The "Leftovers" Casserole

Happy Happy Monday!

Whew it feels good to be back on here with you wonderful people!

Did you have a great Labor Day Weekend?

I sure did, and I feel like I gained a few pounds.  Good thing I am on the 3-Day Refresh.  I'll share my experience on Friday.

I am pretty excited about today's recipe- because there really is no recipe.  Well isn't that an oxymoron? That's what is so great about this casserole!

This non-recipe recipe (does that label work?) is inspired by my boyfriend Jordan's mother.

One night about two weeks ago, Jordan and I were deciding on what to eat, and I really wanted to use what we had at home rather than going out and spending money. Jordan then suggested we make a casserole out of all the food we had in the fridge.

Seems kinda gross huh?  I thought so at too at first. 

But in my attempt to eat all the food in the fridge before I went on vacation, I agreed.  He then told me his mom does this all the time.  She's a great cook, so then I agreed even more.

The key ingredient to this casserole is a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup. If you have everything but the Cream of Mushroom, I would spend the money on it so you can make this.

This is what we had on hand that we threw together in the casserole:

- Cooked egg noodles

- Rotisserie Chicken

- Sour Cream

-Homemade Almond Milk

- Parmesan Cheese

- Colby Jack Cheese

- Frozen Peas

- Cream of Mushroom

We looked at what we had and threw everything into a bowl and mixed together (no measuring!).  We then threw it into a greased pan and threw some cheese on top and baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Boy, this was DELICIOUS!! It tasted like someone had put thought into the casserole.  It tasted like a casserole someone would ask the recipe for.

Now, you can pretty much use anything in that casserole that you like, just make sure you have the soup!

I by no means, condone this meal as healthy.  Actually it is super Unhealthy; however, sometimes you just need to save money and not be wasteful.  So if you make this maybe once every other week to clean out your fridge, you'll be fine.

Hopefully this inspires you to make something at home rather than eating out!

Cheers!

3 Day Refresh

I know Labor Day hasn't past quite yet, but I know how I am going to feel afterwards.  Do you ever have those vacations full of eating delicious foods and drinking yummy cocktails in massive quantities and then on the last day of vacation you are just ready to get back on track?

That will be me come Tuesday, September 2nd.  And actually, I have felt that way all summer.  I was definitely out of control and I have gained a lot of weight. I am not giving any excuses, the facts are: I ate bad food and I drank too much. 

Although I should get back into my routine right this instant, I know come Labor Day weekend it will all be for naught.  Labor Day weekend is my most favorite weekend out of the entire summer, it has been since I was in Elementary school.  

Even though next weekend marked the beginning of each school year for me, it was the most fun weekend of the summer.  Labor Day weekend is a weekend full of camping on the beach, delicious BBQs, potlucks, Bloody Marys, body surfing, sunsets, walks on the beach, laughter, campfires, family, friends, dolphins, sand, books, and so much more.

Every year my parents and about 10-20 neighbors all camp together at a beach in Southern California.  And this year, I plan to have my usual fun and then get back on the saddle.

So what will I be doing on September 3rd?

Thanks for asking my dear reader!

On Wednesday September 3rd, I will start Beachbody's 3-Day Refresh.

What is the 3-Day Refresh?

The refresh is a program that helps fast-track weight loss, kick-start healthy eating, and get a clean break from bad nutrition habits.  It is a simple, straightforward program that will help cleanse your body and improve the way you feel- without starving yourself.

For 3 days you'll follow a program of 3 shakes a day, a fiber drink, plenty of filtered water, plus a wide array of fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats throughout the day to keep your energy and metabolism going.

Why Refresh?
Maybe you have binged this weekend with pizza, doughnuts, and cocktails, and you want to get rid of cravings.  Or maybe you just want to lose those stubborn last pounds.  You could be like all of us who have fallen off the clean eating wagon and want to get back on.  Of, if you are like me you want to kick-start a brand new routine.  Either way, the refresh may be just the thing you need.

This program is the easiest way to break the cycle of bad eating habits while creating new ones, conquer your cravings, flatten your stomach, feel lighter and more energized, sleep more soundly, detoxify your body, and dramatically improve the way you feel- all without starving!

How does the 3-Day Refresh Work:

Here are some results that some friends of mine have seen completing the 3-Day Refresh!

From those results and what the 3-Day Refresh is all about, you betcha I'll be doing this!

Next Wednesday I begin my journey to a new me! Stay tuned for me results next week!

If you think you may want to try out this program, email me here.

Until then, have a wonderful, fun-filled Labor Day!!

Homemade Almond Milk

Marvelous Monday to you!

I am super, SUPER excited about this recipe for today!  Almost as excited as I was about making Homemade Mayonnaise.

I am really excited about this recipe for a number of reasons. First reason being, it doesn't contain all those nasty preservatives and "natural flavors" that really aren't all that natural.  Second reason being, it's so much cheaper than buying a carton of Almond Milk at the store. Third reason, its very gratifying making something completely from scratch.

Get this, a carton of Almond Milk (32 oz) is $4.39, this homemade Almond Milk (32 oz) is $2.09.  

Pretty great huh? I'd say so.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup Raw Almonds

- 4 cups filtered water

Directions:

- Soak Almonds in filtered water for at least 24 hours

- Once Almonds are fully soaked, drain the water.

- Place almonds in a high powered blender and add 4 cups of fresh filtered water.

- Blend together.

- Strain almond milk through cheesecloth (a towel will do just fine)

- Store in airtight container for up to three days.

Cheers!

Roasted Hazelnuts

Happy Wednesday!

This post is two days late because I have been on vacation!

I was in San Diego this weekend because one of my very good friends got married, and I was very lucky to have been apart of her special day!

Congrats my beautiful friend!!

Along with being busy with wedding stuff, I had to take a stroll on the beach....man do I miss the water! I really need to find my "beach" here in Colorado or anywhere else I move.  The beach just has a calming effect on me..makes me feel at home.

So in summary, here is what my weekend entailed:

I am not writing this blog post to brag about my mini vacation at home, it is to share a recipe!!

Better late than never right??

Today's (or what should have been Monday's) recipe is Roasted Hazelnuts.  I had the grand idea last week to use up everything in my fridge and cupboards before going grocery shopping, and lets just say I lasted only one week.

But in my mini- challenge I had to be creative. I didn't have any snacks beyond my huge bag of raw hazelnuts.  I got a good deal on the bag at Trader Joes, and I honestly thought I'd love them!  I love anything hazelnut flavored and I love raw almonds.  So what would be better than combining the two?

Raw hazelnuts are gross.

But trying to eat what I had on hand, I looked for recipes involving Hazelnuts.  And of course, I found the answer on Pinterest.

These had a sweet and slight spicy taste! I munched on them with ease.  Roasted hazelnuts are definitely the way to go.  Raw hazelnuts do not have the crunch that roasted ones do and I feel like the roasting really brings out the flavor in the nuts.

Roasted Hazelnuts

Original Recipe

Ingredients:
- 2 cups shelled Hazelnuts
- 2 TBSP real maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp of each: coriander, cumin, ginger, and smoked paprika
- salt to taste

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet
- Roast for 10 minutes
- Remove from heat, but leave oven on
- While nuts are roasting, combine all remaining ingredients together in a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until simmering.  Remove from heat.
- Pour roasted nuts into saucepan and coat with maple syrup mixture, be sure to coat all nuts.
- Return back to baking sheet and sprinkle more salt and return to oven.
- Bake for another 4-5 minutes
- Remove and let nuts cool completely, as they will be very hot.
- Serve at room temperature and store in airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Changes in White Water

I have to say that right at this moment I am at peace.

Right now I am on my couch with silence except for the songs of Grasshoppers, the smell of freshly roasted hazelnuts and my thoughts all to myself.

Right now is...perfect.

So this weekend was pretty cool. And by "pretty" I mean REALLY FREAKING AWESOME!

I went White Water Rafting with 2 of my friends/coworkers, Geoff and Crystal.  I have no idea why I have never been before, but I know without a doubt that I will be going numerous times again.

We started the day off with a 5:30am start time. I was so tired but so excited!  The drive from Denver to Canon City was beautiful! I love driving south of the city, the people become fewer and farther between and you get closer to the mountains.

Once we pull up to the rafting venue, we wait a little bit and then we are shuffled into a school bus to take us to the river.  During our bus ride we get a safety briefing and I have to admit I started to get a little nervous.  I mean, I grew up near the ocean, I am a stronger swimmer- I should be fine, but the talk about getting your foot stuck in rocks kinda really scared me.

But we get through it, meet our guide and we're on the river!! Man our guide, Dallas was sooooo cool!  He was so calm, collected and humorous. He not only made rafting seem easy, he also schooled us on our surroundings and the history of the Royal Gorge.  So tip for you, if you ever go White Water Rafting at the Royal Gorge, ask for Dallas.  If you go somewhere else, ask for a University Professor.  Not only will you get to experience the fun of rafting, but you will also get a school lesson.  Kill two birds with one stone :)

The first half of our trip we hit some category 2 and category 3 rapids (pretty easy ones). Then we stopped for lunch and were served a delicious chicken fajita lunch....very nice [insert Borat's voice]

Then the afternoon was the best part.  We hit some category 3 and 4 rapids.  Man, those category 4 rapids were SO MUCH fun!  I had a smile on my face the entire time. My smile was due to the fact I was rafting and experiencing something new and by the fact that I was near water.

I miss water.

The day went by too fast for me. Before I knew it we had hit all of our rapids and were on our way back to camp.

Looking back on our rafting trip I thought about how what we experienced on the river pertains to our life, to our journey.  We, or at least me, expect that we can achieve our goals in a straight shot.  I mean how many times have you had a goal and you quit two weeks later because it became hard?

The journey to achieving our goals is like a river with rapids.  We meander through life until we reach our goal.  In doing so we have to carve our way through moutains.  Our mountains being old habits, negative thoughts, unsupportive friends... we need to constantly break through our barriers.

Once we do carve our way through and start creating a path to success, sometimes its smooth sailing.  For a while we had some nice flowing waters.  No rapids, just a current that was easy and pleasant.  And sometimes life can be that way.  We have hurdled our first obstacle and we have smooth sailing for a while, so we take a break and enjoy the easiness that life provides at that moment.

And then we see at a bend...rapids ahead.  We got lazy and stopped working out because we felt like we had done enough, we spent money on our credit cards because we felt like we deserved something for being good... those rapids are caused by rocks that block the flow of the water.  Some rocks are bigger than other.  During those rapids, you have to learn how to navigate.  If you don't paddle hard enough the raft might flip, if you don't steer you will end up stuck on a rock.

During those rapids in your journey, take a moment to think about your course of action.  And then paddle like hell.

You see, our journey to our goals may seem like its so easy if you have a plan.  But sometimes the current will change and cause you to go off course.  You just need to keep moving forward.  Rivers carve their ways through mountains.  They crash through those rocks on their way.  They create motion. They keep moving.

Be like rivers and don't stay stagnant. Carve your destiny, your dreams, your life, and don't let rocks stop you from your ultimate destination. 

Cheers!

Berry Crunch in a Cup

H A P P Y  M O N D A Y!!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was exceptionally fantastic because I went White Water Rafting! I will show some pictures and share my experience later this week.

Has this been a productive day for you?  For me it has!  I woke up at 4:00am this morning and I swear that it helped me to be more awake and alert throughout the day.  Who would've thunk?!

You should try it sometime ;)

I am pretty excited for this recipe.  It is so delicious that I am drinking it as I am writing this post. It's that good!

Did you have a favorite cereal growing up?  I did, it was Berry Crunch.

I mean look at that picture.  Don't those colors bring back memories?  I LOVED Berry Crunch.  To me it was the best cereal out there.  The only thing that I did not like about it was the way it made the roof of my mouth feel.  Did you ever experience that?  The roof of my mouth would smooth out and almost have a film over it after eating the cereal.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who experienced this.  Cause then I'd feel like a weirdo.

That was my flavor of childhood. 

Flash forward a couple of years and I am a Barista at Starbucks learning the "Secret Menu."  You know, those drinks that aren't shown on the actual menu?

Thus,  I learned how to make a Berry Crunch Frappuccino.

Drinking that cereal flavor was heavenly.  But the only problem was- it was a bazillion calories. I'd bet that there was more calories in a Grande Berry Crunch Frappuccino then there would be in a bowl of Berry Crunch with 2% milk.

And that brings me to now.  

I have made a decision to not go grocery shopping until I have eaten all the food in my fridge and cupboard (with the exception of milk and juice).  And that means that I am pretty much living off of Shakeology right now.

Which is great because with every shake I get a full day's serving of fruits, vegetables, and nutrients.  Not bad, eh?  But it does kinda suck when you are not fond of a particular flavor.  And for me, I have never been much of a strawberry fan...and guess what flavor I have the most of??

So, trying to eat only what you have makes for a creative mind.  And then it clicked!  Why not try to create a SUPER healthy Berry Crunch shake?

And so began my experiment...

Ingredients:

- Strawberry Shakeology 

- 1/2 cup Milk (your choice, although I have not tried with non-dairy)

- 2 TBSP Dark Chocolate Chips (Ghirardelli tastes the best)

- 1 tsp. Hazelnut Syrup 

- 1 cup cold water

- Ice to taste

Directions:

Mix all in a blender!

I hope you like it as much as I do, and I hope it brings back yummy memories (without that weird feeling on the roof of your mouth)!

If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think about it!

Iron Mind

This weekend I had the privilege of watching two of my fellow coworkers compete in the Boulder Ironman.

Ironman

If you don't know, an Ironman is THE longest of all the Triathlon distances.  It consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, finishing with a 26.2 mile run.  Needless to say, these people are completely and utterly true badasses.

While cheering on everyone who passed me by during the 9 hours I was waiting for my coworkers to cross the finish line, I thought a lot about what kind of dedication it takes to even compete in one of these triathlons.  I thought about how the hardest part of this race is probably not the sheer exhaustion felt in every limb by every participant, but the mental battle inside of their head.

Probably every person, from the pros to the first timers had to wage war with the mental thoughts flowing through their exhausted minds. Their heads must be bombarded with thoughts such as "If you're tired after this swim, then there is no way you are going to finish," "You aren't going to finish by the cutoff," "Why'd you  even sign up for this race?"....

You get the picture.

As I was thinking about the mental battle most likely going on with every sweaty person who passed me, I was also amazed by the diversity of people I saw.  I was expecting every athlete to be in tip-top shape,  I mean for crying out loud, their training leading up to this event could be considered a second job.  But that wasn't the case.

Of course there were those people in stellar shape who made every event look effortless, but there were those who were heavier than I am- who looked like they were not capable of competing in such an extreme event.  And then there were those who had white hair and wrinkles.

The diversity inspired me.

What do those people have in them that causes them to make such a huge decision as competing in an Ironman and actually stick to the training, and here I am struggling not to eat pizza every night of the week. 

What do they have that I don't?

Almost everyone who reads this blog knows that I struggle with following through.  I have huge goals and aspirations but have a hard time sticking with them. And I think I have found the answer to the question I asked myself.

Not only do these incredible athletes exercise and condition their bodies for this race, they exercise and condition their MINDS. When they start the incredible 8-12 hour day, they start with an IRON MIND. They have exercised their self-control muscles.

They have control of their minds and their thoughts, which translates in control over their actions.

That's the difference between those struggling to cross the finish line with 5 seconds left and me who is struggling with my desire of pizza.  They have trained themselves to put their dreams first.  They made a decision.  And they followed through.

I am sure its just as hard for them to start their Ironman training regime and it is for anyone to start a diet.  It's something different and hard.  But they decided that they would push back to any resistance and complete their goal no matter what sacrifices needed to be made.

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls" -Proverbs 25:28

I was definitely very inspired by the athleticism I saw on Sunday, and yes, I will be doing the Boise Ironman 70.3 next year.  But I learned a lot from each athlete that passed me by. I learned that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and you give yourself a chance to succeed.

I am speaking to myself the loudest when I say, give yourself a chance. 

Don't give up before you have a chance to see results.

Go. Make. It. Happen.