Grilled Veggie Wrap

Hey guys!

I may have just made the BEST wrap I’ve ever created in my own kitchen… Seriously, I was in veggie heaven!  After seeing grilled zucchini on Ashley‘s blog a couple of days ago, I knew I wanted to try it because it reminded me of summer!
Here’s what I did:

Grilled zucchini strips on the George Foreman, sauteed mushrooms in a skillet with a dab of butter, and halved some grape tomatoes.

Spread some aioli on a warmed Ezekial tortilla (this stuff is great on everything).

Wrapped everything up and then put it back on the Foreman.

That’s it! I also had a side salad with some of the veggies that wouldn’t fit inside topped with Annie’s balsamic vinaigrette.

Can I just say that if I had to pick a “product of the year”, I would definitely choose these Ezekial tortillas!  I use them for wraps, burritos and quesadillas and they are SO delicious.  I love the nutritional stats, the texture, “nuttiness” and the fact that they are medium sized and super filling.

After figuring out NOT to microwave these things (makes them fall apart), I’ve been 100% satisfied.  Two thumbs up!

Breakfast and lunch were exactly the same as yesterday… Banana/date oats, chicken/aioli sandwich with grapes and veggies.  I also had a few of Tina‘s cookies for a little afternoon snack.  Love these things!

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

Long day

Hey again! I apologize for the messed up post this morning, I haven’t mastered the art of the gallery quite yet, but I’m learning!

Today was a long and uneventful day for me.  Although I got lot’s of studying done, went on a nice run (the weather was beautiful!), made a few lunch items for the week and did laundry/cleaning around the apartment, I still feel like I didn’t do anything! Do any of you have days like that?

I think it has to do with the fact that no one was around.  I swear it was like a ghost town outside when I went running.  Everyone was spending Easter at home with their families, I suppose:-)

Anyways… enough about that stuff.  I made two great V-con recipes today because I realized that had pretty much all of the ingredients in my apartment.  I’m running low on food but didn’t know if the grocery store would be open, so I got cooking instead!

Recipe 1: White Bean Aioli (similar to hummus)

This is soooooooo creamy!  And so basic… I had the ingredients on hand to follow this recipe exactly.  There’s 6 cloves of garlic in it!!! Delish.  I incorporated this into lunch.  Ezekial tortilla w/arugula and white bean aioli and an apple.  After my run (3.8), I also drank a wonderful non-green smoothie.

I did the whole “I don’t feel like running so I’m going to convince myself I have more important things to do” drill today.  But then I told myself I would just do a mile and like always, it worked to get me going and I ended up doing close to 4.  I know people say this a lot, but it really works!!!  I do this when I don’t feel like working out all the time and it’s one of the best fitness tips I have ever learned.

Recipe #2: Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad.  I didn’t have edamame, but I had 1/2 bag of frozen peas and 1/2 bag frozen corn so I just used up the rest of those and it worked great.  I also substituted peanut oil in place of the toasted sesame.  The recipe is really simple and flavorful and the sesame seeds add a wonderful crunch!  I loved eating this…

I made up some “fried rice” by adding in a scrambled egg and then topped it off with the salad.  It was wonderful and light.  I’m looking forward to using this in a wrap sometime this week!

Looking back, I probably didn’t eat enough today which tends to happen to me when I run because for some reason I’m just not that hungry?? Anyways, my body was needing something else, so to celebrate the summery weather, I picked up some of this:

It hit the spot!  I was looking for ice cream, but they didn’t have any flavors that I was crazy about so I took a chance with the frozen yogurt instead.  I loved the chocolate running through it and the ingredients were minimal and organic.  The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the serving size… 4 servings in this little thing?? More like 2! lol Either way it was really yummy and I would definitely buy this again.

G’ night!

Oikos Revew #1

Hello all!

So I took last night off from taking pictures, mainly because I took a nap after classes and when I woke up to make food at around 8:00 pm I was a little out of it!  I had a bean, rice and cheese quesadilla with salsa… pretty boring, but good nonetheless.  I was craving chocolate later on in the night and made some choco oats because I’ve been seeing them all over lately!  They turned out so good, I recreated them this morning, but made some improvements… Here’s the final product:

I don’t have chocolate PB or protein powder, so I used the closest substitute I could find, hot cocoa powder (coffee/mocha flavor).  This is what I went in:

• 2/3 cup of oats (makes a HUGE difference in satiety)
• water/vanilla soy milk
• Cocoa powder (about a tablespoon?)
• Frozen strawberries
• Large scoop AB

This was a great breakfast and held me over for about 5 hours until I broke into my Oikos Vanilla for a snack.

This was WONDERFUL! It’s a close match to Fage, but I think this is the best tasting yogurt I’ve ever had.  The creaminess is unbelievable, and the vanilla flavor is nice and subtle.  I hate super sweet yogurts that are loaded with sugar and I avoid artificial sweeteners so it’s tough to find kinds that I like. This packs 15 grams of protein and only 11 grams of sugar (remember, some of that is naturally occurring) in 110 calories of thick and creamy goodness. There’s slightly less calcium in Greek yogurts, but still a substantial amount as far as I’m concerned.

If I could find these in the grocery store, it would be a staple on my weekly grocery list.  I can’t wait to try the other 3 flavors!  Thanks again, Kristina! Be sure to check out the Stonyfield Farm website.  You can get coupons!

The yogurt held my hunger off until I got home around 1:00 and made this for lunch:

It’s the last of my leftover kidney beans and brown rice, mixed with spinach and goddess dressing.  If you’re wondering about that mess of brown near the top of the plate, let’s just say I got into a fight with the Ezekial tortilla while trying to put this in wrap form.  I love the things, but they’re not super pliable.  I ended up ripping it to pieces and eating it on the side.  Still tasted good though!

Thank goodness the rest of my afternoon is free so I can get a good workout in and maybe get some school stuff done before the weekend.  Later on tonight I’m going to watch a guest lecturer talk about eating disorders for my internship.  Should be pretty interesting… See you after dinner!

What are your favorite ways to use yogurt?

Stonyfield Farms RULES!

Hey everyone, happy Wednesday!

Even though I woke up with a headache due to last nights celebration of St. Patty’s day…

…I was THRILLED to receive my first “blogger-related package” in the mail this morning!  In addition to loads of coupons, Kristina from Stonyfield Farms was wonderful enough to send me some Oikos samples since I live in the middle of nowhere, and my local grocery stores haven’t totally caught on to this trend yet.

I’m so excited to try this because we all know how amazing greek yogurt is and I’ve never had this kind before.  I see a yogurt/great grains snack later this afternoon… I’ll be sure to let you all know what I think!

Last night was SO fun by the way.  My room mates and I stayed out too late and drank too many car bombs, but there was a really good band at the bar we went to.  Sometimes getting tipsy with your friends on a Tuesday is just totally necessary!

There was so much GREEN in this place.   These two fit in great!

This is trouble  right here…

Anyways, when I woke up this morning I needed something cold and refreshing so I made this smoothie:

I used a banana, frozen strawberries, spinach, vanilla soy milk, flax and almond butter.  Super good, but for some reason I just wasn’t feelin’ it today… I still finished it in about 2 minutes because I was thirsty.

After I read blogs, laid on the couch, showered and made the trek downtown to get my car from last night I made this lunch which was EXACTLY what I needed in addition to fresh air…

PB and J on an Ekekial english muffin, leftover roasted veggies from last night and a pink lady apple.  This should be enough to tide me through aerobics and then we have a Mexican-themed dinner planned!

Enjoy your day!

Surprise!

This is the first mid-day post I’ve done in awhile, but I figured I wouldn’t have time for the rest of the day because I’m doing homework until my early dinner, then going to chem lab and then hitting the town to celebrate St. Patty’s! I don’t know if buzzed blogging is a great idea so I’m just going do it now… LOL

I’ve been starving today!

I heated up 3 of the Whole Wheat Yogurt Pancakes from Sunday that I froze.  They reheated really well!  I topped ‘em with crunchy PB, and some mashed banana (which I mixed with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon, then microwaved for 20 seconds so it was liquidy).

These tasted wonderful, but I was starving about 2 hours later for some reason?? I had to dip into my packed lunch by 10:00… Here’s what I had packed:

Hummus, spinach, red pepper, jalapenos, red onion and a sprinkle of cheese on Ekekial tortilla. The only thing that made it to “real lunch”.

Sliced apple with lemon juice squeezed on.  TRY THIS NOW if you never have.  Not only does it prevent browning, but the flavor is amazing!  I do it with cucumbers too.

I threw in my second LARABAR as well:

I feel like such a little kid when I pull out the lunch box, but sometimes it’s just gotta be done! Haha

BTW, cherry pie larabar RULES! Haha I don’t care what anyone says, I think it’s my favorite flavor besides maybe key lime pie, which I can never seem to find…  Why doesn’t anyone like it?? Pure deliciousness.

I hammered my arms today at the gym with just about every exercise I could think of.  Nice and sweaty… and I just had an orange.

Have a great St. Patrick’s day!

Also, if you haven’t already, check out For the Love of Oats to see my guest post on a super fast workout!

Unexpectadly good sweat.

Hey friends!

Hope everyone’s start to the week was lovely as was mine… Nothing super spectacular happened, it just didn’t drag like most Mondays do.  Anyways, I had a yummy day of food as well so I’ll take it from the wee hours of the morning!

I don’t know what’s with these cereal cravings lately!  Usually I want something more substantial in the morning, but I have been LOVING these two guys lately:

Sorry for the blurriness… the bright stove light doesn’t make for good early morning pictures:-) In conclusion, Puffins and Great Grains mixed together makes one perfect bowl of cereal!

My lunch was Mexican-themed… kinda:

This is cheeeeeesy brown rice with kidney beans.  I had some citrus on the side which I like MUCH better when I can use my fork to eat.  I hate hate hate when my hands get all sticky while I’m eating… I have to get up and wash them mid-meal because I can’t take it! LOL

I also had to break into my new stash and have a LARABAR this afternoon:

It was GREAT!  For some reason I remember disliking this flavor the last time I tried it, but I must have gotten a bland one or something because I LOVED it this time!  The ingredients are dates, almonds, pecans, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.  These are my favorite types of spices!

The bar carried me well through class and a workout just fine! Yum!

As the title of the post suggests, I wasn’t planning on having a super tough workout today because hip/hop has was cancled.  I putzed around in the weight room with a couple of class mates and tried some new exercises I read about in fitness magazine.

Then I ran into a friend who was on the elliptical and ended up talking to him while working away for 35 minutes!!  The time went by so fast, I never stay on the elliptical this long.  Usually I get SO bored! I was seriously sweating buckets afterwards…

I came home and refueled with this:

Smoked salmon, asparagus, and blue cheese omelet w/Ezekial cinn. raisin english muffin + jam.  I finished this in about 5 minutes!! My hunger pangs were kicking in strong by the time I showered!  It really hit the spot though… This blue cheese has been great because you only need a tiny bit and it adds SO much flavor.

Well, I’m off to do some studyin’ for Human Disease.  Have a wonderful night and I’ll see you tomorrow!  I’m trying something new for dinner so hopefully it turns out okay:-)

Spring is coming!

Good evening all!

So I think today is the nicest day we’ve had, weather-wise, in a super long time!  I even went for a run outside…it felt great! It was around 3.5 miles and the temperature was just right.

Cassie, one of my roommates came with me and I was thrilled to have a her along since I still didn’t replace my i-pod.  I feel like she made me go a little bit faster, especially in the beginning when I usually slack a little bit.

About an hour before we left, I had this as a mini lunch to fuel me through the run:

I used the packaging as a plate so I didn’t have to dirty a dish… classy, I know!  It’s an Ezekial tortilla w/the best hummus in the world and spinach.  I LOVE these tortillas. Nutty and delicious, and not huge like most others.

After we got back to the apartment, I made us both smoothies which had:

• Vanilla Soy milk (finally bought more, I missed having it!)
• More spinach
• Banana (1/2 each)
• Honey
• Flax
• A few frozen strawberries
• Fresh-squeezed OJ (1/2 each)

They were so creamy and delicious… And FILLING! I think I OD’ed on spinach today because my stomach was in pain! ha ha… Every once in a great while, I eat too much fiber and I feel like I’m pregnant! I had some cinnamon puffins and walnuts between the smoothie and dinner as well, so looking back, it’s one of those days!!!

No worries though, it’s nothing a little lasagna can’t cure… Can you say cheesy goodness??

Cassie made this de-lish dinner and it did not disappoint!  She used ground turkey (seasoned really well!) and there was cottage cheese inside… Other than that, I can’t tell you much else besides it smelled and tasted wonderful!

I can’t believe it’s already going on 8:00!  Where did my precious Sunday go? I actually made good progress on my homework today, so I think I can take the rest of the night to do whatever.

P.S. I forgot to mention what I stumbled across at the health food store yesterday…

LARABAR sale! Plus I had a coupon to use.  I’m pumped because as much as I love ‘em, I don’t usually buy these because of the price.  I’ve had all of the flavors shown, but I’ll be sure to do reviews each time I eat one.

Can I get everyone’s top 3 ranking for favorite flavors? I still haven’t found the Coconut Cream Pie, Cinnamon bun, Lemon Bar, or Peanut Butter Cookie… seemingly some of the best kinds according to blog world! ha ha figures…

No More Squats PLEASE!

Happy Tuesday! Let me explain the title of this post…

So far my workouts have been pretty sporadic this week, and I’m getting a little thrown off… Usually I do aerobics on Monday and Wednesday, and I have snowshoe class on Thursday, then I circuit train on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.  Saturday is rest day.  This works out pretty nice for me and since I’m a total Type A, I don’t like when things get shuffled around!

I started my week off with that tough agility workout on Sunday, including 3 different types of squats including jump squats which are super tough, so let’s just say my legs were burnin’ up!  Monday in aerobics, we did a new step routine (no hip-hop yet!) which included about 600 squats!

I thought 2 days in a row was bad, but that was until today when we had a leadership exercise activity in one of my classes and you probably guessed it, we did lot’s of SQUATS!

When it was workout time after my 11:00 class was over, I was in the mood for a nice and light upper body workout! ha ha… So here’s what I did:

• 5 min elliptical warmup
• Chest press with dumbbells (2×15)
• Bent over rows (2×15)
• Biceps hammer curls on bosu (2×15)
• Triceps kickbacks (2×15)
• Lat raises (front & side, 2×15)
• Assisted push-ups, using a bench (2×15)
• Abs “suitcases” (30 sec.)
• Scissors (30 sec.)
• 5 min treadmill cool down

Each time my heart rate started to get a little low, I threw some sort of cardio burst like bench jumps or ball swings in between.  Even though this only took me about 35 minutes, I felt really good after I stretched and came home to chow down on lunch:

I made a veggie wrap made with an Ezekial tortilla, Lebanese hummus (made locally, and so good!), red bell pepper, mushrooms, and Earthbound Farms herb salad mix which is my new addiction thanks to Jess!

The oranges keep getting better as I get to the bottom of the bag, I’m telling you!! They’re so delicious right now!

I’m pretty sure I have no veggies left in this place, besides some old frozen ones, so my meals may get very interesting for the next 3 days… I refuse to go to the grocery store!!  We’ll see what I can come up with.

I have a break from class until 6:00 when I get to go to Chem Lab… yay.  See you later tonight!

Overnight Oats: Success!

Hey there!

Can I just say that I’m REALLY loving the Fage right now?!  I had this snack yesterday between lunch and dinner which soooo hit the spot:

This is Fage with homemade granola and dried cherries…  SO good.  I can’t even begin to describe the creaminess of this yogurt.  And sadly my TJ’s cherries are going fast! I need to start rationing them better! ha ha

I had “breakfast for dinner” which included scrambled eggs with cheese, mushrooms, jalopenos, and a generous amount of  hot sauce, plus an ezekial english muffin (cinn. raisin) with preserves.  Perfect Friday night meal!

For some reason when nothing really sounds appealing, eggs always come to mind… I love em!

After eating dinner, my roommate and I went to the sled dog races down town that I mentioned before and they were really neat to see!  I couldn’t get any good pictures of the dogs because they were moving fast, but they looked so happy and energetic!  Here’s a pic of us girlies:

My nose gets so red when I’m outside in the cold! ha ha

I’m sure the bars were PACKED after the dogs went through, but I’m in what I like to call “money-saving-mode” for my spring break trip.  More on that later…

Back to the title of the post, I tried the overnight oats out for the first time ever this morning and WOW!  These will be repeated many times because they were incredibly creamy and delicious.  I remember seeing these on blogs awhile back but just never thought I would really like them all that much.  The thought of cold oats made me think of sogginess.  After the Fage was purchased, that all turned around…

I mixed 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup vanilla soymilk, and a big scoop ‘o fage in a bowl, covered it, and put in the fridge overnight.  This morning I added a mashed nanner, and topped it with raisins, walnuts, and flax.

It was so refreshing and good… those are the only two words I can think of to describe  it!  I highly recommend trying this.  I figured that if it didn’t end up the way I wanted, I could always toss it in the micro and I’m sure it would be like normal.

I’m off to finish up a couple of school-related tasks, and then maybe a trip to tar-jay to read some magazines, browse the bar aisle, and try on clothes that I won’t buy! ha ha I love Saturdays!

Enjoy the day!

Critical Issues In Health

Morning all!  I slept well last night and I’m ready to finish off this week and get going on my vacation ASAP!  For breakfast:

This is a Food for Life cinnamon raisin english muffin (yum!) with fresh almond butter and mixed berry preserves.  If you haven’t tried these muffins yet, I highly recommend them!  I keep them in the freezer so they last me a long time… Then when I decide to pull one out, I just microwave for about 30 seconds to thaw, then toast and it’s perfect everytime!

With the muffin I also had grapefruit and a homemade “cafe au lait” aka 1/2 coffee (pumpkin spice!) and 1/2 vanilla soy milk.

So I have this “Critical Issues in Health” class on Fridays, and as a group project we are assigned a topic which we need to present to the class.  We need to creatively spark debate and get to the root of the pros and cons.  Our issue is:

Should the Government Regulate Sale, Advertising and Distribution of Junk Food?

The arguments for both sides are convincing… What do you think?

p.s. Don’t forget to head over to Meghann‘s blog to try and win that sweet sport’s bra!!