Friday, December 6, 2013

Protein Packed Bean Salad


I have been obsessed with this recipe lately and always have a batch of it in my fridge! I found something similar at a specialty grocery store in my area and decided I could make it from home to save some $. I love using this as a side dish to any meat and I have also been eating it over lettuce with some vinegar and grilled chicken mmmmmm! All of the ingredients are super simple and basic and the blend packs a powerful punch of protein, nutrients, and fiber.  Even a small portion will leave you feeling full and satisfied without a dramatic impact on your calorie count!

Protein Packed Bean Salad


Ingredients:
-1/2 cup cooked quinoa
-1 can red kidney beans
-1 can white kidney beans
-1 can chickpeas
-3 stalks of kale
-1 small cucumber
-2 carrots (or 8 baby carrots)
-1 colored bell pepper of choice
-2 tbsp lemon juice
-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1 tbsp Mrs. Dash of choice
-S&P

Directions:
1) Drain and rinse all beans in strainer
2) Chop kale, carrots, cucumber, and colored pepper
3) Mix together lemon juice, vinegar, oil, and seasoning
4) Mix all ingredients together in large bowl
6) Enjoy!

Extras
-Store any leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container
-You can add whatever other veggies sound good to you
-You can also mess around with the seasoning and different vinegars

Let's play catch up shall we....

So it has been 2 months!  It has been a whirlwind at work with year end and in life.  I started this blog as something to track my food, fitness, and adventures and the last few months life has been getting in the way of many of those things.  But I want to get back into it and start to share the new things that have been keeping me busy!  So what have I been up to the last 2 months....

1) Graduating!!!  I had finished up my classes but I finally got my diploma and it was the best feeling in the world.

2) Job hunting, planning a move, trying not to freak out!  Yup this is a daily battle.  I am still planning on moving early next year to MN to be with the BF so right now I am trying to find a job and an easy way to transition out of the one I am in.  I know I have plenty of time but I am still stressed and keeping my fingers crossed that I find the perfect job for me!

3) Running a marathon relay!  The Detroit Marathon Relay was an absolute blast!  It was so fun to be running with 4 of my favorite people and it was a really fun but long day.  Since I was the last leg I had to wait about 4 hours before it was my time to run, thankfully we had heated charter busses that I was able to sleep on.  Overall we didn't finish at our goal time but it was still a great experience.  Oh and I had the best view from my leg start!



4) Putting on a tutu and celebrating halloween!  My girlfriends and I decided to be tutu superheros this year and I think it turned out super cute.  We also did pumpkin carving and learned that some of us are better at it then others lol




5) Celebrating 2 amazing years with the BF!  I cannot believe we have already been together for 2 years... it is one of the cliche feel like you know them forever but still have those early on butterfly feelings that is just too good to be true.  Since we are apart we decided that the best way to celebrate would be to meet in the middle in Chicago.  We did the classic touristy stuff, attended a Second City comedy show (which was hilarious) and went to soldier field for my first ever bears game.  I was seriously like a small child I was so excited.  It was a perfect weekend with the man I love!
 



 
 
6) Ran my first trail race!  It is called the dirty duel mud run and last year it was sponsored by Red Bull.  It took almost an hour to complete the 5K course and it was all natural obstacles like large hills and sand dunes.  I was sore for days but it was one of the coolest races I have ran.

 
 

7) Thankgiving!  This year I flew out to MN and spent the whole weekend with just the BF.  His family was in Florida but we couldn't coordinate it in our schedule so we decided to spend the long weekend with eachother and good friends.  I made enough food for a small army but the BF was happy he didn't have to cook the rest of the week.  We also ran a 5K around gorgeous Lake Calhoun which has a perfect view of downtown Minneapolis... too bad it was only 5 degrees that morning so I didn't take too many pics!


 
8) Recommitting to fitness!  My knees haven't been doing so well with running so I decided to fall in love with some other forms of fitness.  I joined a gym in my area and take 3-4 classes a week.  I am obsessed with Barre (probably since I have a dance background) and have been taking TRX, yoga, tabata, and bootcamp classes.  I have really seen a transformation in my body and I am loving how much it is mixed up.  I have slowly started getting back into running after taking a few weeks off and I just bought a brand new pair of shoes.  I have even told myself that I will be running a Marathon in 2014 so we will see how that goes!!!



 So that is my life in a nut shell!  Now I feel caught up and can get back to it!

Happy Friday!