Busy, Busy, Busy

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying their 3 day weekend (if you are lucky enough to have one). Mine has been super busy but that's because I'm preparing for 2 trips that will take place over the next two weeks. I'm excited, because for one of them I will be headed back to LA for a dear friend's wedding, but have so much to do, I can't think. I have to figure out what to bring to my carnivorous family's house. But that brings me to what this post is about.

I want to make today's post about something that a lot of my friends ask me and wanted to share the answer with you guys and gals. Since I eat 5 times a day to keep my metabolism going and do so without eating any meat, I always get asked: "How have you been able to stick with it??" Well, my friends the answer is simple: BE PREPARED. Now, let's be honest, you just sang those last 2 words in the style of the evil lion from the Lion King, didn't you??? Don't worry, I won't judge.

Now, it doesn't matter if you are single (like me) or have a family of 25, you can do it. It just takes a little time. Now since I have not treated my lady parts like a clown car and it's just me and my super adorable pup Daisy-Mae, I can give you the tips that I use to stay on track. I'll take you through my day to make things super easy.



Breakfast - We've all heard how Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. AND we've all made the excuse that I don't have time for breakfast in the morning. I've even said that many times myself, but now I don't. Why??? Because I've learned that breakfast doesn't have to be this huge meal on a huge plate that you have to cook. It can be something as simple as a english muffin with peanut or almond butter or even a
Chocolate Banana PB smoothie. These and many other breakfast foods don't take a lot of time to make. Personally, when I have my smoothie every morning before work, I put all the ingredients in the blender, hit start, and then take D out. When I come back in my smoothie is ready to go.

APPLE TIME!!! - Now every day at 10 AM, the girls in my office (myself included) break out into a small, yet very important, jingle. "It's APPLE TIMEEEEE!!) Now you don't have to sing this song to participate, but it helps. Now this isn't hard to keep prepared at all. It's an apple. Eat it whole, or if you're weird like me and don't like biting into apples, cut them up the night before or when you're preparing breakfast. I find I don't have to put lemon juice on them to stop them from browning if I keep them in an airtight container & in the fridge to stay cold.

Lunch - Part of this ties in to what I'm going to post about dinner, but here's a great way to use the time you have to get ready for the next day. It's Thursday night, I'm watching Grey's Anatomy and here's the same commercial I've already seen 20 odd times. So do I sit there an watch it again??? No, I get up and get my stuff packed for the next day. I cut up my apples, grab my lunch out of the freezer, and prep my snack. Does Grey's come back on in the middle?? Maybe, so I'll just finish during the next commercial. See...EASY PEASY. However, for others, this might be even easier. When you're cleaning the kitchen after dinner, take the leftovers (if you have any, because if you have a almost 17 year old football player in your house like my Mom, leftovers have become extinct) and put them in a container for the next day. Does it get any easier than that???

Afternoon Snack - Now at about 4PM every afternoon, I have an afternoon snack. I do this so I can keep my metabolism going and avoid wanting to stuff my face when I get home from work. I usually make this a mix of carbs and protein to keep me going. So I might have some greek yogurt with a bit of granola on top, or some hummus (see below for the recipe) with carrots or pretzels. Easy to pack the night before.

Dinner - Ok. So this is the most time-consuming thing that I prepare for. Now because it's just me and the recipes for just one or two people are almost as extinct as the dinosaurs, I do something pretty awesome. I make my own frozen meals. You may ask how??? Here's the answer: freezer bags. I'll take a batch of soup or a lasagna or whatever else I might be making a large batch of, portion it out and freeze them. That way, when I get home or am making my lunch for the next day, I just grab something out of the freezer and I'm good to go. One thing I can tell you though is to keep a variety in there. That way you're not stuck in a rut of eating the same thing over and over.


Now on to the recipe for this week. Hummus is probably one of my favorite things on the planet. I don't know why, but it is. I will eat it with almost anything. So instead of buying it in the store, I make it myself. Super easy, much easier on the wallet, and I know exactly what is going in it.

Hummus

3 TBSP Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans garbanzo beans (1 can drained)
Juice of 3 lemons
3 TBSP tahini
Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until desired consistency. If needed, you can add a little water to smooth it out.

So that's it, that's how I keep myself on track. It's really not that hard. Hopefully I can keep this up next weekend when I am in the land of temptation AKA Home AKA the land of food goodness AKA my mama's kitchen.

So since my pal and fellow blogger Jamie AKA HardRockChick has nicknamed me "Lil Kim" for my dope rhyming abilities, I leave you all with the words I will have to remind myself of... Prepare yourself before you wreck yourself. BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! (now where's my big clock necklace and my crazy stupid reality dating show???)

Brrrr....

Although January and February are usually the coldest months here in San Antonio, it has been surprisingly mild...until now. As I type this, there are reports of snow and the high today is in the 30s. Now while I don't particularly enjoy the cold (I'm southern, cold to me is the 60's), I do enjoy the one thing that this weather allows me to enjoy: a bowl of delicious, hot soup. Now since this little venture of mine is pushing me to try new things, I searched one of my favorite blogs Lunch Box Bunch to find a new recipe to try. I found one that I was willing to try as it looked quite simple to make and I already had all the ingredients. And it is now that I tell you how delicious this "Ridiculously Easy" Vegan Cheddar Potato Soup truly is. Now, let me just say that I'm not a vegan so I used dairy cheese. As for the optional ingredients, I used the garbanzo beans and nutritional yeast (2 things that are always in my pantry). Also, I did not garnish mine with the "Facon Bits". I just ate it as is and it was fantastic (This coming from a person who does not like potato soup. Don't believe me, ask my Mom). I'm making another one of her soups this week and I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Now for this week's "recipe of the week"(it's a cheesy title so if you have a suggestion, leave it the comments) I went very, very, very, simple. Every afternoon I eat either carrots or pretzels with some hummus. Well, that was starting to get old so I wanted to try something new. So low and behold I found something on my newest obsession Pinterest that I had to try: a guilt free version of ranch dip. The key to this is just swapping out the sour cream for greek yogurt. It has lots more protein and far less calories than sour cream and tastes just as yummy. So the next time you have a party, shower, or get-together of any kind, use this recipe. Your guests will never know the difference.

Ole!

Ever have a time where you were just craving a certain food so much that you could almost taste it?? Well, that happened to me this week. I don't know why, but I was craving enchiladas like it was nobody's business. Then I thought, this should be easy enough considering I live in a state where Mexican is a food group. But then it hit me, all the Mexican I like has meat in it. Oh no, what's a girl to do!?! But then there was a glimmer a hope, a light at the end of tunnel, a a-ha moment (you get the idea). I can make my own enchiladas and put whatever I want in them. That's my favorite thing about cooking. I can take an idea and turn it into whatever I want. So after a very short thinking session, I decided Black Bean Enchiladas were the way to go.

Of course, I had no clue how I was going to make this happen, so I did what any smart, self-sufficient, independent thinking, woman with a computer would do... I googled it and found what I was looking for. A fantastic recipe for Black Bean Enchiladas which were quite tasty, although after making them you would have thought a black bean & tomato sauce bomb had gone off in my kitchen. For this reason, I don't recommend making these for a weekday dinner as it was time consuming as well as messy. I would make them during the weekend and either freeze them or keep them in the fridge to cook the next day (what I did).

Of course, you can't have enchiladas by themselves. That's just insane. So I decided on some Mexican Rice, but I thought why not switch out the rice with some quinoa??? I mean it's yummy, is considered a complete protein, and is gluten-free. Also, it's a new food for me to try so I decided to go for it. So since revamping a recipe is one of my favorite things about cooking, I took a Mexican rice recipe I had and did a little substitution. So here it is...

Mexican Quinoa

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato puree (Feel free to use any type of tomato product you want. Diced, raw, etc. If you do, add in 1/2 cup as there isn't as much liquid in those.)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 cup frozen corn (This time I used peas, or you could sub any veggie you want or leave them out all together)

1.Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
2.Add the cumin and chili powder and saute until fragrant about a minute.
3.Add the quinoa, broth, tomato, oregano, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
4.Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the the quinoa is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
5.Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. (Note: I let mine sit for about 15 just to make sure all the liquid was well absorbed
6.Serve garnished with cilantro.

This went great with my enchiladas. Top it with some Cholula (mmmm....Cholula. Sorry I had a moment) and it's like you just busted a pinata filled with awesomeness.