Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

There are few things better in a busy woman's life than the aroma of a cooked dinner wafting through the house when she finally makes it home at the end of a long day.

One of my favorite ways to cook during the week is with my slow cooker. The food is always moist, delicious, and (usually) easy to prepare.

Since it is the middle of the week, I thought you could all use a fresh and easy spin on dinner tonight.

Slow Cooker Fajitas

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno
1 sweet onion
1 jar of salsa
taco seasoning

Add all ingredients to slow cooker with chicken on the bottom. Sprinkle taco seasoning on top. I usually add about half a cup of water as well to ensure nothing burns or dries out. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-6. It really all depends on your crockpot. Shred chicken and serve with your favorite Mexican toppings.

Let me know how it turns out!

<3 K.E.

P.S. I really need to share a disclaimer here...this is a delicious recipe- no doubt. However, I have an even better fajita recipe that takes much, much more work. I will share it with you eventually. Just today. Carry on. ;)

Vegan Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Happy Saturday Morning, Friends!

We did a great job of using up all of our groceries this week. Almost too good of a job- I ran out of eggs- which left me in a pickle this morning. What do I make for breakfast?!

I don't know about you, but I love to have a slightly more lavish breakfast on the weekends. Something that the weekday rush to get out the door doesn't leave time for. So after thinking about what we had in the pantry and a wonderful suggestion from my husband, I managed to throw together this vegan baked oatmeal. It is fantastic and super easy to make! Obviously, it was vegan by default- all my favorite baked oatmeal recipes call for eggs which I didn't have. But needless to say, I don't think they are missed at all. This recipe is also free of any added sugar- I've been on a crazy sugar binge lately with all the valleys of life and I am committing to one week free of sugar (honey, agave, coconut sugar, etc.) starting today. I wanted to do two weeks, but there is no way I have the willpower to stay away from the goodies on Easter Sunday! ;)

And without further ado, I present my Vegan Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal.

Ingredients.
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbs ground flax seed
1 Tbs chia seeds
1 flax egg (1 Tbs ground flax seed + 3 Tbs hot water)
1 cup applesauce
1.5 cups Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1 large apple peeled, diced

Directions.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the flax egg by combining the flax seed and hot water; set aside to gel. Mix first seven ingredients in large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in medium bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Once combined, stir in flax egg. Add raisins and apple. Pour into baking dish (I used 7x11 Pyrex dish) and bake for 30 minutes, until top is golden brown and middle is set.

Notes: I like to use a teaspoon to pour my vanilla extract, but let it spill over a bit into the bowl which is why I said 1-1.5 tsp. Love me some vanilla! Make sure both your vanilla extract and applesauce have no added sugar. Surprisingly enough, my current vanilla extract is from Target. This recipe makes about 4-6 servings depending on your appetite. This recipe could be gluten-free if you use certified, gluten-free oats.

And last, but not least- I apologize for the sad lack of photos in this post! I honestly didn't think about blogging this recipe until I tasted it, but then I had to share. I couldn't believe I hadn't added any sugar! Enjoy friends!

<3 K.E.

Soreness and Yoga

Well, my first week of nothing but yoga comes to a close today. I didn't stick with it quite as well as I'd hoped too. Quite frankly, I found that my body was seriously craving down time after the race which surprised me. I knew I was worn out from the 10k training + new lifestyle, but I didn't expect to feel like I was rehabbing!

A few hours after the race, my legs stiffened up. I noticed just how stiff and sore when I tried to stand up after Avengers- ouch! But it was a good ouch, I knew I'd pushed my body (especially my legs!) very hard and they were reacting to that accomplishment. I opted to take Sunday off completely because I was still pretty wiped out when I woke up and because I was celebrating Mother's Day with my beautiful momma!

We had the best celebratory brunch: gluten free french toast with berries, chicken apple sausages, scrambled eggs, and strawberry mimosas. YUM!

My workouts for the rest of the week looked like this:

Monday: Jillian Michaels' Yoga Meltdown DVD level 2 (a quick, but intense 30 minute yoga session)
Tuesday: Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior DVD (an hour-long practice)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Off
Friday: Yoga at the YMCA (I wasn't a big fan.)
Saturday: TBD ;)

I took Wednesday and Thursday off because 1) I was sore on Wednesday and 2) I opted to go to the chiropractor's on Thursday after work instead of practicing yoga. A worthy trade in my opinion.

My thoughts on nothing but yoga...I'm surprised because I don't enjoy it nearly as much as I assumed I would. I am becoming more flexible and believe it or not my upper body is looking more toned (yay!), but I find myself itching for a higher intensity workout. I want to run! I know the break was good and I definitely needed it. I feel healthier, stronger, and less exhausted. But I will be bringing back other forms of exercise next week if I keep craving it. So my plan might be changing, but what's new? We really can't predict where life will take us and my #1 goal is to listen to my body and what it needs.

After Monday's Practice

If you're interested in a great yoga DVD, I absolutely L.O.V.E Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior. It is a fairly fast-paced, vinyasa style of yoga. He leads you through various poses, including Sun Salutations. I don't know about you, but if my practice doesn't have a few Sun Salutations, I am always bummed out- they are my favorite.

Unfortunately, I don't love Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown. It feels more like body weight strength training than yoga. That isn't a bad thing, but it isn't what I'm looking for in a yoga practice either. I like to feel relaxed and stress free when I finish my practice and I find that happens more with Bob's DVD and I still get a great workout. I do love that I can fit in a practice no matter how busy I am because her sessions are 30 minutes each. And I will admit that the more I practice with her DVD, the more I warm up to it. Who knows- I might just convert after all.

The husband and I are members of our local YMCA and I was really excited to take a few group exercise classes. Thus far I have been pretty unimpressed. I love, love, love Sharon's classes (if you remember she teaches spinning and pilates). But both of the yoga classes I've tried leave much to be desired. I think they are a little too boring for me. I like a more upbeat, face-paced class (i.e., Yoga for the Warrior or Centurgy). Oh Centurgy, how I miss you! Anyway, I think I need to try out Power Yoga. I was intimidated by it because it is labeled as an "athlete" level class, but after two rather boring classes/instructors, its time to try it out before I throw in the towel on YMCA yoga.

So sorry the post is kind of all over the place. I've been a spaz lately and right now I'm trying to write this in between cleaning, laundry, Lost, and baking. I'm trying out PB Finger's recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Cookies. Sounds amazing, right? Peanut Butter and oatmeal are two of my favorite foods right now. I could eat them all day every day and a cookie that combines both? Heaven on earth! ;)

<3 K.E.

Overnight Oats in a Jar

Good morning!

I am obsessed with breakfast. Nothing sounds as good to me as breakfast from a bowl of Oh's to eggs to oatmeal. YUM!

All across the blogs you can find recipes or mentions of "overnight oats in a jar." Basically, you mix up oats and milk and a few other ingredients and leave it in the fridge overnight. I was beyond skeptical of this- who wants to eat soggy, cold oats for breakfast?! But I eventually had an almost empty jar of peanut butter (WF brand=YUM!) and thought I would give it a try.

Delicious!

Holy yum, Batman! It was incredible. And oh so easy. Its also kinda addicting...I can see why overnight oats in a jar are taking over the blog world one post at a time.

The inside of my first batch of overnight oats

You've probably noticed that I share links to other bloggers' recipes much more often than I share my own. That is because I don't really have time to experiment in the kitchen. I love to bake, cook, and whip up scrumptious goodies. Right now life is just too busy to create recipes though. And when I do come up with something original, I forget to document for the blog! I'm working on this oversight! AHHH!!!!

Today is a new day.  Without further ado, here is my recipe for overnight oats in a jar. I love it and after a few tweeks am satisfied enough with it to share with all of you. It is naturally sweet from the banana, chewy from the oats, and all around ah-mazing. A peanut butter jar is not required- a bowl or container will work just fine. ;)

Overnight Oats in a Jar

Ingredients:
1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
2/3 unsweetened almond milk
1/2 mashed banana
4 strawberries sliced in quarters
1 heaping Tbsp of ground flax seeds

Directions:
Mix all ingredients into jar/container. Cover and leave in refrigerator overnight. In the morning add yummy toppings and enjoy!

Topping suggestions:
sprinkle of granola
more berries
nut butter


<3 K.E.

"Moo"ve over Dairy!

I have another fabulous recipe to share with you today! Having been dairy-free since I was a twelve-years-old, I've miss traditional milk, ice cream, and yogurt for years. I ate cheese for a while until I developed an allergy and now haven't had cheese (not a piece) for about 6 years. Crazy, right? I honestly don't miss it at all. At first it was very difficult because I was a cheese fanatic. The girl who would eat grapes, apple slices, and cheese hunks as a snack. Eventually, I adjusted and now the smell of cheese is repulsive to me. I can smell it a mile away. I do still keep our fridge stocked with cheese options because I am a good wife like that. ;)

SOURCE

Over the years, companies have realized that people with dairy and soy allergies still want and crave the foods they had to give up. First, the dairy-free milks became increasingly easy to find. I've tried most of them by this point: soy, rice, almond, coconut (in that order). Hemp, flax, and sunflower milks are still unknown to me, but maybe someday I'll give them a shot. I want to give you a really quick run down of my experiences with non-dairy milk and the variety of options available.

I was pro-soy when I first became dairy-free and I now have an entirely different opinion which would require at least an entire post on the subject. For now, let's just say I'm not a fan of soy for many reasons. The taste of soy milk is pretty similar to cow's milk from what I remember. 

Rice milk is incredibly runny and doesn't taste a thing like milk. It is like drinking water with a splash of milk. Yuck! Also, right now rice products are under scrutiny for containing high levels of arsenic so do your research prior to purchasing rice milk to make sure your brand of choice isn't implicated in the scandal.

Almond milk quickly became my dairy-free milk of choice. It is thicker and creamier than rice milk, but not quite as thick as coconut or cow's milk, however. The flavor is slightly nutty, but not strong, and I have found that it compliments everything from cereal to smoothies. When I went cane sugar-free six years ago, I was pleased to discover that most brands offer unsweetened almond milk varieties as well.  Unsweetened vanilla almond milk is amazing too! I recommend the Whole Foods' 365 brand unsweetened and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I've found it has the best flavor of all the brands I've tried and is organic.

Coconut milk is a close second to almond milk with a creamy, fresh taste. There is something about the flavor or texture though that always seems a little funky to me. I haven't figured out what exactly that is, but it isn't a big enough deal to ban the beverage altogether. 

I would never trade my almond milk...(here comes the dreaded but), but lately my sensitive tummy has been just that- sensitive. So I've switched over to coconut milk for the time being. Hopefully not forever, because nothing beats the flavor of good almond milk,  but for now, coconut will do. <UPDATE: I wrote this post prior to meal planning, ended up skipping Whole Foods this week, and Publix only carries Almond Milk...so I'm giving it another try. Fingers crossed. I'm really excited!>

There is are two great brands of coconut milk ice cream that are also cane sugar-free, So Delicious and Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss. Whole Foods has also started carrying a cashew ice cream that comes in several flavors, including pistachio!

I can also eat yogurt, thanks to Armande yogurt made with almond milk and fruit-juice sweetened. I wish my local Whole Foods had the large containers, but no such luck. Anyway, as you can see, there really is no reason for dairy-free individuals to not enjoy delicious alternatives (which I now think taste a million times better than the originals).

And thanks to the amazing people at Nourishing Meals, I was also able to eat a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free "cheesecake" for Easter! It was amazing, rich, creamy, decadent. Even my dairy-eating mother loved it! The ingredient list was simple, it was a relatively uncomplicated recipe. I guess a little disclaimer is in order though, because it didn't really taste like cheesecake. It was its own thing with its own flavor. I highly recommend it. These cheesecake bites are easily one of my favorite desserts to make. Any dessert that is healthy, full of whole foods, and has great texture and flavor is a winner in my book. Head on over to Nourishing Meals and check it out!

The crazy photo I snapped after taking a bite and realizing this was the last one...oops!