Health Break

Morning friends!

Did you get a chance to check out some WASH-related videos from the post last night? The Matt Damon one. So good.

Breakfast

I really have to do groceries. Like, real bad. I am so thankful that I froze some chili that I made the other week [see the recipe here] since it has been keeping me going this week for lunches. I have been making oatmeal all this week - I can't really complain, though, since I could have it for breakfast pretty much every day and still be a happy camper :)

I went all out this morning and splurged on some Zico coconut water, latte flavour, instead of coffee - deliciously hydrating and still has a bit of a caffeine boost. Loves it!

I wish I had a stockpile of these...

Health Break

I had full intentions of being an eager beaver this morning and get up bright'n'early to go out for a run.

...that didn't happen.

I made the executive decision that a bit more shut-eye was better than running around in the pre-sunrise chill outside. The extra sleep felt amazing :)

I brought my running gear to work, knowing that it would be crazy busy, and then thought what the heck, I'ma go for a run! It was wonderfully sunny outside, so I decided to take a bit of a health break - both physically and mentally - and get away from my desk for a bit.

I came back to the office feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the rest of my to-do list!

Have a great day!

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

Good afternoon everyone,

How are things going with you? I haven't received too many frantic calls from the parentals about my unfortunate bike incident yesterday, so I'm assuming all is well in the world ;)

Workout

Since I didn't bike into work this morning - my brakes weren't feeling so solid after my little tumble - I decided to go for a run during my lunch break.

It's a good thing that I did because about an hour after I got back to the office, we unit received the (almost) daily email about which baked goods our colleague's wife dropped off for the day [she is taking a Cordon Bleu baking course and drops off her good for us to eat instead. We kindly accept the challenge indulge] with the following subject line: cake. lots and lots of cake. 

I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy fighting off the office crowd for a piece of delicious rhubarb & nut cake medley. Such a wonderful afternoon snack :)

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

As promised, here is a recipe for a vegetarian chili with quinoa. I thought that the quinoa was a nice little addition, it doesn't change the consistency at all, and it gives an added boost of protein to the mix. Win-win situation, if you ask me.

Again I am so surprised at how easy it is to make this recipe - the hardest part is the prep. Which isn't hard at all, it is more time-consuming than anything else.

But I am a big fan of blasting the sweet beats and having a little zen time in the kitchen. I never believed that this could be possible - for anyone who knows me well *ahem* my old roomies *ahem* they know that I have not always been a natural in the kitchen and would generally just settle for a mixture of chickpeas and a side of cucumber. Minimal effort and basically no cooking involved.

But, hey, practice makes perfect :)

Okay...maybe not perfect, but at least it will help you make delicious chili to enjoy on a cool fall evening. Let me know if you try it out! Tell me what you think :)

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

Inspired by Two Peas and Their Pod’s recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water

½ cup quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1 zucchini

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 carrot

2 stalks celery

1 tbsp chili flakes

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can whole tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Dash of sriracha (optional)

Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a smaller pot and add quinoa, and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until all water has evaporated. Set to the side.

Chop all veggies to desired size [I usually leave them a bit chunkier, but they will cook faster if you chop them into smaller pieces].

Sauté onion in coconut oil in a large pot for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic, zucchini, pepper, carrot and celery and mix occasionally for about 10 minutes or until veggies have started to become softer.

Add black beans and kidney beans (rinsed), quinoa, tomatoes, tomato paste and chili flakes and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until veggies are soft and chili has reached desired consistency. [Note: I didn’t actually have tomato paste, so I left it simmer for closer to 45 minutes so that it was less watery].

Serve warm with a couple dashes of sriracha (optional), a dollop of greek yogurt (also optional).

Enjoy!

Bit of a Bail

Morning friends!

Hope all is well in the world with you. I'm feeling a bit rough this morning, due to an unfortunate biking incident last night. My bike route takes me past the Shepherds of Good Hope mission area in Ottawa, which is always the craziest part of my ride home - there is usually at least a couple of people who yell strange things at me as I pass by them. 

Last night, however, I was biking along, minding my own business, when a lady walking down the street starts yelling and launched herself at me completely out of the blue and makes me ride at a weird angle off the curb so that I go sprawling out on the concrete to avoid being thrown into the traffic on the street. She then proceeded to freak out even more and start grabbing at my helmet and asking me if I was okay so I grabbed my bike and so, naturally, I pretty much ran away.

But then I biked the rest of the way home because I still had a bit of a walk. Kind of like getting back on the horse, n'est-ce pas?

So, I now have a bit of a bruised bump on my chin - thankfully I was wearing a neck warmer so I didn't get completely scratched up. I was also wearing my dorky helmet [prooomise Momster] - gotta save the money-maker - but my knees definitely took the brunt of the crash. Walking up stairs has been a bit tricky today.

Thankful for frozen peas. 

Moral of the story, my friends, is wear a helmet when you ride in the city and beware of both cars AND pedestrians. 'Cause you never know whats going to happen. 

There's nothing like a hearty bowl of vegetarian chili to soothe the soul. And bruised knees.

Recipe coming at you this afternoon :)

10/04 Meatless Monday

Hi friends,

Hope you are all having an awesome afternoon :)

Can we all just take a second and acknowledge the fact that it is already November?! Where has the time gone!! I was looking at my calendar the other day, and I realized that I officially have 7 weeks before I take off, in the words of Chantal Kreviazuk, on a jet-plane.

Let the countdown begin. 

Workout

I'm going to try a circuit workout from Purely Twins tonight, which you can find on their blog here: Getting Back into a Workout Groove

I'm planning on finishing up with this Blogilates arm workout:

She kind of rambles along in her workout videos, which can be annoying to some, but I have kind of gotten used to it and find it better to focus on her voice than on the burning sensation in my arms...the exercises look so easy, but they definitely add up! 

Meatless Monday

If you are an avid fitness/lifestyle/foodie blog reader like myself, you have already heard the term 'Meatless Mondays'. I have mostly been eating mainly vegetarian, aside from the post-party Hawaiian pizza that happened recently {Momster and Popster, pretend you didn't see that]. 

Aaanyway, as I was saying, I planned ahead this time and I am going to dig in with some delicious vegetarian chili that I made last night that is packed full with veggies and quinoa - I'll share the recipe on the blog tomorrow :)

 

Question of the Day:

• Do you set aside one day a week where you eat completely vegetarian? Or are you more of an every day kind of person? 

I definitely consider myself more of a flexitarian - I generally never buy meat at the grocery store for myself, but will indulge when I go out for dinner with a chicken dish or when I am at my parents place (or when it is cooked for me at 2am)

Ideas for an Outgoing October

So, my roomies are better than yours. Not that its a competition, but they still win ;)

After spending almost two whole hours waiting at a walk-in clinic for a doctor to poke at my foot for about five seconds and give me a referral for an x-ray (fingers crossed my foot isn't fractured!!) I came home to two surprises that warm my heart.

i) My Stepdad and sister drove all the way from home to drop off crutches for me