The most important meal of the day.

Today's topic is breakfast.

It may not seem like an exciting topic, but it is. Because I have an announcement. After approximately two years of eating the exact same breakfast every day, I have decided to make a change. Who would have thought I would outgrow overnight oats?!

It just happened one day two weeks ago, when all I wanted for breakfast was some toast and sunflower seed butter. With a little drizzle of honey.

This week I have stepped it up and am adding bananas instead of the honey. Also quite delicious.

So during this strange time of breakfast transition, I was thinking about other quick breakfast ideas that could work for busy weekdays.

Eggs? Probably too much effort to cook in the morning, but that did not stop me from eating them for dinner a few nights last week!

Cereal is always an option, but a little too high maintenance for an on-the-go meal. I have decided to do a bit more research on breakfast ideas...clearly I am a rookie at this!

In other news, last week, I wrote down my workout schedule, not only for organization purposes, but also to keep me on track.

And guess what? It worked like a charm. In fact, I only strayed from it slightly. No yoga on Wednesday, Friday was Zumba, and Saturday was yoga. Rest day came on Sunday instead. I strongly believe in making lists, it really helps me feel more accountable.

So, opinions please, friends! What is your breakfast item of choice? Especially for those who are on-the-go breakfasters like myself?

New beginnings

Hello friends!

I apologize for the lack of posts over the last seven months... I would like to say I have been all around the world and back. But actually, I have been!

I recently made some new goals and wanted to share them with you. For a while, I got so caught up with minute details of life that health and fitness took a back seat. Unfortunately, it's hard to get back into the swing of things after taking a break. I decided to transition gradually which has worked well so far!

Let's first start with the eats. I decided to get back into juicing...hooray for that one, because vegetable juice makes me feel so much healthier on the inside and so energetic. So, I began juicing last week and I am still on the juice train.

Last year, I got a steamer and I never used it because it had so many parts and it was overwhelming to figure it out. (Strange I know). I decided that I would take it out of the box this weekend and do some steaming.

Of course, I had to start my first steaming experience with a fancy recipe. I made some vegetable dumplings with a side of baked brown rice. Yes, baked brown rice. The verdict? Delicious.

Baked brown rice

• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 2/3 cups water
• 1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a baking pan. Cover with two layers of aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Vegetable dumplings

• 1 bag broccoli slaw
• 1 egg
• 1/2 block firm tofu, chopped into thin slices
• 1 1/4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 inch ginger
• 1 1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package wonton wrappers

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except for the wonton wrappers. Gently mix. Spoon the mixture into the wonton wrappers and seal the wrappers by brushing the corners with water.

Place the sealed wrappers into a steamer and steam for 12 minutes. I steamed them in batches of 6-7 to ensure that there was enough space between each one in the steamer.

Serve with brown rice, more soy sauce, or chili sauce.

I am quite excited to eat these for lunch all week!

On the workout front, I have been fascinated by tabata recently. Tabata workouts are the definition of short and sweet -- extremely short and extremely sweaty! I have also been doing more yoga, which has been my goal for quite sometime. Last week, I opened up this upper body workout I found in Women's Health. Don't let it deceive you! It was harder than I thought it was, and I was sore for a couple of days afterwards. That's what I like to call success!

Anyone have any new workouts to recommend? How about any recipes that use a steamer?

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!