bread

LIFESTYLE: CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

September 09, 2014

I have to admit... I didn't come up with this recipe. However, I tried it for myself from my girls at Tone It Up and I am OBSESSED! You read it right, yes, CHOCOLATE zucchini bread. This bread came out sooo crispy on the outside and sooo moist on the inside. It's flavorful, filling, and healthful. 

Zucchini has more potassium than a banana. Therefore, it's great for refueling after a workout. According to the TIU girls, zucchini is "Rich in fiber & antioxidants, potassium, manganese, Vitamin A & Vitamin C." And, there's chocolate. I made this for myself to bring back to school for when I get snacky after a long day. What other reason do you need to make this? Let's get crackin'!



Ingredients:
  • 4 cups almond flower
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup EVOO
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1.5 tbsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 packet Perfect Fit protein powder (chocolate or vanilla)
Before I started baking, I asked Jackie if she wanted to help and this was my answer. She must've been too pooped from her morning at the dog park!



First, preheat the oven to 350. My next order of business  was to grate the zucchini. First, I cut both ends off and wash the zucchini. Then sliced it into smaller pieces before putting it in the food processor. Then, grated the zucchini either in a food processor or with a cheese grater. With the food processor, it should make a pesto type of consistency (that's what makes the bread so moist).


Then, I mixed my wet ingredients in a small bowl, and my dry ingredients in a big one. I then combined the wet with the dry, then added the zucchini and the chocolate chips after the wet and dry were mixed. 


Pour your batter into a well-greased pan, bake for 35-40 minutes, and enjoy!

I seriously can't get enough of this stuff! I strongly recommend you make this and comment below what you thought! Who knew chocolate and zucchini would be a match made in heaven?




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4th of july

STYLE: 4TH OF JULY OOTD

July 04, 2014

Happy 4th of July, lovelies! #MERICA Am I right? Well, here in the northeaster or the whole east coast for that matter it may not be a sunny 4th. Instead of sunbathing and enjoying white wine spritzer's we'll be rain-watching and grilling inside. Sounds like a dream, right? I really hope it is all a dream so that the whole weekend doesn't get rained out. 
Even if the fireworks are postponed that doesn't mean our cute outfits have to be! 

blogilates

LIFESTYLE: PRESTO PESTO

May 21, 2014

Ah, I've missed doing recipes. Between me living in a dorm and being busy, I haven't really had time to do one! I apologize. However, between Mother's Day, and my mother's birthday on Saturday, May 17, two appliances have recently been brought into the house. Both were gifts from me, to my mother.

They're both Hamilton Beach. One is a high-powered blender, and the other is a food processor. Now, I can make all of the smoothie, cauliflower pizzas, clean ice cream, and cookie dough bites I want! Also, that means I can share all of the recipes with you!

One of my favorite sauces recently is a pesto. At first, it may sound and look unappealing, but it is earthy and warm, a tad spicy and overall delectable! My mother picked up some ingredients at Trader Joes today while I was at work, and when I came home we got cookin'!

Here is the recipe for our Italian Pesto Chicken dinner. You can use these ideas on how to serve it, or just use the pesto recipe if you'd like!

Nikki and Karen's Italian Pesto Chicken

Chicken:
  • 4 chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • Goya seasoning

Pesto:
  • 1 cup pine nuts
  • 1/2 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Basil
  • Parsley
  • Parmesan Cheese

Vegetables:
  • Snow Peas
  • Asparagus
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
Cooking:
We grilled on our outdoor grill, but a stove top can do the trick. Grill the chicken until there's no more pink, and make sure you rub it with salt, pepper, and Goya for the perfect taste. It was a bit sweet and spicy.
For the vegetables, we grilled them in a pan with goat cheese until fully cooked.

Pesto:
As for the Pesto, it couldn't have been easier! Just combine the pine nuts, oil, herbs, and cheese in the bowl of a food processor (or blender), and process until it's the consistency you'd like.

Voila! If I were you, I'd make extra pesto for next-day use. Boil up some whole grain pasta or spaghetti squash and use it on that!

Even better idea: clean chicken parmesan. Use the same recipe for the chicken, but melt some mozzarella cheese over the pesto. My mouth is already watering! Then, you use the leftover pesto on either the spaghetti squash or whole grain pasta. I'm a genius, I know, I've been told.

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you try this recipe out, put it on instagram and tag me, @n_vergak, or on twitter do the same!


beauty

SERIES: BE YOUR VALENTINE SERIES/GIVEAWAY

January 24, 2014


Recently I was browsing other blogs and I came across a blog that does brand consulting, which is exactly what I'd like to do with PR, and has week-long e-classes. I'd love to take one when I get the money. However, I read a blog post with tons of sage advice for free. It was for those people with millions of ideas buzzing around in their head all the time, but actually wants to organize those thoughts and DO something. So, I created a "mind map."


It's not that pretty, but no mess is. I started with me in the middle. Then, I decided four categories that are important to me - Health, Writing, Experiences, and Relationships. Then, from these "sectors" of my life I picked out the details that were the most important to me.

Then, it discussed finding an overlap between your passions. I like health and nutrition/fitness, and I like to write and I'm decent at media production. But where does that intersect? The article said to either do something or just wait for inspiration. As for the professional part of my life, I decided to wait. I'm young, I have 3 and a half years left of my undergrad. However, I decided to make something new on my blog!




Here's where the challenge comes in! I'm so excited for this, I'm typing at the speed of light. I've always wanted to do something like a weekly series on my blog, this is my first try. Another one might arise soon, like beauty favorites or one to prepare for a perfect beach body.


Welcome to the "Be Your Valentine" weekly series! It's a great way to get into the valentines day spirit by loving the most important person in your life, yourself! Of course we all have our significant others, I have mine, but sometimes we have to show ourselves how much we really love and appreciate ourselves. This is INSPIRED by Karen and Katrina's "Love Your Body" series - but it's not copied! This challenge has to do with bettering yourselves and your mind, I'll leave the workouts to them. 

So, basically every week I want you to make two promises to yourself. One social promise, and one promise to try something new - simple as that. However you gotta stick to it all week and get back to me about it every week. I'll post every Friday. There are four more Fridays from now until V-day including V-day! There will be a chance to win a face mask, a revlon balm stain, and an inspirational card! Stay tuned for the result!

So, how do you join the challenge and giveaway? First connect with me. Follow this blog either on bloglovin or Google, follow me on twitter and instagram (n_vergak) and subscribe to my youtube. Also, you must comment only ONCE in the four weeks your personal goal and what you are going to try new, either on a blog post or on the youtube video!




This week, I pledged myself to stop waving off every idea in my head as another fleeting thought and actually do something. I never want to get stagnant in my life. Instead of just running every day and not having a set schedule for blogging, I decided to start doing more Zumba and the TIU challenge. And of course I decided to do this weekly series. I think this will be therapeutic, am I right?



I've always wanted to try "K-Nourish" Oatmeal/hot cereal. So, I grabbed two boxes of it and I tried it this morning with fresh strawberries. I liked it! It was brown sugar-y, warm, and filling. I also started doing Zumba classes! I wanted to keep active however I didn't want to get bored of running. In Zumba I work muscles, work up a sweat, and have a great time!


That's it! I hope you guys join in on this, comment below your two challenges or tweet/instagram me! Make sure you follow up for every challenge, EVERY FRIDAY!!

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