Healthy Chicks

This is the tastiest dinner for a single gal (or dude) looking for a filling, hearty fall meal! This dish serves one and can be enjoyed with a side salad, piece of garlic toast & glass of wine…hope you enjoy! 

*makes one serving for the single gal in the kitchen 

For Pasta:

-1/2 c. whole wheat or brown rice pasta

-1/4 c. spinach 

-1/4 c. Roma tomato, diced

-3 mini mozzarella balls, halved or quartered

-2 generous TB of homemade pesto

To Make Pesto:

-1 c. fresh basil leaves

-2 cloves garlic

-1/4 c. walnuts

-1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

-3 TB extra virgin olive oil

-salt & pepper to taste 

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box. In the meantime, add the pesto ingredients in a mini Cuisinart and chop until well grounded, creating a smooth pesto sauce texture. 

2. Mix together tomatoes, mozzarella balls, spinach and 2 TB of pesto. Add in the pasta once cooked. Stir together and add in salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy! 

… Read More!

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Now that I’m a “runner girl” (so my dad calls me), it’s even more important than normal to ensure I’m getting my daily protein fix for the day. Women, and especially women who exercise, need protein to build and repair muscles and bones, provide energy, and control the body’s metabolism. And what better way to repair your bod post-workout than the perfect protein snack. No, I’m not talking about muscle milk or scary protein-enhanced high-cal bars. I’m taking healthy, tasty bites for you to enjoy! Here, my top 9 protein picks: 

1. Hard boiled eggs: Or even just the whites! For the perfect hard boiled egg, bring egg to a boil, remove from heat and cover for 14 minutes. It’s a fail-proof method. Make lots in bulk so you always have one to snack on when you’re in a pickle!

2. All Natural Nut Butters: My faves are almond butter and peanut butter, but I’ve even experimented with sunflower butter. Today I purchased Whole Food’s all natural nut butter where you actually get to grind it yourself. Nothing more fresh and natural than that! 

3. Cheese: I love string cheese with rice crackers or an apple for … Read More!

Why hello my lovely readers! First and foremost, I am sincerely sorry I have been absent for two days. However, the reason was valid (and worth it). I was out of town since Friday morning on a trip to Hoboken, NJ to visit my college friends. Some of them I haven’t seen in A YEAR, so you can image my excitement and reasoning for lack of blogging (I swear I tried to on the bus but the WiFi wasn’t working-boo!). 

Anyway, I’m back and at it so welcome back to all my loyal readers! So, I’ve realized lately that as I grow older I learn more about life and most importantly myself. Seriously, the learning never stops. And being the observant, nosy, free-spirit kind of girl that I am, I experience and learn a heck of a lot each  and every second, minute and hour of every day. 

So since I’ve been missing since Thursday’s blog post on realizing there is more to life than weight and calories, I decided I’ll fill ya in on what I’ve learned this weekend while I was away. I know, I know, it’s only been a few days but I swear I’m picking up … Read More!

While some are complaining about the end of bathing suit season, stargazing, and BBQing every night, I couldn’t be more happy about the fact that fall is finally here. And today realllllyyy felt like fall for the first time. I went out for a fancy lunch with my friend and ordered the Rotisserie Chicken with Butternut Squash Risotto. Let’s just say when I took that first bite of perfectly cooked rice with just the right amount of cheese and bits of butternut squash, I thought to myself, “Oh ya…fall is finally here.” Not to mention I licked my plate clean. So while some of you are crying as you store away your itty-bitty VS bikinis, I’m smiling ear to ear about my absolute favorite season. Still not ready to throw summer away? Well, I’ll tell you exactly why I love fall so darn much and hopefully have you smiling by the end of this post…at least just a little.

1. Cooking with butternut squash, spaghetti squash or any squash for that matter. Hey, you can even make fall cooking super healthy! 

2. Eating candy corn for the first time…and loving it just the same as when you were 8 … Read More!

Warning: I apologize ahead of time if I go on some kind of rant 

While I may be a healthy chick and am 99% of the time a happy chick, I am also…dun dun dun…a single chick. Now many of my in-a-relationship friends root me on, and tell me that “being single is fun.” “You are so young.” “The right guy will come along some day.” Well, 23 years have gone by and he still hasn’t. OK OK, I understand that yes, I am young and yes, I probably will meet “that guy” some day and everything will all work out. But it doesn’t make that in-between, waiting around, what’s going to happen phase any easier. 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that as much as I’m trying to stay positive about being a single chick, sometimes it gets to me, and this week it’s gotten to me a lot more than usual. I try to be all strong. “I’m OK by myself.” “I don’t need a guy.” And that’s true. I know I don’t neeeeed one, but it doesn’t mean that every once in a while the thought can’t pop into my mind that’d be nice to … Read More!

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I have a confession: I am a very sensitive person, and sometimes tend to care wayyyyy too much what people think of me. It’s mostly because I take what people say very seriously, especially those I value most. Sometimes this can be a very bad thing because I’ll let the tiniest little negative comment affect me in a BIG, BIG way. Someone told me I was big-boned once, and I thought about it all day long, feeling fat. When a coworker once told me all I think about was guys and that I need to get over myself (and my drama) I cried at work. When a guy in college told me he wasn’t ready for a relationship, I assumed it was me and wondered what was wrong with me. Was I not pretty enough? Why did I let these little comments get to me? Who are they to make me feel bad about myself? What they say shouldn’t matter, after all. 

I specifically recall when I was a junior in college in an advanced Health Communication seminar class. The crazy, negative, intimidating teacher (who everyone in college feared may I add), went around the … Read More!

The other night, a friend and I didn’t feel like going out so we stayed in for some R & R. After an hour or so of snacking and lounging on the couch watching crappy television shows, my friend looked over to me and said, “I can’t believe the weekend is over already and nothing happened yet again. I’m just getting so fed up.” I thought quickly about her statement and agreed that she was indeed right: another weekend passed, we did our laundry, relaxed, and went out hoping for a good time and nothing really monumental or of any relevance happened. Overall, our weekend was pretty blah. In fact, so was the last weekend.

Suddenly we were both 100% bummed out. I quickly clicked off the television because this called for a real life chat, without the distractions of Jersey Shore, Say Yes to the Dress, and Sex and the City re-runs. No, this called for undivided attention. 

“What do you think it is that we’re lacking? What do you think it is that’s making you so upset? Men (or lack there of), jobs, stress, friends, money?” I asked my friend, trying to solve  half the puzzle of why … Read More!

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Hope you all had an absolutely fabulous weekend filled with happy things ‘n’ happy thoughts. Some Sunday night reflections to ponder over: What truly makes you happy? What are some things you are “chasing” in life that may not be working out exactly how you’d like? How would you construct your ideal “happy” life? … Read More!