Natlifestyle.com

Lonely planet is by far my favorite travel resource, and nothing makes me feel more fulfilled than travel (Turkey is one of my top choices to go next).

As I sit at my desk at work, I often find myself thinking of where I could be, and this site is the best way to humor my day dreams. 

http://www.lonelyplanet.com

In NY, it’s all about the hot dog and pretzel stands. In LA, it’s all about the taco trucks that go to different neighborhoods.

I was really excited to see the Green Truck in my neighborhood by the office. They specialize in serving local organic, healthy food quickly.  And the people who work on the truck are totally mellow and cool.

Don’t get me wrong: I love tacos. And if I had a freakishly high metabolism, I’d be eating them every day. But I don’t, so I need healthy meal options that I can get quickly.

My favorite dish is the “Mothertrucker” – a garden burger with a vegan ’special sauce.’ I think they should roll this idea out to other cities:

http://www.greentruckonthego.com/

Setting up the Green Truck

I don’t know about you,  but my girlfriends and I have cut down a bit on going out. We still go out, but we do it less so we don’t blow our budgets.  And one of my favorite things in the world is to have my friends over, drink wine, and eat hors d’oeuvres.

Hummus is an easy, affordable thing to make if you’re having friends over. You can make a big batch for the same price you’d pay for a small container, you can use organic ingredients, and people are always impressed with homemade stuff nowadays – it’s made with love! I like this recipe  because it’s less-fattening that the normal kind (no tahini).

Homemade Hummus

• 1 can garbanzo beans (I get Whole Foods 365 Organic kind and it’s only $1.19)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I prefer extra-virgin)
• 1/2 of a lemon (squeeze out the juice)
• 1 teaspoon cumin

In a food processor, blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. You can drizzle a little more olive oil on it and sprinkle on some more cumin if you’d like. Serve with veggies and pita chips. 

Since there’s a ton of good, affordable wines out there, each of us will bring a bottle. Wine, hummus and the company of your friends — a great alternative to going out to a bar and spending!

I had a really long day yesterday.  A 2-hour business meeting in San Diego, but we had to drive 3 hours each way to get there (5 of us crammed in a small car – and we did this all in the same day).  Ah, the business world, so glamorous! 

So, I was exhausted by the time I got back to the office at 7 pm, but still wanted to cram in a workout. I stopped into a convenience store and picked up two things that perked me right up: a Think Thin bar and Function: Alternative Energy drink. (btw, for those of you who are Tracy Anderson fans like I am, she recommends Think Thin bars in her diet). 

The combination of these two things immediately took me from sluggish to energized. I went on to have a quick workout that made all of those long hours crammed into a car melt away. The best part?  I went home and snuggled with my dog. A great ending to a long day.  

Santa Monica Farmer's Market

I started going to Farmer’s Markets when I moved to LA because a. they’re everywhere and b. I like fresh produce. There’s a ton going on at the markets around here – from artists displaying their work, to puppy adoption fairs, to the occasional celeb wearing her wide-brimmed hat buying avocados.

But the best part about Farmer’s Markets is that you can get local, organic produce for a really great deal: buying organic at a Farmer’s Market is often less expensive than conventionally grown produce at your grocery store.

Farmer’s Markets are not just an LA thing: I found this great website that lets you enter your zip to find Farmer’s Markets near you complete with a built in google map:

http://www.localharvest.org/

My whole group of girls can’t stop buzzing about the Tracy Anderson Method.  Tracy Anderson Method is all about getting lean, toned muscles through dance moves that involve low-weight (own body weight/no more than 3 lb dumb bells) and a lot of reps.  I’m going to be incorporating these workouts into my own repetoire now.

Nah,  I can’t afford to go to her studios in LA/Studio City or NY/SOHO  (unlike Gwyneth and Madonna). But I’m okay with that: I can afford to check out her YouTube workouts and order her  DVD’s.

Try this YouTube workout to see if you like it– it’s surprisingly hard! Plus, Tracy just has a cool style and way about her. As I get better at these workouts, I will update. Let me know if you’ve tried her method!

I went for a hike with my boyfriend yesterday at Will Rogers State Park. Incredible views, great exercise (legs are still sore!) and also reminded me how important it is to stop, breathe and appreciate the simple stuff.

We ended up hiking for about 6 miles – and we felt really accomplished, but tired and ready to eat dinner. I still had some energy to make a quick, healthy dinner: whole wheat pesto pasta. I earned those carbs! The best part – it takes only 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

Fresh basil, about 20 leaves

4 Tbs. of pine nuts

4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tsp. coarse salt

1 clove of garlic

2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese (or 1 small chunk)

Whole wheat pasta, enough for 2 servings

Put all ingredients in a food processor (I love The Magic Bullet!) and process until the pesto has the consistency of a slightly grainy paste. Remove the pesto from processor and heat separately.

After pasta is Al Dente, toss the pesto sauce in.

I served this with a mesclun green and tomato salad with homemade balsamic-olive oil-dijon mustard dressing. We also had this Organic Pinot Noir wine that my guy picked up at Whole Foods. For dessert, Tofutti Cuties.

A great day, a great dinner.

Hi. I’m a busy working gal with a crazy schedule. So I like to make my life outside of work as great and stress-free as possible.  I’m really into learning about easy, super-healthy recipes, staying active, and entertaining — and I want to create a space where I can share what I learn and talk about it with others. Thanks for checking this out!