Crispy wrap with beet hummus and fried egg

Wraps are a tasty, easy and welcomed alternative to bread, salads and more. And if you fill them with hummus you are in for a tiny, but awesome lunch party. This might sound a bit over the top to you, but for a hummus addict like myself, a day without hummus is a day wasted. Okay, I’m over exaggerating a little bit. I could do 1 day without hummus, but that’s the max 😉 

Crispy wrap with beet hummus and fried egg

So it won’t come as a surprise that I am a huge fan of this crispy wrap with beet hummus and fried egg. Doesn’t it look like heaven on a plate? If you aren’t having a good day, then after this delicious wrap you will hopefully cheer up a bit!

This is what you need:

  • Whole wheat wraps
  • (Beet) hummus *
  • Herbs such as cilantro, parsley, chives, basil
  • Alfalfa or other sprouts
  • Spring onion
  • Eggs
  • Salt and pepper

*I used 1 cup of chickpeas (cooked),1 small roasted beetroot, 1 tsp cumin powder, 4 tbsp lime juice, 3 tbsp tahini, 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of olive oil. Put it all into a blender and voilà: pretty pink hummus to die for!

This is how to make your wrap:

Put the wrap in a dry frying pan and let it brown on both sides until it’s lightly crispy. Meanwhile, fry an egg. Spread the beet hummus onto the wrap and top it off with a generous amount of sprouts. Sprinkle some herbs and spring onions on top of it. Place the egg on top of the sprouts and season with salt and pepper.

Bon appetit!

Looking for more delicious lunch recipes? Check out this delicious quinoa salad with avocado, crab stick and mango.

A special thanks to: Lepeltje Liefde

Pimp your rice cakes: 6 delicious toppings

Let’s be honest: by themselves, unflavored rice cakes aren’t that exciting. However, they have some great qualities:

  • They are gluten-free
  • They are vegan
  • There are only 25 calories in a rice cake
  • The plain varieties contain no saturated or trans fats
  • They are easy to go
  • They are relatively cheap

I’m a big fan of rice cakes as they are an easy and healthy alternative for bread. However, I know a couple of people who don’t like rice cakes and think they taste like cardboard; you may be one of these people. Try and put some of the following healthy yet delicious toppings on your rice cakes that will transform them into pure yumminess.

1. Rice cake pizza

The great thing about this topping is that as the tomato sauce soaks into the rice cake, it will get more of a “bready” texture. Put the rice cake in the oven until the cheese is melted. Add any other pizza toppings you like.

2. Tatziki and sliced chicken breast

This combination always gets me in a summer mood. That’s just whats tzatziki does, even on sad, rainy winter days 🙂

3. Avocado 

This is my all-time favorite! If you like, you can also add slices of chicken breast on top of the avocado. In my opinion, this is the best combo in the world! If you think plain avocado is too boring, try and make avocado hummus and add it to your rice cake!

 4.Mozzarella, pesto, tomato & basil

This Italian combination goes well on top of everything, hence, also on a rice cake! Go spoil your taste buds and try it out!

5. Peanut or almond butter with banana or strawberries

Had a bad day? Fortunately, there is nothing peanut butter and a spoon can’t fix! Add some banana or strawberries and you are in for a sweet treat. You can also add some chia seeds to the toping! Hmm, delicious.

6. Cottage cheese with salmon and avocado

People either love or hate the creamy, lumpy texture of cottage cheese. If you’re a fan, good news: cottage cheese is bona fide health food! Try out this combination with smoked salmon and avocado, it’s delicious.

Do you have some of your own toppings you would like to share with us? Do so in the comments! These delicious snacks can be topped with anything and we would love to hear all your ideas!

Vegetarian stir fry with an insane amount of veggies

I always find it really odd when people say that they find it difficult to cook. I mean, it’s not like it’s rocket science or anything? Of course there are different levels to how ‘culinary’ or fancy a dish is, but everyone should still be able to put together an easy supper for themselves. I’m not exactly a kitchen princess, but usually I just throw everything together that I like. Sometimes the combination ends up being  magical, other times I would not even feed it to my cat. Anyway, recently I once again had a magical combination, which I wanna share with you. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

The recipe for this vegetarian stir fry is for six people, but if you make it with someone else (partner or BFFF), you’ll both also have two prepped dinners for upcoming days.

Ingredients

  • 75 grams quinoa
  • 75 grams brown rice
  • 200 grams pumpkin cubes (I recommend frozen pumpkin cubes)
  • 160 grams lentils (can)
  • 160 grams corn (can)
  • 150 grams cherry tomatoes
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 bag of stir fried vegetables with mushrooms
  • 360 grams spicy seasoned tofu (cubes)
  • 100 grams feta cheese
  • fresh spinach leaves (amount to taste)
  • hand full of pumpkin and sunflower seeds
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • pepper, salt, garlic (2 cloves), pepper powder

Instructions

  1. Cut all ingredients in small chunks / pieces so that they are easy to stir-fry
  2. Cook the quinoa as directed on the package and add a vegetable stock cube for flavor.
  3. Fry the diced zucchini along with the cloves of garlic. After about two minutes, add the stir fry vegetables with mushrooms.
  4. Add the (frozen) pumpkin cubes to the ingredients above, as soon as these have shrunken a bit in the wok.
  5. Add the lentils and corn to the vegetables once the pumpkin is a little softer. Season with pepper, salt and paprika.
  6. Bake the tofu in a separate pan and add the rice / quinoa once it’s cooked.
  7. Add the halved cherry tomatoes to the vegetables in the wok.
  8. Now take a big salad bowl and add the vegetables, rice with tofu and stir everything together well.
  9. Cut the feta into small pieces and mix it together with the fresh spinach into the rice and vegetables.
  10. Garnish with sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

If this isn’t a royal meal, I don’t know what is! At least you don’t have to think about food prepping the next two days. Plus, your body will probably get a vitamin overdose because of all the veggies in this meal. If you have a magical combination that exceeds the one above, please share it in the comments below. I’m not afraid of a little healthy competition;)

FYI: If you feel like soup this week, this creamy carrot pumpkin soup is highly recommended! 

Tropical mango & coconut pancakes

Eat breakfast like a queen, lunch like a princess, and dinner like a pauper. Truer words have never been spoken. We ♥ a healthy breakfast and we most definitely love these tropical mango & coconut pancakes from Inlovewithhealth.nl. What are you waiting for? Go make em! 😉

For 4 pancakes:

– Half banana
– 2 eggs
– 20 gr coconut flour (or any other whole wheat flour)
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– Water
– Pieces of pineapple and mango sauce
– Coconut oil

This is how it’s made:

– Mix the eggs and mash the banana
– Mix the banana with the eggs
 – Add the coconut flour and a little bit of water
– Stir the mixture for 5 minutes. If it gets too thick, add a little bit more water
– Add the cinnamon
– Heat a frying pan and add a little coconut oil
– Put a little of your mixture in the frying pan
– Bake the pancake till its golden brown, then turn over
– Bake the other side till evenly brown
– Put the pancakes on a plate and drizzle it with the mango sauce and garnish it with pieces of pineapple. 

Now put on some tropical music, enjoy your pancakes and go be yo’ bad self today, girlfriend!♥

Recipe: a Fruitilicious Green Tea Smoothie

In my last ‘Happy foods’ article I asked I told you about how of all drinks, green tea is probably my favourite drink. I love drinking it either hot or cold. When doing research about my beloved drink I learned about a delicious looking smoothie with green tea as an ingredient and I named it the Fruitilicious Green Tea Smoothie. 

I decided to create it so I could see if it’s any good and it sure was good, the second time I made it! The first time I had all the ingredients but not enough green grapes so it tasted a bit less sweet! The second time I followed the recipe exactly and it was really good! I dare you to give the Fruitilicious Green Tea Smoothie a try! This veggy, fruity, green tea smoothie is easy to make and it will only take about 5 minutes to prepare!

INGREDIENTS

For this recipe you’ll need a blender, a juicer and the following ingredients.green tea smoothie

  • 1½ cups green grapes
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1 cup frozen banana slices
  • 1 cup green tea (decaf for kids)

If you don’t have frozen bananes, you can also make ½ cup of green tea (make it a bit stronger) and add ½ cup of ice cubes to your blender.

PREPARATION

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Mix it until it’s smooth! Your Green tea smoothie is now finished. Time to enjoy it! If you know any other smoothies with green tea as an ingredient, let me know! I’d love to try it!

Happy foods – part 6

This is the last part of the happy food series! If you haven’t read the other parts I suggest you do because these foods can make you a lot happier if you make them a part of your daily diet. Studies have shown that all of these happy foods can positively contribute to your well being. Today one of my favorite drinks is on our happy food menu; it’s green tea! You might also want to read ‘Happy foods – part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5‘.

As I explained in ‘Happy foods – part 1‘, I have a curious mind that craves to learn about new things. I’m kind of a nerd, so whenever I get the chance to, I love to read about science. There are always certain subjects that spike my interest a bit more than others; happiness (combined with science) is one of those for me. Anyway, back to my beloved green tea!

How couldn’t green tea make you feel happy?!
It’s awesome, and not just according to me! A Japanese study found that people who drink five or more cups of green tea on a daily basis have 20% lower stress levels compared to people who drank less than one. To get to these results, they even took age, sex, medical history, bmi, alcohol consumption, smoking and diet into account.

My favorite reason to drink green tea (beside it being tasty) is because it rehydrates better than water. So when you (like myself) workout a lot, it’s really beneficiary.

There are many great ways to consume green tea. During the summer I like to drink it cold with ice cubes and a bit of lemon juice. During the winter I like to drink it hot with a bit of honey. I always buy my green tea organic and decaf. Luckily everyone in my household loves to drink green tea. My twins (the mini Fit Girls in the header photo above) also really love green tea. Apparently there is this delicious smoothie with green tea in it. It only takes a few minutes to create. I’ll try it and I’ll post the recipe in my next article, I will also review it on tastiness, can’t wait!

Are you Fit Girls green tea fans? I know I am! Do you know any other ways to creatively fit green tea in your diet? If you do, let me know!

White Bean Salad with Peas and Mint

Do you have a busy week coming up? This is the perfect recipe: very easy to make and supertasty! And you can find all the ingredients in every supermarket.

White Bean Salad with Peas and Mint

I like this salad best served alongside grilled chicken breast. But if you wanna go veggie, just leave the meat out. The peas and beans are fullfilling enough. This dish makes a great lunch or light main course on hot summer days.  Prepare it the night before, take it to work/school and hurry to the beach/park to catch the last sunrays.

Say NO to unhealthy prepackaged fast food; this salad is perfect for a healthy picnic!

4 servings

  • 300 gram or 1 ½  cup white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 300 gram or 1 ½  cup peas (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • zest and juice from half a lemon
  • 50 gram or 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • grilled chicken breast (optional)

How to:

Combine everything in a bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you are making this ahead combine everything except the mint, as fresh mint tends to turn black once cut it. Add the fresh mint leaves just before serving.

Special thanks to: http://notwithoutsalt.com

5 protein powered recipes

Protein has long been a key factor in maintaining a healthy weight and diet but it’s one nutrient that many people, especially women, don’t eat enough of. Don’t be fooled, eating protein isn’t all egg whites and tins of tuna, check out these 5 protein powered recipes to prove it – and yes there’s even vegan recipes too! 

The benefits of getting enough protein in your diet include feeling fuller for longer, better digestion of the other nutrients from your food and helps you gain strength when exercising by building lean muscle. Don’t skip out protein and try to make sure that your meal is at least one third made up of this powerful nutrient!

Smoked Tofu and Egg Fried Rice

This is an ideal mid week meal that’s full of flavour, is naturally gluten free and substantial. The complete protein status of tofu also means that it contains 9 essential amino acids that our bodies can’t produce by itself! Find the full recipe here.

SMOKED TOFU

 

 

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Anne’s Kitchen Stories on Video: Broad Bean Salad

Broad Bean Salad with Chickpea and Beetroot Sprouts

I love bean salads! They are so easy to make and delicious, plus they keep you going for a long time. The combination of broad beans, feta and mint is a classic and is just amazing. The chickpea sprouts add extra protein and the beetroot sprouts brighten up the dish. It’s perfect for lunch on the go and works really well as a side dish too. Oh, and I can only dream of summer BBQs with salads like these… Go ahead and watch the first #FITGIRLCODE video recipe!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of broad beans (frozen, also known as fava beans)
  • 1 cup of feta
  • 1 handful of fresh mint
  • 1 cup of chickpea sprouts
  • ½ cup of beetroot sprouts
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • sea salt
  • sumac (optional spice)

Method

Blanch broad beans in saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for about 2 mins. Drain, then plunge into bowl of iced water to cool. Pop the skins off the beans and place in serving bowl. In another saucepan, cook the chickpea sprouts for 5 minutes with a bit of olive oil. Add the sprouted chickpeas and beetroot sprouts to the beans and start making the dressing. Mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and sumac in jug. Whisk and mix the dressing with the beans and sprouts. Crumble the feta over top of salad and scatter with mint. Enjoy!

Banana Bread with Mango & Blueberries  

One of my all time favourite things to bake is banana bread. It’s easy, super tasty and everyone loves it. This one is by far my best ever made. If you follow the recipe you can’t go wrong!

Eat it for breakfast, lunch, as a snack, dessert – this banana bread it always a good idea.  

What do you need for one loaf of banana bread?

  • 2 large eggs
  • ½  cup coconut oil (liquid, just put the jar in warm water)
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • ½ cup date paste (just blend 1 big handful of dates with 50 ml water)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 mashed ripe bananas (the riper/more spotted, the sweeter)
  • 2 cups of flour (I use oat flour)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons of pumpkin spice
  • ½ cup diced mango
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ½ cup pistachiosHow to make this beauty:

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Anne’s Kitchen Stories – Lentil Salad

This is a great lunch salad, a bit more festive than any average lunch and it’s so filling and delicious. I especially love it as on-the-go lunch, it’s easy to take with you and you can prep it the day before. The lentils will provide you with protein while the tomatoes and salty olives give it a mediterranean twist and the parsley just works really well with it. It works either hot or cold and it really easy to make. 

INGREDIENTS

1.5 cup* of lentils (use canned lentils for the simplest option or dried lentils for an even better taste)

1 .5 cup of cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup of black olives

3 chives

hand full of pine nuts

fresh parsley

chili flakes

salt & pepper

juice of half a lime

2 tbsp of olive oil

*don’t have measuring cups? take a glass, fill it with 120 ml of water, mark it, and then you will always know how much 0.5 cup is.

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In Love With Health, how it all started…

When I couldn’t get myself of the couch once again, I decided to change my life completely! I was done with my lazy and lifeless lifestyle of hardly doing any work outs (terrible…I know) and eating whatever passed me by all day long. I learned the hard way: it’s easier saying this than actually doing it.

Unfortunately, it took a lot of effort. When my boyfriend made one of his delicious pasta recipes with cream sauce and was eating it with so much joy on his face, I was kind of bummed out that I had to eat my salad with chicken. It honestly took me a lot of effort to not eat his food! But only after 1 month, this healthy life has turned into my lifestyle without a lot of struggles. That pasta with creamy sauce doesn’t hurt me anymore and that bag of fries? Nah.. Just give me my Quinoa salad or a delicious vegetable/fruit smoothie. (Allright, I’m not completely honest right now, I still eat chocolate cake or a nice sandwich with Nutella! Ssst..)

The most important changes when I changed my lifestyle were that I got healthier, fitter and was full of energy! A glorious feeling!  In the past, I’ve been avoiding gyms for so many years, but I now find it wonderful to work out three or four times a week. Who would’ve ever thought that I would do this?! Another plus is that I not only changed on the inside, but also on the outside (Read: the days of love-handles are as good as over).

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Pancake recipe

Studentenvoer posted a really nice recipe on Dutchfitnesscommunity that we just had to share! It’s a pancake recipe and who doesn’t like pancakes?! Even more interesting is the fact that these pancakes help you to work-out at your best, and to improve your performance, because these special pancakes contain a lot of proteins and carbs.

What do you need?

What to do?

The steps are relatively simple and are doable for everyone. Even a kitchen klutz like me was able to do it! Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine.

1. Mix the amount of the Sports Pancakes with the amount of water, cacao, chia seed and flaxseed.

2. Cut the strawberries into smaller bite-sized pieces.

3. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan.

4. Wait until the coconut oil is hot enough. After this, you can bake 2 thin slices of pancakes right after each other.

5. Wait until the upper part of the pancake is dry. If this is the case, spin the pancake.

6. When the pancakes are done, serve them on a plate. After this, spread the upper-side of the pancake with quark.

7. Roll the pancakes and decorate it with the strawberries, shredded coconut, and sprinkle it with cacao nibs.

 

Are you going to try this out at home?

 

The Great Humus Guide

I am just crazy about humus. I spread it on top of (almost) everything: home made pizza, bread, rice cakes etc. It’s also a very suitable and delish dip for fresh vegetables like carrots, cucumber and peppers.

The little heroes in this Mediterranean goodie are chickpeas. These little fellas are full of minerals, fiber and protein and other important nutrients. So if you are just like me a little addicted to hummus, try not to worry too much – there are much worse things you could be addicted to!

Another great thing about humus is that you can vary endlessly. This prevents, even for the serious humus freaks, that you get bored with it eventually. I went on a quest for the most mouthwatering hummus variations for the Great Humus Guide.

The Great Humus Guide

Directions: Rinse and clean all canned chickpeas, then combine everything in a food processor (or use a handmixer) and blitz until smooth. For a thinner consistency add 1 table spoon of water. Add pepper and salt to taste.

1. Classis

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 2 tablespoons olive oil – 2 tablespoons tahini – 2 tablespoons lemon juice – 1 garlic clove

2. Pesto

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – table spoons pesto – 2 table spoons tahini – 2 tablespoons lemon juice – 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

3. Green herb

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 15 basil leaves – a few parsley leaves – a few tarragon leaves – 2 tablespoons of olive oil

4. Guaca-humus

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 1 ripe avocado – a few cilantro leaves – two tablespoons of lime juice

5. Italian

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 6 sundried tomatoes – 2 tablespoons lemon juice – 1 teaspoon dried oregano

6. Greek

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 50 gram grumbled feta cheese – a few leaves baby spinach – 2 table spoons lemon juice – a pinch of cinnamon.

7. Beet

50g can chopped beetroot – 1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 1 garlic cloves – 1 tablespoon tahini – 1 tablespoon lemon juice – 2 tablespoons olive oil

8. Tapenade

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 50 gram black olives – 1 tablespoon tahini – 2 tablespoons olive oil – 3 tablespoons lemon juice – a pinch of cumin – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

9. Red bell pepper

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 2 chopped roasted red bell pepper – 2 tablespoons tahini – 2 tablespoons lemon juice – 2 garlic gloves

10. Cucumber

1 can chickpeas (400 g) – 1/2 cucumber chopped into pieces – 1 tabelespoon olive oil – 2 tablespoons tahini – 2 garlic gloves – a pinch of paprika powder

What is your all time favourite humus recipe? Please let me know! Humus for life! 🙂

 

Gluten and wheat free, vegan bread

So, Julie from food blog Hapjesprinces contacted me, because she has the most delicious recipe for gluten and wheat free, vegan bread and she wants to share it with the Fitgirlcode community. Us gals at Fitgirlcode just love bread, so we are going to try it! 

“I definitely want to share this recipe with all of you. We all know bread is not exactly the most healthy start of the dag. This recipe is an ideal alternative for bread. It contains no gluten, no wheat and no butter. This bread is a much more healthier version than what we buy at the stores. It’s easy to make, because you don’t have to knead. You only need a spoon and a mixing bowl. It includes grains, nuts and seeds. In short, lots of protein and fiber, it’s gluten free, vegan and soooooo good for you”.  – Julie

 

Healthy bread with seeds and figs

Ingredients:

  • 35 g sunflower seeds
  • 35 g pumpkin seeds
  • 50 g flax seeds
  • 30 g hazelnuts/almonds
  • 75 g oatmeal
  • 20 gr spelt flakes
  • 4-5 figs
  • 1 tsp coconut blossom sugar, honey or maple syrup
  • ½ tbsp sea salt
  • ½ tbsp oil
  • 175 ml hot water

 

And here’s how it’s made:

  • Mix all dry ingredients(except figs!) in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the hot water and oil and let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready it should retain its shape when you pull on the sides of the loaf pan
  • Mash it coarsely with a mixer and stir well wit a spoon. Cut the figs into small pieces and mix into the dough
  • Line a small baking pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 180°C. Spoon the mixture into the mold and push firmly. Bake 25-30minutes until golden and firm
  • Cool completely and and cut into pieces

glutenvrij-zadenbrood-5-1024x682

Just look at that! Doesn’t that look delicious? I’m gonna try it, how about you?

The Truth about Veganism

With the “health revolution” that’s going on right now, a vegan diet seems to become more and more popular. There are lots of vegan recipes out there and celebrities like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez are trying it. What does being a vegan mean exactly and how does it influence your health? A little heads up on veganism.  

The Truth about Veganism

Veganism is mostly defined as the absence of consumption of animal products. This means not eating meat, dairy, or eggs and not wearing leather or fur. However, if one chooses to go vegan for personal health reasons and not because of ethics, being a vegan might  indicate that one doesn’t eat or drink animal products, but still wears leather.

Health benefits of eating a plant-based diet are said to include a healthier hart, more vibrant skin, lots of energy, and better digestion (especially if you don’t take dairy too well). This is, if you do veganism the healthy way. Vegan does not necessarily mean healthy, Oreos are vegan too, but they are full of artificials and low in nutritional value. A primary benefit of a vegan diet  is that the consumption of nutritient-dense foods (fruits, veggies, nuts) often increases which really aids your health. Living a vegan lifestyle healthily can be hard because it is easy to lack protein, iron, calcium and vitamin B12 if you don’t eat the right foods in the right amount. This does not mean it is impossible, and once you know how to do it the right way it becomes easier and easier.

There are a lot of people out there who claim that a plant-based diet is what makes them thrive. On the other hand, there are also people who tried being vegan for more than half a year, under supervision of nutritionists and doctors, that are just not feeling it. Every body is different and needs different nutrition for optimal health.

If you are wondering if veganism is for you, I would really recommend to just try it for a week and see how you feel. It is not as hard as it might seem at first, even going out for dinner does not have to be a problem! Please don’t stress if you don’t manage to cut out the animal products 100%, as said above, a primary benefit of a vegan lifestyle is the increase in consumption of healthy foods. And, don’t forget the mental part! I am sure everyone who sets his mind to it can do it for a week, but if you just end up missing your favourite foods too much, it might not make you feel awesome at all.

If you want to know more about a vegan diet, I can always do another blogpost about it. Just comment below 🙂

Avocado Facial Mask

So I would consider myself a avocado lover. I can eat it every day, and I’m dead serious when i say EVERY day. I can have it on my bread, in my salad, in my smoothie, on my face. On my face? Yes, avocado makes an excellent face mask!

Avocado face mask
When I was a little girl I always remembered my mother making an avocado mask and smearing it on her face. I always thought: why would you put something on your face that belongs on your bread? But avocado also deeply hydrates and nourishes the skin without causing irritation and it’s ideal for removing make up. It’s a good source of Vitamin E and C which acts as antioxidants by protecting the skin cells against free radical damage. It also builds collagen which keeps your skin strong and elastic.

Here’s how to make a simple avocado face mask(You can use this avocado mask once a week):

  • Remove the pit and scoop it out
  • Mash into a fine paste with a fork
  • Wash your face and make sure it’s dry
  • Apply the mashed pulp on your face and leave it on for 10 minutes
  • Rinse withe lukewarm water

And since we’re at it. Here’s another awesome recipe for another “delicious” facial mask: Avocado face mask with yogurt and green tea

  • Grate the tea till to becomes a powder
  • Mash the avocado and mix it with the powder
  • Put it in a fine strainer and scald it with hot water
  • Add the yogurt
  • Apply to the face avoiding the eye area and leave it on for 15 minutes
  • Rinse with lukewarm water

Now when you look up pictures on the internet for avocado facial mask you find these kind of pictures…

FORGET IT, that is not how it looks in real life. So don’t worry if your mask doesn’t look like the above. This is how a REAL avocado mask looks like…

 

Now, go enjoy your masks and let me know what you think of it, or holler if you have some tips for me!

Filled bell pepper recipe

Studentenvoer has another amazing recipe for you! This time a super delicious filled bell pepper recipe. You could make it for lunch, but also for dinner – it’s completely up to you. Why don’t you try it?

Sometimes it can be hard to come up with new ideas for your lunch or dinner. Personally I’m often following routines in what I eat and find it hard to come up with creative recipes by myself. Thank god there are people on this earth who do know how to make amazing food combinations and Michelle from Studentenvoer is one of them. But let’s cut to the chase – you want to know how to make this, don’t you?

Ingredients (for 4 people)

  • 4 bell peppers
  • 1 bag of (garlic) shrimps
  • 1 cup of quinoa
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic (so don’t eat this before a date 😉 )
  • boursin or any cheese you prefer
  • pepper & salt

When you have gathered these ingredients, you are all ready and set for cooking this delicious recipe.

Let’s do this!

  1. Put a pan on the stove, containing 2 cups of water for the quinoa.
  2. In the meantime, you can cut off the top of the bell peppers and cut the other veggies up in small pieces.
  3. As soon as the water is boiling, add the quinoa.
  4. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees (Celcius).
  5. Cook the shrimp, garlic and onion in some (coconut) oil. When the shrimps are almost ready, you add the tomatoes to the party.
  6. When the quinoa is done, get rid of the water that’s left in the pan and add the quinoa to the shrimps.
  7. I know you already want to eat this, but behave yourself.
  8. Scoop everything into the bell peppers and put the boursin or cheese on top.
  9. Put the bell peppers in the oven for about 30 minutes.

NOW you can unleash your inner beast and throw yourself upon the food feast that you have created. Enjoy your masterpiece!

 

Lunch Fitgirlcode style

 Growing up in The Netherlands where lunch just comes down to a sandwich, I sometimes have a hard time making a lunch that does not consist of only 2 slices of bread with toppings. I bet there are more fit girls out there that love breakfast and look forward to dinners, but lack easy and nourishing lunch recipes.

Time for some lunch inspiration!

Veggie bowls. Perfect for lunches at home when you have time to prepare some veggies. I love to combine some kind of vegetable with lentils, beans or chickpeas and guacamole. Celeriac fries are awesome to go with this kind of lunch as well.

knolselderij-friet1-660x400
Celeriac fries

–  Salads with a twist. I really love simple salads but they don’t always fill me up properly. By adding beans, a boiled egg, fish, or meat you can include some extra protein which will keep you going longer. Nuts and avocados are awesome for some extra nourishment as well. My favourite dressing is a mixture of 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tspn hummus, 1 tspn apple cider vinegar (balsamic will work too), and some salt.

avocado
Avocado salad

– Leftover dinners. At first I thought eating pasta at 1pm was weird but I actually really like it. It keeps me going all afternoon and this way I don’t have to throw away any leftover food. Other recipes that work really well as a (to-go) lunch are quinoa and rice dishes and tabbouleh. Tastes at least as good cold as it did hot.

Tabouleh
Tabouleh

– Avocado on top. A simple lunch I love is rice cakes, toast, or rye bread with 1/2 an avocado with some chili flakes, a bit of salt and some lime juice. Never lets me down.

Hope this helps! Still lacking inspiration? Check out more delicious and healthy lunch recipes! 

 

(Images: www.yummysalad.com  + www.thehappymango.wordpress.com)

 

Strength training for women

I used to sweat over every piece of cardio equipment in the gym. Beside the fact that this is all but an inspiring sport activity, it didn’t give me the results I was aiming for either. When I started training at Sixforty I got introduced to strength training workouts. And suddenly the scale gave me much more love than before. And no, I didn’t become a female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let me clarify this first: women naturally can never get as muscular as men! This has to do with the fact that women have a smaller amount of muscle fibers and testosterone. So no reason for you to hide behind this ancient myth.

Strenght training for women

I`ll give you some undeniable reasons that will convince you to start lifting weights:

  • 2 strength sessions a week can reduce overall body fat by about 3 percentage in just 10 weeks. That translates to as much as three inches total off your waist and hips. Suddenly, dumbbells sound like a smart idea.
  • Your after burn increases with 100 calories per training when you lift weights. If you train three times a week, 52 weeks a year… well, do the math! There’s a longer term benefit to all that lifting too: muscles are, unlike fat, metabolically active. That means that muscles chew up calories, even when you are not in the gym.
  •  Add heavy weights to your training. In a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, women burned nearly twice as many calories in the two hours after their workout when they lifted 85 percent of their max load for eight reps than when they did more reps (15) at a lower weight (45 percent of their max).

It’s recommended to do three weight training sessions each week. Aim for total body workouts that target your arms, abs, legs and back. For each exercise you do, try to perform three sets of 10 to 15 reps with a weight heavy enough that by your last rep you can’t eke out another one without compromising your form.

And remember to fuel your body properly before working out. Treat your body like a car: food = fuel. If you put the wrong gas in your car, it won’t work. The right food prevents you from losing muscle along with any fat that might have melted away. So make sure you eat high protein food like chicken, soy products, eggs and quark.

(Source: http://www.womenshealthmag.com)