Confession time: How many times a week do you actually get up when your alarm goes off?

Or, more accurately to this gal’s life, how often do you hit snooze to the point that when you actually get up you immediately start praying to the traffic gods that the roads will be clear because there is no practical way (aside from teleportation, which someone needs to just invent already) that you will make it to work on time?

How often do you hear your alarm blare and simultaneously think, “I don’t need to (fill in the blank) this morning” just to get another ten minutes of shuteye? From firsthand experience, the (fill in the blank) usually involves showering, eating or not wearing a sweatshirt to work.

If anyone has any solutions for the showering or wardrobe issues, I’m all ears. In the breakfast department, I submit to you: the Minute Muffin.

The base recipe here (with no extras just the flax, baking powder and egg/applesauce) really does only take one minute of prep time and one minute of microwave time. Mix it up in your favorite mug when you go to turn on your coffee maker and pop it in the microwave on your way out the door. You’re set.

For more adventurous options, you can add into the mix everything from chocolate to walnuts to blueberry jam. It’ll take you about another minute of both prep and microwave time, but hey, we’re still only at 4 minutes. Which, if the traffic gods are pleased today, you can make up on the road.

Ingredients:

¼ cup flaxseed meal (I use Bob’s Redmill Golden Flaxseed)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (or 1 heaping tablespoon applesauce)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a mug.
2. Microwave on high for 1 minute.
3. Run out the door.

If you have 4 minutes, Ingredients:

¼ cup flaxseed meal
¼ cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coconut oil
2 heaping tablespoons applesauce (I used Trader Joes berry applesauce in this version)
1 small dollop blueberry jam

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients in a mug.
2. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
3. Eat in car while attempting to find a podcast as addictive as Serial.

Now that you’ve got the fastest breakfast around, maybe you’ll be the one to invent teleportation…who knows! Coming up later this week…a few more breakfasts that might make you want to get up when the alarm first goes off to make every day feel like Saturday…

Simple paleo recipes are, simply, the best. Over at Garlic My Soul, we realized we hadn’t experimented with an easy pork chop recipe yet – so here it is! We used simple seasonings (salt, lemon and spicy brown mustard) and the results were delicious. We did use Hepp’s gourmet White Truffle salt, which is optional but also highly recommended.

We made a 1/2 pound of 1 and 1/2 inch boneless chops. You can decide on quantity and whether or not you’d like to cook them with the bone in. Cooking time can vary depending on thickness. Please make sure your chops are cooked all the way through before eating!

Ingredients:

Pork chops
Olive oil
Lemon
White Truffle salt
Spicy brown mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Add a dash of olive oil to a pan over high heat.
3. Coat the pork chops with lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
3. Pan-sear the pork chops for three minutes.
4. Flip them over. Re-season with lemon and salt. Pan-sear for 3 more minutes.
4. Lightly coat or spray a baking sheet with olive oil to prevent sticking. Place the chops on the baking sheet.
5. Add the spicy brown mustard.
6. Bake for 30 minutes and eat with a big green salad – that’s it!

We love a simple paleo meal that gets us to dinner in under and hour – what are your fave fast paleo meals?

We love a good soup – they keep us warm through winter, they’re easy to put together, and they can be made out of seemingly nothing. Here are some kick-starter ideas for you to get your own big pot of soup on tonight.

So we had Megan illustrate you a fun list of our fave soup recipes for you to enjoy!

Above in Order:

Chicken Noodle Soup: A classic. This one will keep your spirits up when it’s twenty below, and when you start to feel a tickle in your throat. Pick your fave kind of noodle and add whatever veggies you love – use this recipe as a starting point to create your fave soup.

Tortilla Soup: This tortilla soup, which we re-shared last week. It’s Southwestern, and it’s spicy, and it’s filling as heck. This one is a family favorite that basically makes itself – you guys, it’s in a slow cooker!

Lentil Soup: We love lentils. This soup is a vegetarian delight, and it’s chocked full of vegetables to get in your daily dose. Between the spinach, and the Swiss chard, and the cauliflower, you’ll wonder why you ever ate meat in the first place (haha that’s a joke.)

Pumpkin Ginger Soup: This is ready in 30 minutes. It’s rich, it’s full of ginger (hello: healthy with a kick!) and it’s ALSO vegetarian. Plus, the cashews add a creaminess you just can’t beat. For something different in the soup category, give this a shot.

Golden Beet Soup: Guys this recipe’s old, the photo we have is horrific, but let me tell you it was amazing. We used golden beets so we didn’t stain everything, but you can use red ones, too. We love the curry and the hint of cinnamon. This goes great with a crusty bread and uses the whole beet not just the root, so food waste’s less of an issue, too.

Chicken Chili: Another slow cooker recipe you guys. We love adding tons of garlic because that’s healthy (and it’s in our name), and we love the cheese – THE CHEESE. It’s thick, it’s creamy, it’s full of delicious herbs and spices. Get it in your slow cooker for a delish Sunday night dinner that’ll make everyone look forward to Monday’s lunch.

We lied. Southwestern week continues! Huzzah! We wanted to share with you one last recipe that we really love. This came about because we have been trying to find more vegetarian meals that hold their own in the kitchen without relying on our fave thing – cheese. Enter this amazing chili that comes together quite nicely – so nicely in fact that you’ll forget it’s vegetarian in the first place!

The dish relies on sweet potatoes, beans, and peppers, and though it might seem like there is a lot of chili powder here, it’s not spicy at all – and that’s coming from me, queen of “THIS IS SO SPICY” when no one else noticed. If you do want it to be spicy, add cayenne (see note below.)

Ingredients:

1 can pinto beans
1 can red kidney bean
28 oz crushed, diced tomatoes
1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
2 sweet potatoes
2 green peppers
olive oil
1/2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional to add heat)
sour cream, cheese, and avocado for topping

Directions:

1. Chop your onion, garlic, potatoes, and peppers. In a Dutch oven (or similar receptacle) put about at tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and sweat for about two minutes.
2. Add your sweet potatoes and green peppers and cover on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. While that’s doing it’s thing, open the cans of beans and tomatoes. Drain your beans.
3. Now uncover your Dutch oven and add beans, tomatoes, and spices. Taste and adjust seasoning as you like it. Let simmer for about thirty minutes and serve hot, preferably with cheese (because we love it so) and some sour cream or in our case, both and some avocado for good measure.

What’s in your fave chili recipe? Do you love chicken, ground beef, or do you go the vegetarian route?

To round out our Southwestern Week, we wanted to throwback to one of our fave easy recipes – tortilla soup! We make ours in a slow cooker for maximum ease. This was originally posted on Cinco de Mayo 2014. Like our Southwestern week? Let us know – we always love getting feedback about the types of recipes you guys are looking for!

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We’ve been introduced to so many incredible Mexican dishes while living in Los Angeles, and I don’t think Jennie or I truly appreciated how tasty tortilla soup can be until we lived here. We made our version using the slow cooker for maximum flavor and convenience.

It’s always exciting to throw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker, press some buttons, and then walk away for a few hours, although it can also be nerve-wracking. We recommend tasting this for salt and spice levels about 30 minutes before serving, just to be sure.

This is one delicious soup, but what really takes tortilla soup to the next level is the garnish. The most important of these, of course, is the fried tortilla strips you place on top. You can certainly use tortilla chips in a pinch, but if you have 5 minutes, go for the real thing and fry up a few corn tortillas in a little olive oil for that perfect fresh, crispy garnish. You can also add sour cream, shredded cheese, or avocado. Go for it! It’s Friday! Dream big!

Find the full recipe here.