Lifestyle Archives - Page 6 of 9

Thanksgiving Week! Travel Necessities <3

November 21, 2016

Happy Monday Everyone! This week is Thanksgiving and if you are one of the millions of people traveling this holiday there are a few things you are going to have to remember. Personally for me I know that I have some clothes at home in Miami, but there are the few things that I know that I want to bring with me. For starters the worst thing to do over Thanksgiving is to check a bag. I hate checking bags especially when it’s a major holiday because every single time that I have in the past somehow the airline loses my luggage. Last year the airline put it on the flight after mine even though I was checked in over 2 hours ahead for my flight. That was not fun at all! So I try and pack my bag with the things I know that I don’t have at home. For example I always bring a pair of sneakers with me incase I want to work out. I know many of you may say you aren’t going to work out while you are home, but when you live in New York City and it is so cold out the nicest thing to do is simply go for a walk outside in warm sunny Miami. You also want to save some room in your bag incase like me you do a little shopping while you are home, but don’t worry a lot of the stores offer free shipping if you shop this weekend and in the past I have done that to avoid having to carry so many things back with me. Now I normally fly early in the morning the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but this year I chose to take a late flight instead. If you are on an airline that offers you to pay $20 to board first… DO IT! It is money well spent! Even though I do fly often I somehow never get priority boarding and by the time they even get to the first group boarding it seems that almost the entire plane is on board and then there is no overhead compartment space for your bag. Especially since I am flying with Stella I always like to get on the plane first in order to get her situated. The other thing you always need is an external battery charger. Now I purchased one of those small pill one’s in Best Buy a few months ago and it is amazing! Especially if you get delayed on the tarmac and your plane isn’t one of the new ones with charging outlets in between the seats the worst thing that can happen to you is have your phone, Ipad, kindle and or computer die on you before you even land. It has been a huge life saver for me every single time I have flown. Also the real important thing not to forget other than your ID is your headphones. One of my best friends one year forgot her headphones at home and she was stuck in the airport delayed for 6+ hours! After hour 4 she went to a Best Buy kiosk and purchased headphones. Always remember that if you forget something and you are going home that you can always buy it! Just don’t forget your essentials: glasses, contacts, socks, underwear, phone charger, kindle / Ipad charger, headphones, make up, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, floss and of course your ID. Happy travels everyone! Safe flights <3

Hump Day Treat: Banana Bread

November 16, 2016

Happy Wednesday! Today’s Hump Day Treat is one of my favorite recipes thanks to my Mom. My Mom is known for her cooking amongst all of our family and friends, but if you ask any of my friends this is one of their favorite treats that she would make for us when we had some left over bananas. Now if you want to make banana bread one of the main things you need to remember is you don’t need to use super old bananas, but it does help when they are a little bit brown on the outside. You can also make this recipe into banana muffins or keep it as the traditional loaf of banana bread. Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar

½ c ( 1 stick) unsalted butter

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs, well beaten

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 ¼ c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp salt

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.Put the sugar and butter and butter together and mix it well in a mixing bowl

3.Add bananas, eggs and vanilla.

4.Blend well all the ingredients

5.Sift flour, baking soda and salt together

6.Add to mixture and stir thoroughly

7.Pour into greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pan

8.Bake approximately 70 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

9.Remove from pan

10.Cool completely on cooling rack before slicing

Hope everyone enjoys this delicious treat! <3

(image taken from google)

Fitness Tuesday – Meditation

November 15, 2016

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Thanksgiving is a little over a week away and I am already mentally preparing myself for how much food I will be eating over the holiday. I am also prepping for the stress of travelling. Personally, I am an anxious flyer and I used to be able to sleep on planes all the time when I was younger, but now I can maybe sleep max 5 minutes on the flight. Something that everyone has told me to do and has recently popped up in pop culture is medication. Even recently on Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner did this to help with her airplane anxiety. I know what you are all thinking right now. You picture someone sitting cross legged with their palms facing up on their knees, eyes closed, saying “ohmmmmmmm,” but that isn’t what you have to do. Every person, I have noticed, meditates differently. Oddly enough, in my high school we had yoga as an option for physical education. Both of the yoga teachers also were teachers in our school and one of them was my physics teacher senior year. He started every class with a 5 minute meditation in order for us to clear our minds. We would sit our chairs back straight and hands by our sides like they were dangling and simply focused on our breathing. That not only helped me everyday relax before the start of class, but it also especially helped me before any exam. Recently, I have been trying to figure out new ways to help me calm down and deal with everything that I have going on in my life. Sometimes I take my yoga mat to my roof and I lay it out and rest my back against the wall and just close my eyes and focus on my breathing. One thing that I highly recommend if you are meditating, is to not bring your phone or anything-turn off all electronic devices. Disconnecting from all devices and all social media for a little while is very helpful in this process. You can cross your legs, sit up tall with your legs out or even lay down- whatever works for you. Some people think if you lay down it looks like you are sleeping, but I don’t believe that. I believe that if you take even 5 minutes everyday whether it be when you wake up or at night just to clear your mind of everything it helps you re-energize and get ready for the next day. I hope you all enjoyed today’s fitness tuesday post. Namaste! <3

(Image taken from google)

Hump Day Treat: Spagbog

November 9, 2016

Happy Wednesday! It’s time for a hump day treat recipe to help everyone after last night’s election. Now there are some recipes that I use over and over again and this is one of my favorites. When making bolognese sauce there are many combinations that you can use. You can use ground turkey, ground turkey with lamb, ground meat with veal or pretty much anything you can really think of. I personally like using ground turkey but it’s all up to personal preference.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 package of ground meat of your choosing

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of tomato paste

1 package of mushrooms

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 large frying pan

Directions:

1.Cut onion into cubes and sautee with olive oil until they start to yellow

2.Cut up Mushrooms and add them into the pan with the onions

3.When the veggies are softened, add meat in chunks. Flip and move around until meat is fully browned and break into smaller pieces

4.Add salt/ pepper as the meat is cooking

5.Add ¼ cup of Red Wine (This is an option step that I have done in the past, but the bolognese still tastes great without it)

6.Add tomato paste (full mini can); mix it around

7.Add tomato sauce. You want it so that it’s a sauce consistency and not sloppy joe consistency

8.ENJOY!

I personally pair this with Banza chickpea pasta with garlic bread and a vegetable. Banza and now have spaghetti style pasta that I just tried the other night with my best friend Randi and it is amazing! She couldn’t get enough of it. Hope you all enjoy <3

Happy Election Day! Fitness Tuesday: Running

November 8, 2016

Happy Election Day! It’s Fitness Tuesday and to honor the New York City Marathon that just took place this past Sunday, today’s fitness inspiration is running. I know that most people don’t enjoy running. My brother Ira says that he gets bored while running even with listening to music or having a tv on if he is on the treadmill. I personally used to feel that way too, but now I enjoy it from time to time. In the spring of 2013, I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon which is something that honestly shocked my entire family. When it comes to running, the first thing that you need to do is get a great pair of shoes. Yes, I was one of those people that went into a running store and ran on a treadmill in front of a bunch of people to find the right shoe. Also don’t expect to find exactly the color you want in a running shoe. Mine are pink and teal and personally I would have preferred something not as out there, but at the end of the day they are so comfortable and that is really what matters when running. If you have the opportunity to run outside do it! I say this not because it is more entertaining and possibly scenic running outside, but for me I have noticed it is not as hard on my knees. When starting to run take it slow.and don’t worry about trying to have a fast pace. Also when running with your music put your phone airplane mode if you aren’t expecting any calls in order to save battery. I did that when I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon and I am so thankful I did. Make sure you also stretch before and after running and it’s always a good idea to take an epsom salt bath after a nice long run. Hope to see everyone out there running the streets before it eventually starts to snow.Happy running everyone and I go out and vote! <3

If you don’t already please follow my dog Stella on Instagram @HowStellaGotHerWoofBack

Hump Day Treat – Southwestern Chicken Casserole

November 2, 2016

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I have seen so many of my friends recently starting to share their cooking creations via snapchat and I love it because now I can ask them all for their recipes. One of my friends Lauren snapchatted this delicious southwestern chicken casserole and I immediately texted her for the recipe. I know when people think of casseroles they immediately think “ew it’s just a hodge podge of a bunch of stuff”, but this casserole looks and tastes delicious! Hope you all enjoy it!

Ingredients:

½ small onion, chopped

2 cups cooked chicken (shredded)

1 ½ cups cooked brown rice

1 (15 ounces) can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 (10 ounces) can diced tomato and green chili blend (drained)

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk

2 eggs (beaten)

1 cup reduced fat shredded mexican cheese blend

1 teaspoon cumin

½ tablespoon chili powder

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Salt & pepper ( for taste and personal preference)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven at 350 degrees F

2.Coat casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray

3.In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients

4.Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake for about 25 minutes or until center is firm

5.Let cool for 5- 10 minutes and serve with desired garnishes

6. ENJOY!

Fitness Tuesday- 30 Day Squat Challenge

November 1, 2016

Happy November everyone! Wow crazy that today is the first day of November. This year has truly flown by and can’t believe that we are so close to the holiday season. Most people know November as no shave Movember, but since the 1st of the month fell on Fitness Tuesday here at Just Jodi Style I wanted to give you all a challenge for this month. This month I am going to be doing a 30 day squat challenge. Different than the ab challenge for last month I wanted something that was similar in the sense that it’s not as time consuming, but target a different area of your body. I have done the challenges in the past where you do wall sits or lunges, but I have never done one with simply just squats. You think that it wouldn’t do anything to your body, but look at Jen Selter. She is now known for building her backside into what it is today and she did a lot of that with simply doing squats. I mean I don’t necessarily want the same results as her, but she has truly made her brand with it. With Thanksgiving coming up just around the corner I know that it’s going to be full of food and treats so I want to be mentally and physically prepared for it :-). For all of you who did the ab challenge last month I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I personally can tell that my abs are stronger than before and I do feel more toned. I don’t have the flattest abs in the world, but I am surely getting closer to it. If you didn’t do the ab challenge last month you can always try again this month. Hope you all have a great Tuesday and happy November to you all! <3

Hump Day Treat: Halloween Themed

October 26, 2016

Happy almost Halloween everyone! In honor of the upcoming holiday I thought what better way to honor today’s hump day treat recipe then have it be halloween themed. One of my favorite things about halloween is obviously the candy, but as a kid I always was searching for the house with the best stash. I am sucker for anything that has M&M’s in it because they are honestly one of my favorite candy. Here is a a really cute and easy recipe complements to Tasty from Buzzfeed that incorporates M&M’s.

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter

4 cups of marshmallows

8 cups popcorn popped ( regular no flavor)

1 package of M&M’s chocolate the harvest blend (you can honestly do any flavor you want)

1 cup white chocolate

1 cup dark chocolate

1 teaspoon orange food coloring

Directions:

Put the package of M&M’s in the freezer for 15 minutes so they can be firm before using.
Melt butter over medium heat. After the butter is melted add the marshmallows. Stir constantly until all of the marshmallows are melted. After remove from heat.
Fill a large mixing bowl with the popcorn. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and mix around with a spatula gently!
Add the M&M’s and continue to mix gently with a spatula
Take a cookie sheet and grease it or you could also use parchment paper and grease that over a cookie sheet if you’d like.
Apply a thin layer of cooking spray or oil to your hands and grab a handful of the popcorn mixture. Gently form into a ball and place on the cookie sheet. (Repeat this step until all the mixture is gone)
Place the popcorn balls into the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to set.
Melt dark chocolate. Once cool spoon into a small ziplock plastic bag.
Melt White chocolate. Stir in food color evenly. Once cool spoon into a small ziplock plastic bag.
Remove popcorn balls from refrigerator
Snip the corner of the dark chocolate bag to create a spout and drizzle evenly over the popcorn balls. Repeat with the white chocolate.
Return to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set chocolate
Then place in cupcake tins if you wish and on a serving tray and ENJOY!

Images taken from Tasty from Buzzfeed

Fitness Tuesday: Kickboxing

October 25, 2016

It’s Fitness Tuesday everyone! Recently, one of the biggest workout kicks that everyone has been on since spinning, is kickboxing. We have all seen our favorites like Gigi Hadid and pretty much every Victoria Secret model swear by it, so I personally had to see what all the hype was about. I have now being going once a week to kickboxing classes and I am hooked! Every studio is different and I have tried a few different ones, but it all depends what type of workout you want. I went to one by my apartment where the class started with a warm up exercises of running around the room with different interval exercises such as burpees, squats, air squats, lunges and of course all the different ab workouts you can think of. By the end of the “warm up” at this kickboxing studio I was always drenched in sweat, but ready to hit the bags. Other studios you did a simple a warm up then you either are doing some sparring with a partner or against a bag. Still to this day my favorite was Prevail which is based out of LA and has been featured on some tv shows including Vanderpump Rules. The one thing I will say to everyone is make sure you protect your wrists. I wear a bracelet on my right wrist everyday and I have noticed it start to bother me during kickboxing. If you go enough to classes it is worth investing in some of your own wraps for your hands. I bought two different ones off Amazon and I wash them myself. This is something my brother does and he said it just makes you feel better knowing you cleaned them and they are yours. I have my own gloves that I got for signing up with one of the studios and they work great for me. Some people have said because their hands are small like mine they bought their own pair of gloves and that is totally up to you! Just make sure that you protect yourself, because it is very easy to hurt yourself in kickboxing. I have definitely seen a change in my arm definition since starting kickboxing and I hope that one day I will have arms like Gigi Hadid 🙂 . Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Link to some great wraps from amazon:

Kickboxing Wraps

(image taken from google)

The Hangover Cure

October 22, 2016

Hi Everyone! I wanted to say thank you to all of my friends and family who helped make my 27th birthday so special <3. 27 is already starting off amazing and I can’t wait to see what this year has to bring. Obviously last night I had a few cocktails to celebrate and the worst feeling is waking up the next morning with a terrible hangover. Personally, I have heard of so many different things to cure a hangover from the simplest ideas to the craziest ones. One of the craziest things that I have heard to help cure a hangover is Pedialyte. Yes, Pedialyte, the drink that you see in CVS that’s supposed to give children electrolytes is one of the best cures for hangovers. After one of my friend’s weddings in LA, a bunch of us were in the car on the way to the brunch and we were all so hungover and someone said let’s stop and get some Pedialyte. I was so confused! They said that someone had told them about this years ago and it actually works! Well, needless to say I was proven wrong and it worked wonders! If you have a terrible hangover that is the best way to cure it! However, if you are like me and don’t necessarily always need that, the way to go is a good Gatorade, breakfast sandwich, and if you are feeling up to it, a muffin. The more carbohydrates in your system the better for you. Gatorade helps refuel you and make you feel so reenergized- you will thank me later. Take care of your body because the worst feeling is starting off the work week feeling completely drained from you entire weekend. Here’s to being 27 or as someone told me last night- 3 years until I am officially 30! EEEK!!! Cheers!