Pasta: YUM!

I love pasta. I try not to eat it *too* much, but I don't cut it out completely.  When I do serve up some yummy pasta concoction, I always opt for a healthier pasta. Instead of using your traditional white pasta I always choose a whole wheat form of pasta. Once you put a sauce on it, you really can't tell the difference! 90% of the time, I go one step farther than whole wheat pasta and choose brown rice pasta. I stumbled across this one day and it was love at first taste! The best part? This pasta has TWO ingredients: Brown rice and water. That's it! When I understand and recognize all the ingredients on a package I am definitely a happy camper. If you haven't tried it yet, go pick up a package and try it out. I'm pretty sure you can find this at most grocery stores. I know I've even found it at Walmart.

Once you find said pasta, come home and make this recipe:

EVOO Pasta w/Walnuts, Lentils & Red Peppers**

PREP TIME:  10 Minutes          READY IN:  30 Minutes
COOK TIME:  20 Minutes       SERVINGS:  6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Package thin spaghetti (Go get the brown rice pasta!)
• 3/4 Cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 Cups hot salsa (milder if you like less heat)
• 1/3 Cup EVOO
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• 1/3 Cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 Red pepper - diced
• 1 1/2 Cups spinach
• 1 Cup cooked lentils

 DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, grab a small pot and turn heat to medium. Add chopped walnuts to dry pot and lightly toast for a few minutes.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients (except spinach). Be careful as walnuts will sizzle and may splatter when you add the salsa. Stir well and heat on medium-low for another 7-8 minutes.
3. Place spinach in a colander and rinse. When pasta is cooked, remove from heat and pour into colander (with spinach in it) and rinse lightly. Drain and then add the spinach & pasta into the pot. Now pour the sauce into the pasta and spinach and stir well.

That's it! We call this "Spicy Spaghetti" in our house. Try it out and let me know what you think!

** Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows original recipe

Snackage

I LOVE snacking. I sit at a desk for most of my day and I make sure to always have yummy (mostly healthy) things in my drawer to snack on. My current addiction is Mrs. May's Natural Trio bars. I swear, they must put crack in them. They are SO GOOD! Plus, they are vegan, gluten free, non-GMO and kosher.

These bars are full of nuts and fruit and are so de-lish. I can't rave about them enough. I've only been able to find them at Costco thus far, but trust me, I'm on the lookout! 

Another favorite snack of mine is celery sticks and peanut butter. I could eat that all day everyday. 

Hummus. This used to make me cringe; the name, that is. I never even wanted to try it because I thought it was some grotesque hippy concoction made of trees and armpit hair. This is NOT the case! Hummus is soooo delectable. In fact, I am the hippy who makes it fresh at home, sans armpit hair. My two favorite flavors are Roasted Red Pepper and Spicy Jalapeno. I have yet to experiment with other types of hummus, like edamame hummus (which I guess isn't technically hummus since "hummus" means "chickpeas" in Arabic). Give me a veggie tray with some home-made hummus and I'm set.

Cutie's. The hubby and I have been eating a lot of Cutie's lately. Those little sweet orange/mandarin orange hybrids are oh-so-yummy and addicting. It's a good thing you have to take a minute to peel them, otherwise I may eat the whole bag in one sitting. 

Peanut Butter Sandwiches. When we go hiking, this is our absolute favorite thing to take along and snack on when we reach the peak of our hikes.

What keeps you going throughout the day?? What do you stash away for those times you need sustenance between meals? 

It's not a Diet, it's a Lifestyle!

We HATE the word diet, as a diet to most people is only a temporary change . . . We encourage you to change your lifestyle, as it is a change in your mindset, not just a change in what you eat!  This IS the way WE live.

We will have many delicious Paleo, Primal, Vegan and Vegetarian inspired recipes to share in the coming months. We all have different likes and dislikes that we will incorporate to give you the best possible nutrition for whatever fitness lifestyle you lead. 

Hi, I'm Kat and I'm a Vegan

Ok, so I don't normally go around announcing my veganism. It's not even a "thing" to me anymore, it's just what I eat; or don't eat. But boy, when it DOES come out, people gasp.

Why is vegan such a bad word? Some people look at me like I just ate their first born. Which I wouldn't do, of course, I don't eat meat.

So let me clear a few things up:

• No, I'm not a member of PETA. Most of my bags and some of my shoes are made of leather. (Vegan hasn't made its way to other aspects of my life *yet*.)
• Yes, I get plenty of protein, but thanks for your concern.
• I'm not on a diet, it's just my lifestyle.
• I eat things such as; Chick'n & Turk'y. Tofurky was the main course at Christmas dinner.
• I'm not a hippy but I do make some damn good homemade granola.
• I am still on the fence about honey. Technically speaking, honey is not vegan. But, it's a wonderful, natural sweetener and still finds its way into some of my recipes.
• If you eat meat, I don't care, won't judge you and will never try to convert you to the dark side.

Well, I guess it's out there! I'm a vegan and there's nothing you can do about it. Please don't disinvite me from your barbeques; I can and will eat the shit out of some grilled veggies!!