Happy Nurses Week!

When someone asks me what I do for a living, I could not be more proud to tell them that I am a nurse. I have the amazing opportunity to be involved in people's lives everyday and to enjoy the beautiful miracle of birth with them. I feel so very fortunate for my career journey and where it has brought me to date. I have met many beautiful, amazing, and inspiring ladies and gentlemen on this path. I am lucky to call them my friends and colleagues.

This week, we celebrate nurses all over. Hug a nurse this week! 

...and tell them to grab a free tea Saturday from David's Tea ...

Stuffed Poblanos in Chipotle Sauce

Another stuffed veggie!

Stuffed with quinoa, black beans, mushrooms, and corn, these peppers make a satisfying vegetarian main course. Poblanos are among the mildest chiles, although they offer a nice zing! Chipotle chiles are smoked, roasted jalapenos, usually sold in cans with a spicy adobo sauce.


ingredients
4 large poblano chiles
2 tsp, plus 1 tbsp neutral tasting oil (canola or safflower)
1 tbsp chopped chipotle chile in adabo
1 garlic clove
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup quinoa
8 ounces small mushrooms (white button or cremini, trimmed, cleaned, and quartered)
1 cup freshly or frozen corn kernels
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
4 ounces crumbled fresh goat cheese (1 cup)


directions
1. preheat oven to 475 degrees. on a parchment-lined baking sheet, rub poblanos with 2 tsp oil. roast until slightly blackened and softened, 15-20 minutes, turning once. remove from oven. when cool enough to handle, remove skins with paper towels. use a paring knife to make a small slit in each chile, then carefully remove seeds (and discard), keeping stem end in tact. 


2. in a blender, combine chipotle, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 3/4 cup water, season with pepper. blend until smooth. add cilantro, and pulse once to combine. 


3. in a small saucepan, bring 2/3 cup water to boil. add quinoa; return to a boil. stir once, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. cook until quinoa is tender, but still chewy and has absorbed all liquid, about 15 minutes. fluff with a fork. 


4. meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil over medium-high. add mushrooms and 1/2 tsp salt; season with pepper. cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. add corn and beans, and cook, stirring until heated through, about 2 minutes. stir in 1/2 cup goat cheese and the quinoa.


5. spread chipotle mixture evenly in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. stuff peppers with filling, dividing evenly, and arrange in dish; dot with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. bake until golden, 15-20 minutes. remove from oven, and let cool in pan 10 minutes before serving




per serving: 324 calories, 3.2g saturated fat, 4.7g unsaturated fat, 12.6mg cholesterol, 49.5g carbohydrates, 14.4g protein, 910mg sodium, 9.4g fiber

recipe adapted from"Power Foods" cookbook

Enjoy!!

Stuffed Veggies!!

Good Afternoon!

Keith and I love trying new recipes, or spin-offs of old ones. Stuffing vegetables is a great way to eat healthy and be inventive! We used the recipe below to stuff colored bell peppers and eggplants! They were all delicious!


prepare in 10 minutes
cooking time 25 minutes
serves 2-4


ingredients
2 medium eggplants (or bell peppers, or zucchini, or tomatoes)
2 tbsp vegetable stock
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste
6 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
4 tbsp cooked brown rice (or quinoa)
1/4 chopped pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
juice of 1 lemon
black pepper
goat or feta cheese (if desired)


directions
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 Celcius). if stuffig eggplants or zucchini, trim the stems, then halve lengthwise. use a teaspoon to hollow out each half, leaving a shell about 1cm thick. chop the scooped out flesh. steam the shells over boiling water for about 4 minutes, then hold then under cold water to stop further cooking and dry with paper towels. mist the insides with oil-and-water spray (we like Pam Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray). if stuffing bell peppers, slice off the tops (put to the side), then scoop out and discard the seeds. if stuffing tomatoes, slice off the tops (put to the side), then scoop out the seeds and flesh, and add the flesh to the rice mixture in step 2. 


2. heat the stock in a skillet, then add the onions and garlic to saute, stirring, until translucent. Stir in tomato paste, tomatoes, chopped eggplant or zucchini flesh (if using), cooked rice, pine nuts, herbs, and cinnamon and continue cooking for a couple of minutes. 


3. stir in the lemon juice and season with pepper. lightly mist a baking dish with oil-and-water spray. stuff the vegetables with the rice mixture, add cheese if desired, and put the lids back on the peppers or tomatoes (if using). bake for about 20 minutes. 


per serving: 189 calories, 6.07g fat (0.74g saturated fat), 30.2g carbohydrates, 5.5g protein, 5.33g fiber

recipe adapted from "The Fitness Food Cookbook"

Stuffed eggplants (left) and stuffed bell peppers (right)

Enjoy!

Deck of Cards Workout!

Good morning!


I cannot believe it has been almost two whole months since I have posted! Crazy! Just crazy! With Spring & Summer quickly approaching we have been keeping ourselves busy, getting outside, and trying some new things!


Keith & I have started running again - some on the trails around our house and some in the beautiful river valley! We have pulled our mountain bikes out of storage and are getting very excited for some good rides in the sunshine!


We continue to workout in our basement with high intensity workouts! Here is a new-to-us workout that we LOVE! 


Take a deck of cards and shuffle! Depending on how much time you have, keep the whole deck, or only use half.


Make an exercise for each "suit" ... Our favorite combination is
Hearts = Push-Ups
Spades = Squats
Diamonds = Squats
Clubs = Burpies

Whatever number is on the card, complete that number of reps (Two = 2, Jack = 11, Ace = 14, etc)


One day we did half a deck, however ended up doing 84 burpies!!! Keith accused me of not shuffling ...


It is a great little workout when you are feeling unmotivated, as whatever card you draw, you MUST complete the exercise with the number of reps given :)

Enjoy!