Category Archives: Life

Nourishment Lately 8.9.18

{from my trip home in July ❤️ 7.7.18}

It’s been a while since I have shared one of these posts, so I thought I’d pop in today to share a few favorite things that have been bringing me nourishment lately!

Siggi’s 4% touch of honey yogurt. I know that I have talked about Siggi’s before, but my level of obsession with it has brought me to mention it again. Greg and I have both been eating Siggi’s touch of honey yogurt every day for breakfast – with a  bit of homemade granola and a bit of fruit for me. It is the best fuel.

French press coffee. Greg and I got our French press probably about six years ago, and for most of those six years, it was something that we used only on special occasions. For the past few months though, I have been obsessed with the French press and it is how I have been making my coffee every weekend morning. I am loving the slowness and routine of it – grinding the beans, boiling the water, stirring it together, waiting for it to brew and then pressing it. Currently in love with that. I’m not 100% sure of the brand we have, but I’m almost certain it’s the one I linked above.

Victory Brewing Company’s Sour Monkey. In the alcohol department, this is it for me right now. Greg and I have both been loving sour beers lately, and everything about this one is just right – very sour and very tart. 

Popsugar Fitness boot camp videos. Specifically this one and this one right now. I like adding these into my routine a couple of times a week, and I am really liking the boot camp style workout. I also really like being able to do this at home.

Big Magic. I’m a big Elizabeth Gilbert fan, and while I’ve known about this book for a while, it just now has called on me to read it. I am absolutely loving it so far – it’s the right read at the right time for me.

Summer Cooking Inspiration – Herbed Zucchini Noodles with Grilled Shrimp and Tomatoes

In an effort to share more of what we love and what we cook, here is the first in hopefully a little series of summer cooking inspiration posts.

These posts will serve as just that – inspiration. I won’t have exact recipes of what we made – I will just share photos of the process and notes of what we did in hopes that it inspires you to cook something that makes you happy.

This one was a perfect summertime meal – zucchini noodles with grilled shrimp and tomatoes. We cooked this meal on our charcoal grill and enjoyed every moment of a perfect not-quite-summer evening.

Here’s what we did:

Zucchini noodles:
We spiralized 3 large zucchinis and tossed them generously with olive oil, salt and pepper. We actually cooked these on the grill, in our vegetable grate, and it worked so well. We cooked them, tossing often, for about ten minutes. Right before we pulled them off the grill, we added minced garlic and freshly chopped herbs. We used herbs from our garden – basil and rosemary. Once off the grill, we mixed in fresh lemon juice.

Shrimp and tomatoes:
We skewered the shrimp and tomatoes separately. To season, we mixed minced garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and a ton of fresh lemon zest. We brushed this on both the tomatoes and shrimp before going onto the grill, and then again once we flipped them on the grill. We cooked the tomatoes until the were slightly blistered, and they were just perfect in this dish.

The dinner:
For putting the meal together, we just topped the zucchini noodles with the grilled shrimp and tomatoes. We didn’t do this, but thought that it would also be great topped with a bit of fresh Parmesan cheese.

One thing we would change next time is adding a bit more seasoning to the zucchini noodles. We’d probably add more salt, pepper and herbs, lemon juice and maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes. 

Our favorite part of the meal was the marinade/seasoning mix we made for the shrimp and tomatoes. The combo of olive oil, minced garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper was so, so delicious and the flavor really came through nicely in the dish. We will be making that again to put on many things. I think the key was using a lot of lemon zest – I used the zest from one large and thoroughly zested lemon.

Take a look:

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Nourishment Lately – Sedona

Sedona was beyond nourishing. I have never visited a place that had quite the effect on my being, and a week after returning, I’m still reflecting on what that effect was/is. One thing I’ve mustered: I need to work on recreating the feeling that I had there, here. The calmness, the energy, the centeredness.

I know that it’s easy to feel calmer and happier on vacation, away from any stressors at home, but this was different. I knew that I’d love being somewhere new, I knew I’d love the hiking and biking and sunshine and exploration. But I didn’t know I’d leave Sedona and come home feeling the way that I do about it. I didn’t know that I’d feel such a draw to go back, as soon as possible. I didn’t know that the very night I got back from the trip, I’d be sitting on my couch searching Airbnb for Sedona rentals. I didn’t know that I’d refer to Sedona as my favorite place.

I think it was the air, the sunshine, the lifestyle, the energy. Sedona is my soul-place.

Although Greg and I hiked (and biked) every day while there, I only took my camera out one time. Here is what we saw:

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Nourishment Lately 3.23.18

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{
Florida, 3/19/18, take me back!}

Here are a few things that have been nourishing me lately.

Terrible, Thanks for Asking. I have been on a podcast kick lately, (thanks, Greg! :)) and I am LOVING this podcast. I love hearing stories about people’s lives – and this podcast is basically that. I love that there is always something that you can take away from what you hear and that the podcasts provide such inspiration of thought and conversation. (I listen to podcasts through CastBox on my phone).

Perfect Bar. I’ve been seeing these bars on social media and decided to try one when I saw them in the store and oh my goodness, they are so delicious! And filling, and everything that I want in a store-bought granola bar. I will be buying more of these.

Morning exercise! When it comes to what time of day to exercise I feel like I’ve tried it all. Right now, for my schedule, I am LOVING morning exercise, specifically cardio. It’s sometimes a struggle to get myself out of bed that much earlier, but once I am up and do it, I feel so much better for the rest of the day – and it’s that awesome feeling that continues to motivate me to get up and do it. I feel so much more content sitting at my job all day when I know that I’ve moved in the morning. I have been doing a couple miles on the treadmill most mornings and doing yoga on the mornings that I feel I need a break.

I’ve been on a serious kick with several products that I’ve mentioned in previous nourishment lately posts, but feel are worthy of quickly sharing again! Obsessed right now with Siggi’s yogurtBota Box Wine, and GT’S Living Foods Trilogy kombucha. — those three things give me life right now 🙂 🙂

Everything in this post is basically my life right now! I don’t have much to share food-wise because I have not been trying too many new recipes lately. For dinners, we have been making something from Farmstead Butcher – usually a very simple preparation – with veggies. And breakfast has been Siggi’s with fruit and granola. That being said, do you have any recipes you have been loving? Or anything that I should try? Let me know in the comments!

Nourishment Lately 3.4.2018

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{smoothie bowl breakfast, 3/3/18}

Here are some things that have been nourishing me lately!

This salt and pepper roast chicken. I have very little experience cooking meat, so when we started eating it regularly, I turned to NYT Cooking and have been loving this simple salt and pepper roast chicken. I’ve been roasting a whole chicken just about weekly and have been keeping it pretty simple like this – except I’ve been stuffing lemon and garlic into the cavity and adding some other seasoning (thyme and turmeric are my favorite so far).

Popsugar Fitness. I know I’m late in discovering this, but I have been loving Popsugar Fitness videos lately, especially the ones using weights. 

Smoothie bowls. See above! I have been obsessed with smoothies for breakfast for a long time, but mostly just during the summer. I have been craving smoothies lately though, so on weekends I’ve been making smoothie bowl creations. My current obsession is: 1 banana (save a little to slice on top), handful of frozen berries, ~1/4 cup hemp seeds, 1 spoonful of peanut butter, 1 spoonful of yogurt, handful of spinach, small splash of almond milk. I’ve been serving it in a bowl, topped with sliced banana, granola and a drizzle of peanut butter.

These dark chocolate hemp energy bites. I crave chocolate all the time, and these energy bites are a perfect way to healthfully satisfy that craving. They are super easy to make and hold up well if not refrigerated all day.

Comment on this post and let me know – what recipes, food, thoughts, ideas and things have you been loving lately?