Wellness

Pasta with Peas & Garlic

Make a delicious dinner your entire family will enjoy in less than 30 minutes with a handful of simple ingredients. This buttery pasta dish made with Brummel and Brown’s Organic Buttery Yogurt spread, peas & garlic is so it good I’m sure it will be a family favorite for you too. Thank you so much to Brummel and Brown for sponsoring this post.

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of simple recipes that are easy to make, require real food ingredients and are kid friendly. My kids absolutely love buttery noodles so this dish was inspired by their love for noodles and my love of incorporating vegetables and good for you organic ingredients in our meals. This is a perfect weeknight dinner and delicious enough for a party. Serve it alone, with whole wheat dinner rolls or a protein of choice. It’s just so versatile that you really can’t go wrong.

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Meal Prep – Salad-in-a-jar Edition

It’s no secret I’m a huge meal prep fan. It saves a ton of time during the week, makes lunch a breeze and helps save money. I used to just double dinner recipes and take the leftovers for lunch but I genuinely crave big giant salads so I try to make a few salads for easy grab and go lunches. Prepping a few lunches at a time saves so much time because you wash, chop and assemble the salads all at once.

There are a lot of different ways to make salads-in-a-jar and this is definitely a very basic recipe but I promise if you layer the salad right, it will stay fresh and crispy straight through Friday.

The biggest PRO tip I can give is to pack your dressing, meat, nuts and beans separately. You also want to make sure your veggies are completely dry because any moisture in the jar will cause your veggies to spoil with a quickness. The greens are usually the culprit so make sure everything is completely dry assembling your salad.

I use 36oz mason jars that can be found at most grocery stores. I also buy plastic ball lids for them because I find the two piece metal lids that come with the jars annoying.

So how to keep your salad fresh for 5 days?

It’s all about the layers. I usually start with my hardest veggie (think carrots, peppers or celery).

Next add your softer veggies (think tomatoes, cucumber, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus).

Next add your grains, if any (think quinoa, rice, pasta).

Next add your cheese, if any.

Next add your dried fruit, if any.

Last, add your greens (think, lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula or mixed greens).

Before putting on the lid, I add a small paper towel square to help absorb any moisture.

Once you have your salads, you can use left over protein or cook protein separately and just have them in separate containers to eat during the week. I’m also obsessed with these cute twist cap containers for my dressing that are completely leak proof.

If you are wild and want to take a chance packing the dressing in the jar, it would be your very first layer all the way at the bottom of the jar. I’ve done it before and for me, unless I am making my salad for the very next day, it’s not worth the risk of the jar tipping and dressing spoiling my salad.

When it’s time to eat, pour in your dressing, place the lid back on the jar and shake to mix everything in. Then dump in a plate or bowl and eat 🙂

You can tell from all my pictures, that I keep it pretty simple but it’s easy to switch it up with different dressings, proteins and nuts that you can pack up throughout the week. It takes no time at all to prep a few of these jars to help get tons of vegetables in all week.

If you’re trying to get into meal prep or looking for ways to switch it up, give this a try. You will LOVE it.

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A day in the life of

Hi Friends!

I get so many questions about how I juggle everything, manage to stay productive and get things done so I thought it would be fun to walk you through an unfiltered day in the life of Sanaz.

As many of you know, I’m a full-time practicing attorney with two toddlers and a serious Instagram hobby. I thought it would be fun to recap a day so I better get right into it.

5:30 am wake up, get dressed and head out the door for Cycle Bar. I try to lay everything out the night before so it’s just a quick trip to the bathroom, getting dressed and getting out the door. I usually lay out my clothing, socks, food (if any), bag with my keys and wallet and have my water bottle filled in the fridge ready to grab and go.

7:00 am get home, jump in the shower and get as ready as fast as possible before the kids wake up and if the kids are up then as fast as possible to spend time with them.

7:15 (ish) am get breakfast going for the kids and make myself a cup of coffee. My 2-year-old still drinks milk so we give him his milk while we beg our daughter to eat breakfast. #WorldsPickiestEater

7:30 am kids babysitter arrives so I it’s time to finish feeding the kids and get ready for work. I work from home a few days a week but I still like to get out of my PJ’s and get dressed. It helps me get mentally ready for the day and get into the work zone a little better.

8:30 am inhale my breakfast usually a smoothie because it’s hot, they are quick, filing and can be changed around easily. I live for food prep so I freeze my smoothie ingredients in individual reusable bags so I just need to add milk, protein powder any superfoods and blend. I’ve even played around with mason jarring all the dry ingredients so it’s literally frozen + dry + liquid – Blend. If I didn’t get to the day before, I snap a picture of my daily desk eats for instagram because it’s much easier to do this at home in the kitchen than the middle of the workday or office.

8:45 am grab my lunch, purse and head out the door to drop my daughter off at school.

9:15 am get back to the house but head straight for the office to get started on work. If I’m not faced with any deadlines or meetings, I usually spend the first 30 minutes of my day catching up on emails, blogs and instagram

12:00 pm Lunch Time! 95% of the time, I pack my own lunch. On days where I work from home, I pack my lunch and bring it into the office to avoid wandering into the kitchen and to try and keep my workday in the work zone. If my son is awake, I often go and have lunch with him because who is a better lunch date than my little ham.

12:40 (ish) pm back to the desk and the catch up with emails, blogs and instagram. I try to set a time block for surfing the web so I can play around without feeling guilty or letting it interfere with work.

5:00 pm wrap up the workday and figure out what I need to get done when the kids sleep. I keep a to-do list so this is about the time I update it before heading back into the house.

5:00 pm-6:00pm time to play with the kids. I try to get everyone (myself included) off electronics and really spend time with them. My sister lives very close so we often walk over to play with her kids or head outside to burn off some energy and avoid some major sibling toy fights.

6:00 pm get a snack ready for the kids, heat up my dinner and prep breakfast for myself and my the hubs. If I’m having oatmeal, I usually prep everything, snap my picture and dump it into a glass jar for tomorrow. Most days its impossible to prep a pretty breakfast, style it, photograph it and have time to actually eat it before heading to work. Oatmeal is probably the only breakfast I can style the day before and just reheat the morning of. Dinner is usually ready thanks to meal prep so I usually eat an early dinner. This is usually the time I turn the TV on or give the kids their ipads, hoping they watch/play something educational. This is a great way for them to wind down and for me to get 30 minutes of (less interrupted) time to cook/eat dinner.

6:30 pm hubs usually gets home and plays with the kids. This is my clean up time. I try to pick up the toys, clean the kitchen and wash any dishes. I also pack my daughters backpack with whatever school/camp clothing and items needed.

7:00pm bedtime begins. We divide and conquer with the kids and they take turns being on Team Mom or Team Dad. We’ve found that not only is this method so much easier on us but it also gives them each a little undivided attention. Bedtime seems to take longer and longer each month but we try to keep it to bathroom, PJ’s, books, songs and lights out. I’m a pro at getting these kids to bed in record time but Team Dad is way more fun so two books turns into six and one song turns into ten and next thing you know its 8:30.

8:00 after the kids go to bed, I try to get lunches ready for the next day. I pack my daughters lunch, my lunch and my husbands lunch so we can all grab and go in the morning. If its early enough, I take a picture of my daily eats but usually its too dark to get a good picture for Instagram. I also get my workout clothes ready for the next day before changing into my PJ’s and unwinding for the night.

9:00-11:00pm time to catch up on emails, finish working, play online, watch TV (hardly ever) and relax before heading to bed. I’ve recently started trying to go to bed earlier which consists of me getting in bed around 10:00 and playing on my phone until I pass out around 11:30.

My weekdays are all pretty much like this. It may seem like a lot to some and not much to others but I think the key is planning and routine. I live for lists, routines and plans and by doing a little each day life becomes so much easier.

There are a lot of things I want to improve on and I’m sure it will get easier as the kids get older but for now, this is it!

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21 Day Clean Program Recap

If you follow me on instagram, you know I completed the 21 Day Clean Program earlier this month. I’ve never done a cleanse or detox before and was strangely excited and nervous to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. After reading Dr. Junger’s book Clean, I felt so much better going into the program with the goal to fuel my body while completely hitting the reset button.

So here are all the technical details. During the Program, you have a smoothie for breakfast, a normal lunch with foods approved from the elimination diet and a smoothie or soup for dinner. With each meal you take a supplement packet which includes an antimicrobial, digestive enzyme and silymarin and a daily probiotic. If you are hungry, you’re to snack with approved foods but most importantly you fast and leave a 12 hour window between dinner and breakfast which is when the detoxification takes place (after you have fully digested your food). The Clean Program Protein is made from brown rice and has tons of organic antioxidants and vitamins. The elimination diet excludes the most common inflammatory foods including gluten, dairy, eggs, bananas, nightshades, alcohol and coffee.

So now that you know what the Program entails, lets jump into my thoughts and personal experience.

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So you wanna be a runner

Most of my life, I was the girl who did anything she could to avoid running.

It’s almost always over 80 degrees in South Florida so running outside can be tricky and running on a treadmill can be pretty terrible so I did what any logical person would do and just avoided running, for like 29 years.

After having my daughter in 2012, I decided I wanted to run and not just dabble in running but I jumped right into it and signed up for the Miami Half Marathon. I was about 8 months postpartum and the longest distance I had ever run without stopping was probably down the street. I had about 8 months to get ready for the half marathon and wanted to make sure I took it slow.

I downloaded a Couch to 5k program and read everything I could about getting started on running. I signed up for a charity 5K race near my house for a week after I planned on finishing the training program to both motivate me and celebrate the accomplishment.

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