eating away these last summer days

A stroke of genius just occurred inside this crazy brain of mine today as I was basking in the sunshine in my front yard. I get up and run to the __________(fill in the blank).

If you said "kitchen", you my friend, are absolutely, positively correct! I'm going to put this recipe under my desserts- but it could just be a dessert snack too- doesn't matter what time of the day you want to make this, it will still taste like heaven, that's a promise!

Raw Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Split:

Here's what you need:

• one frozen banana (cut in half long-wise)
• a few tbsp of raw cacao powder
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• one tbsp peanut butter
• 1tsp chia seeds

What to do to discover a whole new level of raw deliciousness?
I'm not putting this in bullet points because the directions are really really simple! Just flip the two halves of bananas upward, spread on the peanut butter, sprinkle on the rest of the ingredients, and pat yourself on the back for eating clean and satisfying sugar cravings with a few simple, HEALTHY, raw ingredients. 

if i were a color...

One of my favorite things about fruit (besides their amazing flavors) is that they are so PRETTY! My favorite time of the day is mornings...ESPECIALLY smoothie time! But my smoothies are rarely picture-ready because I throw in a bunch of fruit, seeds, powders, and veggies... and they end up looking like Shrek's pond- which doesn't inspire really anyone to want to go follow the recipe! So this morning, I was feeling like there was a lack of color in the sky when I was on my run, so I decided to make a rainbow in my favorite smoothie jar :) I added a few extra ingredients to this special smoothie, but mainly, all I did was switch up the way I made it. Here's what I mean...

Tropical Rainbow Smoothie:

Ingredients:

(we are dividing up the ingredients into four parts- four layers)

Green layer:

• 2 leaves of ripped kale
• handful of spinach
• one (big) cut up piece of celery
• a few sprinkles of coconut sugar (if you want)
• 3 scoops of hemp protein
• 2 tbsp whole flax seeds
• .25 frozen banana

Yellow:

• sliced mango (however much you want)
• pineapple chunks (again- however much you want)
•  .25 frozen banana
• 1 tsp maca powder
• small handful of sliced almonds

Purple:

• handful or two of fresh or frozen blueberries
• .25 frozen banana
• vanilla extract

Pink:

• frozen or fresh strawberries
•  almond milk

note: in each layer, I used almond milk to blend; use however much you want- I did half water/half almond milk but remember you want each layer kind of thick so it will layer correctly when you pour into the jar or cup!

How to make:

•  I blended up the yellow layer first and poured into a jar... combine each layer separately into the blender and pour one after another on top of each other
• top with unsweetened coconut shreds

This sounds silly- but I SWEAR my smoothie tasted better this morning! More than likely, it tasted the same- but I just got so excited at how pretty it was that I enjoyed it greatly more! Anyway, treat yourselves to color on a gray, foggy morning :) enjoy!

i don't know if i like you or the eggplant better...

Okay, so I've got an incredible recipe that my friend and coworker shared with me- since he knows I'm an eggplant fanatic! He brought me this stuffed eggplant for lunch while I was at work- and it was PHENOMENAL!!! I bugged him for days and days "Get me that recipe!" "I want that recipe!" "Did you email me the recipe?" "Don't forget to send the recipe to me!" "Right when you get home!"... anyway, I bugged him so much, he eventually sent me the email with the recipe (an excruciatingly long three days after my enlightenment). And to show you what a gem I am, I'm going to share it with you instead of leaving you hanging!

Stuffed Pesto Eggplants:

What you'll need:

• 2 eggplants
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• capers (to taste)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp basil

What to do?

1. cut up the eggplant and let them sit for 20 mins in salt (drawing out the water)
2. lightly fry eggplants in pan with some olive oil until turns light brown
3. simultaneously to step 2, put the capers, lemon juice, vinegar, parsley, basil, and some olive oil into a food processor- don't over-process, want it to still be a little chunky.
4. after eggplant is done cooking- add little more oil and saute onions
5. when onion is almost done, add the caper mix for only a minute
6. pour the mix over the eggplant

note: my friend got this recipe from another website so you guys can check it out for further inquiry). Oh my gosh- please make these ASAP- they are perfection!!!!!

spin the wheel of (delicious) fortune

Sorry I haven't posted all week- with school starting up again I haven't been able to prepare very many blog-worthy dishes.. shameful, I know! Well, I hope I can make it up to you by telling you how to make this creative salad wheel! It's a cute placement... and then you mix it up and make a mess and eat it all!

salad wheel:

Add whatever you like in your salads...but here's what I did:

1. In a little bowl: mix up some quinoa, black beans, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, and a dash of salt
2. in a separate bowl, toss some cut kale leaves with cucumber and (wet) ripped nori, and lemon juice
3. lightly fry up some sliced up eggplant and zucchini (I creatively used balsamic vinegar instead of oil- I'm trying to limit the amount of oil I eat!)
4. cut up an avocado and leave it on the cutting board for a minute
5. mix up sliced almonds with a handful of whole flax seeds
6. decorate your plate with all of your different parts to your dish- each is like its own color, now make your plate gorgeous!

As you can see in the picture above, I ate mine outside on a sunny day and I was full for hours, which was a GREAT thing because I was later stuck at work. Anywho, I hope your plates are as pretty or prettier than the one I made it- try to snap a shot before things get messy and see for yourself the lovely display!

feeling a little sleepy

So, I have thoroughly went over how I am extremely addicted to green tea... but the truth is, I have this disorder where I'm obsessed with ALL tea. But, I've grown to accept that it's not a problem that I live for and breathe for tea... because tea holds so many incredible health benefits! Before I bore you out of reading the point of this post, I'll tell you what my new kick is. No I have not stopped with the green tea; however, I now started drinking Yogi Stress Relief Honey Lavender tea every night before I go to sleep. Just a splash of almond milk and a tsp of cinnamon, fifteen minutes to drink it, and I am OUT like a lightbulb!!!! Plus, I've started collecting the string and label attached to each bag, because they say inspirational thoughts on them! How cute is that? Anyway, I like going to sleep happy and relaxed, stress-free, and this tea is now my go-to every night! Try it out! Remember, we determine our stress levels and our happiness :) drink up!

Zucchini noodles, say whatttt???

Most people will probably agree with me when I say man, I could get fat off of pasta I love it so much! Whole wheat noodles ARE more nutritious than white pasta (which are as healthy as eating cardboard, only more digestible I would imagine). Then there is rice noodles, bean noodles, squash noodles, and ZUCCHINI noodles!!! If you are on a low-carbohydrate diet (which, just to let you all know, carbs should be almost HALF of your diet!!!), you can thank me later for releasing this awesome pasta I whipped up just two nights ago for me and my four other family members- so these proportions will feed a household. (PS: don't the bells look like little flowers in a garden? I'm way too obsessed with food art hahah).

Pesto Zucchini Noodle Pasta:

Ingredients:

• three zucchinis
• two cups cooked wild rice 
• one whole garlic
• .25 sliced onion
• cut up three to five green kale leaves (big)
• one red bell pepper, cut up
• one cup basil
• 1/3cup olive oil (may need more)
• salt (to taste)
• olives
• three chopped mushrooms
• two cans of black beans (or if you soak, 3 cups)
• two cut tomatoes
• one cut avocado
• 1/2 cut up eggplant
• balsamic vinegar

What to do:

1. Start cooking the wild rice- (ratio 1:3, rice to water), boil water, let simmer for 35-45mins
2. note: when timer reaches 20 mins add whole cloves of garlic to cooking rice (add to taste) I like lots of garlic so I added like five cloves! 
3. While the wild rice is cooking, use a veggie peeler and peel zucchini in as long slices as possible, like you are making noodles...because you are! You end up reaching a point in the peeling where you have to stop... I cut up the rest and saved the pieces for another dish, but you can add them to the pasta if you want.
4. steam the zucchini noodles lightly
5. pesto: add olive oil, however many garlic cloves you want, and basil to a food processor (a blender probably will work as well). It's all about consistency- you don't want it too oily or too dry, so mess with the oil to basil ratio so you can have the perfect pesto!
6. grab a small pan and slightly "fry" the eggplant using balsamic instead of oil- this way, you're not eating a ton of oil (since the pesto has quite a bit in it). 
7. add everything to a bowl (mixing in the pesto) and voila, you've got a delicious, healthy pasta!

This pasta DOES have density- the wild rice and black beans are pretty filling- but it doesn't leave you feeling too full (unless you eat it way too fast), which I loved about it! Plus, pesto, in my opinion, makes everything taste wonderful! If you like the zucchini noodles, and I'm sure you'll love them, then try making other dishes using them! They are a fantastic substitution!!!

who needs to buy bowls?

So... I have breaking news! I'm sure the world will be fascinated and intrigued that I, Kaileigh, am healing alas! Hallelujah! I was able to jog (slowly) thirty minutes straight yesterday morning, which was SIGNIFICANTLY better than three days prior, in which I could only run fifteen to twenty. Afterwards, I immediately iced my hip and repaired those broken-down cells (because working out kills cells) with simple carbohydrates- fruit! I made myself a cute little fruit bowl and gobbled it up. It feels so great to eat delicious food and have it heal you at the same time! Here's what I did:

Recovery fruit bowl:

1. cut a mango in half and cut out the pit (kinda tough- use a smaller, sharp knife!)
2. take a handful or two of fresh or frozen blueberries and fill the divot in one half of the mango
3. top the fruit bowl with shredded coconut and cinnamon
4. eat with a spoon and enjoy!

I've noticed that eating the red and blue berries right after running, I'm better-able to recover and my next work out is noticeably better than the last... which is AMAZING news for me, since I'm going on my eighth week of hip-flexor recovery. So, eat your fruit!

 

bathtime for your beans

My entire life, I've lived off of canned beans... it's what my mom always bought. She'd buy the canned beans without any additives; however, I've never been too good at thoroughly rinsing all of the slime off after sitting in the can! I haven't heard anything about canned beans being bad; afterall, it's just beans soaked in water and then sealed in a can, but I decided to try soaking and cooking my own beans. Beans are a great source of protein, especially for vegans, and they also have been studied to aid in weightloss since they are high in fiber! So, if any of you want to try soaking your own beans, it's super easy! Just buy dry beans, put them in a jar of water overnight, then the next morning you place them in a boiling pot of water and let them simmer until soft! Soaking beans is SUPER beneficial for your health! The water actually washes off a lot of the sugars off of the beans so what's left afterwards is a highly-digestible superfood! Just make sure to really rinse them off after soaking (like rinsing them off after opening a can). Anyway, I paired the beans with a quinoa salad and I felt like a protein queen!!! I'm still going to eat canned beans- but since now I know what to do when soaking my own, I'll probably do that often as well!

ch-ch-ch-chia love

Vanilla Coconut-Almond Post-workout Smoothie:

Good morning friends! This morning I felt extremely proactive! I woke up at 5:30am for strength and conditioning, went on fast walk (still can't run because of my hip :'( booo!), and then did some grocery shopping. So I figured I'd need a big, delicious, protein-packed smoothie for breakfast. I deserved it!!!!
Here's what I did:
Add the ingredients,which includes:

• 1 frozen banana

• .25 cup slized almonds
• .5 cup almond milk
• 1 cup coconut water
• handful of shredded coconut
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 1tbsp hemp protein powder
• 1tsp maca powder
• 1 ripped up kale leaf
• .5 cup frozen blueberries

 Blend it all together, pour it into a cup, and then sprinkle a handful of chia seeds on top! It was seriously one of my most delicious morning smoothies ever! The coconut water and shreds were the perfect addition!

go big or just don't go anywhere!

What time is it? Kaileigh's lunch break at work! EEK! I practically run off of the floor to the back where my BIG, delicious, filling, wonderful salad had been calling my name my whole shift so far. Alas, lunchtime!!!!! I cannot wait! I feel so incredibly proud of myself that I prepared this instead of just grabbing a granola bar and a banana (which is good, but not AS good...nothing beats a good salad). I pat myself on my back and dive into salad sanctuary! How, may you ask, did I pull off preparing this masterpiece for future consumption? All you need are the ingredients, my friends- let the flavors do the rest!

Quinoa Protein Salad:

Ingredients:

• lots and lots of lettuce
• .5 cups cooked quinoa
• 2tbsp hemp seeds
• .5 cut avocado
• .5 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• one wet nori sheet (what is usually used to roll up sushi)- drip water on it and rip it into pieces
• a handful of shredded carrots
• small handful of pumpkin seeds
• 2tsp sesame oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing

Toss everything into one big bowl or tupperware if you are on the go! I estimated on the amounts of ingredients and proportions, but you can do whatever tastes best to you! This makes a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner and provides you with bunches of protein, fiber, iron, and essential fatty acids!!!! Trust me, it DEFINITELY beats a granola bar!

wave that green flag, high and proud!

As I have already thoroughly expressed so far on my blog, I am a green tea ADDICT! Whoa, hold the boat! I drink so much green tea- it's almost ridiculous! But if I didn't get your attention before, here's a picture I found off of good ole' instagram to further prove my point of why green tea totally kicks ass! Also, I learned from nutritionfacts.org that lemon enhances the health benefits of green tea, which is why Tazo "Zen" tea is my go-to because it has the addition of lemongrass (also because it tastes wonderful *sigh)... told you I'm an addict! Anyway, search "green tea" on nutrition facts, which is an AWESOME website by the way, and review all of the scientific studies that have been performed regarding it! Okay, I'll stop here! Check it out!
Ps: in the picture to the left, I mixed Tazo "Zen" with "Vanilla Rooibos" and it was absolute perfection!

Phooo-lease give me some of that!

One of the many great qualities about Northern California is its food! We have amazing food of different cultures from different places! Today, I ate Vietnamese food for the first time, which was OH SO GOOD!!!! I decided on the vegetarian Pho (also vegan, pronounce pha), and they brought me out a ginormous bowl bigger than the size of my head! But it was amazing! I don't know quite how they did it but it tasted like stirfry, soup version. The soup was made of sweet peas, broccoli, bean sprouts, rice noodles, carrots, mushrooms, onions,zucchinis, cucumbers, cilantro, green onions, and tofu! There was so much flavor from the veggies that the broth was just incredible! I definitely got my money's worth and hope to try making my own very soon!

feeling a little blue...

 This afternoon the sun came out (first time in weeks it seems)! My grandma called me and my mom and younger sisters over to come pick veggies and fruit growing in her yard and I jumped on that invitation like a cat on a mouse! I was so excited! We got pounds and pounds of apples and bowls full of blueberries! I highly recommend growing your own food; it just seems as if you gain a new respect for the land and appreciate the work it took to grow the food! The blueberries are phenomenal! I'm planning on posting blueberry recipes later on with all of the blueberries I now have inherited in my possession! All you berry phenoms out there, happy pickings!

egg without the chicken

Grilled Eggplant Spinach Salad:
I was pretty hungry today but didn't feel up for making something too complex, so I threw a few veggies together and got something delicious out of it!
Ingredients you'll need:

• .25 eggplant, sliced thinly
• 1 tomato
• handful of spinach
• chopped zucchini (.25 of one)
• some slices of onions
• sesame oil

All I did was cook the eggplant like a pancake (flipping it occasionally) with tomato, onion, sesame oil, and some salt, and lay it all atop a handful of spinach!

spice rack

Homemade Hot Cocoa:

This stuff will blow all the instant hot cocoa out of the water! There's no touching this delicious, rich, flavorful cup of steaming swirl of spices and chocolate.

Not only does this hot chocolate taste phenomenal, but it's kind of a kickass superhero. It's got cayenne pepper, which is extremely high in vitamin A and helps boosts your immune system, fights inflammation, and  aids in weight loss. Raw cacao is one of the richest antioxidant (more so than blueberries and fruit so I've been told). Maca restores hormonal balance, and ginger's an anti-inflammatory, eases tummy aches, and motion sickness!
Idea taken from MyNewRoots, this recipe tastes and makes you feel awesome!

Ingredients (one serving):

• 2tbsp raw cacao 
• 2 tsp maca powder
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• pinch of ginger powder
• a piece of vanilla bean (I  had to use vanilla extract)
• 1.5 milk of choice (I used half water/half almond milk)
• I didn't use honey, but a little agave (to taste)

How to do it:
Super simple- just lightly boil water/milk in a pan on the stove and lower heat after to stir in all of the ingredients. Make sure not to burn the milk if it's in there, so consistently stir! I topped mine with some cinnamon and curled up on my couch and watched Indiana Jones!

Wind down. Relax. Enjoy.

go coconuts for vanilla!

Coconut-Vanilla Cake Breakfast Pudding:

 If any of you were wondering what the perks of being a barista were, number one is probably dragging my butt outta bed at 3:30am to sleep-drive (eek) to work so I can make coffee to wake all the other earlybirds up! Anyway, I'm not normally hungry when I first wake up so I have to pack a breakfast, one in which I can prepare and/or eat in my ten minute break and that will keep me full and energized throughout the busy morning. Last night I had a stroke of genius and prepared a delicious, raw, energy bowl of a mix between oatmeal, pudding, and granola. Anyway, it was AMAZING!!! Here's what you do!

Ingredients:

• .75 cups of almond milk
• some sprinkles of shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened and dried)
• .5tsp cinnamon
• .25 cups of buckwheat
• 2tbsp chia seeds
• .25 cups of steel-cut oats
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar (all it is is dehydrated, ground coconut- buy at local natural foods store)
• 1 banana
• thinly sliced almonds (can buy in bulk at a grocery store)
• chopped fruit of choice (I used fresh peaches, strawberries, and banana)

Directions: PREPARE THE NIGHT BEFORE!

1. in a separate container, add some water (doesn't matter how much) to the buckwheat, let it soak overnight!
2. Get another container and mash up .5 of the banana with everything else besides the fruit. So, to clarify, you are mixing up almond milk, coconut flakes and sugar, chia seeds, cinnamon, oats, vanilla, and flax
3. save the other .5 of the banana to slice up the next morning to go on top of your pudding!
4. THE NEXT MORNING: drain buckwheat of water and add the still-crunchy pebbles of it to the pudding, slice up your fruit of choice and throw it into the mix, top with sliced almonds

It's amazing what random ingredients can end up tasting like mixed with others; and I have to say, this is definitely a compatible mixture! Kept me full (oatmeal, buckwheat, and almonds), energized (chia, coconut, and fruit), and gave me a really good wake-up in the middle of a chaotic coffee shop! 

a true happy meal

You go to Burger King and get a burger and small fries and end up eating over 500 calories of greasy, cheap, assembly line-made food. It's bad for you, makes you feel gross afterwards, and doesn't keep you full very long due to the lack of nutrients left in the oily foods! Well, here's a problem that I can solve with my very own happy meal :)

Chickpea-Rice-Veggie Burgers:
(inspired by the lovely ohsheglows)

Ingredients:

Patties:

• 1.25 cups of cooked brown rice
• 2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans (after sitting in boiled water for one minute and left to sit for one hour to soak)
• 3 tbsp ground flaxseed
• .5 chopped zucchini (small pieces)
•  1 diced tomato
• some balsamic vinegar and optional little sesame oil
• 2 cloves diced garlic
• .25 cut up onion
• salt (to taste)
• some chopped up cilantro

First, knead the brown rice (make sure it's hot and sticky) and the garbanzo beans... it's difficult, find something with a large surface area to smash it all up! Maybe add a little bit of warm water if it looks too dry! Then just add in the veggies and mix them up. Roll into individual patties and cook in a pan with a little olive oil.

Bun: I sliced up eggplant in semi-thin slices and sauteed with a little olive oil and garlic powder and stuck the patty in between two cooked slices! I topped each burger with sliced avocado, honey mustard, and lettuce and created a perfect burger!







Sweet Potato Fries:

1.  preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. get two sweet potatoes and heat them up for 3 minutes each in the microwave
3. thinly slice them into french-fry sized pieces
4. throw slices into an oiled flat cookie sheet
5. spray a little canola oil on top of the sweet potatoes, top with basil, garlic powder, and salt
6. throw in the oven for 15-20 minutes (depends on how crispy you want them) and that's it!

 This is a true happy meal, making you feel happy from the tip of your tongue to the toes on your feet. This is a great combination of protein (rice and chickpeas), fiber (greens and veggies), fats (avocado and olive oil), and complex carbohydrates (sweet potato). Made from all whole foods, it keeps you happy on the inside and on the outside, tasting amazing and feeling healthy and satisfied!

can't get enough pumpkin

Raw Pumpkin Peanut-Butter Cups:

Okay friends... these are addicting, but no worries because these homemade "Reeses" are vegan, raw, sugar-free, wheat and soy-free, and are only 45 calories per serving size! I got this recipe from an awesome dessert blog, "Chocolate Covered Katie" and since mine didn't come out quite as pretty as her's did (her's is the first pic), I added some coconut milk to mine, mixed everything up, and made icecream! Ready, set, go!

Ingredients:

• .25 cups cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp agave 
• .25 cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (or almond butter)
• 1/8tsp cinnamon

How to make them:

1. mix the first four ingredients listed together in a bowl
2. scoop the mix you just made into individual cupcake paper holders set in a cupcake pan-- don't scoop too much of the chocolate mix, just enough to cover the bottom of each one... there will be chocolate mix left over, save for later!
3.  put the cupcake pan (with the chocolate mix scooped in there) in the freezer for ten minutes
4. mix the pumpkin, peanut butter, and cinnamon together into a thick mouse-like filling
5. after ten minutes, remove the cupcake pan from the freezer and scoop in the pumpkin-pb filling on top of each chocolate circle in each cupcake paper
6. cover each top with the original (unfrozen) chocolate mix!
7. pop into the freezer, may take 15-20 mins to freeze completely! 

These seriously taste better than Reeses in my opinion. The chocolate is dark, and sweet, and the coconut addition  gives it a smooth, melt-in-you-mouth texture. The pumpkin mixes super well with the peanut butter and makes for the perfect fluffy filling! This way, you can enjoy your candy guilt-free!

blueberry quickie

Hungry for a snack but don't have preparation time? Try this! Frozen (or fresh) blue berries covered in a small handful of buckwheat (a crunchy psuedograin). It tastes like fruity granola and is mildly filling so it will tide you over in between meals or good for dessert as well!