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Back to Tuesday: Baked Italian-Style Quinoa, NuNaturals, Car Pics

Gym Day
The weather today made it really really hard to hit the gym and not the road for a run. Another gorgeous day, and warmer than yesterday too. Can't wait to be able to run for fun again and not based on a plan. 

Anyway, today I hit the gym for my usual elliptical and weights session. Today was shoulders, chest, triceps and abs. I went with the trisets done in 3 sets of 8 reps again like I did on Monday. I started with a 15 minute warm up on the elliptical.

TS#1
Chest flye
Chest press
Decline pushups

Staggered chest press -8

TS#2
Standing dumbbell shoulder press
Lateral raise
Front raise

Front raise open to side back to front - 8

TS#3
Double-arm overhead triceps extension
Lying dumbbell triceps extension
Double-arm kickbacks



Triceps dips - 16

I did a variety of ab exercises like hanging leg raises, some weighted exercises, and some stability ball work before finishing off with another 10 minutes on the elliptical.

Hump Day Dinner
Back to what was supposed to have been Tuesday's dinner...Baked Italian-Style Quinoa, Kale & Canellini Beans. Warning, this makes a butt load, so if you don't have a large family to feed or don't like tons of leftovers, you may want to half the recipe.

Baked Italian-Style Quinoa, Kale & Cannellini Beans
Ingredients:
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp minced garlic
white wine (approximately 1/4 cup) or low-sodium vegetable broth
1.5 cups cannellini beans
To taste: salt, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes
1 cup red quinoa
2 cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
To taste: parsley, basil, oregano, salt, pepper
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used homemade)
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
Vegan cheese (optional)

Directions:
In large skillet, saute onions and garlic until onions soften. Add in kale, spices, and broth or wine and allow kale to cook down. Add in the beans a few minutes before the kale is done to allow them to heat through.

In medium pot, cook quinoa per package directions in water or broth adding in the spices.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a glass casserole dish.

In a large bowl, mix together kale mixture, quinoa, nutritional yeast flakes, and spaghetti sauce. Transfer to casserole dish and top with vegan cheese (optional).

Bake approximately 20 minutes until golden on top.
 

This turned out soooo good. We were already talking about other ways to use this - like as a filling for portobellos, winter squashes, or bell peppers. So, maybe having leftovers is ideal after all!

Back to Tuesday
In my haste to get yesterday's post done, I forgot to mention a fantastic package that was waiting on me when I got home. I recently one a NuNaturals giveaway from the adorable Kristine @ Busy But Healthy. I am very excited as they included a few items I haven't tried yet. It felt like hitting the jackpot!

It really was a good Tuesday - great run, giveaway package, new car. Speaking of the car. You guys are really demanding I tell you. You wanted pictures, well, here's one. Jason tried to get one of me by the car, but it really wasn't a picture I wanted to share with anyone. I promise I'll have him take another one though.
 

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