Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Over night oats!!!

Over night oats are simple and easy for when you are in a hurry and on the go!


Usually, I don't have that much time to sit down and enjoy a nice breakfast, especially now that school has started up again! But now, I have the best quickie option for everyone, Over Night Oats !!!
It may look like a parfait to some, gross to others, and delicious to few ... Let me tell you though, it was a hallejujah moment when I ate it this morning!! 


-----get some chia seeds, THEY'RE BIG IN FIBER, and it's NATURAL! So put away your fiber chewies and eat the good stuff! 

I massed up one banana ( my mom told me to use the bananas bc they were going a little brown ) 
So I massed one banana with about 1/4 cup of chai seeds ( which also expand to any liquid that is mixed with it ) and I added 4 TBS of liquid egg whites and A LOT of cinnamon ( this mixture was all in a desperate bowl) 

I than took 1/4 cup of oats, added them to the bottom of my jar, added a few TBS of the chai/nana/whites concoction and added another 1/4 cup of oats and than the rest of the concoction ontop! 

Put that baby in the fridge and went to sleep :)
In the morning, I took the lid off and popped it in the microwave for about 1:00 ( my microwave is pretty powerful ) . 
I took it out, ( everything expanded) and than I popped the lid back on...

Got ready for work and class... And than I took it in my car with it and enjoyed :)

It tasted like a warm, delicious treat!

Enjoy and let me know what you think :) 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Mangia pizza & restaurant

Hey! So, if anybody is ever in the Riverdale Nj area.. I definitely recommend a nice Italian pizza and restaurant place, Mangia.

They have a few other locations.. Another one is held in Mawwah

Anyway! I love this place in Riverdale!


They have such a wonderful staff who recognize you just from being tere a handful of times! 
They are a staff full of people pleasers, and boy do they sure fit the part! 

I wok over at Weight Watchers in the same complex. Whenever I call to order my meal from them they are terrifically friendly on the phone, I like that.


If you're friendly to me, I will be friendlier to you! ( one of my MANY mottos ;) ) 

Anyway, as you know, I tend to eat towards the clean food lifestyle.

I usually order a tossed salad, that comes with a beautiful arrangement of vegetables in it. It's not like your pizzeria salads where they only serve you iceberg lettuce ( no nutritional value) and maybe some cherry tomatoes ( if your lucky ) . :/ At Mangias, I am surprised and instantly happy when I open up my salad container every.single.time.
:0 how you like them apples? 


They also have delicious wraps! I usually get the veggie wrap, on whole wheat. It comes with grilledportobellos  mushrooms, sautéed red pepper and mushrooms with cheese ( I usually ask for no cheese) all in a homemade balsamic dressing, mm mmm gooood! :)  And even though I tend to eat clean, doesn't mean the average person likes to. You know a place has excellent quality tasting food when they have a person eat there who only eats healthy food. Chances are if they have excellent healthy food, the "good stuff" is going to taste ten times better! ;) ;) ;) 


Homemade tiramisu ! How nice is he?!

Too bad that I won't eat it :/ 
( not because of it being dessert, I'm not a tiramisu kind of girl! )
I rather waste my calories for the day to set my goals. Now maybe if it was chocolate cake... ;) 

Pete hooked me up with an awesome spice kick to my salad today!! Thanks Pete! ( Pete owns the Mangias! )
He started when he was 19 and is now 27, talk about responsibility!

Yay time to eat this awesome lunch :) 

Xoxox

Life is about balance

http://youtu.be/foopEmJ1Y04

^ Tony Robbins explains it all

Friday, August 16, 2013

Chocolate on my mind

Who doesn't love a good piece of chocolate? 
Maybe a tiny piece of a plain Hershey bar or a bit bite of a creamy, dark chocolate with warm peanutbutter inside of it, that when you bite into it, the peanutbutter and chocolate combination makes you feel all warm inside :) 
Well, that's how I feel at least, especially when I eat something that I know that isn't good for my body, but it tastes too good to resist, a piece of chocolate that tastes sinfully good. 

Well, that's exactly what I wanted! Chocolate that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Except for me, I want it to be healthy, good for my skin and body somewhat nutritious, with minimal ingredients ( have you READ the ingredient list on a Reese's bar? Smh ) 

I love a good challenge.
^ and I love himym ;) 

Anyway! 
So I did it people! 
I made a cleaneats,no processed food.. "FREESES CUP" 
Bare minimum ingredients were used to create this master piece...

You will need:
-cupcake pan with cupcake holders 
-pot for cooking and spoon for stirring 
- unrefined unpressed coconut oil
-bakers unsweetened chocolate bars
-almond butter ( only ingredient,almonds)
-stevia
-vanilla extract
-love :) 

DIRECTIONS!!! 
- First you want to set aside your cupcake pan with the cupcake foils inside them so they are ready for you when you need them! 
- Next, Heat on the stove on medium heat
- Put your pot on the heat and add two TBS of the oil. 
-Stir oil with a spoon
- Have the oil get a little bubbly and heated enough but DO NOT have it brown!!! 
-Next, add the bakers chocolate ( 1 square or the whole box! ) ( the more chocolate squares you add, add 1/2 TNS or oil ) 
- Mix the oil and the chocolate with a spoon on a lower heat setting 
- Next, you can add as much stevia as you like! ( it's a zero calorie sweetener AND it's made from a plant! ) 
#natural and #winning! 
* the sweeter the better ;) 
- Next, add in some drops of vanilla extract for flavoring ( one or two ) 
- Now take the pot of chocolate off of the stove.. No need to cool or it will harden!
- Next, you want to take your cupcake pan (with the foils in there )and add a TBS of your chocolate mixture to each foil ( or however much you would like to add , just remember you are going to add a layer of the almond butter like a sandwich , so you will want room )
- After you have your chocolate all divided, add a TBS of almond butter to each cup
- Pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes
- Take them out after 15 minutes and add your top layer of chocolate ( you will need to reheat the chocolate mixture ) 
- Add the finished product to the fridge for 2 hours.
-Eat after dinner, or for a snack and ENJOY YOUR "FREESES CUPS " :) 










* if you don't have all the time to make, and you just want a chocolate fix, add all of the ingredients together WITH the almond butter while heating in the pot. 
This option is faster and will still give you a peanut butter taste as well as the chocolate, the only difference is it the almond butter will not be in the center. 

** another tip, you do NOT have to add almond butter in the middle.. Get creative! Add some strawberry jam, coconut, peanutbutter, just make it a clean treat! :) 

Comment and let me know what you guys think!
Also, this Does contain fat. But it is all good fat that will not raise your cholesterol levels like say a Hershey, Reese's , snicker or any other candy will. 
My ingredients are not here to make you fat , tired, angry, or full of unwanted chemicals that harm your body! 

Enjoy and let me know what you guys think! 


 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

sugar, go away!


Hello everyone!
So, I'm not too sure about eating dairy, and if it is considered to be "clean" or not.

I suppose if I were to buy organic milk, than that would be considered "clean", or if I were to buy "natural" yogurt, that would be considered "clean" as well.

You may ask yourself, what is a "clean" diet like?
Everyone seems to have their own definition of "clean" eating. Some people consider it just being that you consume dairy, veggies, protein, complex carbs, fruit and water.

Well, you see, there is A LOT more to eating "clean" than you think!

To begin, there are many food products that get away with being "clean", because the product may have a "whole wheat" food label onto of the packaging, or maybe the food product will read the words "all natural ingredients", so people may assume that this food product is good for them.
There is more truth to all of this than you may think, boys and girls.

Have you ever actually read your ingredients in the food you are eating?
What is aspartame? ( its horrible for youre body, look it up. )
Why is my bread that I am buying at the super market made with high frutose corn syrup ( sugar that is bad for you. ).

Its time to get smart about the ingredients you are putting into your body!!
I know, I know, to many of you who are just starting out on your clean eating journey, you may think that reading the ingredient list is now an extra item on your todo list, but in all honesty, not trying to be dramatic, but you are saving you, and your loved one or ones lives by looking at that ingredient list. Chances are, you will not know what half of the ingredients are that you are consuming on the regular.
And if you think you do know what something is, but you still might wonder about it, please, LOOK IT UP. Chances are you will be really informed and very SHOCKED about what the food companies are getting away with to put into our food products.

anyway, sorry for this off rant that I just had!
ADHD ALERT.
any who, let me let you know what my CLEAN EATING is....
clean eating to me, is eating any food in its natural, purist form that it was grown or killed for ( i like meat. )
If a food product has more than a handful of ingredients in it, chances are I will not put it in or around my mouth. :0

and you know what, I honestly feel as if I am born again on earth once I started eating clean!
good bye nasty head aches, food comas, sugar rushes, addicting like behaviors, and so much more!

Food additives ( ingredients and chemicals that are added to our food to hold it together) should not exist! If i have to eat something that is made from chemicals, I should not be eating that!!

so, finally back to dairy, I was reading my moms greek yogurt nutrition label...
and I was looking at the sugar content, 21grams of sugar, doesnt seem like too much.
Yet, it is 21 grams of sugar OUT OF the 25 grams of carbs, 21 OF THOSE CARBS ARE PURE SUGAR.
that is not healthy for you!!!!
You can find better, natural ways to consume vitamin D ( if thats why you need to get your greek yogurt )
Sugar is addicting, its like crack, and you ALWAYS will want and crave more.

clean it up and out of your diet people, see what happens.

xoxo.
peace and love

and goodnight hugs!

jenny lo

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

I am a warrior!


Hey everyone!!!!
I haven't been on the blog in way too long :/ but here I am! 
Life sometimes gets in the way of things for me. One thing I need to really start working on is my balancing skills. 
I need to know how to balance time for my family, friends, school work, homework, spiritual mediation, my boyfriend, my pets and MY SELF!!!!!
How does everyone make time for all of this stuff? 
( side note, it would be really cool if people could post some balancing life strategies on here to really help a girl out!!!! ) 

Aside from my life and me becoming organized ... I wanted to say how I absolutely had THE BEST SATURDAY EVER!!!! 
For all of you warriors out there, hello. For anyone who doesn't know what or who a warrior is... IT'S ME! 

This Saturday I took place in a wonderful race called The Warrior Dash! It was a 3.5 mile long haul run, with 6 different obstacles that kept you constantly working hard. The obstacles consisted of jumping over fire ( sounds bad ass ) , climbing over beams and rock walls, swimming through a lake, army crawling under barb wire in the mud, running trough mud and a lot more awesome things!!! It was an absolute blast and such an awesome workout. 
I came in 100th place for my age group out of 2,000 ... I suppose that's not too bad?!!!  
The minute I crossed the finish line to my parents and family members who were there to support, I knew I had to do more of these races more often. I immediately got addicted to the thrill! 

This is the whole group of us after the warrior dash... Sooo muddy!!! ( I'm the one girl with my eyes closed -_- ) 

But it was soo much fun! 

* if you're a person who gets bored with working out, and the thought of running a 5k or mile is too boring to you, I advise and HIGHLY recommend that you partake in a warrior dash, color run , tough mudder , spartan race, or the  zombie run! I am SURE you can look online to find many other fun activities that aren't boring to do!!!

Working out doesn't always have to be weights, and your usual treadmill cardio type. As long as you are moving, making some resistance and your heart is thumping, you are working out babes!!! 

Peace and love