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Fresh Pico de Gallo + Melatonin

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Fresh Pico de Gallo

Morning bloggies. Happy Sunday. How are we today? I am excited to say that I am well rested. After a few nights of restless sleep and insomnia, I finally gave in and purchased some Melatonin. My tweeties have been extremely helpful with hints and tricks in conquering insomnia. So- THANK YOU. Before we get into Melatonin talk- I want to share an extraordinarily easy recipe that I made for the 4th of July. 

Fresh Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo is extremely easy to make- if you’re a good chopper.  The key to this recipe is your chopping skills because you want to get a little bit of everything in every bite! All you need are a few staple ingredients, a cutting board, and an extremely sharp knife.

Fresh Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

  • 1 C mixed sweet peppers (I used the mini sweet peppers)
  • 1/2C cucumbers
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • 6 medium sized tomatoes
  • 1/2 C Fresh Cilantro
  • 2t Salt
  • 1 Lime

Method

  1. Using a sharp knife, finely chop sweet peppers, cucumber, onion, jalapeno, and tomatoes. 
  2. Then, mix together in a large bowl. 
  3. Next, season your veggies with 2t salt and the juice from a whole lime. These two ingredients are important because they help bring out the flavors.
  4. Finally, garnish with chopped cilantro. 
Fresh Pico de Gallo
Fresh Pico de Gallo

I eat this stuff like it’s going out of style. AKA I eat it plain, right out of the bowl, with a big spoon. This stuff is great to make in bulk and to keep in the fridge for the entire week. You can top in on crackers, omelets, veggies, etc. Or just eat it plain- like me 

Melatonin Talk

What is Melatonin?

Melatonin is a natural sleep hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. It helps the body regulate sleep cycles. Melatonin levels are synched with lightness and darkness, so as it begins to get darker outside, Melatonin levels rise and visa versa. This is why darkness is crucial to a good nights sleep. This is also why you tend to sleep more during the winter months, when there is less sunlight. Melatonin also acts as a powerful antioxidant and natural antidepressant.

Which foods produce Melatonin?

Oatmeal

Yogurt

Milk

Flax Seed

Cherries

Why I’m taking a supplement..

Although all of the above foods are staples in my diet, I may not be getting enough Melatonin. According to my internet surfing, miniscule amounts of Melatonin are actually found in food. As you know, I am normally not the one to take a lot of different medication and supplements, but the time has come and I just want to be on a normal sleeping pattern! 

Do you ever eat condiments/dips/salsa/pb straight out of the jar?

What are your views on supplements?

See more healthy recipes

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Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie

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Guess who whipped out the food processor this morning? Seriously LOVE that thing. I was at the gym, doing bicep curls, and all I could think about was the carton the delicious, fresh strawberries I had sitting in my fridge, and how good they would taste in a smoothie!

My workout was a quick mile on the tread, increasing in speed by .2 from 6 mph to 8.5 mph every 30 seconds.

Then I moved on to a full body weights workout. I did 3 sets of 10-15 reps of each exercise:

-assisted pull ups

-hanging leg extension

-inclined dumbbell chest press (15 lb. dumbbells)

-lung twist + 6 lb. medicine ball

-squats + 20 lb dumbbell

-tricep extensions (20 lbs.)

-wide legged squats + 20 lb. dumbbell

-abdominal pull downs (I’m not exactly sure what this one is actually called, but it’s essentially like an “inside-out” sit up. Use your imagination :)

This is what I ate after my workout…

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie

-5 large strawberries

-1/4C vanilla nonfat yogurt

-1/4C vanilla almond milk
-1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I use designer whey)

-1t chia seeds

-2-4 ice cubes (depending on how thick you like it!)

Method: Combine all ingredients in a small food processor or blender and mix for a minute or so!

Mmm Mmm and Mmm. Topped off with a little shredded coconut makes perfection!

Anyways a little update on my life..

This week is my last week of classes! I have a few finals this week and I will officially be a college senior after next Wednesday night! YIPPIE!! Thankfully my exams are spread throughout a few days; I think I would just about lose my $#!t if they were all on the same day! The parents are coming up for the sisters graduation next weekend. I can not even believe she is graduating, I am so proud of her :)

My plan for this summer is to spend some quality time in Milwaukee at the Mom and Dad’s house once school gets out. I am so ready for a mental break. While I am at home my main plan of action = creating new recipes, exercise, and SLEEP. I’ll head back up to the cities part way through June for the best summer job ever….Can you guess what it is?? 

Off to

go to the mall

write a paper.

What is your favorite kind of smoothie?

[Brain Phood]

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Don’t words look more sophisticated when they are spelt with a ph instead of an f, or is it just me? Philosophy, Photography, Pharmacy. It would just look bizarre if it was filosofy. Hence the title of today’s post—> Phood. Okay, well that’s enough nerdiness for one day. (fyi: I’m writing a Spanish paper and they don’t use ph’s)Anywho, I made the most phantastic snack this morning to phuel my brain with good stuff. (haha, okay I’ll stop this is getting obnoxious).

I call this an “Apple Sammie.” It is extremely simple to make and so phreaking DELICIOUS.

Ingredients
-1 apple
-1T peanut flour sauce (1T peanut flour + 1T vanilla almond milk) or 1T any nut butter
-2T granola (I used Love Grown Food’s Sweet Cranberry Pecan)

Note to self: don’t use apple slicer the next time I make this. I demolished my beautiful creation. I think I am better of dipping, instead of spreading. I like dipping better anyways. Apple slice *dip* peanut flour sauce *dip* granola. Perfection? BTW…have you tried Love Grown Food’s granola yet. heaaa.ven.

On to more brain phood….Yesterday a friend and I went to uptown for lunch. Guess where we went, WHOLE FOODS! aj;adkadskl;afdsj! I am no longer a WF hot bar virgin. Okay I just about geeked out when I saw their spread. It was a foodie’s paradise. I had to contain myself…I got 1.02 lbs of food, and ate every last bite!

There is a mixture of spinach, a few different quinoa salads, an edamame salad, chicken salad, andddd more but I can’t remember :) It was too good to remember? I topped it with fresh cilantro and balsamic vinegar. BAM!

This girl is off for an afternoon run! I think I might just have to wear shorts and a tank, HIGH of 76 today. My dream has finally come true, winter is OVER. (knock on wood people, you really never know with this Minnesotan weather!).

Happy Sunday :)

-L

What is your phavorite healthy snack?

Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

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I have a few for yah:1) NUT BUTTER
2) SPRING!

So, about those munchy crunchy almonds I made yesterday, I may or may not have pulverized them into a smooth and creamy paste today.

Actually, I have a little secret for you. My original intent was to make to make Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter, BUT I completely ignored the fact that I had raw almonds instead of toasted. I attempted to whirl my almonds, maple syrup, and cinnamon in my food processor and it just wouldn’t process.  For some reason, raw almond are too soft to process? Anyways, that’s when I had the ingenious idea to make maple toasted almonds :) Those guys were fun for a couple days, but lezz face it, nothing beats nut butter :) Plus, then I got to lick the bowl.

I used 1.5 C of Maple Toasted Almonds and was able to fill my jar about 1/3 of the way.

Drippy, deliciousness.

On to a more exciting part of my day…Afternoon workout! Normally, I skip Tuesday workouts because I have to get up early for my internship and then have to go right to class. As you know, I am a morning worker outer (don’t mind my poor grammar), so it is difficult for me to motivate myself to workout after a 10ish hour day. Today on the other hand, the sister and I scheduled a little destination run before dinner due to the GLORIOUS weather here in Minne. Can’t pass up a beautiful day of sunshine.

Our destination was Seward Co-op. We didn’t actually buy anything, but we did Ooo and Ahh over their AMAZING hot bar. Pretty nerdy? Nahhh, not as nerdy as the sister running in glasses :)

If you live in the cities and have never been to Seward, you are missing out BIG TIME. Their bulk section is phe.nomenal. Although they are a bit pricey, it is nice to treat yourself to a little something special every once in a while. 

Heck yes, I am taking the night off from anything that requires thoughts. AKA I have no homework. Maybe I will download some of the awesome music you guys suggested from the other day. 

Adios!

-L 

PS—> I am going to need a bit more convincing on this whole WordPress thing. Can I get some pros and cons?

Are you a morning, afternoon, or night “worker outer?”

eatin’ oats & takin’ notes

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Miss me?

Yah, yah, you don’t have to tell me! But really, I’ve missed you! This whole “I’m sick” shin-dig really isn’t my thing. I’ve been taking naps like its my job…but no worries I am back to good ol’ Lee :) Eatin’ oats and takin’ notes <——Wish I would have thought of that line when i was trying to come up with a blog name!

Anywho, one of the reasons I have been MIA is because I had a little accident with the lap top. I may or may not have wiped down the keyboard with a clorox wipe. Apparently that’s a no no? My keyboard completely stopped functioning. Paper due tomorrow at noon = DISASTER! I had to rush her to the E.R…aka the Apple Store. Good thing she only needed $125.00 worth of repairs. No fear…Apple Care! Which, btw runs out in t minus 20 days! I lucked out on that one :)

Now that my appetite has returned in full force, I am hannnngry! I threw together a fabulous little recipe to hold me over between meals. Only 3 ingredients! Almonds. Maple Syrup. Cinnamon. Shizam.

Maple Toasted Almonds

-1.5C raw almonds

-2T maple syrup

-1/4t cinnamon 

Method

1. Place almonds, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a small food processor.

2. Pulse 5 or 6 times to fully coat your almonds and to partially chop them. (you could also coat your almonds by mixing the ingredients together with a bowl with a wooden spoon)

3. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and evenly spread out your almond mixture.

4. Using a toaster oven, toast your almonds for 5 minutes. Shake your almonds around and put back in for another 5 or 6 minutes.

5. Let cool before removing.

Watch out, these guys are addicting. They remind me of the Wisconsin State Fair. O0ooo sweet summertime I can not wait for you! They also made a great topping to my oats.

I think I’m going to have to go for round 2 on that breakfast ASAP. It really hit the spot. The saltiness of of peanut butter mixed with the sweetness of the maple almonds. Per.fection.

Are you a Mac or a PC?

I am thinking about switching over to WordPress, thoughts? tips?

Mango Creamsicle Green Monster

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A few things I’ve realized over the past few days:1. I hate being inside all day.

2. Having no appetite weirds me out.

3. Missing class really isn’t the end of the world.

4. Napping is underrated.

5. The remedies and recipes you guys suggested ROCK MY WORLD :)

Which leads me…to a fantastic new GREEN MONSTER recipe, which boosted both my spirits and immune system! At first I was going for a plain jane mango clementine smoothie, and then I remembered one of the comments I received about Green Monsters! This literally tasted like mango creamsicle….but GREEN!

Mango Creamsicle Green Monster
-1/2C frozen mangoes
-1 frozen clementine
-1/2C almond milk (may need to add a few T depending on how think you like it)
-handful of spinach

–method: In a small food processor (or blender) mix all ingredients and blend for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. You may need to pulse and stop and scrape the sides. My smoothie turned out pretty thick, so if you like yours a bit thinner, add more liquid!

I’ve also been gnashing on some bars that I made. I infused them with lots of good stuff: rolled oats, spelt flour, chia seeds, raisins, chopped almonds, cinnamon, all natural peanut butter, mashed banana, and almond milk!

I call these Homemade Power Bars. They are all natural and vegan! Pretty much a random mash-up of whatever was in my cabinet. I need to refine the recipe a little bit before I share exact measurements. It was still a little too dense for my linking. Still pretttt-ty tasty though :)

Topped with some extra peeb. MMMM, I was lickin’ my fingers after this guy.

My weekend has been flushed from anything related to chaos. I really need to sleep and focus on school for the next couple of days, or weeks I should say. I can’t believe today is April 1st. Seriously, 4 more weeks of school and I am offish a COLLEGE SENIOR. I don’t even know what I want to be when I grow up…

aas;dlfjka;sdfasfdkl;!

Happy Friday 8)

What is your favorite smoothie flavor?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

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