Lentil Medley with Kale

Hi all, 

Hope your Tuesday is going swimmingly :)

Workout

I just busted through a Bodyrock workout tonight (see workout breakdown here):

Bodyrock Rep Workout

Do each workout set for a total of 10 reps (what counts as one repetition is written below) before moving on to the next exercise

1. 2 Push-ups and 10 mountain climbers

2. Jump squat and 2 forward lunges – alternate legs

3. Elevated bridge – I used a stability ball under my feet

4. Plank rows – alternate arms

5. Crunch and v-abs

I did 5 rounds for a total of 32 minutes - the push-up and mountain climbers were a deadly combo, and those v-abs...brutal, but effective ;)

I was informed that my coworker - who was gone on mission in the Middle East for a few weeks - has resumed the almost daily delivery of freshly-baked bread and baked goods by the printer area for my unit. The email was titled: Bread is BACK!

Oh dear. 

Will def have to try to fit in a few runs at work this week now that a) the ice has disappeared; b) I have been slacking on my after-work workouts since I've been staying late at the office; and, c) the homemade pastries from my coworkers wife, who is taking a Cordon Bleu baking course, have returned on a daily basis. Gotta get myself prepped for bikini weather soon enough ;)

Lentil Medley with Kale

I seriously have no other way of describing the deliciousness that is this recipe other than 'lentil medley' with kale :)

This is the first recipe that I can say is completely my own - I don't have to give credit to nobody. That's right. Han-Solo. Yep, that's a Zoolander reference. No big deal.

I used to make this ALL THE TIME in university - my ex-roomies can definitely vouch for this. It is quick, easy, satisfying and good for you. What more could you ever want in life?!

I used to just cut up peppers and tomatoes and toss it in with the lentils, but I recently tried it with kale - steamed in with the lentils with a pot lid over the pan - and it is by far my fav. Add a little bit of Sriracha and you're good to go :)

Let me know if you try it out! The perfect 'I have no idea what to make and want to eat in about 15 minutes' kind of meal :)

[Bonus points to whoever is able to give me a better name for this]

Lentil Medley with Kale

Makes 3 servings

Ingredients

2 tbsp avocado oil

½ large onion

2 cloves garlic

½ - 1 cup cut veggies (Optional)

1 can lentils

2 cups cut kale

Salt’n’pepper

Sriracha to taste

Directions

Fry onions in a pan with avocado oil (can use your oil of choice) until translucent. Add garlic for a few minutes until flavourful.

Option: can also add in ½ - 1 cup of cut veggies of your choice. I have used a mixture of the following:  red, yellow or green pepper; tomatoes; zucchini; spinach; mushrooms, etc. The possibilities are endless :)

Once garlic is flavourful and any extra veggies are warm, add strained and washed lentils (Note: you can also use dried lentils that have been soaked overnight if you are feeling extra adventurous – I never have very good luck with this technique so I just rinse canned lentils to minimize the sodium). Let cook for about 5 minutes.

Add kale and cover pan and let steam for another 5 minutes or until kale is wilted (sounds gross, but is extra delicious – it also minimizes the taste of the kale for all of those who are hesitant about using kale).

Can eat as it is or over a bowl of rice. Add salt, pepper and Sriracha or Mike’s Red Hot Sauce as desired.

Enjoy!

Crustless Quiche with Mushrooms and Kale

Morning friends!

I hope it is as sunny as it is in Ottawa this morning where you are :)

Although it was sunny, it was a pretty frigid bike ride in this morning. From the looks of things, not many other people wanted to brave the cold bike into work this morning. Poor old bluey, all along outside today.

 

Crustless Quiche with Mushrooms and Kale

I saw this recipe on Tone It Up a little while ago, and new I had to give it a try! As I mentioned yesterday, I love it when I can make something ahead of time and be able to just reheat something in the morning for breakfast since I am generally running late...because my snooze button is kind of my best friend these days.

I remember back in the day when I worked at Café Chez Eric in Wakefield, the cook would just whip up a quiche in no time. She always said that it was easy, but I never believed her. I'm here to tell you all - it really is that easy!!

I fried up some onions and mushrooms - although, if you don't like mushrooms or kale, you can use pretty much any combination of veggies that you want. I would just be careful with tomatoes since they might make the end product a bit watery. 

I wanted to use spinach, but settled for kale since my local grocery store didn't have any spinach left. I guess everyone to it faster than I did...

I found it a bit strange to combine greek yogurt and eggs, but it gives the end product a really nice texture.

I threw it all into a casserole dish and then mixed it all together. 

And then baked it for about 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes or so to make sure it wasn't over-cooked.

Et voila - my first quiche!

I love this recipe since it is super versatile - you can use any filling that you want - AND you don't have to be bothered with making a crust. Even though I've made pumpkin pie with my mom and sisters every Thanksgiving for my entire life (except for this one, for obvious reasons *ahem* my momster is in Egypt) I still have not mastered the art of crust-making. Maybe someday...

...in the meantime, I will avoid crust-making and have a slice of this delicious quiche instead :)

Crustless Quiche with Mushrooms and Kale

Inspired by Tone It Up’s recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1 cup mushrooms

1 cup kale

6 eggs

½ cup plain greek yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350^oF.

Sauté onions in coconut oil in a frying pan for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add minced garlic and mushrooms and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add kale to the mix and cover until kale is fully steamed.

Place steamed veggies into an oven-safe casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, mix eggs and greek yogurt (optional). Add egg mixture to casserole dish and stir until veggies are mixed in with the egg.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until egg mixture is firm.

Serve warm and enjoy!

My Weekend: Dancing & Juicing

Hello friends!

Sorry about being a no-show on the blog yesterday, I was nursing a bit of a headache all day and so I didn't even go on the computer once...

...but that didn't stop me from dancing the night away both Friday AND Saturday night!! No way Jose ;)

Dancing 

I went to the salsa dance bar called Caliente with a friend of mine on Friday night and had so much fun! They have free salsa classes on Fridays from 8 to 10, so we were able to meet a couple of the dancers who twirled us around the dance floor.

Turns out I still have a lot to learn in the art of Latino dancing, but there's nothing like a solid salsa dance song to get your hips shaking. Amiright?!

I don't think this is technically 'salsa' but its still wonderfulll

A friend of mine was in town from Kingston last night, so I decided to get off my sorry little bottom and leave my hidey-hole in my bedroom and hang out with some of my lovely ladies. I went to one of my friend's place for some pre-drinks and to dance around to way too much Rhianna. We loves us some RiRi.

Her apartment is pretty much the cutest ever, she has decorated it amazingly. She is way more on the ball than I am in terms of Hallowe'en decorations.

Loves it!

We ended up going to Junxion in the Byward Market and had a great time dancing to top 40 hits. Although, we decided that we miiiiight be getting a bit old for clubbing. We decided to leave a bit early because it was a) past our bedtime and b) our ears were ringing from the loud music.

But, hey, at least we still know how to have a good time!

[And no, I didn't take ANY pics either night. Not even one. Lame sauce!]

Juicing

I have discovered that a freshly-pressed juice is the best remedy for the morning-after-dancing-the-night-away.

Here are two that I tried this weekend:

3 carrots

2 apples

4 leaves of kale

Doesn't make such a wonderful colour once you mix it up, but it came out like a pretty rainbow while I was juicing :)

I then ventured into the land of the green juice. And I think its fair to say that I'm officially a convert!

1 cucumber
4 leaves of kale
2 apples
1/2 lemon

I added the lemon as a bit of an afterthought, and I think I would leave it out next time since it made it a bit tart. Otherwise, it was delicious! And so nutritious ;)

I am just about to head out the door to drive to the Montreal airport to pick up my Stepdad, who just spent 10 days in Egypt with my Mom and little sister who are living there for a year. So excited to hear his stories!

Also, turns out I am able to see one of my old roomies (not, like, old, but you know, not currently my roomie. Le sad face) who is on her way to India to take a yoga teacher training course - so excited for her and her upcoming travel adventures!!!

Bottom's Up :)