Basic Hummus

Years ago, my good friend Shana told me that once I started to make homemade hummus, I would never buy from the store again. I didn’t doubt her, but I did doubt it was as easy as she claimed. To this day, I think of Shana everytime I make hummus and chuckle a little bit to myself about how easy it really is and wonder what other things I’ve been buying that I could make a better tasting, fresher version of at home. If you’re reading this, Shana, I think about you and your family a lot because that is how often I make hummus!

Do you have a favorite flavor of hummus? I haven’t found one I didn’t like, which is why this recipe is so great. It’s the base of a really good hummus so double the batch and have one “original” and one experimental flavor!

Basic Hummus

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 teaspoon each of paprika, cumin, red pepper

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine everything into the food processor, add more or less spices to your liking. It’s that easy! Serve with pita chips and/or crudities.

Variations:
Add ½ - ¾ jar of roasted red peppers that have been packed in water
Add roasted tomatoes
Double the amount of garlic and lemon juice
Substitute olive oil for 2 tablespoons of tahini

Jenny

Motivation Monday: You Just Have to Go

Credit: The Greatist
"You don't have to go fast...you just have to go" 

It's 3 weeks into the new year, don't start worrying about pace or distance. Keep up making it to the gym. Keep incorporating fitness into your schedule. Just keep going!

Jenny


* Motivation Monday is an ongoing series on Dash to Finish.

What is Motivation Monday?
Let’s face it, we’ve all be there…er…here. Maybe it started with happy hour last Friday, a birthday party on Saturday, brunch on Sunday or maybe it didn’t start at all because the indulging never ended. You tell yourself, “Next week is the week I start”, “Next week, I’ll start eating this”, or “Next week, I’ll stop eating that”. We provide ourselves plenty of excuses and justifications. For me, Monday is my re-set button. No matter what I did or didn’t do last week or over the weekend, Monday marks a new week for me to be and do better than the previous.


But let’s face it, Mondays have enough challenges without the added pressure of getting to the gym or eating that homemade lunch you still haven’t made. To help, I am starting Motivation Mondays. A little push in the right direction, a reminder to get to the gym and skip that 2nd donut.

Quick Wonton Soup

Brrr...baby, it's cold outside! The chill in the air has me craving soups and stews. I've found myself curled up on the couch, under a blanket or two and a mug of something to warm me up. I came home from the gym the other night and found myself unprepared for soup craving. I was too lazy / didn't want to be bothered with making something that included defrosting and lots of simmering.

I raided my refrigerator and found vegetable scraps (celery and carrots) leftover from a weekend stew. At this point, I figured I'd at least get some vegetable soup but knew I would need some protein. In my freezer, I found some mini-wontons that my husband bought. (He always buys himself a "treat" from Costco. It's usually something that can be prepared easily on days he needs a quick snack or small meal.) My mind really started spinning at this point. Some more digging around and I found myself throwing together a quick wonton soup. For my husband, I chopped up half a Serrano pepper and simmered that into his broth since he loves his spicy food (see variation).

I am especially proud of this recipe because it not only used fresh produce that may have spoiled otherwise, but I also cleared out some freezer space!

Quick Wonton Soup

Ingredients:
1/3 stalk of celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
1/2 onion diced
2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
15 frozen mini wontons
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp pepper
salt to taste
slices of ginger (optional)

1. Heat a small pot with olive oil on medium high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add onions and let them become soft (approximately 2 minutes). Add celery, carrots, ginger if using and stir.
2. Add stock to de-glaze any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover and let it come to a boil. 
3. Uncover to add wontons, season with salt and pepper and let soup return to a boil before reducing the heat to low.
4. Simmer for 5 minutes

Variation:
Add jalapenos or another pepper to add some spiciness to the broth

Motivation Monday: Habit Keeps You Going

Credit: FitSugar
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going"
- Jim Ryun

Did you make a fitness resolution this year? I like to use the new year as a marker in time to start healthy habits. It's easy to use the new year to motivate yourself to take that fitness class or go on that run. But it's building it into your schedule and integrating it into your lifestyle that will determine whether you can stick with it.

When I first started taking my health seriously, it was a bit of a chore to figure out which days I could work out, which days I wanted to go to happy hour and when I could meet up for dinner with friends. At first, it was easier to say no to happy hour and dinner because I was really motivated to stick with my workout schedule. But as time passed, the excuses started. A happy hour one day, a few dinners out and before I knew it, it'd been a week or two since my last workout. This vicious cycle lasted for some time before I figured out what worked for me.

Now, working out is built into my schedule. I have "must" work out days and "optional" work out days. This way, I can meet up with my friends on my "optional" days and switch it up every so often so I never  have to say, "I can only meet on Tuesday". It takes a little more planning but it's nothing a quick note on your calendar or scheduling app can't help you solve. A few minutes of planning will help you stay on track longer, evolving that new year motivation into your lifestyle HABIT.

Jenny


* Motivation Monday is an ongoing series on Dash to Finish.

What is Motivation Monday?
Let’s face it, we’ve all be there…er…here. Maybe it started with happy hour last Friday, a birthday party on Saturday, brunch on Sunday or maybe it didn’t start at all because the indulging never ended. You tell yourself, “Next week is the week I start”, “Next week, I’ll start eating this”, or “Next week, I’ll stop eating that”. We provide ourselves plenty of excuses and justifications. For me, Monday is my re-set button. No matter what I did or didn’t do last week or over the weekend, Monday marks a new week for me to be and do better than the previous.


But let’s face it, Mondays have enough challenges without the added pressure of getting to the gym or eating that homemade lunch you still haven’t made. To help, I am starting Motivation Mondays. A little push in the right direction, a reminder to get to the gym and skip that 2nd donut.

Nutella Mandarin Toast

Inspired by this recent tweet from Cooking Light,the combination of Nutella and citrus has been on my mind. Yesterday, I needed a quick pre-workout snack but didn't have the french bread or oranges the original recipe called for. But I did have Trader Joe's Complete Protein bread and some California mandarins (also known as cuties). Thus, a delicious Nutella toast topped with mandarin segments was born. The sweet citrus combined with the nutty Nutella on top of my toast was just the motivation I needed! It's quick, it's easy, it's delicious. What more can you ask for?

Nutella Mandarin Toast

Nutella Mandarin Toast (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 slice bread
6 cutie segments
1 tablespoon Nutella
Sprinkle of sea salt (optional)

Toast your bread, spread the Nutella and top with cutie segments. Sprinkle sea salt on top if you like a little savory with your sweet. Try to only eat one.

Motivation Monday: The Time Will Pass Anyway

Credit: Women's Health
"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."
- Earl Nightingale

"I'd run a half marathon if I had the time to train." I had told myself this year after year. And you know what happened? Time kept passing but I wasn't any closer to finishing a half marathon. What I finally came to realize was that I didn't lack TIME. I lacked COMMITMENT.

When I started a bucket list of things I wanted to do in the next 2 years, the #1 item was to finish a half marathon. It was the #1 thing I wanted to accomplish and lack of time was what was stopping me? That just didn't add up.

So I signed up for a half marathon four months away, found a training schedule online and started running. How did I find the time I thought I lacked? Some days, I sacrificed sleep. Some days, I sacrificed a happy hour. A few days, I skipped running. But the day of the half marathon, I was ready.

It's the first Monday of 2013, commit to your goals, commit to being healthy, commit to YOURSELF.

Jenny

* Motivation Monday is an ongoing series on Dash to Finish.

What is Motivation Monday?
Let’s face it, we’ve all be there…er…here. Maybe it started with happy hour last Friday, a birthday party on Saturday, brunch on Sunday or maybe it didn’t start at all because the indulging never ended. You tell yourself, “Next week is the week I start”, “Next week, I’ll start eating this”, or “Next week, I’ll stop eating that”. We provide ourselves plenty of excuses and justifications. For me, Monday is my re-set button. No matter what I did or didn’t do last week or over the weekend, Monday marks a new week for me to be and do better than the previous.


But let’s face it, Mondays have enough challenges without the added pressure of getting to the gym or eating that homemade lunch you still haven’t made. To help, I am starting Motivation Mondays. A little push in the right direction, a reminder to get to the gym and skip that 2nd donut.

The B.E.S.T Sandwich

Do you ever have a day(s) where making dinner is the LAST thing you want to do after getting home? I know I do. Sometimes it’s because work is hectic, sometimes I’m just lazy. Either way, I still have to eat. If I have granola on hand, it’s a bowl of granola and milk with some fruit. When I don’t, I make my version of a BLT. It’s an open face (as in one slice of bread) B.E.S.T sandwich. Bacon, egg, spinach, tomatoes…all things I eat frequently enough that I usually have some on hand. It’s simple, filling, and the fried egg on top, a little weekday indulgence.

B.E.S.T Sandwich

B.E.S.T Sandwich

Ingredients

1 slice of wheat bread
1 egg
1 handful of spinach, washed and dried
2 slices of bacon, cut in half
½ tomato, thinly sliced
¼ tsp salt (optional)
1/3 tsp pepper (optional)

1.  Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. When the pan is ready, add bacon. Flip bacon after about 3 minutes and cook until bacon has reached desired level of doneness. Place bacon slices on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
2. Turn heat down to medium and using the pan with the bacon drippings, crack an egg into the pan.
3. Toast bread
4. When fried egg has reached desired level of doneness, it’s time to assemble.
5. On top of bread, place spinach, bacon, tomatoes and top with egg

Variations:
* S.E.S.T - Substitute bacon with a slice of Spam
* B.E.L.T - Substitute spinach with lettuce 
* B.E.A.T - Substitute spinach with avocado, scramble instead of fry the egg for a great breakfast sandwich
* Add a slice of your favorite cheese such as Havarti, Swiss or American

Jenny