If I find a healthy recipe that tastes great and requires almost NO effort, you better believe I'm gonna share it with you! I'm all about NOT making things from scratch if I can find a healthy ready-made option. This store-bought sauce is sooo good.

I even served it to my kids as salad dressing this week and they loved it. I'm sure I'll find lots more great uses for it. I'd like to try using it to stir-fry some veggies. For now, here's one recipe that turned out well:

Easy Buffalo Chicken:

Place a package of boneless chicken breasts or thighs in the slow cooker, cover with buffalo sauce (I used 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle), set on low for 4-8 hours, depending on your slow cooker. (Chicken breasts tend to come out a bit drier in the slow cooker than chicken thighs)
When done, the chicken should shred easily with two forks
Serve over reheated frozen rice or quinoa, along with
Reheated frozen broccoli or other vegetables of your choice
Boom. Done.

I like this frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's, but I also sometimes use the frozen quinoa from whole foods. You can just remove from the plastic, put in a bowl, and microwave to reheat.

Voilà! Hope you enjoy!

May 31, 2015

Andrea Isabelle Lucas

Food, Body Love

Ridiculously Easy Thai Chicken Salad

May 31, 2015

Andrea Isabelle Lucas

Food, Body Love

This meal is not perfect. For example, I could have made the dressing from scratch, omitting all sugar. I could have used organic chicken, pre-cooked during some meal-prepping extravaganza earlier in the week. I could have used vegetables grown lovingly by me and my children in our very own permaculture garden. You get the idea.

It's not perfect. It is, however, ridiculously easy, and in my opinion, healthy.

Right now, for me, great or even good work just fine. Perfect isn't necessary. Here's a well-written blog post about that.

I've found, as a busy mom and business owner, my good intentions in the kitchen don't always pan out, and I've tossed one too many ingredients in the trash that I thought I'd get around to cooking, and never did.

Give me simplicity!

I want a nice, easy, healthy meal, and I know that if I don't shop for and keep easy-to-use ingredients on hand, I will cave and end up ordering take-out, or eating something not so good for me.

The only work involved here is washing and cutting up a cucumber. That's it. All of the other ingredients are pre-washed, pre-cooked or pre-packaged in some way.

Ridiculously Easy Thai Chicken Salad

Salad greens (I like to use organic spring mix)
Shredded cabbage (just buy the bagged stuff, organic if possible)
Cucumber (washing and chopping this is the only work involved in this recipe)
Trader Joe's grilled chicken strips (they're not organic, but they're a quick, easy source of lean protein and they taste pretty good.)
Pre-cooked quinoa (I just bought a bag from the frozen section at Whole Foods and left in the fridge to thaw.)
Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette. OMG, THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!! THAT'S RIGHT, I'M SHOUTING ABOUT IT!!
I added a few cashews, but this may be overkill since there's already peanut dressing.

That's it!

Seriously, YOU NEED THIS DRESSING:

That's all folks. If you give it a try, or if you come up with any interesting variations, leave a comment and let me know!

March 26, 2013

Andrea Isabelle Lucas

Food, Soul, Travel, Wildcard

Discover this Hidden Vacation Gem - Before Everyone Else Does!

March 26, 2013

Andrea Isabelle Lucas

Food, Soul, Travel, Wildcard

When I went in search of a good surf retreat this winter, I was surprised to find that Nicaragua kept coming up in conversation. I was told it's like the "new Costa Rica" -- a newly popular spot for yoga and surf retreat centers and home to beautiful beaches still unspoiled by tourism. Having never been to Costa Rica I can't compare the two, but I can say that the week we spent in Nicaragua was possibly my favorite vacation ever.

I booked our stay at Soma Surf Resort based on the endless 5-star reviews on Trip Advisor. We were not disappointed. The small, friendly staff and ownership truly made us feel at home, and the fresh, local food was AMAZING, healthy and inexpensive. (I don't know why I didn't take more pictures of the food!)

Our driver met us at the airport for the 2.5 hour drive to Soma. We spent the last 45 minutes winding down dirt roads dotted with local farms, where "traffic" consisted mostly of cows, horses and dogs. Soma is located in the hills with beautiful views of the surrounding farmland and nearby ocean.

Because we were visiting during the off season, the beaches were practically deserted every morning for our daily surf lessons. It was great sharing the waves with our fellow guests at Soma, and even though the mojitos were the BEST (a handful of fresh mint goes into the blender for every glass,) we were in bed by 9:00 or 10:00 and up with the sunrise every day.

our friend sammi, soma resident...

walking popoyo beach to magnific rock and exploring the tidepools...

magnific rock sunset happy hour...

still a learner, but i'm making progress!

no restaurants (and not many people) on this beach! but see that little straw roof? there are a few hammocks, and a guy with a cooler over there if you need something to drink...

The only way I could stand leaving this place was to promise myself I'd return!

I think I may have found the perfect spot for a core/yoga/surf retreat...

Who is coming with me on the next trip?? :)