(two) Clean Eating Breakfasts

Hello ladies! I'm bringing you two 'clean' breakfasts today - both recipes are super delish, healthy, and (best of all) quick. I can whip up either of these in less than 10 minutes, which is way better than grabbing a granola bar (most of which are actually NOT healthy). I am a fan of both savory and sweet breakfasts, so I decided to post one of each. 

Mexican Egg & Rice Bowl 

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup brown rice

- 2 Tbs salsa

- 5 egg whites (or 1/2 cup if you use prepackaged egg whites)

- pinch of salt 

- pepper to taste

- avocado 

Directions:

- prepare brown rice

- while rice is cooking, combine egg whites and salsa

- pour the mixture of egg/salsa into pan, mixing until cooked to liking

- serve eggs over rice, and top with avocado, then sprinkle with salt and pepper 

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

- 1 scoop whey protein powder (I use vanilla, purchased from Whole Foods)

- 2 egg whites

- 1/2 banana

- 1/4 cup oats (old fashioned kind)

- 1 tablespoon milk (of any kind)

- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

- strawberries

- blue agave 

Directions:

- combine all ingredients in blender, and blend until smooth (do not over-blend)

- let mixture set for a few minutes

- spray pan with cooking oil (I use spray coconut oil) 

- pour mix into pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side (medium -high heat)

- flip cake when you see bubbles throughout entire cake (but be sure not to let it burn) ;) 

- top with strawberries and blue agave 

Another current favorite is overnight oats - SO good. Do you have any 'clean' recipes? Please share! 

Skinny 'fried' Rice

Happy Friday, loves! Any fun weekend plans? Nothing too big happening at our house...maybe that will change as the weekend progresses...probably not. ;) I'm here today with another 'skinny' recipe, that is oh-so-good, and surprisingly healthy! 

I love fried rice - I could eat it for every meal (ok, maybe not, but it is one of my favorites). The down side? It's loaded with calories and fat...not to mention I'm always hungry an hour later. Yesterday, I whipped up a quick, much healthy version at home, and was thrilled with the taste. 

Ingredients: 

brown rice (I used organic, frozen from Whole Foods)

2 eggs (or egg whites, if you prefer)

frozen peas

frozen edamame 

carrots

soy sauce

sesame oil

salt and peper to taste

dash of coriander

dash of cayenne pepper

*whatever else you enjoy in your fried rice

Directions:

- sauté frozen peas, carrots and edamame in 1 tbs sesame oil, and salt and pepper until soft

- meanwhile, cook frozen rice in microwave (or however you will be preparing rice)

- add whisked eggs to edamame, peas, and carrots (add other seasonings at this time) 

- after eggs begin to brown, add rice and stir in 1 tbs of soy sauce

- mix well, and enjoy! 

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Lately, I've been feeling like I rotate the same 10 dinners, and needed to find some new recipes...ever feel like that? I came across a recipe for BBQ chicken quinoa salad, and had to give it a try. It was a hit with my husband, and it was very easy + fast (I used the crock pot for the chicken). 

this is the only (terrible) photo I have - it tastes MUCH better than this photo looks ;) 

Ingredients: 
chicken
bbq sauce
quinoa
1 can black beans
1 can corn
cheddar/jack cheese
avocado
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Cook chicken in crock pot for 7 hours on low (salt and pepper to taste), add BBQ sauce and shred chicken to mix with sauce, continue cooking on low for 1 more hour
2. Cook quinoa according to directions on package
3. Combine quinoa, chicken, black beans, and corn - mix well
4. Top with cheese, and avocado, and anything else you'd like
5. Serve, and enjoy!

Skinny Pesto Shrimp Linguine

I love a great pesto dish, but hate the calories and fat grams that come along with it. I did a little research, and came across this pesto recipe on skinnytaste. I tweaked it a tiny bit and added a dash of cayenne pepper and fresh lemon juice (to taste). Although it still has some fat, it's not nearly as much as you would find in a similar dish at a restaurant (or pre-made pesto sauce).  The shrimp marinade I sort of made up on my own, and it made a huge difference in the taste of the shrimp - SO delish! 

Ingredients:

Linguine

Shrimp (the larger/fresher, the better) 

Parmesan cheese - 1/4 cup

basil - 1 cup

lemon

minced garlic (I used 2 cloves in the pesto, and 2 for the shrimp marinade) 

cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

olive oil 

Skinny Basil Pesto Directions: 

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, cayenne, lemon, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing, until desired consistency is met. Once pasta has been cooked and strained, simply pour pesto sauce over pasta, and mix well to ensure even distribution of pesto. 

Shrimp Marinade: 

In a small bowl, add freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used the juice of one lemon), 2 cloves minced garlic, a dash of cayenne, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and salt together. Add shrimp to the bowl and massage marinade into shrimp with hands for a few minutes. Let sit (covered) at room temp for 30 minutes. If you want to let it sit longer, place in refrigerator. To cook shrimp, pour shrimp and marinade into small saute pan, and saute until shrimp is pink and marinade has evaporated. 

Top pesto linguine with shrimp, and add freshly grated Parmesan, ENJOY! 

(the most delish) crockpot enchiladas

I love Mexican food. Really, I could eat it every day if given the option. My favorite recipe? Chicken enchiladas. I have been using the same recipe for the past 6 years, and I love it - but it was so time consuming with cooking the chicken, shredding the chicken, putting it all in pan to saute together, etc...so I decided to utilize my favorite kitchen appliance - the crockpot. This recipe went from taking 1 hr 15 minutes to a total (working) time of 20 minutes! These enchiladas are a major crowd pleaser, and make great leftovers!

I like to top mine with avocado instead of sour cream

Ready to pop into the oven

Ingredients:
- chicken breasts (I use 2 large for hubby & I)
- salt & pepper
- cumin
- garlic powder
- mexican spice blend
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can corn
- 1 can green chiles, seeded and chopped
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can stewed tomatoes
- 1 can (6oz) tomato paste
- corn tortillas
- enchilada sauce
- cheese, avocado, sour cream (for toppings)

Directions:
- put chicken & stewed tomatoes in crockpot, cook on low for 7 hours
- add salt & pepper, cumin, garlic powder, corn, green chiles, beans, and tomato paste to crockpot, stir and continue cooking for 30 minutes - 1 hour
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- saute onion & garlic in olive oil, add to crockpot and mix all ingredients together
- shred chicken in crockpot (should be very easy at this point)
- microwave tortillas for 15 seconds or so until soft
- coat bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce
- using a shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce, covering both sides
- spoon 1/4 cup of enchilada mixture into tortillas, fold over, and place into baking dish
- continue until baking dish is full, then top with remaining enchilada sauce and and cheese
- bake for 15 minutes at 350

Sweet Potato Veggie Burger + Pregnancy Photo Journey

Getting my 'pre baby' body back is not as difficult as I had expected it to be (all thanks to nursing and healthy eating), but the body itself is not the same. Everything is just...softer. I have not started working out yet (5 weeks pp), but will be getting back to it this week. The weight is gone, but the muscle tone is definitely not back...there is a LOT of work to do, and I'm actually looking forward to it. There's just something about the way you feel after a great sweat session, know what I mean? 

Even more important than exercise, is having a healthy diet; it plays a major part in your heath (inside and out). Healthy eating doesn't mean boring eating, and finding new recipes is challenging and fun - to me! I came across a recipe for a sweet potato veggie burger and knew I had to try it out. I decided to make these burgers for lunch yesterday, and they turned out to be delicious, and SO simple. These are definitely going to be a new staple in our house. Even my burger-loving hubby thought they were delish! I opted to have mine without a bun and only topped with avocado, but would be great with any toppings you prefer.

View the recipe HERE 

Since I will be kicking off my workouts this week, I thought I'd share my pregnancy photo journey with you all. It's amazing what the body goes through, isn't it? 

 

 14 weeks

 

17 weeks

20 weeks

 

 

27 weeks

30 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

 37 weeks

And here I am now, 5 weeks postpartum

I will be sure to update once I begin my workouts. Any and all suggestions welcome! Hope you're having a great day!

My Weekend & Sweet Potato and Quinoa Chili

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Ours was busy, busy, busy as we are trying to get as much as possible done in the new house before my due date (NEXT WEEKEND!). Our kitchen is finally up and running (not completely finished yet, so I am going to hold off on sharing it with you all)...but finished enough for me to cook - thank goodness! After 2 weeks of eating out for every meal, I am so excited to get back in the kitchen.

I made a delicious (and vegan - for those of you who are) chili recipe I came across on Pinterest. I am not vegan, but this was to-die-for! My hubs enjoyed it so much, he ate the leftovers for lunch on Saturday. It's a great recipe for fall, super simple, and sure to impress - not to mention extra healthy!

I used half cannellini beans and half black beans (recipe calls for all black), because I wanted to have more than one variety...plus black beans aren't my favorite after a bad experience in Costa Rica (that's a story for another time). If you wanted to add meat to your dish, shredded chicken would be a great! You can find the full recipe here.

Here is a (extremely low quality - sorry) "39 Weeks" photo...I'll try to take another this week that is a bit better. Any day now! For the most part, I am feeling great...the most annoying thing at this point is trying to find 'what to wear.' I am so sick of my dresses...can't wait to wear normal clothes again! Anyone else ever feel that way? 

We purchased a few new items for our home this weekend...

My new desk (!) - on sale at Pottery Barn right now...(looks much larger in person than online) 

These pillows I randomly spotted at IKEA - always a great deal, and the fabric is very thick with a nice, zipped closure. Impressive for IKEA...the worst store on the planet (if your husband refuses to go with you, and you are 39 weeks pregnant - lol). It has been requested that I return 90% of the items I found...great. 

Remember when I posted about an upholstered headboard? We decided to BUY - and I couldn't be happier about that decision. I really do not feel like taking on a project of that size (we have a king) is a great idea right now (or ever). It may be fun for a kid's room or guest room in the future, but for now...I've left it to the professionals. We ended up going with the Raleigh bed from Pottery Barn - we had to special order the fabric, so now...it's a waiting game. I can't wait to see the finished product! 

Did you do anything exciting this weekend? 

Quinoa & Pesto Wrap

One Chicago lunch spot that I dearly miss is the Protein Bar. They specialize in juices, delicious 'bar-ritos,' bowls, and yummy salads for busy people on the go (everyone living downtown Chicago).

I decided to try my own (veggie) version of the Ivy, and it was so delicious! I will be making this on a regular basis, and for those of you meat lovers - it would be great with chicken as well! (That is not my wrap below...I forgot to take a photo of the final product...and before I knew it, it was gone!) 

Ingredients:
Quinoa
Spinach
Pesto
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Sundried Tomato Tortilla

Happy Thursday!

My Weekend + a Recipe

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's already JULY - can you? This year seems to be flying by, and we have so many exciting things happening in the next few months. I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend; mine was spent relaxing, running errands, and taking care of my sick husband. Did you do anything exciting? 

a '32 week' photo...I am loving my hat collection lately!

lunching at Whole Foods 

enjoying summer fruit from Trader Joe's 

 an evening on the patio

a breakfast of waffles and fresh berries

 a beautiful Sunday spent at the pool

And I'll leave you with the easiest, most delicious summer lemonade recipe. Remember the recipe I found on Pinterest last week? I decided to alter it to make it simpler and a bit healthier (I didn't want to use an entire cup of sugar). 

watermelon & strawberry lemonade 

You will need:

- 1-2 cups Simply Lemonade (depending on how much you want to make)

- 1 cup frozen strawberries

- 1-2 cups of watermelon

- blender

Combine lemonade, frozen strawberries, and watermelon in the blender and blend until smooth (I know...writing a 'recipe' isn't even necessary...but I just had to share how simple it was!). The frozen strawberries make the lemonade a little 'slushy,' and it seems like more of a treat. My husband couldn't believe how delicious it was only using these 3 ingredients...he thought I made it from scratch! This is a great 4th of July recipe, and is sure to please! 

Have a great Monday, ladies! 

Thoughts for Friday

*UPDATE: re-post...sorry! Blogger formatting was a little messy for a bit - now it's fixed! 

Happy Friday! I am so excited it's the weekend, how about you? I am ready for a low-key, relaxing weekend with no set plans (nice for a change)! Maybe I'll go to the pool, maybe I'll go to the beach, maybe I'll go shopping...or maybe I'll just relax! I am relishing in the fact that I can do whatever I feel - know what I mean? 

I'm loving this Essie polish, "Cute as a Button." I currently have gel nails (anyone else obsessed?), but am thinking I will give my nails a break next time and go for this fun, summer shade!

via

How refreshing does watermelon and strawberry lemonade sound? I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and am hoping to try it out this weekend. 

via

I have a love/hate relationship with chalkboard walls, doors, cabinets, etc...On one hand, I love the idea - I think it's a fun, unexpected way to spice up a dull space. On the other hand, some of them end up looking so messy, it takes away from the charm. Here are a few chalkboard spaces I am currently loving. What are your thoughts on the 'chalkboard wall?' Do you have one in your home? 

all images via 

Cheers to the weekend! What do you have planned?