Winter blues...

It has been so so long since I have been able to post. I'll tell ya - a new baby, working, house, husband, dog, (I can go on and on..) really takes up time, but one of my New Years resolutions was to try and post more.. So it only took me until February, but I have a post for you!!! 

I don't know about you all, but I do love winter; however, this winter is crazy! It's so easy to get the blues and the first thing I do is eat eat eat! It's so hard to prepare fresh healthy meals during the dog days of winter because all we want to eat in this house is pasta, carbs, chocolate, candy, alll the bad stuff!!! But tonight I made a dinner that reminds me of summer but still gives you the winter warmth you are look for... Vegetarian stir-fry! Such an easy meal - great for the weeknights. This took me all of 40 minutes to prepare and most of that was sitting while the rice simmered. 

Vegetarian Stir-fry 

2 tbsp of evoo 

1 red onion cut into pieces 

1 red bell pepper 

1 yellow bell pepper 

2 handfuls of baby corns 

1/2 cup of sliced almonds 

1/2 cup of garbanzo beans 

Stir fry sauce (the amount is your preference! I usually start with a little and taste test and add more little by little. Cort always says, "the way to ruin a stirfry is add too much sauce") 

Cooked brown rice

1. Cook your rice - my directions usually say - bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add 1 cup rice, let simmer for 40 minutes. 

**super easy peasy - can also use barley, couscous, quinuoa**

2. Cut up all veggies and heat 2tbsp of olive oil in a skillet or wok (a wok is not necessary - I don't have one :)) heat the skillet to high and add the onions and cook until tender, add peppers and corn and cook until tender- lower heat to medium-low and cover,stir frequently until there is 10 minutes left on rice

3. Add the sauce, almonds, and chickpeas to the veggie mixture and raise heat to medium. Stirring frequently. Cook for about 10 minutes until sauce is hot. 

4. When rice is ready, serve veggies on top and viola! 

Such an easy meal - vegetarian, fresh, and yummy! (Kid friendly too) !!! 

Live well xoxo 

Summa.. Summa .. Summa TIME :)

Phew - I am not even sure where to start! It is the FIRST day of summer, I am a new mom, and boy is life crazy!

Since having my beautiful son, I have been crazy crazy crazy - basically feeding the baby and that's it :) along w/ not sleeping, and trying to learn the new normal in our household, things are finally starting to settle down and BOY do I miss my old hobby of healthy eating and cooking. I finally feel like I have my new schedule under the control and I can begin cooking again and exploring new foods - and what better time, but SUMMER! The perfect time for healthy fruits and veggies!

I know all of you joined a CSA this summer so that you get all those healthy fresh local fruits and veggies - Listen to me talking, I actually didn't join one this summer and the reason is b/c we have a new farmer's market right in my town - about a mile away from my house. This market is every Saturday morning and all of the vendors are local farms within miles of my house - so needless to say, my CSA is right here in my town! its perfect - I am able to go every Saturday and get fresh fruits and veggies for the week. Its also a great way to get out and get some fresh air w/ the baby!

In honor of the first day of summer, I am making a healthy fresh meal for dinner tonight - grilled veggie pitas w/ corn on the cobb (we are obsessed w/ corn on the cobb in the summer - we may eat too much of it :))

This meal is so easy to whip up and its soo delicious.

Grilled Veggie Pitas 

Ingredients:

1 pack of whole wheat or whole grain pita bread (usually comes w/ 4)
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini squash
1 cup of cherry tomatoes 
2 tbsp of EVOO 
salt & pepper to taste 
1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice
2 tbsp of hummus 

**Note: You can use any veggies you choose. I often use asparagus, broccoli, any other green veggies - you can also use Romaine Lettuce (it grills great!) 

Method:

Cut up all the veggies into small pieces and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper 
Heat grill to high and put the veggies on grill either right on, using tinfoil, or a grill basket and cook until tender. I like ours a little brown on the outside - I usually cook them for about 20-25 minutes - depending on the type of veggie. Stir frequently throughout those minutes so they are evenly brown :)

Once the veggies are complete, place the pitas on the grill just to get warm. 

Once heated, spread the hummus on the pita and place the cheese inside first, and top w/ veggies!! 

VIOLA! - a grilled veggie pita! 

I serve this w/ salad or corn on the cobb. We also do our corn on the cobb on the grill and its delicious. Its super simple: husk the corn, rinse it off, wrap in tinfoil, and place on grill. Cook on grill for 20 minutes - turning every 5 minutes! It comes out delicious!! 

So here is my first of many easy summer meals! Enjoy!

Live Well xoxo

A yummy winter vegetarian meal..

These vegetarian meals are hard to come by in the winter months.. especially when you live in PA and it is about 20 degrees everyday! Those fruits and veggies just can't grow, but there is a way to still eat healthy winter and all.

The meals in general have kind of gone by the way side for my hubby and I in the last few weeks b/c we are completely off schedule.. My hubby is off work until March so he is always home and spending most of his time working on our basement renovation - which is almost done :)) - and we are just on the go getting ready for this little baby G to arrive - May can't get here soon enough !!!

BUT through it all - I have managed to cook some pretty good meals and on the other days - we each left overs, cereal, breakfast for dinner, and often my momma's home made raviolis - an italian favorite. :)

Another favorite of winter is my crock pot! I seriously don't know what I would do without that machine - it does wonders and it is SO SO SO easy to use - its like AMAZING! At least once a week I use the crockpot - probably more like 3-4 times a week. I convert every meal into a crockpot meal - what is easier than throwing everything into a pot and turning it on and when you get home from work its done? its seriously the best. So last week, I made a delicious vegetarian meal for my brother and his girlfriend and of course my husband and I - vegetarian stuffed peppers!!

Of course, I made the meal - it was delicious and I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE! Ugh - I totally forgot to take a picture for my blog - so I don't have a picture for you, but I do have a delicious EASY recipe..

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers (any color works) cleaned and cut in half
1 and 1/4 cup of cooked couscous (I used the whole wheat couscous from trader joe's)
1 14oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained (organic is best)
1 bag of organic frozen corn (not the large bag - I think they come in lb. size - 16 oz.)
3/4-1 cup of tomato sauce (any kind works and use as much as you want - not less than 3/4 of a cup, but not more than 1 cup - you be the judge :))
1/4 cup of graded parmesan cheese
and..
Season with - a dash of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and season salt

1 container of sour cream (organic, fat free)
shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl - except for the peppers, sour cream, & cheddar cheese
Fill your peppers with the veggie/couscous mix and place them in the crock pot. (I layered them on top of each other since they didn't all fit in one line, and it worked out perfectly, they all cooked great). Put a little water in the bottom of the crockpot before turning on - Put on the lid and cook those peppers on low for about 6-8 hours.

Serve topped with sour cream/cheddar cheese and with a fresh romaine salad :)

YUMMY! This recipe really turned out great. Everyone loved it and it was SO easy - it took me about 15 minutes to put together and then all I had to do after work was make a salad which is super easy and thats it. We had so many left overs as well and they were delicious - Cort and I ate them for lunch a few times!!

Enjoy & Live Well xoxo

Back in Action :)

well well well.. I cannot believe I have abandoned you all for this long - seriously I am SO sorry!! BUT so many exciting things have gone on in my life in the last few months - the first major thing is I am having a baby! :) so yes - needless to say, my eating habits have changed a little bit - especially in the beginning, but I am getting back on to my normal diet and ready to tackle the rest of this pregnancy with healthy eating instead of the carbohydrates that were comforting me in the beginning!!

I plan to come back to you with some fun stuff in the next few days.. I have already made my meal plan for next week which I will be typing up and loading on here in the next couple of days so that you can see how I plan for the week and then I will be back to posting some healthy recipes!

I am glad to be back - stay tuned for the upcoming year of healthy blog posts!

xoxo Live Well

Couscous & Veggies ..

Happy Monday Everyone! especially those of us who have a long weekend :) LONG weekends are the best!!!! Its so great to not have to go to work today, and to be able to do whatever I want. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I know I have been posting less than when I started, but I realized when I started blogging it was the summertime - and guess what? I was off of work.. so of course I blogged more, but I am still going so thats good. I am thankful to have all of my readers and followers!! 

Today, I am going to tell you about a super simple, literally like 10 min, dinner :) Those are my favorite - especially when they are healthy and you can make them after work in a jiffy!! 

Since it turned to fall and is now chilly out (woo my favorite) I love to be cozy at home when it is chilly out - I have been making more grains to warm up the meals. 

This meal is couscous and veggies - I don't really have a better name for it :)

Here we go!

Ingredients

1 onion chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 head of broccoli,  chopped

1 cup of whole wheat couscous (you can change the amount, based on how many people you are serving)

Feta cheese or grated parm cheese 

Method

1. Cook couscous according to package directions - usually it is use 2 cups of water and 2 tbsp of olive oil, bring to a boil, once boiling, stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 mins and fork to fluff :)

2. While the cous is cooking, heat 2 tsbp of olive oil in a skillet and add the onion to the skillet. Sautee the onion until it is tender, next, add the broccoli, sautee the broccoli until tender, and finally add the peppers and sautee until tender it should only take 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

3. Serve the couscous, top w/ the veggie and cheese of choice. You can also mix it all together, but w/ the couscous its easier to serve it first and add the veggies. 

If you want to add more veggies you can serve w/ a salad or some fresh whole grain bread. Either are great :) 

Or don't serve with anything else and its delicious and easy!! This is a light meal, but the cous makes it a little warmer for fall. BUT its great for summertime too! 

Stay tuned for butternut squash soup, stuffed cabbage, and chicken all in the CROCK POT!! After all it is the season for the crock pot (my favorite kitchen gadget)!

Enjoy your day  and healthy foods!!

Live Well xoxo

Fall Oaty Apple Cinnamon Muffins ..

AND another week begins :) Gotta love Mondays!! Not so much, but it was a gorg fall day!! The weekend was beautiful as well. I got to see so many of my friends this last weekend and many of them said they read my blog - how exciting :) Its so motivating to keep blogging when I know I have followers!!

Another thing that is great about this weather is THE CROCKPOT :) My favorite winter gadget. I will be blogging a lot of crockpot recipes coming up - since I use the thing constantly in the fall. The first one will come tomorrow :)

But first, I have this amazing apple muffin recipe. Its super nutritious and a GREAT snack. It taste delicious with a little cream cheese and a coffee at about 10:00AM - that's when my sweet tooth kicks in !!

So here we go.. Fall Oaty Apple Cinnamon Muffins..

Ingredients

1 2/3 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour (Be sure to get the 100% whole wheat - not enriched)
1/4 Cup of rolled oats
2 tsp of baking powder
1/3 cup of light brown sugar (so here's the deal w/ brown sugar - not the healthiest, but def healthier than regular white sugar and here is why -- the organic brown sugar is made from evaporated cane juice which is taken from organically grown sugar cane. It is not processed - the sugar cane is crushed/pressed to release the juice. The natural molasses is what makes it brown - so there ya have it.. natural at that :))
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs (cage-free organic)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup of peanut oil
1 tsp of vanilla extract (pure)
2 apples, cored and grated (I used granny smith and did it with Gala apples as well) (also, a very easy way to grate the apples is by using your food processor if it has a grating disk)

Once you have all of your ingredients ready - its time to get mixing..

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 and get your muffin tin ready. I made about 18 regular sized muffins w/ this recipe. I did not use muffin wrappers, I greased the muffin tin and the muffins came right out perfectly :)

2. Mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

3. Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl and beat in the milk and oil. When blended, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla extract and stir gently until combined - be sure not to over mix here.

4. Finally, stir in the apples and fill your muffin pans.

5. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes - Here is my trick, I ALWAYS under bake so I always do the least amount of time b/c they continue cooking in the pan while they are cooling.

6. Let them cool completely before removing from the pan and there ya go - a delicious batch of muffins!!

These are yummy and amazing!! Enjoy :)

Stay tuned for the crockpot recipes coming tomorrow!!!

Live Well xxoxo

Simply wrap it up...

Happy Wednesday!! We are halfway through the week woo :) I love halfway points!!! I have a really exciting weekend coming up - I am going to see all my lycoming loves at a wedding - those are always the best of times!!! But - until then, I'll be working and cooking, and cleaning away :)

I am always looking for healthy ideas for lunch - I love pb&j but sometimes it's nice to have something a little healthier.. So I have been thinking of some things and recently made an awesome wrap! It's full of veggies and nutrients and its filling!! I always pack a piece of fruit, an extra veggie and some nuts and fruit for snacks. Lunch is a great time to pack in the real food!!!

Wrapping it up...

Here is what you will need:

1 100% whole wheat wrap (I usually get mine from whole foods or trader joes -If you can find the sprouted Ezekiel brand, they are the best)
1 cup of greens (use any kind you have - spinach, arugula, romaine, spring mix -they are all equally good and delicious and if you want - mix a few kinds :)
1 ear of corn on the Cobb, cut off the Cobb
1 handful of chopped onions
1 handful of chopped cherry tomatoes
1 TBSP of feta cheese
1TBSP of your favorite salad dressing

If you want protein feel free to add tuna, chicken, beef, whatever works for you :)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss with the dressing - when combined scoop it into the wrap and wrap it up!!! And viola! You have a delicious real healthy lunch. Especially healthy served with sides of fruits and veggies.

This can be made ahead of time (the night before) and it doesn't get soggy!

Hope this makes your lunch packing less stressful!!!

Live well xoxo