Tuesday Takeover... SNAPCHAT!

The one social medium that I held out on the longest... SNAPCHAT! While I am an early adopter for most social mediums and am pretty advanced in all of them; I never planned to add snapchat to my repertoire. As a Marketing Director by day and a Blogger by night, social media can easily start to takeover my life in a way that I don't personally think is healthy. There's a reason that "Weekend Sunshine" and "Friday Favs" sometimes take a back seat to my other blogposts. "Being Present" is something that I work on and and try to be more mindful of now that we have so many social media machines at our fingertips. Right now, I'm sitting in a chair in my living room with my work phone on my left, my personal phone on my right, and my MacBook Air on my lap. Yikes! Overkill? Yes. Necessary? Kind of, yeah. Remember, Marketing Director by day and Blogger by night. It's a part of the job.

About six months ago, I decided to download the snapchat app. For one, multiple businesses are starting to use it for promotion and with the amount of events I run at Legacy Place; it could add a fun dynamic to our marketing plan. So, I figured I needed to learn how to use it. The other reason, a lot of big time bloggers have been raving about it so I sighed, and hit "download".

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Here's what I quickly came to realize: Wow, I really like this app. Why? It's actually NOT time consuming. Here's why:
1. Unlike Instagram, my photos don't have to be manicured. There's some pressure on us bloggers and marketing folks to make sure all photos are well-lit, clever, and beautiful. While some of you might think this sounds really stupid (because it is), it's a reality that Marketers have to live with. Our accounts won't get recognized if they aren't aesthetically pleasing. There's a reason most companies now have one person dedicated to social. It's a full-time freaking job.
2. If I don't have time to write a blog post, I can snapchat from my little Southie kitchen and provide step-by-step recipes without spending an hour of my night writing a post. (high-five!)
3. It's fun to share the random, silly stuff and I really like seeing that on other accounts, as well. This is kind of like "weekend sunshine" without all the editing!

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So, that all being said....(this post got more involved than I had planned!), my friend and blogger extraordinaire Athena from Fitness & Feta and I will be swapping accounts on Tuesday! We thought it would be fun to share our little health, fitness, and randomness with eachother's followers. She'll be using my account (FUNFITFLAVOR) and I'll be using hers (FITNESSANDFETA). So add us now to keep up with all the fun stuff. Hint: the recipe stuff is the most fun. Usually we post things that are QUICK and HEALTHY. So, enjoy!

I'd love to know, do you use snapchat?
What are your thoughts on this medium?

Have a great day! xo

Meal Prep Idea: Easy Crustless Quiche

Hi friends! I don't have any Friday Favs to share with you today but, I do have a recipe that takes just minutes to whip up. Even though the picture quality is kind of terrible, I wanted to share it today in advance of "Sunday Meal Prep". If you're starting to get on the "meal prep" bandwagon (which I recommend, especially for lunches) this would be an easy one; even if you only have 10 minutes to spare this weekend. 

Mid-week, I realized I didn't have anything to bring to lunch for the next few days, so I decided to get a little creative. An added bonus about this meal: it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner AND it's a great Friday meal during Lent (if you practice that!) Here's the recipe!

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EASY CRUSTLESS QUICHE

NEED:
- 8 organic eggs
- 1 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pepper, chopped
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach
- Salt/Crushed Red Pepper to taste
- 3 Tbs of buffalo sauce or a few shakes of hot sauce (not needed if you don't have it on hand - it adds just a little extra spice and flavor)
HOW:
- Whisk the eggs
- Fold in the shredded cheese and veggies (You really could use whatever veggies you'd like)
- Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes
SERVE:
- Cut into 4 equal pieces
This equates to approximately 190-220 calories per serving (more if you use the buffalo sauce, less if you don't) but, more importantly it's loaded with protein from the eggs, nutrients and fiber from the veggies and a little fat from the cheese to make it satisfying.

I packed mine over a bed of greens.

When I got to work, I put the whole thing in the microwave to make the spinach wilty and then topped it with a little hot sauce!

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I hope you all have a fabbbbbuloussss weekend filled with fun times, sunshine, laughter, good food, and a little movement! xo

15ish minute Meals: Cauliflower Rice bowl with Taco Chicken

For me, there's nothing much easier to cook than a pound of ground organic chicken or turkey (mmm that sounded sexy.... oye). Anyway, it's fast, flavorful, healthy, and completely versatile. Lately, I've been creating a variety of rice and quinoa bowls that are full of flavor, protein, and veggies. Since I usually work out at night, these bowls are super satisfying because they are packed with so many nutrients and the complete package of carbs/proteins/fats. As an added bonus, they will please the guys in your life, too. Bowls = can add as much to it as they want. 

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Alright, let's get to the recipe, shall we?

I've been wanting to make cauliflower rice for a while now, but, who has time for that at 8pm when you're just trying to make a fast and healthy dinner? When I found out that Trader Joes sells pre-made frozen cauliflower rice, I basically ran to my closest location and grabbed three bags.

So, what I'm getting at is this meal isn't even made with quinoa or rice. It's essentially carb free if you're into that. (I'm SO NOT into that, I LOVE carbs, but, I do try to balance my meals so for example, if I go carb heavy during the day, I like to lighten it up at night)

Moving on...  Cook up your ground meat with taco seasoning

Heat the cauliflower rice according to the instructions. It only takes a few minutes and I added some frozen corn to the mix for some extra flavor. (The "rice" is good! It just needs some salt and maybe a little evoo.)

Cut desired veggies. Peppers, tomatoes, and avocados are my go-tos.

And then, build those bowls! (See that heat coming off those bowls?!)

I layered baby spinach on the bottom and immediately topped it with the cauliflower rice and taco chicken. The heat will make the spinach wilty so that it mixes in quite nicely with the rest of the bowl. Next, top with desired veggies and give it a couple squeezes of hot sauce or lime juice for good measure. 

Grab a fork and dig in! This meal has protein, fiber, healthy fats, little carb (from the corn), vitamin c, bs, a, antioxidants and more. Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy! Have a GREAT Thursday. xo