what happens when you fall off the wagon? you just have to start somewhere....

  

oh boy, where do i begin? i have never been on a hiatus this long, but i swear it has been warranted and i truly have missed it. i literally do not even KNOW where to begin.....maybe, i will just rewind through my Instagram pictures and go from there....buckle up!

drew and i decided that we needed to start looking for a new place to live - we loved where we were, but we were kind of outgrowing it (no, no surprise announcements, we just buy a lot of stuff). with him back in school at Carlson, a space for him to hide away and study was important. we were also living in a duplex and we were (specifically, me) over sharing a front door and recyling with other people. when we were first discussing, i made it clear that there was no way i would buy a house right now, that is too big of a commitment and i wouldn't have money to pay for anxiety pills. fast forward a few weeks, many property searches and mortgage calculations, he had convinced me that buying would be more financial savvy than renting. being the fab people we are, we started our search with chic condos in DT St. Paul (disk scratching noise) which quickly resulted in looking for houses for several reasons such as association fees, less than 1,000 square feet and resale values. bless our realtor's heart (many times over, more to come on that), he was great about showing us properties all across the spectrum since we didn't even know what we wanted - if you have been 'lucky' enough to search for your first home, you know exactly what i mean. oh, how your mind and priorities change!

**plot twist**

just as we were heating up the search, drew tore his MCL playing in a late-night soccer league. i won't elaborate too much on this since he had already met his deductible for 2013 and injuries are nothing new around our house, but just to put your mind at ease, he has healed wonderfully (he is a freak at healing, think Hulk) and is well on the road to recovery. we are tied at 5 knee surgeries apiece and while i am competitive, i plan to stay in the yoga studio to avoid winning this one. thank the lord i had some help around the house while he was laid up....

"if you're not first, you're last"

 

 

the night before drew went into surgery and before he was really laid up, our realtor set up 4 showings, including one that we had cancelled previously. the last house for the night, past my bedtime at 9:30, we found our house! yes, it was the one that we had turned down before. what can we say? our realtor knew what he was doing! :) our house (i can call it ours now that we have moved in) was a flip house - prior to them flipping it, it was basically condemned, but they worked their magic and everything was brand new: carpet, furnace, plumbing, electrical, appliances, etc., basically a dream come true!


before (you needed a tetanus shot)

after

i don't even know where to connect the dots between putting in an offer and closing....

per usual, we counter-offered with the sellers several times before coming to an agreement. once an agreement had been reached, we found out that the house required an updated Certificate of Occupancy with the city of St. Paul before we could move in. after adjusting our offer and the contingencies, we set a closing date for January 17th. a week before closing, we received word that the city inspection had passed, the certificate had been issued and everything was in place to close on January 17th.

**plot twist**

we found out 2 days before closing that they did not show up to the inspection so an inspection had not been completed and we were so not good to close. thankfully, the city inspector was able to get out there the next day to sign everything off to ensure we could close on time.

**plot twist**

the city inspector was out there and signed everything off, but was out of the office the next 2 days and could not complete the appropriate paperwork for verification. oh yea, and the sellers didn't even show up to closing. awesome. so, this is where we were at - drew and i were leaving for Mexico in less than 2 weeks (more on that later) and needed to be out of our current place before we left. forget that drew was still healing and forget that we had that thing called work. to make a (really) long story, short, we spent the weekend sulking (and shopping) and the next week living out of the boxes we had already packed, but were able to close the following friday. we are now homeowners! and honestly, it was worth every sleepless night and headache - we absolutely love it! another amazing thing? as stressed and as tired as we were, we didn't argue once! we were in it together from the beginning and we just hunkered down (with a bottle of wine) and pushed through. maybe buying a house is for married people, but as i have mentioned before, drew and i tend to go by our own rules. plus, my kitchen is ALMOST as good as a ring :)


we were exhausted, but excited. the cats were just confused.

oh, the holidays? yea, we basically skipped those this year - like every year, we went our separate ways to continue family traditions (and we both had a blast, but can't wait to actually spend a holiday together).  mexico?! well, we literally just got back from mexico and i think that deserves  it's own post since MY BROTHER GOT MARRIED!!! did i forget to mention drew's birthday?! in the midst of the madness, drew turned 28 and he definitely feels older (must have been that 5th knee surgery). we spent the night out going to dinner at The Smack Shack (highly recommend it) followed by Acme Comedy club (even higher recommended). good food and lots of laughs, exactly what we needed! OH! i knew i was forgetting something - OUR ANNIVERSARY! with drew's surgery, the holidays, drew's birthday, going to mexico, buying a house and our anniversary, we had to pick and choose a few celebrations. we didn't plan anything for our anniversary this year (OMG, i didn't even do a Instagram collage) because we were supposed spend our anniversary with a magical weekend moving into our first home. well, as you now know, that fell through and whoever thought that moving was magical? moving sucks! anyway, we pushed back our celebration with the closing and after a day of moving, we exchanged cards, drank a glass of wine and rock, paper, scissored who was going to hang old curtains over our windows (we didn't get blinds hung as quickly as we expected) before collapsing into bed. before passing out, we promised our next anniversary would be more glamorous. again, we go by our own rules.  

i promise once i get caught up, i will return to the purpose of my blog - recipes and fitness (and cats)!

always striving for more,
dee b.

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.

.: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.

1/3

i am 1/3 way through .:get balanced:.,  ONE THIRD.....not that i am counting...

there have been a few challenges along the way - for instance, i can't mindlessly eat - i ate a handful of pistachios before i panicked and checked the ingredients (thank God, they are gluten-free). drew and i met some friends in Uptown the other night for drinks - he ordered a burger and french fries, i got a water and i had to mindfully NOT pick at his french fries. it wasn't that hard, but it was something that i had to be mindful of. also, CRAVINGS - sugar cravings, carb cravings, the things i would do for a frozen pizza or a beer right now. i am sure my .:get balanced:. senseis are cringing at this, but i have yet to cheat! i have learned a lot of new coping skills with these cravings and they have worked! i have dreams about cheating and then wake up in a cold sweat (kidding.....kinda).

seriously, things are going really well and i am thoroughly enjoying all of the new recipes and trying new stuff! AND, i have honestly broke my addiction to coffee. i literally RELIED on a French Press or an Americano every morning - high octane stuff and if i didn't, then i was left in a fog with an insane headache.

i posted a picture of our dinner last night on Facebook and Instagram and a few people asked for the recipe, so here we go!

.:grain bowls:.
the idea of grain bowls was in the guidelines of .:get balanced:. so this is where my colorful wok started!

1:. pick a grain - you can use brown rice, but this is a great opportunity to get creative. finally try quinoa, lentils or millet. any of these will work really well as a base.

2:. vegetables - don't overanalyze this part - what do you have in your pantry or fridge that needs to get used up. get out of the box and throw vegetables in that you typically wouldn't put together

3:. want to up the protein? use quinoa or lentils as a base or add some chickpeas and beans. if you are a meat eater, throw in some meat or poultry.

throw it all together! do yourself a favor and buy a massive wok for things like this! i bought mine at IKEA for $30 and it has a lid - i seriously use it 5x a week, well worth it!

worried about it being bland? play around with spices! they are SO many types of herbs and spices out there, you just might be surprised by what you end up liking!

i have mentioned before that steamed veggies, quinoa/rice are staple side dishes for drew and i, but thanks to .:get balanced:. i switched a few things up and ended up with an even more robust and healthy side dish that we both like!

here is my example of a grain bowl from last night:.

FIRST - if i am making any type of stir fry, steaming veggies, etc., i ALWAYS heat up my wok with a few TBS of coconut oil and freshly minced garlic (typically a couple cloves). it seriously smells so good! it also creates a nice, flavorful "environment" for whatever your a cooking!

base:. organic Basmatic brown rice and lentils - these were leftover from big batches that i made earlier in the week, but both are super easy to cook. the grain base needs to be cooked before you throw it in the wok. refer to this post - it mainly focuses on cooking quinoa, but i hav realized that brown rice, quinoa and lentils basically cook the same way!

vegetables:. purple cabbage, brussels sprouts (both whole and shredded), carrots, green pepper, sweet potato, kale and black beans (i know it's not vegetable). some of these were cut fresh, some were leftovers from the grain bowl that i brought for lunch. did i mention that you can just about throw anything into a wok and it works???

seasoning:.i have become obsessed with cajun seasoning and i HATE spicy stuff, but it a nice change-up from the regular sea salt and pepper
sauce:. tahini sauce - i have also become obsessed with this as well thanks to .:get balanced:.

recipe for tahini sauce courtesy of .:get balanced:.>> 2 Tbs tahini
>> 1 Tbs lemon juice
>> 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
>> 1-2 tsp raw honey (depending on sweetness)
>> 3 Tbs water
Hefty pinch of sea salt and pepper
>> 1 clove of garlice, minced
>> 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
>> 1 Tbs finely chopped chives (i skipped these, not a fan of chives)

whisk together tahini, lemon juice, vingar, honey and water. mix in garlic, salt, pepper and drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. add more water if you would like it to be thinner. mix in the chives last. store in the fridge in a jar.

i instantly doubled this recipe because i had a feeling that i would really like it! i have used it mainly in my grain bowls, but it could be use with almost anything - on top of burgers, steaks, porkchops, in sandwiches or wraps!

back to the grain bowl/stir-fry - again, don't overanalyze it! get creative - you can almost put anything in there and it will work:. flax seeds, peas, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, jicama, the possibilities are literally
endless!

enjoy!

always striving for more,
dee b.

p.s. there is still time to join us for .:get balanced:. seriously, with this MN weather, who doesn't need a little help with their energy?! anyone around the WORLD can join by either visiting this website:. https://coursebeyond.com/course/8/30/ or emailing hello@prescribe-nutrition.com.

.:quinoa - friend or foe?:.

whether you're trying to pronounce it or cook it, quinoa can be intidating, right?

if you're anything like me, you dream of being a connoisseur of quinoa because of all the awesome recipes you see on Pinterest, plus you heard somewhere that it's healthy for you, right? one issue, you just don't know how to get it from the crazy bulk grain container at the grocery store to your stove (do you put it on the stove? who knows!)

well, let me break it down for you - quinoa is great for you :: give yourself 3 tries cooking it and you will be a pro, i promise!!!

buying quinoa:. it is cheaper to buy quinoa out of the bulk section in the grocery store, but you can also buy it in a fancy plastic zip bag found in either the pasta or baking items aisle.

preparing quinoa:. since i buy quinoa out of the bulk dispenser, i soak it for about 15 minutes in lukewarm water before cooking. this can help take off the bitter coating called saponin (i am also a slight germaphobe, so it makes me feel better). don't have 15 minutes??? soak it for 5 minutes or simply give it a quick rinse through a mesh strainer (hand mesh strainer, approx $3 at Target) or just skip this all together. you will be ok, deep breath.

cooking quinoa:. i swear, the first 5 times i cooked quinoa i 'Googled' how to do it JUST to make sure i was OK. the ratio i like to use is 1 cup quinoa, 1 1/2 cups of cold water and a dash of salt - you may want to play around with this ratio depending on how 'soft' or 'firm' you decide you like your quinoa (relax, Goldilocks).

anyway, put the quinoa, water and salt in a pot, cover it and let it come to boil. turn the heat down to low-medium (there should still be a slow boil) and let it work it's magic for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa absorbed most of the water - occasionally, you can fluff with a fork.

voila! that's it - not that hard, right? like i said, you can play around with the quinoa::water ratio depending on your preference. i made quinoa for the 6th time last night and i didn't even double check Google.

is it really healthy for you?!

think of it as a superhero version of brown rice. quinoa has all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein. along with it being a complete protein, quinoa is gluten free, has more protein (8 g) and fiber (5 g) AND less carbs than brown rice - need i say more???

brown rice and quinoa can be used interchangeably - play around with it as a plain side dish, in a casserole or soup, pilaf or stir fry!

i have a few recipes that i will share shortly - enjoy!


always striving for more,
dee b.



alright friends, here it is, the substantial post i promised! buckle up for a couple recipes and a secret hint into burning a lot of calories in a small amount of time....

recipes!

i have effortlessly mastered another crockpot recipe (please hold the applaus til the end). ok, not the greatest pic, i'll admit it was taken by a co-worker at lunch while we were sharing the leftovers, but seriously this stuff is good and healthy!

.:ro-tel shredded chicken:.
>chicken breasts--i have a small crock-pot, so i only used 3
>1 can corn--drained
>1 can black beans--drained and rinsed!
>1 can ro-tel tomatoes--drained--i used 2 cans and the flavored kind with cilantro and lime juice (i know there is one that has chiles, not my style)
>8 oz of cream cheese--can used reduced fat if looking to be even healthier!


place chicken breasts into bottom of crock pot (go ahead, leave them frozen). after draining the other ingredients, drop them on top of the chicken breast along with the cream cheese. leave in crockpot for 6-8 hours on low, stirring every couple hours if you can (shout out to my roommate for helping me out on this!). at the end, chicken should easily shread making it perfect for tacos, on top of rice or in a fiesta salad! if it looks a little 'soupy', turn off the crockpot for 30-45 mins, this should help take care of that.

now onto bigger and better things...dessert!

i decided to try this dessert because i was having dinner with one of my closest friends and oldest/bestest roommate and through the years, we have manifested a love for smores! although bonfire season is over, this recipe gets you close to an authentic s'more and curbs your craving.

.:s'more cookie bars:.
>1/2 cup butter, room temperature
>1/4 cup brown sugar
>1/2 cup sugar
>1 large egg
>1 tsp vanilla extract
>1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
>3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
>1 tsp baking powder
>1/4 tsp salt
>2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. hershey’s)
>1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)


preheat oven to 350°F. grease an 8-inch square baking pan.


in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. beat in egg and vanilla. in a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. place chocolate bars over dough. i found that the 2 hershey bars fit perfectly, but feel free to break them to make them fit. spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.
place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. if you clump the dough together in your hands, flatten it and place it in pieces on top, it's efficient and creates more of the 'crumbled' effect. bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. cool completely before cutting into bars.

yum, yum, yum! i promise it's super easy (if i can whip it together in 20 mins, i promise you can) and a total indulge!

i held back from indulging too much because i had a mission to work out before the gym closed. every other time, i could easily talk myself out of something else that i 'needed' to do. well, i need to do better with a lot of things beginning with working out. after spending an hour cleaning up my room, letting my food settle, i headed to the gym with 40 mins to workout before it closed and with no game plan in mind.

by habit, i started out on the treadmill and that did not go well which was expected after those s'more bars. i lasted 20 mins on the treadmill, decided to skip the weights, and see how many calories i could burn in the short amount using a jumprope and 1 plate weight. insert hint to burning LOTS of calories, JUMP ROPE! how simple and inexpensive. does anyone else feel that the jump rope is a highly underrated piece of equipment?

 i quickly threw together a circuit of exercises:. 30 seconds jump roping, 10 push-ups, 1 minute of abs (plank) and walking lunge with twist (using plate weight). after two rounds i was hoping the gym closing was going to my excuse to 'have' to go home. well, it had been 4 minutes. 4 minutes! i'm either out of shape or have just discovered a workout to kick my own butt...it's still up for debate. i decided to suck it up and went through 2 more rounds before going home, but i am excited to continue to use my jump rope regularly and see what happens!

with sore knees and a feeling of content, i am off to enjoy the rest of my evening!

always striving for more,
dee b.