Author Archives: Alexis

Week 2 Challenge: Read every day

Posted in Inspire by

read every day

Week 1 challenge is complete! I’ll admit I did better than I thought I would and only ate out one time all week! I bought a lot of groceries that I actually used, ate a lot of leftovers and got creative! We entertained friends 2 nights out of the week instead of going out. I only slipped up once over the weekend (which is actually amazing now that I think about it) when I was becoming famished and we walked right by this little pizza restaurant I wanted to try that had just opened the night before! (btw it was delicious!) So I would say week 1 was a success, now on to week 2!

book and bed
Week #2 Challenge: Read every day. I’m currently reading 2 books (and have many more on my list!) and I want to get in a better habit of reading every day. I love reading before going to bed but I tend to wait until I’m completely exhausted before I head to bed and then I fall asleep rather than reading a couple chapters. So! this is my next challenge. Join me?

Quick Breakfast Idea: Greek yogurt mix

Posted in Eat by

greek yogurt
Looking for a healthy, quick breakfast that’s super easy to switch up? I have just the thing for you! Buy a large container of greek yogurt (I bought plain but vanilla would be a little sweeter!) get some fresh fruits (I went with blueberries and raspberries), add some honey and pour in a bunch of granola. Mix it all up and you have a delicious breakfast! There are so many different things you could add that would be delicious, so get creative! Let me know if you find any amazing combinations :)

Roasted chicken sausage and vegetables

Posted in Eat by

chicken sausage and veggies

I was feeling pretty lazy the other day about cooking but I knew I didn’t want to eat out (refer to Challenge #1) so I came up with an easy, healthy solution for anyone feeling lazy: roasted veggies and sausage. Cut up some sausage, throw in whatever veggies you have in the fridge, dice ’em up and throw everything in the oven. Sit on the couch for the next hour and be lazy while your oven does all the hard work for you!

The ingredients I used ended up making about 4 servings.

Ingredients:
6 small red potatoes
1 onion
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 garlic cloves
1 package Chicken sausage (I used organic spicy chicken sausage but any sausage will do)
Oil
Salt (I used Himalayan pink salt)
Pepper and any other seasonings (I used italian seasoning)

roasted vegetable recipe

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut up sausage, put on foil lined baking tray.
Cut up potatoes, zucchini, squash, onion and mince garlic.
Put all veggies in a bowl and coat with olive oil. Add salt, pepper and seasonings, toss.
Add veggie mix to baking tray, spread everything out.
Bake in oven for 30 minutes, take it out and mix it around.
Bake for another 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Done!

Easy, healthy and great for leftovers!!  

roasted vegetable recipe

Introducing Weekly Challenges: Week 1

Posted in Inspire by

healthy challenge

Happy New Year, everyone! Today I’m starting a new blog series of 7-day small challenges to complete each week. At the end of the week I’ll introduce my new challenge and reflect on how the previous week went. I’m hoping some of them will end up sticking for more than a week but it’s a good place to start.  Feel free to join in and let me know how you do! Here it goes:

Week 1 Challenge: No eating out.

I try not to eat out a lot but inevitably I get lazy or didn’t make it to the grocery store or want to go out with friends, etc. I’m also terrible at eating leftovers and awful at getting creative with the random food in the fridge. Not this week!

I’m going to do this by meal planning ahead of time, doing a big grocery shopping trip at the beginning of the week, eating leftovers and getting creative.

I’ll let you know how it goes next week! In the meantime this might create a few recipe posts, so bonus. :)

Time to Reflect

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day planner

[My new planner from A Beautiful Mess]

It’s that time again to reflect on the past year and look to the next. It’s been a lovely year and I decided to take some time to reflect on everything I accomplished (or didn’t) and what I want to continue working on/start in the next year.

Looking back on 2014, biggest accomplishments:
– Starting Simple and Lovely: My biggest personal accomplishment was starting my blog. This is something I’ve been itching to do for a long time and I’m so happy I finally did it!
– Learning to cook: I can say this is the year I learned to cook, like actually cook. I hope to take what I learned this year and take it to the next level.
– Decluttering: Although this is a continual process, I’ve managed to pair down my closet and make strides towards defining my personal style and putting quality over quantity when making purchases.

Looking forward to 2015, goals for next year:
– Home: I want to focus on my home. Making it a cozy place filled with only things that make me happy or are useful and getting rid of the rest.
– Blog: I want to focus on my blog. Refining the content, adding more and better pictures and continuing to learn.
– Enjoy the little things: I want to spend more time taking walks, reading, cooking and entertaining at home.

Now it’s time to enjoy the rest of 2014 filled with family, friends, great food, chilly nights and holiday cheer :)

Simple Vegetarian Chili

Posted in Eat by

chili If you haven’t already noticed I don’t often cook with meat. It’s definitely not because I’m a vegetarian (I love me a cheeseburger) it’s more that I absolutely hate touching raw meat. So usually if I eat meat at home it’s because my boyfriend makes it, otherwise I stick to the meatless dishes like this one (which would be super easy to add some meat to if you so desired). Perfect for these chilly nights when you just want a big bowl of something warm to sit on the couch with under a lot of blankets and a movie. Enjoy :)

Ingredients:
1 can northern beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
3 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 red or green pepper
3 tbls Chili powder
1.5 tsp Cumin
Toppings (optional): shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro

Instructions:
1. Drain and rinse all beans. Set aside.
2. Cook chopped garlic, onion and green pepper in oil in a large pot on medium heat until soft.
3. Add all other ingredients to the pot and stir.
4. Bring to a boil then simmer on low until ready to eat.
5. Serve with chosen toppings and a side of cornbread (I usually just make it from a box).

See, I told you it was easy! Another even easier way is to throw everything in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours :)

Easy Christmas DIY: Mason Jar Snow Globes

Posted in Decorate by

snowglobes

These snow globes were so incredibly easy and look amazing! I somehow ended up hosting Christmas at my house this year (should be interesting) and was trying to come up with something cute for the table centerpiece. These snow globes are going to be perfect! Also bonus: these are waterless so you can use them year after year without worrying about storing/leaking :) Alright so here’s how you do it (seen first here):

snow globe

You will need:
– Glass jars in various sizes (you could also use recycled jars)
– Tree figurines in various sizes (make sure they will fit in your jars, if one is too tall cut a bit off the top with wire cutters)
– Buffalo snowflakes (I used the glittery kind)
– Glue dots (I’ve never used these before but they’re awesome!)

…and that’s it! I got everything at Michael’s but you can probably find it at any craft store.

christmas craft

Step 1: Put a glue dot on the bottom of each tree and stick it to the lids of the jars.

easy holiday craft

Step 2: Pour a small amount of snow into the jar (just enough to cover the lid when it’s turned over)

christmas craft

Step 3: Screw on the lid and turn upside down!

snow globesTada! Beautiful snow globes :)

Easy Black Bean Burgers

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black bean burgersblack bean burger

Here’s another one of my easy go to recipes that tastes and looks great! It’s even often requested by my boyfriend who claims he doesn’t like beans (whatever that means). Go try it out for yourself! :)

Makes 4 burgers.

Ingredients:
– 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
– 1 egg
– 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
– 1 tbls cumin
– 1 tbls chili powder
– 3 minced cloves of garlic
– 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
– 4 hamburger buns

black bean burger

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Make sure you mash the black beans and everything is evenly mixed.
3. Form into 4 patties and put on a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes on each side.
5. Serve on hamburger buns with homemade guacamole (recipe to come) and a side of sweet potato fries!

Enjoy!