Foodie Friday | The Prefect Weekend Breakfast

Smoothie are pretty much an everyday thing for me. 95% of the time, what I have for breakfast is a smoothie. They are fast and easy to make and you can pack them with super healthy goodness! But lately I've been obsessed with making Smoothie Bowls! These do take a little bit more time (especially if you like to decorate them pretty like I do, but that part is totally optional!) so they are prefect to make on weekends if during the week you don't have time! And p.s. It's kind of like sitting down and eating a bowl of fruity ice-cream!

For today's Foodie Friday post, in going to share my go to Smoothie Bowl recipe, however smoothie bowls can be made and topped with pretty much anything you like and have on hand!

What you'll need
-Frozen fruit of your choice. I used Bananas and a frozen berry mix. You can also add in some protein powder if you use it! You can also add in some greens if you like those in your smoothies. Spinach is a good one to use, you can't taste it, I promise!
-Milk of your choice, or water. I use Almond milk. If anyone here eats a lower calorie diet, almond milk has less calories than regular milk, or you can use water and it turns out the same consistency!
-Toppings of your choice. I use Kiwi, hemp seeds, chia seeds, dark chocolate, and granola.
I dont exactly measure any of these ingredients, I just add however much I think I'll need.

Directions
-Blend together your fruit and frozen fruit with a little bit of your liquid. You want the smoothie base to be a little bit thicker so it's not too watery in the bowl. If you don't have any frozen fruit, thrown some in the freezer the night before. If you mixture turns out too watery, put it back into your blender and add some more frozen fruit and blend again.
-Pour into a bowl and add your toppings.
It's that simple! Like I said before, if you don't want to, you don't need to decorate it pretty, just throw some toppings on and your good to go.

Some awesome toppings that I recommend-
-Granola! This one is a must for me. It gives nice crunch.
-Nuts and seeds. I like to use hemp and chia seeds in all my smoothies/smoothie bowls. You can use sliced almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds etc.
-Fresh fruit. I had kiwi on hand, and it gives a nice pretty color for them Instagram photos.
-Chocolate. This doesn't need explanation :)
-Coconut flakes or dried fruit.
-A scoop of peanut butter or nut butter.

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe, and I hope you try making smoothie bowls sometime!
What is your go to breakfast on the weekends?

Foodie Friday | PB&J Breakfast Smoothie

Hi Friends!

I know this week's blog posts were kind of unexciting. I did a quick Essential Oil Haul on Wednesday, and today I'm sharing a quick smoothie recipe that I've been loving. I was super busy this week, so I didn't plan much for blog. I did, however, make an amazing smoothie earlier this week that I was obsessed with. I shared photos on IG, but I thought I'd share the recipe with you guys in more detail.

This PB&J smoothie is super healthy and perfect for breakfast!

Ingredients and Directions
-Add 1-2 frozen bananas into your blender. If you don't have frozen, just use fresh.
-Chop up 5 strawberries, more if you want and less if you don't. Add into blender.
-Add a scoop of peanut butter. I use a tiny bit less than a tablespoon. Again, add more or less if you want.
-1 pitted date. You can leave this out of you don't have one, but it adds some good sweetness.
-1 tbsp of both chia seeds and hemp seeds. If you don't have these that's okay too, but I encourage you to try them- they had tons of great neutrients!
-1 cup of rice milk, or milk of your choice. After you add in the milk, fill up with water as needed.
-Optional- add in some protein powder if you like it in your smoothie! You can also add in some greens for some extra vitamins and minerals.
-Blend away and enjoy!

This is sooo good and tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe? Share it with me in the comments!

Chai Tea Latte | The Best Homemade Chai You Will Ever Drink

Happy Friday!

I'm a huge lover of Chai Tea Lattes, they are the perfect treat if you don't feel like drinking coffee, but still want something sweet. Since Starbucks and other coffee shops can be expensive, I wanted to try and make my own Chai Latte, and I found an awesome recipe that is way better than ones from coffee shops!

What you'll need:
-2-3 Chai tea flavored tea bags. I use the Bigelow Vanilla Chai Tea (Teavanna has amazing loose leaf Chai if you can get it! If not just choose one from your local grocery store).
-1 to 1.5 cups of water (1 cup for 2 tea bags, 1.5 cups for 3)
-1 tsp of cinnamon
-2 cups of your choice of milk (I use rice milk)
-Sugar your taste (I use raw cane sugar)
-Vanilla Coffee creamer of your choice to taste
This recipe is for 2 servings. The extra tea bag/water is use depending on how large you coffee mugs are.

Directions:
-Use your coffee maker to brew your tea. Place your tea bags and tsp of cinnamon in a coffee filter. Add the 1 to 1.5 cups of water and press brew/start on your coffee pot. You can brew them on the stop top but this method is super easy and only takes a minute or two.
-In a sauce pan heat up the 2 cups of milk. Add in your sugar to taste and stir. If you are using liquid coffee creamer, add this in as well to taste. If you are using a powdered kind, wait until the milk is hot and then add it in to taste. I use a tbsp or two or each.
-When the tea is done brewing and the milk is hot, pour them both into a mug and it's done! You can add whipped topping or extra cinnamon on top of you want.
-If you want an iced chai latte, put this into the fridge to cool down and then pour over ice!

This recipe is super delicious and I definitely recommend trying it if you love Chai lattes!

Do you love Chai tea or Chai lattes? What is your favorite recipe?

Foodie Friday | 3 Easy Dinner Recipes

Happy Friday friends!

Before we get into today's 'Foodie Friday' post, I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words, congratulations, and encouragement in this post where I talked about opening my own Etsy shop! It means the world to me, and another huge thank you to everyone who made purchases! If you haven't already, you can check out my shop HERE.

Now for today's post! I haven't done a Foodie post in a while, and today I'm sharing 3 Easy Dinner Recipes that I've been loving and that are a staple on my house! Also, I eat very plant based, but just remember that if you choose to eat meat, then any of these recipes are super easy to add your favorite meat into!

Street Corn Tostadas with Cilantro Lime Rice

I have Carah Amelie on YouTube to thank for this recipe! It is ridiculously amazing and it's my absolute favorite recipe right now!

What you'll need

-1 can of corn (you can use frozen or Fresh if you like)
- 1 can of refried beans
-Chopped Onion
-Chopped Cilantro
-Chopped Avocado (1 whole)
-Mayo (vegan or non vegan)
-Salt
-Pepper
-Chili Powder
-Tortillas or Tostada shells
-Rice
-Lime juice
-Taco seasoning

Directions
-Cook your corn, and chop veggies while it cooks
-Put cooked corn, onion, cilantro, avocado, and spices into a bowl. Add in some lime juice and mayo to taste and mix it all up.
-If you need to fry your tortilla, add some oil into a pan and do so. This is what I did, my grocery store didn't have any Tostada shells, but they were super yummy fried up!
-Spread some beans onto the Toastada and top with corn mixture.
*Also in Carahs video, she added Queso Fresca cheese and sour cream into the mixture. Do so if you like, although the recipe was very yummy without it!*

The rice is super simple! Cook up some white rice, once its finish add in cilantro, lime juice, and taco seasoning.
I also didn't have an exact measurement for the onions, cilantro, or mayo. I just added in how much I thought it needed. You could also add things like black beans, chopped peppers, lettuce etc. to this, or leave out any of the ingredients that I listed if you don't like them!


Loaded Veggie Pasta
This recipe I have Liv's Healthy Life  on Youtube to thank for, and it is also so freaking good as well!

What you'll need
-Pasta of your choice (I use speghetti noodles, but this is super good with tortellini too!)
-One 14 oz can of tomato sauce
-One tablespoon of Tahini (this seriously makes the pasta dish!)
-Parmasen Cheese or Nutritional Yeast
-1 tsp of Cane or Coconut Sugar
-Spinach and other veggies of your choice (I used carrots, zucchini, and bell peppers)
-1 cup milk of your choice (I used rice milk)

Directions
-Boil pasta
-Stir fry your veggies (all but spinach) and add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste
-Once veggies are cooked, add in the cane of tomato sauce, tablespoon of tahini, tsp of sugar, tablespoon of parmasen cheese, and milk of your choice
-Once the sauce cooks for a few minutes with the veggies, add in spinach. Cook for a few more minutes until it wilts. Add in pasta.

This is super easy to make, and the sauce is amazing. The Tahini and sugar sound like a weird thing to add to tomato sauce, but trust me, those added with the milk make the sauce so creamy and rich!

Stir Fry with Spicy Honey Tofu and Homemade Spring Rolls 

What you'll need
-Rice
-A block of extra firm tofu
-Veggies
-Soy sauce
-Rice wine vinegar
-Teriyaki sauce
-Honey
-Red Pepper Flakes
-salt and pepper

Directions
-First cut tofu into cubes, add into a bowl with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Marinate for at least 15 minutes. Bake in oven at 375 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take out and flip, cook for another 20 minutes.
-Cook rice while tofu is cooking, and stir fry veggies. I like to cook my veggies in teriyaki sauce.
-After tofu is done, I like to take the rest of the marinade and put it in a fying pan, fry the tofu for a few more minutes.
-I also added in peanuts to my veggies mixture. Once everything is done, plate it up!

We also made homemade spring rolls, by adding broccoli slaw and bean sprouts to an egg roll wrap, and frying them in a pan with oil.  If you don't like tofu and choose a meat option for your stir fry, I recommend using the marinade I used anyways! It's delicious!

So those are my three easy and go to dinner recipes! I hope you try them out!

What are your favorite go to dinners?

Foodie Friday | What I eat in a Day

Hello! Happy Friday!

Today I'm sharing what I eat in a day with some of my go to recipes lately. I've been on a health and fitness kick, and I've been really focused on eating healthier and taking care of my body. What you eat is so important in so many different ways, so I hope this post can give you all some inspiration if you need some new ideas, or are stating a healthy journey of your own!

MORNING

I'm typically not hungry when I first wake up, so I like to start my day off with some tea. I've been drinking herbal tea and my favorite has been peppermint!

BREAKFAST

A little while after I'm finished with my tea, I'll start to feel hungry. I'm not the biggest breakfast person, so I like to load up on a ton of fruit. Lately I've been obsessed with mangos, kiwi, and star fruit. Eating a clean and light breakfast is a great way to start your day. Fruit helps to energize your body and stimulate your digestive track!

LUNCH

An hour or two later I like to eat something a bit more filling for lunch. You all know I love Avocado toasts and it's something that I eat almost everyday. Some other options I like to have are a big bowl of oatmeal, or some type of sandwich. The one shown here is a chickpea salad sandwich. It has a similar taste/texture of egg salad. And I also usually have more fruit with my lunch.

PRE WORKOUT

About an hour after my lunch I like to make fresh juice with my juicer. My favorite to make is orange apple juice. Fresh juice is so amazing and totally different from store bought juice. I'm usually still full from my lunch, and having homemade juice gives me lots of energy for my workout. I usually drink my juice about a half hour beforehand.

POST WORKOUT

After my workout I like to drink and smoothie with protein powder. My absolute favorite smoothie recipe is a frozen banana, 4-5 pitted dates, peanut butter, almond milk, and cinnamon. I'm currently using the Garden of Life Raw Organic protein powder in vanilla chai. On days that I don't workout, I'll usually drink my smoothie or orange juice with my lunch, and have one or the other later.

DINNER & SNACK

I always forget to take pictures of my dinners. Since it's winter (and Michigan never sees the sun) it's always dark and gloomy out and my lighting isn't the best. Some of my go to meals are stir fry, tacos, etc. I usually like to load up on veggies for dinner. In the picture on the left is stir fry with zucchini noodles, broccoli, peppers, and mushrooms. I also used the Gardein 'chicken' strips. I'm not usually into the whole fake meat products, but I thought I'd give these a try. They were surprising good, and since I consume very little animal products, it's nice to have other options. The next photo is a flat bread veggie pizza with spinach, bell peppers, banana peppers, and feta. I made this one a few weeks ago, but I'm working on removing cheese from my diet. Feta is definitely great with these mini veggie pizzas though!

I also usually eat a snack sometime at night. I've been obsessed with coconut milk yogurt and I like to  top it with granola and (more) fruit.

So these are my current go to meals right now. Basically, I eat a lot of fruit.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Let me know what some of your go to meals are in the comments! Also, do you guys want to see more food/healthy eating posts? My tips and tricks to eating a healthy diet?  Share your thoughts with me!

Foodie Friday | Farmers Market Haul

It's been a while since I did a 'Foodie Friday' post, and since I just went to the Farmers Market last night, I thought I'd share a little food haul of what I picked up!

These posts are something I wanted to start doing a while ago, but I always just forget. If you enjoy these let me know, and I'll try to do more!

Back to the post- do you guys go to local farmers markets? It's something I like to do in the summer time. I'd rather buy from local farmers, and know that my veggies and fruit and fresh. Plus they have super good deals!

I took a few photos around the farmers market, but we had a storm during the day yesterday so a lot of them vendors weren't there. I also felt a little wonky taking pictures of the stands so I was tying to be discrete. 

 This one stand had some beautiful sunflowers. 

There's also a park and mill pond right by the market too!

And my favorite bakery is across the street!

Now for my little grocery haul. We picked up two ears of corn, green onions, some cherries, and apricots. 

I got a ton of zucchini. They were 2 for a dollar, and they are huge compared to the tiny ones that are at the grocery store. I'm making zucchini speghetti with my zoodle spiralizer so that's why I got so many. We also bought some fresh salsa with chili lime tortilla chips. And hubby wanted some jerky. I very rarely eat meat, but ugh I love me some jerky! 

There was also some venders selling jewelry and craft stuff too. There was wines, homemade jams and breads, and everything just looked so yummy!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I thought it would be something different to share, and a switch up from my normal posts!

I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Foodie Friday | what I eat in a day

Hi :)

Last Friday I did a motivation post and I asked you guys if you'd rather see that or a food post, and I said I would do the food post next Friday instead. Thinking back, I can't believe how fast the week has gone and it's already Friday again!

With trying to eat healthier, I feel inspired to do food posts. I always watch what I eat in a day videos on YouTube, and I do want to do some videos like that too, but for now I'm just going to do a blog post. I'm not the heathiest eater in the world, but I am trying. Through these what I eat in a day posts, I want to show you all some healthy ideas on what to eat but I also want to show you that I'm not perfect and don't always eat as well as I should. I'm taking my last lifestyle posts, on Creating Balance with these food posts to show you guys how to be happy and healthy, and that it's okay to indulge sometimes and eat what you want in moderation!

So basically what I usually eat for breakfast and lunch depends on if I have to work or not. If I have the day off, I like to make things that I wouldn't be able to bring for lunch. If I do work, I like to bring easy things like left overs from dinner or something that I wouldn't have to eat totally fresh. Same with breakfast, if I work then I will eat something super easy and fast. 

Breakfast 

If I'm at home I will usually make some waffles and have an apple, assuming I'm awake in time for breakfast. I always buy some sort that is whole grain and gluten/dairy and egg free. If I have to work, I'll grab a bowl of cereal and add a cut up banana in the bowl. I can't remember which brand this is, but it's some sort of organic honey oats (looks like Cheerios!). I sometimes make overnight oats the night before so it's easy to grab in the morning without having to make something. 

Lunch 

If I'm working and don't have left overs from dinner the night before, I like to make this spinach and quinoa salad with a ton of fruit and nuts on top. I usually will use lemon juice and balsamic dressing. It's super good and the quinoa has protein so it's filling. 

Sometimes when I'm at home I wake up too late for breakfast. If this happens I usually just make some toast with avocado on it and an apple. This is more kind of like a 'brunch'.

Dinner 

Dinners are kind of a struggle for me. I don't get home from work until 7 so I try to make something fast but I always seem to make the same stuff. The first picture on the left is some potatoes, quinoa with zucchini and corn, and a veggie burger. The picture on the right is some stir fry with rice noodles, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, and cashews. The bottom picture an easy peanut noodle dish. 

If I want a snack later and have a sweet tooth I'll grab and apple and some peanut butter with some dark chocolate chips. I use to eat plain Greek yogurt with peanut butter and chocolate, but I've been trying to cut dairy out of my diet (I haven't cut dairy out 100%) And as you can probably tell, I eat a lot of apples LOL. 

Healthy tip- have you ever looked at the ingredients on the back of your peanut butter jar? A lot of them have tons of I necessary oils and salt. Find one that has just one ingredients- peanuts!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Let me know if you did, and if you would be interested in seeing more posts like this!