Bits & Bites

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Heyyy everyone! How about this seasonal weather?! Pretty amazing how warm it feels, right? Luckily, I had a decent amount of outdoor "to-dos" to take care of at work today so it could not have worked out more perfectly. I made sure to take it all in with a few deep breaths to really absorb it all. Then, I noticed $2 bunches of daffodils at Whole Foods (Yeah!!) so I picked some up to brighten my condo and share with my neighbors. It's been a long winter - time to spread a little sunshine and light!

Moving on, it's time for another edition of "Bits & Bites"! This one mostly consists of lunches and quick dinners. Nothing fancy here - just straight up easy. 

Random lunch. I have to say that the rice cake/hummus/avo combo was surprisingly delicious. I will definitely start making this more often.

Dinner: Leftover chicken thighs with tomatoes and spinach in a organic corn tortilla.

Beef tacos with guac, veggies, and jalapenos! Can you even go wrong with tacos? Also, we always use organic corn shells and we don't use sour cream or much cheese at all when we make our tacos so that are actually quite healthy. 

I forget what I paired these with, but, man they are awesome. Crunchy faux fried green beans.

Dinner: quick gluten-free fish sticks, roasted sweet potato, and arugula salad.

Whole foods lunch: kale, shredded beats, chicken salad, and a lot of lemon juice drizzled on top. Let's be serious - the chicken salad MADE this work.

Lunch: Raspberries and Whole Foods "Mom's Chicken Soup". Give me allll the berries.

Dinner: Arugula, sweet potato noodles, feta, and grilled shrimp. I made a tastier version a couple weeks ago that you can see on my instagram. It included brown butter and sage, I think that's all I have to say.

Lunch: blackberries, Whole Foods "Dad's chicken soup", and skinny pop. (I thought I'd like the "Dad's Chicken Soup" better than the "Mom's Chicken Soup" due to the ingredient list. I must say that the "Mom's" was much better. Makes sense considering they have two pots full of it available for lunch every.single.day.

Lunch: Mango/Salmon/Lettuce/spring rolls.

Weekend breakfast: Gluten-free buckwheat berry pancakes and cara cara oranges. (This is actually Rob's plate - I put almond butter under the berry compote and didn't add syrup.)

QUESTION: What do you bring for lunch? I'd love some additional options. I like healthy, fast, light, and protein rich. 

Have an awesome Wednesday! xo

Cacao Raspberry Compote

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Hi guys! Just checking in to tell you about a little, EXTREMELY HEALTHY, dessert I made tonight. I don't know about you guys, but, I'll be honest... since Christmas I've kind of spiraled out of control with two things: 1) snacking and 2) desserts during the week. During the month of December, I always have a ton of willpower and then after a couple of cookie drop offs, Christmas parties, and then Christmas itself... I start to meander into the kitchen for the leftover cookies or random chocolates after dinner. Then, because sugar is an evil poison, I start craving sugar *like crazy*. REMEMBER THIS ARTICLE? BAD SUGAR. This happens every year. In addition to that, it's snowed about 400 times which has been a wonderful excuse to snack. ANYWAY, I've snapped myself out of this stupidity as of late, BUT, I'm still having that sugary craving at night. It's been tough to ignore and I've weaned myself down to dark chocolate, but, now it's time to cut that nonsense out immediately!

ANYWAY... I'm really chatty tonight so I digress. This evening, I put a healthy twist on an old favorite for "dessert" and it was everything I could ask for and more. Most importantly, not only is it "guilt-free', but, it's actually completely and totally healthy.

Couple things to note here:
Cacao and Cocoa are not the same thing. Here are two pieces of information that explain it: one and two. Simply put, cacao is cocoa in its RAW form before being processed. Cacao is a mega-antioxidant and is loaded with magnesium, iron, and fiber. These are some serious needs in most women's diets.

Raspberries are my favorite. I love berries. What's even better about them? They are lower in sugar than pretty much all other fruits. There is only one tsp in a whole serving and they are very low on the glycemic index. HECK YES.

Coconut oil is one of the only foods that is high in lauric acid, which, in some studies has been shown to raise HDL (healthy cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad cholesterol) even though it is a saturated fat.

Don't care about the scientific stuff? That's ok... here's the recipe (so easy):

ORGANIC RASPBERRY CACAO COMPOTE

INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4cu - 1cu of organic frozen raspberries
- 1/2 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cacao powder
- 1 tbs cacao nibs

HOW:
In a small sauce pan, add all ingredients except for the cacao nibs. Stir until it is all melted down into a compote. Pour into a pretty cup or mug, top with cacao nibs and serve. Deeelish!

I mentioned that this is a twist on an old favorite because I used to melt down frozen berries in the microwave and then top them with chocolate syrup. This is a much healthier version.
Have a great night - it's almost THURSDAY! xo

Lemony Shrimp Scampi II

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Hi guys! How's your Monday going? I wanted to pop in quickly to give you the Lemony Shrimp Scampi recipe I promised you earlier today. Shrimp Scampi is kind of my thing. When people ask "What's your go-to dish?" or "What's the best thing you make?"... my response is typically "Ummm Shrimp Scampi??". It's funny, I obviously cook a lot, but, whenever someone asks a question like that I feel a little stumped. Though, I'm fairly certain that Shrimp Scampi is it. Oh, and deviled eggs (duh).

So, if you're thinking you've seen "Lemony Shrimp Scampi" on the blog before, you have. This recipe, however, is a little different and actually MORE lemony than the other one. Both have the same foundation though. What I like most about this version is that it has vegetables so it lightens up the dish a bit. The vegetables REALLY take on the flavor of the lemon so it transforms them into an almost vinegary/lemony taste that pairs so nicely with the pasta. It feels light, but, also quite comforting.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi: Serves 2

Need:
- 8+ ounces of peel, de-veined shrimp
- Half red pepper and a handful or so of fresh green beans (could use instead: snow peas, chopped asparagus, tomatoes, etc)
- 1.5 lemons, juiced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2-4 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
- Tbs or so of capers
- Crushed red pepper and salt to taste
- Enough pasta for two (I use Barilla Protein Plus)

Prep:
- Bring salted water in a large pot to a boil
- Sliver or julienne green beans and red pepper
- Juice 1.5 lemons, set aside
- Finely chop the garlic

Cook:
- Add pasta to boiling pot and cook as instructed (usually 8-10 minutes)
- In a saute pan on low-medium, add 2 tbs of olive oil, garlic, vegetables and about 1/3 of the lemon juice
- Add the capers, crushed red pepper, salt
- As the vegetables cook down, keep adding the lemon juice about a 1/3 at a time
- When the pasta is about 2-3 minutes from being done, add the shrimp to the saute pan (they cook EXTREMELY fast)
- Once the pasta is done - add it to the saute pan, mix around, plate, serve, and top with a little more crushed red pepper and Parmesan!

I apologize for not taking many "prep" photos. I didn't think I was going to post this recipe and I was distracted. haha

I hope you had a great Monday and if not... go make some Lemony Shrimp Scampi, curl up on the couch, and watch The Voice. There is nothing pasta, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrel cannot fix. Have a great night! xo