Post Vacation Salad

I love traveling...who doesn't? It does take a lot out of me though. I didn't eat too many veggies while we were gone, mostly because we had limited cooler space, and frankly, I didn't want to prepare them. There. I said it. That's a recurring problem in my life. I actually *like* veggies now, but I don't like all the work in cutting them or cooking them. If someone sets a bowl of veggies in front of me, I'm happy as a clam. Since a personal chef isn't in my budget (BAHahaha!), I need to get better at doing it myself. Because, quite frankly, I've never regretted eating a salad, but I have regretted eating other quicker and easier food options. Anyways, I ate all right during my vacation, no problems really, but now that I'm home, I need to ramp it up a bit. I need more energy at home, because I don't have the same zest for waking up early & going to class/clinicals that I do for, say, shopping. :)

What I ate tonight: oh-so-yummy salad!

So, more salads, less snacking! That's my plan....oh, and if you ever want a salad recipe that will change your life (no, seriously, I ate this when I was feeling crummy once and the next day I felt AMAZING!), check out the Weekend Glow Kale Salad by Angela at Oh She Glows. (Warning: kale in a salad is a little....different. It was a little bitter for me at first, but now I love it! I even crave it sometimes.)

All About Salads

All packed up & ready to go!

I thought I would share how I make my daily salads. They are so good, they totally changed my thinking about salads! I layer my ingredients in a Tupperware container. First, 1 Tbsp of sunflower seeds. Then 1/2 a tomato, 2 mushrooms, 1/2 a zucchini, 1/2 a cucumber, then a handful of lettuce. Putting the lettuce on top keeps it from getting squished and soggy. Any other vegetables you like can totally work too! Use whatever you have and/or like. The sky's the limit! Some other yummy toppings include kalamata olives and artichoke hearts.

Of course, a salad isn't much without a good salad dressing! Enter my current fav, my own Tart & Tangy Salad Dressing:

Tart & Tangy Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
1 bottle Newman's Own Light Italian
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
3 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Agave Nectar

Directions: Place all ingredients into a food processor. Blend until well mixed. I estimated that this should make about 14-2 Tbsp. servings, which would be 144 calories a serving! Yum!



When it's time for lunch, pour 2 Tbsp. of salad dressing over salad, put lid back on Tupperware container, and shake it all up. Then enjoy! :)

Green is the New Black

I have a little joke that I got from another blog (I don't remember which one, sorry!): Ok, so after every question I ask, say "pea green soup." Got it? Ok, here goes: What do you eat for breakfast? What do you eat for lunch? What do you eat for dinner? What do you do all night? Get it? LOL! I love it!

I used to have a serious aversion to greens. Well, to any vegetable or fruit or anything remotely healthy. I've done a complete 180 from where I used to be! It's so weird to think about NOT liking vegetables! It's taken me a long time, but I LOVE my greens now. In fact, ALL my fav vegs are green: zucchini, cucumber, avocados, asparagus, kale, lettuce, cabbage, spinach. Yup, I'm in love! :) One of my Soups of the Week this week is this beautiful pea green soup. Yep, the color in the picture is really the color of the soup! It is so vibrant, nourishing, and most importantly, delicious! :D It's basically the same recipe as my Kale, White Bean, and Rosemary Soup, except I added 1 lb. of cooked split peas and instead of 3 stalks, I used a whole head of lacinto kale. I added more rosemary and minced onion and a little bit of Italian seasoning too. Then I pureed everything in our VitaMix. Love! in a mug! :) And it is going to last me all week!


I found this really cool quote on a new blog I was perusing (Bonzai Aphrodite): I mean seriously, seriously, does anyone really think that people who eat like me just sadly slurp down their flavorless food, secretly coveting cheese like some joyless martyr? Heck no! We are eating the MOST AMAZING food, and enjoying every. darn. bite. 'Nuff said. :)

So, I was quite proud of myself this last week. I ate a  salad EVERY SINGLE DAY! In fact, I think I ate TWO one day!!! I love salads, but some days it feels like too much work to make one. AND I drank a smoothie for breakfast every single day! I have felt pretty good this week AND I didn't get any new pimples this week! I have been pretty frustrated with my skin for the past several months. I've never had bad skin or acne, so to be getting spots all the time was unusual and highly frustrating! I hope that eating a salad and drinking a smoothie a day is all it takes to keep them away...cuz I love salads and smoothies! :) I still am working on the energy levels...they're still pretty low, but I've got some tricks up my sleeve and I think they are working so far. 


I am really looking forward to this coming week. I've got my food all planned out and almost all made. I am working evenings this week, so my plan is to wake up, go work out, drink a smoothie for breakfast, study for the test we have this week, eat a ginormous salad and a small cup of soup for lunch, go to class, go to clinicals early to make up some time, have another salad and small cup of soup for dinner, go home and go to bed! Sounds like an awesome week to me! Hope everyone else has a fantabulous week too!