Palm Springs, Fitness, Food & Sock Buns.

I've been meaning to update my blog for quite some time now, but life has gotten the best of me. In between work, coaching, maintaining my home, relationship, training for a half marathon and limited social life, I find simple pleasures out of thinking what I should be blogging about. So far, I have blogged only about my recipes but lately I've been slacking off in that department. I still cook tons but forget to take pictures or update this. A few weeks ago my Facebook status read, "I wish I were a professional blogger!" I really do! I was up for a job in communications that would allow me to do this but opted for a different one. I figured I would still get my fix with our CaringBridge blog, FB updates, and this! But just like everything in my life, my attention span goes from one thing to another and never settles. I've done so much in my life that most people complete in their entire lives, yet I can never seem to settle. Which is definitely a good thing but can be tiring and sometimes I just wish I would just have it in me to relax and just breathe! From clothing company [currently in hiatus since Jefe got sick], to photography [also on hiatus], to careers, three degrees, cooking clean, etc., etc.....Pshhhh! Soo much, too much at times, and yet not enough! I'm simply too complicated!

Anyway, I decided that I could include all things I'm currently obsessed with in my blog! This includes my travels, style, food, and fitness! I'll try to include a bit of everything in this post!

Jefe and I have been very fortunate to travel A LOT throughout our almost nine year old relationship. From many major cities around the U.S. to different countries all over the world, we have come to appreciate any time we get to escape our busy schedules and just make time for ourselves. We always return refreshed in our relationship and reconnected, which to us, is very important to the success of our love. Back in May, I got a LivingSocial deal for a weekend getaway in Palm Springs at a condo resort for really cheap! I immediately tried to get a group of us to go together but just like us, everyone else's schedule is really hectic so I went ahead and got one for us anyway. I surprised Geoff with it for his birthday this last month and we were able to go this last weekend!

We stayed at the Oasis Resort in Palm Springs. It was really clean and the staff was really nice; the premises were a bit outdated but perfect for our little weekend. We arrived Friday night and once we checked in and unpacked, we were starving for dinner! We found a nearby Chipotle and of course, Jefe wanted a burrito from there! We contemplated going bar hopping downtown but opted for staying in and relaxing instead! Great choice! We hit up a local Ralph's (thank goodness my savings card is still activated from my UCLA days)! We shopped for breakfast and lunch for the next day! It was so fun! It almost felt like playing house, minus all the real world responsibilities of actually owning a house [ahem, rook leak, anyone?]

The next morning, we made breakfast and ate on our balcony- we're lucky enough to have one at home and get to use it when the weather gets better; but since the weather was nicer there, we were happy to use it! We made mimosas with peach champagne and ended up just drinking the champagne as is! So delish! We then went for a 5 mile bike ride- sooo fun/funny!

We went back home and relaxed then made lunch. Greek salads & grilled outdoors! We ate inside and I watched SATC2, while Geoff watched baseball in between commercials. We lounged around and relaxed then went out to the pool. We took naps and really enjoyed our time. Then we showered, hung out some more, and then decided to play tennis! We hit up the courts, I kicked Geoff's butt [4-2] and then we went out to get take-out from Native Foods! I hadn't been there since my UCLA days when I would go with my roommate, Ally all the time! I didn't even realize it was a franchise! We ordered nachos, sweet potato tacos and quinoa mac n cheese. Holy moly, everything was SO good! Better than I remembered! I was immediately inspired to make the tacos with the sweet potatoes sitting in my fridge! On our way back home, we stopped at Trader Joe's and stocked up on our faves- we found some awesome corn and flour tortillas that would be perfect for the tacos! Trying them tomorrow- stay tuned!

Cruisin' along!

Today I feel like such a fatty (not in the actual sense of the word but in the I-just-ate-junk-food-and-didn't-work-out-type-of-way! Nothing a glass or two of wine can't fix! Fitness is something that has become extremely important to me. Not necessarily because of weight or anything [I'm lucky enough to be pretty comfortable with my body], but mainly for the health benefits. I also have always been stronger than the average girl my size and I LOVE feeling strong and tough. I get so happy when my body (especially my arms and abs) look strong. It's really motivating to see that the majority of my girlfriends are into fitness as well! I love it because we always bounce ideas and workouts back and forth with each other. Back in March of 2010, [my Linda Cochina] Becca, had told me about Jillian Michael's "The Shred." At the time I had started doing some Biggest Loser workouts at school [thanks to Leah and my Salida homies], so I was already familiar with the style. The rad thing about "The Shred" was that it was ONLY 20 minutes and left you feeling like you had just spent 45 doing it! I fell in love immediately and used it along with my regular workouts. I then tried "Insanity" for three weeks then moved to P90x (Thanks, Josh)! With all of these workouts, I felt like I was in the best shape EVER! I loved it! So strong and fit! When JM came out with the "Ripped in 30" DVD, I did the full 30 days straight with my mirror, Bre! It was so awesome and in between these 30 days, we decided we needed to add cardio to our workouts. We began in June with 2 miles. Now we're up to 9! It's pretty insane and we are 5 weeks away from our first half marathon! I even started coaching cross country! For the record, I don't LIKE running. But it's the ONLY thing that pushes me, and only me, to my limits. Mind, matter, life...love it! Is it November 13th, yet?!

Which brings me to today...back in the daily grind. Work was....interesting to say the least. I didn't feel motivated to run so I opted for coming home early and hanging out since Jefe is not home until late tonight (and counting 8pm...). This morning I wore a sock bun to work and Geoff shook his head, laughed and said "seriously!?" haha! Yes, I'm weird but love being me! Some things I pull off, others I don't, but damnit, I'm going to give it my own steeze! Mind you, rocking your own personal style that tends to be slightly off can be critical in front of hundreds of high schoolers a day...but whatev, got tons of compliments and decided I should do a tutorial! Upcoming post, I think yes!

Sock bun a la Canela

One [or more] Ingredient HEALTHY ice cream!

I read about this on a blog but I cannot find it so I feel bad posting this without giving it proper credit! I even checked my history & couldn't find the link! It's just too good to not post though! I had read that you can make healthy ice cream and for our wedding we received an ice cream maker- Thanks, Is & Jake! (Geoff had been wanting one for years and always talked about the one he used with his family for years). However, we have yet to use it! I haven't had time to look up good recipes and the ones it came with have tons of ingredients I rather not put in homemade ice cream. But I randomly ran into this recipe! BANANA ICE CREAM!

Ingredients

3 chopped, frozen slightly overripe bananas

................

...............

...............

& that's it! haha! Peel and chop 3 [or more depending on how much you want to make] overripe bananas. Freeze them for an hour or two. Place them in your food processor and puree away! At first it'll just look like chopped bananas. But as you let it continue to puree, it all of a sudden becomes the consistency of ice cream! Taste it- amazing! It reminded Geoff and I of our favorite smoothie so we decided to add the following ingredients:

pureed banana :)

Additional Ingredients [optional]

approximately one tablespoon of-

-flax seed, oatmeal & peanut butter* (we had all natural crunchy on hand).

-dash of honey

Place your ice cream back into the freezer until the desired length of time and VOILA! Yummy and delicious, not to mention versatile!

Yum! Still needs more time in the freezer!

It'd be perfect for kiddos too and gives us now a different recipe for overripe bananas (other than my deliciously healthy banana bread! you can find that post here too! lol!)

Mango Salsa Tilapia & Cilantro/Lime [Brown] Rice

Our basket this morning included perfectly ripe mango's and a bushel of cilantro. Immediately, I knew I wanted to try out a mango salsa for dinner. I thought the cilantro could be used in the salsa as well as in brown rice (a la Chipotle)! We have slowly begun incorporating meat back into our diets after one year of being vegetarians (& vegan for two whole weeks, haha)! I cooked arroz con pollo last week and it was my first time cooking meat in a year. It was so weird! It almost tasted fake to us...but who can resist Puerto Rican arroz con pollo?! lol! Anyway, that recipe will probably never appear on here ;)

We decided on pairing the mango salsa with tilapia, since it's a lighter fish that isn't fishy. I searched and edited a few recipes I found and ended up with what you see below. Granted, I used a whole jalapeno and included all the seeds and our salsa was WAY too spicy, even for me!

Mango Salsa

Ingredients

Tilapia Marinade

• extra-virgin olive oil for your marinade


• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 2 teaspoons dried basil


• ground black pepper, to taste


• salt, to taste


• tilapia fillets (we made two but this recipe would yield for up to four, I noticed)

Salsa

• 1 chopped mango (let me know if you need tips on cutting one)


• 1 diced avocado


• cilantro, to taste


• juice of 1/2 lime


• 2 tablespoons orange juice


• 1 finely minced jalapeno pepper- omit the seeds to taste


• 1/4  finely minced red onion


• 1/2 red bell pepper


• 1 teaspoon dried parsley


• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Rice

• EVOO to coat bottom of your pot


• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• 1/4 onion finely minced


• cilantro, to taste


• 1/2 lime, to zest & juice

Directions

1. RICE: Begin with the rice, if you're making brown rice, since it takes a long time to cook. The same recipe can be used for white rice, and it'd cut cooking time in half BUT does not give you the whole grain that the extra time does ;). Add EVOO to your pan and preheat. Add 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 finely diced white onion and let them saute. Then add the rice and let it brown a tiny bit. Double the amount of water, in correlation with the amount of rice you used. I cooked 1.5 cups of rice so I added 3 cups of water. Lightly salt your water, as it comes to a boil. Cover and lower heat until cooked. Add lime zest and juice from 1/2 lime. Add cilantro (to taste) and fluff with fork!


2. FISH: Add the olive oil, garlic, basil, black pepper, and salt together in a resealable bag.  Put the tilapia fillets in the bag; gently shake. Marinate in refrigerator, until you're ready to use it. You can marinate ahead of time, as well. Once you're ready, you can pan-sear it until crispy on each side.


3. SALSA: Make the salsa by stirring all the ingredients in bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or as long as you want, to allow the flavors to blend. I used about an hour for everything because I was making brown rice which takes forever!


4. Serve! Spoon the salsa over the tilapia & add rice to the side!

 

Cauliflower/Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

This last Saturday we received two heads of cauliflower in our Bountiful Basket. Lately, we've been receiving one and in all honesty, they've gone bad because I can't come up with creative and delicious ways to make it. I did make panko breaded cauliflower but it seemed to be a one-time serve dish that didn't hold up well for leftovers- and one head seemed too much for the two of us! So this time I was determined to use it. I remembered seeing cauliflower mashed potatoes once, and just recently I came across this super rad kids blog Super Healthy Kids, and found a similar recipe! I decided to give it a try and other than saying that they needed more salt, Geoff didn't realize it was mainly cauliflower, haha! Until he say the description under my uploaded picture! Oops!

I edited the recipe to include double the amount of cauliflower since that it how much I got from one head.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups cauliflower, washed and roughly chopped


• 2 cups potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into small pieces


• 1 cup broccoli heads


• 1/2- 3/4 cup fat free milk or soy milk, depending on how moist you want yours


• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil cauliflower & potatoes. Salt when boiling.

*Meanwhile cook your broccoli in a separate pot since they take a lot less time- make sure not to overcook or you'll lose all the nutrients! Give it a rough chop when you're done or if you prefer chunky broccoli, leave as is.

2. Drain water and place back into pot. Mix with your mixer.

3.  Add milk/soy milk & pepper.

4. Gently stir in your broccoli! & voila!

You can choose to not add broccoli if you tend to not enjoy the combination of the two!

This recipe yields about 6 servings! Great for leftovers! They taste great, just a different kind of mashed potatoes- although the smell of the cooked cauliflower will give it away! haha!

I have another head of cauliflower. Any awesome recipes out there?

Versatile Veggie Lasagna

One of Geoff's favorite meals is lasagna! I am constantly trying to come up with fun and easy ways to create the dish! This particular recipe came about from having too many ingredients one Saturday after picking up my fruit/veggie basket. It took me a few tries to get it just right but the more I make it, the more I realize you really can't go wrong with it! It's soo delicious ALL the time! & you make enough for leftovers that taste even better the next day! One time I did add too much broccoli and it completely overpowered the spinach, just fyi! Last month, we had a potluck at work and I signed up for lasagna since no one had really signed up for any entrees. Then it dawned on me that I lasagna isn't very versatile with waiting hours before being served, eek! That morning, I decided to attempt it in my crockpot. By 2pm I had the most amazing lasagna ever! & as proof, I didn't even manage a proper picture as it was devoured right away! This post is for Rainey, who has been asking me for this recipe forever! <3

Ingredients:

1 1/2 quarts spaghetti sauce (your favorite homemade or jar spaghetti sauce)

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 teaspoon oregano

lasagna noodles OR if you don't want to use noodles, you can use thick cuts of eggplant as your noodles!

1 (15.5 ounce) container ricotta cheese (low fat)

1 (16 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and well drained OR fresh

1-2 eggs

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced zucchini

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Optional: 1 cup chopped broccoli & 1 eggplant

3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

This recipe can be made oven-baked OR in a crockpot! 

The pre-arrangement in my crockpot!

1. Mix carrots, oregano, and spaghetti sauce together.


2. Mix Ricotta, spinach, garlic, and eggs together in separate bowl.


3. Spread ½ cup spaghetti sauce in bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish or bottom of your crock pot


4. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, ½ remaining sauce, ½ Ricotta mixture, ½ sliced zucchini, ½ sliced mushrooms, ½ Mozzarella, and ½ Parmesan, & optional eggplant/broccoli. If cooking in crock pot, do 1/3 of each ingredient because you'll have less space.


5. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Make sure you end up with sauce on top! Top with remaining cheese!


6. *if you are using a crockpot, pour about 1/4 cup of water in your tomato sauce bowl/jar. Then pour your tomato juice/water all over the pile of food!


7. Bake in 350 degrees oven for about 45 minutes. OR if in Crockpot, cook on low for about 6 hours- this time varies so start checking at 5 hours. Check noodles at hour five, and push the top ones down into the liquid if they are getting too hard or are curling up.