Yet another fun weekend in the books. Everyone is now visiting me since I have limited time left in Colorado (SAD), which means a lot of wining & dining around town. Trying to squeeze out every last drop of Denver while I’m here! This meant more shenanigans – this time with two of my best girlfriends from college!
We ate, drank, laughed, cuddled, and faced the snow together this weekend. As for our eating & drinking:
Of course I took them right back to my new favorite gluten-reduced brewery (this was one of my friends’ first drink / non whole 30 item off the whole 30!) Intrepid Sojourner. Afterwards we went to Avanti, as they hadd to have the gluten free arepas and fried plantains!
The next day we started our day off right at Just Be Kitchen…
… which we walked in the snow to. And it was TOTALLY worth it.
Afterwards we headed over to another gluten free spot- Stem Ciders for a flight of local cider! And after thatttt we met up with some friends at Postino Wine bar- where they have THE BEST gluten free bruschetta boards (just make sure to ask for the GF bread!). AH-mazing.
As for some of the snackage we dove into- Kettle Avocado Oil chips, carrots, and Hope’s Spicy Avocado Hummus were the winners!
It was a really fun weekend, and I am already sad to have them go. 😦
This week, however, more people are in town! My friend from SF is here for work, so I’ll be hanging with him and showing him some spots. Then, my boyfriend gets in latee (try midnight) on Valentines Day, so I get to spend a solid four days with him 🙂
This past week I also did a yoga challenge (aka post a picture of a designated pose… this enters you into a pool of yogis trying to win some free yogi stuff). I did it because grad school + trying to get free stuff just go together. Its hard for me to take this seriously… even if it is about yoga- something I love. Seriously the fact that I posted about this at all is amazing because this stuff REALLY embarrasses me! But then again I have two weeks of yoga poses on my blog… maybe I’m just caring less about what people think? Who knows. But I have been doing yoga since I was 16 (hot yoga) and absolutely love it. I love yoga, not the appearance of being a ‘yogi’ or all that yada yada. What I love is how yoga makes me feel empowered, detoxed, purely happy.
Dudes. The first thing I did on my 21st birthday was wake up and go to hot yoga by myself! Ask anyone who is close to me and they’ll tell you immediately its my favorite thing.
Adding too my embarrassment, it was difficult to take the photos by myself (pretty pretty funny too)… thankfully two out of the eight days my girlfriends were here to take them for me!
Okay, back to the recipe. You may be wondering why this is the post for the day before Valentines Day, but this was inspired by my Valentine! (or at least I’m assuming so, I haven’t asked my boyfriend if he’d be mine or not… I’ll keep you posted). He works full time + and is annoyed by the lack of warm bring-your-own meal prep lunches available for those who despise the use of microwaves. SO I decided to come up with a meal prep soup that just needs boiling water and tada! A warm soup full of goodness, easily made, carried, and prepared at work.
It checks all the boxes: some good fats, good protein, flavor, good carbs, anddd veggies!
I hope you enjoy it !
MUSHROOM CHICKEN SPINACH SOUP
*buying the ingredients should yield 4 servings, but below is the ‘per serving’ recipe
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup coconut cream
4 mushrooms (diced)
1/2 cup spinach
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup shredded chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Unsalted butter, for sautéing
*1/2-1 cup boiling water*
PREP:
~Make sure you refrigerate the coconut cream for at least an hour, to make sure the coconut cream solids rise to the top. You want to use the most-dense coconut cream possible!
~Chicken: For no hassle DIY shredded chicken, get organic chicken breasts and throw them in the crockpot with a little bit of water on high. That way you’ll have a bunch of chicken you can use for this recipe or others throughout the week!
PUTTING IT TOGETHER:
Dice the four mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and spinach to a pan with butter, sauté until spinach is wilted and the mushrooms soft. Add the rosemary at the end of the sauté.
Place the pumpkin, coconut cream, and spices in a jar. Start to mix (this may be hard as the ingredients are cold). Add the sauté, shredded chicken and olive oil. Stir well. Again, due to the nature of the ingredients, this will not completely combine.
Store in jar, in fridge.
BRINGING IT TO WORK:
Let the jar sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you are ready to eat (getting the jar to room temperature will help it remain hotter). Add 1-1.5 cups of boiling water to the jar. STIR WELL, helping the soup’s ingredients combine and ‘melt’ into the water. Finally, ENJOY your no-microwave soup full of good nutrients!
Best to all, and happy Valentine’s Day Eve!
OH AND BEFORE YOU GO….. some fun news:
I have recently become an affiliate of Rootz Nutrition, which is a ‘paleo’ post workout protein and energizing energy supplement for before workouts. If you take pre or post workout supplements or powders, then you’ve got to know that these dang things are CHOCK FULL of chemicals, sugar, and random SHIZ. EWW!! If you’re like me, and the people over at Rootz, you are not about that- but still want the benefits of having some pre and post workout quick fuel. Thats where Rootz comes in.
YOU CAN ACTUALLY READ AND RECOGNIZE ALL THE INGREDIENTS! And I know what you’re thinking- it must taste nasty. Actually, no. This was super super yummy– honestly on the sweeter side for my own taste… so that means everyone is going to love it!
And guess what I got you all for Valentines Day?? A 20% OFF COUPON CODE. That’s right! Treat. Yo. Self.
Ready to try it out? Click here.
And use coupon code: GETTOROOTZHUNTINGHANGER
Interested in becoming an affiliate too? Email me, and I’ll set you up!
I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day! Remember its a day of love- and that manifests in self love, mindful practices, respect for others, and respect for the Earth. So make sure your day is full o’ love… and maybe show some extra love for those who need it most.
With love,
Alexis
Hunting Hanger 
great stuff >
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