Portobello Steaks

Lara,

OKAY. This is seriously one of the most amazing recipes I've ever made, no exaggeration, and you need to make it asap. Vegan portobello steaks, doesn't sound too rich or exciting, but literally I kid you not when I tell you I may be making this recipe every week now. So here it is, the best and most easy recipe ever:

Portobello Steaks
2 Portobello mushrooms (cut out stems, remove gills with a spoon)
Several handfuls of spinach (be generous, spinach shrinks to nothing)
1 chopped white onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup broth (beef, vegetable, chicken, etc. I used vegetable but it's whatever you prefer)
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1) Put a thin layer of broth into a large frying pan and let heat for around 2 minutes on high heat
2) Put minced garlic and onion into broth and let sit for another 2 minutes
3) Add spinach, spices, balsamic, and another splash of broth
4) Add portobello mushrooms and the rest of the broth, cover and let sit for 5 minutes
5) Flip mushrooms and cover, cook for an additional 5 minutes
6) Add additional broth if necessary to avoiding sticking
7) Spoon everything (liquid/veggies) onto a plate with curved edges to avoid spilling
8) Enjoy!! ***

***I also heated up 1/2 turkey burger to sprinkle onto my mushroom for some additional protein, so good!

Portobellos with scooped out centers (the one on the left is a little flimsy, but still delicious!)

Minced garlic and my medium white chopped onion

Everything in the pan!

The finished, glorious product. The mushrooms are under all of the veggies, I promise :) 

Xoxo,
Kim

Clean Eats

Lara Love,

With our impending trip to Chicago around the corner, I'm getting more and more excited to see you! I can't wait to share my new workout routines and healthy recipes with you as we traipse around Chi-Town like a couple of old pros. I'm learning to incorporate more protein into my diet; I've increased my weight training and I was seriously lacking in calories and protein throughout my day. 

An amazing spinach and arugula salad topped with chicken, chopped carrots, sweet potato chunks, cucumber, chopped red/yellow bell peppers, steamed cauliflower, and shredded cabbage

I started by simply baking boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes--which I would reheat at meals and chop up to put with salads and other fun "nutrient bowls" as I like to call them. After spending a week blending the chicken and tricolor quinoa with veggies, I decided to get a bit more creative and try my hand at turkey burgers! I blended the ground turkey in a bowl with an egg white (substituted instead of a full egg), freshly minced garlic, chopped white onion, oregano, garlic powder, pepper, chili powder, and crushed ice. I drizzled a bit of olive oil into the pan and let it heat for 3-4 minutes, formed my patties, then let them cook on one side for 4 minutes, and 4 minutes on the other until each side was a golden brown. 

All the ingredients blended together in my big red bowl

There was one lone patty that cooked after these 4, and they all smelled so good!

Front plate holds the 4 1/2 (I ate 1/2) turkey burgers, the back plate holds my beautiful baked chicken

So there you have it: my delicious protein increases and the recipes to go with them! One last bright and colorful meal before I let you go romp all over NYC for the rest of the day...my post workout meal :) 

This magnificent nutrient bowl contains sweet potato, quinoa, steamed cauliflower, fresh cucumber, and 1/2 can of light tuna. 

Xoxo,

Kim

Healthy Eats and Spaghetti Squash

Dearest Lara,

Your chopped salad looks amazing, I love putting an emphasis on fresh, crunchy foods during summer (what else is new?) because the Tucson heat pretty much turns everything to warm mush. Moving past that lovely image. I'm not going on any special "diet", but I am putting a large emphasis on the quality and quantity of foods I'm putting into my body; so no excess sugars, fatty foods, or anything of that nature, and nothing that lacks portion control. I'm trying to turn this into a lifestyle here. 

With that being said, I started my day off with two egg whites and 1/2 grapefruit to fuel my morning workout. My workout consisted of 35 minutes on the treadmill (alternating between walking, jogging, and sprinting), and plenty of upper body weights and ab work. Post workout I was starving, and so I warmed up some chicken I had baked the night before, tricolor quinoa from Trader Joe's, and a handful of steamed asparagus. 

Spiced up the egg whites with some pepper & garlic powder; my breakfast was made classy with tea of course

So yummy! Topped everything with some balsamic vinegar for some extra moisture and flavor

My day was mainly monopolized by moving things out of my old house, and because I'm on the 3rd floor, that was not an easy task. Especially when it's 110 degrees outside and the AC isn't on. I came back to our house only slightly defeated (I have to finish moving out today), and starving. I made a delicious salad out of spinach, arugula, chopped yellow bell peppers, yellow tomatoes, cabbage, several scoops of quinoa, broccoli, and 1/2 can of light tuna. 

Topped with balsamic vinegar, it soaks into the quinoa perfectly!

My friend Lauren came over later in the day, and we decided it would be fun and time well spent to make our home home-cooked dinner. After scouring recipes on Pinterest (of course), we stumbled upon one for spaghetti squash with brussels sprouts and chickpeas. Though it was extremely time consuming, the bulk of the time went into simply baking the spaghetti squash, and after it cooked we sped through the preparation. 

The spaghetti squash took a while to cook, so we steamed broccoli to munch on in the meantime!

Baked the squash at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, the rotated 1/4 and baked another 30 minutes

Removed the seeds from the squash after slicing in half, then scooped the rest into a big bowl

The brussels sprouts were baked in a pan with truffle salt, pepper, and olive oil for 15 minutes, then combined in a pan with chopped onion (sautéed for 6 minutes prior), fresh minced garlic, and dried basil

Added the spaghetti squash, chickpeas, lemon juice, and more truffle salt pepper: VOILA! Perfection.

**The full detailed recipe, along with many amazing others, can be found at:

http://blog.rateyourburn.com/blog/post/2013/09/11/-xx-spaghetti-squash-recipes.aspx

Keep in mind it was 2 people against 1 huge spaghetti squash, and Lauren took home NONE so I now have spaghetti squash for days. Weeks even. 

Have an amazing day at work!

Xoxo,

Kim

Back on Track

Dear Kim,

After going abroad in the fall, to heading back to school, and then immediately beginning a whirlwind summer that involved both your graduation and plenty of travel, I hardly had time to think twice about my health. This is an issue, however, because we both know the second that I look at a donut I put on 10 lbs. Whoops. Needless to say, now that I am back and settled in NYC, while I will indulge sometimes, I will also be much more conscious about my health. Starting new internships means that I need to both look AND feel my best so I can perform to the best of my ability; no one wants to hire a lazy, unappealing young woman.

SO on that note, I began my workout routine again yesterday afternoon. This mainly consists of getting my butt on the treadmill once a day to burn off the extra calories that I gained whilst consuming copious amounts of carbohydrates and sugars. After at least 400 calories are burnt, I feel much happier (and sweatier) hopping off the treadmill to continue with the rest of my day.

For breakfast yesterday I made a shake with water, frozen pineapple, mango, and strawberry and I added in chia seeds and coconut oil. It was definitely VERY filling. Following that, I met up with a friend for iced coffee with a dash of skim milk. Lunch was rushed, but I had a protein bar and an apple. After my internship, I did my workout, and then for dinner I had a great big Chop't salad with a Kombucha on the side. I MISSED MY KOMBUCHA. Thank god for Whole Foods. My salad had kale, spinach, turkey, avocado, cucumber, broccoli, tomato and red onion. The dressing was 'Spa Balsamic'. I couldn't finish it all last night, and so I saved the rest of it for breakfast the next morning.

 My delicious Chop't Salad! I love getting to create my own salad...and I think everything tastes better chopped.

Just the pictures is enough to get me to start drooling...

Thanks to a bit of jet-lag this fine Tuesday morning I wound up waking up at 4:30 am and wasn't able to fall back asleep. Luckily I had wanted to be productive this morning anyways, and so I went to the gym to get my morning workout over with. After a well-deserved shower, I plopped the remainder of my Chop't salad on a plate, and I cooked up some egg beaters with some mushrooms thrown in for good measures. This is day #1 of my second internship, and so I want to be filled with protein to perform fabulously! Naturally, I had to start this day off with a Kombucha, and so that was an additional key element to my morning meal.

I apologize the pictures is sideways, but I'm in a bit of a rush this morning so I have enough time to get ready! You get the picture of how delicious it was ;)

Can't wait to update you on how today goes! 

Love you,

Lara

Florida Fun

My magnificent Lara,

I would say that one of life's biggest challenges is to go from bikini season to vacation season, and back again. It's all to easy to forget that one's body can't eat junk on vacation constantly, something that tends to slip my mind frequently--especially on my most recent trip to Florida! Margaritas (living the 21 lifestyle now), ice cream, french fries, you name it and I was eating it. Ryan and I had the most amazing time visiting Scott and Maisa (for those of you who don't know: our older brother and his girlfriend) in Orlando; we ate our way through the city and then some. But have no fear! Beach runs and the occasional salad allowed me to continue fitting in my tropical clothes.

Had to take advantage of the sunny weather before the afternoon storm hit! I was struggling to keep up with him...

Digging into the "Kitchen Sink", aka 8 scoops of ice cream, brownies, cake, hot fudge, oreos, and 1 full can of whipped cream

We made our way around the countries in Epcot! Margaritas and nachos in Mexico :) 

My saving grace: the grilled chicken and veggies I ate before I left for Florida. Coated my stomach with some pre-vacation goodness

However, next month I'm not only going to visit Ryan in Tahoe for the 4th of July, I'm also going to Vegas for a friend's 21st. This calls for some serious tuning. Bring on the broccoli, pre-planned meals, and workout clothes, I'm trading sundaes for squats!

My new Lululemon pants (a graduation gift, thank goodness). Let the morning workouts begin!

Xoxo,
Kim