Exciting News!

A new season is right before us. Tomorrow is September 1st already. Can you even believe it? Another summer has come and gone and fall is rapidly approaching. New seasons also bring newness in other areas of life, careers, passions and friendships. With the change in the temperature comes exciting changes at Serendipitous Girls. Brace yourself- we have something very exciting to announce....

We are adding our dearest, sweetest friend Holly to the blog! She is a faithful, smart, beautiful, talented, healthy eating athlete and we could not imagine going one more day or one more post without having her on board. The Serendipitous Girls have just grown by one! This collegiate soccer playing, blondie is invaluable and we know that she is going to be an extraordinary addition to the blog. We are so excited to have her share her wisdom, recipes, workouts and life with everyone. Check out Serendipitous Girls blog tomorrow for Holly’s first post. It’s going to be a great one so you won’t want to miss it! She will also have her bio in the “About Us” section for you to get to know her better. Thanks for staying with us during our journey together as friends. We definitely are “One Happy Accident!”

XO, 

Serendipitous Girls

 

Super Food Salad

I am a copy cat. A self proclaimed, copy cat. And I hate cats, so that is saying a lot. But I copied Whole Foods and made their Super food Salad. Turns out, it was a huge success. This salad gave me tons of energy/ I was full and satisfied for hours afterward. I added grilled lemon chicken to mine for some protein. It is completely clean, low fat/calories/carbs, and high in many essential vitamins and minerals.

*Fun Fact! Kale is a Nutritional Powerhouse! One cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories and 9% of your daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. 

Whole Foods Super Food Salad

-Serves 4 (I kept mine in the fridge for 2 days and it saved really well)

Salad

1 bunch kale

1/2 cup uncooked quiona

one carton blueberries

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup goji berries

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds 

Dressing

3 Table spoons Evoo

2 Table spoons Apple cider vinegar

1 Table spoon Agave (or sweetener of your choice)

Juice of one lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring one cup of water and 1/2 cup quiona to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to low heat and cover until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and let cool. 

Cut Kale leave into very small pieces, like you would do for shredded lettuce. 

Chop red onion into chunks. Add blue berries, goji berries, dried cranberries and quinoa. 

Toss mixture with the entire contents of the dressing. Add sunflower seeds only right before eating the salad, otherwise they will get soggy. 

I actually preferred the salad the second day because the kale had soaked up some of the dressing making the leaves more tender. I also added grilled chicken to my salad which incorporated protein and made it into more of a meal - or you can leave the meat off to make it the perfect side dish to any summer meal. 

After this successful recipe remake, I might try to copy some of my other Whole Foods favorites. I am thinking curry next time…

Happy Thursday! 

-Er

"Be Always Blooming"

I don't know about you but I am a quote girl! I can read a quote from Pinterest and well up with tears or burst into laughter... They touch my soul and feed my spirit. 

If I could decorate every wall in our apartment with quotes, I totally would! But that could become a little over the edge obsessive. Here are a few, of the many millions, of quotes that hold a special place in my heart; they speak the words that sometimes my mouth can't say. So, my heart speaks...

What can I say? I couldn't pick just a couple! I love all these quotes for different reasons and some for very much the same reason. Several have seen me through heartache & confusion, others to encourage & uplift me, and every one of them is a little part of me; an extension of my being.
Words: "a unit of language consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representations, that function as a principal carrier of meaning."

Gabrielle <3

Philippians Friday's and an americano please

This morning I found myself thankful... 

Sometimes thankfulness is a choice, and other times I feel it in my soul. I'm reading a lot about thankfulness these days. I'm learning how to choose it by verbalizing the things i"m thankful for in prayer and by writing down things I recognize I should be thankful for as a daily discipline,  but its the most wonderful thing when you choose it and you feel it all together. 

Just over a month ago, the girls and I decided to study through the book of Philippians together. We did it as a way to connect during the week and make sure to see one another amidst the craziness of our schedules, we did it because we were so excited to all be in the same city for the first time since college, but mostly we did it for the purpose of setting aside time to talk about things that really really matter. We did it to challenge one another to growth in the Lord. We did it so we could sit around the table and pray for one another. 

"Philippians Friday" starts at 6:00 a.m. We just finished the book, but I'm still going to call it "Philippians Fridays" I think. The original plan was to meet at a new coffee spot each week, but we happened upon the best americanos in the most quaint and adorable coffee shop in the heart of one of my favorite Denver neighborhoods and it stuck. The tables are often off balance and the chairs and seating change so we pick a new spot inside or outside every time. We sit outside on the patio and watch runners go by as we sip our hot coffees from giant mugs on warmer mornings and we watch commuters and moms and dog walkers flow in and out for their morning cups. We unload our bibles and journals and breakfasts of think thin bars and yogurts and overnight oats and bananas and we  call it fellowship. It's good. So good! 

I love being a part of this fellowship. I love coming with questions to discuss. I love the authenticity and vulnerability of this fellowship. I love the different histories and backgrounds and memories that come together around this table. I love the wounds and the joys that each of us bring and the stories of the ways we've seen God move and work in those wounds and joys. I learn a lot from these women. I feel comfortable and uncomfortable all at once. Comfortable for who I am and uncomfortable as they push me to who they see God making me to be. 

Sometimes its hard to choose to be thankful and sometimes when you're sitting and staring into the 4 faces of beautiful people that love you no matter what you're going through and where you are, thankfulness smacks you in the face and knocks you to your knees to thank God for loving and caring for you so well. 

Today I'm thankful.