Abundant Life Blog Hop: Healthy Homemade Chipotle Bowl

I've got a really easy recipe for you today! I call it my homemade Chipotle bowl because I drew my inspiration from the classically delicious Chipotle bowls. I had some leftover black beans from the night before and really didn't want to make white rice again so I created this bowl.

Ingredients:

Cooked brown Couscous

Cooked black beans

Stir-fried onions and mushrooms

Diced fresh tomatos

Alfalfa sprouts

Chopped green onions

Chopped cilantro

Easy as cake? Nahhh! This is EASIER than cake you guys! And so so tasty and healthy! Give it a try the next time you have some extra beans in your fridge. I've realized that eating plant-based has really forced me to think creatively. If I didn't get creative, a lot of my food would go to waste or rot because I wouldn't know how to use it. But thanks to the fact that I don't want my food to go to waste, I've been able to come up with yummy and easy recipes that are plant-based. It's been fun and it can only get funner from here! I'm definitely improving and that makes me so so happy!!!  

Abundant Life Blog Hop: Quinoa, Kale, and Apple Recipe

My husband ate dinner out yesterday with some buddies so I took advantage of the opportunity to cook something weird that he probably would not try! Ha! Well, it was AWESOME and so so healthy!  

There were only 6 ingredients: quinoa, kale, apple, salt, cashew, walnut, and ground flax seed.  

I used this recipe from the awesome Jason Wrobel to cook the meal and instead of adding hemp seeds, I grinded a few cashews walnuts with flax seed meal and garnished the dish with it as a sort of "parmesan cheese." This recipe is also abundant in PROTEIN. Both kale and quinoa have tons of protein so no need to worry about that. It was fabulous friends! Try it! I was a little apprehensive of how the kale and apple would taste together but wowzers! It works! Looooved it!  

P.S. Yesterday I made a vlog about my food philosophy and other food-related things to link-up with The Girl Behind the Blog. If you missed that, click here.  

The Girl Behind the Blog: Inner Foodie

I'm so excited to be joining Ashley from 5OhWifey and Chelsea from Taste and See in this fun vlogging link-up, The Girl Behind the Blog. The topic was FOOD so you know I had to join the conversation! One of my favorite things to talk about EVER is FOOD. Enjoy!

P.S. Pardon the pimple, it's been a stressful week! Eeeek! But we're half way there!

The Simple Veganista  |  Black Bean Burger Recipe  |  Forks Over Knives  

My Style Your Style Link-Up & Epic Laughs!

Oh boy, yesterday was definitely up on the list of weirdest days ever and funnest day ever! The day started off incredibly awkward when I chose to wear a gorgeous navy blue lace skirt with this top. It was lovely. Until I arrived at my church parking lot, that is. Guess what happened the instant I stepped out of the car? My skirt literally split in two. Right where the little slit is on the back, it just split all the way till it reached the zipper. What in the world?! Needless to say, I could not enter the church that way and had to drive ALL the way back home to change into this pretty dress and go back. Ridiculous I tell ya! I feel like this kind of stuff only happens to me. 

On a really bright note, the rest of the day went by wonderfully! I got to play with my favorite baby. We snuggled, I kissed him A LOT, he laughed and tried to blow me kisses TWICE. Ah! He is too precious.

Then we went on to play telephone pictionary. This was my first time ever playing this game and OH MA GAWD, THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE GAME! If you are in need of laughing therapy or an ab workout, DO THIS. Most hilarious game EVER. I feel so blessed for such an amazing group of friends to laugh with, talk with, and experience God with. 

dress: tjmaxx, blouse: vintage thrifted, belt: liz claiborne thrifted, heels: tjmaxx

Ashley loves me so much.

Now, how am I suppose to draw "scary cat farts"? By drawing a dude ambushing another guy, scaring him, and causing the scared guy to fart, of course. 

Love this girl and this handsome guy. 

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Follow Lily Among Thorns on Bloglovin' or Facebook 

 Link-Up a recent outfit post. 

Grab my button below and add it to your post.

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Have a super duper Fun time!

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Linking up with: WWIW, Plane Pretty, Monday Bloom, Visible Monday, YOLO Mondays, Style Elixir

Abundant Life Blog Hop: Vegan Sources of Protein

Hello friends! This week has gone by way too fast! It's already Thursday and my Spring Break is nearly over! Too sad. Now I'm just looking forward to summer! In other news, we're going to talk about non-animal sources of protein today. Last week I wrote about how we were uniquely designed as biological herbivores. If you haven't read that post you can read it here. I got a few comments about alternative sources of protein--"What about if I'm allergic to soy?" "What if I can't eat beans?" Have no fear, protein is everywhere! 

I found this fun chart at Mercy for Animals that contains different sources of protein and how many grams are in each. Nuts, leafy, greens, beans, grains (quinoa & couscous), and even some vegetables contain protein. If you eat a well-balanced and varied plant-based diet, it if nearly impossible to be protein deficient! Leafy greens like kale and spinach are packed with protein. Bet you never thought you'd associate spinach with protein! ;) The best thing about eating plant-based protein is that you're not only supplying your body with necessary protein but you're also nourishing it with essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs to thrive. On the contrary, when you use animal products as your main protein source, you ARE getting protein, but you're also ingesting unnecessary fats, carcinogens, and cholesterol that is directly related to the development of heart disease. As I was watching the documentary Hungry for Change, David Vitalis said "People are overfed, but they are also starving to death." That struck me. In general, American culture trains us to eat eat and eat until we're full all while promoting the WRONG foods to eat. We continue eating because, although our stomachs might feel food, our cells are dying. They are not receiving the life-giving, nutrient-supplying vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that make our cells happy and healthy. And as a result, we reap diseases like coronary heart disease, hypertension, cancer and so much more. 

Dr. Alona Pulde & Dr. Matthew Lederman who speak in the documentary Forks Over Knives said this, "We've never treated a single patient with protein deficiency; yet the majority of patients we see are suffering from heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses directly resulting from trying to get enough protein." 

Have I answered the age-old question of, "You're a vegetarian?! Where do you get your protein?!" ;) 

Tell me your thoughts! Do you think you would ever consider a plant-based diet? Have you discovered that you naturally eat plant-based sources of protein that you didn't know about? 

I'm getting a hair cut on Friday!

So, I'm getting a hair cut on Friday morning to celebrate what looks to be the onset of warmer temperatures and melting snow. If the weatherman doesn't disappoint, it should be 38 F this Saturday and 39 F on Sunday. That calls for a celebration, folks! I found these 5 hair styles that I really like but I can't make up my mind. I need something that is functional and easy to maintain because I do not have a lot of time on my hands. 

Help me, friends! Vote for your favorite!

30 Random Facts About Me

30 Random Facts About Me

1. I hail from sunny Florida and I miss it. A lot. 
2. I wear baby cologne on the daily.
3. I'm obsessed with babies. 
4. I'm a soon-to-be senior in nursing school. Ah!
5. I married my best friend when I was 19. Some people think that's crazy.
6. On that note, we fell in love when I was 14 and he was 15.
7. I've never broken any bone. 
8. I wore braces for 2 years and 9 months. Eeeek.
9. I want to adopt a baby someday. 
10. I absolutely hate chocolate. The taste literally induces nausea for me.
11. I've never had meat (including fish) EVER.
12. When I was in 1st grade, my teacher's only complaint about me to my momma was that I often appeared to be in another world. Borderline ADD much? I don't know but I'm easily distracted!
13. I love to hang from the monkey bars upside down.
14. Playing dress-up is one of my favorite things. I love to dress up for any and every occasion. Costume party anyone?
15. I once rode a small boat around my neighborhood after a hurricane dumped a couple feet of water on our streets.
16. I'm the Mad Hatter's long-lost sister, cousin, or something! I LOVE HATS!
17. I could live off a diet of only mango. Drooling as we speak. Just kidding, that's pretty gross. 
18. Not a fan of coffee, but pass me a cup of tea. 
19. Between the hours of 12-1 AM, I sink-in to delirium and either get really hyperactive or enter non-stop giggle phase. 
20. I love Jesus. 
21. As a child, I had a pet fish (Toti), bunny (Tommy), rooster (Chiki), and two cats (Blacky and Chichi). Not all at the same time though! ;)
22. About that rooster, he was HILARIOUS! I can write an entire post about Him but for now let's just say he had a vendetta against big dogs and made sure they got a piece of him.
23. I can't sleep without socks on. 
24. My all-time favorite movie is probably The Little Mermaid. "Look at this stuff isn't it neat, wouldn't you think my collection's complete...Go on and Kiss ze girl! Shalalalalala my oh my...."
25. Speaking of movies, I REALLY love High School Musical. Don't judge me. 
26. Sometimes I can't believe I'm past my teens. My inner child is alive and well.
27. I have little hands and feet.
28. When I was a kid, I used to cry when people said I was "getting so tall." My life goal was to be small and I've achieved that. :)
29. I twitch. A lot. I think I have a mild case of myoclonic seizures. I discovered this in class one day as we spoke about this condition. I twitch my self to sleep. Weird, I know, but I can't help it! :( 
30. This is strange, but I type everything. Not physically type everything but I have this sort of compulsory typing thing where I type what people are saying or what I'm thinking. Go figure.