healthy Archives - Just Jodi Style

Hump Day Treat – Green Chef

July 5, 2017

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope that we are all recovering from the long holiday weekend. I know that I am especially since my sweet puppy Stella was really afraid of yesterday’s fireworks. We al have heard of these meal prep programs where they send you everything you need already portioned out for the perfect meal. I have tried blue apron before and I just never loved it. I personally never liked their menu options that they had. There was always something I didn’t like in the recipe or when I actually made the recipe of that day it just didn’t turn out right. My good friend Lauren texted me one day if I have ever heard of this company called Green Chef and I said no. She then sent me a coupon for a free box of meals! First off so sweet of her to do that and second off Green Chef is AMAZING! Everything that they offered on their site was just so well explained and well done that I couldn’t say no. Everything that they send you in the box comes with the recipe with step by step instructions. Since they send you three different meals in one box sometimes it can be confusing if you use the same ingredients for the same recipes. Green Chef fixed that problem by color coordinating the recipe with the labels of the ingredients you will need for that specific dish. Unlike other meal prep programs you can cancel and re activate your account at any time. You also can skip weeks if you are going out of town and even add more to your order if you are having people over. If you are looking for a healthy meal prep program that is not only filling, but different than all the other companies out there go and try Green Chef. I have attached images of their Buddha’s Delight recipe that I made for lunch today. Hope you all have a great day! <3

Click Here to be connected to the Green Chef website

Hump Day Treat – Chicken in The Pot

February 22, 2017

Happy Wednesday! Sorry I have been so MIA here on Just Jodi Style. I flew last weekend to Scottsdale to see one of my best friends get married. I also had the honor of signing her Ketubah which when she asked me to do it I cried in the middle of SoulCycle. Thanks Sara <3. Anyways I am finally back in New York and ready for the week. When I was younger my Mom always cooked us dinner during the week on top of working every single day. We all had our favorite meals that she would cook us and this one was one my favorites. She always made up names for the dishes she made since we were young and didn’t fully understand everything. This dish she called chicken in the pot. It is a whole chicken that you put into a dish as shown in the image above called a deep dish corning-ware or you can also make this in a crock pot! I have done that as well before and it is delicious. Here is what you need:

Ingredients:

1 package of baby carrots

1 package of celery

1 whole chicken

Paprika

Garlic salt

Morton’s Seasoning

1 small spoon of crushed garlic

1 deep dish corning-ware (size depends on the size of the chicken you wish to cook)

Instructions

1.Heat the oven to 350 Degrees.

2.Clean out the chicken and pat it dry. Then place it in the deep dish corning-ware or crock pot.

3.Take the celery and cut it up into small pieces. Once the chicken is in the deep dish corning-ware or crock pot scatter around the celery and carrots. You can also place some inside the chicken. Once this is done then take one small spoon of crushed garlic and put it on the inside of the chicken.

4.Once you have added all the veggies and the crushed garlic cover the whole top of the chicken with paprika seasoning. Then add a dash of the garlic salt and a dash of the morton’s seasoning.

5.If your chicken doesn’t have one of those poppers to tell you when it’s done please be sure to add it now. This is important in order to know when your chicken is fully cooked.

6.Take a measuring cup and fill the dish with water just to the point that it’s not covering the chicken. I’d say about close to half way up the chicken.

7.Place chicken in the oven. Make sure if you are using a dish like the one in my image that you cover it as well as your crock pot for it to cook.

8.Depending on how large the Chicken is it will take at least 3 – 4 hours to cook.

9.While the chicken is cooking I would cook your sides. I personally love white rice and peas with this dish.

10.Once the popper has popped on your chicken you are ready to go! It should be moist and if you cooked it in a crock pot the chicken usually just falls right off the bone.
Hope you all enjoy!!!

Hump Day Treat – Vegan Sloppy Joe’s

February 8, 2017

Happy Wednesday! For today’s hump day treat I wanted to share a recipe that everyone has been asking me about since I posted it in my instagram story on Monday night. For those of you who were asking they are vegan sloppy joe’s. You read that right vegan sloppy joe’s! I personally have only had sloppy joe’s maybe twice in my life and that was during summers at sleep away camp, but I had never had vegan sloppy joe’s until recently. A group of my friends we all get together every Monday night to watch The Bachelor and all the other shows including The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. My friend Ashley is a vegetarian and one of our other friends Riki is also vegetarian, but on top of that is gluten and dairy free. We all take turns making different dishes, but it has been a challenge finding something that everyone will and can eat. This dish that Ashley made is probably one of my favorites and is so filling that I personally didn’t even eat dessert! That is something that is very abnormal for me if you know me well. Here is what you need to make these delicious vegan sloppy joe’s:

Ingredients: (serves about 6)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 red or yellow sweet pepper, diced

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 cup (200g) French lentils

1- 28oz (796ml) can tomato sauce

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

6 whole-wheat or sprouted grain buns, sliced in half or you can also use lettuce cups instead!

*If you want add additional toppings such as avocado, cheese, pickles, or sliced onions. Whatever you want!

Directions

1.Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.

2.Add the diced onion, pepper and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes and stir it all around until they are soft.

3.Then sprinkle in the cumin and chilli powder. After this let it cook for about a minute.

4.Add the lentils. Mix everything around.

5.Then add 3 cups of water, tomato sauce, tomato paste and sriracha. Mix it all around

6.Increase the heat to high and bring everything to a simmer. Cook this way for about 30 minutes uncovered stirring occasionally. If you notice that the level falls below the lentils then you can add more water.

7.Now do a taste test and if they lentils are tender then add salt and balsamic. Stir it all together and let it cook for one more minute after stirring.

8.Then serve and enjoy!
Hope you guys enjoyed today’s recipe! If you are in New York City like I am hope everyone is ready for the snow storm we are about to have tomorrow 🙂 <3

Here is the link to the full recipe as well Vegan Sloppy Joe’s

Hump Day Treat – The Perfect Lunch

January 18, 2017

Happy Wednesday! Now for a great hump day treat I am going to share with you all what I normally eat during the week for lunch. Now if you ask any of my family members as a child I hated vegetables. You couldn’t pay me to eat one even if I got just plain pasta at a restaurant and they put any green on it as a garnish I wouldn’t eat it. Yes I was one of those kids when it came to certain things. However, I now eat vegetables every single day. I try to have for lunch everyday a protein and a veggie. Now for some of you who don’t necessarily like veggies there are so many ways to eat them that you didn’t think of before. Like if you don’t like steaming your vegetables another great way to eat them is by cooking them in the oven. Another way to eat veggies that is a huge craze is by spiraling them. I saw a 4 year old eating a plate full of zucchini pasta out at a restaurant and he had no idea because it was spiraled and he thought it looked fun to eat. So today for lunch I made it simple. I took a little bit of olive oil and coconut oil and drizzled it over some broccoli and cut zucchini in a baking pan that I normally use for brownies. I lined it with aluminum foil to help make it less messy. I know that coconut oil is better for you, but I with certain things I still don’t fully like the taste of it if there isn’t any olive oil in it so I am slowly transition all my veggies being cooked with coconut oil. I set the oven to 400 degrees and every 5 – 8 minutes I stir them around so they don’t stick to the pan and also so they brown on both sides. While the veggies are cooking I heat up a small fry pan with some coconut oil and I grill some onions. Now I am like my father where I like my onions cooked well done to the point where they are almost black in color. Once the veggies are close to being done in the oven and the onions are almost done cooking I add a ¼ tsp of chopped garlic into the pan and then cut up raw chicken. I found that the coconut oil and the onions with the garlic gives the chicken enough flavor. The vegetables in the oven shouldn’t take more than 20 – 25 minutes tops. You should always have some sort of protein and vegetable in the middle of your day especially at work because it will help boost your energy. Hope everyone is having a great day! <3

How To Keep Your Nails Healthy

November 6, 2016

Happy Marathon Day for anyone living in New York City! On Sunday’s I like to relax and take care of whatever I need to for the following week. One of the things that I am very diligent about is getting my nails done. My parents always told me that the next thing that anyone sees after your face is your hands. The last thing you want is someone who you are trying to get a job from looking down at your hands to see them not groomed! Some people would disagree with me, but even one of my teachers in college and graduate school told me that they 100% agree with this. My graduate school teacher told me he didn’t hire someone partially because their nails looked like they had been through a war zone and didn’t feel like the employee would be a good representation for their brand. Personally, I am a huge gel manicure fan. The day that it came out when I was college I was hooked. I was always that girl that would somehow ruin my manicure even before I left the nail salon so this was the best solution to that. However, over the years the gel polish has gotten better for your nails, but still it does wreak havoc on them over time. I personally wait 3 weeks in between my gel manicures, but a week before I get my gel manicure I take off my gel polish at home. This gives my nails a break from the gel polish but also time to get stronger. To take them off I buff them with a nail file and then I take aluminum foil which I have already cut into small squares and place one around the bottom of my finger. After that i use half a cotton ball soaked in acetone and put on the top of my nail. Cover up the nail and let it soak for about 10 minutes. If the gel polish is done right it will come off 1 – 2 – 3. After that I take it off with one of those sticks that they use when you get your manicure to clean off the edges. After this I wash my hands with soap and water and dry them and then I proceed to do the other hand. I only do one hand at a time so if I need to do something the other hand is free. After both hands are done I then buff and file my nails. After that I apply a base coat on that is meant to strengthen your nails. I personally love either the OPI or Essie base just depends on your preference. If you hate having no color on your nails find a pale pink that with one coat it will look like you have polish, but won’t be able to tell if it is not perfect. Then apply a top coat and let it dry for a while. Having a simple coat of polish until your gel will allow your nails to truly heal and I have also learned that it helps the next time you put your gel polish on. I also like removing my gel polish at home because nail salons, especially in New York City, charge an arm and a leg to do it. Hope you all have a great Sunday and for all of those who are running the marathon good luck and hope you all aren’t too sore tomorrow :-).