Nike Purple Shade




I stopped by the Nike store in Georgetown and picked up some new things. I absolutely love the purple shade color, it's a muted plum. I bought the Nike Zoned Sculpt pants with a high waistband as I feel they will be perfect for yoga. I company offers lunchtime yoga in the building and I like to dress as conservative as possible for that. If you look closely these pants have a unique contoured, engineered knit fabric and come in a few colors. Just don't look at the $150 price tag! I really like my Nike Pro Rival sports bra and got it in another shade if of purple. If you order online shipping is free!

Bubbles & Pumpkins



Happy October! I had a fall funday spending the day with a group of amazing local bloggers hosted by Dani. We charted a bus for the 16 of us and enjoyed mimosas on it. We visited a pumpkin patch and winery. Although it was such a windy chilly day, the sky looked so beautiful. Butler's Orchard was having their annual Pumpkin Festival which had hayrides, a corn maze, giant slides, a pumpkin cannon, pony rides, face painting, apple slingshot among many other activities. For food I was so excited to see and try their apple cider donuts! Their country store sold mums, corn, gourds, apple cider, pumpkin and apple butter, local honey, pies, caramel apples,  and fresh picked apples from their orchard. I didn't get any apples because I had just gone apple picking a few weeks ago at another orchard. 

Fall Beauty Favorites


With the cooler weather you need to mix up your skin care routine to keep your skin looking flawless. Here's a collection of my current favorites to keep my skin moisturized. I also wanted to share this interesting article: The Cosmetics Safety Bill: Everything You Need to Know about making the products you use on your skin safer. Good skin is where beauty starts.

Larabar Review - Top Flavors





I’ve been a fan of LÄRABARs for years. LÄRABARs are delicious bars made from unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices with no added sugar. It's hard to find protein bars that don't have added sugar or artificial ingredients. Since they are primarily made of a puree of dates they have a chewy sticky texture. Depending on the flavor, they only have just two to six ingredients. They come beautifully wrapped in bright colors. The cashew cookie flavor has been my all time favorite, in fact, I loved it so much I never bothered to try any of the other flavors. I've found that I've been missing out as they come in over 26 flavors which I sampled a few below. I don't eat these every day as I'm not totally in love with the high amount of natural sugar in LÄRABARs. I’ve tried a lot of protein bars, but LÄRABARs stand out as by far the best. Here's the calorie breakdown of the cashew cookie : 230 cal, 23g carbs, 18g sugar, 6g protein. The other flavors have a little less calories but they all essentially have a similar breakdown. Some flavors come in mini size which I think is the perfect size for a quick energy bite.


Key Lime Pie- I was skeptical about this one, how can they put my favorite desert into a bar. Well, the lime flavor was authentic, not chemical. I really liked this one.

Coconut Cream Pie- had a really nice coconut flavor and it was creamy.

Carrot Cake - Tastes like a real piece of carrot cake, you can really taste the carrots!

Cherry Pie- tastes so good, it's like eating candy. Can't believe there's no sugar in it, it's made with unsweetened cherries.

Snickerdoodle - so delicious, like you're eating a cookie. Here's a recipe to make a snickerdoodle protein shake.

Gingerbread - OMG this authentically tasted like a gingerbread cookie! The ginger flavor was very strong.

Pumpkin Pie- it smelled amazing and tasted like fresh pumpkin bread.

Peanut butter chocolate chip - This is the one bar that has sugar in it because the chocolate chips are made with sugar. The bar comes in at 19g of sugar, similar to many yogurts. The bar was still moist and chewy and really tasty. It has a good chocolate-y flavor, but very subtle peanut flavor.

Peanut butter cookie- I love pb, but this was my least favorite, it just didn't taste like a pb cookie to me, wasn't very sweet.

They are available at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. It's a great healthy snack made of natural ingredients. I'm going to sample some more flavors. But don’t take my word for it, try it out yourself and let me know what your favorite flavor is?

Fall Themed Yogurts


I love all the new fall flavors of yogurt available! Chobani also has a Pumpkin Twist that I unfortuantely couldn't find. I did try their Meze Dip in Smoked Onion Parmesan but the smoked flavor made it taste like meat so I couldn't eat it. Otherwise I imagine it could be a good sauce to put over pasta. Here's my review of everything I tried.

Chobani Apple Crisp Twist - delicious, it's an apple cinnamon yogurt with pieces of spiced walnuts, cinnamon crunch & glazed pie crust pieces. The yogurt was pure white and tasted very authentic. And the pie crust pieces were an awesome add on.

Chobani Pumpkin Blended -  This tasted really authentic and delicious.

Chobani Caramel Apple - I thought the caramel flavor was a little too smoky, there were a few small pieces of apple. I would just rate this ok.

Siggi's Pumpkin Spice - This had a very mild pumpkin flavor, it was more about the spices.

Noosa Pumpkin Yogurt - This seasonal yogurt used to be only available at Target, but now Whole Foods has it! Noosa is my favorite yogurt but it's high in calories and sugar so it's only an occasional treat for me.
Noosa is an Aussie style yogurt which is similar to rich Greek yogurt. It’s made in Colorado from milk free of artificial growth hormones (rBGH) and artificial preservatives from outdoor cows that eat grain and alfalfa grown without pesticides. Eating organic yogurt free of artificial sugar (splenda) has always been really important to me. Their pumpkin flavor is absolutely divine, it was incredibly delicious!! I split the container into two servings so it’s better calorie wise. Definitely make sure to get your hands on one, you won’t regret it! Noosa also has some new flavors out, a whole line of yogurt with hot pepper in it, no thank you! But I do want to try the Mexican chocolate.

Ok so I know this is a post just about yogurt, but I had to also throw in one other thing.
Annie's Pasta in a pumpkin and sweet potat0 sauce - I was skeptical about this one, but it was surprisingly good. The directions say to use non-dairy milk but all I had was vanilla almond milk, thankfully the vanilla flavor was almost non-existent. I added some butter, peas and a little left-over pumpkin I had from a pumpkin I recently baked. Then sprinkled some cheese on top and it was delicious!




Spicy Vegan Chili


There's a farmers market that sets up once a week by my office so I always take a stroll through during my lunch break. I picked up a bunch of veggies and was impressed that my two full bags only cost $10. I recently read Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi's memoir where she talks about spices a lot. I have a cabinet full of spices (see here). For the first time ever, I purchased two green peppers. I know nothing about peppers, so I googled when I got home to figure out what the difference between the two were. The big one was a poblano pepper and the small one was a jalapeno pepper. After cutting the peppers and removing the inner seeds with my fingers,  I washed my hands thoroughly with soap.  Afterwards, I started to feel parts of my fingers burning, I checked my hands and didn't see any cuts, I guess the pepper got absorbed through my dry skin. Later I jumped in the shower and when I tried to remove my mascara with water, well boy was I in for a surprise, the pepper was still on my hands and my eyes were burning! Fair warning here, use caution when cutting peppers and don't touch the inside seeds. This being my first experiment cooking with peppers, it really gave a nice rounded deep flavor to the chili, but it's not too hot to eat, it just the right about of heat. This recipe will be replacing my previous go-to chili recipe.

I used one link of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo, which I also used in my paella recipe.  The secret ingredient is raw cacao nibs, which is bitter unsweetened chocolate. I always buy red bell peppers for whatever I'm going to use it for (even though they are more expensive) because a rule I live by is to always make a colorful plate for every meal. 

Ingredients:
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1 poblano pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
2 bell peppers (red and yellow)
1 carrot
1 cup kale
4 celery stalks
1 lime (squeezed and zested)
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 red onion
1/4 cup corn
3 garlic cloves
1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TB agave syrup
raw cacao nibs
soy chorizo

Spices:
 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 TB chili powder
2 tsp nutritional yeast
1 ½ tsp ginger
½ tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
dash cayenne
1 bay leaf


Directions:
  1. In a large pot heat a little oil over and add the onion and garlic and saute a few minutes.
  2. Add the ginger and cumin and let cook for one minute.
  3. Then add all the peppers for a few minutes.
  4. Next add the celery, carrots, tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic powder, bay leaf, nutritional yeast, agave, vinegar, cocoa and lime. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes uncovered.
  5. Add beans, sausage, corn and kale. Stir well, cover with lid and simmer on low for 1 hour. 

Nutritional Analysis 
Makes 5 servings, 386 cal, 20g protein, 17g fiber



6 Amazing Pumpkin Recipes To Make This Fall


Fall has become one of my favorite seasons since it involves everything pumpkin. Saying goodbye to summer isn't easy, but the crisp autumnal breeze and festive aspects of fall make the transition easier. From watching the leaves change color, to apple picking, pumpkin patches, and making seasonal fall foods, there's so much to enjoy this season. I love pumpkin recipes as much as the next person but would rather stay away from the high-calorie pumpkin pie.  Here are some true and tried recipes to get your pumpkin fix with these low-calorie but high nutrient foods. Did you know that pumpkins are high in fiber and contain the antioxidant beta-carotene which keeps your eyes sharp? This week on my blog will feature fall themed foods you need to add to your list to try this season.

Last week I baked a sugar pumpkin to have fresh pumpkin puree. With it I made Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal for breakfast all week, it was delicious!


Sugar-Free Pumpkin Bread  check out the calorie comparison I did between my recipe and Starbucks pumpkin bread.

Overnight pumpkin oatmeal - if you're not ready to turn the oven on yet.

Pumpkin curry - if you love Thai food, you'll want to try this.

Pumpkin soup with tofu croutons.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake - Last Friday I went out to lunch and saw on the menu "Pumpkin Pie Smoothie" which I'm sure would be delicious but made with ice cream which is just way too much sugar for me. It reminded me I had a delicious but low in sugar protein shake made with pumpkins. Watch the video of me mixing it up.

Check out my other favorite fall recipes.

13 Trader Joe's Foods You Have to Try This Fall



I just got my Trader Joe’s flyer in the mail and couldn’t wait to hit up the store to stock up on pumpkin products. I decided this year not to get some of the usual: pumpkin butter and pumpkin cream cheese as I figured those involve repeatedly spreading on something unhealthy (bagels or waffles). I love macarons and find that TJ's frozen macarons are affordable (versus going to a macaron shop) and low in calories. Every fall TJ's comes out with pumpkin macarons, but this year they changed the recipe and added a lot more spices. When I went apple picking a couple weeks ago I was dying to have some apple cider so I had to pick up a bottle at Trader Joes which is perfectly spiced!  I always bake my own pumpkins instead of buying it in a jar, tastes so much better. Here's my recipe for sugar pumpkins. Here's your must-have fall Trader Joe's shopping list:

Fall Zucchette Pasta (a pumpkin shaped pasta that derives its orange hue from butternut squash)
Pumpkin Ravioli
Sugar Pumpkin
Pumpkin Body Butter (see my review of the Coconut Body Butter)
Pumpkin greek yogurt
Apple Caramel yogurt
Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Tea
Pomegranates
Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage
Pumpkin macarons 
Spice Cider
Sweet Potato Sage Gnocchi

Not photographed is the Cauliflower Rice which TJ's sells this both frozen and in the fridge with the vegetables. It's a great substitute for rice. I've made it myself from scratch before, but it's a lot of work!


Related Posts:

Halloween Costume Ideas



Halloween is my favorite holiday because I love dressing up.  The Great Gatsby Party was my first big dress up event of the year. If you need a good movie to watch to get you into the Halloween spirit, I highly recommend The Book of Life, it's cartoon based on the Day of the Dead celebration. This year my costume is based on a comic book character, stay tuned. Here are some costumes I've had in the past, the first three pics were taken in the same place because I kept going to the same party every year.

                                                              Belly Dancer - I used to take classes

                                                                          Mermaid

Peacock

Day of the Dead - purple is my favorite color and I wanted the makeup to be different than the traditional
Thai Princess inspired by my 4th trip toThailand

Salt N Pepa


Buzzfeed did a hilarious article called 18 Halloween Costumes That Are As Ridiculous As 2016 Has Been. Here are my previous posts on what celebrities wore for Halloween:
2013
2014
2015





Girl on the Train


The Girl on the Train is the story of Rachel Watson who post divorce has become an alcoholic and takes the train everyday (so her roommate still thinks she's employed) by her former house where her ex-husband now lives with his new wife and baby. Next door lives Megan and Scott Hipwell whom she does't know but appear to have the life she always wanted  based on what she views through the train.  Then one day as the train passes, she sees something shocking that fills her with rage. The following day she wakes up with bruises all over her body and no memory of what happened the night before, typical alcohol blackout. On the news she hears that Megan Hipwell is missing. So Rachel inserts herself in the case to "help" find Megan.

I listened to the book on Audible which takes place in London so all the characters had British accents. Thus, I was surprised to learn the movie was based in New York. However Emily Blunt's native British accent seems to go in and out during the movie. Rachel's self destructive behavior due to her alcoholism was the most fascinating part of the book but I don't think that plays out as much as it could in the movie. Emily Blunt didn't go through much of a physical transformation required for the role, just a  lack of make-up and I'm-so-pathetic manner. In an interview she said her cast mate Justin Theroux guessed she was pregnant during filming based on how she didn't really throw herself into action scenes.

The book is told from three female narrators, none of which you feel you can trust. The book shares a lot more back story than the movie does about each character, one critical scene was taken out I thought. The movie chose to tell this story in a non-linear format to stay true to the book. I couldn't stand Anna's character wearing a very obvious blonde wig.  Edgar Ramirez's character was just as mysterious in the movie as in the book. A lot his storyline from the book was also omitted from the movie so you didn't see too much of him. There was one curious moment in the movie where Dr. Abdics was asked his ethnicity but the director refused to go there. It was surprising to see Lisa Kudrow playing a much older role, she will forever be freeze framed for me as her age on Friends.

The trailer for the movie really makes it look like a psychological thriller, which the book is. I think since  I had read the book and knew the ending, it lost that heart pounding thrill for me. I still would rate it a great film with great performances. The book is still number one on Amazon, did you know last year Amazon had gone out of stock of it once?


Plum Fall Colors


With fall in the air, warm apple cider are heating things up, pumpkin treats are making their debut, and fashionwise I’m wearing more layers. With that change, I feel I’m supposed to ditch the light hues of summer, namely my light pink handbag. This season I’m coveting all things in a rich dark plum color. Plum is a perfect transitional shade into fall, it’s darker and moodier, and the color I painted my bedroom.  I started being a Kate Spade fan in college and still have my entire collection of handbags, can’t bring myself to throw them away. I recently learned something new (to me), that Kate Spade sold her company a few years ago to start another company under a new name. Check out the story here. If you order from Amazon, on Oct 1 they started charging tax to DC residents so I put in a big order on Friday, my last tax-free one. Here are some bags I have on my wishlist, can’t decide which one to get, what do you think? I painted my nails Zoya Haven to match.

Favorite Fall Recipes


In the last few years, I've come to appreciate Fall fo all the things the season offers. I love the changing of the leaves and seeing the pretty red leaves on the trees. I can finally enjoy the crisp air outside as this summer was just brutal. I'm going apple picking again later this month. Next month I'm visiting a new pumpkin patch. It's fun to get dressed in the Fall as I break out all my tunics, leggings, and boots along with layering with scarves and sweaters.  When it comes to food, Fall starts soup season and honeycrisp apples!

Here's a recipe for a Healthy Apple Walnut Bread that has no white flour, white sugar or oil and still tastes sweet and moist.


I will start making baked oatmeal again, particularly Apple Pie Oatmeal.


My lunch for work will start to be soup. One of my favorites is this lentil, coconut based soup with some Indian spices.

I'm already seeing but butternut squash in the stores so I plan on making some risotto with it.



Fall Capsule Wardrobe 2016


I normally love summer, but last summer has been recorded as the hottest on Earth in over 100 years. The humidity was killer this past August so I am looking forward to cooler weather. My fall fashion essentials include transitional clothing pieces, layering with cozy cardigans, wearing plaid, riding boots, corduroys, leggings and booties. 
I’ve talked about my love of the stylebook app, it helps me organize my closet, figure out what I don’t wear, and helps me not do any repeats at work in a month. I pre-enter what I’m going to wear for each month so there’s no guess work in the morning or me standing in front of the full closet saying I have nothing to wear. When I buy something new, I pre-log it in for the next few months to make sure I wear it. In the past, I used to have so many clothes in my closet that still with tags on them, no more. I’m really getting my money’s worth out of my closet and starting to invest in more expensive pieces. It also makes shopping easy so when I see something new I want to buy, I can easily reference my closet while in the store to see if I already own say for example a pink shirt. It stops me from buying more clothes when I realize, I don’t have any time to wear new clothes because my clothing schedule is already full.. If you’re wondering if I ever change my mind in the morning, occasionally, if something isn’t ironed, not washed, or no longer zips. lol
A capsule wardrobe is a minimalist collection made up of versatile pieces that you love to wear. I think it really helps if you’re overwhelmed with closet chaos. I always had an overflowing closet but felt I always dressed so boring. I had a lot of clothes but few pieces I really loved to wear. With a Fall Capsule Wardrobe, there are no daily decisions on what to wear and I love everything I have to wear. You can start by going through your closet and donating clothes you no longer wear or aren’t flattering on you. Create more space for the items you love. Which reminds me of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  A great definition I read someone saying that, “a focus on quality pieces + an emphasis on decluttering/organization = a capsule wardrobe.” I think my wallet will be a whole lot happier sticking to this capsule. And if you need an online thrift store to get rid of your clothes, check out Tradesy.
Everyone creates their capsule wardrobe differently, some create a great capsule by combing basic items that can be layered or combined to wear together. Mine looks a little different. I made up a list of a few fashionable pieces that I’ve bought this year and last that look super chic on me and can be all worn to work which is business casual. I wear very little neutrals (white, black, gray and beige), I prefer a palette full of colors and prints. Here’s the 36 essential items I will be wearing this fall which consist of 22 work days. It includes my favorite Kendra Scott necklace in Abalone, 5 pairs of shoes, 6 pairs of pants and yes I wear white pants after labor day.
Are you on the capsule bandwagon yet?