Naturally Lindsay

Green Chef | Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

July 21, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: GreenChef sent me my first box free.

I’ve become accustom to having everything delivered straight to my from door. My groceries, my toilet paper, my takeout and now my meals all measured and prepared. Now I know meal subscription boxes are not new but when it comes to a plant-based box there are very few options but I found one that I LOVE.

GreenChef is not a new meal subscription box but their plant-based box is only a few months old and let me tell you they are rocking it. The two person box comes with three meals with all the ingredients portioned out and ready for you to prepare. Basically they cut your meal prep and cook time in half and provide you with some really fun and tasty meals.

As you can see above GreenChef labels all of your ingredients to make things super easy for you. I love that these sauces are made by GreenChef and packaged up and ready to go. I also love the use of products such as the tofu and noodles that I would normally purchase myself. They also do a great job at not only providing your with organic ingredients but also go as far as to use recycled plant fiber to insulate the package.

I know what you really want to know is but how was it to prepare? How did it taste? Well it was incredibly easy to prepare! The directions were clear and easy to follow and the dish turned out just as it was supposed to. It also tasted amazing! It tasted like something I would have purchased out a restaurant but I made it!! The sauces were amazing, the recipe made more than enough food for two people and it was so tasty.

You can check out the recipe for yourself here and you can also recreate it at home!

We also had a really delicious tempeh dish with quinoa and kale salad which I brought to a pot luck. Our third meal was a minestrone soup which tasted fine but I’ll be honest it really fell flat for me especially after the first two dishes were so delicious. I have to say loving two out of three meals is pretty good.

So would I purchase this? YES! I actually have plans to purchase my next box very soon. I should say that’s one of the features I like about GreenChef you can skip weeks based on the menu of the week or if you are out of town, ect. So you can use it every week or just when you feel like it. If you’d like to give it a try you can get 4 free meals via this link.

Have you tried a meal subscription box before? What has your experience been?

Get Your Greens Delivered! | organicgirl

July 6, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 8 Comments

Disclaimer: organicgirl provided me with a free trial of their greens delivery box.

For months and months I have been dying to get my hands on some organicgirl juices. They have been flooding my instagram feed because apparently I follow a lot of healthy living bloggers who live in areas where these juices are readily available. So I have been waiting and waiting until the day when these juices would make their way to Oregon and guess what? I need not wait any longer because organicgirl will deliver my green juices, greens and their dressings straight to my front door. If you know me you know I love a good delivery service so of course if I can get my favorite greens delivered fresh to my door you’d better believe I’m going to check that service out.

So when it comes to delivery options you can go the juice route and get six juices delivered straight to your door or you can do like me and make sure you have some greens to munch on as well. There are a few different pre-created options that you can choose when it comes to the greens, juices and dressings mix but I love the customizable route.

In my box I received one of my top three organicgirl greens – PEPPERGREENS (romaine heart leaves and mache rosettes completing my top three), a new vegan dressing – pomegranate balsamic and four juices. First off PEPPERGREENS are amazing on everything so I served mine up with a big bowl of lentils but they are also pretty amazing with the pomegranate balsamic dressing (let me know if you’d like to see a few salad ideas).

Let’s get down to the reason you are really here – the juices. I know you’ve been wondering about them and do they really live up to the hype? I have to say YES. I was all about the Lemon-Aid and the Kale Rules. I’ll be honeset I’m not super not on beets but if you are a beet lover you’d love the Beet Boost. I’ve yet to try the Spicy Tomato but I’m taking it along with us this weekend on our camping trip along with other fixings for a camping Bloody Mary.

So overall I’d give this service a big double thumbs up.

Now if they would only start delivering cupcakes with their green juices…

#SummerStrong | Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder

June 30, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 8 Comments

Bob’s Red Mill and FitApproach sponsored this post. All opinions are my own.

I have to be honest protein powders are something that I really haven’t been super enthusiastic about. I have tried a variety of them and while I have found a few that are decent I haven’t found any that I want to use on a regular basis or would consider purchasing again. That’s until this past month and Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powders.

I have been loving on the chocolate flavor because when I want a smoothie I often want it to taste like a chocolate milkshake. I combine the chocolate protein powder, unsweetened vanilla almond milk and 1-2 frozen bananas and boom instant milkshake. The bonus with this milkshake though is that I get 20g of plant-based protein (pea protein), 12g of fiber, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids and iron. You won’t be finding those in your standard milkshake. I can also have it for breakfast or really any meal I want.

I have to say my only gripe with this protein powder is just how much of it you have to use. I serving is 1/3 cup (45g) which sounds like a lot and is more than other protein powders out there on the market. I personally feel like it’s too much protein powder to just shake up with almond milk and go but in a smoothie it is perfect. That is all personal preference though right?

For flavors there is chocolate, chai, unflavored and vanilla. Of the four I like the chocolate and the vanilla and they are also the most universal to use and make a variety of smoothies, smoothie bowls and other recipes. The chai just wasn’t my favorite flavor – a little too much for me. As for the unflavored it was fine but you have to do a little more with it to get a good flavor – it might be nice in baking though!

Overall I’m impressed with these protein powders and I’m thrilled to be able to give one away to one lucky person.
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Get a coupon: http://www.bobsredmill.com/get-a-coupon.html

PDX Sites & Eats | Tea Flight Tasting at Smith Teamaker

June 28, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

Neil and I have been trying to get a little more creative with our date nights instead of the same old dinner and drinks. On our most recent date we (finally) visited the Smith Teamaker Southeast Tasting Room. The space is bright with a modern industrial feel – I’m terrible at explaining interiors so just look here.

The tea list is pretty extensive so we decided to go share a tasting flight of four teas of our choice. We had a hard time narrowing down four but eventually we did. We chose a oolong tea, two black teas and an herbal tea.

For the tasting you are presented with a tray of teas, a spoon each, a cup of water to rinse your spoon, a few little cookies and info cards for each tea along with the teas in their un-steeped form. From there it works a lot like a coffee cupping but instead of spitting the tea out after tasting you just drink it all down.

While we peacefully sipped our teas we read through The Teamaker’s Almanac that had been left at our table. It was filled with a variety of little stories about tea, how to taste tea and what do all those numbers really mean on Smith Teamaker teas. It was pretty comical at times as well.

Overall this is has become one of my must visit spots in Portland. Stop in and try the flight if you have time but make sure to bring a friend or you’ll be downing 4 full cups of tea on your own. If you’re in a rush grab one of their cold teas they have on draft. We sampled the chai but were too full of tea to grab one to go but you know where I’ll be next time a chai craving comes on.

Group Fitness | Community and Connection

June 13, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 8 Comments

I recently shared that I have decided to quit the gym and I joined ClassPass. For me the gym I was attending was the right price but not the most convenient to go to and one of the major things I felt like I was lacking was the social interaction that fitness can have. At the gym I wasn’t able to attend any classes so I simply headed straight to the cardio equipment, put in my ear phones and completed by workout. The only interaction I ever had with my fellow gym goers was a smile or a quick ‘hi’. Since I am a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom my interaction with other adults is often limited and I so desire the time to connect with other people.

Unfortunately when all you are doing is cardio at the gym there really isn’t much of an opportunity to interact with others. That is why I think I often prefer a workout class. It’s a time to connect with yourself and also with others. If you attend a class regularly enough you become familiar with the other regulars and overtime you can get to know them. Also if you live in a [small] big city like Portland you’ll most likely run into people from your classes when you are out around town. Just in these few short weeks that I have been reimplementing workout classes into my weekly routine I have already started to find that feeling of community and connection and I know it will only grow over the months to come.

Do you prefer solitary workouts or classes? It’s funny because when it comes to running I prefer to be alone but if I have the choice of the gym or a class I would prefer a class.

PDX Eats | Vegan Brunch at TeSóAria

June 12, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I absolutely love a nice glass of wine and if you pair that with vegan eats I’ll likely be your best friend. So, when I was invited to TeSóAria for their vegan brunch I just couldn’t say no. I didn’t know anything about TeSóAria before my visit besides that they have a tasting room in North Portland and the vineyard is in Roseburg.

I arrived at the tasting room and was instantly impressed by the space. It’s bright and inviting and has these big beautiful windows that let in so much light and open during the summer. Can’t you just picture it sitting either at one of their outside tables or inside with the windows open and a nice glass of wine? Okay, so basically I am planning Neil and my next date night.

Anyways I found my seat and took a look at the menu which feature four courses with two wine pairings for each course. We settled in with a bit of wine to start and of course I can’t remember what it was but it was white, crisp, slightly sweet and a great way to start the brunch.

Once everyone had arrived it was (finally) time to start eating and drinking! Founder and Winemaker, John Olson, started us off with a nice welcome and then got right into explaining the wines he had chosen for our first course. Since I know very little about wine, basically I know what I like when I taste it, it was nice to hear the back story of each wine and John did an amazing job of making it fun and interesting while also informative. John explained each pour of wine at the start of each course and I felt like I left knowing so much more about wine.

Now we will get into the food because let’s be honest I might not be a wine connoisseur but I do know vegan food.

Then it was time for our first course which was this beautiful salad. I have to say I was a bit skeptical because I’m just not one of those people who likes fruit in my salad but the roasted apricot vinaigrette was actually pretty amazing. My only gripe with this dish is that it was a bit over dressed but if it had about half of the vinaigrette on it (or twice the greens) I would definitely order this again because it tasted amazing.

Next up we have this beautiful dish that features peppers stuffed with cashew cheese and a tabbouleh. I know you’re thinking cashew cheese?!? Yes it was as good as it sounds. This dish was easily one of the top favorites at our table and I have to agree.

Our last savory dish was a cassoulet featuring a variety of beans and mushrooms, grilled fava beans and a chickpea crouton. I thought that the flavor of this dish was spot on but it honestly was my least favorite (but still incredibly flavorful and delicious) of everything we ate. I love the beans and mushrooms but I’m not big on fava beans that are still in the pod, they have a bit of a strange mouth feel and are a bit tough to eat. The chickpea crouton was good but I think with all that beautiful broth hanging out at the bottom of my bowl I would have loved a bigger crouton to sop it all up or a nice piece of bread.

The last course we had was this incredible rosemary shortcake. I could have eaten five plates (or more) of this because it was just amazing. It was sweet and savory and a little bit tart. I just couldn’t get enough and if I had been at home I would have licked the plate.

Overall I had an amazing experience and I hope they host this event again because I would love to do it again. The food was really great and the wine was incredible. It isn’t often that you find an amazing wine bar that also has really delicious and fun vegan options.

I also am looking forward to trying TeSóAria’s Vegan Thursdays, called “Shut Up and Eat Your Vegetables!” starting this coming Thursday, June 16th from 5pm on at The Portland Tasting Room.

Every Thursday, Chef Max will have a Seasonal Vegan Tapas Menu available to pair with our award winning Wines! Vegan Tapenade, Mezze Boards, Samosa’s, and more, priced $4 to $12. Available every Thursday starting at 5pm.

What is your favorite wine? Which of the four courses do you think you would enjoy the most?

Check out these other bloggers thoughts on this wonderful brunch!

Pechluck’s Food Adventures

#SummerStrong | Eating Simply & Healthfully | Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (Ideas)

June 10, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Bob’s Red Mill and FitApproach sponsored this post. All opinions are my own.

One of my goals for this month is to focus on eating much more simple meals. Simple breakfasts, simple lunches and simple dinners with a few more fun and complex meals throw in on the weekends. Simple, yet tasty, satisfying and nutritious. Simple Meals filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plant-based protein.

For breakfast I flop between savory and sweet but whichever I choose I always go for something easy because this mama doesn’t have time to mess around at breakfast. For savory breakfast I love avocado on toast with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of chili flakes or a big bowl of grains with sauteed baby spinach and a sprinkle of tamari and nutritional yeast. When it comes to sweet you’ll most likely find me with a smoothie in hand or in a bowl topped with whatever we have on hand. Lately I have been loving smoothie bowls with frozen bananas, a splash of almond milk, sometimes the rest of my coffee that has gone cold and a scoop Bob’s Red Mill Chocolate Protein Powder (yes, I know I was surprised when I found out they made protein powders too!). I like to top it with more banana, some granola, coconut flakes and drizzle of agave. This smoothie bowl leaves me feeling energized, full and satisfies me until lunch time rolls around.

As for lunch and dinner I like to keep it super simple – basically beans, greens and grains. I know you might be reading this and thinking well that sounds awfully boring. Well it does sound boring and can be but the key is to make it more fun with sauces and add-on’s that personalize your meal and make it more tasty.

For us beans, greens and grains meals will be happening most Monday-Thursday because those are some of our busiest days of the week. It allows us to it simply, healthfully and easily. It also helps to prevent us from turning to takeout on those nights when we just don’t feel like putting something together or are out late. I simply am making up a batch of grains and serving with whatever greens and vegetables that look great along with a plant-based whole foods protein. So how am I jazzing things up? Well that’s when we break out the sauces from tahini to coconut aminos to hot sauces and barbecue sauces. I also love the addition of various fermented veggies (kraut, kimchi, ect). I also love adding avocado, hemp seeds and nutritional yeast to top things off.;

On the weekends we might jazz things up a bit more and have meals that take longer to prepare or even eat out. We often like to make pancakes and tofu scramble on the weekends for breakfast but honestly you’ll probably find us having the smoothie bowl I listed about because;it’s one of Neil’s favorite breakfasts. Lunch and dinner are usually a little more wild if we are in the mood or sometimes we just keep it simple.

Keeping things simple helps us to eat healthier, have less cravings, and more energy.

What are you go to weekday and weekend meals? How do you feel about the smoothie bowl? I’ll be honest when smoothie bowls first because a thing I was all like WTF but now I’m obsessed. If you are also a lover of them and are in PDX you must go to Kure and get one because they have the best smoothie bowls ever.

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