I was going to post my new quinoa, spinach, and egg breakfast recipe, but that can wait until another day. I figure that those of us in the health and fitness blogosphere don’t need to be posting about silly things like that when so many people in Boston have had a terrible day.
Thoughts and love to those who were there and who have been affected.
I had a $40 gift card for Hello Fresh (a food delivery company that delivers the ingredients to make 3 fresh meals per week). I decided to try it out for one week. By the way, 3 meals (for 2 people) costs $59 for the week and that is just the vegetarian option. Not a great deal.
They are OCD with packaging:
It turned out much better than I expected! The only negative is the cost, and that you might not get food that you want. You can vote on the meal choices, but they send you a recipe for whatever they decide. So, if you are picky, this is not for you.
Meal 1: Vegetable Curry with Brown Rice
By accident, I used the entire container of curry paste when you were only supposed to use 2 Tbsp! Yikes! The directions were not the best. So, it’s obviously not my fault 
Meal 2: Lentil Squash Soup
This tasted so light and fresh, yet hearty. The flavors were excellent, and we agreed that we would try to make this at home again.
Meal 3: Cauliflower Stir Fry
This also turned out better than expected. I wasn’t a fan of the white rice, but it was OK to try something different. The recipe called for a crispy panko buttery topping, but it wasn’t too heavy.
We had the cauliflower again as leftovers with some salmon for protein the next night:
If I re-create any of these recipes, I will post my final edited recipe for everyone to try!
Overall, I canceled my subscription because of cost, and I like to be able to decide exactly what I am going to eat that week! But, for others who still want to cook, but want fresh recipes at their fingertips, this might be a good choice.
So, I had a birthday this weekend. Nothing epic since last year was a milestone year. But, nevertheless, we celebrated over at my parent’s house on Sunday which was also Mother’s Day. I argued with my brother that my birthday took precedence over Mother’s Day because if I was never born, she wouldn’t be a mother. Silly.
Anyway, my Dad made some amazing grilled salmon:
We didn’t have a ton of food for dinner because we always fill up too much on appetizers (and my Dad complains about this every time). For appetizer, we had seed crackers, cheese, sour cream dip, and carrots/celery.
And my Mom made me a tasty (not healthy) jello surprise cake:
I was almost more obsessed with the chocolate fudge ice cream. The cake was actually pretty light–nothing to heavy. But, crazy sugary. More than I am used to.
My brother made me a card with carrots on the front of it.
So, of course, we all got sugar crazy and hyper after eating. And my Dad decided to scare us all with his crazy face mask.
So silly and creepy.
Anyway, for Mother’s Day, I made my Mom this Pinterest inspired star collage for the wall:
It turned out super cute. All you need is a metal star, some black and white photos, 3 pieces of scrapbook paper, and modge podge.
More on turning 26 later…
Inspired by the new memes about what people think about different professions, hot topics, and other shenanigans… I decided to create my own meme for RD’s.
I already had seen someone else do this for RD’s, and I thought it was pretty funny, but wanted to convey my own opinion. Hope you get a laugh from this too
That is the name of what Mr. Cyclist calls this dish. My Mom always made us this baked fish with cracker crumbs and some kind of tartar sauce topping as kids. I just happened to think about it the other day and decided to make my own version–a little healthier!
I used this recipe from the Washington Post for inspiration.
Fish with Cracker Crumb Topping
Ingredients:
Directions:
I just love fish that is baked like this. It is so moist. This is not the healthiest recipe for fish, but it is definitely a healthy compromise that seems like you are having a rich dish.
Then later that night I decided to make a wreath like I often see posted to Pinterest.
All you need to DIY is yarn, hot glue gun, Styrofoam wreath, and some flowers and decorative pieces to glue on to your wreath. I also made a few felt flowers to glue on. It does take a while because you have to wrap all the yarn around and around the Styrofoam. But, I just watched some Mad Men season 4 while I did the project 
I decided that since I strive to eat a pretty clean and healthy diet, why shouldn’t my skincare be clean and healthy as well?
I strive to eliminate toxins from my life, mainly through diet. But, I can’t forget about the other toxins that I choose to use everyday.
The most important is body lotion because skin is an organ, and body lotion goes everywhere all over your body. Second, deodorant is important because we use it everyday, and sometimes multiple times per day.
Left to Right: Alba natural acne dote scrub, Mario Badescu drying lotion, Alba even advanced night cream, Dickinson witch hazel, Love & Toast persimmon body lotion
My goal is not to go out and buy all natural clean products, but rather, I will just replace them as I run out. And I don’t plan to buy as many natural hair-care products because I just wash them out (maybe just shampoo).
This Jason’s deodorant is actually pretty good for a natural one! It is a little sticky, but smells great, and keeps me perspiration free. But, I do have to reapply it a few times to stay smelling pretty.
Why Use Clean Skincare Products:
Below are examples of two common lotion products I threw away:
No need to freak out over chemicals in your beauty products. It takes a long time to create some kind of damage to the body. Just realize that the more natural your skincare, the more healthy you will keep your body. Just like foods!
I believe this will be the start of my third year of more serious blogging. But, hah, when is my blogging ever that serious?
Anyway, resolutions to me are more just things I want to do this year.
Happy New Year!
Are you making any resolutions this year?
First, Mom, aka Psycho Holiday Baker, packed up the car with about 30 pounds of cookies.
Then, we started our drive through the night, and made it to Steak and Shake at about 5 am just outside Raleigh, NC.
Please note: making these kind of choices at 5 am in the morning can definitely lead to weight gain. But, we needed the calories and sugar to keep us going in the car! A one-time only kind of thing.
We finally made it to the Outer Banks at about 8:30 am Christmas Eve where we ate at a Pancake House. My Dad used about 20 or more ketchup packs for his breakfast. Ridiculous. And not very eco-friendly.
Everything was closed, except the grocery store on Christmas Eve, so we bought 6 frozen pizzas and made a large salad for 14 people. I insisted on a few organic pizzas, and no trans fat pizzas!
Oh, and I burnt a pepperoni pizza because I couldn’t get used to the convection oven. Whoops!
Then, we had the baking crew prepping Psycho Holiday Baker’s famous French toast for the next morning.
We also had a hard time with more quantity foods production. How in the world do you work 4 coffee pots at once… I did go to school and get a degree that qualifies me to perform these tasks!
Mimosa’s on Christmas morning!
Nala was dying for some lasagna.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you have had a wonderful break.
One final pic that I promised the 14 people in our group that they would end up on the blog…
You can find me over at BeeWell talking about quinoa’s often overlooked health benefits here!
Never fear! Remind yourself it takes 3500 calories extra to gain 1 pound!
And if you still have leftovers, there are plenty of creative ways to use them up here:
