Cilantro Lime Quinoa and Chocolate Cravings

Everyone who knows me really well knows that I am obsessed with Chipotle (probably because I have an intense passion for anything with cilantro and lime). Chipotle recently added brown rice to their menu, which made me so happy that I could stick to only complex carbs and still enjoy their cilantro lime rice.

So when I was spending a minute (okay maybe more like an hour) on Pinterest, I saw this recipe for Cilantro Lime Quinoa. Genius! I don't know why I didn't think of it!!

The original recipe can be found here. I only slightly modified it.

Ingredients:

1 c. Vegetable Broth
2 c. Water
1 Clove Garlic
2 tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice
1/3 c. Chopped Cilantro
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Bring the water and vegetable broth to a boil, and then add the quinoa. Stir occasionally until all the water is evaporated and the quinoa is the desired softness (took me 18 minutes). Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir!

I served it with organic grilled chicken, topped with homemade guacamole.

On a completely unrelated note:

What do I miss most about New Hampshire? (Besides my cousin Sarah)

THE CHOCOLATE!! Oh man I miss it so much. 

Dark chocolate filled with honey and caramel.

Homemade chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate sauce...

... And of course just eating the plain sauce. :)

Too good!

I ran 7 miles yesterday and it was my first run in a longgggg time. The heat wasn't too bad so I took one of the few opportunities I have during a North Carolina summer to go running outside. I felt good, but I am sore today!

I lifted upper body with my dad this morning:

Pushups 3x15

Lat Pull Down 3x12

Cable Flys 3x10

Reverse Cable Flys 3x12

Chest Press Machine 3x10

Cable Rows 3x12

Tricep Rope Extension 3x10

Dumbbell Bicep Curls 3x10 /arm

Tricep Dips off Bench 1x15

Cable Bicep Burls 1x10 /arm

Crunches on Decline Bench 3x15

Russian Twist on Decline Bench 3x15 /side

And that's all.

Raw Zucchini "Pasta"

I have seen this idea of shaved zucchini substituting pasta for a while now, and I have been wanting to give it a try. I had found a couple recipes, but I ended up just concocting my own creation with what I had, and it turned out very delicious!

Ingredients:
2 Shredded Zucchinis
4 tsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1.5 tsp Basil
1 Diced Tomato
1/4 c. Chopped Red Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

First I combined all the ingredients except the zucchini into a bowl and stirred it until it become a sort of sauce. Then I took a vegetable peeler and peeled off the skin of both zucchinis. After throwing away the skin, I continued to use the peeler to create thin strips resembling pasta. I peeled until it got down to the core of the zucchini, and then I threw the rest away so that the strips wouldn't have lots of little seeds. Then I poured the olive oil mixture over the zucchini and stirred it all together!

Extremely simple. A light and refreshing summer meal.

I ran 3 miles today and it was in the mid 90's, making me never want to run again. Haha, too bad I'm training for a half marathon and I can't stop now!!

Lillie & Lola

The other day I went to my Aunt Heidi's house where I got to spend some time with my two cousins, Jamie and Jenni, and Jenni's daughter's Lillie and Lola. They are the most precious little girls. I just love them to death!!

Miss Lola is growing up so fast!! I love her sweet little pig tails!

Lillie has made it her goal to not pose for any more pictures so this is her ignoring the camera :)

Oh wait, we got a smile out of Lillie!! Yay :) Thanks Lil!

I love my family so very much!!!! 

I was able to make it on a 3 mile run yesterday and finally averaging a time below a 9 minute mile. Thank goodness... after taking a month off from running I have become incredibly slow, but I guess that's all part of the challenge.

Well my trip in New Hampshire has officially ended, but I still have a some more pictures from my last day, as well as a delicious raw, vegan dish that my cousin and I made last night. I'll try to post that tomorrow!

For the Love of Greens

I have been obsessed with spinach for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure one of my birthday wishes when I turned 13 was to have an entire plate of spinach for dinner. I'm not sure if I ever got that wish, but I sure satisfied my love for greens with last night's dinner.

Fresh beet greens, spinach, guacamole, and collards. I have never had a more delicious meal. All the greens and the avocado were from local farm stands in New Hampshire. This was seriously the best spinach I have ever had in my life.

All the greens were topped with vinegar and salt (my favorite) and then the guacamole was made with 1/2 an avocado, a dollop of salsa, salt, pepper, and lime juice. It's even better if it has chopped cilantro and red onion. 

What am I going to do when I go back to North Carolina and I don't have access to all this fresh deliciousness?? I need to start my own garden...

I Love You Roger!!

I woke up this morning and stayed glued to the television from 9am until 1pm. I witnessed the most amazing match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. My mom and I nearly had a heart attack any time Roger would miss a shot, we just love him so much!!!

This post is just to say I LOVE YOU ROGER FEDERER! Congrats on returning to World #1 and on your 7th Wimbledon title! You'll always be the greatest tennis player of all time!!

Walpole Farmer's Market

Yesterday Sarah and I took a quick visit to the Walpole Farmer's Market. It is so fun to buy vegetables straight from the farmers and not imported into some grocery store. Sarah had to basically drag me away from all the homemade cinnamon rolls, pizzas, doughnuts, and let's not forget the fresh cannoli stand.

I still have absolutely no idea how I resisted these... It took some crazy will power...

We ended up leaving with two huge bundles of golden beets, two bundles of kale, 3 small japanese marinated chicken breasts, and a jar of pickles.

For dinner I prepared the kale following this recipe, and we had it along with some raw carrots and seasoned ground turkey. Quite delish!

I was able to make it on a 3 mile run yesterday, but I literally was having the most unenjoyable time because of ALL the hills here. My poor calves are going to burst. Hopefully when I get home running will seem like a piece of cake. I guess we shall see...

My Favorite Dessert in the World

If you know me well enough you would know that my absolute favorite dessert in the world is located in New Hampshire. It is definitely a good thing that I can't have it in North Carolina or else I would be about double the size I currently am.

Homemade Burdick's Chocolate Ice Cream topped with Melted Extra Dark Chocolate.

Yes, my cousin and I asked for a GIANT pitcher of chocolate sauce. Don't worry, we did not finish it...  I would have not been able to walk the mile back home.

I think I am going to allow myself to have this once a week while I am here? Three desserts in three weeks? I think that sounds reasonable :)

I started off my 4th of July with a very slowww 5 mile run. Then, Sarah and I went down to what she tells me is America's first canal... I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but regardless it was a really cool old building.

I feel like a really scary movie needs to be filmed here. I love the view of the bridge from this spot too. 

I am a freak.

My cousin Sarah is precious.

From there we headed to Homestead Farms to do a little blueberry picking. I love fresh blueberries so much!! I could have stood there stuffing my face all day!

MMM!!! So good!

My workout for today was:

4 burpees

10 tuck jumps

4 burpees

10 tuck jumps

4 burpees

10 dumbbell flys

4 burpees

10 dumbbell flys

4 burpees

10 dumbbell flys

4 burpees

10 tricep dips

4 burpees

10 tricep dips

4 burpees

10 tricep dips

4 burpees

15 sumo squat jumps

4 burpees

15 sumo squat jumps

4 burpees 

15 dumbbell lunges per leg

4 burpees 

15 dumbbell lunges per leg

New Hampshire

I finally made it to the part of summer I have been waiting for: my 3 week trip to New Hampshire!! I love New Hampshire so much because I get to see all my cousins and eat tons of fresh veggies from all the local farm stands. Not to mention the weather is much cooler, so I can finally begin training for the Ramblin' Rose Half Marathon, which is speedily approaching. I took this past month off from jogging because it was getting really boring for me and starting to feel like a chore, so instead I did HIIT training on the treadmill to stay in shape.

It is really interesting how you can feel "in shape" in some areas, but completely "out of shape" in other areas. For example, I can probably chest press, bicep curl, or squat the same weight that I could when I was training for volleyball back in high school, and I can do 20 minutes of interval sprints without dying. I guess I would consider that "in shape," but now that I am trying to start training for another half marathon it is so weird because I feel "out of shape" for long distance running. I also have NEVER felt comfortable doing workout routines that do light weights and tons of repetitions. I feel the burn, but I would much rather fail with heavy weights after 10 reps then do like 123984123 reps until I pass out. Not fun at all... I'd rather be "strong" then "toned."

Moving on...

After my cousin Sarah and I ran a few errands we stopped at Harlow Farmstand to pick up a few vegetables. We got fresh beets, beet greens, zucchini, and a box of raspberries. 

This picture was originally posted on my Instagram account. You can follow me at lalalaurenhub :)

For dinner last night I diced up the zucchini and we made Clean Eating Lemon Zucchini Chicken. We had this along with our beets and beet greens. I absolutely adore fresh vegetables. 

I recently saw this recipe on Pinterest for Protein Pancakes, so I made them for Sarah and I to have for lunch yesterday. They are loaded with protein and taste very delicious. We topped them with 2 tablespoons peanut butter.

By the way, I am obsessed with Pinterest. So please follow me here!!

Directions:

Just dump all the ingredients in a blender and blend until it starts to look like regular pancake batter. Then spray some cooking spray on a pan and cook over medium high heat, flipping when bubbles appear. Makes 2 six inch pancakes.

We finished the night off with a relaxing 2 mile walk...

I saw this little chipmunk on the way :)

Have a great Tuesday and Happy Fourth of July Eve!!