A fun and easy autumnal recipe, these vegan apple pie bars are packed with fall flavors and full of nourishing, healthful ingredients. ‘Can I ask you a question?’ Are you Team Apple or Team Pumpkin? It’s the question of the ages that always comes up …
Super easy, healthy and delicious plant-based dishes, perfect if you’re looking for some last-minute additions to your Thanksgiving menu! Did Thanksgiving completely sneak up on anyone else this year? After spending two weeks traveling in London for the first half of November (more on that …
Vegan pesto pasta made with 5 easy ingredients, filled with delicious warming flavours and golden pieces of roasted butternut squash. The perfect comfort food meal!
Did anyone else grow up thinking they didn’t like pesto, only to realize its actually one of the best things ever?!
I can’t believe I wasted so much of my life missing out on the goodness that is pesto. Fortunately, I have come to my senses. Now a simple bowl of pesto pasta is one of my fav staple easy meals.
I first served this pesto pasta to my (non-vegan) family some years ago, and was excited by the positive reception! At the time I wanted to put my own spin on the classic dish of pesto pasta. Roasting butternut squash and adding it to the pasta dish sounded like just the extra boost needed to bring this meal to the next level. Now that I’m back living at home, this meal is always a fun one to add into the cooking rotation, especially when the weather starts to turn and we enter comfort food season.
The idea for this meal came from the need to use up some random odds and ends we had in the house. Don’t you just love it when that happens? I picked up this Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto from Trader Joe’s with the intention to use it for our Christmas dinner. But I ended up adjusting the Christmas menu, and the pesto was just living in the fridge.
I had also picked up a butternut squash, but didn’t know what to do with it. With those two ingredients, plus dry pasta and chickpeas stocked in the cupboard, I knew I could create something pretty tasty. Only needing 5 simple ingredients was an added bonus.
And it all came together so well! Though it involves a few different steps, it’s really pretty minimal effort. Well, except for chopping the butternut squash, that’s definitely the hardest part. My family declared the final product delicious, and the leftovers tasted just as good (if not even better!) the next day.
So if you’re looking for an easy meal to serve to family or friends that’s a little bit fancied-up, you can’t go wrong with this recipe! I hope you try it out. If you do, let me know. Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @bitesbybekah. I’d love to connect with you and it always makes me so happy to see your creations!
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Chop the butternut squash into small bite-sized pieces. To make it much easier, I stick the squash in the microwave for ~5 minutes (to soften), and then peel and chop it.
In a roasting pan, add the chopped squash, and drizzle on 1 tbsp olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. Use your hands to mix the oil and salt until it coats all the squash pieces.
Let the squash roast in the oven for about 40mins, until it turns golden and starts to brown on top.
About 15 minutes before the squash is done cooking, put the pasta on to boil and cook according to its instructions. When cooked to desired consistency, drain the pasta.
Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Add the chickpeas to the pot with the pasta, and mix in the pesto, cooking on a low heat. If desired, you can add spinach or kale for extra greens.
Add the roasted butternut squash pieces, then serve up and enjoy! Top with nutritional yeast, or (vegan) parmesan, if desired.
*Post originally published on January 20, 2019, and updated on Oct 17, 2022
In Feb 2021, my sweet mama was diagnosed with breast cancer. And our world was turned upside down.Breast cancer touches so many lives. 1 in every 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, which is a staggering statistic! In the last …
Easy and healthy vegan tacos using just 5 simple components: fajita peppers, cumin black beans, salsa, guacamole and fire-toasted corn tortillas. Super simple recipes for all, and put them together to make such a fun and delicious meal! Almost every week – usually on a …
My experience starting (and completing!) the 75 Hard Challenge! I cover what the challenge involves, why I started the challenge, 7 tips for starting it yourself, whether it was worth it, and 5 fun not-so-typical results.
On April 18, 2022 I started the 75 Hard Challenge.
75 gallons of water…
83 walks outside (and 1 run, lol)…
52 YouTube workout videos…
5 books…
Lots of healthy (and delicious!) meals…
and 75 progress photos later,
I completed 75 Hard!
75 Hard is a ‘transformative mental toughness program’, developed by Andy Frisella.
There are 5 simple tasks that you have to complete every day. In and of themselves, the tasks aren’t too challenging. The challenge comes in doing all of them consistently for 75 days straight. And a big motivation in completing them is that, if you don’t do any one of the tasks, you have to restart the whole challenge.
Yup. So, if you’re on day 72, and you miss one task, you’re back at Day 1. It’s pretty good motivation. The 5 tasks are:
The past two years have been some of the most challenging in my life. I moved back to the US, after living in London for 7 years, in the midst of the global pandemic. While trying to finish up my PhD, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. I paused my studies to take care of her, and then eventually (finally) completed my PhD in the spring go 2022.
So there’s been quite a lot going on. And during it all, I didn’t feel like I had a lot of time or space to put into taking care of myself.
75 Hard felt like a step (or 5!) towards doing better.
I’m also an all-in kind of person. Baby steps are very helpful, and I think a very effective approach towards building sustainable healthy habits. But sometimes, making a big change overnight (like when I started eating plant-based) is what works best for me. I just have to make the decision to commit to something, and then I’m all in.
It’s completely up to you! I don’t think 75 Hard is necessarily for everyone. As I said, I’m an all-in type of person, so a challenge like this can be very helpful to me in kickstarting healthier habits that I want to integrate into my life. I think it’s important to know what kind of person you are and whether this would be helpful or not.
I will say that I did really enjoy the challenge, and would recommend it! It wasn’t always easy. There were several midnight yoga sessions to squeeze in that second workout. But the sense of accomplishment and structure is so beneficial! I especially appreciated how even on bad days, I still felt like I got in 5 tasks that were really good for me – and that really helped change the way I felt about that day by the end of it.
If you *are* interested in trying out 75 Hard for yourself, here are some tips!
Completing 75 Hard didn’t accomplish all of my health goals. It didn’t get me insanely in shape, or clear my skin perfectly, or anything like that. But I don’t think that’s the point of it. It’s a lot more about changing your mindset, and in that I think 75 Hard really did make a difference for me!
These were some of my…shall we say, less expected results? They may seem like small things, but to me they actually made quite a positive impact. 75 Hard helped me break out of a rut and get into a healthier routine, and I’m so grateful for that.
I would definitely say 75 Hard was worth it to me. I actually kept up pretty much all of the tasks for weeks after completing the challenge because I loved doing them! But lately I have been slacking, so…
Did you know there are more phases of 75 Hard? Well, I’ll be starting Phase 1 on September 1st, 2022! If you have a 30-day health challenge you want to start, or a habit you want to get into, why not join me? I’ll be sharing about it on my Instagram stories, so check in there! (First and Last instagram posts about 75 Hard)
A round-up of some easy plant-based Easter recipes for your own springtime holiday spreads! The last two years our Easter celebrations have been a bit strange. I spent Easter 2020 with a church family I was living with in London, locked down at the …
Some final reflections after completing my 6-week ImpactR challenge, including daily motivation for healthful living, and 3 key takeaways! When I first connected with the ImpactR team about the opportunity to work with them as an ambassador, my initial response had been to send an …
The final Week 6 on this Fitness Journey with the ImpactR, with the theme of ‘Feeling Strong’, a day-by-day account of the week, fav and least fav exercises, and some final thoughts on finishing this 6-week challenge!
Back in Week 2, Deanna asked me to sum up our session in one word. That’s what inspired these weekly themes and reflections! At the time the first word that popped into my mind was ‘sweaty’ (there’s that deep philosophical PhD education coming out). But Deanna’s word for me that day was ‘strong’. I distinctly remember thinking in that moment, Oh I’m not there yet. But alongside that thought came another just as quickly…But maybe by the end of these 6 weeks, I will be.
It’s interesting to reflect on the evolution and growth that has happened in 6 weeks (I have a whole post focusing on just that coming next!). In some ways it feels like it passed in the blink of an eye. In other ways it feels like so much has happened and a transformation occurred, or at least started to. Because this week, I did feel kind of strong! And that felt like big progress in itself.
There is definitely more room to continue growing (when is there not?!). But this week I felt a bit of a shift – feeling more confident to tackle moves, to match Deanna’s reps, to take Jeremy’s challenges a bit further than before. There were moves I couldn’t even attempt weeks ago, that I could actually (kind of) do this week. I felt more energy and motivation in each session, despite not getting a lot of sleep and having a lot going on. I finished sessions feeling tired and worked, but also energised and enthused.
Strength comes in many different shapes and forms – it’s not just physical strength, but also mental, emotional, etc. This journey has touched on all those things. And finishing Week 6 feeling strong and confident was more than I could have asked for at the start of this journey.
Going into this final Week 6, I was excited and, I’ll admit it, kind of scared. Deanna sent me the workouts for the week in advance and reading through them left me feeling just a little (lot) bit daunted. Jeremy helped design this final week’s workouts, to give an extra push to the finish line. Boy, could I tell. But despite feeling a bit apprehensive and intimidated, I was motivated to tackle this final week and end strong.
Today felt next level. I think it’s because today’s workout was all about combination exercises, adding moves onto moves with the ImpactR. That means there’s a lot more to focus on, and a lot more getting worked, hitting multiple muscle groups and engaging the core, arms, and legs. It really works the whole body. But this keeps things super engaging and makes it extra exciting to get through the workout!
There was one move that involved lifting the ImpactR out in front with arms straight. Just last week this move was not even possible. I went into today’s session a bit skeptical. But to my surprise and utter delight, it happened! I could lift the ImpactR with arms straight. I’m sure my form and everything still needs work. But the fact that the ImpactR was lifted with straight arms at all…I was shocked and so excited!
Fav exercise of the day – I’m enjoying slams more and more. I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of control and less bounce, which is exciting! One-leg lunges while also pressing up the ImpactR might’ve been one of my other fav moves of today’s workout. Possibly because I could kind of sort of do it. Plus it just really makes you feel strong to combine moves like that!
Least fav exercise of the day – Piston squats, OMG these are hard! With the bell up, …yeah, I can’t really do them. It’s a lot to think about, balancing as you do a one leg lunge, while also pushing a heavy rod of metal away from your body using just the strength of your arms. This one needs work, but even just attempting felt like a small victory.
Jeremy led us in today’s workout, and I felt pushed more than ever before. Deanna and Jeremy both have such amazing energy. Getting them together today was both a challenge and a treat. We got through 3 sets, and I still don’t quite know how, LOL. My shoulders and arms both feel like jelly. I took some harder modifications to give myself that extra challenge, because of Jeremy’s encouragement. I am sure I wouldn’t have done that if I was doing this workout on my own. This is just one of the (several) ways that Deanna and Jeremy really make such a difference!
Fav exercise of the day – Straight arm raises. It may or may not be ‘cause I’m just excited I can actually do these now!
Least fav exercise of the day – Arnold presses. Jeremy kindly modified this exercise for me because the first round showed how it was just not happening. My arms are not quite there (yet). BUT, that’s how I felt about straight arm raises last week, and look at how they’re going now!
WE DID IT! Finishing off today’s workout feeling strong and confident felt so good. Deanna was there cheering me every step of the way through this final workout. There were tangible moments of progress again in today’s session. One-handed lifts of the ImpactR absolutely could not have happened before, but today they somehow did. I did have to add an assist at times, and again the form was a bit shaky. But it’s definitely big progress. Plus, I did some push-ups without my knees down, which felt like a big deal as well. I think it’s good to mark those occasions and celebrate them alongside the bigger wins too!
Fav exercise of the day – It could actually be push-ups! I can feel the progress and that’s always so motivating. I feel like I’m going deeper with this move, and again, getting in some without being on my knees felt a big deal.
Least fav exercise of the day – Sit up twists are still one of the banes of my exercising existence. I just find core work so difficult. But on a happier note, a least fav exercise from the start of this journey was tricep swings, and today these definitely felt easier to do.
I cannot believe how quickly these 6 weeks have gone by. This week felt the hardest by far. The workouts were more intense, there were less breaks, moves from weeks ago were built upon, and I was pushed to take harder modifications and use the ImpactR in even more challenging ways. There were times when I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get through all the reps, or to even execute an exercise.
But somehow in the moment you dig deep and just tackle it head on. It’s a very present feeling, not focusing on what exercise is coming next (cause Deanna would just tell me when the time came), or how many are left to go, but just getting each rep done and then the next one. Then before you know it, you’ve made it to the end! Sometimes you modify, or slow down, or try again later, and that’s ok too. Because there’s always tomorrow as well, to improve and reach even higher.
For the last six weeks I have done 45 minutes of intense exercise more than I had for over a year really. It might not sound like much, but I can distinctly point to very tangible points of progress. I feel stronger, definitely had more energy in workouts as they went along, and could tackle moves I couldn’t have imagined myself doing Week 1. All in just 15 minutes, 3 times a week. Who knew that’s all it can take? I’m so grateful to Deanna and Jeremy for the opportunity, accountability, and for cheering me along the way.
More final reflections will be coming as I take in finishing off this challenge! ALSO, don’t forget to enter our giveaway to celebrate finishing off this 6-Week Challenge – you could win your very own ImpactR (running Monday, May 31st – June 7th, 2021)!!
If you missed the earlier posts of my ImpactR Fitness Journey series, make sure you catch up with:
If you’re interested in trying out the ImpactR for yourself, you can save 10% on their website using the code BEKAH10! This is an affiliate link, and if you purchase through a link/using my code I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you and it really helps to support me in doing this work. Thank you so much for your support!
I’m also currently holding an amazing GIVEAWAY to win an ImpactR for yourself – check it out to enter by June 7th, 2021!
Week 5 with the ImpactR, with the theme of ‘Just Do It’, the usual day-by-day account of the week, fav and least fav exercises, and 3 more weekly goals going into the final week of this 6-week challenge! JUST DO IT Going into week 5, …