Heat
your choice of oil (olive or coconut) in a large skillet over medium-high
heat.
Gently
place patties in pan and cook for 3-5 minutes per side or until golden
brown.
Serving Suggestions:
-Make a big salad with dark greens (I love the ones that
come in the clam shells at the store – mixed baby greens or spring greens),
diced colored sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes and whatever other veggies you
like in salads. Make a vinaigrette with
salt, pepper, Dijon
mustard, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Coat salad with dressing and put desired
amount on a plate. Place a salmon cake
on the salad. Cover with a spicey
mayonnaise (mix sriracha or other hot sauce with mayo).
-Serve with fried or poached eggs for breakfast. Serve with hollandaise sauce if desired. Try eating a salad like above for breakfast,
too! A great way to get veggies in right
away!
Because sometimes you need a quick and easy and nutritious meal waiting for you after a long day of work!
What you'll need:
1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 large onions
6-7 medium carrots (peeled, whole)
3-4 red potatoes (peeled or not, whichever you prefer....leaving skins pack a more powerful nutrient punch)
2 sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into thirds or quarters)
olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic powder
parsley flakes
Place chicken on the bottom of your crockpot, arrange vegetables on top of chicken. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Set crockpot on low and cook 7-8 hours.
Jen's Quinoa
Salad 2 cups
uncooked quinoa 3 cups
fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 2
tablespoons extravirgin olive oil 1 teaspoon
minced fresh basil 1 teaspoon
grated lemon rind 2 teaspoons
fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar 1/2 teaspoon
sea salt 1 cup cherry
tomatoes, quartered 1 cup thinly
sliced spinach 1/2 cup
chopped yellow bell pepper 1/2 cup
chopped English cucumber 1/3 cup
(about 1 1/2 ounces) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese 3
tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives 1
tablespoon minced red onion
Preparation
Place
quinoa in a large bowl; cover with water. Let stand 5 minutes; rinse
well, and drain.
Bring broth
to a boil in a large saucepan; stir in quinoa. Cover, reduce heat,
and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Uncover; fluff
with a fork. Cool to room temperature.
Combine
olive oil and next 5 ingredients (through sea salt) in a large bowl.
Add cooled quinoa, tomatoes, and the remaining ingredients; toss
well.
Is this what you think of when you think snacks? (This is a real picture of real snacks that I purchased with real money and my husband and I had the other night. I felt so yucky after eating this stuff!)
My husband brought home the leftovers from a snack from work the other day (different from the picture above!). It was a tray of some sort of danish or pastry with a couple of slices left over. My kids were ecstatic! They gobbled it up right away, and I even licked some of the frosting off of the container. Hmmmm.... not very satisfying. That, combined with a snack I saw at a recent meeting, got me thinking about eating when you're at work.
It's hard, isn't it? You're at work, slogging along (well, hopefully that's not how you feel about your job most of the time!), and then someone brings in treats. Or you go to a meeting where food is served. How do you know what to eat? Should you just eat with abandon? It IS this one time only, right??? Should you not take anything and deprive yourself of some of the pleasure that comes with sharing food with others? Are there some options that look good?
Why do people insist on bringing in the things that are so bad for us? Is it just an excuse to eat things that they crave?
I have experienced a really interesting phenomenon over the past few months. Cravings that I once had and loved to give into for nutrient-lacking foods have been replaced by cravings for better-for-me foods and a stronger ability to say no to things that I know won't really do me any good. I have become a label-reading fiend, refusing (almost every time) to buy things that aren't as close to "whole" as possible. That means that products that have ingredient lists that are longer than just a few items are discarded immediately.
As you saw above, I'm not 100% fiendish, and I still believe that you should treat yourself every once in a while, and also that eating feeds more than just your body, and sometimes your soul needs "comfort food."
But what about snacking? What are some good options for snacks that you can bring for yourself, and how can you be a good example for your co-workers about what's good to eat?
A quick disclaimer: I refuse to eat food that I don't enjoy. For example, I really hate raw broccoli. I'm sorry, I just do! But I love it roasted with olive oil, salt & pepper. So I will choose to eat roasted broccoli. But I love raw peppers and carrots and spinach and tomatoes, for example. So I will eat them raw because I know raw veggies are super good for me. It's important to me for you to know that I don't advocate for eating things just because they're good for you. I want you to love the way they taste, too. And believe me, you *can* learn to love the taste of things you never thought you would. Because even though I don't want you to eat things just because they're good for you, I do want you to eat things that are good for you! Got it?
So, anyway.
Here are some things that I love to snack on. Snacks are part of your daily diet (obviously), so they should be part of your overall intake of a variety of foods. Raw veggies are awesome. And they are even awesomer with a bit of dip - hummus is awesome, easy and cheap to make and full of good-for-you ingreds. Grab a jar of roasted red peppers (or roast your own!) and blend them up with some garlic and spices. You could then dip raw red peppers in your roasted red pepper dip. Yummy!
How about some berries with yogurt? How about a variation on the pb&j sandwich: berries with a scoop of nut butter?
Handful of almonds? Love that one. Love the flavored almonds, and you can usually find some that aren't full of 500 crazy ingredients, too.
Is it possible for you to be in charge of bringing snacks for your next work event? Show your coworkers where your food values are and bring something out of the ordinary!
And please remember, read the ingredients of any processed food!!!! Low-Fat does NOT equal good for you! Low fat chip dip has so many insane ingredients, it can absolutely not be better for your body than full fat nut butter, for example! Our bodies were not made to process man-made ingredients and fake food and artificial ingredients!!!!!
Better yet, bring some sort of whole food. A real vegetable or fruit is your best bet!!!!
Below are some snacks I purchased for a gathering last night. For processed food, I feel OK about eating them because the ingredient lists aren't that long.
This is a brand of chips that is super yummy and has really decent ingreds. I just bought this bag at HyVee North.
This is another super yummy cracker that my family inhales. I feel better about eating this because it has pecan meal as the 2nd ingredient. I really am not a fan of "natural pecan flavor and natural butter flavor," but compared to other brands of crackers out there, this one is much better!
If you need more ideas for snacks, let me know! There are tons! Happy snacking!
So today I was forced to ride my bike to the studio to teach my morning Zumba class. Most of you will think I'm a big baby, and I think I really am. Riding your bike around town is not that bad, right? Except that it's a weird fear that I've had for a while. It might be due to that time when I was a young girl, riding my bike home from the swimming pool one summer day (I'm pretty sure my mom made me ride, like, 54 miles to and from the pool!) when my I (stupidly) rode over this big grate on a sidewalk (kind of like this one).
Only it was running in a perpendicular sense so that my front bike tire slipped down in one of those spaces! It was near a busy intersection, and I'm sure everyone in my hometown saw me, and I was so embarassed!
Oh, you're wondering if maybe I got super hurt? Nope. Just my pride.
And that is the dumbest reason ever to have a fear of something.
Fast forward to this morning, and one of our cars wouldn't start. Since it was blocking "my" car, I wasn't able to drive. Heavens! So I grumbled that I would ride my bike, hoping that just by saying that, the car would magically fix itself, rendering my sacrifice unnecessary.
But, alas. That was not to be, and so I reluctantly strapped on my helmet and set off, calling what would no doubt be my last words of affection to my husband, "If I die, you can marry someone eelllllllsssssse..."
Now, you will understand why I am somewhat justified in my fear of riding my bike around Rochester. We live at the top of a moun- I mean HUGE HILL! So I could just picture myself spinning out of control down the hill, hitting a rock (or someone who was hiding in the woods sticking their foot out) and flying head over heels smack onto the concrete sidewalk, scraping up my whole entire body, including my face, breaking all my bones and just generally almost dying.
So I decided just to walk my bike down that hill.
Then I hopped on and rode the rest of the way to the studio.
And it wasn't scary!
In fact, it was beautiful. It was marvelous. It was time outside, away from the computer. I didn't have to do anything else except move my legs up and down.
It was a perfect fall morning with a slight breeze. I got to ride on part of our most awesomest bike trail, past the gurgling falls that is my favorite spot in Rochester.
I even rode on the street for a while (because that's my other fear - getting killed my a car whose driver is doing something irresponsible like reaching back to comfort their crying baby and doesn't see me and runs smack into me, causing me to fly head over heels smack onto the concrete sidewalk, scraping up my whole entire body, including my face, breaking all my bones and just generally almost dying).
I'm not generally very good at going outside of my comfort zone, so this was sort of a big deal for me, and I'm proud.
Plus, I've decided that this is a very good look for me:
Do you have any fears, rational or irrational? Have you ever been forced to overcome your fear?
Mix
flour and spices together in a medium bowl. Toss the cubed beef
around in the flour mixture, until evenly coated. Heat olive oil in
skillet over medium-high heat, add beef to the skillet. Lightly
stirring, heat until lightly browned. Add 1 cup of the water,
scraping all of the drippings from the skillet. Add all contents from
the skillet to your crockpot.
Stir
in the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 7-8hrs on low or 5-6hrs on
high
Last night my husband and I had the chance to go out with some really good friends. I had really been looking forward to it. Then my husband and I got into a fight. It was a classic situation of mis- (or rather non-) communication. I was a Super Sulk for the first bit of our outing, despite being at the super-cool new Doggery, the prohibition-era-ish place on Historic 3rd, and despite having a most delicious and lime-y daquiri, followed by the smoothest red wine I've ever tasted... Anyway, in a fit of "how cool can we be?" we decided to continue the outing at Chester's, where we couldn't help but order the delicious chocolate cake. I mean, honestly.
While waiting for our deliciousness to arrive, I went to powder my nose. If you've ever experienced the ladies room at Chester's, you know that it's really rad and low-lit. And it has a giant mirror in one corner that sits at a slant and is handy for looking at the reflection of your rear through the mirror in front of the sink on the opposite wall. You see what I mean? Anyway, I made the mistake of spending some time looking at the reflection of my own rear. In all my sulkiness and high emotions, that was a grandiose mistake.
I have been on a general upswing when it comes to my self-esteem since turning 30 (a while ago...). I get a fair amount of exercise in my role as group fitness instructor. And, all things considered, I think I'm in pretty good shape and feel good about my body. But it's interesting how your mind can do funny things, especially when your emotions are high.
That (stupid) mirror reflected a wide butt and short, stumpy legs. Now I *think* that the slant of that particular mirror probably affects its accuracy, but it got me thinking about looking at our reflections. What do we see? Is it an accurate vision of who we really are or do we judge ourselves extra harshly based on what we see in our reflections?
And then in church this morning, the message was about spiritual hospitality. The importance of welcoming people wherever they are on their spiritual journey, even (and maybe especially) if it's different from ours. And how we embrace (figuratively) and accept strangers, family & friends, and ourselves.
Embrace ourselves?
It's easy to embrace strangers. Slightly more difficult to embrace those we know and love. And virtually impossible to embrace ourselves, where we are, who we are, what we look like, without expectation or thoughts about what we *could* be, if only...
Since conflict stays with me and affects my emotions longer than I care to admit, the fight with my hubs was still lingering and had me on high emotional alert. That, combined with some beautiful and haunting music provided by Leon Littlebird, made me very receptive to the message of acceptance in church. We were encouraged many times to "stretch your heart open" to strangers, friends and family, and ourselves.
So many of us feel as though we are "not there yet," striving toward something that we want. I'm thinking specifically of the context of our bodies. We are constantly thinking about what we want to look like, unwilling to accept ourselves and "open our hearts" to who we are, at this very moment.
And while striving toward things is generally a good thing, it's important also to make sure that you are loving yourself up at each stage of your journey. You only have one chance to be you. You're the only you that exists in this world, and therefore, the world would not, could not be the same without you being exactly who you are right now.
I challenge you to go look in a mirror right now. Let everything fall away except for you and your reflection. Forget about things that are bothering you. Forget about that fight you had with your husband. Forget about the worries on your mind (as Debarge once said). Really look at yourself. This is who you are! It's you! You are special and perfect just the way you are.
And speaking of Michael Franti, watch this video to hear him tell about his inspiration for the song that we all love to dance to in Empowered Wellness Zumba class. I lovelovelove the upbeat-ness of this song, and it usually makes me want to cry when I'm dancing to it, leading a class in shaking our hearts open and our butts into shape, and he says, "You're perfect just the way you are." With all of your imperfections, you are perfect. How d'you like that??? I like it. A lot. Now, I'd better go make up with the hubs... Even though it was all his fault... ;)
