Turn "this" into "THIS!!!"

First thing's first, here is last night's dinner:

 We decided to use quinoa instead of brown rice, but it still turned out delish. The marinade for the fish (the link to the recipe is on my previous post) was super tasty too. (I added a few drops of honey and a splash of orange juice to tone down the bitterness of the vinegar.) To the quinoa I added some pepper, garlic powder, and a squeeze of lemon to spice it up a bit. Healthy and yummy!

I would also like to share with you the amazing lunch I had today. I'm fully aware that it is still well over 90 degrees outside, but today my boyfriend came home after work and said, "This is really weird, but I'm craving soup." Chicken and dumplings soup, to be exact. I think, okay, I only have two hours before I have to leave for work... sounds like a challenge... and I accept! (Just so you all know, I am the self-proclaimed master of doctoring up convenience foods and making them healthy and flavorful.) In our pantry we find two cans of Progresso chicken and wild rice soup, and a packet of this:

Marie Calender's cheese biscuit mix. Using these two ingredients, plus some fresh veggies and spices, we made the most delicious chicken and dumplings soup I have ever had.

 My mouth is still watering. And yes, I will share the secret recipe with you to the best of my ability (the flaw to my cooking is that I never, ever measure anything).
In addition to these two ingredients you will need:

• About a cup of chopped onion (white or yellow)
• Two garlic cloves, minced
• About 1/4 cup of olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• About 2 cups of cubed potatoes (we used baby red potatoes since we had them in the fridge)
• About a cup of chopped carrots (we had a bag of "matchstick" style carrots)
• One zucchini, chopped
• Juice of 1/2 a large lemon
• Any spices you prefer- we like spicy to we added chili powder and cayenne pepper along with black pepper, garlic powder, and a little cumin (we're trying really hard to cut down on salt, but I'm sure this would be like 10X more delicious if you added salt).
• A few cups of water
• Milk and oil/butter to add to the biscuit mix.

And here's what you do:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onion, garlic, potatoes, and carrots. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender.
2. Add zucchini, cook until opaque.
3. Add spices, lemon juice, and enough water to cover all ingredients. Cover and let simmer. Once all vegetables are cooked through, add two cans of soup, cover and return to simmer.
4. Prepare biscuit mix according to directions on package.
5. Allow soup to come to a boil, then drop 1" balls of biscuit batter into soup. Cover and return to boil for about 12 minutes. You can check if "dumplings" are done by removing one from the soup and cutting it in half. 

This soup was soo good, soo easy, and soo filling. And, minus the dumpling part, soo healthy! I can't wait until Fall so I can create even more yummy soup creations! 

FOOD.

I am one of the pickiest eaters on the entire planet. I drive friends and family members (and mostly my boyfriend) absolutely crazy sometimes because of what I will not eat.
I eat mostly vegetarian, but to be honest it's not because I'm an animal rights activist or anything- I just don't like meat. I'll eat chicken and turkey, as long as it's white meat and I am absolutely sure I can't detect any fat/veins/weird squishy stuff in it. I'll eat fish if it's fresh and not slimy or caught in freshwater (this I actually cannot explain) and if I find a single bone in it I won't eat another bite. No beef, pork, or anything else in between. Milk makes me want to gag and I'm not a huge fan of cheese.
Basically, if it has a strange texture or if I don't know every single ingredient going into it, I'm not touching it.
That being said, I'm still a naturally healthy eater. I thank my mother for this, who was not only an amazing cook but who always made sure my sister and I always ate healthy, nutritious foods. Since returning from my vacation in Hawaii (which was full of macadamia nut pancakes and sushi and ice cream and all kinds of things that are bad for me), I have been determined to get back on track with healthy eating and exercise. Since I just went grocery shopping, I'm going to share my shopping list with you:

• Veggies- broccoli, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, yams, spinach
• Fruits- bananas, strawberries, blueberries, avocado, mixed frozen berries, limes, lemons
• Frozen chicken breast
• Frozen tilapia filets
• Raw almonds
• Ground flax seed
• Eggs
• Soy milk and low-fat milk (for my boyfriend)
• Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
• Honey
• Natural peanut butter

And now I will share with you my dinner menu of the week:

• Monday: Grilled white fish (using a marinade I adapted from this site) with brown rice, steamed broccoli and salad
• Tuesday: Spicy Thai chicken, brown rice, brussel sprouts
• Wednesday: Grilled turkey burgers, baked yams, salad
• Thursday: Tofu and veggie stir fry, brown rice
• Friday: Quinoa and ground turkey-stuffed bell peppers with a salad 

I will try to update with pictures and recipes from this week. If you are wondering what I am currently snacking on while I type this, here is a picture:

 Plain Greek yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, raw almonds and a little bit of honey drizzled on top. The PERFECT snack.

Now if I can only convince my butt cheeks to stop being so sore from all the one-legged squats my boyfriend made me do at the gym last night, maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a workout before I go to my work meeting.
Maybe.

Happy Monday!

Is it Fall Yet?

I have a lot of catching up to do.
So, let's catch up really quick.

First of all, the COLOR RUN!!! What is the Color Run, you ask? It's a 5K run in which volunteers toss pigmented corn starch on you as you pass by. I ran with my sister and some friends, and we had a blast.

The aftermath of the Color Run

This was the second 5K I have run (I did the Run to Feed the Hungry 5K in November) and I always have to much fun- the sense of community with the people around you, the excitement, the encouragement from your friends, the fact that you're getting a great workout while having a great time- I can't wait to do more!

The morning after the Color Run, my boyfriend and I woke up super early and drove to the Oakland airport to board a plane to Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii! The trip was a gift from my parents when I graduated college back in December- let's just say I had been waiting for this vacation for a lonnng time.
We stayed near Waikiki Beach, which is a major tourist attraction. TOURISTS. EVERYWHERE. And since Hawaii is so close to Japan, it's a very popular vacation destination- seriously, 95% of the people we saw there were Japanese. Also, Honolulu is a big, busy city- bigger than Sacramento, where I currently live. Wait, weren't we trying to leave the city?
Nonetheless, Honolulu is amazing. The high temperature is about 85 degrees, and the low is about 75 degrees. There would be random spurts of rain for a few minutes, then the sun would come back out. And the clouds over the island are the most amazing I've ever seen. The ocean is warm and clear, the plants and lush and green.
The food was mediocre and EXPENSIVE. Do NOT go to Hawaii for the food. Go for the atmosphere.
The
 One of the highlights of the trip included hiking to the peak of Diamondhead Crater, a volcanic crater on the South shore of Oahu. The view from the top was amazing:

My FAVORITE thing we did was take a bus out to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling. I have never seen to many awesome, big, colorful tropical fish in my life. Not to mention the scenery:

It was a truly incredible experience. I felt like I was in another world- or just a really big fish tank. My boyfriend even spotted a small octopus hiding in the reef, hunting for fish. I fell in love with snorkeling and can't wait to do it again.

After the fun, relaxing week passed us by, it was time to return home to reality- and the HEAT. Luckily, we missed the worst part of the 105-plus-degree weather while we were on vacation, but I'm still eagerly waiting cooler temperatures, red and orange leaves, and cloudy skies.
I LOVE FALL. I think about it, dream about it, look up recipes for pumpkin bread and hearty soups all day, gaze longingly at my jackets and coats and boots, sigh at my fireplace when I walk by it. I can hardly wait for it. I check the weather report EVERY SINGLE DAY in anticipation of cooler temperatures. Soon. I need to be patient... but soon.

Also, I'm starting a new position in September- I'll be working as a full-time aide in a 1st grade classroom to a girl with Autism. She's extremely smart, she just needs some help with schoolwork and some prompting when it comes to conversation and social interaction. It will be a big change from working with my current clients, and I'll be sad to leave them, but a pay-raise plus more classroom experience is exactly what I need right now.

ALSO, my boyfriend is working on getting his PT certification and has been training a few clients- including my sister and myself. And let me tell you, he's darn good at it. Like, I've-never-felt-this-sore-in-my-life-even-after-years-of-training-on-the-high-school-swim-team good at it. I'm actually waiting for my sister to arrive so we can get a workout in. I love to challenge myself physically and I actually look forward to our work-outs, even though they totally kick my ass.

Ok, I will try to update more often. Have a fantastic week my friends!!!