Personal Your Way Pizza

Today’s 21DF recipe is going to be so easy that your kids can help you make it! What person doesn’t love making their own pizza? Mine has a Greek theme to it but you can add whatever you’d like, this is meant to be just a small guide to help you get an idea on what you could put on the pizza and what containers you can use.

1 Yellow - Flat Out ArtisanThin Pizza Crust 

2 tbsp Marinara Sauce (The one that I used and am totally obsessed with is the Bertolli Organic Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic)

1 Green – I used sliced grape tomatoes and spinach

1 Orange – Kalmata Olives

1 Red – Meat of your choosing –  I used sliced steak, which I had already cooked

1 Blue – Shredded cheese (Once again, I really wanted to use a salty cheese – feta – but opted for an approved cheese intead)

1 – Bake Flat Out for 2 minutes at 375 (according to package)

2 – After two minutes remove the Flat Out but keep the oven on. Next, use a spoon to spread out the marinara sauce and then spread out your veggies, meat, olives, and sprinkle cheese on top

3 – Bake about five minutes and then you’re all set!

Enjoy your delicious and healthy personal pizza. It’s ok not to share, I won’t blame you!

No Crap Buffalo Chicken Salad

So my friend is a Beachbody Coach and got me doing her 21 Day Fix. If you know what it  is, you’re probably a fan. If you don’t know what it is, I’ll tell you. In brief, it is a way to learn clean eating and portion control. I’ve always been a fan of clean eating but the portion control thing was always my biggest problem. Since starting it, I’ve had some great results and it really is a great lifestyle change. It puts you in the habit of being conscientious of the foods you’re putting into your body. Once I really started looking at ingredients, I was shocked to see some of the junk that was listed. To get me on a better track without feeling I was stuck eating boring food, I started to put a healthy spin on my favorite recipes and editing other recipes I’ve found.

Here’s one that I really enjoy making for lunch. I once made it for my boyfriend who refused to eat it at first because I said there was yogurt in it and he was convinced it wouldn’t taste good, but after trying it he fell in love with it and now I make it all the time! So I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients -

1 Container of 6oz Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt

1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

½ tsp Garlic Powder

¼ tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 lb Cooked Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (shredded or cut into tiny pieces)

4 Heart of Celery Stalks, Finley Chopped (or 2 regular stalks)

½ cup Cilantro

½ cup Crumbled Blue Cheese (due to sodium levels in blue cheese, I used an 2/3 cup Italian 4-cheese mix for 21DF recipe) 

1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth

Directions -

1 – Cook whole chicken breasts in broth by bringing to a rapid boil and then simmering until finished. If you have any broth left, drain it out. Once done, allow chicken to cool before shredding - to avoid burning any fingers! 

2 – In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and pepper. Then stir in chicken, celery, cilantro, and cheese.

3 – Serve on your choice of bread, wrap, or crackers!

This is good to be refrigerated for about 4-5 days.

As far as the 21DF is concerned, the way I measured this out was as follows:

Greek Yogurt = 1 Red

Chicken = Once shredded, I measured it out one red container at a time until all the chicken was in the bowl. 

Celery = Same process as the chicken, but using the green container

Cheese = 2 Blue

Bread = 1 Yellow

The number of red containers is how I separated the completed dish. My completed recipe had a total of four reds so I counted each serving as 1 R, 1/4 G +bringing a remaining green of celery sticks  to equal 1 G, 1/2B.I ate it with a  sandwich thin which counted as 1Y. I hope this makes sense, if not – please feel free to let me know or ask any questions that you have.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you find a new way to spice it up, let me know. I’d love to give it a shot!

I'm 25!

Ah - I'm officially 25, I can't believe it! (As if you can't tell from the title of this post and the image above) I'm normally not one to care about birthdays but this one was extremely special. It was by far one of the best birthdays I've had in a while and spent it with some amazing people. 

It started on Friday morning when I went to go get my hair done while I waited for my cousin to arrive from Charlotte. I was SO, SO excited that she came to spend my birthday with me! We spent the day just hanging out until the night hit when we went to dinner and World of Beer. We didn't want to do too much since Saturday was going to be a packed day.

Saturday morning and yay, it's my birthday! Saturday we spent the day at The Winery at Bull Run. One of my best friends got married there earlier this year and it really is such a nice space so I knew this was a great choice. Also, the fact that it wasn't ridiculously far from the city (like most wineries are) was a big factor so that a lot of my friends could make it out. For the evening we went out to dinner and had a night on the town - aka: partying in Arlington.

Sunday was just spent as a nice and relaxing day, unwinding from the hustle and bustle of Friday and Saturday night. Everyone knows I'm not the out all weekend type of girl, so Sunday was just perfect for me. Actually, the whole weekend was.

I am seriously so happy that so many of my friends made it out throughout the weekend to spend time with me on my birthday. I am hoping for an awesome 25th year, especially since I'm officially at the "I feel like I'm going to open my eyes and be 30" age.

Thank you for reading about my wonderful weekend and I hope everyone can have the same awesome feeling I had these past couple days during their birthday celebration, week, month!

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

Hi All -

I was recently going through my Pinterest recipes, looking for something somewhat specific but yet not. I knew I wanted something Mediterranean so I went through using different words to find something that would catch my eye. I came across Joy the Baker's "It's Not Summer Yet Greek Pasta Salad." I liked the idea but knew I would want to change it up. So here's my take on it:

For the Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 lemons, juiced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Pasta Salad:

5 cups cooked (cooled) orzo pasta

3 chopped Persian cucumbers 

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped heart of palm

1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl toss together orzo pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese, onion, heart of palm and olives.  Add olive oil, lemon juice and garlic powder. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. You can serve immediately or chill and then serve. Personally, I like it a bit chilled once all the ingredients have been mixed together. 

I would like to say that every time I make this, I base it off of taste. Some days I go with more lemon, some days more olives, more garlic (so I’ll add fresh crushed garlic on those days), or whatever else I might be craving. Being Middle Eastern, it’s REALLY hard for me to stick to any sort of recipe. 98% of the time I ask my mom or one of my aunts for directions on how to cook something, they never use measurements so that's also become a habit for me. I do recommend that you do that also every once in a while and listen to your taste buds when they're craving!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! And thank you to Joy the Baker for inspiring me. :) Enjoy and talk to you soon!

I Ran My First 5K!

Hi Everyone!

Guess what.. I'm back! I don't want to sit here any promise that I'm going to get better at posting, I'll let my actual posts do the talking. So let's dive in!

I've crossed thing the first thing off my 30 Before 30 bucket list for 2014. I ran The Color Run DC! It was a great first 5K for a few different reasons. First, it was fun! The colors made each kilometer go by faster. Second, it's great for beginners. It's not timed so there's no worry about crossing that finish line as fast as you can. Third, it's something that everyone can participate in. There were people of all ages, people running alone, in partners, in families. My favorite were the moms with their running strollers.

I will admit, I took the longest shower of my life after this race. It wasn't easy to wash everything off. There was definitely scrubbing involved. It was totally worth it though! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the race:

Now that I've gotten my first race out of the way, I'm definitely going to do another. Except for the next one, I'll actually train beforehand. 

I definitely recommend that everyone do at least one 5k at some point. Even if you're not a runner, there are 5ks that are for walkers. They're a great way to go outside and be active with friends. Any bit of exercise you do is better than none! :)

Talk to you all soon!

Super Bowl Menu

Hello All! In two short weeks Super Bowl XLVIII will be among us. Incase you don't know me too well, I am a huge NFL fan. (I specify NFL because I don't watch college football, sorry!) If I am not rooting for my team, the Washington Redskins, I am rooting for Peyton Manning. I think he is amazing and I am thrilled to see him make it to the Super Bowl this year!

Now I'm so glad I have a reason to host a party. So what's going to be on the menu? Oh, that's the beauty of the big game being two weeks away, I still have time to decide! I had a list of like a thousand things I would like to make but with that being unrealistic to actually do, I narrowed it down. Here are some awesome Super Bowl/big sporting event food ideas that I'd like to share with you:

Dips

Skinny Taco Dip from myself, ha - Not to toot my own horn but this stuff is addicting! This pairs very well with Tostitos Fajita Scoops.

5 Layer Greek Dip from The Lovely Cupboard - I have made this a few times and got a great response, plus I love it so that's pretty much a big deal. For this I recommend picking up a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip from Tammilee Tips - I have been eyeing this dip for SO long and I finally get to make it. It also makes me happy that I finally have a Crock Pot to actually make things in.

Appetizers/Main Dishes

Baked Buffalo Wings by Tastes Really Good - How can you have a Super Bowl party and not have wings?! Exactly. Here you go!

Greek Nachos by Not Without Salt - Mmm, I love anything Greek/Mediterranean. 

Buffalo Turkey Balls by I Breathe.. I'm Hungry - Do we notice a trend here? Chances are it's either buffalo or Mediterranean. 

Pigs in a Blanket by 2010 Food Project - These are so simple to make there's no reason not to have them on your menu

Jalapeño Popper Pigs in a Blanket by The Girl Who Ate Everything - Here's a way to spice up some pigs in a blanket. 

Potato Nachos by Priscilla Bakes - These look so good. If you throw in some ground beef, it could definitely be made into a main dish. I mean, of course you'd need like 10 of them but still.

Dessert

Strawberry Brownie Kabob by Erica's Sweet Tooth - Seriously? Yum! So simple and easy. An easy step for this one is rather than making the brownies yourself, you can buy the brownie bites from Costo and they will work perfectly.

Rainbow Krispy Bars by Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen - This is a treat that everyone will love. Well, anyone with working taste buds.

Other

A few other things you could make that I don't have pictures of are (obviously) some football themed cupcakes and cookies that will be near every aisle of the grocery store. Also, a trip to Costco is always good; mozzarella sticks, quiche/appetizers box and soft pretzels. And don't forget your veggie and fruit platters!

Delish!

Overall, I know I have a serious issue with going overboard. I love having a reason to entertain and cooking. Unfortunately, I don't have my own house and I can't spend a ton of money on food and party supplies. I really want to make this year super fun and I can't wait to tell you all, all about it. It'll be interesting to see what I actually end up cooking!

Until next time,

My New Years Resolutions

It's time for me to share my resolutions for 2014. I'm one of those people that if I write out my goals I am more likely to accomplish them. I can come back and look at them, keep track and once it's out there, I tell myself "now I have to do it!" - So here we go.

1. Work harder on my blog - As I mentioned it in my last post, I really want to be successful at blogging and give my blog a good life. I'm having trouble finding my niche but I think I'm slowly getting there. I'm also now looking at it in a different way. I'm currently not the engaged, married, a homeowner, etc but one day I will be. I realized it's a good thing that I've started my blog before all of this so then I can track all of it and be able to look at all of it.

2. Health and fitness - Last year I was doing really well with my fitness, I was in the gym a lot and then BOOM, I got very sick. I spent two weeks in the hospital, a total of five weeks sick RIGHT in the middle of summer. When I was in the hospital it was the point that I was getting pretty gauntly because I was barely eating. After I was cleared and feeling better, I just couldn't get myself to go to the gym and I started eating again and gained a ton of weight. This year I am determined to get myself back on track and sticking to it, no matter what.

3. Keeping track of my finances - Now that I have a job in my field, a salary paycheck, and real world bills, I'm going to get myself on track. I made myself a pretty awesome excel spreadsheet and listed EVERYTHING. It is honestly one of the most scary things I've looked at recently. One of the scariest things to me is the possibility of ruining my credit and not being able to be stable financially.

4. 30 Before 30 - This year I will be 25. That (obviously) leaves me 5 years until my 30th birthday and I still have 28 things to mark off my list. This year I am going to go for FIVE more things on my list. I don't know which ones yet but it'll happen.

5. Inner peace - I want to focus myself on my inner peace. I want to try to relieve some of the stress in my life and try to make myself a happier person. I truly believe if I can just get rid of some of the massive amounts of stress in my life it will make me a much happier person mentally, it will help me being on track with my health and it will overall help me with every aspect of my life. Maybe I'll start with some yoga?

I have a few other things on my list but they're not major so I'm not going to go into detail about them. All I know is, I have never said "New Year, New Me" but I'm going to say it this year. I will be 25, major milestone, and I am going to make this an ah-mazing year. With the year I had in 2013, I think God will be guiding me into a better year. I can't wait to see what comes my way. I can't wait to accomplish my resolutions, hopes and goals of this year and I hope the same for you!

Talk to you soon.

My Lack of Posts - The Truth

Hello All!

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday break, vacation, New Year and any other adventure you've had in the past few weeks. Today I'm here to post my first "real" post. By real I mean emotion, no recipes, no pictures/videos, etc. I want to talk about the reason why I don't post so often. The reason why sometimes I have a couple posts in one week and why I go MIA for a couple weeks after.

Here's the truth: I can't find my niche. There are many common factors that I find in the blogs I come across: motherhood, marriage, fashion, home decor, cooking, fitness and adventure. There are 1.5 of the mentioned that I feel I truly relate to. First let me talk about the ones I don't fit in with.

Let's start with this. I'm 24, in a serious relationship (3 years in March) and I still live with my mom. Therefore, I am not married, do not have children (not that you need to be married to do so), I do not have my own place (yet) and I am not fashionable enough to share my fashion with the world. I'm also not that adventurous, even though I'd like to be. I feel that most of the amazing blogs I come across are mommy-bloggers, ladies planning their weddings, gushing about their new home decor, etc. I can't wait to be that gal but for now, I'm not.

The things I do relate to are food (1 point) and fitness (.5 point). If you do read my blog you'll see I post quite a bit of recipes. I love to cook but it can often be hard as I share a tiny kitchen with my mother who just so happens to have a reason to be in the kitchen whenever I am in there. As far as the fitness goes, I read fitness blogs and can apply tips to myself at this time (I don't have to pin it and wait a couple years to do it) but I don't write about it.

I will definitely keep up with my recipe posting but there will be other things I need to start posting about. Until now I veered away from posting about random thoughts that come to mind or popculture, headlines, etc. My last blog (I had it for a couple years) I would post a lot about popculture and it really worked for me. So why did I stop? I honestly have no idea. I guess I figured people just like short, straight to the point posts with pictures and videos. I've decided to go back to my old ways.

My first New Years Resolution is to put more effort and time into my blog. I love it and I want it to be successful in my blogging so I need to put my heart into it and not just let it drift away. I will also put more time into finding and reading other people's blogs. (Side note: One thing I really wish blogspot would make is a more advanced search engine. - I think this would really benefit me, and others, in finding blogs they are able to relate to more. They should also delete the thousands of blogs that haven't been written on in YEARS but that's a completely different rant.)

That will be one of my top resolutions for 2014. I will follow up with a post all about my New Years Resolution(s) and why 2014 WILL be my year! Until then -- talk to you soon!