Healthy recipe... Vegetarian "Meat"Loaf Muffins

I was looking for a high-protein grab and go kind of meal and came across a couple vegetarian "meat"loaf recipes.  I combined the two taking out things I didn't like and adding things I did.  This is what I came up with:

Cute huh?

Todays lunch on top of baby spinach and arugula!

Vegetarian “Meat”Loaf Muffins

Makes approx. 19-20 meatloaf muffins

***  NOTE on vegetable – You can buy them pre-chopped in a container at the grocery store.  Usually the onion, celery & carrot are together.

INGREDIENTS

·      6 cups vegetable stock

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      2 ½ cups green lentils

·      1 small onion, diced

·      2 carrots, diced

·      2 celery stalks, diced

·      8 ounces crimini mushrooms, diced

·      2 cups brown rice, cooked

·      5 egg whites

·      8 ounces tomato sauce

·      2 teaspoons garlic powder

·      2 teaspoon basil (dried or fresh)

·      2 teaspoon parsley (dried or fresh)

·      1 teaspoon seasoning salt

·      ½ teaspoon black pepper

·      1 teaspoon dried chipotle pepper powder

DIRECTIONS

1.   Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.   Bring vegetable stock to a boil, add green lentils and cook until done according to package.

3.   Drain and partially mash lentils.

4.   Stir in onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms and brown rice.

5.   Add egg, tomato sauce, garlic, basil, parsley, seasoning salt, pepper and chipotle pepper.

6.   Mix well.

7.   Spray two muffin tin trays with non-stick cooking spray.  Fill them with meatloaf mix just below the top edge of the tin.

8.   Bake for 15 minutes, turn pan, bake for another 10-15 minutes.

9.   Remove and cool in pan for about 10 minutes.

10.        Run a sharp knife around each meatloaf muffin and gently remove.

Let me know if you make them!  Enjoy!

Getting' myself back into shape...

Not that I was really out of shape, I'm toning my business up!  A lot of people think I'm skinny... but skinny isn't good and I'm actually not.  :)  I'm back hitting the gym again and I loooooooooove it!  I wanna get back to this:

This was me a few years ago!
Weight training & cardio 5-6 days a week.

I wasn't really eating a clean diet then.  I ate almost what I wanted, but I was still a vegetarian.  I'm back to the gym 5-6 times a week, weights & cardio each day.  I'll share my routine tomorrow maybe.  I've been really trying to do some "clean eating".  Which is basically fresh foods free of bad fats, man-made sugars and processed foods.

"Strong is the new skinny!"

|fishing day|

Using up some more goodies my pals mailed me to get me going!  :)

I used the bubble wrap technique Leslie showed on the Shimmerz blog.  THANKS Les!

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I randomly sprayed Shimmerz Vibez (Sunset Strip, Before Dawn, Jeni Bleu) on wax paper.  Dabbed my piece of bubble wrap in it then pressed it on my paper.  I continued to do that until I covered my paper.

|love you|

|click on all images to enlarge!|

Thanks to my sweet pal Leslie Ashe for sending me every little goody it took to create this page!  THANKS LES, love ya!  Wendy is gettin' her groove back.  :)

Here's a card I created just for Leslie to thank her for the 30 pounds of stuff she sent me and for just bein' there for me all the time!  ♥♥♥

|tutorial|

Disposable Coffee Cup Twine Dispenser

Supplies:

• Disposable travel coffee cup (mine had two layers to it)
• 1 – sheet patterned paper
• 1 – sheet cardstock
• Paper piercer
• Adhesive
• Pen
• Scissors
• Embellishments

1.  Peel off the outer layer of the coffee cup to use as your stencil.  Lay your stencil out on your patterned paper of choice and trace.  Next, cut it out and adhere to the outside of your cup.

|click on images to enlarge|

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2.  Turn your lid upside down and trace the inner edge onto your cardstock and cut it out.  Adhere it to the top of the lid.

3.  With your paper piercer, pierced holes around the edge of the lid (for your twine to pull through).  I have marked mine with a white pen to show you. 

4.  Decorate with your chosen embellishments and feed the ends of your twine through the holes you’ve created.  Place the lid back on and voila, you’re done!

|you & me us ♥ 2|

Thank YOU Leslie for all the awesome goodies you shared with me to make this page!  ♥

|ride|

Brandon and I went on this awesome bike ride in March of 2010.  We drove to Boulder City, rented some bikes and road the Railroad Pass trail to the Hoover Dam.  I crashed just before we hit the end.  AND I laughed at myself.  Ha!

|click on images to enlarge|

Products used:
Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterned paper - The Girl's Paperie (On Holiday); Fancy Pants (Rusted Sun Pool Party)
Hambly Screen Prints Journaling Bits overlay Orange
Pinwheel - Wendy Hammer Designs
Corrugated { } - Deja View
Work Stickers - Pebbles
Letters - American Crafts (Thickers Flat); Cosmo Cricket (Tiny Type Yellow)
Ticket - Collage Press (Inventory)

Here's some photos of my awesome crash!  Check out the skids...  :)

|click on images to enlarge|

 

|teeccino|

I'm just sayin'!  HEAVEN in a cup!!!  ♥♥♥  I am trying to cut back on my caffeine/coffee intake a the moment.  While the coffee we drink at home is ONLY 1/2 caff coffee is still very acidic which as everyone should be aware highly acidic foods/drinks we intake can and are known to be a cause of many diseases or at least it helps them along.  Anywho, I want to cut mine back.  I LOVE the taste of coffee but don't really benefit from caffeine in any way.  I don't get the energy jolt from it.  I found this... 

Teeccino!

It smells terrible (to me) but oh man, brew that puppy and it is sooooooooo delightful!  The one above is the flavor I purchased at Whole Foods.  You can buy them online at Teeccino or use their product locator to find it being sold close to you.  I bought their sampler pack and I'm waiting for that to come in the mail.  It's made from:

• Carob

  Carob

  Carob pods are highly nutritious and contain a variety of antioxidants known as flavonoids. Carob shares flavonoids in common with tea that have been studied to be highly effective in humans for protecting cells against free radical damage.
  
• Barley

  Barley

  Roasted barley is a popular coffee alternative in Italy where it is known as "Caffé d'orzo". Every coffee bar in Italy serves orzo brewed like cappuccinos or coffee!
  
• Chicory root

  Chicory root

  Roasted chicory root is the popular coffee alternative in France. French coffee is famous for its smooth, less acidic flavor because approximately 30% of French coffee is roasted chicory root. Another variety of chicory produces endive...
  
• Dates & Figs

  Dates & Figs

  Dates and figs slightly sweeten Teeccino's Mediterranean flavors without adding significantly to the calories per serving. Dates and figs contain antioxidants that are water soluble and extract during brewing.
  
• Almonds

  Almonds

  Teeccino's Mediterranean flavors contain golden roasted almonds that create a rich, nutty flavor yet don't add any fat to a cup of Teeccino. Almonds also contain significant quantities of antioxidants including proanthocyanidins (OPCs) and...
  
• Natural Flavors 

Right now I'm mixing 1/2 coffee (my 1/2 caff) and 1/2 the Teeccino when I brew it.  It has recommendations on how to brew if you're trying to ween yourself off of caffeine.  :)  It's also gluten free if that's a concern for anyone.  Afterall... I'm after Optimal Health!

And just for a little laugh...

Bwahahahahaha!  I so wanna get that for my dogs!  :D

|pages|

Hey hey looky here...

|scrapping|

To do Tuesday...

1. Gym
2. I got some goodies in the mail.  Now what to scrap first?  I'm kinda scared!  LOL
3. Laundry
4. Take photos of new items for my shop (of which I TOTALLY need to make more to use on my scrapbook pages.)
5. A bit of cleaning of which I doubt I'll get done because of #2 & #4

What's on your agenda for today?  For the week?  For the weekend?

I really need to make a run to Ikea for a table for my room, storage shelves and containers.  Anyone wanna go?  :)  I want this:

• Table... BJURSTA (Not sure which color.  It's the same one we have in our dining room but the one we have is the 12 seater.)
• Bookcase... BILLY (I think I would like it better than the EXPEDIT.  Plus it's bigger.)
• Jars... BURKEN, RAJTAN and maybe these KRUS.  (I had the jars before but got rid of them like a foolio!)
• Magazine, papers & organizing... FLYT, KASSETT, SPONTAN, EMU

Well, you catch my drift!  LOL  I also have some news up at my business blog about some new products.  I can't wait to use them on my own pages!  Check it out here...  Wendy Hammer Designs

|flashback|

With all this talk about CHA and scrapbooking I'm gettin' the itch!  I was going through one of my external harddrives trying to organize some photos and I came across my photos from when I was on Scrapbook LifeStyle.  Remember that show?  OMGosh it was so much fun!  I sure miss the girls!  It reminded me of Memory Trends 2006 when I ran into Angela Daniels and ended up having an interview with Amelia when I got home to be on the show.  Anyway, here's a little jaunt down memory lane of Memory Trends 2006 and CHA 2007...

Season 3 taping for Scrapbook Lifestyle...

Good times... good times!

|pb cup heaven|

If you love peanut butter cups you just HAVE to make these... The Kind Lifer Peanut Butter Cups.  There really is nothing like them and they are so much better than Reese's PB Cups!  And oh yes... they are VEGAN!  You won't believe it when you down one, or two, or maybe three of these suckers.  Take it from someone who is a die hard fan of anything peanut butter, let alone peanut butter and chocolate.  :)  I like to keep mine in the freezer and then when I want one I take it out for just a few minutes before I devour it.  They are normally a little soft, so the freezer helps harden them up.  I buy my goods at Whole Foods because I know I can find the organic graham crackers and I buy the maple sugar granules too!

MAKES 12

INGREDIENTS
1⁄2 cup Earth Balance butter
3⁄4 cup crunchy peanut butter - (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3⁄4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1⁄4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1⁄4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk
1⁄4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts

STEPS
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (If You Care makes unbleached liners made from recycled paper.)
Set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well. Remove the mixture from the heat.
Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.
Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan.
Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
Top with chopped nuts.
Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.  

Starting my Saturday!  :)

|guest|

I'm a guest blogger over at the blog belonging to the one and only Rachel Carlson!  Do you know her?  I love her!  We met eons ago in the scrapping world and I was her Secret Bunny in a gift exchange one year.  I surprised her with a box of goodies and one of these...  A Claudine Hellmuth Poppets of which I KNOW she adores.  She's one uber talented scrapper who works for Tattered Angels, 7 Gypsies and Thermo Web.  She's simply AMAZING and one of these days I will make it up there to see her.  THANKS Rach!

|laugh|

This totally makes me laugh and it's what I am going to say from now on...

|gah|

I did it!  I ordered a few things from the Scenic Route Sale Store to start scrapping a little.

Baby steps... baby steps....  :D

|organize|

I saw this on Anna Bowkis' blog.  Are you ready for a challenge?  I love anything that has to do with organizing!  I probably won't do something EVERY day because I'm lazy like that.  LOL  But here ya go and let me know if you're going to do it to and if you find any clever ways to organize some things...

21 DAY ORGANIZING CHALLENGE 

each day below is a link, click and see what

the original poster, toni, did.

• Join the Challenge (at any time)
• Day 1 - Junk Drawer
• Day 2 - Computer Desk
• Day 3 - Tupperware Cabinet
• Day 4 - Linen Closet
• Day 5 - Under kitchen sink
• Day 6 - Dresser Drawers
• Day 7 - The Pantry
• Day 8 - Coat Closet
• Day 9 - Toy organization
• Day 10 - Laundry Room
• Day 11 - The Freezer
• Day 12 - Spice Cabinet
• Day 13 - Medicine Cabinet
• Day 14 - Under bathroom sink
• Day 15 - Medicine/Vitamin Storage
• Day 16 - The Fridge
• Day 17 - The Mail
• Day 18 - Keepsakes
• Day 19 - Master Closet
• Day 20 - Photos
• Day 21 - You pick

|addiction|

Ok, so now I AM totally addicted to that damn {Pinterest} site.  I can't help it!  I'm seriously trying to keep my nose into the grind of mixing clay so I can get these flowers into my shop but I constantly think I need to take a little looky.  What am I gaining from it???  NOTHING!  Here's a few pics I've {pinned} recently...

Really, who doesn't LOVE cookie and who doesn't LOVE Cookie Monster?  Pfffft

I think this is totally awesome!  A jar for each vacation holding little momentos from each trip.

This seriously.... CRACKS ME UP every time I read it!

Ummmmmmmm yeah... I SO want to do this in my bedroom!  I am {Wendy} after all!

Nuff said... GET OVER IT, we're all human!!!

I'm going to spill it now (but I'm going to spill it in really tiny letters and very quietly)....

I want to start scrapping again!

Ok, I said it!  I SAID IT!  Now with that being said... I need to get some scrappy supplies, products, goodies, paper... yadda yadda.  I am so WAY OUT of the loop on scrapbook stuff.  So YOU tell ME...

WHAT DO I NEED?  HELP!!!  What are you favorite products and which ones do I need first?

ps... if you would like to join {Pinterest}, let me know and leave me your email addy so I can send you an invite.