I made this today to try. It’s completely vegetarian and completely amazing in taste. It’s a bit spicy (I’m a total puss when it comes to spicy ANYTHING, so this is probably what most consider mild!) but the best fix is to cut the chili powder down! I included the recipe for those interested! :) Best part? This was a result from Matchstick Challenge #9! I pre-prepped ingredients last night to make them easy to get to and accessible and then while writing a paper today, I let this simmer and cook. Having everything ready made my job SO much easier and quicker! And the prep only took ten to fifteen minutes last night to do!

THIS RECIPE IS FOR 8 SERVINGS. I made it for myself and some friends, so I made it a bit big!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 bay leaves (OPTIONAL, I chose not to include because I don’t like them)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon salt (I used 2 teaspoons, only to lower the sodium intake)

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (OPTIONAL, I didn’t include to make it less spicy but my friends love jalapeno in theirs!)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I minced mine)

4oz of chopped green chile peppers, drained

4-6 tomatoes, chopped and crushed (More tomatoes = more consistency and flavor. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE JUICE! It makes it taste that much better!)

1/4 cup chili powder (This is where you REALLY get the spice. I used the 1/4 cup on a whim and it is almost TOO spicy. I recommend 1/6 or even 1/8 if you don’t like spicy!)

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans NOT drained

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn (Optional)

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender (About 3-6 minutes on average), then mix in the celery, green & red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer about 3-5 minutes to bring out the juices.

2. Mix the tomatoes into the pot slowly. Once all tomatoes are in, season veggies with chili powder and pepper. Slowly begin to stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans (DO THE DRAINED FIRST AND BLACK BEANS LAST). Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 40-45 minutes. Stir in the corn 5 minutes before finishing if you’re adding it, and continue cooking those last 5 minutes before serving!

SERVING SIZE: 1 Cup

Per Serving

CALORIES: 372

SODIUM: ~200mg-250mg

PROTEIN: ~11g-13g

I served mine over a tiny bit of brown rice and it was absolutely delicious! I got 3/4 a cup of chili and rice and I barely could finish it was so filling! 

For this weeks challenge, we are supposed to be looking at if food we this is healthy actually is/isn’t. I recently quit eating meat, so I chose a product that a lot of my vegetarian friend incorporate into their daily lifestyles: Morningstar Farms Veggie “Bacon” Strips.

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So this week’s challenge is to post your workout playlist, only more specific. I have multiple playlist for the seasons and my moods, but this one is almost always my fall back. It’s got usually the same songs for the most part, only changing once in a while when a new song gets me SUPER PUMPED! So here’s a picture of it and the list written out underneath! :)

(CLICK TO ENLARGE IN NEW WINDOW)

Three Warm-Up Songs:

1. “Chicago” - Sufan Stevens
2. “Phantom Limb” - The Shins
3. “Cheers (Drink to That)” - Rhianna

Three “Empowerment” Songs:

1. “King of Wishful Thinking” - New Found Glory
2. “Love Like This” - The Summer Set
3. “A Bigger Point of Pride” - You, Me, and Everyone We Know

Three Angry Kick-It-Into-High-Gear Songs:

1. “On A Saturday (Tonight We Feel Alive)” - Four Year Strong
2. “Bite My Tongue (Ft. Oli Skyes of Bring Me The Horizon)” - You Me At Six
3. “Caraphernelia (Ft. Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember)” - Pierce The Veil

Top Three Fast Cardio Songs:

1. “Shake Senora (Remix ft. Ludacris, Sean Paul, and T-Pain)” - Pitbull
2. “Scary Monsters Nice Sprites” - Skrillex
3. “I Shake, I Move” - LMFAO

Three Cool Down Songs:

1. “Mt. Diablo” - The Story So Far
2. “Lucky Denver Mint” - Jimmy Eat World
3. “Star Mile” - Joshua Radin

One Song That ALWAYS Gets Me Pumped Up/Ready To Workout:

1. “Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)” - Set Your Goals

No matter WHAT my mix is, my mood, or the season…”Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)” by Set Your Goals is literally ALWAYS on the mix. It’s so angry, fast paced, and gets me so pumped to work out. Makes me work ten times faster/harder during my workout too. I adore it!

Meal Make-over

So my meal make over…I went a little crazy with it but the end product was SO worth it!

Instead of using the pasta sauce and noodles from cans/boxes, I decided to try and use my great grandmother’s old recipe that has been passed down for generations of the family. I prepared the noodles the night before and the next day, I hung them in the kitchen to air out all day on a thin wire. From there I went about my daily task! School, work, and working out. (It was YAS day. Yoga/Abs/Spin. I was in dire need of some good carbs after the workout I was about to endure!)

When I got home I made a homemade sauce from tomatoes, bay leaves, olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh onions, pepper, carrots, celery, a hint of sea salt, and just a HINT (less than 1/2 tsp) of Worcestershire sauce. It was SO YUMMY and felt so good to make from scratch instead of the massive sodium bomb that is the jarred pasta I usually eat! (Guilty, I know.)

I cooked my noodles, poured the sauce over, and topped it with a little bit of basil and bay leaves. I almost cried it was so good! And it really did not take that long to make at ALL! Plus it was only about 180mg of sodium to rival the usual 380-400 in my pastas!

So the challenge was to walk somewhere this week, and I just LOVE walking and finding random new things/places.

However, I now live a good 10 miles outside of town. So I drove to the gym, parked, and walked my butt over to the Dollar Store that is eight miles (round trip) from the gym so I could pick up decorations for Christmas for my work! :) (And my house but shhhh I make it look so expensive and I love that it’s 5$ total to do what I’m planning!)

I miss walking like this. The only real “walking” I get now is my cool-down after running at the gym, but I tend to elliptical usually most of my workout so even that is scarce. Even with my car I used to walk to all the stores within 5 miles of my old house because I hate driving that short a distance unless it’s pouring rain! It felt good to walk the back alleys I used to explore and it made me miss living in that city and in Chicago and walking everywhere. The woes of ranch living!

So I’m VERY new to this whole eating healthy thing. So this challenge is definitely a huge benefit to me! Last night I went grocery shopping and to the local Farm Stands but was never expecting to find what I found! I picked up four new fruits and veggies to try and for breakfast and lunch today I utilized them all.

1. Grapefruit; Oh my gosh, why did I never know how magical this was?! So so yummy and the PERFECT topping to my salad this afternoon!

2. Pears; So I’ve avoided Pears like they were evil for years. Friends and family both tried to convince me to try them but I avoided them like the plague! So I finally buckled down and bought some yesterday and gosh I regret being a jerk and refusing for years! I put a little Butter N’Peanut Butter and cinnamon on top and had it as a snack. So so sweet and delicious, I couldn’t even handle it!

3. Eggplant; I wasn’t really a fan of this one. But, at least I gave it a try! It wasn’t what expected, but I wouldn’t say I hated it. I just wouldn’t choose to eat it again!

4. Okra; Again, not a big fan, but I’m glad I at least tried it!

I’m really glad I decided to participate in this challenge and cannot wait to see what comes up next! :)