Category Archives: Recipes
Bachelorette Stir Fry
The name of this healthy recipe requires a little explanation.
My dad has a talent for taking random ingredients in the kitchen and throwing them together for an amazing dinner. He’s not really a recipe-follower. Before he married my mom, he had the stereotypical bachelor pad and one of his easy dinner go-to’s became dubbed the “Bachelor Stir Fry.”
Basically he would take leftover ingredients or random vegetables in the fridge (bell peppers, onions, etc.), dice up some russet potatoes, and mix in some type of meat and cook them all together in a frying pan. Sometimes he included eggs, making a breakfast hash. There is no real recipe, nothing specific, so every time came out a little differently.
Last night I cooked dinner for my dad and I, and came up with my own variation of his classic dish. A few healthy swaps here and there, and BAM – we have Bachelorette stir Fry.
My obsession with sweet potatoes has only grown stronger in the past five years, so I swapped out the russet potatoes for some orange yams. I also included Sprout’s Apple Chicken Sausage, along with yellow zucchinis, yellow and red bell peppers, onion, garlic, spices and my personal secret ingredient ;)
Okay okay I’ll share my secret – I added maple syrup! Just a table spoon so it didn’t overpower anything. I could subtly taste it on the sweet potatoes and it was delicious. This recipe is a lot sweeter than my dad’s usual mix, but I personally loved it and everyone went back for seconds. That always makes a girl feel good! :)
We topped our bowl with some avocado since it was lacking any green color. We could’ve also easily swapped in a green zucchini or a green bell pepper. Dishes like this are very flexible.
Bachelorette Stir Fry (Sweet Potato Hash)
- 1.5 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 bell peppers, your choice of color
- 2 zucchinis
- 2 6oz. chicken sausage (I used French Apple Chicken from Sprouts)
- 2 medium yams
- 1 Tbs. black pepper
- 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
- generous pinch of salt
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 Tbs. maple syrup (try to use the real stuff, not Aunt Jemimah.)
- Optional avocado for garnish
- In a small skillet, cook the chicken sausages until browned. Let cool, then slice into 1/2″ thick circles. Set aside.
- Dice onion, bell peppers and zucchinis. Peel sweet potatoes and dice.
- In a large frying pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic for 30 seconds. Add in diced onion, bell pepper, zucchini and sweet potatoes. Stir to combine. Add in pepper, salt, and paprika. Cover with a lid on medium-low for 15 minutes until everything is very soft.
- Add in the chicken sausage and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Keep heat on low for another 5 minutes.
- Serve with avocado, ketchup, hot sauce, or whatever your favorite topping is. :)
Earlier this week, I re-joined the world of snapchat. (@kenzalyse) I thought it would be a fun way to share my relocation journey without bombarding Instagram and I felt like I was missing out on some of my friends’ fun stories :) so far the filters are my favorite part.
This morning I have a meeting with a realtor, a cycling class, and an iced coffee date. See you here next week! Xoxo.
Get Freekeh: Ginger Garlic Greens & Grains Recipe
Before you scoff at my silly title, let me explain myself!
Freekeh is an ancient grain from young green wheat that can be cooked like rice or quinoa. It is a mainstay of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
Freekeh Foods sent me two packages of the grain, original and tamari flavor, just to try out. I didn’t know what exactly to expect, but was surprised to learn that a generous serving size (3/4 cup cooked) contains only 130 calories with nearly three times the fiber and protein of brown rice.
I decided to cook up the Freekeh with some steamed brussel sprouts and kale, along with a homemade ginger garlic sauce. The original Freekeh doesn’t have much of it’s own flavor and the nuttiness actually reminds me of plain steel cut oats. It’s very filling though and easy to customize with herbs, spices and sauces! The organic grain would make another healthy alternative to white rice or pasta for dinner entrees, and I can’t wait to try out a breakfast recipe using almond milk, vanilla, and cinnamon too :)
Garlic Ginger Greens & Grains:
- 1 cup dry Freekeh (plus 2.5 cups water)
- 1 cup brussel sprouts, rinsed and halved
- 1 cup kale, rinsed and ripped into bite-sized leaves
- 4 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 Tbs. low-sodium tamari sauce (soy sauce alternative)
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- black pepper to taste
1.) Add Freekeh and 2.5 cups water to a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
2.) Place brussel sprouts (fresh green beans is great too!) in a steamer, and cook until softened. Add in kale for the last five minutes.
3.)While vegetables are steaming and grains are simmering: combine tamari sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, ginger and black pepper in bowl. Whisk until well-combined and set aside.
4.) Once vegetables are steamed, transfer the greens into a medium skillet over medium heat with 1 Tbs. olive oil. Pour the garlic ginger sauce over the vegetables and sautee for 2 minutes.
5.) Serve the grains and greens with whatever protein source you prefer!
I plated mine with a quinoa sweet potato veggie burger from Costco. Gotta love a new and unique ingredient to add to my home-cooked clean dinners (because let’s be honest, there are only so many ways combine brown rice and broccoli before it starts to feel a little repetitive.)
I totally enjoyed cooking up this new “recipe” over the weekend. I used my Sunday Long Run (15 miles!) as an excuse to lay in bed with my book for three hours in the afternoon before deciding to get up, be productive, cook something and take pictures of it. ;) So far I’ve been disappointed that our Sprouts doesn’t carry these Freekeh packages but I can’t wait to find them elsewhere and try out the rosemary flavor. Let me know what you think!
XOXO Kenz
My First Guest Interview: Kelly’s 25 lb. Weight-loss Journey
When you live for the weekends, a Monday holiday is like finding an extra $20 in your pocket. Even more so when they involve visits from college buddies, new juice bars, 15-mile runs, and frozen yogurt.
But I’m not here for a weekend recap (surprisingly enough!)……
I have my first (hopefully of many more to come!) guest interview for you and I’m pretty excited about it! I would LOVE to have a whole series of interviews with inspirational guys & girls on their own fitness perspectives and stories.
*Okay, okay full disclosure: today’s guest interview is Kelly a.k.a. my mom. With good reason! Kelly has been an active and balanced health-conscious woman for my entire life, but noticed after her 40th birthday that the indulgences went up and the workouts went down. When her company office kicked off it’s own Biggest Loser competition, she competed for 14 weeks against 20 other women to WIN the title and LOSE approximately 25 pounds. Two months later, she’s kept the weight off and increased her running from a 5k to a half marathon!
After feeling like she was stuck in the same rut with her weight and running for 5 years, she shattered her personal goals for both during the 14-week competition. What’s most impressive is her commitment to running, cooking clean and leading a well-balanced healthy lifestyle after the competition. Her determination and success inspired ME and I wanted to share her story so that she can inspire you too :)
So with that introduction, here is my interview with Kelly!
Strong Like My Coffee: Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. Your steady weight loss and weight maintenance over the past 5 months is incredible. As your daughter, I can tell that you are more confident in a bikini, workout clothes, and tight dresses, which is so great to see. Can you please provide a brief summary of the details surrounding the Biggest Loser competition you participated in?
Kelly: The women in my office create their own “Biggest Loser” contest once a year. It’s 12-13 weeks, $20 to enter, and a $5 penalty if you gain weight at a weekly weigh in. The weekly weigh-in results are sent out in e-mails and those results definitely helped to keep me motivated. The top 3 winners (biggest percentage of body weight lost) split the ending pot. I had my own goal of getting back to a weight that I hadn’t seen in the last 12 years. For me it was about size and comfort. I wanted to look like I did when I was in my early 30’s and I wanted to dress like I was in my early 30’s!
SLMC: Congratulations on reaching your goal! What was the turning point where you thought “I need to make a healthier change to my lifestyle”?
Kelly: My clothes were getting tighter and tighter so I started wearing loose and baggy tops to hide my growing muffin top and when this became my normal routine I felt very frumpy and knew I had to do something about it. I wasn’t comfortable with my added weight and I’m too young to dress frumpy!
SLMC: In total, how much weight did you lose? Where did you notice the biggest improvements to your body?
Kelly: I lost 23 pounds. At first it was my upper body that showed the most change. My arms were getting significantly smaller and then it showed in my waist as my pants were now baggy and too loose.
SLMC: Aside from weight and numbers, you saw amazing improvements in your fitness level throughout this process. I watched you go from struggling to run 3 miles to now easily logging 8, 9, 10+ miles on Sunday mornings. You pushed past that plateau! What are some of the biggest “milestones” you hit during this period?
Kelly: The milestones came every few weeks; I used to dread the stair master and could only do about 10 minutes without taking a break, but during this contest, I pushed myself to 20 continuous minutes. The stair master still kicks my ass but it pushes me the hardest, and therefore I do it at least once a week.
Another challenge for me was the ability and stamina to continuously run 4 to 5 miles. When I first started running, I plateaued at a 5k. For years I hovered around that 3-mile mark. I have made dramatic progress in the last several weeks pushing myself from 3 to 4 miles; then 5 miles right to 7; the next week I pushed myself to 9 and this week I’m looking to crush a 10 mile run! It’s actually fun to see just how far I can push myself and it’s extremely exhilarating to conquer such an intense goal.
SLMC: That is incredible, and obviously I love to hear another family member describe running as “fun.” ;) I don’t know anyone who has gone from 3 to 10 miles so quickly. You inspire me!
During the contest, what are some of the things that kept you motivated to continue losing weight for 12+ weeks?
Kelly: I was originally motivated to lose enough weight to fit back into some favorite clothes that no longer fit, as well as to buy some new outfits. About half way into the contest I was in the top 3, which then motivated me to move from 3rd place to 2nd and then of course from 2nd to 1st. I found that I have a competitive side that I didn’t know existed and it really took over the last month of the contest. By the end of these 3 months, I could see that my endurance level had definitely been kicked up a few notches. It felt great to push myself to new limits, reach my original goal, set higher goals, and crush those goals as well. The last week of the competition was high intensity cardio twice a day and I pushed myself harder than I thought possible. It literally paid off!
SLMC: Of course when you are working to lose those “last few pounds,” you have to really tighten up the nutritional quality of your daily snacks and meals. I know that you re-evaluated some of your little habits and decreased your sodium/sugar intake. What was the most difficult habit to break?
Kelly: Munching on ‘leftovers’ as I packed them up, or if there wasn’t really enough to save, I would eat it to avoid throwing it away. Kinda like when I used pack your lunches in elementary school and you only wanted a half or 3/4 of a sandwich and I would eat the rest of it to avoid tossing it.
SLMC: You say that you never fully deprived yourself and enjoyed many splurges during the Biggest Loser contest, but still managed to consistently lose weight/body fat. What are your typical indulgences?
Kelly: I HAVE to have a daily dose of dark chocolate – no exceptions. My go-to is either Dove Dark or Girahdelli dark chocolate squares. I always have a bag on hand. I love iced coffees and thanks to you, I now order the Americano with sugar free caramel or sugar free vanilla which is only 15 or so calories and tastes like heaven! During the 13 weeks of the contest I must have eaten out at least 15 times. Sit down restaurants, fast food joints, parties, as well as BBQ’s with friends. Just about every restaurant now offers a healthy or light menu and to me those options are as perfect as they are filling. I love trying new foods and dishes so it was fun to choose something different from each menu. Following some of these indulgences I would of course feel a little guilty about the upcoming weigh-in so I upped the interval cardio to burn more calories in a session and off-set those additional treats.
SLMC: What is your typical breakfast/lunch/dinner?
Kelly: Breakfast is Coaches Oats – hearty oatmeal and I add in a heaping spoon of cinnamon and either banana slices or strawberries. Lunch varies since I don’t like the same thing day after day; a yogurt parfait (yogurt, almost slices, cinnamon and fruits such as banana, strawberry, peach/nectarines) and some sort of crunchy snack like pretzels, sun chips or Peppridge Farms Goldfish crackers. I always eat an apple in the morning and in the afternoon – keeps me from eating candy and/or other junk food. I love plain rice cakes smothered in PB Fit and dinner is always a veggie, a salad and some sort of protein (Chicken, chickpea burger, salmon, or black bean burger).
Our weekly go-to is spaghetti squash with my homemade turkey/veggie balls and a light marinara sauce. Veggie stir fry makes it’s way into our weekly rotation quite often too. A typical healthy dessert has been an 80 calorie Yoplait yogurt with a few berries and a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips or a 40 calorie fudgsicle. So light in calories and yet satisfies the dessert cravings.
SLMC: How did you celebrate your victory!?
Kelly: I had been craving a loaded pizza from BJ’s with a pitcher of beer for quite some time, but when it came to victory night, I had no desire for the beer and while the pizza was good, it didn’t live up to the hype in my head.
And now a lightning round:
- Cocktail or Chocolate – Chocolate every time!
- Sweet or Salty – Salty and preferably crunchy!
- Morning Workout or Evening – Morning, it feels so good afterward and makes for a better day.
- Burpees or Plank – Hmmm, both kick my butt but I can do both pretty damn good now, so I’d say Burpees.
- Flavored water or plain – Definitely plain.
- Coffee or tea – There was time when I would have said iced tea, but thanks to you, I’ve become quite adicted to coffee now.
- Weights or cardio – Depends on my mood when it’s time to work out, but I probably lean more towards cardio.
- Strong Like My Coffee of Facebook {trick question ;)} HA, Stronglikemycoffee hands down every time!
Thanks, Kelly! You’re a rock star!
***Kelly’s diet and exercise plan were successful for her but everyone is different! My interview isn’t intended to promote her meal plan, but rather her discipline and determination to reach a goal, as well as the confidence her success brought!***
One more thing that Kelly said in our interview that I absolute HAVE to share:
“When I was running, of course it was hard and I was trying not to give up. And I just thought, ‘we know or we hear about so many people who are sick, who have cancer, who are fighting diseases, who have some physical disability, and here I am with a healthy and able body. I better enjoy it and challenge it because I CAN.’ And I’m thankful for that.”
Hope you liked this little change-up, but I’ll be back with normal workout/recipes again this week :)
XOXO Kenz
