Happy new year!

20 days late.

It's January, and everyone is all up on new year's resolutions, but I am that lone person who never even comes up with a new year's resolution. In fact, this year, for the first two weeks of the new year, I hardly even worked out and definitely did not eat as well as I should have been.

I know, I know. What kind of fitness gourmet am I?! Well, here are my thoughts. When on vacation, or eating out, or for special occasions in general, I try not to stress out about these things. When my usual daily routine consists of a one hour workout and healthy eats (sometimes to the extreme), I think my body will allow me some leeway every now and then.

This is another reason why I don't do the resolution thing. I hate feeling pressured, and I obviously would have failed instantly this year! So I guess it did work out for the best.

And now let's talk about my latest food obsessions!

New favorite snack: edamame. I buy it frozen, and put some in a bag to defrost in the fridge, after adding a little salt and garlic powder.

New favorite quesadilla (since we all know by now that quesadillas are one of my favorite food groups!): whole wheat tortilla, grated cheese, and meatless crumbles. With a side of some spicy salsa, as always.

New breakfast discovery: chia pudding with banana. For the one below, I used 3 tablespoons of chia seeds, about 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, sliced banana, and almond milk. For the almond milk, I added enough to give it a liquidy consistency prior to putting it in the fridge. I left it in there for about 15 minutes and it gelled up nicely! More almond milk can be added afterwards if necessary, but consistency should be pudding-like. Oh, don't forget the sunflower seed butter on top :).

Other than that, today I made The Fitnessista's kale and goat cheese salad as part of my lunch for tomorrow! Definitely still loving the good ol' kale.

Last week's workout recap:
Sunday: Run (3 miles)
Monday: TurboKick (still my most favorite workout ever!)
Tuesday: Body pump
Wednesday: Elliptical and foam roll
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Run (3 miles)
Saturday: Yoga and salsa dancing :)

Holidaying.

My pictures are piling up and it is getting out of control. But I cannot neglect to show you something I received recently.

My friends know me so well!!!

I obviously couldn't wait to open this book and made a pumpkin black bean soup inspired by a recipe from the book.

This is all I did - I blended a can of black beans and two chopped tomatoes, sautéed this mixture with some olive oil, garlic, and cumin seeds, added a can of pumpkin purée, and a few cups of vegetable broth, and cooked all of this in a large pot. I added some salt and pepper at the end, along with some pumpkin seeds for garnish.

What else have I been up to? Well, I discovered purple sweet potatoes and I think they are beautiful.

Especially when topped with butter and jalapeños.

I also like making fancy weekend brunches.

This was something like an open-faced taco with a couple of sunny side up eggs, spinach/broccoli/bell peppers, and lots of cheese. And of course topped with some salsa. It was messy to eat but so worth the mess.

Last week's workout recap:

Sunday: Zumba
Monday: Step
Tuesday: Body Pump
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Run
Saturday: Kickboxing

Quite the productive workout week, I'd say! And so full of cardio. I like to stay active even during holidays as it helps to keep the momentum into the new year. What are your thoughts? Do you wait until the new year to start again or do you like to be one of the few in the gym during the holidays?

Squash lady.

Hi.

I'd like to take a moment and tell you about my newest food obsession. It's a bit unexpected, and might I say, a bit common; but nonetheless... a lot delicious.

FETA!!!

I don't know why, but of all cheeses I was never really that drawn to feta. I usually head straight for the Swiss, mozzarella, or cheddar. But last week, I had this great plan to make stuffed acorn squash and include some feta in the mix. I then decided to skip the fanciness and just combine the roasted squash with some wild rice and feta cheese.

If it is any indication about how awesome this dish was... I made enough for five days, and finished it in three. Success?

Since it is still winter squash season, I highly recommend giving this recipe a spin. Plus, winter squash is just awesome. (Hence the title of this post. My mom called me the squash lady once. I thought it was pretty funny).

This is what you do: cut the acorn squash in half, drizzle some olive oil into the fleshy side, and place each half face down on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

While the squash is roasting, cook the wild rice. When the squash is ready, let cool, and then peel and chop into cubes. Add this to the rice, along with crumbled feta, and season with salt and oregano. You can also add some crushed red pepper for good measure :).

My favorite part of this is that when I re-heated it in the microwave, the feta bubbled. So good.

Let's re-cap last week's workouts, shall we?

Sunday: Zumba
Monday: Step + abs
Tuesday: Body pump
Wednesday: Run (2 miles)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Active rest day (I say active because I didn't do a planned workout, but I did walk about 2 miles!)
Saturday: 25 minutes elliptical, 1 mile sprint, weights, + walk ~4 miles (it was a tiring day, to say the least).

Faux-giving.

I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner this year. And it involved very little "typical" thanksgiving food. Details.

I obviously Tulika-fied some things. For example, I made some wild rice stuffing:

How to prepare: cook a combination of wild rice and brown rice in vegetable broth. While doing so, sauté 1/2 chopped onion and a few chopped garlic cloves in olive oil. Add chopped carrots and celery, cook for several more minutes, and season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Once the rice is finished cooking, add the veggies and add a bit more broth.

It obviously was different from regular stuffing but I think my guests enjoyed it!

I also made a broccoli and spinach casserole instead of green been casserole.

The sauce I made was a roux, with butter, flour, and milk (and seasonings). I added this to a big dish of cooked whole wheat pasta, broccoli, and spinach, and topped with lots of shredded cheese.

We of course had some lovely sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie courtesy of my attendees :). I also made some salad and corn bread. Overall a successful dinner!

And on a completely unrelated note, please take a look at my Trader Joe's purchases of the day...

I can't help myself sometimes!

I have a new blog idea. Since it has been a seriously long while since I've done a fitness post, I am thinking of posting my workout schedule for each week. Since this week has not been figured out yet, this is what my schedule was like last week:

Sunday: abs/strength training
Monday: foam roll/yoga
Tuesday: weights (Body Pump)
Wednesday: Zumba
Thursday: rest day
Friday: run (3.6 miles)
Saturday: rest day

Pumpkin this and pumpkin that.

You may have been wondering where all the pumpkin was on this blog. Never fear, my friends. Never fear. While I may have neglected to discuss my pumpkin consumption, I have been pumpkin crazy for the past month or so.

The strange part about this is that I have only cut one butternut squash so far. Why am I failing so much in the squash department?! Let me tell you. It's because one really does work for that squash. And despite the fact that I do love my winter squash... I have not found it in me to want to make the effort. This needs to be remedied ASAP.

Anyway, back to the pumpkin. I am sure you have gathered by now that I have been cheating and buying canned pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie mix).

My favorite way to use it is also the easiest way: pumpkin pie oatmeal. Here are my ingredients of choice: uncooked oats, 1 large spoonful of pumpkin purée, chia seeds and/or ground flax seeds, pumpkin pie spice, and milk. All nicely mixed together the night before, topped with some almond butter, and chilled in the fridge. Pumpkin pie in a bowl!

(Recycled picture from last year...obviously this shows how long I have been eating this).

Last weekend, I made this pumpkin alfredo, but with brown rice penne pasta. This was so so good, even more so than the pictures would suggest. Highly recommend. And it made five-six LARGE lunch portions for me, which was perfect.

I also made some rosemary pumpkin quinoa, which was really easy, and also worked well for some pre-portioned lunches. Here is what I did:

1. Sauté veggies of choice in some olive oil. I chose garlic, red bell peppers, and mushrooms.

2. In another small pot, cook the quinoa. Once cooked, stir in 1/4-1/2 cup pumpkin purée. The amount really depends upon how pumpkin-y you'd like it to be.

3. Add the sautéed veggies to the pumpkin quinoa, and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary.

I have opened yet another can of pumpkin as of today, so we shall see what happens to that this week!

Please excuse...

So...pardon my absence. I have been busy participating in Zumba events for basketball games!

Well, I was last weekend. Somehow this month has just been full of big weekend events back to back. But that was definitely a huge one!

But today, I am so sad. I spent the morning recording not one, but TWO videos to post on here today.

I played them back a while ago and found that due to technical difficulties (audio and video not synchronized), this will not be happening today. So sad!!

And now I am forced to provide to you an impromptu post with a bunch of random meals I have eaten in the recent past.

Ready...go!

Protein pancakes. I made these with half whole wheat pancake mix, half protein powder. I prepared the batter otherwise just as usual with milk and eggs, cooked with coconut oil. The toppings helped mask the protein powder chalky taste :)

Tortilla soup. Pinto beans and black beans, chipotle diced tomatoes, spinach, corn, garlic, and seasoned with cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper. The chipotle diced tomatoes provided most of the flavor which was really nice.

A Trader Joe's inspired salad (literally - every ingredient came from there) with kale, pre-cooked beets, avocados, and a pear and Gorgonzola vinaigrette. The dressing made all the difference.

A veggie burger quesadilla in corn tortillas. The veggie burger was also a TJs item, and I was a fan of the consistency because it was smashable to make it more quesadilla-esque.

Hopefully this gives you a few easy ideas for the week... And hopefully we can resolve these technical issues soon!!

What I Ate...all week.

If I had to choose a favorite dish to make, it would be enchiladas. Definitely enchiladas.

Last week, I wanted to make enchiladas, but a bit different from the usual. Of course. I get bored with same old same old (surprisingly since I eat the same lunches for five days in a row).

Long story short, I made enchilada casserole. Here is the step-by-step.

Make a filling. I used black beans, corn, and spinach, sautéed with some vegetable oil and cumin seeds, seasoned with salt and smoked paprika.

Lightly grease a baking pan and then line with tortillas of choice.

Add a layer of filling atop the tortillas, and top with cheese.

Then add another later of tortillas, filling, and cheese.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.

Serve with a side of spicy salsa and enjoy!

Side note #1: I did not use enchilada sauce but it would definitely make a good addition to the dish.

Side note #2: I did eat this for 6 days in a row and even on the 6th day I enjoyed it just as much as the first. Delish!