30 Minute Meals: Sauteed Kale & Quinoa

As you may know, I am working hard to reduce the amount of animal products and processed foods my family consumes. I just bought a veggie spiralizer on Amazon to make sweet potato and zucchini noodles! It should be on my front stoop today! As part of the meat and carb reduction, I was roasting up all the veggies in my house last week, and I thought to myself, why stop now?! I'll cook everything in my fridge! A little spur of the moment? Maybe. A lot of flavor? Definitely!

Kale and quinoa may be the two trendiest ingredients on Pinterest right now, but for good reason. They are a powerhouse combo! Kale is one of the most nutrient dense foods out there full of calcium, magnesium, vitamin K, antioxidants, fiber out the wazoo... I mean the WORKS! For a vegetable that was once just a garnish for salad bar, it's a staple it in my family's dinner rotation.

Quinoa is one of my favorite foods EVER! It's so diverse and yummy. I make breakfasts with it, I make burritos with it, soup.... Sweet or savory, you name it, I put quinoa in it - the options are endless! These delicious little pebbles are full of iron, b-vitamins, magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamin e and has all the essential amino acids to make a complete protein. Quinoa is naturally gluten free if that's something you're concerned about. Did I mention toddler friendly too? (Although messy, very messy).

Organic Ingredients:

1 small yellow onion
4+ cloves of garlic
4 tbls olive oil (or coconut oil if you want the trendy trifecta!)
6 cups of ribbed curly kale torn into bite sized pieces
1 cup veggie stock
1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (or sprinkle on some "nooch" if you're vegan)
A few shakes of red pepper flakes - dependent on your heat preference

Instructions:

I chopped my onion, minced some garlic, and got that cooking in some olive oil. Once that was fragrant, and the onions were translucent (about 5 minutes), I threw in about 6 cups of curly kale with 2 tablespoons of water and covered until the kale had wilted and was tender (12 minutes or so), stirring on the reg.

While that was going, in a separate pot, I cooked up a half cup of the perfect protein, quinoa. To do that, get your stock boiling, dump in your quinoa, cover. Cook on LOW for 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Once the kale was tenderoni, I tossed in the red pepper flakes, some Parmesan cheese, the cooked quinoa, and tossed it all together!

Perfect.

I took the leftovers for lunch the next day and it warmed up VERY nicely. What do you take for lunch? Do you have any leftover go-tos?

Drink of the Summer: Sassy Water

The first time I had this refreshing beverage was Summer 2007. My goodness, it's been a decade! My mother had made it during one of my visits home and I was hooked. It may have been the name at the time. This was the beginning of this infused water craze! 

Now I crave it every year at the beginning of the summer. As soon as it heats up outside, and the nights are not nearly as cool, the ingredients start calling to me in the grocery store. The recipe came from the Flat Belly Diet, but I don't really adhere to it. I use what I have, and add fun things when the occasion calls for it! I just so happened to have ginger in my freezer - did you know you could freeze ginger?

Ingredients

• 1 Organic Cucumber, peeled & sliced
• 1 Lemon sliced (I peel mine because I don't like the bitter rind flavor - but that's totally your call)
• 1 Grip of Mint Leaves - try growing your own! Mint is like a weed! 
• 1 Tsp of Freshly Grated Ginger

Add that to a pitcher, add water, and let it soak overnight in the fridge. 

You are supposed to drink the whole pitcher in a day if you are looking for the flat belly. But, I just fill up my Nalgene and go! I continue to drink water throughout the day, not just the 32 oz of Sassy Water.

Now, you are curious about the additions, right? 

• Coconut water - extra potassium and hydration
• La Croix (Citrus flavor) - the fun fizzy bubbles make it a great poolside drink
• Apple Cider Vinegar - More digestive benefits 

This is a seriously refreshing drink. If you drink the whole pitcher in a day, you will absolutely be hydrated, which helps with bloating. Also, I use the concoction of ingredients twice. After I fill up my glass or Nalgene, I refill the pitcher and let it soak again throughout the day.

Do you infuse your water to make it more interesting or just go with old reliable? 

For more information on the actual Flat Belly Diet's Sassy Water, click here. 

The 3 Keys to IIFYM

If you’ve spent more than 10 seconds on social media chances are pretty good that you’ve encountered the IIFYM/flexible dieting craze.

There are thousands of diets out there to choose from so what makes this one any different or better?

First, let’s break it down…IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros. Now that we know what that stands for, we need to understand what macronutrients or “macros” are. These little goodies are what make up your daily food intake. Simply put they are the things you need in larger (macro) amounts. They are as follows:

1. Carbohydrates – 40 to 60% of daily calories should come from carbs.
2. Protein – 10 to 30% of daily calories should come from protein.
3. Fat – 10 to 30% of daily calories should come from healthy fats.

What makes this way of eating more desirable is the fact that it really doesn’t eliminate any foods from your diet! 

By setting macro ranges, you can consume essentially whatever you want as long as it fits into your ranges at the end of the day. Craving a donut in the morning? No worries, just plug that in and adjust carbohydrate intake the rest of the day.

Fitness and meal tracking apps like Myfitnesspal make it simple to follow this lifestyle. If you are someone that gets easily caught up in what you “can” and “can’t” have during your diet I strongly recommend trying the flexible dieting route. With simple adjustments you can go from rapid fat loss to maintenance or muscle building to “getting shredded.”

For more information on IIFYM or general nutrition, reach out to Kevin Scrima, CPT via his website, Facebook, or Instagram OR comment below! 

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Post by Kevin Scrima, CPT