New exercises?

Ever had this cereal before?

If you haven’t, you should.  It’s delicious!  This was on sale at SPROUTS last week and let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to finish it off.  I’m a really big fan of every Nature’s Path cereal I’ve had.  Hearty and delicious.  Something that will actually hold me over for a few hours.

I’m starting at some clementines too but I really don’t feel like peeling them right now so those might have to wait until later.

No coffee today, tea instead.

Love me some Tazo!  This flavor is good, but it’s no Awake.

I have a new client to train today!!! He’s a hard-worker so I’m pumped to be getting started.  Still trying to come up with a challenging workout that won’t scare him off.

I need some fresh exercises asap if anyone has any crazy new maneuver they’ve done lately.  What are your favorite resources for learning new exercises?  I use Women’s Health and Shape quite a bit but I haven’t had time to read a magazine in awhile.  Help a girl out!

Extreme link love

Fantastic dinner tonight!  More on that near the bottom…

I love days when I eat lot’s of small meals as opposed to 3 bigger ones because I hate the feeling of being stuffed.  Usually it’s not that convenient for me though because I’m always on-the-go.  Today was a different story and here’s what I snacked on:

A whole bunch of my faves!  Oh and by the way, I think you know you and your roommate have a hummus problem when you finish 2 containers of Sabra in less than a week.  Yikes!

Did everyone get their Starbucks today??  They did some kind of environmental promotion so that if you brought in a reusable mug, you could get a free coffee—very cool in my opinion.  I definitely cashed in and it was extra delicious because the weather was gorgeous today!  Those kind people even gave me free soy because they’re classy like that.  Yes, I did indeed have the bux twice today.  So sue me!

Dinner

We had originally planned on grilling out, but it seemed a little silly to fire up the grill for two sausages so we cooked inside instead.

These were fantastic!  They were Saag’s brand and you can find the flavor I had here.  I could really taste the maple flavor and it was a nice switch from the traditional style.  Ingredients list is acceptable as well:

Chicken, Apple Juice From Concentrate, Dried Apple, Parsley, Sea Salt, Lemon Concentrate, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vinegar, Spices, Brown Sugar In Natural Pork Casing

I like to see all whole foods.  Those sweet potato fries are Alexia Organic. They’re a new chipotle seasoned kind and have the perfect amount of heat. Holy linkage in this post!

I think I might try to take it easy tonight and get some studying done so I can workout in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  Another fun and busy weekend ahead.  I’m volunteering at a 5K race on Saturday morning for Student Dietetics Association and playing intramural softball and dodgeball on Sunday.  Plus I have a ridiculous amount of school work to get going on because finals are creeping up quick.  Oh school.

Let’s hope the weather is warm so I can get some vitamin D this weekend too.  See you in the morning…breakfast will be something fun!

You know summer is coming when

…I start craving cereal for breakfast everyday.  Quaker oat squares with strawberries and bananas is the ultimate summer breakfast.  For some reason the combo of coldness with my piping hot coffee is really appealing to me.  Weird!  Currently drinking from my Bora Bora cup too–those people sure the know the way to a food bloggers heart!

Gotta run because I have a busy day ahead.  Which may or may not end with a a gourmet cook-out… Happy Monday!

Breakfast of Champions

This reminded me of what I would eat at a hotel’s continental breakfast… but healthier and way better-tasting!

New cereal (Nature’s Path Cranberry Ginger).  Could be a little more gingery, but an overall okay cereal.

Fruit—leftover from Easter brunch

Hard-boiled egg

So sad to eat this.  It’s one of my favorites! haha… But I LOVE having hard-boiled eggs in the fridge and I think we need to start doing this more often.  So convenient!  And eggs are one of the most perfectly nutritious foods there is.  Filling and delicious too.

Coffee was consumed as well.  We finally replenished the stock with some French Roast and Italian Roast—Extra bold and wonderfully rich.

Anyone watch the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship last night? What. a. game.  I can’t believe how close the last shot was.  Nearly had a heart attack I think!  Bravo to both teams for a solid fight.  I had no probably putting off my studying to watch it.

Happy Tuesday.  Go Brewers!

Girl’s night

Good morning!

Man it feels good to wake up without an alarm, have a leisurely breakfast, and have nothing to do.

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day!  I think some relaxing outside with a non-school book may be in order… BUT I also have to do laundry and pack for the big race day tomorrow.  We’re leaving this afternoon to go pick up our packets!!!! We’re spending the night at a friend’s house so we don’t have to get up so early in the morning and I’m paranoid I’ll forget something!

I’ve been trying to take it easy for the last couple of nights and get lot’s of rest.  So instead of going out for drinks with people from work, Jessica and I had a girl’s night instead.  Tons of fun!

Makings of a perfect evening:

1. Shopping

(No we didn’t buy any of this stuff… haha)

2. SUSHI

Yeah this was amazing.  The “New Orleans” roll that is closest in the picture was super spicy and delicious—definitely my favorite of the three.  I’ve come to the conclusion that avocado makes a sushi roll.  The creaminess is unbeatable!

I also had a nice little side salad:

and some miso soup:

Great dinner!

3. Sappy chick flick

So sad.  I don’t usually appreciate movies like this, but overall I thought it was pretty good.  Didn’t read the book but I would consider it now.  Eric Bana is so handsome… and I LOVE Rachel McAdams!  Absolutely gorgeous.  I thought they had great chemistry together.

So I’m now off to get my stuff together for tomorrow… Wish me luck! The next time you hear from me I’ll be giving a race-recap.  Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Catch-up

Good morning!

Here’s a little catch-up on what I’ve been chowing.  I’ve been sticking to the basics, but jazzing things up in my own way…

Monday night dinner:

Doesn’t get much more basic than that! Whole wheat angel hair with red sauce.  I wasn’t feelin’ any sides.

Tuesday breakfast:

Finished off the Golden Grahams, Sue!!! haha

These were left over from the Copper trip a couple weekends back and for some reason they sounded perfect on Tuesday.  I know this cereal doesn’t offer much nutritionally, but gosh I forgot how good they tasted…

Tuesday lunch:

Tuna, colby jack and spinach wrap—heated up so the cheese was all gooey.  This was fabulous!  I had chips and salsa (my addiction) and  a pickle on the side and it reminded me of a lunch my mom would make for me.  Hi mom!

Tuesday dinner (we had a guest!):

My favorite salmon recipe with some roasted veggies and couscous.  If yo haven’t tried this recipe before—TRY IT!  I swear you guys, this is my go-to salmon recipe and it turns out great every time.  Also it’s incredibly simple and you probably have all of the ingredients for the marinade on hand.

For the veggies, I chopped them up ahead of time and soacked them in  balsamic/olive oil/dried oregano.

Then let them cook for about an hour at 400.  These turned out really good!

We also had some wine…

Highly recommmend this one!  It had a strong almost chocolatey taste that was really delicious.  I think it was a zinfandel, merlot, syrah blend.  I’ll definitely be looking for this in the future!

Last but not least, this morning’s breakfast:

Oats in the TJ’s Almond butter jar.  Need I say more?

I’m off for another day of madness.  I can’t believe I only have 2 more days of school before spring break starts.  The week pretty much flew by! Yesterday I went for a pain-free 3-miler that felt really good so I’m super excited for my race.  I think I’ll do another short run today and my friend Jon told me I should at least do a mile on Saturday to keep the legs fresh.  I guess I’ll just play it by ear…

Happy Thursday!

Carby goodness

Cerealllllllllllllllllllllllll

My body was craving carbs this morning!  And my hips and knees are only a little sore from yesterday’s run.  Playing racquetball today and taking it fairly easy in the exercise department so my legs with have some decent rest time.  Maybe a lifting sesh too?  We’ll see.

Sorry to be so short-winded but I’m running late this morning!!! I’m experimenting with some tilapia for dinner and I’m posting my running playlist so hopefully that makes up for it.  Have a great day!





Playing catch-up.

It sure is tough to get back into the swing of things after taking a long weekend and missing 2 days of school… I think I’m finally almost there.  I’m taking a short break from the books to recap some things from the last couple of days.  First off, check out the new kicks! Saucony Pro-Grid Triumph 7.

Yeahhhhhh boy.

These are ones I’ve been wearing for the last 2 or so years, but the newer model and a flashy new color scheme.  I’m in love.

I got in a decent 5-miler today but for some reason my achille’s has been bugging me lately so I didn’t take it very fast and I definitely took a couple of walk/stretch breaks because I didn’t want to push it.  Blah.  I’ll admit, I feel really slackerish on days like these but I know it’s the safe thing to do.  Slow and steady, right?  I can’t believe I just said that….

Anyways, here’s what I had for food yesterday and today:

Tuesday

Cinnamon puffins, pumpkin granola, vanilla soy, a banana and the star of the show, this new find from TJ’s.

Yum.

Lunch was a veg sandwich stand-by.  I rarely go home for lunch, so when I actually have the time, I make sure to utilize the toaster oven (melted cheese makes everything better!).

Sabra roasted garlic hummus (the best), muenster cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomato, bell peppers, and cholula on ezekial bread.

And this salmon that I threw together for Tuesday’s dinner may just have to end up on the recipe page because it turned out pretty amazing…

I used my new peanut butter from Hell’s Kitchen.  So moist and flavorful!

Wednesday

I don’t know what it is about greek yogurt, but when I have it for breakfast it seriously holds me over better than anything else–even oatmeal I think.  This morning was no different… I ate at 6:00am and didn’t even thinking about lunch until 12:30ish when I had my first break.  That’s some serious staying power.  Check it out:

Fage is the best greek yogurt there is.  I’m not sure why they haven’t jumped on the organic train yet, but it’s as creamy as frosting and has 20 g of protein and 25% of your daily value of calcium in just one serving.  I would imagine that this is a weight-loss patient’s dream food.

I like it with granola, fruit, melted peanut butter and some agave nectar for just a little bit of added sweetness.  Yogurt and granola may possibly be the best food combination there is.  Onward!

Lunch was a veggie wrap, and some dried mango but my picture is nowhere to be found.  I know I took one!!!!! Strange…

And last but not least, this homemade Chicken Fiesta Soup.

Jessica’s mom made this for us when her family came to Colorado for Thanksgiving and we raved about it so she gave us the recipe (simplest soup recipe ever!).  We finally decided this was the week we were going to make it.  Ingredients?

• can of black beans
• can of refried beans
• jar of salsa
• frozen corn
• whatever broth you have on hand
• shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 box spanish rice + seasoning packet

That’s all!  Love this recipe.

Time for me to get ready for a phone interview that I have tomorrow afternoon.  Hmmmm should be interesting.  Night!

Walnut and Flax encrusted French Toast: Edited

Easter breakfast!!! I had so much fun making this… A great way to start my Sunday morning.  It was really simple too.  Here’s what I did:

1.) Dip a slice of whole wheat bread into batter (vanilla soy milk, 1 egg, cinnamon).

2.) Press the bread into a mix of crushed walnuts and flax (some falls off, but do the best you can!).

3.) Butter a pan, and “fry” each side until crispy.

4.) Carmelize berries/bananas by adding them to a separate pan with some brown sugar and cinnamon.  Keep the heat on medium or lower to avoid scorching.  Slow and low on these!

5.) Plate the french toast and layer the fruit mixture on top.  Enjoy!

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND…. Yesterday I had the sudden urge to stop at the food co-op after my workout and looky what I found:

You have no idea how excited I was… I’m such a geek, I know! LOL Although I said no more bars for awhile, I think this qualifies as an exception since I haven’t been able to find this guy anywhere.  Come on, you know you would do the same!  I’ll eat it this week sometime before a workout.  Hope it lives up to all the hype!

Sorry this posted funny this morning, I tried using a gallery for the first time and it messed everything up. Is there a way to post a gallery without using all of the pictures you downloaded for your post?  I can’t figure it out so there’s no recap of yesterday’s food… Help me out people!!

Plate presentation is everything!

So one of my favorite things about blogging is that I have started to make a special effort to make my meals look better on the plate.  This really makes a huge difference as to how satisfying your food is.  Unfortunately, tonight when I was making dinner I had a major flop in presentation and there was no saving it!!

This, my friends, was supposed to be a Mexican-inspired frittata.  I was so excited about it too!  I sauteed onion, garlic and red bell pepper in a skillet with EVOO, threw in some leftover broccoli and black beans then added a whipped egg.  I seasoned it up with cumin, chili powder, extra hot sauce and topped with pepperjack before covering to let the top cook.

I could NOT get this thing out of the pan for the life of me.  It’s funny because as soon as it just kind of broke apart and fell on my plate, the first thing I thought was “my picture is ruined!” LOL Oh well, I’m OVER it!

Still tasted wonderful, by the way!  I had some avocado on top and it just put the dish on a whole new level.

Taking things back to the early morning, I started my day with a refreshing bowl of cheerios.

Sometimes I’m so intrigued by new and exciting cereals, I forget about the classics!  Cheerios are so good… I can definitely put them in my top 5 at least.  This is probably about 2 servings with strawberries and vanilla soy milk and it held me over to lunch just fine.

I also had some of my new Twig Tea and it was really good!  I don’t have a picture and my camera is charging, but click here for the website if you’re interested.  The taste is hard to explain, but I liked it a lot.

Lunch was packed, and included a PB and J on Oatmeal bread + fuji apple and a few cut up carrots.

I didn’t end up eating the banana because the sandwich was SO filling!  I swear it took me 20 minutes to eat because the bread is so dense and chewy. I did, however, end up eating banana in the form of a Clif bar later in the afternoon after my workout.

I liked this flavor a lot!  I could really taste the chunks of banana and nuts and was surprised to bite into some chocolate as well.  I’m now out of the Clif’s I bought with my coupons and I can officially say that Maple Nut reigns supreme!  I havne’t tasted all of the flavors, but here’s my ranking of the ones I have:

1. Maple Nut
2. Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
3. Banana Nut Bread
4. Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
5. Blueberry Crisp
6. Black Cherry Almond

I didn’t really not like any of them.  Can’t wait to try some more!

I just finished off some chocolate, and I think it’s time for me to start getting ready because I’m meeting a friend for a drink tonight.  Thirsty Thursday anyone??? See you tomorrow!