Tasty Tuesday – Foodie’s Guide to Snacking

Hey, happy Tuesday! Tasty Tuesday! 🙂

Are you a snacker?

I am a “snacker”. Oh, I am such a “snacker”.

I am one of those people who needs to eat every couple hours. WHAT to eat is a big question here as you want to keep your body fueled, not overwhelmed by what you put in your month in between the meals.

I have been on the hunt for perfect snacks and sharing my finds with you today.

{ONE} Homemade Peanut Butter and Banana.

First of all, you can easily use store bought PB if you don’t feel like making your own. If you do feel like making your own, check out this recipe here that I used. I should have processed mine a little longer though – it is a little crumbly.

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{TWO} Smoothie

There is nothing like a good smoothie to keep me going until my next meal!

Usually I put all the ingredients for my morning smoothie in the blender cup the night before and put it in the fridge. Whirl it up in the morning after breakfast and take to work with me. This way I don’t reach for that candy in the break room at work but drink my delicious smoothie that keeps me going until lunch.

The flavor possibilities are endless and you are your own chef!

Smoothies

My “must include” ingredients are frozen fruit and cottage cheese/yogurt – they create the thick and creamy consistency that I like.

{THREE} Homemade Hummus

Love it! Try making it using this recipe and you will never buy hummus again! Have it with veggies or tortilla rounds.

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{FOUR} Fruit

Perfect snack! Sweet, juicy and good for you. Prep some the night before or on the weekend (rinse, peel, cut, pack in zip lock bags) and take to work.

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{FIVE} Nuts

If you love nuts as much as I do, it is probably very difficult for you to avoid buying and eating nut bars. Am I right?

Choose raw nuts over nut bars and spare yourself that extra added sugar. Don’t buy the “super-protein-and-fiber-packed” promises on the labels. Just eat raw nuts instead.

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{SIX} Homemade Granola

Is a super-snack! Make a batch on the weekend, pre-pack in zip lock bags or small plastic containers and enjoy during the week.

Here’s a recipe for you to play with – add/substitute the ingredients depending on what you like and keep it healthy!

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Add fruit and/or cottage cheese/yogurt to it and you got a perfect snack or breakfast!

{SEVEN} Baked Oatmeal

This is not only a GREAT breakfast, but also an awesome snack – one of my all-time favorites. Make a whole batch on the weekend and you have a ready snack/breakfast for the whole week.

One of the base recipes is right here for you – play with it as you like.

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Enjoy with yogurt, fruit and/or cottage cheese on top.

There you have it – 7 snack ideas for 7 days of the week.

To sum it up, here are some general guidelines when it comes to snacking:

  • Prep-prep-prep. Don’t be lazy to do your meal/snack prep on the weekend – you’ll be happy you did. Rinse and pack fruit and veggies, make a batch of baked oatmeal, granola or hummus and pre-pack for the weekdays. Cut up and freeze bananas and other fruit for your smoothies. Put all the ingredients in the blender cup the night before for your morning smoothie. You will thank yourself later.
  • Always carry a healthy snack in your purse. Never leave the house without one. What happens is – you are out and about – > you get hungry – > Les Big Mac. Don’t let it happen and have a healthy snack with you.
  • Make smart choices (choose raw nuts over sugar packed nut bars).
  • Before you buy, ask yourself – can I make it myself? If you can – make it!
  • Let fruit and veggies always be your number one choice when it comes to snacking.

Share: link up your favorite snack recipes below or share in comments: what is your favorite snack?

Stay fit!

Lena

Recipe: Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey guys! Happy Saturday!

I hope you’re having a wonderful day. While I am at a very exciting event right now, which I will tell you about in the beginning of next week, I have scheduled this post to share a great recipe I have recently discovered.

I was looking for a recipe for oatmeal cookies last week and found this one in my recipe keeper. I honestly don’t know where it came from, but with a few changes to the original recipe, it turned out great and not so damaging 🙂

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

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INGREDIENTS:
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cup old fashioned oats
  • 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 oz dried cranberries
  • 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 375º F
  2. Beat butter, sugar and banana together until light and fluffy
  3. Add eggs, mixing well
  4. Combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl
  5. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition
  6. Stir in dried cranberries and chocolate chips
  7. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets
  8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
  9. Cool on wire rack

Makes 18 cookies @ 173 calories per cookie.

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Have a wonderful weekend, guys! Stay fit and warm.

Lena

Tasty Tuesday – Homemade Hummus Recipe

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday from the snow covered PA!

My back yard yesterday

My back yard yesterday

you can see on the patio table how much snow we got

you can see on the patio table how much snow we got

and on my garage light...

and on my garage light…

and the trees still look like they came out of a fairy tale

and the trees still look like they came out of a fairy tale

So this past weekend, in preparation for the Big Game, I was thinking about the snack menu and decided to go with tortia rounds and homemade hummus.I then embarked on a long and complicated journey of finding a perfect recipe for it as I had already had a few unsuccessful attempts in making hummus at home.

I found this recipe here and decided I will share it on my blog with you guys and so I could go back to it myself when I need to.

The link above has great pictures of the process and a lot of details on “how to” and why not any other way, so I am just going to do the facts here 🙂

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Ingredients

  • One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • Half of a large garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water
  • Dash of ground paprika for serving

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1.5 minute.
  2. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin and the salt to whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1 minute.
  3. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor then process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, add remaining chickpeas and process for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and smooth.
  4. If the hummus is too thick or still has tiny bits of chickpea, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until the consistency is perfect.
  5. To Serve: scrape the hummus into a bowl then drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with paprika.
https://leanlena.com/tasty-tuesday-homemade-hummus-recipe/

I hope you’re enjoying your week so far and staying warm!

Lena

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Just checking in today with a quick recipe that has been my “go to” breakfast lately. These cottage cheese pancakes are super delicious and come together in 15 minutes! Mix the ingredients the night before, make pancakes in the morning in 5 minutes and be happy. 🙂

You can also add some protein powder to this recipe for extra protein boost to your breakfast.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Serving Size: 2 pancakes

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 2-3 tbsp. cottage cheese (I used 1% fat)
  • 2 tbsp. whole grain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients until well combined. The mix may be lumpy because of the cottage cheese.
  2. Make pancakes.
  3. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/cottage-cheese-pancakes/

Five on Friday

Hey guys! Happy Friday!!!

Here I am again with five things that I am loving lately.

{{ONE}} Conscious box

Oh. My. God. I saw the ads pop up a lot on the internet, and finally decided to try it. The idea behind it is – you subscribe for certain number of months (can be as little as one), and every month you get a box of goodies – all healthy and organic stuff. When I ordered mine, they had a promotion running where you had to pay shipping only and get the first box for free.

Check out some things I got in my box:

Mighty Leaf Tea

Mighty Leaf Tea

Beauty Bursts!

Beauty Bursts!

Wholesome sweeteners

Wholesome sweeteners

and lots of other wonderful things that made me a one happy camper!

and lots of other wonderful things that made me a one happy camper!

Would you like to get a conscious box? Then you need to head over here.

{{TWO}} Lemon Bars

So last weekend I was browsing through Facebook and stumbled upon a great recipe for Lemon Bars.

I have never made those before, I don’t think I ever had one either, but they looked so good and easy to make that I decided to go for it and make a batch.

Aren't the gorgeous?

Aren’t the gorgeous?

You can find the recipe for these wonderful things on Lauren Kelly’s blog.

{{THREE}} Oranges Infused Water

Well, you guys already know from my previous Five on Friday post that I have been addicted to oranges lately. It got worse – now I infuse water with oranges 🙂

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{{FOUR}} “Women, Food and God” by Geneen Roth

What a wonderful book!

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Buy Women Food and God on Amazon

Initially, I heard about this book from the list of recommended reading for the “Yoga Fit Yoga Lean” certification course with Beth Shaw.

What a wonderful reading it has been! Very refreshing and useful book to read for those who what to look deeper into their relationships with food 🙂

{{FIVE}} My New Food Scale

Long time ago I got myself a food scale. Loved it! So easy when you need to control your portion size or keep track of the recipe ingredients.

Time went by and one day my kitty dumped a pot of dirt onto the scale (didn’t you see it coming?) 🙂 Well, I was “smart” enough to wash it off with water. My scale stopped working…

So I was on the market for a new one. It amazes me how ridiculously expensive these things are! So I went searching on Amazon for two reasons – the prices for these at the store just did not seem reasonable, and reason #2 -me being a lazy busy person. Here’s what I found.

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And that concludes my Five on Friday! Have a wonderful weekend, guys, and…

Your turn! Tell me about your Five on Friday!

 

Recipe: Coconut Milk, Kale and Steelhead Trout Soup

Hi guys! Happy Saturday morning to you!

What are you up to today? What’s cooking in your kitchen?

Are you planning anything special for Saturday dinner? I got a very easy to make and super delicious dinner idea for you today.

Last week I was cooking something with coconut milk. You know how it goes with coconut milk, right? You never really use the whole can and whatever is left over ends up in the trash couple weeks later. A few days ago I was facing the same problem so I got online to look for some recipes that would help me use up the leftover coconut milk that was calling my name out of the fridge.

That was when I stumbled upon this great recipe from the Healthy Green Kitchen. I have played around and changed it up a little bit to my liking and based on what ingredients I had in my fridge (like steelhead trout instead of salmon). Oh, and next time you need an idea of what to cook for dinner – you head right over to the Healthy Green Kitchen! It is exactly what it is called – healthy and green! Winnie has a ton of great recipes on her blog that I will definitely be trying out. Thank you for this recipe, Winnie! I hope you don’t mind my modifications 🙂

Coconut Milk, Kale and Steelhead Trout Soup

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Calories per serving: 201

5.2

Coconut Milk, Kale and Steelhead Trout Soup

Ingredients

  • 4 cups homemade chicken stock (I used the stock I had from making a whole chicken in my crockpot the night before)
  • 1 1/2 cups whole coconut milk
  • 1 steelhead trout fillet, approximately 6-8 oz., cut into cubes
  • 1 (tightly packed) cup of chopped kale, stems removed
  • 1 cup cubed acorn squash (peeled)
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (plus a few leaves for garnish)
  • 2 tsp brown sugar, coconut sugar, or palm sugar
  • Freshly squeezed lime juice, for serving (to taste, I used 1/4 lime per serving)

Instructions

  1. Place all the ingredients (except fish) into a medium pot.
  2. Bring to boil and simmer until the squash is cooked through.
  3. Add fish and simmer for another 5-7 minutes or until fish is cooked.
  4. Another option here is to pre-cook the squash, since of all the ingredients it takes the longest to cook through. If you do that, you can add all the ingredients to the pot at the same time as it won't take as long for the squash to cook.
  5. Ladle soup into bowls.
  6. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime on the side.
  7. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/recipe-coconut-milk-kale-and-steelhead-trout-soup/

Food Highlights: Crockpot the Saviour, Salad-a-Day and more

Hey guys! Happy Hump Day!

It’s downhill from now on – Friday is almost here, so hang in there!

How about I tell you of my food highlights of the past couple week as part of my “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” blog series?

Here’s the deliciousness I’ve had!

Breakfast

I am still a big fan of oatmeal with my 1000 ideas of what to top it with. Remember my post about 15 ways to eat your oats? Well, I keep adding on to those ways pretty much every morning 🙂

Oatmeal with marshmallows, raisins and cinnamon chips

Oatmeal with marshmallows, raisins and cinnamon chips

Been a huge fan of oatmeal + marshmallows combination!

I also enjoyed some savory breakfasts with added protein and fats.

Hardboiled eggs, capers, wheat berries and a cheese cookie

Hardboiled eggs, ranch, capers, wheat berries and a cheese cookie

Egg sandwich with black forest ham and cheese on an English muffin

Egg sandwich with black forest ham and cheese on an English muffin

Lunches

I have committed to eating one salad a day! It is not a streak, or a challenge or any other group activity of any sorts – just my personal commitment 🙂 So I have been pretty much eating salads for lunch in the past couple weeks (with a few exceptions where leftovers from dinner were just too tempting).

Baby spinach, sweet potato, organic chicken breast meat, black beans, leeks, hardboiled eggs, quinoa

Baby spinach, sweet potato, organic chicken breast meat, black beans, leeks, hardboiled eggs, quinoa

Baby spinach, quinoa, sweet potato, avocado, hardboiled eggs

Baby spinach, quinoa, sweet potato, avocado, hardboiled eggs

Baby spinach, canned beets, feta, sliced almonds

Baby spinach, canned beets, feta, sliced almonds

Dinners

It’s been a very busy few weeks – both for me and Mr. H. – at home, at work, in life in general. Trying to eat healthy with a busy schedule can be quite difficult and with the general stress of this kind of schedule the failure to eat healthy is even more upsetting and discouraging.

That is exactly the moment where my crockpot comes into play making healthy and nutritious food while I am at work 🙂

My all-time favorite - crock pot split pea soup with smoked ham

My all-time favorite – crock pot split pea soup with smoked ham

Crockpot chicken with stir-fried veggies

Crockpot chicken with stir-fried veggies

If we have more time in the evening, we might throw something on the grill:

Like these pork chops with kale and quinoa salad on the side

Like these pork chops with kale and quinoa salad on the side

And…then, of course there are times where my best intentions collide with my husband’s appetite 🙂 Like last Friday, I made a wonderfully healthy pizza with whole grain crust, mushrooms, olives, meat and leaks…

Looks great, right?

Looks great, right?

and then Mister Husband made me dump half a bag of mozzarella on top of this goodness and we ended up eating this:

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Oh well, life happens 🙂 I just love my husband and mozzarella too much 🙂

That pretty much sums it up, guys!

What was the best food you ate lately?

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Hi guys! Tasty Tuesday here!

So, you have definitely noticed by now that I am a big fan of oatmeal 🙂 I love it and can think of 15 ways to eat my oats!

But I also keep coming up with new ways for you and me to enjoy oatmeal!

Last weekend I got inspired by the season and came up with a recipe of Apple-Eggnog baked oatmeal. It turned out so well my husband said it was the best yet! Give it a try while we still have fresh apples and eggnog on the store shelves at the same time.

For this recipe I didn’t use fresh apples, though – just because I still had leftover dehydrated apples that Noah sent me as part of the Foodie Penpals box exchange.

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 9 servings

Serving Size: 1 serving

Calories per serving: 189

4 g

Apple-Eggnog Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 3 cups dry oats (I used Giant old fashioned oats)
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 1 very ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cup dehydrated or fresh apples, cubed

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Mix dry ingredients until well combined.
  3. Combine liquid ingredients in a separate bowl.
  4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry.
  5. Mix well.
  6. Spray a pan with a non-stick spray.
  7. Pour the mix into the pan.
  8. Bake for 45-60 minutes.
  9. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/apple-eggnog-baked-oatmeal/

Have a great rest of your week, guys and eat healthy!

 

Peanut Butter-Banana Energy Bites

Hey, guys! Happy Saturday!

I am a snacking person, and snacks are a very important part of my daily meal plan. The only problem is – if I don’t watch it, my snacking gets out of control and I just eat all the unhealthy crap I can get my hands onto! To avoid this, I do a few things:

– I plan my snacks for the day.

– I ALWAYS have a snack with me when I leave the house.

– I make sure I have healthy snacks.

I wanted to share one of my go-to recipes for a healthy snack with you today. These guys come together in under half an hour and are very delicious!

Peanut Butter-Banana Energy Bites

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 14 bites

Serving Size: 1 bite

Peanut Butter-Banana Energy Bites

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup of creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tbs honey
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 cup oats (quick or old-fashioned)
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Cocoa powder for rolling

Instructions

  1. Melt peanut butter and honey in a microwave. It melts very quickly, so make sure you keep an eye on it.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
  3. Add peanut butter and honey mix to the dry mix.
  4. Add mashed banana.
  5. Combine well.
  6. Roll into balls and roll them in cocoa powder.
  7. Refrigerate for minimum of 2 hours before eating.
https://leanlena.com/peanut-butter-banana-energy-bites/

 

Rice and Kale Frittata

Hey guys! Me again.

I hope you weekend is going great!

Just remembered that I promised you a recipe for my Rice and Kale Frittata and never posted it! Guilty…

So here you go! This is an excellent breakfast (make the night before, refrigerate, microwave in the morning, eat) or lunch!

You can bake it in the oven if you have some extra time, or fry it in a covered pan.

Rice and Kale Frittata

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Rice and Kale Frittata

Ingredients

  • 1 cup jasmine rice, cooked
  • 1 cup kale leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
  • 3 eggs
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook rice according to package instruction and let it cool down.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 F
  3. Chop the kale
  4. Mix rice, kale, almond milk and eggs
  5. Spray a small dish with cooking spray
  6. Pour the mix into the dish and bake for 30 minutes or until baked through.
  7. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/rice-and-kale-frittata/

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay fit!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Muffins Recipe

Hey, guys! How is your week going?

Mine is hectic and busy, but I live in the hope for Friday, which is right around the corner!

Anyway, just wanted to share a great recipe with you today.

I have found the original recipe over at My Whole Food Life and modified it a little. If you like simple healthy recipes, be sure to check out this blog. Melissa has a ton o those for you!

Now let’s take a look at how to make these super delicious and easy pumpkin muffin!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Muffins

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 9 muffins

Serving Size: 1 muffin

Calories per serving: 125

4.1

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 cups quick oats
  • 1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or raw honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 2 T apple sauce
  • 4 T almond milk
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
  3. Mix wet in another.
  4. Add wet to dry and mix until wel combined.
  5. Spoon batter into lined muffin pan.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes.
  7. Take out of the oven and let cool on a rack.
  8. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/pumpkin-pie-oatmeal-muffins-recipe/

Stay fit, friends!

 

 

Tasty Tuesday – 15 Ways to Eat Your Oats

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Did you have something yummy for breakfast today? I had oatmeal 🙂

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I LOVE oatmeal! I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then through some in as a snack, too 🙂

Anyway, I post a lot of pictures of oatmeal in my “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” posts, but I never really share the recipes for my “oatmeal adventures”. A lot of times you can see in the pictures what goes into my oatmeal, but I thought I’d share a more detailed post with you entirely dedicated to my oatmeal obsession 🙂

So, here are my 15 ways to eat my oats!

Bake it!

Baked Oatmeal

This is my all time favorite. Usually every Sunday I make a whole new batch of baked oatmeal, then heat it up in the morning and have it for breakfast with some fruit and yogurt.

Baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries and yogurt

Baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, sliced almonds and yogurt

I also eat it as a snack in the afternoon with some coconut butter on it.

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The beauty of the baked oatmeal recipe is in the fact that you can add whatever you want to it! Swap the dried cranberries for dried apricots, add chocolate chips, nuts or whatever your heart desires.

Check out the recipe here.

Hot Oatmeal with Toppings

cherries, cinnamon and chocolate chips

cherries, cinnamon and chocolate chips

Cinnamon, chocolate chips and pumpkin seeds

Cinnamon, chocolate chips and pumpkin seeds

Banana, blueberries and cinnamon

Banana, blueberries and cinnamon

banana, cinnamon and apple-quinoa crunch

banana, cinnamon and apple-quinoa crunch

pomegranate, chocolate chips and cinnamon

pomegranate, chocolate chips and cinnamon

strawberries, chia seeds and cinnamon

strawberries, chia seeds and cinnamon

chocolate chips, cinnamon and chocolate chips

apple chips, cinnamon and chocolate chips

Overnight Oats

If you know you’re going to have a super busy week when every minute of sleep counts, this is a great way to save time on making breakfast and still eat right and healthy.

On the weekend before a week like that I make my overnight oats for the whole week. Just combine oats and milk (I use almond milk) put into jars and refrigerate. I like adding 1 tsp of chia seed per jar into mine.

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During the week – just heat it up or eat cold – however you like it.

strawberries, chocolate chips, sliced almonds

strawberries, chocolate chips, sliced almonds

dried cranberries, bananas and sliced almonds

dried cranberries, bananas and sliced almonds

Make Granola!

One of the ways to eat your oats is make granola! That is such a great snack or part of your breakfast, too. Here’s the recipe for the homemade granola I use.

mix it with fresh fruit

mix it with fresh fruit

 

add some Greek yogurt

add some Greek yogurt

have it on top of some cottage cheese

have it on top of some cottage cheese

have it on top of chia seed pudding

have it on top of chia seed pudding

And those are my ways of eating oats, friends!

What is your favorite way to eat oats?

Weekend Fun and Split Peas and Kale Soup Recipe

Happy Monday, guys!

I hope you had a great weekend and are ready for the new week.

We had a fun and relaxing weekend. I finally caught up on my sleep – 12 hrs on Saturday, totally blowing the Saturday workout this time, but that was what my body needed me to do, so I listened to it.

Friday night was celebrated in our family by going to the recently opened Sweet Frog!

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Love that place! It is a self-serve so it is easier to control your portion size (or not control it), they have TONS of toppings to choose from, and the place is just so bright and cheerful!

We got some serious goodness there!

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After that we stopped at the Spirit Halloween to look for Carmen’s costume and had some fun with hats 🙂

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and masks…

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After another trip to a similar store, C’s costume was complete! (that was pretty easy).

On an unrelated subject:

I feel like switching things around a little here on the blog. So. No Motivation Monday today 🙂

Since the soup season is in “full force”, this time let’s make some Split Peas and Kale Soup in a crock pot!

This is one of my most favorite soups of all times! I made it on Sunday and just love having all those leftovers for lunches during the week.

You don’t have to make it in a crock pot – if you make it on the stove top, just boil the meat a little first to get some nice stock, then add other ingredients and boil until all the vegies are cooked through. I would add potatoes first since they take the longest to cook through.

Split Pea and Kale Soup

Split Pea and Kale Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 cup split peas
  • 9 cups water (divided 2+7)
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 1/2 purple onion, chopped
  • 1 cup kale, chopped
  • 2 medium potatoes, cubed
  • Green onions, chopped
  • 1 smoked turkey drumstick (or any other smoked meat), deboned, cubed
  • Fresh parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Before you start, add peas and 2 cups of water to the crock pot so they soak a little.
  2. Take the skin off the turkey drumstick and cut up in 1in cubes
  3. Add turkey and chopped onions to the crock pot
  4. Finely chop the kale and add to the pot
  5. Chop and add green onions, carrots and potatoes
  6. Chop fresh parsley and add to the pot
  7. Add the remaining water and spices to the pot and mix well
  8. Cook on HIGH for a couple hours, then switch to LOW and cook for another 5-6 hours.
  9. Enjoy!
https://leanlena.com/weekend-fun-and-split-peas-and-kale-soup-recipe/

 

 

 

Five on Friday

Hello, my friends! How have you been this week?

Hope you’re doing well on this beautiful day!

Today I am sharing the things I’m loving lately/great things happening in my life/exciting news – Five on Friday.

Ready?

{{ONE}} Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary and Trip to NYC!

I will post the trip recap some time this week. This One of Five is about this awesome guy I met years ago and married 2 years ago – best “YES” I ever said!

wedding

He is my best friend, my one and only and I am SO lucky to have such a wonderful man by my side!

{{TWO}} Mantra Bands!

Aren’t they awesome?

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My Mantra Band

I found these online and I was obsessed ever since. Head over to the Mantra Band and order your own to help you stay motivated on your fitness or any other journey!

Sept 30 spinning

See how it motivated me? 🙂

{{THREE}} My latest kitchen gadget – crock pot!

My new crock pot

My new crock pot

Now this is a blessing for a family of 4 where both mom and dad work full time. I’m sure you know, but I just love saying it – throw the ingredients in, turn on, leave for work, come back to a delicious hot meal – that is what a crock pot is and I can’t believe it took me so long to get one.

Look at these wonderful things you can make in a crock pot:

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Home made crock pot chili

Home made crock pot chili

if you add too much water to it like I did - you get soup instead of the stew, which is not too bad either

if you add too much water to it like I did – you get soup instead of the stew, which is not too bad either

{{FOUR}} My upcoming trip to Russia in November!!!

Super excited about it! I haven’t seen my family and friends for 2 long years!!!!

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Got tickets in my pocket – leaving on November 27 and coming back on December 11. 2 weeks with my dearest ones! CAN’T WAIT!

{{FIVE}} Overnight Oats

Gotta love those! Easy and quick breakfast for week days. Just combine oats, almond milk and chia/flax seeds in a jar and refrigerate!

Take out of the fridge in the morning, heat up, add fruit, nuts, etc.. and your healthy breakfast is ready!

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Your turn!

 

Junk Food: 2, Lena: 1

Hey guys!

I finally got to my blog – second time in this busy week, which sucked for the most part 🙂

Let’s see….It’s Friday (YAY!), I am back to PT for an uncertain period of time (boooo), and heading to NYC this weekend to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary!!!

The past week healthy eating was challenged by:

lunch out with my husband on Monday

lunch out with my husband on Monday

 

Birthday celebration cupcakes at work

Birthday celebration cupcakes at work

Photo source – Catherine’s Cupcakery

movie night at home with my family

movie night at home with my family

Junk/Processed/Not-so-good-for-you food – 2, Lena – 1.

There were some good/not-so-bad food choices and decisions this week, as well.

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast last Thursday

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast last Thursday

 

Home made crock pot chili

Home made crock pot chili

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Mashed potatoes and chili on top

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Whole grain orzo salad

Whole grain orzo salad

All in all, it wasn’t the best week food-wise.

On top of that, I pulled my left calf on Wednesday night,  went to my scheduled physical therapy session on Thursday and was immediately treated for the new disaster. And that’s right when I was going to start making my way out of PT some time after next week. No such luck. The pulled calf hurt like hell last night, but seems to be a little better today.

What I am most upset about is the rest days I have to take that I was not planning on. This injury once again messes up my entire exercise routine and I can’t ignore it because it hurts to move.

Erm…remind me – isn’t exercise supposed to make you fell better? 🙂

Anywho, before my fitness life was interrupted by the pulled muscle, I managed to fit some fine exercise in last week:

12 ml ride in Monday's spin class

12 ml ride in Monday’s spin class

Weights and strength training with Jim on Wednesday

Weights and strength training with Jim on Wednesday

 

Yoga class with Jim on Wednesday

Yoga class with Jim on Wednesday

Blogging news:

Did you guys noticed the new banner? What do you think?

Also, the former “Healthy Recipe” page of the blog is now called “Recipes” (the sole reason for the name change is that what’s healthy for me can be unhealthy for somebody else, so let’s go with the neutral name) and is powered by ReciPage!

I am still in the process of transferring the recipes from one to the other, but very happy with the way the new page looks! I think it is a lot easier to brows recipes now. You can also search by key ingredients, cooking methods and alphabetically.

I hope you like it and I would appreciate any feedback!

I will see you guys next week with the NYC trip recap!

Have a great weekend and stay fit!