So you’re training for a 5K Omelet

So I’ve decided to run a 5K!

After years of telling myself and others that “I can’t/don’t run” I decided to train for a 5K and stick to the plan. 1 week later and a 5 mile run under my belt (…elastic waistband) I’m freaking out slash jumping for joy at how much more food I’ll be able to eat today!! All joking aside – moral of the story here is not to say you can’t until you try… I’d probably be running marathons by now If I hadn’t convinced myself I couldn’t run before ever givin’er a go!

Check it out!

 

Side Note: I also recommend using Run Keeper if you’ve decided to train for any type of race or even if you just want to keep track of your progress or runs,  Its a great tool/app that helps keep you motivated!

After this run I knew I needed to fuel up fast! Not having much protein in the house, I decided to whip up an omelet and pair it with a whole-wheat english muffin in order to ensure that my muscles were getting all the help they needed to recover

1/2 an english topped with a piece of the Marathon Omelet

Serves 1 runner

Ingredients:

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 cup of spinach

1/4 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup diced tomato

pepper

couple light dashes of smoked paprika

Directions

1) beat eggs and egg whites together in a bowl and, if desired,  add a tbsp of milk (I use almond milk) to give the eggs that fluffy look and feel

2) Spray non-stick pan with olive oil spray and heat over medium

3) when pan is hot, add onion and let cook until soft (about 3-5 minutes,) stirring to avoid burning

4) Once soft and add 1 cup spinach to the pan and allow to wilt (I used frozen spinach so it already had water in it, but if you are using fresh add about 1/4 cup of water and cook until spinach has wilted and water has absorbed

5) lower heat to med-low, add eggs to pan and quickly stir to make sure everything is nicely mixed.

6) Add tomatoes and cook until eggs have set, about 3-5 minutes

 

7) Serve and Enjoy

I’d love to hear from you! If you have a favorite go-to omelet, please share!

Kristen ❤

Chicken and Chickpea Chopped Salad

Wow! It’s been forever since I last posted a recipe! In my defence, I was in Orange County last week visiting family (boy, was that a nice change of pace!) I feel very fortunate to have family close by when i’m 3000 miles from “home,” and it was amazing to catch up with cousins that I hadn’t seen in over 15 years! I also spent the weekend with my Fiancé and another couple at a house we rented with a big group of friends in Lake Tahoe. All in all I had a fantastic week, but unfortunately neglected my loyal foodies … BUT I’m about to make that up to you know with an AHMAZING salad I whipped together tonight!

If you’re one of those people who hates eating salads for dinner (I mean, I get it, it feels way to lunchie right?) I promise you will change your mind after trying this gem. My fiancé loved loved loooved it, and although he’s not a picky eater, he doesn’t exactly jump for joy when he hears that there’s a salad on the dinner menu for the week. But, alas, I made this salad hearty enough that it left us both feeling full and satisfied!

It’s a very flexible salad that you can adjust to fit your families preferences, so feel free to add whatever veggies you have on hand! I would love to hear what combo you try, so if you’re changing it up a bit, let me know in the comment section below…

Oh and as a side note, I didn’t think I would post this recipe on my blog until I tried it, so if you’re wondering why I only have 1 picture of something I’m declaring to be a masterpiece of a salad, now you know why!

nomnomnom

Turkey Quinoa Chilli

I know I was supposed to post this recipe last night (sorry!) but my computer went haywire and by the time I got it running again I was starting to fall asleep! Luckily, I have a couple of hours now while I’m waiting for my flight! I know, I know, why am I here 2 hours in advanced… well, I’m the worst flyer… ever… so I need to be at the airport 2 hours in advanced so I don’t stress out about missing my flight… the stress of flying is already more than enough for me without any added pressure

So onto the recipe!

Banana Oatmeal Cinnamon Raisin Bites

Can you believe these are only 36 calories each!!!

I’f someone asked me what my favorite part of High School was, I’d have to say… well actually, lets be honest… I’d really have to think about that, I mean that was 10 years ago now… lemme just quickly try and bring back 10 year old memories for a sec (like it isn’t hard enough for me to remember what I ate for breakfast this morning or anything)…

Oh, right, yes! Its a really easy answer (which may or may not offend all the friends that I’ve somehow (luckily) managed to keep in touch with throughout the years)… its obvioussllyy the oatmeal raisin cookies from the cafeteria that I potentially ate for recess every single day. 

Recipe Poll – I want to hear from you!

I’m going away on Monday and leaving the poor fiancé at home to fend for himself! I was planning on making him a healthified version of one of the three options below so he can take for lunch or eat for dinner for the few nights I’ll be away.

But I thought I’d have some fun with it and see what you foodies would like to see more of! So take the poll below and I’ll have a healthified version waiting for you when you check me out on Sunday!

Happy voting!!

EDIT: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED! THE POLL IS NOW CLOSED! Since there was a tie between a healthified mac and cheese and chilli, I had to get my biggest fan (aka my fiancé) to provide the tie breaking vote. I figured that was only fair considering he would be the one to have to eat it for the next 2-3 nights!

drum roll please…

Healthified Chili it is!

I’ll be making this tonight for supper and will try my best to post the recipe tonight before bed! I’ve made this chili many times before but this time I’m going to making it even healthier! So I’m excited (nervous?) to see how it turns out!

Keep you posted!

Healthified pizza – pita pizza!

This recipe was a staple of mine during my Masters degree in Social Work….I had just moved out of my parents house, was swamped with papers and barely had time to sleep, let alone eat… so you can imagine how much time I had available for cooking (ya… none!)Luckily one of my besties, who had been living off pita pizzas at the time, introduced me to this cost-effective, health-conscious meal – an absolute necessity for a broke college student like myself.

behold the famous pita pizza

I mean how yummy does this look and don’t even get me started on how much cheaper it is than take out or even frozen pizza… and, obviously, how infinitely healthier it is.

Healthified Basic Tomato Sauce

If your Italian, I’m sorry in advance – this recipe does use a combo of canned tomatoes (we can still be friends right) and fresh tomatoes. On the bright side, you can totally use all fresh tomatoes.. I consider this a  healthified version since its not jarred tomato sauce (which can be the absolute worse – health wise… but maybe not time wise)  So while I know my Italian friends back in Montreal are wiping away tears right now, this is for all you other foodies who didn’t grow up with nona’s famous sauce (those lucky…)

Many jarred tomato sauces can pack on not only large amounts of salt, but also sugar. So if you have an extra 15-20 minutes in your dinner rotation, do your health a favor and make this healthified version!

 

Green tea inspired Smoothie

Don’t you love when you can just add a bunch of stuff in a blender and out comes a perfectly yummy and healthy meal?!

Healthified Quaker instant Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Have you ever thought that you were doing your waistline a favor by eating flavored instant oatmeal for breakfast instead of a McDonalds breakfast sandwich?… hmm?

Don’t freak out!! You totally were! (*wipes brow*)

BUT if you’ve ever ventured past the calorie content on the back of said box to the sugar content, you might have had quite the shock! That is unless you’re taste buds are dead and you can swallow (without gaging) the flavourless (original) instant oatmeal. But for those who like to eat breakfast gag-free (me!me!me!), you’ve likely picked up a flavoured box (my personal fave being  Quaker’s apples and cinnamon) and high-fived yourself for eating a nice healthy breakfast that somehow keeps you full until lunch (thank you fiber!), not realizing that you’ve just put 12g of sugar in your body (yikes!).

With my new sugar conscious mind, I went to the grocery store, purchased the instant oatmeal with the lowest amount of sugar, (weirdly called Maple & Brown Sugar) which contained only 1g of sugar, and as a bonus 7g protein and 6g of fiber (Oh happy day!)

Avocado egg white salad

Growing up, the smell of an egg-salad sandwich made me want to run in the other direction and never look back (right ma?) I’d like to pretend that I grew out of this when I reached my teen-early adult years, but I would be totally lying.

I remember the first time my now-fiance, tried to be the perfect boyfriend and wake up early to make me breakfast before I headed off to school (cue the awwws).  Oblivious to my hardboiled egg phobia, he presented me with egg whites topped with sliced avocados (oh the shame!) Long story short, I went to school hungry and left poor boyfriend standing in the kitchen wide-eyed, wondering if he did in fact just here me shout “I know what I like, and I like what I want!” Wait, what? and yep, I really did say that verbatim and yes I’m also very much aware that I was a 24 year old brat (I’ve changed now… promise.)

Fast forward to present day and I just can’t get enough, don’t ask me why, I really have no clue. And that fine day when I had the brilliant (yes, brilliant) idea of adding mashed avocado (my food bff) into the mix, I just short of declared myself a cullinary genius (Move over Giada, hellooo Kristen!)

Isn’t she a beaut?!