Tuesday, June 9, 2009

An Orangelicious Chickpea Salad

Today was insanely busy ~ sorry I never made it back to show you all some love. But, I am here now with MORE RECIPES w/fantastic pictures and that's all that matters, right?! :) LOL....I brought a nectarine for my morning snack but decided to add some TJ's Organic Wheat/Flax Crackers to help it stick with me longer (in all honesty) - I had the crackers x's 2 - so addictingly good.

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Meditation came at a funny time today. The instructor to Body Sculpt was 10 minutes late so I used the time to be still and meditate (sleep). The class was amazing today because she was on turbo mode after feeling like she let us down. I knew I was in trouble when my legs were burning during the warmup! 200 calories burned strength training - yahoo! I came back to a fantastic lunch.

Crunchy Chickpea & Spinach Salad

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2 big handfuls organic baby spinach (about 1-2 cups)
1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
handful of organic cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tbsp chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
1 heaping Tbsp TJ's Berry Blend
1 serving Orange-Cilantro Dressing
Sea salt and pepper to taste

I mixed together the chickpeas through salt/pepper and poured them over the spinach. I topped everything off with the berry blend, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. In all honesty, I wasn't sure I'd like this salad, but, I actually LOVED it.

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All together with my favorite fizzy water of all time made by the Penguin Machine - I drink like 5 glasses of this stuff a day - it rocks!

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I LOVED the nuttiness of the salad along with the sweet berry treats. I'd definitely make it again for a nice switch from a balsamic/olive oil salad.

Ok ~ now comes my confession time. I have been craving sweet things ALL week long *sigh* and today I felt like I had "earned" some dark chocolate. So, with my healthy Bikini Bootcamp Snack I had a little bit of Organic 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate (yeah for healthy Antioxidants :o) It was amazing and I savored EVERY bite!

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Coming up next, my Indian Inspired Bikini Bootcamp Dinner and our fridge update!

5 comments:

  1. Glad you liked the salad! It looks great. The orangey + chickpea combo sounds a little weird, but I can see how it'd work :D

    You're doing great with this challenge, and definitely deserve a little treat :) Yummy chocolate!

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  2. Stop it with all these yummy dishes - I'm going to have to start 'cooking' soon! I kid!! That salad sounds scrumptious :)

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  3. anything with garbanzo madness is wonderful in my mind! and did you say double to TRIPLE workouts? you are on fiya!

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  4. Where do you get ur flavored water from??? I would love to get another type of water... I am getting bored with the same old stuff!!

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  5. Anne ~ Thanks! You know I think that was the part that seemed wierd to me too. However, the saltiness of the nuts and the chew of the berries really went well with it.

    K ~ I cannot wait to see you cook! I am trying to be a positive influence here :)

    Janetha ~ I LOVE chickpeas too! I sure hope all the working out on this challenge is doing some good.

    Learning to cope ~ I LOVE Arrowhead Sparkling Water the best - the orange, lime and lemon flavors rock. Perrier is awesome too. I really want a Penguin Machine to make my own - maybe some day.

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