Cardio Kick and Rainbow Cupcakes!

Lately I've been feeling really balanced when it comes to juggling school, extracurriculars, health and just life in general. There have definitely been a few rocky moments, but for the most part life is grand! This post is going to be pretty short (taking a break from writing a postwar German film review) but I wanted to share what I did this weekend.

On Saturday I went on this incredible hike at a place called Mission Peaks. The walk was intense but the views were incredible. I went with some of my Circle K'ers and we wound up having a great time bonding and getting to spend time together. Let me tell you, it's been 4 days and I am still feeling the burn.

 Halfway up the trail (I apologize for the funky formatting, the pictures came off my phone!)

On Sunday morning I went for a great walk by the ocean with a good friend of mine. We wound up doing about 5 miles and the views were gorgeous! Seriously, I could not ask to live in a more beautiful place. I'm such a lucky lady!

 For my outdoor activities, I like to keep track using My Run Keeper for smartphones. It's fun to track my progress and see how far I go :)

Lastly I'll share with you my baking endeavor for the weekend. I started making rainbow cakes a few years back. I believe the first one I made was with my high school golf team mates for our end of the season dinner. Anyway, I've been doing them ever since for birthdays and what not and they seem to be a huge hit. I figured, if I could make cakes, why not try cupcakes too? Well... individually spooning 6 colors of batter into cupcake papers is kind of a tedious task and I probably won't be doing it again anytime soon! They turned out really cool though, so I'm glad I gave it a shot. They were gobbled up quickly by my amazing Circle K board members (seriously, I don't know what I'd do without them, they are so good to me!) so I only managed to snap a pre-baked picture.

To prepare rainbow batter, simply use a boxed cake mix (you can make them a little healthier by using applesauce or plain greek yogurt instead of canola oil) and divide the batter into 6 bowls. Add food coloring then layer the different colors into your cake pans or cupcake tins. Super easy (though a little time consuming). Enjoy!

Scramble Central!

I dunno about you but am a huge fan of breakfast food. I would be totally happy eating breakfast food for lunch or dinner! My school schedule this quarter allows me a little more time in the morning (woohoo for  NO 8ams!!) so I've been really into scrambles lately. I love breakfast scrambles because they're easy, nutritious and delicious! It's SO nice to be able to sit down and eat breakfast instead of wolfing down a banana as I run to the car. However, if you are in a hurry it's super easy to throw your scramble in a tortilla and eat it on the go.

Basic Scramble:
(Makes enough for 2 servings)
4 eggs OR 1 cup of Egg substitute
4 slices of Canadian Bacon
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 of a medium sized onion, diced
Handful of spinach (because we know I have plenty of that!)

Over medium heat, use about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to lube up your frying pan. I throw in my onions and my Canadian bacon first so they can get sizzling. As those cook, I cut up my bell peppers and mushrooms. Everything goes into the pan. Once my Canadian bacon and veggies are happily married, I add the eggs. I use egg substitute because it's lower in calories and I can't taste the difference! Cook until the eggs are no longer runny. Use a spatula for scrambling.

Here's some visual reference (plus my fruit and coffee of course!)

Hope you're all having a fabulous day!!

Gracie

Smoothies! Because Who Doesn't Love a Cold Drink on a Chilly Day?!

So I realize it's January and it's freezing cold (I live in CA so anything below 50 is "freezing") but I absolutely love smoothies and think they're appropriate any time of year, any time of day! Not only are they delicious, but they are chock full of fruit (and veggies if you're feeling adventurous!) and even protein, depending on what you add. I got a cute tumbler on sale at Starbucks for five bucks and it's really convenient for taking my smoothies on the go. I buy all my frozen fruit from Trader Joe's (bought strawberries, mangos, pineapples and blueberries all for about $10 yesterday!) For the smoothie recipe I'm gonna share today, all of the ingredients came from TJ's except the spinach which came from Costco... Yes, I bought spinach in bulk and am determined to finish the two pound bag before it goes bad.

Super Simple Breakfast Smoothie
(Makes 1 large smoothie with a little left over)

3 frozen strawberries
3 cubes frozen mango
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks
Handful of raw spinach (it makes your smoothie look terribly unappealing but I swear to you, the spinach is virtually taste free!)
1/2 cup yogurt (today I used light vanilla from Yoplait but I'm also a huge fan of TJ's fat free vanilla greek yogurt, good source of protein!)
1 cup milk (if this isn't enough liquid for it to blend smoothly, I just add water until it does!)

Toss it all in the blender and whip it up until it's smooth!

Also, if you don't have a blender, don't fret! We have probably the cheapest, least fancy blender on the planet that we got from Target for like $20. Definitely worth the investment.

Another fact about me: I'm obsessed with Pinterest. Aside from the creation of my dream life, my boards also contain tons of healthy (and not so healthy!) recipes and great exercise ideas. Feel free to check it out!

Link to my Pinterest page:
www.pinterest.com/graciefrancisco/

Link to some fabulous smoothy ideas courtesy of Super Skinny Me (also found on Pinterest): http://www.superskinnyme.com/smoothie-recipes.html

Happy Drinking!

Gracie

Inaugural Post!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Gracie and I'm an amateur writer and avid food lover. I've always enjoyed writing but never found myself good enough to pursue it as a profession. I've tried blogging before but never managed to keep up with it, so welcome to my latest attempt! This is my newest project and I'm pretty darn excited. The purpose of this blog (aside for me to ramble about cooking and leading a healthy and active life style) is to post recipe ideas for college students like myself who are sick of the ambiguously labeled dining hall food. I've also been on a weight loss adventure for awhile now and it's really starting to pay off so I'd like to share what works for me (and will hopefully help all of you too!)

A little bit about myself: Born and raised in California where I also attend school. I'm in my second year of college and enjoying every minute of it... or trying to! I'm a history major with a concentration in Europe during the WWII Era and I'm also studying psychology on the side. I've been babysitting for over six years and have worked as an assistant at a preschool in my hometown for three summers now. I absolutely love spending time with kids so I do it quite often (sometimes even six days a week when I'm not in school!) Hmm, other interesting things about me? I have a gigantic rabbit (he lives with my parents and my brother while I'm at school) and he doesn't really have an official name. He's not the typical house rabbit, more like the family lap dog. He'll follow you around, sit on your lap, come when you call etc. I dunno how it happened, but I'm not gonna question it ;)

Anyway, back to the purpose of this blog! Tonight I made the healthiest version of chili cheese fries I could and they were pretty dang good (don't worry, my roommate tried them and thought they rocked so I wasn't the only taste tester.) Obviously fries aren't the wisest choice when it comes to food selection, but sometimes ya just gotta have em'! I'm not huge on following recipes, but when I do I'll definitely post them. Here's how everything came together tonight! (Note: I'm a huge fan of Trader Joe's so a lot of my groceries/ ingredients come from there)

Super Bomb Chili Cheese Fries With 10% of the Normal Guilt!
(This recipe makes a whole bunch of chili, so I just threw the leftovers in a heavy duty Ziploc Bag and put it the freezer)

Ingredients:

1 package of standard cut french fries (Trader Joe's fries are called Handsome Cut, how awesome is that?! Is that even a real thing?!)

Chili Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion
1 pound 99% fat free ground turkey (I used Jenny-O brand)
A lot of Chili Powder... sorry, no measurement. I just kind of eye ball it, but I like chili so if I had to guess I'd say maybe 1/4 cup? Use however much suits your fancy!
About 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon (I know it sounds weird but trust me, it's amazing!)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
Shredded cheese (if desired)

1. Sautee the onion and the ground turkey over medium high heat in a large stew pot until the turkey is cooked through and the onions are soft

2. Once the turkey is cooked add in all the canned ingredients (order doesn't matter, just toss it all in!)

3. Add the chili powder and the cinnamon and make sure to stir until it's fully incorporated.

4. Turn the heat to low and throw a lid on it. The longer it sits, the more the flavors soak in.

Seriously this chili is so easy it barely qualifies as a recipe. It would be super easy to make this in a crockpot as well but most of us college kids don't have a crock pot lying around...

5. While the chili is simmering, follow the heating directions on your package of fries and get those in the oven.

6. When your fries are done and the chili has stewed a little (again, no specific amount of time, whenever you get too hungry to wait any longer!) plate your fries and ladle the desired amount of chili on top. Sprinkle on some shredded cheese (or in my case tonight, some crumbled colby haha) and enjoy!

See, easy peasy! I also happened to go to Costco this week and bought a s*#t ton of vegetables, so I had some broccoli on the side! Would love to hear what you all think!

I'm off to my nightly gym sesh (a recent habitual addition!)

 Happy Eating!

Gracie