Hello everyone! I worked 24 hours this past weekend (12 Saturday and 12 Sunday) and I was exhausted! I sent the above picture to Matt, telling him to come kidnap me from work. Luckily I packed my clean healthy food to fuel me throughout the day! I wanted to mention a little about how I prepare for work to make it easy to eat healthy while being surrounded by junk food. On top of working 24 hours this past weekend, I have also spent the last week studying for my upcoming final and had to make healthy meals last throughout the week that didn't take a long time to prepare. (I will get to that part at the end)
So here is a little bit of what I have been working on this past week. First up, kale salad! I first fell in love with kale salad while working at 131 Main. It's sooo good but I found a bit of a healthier way to make it without changing the flavor too much! I didn't measure anything, I just tossed it all together and kept adding and tasting until it came out right.

Kale Salad
-Before you begin put a piece of whole grain toast in the toaster and get it cripsy (used for bread crumbs)
-Preparing the kale: First strip the kale off the large stem. Next take chunks of kale and cut into very small pieces using a chef's knife. (Most time consuming part of the recipe but soo worth it!) The kale shrinks after the other ingredients are added so be sure to do a large amount. I did half a bushel.
-Put the kale into a bowl and add lemon juice and olive oil, enough to get the leaves wet but not soaked.
Use more lemon juice than olive oil.
-Add a little pinch of salt and red pepper flakes, more or less if you like heat
- Now 131 recipe uses parmesan but my lactose hating belly can't eat it so I used nutritional yeast (more about that in an upcoming post but basically a vegan product that tastes just like cheese) Just give the bottle a few shakes to cover the kale. You can purchase nutritional yeast at a health foods store.
-Finally crumble your toasted bread into crumbs and add to the kale and toss everything together!
I seriously eat the whole bowl at a time, I love love love this stuff! Great way to get your greens!
Ok lets talk about fish. I cut out a lot of meat I was eating but now that I am working out, I needed a little bit more protein so I have been doing a lot more fish lately. At first I was intimidated by different kinds of fish but after the wonderful TRADER JOES, I now am not :) Matt and I made dinner last week and he brought over alaskan cod from TJ's, soooo yummy! This inspired me to go back and get other kinds. I got tilapia, tuna, mahi mahi, and more cod. All in the freezer section. The great thing about TJ's fish is that there is instructions on how to make it in the package!! It tells you all kinds of ways and is super easy. I have been baking mine with salt, pepper, parsley, lemon juice, a little olive oil and sometimes lemon pepper seasoning. I cook the whole package at once and save the leftovers for grab and go's. Below is a picture of the whole meal we had. (Asparagus, cod, kale salad, brown rice, and a little crab cake for a cheat ;)

Ok next up DESSERT!! This is my favorite subject ever!! We made chocolate mousse and crumb topping. I am telling you it is way better and more satisfying than a lot of the old dessert I used to eat!
The First picture is the crumb topping on warm apples with a little drizzle of honey and the second is the crumb topping on the bottom (like a crust) with the chocolate mousse and strawberries on top. (and no these both weren't eaten in the same night! haha) These two recipes come from Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet - Yes I know I am breaking the copyright rules but I had to share these, they were so good and guilt free!
Chocolate mousse Recipe:
1/4 cup pitted medjool dates (soak for 30 min)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coco powder
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 avocados mashed up (YES AVOCADOS!! they take the place of cream, butter, and eggs!)
Place the dates, agave nectar and vanilla in food processor and process until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until creamy. Make sure you stop periodically to scrape down the sides of the food processor to get everything mixed in. It makes 1 cup or 2 servings and lasts for 3 days in the fridge. (mine lasted a day!)
Crumb topping or crust:
2 cups raw pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
8 pitted medjool dates
Place everything but the dates and raisins in the food processor and process until coarsely ground. Then add the dates and raisins and process until it forms "crumbs" SO EASY! Topping will keep for one month in the fridge- yea right!
The last recipe I made is beer whole wheat veggie pizza, yes I said BEER! First off, I haven't had pizza in two months! The last time I ate it, I was curled up in the couch in fetal position for hours and swore to never eat that cheesy greasy goodness again and then I discovered this recipe that was lactose free and way healthier!
I found this recipe on another bloggers site and had to try it! I will say to be sure you use a non stick spray before you put the pizza down because I didn't and I had a very hard time getting it off the tinfoil!
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 and bake at 10-15 min
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 can light beer
1 teaspoon baking powder
Mix and form into a dough and kneed with a little extra flour, then either cut into two pieces to make two mini pizzas or leave it as one big one.
Flatten and place onto nonstick pan. Make sure you flatten it pretty then so it cooks all the way through.
Now for my pizza I added my home made raw marinara sauce I had saved from earlier in the week. I then added tomatoes, red onion, red bell pepper, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast (that vegan cheese again)
-I put it back in the oven for another 10-15 min (cook longer if the crust is thick) and VOILA best pizza ever!! I made sure to add a salad to get my greens in and so I wouldn't fill my belly up on only pizza! My craving was met well beyond my expectations and it is a very easy pizza to make with plenty of left overs for grab and gos.
Grab and gos for work:
This weekend I packed all kinds of yummy goodness. I had my leftover fish for both days. Easy tip when making large batches of fish, I also made veggies and brown rice. I had about three tupperware containers packed with each of the three ready to go at the end. I threw that into my lunch bag and microwaved it and had a gourmet lunch! I also made a batch of the tuna pate mentioned in a previous post and threw that on a salad for dinner. I packed apples and little packets of peanut butter for a snack. (Justin's prepackaged is great, they have all kinds: almond butter, peanut butter, chocolate pb and ab) I also had pre packed carrots and threw my hummus in there as well! For breakfast I pack a cup of almond milk and a plastic bag of granola or muesli cereal. When I get to work I chop up a banana and throw that and the granola into the almond milk for a quick breakfast. I also love Larabars, they're like my healthy candy bar of the day and they make quick easy to go grabs for lunches. Finally I bought a raw protein powder that I put in a little plastic bag and more almond milk in a shaker cup. These protein powders can be expensive so I always wait to get them on sale or online when they are cheaper. The picture below shows some of the products:

Ok that about wraps it up, Im gonna turn in early tonight so I have a clear brain for my last full day of studying before my final :/ I am also exhausted!!! I had another workout with my trainer today and he made us do cardio for 45 min outside in 80 degree weather and then 15 min of abs inside! Here is a picture of he and I below, he's the best! I love and hate him all at the same time!