My Love for Barney Butter

So you all know my love for Barney butter...well click here for a chance to win some!! Gina is giving some away! Rock on!

Mornings Rock my World

I am hands down a morning person. I know everyone is different. I tried this whole going to the gym after work thing and it so doesn't work for me. I just cant motivate myself. Especially now with the fabulous fall weather, a part of me just wants to turn a great movie on after work, cook some dinner and curl up on the couch. But in the mornings the cold air just super invigorates me and I love it. So I think Im going to stick with my morning workouts. Everyone is different for sure, its just what works for me and what my body likes more.

Todays workout was a fabulous 60 minutes on the elliptical with a 15 minutes cool down. Fantastic! My legs are finally not quite as sore anymore from Yoga. I think that with all my spin classes my hamstrings are really super tight. But the Yoga really seems to be helping with this. Plus its just so relaxing and fun to do anyways! Lunch today was the usual, I was going to post pics but thought maybe all the pictures of my bean burritos would be repetative. haha. But I did also make a quick zucchini salad on the side. Chopped zucchini, fresh onion and some salsa. Quick and easy.

For dinner I was also looking for something quick and fast. Eating healthy doesnt have to be complicated to hard to do. I chopped up some brussel sprouts, eggplants, onions, kale and broccoli and sauteed it up until it was nice and crispy. Then poured some enchilada sauce on it and threw a small handful of low fat mozz on top and I was one happy girl.



Dessert was totally rockin tonight! Banana ice cream. Complete with granola and a few dark chocolate pieces of course.


Im thinking next time maybe adding in some cinnamon and pumpkin...Either way it is amazingly tasty!!

What time of day do you find you like to work out best? Do you find you work out better at a certain time of day? Or is it more for scheduling? Im just curious how everyone else works it!

Mock-0-Bell

SO back in my unhealthy years as I will call them, I loved the TacoBell. (Anyone with me on this?!) I always got the same thing, two bean burritos with no cheese and extra onions. While this isn't uber terrible it wasn't that great either. Watch out sodium! But I do still crave it every now and again and decided instead of never eating it again, I'll just make it. It tastes great, fast, easy and super filling. Score! I think that's the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. No foods should ever be off limits. I just find healthier ways to eat them and always in moderation.

Its basically just two corn tortillas that i bought from whole foods, refried beans, chopped onions and enchilada sauce from Trader Joes. I was really impressed with this sauce. I try not to eat alot processed foods but this tasted great and what a time saver!

That is one ripe banana in the background! haha. When my banans start to go I let em ripen up for a bit them throw them in the freezer for banana bread or some banana ice cream! Yum!

Then for dessert I decided upon some almond butter and apples. Delish. Although disaster almost struck whenI went for my almond butter that I had in the cabinet and realized.....

NNOOOO!!! How I forgot that I emptied the jar yesterday I have no idea, luckily I had backups. Whew!

Tonight I'm packing a quick dinner so I can head off to the gym for a good cardio workout. It is super fall-ish outside which is making me feel great. I can wait to bust out the cozy sweaters and some fabulous boots!

Chocolate Covered Kindness

What makes my day is when I hear about people helping others in need. Truly its one of the best gifts you can give. When I heard about what Katie was doing over on her blog I was elated. What a fantastic idea. I encourage everyone to support Katie in Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness! Do it up peeps!

Sweet give away!

Love Veggies and Yoga is giving away chia seeds! Hooray!!

Vegan Bean Balls

Ive been on a real zucchini pasta kick lately. Does that ever happen to you? To mix it up a bit though I took a recipe from Veganomicon (which is fabulous!!) and came up with some delicious bean balls to add to my pasta. It made for one tasty dinner!


Vegan Bean Balls:

1 15oz. can kidney beans (1.5 cups)
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. Braggs
1Tbs. garlic
.25 c. oatmeal (chopped in food processor to a coarse flour)
dash of Braggs seasoning
pepper
chopped parsley
1/2 lemon juiced


Take kidney beans, tomato paste, Braggs and garlic and mash together to where the beans have turned into a paste but still contain a few big chunks.

Add in the rest of ingredients and stir to combine. Then mold into ball shapes and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Bean balls will be nice and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Thats all! Pretty easy!

I spiralized some zucchini that I had and roasted up some veggies as well. I tossed all this together and added a bit of my favorite marinara sauce from TJs and a small sprinkle of parm and I was in business.

Some ingredients I really thought worked well for this recipe were my Braggs sprinkles. I always look for spice mixes without salt, since I like to add my own amounts, and this particular blend is perfect for any type of recipe. Lots of rosemary, oregano, thyme, pepper, basil, garlic, kelp and many other great ingredients. I love this stuff.


Another great product is tomato paste in a tube! You don't know how many cans of tomato paste I've chucked because Ive had the tiniest amount left over. Plus I hate opening an entire can for maybe 1 Tbs. I've always tried to use the leftovers but sometimes then end up sitting in containers in the fridge for too long. The tube works out so well since i can squeeze out what I need and throw it back in the cabinet.
Then i made some peanut butter pudding and topped it off with a bit of fiber one. Great dessert and now its movie time for me! Have a great night!

Its November already?!

Wow time is flying. I cant believe its November already! Im already starting to think about what I want to make for Thanksgiving!! How sad is that? Anyways, this morning I have some super classes scheduled. Spin this morning (of course!) and then a yoga class later. Should be super fun. I forgot about the daylight savings time. I love getting an extra hour of sleep! That gave me mucho time for a nice hearty breakfast before heading to class.

For lunch I wanted some zucchini pasta again so I baked up some veggies and tossed in some sauce I got from Trader Joes, along with a sprinkle of parmesean romano. I love really strong cheeses. Since cheese is usually loaded with alot of fat and calories I like to buy cheese that is veyr strong in taste. That way a tiny bit goes a long way. It got a little watery from my zucchini noodles. I forgot to pat them down with paper towels to get rid of excess water. Oh well. Still tasted pretty great overall.


And some apples with cinnamon and mesquite for dessert. Tasty!


This is quickly becoming one of my favorite snacks! The rest of the day is shopping and errands. But tonight I plan on cooking a nice dinner. Some chick pea cutlets and roasted veggies. So I will post back about that then. I hope everyone had a safe and fabulous halloween!