Eat your veggies!

Someday, I'll get this shirt.

But until then, I'll just make lots of delicious foods full of veggies. Did you know that greens are full of protein?

Did you also know that flu season peaks in February? I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I made an immune boosting creamy soup. I like to think that it worked its charm immediately!

Eat Your Veggies Creamy Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 sweet potato, cooked and peeled
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 can crushed tomatoes
• 6 mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 inch ginger
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper
• fresh basil, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the chopped garlic and ginger. 

When the garlic starts to heat up, add the sweet potato, bell pepper, spinach, and mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes, and then add the crushed tomatoes and basil. 

Allow this to cook for several more minutes, then add the vegetable broth. [Side note: I used a no-salt added vegetable bouillon cube in water instead of vegetable broth, but either works!]

Add the salt and pepper, stir, and allow the soup to boil for several minutes.

Now the fun part--blending! I used a nifty hand blender instead of a regular blender for easy clean-up. 

Blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

I ate my soup with toasted jalapeno cheddar focaccia. Deeelish (and pretty fancy, if you ask me!).

So you want to eat half a squash?

I have just the trick for you.

But first, an announcement.

I should take my advice in terms of moderation. Not moderation regarding food, but moderation regarding working out. I had some knee problems last year because of my excessive high-impact exercising, and doing yoga 2-3 times a week really helped alleviate the problem. Since my knee problem was "cured," I scaled back on the yoga to something like once a month. I should have seen this coming, but the knee problem came back today.

Luckily I got some form of a workout today with some low-impact legs and abs. Have you ever done lunges with a Bosu? It looks and feels like your legs are shaking so hard they are about to fall off. Great feeling, though! I highly recommend it.

Also, I've been meaning to post a picture of the breakfast I've been eating for the past 1.5 weeks; I think I've finally found my cereal replacement. I've mentioned overnight oats before, but I used to make it really complicated. This is my new and improved version:

My overnight oats: mix 1/2 cup oats, 1 1/4 cup milk, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, and some almonds together and keep in the fridge overnight. In the morning, mix in flax seeds and walnuts, and drizzle honey or maple syrup on top. 

I use chia seeds because it makes it really pudding-like. Plus, I just really like how slimy they get after sitting in the liquid overnight. If you aren't a fan of tapioca, you most likely won't be a fan of chia seeds. Also, since the oats soak up the liquid, these oats don't need to be cooked! I really like cold breakfasts. 

And now, it is finally time to talk squash.

Kabocha squash, to be exact. 

Kabocha squash is a Japanese variety of squash. It looks like a little green pumpkin! I had heard about this type of squash but hadn't tried it until last week when Alyssa roasted it. I immediately decided I had to experiment with it!

I went the easy route to start my kabocha experiments.

Roasted Kabocha Squash

The cool thing about kabocha is that the peel is edible! So the only challenge is chopping it. (I always forget how difficult it is to cut squash).  I used half of the squash for this recipe.

My inner engineer arranged the pieces symmetrically. 

I drizzled olive oil, salt, and pepper on the slices.

And baked them in the oven at 375F until browned (about 30 minutes, but I'd recommend checking periodically). Also, make sure to flip the pieces to cook evenly. 

Super easy, and ready to eat as is!

I ate them off of a plate, with a simple spinach salad. This squash is really sweet! And it has a more fluffy and much softer texture than butternut squash. And I just really like the fact that the peel is edible. 

Next time, I won't eat the entire half. It's really filling. And if you are interested, winter squash is still on sale (including kabocha) so head to your nearest grocery store! (I think they only carry these at Sunflower/Sprouts type stores). 

So, who wants to be my yoga buddy for the next few days? :)

Surprises, heart rates, and calories.

SunButter has won me over, again. And on Valentine's day! How perfect.

I received a package in the mail today, and it was SunButter's newest product: a creamy, no-stir sunflower seed spread. I couldn't wait to try it, so I opened the jar and ate a couple of spoonfuls. Thanks so much, SunButter!

Also included in the package were heart-shaped cookie cutters.

To break in the new jar, I made some Chocolate "Peanut Butter" Vegan Soft Serve.

1 frozen banana blended with 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 heaping spoonful SunButter, and a splash of almond milk.

Great dessert and great substitute for a regular protein shake! And if you haven't tried SunButter, it tastes really similar to peanut butter, which is pretty awesome for people like me who are allergic to PB.

On a completely unrelated note, I just wanted to mention something. I taught Zumba yesterday, and one of my close friends, April, said this after attending the class.

"Dancing to those songs just made me feel so happy!"

I think that's why I was also suddenly sucked into the Zumba craze. Although one hour of running does burn more calories than one hour of Zumba, I'd still choose Zumba because of the fun factor (not to mention that Zumba is an abdominal, arm, and leg workout in disguise). Have I convinced you to try it?

Since we're on the topic of fitness, according to my heart rate monitor, I burned 536 calories in my TurboKick class today. I was actually quite disappointed with this number (if anyone from my class is reading this, I'm sorry for sounding so disappointed at the end of class...woops!). And a few of the girls actually approached me afterwards and tried to explain to me that it's probably because of my size/am in "shape" that my calorie count was so low. I'd just like to think the good ol' heart rate monitor is inaccurate. Especially when it comes to calculating my heart rate. (Don't even ask how high my heart rate jumped after the Turbo section). Hopefully that convinces you to try kickboxing!

In other news, I've decided that this week is kabocha squash week. (More info on that later). But I also bought a sweet potato because it was on sale. I thought I'd use the sweet potato today.

However, I'm really having bad luck lately in regards to my recipe planning not matching up with my recipe results. Today, as a pre-workout snack, I thought I'd make a sweet potato hash brown. 

Sounds like a cool idea, right?

Unfortunately, it didn't pan out. What did result was a crispy sweet potato hash. Close enough.

I cooked the sweet potato by boiling it for 5 minutes. (Don't forget to poke holes in it beforehand!)

Allow it to cool and then peel and cut the sweet potato. I cut it into small, thin strips. [Edit: I used only half the sweet potato for this recipe.]

Heat a skillet with some butter.

Gather your chopped sweet potato and place it on the skillet. This was my original plan:

But instead, I did this:

I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast.

Stir frequently for 5-7 minutes, or until the slices brown.

Or you could eat it like this:

This picture refuses to rotate. My apologies.

Hope everyone remembers to eat chocolate in moderation today!!!

A big portable fail.

I wanted to save the best portable lunch item for the last in the series.

Well... I apologize for the lack of a portable lunch item today. However, the recipe that resulted was just as good. It's just not portable whatsoever.

Let's back it up just a bit.

Yesterday after teaching Zumba, I was told that my Bollywood routines were a hit. I was thrilled! And as a result, I decided to choreograph more Bollywood-based routines. Little did I know that it would happen today. The resulting routine is now on youtube. Click here to see it. If you decide to follow along, just be prepared to be drenched in sweat by the end of the song!!

So what exactly is this portable lunch item that became a big portable fail? I was really looking forward to creating some healthy pizza rolls. Unfortunately, I'm running short on whole wheat flour, and awhile ago I got some garbanzo bean flour. I figured, why not make the pizza crust out of garbanzo bean flour?

It's a super easy way to make a healthy pizza. Garbanzo bean flour is full of fiber and protein and as a result, is quite satiating. However, this crust is definitely not as firm as a regular flour crust, so the "rolls" part of the recipe was not successful. But the pizza part turned out great!

Skillet Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• desired toppings (tomatoes, cheese, spinach, garlic, etc)

To make the crust, mix the flour, water, and nutritional yeast in a bowl and add the water.

Whisk until the batter is uniform. 

Heat a non-stick skillet on medium, spray non-stick and pour the batter. I decided to make 3 small crusts to ensure successful flipping. 

Wait until the edges start to curl up a little, then flip.

Cook for several more minutes, and then add the toppings. I added canned diced tomatoes (with oregano), chopped basil, bell pepper, and mozzarella. 

I made three small pizzas. And no pizza rolls. But don't worry, the pizza rolls will eventually be made. And they will be healthy!

Speaking of experiments, I decided to try avocado in dessert form again. This time, in cupcake form.

I think it turned out better than I had expected.

Almost Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients: (Makes 3)

• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 2 tablespoons water (for at least 10 minutes)
• chocolate chips

Beat the egg in a bowl and add the chopped avocado.

Mash the avocado nicely. 

Add the coconut flour and cocoa powder.

Get your "chia egg" ready by soaking it in water.

It becomes so gelatinous!

Mix it in, and add the chocolate chips.

Prepare your muffin tray by spraying it with non-stick, then scoop in the batter.

Bake at 390F for 15-20 minutes. 

Just the right amount of sweet, and the chocolate chips made it AWESOME.

More avocado experiments to come. And tomorrow will begin another exciting week!

We will now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

I got a cool new fitness gadget. A heart rate monitor!!!

Fortunately, I received it an hour before my work out yesterday. I couldn't wait to use it!

I did my usual Thursday workout: Butts 'n' Guts (40 minutes--legs and abs) and Calorie Knock Out (40 minutes--intervals of cardio and muscle training). Check out the stats.

Butts 'n' Guts: 113 calories

Calorie KO: 296 calories

The coolest part was checking my heart rate as I was doing certain exercises. I saw my heart rate soar to over 150 with just squats. I think those squats really are on to something. Actually, they are. I recently read that squats are a good exercise for strengthening core muscles. In other words, squats --> 6-pack. 

The only problem with this particular gadget is that there is a strap that wraps around the chest, but it's one-size-fits-all. So...by the end of my workout, I was actually wearing the chest strap as a belt. That was awkward.

Today, I taught Zumba, so I was even more excited to see the results! Unfortunately, I only remembered to turn my monitor on 10 minutes after class started. But despite this, the calories burned came out to 478! I'd call that quite successful for a workout full of dancing.

I'm going to be recording the results of each workout I do this week. It'll be a fitness experiment of sorts. I especially can't wait to see the calories burned during TurboKick. Speaking of which, if you haven't already seen this article, definitely check it out!

Now let's talk food.

I have a lot to catch you up on. Let's start with yesterday.

Have you ever wanted to make your own refried beans? How about refried black beans? I've got ya covered.

I used half a can of black beans. Heat some olive oil in a pan with the beans and a couple of teaspoons of cumin seeds.

After they heat up, smash the beans nicely.

After the consistency becomes creamy (there will still be some chunks in it), season as desired. Perhaps salt/pepper, jalapenos, cheese...

I scooped some of my refried beans onto a small corn tortilla and added some cheddar...

Heat on a skillet or in the microwave and your quesadilla is complete!

This is also a good portable lunch item. This can be easily prepared beforehand and eaten without having to re-heat. (Although it would taste a lot better warm!)

Next up: more avocados.

Somehow it takes me forever to eat even one avocado. So I've come up with lots of ways to use up an avocado.

One of which is avocado pesto with quinoa.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry quinoa
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• salt to taste

Gather your items and chop them.

Cook the quinoa.

Put the avocado, garlic, and basil into a bowl and add the spinach, lemon juice, and salt.

Add the cooked quinoa.

This is where you get your hands dirty. Literally. With your hands, mash up the avocado and mix everything together uniformly.

The resulting dish becomes very creamy! This can be served warm or cold. 

I made another avocado dish today but seeing as this post has already gone way over the usual word limit, I'll save it for tomorrow.

But I'd like to conclude with an anecdote. Yesterday, I passed by a bake sale that was being run by a couple of friends, and they tried to convince me to purchase a cupcake made of flax because apparently that's the kind of food I eat.

I'm glad I've earned such a reputation.