Make This Tonight: Easy Two-Minute Lemony Hummus

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When it comes to cooking, the recipe’s gotta be super easy with minimal ingredients, otherwise I’m not making it. This mama doesn’t have time to peruse the grocery aisles for mysterious spice blends and vegetables I’ve never heard of, or follow a 20-step fancy recipe. Bonus if I don’t need to actually “cook” said food!

This Mediterranean style lemony hummus checks all the boxes: it’s easy, made with just six ingredients (that you likely already have on hand), and no oven required! Win, win, win.

Healthy Chicks Two-Minute Lemony Hummus

Ingredients:

  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 tbsp. tahini (optional)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • dash of sea salt
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • juice of 1/2 lemon

Simply toss everything in a food processor or high-speed blender and pulse until smooth, or desired consistency. Top with an extra shake of cumin and drizzle of olive oil before serving. Enjoy alongside rice, salad, gyros or with raw veggie slices as a healthy snack. No need to ever buy store-bought hummus again!Read More!

Cooking in the Bean: Just Add Cooking Review

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I have a confession: While I do love eating healthy meals + cooking, sometimes I just don’t feel like putting in the work. Ever since I started working a full-time job, I’ve found it a bit trickier to do as much home cooking as I used to do.

To be honest, sometimes when I come home from a long day, all I want to do is put up my feet, plop on the couch, grab a cup of tea (or a glass of vino) and order takeout sushi. I’m a real girl, after all.

That’s why when I heard about Boston start-up Just Add Cooking (JAC), which delivers pre-portioned meals to your door all ready to go, I was intruiged.

The Scoop

Just Add Cooking is exactly what it sounds like: a meal delivery service that takes the stress out of cooking. Instead of worrying about the stress of prepping and grocery shopping, you can really focus on the fun part, that is cooking.

You get to hand-pick which recipes you + your fam will love, and then the friendly folks from JAC deliver a box of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients directly to your door each week, chock-full of … Read More!

I’ve Been There: A Flashback On Why I Quit Dieting & Started Living Once and For All

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[May ’09 – counting calories & deprivation]    [Summer ’12 – living my life – happy & carefree!]

note: I was not my heaviest here but still unhappy

One of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in holistic health counseling is because I’ve been there.

There as in a place where I tried everything (I mean everything!) to make my body change when it wouldn’t budge. There as in frantically adding up my calories for the day during Psychology class, while pretending to take notes. There as in canceling Mexican night with my girlfriends because I feared a margarita and quesadilla would make me fatter. There as in feeling like a little kid on Christmas every time the scale went down a pound, while feeling like I wanted to crawl in a hole and die every time it went up .2 pounds.

There as in hooking up with boys to make me feel better about myself and my body, and feeling I wasn’t skinny enough, pretty enough or good enough. There as in calling a pile of rice cakes with fat-free peanut butter “dinner.” There as in having a mental breakdown every time I ate something “bad”  … Read More!

What FitFluential Means to Me: The Inside Scoop from a FitFluential Ambassador

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As I’ve mentioned before here on Healthy Chicks (and as I’m sure you can tell by the badge on the right), I am a proud FitFluential Ambassador. If you haven’t checked out the FitFluential community before, which was founded by Fitness Rockstar Kelly Olexa, I strongly suggest you do so over here.

While FitFluential is packed with an amazing group of like-minded enthusiasts sharing their passion for wellness every hour on the hour, today I wanted to share with you what “FitFluential” means to me. More specifically, my very own definition of living a “healthy lifestyle.”

Discovering an Exercise Routine that Makes you Shine

[Move100 Campaign; Photo Cred: Move100.org]

Just like there is no Perfect Man for every woman, there is no perfect exercise that works for everyone. In fact, I don’t believe in rules or perfection at all.

Some live for CrossFit and Pilates, while others feel their best by doing yoga and running. Some spin 6 days a week, while others enjoy being one with nature and going for long hikes with loved ones.

The point is, it’s not going to work for you unless you enjoy it. Find the exercises that make you … Read More!

Book Review: Clean Plates Cookbook

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Good afternoon ladies, and Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you all have a magical evening celebrating life, and everything positive that happened for you this past year, while also celebrating the year to come. If you haven’t already done so, you can read my newsletter on setting intentions for yourself in 2013 over here.

Clean Plates Cookbook: Background

OK, ‘nough about me. It’s time for a book review of Clean Plates Cookbook, written by Nutritional Consultant and Founder of Clean Plates Jared Koch with Cookbook Author Jill Silverman Hough.

I was particularly excited to read this book, as Jared Koch is not only a fellow graduate of IIN but he’s also someone whom I admire greatly for his success as an entrepreneur in the wellness field.

Bio-Individuality

One of the main concepts that shines throughout the book is something we learned at Institute for Integrative Nutrition: bio-individuality, or that one way of eating doesn’t work for everyone. While vegan dining may suit your best friend, you may thrive on high-quality, organic meats. Simply put, we choose what to put inside our bodies to make us feel our ultimate best. Jared explains this process further in Chapter 2.… Read More!

Workout Woes: 3 Feel Good Moves When You Just Aren’t Feeling It

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We all know exercise is beneficial not only for our body (who doesn’t love a little extra glute-toning), but for our mental health as well. Many women track hours at the gym, have a strict running routine, or even take several group fitness classes (such as core fusion) in one day. But what’s a girl to do when she’s simply not feeling it? Do we really need to be so strict on ourselves?

Let’s face it, we are only human. While many of us strive to be superwoman at times, even the fitness fanatics among us have their “off” days. And guess what? That’s totally OK and get this…normal.

I know what it’s like to feel guilt for skipping a workout. Heck, I even skipped my 6:15 a.m. Core Fusion Cardio class this morning because the gloomy weather was a huge turnoff, and well, my need for a good night’s sleep was much more important to me. I had a busy week, I was tired and I needed some good old-fashioned beauty rest. Old me would have beat myself up over this for days, but new me simply let’s it go. Now I don’t skip my workouts every Read More!

Clean Eating After a Weekend of “Too Much Fun”

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[we had a blast at the wedding this weekend, but now it’s time to get back to reality (and clean eating)]

Good afternoon ladies ‘n’ those few ‘gents who read my blog! Sorry I’ve been missing for a few days, although I promise you I have a good excuse. I’ve been road tripping the past few days with The Boy visiting grandparents, mini golfing and attending a friend’s wedding up in upstate New York. Needless to say, we had a blast enjoying one another’s company, dancing the night away laughing our faces off, and um, eating our faces off. Correction: eating and drinking our faces off.

Yes, I consider myself a healthy gal 90% of the time, but if you think I’m the type of girl who’s going to pass up a good weekend for iceberg lettuce and sugar-free, calorie-free cocktails, think again. That’s where the other 10% comes in, the “leeway” or wiggle room if you will. And let me tell you, that 10% is pretty generous. It lets me indulge in one too many glasses of wine, 10 too many slices of cheese, and an extra chocolate truffle. It allows me to savor my delicious chicken, potatoes and … Read More!

Core Fusion is-a-workin’ (or something is)

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So I must say when I stepped on the scale this morning I was dazzled by my consistent 3 pound (plus some change) weight loss since two weeks ago. But not only did the number on the scale make me jump for joy, but I can feel it in my energy, my body and the way my clothes fit. I simply feel goooood, healthy and toned. 

I must be doing something right. Go me! First things first, I haven’t been fussing or freaking over my weight. And I think that’s a huge mistake many women make. When you constantly worry about your weight, it’s not going anywhere but up. Since I’ve been too busy to think about trivial things such as the number on the scale, those stubborn little pounds are beginning to melt away on their own. I tell you: stress does nothing but make matters worse when it comes to a healthy weight  loss. 

However, to be realistic, I’m obviously doing something right to make for the sudden drop in poundage. It’s not magic, after all! So what is it? I must say most of my thank-yous go out to Core Fusion Body Sculpt (and Rachel WilkersonRead More!