One week down, fifteen to go

Hey there!

Today was a great day.  Lot’s of running around, but all-in-all a solid end to the weekend.  I started bright and early with a fresh and filling breakfast:

I love Chobani greek yogurt!  This is the 2% plain variety so it has just the right amount richness.  Sometimes the fat-free ones just don’t do it for me.  I mixed it together with some berries (frozen) and yummy granola from the bulk bins at Sprouts.  Those dark-colored specks are chia seeds–a newer to me purchase.  I’m working on getting more Omega-3s into my day, so I figured these would be easy to add to oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt, etc. 

Lunch was split into two per usual on weekends… I’m too indecisive to commit to one meal when I’m at home so I usually do snacks instead. 

Meal #1

A lovely assortment of colorful fiber with hummus for dipping.  Those Mary’s Gone Crackers are my latest obsession.  I don’t remember them being THIS good!

Meal #2

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie aka the easiest/tastiest smoothie there is! No, for real… 1 cup milk, 1 frozen banana (cut in chunks), 1 spoonful PB.  The frozen banana is the key to any great smoothie, let the froth prove it!

I also made it to a wonderful Core Power Yoga class tonight for the second Sunday in a row.  I feel like it’s a great supplement to my race training and it’s just great mentally for me.  I’m not talking one of those 100 degree crazy person classes (although those can be fun too…), just pure and simple yoga that ends with a cold face towel.  Sold!

Pre-Yoga Dinner was a homemade fried-rice of sorts.

I basically threw some mushrooms and carrot shreds in a pan with sesame oil, then added leftover wild rice and an egg and mixed the heck out of it.  Topped with sliced almonds for some crunch! 

I am hoping for a productive week at the office since Food Service starts on February 6th already!  Holy cow does time fly.

One week of marathon training down, fifteen to go.

• Monday–4 mile run
• Tuesday–3 mile run
• Wednesday–Yoga Sculpt (holy shiz this was hard)
• Thursday–3 mile run
• Friday–OFF
• Saturday–6 mile run
• Sunday–Power Yoga

 

 

 

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!

On the Wagon and Staying There.

Hello all, sorry I’ve been noticeably (hopefully) absent the past couple of days.  Per usual, my life is chaos at all moments of the day and I just didn’t have time to put up a post last night.  BUT, I’m here now and here’s what I have!

Note to self—Enchiladas taste really good as leftovers:

Breakfast consumed when the sun is up?? What a nice concept.  I was obviously really hungry when this picture was taken but I kind of like the “natural feel” of it.  The cup in the background?  That’s iced coffee with chocolate soy milk mixed in… Heavenly if you haven’t tried it before!

Today’s lunch was light: A fiber rainbow paired with the most fabulous dip there is.

SABRA roasted pine nut

The last of it.  How sad.  I also had an un-pictured Clif Bar during my nutrition class.  White Chocolate Macadamia, specifically.  I love that flavor!

So I sort-of—and by sort-of, I mean definitely did—fall off the picture taking wagon in the last couple of days.  No worries, I’m getting back on!  Jessica’s brother is going to be visiting, along with my cousin and one of our friends from high school (all on different days throughout the week) so I’m sure we’ll be cooking some really good food and eating out a couple of times.  Promise to take pictures!

The weather is so beautiful right now so I’m about to take off on a run before we have to teach boot camp at 5:00.  I can’t believe Friday is already here!!!!!!

Be back for dinner.

Favorite Food & Beverage Lists

I forgot how much I love sandwiches! I’m burnt out on wraps, plus we only had enough left to use for our dinner (see below), so I threw together this sandwich in a hurry.  Turned out pretty amazing!

• Roasted pine nut Sabra hummus
• Cheddar cheese
• Mashed avocado
• Spinach
• Red pepper

All between 2 pieces of my favorite bread in the world. And that pear in the background was perfectly ripe!!!!

So I’ll admit that I was totally dragging today due to my late night of homework and coffee.  At least I got an assignment done, but man was I tired!  I chugged ice water all morning and stuck it out without a nap—mainly because I didn’t have any time to take one—but I did it!  Then after lunch and another class I splurged on an iced americano with soy from S-Bux .

True love.  When I was visiting with my Mom, Aunt, and Cousin in Minneapolis a few weekends ago, we made a list of our top 10 favorite foods and our top 3 favorite beverages just for something fun to do.  The americano was my number 1.  It’s just that good!!!

My foodie list:

1. Sushi
2. Peanut butter
3. Pink Lady Apples
4. Greek Yogurt + Granola
5. Veggie Sandwiches
6. Mixed Berry smoothies
7. Oatmeal
8. Goat cheese
9. Greek pizza
10. Hummus

And my top 3 beverages:

1. Starbucks americano with soy milk
2. Big Nose Wheat Beer
3. Water w/ lemons

What are some of your favorites?

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Oh, and check out this mouthwatering dinner that  I came home to…

Um, yeah.  This is a veggie/black bean/rice/cheese enchilada.  With peach salsa and greek yogurt on the side.  I was in cheese heaven!!

Wow this has taken me a long time to write.  I think I’m going on an hour right now… Between watching American Idol, telling stories, and drinking Merlot I’m having a tough time staying focused here.  I need to do a pictorial for my lab tomorrow.  Boo to homework.

I’m off!

Almond Encrusted Tilapia

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm this was good.  And it was so easy!

Step 1: dip fish in flour

Step 2: then in a beaten egg

Step 3: then in a mixture of flax meal and almond meal (just whiz them through the food processor)

Step 4: Pan-fry in canola oil for a few minutes on each side (or until flaky)

I know that so many people are scared to use oil and butter, but this is just one of those times that the extra fat/calories are totally worth it because of the wonderful flavor it brings.

I never make tilapia any other way now because it just seems so blah when it’s steamed.  Keep the sides lighter and trust me, it won’t be a heavy meal.  Pan-frying is a lot different than deep-frying.  It’s crispy but not overly greasy.  Try it once and you’ll be hooked!

To go with the fish I made this salad for some veggies:

Romaine and spinach, bell peppers, dried mango and Annie‘s gingerly dressing (which I really love).

Jess made oven-roasted potatoes too.  They had garlic and some other spices on them… I’m not sure but they were really good!

Backtracking to lunch…

The last of the lasagna from Friday, veggies + hummus, and grapes.  I had the apple, this bar and 2 oatmeal cookies for snacks throughout the day.  I was really hungry all day… pretty much never went longer than a few hours without eating.

And my easy day turned into an intense racquetball day which was pretty awesome.  I’m majorly diggin’ racquetball right now.  You work up a good sweat without even realizing it!  My legs aren’t sore anymore so maybe it was a good idea to keep them moving?  I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow yet.

Aaaaaaannnnndd here’s a snippet of my running playlist.  I feel like the right music makes a workout so much better.  Maybe it’s just because when I download new songs,  I really look forward to getting out so I can listen to them.  I have a shuffle so these flow randomly like the wind–and my life.  RANDOM.  I present to you, my jams:

1. Rock that Body, BEPs
2. Gimme More, Britney Spears
3. Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger, Daft Punk
4. I Wanna go Crazy, David Guetta
5. Last Night, Diddy and Keysha Cole
6. Bennie and the Jets, Elton John
7. Til I Collapse, Eminem (great for motivation)
8. Circle of Life, The Lion King Soundtrack (the musical!!!!)
9. We Build Then we Break, The Fray
10. Dig, Incubus (I sing this extremely loud when I run outside)
11. La La La, Indy Q
12. Big Pimpin’/Papercut, Jay-Z and Linkin Park
13. Bigger than My Body, John Mayer
14. Nothing in my Way, Keane
15. Let it Rock, Kevin Rudolph (never gets old)
16. When you Were Young, The Killers
17. All These Things that I’ve Done, The Killers
18. Poker Face, GaGa
19. Selling the Drama, Live
20. Kids, MGMT
21. I Want You Back, NSYNC (you bet I have Nsync on my ipod)
22. All the Right Moves, One Republic
23. Even Flow, Pearl Jam
24. Fly Like and Eagle, Seal
25. Cry for You, September
26. Spice up Your Life, The Spice Girls (total pump-up song)
27. City of Blinding Lights, U2
28. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
29. Jenny was a Friend of Mine, The Killers (one of my all-time faves)
30. Tik Tok, Ke$sha

Night!

Queen of the house!

Did you all survive the week?? I think I just made it… Friday couldn’t come at a better time though because I was seriously not movtivated for school today.  I usually don’t have a problem getting to class, but for some reason I did NOT want to go to chemistry today.  I decided to just stick it out though and I’m really glad I did because it was a good lecture.

My day started bright and early with chocolate-covered strawberries/bananas… in the the form of oats!

I used the same method as I did a couple of weeks ago… mocha hot cocoa powder, flax, soy milk, water oats, deliciousness.

Lunch was a really tasty veggie and hummus wrap.  I have finally figured out the secret of these Ezekial tortillas! I let it thaw by just leaving it out for a few minutes while I got ready for school INSTEAD of microwaving it.  The microwave makes it rubbery and hard to wrap up, but I just set this on a clean dish towel on the stove top and it was perfect!

Finished off my hummus:-(

I also had an apple with lunch and snacked on a cheerio/raisin/walnut mix mid-morning during class.

After surviving the chem lecture I mentioned earlier, I headed to the video store to rent Marley and Me (!!!), the mall for some freebies from Bath and Body Works, and Target where I ended up buying a Peanut Butter Pretzal MOJO. I’ve come to the realization that I’ve been eating way too many bars lately!  I need to start being more prepared when it comes to snacks so I don’t have to resort to whatever is near by.  No more bars for awhile!! Hold me to this!

When I finally started to get hungry for dinner I decided on a salmon patty, baked sweet potato chunks and an arugula salad. Really hit the spot!

For the potatoes I used cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  The  patty was just 1 packet of flaked salmon, egg white, bread crumbs, dill weed, and dijon mustard.  I topped both the patty and the salad with goddess and it tasted really good all together!

So I’m excited to have a relaxing weekend because I have the apartment all to myself!! I love you roomies, but it’s nice to just sprawl out and do my own thing for a couple of days. My weekend plans include some of my favorite things… Running, baking, cleaning, reading, movies plus whatever else I can come up with.  Most of my friends are home for Easter weekend but my rents are in FLORIDA livin’ it up for spring break! LOL… So yeah, I won’t be going home.  I plan on doing my own take on Easter brunch Sunday morning:-)

Hopefully I’ll have a baked good to share with you tomorrow. Enjoy your Friday!

Just got done with my last lab of the semester!!!!! I’m so excited that from now on Tuesday classes will be dunzo at 12:30! Anyways, I had a good day of eats to go with my good mood because I’ve got yummy groceries this week…

Starting with my favorite meal of the day:

I made a yogurt bowl because I finally picked up some new yogurt (Stonyfield Lowfat Plain) and Strawberries were buy 1, get 1 free!!!  I’ve eaten almost an entire carton in 2 days and you will be seeing lot’s more!

Lunch was packed and eaten during class per usual for Tuesdays.  I had a hummus/arugula sandwich (on homemade oatmeal bread!) + a fuji apple and some trail mix made with walnuts, raisins and choco chips.

I’ve never bought arugula before but it was on sale and I thought what the heck.  Just like I had always been told, it has a slightly peppery taste.  Pretty good!

Works wonderfully as a mid-morning snack!

They were all out of pink lady’s this week, but this guy was nice and crunchy!

Dinner was SUPER early because I worked out and was hungry for more than just a snack… I threw together this black bean and pepperjack quesadilla and cut up my cantaloupe so I could have some on the side.

Of course by the time I got home from lab, I was hungry again, so I just finished dinner #2… mug of oatmeal with flax, cinnamon, strawberries, and soy milk

I’m good for the rest of the night now:-)

Time to do some NSCA studying and finish up some laundry… Night!

Raisin Walnut Chai Oats

Friday!!! I can’t believe I’m posting this late, but I just got done watching 7 Pounds (Will Smith) and by the time I got all of my stuff packed for the weekend… I’m just now getting settled down!

My oat experiment turned out well!

I’m running low on oat toppings/mix-ins and I’m OUT of soy milk, so I needed to get creative today… I used 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 of a packet of instant chai, walnuts, and raisins + water and microwaved for 2 minutes.YUM! This combo was so so good!  I love the flavors of chai tea and it added a nice creaminess too.

I’ve come to the following conclusion about my likes and dislikes when it comes to oats:

• I prefer less liquid than the recipe calls for (I eyeball it, but probably about a 1:1 ratio of oats:liquid
• I don’t like stove top oats as much as microwaved ones… I know, this is weird but I would rather have hearty texture than creaminess
• I like sliced banana mixed in, but NOT cooked in.  I feel like when I cook it right in, the taste is just off…
• Nut butters can’t stay on the spoon because I use a heaping spoonful and there’s no way I can get a bite!
• My all-time favorite topping is granola.  The crunch is spectacular!

ANYWAYS… I had a pink lady with my breakfast as well because I wasn’t sure how well this would hold me over… Worked like a charm!

Lunch was sporadic today because my planned 1/2 Clif bar pre-workout snack turned into a full Clif bar + banana mini lunch:-) This flavor was just too good and plus I was hungry so I thought, what the heck!

This flavor was GREAT! I haven’t really met a Clif bar I didn’t like, but as soon as I bit into this, I remembered why it was one of my favorites.  Plus it was super filling and I felt great for my workout an hour later… Seriously, I could have stayed on the elliptical forever!

After I got home from the gym and showered, I still wasn’t really hungry but I knew I should eat something to refuel so I grabbed this snack on my way out the door for a group meeting:

Have I mentioned how much I love hummus?  This batch is super creamy and delicious!

Dinner was an extra-cheesy grilled cheese sandwich with the LAST of my Lentil Soup… Promise!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm pepper jack!

Annnnnnd I wanted something sweet with my movie so I had some wine and some dove dark chocolate and it was delish!  7 Pounds was really different… I’m not quite sure what I thought of it actually.  Super intense and thought-provoking, but not what I was expecting.  Has anyone seen this movie yet?

Tomorrow I’ll be up nice and early to get some exercise in before class because I’m leaving to go home at 3:00!!!! The timing couldn’t be any better for me because I just need a couple of days to regroup right now.  I’ll be going out to eat at my FAVORITE restaurant back home for pizza and caesar salad… splurge meal for sure, but so yummy!  I crave this meal when I’m away at school.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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!

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…