Archives for March 2015

Homemade Sesame Ginger Dressing

March 28, 2015 by Sarah

It started with Kroger’s ‘Simple Truth Organic’ Asian Sesame dressing. I picked it up off the shelf, turned it around to look at the ingredients, and thought, hey, I can for sure make that myself! I snapped a pic and went on my merry way.

Then I came across Bragg’s Ginger & Sesame salad dressing at the local co-op grocery store, turned it around and thought, hey, that’s just like the other one; I can make this myself! I snapped a pic and went on my merry way again.

So, needless to say, Sesame Ginger dressing was mentally bookmarked.

I finally got around to experimenting and made a version worth sharing! I made this salad for dinner and happily devoured it, and making something that tasty begs for some blog attention. I recreated the salad the next day to take pictures and am so glad I did. THOSE COLORS! Whole, fresh foods can be so. darn. beautiful!

The salad had raisins, sliced avocado, raw green beans, purple cabbage, cucumber quarters, sliced green onions and diced orange pepper. It really complimented the dressing nicely!

Homemade Sesame Ginger Dressing

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Sarah

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp. tamari (or nama shoyu, organic soy sauce, coconut aminos, liquid aminos)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil (can use sesame oil)
1 clove garlic (minced or pressed)**
knuckle ginger root (minced or pressed)**
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. raw sesame seeds
3 tbsp. water
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener of choice)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a sealed container (like a small recycled jar or bottle with a cap) and shake until well combined.
**With the garlic and ginger, I used a garlic press to press both the clove and ginger. This is the method I recommend because you won't be stuck with large pieces of garlic and ginger in your recipe. The press gives you some pulp and juice (especially good for the ginger).

Enjoy!

Raw Chocolate Avocado Pudding

March 21, 2015 by Sarah

Is it time for you to treat yourself? If so, I’ve got a little something special to share with you! Yes, you can make pudding using avocado! 🙂

This post is going to be more pictures than sentences. You alright with that? I bet you are 😉

Apparently there were some satisfied bellies in. da. HOUSE!

Raw Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

This chocolate mousse is perfect for pairing with fruits or enjoying on its own!

Author: Sarah

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

½ cup non-dairy milk
1 banana
1 large avocado
1 tsp vanilla (extract or bean/bean powder)
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. (or to taste) liquid sweetener of choice (raw honey, maple syrup, agave)
¼ cup + 1 tbsp. carob or cacao powder (I did half of each)

Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
Enjoy on its own, layered with your favorite fruits and/or nuts or as a topping to other delicious dessert recipes! You can also garnish it with shredded coconut like I did!

With love,

Pull-Up Bar: Inverted Plank Ups + ‘Bulky’ Girl Talk

March 15, 2015 by Sarah

Throwing another pull-up variation at you!

Like I state in the video, you may want to work on getting a little more flexible with sit and reach before doing this exercise because it helps you get a larger range of motion.

Check out that face just beckoning for you to try it 😉

Haven’t gotten a bar yet? Get the one I have here. Would you like some more ideas of different ways to use a pull-up bar? Check out my other videos here, here and here!

Okay. Let’s talk ‘bulky’ and let’s talk girl.

Real quick; these pictures below were taken on the exact same day. Yeah, maybe you think I look a little ‘bulky’ in the first picture. If you don’t, I know I kind of thought that about it right after I took the picture and looked at it. Either way, check out what those arms look like when they are just out to the side in the picture after.

I’ve seen people over the internet try to debunk the myth that lifting and muscle building exercises will make us ladies ‘bulky’ or too muscle-y, but seriously, I want to support the movement and show this example to demonstrate how this myth really is far from the truth.

I love lifting when I can, which hasn’t been as much in the past year so I’ve supplemented with pull-ups more lately to maintain some upper body tone and strength when I’m not able to be in a gym (plus it’s really convenient to do at home!!).

Overall, I mainly concentrate on building muscle by lifting and other high intensity interval exercises. In no way am I obsessed with it or trying to get huge; I just like to do it to stay toned and continually be burning more calories than I would be if I had very little muscle tone. I like feeling agile and in shape. Also, since I’m a girl with a hearty appetite, I like not worrying or fretting about how much I eat (as long as it’s healthy and wholesome!). Working to increase my own muscle mass has really truly helped me maintain a steady, healthy weight amidst all the different stages of my life, and I believe it can help others too!

Therefore, I am certainly a big proponent of building muscle in one way or the other; I believe it’ll do anyone and everyone good to do so (unless physical restrictions and/or circumstances prevent you from being able to do so). With these pictures, I want to show how girls, like myself, who focus on muscle building WILL NOT GET ‘BULKY’. I have done more lifting than the majority of women, and I have never been or will never be ‘bulky’ by doing so. Even if it looks a tad like that when I flex, I don’t know about you, but I don’t walk around with my arms up like that flexing in a tank top. When my arms are down, you wouldn’t even give them a second look I bet. If fact, they can even look a little twiggy depending on what angle you look at.. lol. But nonetheless, they’re toned.

Bottom line: I strongly believe regular exercise is a valuable contributor to an overall healthy lifestyle and working to gain muscle while doing so can be a very productive way to maintain a healthy, toned physique. Don’t be afraid or hesitant to include this as an integral part of your fitness routine!! 🙂

What do you think?! What is your experience with or opinion on muscle building? Has it worked well for you?

Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates when I post new videos relating to topics like these!

Happy building, all you wonderful people!

Raw Sun-Dried Tomato and Dill Dressing

March 9, 2015 by Sarah

If you don’t know by now, salads are one of my favorite dishes to make; something about the endless greens-veggie-protein-dressing combinations just gets me every time. I’m certainly down for a good salad (or two ;)) every day!!

Homemade and/or raw salad dressings are great to make because they can be quite nutritious and a much better substitute to many conventional salad dressings. Making your own dressing ensures that your end product only contains the ingredients you want, and know are good for you, in it. Many common dressings in the store contain either GMO oils like canola or soybean oil, sugar or corn syrup (also probably GMO), preservatives, tainted dairy products, artificial flavors and Monosodium Glutamate, as you can see in the pictures below.

Why ruin a good salad with dressings like these?

The sunflower seeds in this recipe do indeed give it a unique taste and if you’re not one for sunflower seeds, you may not like how this turns out as much. You are more than welcome to substitute any other kind of nuts or seeds if you prefer.

Raw Sun-Dried Tomato and Dill Dressing

Author: Adapted from Recipes to Nourish

Recipe type: Dressing

Ingredients

½ cup sunflower seeds, sprouted or soaked for at least 30 mins if possible
¼ cup filtered water
1 clove garlic
½ tsp basil
½ tsp thyme
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp packed fresh dill
1 tbsp sun-dried tomato
¼ tsp. sea salt

Instructions

Place sunflower seeds in the food processor first and grind until grainy.
Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. The dressing has a thick consistency overall.

You can store this dressing in the fridge for a good week. We put our in an old glass peanut butter jar! This one, to be exact 🙂

With love,

February Challenge: Reading

March 5, 2015 by Sarah

I’ve wholeheartedly dreaded reading books for as long as I can remember, something that never really aligned with all the rest of the nerd in me.

But then again, there are endless variations of ‘nerdy’.

I can honestly say I didn’t finish one leisurely book my entire time in college. And probably high school for that matter too. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just had some odd aversion to it from being forced to read so many books I didn’t want to in school.

Right before graduating last May, I stocked up on some books I wanted to read while I spent my summer working on an island. I envisioned immersing myself into endless pages as I listened to the gentle swishing of waves by the water overlooking the Mackinac bridge. Or laying in the grass enjoying the nature surrounding me while absorbing the words from the books I had excitedly chosen.

Guess what?

I did lay in the grass by the marina. Inhaling the remnants of horse poop. Enjoying the sun shining down on my face and a lil’ R&R on break. Okay, and yeah, maybe a brewski on my day off.. but not reading.

And I did sit and enjoy the bridge by the water. Marveling at the serenity of waves crashing up on the shore. Once. On a rock beach – look, NO SAND.

Needless to say, I didn’t read there either. Since graduating, I still had never finished a book. I started some; I read a couple chapters out of multiple books, but I hadn’t actually finished a single one.

Then hit February 2015 when I decided to do a reading challenge. What did that mean for me? Try and read at least a chapter a day. I’m not trying to make up for the last 8 years I haven’t been reading for enjoyment in one month or anything, just a bit here and there to consistently stay with it and maybe actually finish a book.

And as you’ve probably guessed, I’m so glad I did; I finished up three of the four books I had started in the past and finished another one after that too!

I read:

The Queen’s Code by Alison Armstrong
The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindsight, by Daniel J. Siegel
Daring Greatly, by Brené Brown

I’m in the middle of:

Carry On, Warrior, by Glennon Doyle Melton

And I plan to read:

Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway, by Susan Jeffers

I will be discussing my favorite parts from some of these books in the months to come so make sure and like my Facebook page or subscribe on the right to get notified when I publish new posts!

I would like to conclude that beyond just finishing books, I have grasped so much new information that I am incredibly grateful for. I learned all about the brain and how the different hemispheres operate and how that translates to behaviors being carried out, practicing mindfulness, shame, the importance of worthiness and vulnerability, minding the gap, being impeccable with my word, not making assumptions, not taking things personally, doing my best and creating my own dream, how men and women are different and what that means for cultivating healthy relationships, how to work with one another in relationships to meet each other’s needs, and really, not to take life too seriously. Live and let be. Roll with the punches. That’s been quite a theme in my life lately, and I feel like the books read together had a synergistic effect and complimented each other very nicely.

I really have respect for authors who spend the majority of their careers researching and learning about particular topics and then write a book for the general population to comprehend and glean some of the most important takeaways in that particular area. BOOKS ARE MARVELOUS! I grew leaps and bounds over the course of this month and opened myself up to many new ways of thinking. This challenge was beyond eye-opening. I chose to read books along the lines of personal development. I’m not much of fictional reader, maybe someday, but I’m really gung ho about life-learning and perspective-challenging and mindset-reorganizing these days. It’s this whole being 22 thing I’ve got goin’ on.. this post-graduation-I’m-kinda-tryin’-ta-figure-out-life-a-bit thing, to be more specific.

Would you like to do your own challenges every month?! It’s not too late to start! Check out this video for more information 🙂

Do you have any other recommendations for me to read next?