iheartwellness.com

Heaps of Olives

Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by kris.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

It is a very nice day here today (at least for right now…sometimes the weather changes here often!).

I was m.i.a yesterday as I was hardcore doing taxes.  A very fun way to spend a rainy Monday  The great news is they are complete, and I can now breathe again.

Because I was so busy yesterday I did not have time to make it to the grocery store before dinner, so lucky I was at my parents doing the taxes and my lovely mom gave me some food items for dinner!  HAHA, I tell ya, you never get too old to raid your ‘rents kitchen!

She was kind enough to supply me with rice noodles, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach and a can of all natural olives!  I already had tomato sauce from the pizza the night before, so I whipped up a very late pasta dish.

Natural Black Olives aren’t even that black!!

I am officially addicted to olives.  I eat them alone, in my dinner and today for lunch I had a salad drenched in them!  I don’t even know why I think they are so good, but they are my favourite thing right now!

You must try this Natural Value brand, their olives ROCK!

Unfortunately today the family and I are off to a funeral for a neighbour that has passed away.  I just filled up on my salad with olives, so I think it shall keep me full for a while.

I will be back with an AMAZING, easy dessert recipe!!

Do you like olives?  Do you eat the all natural kind?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Day 2 and Extra Healthy Cookies

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by kris.

Howdy Everyone!

It is Wednesday night and I am finally sitting after a very busy!  My feet are up, my tea is on my table and I am enjoying some quiet music

Day 2 of my Vega 7 day challenge was a success! I didn’t snack in between my plan and I felt wonderful!

My day looked like this:

Breakfast – 1/2 serving of vanilla chia vega powder, with 1/2 apple. 1/2 banana and a tad of almond milk and filtered water.

Lunch – Mondo Salad with 1/2 an avocado, some sprouts, broccoli and my minimal dressing (1/2 tbsp evoo and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar)

Snack - 1 apple

Dinner - I did not follow my dinner meal plan as we went out for dinner for my sis birthday.  I had a rice and beans dish  YUM!  Happy Vegan eats out.

Snack – 1/2 serving vega in water

I felt steady and fuelled again all day

Dinner out was so nice and a great relaxation time for me.  I had a glass of red wine and chilled….

Today on the other hand has been quite busy.  I baked some Extra healthy cookies for Ryan and he loved them!

Kris’ Extra Healthy Cookies:

2 cups oats
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup almond butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
a few vegan chocolate chips

Mix the oats, coconut, cinnamon, raisins and chocolate chips together

In a separate bowl mash the banana and add the nut butter, vanilla and coconut oil

Add the wet bowl to the dry – Mix and place spoonfuls of batter on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 13 minutes

No added sugar and extra healthy = Perfect morning, afternoon or evening snack!

I am just looking at my arms and realizing I am super pasty so I am off to go self tan.  I am looking for a good, natural self tanner.  Do you know of a good one?  Have you ever got spray tanned?

I think my sister and I will go hop in the mystic tan booth one of these days

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Day 1 of my 3 week 7 day vegan meal plan

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by kris.

Hello Everyone!

Happy Tuesday to you all!  Today is a very special day as it is my sisters birthday and we are going to enjoy the day together and then the family is heading out to dinner tonight.  I just love birthday celebrations!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments and emails on my last post on the quick and easy red soup and of course Hudson’s new accessory. He loves the attention

I have been lacking these last couple days on the baking.  I am sad about this because baking is my way to escape and relieve stress and I decided for 3 weeks I was going to stick to this 7 day vegan meal plan that I found on the Vega site and commit to it.

My reasons for following this diet was really to see if I noticed a difference in my energy.  Following a vegan diet isn’t just about eating potato chips because there is no meat, but I have noticed over these last few months that it is really important to get variety, proper protein, and nutrients. The vega brand is my favorite and I know they have their stuff together when it comes to a well rounded vegan diet, so I figured heck, I will give it a try and see if they way the food is being combined makes a difference in the way my body absorbs it.

I learned that when you combine pumpkin seeds with a citrus fruit your body will absorb the iron way better! Who knew?!

I am on day 2 today and it feels really great to have all my meals already planned!  On Sunday I made a list of everything I needed and loaded up!

Yesterday was a little difficult as I am such a snacker…..I wanted to eat cookies, and more fruit and I said “No” I am sticking to this so I drank a lot of water and tea’s when I felt my inner snacker appear!  It was hard, I am not going to lie.

The funny thing is through these last 2 days I have noticed that I eat a lot just because it is there and I might not even be hungry at the time. Do you find that with yourself? Being at home is different than when daily office trips were made as my lunch was always set and packed and had no option to add to it.  But now, wow, I could graze all day when I am home!

Day 1 of my challenge:

Breakfast – 3/4 cup of quinoa with almond milk and 1/2 sliced apple sprinkled with cinnamon

Lunch – 1/2 apple, orange, and banana with vega fruit “dip” – 1/2 serving vega meal replacement and 1/2 tbsp hemp seeds.

Snack – 3 (I had 5…shhh) dates with nut butter

Dinner - 3 cups salad with 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/4 cup chick peas. 1/2 avocado.  Dressing was 1/2 tbsp evoo and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar.

Snack – 1/3 serving vega with water

Day 1 down and now onto day 2!

Surprisingly I had a lot of energy yesterday and I went to the gym in the morning worked the treadmill out and my weights and then went down to the treadmill AGAIN with Ryan in the evening!  That is a lot of treadmill for me in one day

Have you ever followed a set meal plan?  Do you have any tips for that snacky feeling that pops up between meals?!

XXOO

Kris

Continue Reading