Archives for vegetarian

Fitness Update March 23rd Eat Plants First

Before we get to the fitness update, I have something SO EXCITING to share with you! Today is the grand opening of my Etsy shop! Wait. What? Your Etsy shop? I know, I know… just bear with me here. I have been working on a way to provide valuable information to people seeking change in their nutrition. The number one concern I was hearing, was “how do I get more plants in my daily life?” So, I created a downloadable and printable quick start guide called, “Eat Plants First”. Go check it out here, I’ll wait. I’m so excited!

Eat Plants First

What do you think?! I made it super colorful, because I’m all about “eating the rainbow”. The more colors we eat, the more variety of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants we get.

eat plants first

If you didn’t head over to the shop to read more about the quick guide, it’s ok, I understand! We are all busy and have many tasks going on all at once, every day. Above is a little preview of the fun logo I created for the quick start guide. My goal was to keep the guide as simple and straightforward as possible. Page one covers why it’s beneficial to switch to plant-based, or simply just add more plants to your daily nutrition. I also talk about some easy changes you can make to your kitchen to help with the transition. Page two is an 8.5 x 11 page you can print and attach to your fridge or pantry door, which will guide you in making the best choice possible for each meal. Page three gives some more details, for those who like to read the fine print. The number one goal? EAT PLANTS FIRST. If you can remember that, you are already taking steps to improve your health.

In the upcoming months I hope to add more items to my Etsy shop, which will be more tools and guides to help you maintain or switch to a plant-based lifestyle. Your support will make it grow, so please share with anyone you know who is interested in plant-based nutrition.

Fitness Update

Below are the workouts I did over the past week:

Friday
Butt & Thigh workout online through Fitness Blender

Saturday
8.5 miles run with some moderate hills

Sunday
Rest Day

Monday
Upper body weights + 3 trail miles

Tuesday
Yoga Stretch + 30 burpees later in the day (Day 1 of 15, thanks for the inspiration Amy!)

Wednesday
5 mile run at an easy pace, listened to Rich Roll Podcast (interview with Conor Dwyer)

Thursday
4 mile run, with 7×800 in the mix.

Here is a quick visual of my training calendar for March so far. It has felt really good to be back on track this week.

training calendar

WEEEEEEEE! I got my new Be Well Fitness log in the mail, so as soon as this week is up, I’m going to start in my new journal.

be well fitness log

Until next week!

Sleep hard.
Get moving.
Trust Your Gut.

Ratatouille and My Promise to You

My promise to you: I will keep showing up. Every Wednesday I will keep sharing a recipe that is made with healthy, whole ingredients. Every Thursday, I will keep sharing my fitness update and tidbits.

I also promise to you, I will keep it real — within reason.

There is the real, sailor-swearing version of me that I try NOT to be on a daily basis. (Which may be more interesting to some, and completely off-putting to others.) Then there is the adult, matured, evolved version of me that I desperately fight to be each day. So I will promise to give you the latter; the REAL version of myself which I TRY to be every day. Being positive, making healthy food choices and choosing to stay active are all CHOICES I make daily. Some days, I wake up and the old, negative side of me wants to rule the day. Will it benefit you if I share that side of me? I certainly don’t think so; because energy spreads like wildfire.

If I post in a negative way, when I am having a bad and negative day – that just feeds the negativity which may already be brewing inside of you, because maybe you didn’t have a great start to the day. There is already enough negativity circling the globe right now, and I REFUSE to add to it. I may feel like I’m swimming upstream sometimes, but that’s ok. I’m very much an “everything is gray” person — typically able to see both sides to every story — and therefore I am equipped to swim upstream. Does it get old and tiresome? You bet. But when it comes to spreading positivity versus negativity, that is ONE thing I know for certain. POSITIVITY is paramount.

So I promise you that I will keep showing up, and I will remain REAL and positive. That is my vow to you, and the vow I’m making to myself.

Now, onto today’s recipe!! This is not ratatouille as most people may know it, but it is a “coarse stew”, which is how ratatouille originated. (Thanks Wikipedia!) It’s a great way to smash in a bunch of veggies all in one sitting and get nice and full.

Ingredients*

1 purple onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 large carrots, chopped
1 large turnip, chopped
1 large rutabaga, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup cabbage, chopped
1-16 oz. bag frozen cauliflower (just toss them in whole, as is)
2 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1-8 oz. package baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 cups frozen peas (just toss them in last, as is)
1-26 oz. package of Pomi Chopped tomatoes
1 TBSP Italian seasoning (mine is a combo of thyme, garlic, marjoram, onion, rosemary, oregano, basil, savory and sage – huge time saver)
1/4 tsp. Real salt

*NOTE: You can use any combo of your favorite veggies, this is what we had on hand and felt like eating. We were also trying to use up some veggies from the fridge that were about to go bad (turnip, rutabaga, cabbage).

Instructions

  1. In a large stock pot, add about 2 TBSP. of water and turn heat to medium. Once the water starts to get little bubbles, you can add your chopped onion. Cook for a couple minutes until they become aromatic. Add the minced garlic and stir.
  2. For the remaining veggies, chop and cook as you move along down the list of veggie ingredients. So while the onions are cooking, chop the carrots. Once those are chopped, add them to the pot and stir. Continue in this manner chopping, adding to the stock pot, stirring and chopping until you get to the frozen peas – just dump those in as is. Basically, you add the veggies that take the longest to cook, first – essentially all the root veggies – so they have the longest amount of exposure to the heat and cook time.
  3. Once all the veggies are in the pot, you can add the chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt. Stir well to combine, cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. You can add 1/2 cup of water, if you want it to cook a little faster and provide a little more steam action!
  4. When the root veggies are fork tender, it’s ready to serve!

Serves 2 people, large portions as a complete dinner for 2 days. We had this for dinner Monday night and last night; it was fantastic reheated on the stovetop! You can also add a dash of Cholula or your favorite hot sauce, or even add a teaspoon of coconut or olive oil to your individual serving, to add some healthy fat. (You don’t want to add it when cooking, because oils break down in an unhealthy way when heated above certain temps. They are best added last, just before serving.)

I also wanted to take a minute to direct you to my Shopping List Sunday posts which have been shared on both Instagram and Facebook the past 3 weeks.

Give them a peek if you haven’t already, and comment on any one of them if you’d like for me to keep doing them. Remember, I want to be providing value to readers, but I don’t know if it is valuable, unless you engage and let me know. Thanks!

I’m open to other suggestions as well. Feel free to email me or comment below with other suggestions.

Shopping List Sunday Posts

Jan. 21st – Week 1

Jan. 28th – Week 2

Feb. 5th – Week 3

Feb. 11th – Coming up!