Although I thoroughly enjoy spending time playing around in the kitchen, there are certainly plenty of days when I just want to quickly make a nutritious and yummy meal -- get in the kitchen, and get out of there! This kind of instance happened a few days ago. In deciding what to whip up, I first started off with my favorite wraps: La Tortilla Factory's Smart & Delicious Tortillas. I've been buying them for awhile now, but I just noticed a "Made Local" sticker on them for the first time. Sweet! I had a bunch of fresh veggies and crumbled feta cheese on hand, so I had the idea to make Mediterranean-style wraps. This meal took 15 minutes tops to put together, and will now probably be on my list of go-to easy, healthy dinner ideas in a jiffy. I smartly cut the wraps in half after ... [Read More]
vegetarian recipes
Tofu Breakfast Tacos
Another weekend has flown by, and Monday came oh so quickly. As I've mentioned before, I telecommute for my job, and working from home has its perks: Sometimes I work in my pajamas. As a matter of fact, if I have a conference call at 8 am or earlier, it's an almost guarantee that I will not be dressed yet. I also get to work with my dog sleeping at my feet under my desk the majority of the time, which is pretty sweet. I'm lucky enough to have a pretty flexible schedule. If I need a breather or am having writer's block, I can go for a walk with my pup or take a workout break. And since my kitchen is just down the stairs from my office, I make pretty much all of my meals. I love being able to make my own food and taking a few moments to play around with recipes. Cue today's breakfast: I ... [Read More]
Keepin’ it Simple & Delicious: Arugula Goat Cheese Crostini
Hi there! My Sunday morning has definitely started off on the right foot: I awoke to a message from my best friend saying that her and another girlfriend of mine are coming to visit me next month (YAY!), decided to have a living room yoga/stretching session in my PJs while my hubby and puppy still snoozed, and then I made a nice green monster smoothie to get my veggies & fruit in. Now I'm sitting here blogging to you in quite a fabulous mood. :) This weekend has been a nice low-key one for me thus far. That should continue throughout today, as my only Sunday plans are cleaning and errands, exercising crazy Harley girl, and perhaps a mountain biking trip with Adam (I know I know, I was just talking about my foot injury in the last post - but I'm feeling out what workouts I can and ... [Read More]
Pistachio Pesto [Brown Rice] Noodle Salad
Hi there! Sunday night has come so quickly! My weekend was filled with things like running errands, hiking, cleaning and Apple tech support. My Mac was acting crazy the past couple of weeks, and since I rely on it for so much - including my full-time job, blogging, freelance writing work, plus all of the typical social media and Internet browsing nonsense - I was having a bit of a heart attack that my computer would conk out and I'd lose all of my files. I was debating whether or not to get another Mac or go with a cheaper option, but in the end, off to the Apple store I went to get a new MacBook. I'm an Apple brat now and I suppose there's no turning back. ;-) There was something very anticlimactic about getting a new computer that looked exactly like my old computer, but hopefully this ... [Read More]
Fruity Kale Salad with Pistachios
Up until recently, I was not a fan of kale. I was turned off by its bitterness and coarse texture. But once I began making green juices and getting used to them, I began to not dislike kale so much. It started to not be quite as scary to me, and I wound up ordering a couple of kale salads out at restaurants...and really enjoying them. Kale is a nutritional powerhouse. It provides you with tons of antioxidants and vitamins and is high in fiber. And while I wouldn't say that I'm in love with it, I certainly am finding ways to incorporate it into my diet more often. Enter this colorful salad: One of the things I'm trying to do when I experiment with kale is find ways to make it not quite so bitter, so that I can reap the benefits of the veggie AND actually kind of like eating it too. One ... [Read More]
Pan Fried Sesame Chinese Noodles with Veggies
Happy hump day! My morning flew by, and now I'm taking a break from work to eat some lunch (breakfast for lunch today: protein pancakes with strawberries & honey) and share this dish with you: Sometimes I like a bit of burntness or crunch to my food - not just the usual crunchy pretzels or chips, but I intentionally do things like burn my sweet potato fries a bit. So when I nabbed soft Chinese noodles at the grocery store recently, I had the idea to pan fry them instead of just cooking them as directed. After cooking the noodles, I used just enough sesame oil to fry them until lightly browned, and then combined the pasta with sauteed portobello mushroom, red bell pepper, broccoli, yellow onion, garlic and sesame seeds. It added just the right amount of crunch to these normally very ... [Read More]