Granola. Perfected.

Granola. When I hear that word I think of coloradoens, hippies, dreadlocks, and myself. Birkinstock wear-ers and extremests who only shower in the river. BUT "granola" expands beyond the description of grungy vegans, it's a fabulous shhnack as well. Boxed granola is either overly processed and tastes like a bottle of vanilla pop or straight up delish but costs an arm, a leg, and another arm. But, no fear, whollygirl is here! I constructed (after 543799 failed attempts, literally) a fail free, granola recipe. It's tasty, versatile, and healthy! What more could you ask for? Nothing. Well hurrr ya go folks, granola :)
Granola for Dummies
oven @ 250
4 c rolled oats
1-2 c chopped nuts ( i like pecans)
1/2 c wheat germ
1/2 coconut (optional)
1/4 c honey
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c oil (i use coconut oil)
pinch ye salt
1 c dried fruit (i loveee blueberries!)
1. Melt coconut oil and whisk together wet ingredients and salt in a  small bowl. In a larger bowl toss together dry ingredients, NO BLUEBERRIES.
2. Pour the wet into the dry and stir.
3. Spread on two smaller baking sheets lined with parchment and bake for a little over an hour. stirring every 15 min.
4. When golden, remove from oven and toss in dried fruit. Let cool and store ;)

<3 ya! --whollygirl

AAAbsolutley Summertastic

Light fare is definitely most popular in these steamy summer months. Fresh veggies fill the farmers market and it always seems like people are sipping on lemonades and green teas. So why not have the best of both worlds!?!!? Well, you can. Avocado, artichokes, and asparagus soak up the sun in a vinaigrette MADE with MADE Half&Half (half green tea and half lemonade). The earthy-ness of the green tea brings out the freshness in the veggies and lemonade adds a pungent kick! Learn to love every veggie with this triple A salad :)

Triple A Salad
Bunch of Asparagus, steamed and cut into 2 inch pieces
3 artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 avocado, cubed
2 T roasted pecans, chopped

Vinaigrette:
1/4 C MADE Half&Half
2 T olive oil
1 T salad vinegar
1 t crushed red pepper
1 t salt
1 1/2 t black pepper
1 t crushed garlic

1. Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a measuring cup.
2. Place the asparagus, artichokes, avocado, and pecans in a medium bowl.
3. Pour a little vinaigrette in the bowl and toss to coat as wanted.
ENJOYYYYYYY <3

Oh, sweetness.

The art of blogging (or my lack of blogging) is a way for people to express themselves and a way for readers to get "into" others lives without being nosy. I truly do love writing and telling stories through food. Today I'm getting a little sweet on you by sharing a recipe I wrote with the help of a fantastic company I happen to intern for. MADE Drinks is an organic, vegan, gluten-free, and bottled BPA-free, drinks company. They (like real people) make green teas and lemonades that are 100% to die for. I swear I'm not just saying that because I'm a little partial, but because it's the truth. So enough of my proud-parent bragging, on to the recipe. With summer in full heat and you always searching for a new recipe to take to a cookout, I thought of a simple favorite MADE (haha, get it?) better. With a lightened up crust and lets face it, a delectable middle these lemon bars will knock your socks off. Now, moderation is key because it's damn tough to make a healthy lemon bar. Sometimes you do have to splurge... sometimes.

LemonMADE Bars
Crust:
1/2 c ww flour
1/2 c orgainc ap flour
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
1/3 c cane sugar

Filling:
4 eggs
1/2 c cane sugar
3 T flour
1 T lemon zest
2/3 c MADE Lemonade (use any variety you like)
1/3 c lemon juice

Oven @ 350
1. Combine crust ingredients by hand or in a food processor. Press into a non-stick or greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
2. In the jolly 'ole mean time, whisk togeth the eggs, sug, and flour. Then mix in the remaining ingredients.
3. Pour over the hot crust and bake for 20 more minutes. DO NOT OVER-BAKE!!! The bars will continue to set while cooling. Dust with powdered sug if you wish :)

Love always (even though I go "awol" often),
Whollygirl :):)

Day 14

Hello. I feel like I should re introduce myself as the worst blogger, ever. It's not like I have been swamped to my neck, I just haven't been in the mood. Lord, I sound hormonal and I am so not pregnant. Anyway, this whole Back to the Start Challenge is tough. It's not like I was eating Micky D's everyday and I'm on a detox but I did do everything in moderation. I ate healthy daily and if I went to ice cream with friends I got a small cup. A few days ago (I should have blogged about it then but I was too upset) I went to a baseball game with my friends. I did not plan accordingly and was starving. Everyone was snacking on famous ball park dogs and I was snacking on peanuts, don't get me wrong they were good peanuts but smelling dogs, pretzels, and frozen lemonade sucked. Afterwards we hit a local custard joint and I sat there while everyone indulged in their $1 sundae. I feel like the toughest thing is not grabbing a granola bar or organic frozen waffle. Convience is a big issue, I am having to plan plan plan.

Long story short, even though it has already been a long story, I am so proud of myself. Even though resisting temptation was a bummer I stayed in control. And that felt amazing. I will be a better blogger, promise. Peace.

day four and five

Yesterday was day 4 of my Back to the Start challenge. And seriously, it was a challenge. I was visiting family at the lake and my family loves their food. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic, but not everything was "whollygirl" approved. Shoot! That sounds so way snooty, so lets just say there weren't the healthiest of choices. I did my best, scarfing my face with salad and corn on the cob for dinner. Everything was a-okay until about 10:30. Everyone was socializing around 3 bags of Oreo's. Now, I just had my first Oreo on May 3rd. It was lovely, I only ate one because I knew if I continued I would eat the whole bag. So last night my family was trying to convince me that Oreo's were organic and that I should loosen up a bit because I was at the lake. Well I did not give into this Oreo madness, or the snickers showdown around midnight either. I thought that would be the toughest part until this morning. I ate my raw breakfast of pecans and a banana that I brought with me. Then lunch came about. Burgers and hot dogs. Let's just say I ate some more nuts, a tomato, then decided it was time to come home.

I see these past few days as probably the toughest I will encounter. Not because I don't trust myself around processed foods, but because that was the only thing available. It was so, so tough to say no to food that I normally don't eat anyway but in that situation I wouldn't have had a problem with eating an Oreo or a burger. But I whipped up some quinoa hash as soon as I got home and was a happy camper!

So much about me rambling on about my life, is anyone doing the Back to the Start Challenge? :) Thanks for listening! Also, (I promise I will stop after this) I am adding a rule.

Rule 5: Drink at least 2 full Nalgenes of water a day.
That is all. <3 whollygirl

raw update

So, I made a huge deal about me going raw for 30 days. I did the research, wrote recipes, and decided to commit. After two days of being 100% raw I got really sick. I wasn't getting enough nutrients and was not able to workout and continue this lifestyle. From the research I have done I think that eating raw is amazing for your body but it just isn't practical. The prep is intense and time consuming. If I had someone helping me do this I think it would be a totally different story.

I am so upset that I am not able to do this 100% like I wanted! BUTTTTT I am still going to continue a challenge :) I am tweaking it. One raw meal a day and NO processed foods! This includes my beloved nutri-grain bars. I try to focus on whole foods in general but I am going to be a straight up stickler about it for the next 26 days. This challenge is called "Back to the Start". The reason for this is because our grandparents, and family before that didn't have fast food, tv dinners, and twinkies. They ate real food.

Here are my rules:
1. One meal a day must be raw. This can be as simple as a juice with a handful of nuts for breakfast or the same thing plus a salad for lunch.
2. No fast food, no tv dinners, or anything that says "just add water". Pretty much, if my great grandmother wouldn't know what it was, I'm not eating it.
3. If I go out to eat I will eat completely vegetarian. The reason for this is because I can't be sure of where the meat comes from.
4. Eat whole, fresh foods! Bake, cook, and grill as long as everything is a real food.
5. Mix up my workouts. Workout 6 days a week. If you think about it, back in the olden days they did hard man well labor. Which is equivalent to working out about 6 days a week.

This may seem like how I should eat everyday, and honestly I try to. Except for the one raw meal a day part. But I am also a teenager and occasionally eat fast food, and live by the saying "everything in moderation." But for the next 26 days (I have been following this since I was unable to be 100% raw) follow me daily and do the Back to the Start challenge with me! I will post workouts, recipes, and my emotional response to all of this. Wish me luck, because honestly, avoiding Pineapple Whip is going to be my toughest obstacle. Peace out. Chat to you tomorrow :)

Poor Man's Meat

I am going RAW for 30 days. I am very stoked but also freakin' terrified. So, I am savoring my last few days of cooked food, and yes, my last meal will be a burger. All in moderation, and YOLO... right? Well, tonight I made a four bean soup for dinner. I added brown rice so that my meal would be a complete protein and a one pot dish in itself. I know what your thinking "that whollygirl is crazy! soup in the summer!?!". Chill. This soup is lovely. It is light and is fantastic cold. It's so easy to take along with you to the lake or even camping. You won't miss the meat here, and you save some ching-a-ling.
El Quatro Bean Soup
-if you can, soak and cook dried beans. canned will work fine though :)
RINSE AND DRAIN ALL CANNED ITEMS
-2 cans green beans
-1 can white kidney beans
-1 can red kidney beans
-1 can chickpeas
-2 large tomatoes, diced
-1 jalapeño, diced
-1 onion, chopped
-1 T cumin, corriander, and oregano
-squirt of dijion mustard
-2 T worstershire sauce
-1 c brown rice, minute rice will work
-salt and pepper
-water

1. Heat a saucepan to medium heat, and spray with cooking spray if needed. Add in onion, jalapeño, seasonings, worstershire, and dijion. Stir.
2. Add in tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Let that come to a bubble.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and 3-4 more cups of water. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until rice is cooked.
4. Eat up :)