Eat to Live!!! Don’t live to Eat!!!!

Upon completing my first week of life in the real world, I think it’s safe to say that I. am. exhausted! We weren’t even on the floor as nurses. Orientation was just a long week of sitting and listening. I appreciate those select few who livened it up and cracked a few corny jokes, but for the most part it was like sitting and listening to the Snoopy teacher talk…I know it had to be done. It’s over. We’re done. And next week starts the good stuff! I’m super happy and super thankful!

As the week went by, I realized it was hard to get enough sleep. It was hard to find the motivation to make dinner. It was hard to find the motivation….to do anything! My normal routine consists of coffee in the morning with a green smoothie (will explain below). I normally eat my leftovers from dinner for lunch, and then try to whip up something good for dinner and repeat…. That didn’t happen this week. I found myself buying lunch everyday! Not okay! I had skipped breakfast because I didn’t have time and for lunch I was putting down foods that I rarely touch (chicken fingers, fries, cookies….) because I was starving! I even hit up CFA x2 for dinner. This time, it was MY PLEASURE! About mid-week, I hadn’t been able to run and I realized that this was going to become a habit if I didn’t kick it soon! I didn’t need to be spending the money, and I didn’t need to be eating those foods. Getting on a schedule is tough, but it’s healthy and its worth it. I went straight to Publix on Wednesday to load up on all of the good stuff to prepare for the rest of my week!
I just wanted to leave yall with a few recipes that I love! They are delicious and healthy. They also go a long way….Enjoy!

*Balsalmic Bow Tie Black Bean Pasta

3/4 box of whole grain bow tie pasta
1 can of corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 box cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
1 avocado (chopped)
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
1/2 sauteed red onion (chopped into 1 inch pieces)
lime juice
garlic powder
Salt and Pepper

Directions: Boil pasta. Drain. In a small bowl, prepare tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, red onion (after sauteed), corn, black beans, a few shakes of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to liking.
In large bowl, place drained pasta in. Pour about a 1/4 cup of olive oil, and 1/4 balsamic vinegar. (I never measure, this is me guessing! I like balsamic so I add a lot!) Add a squeeze of lime juice. Mix all together very well until evenly coated. The add small black bean bowl mixture. Mix ingredients all together. I always but in a storage container and shake it good! That’s it!!! You can add spices as you like. I sometimes throw in Feta Cheese or chicken, or both! I usually eat it hot the first night, and cold for leftovers. So good!!!! Easy, inexpensive, and healthy!!!

*Green Smoothie

2-3 cups of spinach
(you can add Red Chard or Kale if you’d like. Green Chard isn’t that sweet so make sure it’s the red kind! Kale has HUGE cancer/immune fighting properties!)
1 frozen banana (don’t free in the peel)
8oz Orange Juice
one heaping spoon full of plain greek yogurt
Ice cubes to liking

Directions: Add Banana, greens, OJ, and yogurt. Cover and turn on blender. If it doesn’t blend at first, wait a few seconds until it purees. If it doesn’t then, add a little water. After well blended and green, you can add more Ice, fruit, OJ or whatever to make it sweeter. I like mine really green. I sometimes add an avocado. Carrots sweeten up smoothies. You’d be surprised! If you’ve never tried “ Green Smoothie” before you have to have an open mind. My sister got me hooked. It’s part of life now. The options are limitless, but this is my favorite fall-back!

*Whole Wheat Bread Recipe!

Seriously, such an easy recipe. No dairy! It’s a long process and you need 2 days, but so worth it!! 5 ingredients: Flour, yeast, water, oil, and seasoning of choice! (I’ve used honey before!)I’ll leave it in picture form. Too long to type!!! this makes 2 loaves. I don’t use bread pans, I just cut the dough at the end and place on a baking sheet. Works just fine. Yeast is like $0.69 at the store. It’s a long process to make, but so worth it. I don’t think the directions say to use wheat flour, but I do. I substitute wheat flour for white. Make sure you use BREAD FLOUR for the other type. I’ve had a lot of people asked for the recipe so here it is!

*Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers

I rigged this up one night, and they. were. A-MAZING!
1 cups cooked quinoa ( It’s 2 cups water: 1 cup dry quinoa)
1 can Drained Black Beans
3/4 can of corn (optional)
1 egg
Cheddar cheese
1/2 chopped white onion
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup Quaker quick oats
1/2 red and green pepper (diced)
Garlic powder, Salt and pepper
Olive Oil-

Directions: In a food processor, blend black beans, quinoa, 1 egg, garlic powder, and S&P. You can leave a little bit of the whole beans out if you want to mix in later for consistency. Once it is blended and the mixture looks like a (gritty thin “paste”….sorry, best description)….you just don’t wanna liquify it. You should still be able to see the quinoa. Place into large bowl. Mix in the onions, pepper, seasoning, and rest of whole black beans etc…and then about 3/4 cup of bread crumbs and 3/4 cup of quick outs to where it becomes strong enough to form “patties.” You could add the corn to the processed mixture before adding the bread crumbs and oats with all of the other ingredients, if you’d like. I personally like corn in mine.

After all is well combined, on medium heat place a pan with olive oil. Form small patties and drop on pan. When they turn golden brown, flip on other side. Once cooked, place cheddar cheese over to melt. Serve on bread or eat solo. They will not be super compact, so it’s okay if they kinda fall apart. SO stinkin good. Serve alone, or serve with bread. I put pickles and ketchup on mine. I know this may sound weird to a lot of people, but it is SO GOOD! I’ve made these twice on two different occasions and friends loved them! You really can mess around with these. I’ve sauteed onions and spinach together before mixing. You’ll need to add garlic powder and salt and pepper to liking. Server with avocado is SO good too! Can you tell I like these?! Enjoy.

Alright! That’s it for today! Love and honor your bodies, yall. Eat right, be active….love and serve.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.-1 Corinthians 6:19-20