Favorites from the Week: Spin, Florida, Food

Happy Friday! I’m linkin’ up with Katie’s Friday Favorites today. Thanks, Katie!

Many of my Friday favorites involve events that you have already heard about this week. Although, there is one amazing day that I still have to share about (I won’t forget I promise!).

Some of my Friday Favorites…

1. Spin class with Dana and Dara Torres. A great workout instructed by an olympian with my honey by my side. Sounds nice, right? dara

2. Snacking on Driscoll’s blueberries! So crunchy and sweet and fiberlicious. blueberries

3. Homemade California Rolls with quinoa instead of white rice. This was my first ever attempt at using quinoa instead of white rice in these rolls. I let the quinoa cook for an extended period of time before stirring in a vinegar, honey, salt, and water mixture. The combination of overcooking the quinoa and adding the vinegar mixture made the quinoa perfectly sticky and so easy to use in the rolls. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to white rice! sushi 4. Mini getaway to Orlando with Dana. Sunshine, relaxation, and Disney. 🙂 orlando 5. Salt ‘n Vinegar Blue Diamond Almonds. I mentioned these a couple of days ago I realize, but they make an appearance again because they are SO good. blue diamond almonds

6. The kettle chips from M. Tavern in Orlando. The chips were super crunchy just how I like them. kettle chips 7. Egg salad with avocado. One hard-boiled egg, 1/4 of an avocado, mustard, green onions, and pepper. A perfect snack or addition to your lunch! egg avocado salad 8. Wild Harvest’s Organic Green Chai Tea. (I originally typed green thai chee. A little dyslexic today I guess). 🙂 I’ve been limiting my coffee intake and replacing with tea instead and this has been a morning staple for me. I add a splash of coconut milk creamer too. green chai tea   Friday Favorites

There you have it!

What are some of your Friday favs?

Current breakfast beverage?

Current favorite snack?

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Deliciously Simple Egg Salad Recipe (No Mayo)

Happy hump day! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. How’s the freezer clean out going? Before we get into that I want to share with you all an embarrassingly easy recipe that you can make this week for lunch. It is a mayo-free, deliciously simple egg salad recipe!

egg salad

I always forget how much I enjoy egg salad until I make it again and then I always say, “why don’t I make this more often?” It’s protein packed, full of great vitamins and nutrients like Vitamin D and choline, and can be very versatile. Serve it on a lettuce salad, or on a couple of pieces of whole grain bread with tomatoes, in a whole grain tortilla with spinach, or you could even eat it as a snack by using thick cut veggies (think scoop-shaped ones like bell peppers and celery) to dip it up!

egg salad

This is what’s for lunch today, and I am excited!!

egg salad

Deliciously Simple Egg Salad Recipe (No Mayo)
Print
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and diced
  • 2 Tbsp celery, diced
  • 1 Tbsp dill pickles, diced
  • 1 tsp capers, chopped or whole
  • 1 heaping Tbsp mustard
  • sprinkle of onion powder, to taste
  • fresh black pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Use a fork to mix well and mash eggs slightly.
  2. Serve cold over a salad, on whole grain bread, in a whole grain tortilla, or with thick cut veggies to scoop up salad.

It has been a looooong time since I’ve shared a recipe, or at least I feel like it anyway. So although this is the most simple recipe ever, I am so happy I got to share one with you all still!

So, back to the project freezer clean out. How is it going for everyone? I am personally having a great time scrounging for long lost items in the freezer. Here’s a tip: remember to write the date that you freeze the items right on the bag or the container before you freeze them. Even if you think you’ll remember when you put the item in there, there’s a good chance you will probably forget. Just do it!

I threw together this hodge-podge of a meal last night and it turned out great. It was leftover asparagus and leek soup with broccoli, leftover sautéed veggies from the other night, chicken, yellow quinoa, and cheddar cheese melted over the top. So random but honestly so good!

leftover soup

Besides that leftover meal, I’ve also been enjoying brown rice wraps (that I keep in the freezer—sorta doesn’t count) with peanut butter and banana, smoothies made with frozen fruit, and that’s about it besides that I showed you in the previous post!

This whole freezer clean out business might have to extend to post-vacation. It is fun to get creative with what you have already! Plus, leftovers such as soup are so great when you are feeling real lazy and not wanting to make anything. Just toss it into a microwave safe bowl, cover it and let it heat through! Easy and delicious.

I hope you all have a great day!

I want to hear from you…Have you been working on cleaning out the freezer? Any delicious concoctions you have come up with?!

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Mom’s Ham and White Bean Soup

Hello hello and happy Wednesday!

I’ve been dealing with some type of allergic reaction the past few days, so I am keeping a close eye on my food intake to see if it is a certain food that is triggering an allergic response or perhaps it’s from a medication. I’m in touch with my docs too so I am in good hands; no worries! It’s just really weird. I am feeling more and more inclined to have a food intolerance test done to see which foods I should really be staying away from.

I switched up my breakfast a bit from the usual and went with a bowl of mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries) with FAGE Greek yogurt, a touch of honey, and chia seeds. I gave it a good stir and thoroughly enjoyed this sweet breakfast.

fruit and yogurt

I snacked on a huge baggy of carrots to tide me over between breakfast and lunch, and there was a huge bowl of shelled peanuts at work so I snagged a handful of those too.

For lunch, I used celery stalks to scoop up freshly made egg salad. I was so inspired by the deviled eggs from Sunday that I went ahead and made this similar tasting, protein-packed meal right away on Monday.

egg salad

I attempted a run in the early afternoon but was hindered by some new pain, so I kept it short and made my way home.

I had a few snacks in the afternoon before heading over to mom and dad’s for dinner.

yogurt

Mom had made ham and white bean soup from the leftover Easter ham, per my request. She’s the best!

mom's ham and bean soup

I love this soup! It’s so simple yet so flavorful, comforting and belly-warming. It’s such a good way to use up the remainder of the Easter ham too. I would love the recipe for this one but I’m almost positive mom just does her own thing when she makes this soup and goes by taste, adding a pinch of this and that here and there. She adds her motherly TLC in there too so that’s probably why her food always tastes good. 🙂

It was the perfect meal for a very cool evening. It is supposed to be in the 50’s again today so I am super excited about that!

I officially saw my first robin yesterday which means that spring is definitely here. My mom and grandma always used to say that to me when I was younger and I would always look forward to it every spring, and I still do!

Happy Hump Day! I hope it’s a good one!

Question of the day: What are your favorite ways to use holiday feast leftovers?

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