Sharing my version of the amazing Whole Foods red lentil dal soup, which is one of my very favorites. It’s gluten-free, dairy free, and a plant-based source of protein and nutrients.
Hi friends! How’s the week going so far? I’m in content creation mode for something new I’m working on and doing the usual school and sports scramble with the crew. Fall is officially in the air (jk it’s going to be like 100 here until November) but I like the pretend with a cozy bowl of soup.
I have a mental list of quick grab-and-go meals that I can swoop in a pinch, are healthy, and that I really enjoy. Thankfully, Tucson has a lot of amazing healthy restaurants, which makes it pretty easy. If I find myself in a bind and hangry in between picking up kids and running errands, it’s nice to know I have some faves I can easily pick up.
Whole Foods Red Lentil Dal Soup (copycat recipe)
This is one of my favorite easy healthy pickup meal options. I’ve had this lentil soup so many times this fall season already, I knew I needed to try to recreate it at home. The result is a super hearty, flavorful soup, with lots of nutrients, and is great with a large salad for lunch. It also freezes beautifully.
Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give it a try!
Ingredients:
One yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs of celery, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 knob of ginger, peeled and grated
2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
32 oz vegetable broth
Juice of 1 lime
Good pinch of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
Turmeric
1/2 bag of spinach
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Step One
In the Instant Pot on saute setting, saute the onion, carrots, garlic, and celery for 2-3 minutes in olive oil, until softened and fragrant. Add in the tomatoes, ginger, lentils, and spices. Season well with salt and pepper.
Step two
Stir in the broth, seal the lid, and cook on soup setting for 20 minutes.
Step three
Allow the pressure to release naturally, and then stir in the lime juice, spinach, and coconut milk. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving. Top with some dairy-free yogurt and cilantro if you’d like!
Note: Allow to cool completely before storing in the fridge or freezer.
Here’s the full recipe. Please let me know if you decide to give it a whirl!
A delicious and hearty vegan soup that’s packed with protein and nutrients.
Author:Fitnessista
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time:20 minutes
Total Time:30 minutes
Yield:6-8 servings
Ingredients
One yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs of celery, diced
3–4 cloves of garlic
1 knob of ginger, peeled and grated
2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
32 oz vegetable broth
Juice of 1 lime
Good pinch of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 bag of spinach
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper
Cayenne if desired
Instructions
In the Instant Pot on saute setting, saute the onion, carrots, garlic, and celery for 2-3 minutes in olive oil, until softened and fragrant. Add in the tomatoes, ginger, lentils, and spices. Season well with salt and pepper.
Stir in the broth, seal the lid, and cook on soup setting for 20 minutes.
Allow the pressure to release naturally, and then stir in the lime juice, spinach, and coconut milk. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving. Top with some dairy-free yogurt and cilantro if you’d like!
Notes
You can definitely make this on the stovetop. Just bring up to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover. Cook at a low simmer for around 45 minutes or until the lentils are cooked and soft. Then add the coconut milk, lime juice, and serve with desired toppings.
Hiiii! Happy Friday! How are you? I hope you’ve had a lovely week. It’s been a busy one over here. Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on a new program (more to come soon), subbed a barre class, and have the wrangling the crew. The girls are busy and thriving with school and their extracurricular activities, Lola is… on her doggy period (joy lol), and the Pilot has been traveling a lot.
We were able to get in a brunch date this week at the Hills, which was amazing. They have great food and a cozy vibe.
The rest of the weekend will be spent poolside, prepping for a content shoot on Monday, NCL event, and my dad’s bday dinner.
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.
(Friendly reminder that affiliate links are included in Friday Faves! Thank you so much for supporting the blog)
8.28 Friday Faves
Fashion, beauty, random:
Girls’ night! The perfect night of wine, chatting, and creme brulee at Fleming’s. The funny thing is that I hated creme brulee for YEARS and now that I’ve been gluten-free for three years and it’s usually one of the only gf desserts on the menu, I’m now a huge fan.
Fishing with the cousins. They came over for swimming last weekend and we went fishing at a nearby lake afterwards. It’s apparently stocked with bass, catfish and trout, but we didn’t catch anything. It doesn’t matter; the kids still loved it.
Don’t Say Good Luck on Netflix. I don’t know if I can call it a fave because I cried like a baby, but it was beautiful and well done. Liv loved it, too.
Ok friends, who are you cheering for in Dancing with the Stars: the Next Pro? I’m team Adele but think that all of the finalists are insanely talented.
Hiiii! Happy Friday! How are you? What’s going on this weekend?
We’re finally finding our groove with the kiddos back in school and the Pilot’s travel schedule. Liv is back in dance, P is taking a break from basketball to play soccer, and we’re already looking forward to fall break. This week, I’ve been diving back into work stuff (some exciting things on the way!) and also met up with some friends for lunch and juice which was a nice lil treat.
Last weekend, we went to KCON in LA! Our two K Pop fans wanted to go, so we took a trip to LA for the weekend. It was pretty cool: SO many bands performing on various stages, food and beauty vendors, and a huge arena concert featuring the headliners from each day.
The lines to get in were the craziest lines I’ve ever seen. There were thousands of people still lined up when we arrived, which is reason to skip it next year or get the Express Access pass.
Once we got inside, it was a lot of fun. Liv was able to see so many groups she loves, and P enjoyed walking around with us, checking out the vendors, eating all of the tasty food, and popping into the mini concerts throughout the day.
I knew she’d been tired from an early flight, so I only booked two tickets for the arena concert Saturday night. Liv would want to rally and P would want to chill, which was fine with me lol.
The Pilot took Liv to the concert, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that I accidentally bought VIP executive suite tickets. I was just trying to buy tickets that weren’t in the nosebleed section and got them from a resale site.
After waiting in line for so long earlier in the day, I was so pumped that they were able to walk right in! They also had awesome seats for the concert. While they were watching the show, P and I were back at the hotel in jammies wearing face masks, watched Great British Baking Show Juniors and playing dress to impress on her iPad.
This guy is such a good sport.
Aaaaand check out my K beauty haul from the weekend! About half of this was free and I maybe spent $60 for the rest of it. So many new things to try!
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.
(Friendly reminder that affiliate links are included in Friday Faves! Thank you so much for supporting the blog)
8.21 Friday Faves
Fashion, beauty, random:
Wore this to meet a friend for bfast. Looooove all things Polo bear. (This top is sold out but there’s a similar one here!)
This week we celebrated our 19th anniversary. We went to dinner at the Flying V and it was perfection. I feel like we’ve lived so many lifetimes together since the early days (and I’ve been blogging for almost all of it!) and and grateful and proud of the life we’ve built together.
New HigherDOSE red light shower filter. We’re remodeling the bathroom after the mold remediation and I told them I wasn’t super picky about the design; I just want to include this shower head! It’s HUGE and has 10-step filtration, plus the benefits of red light. I can’t wait to take a shower in the dark with the red light going. Bliss. Check it out here and use FITNESSISTA15 sitewide.
Read, watch, listen:
I wanted to invite you to join me over on Substack. I’ve been posting over here for the past few months and am loving it! If you’d like to check out some of my posts over there (like what the Miraval psychic told me, my past life regression, and identity crisis) meet me over here. I’d love to see ya
Are you watching Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro? I’m so glad I started watching it a few weeks ago and it’s starting to get exciting. I can’t wait to see who wins and am definitely team Adele.
P and I got Doordash while the Pilot and Liv went to KCON early Sunday morning. (We slept in and wanted pancakes.) It was my first time trying Honey Hi and it was sooooo good. I can’t wait to try it again and am so glad I also ordered half a loaf of gf sourdough to bring home in my suitcase.
Re-sharing this recipe for healthy homemade dog food because both dogs love it so much! I use We Feed Raw as the meat in this recipe, and you can use FITNESSISTA40 for 40% off! It saves me a trip to the farmer’s market, and is an amazing blend of meat and organs with no fillers or preservatives.
Hi friends! How are ya? I hope that your day is going well! Today, I have a couple of calls and am looking forward to some time in the sauna blanket after a workout. It should be a pretty low-key day!
For today’s post, I’m calling on all dog owners. I wanted to share our dogs’ obsession with you: homemade dog food. If you’re looking to upgrade what you feed your dog, this simple recipe is PACKED with nutrients, and both dogs goes crazy with it.
(See the crazy eyes?? She’s INTO IT. Also Lola patiently waits in the kitchen each morning for her dog food. She loooooves it.)
TBH, I always felt a little bad giving Maisey packaged dog food because this creature LOVES fresh food. She’s constantly begging for scraps of broccoli and bell pepper (her two faves), has stolen an entire brisket off the counter (and ate it on our new white couch..), a whole chicken breast (bones and all, and thankfully didn’t get sick), as well as ramen and curry. But can you blame her?
Knowing her flavor profile, I would pour her kibble into her bowl and feel a little bad for the gourmet gal. To spice things up, we would put Fresh Pet on top from Whole Foods (SO expensive and still felt like a block of packaged meat), but I knew there had to be a better way.
I started researching a ton, and found a vet-approved recipe online that inspired me to finally make our own.
I’m excited to share all of the details with you! It’s less expensive than Fresh Pet, with certified organic, farm fresh, and wild-caught ingredients, and I love that I know everything that went into it. No preservatives or extra stuff. Friendly reminder: always talk to your vet or veterinary nutritionist before changing your dog’s food.
While this works for Maisey and Lola, it’s important to note that dogs can have different allergens, or may just be unable to tolerate certain things. It’s also helpful to gradually increase new foods so the transition is more gentle on their stomach.
*Little note that this post may contain affiliate links. They don’t impact purchase price but enable me to earn a small kickback that I use to keep this lil blog running. On that note, thank you so much to those of you who choose to shop with my affiliate links!
Healthy homemade dog food recipe
Benefits of Homemade Dog Food:
Making your dog’s food at home can have a ton of benefits, including:
Control Over Ingredients: By preparing your dog’s food from scratch, you have full control over the quality of ingredients used, ensuring that your furry friend gets only the best.
Avoidance of Sketchy Ingredients: Conventional dog foods often contain questionable ingredients such as fillers, artificial preservatives, and low-quality meats that can be harmful to your dog’s health.
Tailored Nutrition: Homemade dog food allows you to tailor your dog’s diet to their specific needs, whether they require a certain protein source or have allergies to certain ingredients.
Increased Digestibility: Whole, fresh ingredients are more easily digestible for dogs, leading to better nutrient absorption and overall health.
Ingredients and Their Benefits:
The recipe that inspired this one is Dr. Judy’s Puploaf. She has the full post here, and you can actually order it online! Since this is more of a topper, Maisey still gets some “I and love and you” Nude Super Food kibble (you can order it from Thrive Market) in her bowl—I didn’t have to be as specific with ratios of ingredients.
I’m also including a few extra ingredients that aren’t in the original recipe, but they’re just as beneficial and yummy for your dogs. Just like humans, dogs thrive on meat and veggies. (Just make sure to avoid garlic and onions.)
Ground Beef: An excellent source of protein and essential amino acids for muscle health. Bonus points if it’s lean ground beef!
Ground Turkey: Low-fat lean protein that is packed with essential nutrients. It’s also considered hypoallergenic, making it a great choice for pups with allergies.
Organ Meats (Heart, Liver, Gizzards, Spleen): Rich in vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc, and vitamin B12, vital for your dog’s overall health.
Butternut Squash: Packed with vitamins A and C, fiber, and antioxidants to support immune function and digestion. (Sweet potatoes are a great alternative.)
Sardines: A great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which promote healthy skin and coat, reduce inflammation, and support joint health. Sardines are one of Maisey’s all-time favorite foods!
Leafy Greens: Provide essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin K, calcium, and folate, for overall health and vitality.
Green Beans and carrots: Great for providing vitamins, minerals, and a high dose of fiber. Green beans and carrots help with things like vision, the immune system, and bone health. I was surprised to learn how much Maisey loves certain vegetables!
Eggs: Rich in choline, protein, and essential nutrients. If you’re using farm-fresh eggs, you can also add the shell. Since I use organic eggs from the grocery store, I use the membrane inside the egg whenever I use this ingredient in my recipe.
Oysters: High in zinc and selenium, important for immune function and thyroid health.
Cranberries: Rich in antioxidants and beneficial for urinary tract health.
Broccoli: Contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals, including vitamin C and calcium, for optimal health.
Bell Pepper: Provides vitamin A, vitamin C, and antioxidants to support immune function and eye health.
Flax Oil: A source of omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin and coat, as well as joint support.
Ginger: Has anti-inflammatory properties and aids in digestion.
Brown Rice: A healthy addition to any diet because of its fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Healthy homemade dog food recipe
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, organ meats, butternut squash, sardines, leafy greens, oysters, cranberries, broccoli, bell pepper, and ginger. You may find this easiest to blend in a food processor, but it’s personal preference.
I keep the flax oil in the fridge and drizzle on a small amount before serving.
Mix the ingredients thoroughly to ensure even distribution.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and lightly bake for 20-30 minutes at 325°F.
Allow the food to cool before serving to your dog. Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, and you can freeze the rest in individual portions. I use Souper Cubes to feed our fur babies this super yummy meal until it’s time to make more! I just put them in the freezer.
This healthy homemade dog food recipe is based on Dr. Judy’s pup loaf recipe. It’s a great way to give your dog fresh food with tons of nutrients!
Author:Gina Harney // Fitnessista.com
Ingredients
2 lbs organic grass-fed ground beef
1 cup of chicken hearts
Add in any other organ meats, like spleen, gizzards, or liver – we used a blend from a local farm that contained heart, spleen, and liver
2 cans of sardines in water
2 cans of mussels in olive oil
3 eggs (if farm fresh, use the shell. If from the grocery store, use the egg membrane on the inside of the shell)
1 cup butternut squash, chopped
1 cup of broccoli, chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
a handful of leafy greens (I used chard), chopped
1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
1/2 c dried cranberries (make sure there is no added sugar, and no extra ingredients)
cold-pressed flax oil, to serve
Instructions
In a large bowl, stir the ground beef, organ meats, chopped butternut squash, sardines, leafy greens, oysters, cranberries, broccoli, bell pepper, and ginger. I keep the flax oil in the fridge and drizzle on a little before serving.
Mix the ingredients thoroughly to ensure even distribution.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and lightly bake for 20-30 minutes at 325°F.
Notes
Allow the food to cool before serving to your dog. Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, and you can freeze the rest in individual portions. I used Souper Cubes.
It feels so good to give our dogs fresh food that’s also packed with nutrients!!
So, tell me, friends: do you make your dog’s food? Are there any brands you love?
xo
Gina
More:
If you’d like to outsource the meat of this recipe, I use We Feed Raw + regular ground beef as the meat mixture in this. It’s perfect, and she goes crazy for it. You can check it out here and use FITNESSISTA40
Sharing a roundup of the books I’ve read lately and if they’re worth adding to your collection.
Hi friends! How are you? I hope you had an amazing weekend!
Today, I wanted to share the books I read lately and share my ratings with you. I haven’t made reading as much of a priority lately – admitedly, I’ve been doomscrolling a lot – but there have been some real winners in the mix.
Kristin Harmel is one of my all-time favorite historical fiction authors and her latest book did not disappoint. I devourved it on the flight home from Orlando and couldn’t read it fast enough. This is the story of Colette Marceau, a woman in her 90s who has spent her entire life as a jewel thief. It alternates between the early 2000s and WW2, and as the events of her childhood unravel, we learn more about her family, why and how she started stealing jewels, the details involving her sister’s disappearance, and a very special bracelet.
Historical fiction is one of the genres that immediately captures my attention and holds it for the entire book. These stories are always heartbreaking, but I was talking with a friend about it and she agreed that they’re beautiful stories of resilience and they always seem to have exquisite writing and rich character development. 5/5 – highly recommend this one
Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.
But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.
Seventy years later, Colette – who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations – has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.
I’m a huge fan of Frederik Bakman, but he definitely has a particular style. I feel like you can feel the characters and their personalities, but in this case, the main characters are a bit of a chaotic mess, so this book also felt chaotic. It was a slow burn, and took me forever to finish it, but the ending was excellent. 3.5/5
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
This was another one that I flew through and couldn’t wait to see what happens.
The man Beth loves is being tried for murder, but at the beginning of the book, we have no idea which man this is, or the events surrounding the trial. It flashes between past and future, and is a total pageturner. I also did NOT see the ending coming and it was extremely satisfying. It totally lives up to the hype. 5/5
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.
A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.
I still have my Book of the Month membership, but haven’t used it in quite a while. The selection hasn’t felt very exciting, but I keep adding books to my TBR list that I come across on Instagram.
So tell me friends: what are you reading right now? Any historical fiction that you loved recently? My heart is already preparing for The Nightingale premiere next year.
Hiiii! Happy Friday! How are you? What’s going on this weekend?
The kids are back in school (WILD) and thankfully had a great week at their new schools. We’re back into the full routine around here and this weekend we have dinner with friends to celebrate the first week of school, two NCL events, and getting things finally ready for our mold remediation and bathroom remodel.
It’s taken us forever to get started with travel and summer stuff, but I’m so so ready to get this chapter completed. I’ll definitely share more about the whole process!
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.
(Friendly reminder that affiliate links are included in Friday Faves! Thank you so much for supporting the blog)
8.7 Friday Faves
Fashion, beauty, random:
Pool day with the Pilot. The kids were back at school, we both had an open day, and we decided to head to the gym and then spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool.
These masks are super moisturizing and feel amazing.
LOVING a French twist lately. I use this hair pin and there are a ton of tutorials on IG.
Wore this dress to an NCL meeting last weekend. It’s one of my faves and easy to dress up or down and also a little profesh when I need to be.
If you have an older girl heading back to school, I recommend making a little essentials kit for them that they can put in their backpack or locker.
Here’s one that I made for Liv:
(body spray, gum, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, pads, a mini deodorant and a little brush)
P has been wanting a bearded dragon forever, so I asked her to make a compelling Canva presentation with bearded dragon facts, a price breakdown, why she wants one, and what she’ll do to take care of it. Needless to say, she did a great job.
Meet Douglas Spike (Doug). He’s still getting used to his surroundings but he’s super cute.
If you haven’t seen Voicemails for Isabelle on Netflix yet, dooooo it. I want to watch it again! I’m also loving the new Elle series on Amazon. (While the Pilot has been on trips, I’ve been watching TV way more often at night but I have to say, it’s been a nice way to unwind at the end of the day… even though the dogs spend it playing wrestlemania on top of me.)
Print Recipe
The fabric is amazing on this one and true to size.
