Almond Meal Horchata

Happy Friday, All!

Alright, lets get right down to business. In case you haven't noticed, there's a flu epidemic going around. A few major cities have already declared a public health emergency.

A few days ago I woke up with a sore throat. Nothing else but a sore throat. Last night I had quite a few coughing fits which in turn gave me an even more sore throat this morning :-(. Of course I wanted nothing more than a steaming hot cup of something to soothe my throat. I started off with a hot cup of coffee which felt oh so good. Then I wanted more. I wanted a steaming hot cup of something. It was too early for soup and I did want something with substance that would hold me over. So, then I went thinking along the lines of a hot cup of horchata, which then got me thinking about making it healthier (duh), which then brought me to the recipe below :-)

Almond Meal Horchata

Ingredients:
2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup of almond meal
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Preparation:
Blend all ingredients. Transfer to a small pot and heat on stove until hot. Stir. Pour in a big mug. Enjoy :-)


PS: Be safe and try to stay clear of the flu. Take your vitamins and wash your hands.

Snack Attacks

Since making more of an effort to eat healthy, I realized I need to keep some healthy snacks on hand. A snack definitely comes in handy if you feel you'll be having a late lunch, need a boost before working out or need to satiate a long gap between lunch and dinner. I wanted to share some of my favorite snacks that help keep me on track.

• Low fat string cheese or Babybel cheese
• Health Warrior bars
• Carrot and celery sticks
• Air popped popcorn (my most favorite these days)
• Ezekiel toast with a smear of almond or peanut butter
• Nonfat Greek yogurt with sliced almonds

What are some of your healthy snacks?

Happy Hump Day and Eats

Hellooo and Happy Hump Day!

How are you all doing? I hope you're still keeping up with your resolutions? So far, in doing really good. I'm keeping up with work outs and making a great effort to eat right :-)

Yesterday, I made it to the gym and completed 30 minutes on the stair master, did 25 sit-ups and the following for strength:

Dumbbell curls: 12.5 lbs. 3 sets of 12 reps
Lat pull downs: 60 lbs. 3 sets of 12 reps
Arm fly:  50 lbs. 3 sets of 12 reps


My diet has been pretty clean as well. I'm on a vegan challenge with a coworker for the next two weeks and my meals have been loaded with veggies, healthy fats and complex carbs. Below you'll find a few pictures of my meals.

How are you guys doing with your resolutions?

Beans with wild rice and walnuts

Vegetarian tacos with guacamole, salsa, shredded cheese,beans

Breakfast lately: Ezekiel toast with almond butter

Wild rice, avocado,tomatoes, peas,onions, lentil

Taco Night....

Happy Monday! The good thing about starting Monday off...the sooner you get the day started the sooner you'll be done with it :-p

I hope you all had a great weekend! Here are some food highlights from a Taco Night I had with some friends, Saturday night:-)

Healthy Smoked Black Bean Soup

Taco shells getting nice and toasty

The Goods :-)

Mmmm...Fish Tacos :-)

Somewhere...below that sour cream of a mess, there's a delicious chicken taco

Flan...my version :-p

Recipe Alert: Breakfast Berry Pudding

Happy Saturday!

This morning I woke up thinking and feeling: I could really use a delicious breakfast filled with antioxidants, fiber and healthy fats. You know, something that's good for me and will keep me full for a few hours. This is how I came up with a Breakfast Berry Pudding. Originally I was thinking of making a smoothie. Then I thought, why not add chia seeds and make a spoon able breakfast :-). This is exactly what I did and I managed to make a DELICIOUS breakfast that filled all my criteria: delicious, with antioxidants, fiber and healthy fats!

Check out the deets below!

Recipe: Breakfast Berry Pudding

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen berries (I used Trader Joe's Very Cherry Berry Blend)
1/4 cup frozen spinach (You don't even taste this)
1/4 cup almond milk
Water, a needed to blend
2TB chia seeds
2TB sliced almonds

Preparation:
Blend first four ingredients together. Pot in a bowl. Stir in chia seeds. Top with sliced almonds. Allow to sit for at least two hours.

PS: This can also be made the night before. The longer you leave this the more moisture the chia seeds will absorb and the thicker the pudding.

Barry's Bootcamp

Good Morning!

In keeping up with my New Year's resolution, I decided to take on Barry's 30 day bootcamp challenge.  What I like about this challenge is there's an easy to follow calendar, which lets you know what workout you are suppose to do AND each workout is an intense 21 minutes!

There are two DVD's: one that focuses on the upper body and one that focuses on the lower body.  Each DVD also has "Mission" workouts which are short (12 minute) workouts that work on specifics such as abs, legs, thighs etc.  I figured, hey, its 21 minutes a day...I CAN do this.

January 1st, I started the first workout for lower body.  January 2nd, I completed the workout for the second day.  I'm hoping to follow the calendar every day to accomplish this :-)

Have you guys tried any of Barry's workouts?

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I hope you all had a great 2012 and I hope you have an even better 2013 :-)  Did you guys make any resolutions?  I did make a few, which I will try to practice EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Here's a few of my resolutions:

• Eat less sugar
• Workout at least 5 days a week
• Be a stronger person and not worry so much about what other people think of me
• Update my blog 4 times a week :-)

I do have more personal resolutions and as the year goes by, I will update your guys.  With that said, I will try my best to accomplish my resolutions!

Happy New Year!