supportive, dysfunctional and FULL of love! let's be honest, there are times when everyone else turns their back on you and all you have is family....old pic, but a good one, love you guys!

i don't remember the last time almost all of the cousins were together! we have moved, got married, graduated, moved again basically grew up and forged our own paths, but getting together never changes. it's time filled with making fun of each other, eating too much food and catching up on all we have done since we last saw each other.

2. FRIENDS--also, another default, but who are we without friends and those memories that we make with them? friends add character to our live, they help create our personalities, they enrich our lives in ways that family cannot. i have always said that i don't have one best friend that i get to see on a regular basis, but i have a lot of close friends and i am thankful for each and every one of them and the fullfillment they bring to my life.

  

3.MY HEALTH-- this may be debatable after 5 knee surgeries and a bout of shingles when i was a sophomore in college...

on a serious note, i am able to run, do yoga and workout (almost) as often as i'd like and i haven't had any serious diagnosis with my health, i will call that win!

4. my two guys....

guy 1.....

   

guy 2....
                             
seriously, these two can brighten any day. i'm happy to see them at the end of the day and bummed when i have to say goodbye.

5. my degree! after many late nights and exhausting mornings filled with school work and last minute studying, i never thought i'd reach this point with B.A. after my name, no more homework and where my opportunities are endless. my opportunities have led me into a cubicle. but i know that this degree is great head start to my career. speaking of my cubicle, it leads me to my next blessing (in disguise).....

6. my job....i know i make jokes out of being trapped in a cubicle, but there was a point when i was jobless and concerned about where my next rent check was going to come from. i may not be rolling in money, but my bills are paid and i am able to stay financially independent, which is VERY important to me. i was also able to celebrate good news regarding my job....i received FULL-TIME status at my job!!! yaay!!! this means a couple key things:. benefits (insurance, paid-time off, vacation) and more money (and salary pay may i add). although i am extremely grateful for this opportunity to happen very quickly after starting, it is a bittersweet feeling. sweet because it is what i worked for and puts me one step closer to going back to school and bitter because it means i should only get more comfortable in my cube....

like i've said before, i'm poor and i'm anxious to get a move on with my life plan, but i'm happier than what i ever thought possible and i have many things to be thankful each and every day!

what do you have to be thankful for? anything that you've neglected lately that needs a little appreciation?

appreciate everything that you have because if you don't, someone else will...

always striving for more,
dee b.