Goodmorning Sunshine

Who has time to spend an hour in the kitchen on a weekday? I sure don’t. Between school, work and other activities I’m sure I rather spend that extra time pressing the snooze button on my iPhone alarm. These are some quick and healthy dishes you can make in under 10 minutes that will  please your tummy and be great from the inside out with many health benefits.

These are just 2 of my favourite breakfast super foods:

1. Low-Fat Greek Yogurt

I love this for breakfast time or just a quick snack. I usually add fruits to make it more tasty, like bananas, blueberries and even chia seeds.

Chia seeds are great for:

• Obtaining more fibre
• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Helps for stronger teeth and bones
• ProteinHelps fight belly fat
• Improves heart health

I love adding chia seeds to countless meals, they’re tiny enough to sprinkle onto salads or grind up and put in a smoothie. This breakfast combination is a great kick to start the day providing you with energy and high nutrients.

2. Oatmeal

This is my go-to breakfast option because it’s so easy and quick to make. I either boil hot water first then add it to the oatmeal or put the oatmeal in a microwave safe dish and warm it up with water for about 2 minutes. Once all the water is absorbed, I like to add fruits to give it more flavour, sometimes even peanut better (more higher protein) and some honey.

Yummy!

xoxo

– E

I Love You More Than Avocados… No, Not Really.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I do – but I didn’t with these things. It took me a few months of the quaint taste of this green shaped pear thing before my tastebuds finally agreed. I am now an avid lover of avocados. They are such a versatile fruit – yes, fruit. But you can eat these babies so many ways. From dicing them up in salads, to making some rockin’ guacamole – or even a face mask. This fruit is beneficial for you in so many ways – even your skin and hair!

This took an easy 10 minutes to make. And here’s exactly how you do it:

• 1 whole diced avocado
• 1 whole diced roasted pepper
• Cilantro
• 1 whole diced tomato
• Half a diced red onion
• Some grated mozzarella cheese

Ah, yes, the beloved Prosciutto is a dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked. It’s an italian cold cut – and tastes like heaven, especially paired with some avocado on top.

• 2 whole grain toasts
• 1/2 sliced avacado
• 3 slices of prosciutto
• Baby spinach
• Diced red onions
• Tiny bit of low fat mayo
• Bocconcini cheese – an italian mozzerlla cheese thats about a size of an egg (drool).

So, Who the Heck Am I Exactly?

Good question. I’ve been on this world for 21 years and every day I’m still in the progress of trying to answer that question. Will I ever have it? – No clue. But I feel every day I get a little bit closer to answering and understanding who exactly I am, and frankly why I’m here. And I know I can’t be the only 21 year old out there pondering their existence and meaning of being here.. Too deep? With that being said, here are a few things I do know about myself thus far:

Well, let’s dig a little bit deeper than my “About” section..

1. I’m a very family oriented individual. I come from a tight knit – crazy ass Italian family consisting of my father, mother, younger brother and me. Oh, and let’s not forget my bundle of joy – my 13 year old pom-poo puppy. I call her a puppy merely for the fact that she’s a big baby since the day we brought her home. She deserves a blog post all on her own, so I won’t write too much about her just yet. And yes, at the moment she’s my foot warmer. Damn, is it ever cold in Toronto. Dogs are really multi purpose animals. Besides her, my parents are incredibly loving, caring, and supportive human beings. I could go on endlessly about their nature and way but I’ll simply just say that they are the epitome of love and never ending supporters in my life and for that I know I am truly blessed. It saddens me because I know how many broken families there are in today’s world – So my family is something I definitely hold close to my heart and cherish more than anything else. 

2. Mission Trips. Exactly that. It brings my heart to life and makes me just that much of a happier individual. I guess I shouldn’t just label it mission trips, but rather volunteering my time to others – whether it’s thousands of miles away from my home, down the street or at a soup kitchen, needless to say it makes me feel something that I feel no amount of money, materialistic thing or other worldly possessions can repay you back with. If you’ve done something familiar I’m sure you’re right with me. Growing up in a Christian house hold we were brought up with not rules, but rather simple practices to do good unto others, brought up with love, to take nothing for granted, and to cherish what we had, to realize that everything we had was a blessing and there was always less fortunate than us. Again – I wanna do another blog post on this all together – the mission trips I’ve done and the beautiful and eye opening experiences that came along with it.

3. I’m super adventurous. I love anything that makes me go out of my comfort zone. And that, I believe is something that over time people have to really figure out about themselves and have an itch to discover. How exactly that happened to me was my first mission trip to Monte Cristi (A province in the north-west of the Dominican Republic) and Haiti. It was my first year in college, I knew absolutely no one in the progress of applying, yet I felt the need to go and through it I had one of the most magical and amazing experiences of my life thus far. Who would’ve known? And I can tell you before that I would of never had the balls to do anything alone or a matter of fact, go on a plane with 9 other strangers I’ve never met to do missionary work in an unfamiliar country. But, it was the best decision I made. I feel that now I can will be up for anything when it comes my way. Offer me a ticket to the next plane out of here, no questions asked and I’m all packed and headed out that door. Care to join?

4. Numbero Quattro. Ah, how significant. This is something that I would literally dread talking about before but found strength in it to talk about it – the fact I realized I started wanting to talk about it to encourage others and myself from the pain it brought me – yet the happiness of recovery. 4 years ago I suffered from an eating disorder – but damn am I proud of myself for getting back on track – yes, I’m still in the process every day of making my body that much better and healthier, but I have beat the hell out of it for the most part. Dealing with it wasn’t easy but it leads to why I now live such an active and healthy life style (as you’ll soon start to see under my Health & Fitness tab). I say to hell with the stereotypes that media portrays – if you feel amazing in your own skin then you’re already there.

That’s all for now, until next post.

xoxo

– E