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20 Mid-Year Review Questions

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It’s that time of year again- we’re halfway through 2020 which means it’s time to sit down and reflect on what the year has been like so far. I for one always do this in my bullet journal, because it’s a great place to keep track of all of my goals and write down my thoughts. I started doing a mid-year review just last year, since I had a couple of extra pages after June and thought, why not? I liked it a lot and so this year I made sure to reserve two pages at the end of this month.

I don’t think I wrote a whole post about my Mid-Year Review from last year, but here’s what it looked like:

For my review this year I kept many of the same elements, although I used the colour scheme from my 2020 Set-Up , and I printed off a bunch more olive branches too. I love this “base” theme that I have going on for the whole year- I don’t know what I’ll do next year! Anyways, I did a cute quote page and then on the opposite page I have a bunch of reflection questions to see where I’m at:

I love the way it looks;)) I switched up the reflection questions this year, and that’s what I want this post to be about: the questions. Down below I’m going to provide you with a list of 20 questions that you can ask yourself as we approach the mid-way point of 2020. You can choose a few to answer that jump out at you, or answer them all! I think it’s really good to check in with yourself and your goals, and see what you can improve on. Especially because of the crazy times that we’ve all been going through, we need to reset and re-evaluate what’s going on in our lives. So take some time to sit down and think about how you’re feeling about your current situation, and what you can do to improve it. And of course, make your review pretty! I love doing stuff like this when I can embellish it a little. Here’s my master list!

20 Mid-Year Review Questions

  • What are some things that you’ve accomplished so far that you’re proud of?
  • What are some things that you still want to accomplish?
  • If you chose a word that you want to define 2020, how are you embodying that word? If not, choose a word and ask yourself what you can do to embody it for the rest of the year.
  • What have you loved about 2020 so far?
  • How have you been looking after yourself?
  • How have you been able to give back this year? How can you give back for the rest of the year?
  • What have you been doing to nourish your soul, body and mind?
  • What are some areas that you feel you’ve been struggling in? How can you improve in those areas?
  • Do you feel like something is holding you back? What is it?
  • How can you move past any fears you have right now?
  • One year from now, what would your future self wish you had been doing right now? How about 5 or ten years from now?
  • How do you feel about the goals you set for this year? Look back on them, make any necessary adjustments, and create a plan for how you will tackle each one.
  • What do you want to remember most clearly about 2020?
  • What is something that you want to learn about over the next six months?
  • What do you want to do less of this year?
  • What do you want to do more of this year?
  • On a scale of 1 to ten, how do you feel about the past six months? What number do you want to define the year, and how can you get there?
  • What would it take for you to feel that 2020 was successful?
  • How does 2020 fit in to your long-term hopes and dreams?
  • In an ideal world, where do you see yourself on December 31, 2020? Write that down and put it somewhere where you can see it each day. Think about what it will take to be where your ideal you is.

There you go! I might go through some more of these myself separately, because there are some good ones for goal setting in there. Hope these questions help you out and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Yours Truly,

Olivia;))

Mini Berry Protein Muffins

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Hey guys! My phone broke down the other day and so I couldn’t really take and edit my pictures like I wanted, so I decided to just postpone this post for a bit. But don’t worry because the next week or so is STACKED with bullet journal stuff and new recipes (like this one) and a reading challenge update. Make sure that you’re checking in every day because I’ll have new posts going up daily until the end of the month!

To kick off this posting extravaganza, I’ve got these awesome Mini Berry Protein Muffins. I’ve been trying out some protein powder recently, and I actually really like it! I don’t just mix it with milk or water and drink it straight though, I usually throw a scoop into my smoothie bowl which makes it super creamy. I find that it’s a good way to incorporate some protein into my breakfast. The brand I use is Vega and I have their Protein and Greens powder in vanilla flavour. But if you decide to buy some powder to try out for yourself, do some research to find out what the ingredients are and where the protein is coming from. There are all kinds of protein powder; some are vegan, some get protein from animal collagen, and some have some artificial ingredients. Just make sure that your powder is right for you. If you don’t have any protein powder on hand, you can try and sub it out for whole wheat or all purpose flour, although I haven’t tested those out.

Anyways, I needed some new ways to use my protein powder. So why not make some muffins? And mini muffins, while I’m at it! Everything is cuter when it’s smaller. These muffins are naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and I find that the protein powder gives them a really nice flavour, like cake batter or something. There’s also an egg in here, which does give some extra protein and also acts as a binder. All of this protein and some whole grains from the oats, paired with a great taste, makes these muffins the perfect way to start your day! I used them to top a smoothie bowl, because, come on, mini muffins on a smoothie bowl? Does that not sound like the BEST THING EVER?

And I forgot to mention that these muffins have berries in them! I used saskatoons because I still have a whole ton frozen, but blueberries would be great as well. Now that it’s summer you might even be able to throw some fresh ones in there. So yeah, those are all of the delicious details of these cute lil’ muffins. Go find yourself a bowl (that’s right- this guy right here is a ONE BOWL recipe), mix some stuff up, pop these babes in the oven for like 15ish minutes and you’ve got yourself a snack that be lookin like a SNACK! Enjoy;)

Mini Berry Protein Muffins

Serves: Makes about 20 Mini Muffins

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cup oats (I used quick-cooking steel cut oats, but rolled oats also work)
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (mine was pre-melted by the summa heat lol)
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup fresh or frozen Saskatoon or blueberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line 20 holes in two mini muffin tins with paper liners, or grease with coconut oil.
  2. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Scoop the muffin batter by tablespoon into the lined or greased mini muffin tin. Bake the muffins for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean.
  4. Enjoy on smoothie bowls, oatmeal, as a snack, in cereal, or with yogurt!

Have fun with these mini muffins! Don’t forget about the army of blog posts coming your way. See you tomorrow!!

Yours Truly,

Olivia;)))

Easy Tofu Scramble

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‘Sup people? I’ve been meaning to make a tofu scramble for a while, and this afternoon I finally got down to it. I still love a good old egg scramble, don’t get me wrong. But if you want something plant-based, tofu is a great egg substitute. This Easy Tofu Scramble is awesome in wraps or bowls, on toast, or by itself. It’s also perfect for every time of day- breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Tofu is actually really easy to cook, and in this recipe I just drained it and proceeded to fry it up. But if you’re a first time tofu eater and want to know a little more about it, you can check out my post Soy Marinated Tofu, where I explain what it is and share another awesome recipe as well. To liven up this scramble a bit, I added some tomatoes and green onions, as well as paprika and garlic powder. Tofu can be a bit bland, so you want to make sure you add a lot of flavour.

Lastly, have lots of fun customising this scramble! If you want to add more veggies and different spices feel free to. Tofu is such a great blank canvas! Enjoy this recipe;))

Easy Tofu Scramble

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 85g of Extra Firm Tofu
  • 1/2 a tomato, diced
  • 1 green onion or chive, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the tomato, green onion, and tofu.
  2. Break up the tofu with a wooden spoon, until it resembles scrambled eggs. Cook for about a minute.
  3. Add in the garlic powder. paprika, salt and pepper and cook for additional two minutes, stirring often.
  4. Remove from the heat and enjoy!

Hope you like this recipe! Have a great weekend;)

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

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Although I’ve kind of been obsessed with smoothie bowls lately, I took a little oatmeal break and BOY WAS I IMPRESSED. I kind of forgot how good oatmeal was! Then the next day I came up with this Carrot Cake Oatmeal and it’s on another level. It’s sweet and warm and full of cinnamon and a ton of other good stuff. Perfect for a rainy day! Or any day, really.

Carrot cake is amazing (I need to come up with a recipe for this blog), and I would enjoy it in any form. But I’d have to say that eating it as oatmeal is probably second only to actual carrot cake. I used banana for some sweetness, carrots for carrotyness (duh) and some vanilla and cinnamon for that warm, spiced flavour. A good carrot cake also has raisins in it. I REALLY hope you like raisins because they’re awesome. In this oatmeal I used chopped dates, which are possibly even better than raisins. But you can use a handful of raisins if you ain’t got no dates lying around.

Enough talk about raisins. Lets discuss how freaking easy these oats are to make! Just shave some carrot, mash some banana, chop some dates and voila! You’ve got an awesome breakfast that is filling and can be topped just the way you want it, like a HARVEY’S for oatmeal. I topped mine with banana, some more cinnamon (I got the really big thing of cinnamon from Costco so I won’t be running out of that anytime soon), and some peanut butter, because what’s the point of breakfast without peanut butter? I think I’m going to spread some peanut butter on the next piece of carrot cake I have because it is a great combo. Go ahead and make these oats already so you can slap some pb on there!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup quick cooking steel cut oats (or rolled oats or quick oats; just adjust the cooking time accordingly)
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrot
  • 1/2 a ripe banana (I like to save the other half for topping)
  • 1 large medjool date, chopped (or a handful of raisins)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Peanut butter and more cinnamon for topping:)

Directions:

  1. Mash the banana in a small pot. Add in the carrot, oats, chopped date, vanilla, cinnamon, and water and stir until combined.
  2. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring the oatmeal to a boil. Then turn the heat to low and cook until your desired thickness is reached (I cook my quick cooking steel cut oats for 5-7 minutes. Read your oat package for more oat guidance)
  3. Scoop the oats into a bowl and top with the other half of the banana, some peanut butter, more cinnamon, or anything else your heart desires! Proceed to eat and enjoy;))

Hope you try out this DELICIOUS breakfast sometime! Have a great rest of the week and I will see you Friday!

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Zucchini and Olive Pasta Bake

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It’s SUMMA TIME and there’s an abundance of zucchini! Zucchini is delicious fried, roasted, in a fritter, and in salad, but today we’re using it in a Pasta Bake. Our guest star is the olive, which adds so much dang flavour into the sauce. If you’re not a fan of olives you can leave them out, but you don’t know what you’re missing. Don’t be a party pooper and just throw them in there!

We’re using my fave kitchen tool again- the amazing veggie peeler- to create little zucchini rolls for the bake.

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The pasta that I used was Go Go Quinoa brand macaroni, and it usually takes about 4 minutes on the stove top to cook. I baked it in the oven for 10 minutes, and it was just slightly past al dente. So if you’re using just regular wheat macaroni or small shells (you don’t want to go any bigger with your pasta selection) that normally take 7-9 minutes to cook in boiling water, I bake them for 10-15 minutes for an al dente texture. My recipe below doesn’t account for that, so just keep in mind what kind of pasta you’re using when baking this bake.

And that concludes my Ted Talk about how great this pasta bake is! DEFINITELY try it out and let me know what you think because it is now officially one of my favourite recipes. Here it is!

Zucchini and Olive Pasta Bake

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 200 ml can of sliced black olives, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup Go Go Quinoa Macaroni **see note above if using a different pasta**
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the sliced onions and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the beans, olives, tomatoes, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, chilli flakes, and some salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and then turn the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes.
  2. While the sauce is simmering, use the veggie peeler to create as many zucchini ribbons as you can. The centre part of the zucchini, where the seeds are, won’t make nice ribbons, so you can dice it up at toss it in the sauce, making sure it has at least 10 minutes to cook in there.
  3. Add the macaroni into a small glass loaf pan or baking dish. Roll up each zucchini ribbon into a little rosette and place evenly spaced out in the pasta, like this:
  4. Once the sauce is done simmering, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and bring it to a hard simmer before removing it from the heat. Scoop enough of it into the baking dish so that the pasta and zucchini are fully covered, about 2-3 cups of sauce. You may have some sauce leftover that you can eat with the pasta after it’s baked or save for later.
  5. Cover the glass dish with foil (shiny side down) and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Hope you like this pasta dish! See you Wednesday;))

Yours Truly,

Olivia;)