Random Likes – Five on Friday

Hey guys! TGIF!!!

I can’t wait for this weekend! So much going on lately – I have to tell you about it in my Five on Friday post today 🙂 Here we go!

{ONE} Cumberland Valley Rails-to-Trails

This is an awesome trail close by where we live and we went there last weekend for a bike ride. It was my very first time there and I LOVED it!

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It is a beautiful trail, and the day was just perfect for a ride – nice breeze, not to warm, no bugs yet. Pure AWESOMENESS! And I got a pretty good workout out of a recreational ride.

bike ride

We went out 4 miles, but then Carmen got tired and we had to go back. Was still a fun ride and we got to style at the finish line. Well, I personally was mostly styling my helmet hair 🙂

bike ride

This Sunday hubby and I are going back there again for the 8th annual Race, Run, Ride & Ramble Trail Festival – we’re doing the 30K bike ride part of it. SO excited! Stay tuned for recap next week, friends 🙂

{TWO} Lucky Brand

I’ve been a huge fan of their purses for a long-long time – well made, stylish, super convenient and spacious (crazy bag lady here) and just beautiful. I am a proud owner of this one:

lucky brand purse

I love their jewelry, too – like this Green Stone Woven Bracelet:

lucky brand

Or these gorgeous Two Tone Oval Orbital Earrings

lucky brand earrings

{THREE} DIY Easter Baskets

We had a wonderful Easter this year! We had the kids and since they are all grown up now, we decided to go with the DIY Easter baskets rather than the egg hunt. So, on Good Friday when everybody was taking their nap in the afternoon, I put together these baskets:

Easter baskets

DIY Easter baskets

Don’t mind my washer and dryer – I was hiding in laundry room while putting these baskets together 🙂

{FOUR} Homemade Quesadillas

Oh I have been addicted to those! Carmen loves enchiladas, so we always have tortillas in the fridge. What better way to use them than make a breakfast quesadilla?

breakfast quesadilla

Takes no time to make, too – just whisk an egg, fry it as a pancake, put on a tortilla, add whatever else you want on it (I have cheese and ham), fold, brown on both sides, cut and devour! 🙂

{FIVE} Indoor Cycling Instructor News

Well, you guys know that this Monday I taught my very first indoor cycling class at the local YMCA as my audition for the job there.

I passed and got a job offer, which I happily accepted!!!

I have yet to pass all the checks, orientations and such, but this goes to show how determination and hard work always pay off! Once you get on the right track, once you really want something and are determined to get it – the whole world helps you reach your goals.

You suddenly find just the right people to help and support you.

You suddenly find energy in yourself to do a cycling class, a yoga class and then come back to cycling room to practice teaching for another hour – all that on a Saturday morning.

It is an amazing feeling when you see your riders’ eyes and smiles at the end of the class. I want to do it again and again 🙂

I am super excited about this job opportunity and the community of people I will be working with.

And that was my Five on Friday, folks 🙂

Do share: what have you been liking lately?

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Breakfast Quiche Recipe

Hey-hey! Happy Tasty Tuesday! I hope you guys had a wonderful Easter and are ready to party today 🙂

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Link up your favorite tasty posts below and get them to show up on my co-host’s blog as well! Don’t forget to be nice and check out other links of our party attendees.

As for me, I am sharing an awesome recipe for Breakfast Quiche with you today. I found it on Love and Duck Fat originally and made just a few small adjustments to the recipe.

I have to say, this breakfast quiche has been my savior last week. With husband and kids being away, my lazy gene was acting up in the mornings. I was so glad I made this quiche last Sunday! Breakfasts made easy – cut, reheat, eat. One, two, three. Easy! So, here you are, guys, and don’t forget to go and thank Love and Duck Fat for the original recipe.

breakfast quiche recipe

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 9” frozen pie crust, pre-baked according to directions.
  • 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups light cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (4-6 oz.) shredded cheese
  • Handful of fresh baby spinach, arugula or parsley leaves
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

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1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. To make the onions: add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Add the onions and toss until soft, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and allow to cook  until reduced in size and golden. After about 10 minutes, sprinkle with salt. Allow to cook on low heat for 20 minutes, until very soft and brown. Set aside.
3. To make the mushrooms: melt 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt. Continue to cook on medium-high, turning only a few times until the mushrooms get brown and crispy on the edges. Remove from the pan. Set aside.
4. To make the custard: whisk together the eggs, cream, and 1 teaspoon of salt until frothy.
5. Assemble the quiche: spread ½ of the cheese on the bottom of the pie crust, then mushrooms, and then the onions. Scatter some spinach leaves on top (or parsley/arugula), then the remaining cheese. Pour the egg mixture gently over the top.

6. Bake for 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the center no longer jiggles.

7. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

8. Enjoy!

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Easy, right? I love easy to make, healthy and delicious recipes.

I know you do, too.

Now your turn: share your tasty finds with me in the link-up party below!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Lena

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Five on Friday: Kitchen Gadgets Hoarding Edition

Hey guys!

TGIF

Finally everything is right in my world – husband is back from his endless trip to China, kids coming back today, and so is the weekend!

Are you ready for the traditional Five on Friday?

Today we will talk kitchen gadgets. I am a complete hoarder when it comes to kitchen gadgets (anything really – appliances, tools, cookware, cutlery – ANYTHING). You name it, I’ll hoard it 🙂

Anyway. Surprisingly there are still gadgets out there that I don’t own and that is what I am talking about here today – kitchen gadgets I want but don’t have (yet) 🙂

{ONE} Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Can you imagine?

The only thing that’s stopping me from getting one right now is the limited counter space in my kitchen. And I mean really limited.

{TWO} Transparent Toaster – Magimix Vision

Never ever burn a piece of toast again! I am totally getting this one when our old toaster dies 🙂 Maybe by the time it happens this one won’t cost the ridiculous amount of money 🙂

{THREE} Euro Cuisine YM80 Yogurt Maker

yogurt maker

Oh my god! Need I say more? This thing makes yogurt! Yogurt that you actually know what’s going into…. DREAM! And it’s only $25!

{FOUR} Hamilton Beach 25475 Breakfast Sandwich Maker

I LOVE breakfast sandwiches. The problem is I rarely have time to make myself one in the morning, and I don’t really like the idea of making them in advance, and freezing them to reheat later.

This little thing would be perfect for me! (if only I had counter space for it, too 🙂 )

{FIVE} Traditional Electric Crepe Maker Tristar

I am pretty good at making crepes.

homemade crepes

See?

What I like about this crepe maker though is the lower edges than the regular pan I usually use – nothing gets in the way when you need to flip the crepe.

And that makes 5 kitchen gadgets I’d gladly own 🙂

Do share: What is your dream kitchen gadget?

Have a wonderful weekend, guys!

Lena

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Foods and Moves – Last Week’s Recap

Hello friends! Happy hump day! I hope you’re having a great week so far! And while you are, I thought I’d share my last week’s exercise recap with you with some food highlights here and there to (maybe, just maybe) inspire you 🙂

Here we go!Continue Reading

A Hectic Week Recap – Eats and Exercises

Hey guys! Happy Hump Pump Day! 🙂

I’ve had a very hectic couple of weeks as you probably noticed by the lack of my “What’s on my plate” Wednesday and Motivation Monday posts this and last week… Well, guess what? I am making it all up to you today by combining the two 🙂

Not much was going on on the exercise front last week – between the sharp right shoulder/arm pain and busy schedule I managed to squeeze in just a few workouts/classes last week.

{MONDAY} Cycling and Chicken

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

I don’t like Mondays most of the time. I am excited about Monday being a new beginning and all, but by the end of the day I am beat. It is usually the busiest day of the week for me – at work, exercising after work, etc. etc.. What do I make for dinner when I am busy? That’s right – crockpot anything 🙂

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Last Monday it was chicken! I used to put it in the crockpot in the morning, set on Low and turn it off when I get home at 5 PM. It made the chicken a little overcooked to my liking…So what I’ve been doing lately is I would come home for lunch, and throw the chicken into the crock pot (Low) for 4-5 hours. That’s plenty of time to cook it and it comes out just perfectly juicy.

Hubby made wok veggies on Monday night – and we got a perfect dinner right there!

{TUESDAY} No Exercise and Lamb

Took a rest day on Tuesday night.

Foodie’s highlight of the day was lamb for dinner – grilled to perfection by my husband.

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and this fruit and veggie platter I had at work for my snack throughout the afternoon:

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{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and Pork Chops

I did make it to yoga on Wednesday but didn’t take any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one 🙂

And then I got home and made rosemary pork chops and a salad for my tired husband.

Mmmmmm....

Mmmmmm….

{THURSDAY} Rest Day and Orange Salsa

Yeah, that was the day my shoulder and arm started acting up. It was that kind of muscle paralyzing pain that makes it hard to lift even a cup of coffee.

That did not prevent me from making an awesome orange salsa to go with tilapia and rice for dinner on Thursday evening, though 🙂

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{FRIDAY} Another rest day and Beet Root Salad

On Friday my shoulder/arm was hurting so much it would wake me up at night. So…another rest day for the Lena 🙁

The food highlights of the day included the beet root salad I made for lunch on Sunday during my meal prep.

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

{SATURDAY} Yoga and Big Family Breakfast

By Saturday I felt good enough to go get some gentle stretching done in a yoga class.

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Yoga was followed by a breakfast fest made by my husband!

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I also had a super-delicious lunch – leftover pasta with scallops from eating out the night before:

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YUM!!!

{SUNDAY} Food Prep

Well, that decision to go to yoga the day before was a little pre-mature. My shoulder and arm were not ready for any Sunday workout.

They were good for Sunday meal prep, so I went wild 🙂 I actually started on Saturday with this:

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

and then continued on Sunday by making lunches and snacks for the week days:

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No working out on Sunday either 🙁 Some nice kitchen time though 🙂 🙂 🙂

And that was my week of eating and non-exercising at a glance 🙂

Do share: How did you do last week? Anything fun? Anything delicious cooking?

Take care, friends, and stay fit!

Lena

Tasty Tuesday: Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

Hey, guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday! How is your week going so far? Are you ready to see some tasty stuff? 🙂

Don’t forget this post is a link up party! Link your favorite tasty posts below so everyone can see what tasty foods you’re eating 🙂

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Are you a food blogger who wants to co-host this link up party with us every Tuesday? Contact me for details or leave a comment below!

Now down to business already 🙂

My post today is about a wonderful page – The Lemon Bowl. Liz is my go to resource for simple, healthy and delicious recipes!

Last week I stumbled upon her Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups and I knew I had to make those as part of my Sunday meal prep.

They come together in less than 10 minutes, bake for 25 and make a super delicious and nutritious breakfast. My husband called them “breakfast bombs” 🙂

Because I, believe it or not, couldn’t find Canadian bacon the recipe was calling for at our grocery store, I had to improvise with Liz’s recipe.

I also didn’t have enough eggs, so I used half the amounts on the recipe and also used mini muffins pan, so I still got 12 muffins with the ingredients below.

Before we get to the recipe, make sure you give Liz some love:

Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 7 eggs
  • 1/3 cup 2% milk
  • 2 oz of Extra sharp cheddar (shredded)
  • 3-4 oz leftover lunch meat (I used chicken breast and ham)
  • 1/4 cup minced scallions
  • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until light and fluffy. Stir in the meat, scallions and salt/pepper to taste.

3. Divide egg mixture evenly between 12 muffin tins then sprinkle evenly with sharp cheddar.

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4. Bake until eggs are set, 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly to ensure eggs are set before removing from pan to serve.

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Enjoy as a healthy breakfast, snack or even lunch!

Have a wonderful week, guys, and don’t forget to link up below 🙂


Tasty Tuesday – Latest Tasty Finds and a Linkup Party!

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

Before I start talking about all the tasty stuff, I wanted to bring your attention to the fact that starting from today, the Tasty Tuesday blog post is officially announced to be a Linkup Party!

Come here every Tuesday to add links to your favorite tasty recipes, restaurant reviews, meal prep tips, etc. etc.. – we are talking anything tasty!

And…since it is a party – once you add a link here, your links will also appear on the Tasty Tuesday blog post of the linkup co-hosts.

This week it is just me and Meranda over at Fairytales and Fitness. Be sure to check out her blog!

So. Down to business now – this Tasty Tuesday I am sharing recent Tasty Finds!

{ONE} Peanut Butter Pie Ball by Wishes and Dishes.

Peanut-Butter-Pie-Ball-Recipe-1

To all of you, peanut butter lovers – you are welcome! 🙂

{TWO} Red Velvet Mug Cake by Kiss My Broccoli

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Heather, I just want to give you a hug for this one! I love red velvet anything 🙂

{THREE} Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups by the Lemon Bowl

Ham-and-Cheese-Egg-Muffins-The-Lemon-Bowl

{FOUR} Banana Blueberry Cinnamon Bread by A Hungry Runner

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I have recently received a private message on Instagram with a video statement from my 11 year old daughter’s friends at school that this bread is super delicious. You gotta trust those girls! This bread is super awesome!

{FIVE} Lemony Cookie Bars by Lauren Kelly

Aren't the gorgeous?

Aren’t the gorgeous?

Stay fit, friends, and keep it tasty!

Don’t forget to link up your favorite tasty stuff below!

Lena


What’s on My Plate Wednesday

Hey guys! Happy hump day!!!

Oh, I am so very happy it is Wednesday!

So, how about taking a peak at what I ate in the past week? Yeah, I thought so. But I am posting anyway 🙂

For some reason I wasn’t feeling like taking a lot of pictures in the mornings this past week.

I can tell you that I ate a lot of oatmeal:

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why of course I have cinnamon chips on it!

And breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg, cream cheese and turkey breast on an English muffin:

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I ate my wonderful salads for lunch most of the days (those I prepped last weekend):

Salads




And then they tore out my kitchen last Tuesday… We live in an old house with horse hair plaster in the walls (yeah I know it is hard to imagine there were “before drywall times” now). When you have plaster in the walls and ceilings, this can happen:

yep, a hole in the ceiling

yep, a hole in the ceiling

So they tore my kitchen ceiling out completely.

like...entirely...as in no ceiling at all

like…entirely…as in no ceiling at all

Gives my kitchen kind of a rustic look, doesn’t it? 🙂

Did that effect my cooking schedule? Yeah…all that plaster dust took a while to get rid of, that’s why we had Chinese for dinner on Tuesday.

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But once I got all that dust cleaned off, we were back on track with dinners!

Yeah, lots of grilling and crockpot action!

Yeah, lots of grilling and crockpot action!




Lemon-shrimp pasta, crockpot beef with wok veggies, steak and mashed potatoes, crockpot pork and wok veggies, chicken wings.

And, I did do my usual meal prep this Sunday! I did some nice lunch prep (salads with baby romaine lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, quinoa, green onions, goat cheese, chicken breast and hardboiled eggs + a sandwich)  including snacks (apples, celery, carrots, snack cheese).

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And right after that – this happened!

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Well…what can I say? “All work and no play” would make Lena a one boring personality – gotta break the rules sometimes 🙂

Eat well, my friends, and have a great week!

Lena

Tasty Tuesday: Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie

Hello guys, and happy Tasty Tuesday!

I have another guest post in store for you today. Please, welcome Nicole @ Fitful Focus who is here to share one of her most favorite power breakfast recipes with you today!

Nicole

Nicole is a young professional living in NYC. Back in January 2012, she challenged herself to live a healthier life. Since then, she’s lost 20 pounds, competed in a half marathon, become a vegetarian, a Greatist Ambassador, a Sweat Pink Ambassador, and a Girl Gone Sporty Ambassador. Now, she’s trying to maintain that lifestyle, learn even more about health and fitness, and share her adventures with you.

Don’t forget to take a moment and show Nicole some love on her blog and social media pages:

Instagram: @fitfulfocus
Twitter: @fitfulfocus
I will let Nicole take the floor now.
Stay fit, my friends!
Lena
~~~~ Drumroll~~~~

Hi Lean Lena Fans! Nicole from Fitful Focus here. I’m super excited to be guest posting over here today. Big thanks to Lena for having me and you all for reading. I know Lena loves to share a lot of eats, treats, and recipes with you all, so I’m here to share one of my favorite recipes.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me. Without a good breakfast, I’d be sluggish and hangry, and no one likes a slug, especially not an angry one!  A healthy breakfast refuels me after an AM workout and gives me energy to power through the workday.

I like to switch things up with things like this Perfect Start Cereal or Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats, but my absolute favorite thing to have for breakfast is a smoothie!

I don’t think there is anything better than a good smoothie. I have a ton of smoothie recipes up my sleeve, but since being over here on Lean Lena is a special occasion, I don’t want to share just any smoothie recipe with you all; I want to share my absolute favorite recipe! Oh yea! Get excited, get pumped, and say hello to this Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie

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This smoothie is so delicious you’ll start loving your morning alarm for waking you up so you can go make it. Ok, ok, you’ll still hate your alarm. But you’ll be overwhelmed with happiness as soon as you take your first sip!

But for reals, it has everything you need to start your day off right. The peanut butter & protein powder give you a nice dose of protein to keep you full until lunch. The potassium in the bananas helps your muscles recover after a workout, and the blueberries give you a nice helping of antioxidants. Oh, and did I mention it’s gluten-free and vegan?!

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And I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

Are you ready for the best part?

Are you sure you’re ready?

Ok, I’ll tell you.

The best part is it’s a piece of cake to make. Just throw everything in a blender, turn it on, and you’re done! Bazinga!

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So go grab your ingredients, whip this up, and get ready for a morning of bliss!

PBBBP Smoothie

Thanks for having me, Lean Lena readers! Come swing by Fitful Focus any time you’d like. I’d love to have you!

xoxo,
Nicole

Recipe: Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins

Hello-hello! How are you today, guys?

I am sleepy and it is way too cold here! Also, they say we’re in for another winter storm this weekend with snow and ice coming down Sunday into Monday… Yuk!

So. If you’re going to be snowed/iced in – why not use that time to make something yummy? Something you can freeze and eat later, or just refrigerate and re-heat every morning for breakfast. How does that sound?

To me that sounded good last weekend, so I hade some of these breakfast muffins during my meal prep. As I promised here – I am sharing the recipe with you today.

The original recipe is by Maureen Callahan and was discovered in Cooking Light, I made a few modifications to it and here we go! Awesome muffins for breakfast.

HAM AND CHEESE CORN MUFFINS
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INGREDIENTS
  • 7 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour (about 1 2/3 cups)
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon  salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1 1/4 cups  low-fat buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons olive  oil
  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (about 1 bunch)
  • 1/2 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
  • 1/3 cup (2 ounces) diced extra lean ham
  •  Cooking spray
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.
  3. Combine buttermilk, eggs, and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
  4. Fold in cheese, green onions, corn, and diced ham.
  5. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
  6. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  7. Remove muffins from pan; let cool on a wire rack.

These muffins are super good for breakfast! Just throw into the microwave, reheat and enjoy!

Stay fit and warm, my friends!

Lena

What’s on My Plate Wednesday – Weekly Eats

Hey guys! It’s hump day! Just 2 full work days left and then it is the weekend! Got anything special going on this weekend?

I will probably sleep a lot – I was not getting enough sleep this week. And when I don’t get enough sleep…well…you know…”don’t get body slammed by a low land gorilla” 🙂

It’s been a while since I shared my eats with you here, so here we go – “What’s on my plate Wednesday” post in store for you today. 🙂

B-1

Egg sandwich on an English muffin, corn muffin (recipe coming soon), oatmeal with cinnamon chips and sliced almonds, buckwheat with honey and butter, oatmeal with cinnamon chips and marshmallows. I’ve generally been pretty good with my breakfast choices as you can see.

L-1

Warm quinoa salad on a bed of spinach, pre-prepped salads, lentil soup (crockpot), salad/sandwich combo, Italian Grinder. Lunch…I am a Queen of Lunch Prep! So pretty good choices here too.

D-1

Pork loin with buckwheat, mushrooms and onions on the side; pork chops with buckwheat; salmon, rice, avocado and spaghetti squash; home made beef enchiladas; chicken roaster with veggies. Except when my hubby is making dinner (yes, enchiladas, I am talking to you), my dinners look pretty healthy. 🙂

S-1

Celery + homemade hummus, snapeas crisps, PB-banana smoothie, raspberry-banana smoothie, cuties. Yeah, this is my weakness. Can’t even begin to describe you what I snack on that doesn’t get to the social media in the form of pictures 🙂 Het, bare with me – I am working on it and it’s a journey!

What fun foods have you eaten lately?

Stay fit, folks!

Lena

 

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

MNB Challenge, Week 2 Recap – Nourish

Hey guys! It’s the weekend! YEY!

We are totally and completely snowed in this week!

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I needed a training plan to shovel all that! My back and arms are still sore…

Anyway, back to the business –  today I am going to tell you about Week 2 of the Move. Nourish. Believe Challenge that I am taking part in.

You can find the first week’s recap here if you missed it last Friday.

So, the second week was all about nourishing your body.

{MONDAY} Go Meatless

This week’s Monday was announced to be Meatless Monday by the challenge hosts Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Active.

The name speaks for itself – we had to go meatless.

Meatless Monday

I had oatmeal with honey and frozen raspberries for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch and Thai food (salmon, fried rice with veggies and tofu, and rice noodles) for dinner as it was Simon’s birthday and we went out to eat.

{TUESDAY} Bring your lunch to work

Tuesday was Bring Your Lunch to Work day. That one was easy for me – even though I didn’t get my usual massive food prep done last weekend (as I spent most of it in my Spinning Instructor Training), I still managed to prep salads for a couple of week day lunches and also took some leftover fried rice with veggies and tofu to work with me from the night before.

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{WEDNESDAY} Write it down!

On Wednesday the challenge was to journal our food and show what we ate (another easy one for me since I do it every day with MyFitnessPal).

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

{THURSDAY} Thirsty Thursday

On Thursday the challenge was to make a healthy smoothie. Another easy one for me! I usually make a smoothie every morning and take it to work with me to have as a morning snack as I have breakfast pretty early and usually get hungry by 10:30 am.

Carrot Cake Smoothie

So, the Thursday smoothie was:

1 carrot cake popsicle

1 frozen banana

2 tbsp. Activia Greek yogurt (vanilla)

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp sliced almonds (to garnish)

3-4 frozen raspberries (to garnish)

1/4 tsp chia seeds (to garnish)

{FRIDAY} Go raw!

Now, that was a heard one for me… even though I love salads, fruit, veggies and smoothies.

I did some prep.work the day before:

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So all I had to do on Friday was stick to the plan! That made it a lot easier for sure.

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Lunch was an all-veggie salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, red onions, corn and pepitas.

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Dinner unfortunately was not raw…hubby took me out to eat for Valentine’s day, so my plan did not work 🙁

Now – on to Week 3 of the challenge – the Believe part! Stay tuned for the recap next weekend.

Question: have you ever tried raw eating? What did you think of that?

Stay fit, friends!

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/

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?