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Chunky Greek Hummus Plate

May 24, 2012 by Lindsay 37 Comments

Hi Friends!

Just popping in with a quick post today. As you know, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend. If I had to guess, I’d say many of you will be going to a cookout/family gathering/party of some kind. I’d also guess many of those get-togethers will be filled with unhealthy foods and you’ll probably be indulging in some of them.

And that’s fine…but why not balance it out with some healthy stuff?!

When Hubby & I go out to eat at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, we always get the hummus. It comes with a little side dish of marinated tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. He loves it and I’ve been meaning to recreate it at home but just haven’t gotten around to it. When I saw this idea in Kraft Magazine, I knew it’d be a great compromise until I get around to making the marinated version.

Here’s what you do. Make a batch of your favorite hummus. I chose roasted red pepper, but garlic would be good too. If you’re in a pinch, pick some up at the store…but we all know homemade is better! Spread it on a plate and top with diced veggies. I used cucumber, tomato, red pepper, red onion and feta cheese! Add olives if you like them or leave them off like I did.

Serve with crackers or pita chips.

This is a fun twist on the typical plain old hummus and veggie sticks! In fact, it’s so pretty I bet it will be gone before you know it. The perfect party appetizer if you ask me 🙂

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

My Go-To Meals: Mexican Loaded Sweet Potatoes

May 22, 2012 by Lindsay 48 Comments

Hi friends!

I’m back with another one of my go-to meals to share with you guys! In case you missed last week, you can check out my Lentil & Veggie Curry by clicking HERE.

This week’s meal is the one I probably make the most out of any other meal ever. It’s so easy, so delicious and I can throw it together in about 15 minutes. Plus it’s super healthy. An all-around win in my book 🙂

I usually make mine Mexican themed, but feel free to use whatever you have on had. Here’s what you need:

Sweet potatoes
Veggies
Beans
A grain
Toppings

I almost always use black beans from the freezer. For the base I usually use red peppers and onion mixed with beans and whatever grain I happen to have leftover in my fridge. Brown rice works well…so does quinoa, farro, wheatberries…you get the idea. Saute the peppers and onions with some garlic. Add a little cayenne pepper and cumin….put the mixture on top of a microwaved sweet potato and top with tomato, avocado and cheese. That’s it!

Mexican Loaded Sweet Potato

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 15 min

Keywords: microwave saute entree healthy vegetarian low-sodium black beans sweet potato Mexican

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 small sweet potatoes (or 2 large)
1 red bell pepper
1/2 c onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c black beans
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 c cooked grain (rice, farro, quinoa)
1 medium avocado, diced
1 tomato, diced
mexican cheese

Instructions

1. Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and microwave on high for 5-6 minutes or until soft.
2. Saute the garlic, onion, red pepper and black beans in a medium-sized pan.
3. Add spices and mix well.
4. Add the grain and stir until heated through.
5. Slice the sweet potatoes in half length-wise (cut in half if using 2 large).
6. Top with bean mixture.
7. Add the avocado, tomato and cheese and serve warm.

The most important thing to remember is that this recipe is not exact. I usually don’t measure anything…just throw in what I have on hand. I always make extra toppings and we use that in tacos or burritos for lunch the rest of the week. If you eat meat, add some chicken or pork to the mix.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Sweet & Spicy Strawberry Peach Guacamole

May 21, 2012 by Lindsay 29 Comments

Hi Friends!

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Let me give you a quick recap of mine. I barely touched my computer all weekend. Which explains why last night I had 150 unread posts in my google reader.

Instead, I did some other fun things:

We had a garage sale all day Friday
We went out for happy hour drinks with friends
We stayed out for post-happy hour drinks with friends
We took lots of fun pictures in the sunbeam that was shining on our table
We had a garage sale all day Saturday
We found a garage sale mascot
We brought the boys out into the garage to hang with us
We had a cookout with my in-laws
I played with all the photography apps I have on my phone
We rode our bikes to get coffe on Sunday morning
I discovered the blur function on instagram
We donated all our garage sale leftovers to charity
I made a menu plan for the week for the first time in about a year
We played in our Sunday night sand volleyball league
And we won 🙂

Oh, and then this happened:

Yep…I put fruit in my guac. And I’m in love. Here are the recipes that inspired last night’s dinner:

I had ripe avocados…and I snagged a container of strawberries while we were out running errands on Sunday…but I also bought my first bag of peaches of the season! SO PUMPED. They’re my favorite fruit. Then, when I got home and tried to make the salsa, the avocados were too ripe. So I made guacamole instead. And since I was planning to put goat cheese in my quesadillas…and fruit goes well with goat cheese, I just went ahead and threw some strawberries and peaches into the guac!

So basically, use your favorite guac recipe, add fruit and voila!

Sweet & Spicy Strawberry Peach Guacamole

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 5 min

Keywords: appetizer healthy avocado strawberry

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados
2 Tbsp cilantro, minced
1/4 c red onion, diced
juice from 1 lime
1 jalapeno, minced
1 c strawberries, diced
1 c peaches, diced

Instructions

Mash the avocados in a bowl.
Stir in the cilantro, lime juice, onion and jalapeno Mix well.
Stir in the fruit.

As you can see, this isn’t so much a recipe as a summer guac modification!

Before we went to volleyball, I sauteed some onion, garlic, red and green peppers and black beans in a large pan with some cayenne pepper and paprika. I diced a sweet potato and microwaved it for 1 minute before adding it to the mix. Then I stuck the mixture in the fridge. When we got home, I pulled out the veggies, scooped them into tortillas with some mexican cheese and some goat cheese and tossed them on the George Foreman. When the cheese was melted, I topped them with guac and dug in! SOOOO GOOD!

The perfect summer weeknight din!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

May Photo-A-Day: Part 1

May 19, 2012 by Lindsay 8 Comments

Time for another edition of the #photoaday challenge!

Here are the prompts for May:

And here’s the first half of the month:

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

Fitness Friday 21

May 18, 2012 by Lindsay 33 Comments

Hi Friends!

Time for another Fitness Friday!

I’ve only got 2 workouts to share with you this week but they’re good ones! This week it was all about full body weights with cardio bursts! I used 2 of my old workouts as a base, updated them both with a few changes and made them look pretty for you this week

I took it easy this past weekend. My body was screaming for rest so I took several days off. Monday I jumped back in and did this workout:

Holy moly. I used heavy dumbbells to really push myself and I was SO sore on Tuesday and Wednesday.

#PROOF

Tuesday I did I little reading on the treadmill with the cat:

Totally normal right? We’re having a garage sale this weekend and it’s got Marcus a little stressed out so he’s literally going wherever I go. Didn’t leave his perch for the whole 3 miles.

Wednesday I did this workout:

I did my runs at 7.0 which is faster than I’ve been running lately. By the end I was a sweaty mess:

#PROOF

Soooooooooo, there you have it. PUSH YOURSELF! And have a great weekend!

–Lindsay–

Tropical Quinoa Cookies

May 17, 2012 by Lindsay 54 Comments

Hi Friends!

Yep, you read that right. I put quinoa in cookies. And they’re delicious!

Let me back up. Last week on my Facebook Page (have you liked it?) I posted that I was going to try to make some tropical granola bars. I found some dried pineapple (with only a little added sugar) and some dried papaya (with no added sugar) at Earthfare and got to work.

And I failed. I made two batches. One with a lot of applesauce. Usually I use peanut butter as my binder but that didn’t seem very tropical (although I could have used the coconut peanut butter we got at Blend retreat…but I gave mine to Sarah since I’m not huge on coconut). Anyways, the applesauce made them chewy but they were too wet for my taste. Then I tried with less applesauce, more oil….and they didn’t stick together.

Not one to wallow in my kitchen failures- they happen all too often for that, I moved on the plan B. I’d been thinking about adding quinoa to some baked goods for a while now. In fact, I made some of this gluten-free banana bread, subbed 1/3 c agave for the sugar and added 1 cup cooked quinoa. They came out great! However I also added some peanut butter chips, which I’ve never used before, and I didn’t like those. They were too sweet or something, I dunno. Anyways, they kinda ruined the muffins for me…but you better believe i’ll be making them again (sans pb chips) next time I have some ripe bananas. Added protein, for the win!

Anyways, after a half success with the muffins, I decided to try adding quinoa to some cookies. And I just so happened to still have enough dried tropical fruit to make some sort of tropical cookie…with quinoa….and then I threw in some granola…and some almonds. So really it was kinda like I was making my tropical granola bars….just in cookie form…which worked out well for me 🙂

These cookies are fluffy, chewy and crunchy…all at the same time!

Tropical Quinoa Cookies

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Keywords: bake snack dessert quinoa cookie

Ingredients (2 dozen)

1 1/3 c white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c cooked quinoa
1 c granola
1 c dried fruit (pineapple, papaya, cranberries)
1/2 c almonds, chopped

optional

shredded coconut

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.

2. Add the honey, eggs and vanilla and mix well.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

4. By hand, stir in the quinoa, granola, dried fruit and almonds until just mixed.

5. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

I used Love Grown Foods Cranberry Pecan granola which has some coconut in it. If you really like coconut, add some shredded coconut to the mix. If you don’t have granola, just use oats. If you don’t like pineapple or papaya, try mango or chopped up banana chips!

By my best estimation when I tried putting these into a recipe calculator, these have about 3 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber per cookie, with about 9 grams of sugar (some coming naturally from the fruit) and about 130 calories. I had enough dough for 27 cookies.

Have you ever baked with quinoa?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Berry Breakfast Quinoa

May 14, 2012 by Lindsay 88 Comments

Hi Friends!

Happy Monday 🙂 Today I have a delicious new breakfast to share with you guys. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned on here before, quinoa is not my favorite. However, I know how healthy it is and what a great source of protein it is, especially for vegetarians, so over the past year I’ve been making an effort to eat it more often. This means I’m always searching for different recipes in hopes of finding some I really like.

The good news is, I’ve found a few over the past several months. The great news is I have one to share with you today!

As we all know, I’m a huge breakfast fan. In fact, a lot of days I eat it for multiple meals. Last week I made breakfast quinoa…and ate it for lunch….and it was delicious.

I cooked the quinoa in milk with some strawberries and it topped with with peanut butter, almonds, sliced bananas, a few chocolate chips and a drizzle of agave. Holy YUM!

Berry Breakfast Quinoa

by Lindsay L

Cook Time: 20 min

Keywords: stovetop breakfast healthy vegetarian low-sodium fruit quinoa

Ingredients

1/4 c quinoa, dry & rinsed
1/2 c milk
1/2 c berries
dash cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Toppings

nuts
fruit
chocolate chips
nut butter
agave/honey

Instructions

1. Combine the quinoa, milk, berries, cinnamon and vanilla in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
3. Add toppings and serve warm.

This recipe could easily be doubled to make a larger batch to eat throughout the week. I looked at some recipes that added the berries in after cooking, but I decided to just throw mine in while it was cooking. As a result, the berries kinda disolved into the quinoa making it a pretty pink color!

The only thing you need to keep in mind is that adding the berries means there’s a little extra liquid as they dissolve so you may need to cook the quinoa a bit longer than usual so all the liquid can be absorbed. Play around with the toppings to find a combo you like! Next time i’m adding greek yogurt!

Dig in, friends!

So tell me, what’s your favorite way to eat quinoa? Have you ever made a sweet version like this?

–Lindsay–

Happy Mother’s Day

May 13, 2012 by Lindsay 6 Comments

Just popping in to say:

Happy Mother’s Day

to both the moms in my life.

Thanks for everything you do for me.

I love you both.

–Lindsay–

Fitness Friday 20

May 11, 2012 by Lindsay 23 Comments

Hi Guys!

It’s time for another Fitness Friday!

My workouts this week since I got back from blend have been somewhat sporadic. Quite frankly, I’ve been exhausted. But have no fear! I still have a few workouts to share with you 🙂 Apparently I was in the mood to go with a numbers theme this week.

Monday and Tuesday I wasn’t really in the mood to workout…I had a test on Wednesday so I spent most of those two days studying. Even though I wasn’t working out, I still wanted something to get me up and moving throughout the day. That’s how I came up with these first two workouts. They only take five minutes but they’ll elevate your heart rate and get you moving! They’re great for getting you up off your butt without taking up a lot of time! The perfect study break.

The first one hardly requires any space at all. You can basically just stand in place to do it. Give it a try in your office at work, or while you’re cooking dinner.

Here’s a video in case you’re not sure about toe taps. She uses a medicine ball but you can basically just pick a spot on the floor or wall and use it to alternately tap your toes. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO.
For the air punches, you can do whatever you want- jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts…just keep your arms moving!

If you have a little bit more space, try this one:

You can do these several times in a row for a full workout, or use them throughout the day to bump up your heart rate!

Wednesday I was finally feeling slightly more rested, so I put together the following workout. It’s easy to remember: You do seven exercises…seven reps of each exercise…and repeat the cycle seven times!

Use a medicine ball for the ball slams and the wall passes!

Until I did this workout, I forgot how much I love my medicine ball! The next day I put together an ab workout using the medicine ball again.

FYI- planks on the ball are HARD!

That’s all for today friends! Hope you have a great weekend 🙂

–Lindsay–

Blend Retreat 2012

May 8, 2012 by Lindsay 75 Comments

Hi Friends!

Yesterday was Secret Recipe Club Reveal but today I’m back with a full recap of my amazing weekend at Blend Retreat in Boulder, Colorado!

I left super early Friday morning, flew through Dallas and arrived in Denver around 11am. I was one of the first to arrive so I hung out at the airport for a while before meeting up with one of my roommates for the weekend- Sarah. We had a really exciting afternoon lined up! After meeting up with a few bloggers I already “knew” from reading their blogs, Courtney & Alyssa, as well as a few new friends- Bobbi & Brittany, we were picked up from the airport in style.

That’s right. Maddy and Alex, the founders of Love Grown Foods, picked us up in Elby, The LOVE bus. Isn’t it awesome?! Maddy got super excited when she heard some of her LOVE bloggers were coming to Denver so she offered to pick us up and take us on a couple of tours. We got to see their office- check out the ping pong table! They built all the furniture themselves. We learned some fun stuff about Love Grown Foods and the whole office smelled like cinnamon raisin granola. It was heavenly. Then we saw their old production site, a super small manufacturing space attached to their office. It’s currently almost empty because they just recently outsourced their production to Fresca Foods. Maddy and Alex also hooked us up with a huge box full of some of their favorite local food products. I cannot wait to try them all!

;

The next stop on our journey to Boulder was touring the Fresca Foods facility! So many awesome products are produced here: Love Grown Foods Granola, Lara Bars, Justin’s Nut Butter , 34 Degrees Crackers and Boulder Ice Cream just to name a few. We saw their research and development room, their recipe testing room and then headed to the back to see the actual production rooms! We saw Lara Bars being packaged and got to taste one right of the line. It was AMAZING. So much better than when you buy them in the store.

We also so the LGF room. Maddy and Alex told us about how they used to make all the granola themselves, mix it by hand and seal all the bags with the help of their parents. It’s so amazing to hear how much they’ve grown. They’re two of the most passionate people I’ve ever met and you can tell they really pour their heart and soul into their business! So proud to represent them as a Love blogger.

Here’s some more pics Maddy snapped of all of us:

As an added bonus, THE Justin, of Justin’s Nut Butters, just so happened to be on-site at Fresca Foods while we were there. We got to meet him, chat with him for a while and he gave us a tour of his production room. It was amazing. He’s also built his company up through a lot of hard work and dedication. In fact, it’s growing so fast that the whole reason he was there on Friday was because they were installing more equipment so they can keep up with the demand for his products! We even got a picture with him 🙂

After our tours were over, they drove us the rest of way to Boulder and dropped us off at Blend! The Blend Retreat was held at Chautauqua Park. It was beautiful! We checked in at the lodge and met our amazing hostesses- Lindsay, Katie & Janetha, got t shirts and MORE food. So.much.swag! It was incredible. I could barely carry everything to the cabin! Sarah and I had just enough time to say hi to our other roomates- Maria, Jen & Jess and change before it was time to head to the cocktail hour and dinner. At the cocktail hour I got to meet some of the other bloggers I was looking forward to seeing at Blend, including Laura, Tina, Heather, Jill and so many more!

Following cocktails, we had a sit down dinner. Dinner meant meeting even more new friends like Amy (she’s pregnant and totally adorable), Dena, Heather, Katie, Amanda and more! I had the vegetarian pasta and then we had mini cupcakes for dessert from a local Boulder company. We got to vote on what flavor we wanted, and then Lindsay, Katie and Janetha each picked a flavor. I tried s’mores, chocolate peanut butter pretzel and one with lavender. After dinner, we headed back to our cabins. Everyone was exhausted after traveling all day and we had an early morning ahead of us!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early for bootcamp at 7am. It was sponsored by Fit Mixer who gave us some great aminos to drink before and after our workout. Tina & Lindsay took us through a bootcamp workout and it was tough! We used resistance bands and I definitely worked up a sweat! We ended with a fun game that involved splitting us up into teams and seeing which team could do the most of a variety of different exercises.

After bootcamp we headed to breakfast. It was sponsored by Xagave and it was AMAZING! They had so much good food…tons of fresh fruit, oatmeal, Chobani, so many different toppings, almond butter and muffins baked with xagave. Everything was delicious and I was totally stuffed by the end. I also met Julie, Katie, Susan and some others I hadn’t met on Friday. Side note- Xagave is one of my new favorite companies. I’d never tried agave nectar before but I really love their product! Actually, all of the sponsers of this event were amazing. I was introduced to a bunch of new products like Fit Mixer, Xagave, Green Mountain Coffee and Cheribundi….and some of my all-time favs were there as well- Chobani and Love Grown Foods!

A few of the sponsor companies actually sent employees to the retreat to spend the weekend with us and it was really cool to get to talk to them. I finally met Lindsay and Emily from Chobani, who I’ve been emailing and tweeting with for the past 2 years!

That’s Lindsay from Chobani. Isn’t she adorable?!

After breakfast, we headed back to our cabins to get ready for the hike. At 10am we all gathered at the trailhead and headed out on a 4 mile round-trip hike!

I was actually in the very front of the pack the whole time with Lindsay, Laura and Heather. Guys, this hike was NO JOKE. Probably one of the toughest hikes I’ve ever done. There were tons of rock stairs and super steep parts.

It was definitely the hardest workout of the day….but it was so worth it.

We hiked up to The Royal Arch and the view from the top was AMAZING! You could see all the way to Denver. And the weather was absolutely perfect.

By the time we made it back down, it was about 12:30. We headed back to shower and change and then I spent a little time in the lodge putting together the Foodie Penpals assignments. Foodie Penpals doesn’t stop for Blend! Then, a large group of us headed out to lunch at a local restaurant. I got to meet even more new friends like Kelly, Gina, Calee, Ashley, Lynne and Lauren!

I got an FYIPA and a grilled cheese with pesto, avocado and tomato, which I devoured in about 2 minutes because I was STARVING! It was so fun to sit next to Gina. I drool over her food pictures every day!

After lunch, we headed out to Avery Brewing. The hubby was SO JEALOUS! Don’t worry, I got him a t shirt. We tasted several beers and even got a special, short little tour. We sat outside and chatted for a while. I ordered some hummus and Heather got some sweet potato tater tots that were AMAZING. And I don’t even like tater tots!

Later, we headed back into town and went to Rio Grande- it was Cinco de Mayo after all. I was pretty wiped out by this point and still full from my hummus so I was chugging water, but lots of people enjoyed margaritas and food and mayyyyybe a few too many tequila shots for some people, who shall remain nameless 🙂 At dinner I got to meet Ashley…another amazing food blogger/photographer and Lena.

That’s Lindsay’s photo I think!

And that one’s from Ashley. Thanks ladies!

We headed back to the lodge after dinner and spent some time hanging out and munching all the extra food we had laying around from the sponsors.

Sunday morning brought another 7am bootcamp, led by Chobani…but I skipped out on that one in favor of an extra hour of sleep. My body thanked me. I walked 20,000 steps on Saturday! Chobani sponsored Sunday’s breakfast which was also delicious. Lots of greek yogurt, fresh fruit and bagels. I also tried a Mocha Nut Fudge K cup from Green Moutain and it was AMAZING. Probably my new favorite thing…and I didn’t even think I liked mocha. It was so good that I had two cups. I must find it in the regular coffee version since I don’t have a Keurig.

After breakfast there was a raffle and the hosts were sweet enough to make sure everyone got a prize. I originally won a giftcard for a new blog header design, but since I just had mine redone, I told them to give it to someone else! My new friend Brittany actually ended up winning and I’m so excited for her! I won a gift certificate for some Xagave products and I’m SO EXCITED about it!

After that it was time to head to the airport. My roommate Maria got a rental car and was sweet enough to drive several of us to the airport. It was a long day of traveling, but totally worth it! It was so awesome to meet so many of the bloggers I interact with every day online….and to meet so many new friends and find even more blogs to follow.

Huge shoutout to Lindsay, Katie and Janetha. They did an AMAZING job planning and organizing this retreat. It was an incredible amount of work and they made it pretty much perfect. All of them were absolutely amazing to meet in person. They are beautiful, sweet and down-to-earth, just like they are on their blogs and it was so fun to get to hang out with them. They each made an effort to meet and talk to every single person that was there and make everyone feel included in everything we did.

;

There’s already talk of Blend Retreat 2013 and trust me, you guys will all want to be there…so keep you eye out for more info!

Group shot thanks to Lauren.

Oh, and if you think we went home empty-handed, you are incorrect. Check out all this swag!

I definitely had to check a bag on the way home!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!!

–Lindsay–<

SRC: Avocado Dipped Sweet Potato Fries

May 7, 2012 by Lindsay 34 Comments

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal day and this month is a real winner let me tell you!

This month I was assigned to Alessio’s blog: Recipe Taster. It’s filled with beautiful photos and so many unique recipes. I was immediately intrigued by these Avocado Fries. Mainly because of the spicy peach salsa, which i will definitely be making this summer when peaches are in season.

It just so happened that I needed to use up some avocados…but there was one small problem: I don’t like just plain avocado. Gasp! I know. I love it in things, on top of things, to dip my chips in, etc….but when it comes to just taking a big scoop of plain avocado and eating it- not for me. So, I wasn’t sure if I would like avocado fries.

I do, however, LOVE sweet potato fries. And avocado and sweet potato go really well together, right?

Well that’s where this idea was born. Since my avocados were a little past ripe anyways, I just mashed them up on a plate, then I got out some flour and panko breadcrumbs and got to work:

This is so easy I’m not sure it can really be called a recipe, but here you go:

Avocado Dipped Sweet Potato Fries

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Keywords: bake appetizer side snack healthy vegetarian avocado sweet potato

Ingredients

1 sweet potato
1 medium avocado
1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
1/4 c flour
cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Mash the avocado on a plate. Put the breadcrumbs on another plate and the flour on a third plate.
2. Slice the sweet potato into fries.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and microwave for 1 min.
4. Let cool slightly, then dredge lightly in flour, roll in avocado and panko and place on a baking sheet.
5. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 min, flipping once.

Notes

It’s kinda hard to get the avocado to stick to the sweet potato so don’t expect an even coating. At first I was worried about this but I decided that just a taste of avocado would actually be nice, instead of a solid coating.

I chose to microwave these for a minute so that they wouldn’t need to be in the oven as long. I was a little worried about burning the panko before the fries were cooked. Microwaving solved this problem and they were perfect after 15 min in the oven!

Like I said, getting the avocado to stick was a little tricky, but I was able to get some to stick to each fry and it ended up being just the right amount in my opinion.

The hubby & I enjoyed these for lunch and they were a big hit. I’ll definitely be making them again. Thanks for the inspiration, Alessio!

–Lindsay–

April Photo-A-Day: Part 2

May 5, 2012 by Lindsay 8 Comments

Hi Friends-

Just popping in for a quick recap.

In case you missed the first part, click here.

In case you missed the prompts, here they are:

In case you’re interested in the second half, here you go:

17: something you don’t like- studying
18: hair- a hot mess like usual
19: orange- the boss
20: whoops! skipped this one
21: bottle- wine
22: last thing you bought- beer brewing supplies
23: vegetable- an assortment from the veggie drawer
24: something you’re grateful for- healthy grocery stores
25: looking down: at this dressing
26: black & white: Abner

27: somewhere you went- coffeeshop to study
28: 1pm: building the treadmill laptop stand
29: circles: watching hubby brew beer
30: something that makes you sad- water leak = wet tools

In case you want to participate in May, here you go:

Happy Saturday 🙂

–Lindsay–

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites

May 3, 2012 by Lindsay 89 Comments

Hi Friends!

So here’s the deal. Bright and early tomorrow morning, I leave to go to Blend Retreat! I can’t believe it’s finally here! I have approximately 9,280 things to do before my flight so I don’t have much time to chat.

But I just HAD to share these with you. HAD TO!

So let’s dive right in, shall we?

I don’t think it’s any secret that I adore these two companies:

They go together like peanut butter and jelly. And mixing them together is one of my favorite snacks. It also just so happens that they’re both Blend sponsors! Totally coincidental…but I guess these could also be called Blend Bites!

So here’s the deal. I love yogurt and granola mixed together. Usually I mix them together and put them on my oatmeal…but summer’s coming. And i’m not a huge fan of hot oatmeal when it’s hot out. So I decided I needed a new way to eat my favorite snack.

I’ve heard that you can freeze Chobani, but I’d never tried it. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I dumped a container of Chobani in a bowl, added some LGF granola and stirred it all up. Then I spooned the mixture into an ice cube tray and stuck it in the freezer.

After a few hours, out popped some frozen yogurt granola bites. As I was munching on one I decided some chocolate would really kick things up a notch. So I grabbed some chocolate chips, melted them and dipped my cubes in the bowl one at a time.

Then I put a picture on instagram (are you following me? theleangreenbean) & twitter to taunt you guys!

And then I made you wait until today for the “recipe”. That wasn’t very nice was it?

Well here it is. You need exactly 3 things:

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites

by Lindsay L

Keywords: snack dessert greek yogurt granola no bake

Ingredients

6 oz Greek Yogurt
1/2 – 3/4 c Granola
1/3 c dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Mix the yogurt and granola together and spoon into ice cube trays.

Freeze until set.

Remove from ice cube tray and dip in melted chocolate.

Freeze until set.

Enjoy.

So easy!

Friends, go make these now!

Also, some of you have asked what programs I use to play with my pictures. The one above was done in picassa….the two below were done with ipiccy.

Because really, every once and while you just need something a little more exciting than this:

Anyways, my mind is already spinning with what to do for my next batch. I think i’m going to put a banana slice between the yogurt and the chocolate. Or maybe stick an almond in the middle of each one. If I’m feeling adventurous, I might even try putting the melted chocolate on the top before even sticking them in the freezer! That would be easiest, if I could get them out of the ice cube trays without breaking the chocolate.

Oh, and because I know someone will ask…yes I did try coating one entirely in chocolate. It worked, but it wasn’t easy. The cold cubes make the chocolate sieze up and it was just a lot more work. I think dipping is the way to go for sure.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Take Time to Say Thanks

May 1, 2012 by Lindsay 94 Comments

Hi Friends-

As you guys know, this is mostly a food and fitness blog. I don’t write a whole lot of posts that are super deep, heavy or from the heart. In fact, it’s been about two months since my last one (What’s in a Jean Size?). But yesterday something happened that really tugged at my heart strings and it brought to mind something that I’ve found myself thinking about a lot lately- saying “thank you”.

Let me back up. Yesterday, as most of you know, was Foodie Penpals Reveal Day. (ps…there’s still time to jump onboard for May!) After I got out of class yesterday, I was checking my email and a comment notification popped up on one of my posts from a few months ago. Remember back in January when I wrote this post called Things Blogging Has Taught Me? A sweet woman named Kristen, who blogs over at Miami Housewife, found that post and left a comment. Here’s what she said:

I read her comment several times because I was so touched by it. I’m always so happy to hear people say they can relate to my posts, and it made my day to hear that she liked my blog and found it inspiring. And after thinking about it the whole way home, all I really wanted to do was say thank you to her.

Thank you:

For reading my blog.
For taking the time to look around and read more than just one post.
For making an effort to tell me how much she liked my blog.

It means so much.

I’m just as guilty as anyone else of not saying thank you as often as I should. But I’m working on it. In fact, this post is probably a long time coming.

————————————————

I was raised to say please and thank you for everything and I was raised to write thank you notes all.the.time.

When someone gives you a present…write a thank you note.
When someone acts as your reference….write a thank you note.
When someone takes the time to help you….write a thank you note.

It’s something I got annoyed with my mom for making me do when I was younger, but it’s one of the things I appreciate most now that I’m an adult. And it’s definitely something I plan to teach my children someday.
—————————————————————–

Because I think a lot of people truly underestimate the power of a simple “thank you”.

—————————————————————-

I get legitimate road rage when someone flies by me in the left lane and then cuts over into my lane at the last minute to get on the highway. But it’s amazing how much calmer I remain if that person waves “thank you” as they’re switching lanes.

I spend a lot of time working on Foodie Penpals and I don’t get paid a dime…but when someone replies to one of my emails and says “thank you” for organizing or thanks me for helping connect them with a new friend…every single second is totally worth it.

But, this post is not me digging for compliments or a thank you for anything i’ve done. This post was written as a reminder to all of you….to take the time to say thank you the next time one is deserved.

If someone sends you something awesome in the mail, SAY THANK YOU. Tell them how much you appreciated it.
If someone sits there and listens to you complain about something, whether it be important or trivial….say hey, thanks for listening.
If someone writes a blog post that inspires you to make a positive change, or motivates you to try harder…TELL THEM. Say thank you.

——————————————————————–

Because you never know how much it might mean to someone.

Or how much it may validate all the work they put into something.

Or how what a big smile it might bring to their face.

———————————————————————

So go out today and say thank you:

Call your family and say thanks for being there for me.
Leave a comment on your favorite blog, especially if you’ve never commented before, and say thanks for writing.
Leave an extra tip for your waiter/waitress and say thanks for a great meal.
Thank a member of the armed forces for their service to our country.
Thank someone you see doing a usually thankless job like collecting trash or cleaning the bathroom.
Send a note to a friend and say thanks for sticking by your side over the years.

Every single one of us has so much to be thankful for. So give thanks for it. And SAY THANKS FOR IT!

Trust me…it’ll be worth your while.

So this is me saying thank you to all of you.

To every single person who reads my blog- whether it’s one time, or every single day.
To everyone who has taken the time to tell me how much they appreciate and enjoy Foodie Penpals.
To all of my Fitfluential friends who motivate me every single day.
To anyone that has ever tried one of my recipes or workouts and told me how much they enjoyed it.
To my husband- for everything he does around the house.
To my family- for constantly reminding me how important I am, even when I’m far away.
To my entire support system- for everything you do every.single.day.

I know I don’t say it enough….but thank you.

–Lindsay–

April Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

April 30, 2012 by Lindsay 47 Comments

Hi Friends!

Happy Monday. A few quick announcements before we get started! If you didn’t read The Bean over the weekend, you missed out on a couple of AWESOME posts, so I thought i’d just take a second to point them out to you.

1. My hubby built me pretty much the best thing ever this weekend. It’s a stand that fits around my treadmill so that I can use my laptop while I’m walking. It’s seriously amazing. Definitely check it out…and then build one for yourself! Bonus- all the wood and paint we used was from leftover projects that have been done previously around the house so it’s totally green! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT!

Ok, moving on…Can you believe it’s already time for another Foodie Penpals reveal day?

Time flies! This month I lucked out with another great penpal. Ashley from Freckles & Spice hooked me up with an awesome package. I love Ashley and am so excited that I actually get to meet her this weekend at Blend!!!

Let’s take a look at what she sent me:

Freeze-dried mango, which I’d never tried before. Definitely making some tropical granola bars with that!
Some locally made cookies. I always say I don’t like coconut but I must be coming around slightly because I don’t mind coconut milk in my curry and I actually liked these cookies. I’m trying to save them so I’ve just been having a nibble here and there. They’re like fun little shortbread cookies, except better!
Homemade Coffee Cashew Cookie Bars! She posted the recipe on her blog (click here to see it!) and she kindly left the coconut out of mine. I was surprised how much I liked the coffee flavor in these. A delicious little treat!

Roasted chickpeas and fava beans– another homemade treat! i LOVE roasted chickpeas and had no idea you could even roast fava beans. Very cool!
Red lentils– my favorite kind! How did she know?
Brown Basmati rice– we go through this stuff so fast in my house!
Indian spices– she knows we love Indian food and it was sweet that she sent us stuff to make our own at home- which we do about once a week 🙂

Thank you so much Ash!!!!

And now, in case you’re new and wondering what Foodie Penpals is all about:

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.

– Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in Europe, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at [email protected] to get involved!

If you live in Asia or Australia and want to get involved, email me and I’ll see if we get enough interest.

–Lindsay–

Treadmill Laptop Stand

April 29, 2012 by Lindsay 68 Comments

Hi Guys!

This weekend the hubby was busy with a fun little project I asked him to do for me.

I came up with the idea a few weeks ago, and I was so excited about it that I immediately asked him if he would build it for me. As you may recall, the hubby is quite handy. This was a pretty simple project and I knew he’d have no trouble with it.

Here’s the situation: I’ve walked at least 10,000 steps every single day since I got my FitBit on April 8th. However, on most days, almost all of my steps take place in the afternoon and evening. I’m just not very active in the morning. I’m always looking for ways to sneak in more steps, which is what sparked this idea in the first place.

Every morning, I leave the dogs in the bedroom with the hubby and I come down to eat my cereal. Then I sit down on the couch with the cat and check my email/read blogs/etc for a while. When hubby leaves for work, the dogs come down and join us on the couch. Next, I usually work on school work which means I sit on the couch some more…and before I know it, it’s lunchtime and I’ve barely walked at all.

So I thought, what if I could read blogs and check my email while I was on the treadmill? Sure, I could technically use my phone…but it’s small and my hand bounces around and quite frankly, I like using my computer…especially in the morning.

So I asked the hubby to build me some sort of stand that would fit around the treadmill that my computer could sit on. He agreed, because he is awesome…and this weekend he got to work. He spent all day in his workshop (the garage) using all his tools. :

This project was totally green. All the wood he used was leftover from various other projects we’ve done around the house!!! Pretty cool, right?! Once he was done, we carried it downstairs to test it out.

It was perfect! He brought it back out to the garage and added a few more boards to make it more stable and some trim to fancy it up a bit (also leftover from a project). Then, we painted it using some sample paint we bought when we were trying to choose what color to paint our house a couple years ago.

Isn’t it awesome?! Now I can grab my computer, head downstairs after breakfast in the morning and plod along while I get things done. Sure, I won’t be going very fast…but I’ll still be getting my steps in…and that’s better than sitting on the couch!

I’m so completely in love with it! And with my hubby for making it for me 🙂

After the paint dried, we did a final test with the computer. And yes, I tested it out in my bare feet 🙂 Marcus also gave his seal of approval.

The finished product:

I’ve never been so excited to wake up and walk!

If you’re impressed by the hubby’s handiwork, be sure to check out this post to see what he did to our master bathroom!

What do you do to sneak some extra steps into your day?

–Lindsay–

Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing

April 26, 2012 by Lindsay 57 Comments

Thick, creamy and full of flavor, this Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing recipe will take your salad to the next level. It’s gluten-free, vegan, paleo and ready in minutes!

**Post and photos updated 1/14/16**

Hi Friends!

There are days when you feel like getting a little fancy and cooking a nice warm dinner and there are days when you just don’t have the energy to anything but pull some leftovers from the fridge, chop them up and throw them over a big bowl of greens and call it a night. Am I right?!

The good news is, there’s nothing wrong with salad for dinner. In fact, it’s one of my favorite ways to clean out the fridge! The problem often lies in the dressing. Store-boughtt dressing, while convenient, isn’t always the healthiest choice. They’re often loaded with weird ingredients, added sugars, etc.

But, as we all know, a good dressing can really take your salad to the next level! So that’s why it’s good to have a few recipes like this in your back pocket! Dressing recipes that you can whip up in about 60 seconds that are made with simple ingredients and packed with flavor.

This one is for all of you avocado lovers. It’s perfect for adding some healthy fats to your meal and a great way to use up ripe avocados if you’re not in the mood for homemade guac! It’s super thick and creamy- without any cream- which makes it great for coating every bite of salad! However, if you prever a thinner, more pourable dressing, you can just add a little extra liquid!

Original photo

Ready to whip up a batch of your own? Here’s how you make it:

Like I mentioned, you can adjust the sweet or spicy factor by adding cayenne pepper or a splash of sweetener if desired. I like mine with extra cayenne and no sweetener 🙂

[Tweet “This Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing from @leangrnbeanblog is great on any salad!”]

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Salmon & Goat Cheese Puffs

April 24, 2012 by Lindsay 29 Comments

Hi Friends!

Today I’ve got some nice little puffs of deliciousness to share with you! These would make a great party appetizer. They’re super easy to make and come together in a flash, especially if you use leftover salmon so it’s already cooked! But even if you have to cook the salmon, they still don’t take long…
I made these over lunch 🙂

These only require a few ingredients. You could add some roasted red peppers if you want to but I didn’t have any on hand and was too lazy to roast one! These could also be made with wonton wrappers, but I like the cresecent roll dough because it stretches more and it’s easier to fit everything inside if you accidentally scoop too much.

Salmon & Goat Cheese Puffs

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Keywords: bake appetizer side vegetarian goat cheese salmon spinach

Ingredients (12 puffs)

5 oz salmon, cooked
5 oz goat cheese, softened
1/4 c spinach, cooked
1/2 c artichokes, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tube crescent roll dough (preferably seamless)

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese and spinach together.
2. Add the salmon and artichokes (if using) and mix well.
3. Stir in the spices.
4. Unroll the dough, pressing the seams together if necessary.
5. Cut the dough into 12 squares.
6. Scoop a small spoonful of the salmon mixture into each square.
7. Fold one corner over making a triangle.
8. Use a fork to press the edges together and poke a hole in the top.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

It really couldn’t get much easier:

Enjoy! I’m off to plan a get-together so I can make these again.
What’s your favorite party appetizer?
–Lindsay–

Recipe Remix: Gluten-Free Zucchini Carrot Apple Bars

April 23, 2012 by Lindsay 30 Comments

Hi Friends-

Happy Monday. It’s been a while since I did a recipe remix so I thought it was about time. Last September, I posted these Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins. I’m not exaggerating when I say that these the best muffins I’ve ever made. I love a good banana muffin, but these muffins are a bit unique, packed with flavor, and healthy!

I had plans to make them again when I got the idea to change them up a bit. With some very minor changes, I made them gluten-free and they can EASILY be made vegan with a flax egg. I also decided to make them in bar form just to change things up a bit.

I shredded, mixed, spread and baked…and crossed my fingers they would turn out well!

And they did. The gluten-free version has a bit of a grainer texture because of the oat flour, but the taste is still delicious!

Here’s the original recipe:

Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Keywords: bake muffins breakfast snack healthy vegetarian apple zucchini fall summer

Ingredients (12 muffins)

2 c white whole wheat flour
1 medium zucchini
1 large handful of baby carrots (approx. 10-15)
1 medium apple, cored and quartered
1 egg
1/3 c sugar
¼ c honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp vegetable/canola oil
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or line muffin tins.

2. Grate zucchini, apple and carrots (or use a food processor). Place in a towel and wring out the excess water. You should have just over 2 cups shredded fruits and veggies.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, sugar, honey, applesauce, oil and grated fruits and veggies.

4. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, ginger and baking soda until just combine.

5. Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Here are the changes I made:

– I used 1 cup chickpea flour and 1 cup oat flour instead of the whole wheat flour.
– I used brown rice syrup instead of honey
– I used 2 large carrots (peeled) instead of baby carrots
– I spread the batter in a greased 9×13 pan instead using muffin tins.

Like I said, to make these vegan, just use a flax egg instead of the regular egg. If you want thicker bars, use a smaller pan.

I have a slight preference for the muffin version, but both taste great!

Enjoy!

–Lindsay–

April Photo-A-Day: Part 1

April 21, 2012 by Lindsay 13 Comments

Hi Friends!

I’m sure a lot of you have seen these #photoaday challenges floating around. I’ve tried multiple times to participate but I always fall off the wagon after about 4 days. Well, not this time! I’m rockin’ the month of April so today I thought I’d share my pictures from the first half of the month!

Here are the prompts:

Ready?

Of note- on the 4th, hubby had just gotten back from a business trip-
so I was extra happy to see him day 🙂

Of note- on the 5th, I kept finding my smallest cat curled up in a tiny ball

Of note- The 9th was my mom’s birthday!

Of note- hubby found craft beer in cans and his mind was blown!
Those sunset pics were randomly collected from twitter-
it was super cloudy at my house that day.

Have you ever done a photo-a-day challenge?

–Lindsay–

Chunky Greek Hummus Plate

My Go-To Meals: Mexican Loaded Sweet Potatoes

Sweet & Spicy Strawberry Peach Guacamole

May Photo-A-Day: Part 1

Fitness Friday 21

Tropical Quinoa Cookies

Berry Breakfast Quinoa

Happy Mother’s Day

Just popping in to say:

Happy Mother’s Day

to both the moms in my life.

Thanks for everything you do for me.

I love you both.

–Lindsay–

Fitness Friday 20

Blend Retreat 2012

SRC: Avocado Dipped Sweet Potato Fries

April Photo-A-Day: Part 2

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites

Take Time to Say Thanks

Because I think a lot of people truly underestimate the power of a simple “thank you”.

Because you never know how much it might mean to someone.

Or how much it may validate all the work they put into something.

Or how what a big smile it might bring to their face.

Every single one of us has so much to be thankful for. So give thanks for it. And SAY THANKS FOR IT!

April Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

Treadmill Laptop Stand

Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing

Salmon & Goat Cheese Puffs

Recipe Remix: Gluten-Free Zucchini Carrot Apple Bars

April Photo-A-Day: Part 1

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