slow cooker mexican stoup

I'm glad you all liked the honeymoon recap! Thanks for all of the nice comments about the husband and I - I really appreciate it!

The past few days have been crazy busy, but I am enjoying getting back to my normal eating habits. My body has kind of been in a vegetable shock, but I know it's going to be getting back to normal any day now.

My days have been full of overnight oats:

served in awesomely cool margarita glasses from here. They could have been one of my favorite actual presents from the wedding.

Coffee may have been consumed in a cup from Cancun...

the husband told me today i like my coffee too strong - meh.

Many salads have been eaten - including avocado and salsa (it's hard to get out of mexican mode)

I missed my hummus as well...

My afternoon snacks have been all over the place - I have been a grazer...

Another bowl of overnight oats was consumed this morning - this bowl was so pretty.. and pretty delicious too might I add!

 After breakfast, I had to run some errands and do some laundry (at the parent's house because we thought ours was broken), so to kill time I ran to the gym, lifted, and ran home. My legs hurt really bad because I ran yesterday as well... and I hadn't run for over a week. Whoops!

I was over at my parent's house for lunch today and my mom made me some veggies and rice - they were really good, but I was super hungry because of my workout. They are unpictured because I'm a horrible blogger and was too hungry to even say hello to mommasita.

When I got home, I was still hungry so I decided I would eat some crackers, carrots, and hummus.

try this... x like 5

 I may or may not have finished off this tub of hummus.

I may or may not have also swirled my finger around in the tub to make sure I got it all.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... don't judge me. :)

quite possibly the best hummus ever

I wanted to make something easy today because I was also making a coffee cake for tomorrow morning (recipe to come!), so I decided to go with the slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Mexican Stoup

What you'll need:

• slow cooker
• 2 cans beans (I used black)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 can drained
• 1 zucchini, cut into large chunks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• spices: pepper, salt, garlic, crushed red pepper, chili powder
• avocado or meat of your choice to go on top

How it's done:

1. Put everything in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours.

Seriously.. it's that easy! It was delicious too!

brand new baby slow cooker

simple ingredients at their best

chopped zucchini

chicken for the husband

avocado for me!

delicious

This was really filling and I will definitely be making it again. We have some left overs, so I'm sure it could feed four people comfortably. This was inspired by Kath as I remembered a recipe she made kind of like this!

It's been nothing less than busy around here, and I have to go get some things done. Off to do laundry! Oh the joys of marriage... :)

I'll be honest... I don't have a question for you all today. My brain is in a fog.

Until tomorrow!

southwestern quinoa stuffed tomatoes

Today was jam packed and I know the rest of the week will be just like that. It's wedding crunch time, people! I'm feeling the pressure...

I slept really well again last night. I think I just really have a peace of mind knowing I am in my new house and pretty settled before the wedding. I woke up promptly at 7 a.m. ready to start my day!

I wasn't really that hungry this morning, but I decided overnight oats needed to make an appearance in my life - okay, let's be honest: when don't overnight oats make an appearance in my life?

do you like my pretty place mats? i got them from pottery barn - FH calls them "grandma placemats".

If you're wondering, or in case you have never made overnight oats, it's really simple! At night I combine:

- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1/2 smashed banana
- 1 tbsp flax
- splash of vanilla

Stick it in the fridge to absorb the liquid over night. In the morning, add your favorite toppings!

my favs are blueberries, cinnamon, coconut, and peanut butter!

I did a six miler after breakfast this morning - it was absolutely perfect. The humidity was almost nonexistent this morning and it was a cool 72 degrees when I set out. Six miles in 55 minutes? I'll take it!

Today was one of those days where I was going to be gone all day and needed to prepare. I had my makeup trial, errands to run, a facial, more errands... and more errands!

On my way to my makeup trial I had this larabar:

On my way to my facial I had this:

Then when I was done with my facial, I stopped by the 'rents and gobbled down a bowl of leftover veggies from last night. I realized when I had one piece of sweet potato left that I hadn't snapped a picture. Whoops.

I also had an unpictured ice coffee from Starbuck's because they help me feel better when I am a crazy mess! :)

When I got home, I had one thing on my mind: FOOD! And a lot of it!

I created Southwestern Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

You'll need:

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1/4 white onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 2 cups liquid (veggie stock or water will do)
• mexican spices of your choice (black pepper, red pepper, chili powder,  cumin, sea salt)
• 4 slicing tomatoes, hollowed

How to do it:

1. Cook your quinoa according to the package instructions. One cup of quinoa plus 2 cups of liquid on the stovetop for approximtely 15-20 minutes.
2. While that is brewing up a storm, chop up your veggies and sautee them with cooking spray or EVOO in a saute pan.
3. During the time in which your veggies are sauteing, hollow out four slicing tomatoes using a steak knife and spoon.
4. Once the quinoa has cooked (they should look like little fish eggs) and the veggies are tender, combine the two and add your black beans. Mix until evenly combined.
5. Add mexican spices to taste.
6. Spoon quinoa mixture into hollowed out tomatoes.
7. Served warm or chilled.

this baby not only looked delicious, it tasted delish too!

i won't lie... i had to have mine sans black beans because i don't have a can opener!

On the side, I had half of an avocado.

And a side salad! This was the perfect summer meal. All of the flavors went together very well!

Tonight, FH and I practiced a few things such as our first kiss and dance - do you think that's dorky? If you do... I don't really care. I found it to be fun. If you're married, did you practice this too?

I'm off to go snack - those blueberry muffins are calling my name!

Question: What is your idea of the perfect summer meal?

what's that sound?

Silence. Complete, absolute silence.

This might be the best birthday present ever - the kiddos (my niece and nephew if you're new around here) are off at the neighbor's playing, and I get to relax. Absolutely perfect.

This post is going to be short and quick, because I am going to take advantage of this afternoon and get some things done.

I had a date this morning with Kelsey - we were both supposed to make brownie batter pancakes. Mine, however, did not work out so well. They just would not set! Thanks for the birthday shot out girl!

i know, this looks gross. i may or may not have eaten half the batter before throwing it out :)

When in doubt, I go to oats! Whipped oats a la Kath to be exact. I didn't have any more almond milk, so I just used all water for the liquid. Definitely not as creamy, but delicious nonetheless.

topped with coconut, blueberries, cinnamon, flax, and pb

After this bowl, I didn't even mind that my brownie batter pancakes went bad (okay, I still did, but not as much) - you can never steer wrong with oatmeal!

My mom gave me my birthday presents this morning at, oh... 5:45 am. I cannot sleep lately. I think I'm getting super anxious about the week ahead (yay wedding!). Mom got me a few new reads:

I am so excited to read these two books. I'm going to try to save them for laying on the beach in Mexico on my honeymoon! Mommasita is also buying me my first stash of food for the house as a birthday present. What can I say? I love food - does anyone agree? Question: Do you find it odd I requested groceries for my birthday? :)

As I was cleaning today, I found this in my purse....

Yes, a zucchini.. things just keep getting weirder! Actually my FMIL gave me this yesterday and I forgot to take it out of the purse - haha!

For lunch, I whipped up some quick asparagus with olive oil and pepper:

And a huuuge salad that I really only ate about 1/3 of:

romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, chickpeas, 1/2 avocado, salsa, mustard

For some reason, I really wasn't feeling the salsa/mustard combo today. I'm not sure why, but I kind of ate the "goods" out of there: the chickpeas/avocado!

To finish up lunch, I ate some more healthy fats and protein!

date shmeared with sunbutter - yum!

raisins and cashews

Tonight for dinner we are going to Cooper's Hawk. They have an excellent gluten free menu - the funny thing is whenever I go somewhere that has a gluten free sandwich, I will totally get it even if it's a super fancy shmancy place. Portabello mushroom sandwich anyone? That is what I'm getting! Do you figure out what you are getting before you go out to eat?

After dinner, we are all heading to our new house for some cake! I probably won't do a follow up post until tomorrow. Have a great day!

nice to beet you!

There's a secret I've been meaning to share with you all for some time now. For the past 8 months, I have been dreading and also counting down the days until I could check out the 10 day forecast for the day of my wedding. The verdict is in:

84 degrees, sunny, 0% chance of precipitation, 61% humidity

I must tell you right now, I am not ashamed of the happy dance I did this morning!!!!! Now, I know this is subject to change over the course of the next ten days. Everyone start praying it doesn't change! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

I ended last night by reading a little bit of this...

I got this book from the library on Monday, and I will finish it tonight. It is so good. I'm not sure what drew me into it, and what is keeping me entertained, but it is so well written. It is a story about 2 awkward teenagers that don't fit in and the in's and out's of their friendship/relationship. The main character (Alice) has anorexia and that is the cause of much turmoil in her life.

I told you this morning I would eat something different for breakfast. Blueberry Oatmeal Flax Pancakes, anyone?

The last time I ate these, I was sad to inform you they defeated me - meaning, I couldn't eat them all.

Today however, the hunger beast kicked in and I was able to finish these babies off.

you are so beautiful.

After I piddled around for a while (aka: danced like a crazy fool when I found out the weather and called everyone and anyone who would actually care about it) I decided to go out for my 35 minute tempo run. This "tempo run" turned into a "run until your lungs can't make it anymore then walk until you can breathe" kind of a run. Whatever, all in all, it was ridiculously hot outside, and I just can't take this humidity!!

When I got home, I ate another one of these.

individually wrapped and ready for snackage!

i see you specks of zucchini - you can't hide behind the chocolate. i know you're there!

For lunch, I stumbled upon some beets which needed to be used ASAP! I really like pickled beets, so why wouldn't I enjoy the fresh ones? I had these atop a ginormous salad.

no seriously - it's huge... romaine, tomato, cucumber, onion, chickpeas, avocado, beets

Conversation with my niece about my salad...

Me: Look, isn't my salad beautiful?

Niece: It is beautiful Auntie Chelsey! You should take a picture of it!

Me: Oh, don't you worry... I already did.

Niece: You're not weird, you're just... different.

Thi was followed up by an unpictured amount of cashews, almonds, and a fig (I originally was going to use the picture from yesterday, but then got lazy and forgot).

We had some fun in the sun today (which is probably why my eyes keep trying to close) - including sprinkler time and some play time over at the neighbor's inflatable water slide.

I had to dash to my house today to meet the Comcast Cable guy (who was an hour early - when has the cable guy EVER been early?), and was frustrated immediately upon arrival because our paint was not touched up yet. Now, I understand it will not be the end of the world if my house is not finished by the time the wedding arrives. It's liveable, and that's fine. However, I REEEEAAALLLLY just want to come home from our honeymoon to an unpacked, clean, stress free zone. Come on, just tell me it will happen - humor me, will you?

On the way over, I ate an apple - and forgot to take a picture until I was done eating.

it was a gala - and yes, that cup has been in my car for a few days. don't judge me.

When it's all said and done, at least I have cable and internet. I also got a beautiful present from my nephew - BIL and kids came over to see the current progress.

a rose, pour moi? merci monsieur!

Yes, the rose is set upon my new kitchen table - which is AWESOME and you will not see for a couple of days :)

I wanted a FEAST when I got home, so I called in the sweet potato and tofu troops. It was more than delicious - it was DEEELLLIIIICCCIOOOUUUSSS!! The cauliflower was also amazing. Mad props to mommasita for chopping it up for me! :)

Sometimes I wish my house wasn't already 90 degrees so I could withstand the heat of the oven every night.

i know you feel nice in my belly.

Emily sure knows how to make a mean slab of tofu

i'm sorry you couldn't be the star of the show today, cauliflower. there's always next time...

I'm off to go do some wedding escort cards, eat a snack (btw, i only have one blueberry muffin left!!! ::gasp:: what's a girl to do when they're gone?) , read and rest my eyes. I'm mucho sleepy today.

Question: How do you handle stress? Do you tend to freak out, stay cool, or melt under pressure? For me, I think I handle it well until I cry at the drop of a hat about silly things...