Author: Megan

WOW! All I have to say is WOW, this recipe was so simple to make and it was delicious! I love when meals come together like this effortlessly because I already had all of the ingredients.

With a new year comes new resolutions for many people. Most want to make a conscience effort to eat better and become healthier. I just heard the other day, most resolutions if started on January 1^st trickle and die out by January 12! Many people are only able to keep up with their resolutions for 12 days? Why do you think that is? Well, for one, resolutions may be to over ambitious and unattainable to ever reach.

For example: if someone says, ‘My New Year’s Resolution is to work out every day of the week.’ It’s more likely than not, that this person will give up and revert to their old habits. Why? Goals or resolutions must be realistic and achievable to attain. So instead of stating the example from above; a more realistic goal would be to say ‘I want to lose x number of pounds and will exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 x a week recording my progress. By the end of the first 3 months, I want to have reached my goal of losing x amount of weight.’ Not only is this goal considered to be a SMART goal (SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-oriented) but it allows for new habits to change into long-term lifestyle changes.

Realistic goals allows a bit of a bumper so to speak, to just be human.  Let’s face it, life happens and you can get derailed from your goal.   By allowing a little bit of “wiggle room” and approaching a goal with some room for adjustments, will only encourage you to pick yourself back up and get on track versus the all or nothing approach. Breaking up goals into segments, in this case, every 3 months of monitoring your progress, you are more likely to stick with your lifestyle change for life. As opposed to reaching your goal in an unrealistic time-frame with crazy expectations only puts added stress on yourself.

**Remember, it’s a behavior change. Change the behavior and reap the results. Keep in mind it took you a long time to form these “bad” habits it will take some time to reverse these habits too.

Now, I realize this blog isn’t about behavior modification, but it does tie in to achieving and maintaining a healthier lifestyle through small realistic changes.  Many people need a spring board as to where to begin and everyone must start somewhere.

Perhaps, your goal for 2019 is eliminating more fat from your diet? Or maybe it is to eat healthier?  Whatever it may be, you still must eat to survive and thrive. So this no fuss recipe is not only hearty but full of flavor!! This recipe definitely has a Mediterranean flare to it with the freshly chopped parsley and lemon zest added at the end.

I know you all will love this recipe as much as I do! Plus, for my cheese loving friends you can add any hard cheese at the end for the topping, giving it a salty bite which is sure to please even the pickiest of eaters!  I did not add any cheese due to my food intolerance, AND if you are looking for a vegan option to this recipe then omit the cheese…and guess what it’s now vegan!

Remember you got this! =)

XOXO,

Megan

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Cans of Chickpeas (Rinsed)
• 1 Large Bag of Spinach (pre-cooked and finely chopped) or Fresh Spinach chopped
• 1 12oz Can Chopped or Diced Tomatoes
• 1/2 to 1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Medium Onion (Finely Chopped)
• 2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
• 1 Bunch parsley (Finely Chopped)
• 3 Oz of Any Hard cheese grated
• ¼ Cup Olive Oil
• ¼ Cup Dry Sherry (Optional) or 1/4 of Vegetable Broth
• 1 Lemon (zest and juice)

Directions:

1. Add the olive oil to a warm pan along with the chopped onion and cook until translucent.
2.  Add the Garlic and cook for a few minutes while stirring.
3. Add the red pepper flakes and cumin
4. Add the chickpeas to the mixture and stir.
5. Add the tomatoes with the juice and stir.
6. Add the chopped frozen spinach or your chopped spinach and mix allowing the flavors and ingredients to combine for about a minute.
7. Add the Sherry, in my case I had vegetable broth and mixed everything together combining all of the flavors.
8. Add the salt and pepper to taste.  Although, I usually add these as I am mixing the above ingredients.
9. Finally, sprinkle fresh chopped parsley over the mixture as well as freshly zested lemon and the lemon juice for a nice pop of flavor.  Here is where you can add your hard cheese if wanted.
10. Serve.

**Recipe is courtesy of author and host Simon Majumdar

Over the Christmas Holiday, while my husband and I were back home with our families and friends we celebrated our little girl with a whimsical baby shower which looked like it was right out of a fairytale.

You know when you have a vision of what something should look like, and often times it doesn’t turn out as you had hoped it would?  Let’s just say…in this case my shower was exactly what I envisioned. I could not have been happier with how it turned out!!!!  It was truly perfect!!

Since baby girl is set to make her debut at the end of March, I wanted to have the baby shower before family and friends headed south for the winter months. Plus, I love Christmas and I was able to incorporate Christmas and winter decorations into the shower to give it a pop of my favorite season.

The colors I chose for her shower are the same colors of her nursery; Champagne Gold, Rosé Pink, and Silver.  This color combination is light and airy, yet whimsical and elegant. The theme of the shower was; “Baby it’s Cold Outside” which for me embraced the fairytale whimsy of having a little girl, as well as keeping it very classy and elegant.

The colors combined of the shower reinforced my decision for the color scheme of our new nursery.

Don’t worry I will definitely blog on the nursery once everything is finished!

With that said, I hope you all enjoy some of the photos from this very memorable and surreal day which we never thought would be in the cards for us.

Many Blessings to you all!

XOXO,

Megan

Easy, Delicious and done in less than an hour…of course that depends on which type of brown rice you use!

Like so many other families preparing, planning, and leaving for the Christmas holiday we are using up as many items in our refrigerator as possible. For some families this might cause unnecessary stress I’m here to help you plan a quick meal sure to please everyone in your home.

Knowing that Ryan and I are leaving in a few days I pulled out of the other half of the frozen sirloin steak I had labeled and marked when I made my homemade Stromboli recipe and uploaded in on the blog.

When I bought the steak, I had the butcher slice it into long strips which make the cooking and thawing time much easier when preparing dinner. I brought it home knowing I was going to use half that day for the steak Stromboli’s and re-wrap the second half in freezer paper labeling it for days like today when I need to use it for a quick and easy meal.

This meal really is a win-win for me because I’m freeing up space in the freezer and refrigerator. So that’s exactly what I did.

So what goes into a stir-fry…. ANYTHING!! I first started by simmer my meat on medium low adding a bit of vegetable broth to keep it juicy. Once it was just about cooked, I took it off the heat and plated it so I could use the pan to start cooking the vegetables. I sliced 2 medium onions, why two, well because the first onion was starting to look funky so I used most of that onion and added a second onion to give it the stir-fry flavor. I diced 3-4 cloves of garlic and 3 stalks of celery and sautéed them until they were almost cooked. I then finely diced fresh ginger (a staple I always have), added red pepper flakes, black pepper, orange juice, and coconut aminos to add a bit of that stir-fry flavor.  I sliced my last orange bell pepper and fresh mushrooms and added them to the stir fry. Lastly, I added frozen green beans, a can of mushrooms, and a can of bean sprouts that I wanted to use up.

Finally, I added my meat back to the stir-fry and simmered for a few more minutes with the lid on.

Done!!

Have a wonderful week!

XOXO,

Megan

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of sliced sirloin steak (or whatever steak you choose)
• 1 medium to large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1-1.5 cups. of green beans
• 1 red or orange pepper
• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms
• **Optional fresh or canned bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 1/4 orange juice
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup of coconut aminos or you could use soy sauce but make sure you don’t add to much soy sauce because it may be too salty.
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 can of bean sprouts
• 1 can of mushrooms

Directions:

1. Sauté Steak until almost fully cooked and then take it off the heat and plate it until the end.
2. Slice your onions and chopped celery and add them to the pan the meat was in.  You can add a little bit of oil or in my case I just added vegetable broth, a few splashes of orange juice, fresh ginger, hot pepper flakes, black pepper and coconut aminos or you could add soy sauce.
3. Once the onions appear to be translucent, add your sliced peppers, green beans, mushrooms, and bean sprouts and stir making sure the peppers are crispy cooked.
4. Add your meat back to the mixture and simmer with the lid on.
5. Finally once done serve over long-grain brown rice and serve