Fit n Fresh

NEW SITE!

2010-07-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Alright guys, ready for that exciting news? I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: I have been diligently working on a new website for about the past month or so. And guess what else? It's done!

Come on down!

http://fitnfreshblog.com/

You better get your cute little butts over there if you know what's good for you :)

Miss Me?

2010-07-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

I had planned on blogging from the beach, but due to circumstances beyond my control (and terrible hotels with nonworking WiFi grrrrr!) I was unable to. So sad.

But let me assure you, there was plenty of good food.

And good times.

And mayyyybe some ice cream here and there.

And yes, I totally ate all that ice cream. And loved every bite. But all good things must come end. Reality is so hard to come back to! To cheer myself up, I picked the Mediterranean Snack Food Lentil Chips Giveaway Winner!! (That's a lot of words for one winner, guys)

Random Generator says....

Katie from Healthy Heddleston!

Just email me your info at fitnfreshblog@gmail.com and I will send it right along to Miss Sharon! Congrats babe (:

I'm off to unpack little love bloggies. I have a special surprise for you all later this week (!) - catch ya in the am!

Lentil Chips Giveaway!

2010-07-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

I could not believe how many of you have eaten bugs before - especially in your organic produce! It makes me feel a little bit better about my life, but way more nervous about organic produce in general. Us veggie girls are daring girls, obviously. That may be my new motto. I gotta put that on the blog somewhere...

Well, it's almost beach time for me! My car is packed and ready to go:

But before I take off, I wanted to leave you guys with a little somethin somethin-

review.
That's right! I didn't forget! The other day at TJ Maxx, I stumbled upon this bag of crunchy deliciousness:

Baked Lentil Chips. Has anybody else seen/tried these? I was hooked just by the ingredients: Bean Flour (Lentil., Adzuki and Garbanzo beans), Potato Starch, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower Seed/Canola Oil), Sea Salt, Potassium Chloride.

Not to mention the stats.

4 grams of protein? 3 grams of fiber? Yes please and thank you! You know I practically smuggled those bad boys out of there. For $2.99, I would have bought every bag - if there had been any others, that is.

Once home with my loot, I proceeded to rip open the bag and pop a few in my mouth. And I was instantly reaching for more. Seriously good stuff. I think I may have found a replacement for my pita chips!

They're crispy and crunchy, but thick - thick enough to not break when you want to pile on the dip. Or the hummus, in my case. They’re not dense though, they’re airy and light. And they taste fantastic. There's no beany aftertaste like I semi-expected. The Mediterranean Snack Food Company has an amazing product on their hands. Actually, they have amazing products since they also have a couple other flavors as well as veggie chips and cheddar puffs! If you're interested, you can find a place that sells them near you here. Unfortunately, they don't have online ordering, but you can call them to have a case shipped straight to your door, though I am unsure of the cost on that front.

Overall, I give this product a 4.75 out of 5 - and that's only because I could have totally done without the Potassium Chloride. Other than that, they were pretty much perfect.

Have you tried lentil chips?

Better question: Do you want to?

Because I feel like it's time for a...

giveaway!
The awesome Sharon down at MSFC has offered to give one of you lucky readers a mixed case of their delicious lentil chips, containing 4 bags of each of their different flavors: Sea Salt, Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper and Cucumber Dill.

Here are the official entry rules given to me by Miss Sharon:

Earn one (1) entry just by leaving a comment below (duh!), I'd love to hear if you've tried them before or not!
Earn one (1) entry by becoming a fan of Mediterranean Snacks on Facebook and leaving a wallpost linking back to this giveaway
Earn one (1) entry by posting a comment on Mediterranean Snacks' blog

And there you have it! I will pick a winner Sunday night when I get back from the beach! Since I will be away for four days, I am going to let everyone post a comment (meaning one entry for the giveaway) per day to up your chances of winning - so stop back daily and leave a comment!

The next time you see me, it will be all fun in the sun. Catch ya at the beach loves!

Extra Protein? + Free Music

2010-07-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

So dinner last night was an Ashley-inspired feast. Slow+Low sweet potatoes, garlic spinach and Pour, Poke + Spread eggs!

It was absolutely delicious - until I found a cooked beetle in my spinach about 2/3 of the way through. It took everything in me to not throw up. In fact, I'm still dry heaving a bit just thinking about it.

I immediately called my boyfriend (who had been previously making fun of me for eating vegetables in the first place, the kid is such a hater) and relayed to him the horrible event. His response?

"What? You don't like a little extra protein?"

Not that kind.

Needless to say, I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day. I should market this as a diet strategy, I've never lost my appetite so quickly! Plus I think I'm going to be paranoid with my food for about the next month. No lie, I literally sifted through my oatmeal this morning. Just in case.

More whipped oats (sick of them yet?), this time with some summer berries.

1/3 cup steel cut oats
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp chia seeds
sprinkle of cinnamon
spritz of vanilla
dash of salt

If you haven't made these yet, I'm urging you to do so. Do it!!

jams.
Alright readers, you want to know what I listen to when I run? I'm gonna be honest, it's mostly techno. Something about the fast pace, the rhythym, the dirty bass - it just gets me going. But I don't listen to techno all the time, which is why I have not one, but TWO playlists for you!

I know. You love me (:

for the non-techno
If it's not techno, it's gotta make me want to move. I've found that a fast pace in music is an absolute essential for me. I really do run slower to slower songs. And I normally don't even realize it at the time! It's a tragic waste of my energy. However I have learned to use this to better my runs - by putting slower paced songs in the beginning of my playlists! This way, I don't start off sprinting like I ~~usually~~ sometimes do.

This is the playlist I used for my last three mile run:

By the way, I heart Grooveshark. Notice how my songs start off slower paced and end strong - cause I'm a winner baby! That's one of my favorite power songs right now. Talk about getting amped up! I feel ready to take on the world when my boy Jaime Foxx is on the line.

for the techno lovers.
I hope you guys don't mind a little vulgarity in music. Personally, it kinda gets me revved up. Is that weird? Please don't be frightened of me! I just find that it makes me push myself harder, but I am totally okay with you not feeling the same. With that in mind, I'm going to give you my current favorite techno run mix! Just click the link to download it.

Doverspike - Bass Mint

DJ Doverspike is actually a very good friend of mine and he makes the mixes I run to the most. I love it when he adds songs he knows I like - they just make my runs so much better! So give the mix a try - I'll bet my bottom dollar you become obsessed like me. Then we can be twins! Or however-many-of-us-there-are-uplets.

In the end though, it really all comes down to what YOU like. What gets you pumped? What gets you focus? What gets you running like Rocky in Philly? Figure that out and you'll have the playlist of your dreams.

Favorite running songs - Let's hear em.

If we're lucky, maybe Doverspike will mix them all together for us. Fingers crossed! By the way, who all liked the Christina Aguilera throwback? Ohhh yeahhhhh (:

Festival Eats Continued

2010-07-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

I absolutely loved all of your responses to my last post! I'm glad to know that some of you simply can't run a step without your iPod (like me), but it was also refreshing to know that some of you can throw miles back without a single tune (wow). I wish I could claim that! You all rock (and rock out) ladies!

fresh eats.
Well, I told you I was going to go back to the festival, didn't I? Did anyone figure out my hint earlier? Okay, I'll give it to you again: It sucks. Figure it out yet?

Why calamari, of course! Seriously, there are few things better than fresh made calamari. This stuff melted in my mouth. It was like chewing through butter. I choked down that entire thing in under 3 minutes. I know because I timed myself. And no, that's not weird.

I also got another fab festival food. Potato pizza. Which is never an actual pizza so I'm still unsure why they call it that.

And a side shot for ya.

I had originally planned to take this home and eat it for lunch today, but it got about as far as my car before I shamelessly devoured it. Oops. I'll chalk that down as a "my bad."

Breakfast was another bowl of whipped oats. I told you this would happen. Every day for a week, I promise it. This time, I tried a chocolate variation - with a little added sugar.

A chocolate chickpea brownie from the depths of my freezer. This was completely amazing, as I expected. Such deliciousness for breakfast makes me feel a bit evil. I like it.

For dinner, I tried another zucchini recipe. I'm pretty much drowning in zucchini so get used to it.

Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini. This was so good, I ate an entire half and would have eaten the other half if I hadn't wanted it so badly for lunch (no potato pizza!). I got the original recipe here. Obviously, I didn't add the ham, but everything else is exactly the same. The only thing I would do differently next time is double the filling - but that's because I'm a mushroom addict.

fit happenings.
I feel as though my terribly tough run on Saturday has actually made the rest of my runs easier. Is that weird? Better question, is that possible?

Both yesterday and today I went for short, three mile runs and I finished minutes faster than I normally would. I'm not sure if it's because I'm trying harder or they just seem easier. Today's splits:

Mile 1 - 10:26
Mile 2 - 9:26
Mile 3 - 8:48

Boom. I also did my current favorite full body workout, The Total Body Sesh. Let's just say, I was pretty happy with myself. Thankfully this week is my taper week which works out great because I'm going to Ocean City this weekend! My boyfriend's sister is getting married and a bunch of us are going down for her bachelorette party. I cannot wait to be on the beach! And you know you'll be right there with me (:

Things to look forward to this week:
- Two Reviews!
- Music I run to (Reader Request)
- A look in my FitBook

Instead of asking you a question to end off, I'm turning it around! If you guys have any questions you'd like to ask me, I'm looking to start a Q&A page! I'll answer anything you throw at me, so you can either email me directly at fitnfreshblog@gmail.com or just post them here. Thank you my little blogettes and have a great night (:

5 Things Running Has Taught Me

2010-07-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

1. My ipod is invaluable.
I've gotten through many a run solely due the jams I was rocking. Without music, my long runs would stretch out forever and I'd probably drive myself crazy with my thoughts. Or run out of thinks to think about (it's happened!). I'm pretty sure my iPod has been my best fitness buy. Period.

2. How to pace myself.
When I first started running, I ran. Fast. But I couldn't keep that pace up for long. I didn't have any concept of pace, but I learned that going slower meant lasting longer. Remember: the tortoise won the race.

3. I'm stronger than I think.
There were many times that I was in awe by how long I ran or the hills I tackled. I used to hate my big legs, but now I adore them. They're strong and powerful and they've taken me places I've never thought I'd go.

4. Endurance/Perserverence.
When runs get tough, I've learned to push through. When runs get long, I've learned to keep going. And I've taken these attributes and applied them to other aspects of my life. And as I'm sure you can guess, it's all been for the better.

5. Mind over Matter.
Running is 90% mental and 10% physical. If you think you can do it, you can. If you don't think you can do it, you won't. Personal encouragement is what's made me get my booty from mile 3 to 8. Don't underestimate the power of self-support!

I had probably the roughest run of my life on Saturday. It was hot, my feet hurt, my throat was parched and all I wanted to do was stop. But I didn't. I pushed through and finished my entire run. And the feeling afterwards: Amazing. I just felt so accomplished. And there's nothing better than that. Not until Saturday night at least.

What is something that running (or yoga or cycling or just working out in general) has taught you?

Time for work! I think I'm trying another zucchini recipe tonight and if it goes well - you'll be the first to know. Have a great day love bugs! (:

Found: A New Obsession

2010-07-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Happy friday everyone!! I'm super excited to get this weekend rolling. I've got plans, guys, plans. But first, I think I promised you a recipe? Ohhh that's right - zucchini! It would seem I'm finally starting to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Well, actually the veggies of my labor. Yesterday, I pulled this big boy from the garden:

No lie, this was a two pound zucchini. And when life gives me a ginormous zucchini, I make zucchini fritters. I went online, snatched a recipe from Simply Recipe and made the simple switch from all-purpose flour to spelt flour (can you tell I'm getting addicted here) and voila! My zucchini was fritterized.

Technically, you're supposed to eat these with sour cream, but unfortunately we had none. So I otped for ketchup, cause I'm classy like that. Or I'm five like that. One of the two.

These turned out okay. They were a little softer inside than I think they were supposed to be, but that was probably a my bad. They clearly stated you had to squeeze the water out of it completely and I don't think I did a very good job. Oopsies. It was also a little blah tasting, but still it could be good with a few tweaks.

Now worries, I've got a killer recipe to make up for it! Dinner might have been eh - but breakfast today? Now that's where it's at! I've been tired of all my old breakfasts lately so I've been trying to switch it up. This morning, I thought I'd give whipped oats a try.

Seriously, I think I might eat these every day for the next week. No lie.

This would be my own little banana bread version. I wasn't exactly sure how to whip my oats at first, but apparently it's as easy as taking an immersion blender to your regular oats. Who knew?!

Banana Bread Whipped Oats

1/3 cup oats

1/2 smashed banana

1/3 cup almond milk

1/3 cup water

1/2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla

dash of cinnamon

1 Tbsp chocolate chips

Mix together banana, oats, milk, water, chia seeds, vanilla and cinnamon and cook as you normally would. Remove from heat and whip with immersion blender (could also be transferred to a food processor). Top with chocolate chips and a few raw oats. Eat happily.

The only thing that could have made these any better would have been some crushed walnuts. I've really gotta get my little hands on some of those pronto. Make these and I promise you will be a convert. I know I am.

Today is normally my rest day before my long run in the morning, but I think I'm gonna break the streak and fit my abs routine in today since it's Friday night! Time to party bloggie loves (:

What are your plans for tonight?

You guys better be having some fun! But not too much fun since I'm not there. And I've pretty much put a patent on the fun. Now you know.

Festival Time

2010-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay guys! Hopefully this will be the quickest post ever because I'm pretty sure Border's is about to kick me out! I'll give them an early Thursday closing time...

Well it's the middle of July here in North East Ohio and this is a very special time for one reason: Festivals. The World Famous (in my world, anyway) Mt. Caramel Fest started up yesterday and yours truly was not about to miss her chance for a cheese puff. Let's get real here.

I couldn't resist a close up. It's only once a year!!

This deliciously fried dough is filled with - you guessed it - cheese. Yummy, melty, smoldering., cheesey cheese.

Oh my god. Wait a second - I think my heart stopped.

You know how everyone has their nostalgia food, right? That one food that takes them back years and years ago to a lollipop and gum drop childhood. Well, when I eat a cheese puff, I feel like I'm eight years old again, begging my dad to let me go on the spinny rides even though I know I'll probably hurl up my puff. Absolute love.

However, every good festival goer knows that no cheese puff would be complete without a lemon shake to wash it all down with! And I know these are good because I used to work the stand as a kid. I'm sweet like that.

With a whole half lemon, mind you. Now that's quality.

If you think The Fest pictures are over - think again, my friend. This party is going strong till Sunday and I've got another acquistion on my mind. I'll give you a hint. It sucks.

You'll never guess it.

I'm loving your suspense.

:] --- that would be my evil smile.

Since I decided to go to the fair last night and eat fried foods and sugar water instead of going to the gym (which I totally DO NOT regret, by the way), today was a makeup for that little catastrophe. I banged out The Fitnessista Total Body Sesh and then ran myself 4 miles. My splits ended up like this:

Mile 1 - 10:25
Mile 2 - 9:35
Mile 3 - 10:36
Mile 4 - 10:38

Don't look at me cause I have no idea what happened at Mile 2. I guess I just really wanted to get that one over with? And I totally did.

After my sweaty excursion, I ran out to the mall to grab some makeup and hit up Forever 21. Because I'm basically oblivious to the world 24/7, I somehow failed to notice that we were having an American Idol try out at the mall. Today. At the exact time I went. I really need to start paying more attention.

I was going to take a picture of the ENORMOUS audience, but I was being pummeled by impatient shoppers. I took shelther in the nearest Victoria's Secret. Which is where I found this little beauty:

I seriously love the smell of coconut. I love the smell of a sale more though. Only three bucks! Total score. My trip to Forever21 for an HLS cocktail dress was as of yet unsuccessful, but fear not. I didn't leave completely empty handed.

Stunna shades, baby.

Well I have to wrap this up. They're annoucing their closing time throughout the store and the espresso girl is giving me some warning looks. Have a lovely night bloggies and be on the lookout for a new recipe tomorrow - hope everyone likes zucchini!

Giveaway Winners! Yay!

2010-07-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Okay guys - winner time! I'm just gonna cut right to it. I used the Random Number Generator just like everyone else. I guess that makes me unoriginal? However it does not make brownies taste less good. That's a fact.

These random numbers translate to:

1. Daisy [Indule, Inspire, Imbibe]

2. Kristin [Salty Tooth]

and 3. Lauren! [Clean Eats in the Dirty South]

YAY FOR YOU!!

You guys are the lucky recepients of some stellar Chickpea Brownies! And

whatever other goodies I can get my hands on. Please email your addresses to

fitnfreshblog @ gmail dot com.

Looks like I've got some baking to do! I'll be back later with some festival pictures! But right now, it's time for a run. See you guys in 4 miles (:

Birthday Party, Brownies and GIVEAWAY

2010-07-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

Nope, not my birthday! It was my little cousin's 16th birthday yesterday and of course a party ensued. I snapped a picture of my plate because I wanted to let you guys know that I definitely don't eat healthy all the time. I am a strict believer in the 80/20 rule - if I eat good, wholesome food 80% of the time, I don't feel at all bad about giving into snack attacks and chowing down pizza the other 20% of the time.

My plate was actually underwhelming for my normal party eats, but that was because I had already previously stuffed myself on some other goodies that I'll get to soon enough, don't you worry!

A little pizza, some slice pink lady apple and baby carrots with sour cream dip. Yeahhh buddy. And if you think I didn't snag a piece of the ice cream cake, then we simply can no longer be friends. Because you apparently don't know me at all.

Why hello there you little slice of Dairy Heaven. I topped this off with a few bites of my uncle's homemade chocolate hazelnut gelato. Perfection. I could have died a happy girl.

For breakfast this morning, I needed something nice and clean to settle my partied-out tummy. I really wasn't feeling anything I would normally eat, so I went the savory route (which is totally weird for me, no lie).

A two egg white puff + half slice of provolone + garlic scape pesto/mayo mix = one hunger destroying breakfast.

With a little nectarinage on the side. I think we all know by now I can't go a meal without some type of fruit.

Not as pretty when it's sandwiched together, but I promise it tastes foodgasmic. I've found a lot of uses for this pesto: putting it on toast, in sandwiches and wraps and using it as a sauce for pasta! So versatile and so very very good.

Now that all that is out of the way - on to the REAL reason for this post! And that would be this new little creation of mine. I give you the Chocolate Chickpea Brownie.

My heart is all aflutter. Let me explain how this whole thing came about. Last night, I was really in the mood for chocolate chip cookies. I have been playing around with different flours lately, so I decided to try some chickpea flour as the base. I was also trying to make these as healthy as possible so I used a wide variety of subs instead of butter and sugar. Somehow - this turned the batter a brownish color.

"Oh well," I declared, "I'll just make them chocolate chocolate chip cookies!" Ah, the genius of me. So I added cocoa powder and continued on my merry way. It soon became apparent, however, that the batter was way too thick and there was no chance in hell I'd be turning it into little cookies.

"Fine," I said still trying to retain my optimism, "I can turn you into brownies. Either way, I'm gonna eat you when this is over." Now came the time to taste the batter (a totally crucial step, let's be honest) and there's really just no other way to say it. TERRIBLE. Oh my god, it tasted straight awful! I was thoroughly depressed, but I had come this far and I was baking the freaking things one way or the other.

Now pretty irritated, I went to take out my 8x8 pan. Turns out, I don't have one. Nice. So I was forced to improvise with the lasagna pan. Now they were also going to be really flat brownies. It just keeps getting better.

I slopped the gross brownie batter into the pan, spread it around and all but threw it into the oven. When the buzzer when off about 17 minutes later, I took them out, slammed them on the counter and waited for the disgusting things to cool off. However, when I cut them up and tried a piece just for curiousity sake, something amazing happened. They were freakin awesome. Seriously, they were so good! I inhaled one on the spot and then ate another two seconds later with blueberries and whipped cream!! I have no idea how it happened, but somehow those 17 minutes turned my brownies from blah to bomb!

Moral of the Story: It ain't over till it's over. Or something like that.

Chocolate Chickpea Brownies

1 1/4 cup chickpea flour

3/4 cup raw sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup almond milk

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degress F. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Beat in egg, oil, molasses, vanilla and almond milk. Once thoroughly mixed, stir in chocolate chips. Spray an 8x8 (or lasagna) pan with cooking spray and add batter. Spread until it evenly fills the pan. Bake for 15-20 mins or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Promptly devour.

Wanna take a guess at the calories of these bad boys? Cut into 18 pieces (huge pieces if you're lasagna ready like me), they come in at a mere 100 calories per square! Move over VitaTops - Alycia's in a whole new ball game.

But you know what? I know you're busy and I know not all of you have chickpea flour (I have the Bob's Red Mill variety by the way) so why not let me make them for you? That's right! It's giveaway time!

CHOCOLATE CHICKPEA BROWNIE GIVEAWAY!

Three (3) lucky readers will receive a package of Chocolate Chickpea Brownies

lovingly handmade by yours truly! I might also be tempted to throw some other

goodies in there too if you're lucky (;

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment! If you'd like to earn an extra entry,

just tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment saying you did so!

And that's it! You don't need to add me to your blogroll or friend me on facebook (am I the only one who kind of dislikes those?), just leave a comment and three winners will be randomly selected Thursday, July 15 at 12:00 pm [*extended to make it 24 hours]! Good luck my little love bloggies!

Win For The Home Team!

2010-07-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

And I always thought I'd never win anything! But I'll get to that little goodie in a moment. First let's start with breakfast! I woke up early again this morning (8 am) and I'm starting to think something's wrong with me. I'm usually never this accomplished. But I didn't let the moment go to waste, oh no, my friend. I got up and did what any good little health bloggie would do. Hit the gym!

Pre-workout breakfast: A little Dark Chocolate Dreams on some 12 grain toast = delishicious.

Post-workout breakfast: An awesome Green (!) Monster. This is the second time I've made a green monster that actually turned out green! I'm way too over impressed with myself to be totally honest.

Into the blender went:

1 cup spinach
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 banana
1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp spirulina
1/2 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla
1 shot of wheatgrass

I've had the wheatgrass for a while but have been too much of a sissy to use it. Final verdict: Couldn't even taste it. Sweet. I love when things work out that way.

At the gym, I banged out the Rock Solid Abs workout from WH that I've been doing for about a week. I seriously love it you guys. If you're looking for a way to spice things up, I'd totally recommend it. (By the way, has anyone seen Ashley Greene on the cover of the last issue? Hot Mama!) After that, I hit the bike for 10.5 miles and called it a workout. Peace gym, time to enjoy my day!

Lunch was another fantabulous wrap. Another of the many things I seem to be getting good at lately. This one was actually the best I've made to date! Take that Tuesday.

In the wrap: garlic scape pesto + a little mayo + turkey + onion + tomato + spinach + mozzarella. Amazing.

Now that I am happily stuffed, it's time for the good news:

I won the Golden Ticket and will be going to the Healthy Living Summit!

I can't even begin to say how totally excited I am. Due to a serious black cat experience on my part, I didn't manage to get a ticket the three times I tried the day they went on sale. I was pretty much resigned that I sadly wouldn't be attending, but I entered the giveaway all the same. I'm gonna have to call it fate. I can't wait to meet all of you who will be going as well! (:

Are you going to HLS? Need a roomie?!

Alright loves of my life, there's miraculously still a full day ahead of me somehow and I've got much to do! Catch up on blogs, bake some cookies, hit up my little cousin's birthday party and maybe even a haunted house - fingers crossed the ghosts don't get me! Have a great day!

Protein Fudge + Bonfires

2010-07-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy you guys like the pancakes from yesterday! If anyone makes them, let me know - I'd love to throw up some links to other banana cream sauce lovers (:

Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking pancakes yesterday either. The blog-o-sphere was full of pancakes and waffles! Just one more reason to love Sunday mornings...

fresh eats.
So I've been neglecting to show you all my daily eats for the past couple days! Here are just a few of the highlights.

WARNING: If you are feeling at all hungry, please skip these pictures. Doing so will ensure that you don't try eating your screen. Again. Just sayin.

Some serious good eats lately. On top of that, Saturday night as I was waiting for a friend to pick me up for a bonfire, I decided to make a single serving batch of Gracie's Peanut Butter Protein Fudge. It was probably the best decision of my life so far.

If you haven't tried this yet, I highly suggest you do! The puffed millet wasn't exaclty my favorite, however. Next time, I think I'll use dark chocolate peanut butter and walnuts - Mmmmmmm!

Here's my single (well, to be honest, more like double) serving breakdown:

1/2 scoop protein powder
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp spelt flour
1 1/2 Tbsp puffed millet

Mix altogether and pop in the freezer for five minutes if you're pressed for time like I was! Ten minute fudge, baby.

And just for the heck of it, I thought I'd post a picture of my bonfire attire. Because basically, I just don't post enough pictures of myself and I always love seeing the people who write the blogs I love.

I absolute love white button downs! I think they're so classy and summery. I wear mine all the time, with vests, belts, cardigans - you name it, I've probably worn it with a button down.

What's your favorite summertime outfit?

Well lovies, I'm off run! I've been night running lately since it's so incredibly hot out during the day. I've got four lonely miles ahead with just me and the good old ipod. Can't wait! Have a good night (:

Spelt Chia Pancakes with Banana Cream Sauce

2010-07-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna do a normal post later, but right now it's all about this:

Try not to drool. Since an usual predicament left me walking my happy self home this morning, I had plenty of time to ponder about breakfast. I went through the usual suspects: oatmeal, eggs, cereal - but then remembered that I had some spelt flour I've been meaning to use in the kitchen. I'm not even gonna say how long it's been sitting patiently in my pantry.

Pancakes were the obvious chioce, but I wasn't really feeling syrup OR peanut butter. Weird, I know. But then I was struck with a glorious idea. Bananas! And this lovely little baby breakfast was born into my awaiting arms.

Spelt Chia Pancakes

1/4 cup spelt flour

1/2 Tbsp chia seeds

1/2 scoop protein powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp almond milk

1 Tbsp water

1 egg white

few drops of stevia

1/2 cup blueberries

Combine all of your dry ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Add your wet ingredients and combine. Don't overmix! As you pour each pancake on the griddle, add a handful of blueberries. Flip after 2-3 minutes. Then stack and top with Banana Cream Sauce!

Banana Cream Sauce

1/4 frozen banana

2 Tbsp almond milk

1 tsp agave nectar or honey

Toss banana into food processor. Process until the banana becomes small, choppy bits. Add milk and agave and process until smooth. Pour over pancakes.

Add a handful more of blueberries on top and you, my friend, are ready to feast! I also took the liberty of calculating the calories in the whole recipe.

Not bad! Not bad at all. While these still don't quite compare to my Peanut Butter Pancakes (but let's be honest, that's not even a fair competition), they were still very tasty! I might make a few tweaks to the recipe next time I make them, but if you're looking for a yummy way to end your Sunday - I think you just found it. (;

Alert The Media

2010-07-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

I, Alycia of Fit n Fresh, woke up on a Saturday morning at (drumroll please) 7 am!! Guys, I can't even tell you the last time I saw this time of day on a Saturday. And it doesn't count if I was still up since Friday night either. I can't believe all the things I've already accomplished so far today and it's only 10:30!

Let's all share in my joy.

First, I made a nice Green Monster - that was actually green! That's how I knew it was going to be a good day.

Into the blender went:

1/2 frozen banana
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla
1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp spirulina

I drank it out on the back deck and boy was it beautiful out. Warm, but not hot. And the view was just so gorgeous I had to take a picture.

My backyard is just so lovely at 7:30 in the morning. I decided to get my run out of the way at that point and finished my 3 miles today in 31:08. Oh yeahhhh early mornings are for me! I followed up my run with breakfast number 2:

White Chocolate Wonderful on 12 Grain Bread. I really need to get ahold of some millet bread, I've heard such good things about it. After I was all breakfasted out, I showered my dirty self and went to the new farmers market that just started today!

Unfortunately, there were only like 5 stands there. Bummer. But I did manage to get my little mitts on some of these:

Garlic Scapes! I've been wanting to try them ever since I saw them on OhSheGlows. I definitely will be making Angela's Garlic Scape Pesto later today - booyah.

Have you ever tried garlic scapes? Recipes please!

Well lovebugs I'm off! I've got to make some lunch, visit the boyfriend, pump out a quick strength routine and go to work - have a great day! (:

LeBron Made My Boyfriend Cry

2010-07-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's true. Okay, not really, but basically. You would have thought LeBron James was my boyfriend's wife of 50 years and she just walked out on him for a 22-year-old. He has literally declared "I feel like LeBron ripped my heart out of my chest." This is intense, people! I'm trying to lure him out of his self-induced hermitry with dinner later tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

fresh eats.
Breakfast was another delicious breakfast cookie! Turns out, they do taste just as good after two days! Albeit, a little harder on top - but still completely scrumptious.

Lunch was a little less pretty looking. I had originally set out to make a veggie omelet, but uh... let's just say that turned into a veggie scramble when I wasn't paying attention.

This was so good! I just threw together the following:

1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 cup of spinach
1/2 cup mushrooms
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
dash of salt, pepper, and garlic salt
2 Tbsp of mozzarella cheese added at the end

And voila! A quick yummy lunch. Calorie-wise I clocked this baby at around 250. Not bad! Especially not with 25 grams of belly filling, muscle building, sexifying protein! Oh yeahhh I'm going for the gold with this one. I topped that off with a little glass of cherries.

Yum. I've been tearing through cherries like it's my second job. Which it very well could be if anyone has any interest in paying me for it.

fit happenings.
Due to a little rescheduling at work, I decided to move my seven mile run from tomorrow to TODAY. What can I say? I was feeling ambitious apparently. I charted out my route (MapMyRun love right here guys) and attacked it!

I'm not gonna lie - towards the end I was dying. It took all my mental capabilities to not stop, but I did it! In 1:20:18 no less! I was aiming for around that time so I was more than happy with it. You know what made it even more fun? The new gadget my awesome boyfriend just bought me!

Yeah, he obviously knows the way to my heart is through fitness gear. I'm in *love* with this device! I'm thinking about making a shrine for it in my bedroom. That wouldn't be at all obsessive. I SAID IT WOULDN'T!

After my run, I immediately ran to my fridge and crushed this:

Still unsatisfied, I drove my sweaty beast self to the nearest gas station and continued to do some more hydration damage with this:

Gatorade Recover. Strawberry kiwi, of course. These are a little on the sweet side, but I think mixed with some water, they would be perfect. I'm gonna have to stock up on these asap.

What's your favorite drink after a long, sweaty workout?

Alright loves, I've got dinner to grab (can anyone say sushi?) and some yoga to bang out! Namaste you guys (;

Garden Baby

2010-07-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

It's so nice to be back! Thank you all for your support and kind words about my Aunt. I really love how much of a community the blog-o-sphere has become to me. Thank you all again so so much (:

Now on with the show!

fresh eats.
Okay, I have been dyyyying for a breakfast cookie for about the past week, but I kept forgetting to make one the night before! Every morning, I'd wake up and think "Breakfast cookie!" then realize you need at least eight hours for one of those bad boys to sit. Total sadness. So last night, I went all middle school and wrote BREAKFAST COOKIE in huge letters on my hand at the gym. Let's see me forget that.

Once home, I happily trotted to my computer, printed off the recipe and sashayed to my kitchen where I threw the ingredients together - only to discovered a mixture more like overnight oats? What? I reread my recipe. Half of a banana. Somehow in my giddy stupor, I put in a whole one. Weak! I looked across my counter. No more bananas. It was double this baby or forget about it. Of course, I chose to double it.

Here's hoping breakfast cookies taste even better after two nights in the fridge! For lunch, I was hungry for something old so I finally broke out the panini press and whipped up a Turkey-Apple-Spinach wrap. It was everything I remembered and more.

Seriously, these are ridiculously easy to make and taste SO GOOD. Throw a dab of mayo and dijon mustard in the center of a wrap, add a little turkey, some slice sweet apple (like fuji, gala, pink lady), a slice of cheese, a slice or two of red onion and a handful of spinach. I promise, you will be making them weekly.

Since I'm the best girlfriend ever, I decided to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies for my boyfriend and his sisters. Unfortunately, I can't get the three of them to eat a single healthy thing, so these were the Martha Stewart recipe with just a few tweaks by your truly.

I may have eaten one. Or four. Let's just say, my tummy is not very happy with me. I'm gonna have to have a hugeee salad beast for dinner to live up to The Fitnessista's tweet challenge and satiate my rumbling belly!

fit happenings.
After my baking spree, it was time to pay attention to my much neglect garden. And check out what I found!

Hello beautiful! You will make me a delicious meal one day very soon. I am getting way to antsy for my veggies to grow already! I feel like it's taking foreverrrr. Someone send me a little extra patience please?

I also wanted to mention that I got one of my newest fitness goodies the other day - The Fitbook! The pretty Miss Jennifer of She's A Fit Chick recommended it and I just couldn't resist.

I absolutely love it! It makes everything so easy to keep track of. Plus I love that you can monitor your food groups - I'm realizing that I don't eat nearly as much veggies as I thought I did. I'm gonna have to work on that! See? Already improving. (:

You can also track your workouts in your Fitbook so now I have a nice little place to keep track of my strength routines. Today I did the WH Rock Solid Abs workout:

3 sets of 15 Stability Ball Pelvic Tilt Crunches
1 set of 10 Walk The Plank Rotations
3 sets of 15 Arm Pullover Straight Leg Crunches
3 sets of 12 of The Matrix (these are KILLER!)
1 set of 15 Nose to Knee Crunches
1 set of 10 Prone Oblique Rolls (in terrible form - so hard)
1 set of 15 Back Extension Rear Leg Raises

It's such an awesome workout. You really get a pump on, definitely a must try if you're looking to switch up your abs routine. I'm about to top this off with a 35 minute HIIT run! I'm thinking 5 minute warm up and cool down with five 30 second sprints and 1:30 rests?

What's your favorite HIIT workout?

Okay loves, it's time to get my run on before Thirsty Thursday!! Oh yeahhh, you know what time it is! I hope you all have a great night bloggies - catch ya in the am (:

I'm Alive!

2010-07-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I admit that I fell completely off the face of the earth for ohhh about a week. My great aunt suddenly passed away unexpectedly and immediately after that ordeal, I went away for the Fourth of July! It's been a busy busy mess in my world lately. My blog reader is straight out of control. I'm gonna be honest - that 'Mark All as Read' button is looking prettyyyy gooood right about now. Don't hate me!

Here's a little slideshow of eats and happenings for you all:

Get ready for the next post - it's back to business for this little girl! And I promise to never leave you like that again (:

Love love love!

Pizzzzzahhhhh

2010-06-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

You know how you have those days where everything goes according to plan? Well, my yesterday was nothing like that.

I had it all mapped out a little something like this: after work run 3.5 miles, shower, hit up starbucks to work on my website and grab dinner, get my grocery shop on and end the day baking the avocado cake I've been dreaming about since seeing it on Hillary's site. Where oh where did it all go wrong you ask? Why, at the very beginning of course.

Just as I was about to head out for my run, I got a text from a friend asking to walk that I've been too busy to workout with the past few times she's asked. I didn't want to tell her no again so I nixed the run and went for an hour walk instead (doing the same mileage at least). This obviously took way more time than I had planned for, but it was still a nice to slow down for once.

I ran home to take my shower and surprise! My whole extended family is there for a dinner I knew nothing about? Figures. After dinner, I thought I'd save time and stay home to work on my site, which I did for a while - until my starving boyfriend called begging for dinner. That somehow turned in to me driving around for about a freakin hour and by the time I was done, all the grocery stores were closed = no avocado cake. I was crushed. Crushed. And I was running so late, I had to speed shower in order to get to bed on time. My bedtime deadline is no joke, people!

All in all, I got about nothing done I had set out for the day. Sigh.

However, today is a brand new day! And since yesterday was so unsuccessful, today is bound to be wrought with accomplishments. I feel karma tipping the balance in my favor (:

fresh eats.
So I had this awesome idea for breakfast today - in my head at least. In reality, not so much. I was feeling something savory, so I thought a pesto, mozzarella and egg sandwich would be bomb. Yeah, it was a bomb alright. It probably should have stayed in my head. Terrible! Yuck, so gross. I ate the whole thing because I didn't have time to make anything else, but I will definitely NOT be making it like that again! No worries though, I've got a couple new ideas floating around in my little brain that should make it edible at the very least.

To make up for the sucky breakfast, I had a yummy nut butter wrap as a snack!

I may have went to town on the White Chocolate Wonderful...

Folded a la GirlMeetsHealth style, of course. Deeeelish! For lunch, I decided to brave The Oven and make my own healthified pizza. I grabbed this little bundle of joy:

And made this little piece of heaven.

My own personal whole wheat thin crust cheeeeese pizza. Close up please?

I will definitely be doing this again! I wish I would have thought to pack some veggies for toppings though. Next time for sure!
Questions:

How do you deal when nothing goes according to plan?
Favorite pizza toppings! I want them - now.

Now, let's try to make this a better day - I'm off! I'm switching rooms so I have a lot of moving around to do plus I still have to workout and make dinner (best veggies burgers ever anyone?). Have a good night bloggie loves!

Fudge Babies

2010-06-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else tired of all this rainy weather? Every time I look outside, it's just so gloomy. I seriously need to consider moving to a sunnier locale. North East Ohio just isn't cutting it for me anymore. Who wants to take me in!?

fresh eats.
Remember those delicious coconut banana muffins I previously stated were all gone? Well I had forgotten I slipped a couple away before the wolves (aka my family) descended and froze them! Hurray for pre-planning!! I snuck one out yesterday morning and topped it with a little PB&Co.

These will be made again. Soon. Possibly tomorrow. More likely tonight.

Dinner last night was an Italian Grandma special: Funghetti!

It's definitely in my top five favorite pasta dishes. Funghetti, for those who may not know, is mushrooms in an aioli sauce over pasta. Really simple and quick to make, it's basically a mixture of olive oil, mushrooms, spices and pasta topped with romano cheese. I could throw in an exact recipe if anyone wants it, just let me know!

After dinner, I began a project I've been putting off for a while: Blog Renovation. Of course, a headache quickly followed. Apparently I'm not very cPanel savy. To relieve my blogger woes, I decided to make a batch of these Fudge Babies I've heard so much about.

I wasn't exaclty sure if I'd like them or not, so I halved the recipe and made eight different varieties. I give to you: My Little (Fudge) Babies!

Aren't they just the cutest?! I made two of each kind: original, cocoa dusted, smores (with a mini marshmallow inside and rolled in graham cracker crumbs), chocolate chip, peanut butter, peanut butter glazed, and sugared. I haven't tried them all yet, but I can admit that I like them more than I thought I would. I'm not really a date kind of girl (I'm the marrying kind haaaa), but these were pretty tasty. Thanks Katie!

Cut to today - I really didn't know what I wanted for breakfast and I spent some time last night thinking about it before I fell asleep (tell me I'm not the only one who dreams about breakfast!) when it hit me. Cereal. I know it seems like a Duh! kind of statement, but I realized that I spend so much time making pancakes, oatmeal, overnight oats, omelets, scones - that I've basically forgotten the classic!

Of course, I had to decide I wanted cereal the day I ran out of almond milk. I had about 1/4 cup left so I threw that in there on top of some Three Sisters Honey Oaties, chia seeds, half of a banana and a scoop of White Chocolate Wonderful. A pretty satisfying meal if I do say so myself.

fit happenings.
Consider my running rut officially ovahh! On Saturday, I ran my five miles in 52:10. Way slower than my PR, but hey, I'm getting it done baby. No complaints here. In an effort to get organized, I've decided to start planning and posting my weekly workout schedules. That's prime time dedication for this chick, believe it!

Not too shabby. I don't know though, I feel weird doing only strength training on certain days. I'm a heart pumping cardio junkie! Maybe I should throw some cross training in there?

In Urbanathlon news - you probably all thought I dropped it, didn't you!? - they finally put up their training program! Well, sort of. They put up the first segment which covers weeks 1 thru 3. And it looks pretty legit guys. If you're curious, you can download it here.

Five pages of pure awesome. I'm still working on finding a partner for this adventure, however. Someone will eventually give in to me!! I'm persuasive like that. Trust me.

Questions:

What's your go-to breakfast in the morning? How often do you switch it up?
Do you make a weekly workout schedule? If you do, do you follow it?
Do you want to do the urbanathlon with me? Actually, forget that one. I know you do.

I'm off loves! The rest of my day looks something like this: Run. Shower. Blog stuff. Dinner. Fudge Babies. Have a good day!

Get Loaded: A Lesson in Loading Yogurt

2010-06-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

So I totally love that you guys love sushi every bit as much as I do! I'm thinking a virtual sushi party is in order? Could we arrange that!? I'll start working on it now!

getting loaded.
If I had to pick just one snack for the rest of my life - it would undoubtedly be loaded yogurt. There's just so much you can do with it! No loaded yogurt is the same! When I first start making them, I didn't really have any set plan. I may or may not have just randomly thrown things in a bowl. Now however, after months of experience, I have a whole system. A super top-secret system which I would like to share with you now. Prepare your innocent little eyes because this post will self-destruct.

base.
First things first - the yogurt. Some people prefer soy yogurt, some people love their low-fat, but I (and I'm sure a bunch of you bloggies) will always heart greek yogurt. It's just so rich and thick! The perfect conveyor for all my loaded goodness. My favorite brand?

(source)

Why Fage of course! Though Trader Joe's also puts up a good fight for first. Don't take my word for it, though. Try out a bunch of brands! I've heard good things about Oikos, but I would definitely avoid the Yoplait. Yuck.

flavor.

Now I wouldn't advise this step if you're working with already flavored yogurt, but if you've got your little mitts on the plain or vanilla variety - you can spice things up a bit with just a dash of cocoa powder, carob powder, vanilla extract, brown sugar, cinnamon, whatever you'd like! I personally love choco-tizing my yogurt, but that's probably because I have some serious addiction issues with chocolate. I can quit whenever I want!

(source)

sweetner.

Now I don't know about you, but to me, greek yogurt tastes about as sweet as a spoonful of rocks. Why not cover those rocks in agave nectar, honey, maple syrup or jelly? Blueberry jelly, preferably. And no rocks. If ~~you're crazy~~ you don't have a gigantic sweet tooth like me, you could skip this step. I guess. But then we probably couldn't be friends.

(source)

Note to self: I apparently need to find out where they sell the industrial-sized agave nectar.

fruit.

Let's get real here - we wouldn't be health food bloggies if we weren't trying to slip fruits and veggies into every food possible. Why stop at loaded yogurt?! I personally tend to favor strawberries, blueberries and bananas in my loaded meal, but you could also have some success in blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, apples, maybe not oranges so much, but hey if that's your thing, roll with it. Go crazy.

(source)

crunch factor.

Everything tastes better with a little crunch. It's science, people. I don't make the rules. To get that sought after crunchiness, try adding some uncooked raw oats, granola, cereal, puffed rice, graham crackers, whatever floats your boat. I love love love Puffins in mine!

(source)

So good! I promise, they won't get soggy. I also like throwing in a handful of Honey O's or even some crumbled Kashi Cinnamon Shredded Wheat. Seriously. Yum.

naught bits.

Now comes my favorite part - the naughty bits. Things like dark chocolate chips, cacao nibs, crumbled cookies, muffins or vitatops, whipped cream, get creative! The only thing I would advise against is peanut butter. For some reason, the thick texture of peanut butter does NOT go well with the rest of the yogurt. Trust me on this one. But fear not, because where peanut butter fails, peanut butter sauce will never let you down. Just mix a little almond milk with your peanut butter and voila! PB sauce! It's totally genius. It's also changed my life dramatically in ways I never thought possible.

(source)

White Chocolate Wonderful. There's nothing better. I've given up even trying. So now, I'm dying to know:

What's your favorite loaded yogurt combo?

You know I'm always trying to squeeze new ideas from you guys. Don't front, you love it. (:

Sushi-tastic

2010-06-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

You know how I was talking about my running rut lately? Well I have my long run today and you know what? I'm totally feeling it. And that is thanks in a big part to Nichole and her awesome post yesterday about endurance. Check it out! I'm using it as my inspiration for this week (:

fresh eats.
While perusing through How Sweet It Is the other day, I happened upon a recipe I knew I just had to try. Whole Wheat Banana Coconut Muffins. Yeah. Whole Wheat AND banana PLUS coconut equals INSANITY! I advise you to make these immediately. They were so nice and moist and had just a hint of coconut. Seriously awesome job on this recipe. I would show you a picture - but they were eaten by my family almost immediately. Next time though! Because we all know there will be a next time. I also finished the last of my TJ's guacamole hummus yesterday. So sad. I guess it's time to break out Megan's recipe. I'm sure it's every bit as good!

For dinner, I was still feeling a little asian persausion. This time, however, I went Japanese. My favorite Japanese, acutally = Sakura's.

The building is lime green with cute white and pink flowers painted all along the walls. As if that wasn't enough for me to fall in love, they just happen to have the best sushi in town. And you know I got myself a feast, baby!

Let's get accquainted, shall we?

Miso Soup

Green Salad with Ginger Dressing

Spicy Salad - Octopus, Crab and Shrimp in Spicy Sauce

Orange roll - California Roll with Roe

I like to put the spicy salad on my sushi. I'm just so clever. So good. I think I could eat sushi every night and not get tired of it.

What's your favorite kind of sushi?

I'm obviously assuming that everybody loves sushi. Not loving it just refuses to process. Okay, I'm off love bugs! I've got five miles to run, a boyfriend to eat dinner with and a room that needs cleaning. Aren't Saturdays just lovely?

Oh! And check out my Blogroll page! Totally updated it. (:

How Does Your Garden Grow

2010-06-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Morning bloggies! It was pretty funny seeing what different names you guys had for one eyed jacks. I can see why Momma Fit went with 'one eyed jacks' - at my precarious young age, I would have never touched anything called 'toad in a hole'! (:

fresh eats.
After my too fresh breakfast yesterday, I was in a tropical mood. And what better way to satisfy than by whipping up a yummy smoothie?

Well I guess I could have packed up and sailed off to the Bahamas, but I didn't quite have the time for it. This Cherry-Banana smoothie hit the spot though! In the mix:

1 banana
1/2 cup frozen cherries
1/2 cup almond milk
1 TBSP chia seeds
1 tsp spirulina
1/2 scoop protein

So. Good. Even my little cousin liked it. And he doesn't like anything! This kept me full for a while. So long, in fact, that I didn't even notice I was hungry till it was time for dinner! I decided to satisfy the little asian in me.

Steamed Buddhist Delight. A mix of veggies and tofu with a side of brown sauce. The only thing that would make it better would be brown rice. But sadly, no place around me even offers it. Oh well, I just shove it all on my father!

Duhlicious. I inhaled this bad boy. It never stood a chance. After my run, I came home famished again so I decided to try working on a new dessert. Chocolate loaded greek yogurt! It was pretty good, but it still needs a few tweaks. I so *heart* greek yogurt.

fit happenings.

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to someone very special to me.

My garden! This little beauty is going to soon be supplying me with some awesome veggies. Since I had the day off, I went over to weed. Which is way more of a workout than I would have though, by the way. This is my first year having a garden and I cannot believe how fast weeds grow! Why is it that people have to spend so much money and hay trying to grow grass in their lawns, yet where I don't want grass, it grows nonstop? Figures.

Here's a little pepper growing strong! I'm not big on peppers to be honest, but my uncle sure loves them. His hot pepper jelly? Oh, you already know it's good.

And here is some gorge kale. I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna do with so much kale (I retardedly bought six of them), but I'm sure whatever I figure out will be delicious! I've also planted a whole slew of other veggies, like lilac eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, spinach, broccoli, lettuce and even some cantaloupes! Expect more pictures soon.

Yesterday was also my day for a short, three mile run. As most of you know, I'm currently training for my first half marathon in September. I started off following the Hal Higdon program, but I decided after hearing that a lot of you bloggies change up your schedules, I could too! However now I'm starting to wonder if it was Hal at all - maybe it was just me?

Even after switching up my schedule, I'm still feeling lethargic during runs. And I can't understand why? Instead of looking forward to my long runs like I normally do, I'm counting down the minutes till they're over. I hate it. I'm hoping that if I just keep running, I can essentially run through it. Runners out there, has this ever happened to you? And if it has, what did you do to fix it?

I need some help here people! I'm sure you guys won't let me down - have a great day loves (:

Breakfast In 5 Minutes Or Less

2010-06-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I saw this:

Well say no more Ms. Hungry Scholar - Fit n Fresh is here to save the day! It's crazy to me that everyone doesn't already know how to make these, Momma Fit used to cook them up for me all the time as a kid. Go Momma!

First, you need to gather all the ingredients.

That was easy. I love easy! Which probably explains why I love one eyed jacks so much. Next, take a small juice glass and press it down into the middle of your bread.

It will leave you with a nice little 'eye'! You could also use your hands for this part and just rip out a circle in the middle, but I like to be professional with my breakfasts.

Get your griddle or pan ready so that it's nice and hot! You can put a little butter on both sides of the bread, but I normally just spray it with olive oil. Throw your bread on the pan, as well as your little eye - waste not, want not!

Now comes the fun part! Crack your egg open and drop it right down in the middle of your bread. Like so:

Let it sit for a few minutes and then give it a little flip.

Leave it alone for a minute or two and then - ta dah!! Breakfast is served!

Now seriously, how good does that look? And it took me about five minutes from start to finish. The yolk stays nice and gooey and the bread gets nice and crusty.

A perfect day following each breakfast is guaranteed. Now it's your turn!

What was your favorite breakfast as a child?

Just Call Me McGuyver

2010-06-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

I want to start off by saying thank you all so much for your kind words and sympathy for the loss of my grandmother recently. I really, truly appreciate it. Free hugs for everyone! And also a big thank you for anyone who commented on my lovely little sibs - it's gone straight to their heads, I can assure you that!

But let's get down to business, shall we?

fresh eats.

In keeping with my peanut butter + chocolate theme, I didn't have a choice. I was forced by myself to make my yummy peanut butter pancakes again. But this time - better.

Behold! The Mega Peanut Butter Pancake. I had to flip this bad boy with two spatulas! Topped with Dark Chocolate Dreams sauce and with a side of sliced banana - I almost couldn't bring myself to eat it. Almost.

And yes, it was every bit as good as it looked.

I didn't exactly have a solid lunch because, to be honest, I'm a sucky lunch maker. But I did have this little gem I picked up on the way back from Pittsburgh. (Please excuse the sucky iPhone pics, this girl forgot her camera at home!)

Yeah. You read right. Guacamole hummus. I love guacamole. I love hummus. And I was right to assume that I'd also love guacamole hummus. Seriously, I may have just created a monster. I've almost devoured the entire container. Anddd I've had it for two days. And on top of that, ironically enough, I just saw that Meghan at The Oatmeal Diaries had whipped some up herself the other day! Uh oh....

For dinner, I really wanted to make something other than oatmeal. But at work, this beast is my only means of cooking anything:

The pizza oven. Classy. So, I had to attempt to McGuyver me up some grub! Or MacGruber it up, possibly, in this case. I decided on some french fries and a jam and cheese sandwich. I don't know why, but I've been in a real jam + cheese mood too lately. At least no one can say I'm not giving into my cravings.

I chopped up a potato and made some makeshift fries in a personal pizza tray. Score +1 for Alycia. Next I threw in my jam and cheddar cheese sandwich. I got a little artsy with this pic.

I've just got awesome skillz with an iPhone apparently. Don't deny. After a few seconds in this bad boy (since it cooks at a sweltering 500 degrees), I got this delicious gooeyness.

Yum much? Alycia = +5. Mean Pizza Oven = -35. And dinner was served!

Not bad, right?! I know, I was impressed with myself as well. I need my own reality show. You all know you'd watch it. Right now, I'm off to watch the newest Harry Potter, since Nichole has reminded me that I've yet to see it. And that just won't do when we're off at Harry Potter World!! (;

What's the best meal you've ever made at work? Or if you have any ideas on meals I could make at work (cause I'm greedy like that), feel free to share!

257

2010-06-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

That's the number in my blog reader right now. Ahhh... I feel like a trauma victim. And I was just caught up! Oh well, I apologize for the absence guys. My great grandmother passed away rather suddenly and I had to make a trip out to Pittsburgh for the funeral over the weekend. I try not to get very personal in this blog, but I will say that she was a very lovely lady and I will miss her very much. However, I'll admit it was so nice to spend a weekend with my family, even if it was under sad circumstances

This is me and all my little siblings (sorry for the intense red eye!)

fresh eats.
So here is just a collection of random eats in the past few days:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats

Enormous Salad Beast

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

Chocolate Cherry Bomb Protein Shake

One Eyed Jack!

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal

Loaded Greek Yogurt

Are you guys sensing a pattern here? I've been in a peanut butter + chocolate mood! Which is totally cool with me. (:

fit happenings.
I may have another member on the Urbanathlon boat! Over the weekend I worked my charm and got the okay from the brother! He's not exactly a runner however - once I literally had to push him to get him to run 2 laps. No lie. This was about a year ago, though, so we will just have to work on some improvement little bro! According to Facebook, the training program should be up by the end of this week. I'm pretty stoked guys.

And speaking of training, I'm just gonna say it. I'm not diggin the Hal Higdon Half-Marathon program. I feel as though I was doing better on my own! But instead of giving up on it completely, I think I'm just gonna make a few Alycia-style changes to it. I tried to space out the runs more evenly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with the longest runs being on Saturdays. I also put the full rest day on Friday because I'm a firm believer in resting your legs before running a new distance. If it goes better, expect a post!

Do you guys ever change a training schedule? Or am I totally stupid for messing with the sacred Hal Higdon?!

Now - to attack this blog reader!

Do You Text And Drive?

2010-06-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

You wanna know what the best part about working at a gym is?

24 hour access, baby! I didn't get a chance to run before work so after we closed up, I reopened for myself to workout. On the schedule for today: 5x400. Yeah, I had no idea what that meant. 400 yards? 400 meters? I tried to turn to my friends for help and here are just a few of their responses:

"I think that's running 1/4 mile five times? So like, a mile and a quarter altogether?"
"Wait, you run?" (jerk.)
and
"Uhhh I don't know? Why are you asking me?" - the ever helpful boyfriend

Gee. Thanks guys. Good thing the internet never lets me down! After hitting up google, I found that 5 x 400 means running 400m or 1/4 of a mile (which is two time around the track I use) at race pace then resting before running it again. That didn't sound too hard.

But apparently sounds can be deceiving. I decided to sprint mine for a little bit more of a workout and boy did it kick my little booty!! I can tell that these are going to be the days I have to push myself. Today's agenda involves a three mile run AND strength training. I'll let you know how my poor jello legs hold up.

fresh eats.
I know I'm a little late to the party, but I made my first batch of banana soft serve overnight oats ala OSG. And wow - were they ever good! I think my banana soft serve turned out a bit runny, but still the taste was delicious! I'm excited to try her cherry bomb flavor soon!

Staring lovingly at my BSOO

Sorry about the terrible quality, but note the adoration. If there is anyone out here who, like me, has been living under a rock lately and hasn't tried these yet - you must. Simple as that.

Other eats so far today have included a carrot, orange and apple juice I picked up at Cindy's while grabbing a few essentials.

I've never had carrot juice before either! This is just a day of firsts, now isn't it? After the initial sip, I have to admit I wasn't that turned on to it. But I gave it another go and surprisingly liked it more. After the third sip, I couldn't stop guzzling it and it was crushed in a matter of mere seconds. I will definitely be getting more of those! This is now my second encounter with juice drinks after that delicious grasshopper at Mustard Seed. I really need to be working on finding myself a juicer!

let's talk text.
Sorry to switch it up on you guys, but lately I have been trying to make a conscious effort to not text and drive. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm very guilty of it. I've checked my bank account, texted a friend, tweeted, facebooked - all while not exactly paying attention to the road. I feel like I use the same excuse smokers do: I know it's bad for me, but I just can't stop.

(source)

Well, I want to stop. And I want you to stop too. So in attempt to help that along, I want to share with you a truly heartbreaking story about a girl I went to high school with. She was a couple grades under me and though we were never close friends, we would always talk in the halls and wave when we passed each other. She was just a sweet girl, really nice to everyone. And pretty, so pretty. She had the lightest blue eyes I've ever seen.

About a year ago, she was a sophomore in college and driving to see one of her roommates over winter break. She got a little lost and was on her phone, trying to get directions to her friend's house. They said she must have dropped her phone and reached down to pick it up. In that short amount of time, she went the center line and hit an oncoming van head on. She didn't make it through the crash. What was even more heartbreaking, if possible, was the fact that her boyfriend of 7 years had just proposed to her about a month prior. They had been together since they were 13 years old.

It's crazy to think of all the times I've looked down to see who was calling and looked up to see that I was halfway off the road. Or how many times I've made plans for later that night via text and had to slam on the breaks a little harder than normal once I realized I was way closer to that car ahead of me than I thought. All these times, I got lucky. My friend, however, was not so lucky.

I'm really not trying to get all preachy on you guys, but to me, it makes sense that if I'm going to take care of my body and spend all the extra time and energy to eat healthy and work out - why waste it all by being careless? I'm not so important that that text can't wait the five minutes it takes me to get home. So I'm really going to work on not using my phone at all while I drive, which I admit is very difficult, but I think it's just another part of being healthy.

What do you guys think? Are you guilty of driving under the textfluence? Any stories to share?

You know I always love to hear your views and opinions on things, so don't be shy! I'm off to run some errands, clean my freaking room (!!) and make dinner. Catch ya later loves! (:

Oh Mio My!

2010-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Operation Convince Boyfriend to Do Urbanathlon is in full swing!! I think I'm starting to wear him down already guys. My strategy is bulletproof. Mainly I'm showing him pictures of all the beefed up looking guys in the gallery from last year - like I said, I'm not above shaming him! (;

fresh eats.
I seriously made the most delicious, incredible, amazingggg veggie burgers last night! And they're actually already all gone. Even my carnivorous grandparents loved them! Now that's how you know you have a good recipe on your hands. Without further ado, I present you with this awesomeness:

The Best Veggie Burgers You'll Ever Have

1 15oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 small red onion (about 1/2 cup)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 small carrot

1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs

2 scallions

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt

Ground pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, mash the beans in a bowl with a fork or potato masher until slightly chunky. In a food processor, throw in the onion, carrot, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, scallions, parsley, and 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Pulse until the mixture is thoroughly combined or as chunky as you want it. Add the mixture in with the beans along with a little salt and pepper and mix together with hands.

In a shallow bowl, pour the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. Form the bean mixture into four equal sized patties and coat with bread crumbs. Shake off excess. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add patties and cook 2-3 minutes each side. Remove and top with all your favorites!

This is mind blowingly good. I can put the Fit n Fresh Guarantee on this bad boy. And that's saying something! I got the original recipe from Foodnetwork *loveee* So go get cooking bloggies (:

fit happenings.

So guess what I got today!! The items I won at OSG's Shop 4 A Cause! Hurray!! I was super excited. It came with wayyyy more stuff than I thought it would.

My favorite part you ask?

The mio!! This was the sole reason I bid on this package - I've wanted a heart rate watch for a while and I finally got one! Go me! Thanks so much to Miranda from Miranda's Jeans. You're the absolute best! (:

Of course, I had to use it immediately.

Ohmygosh what's that on my wrist? Oh it's just my sweet new mio, thanks for asking.

I haven't exactly figured out how to work it completely yet, but I'm having tons of fun with it! Yay for nerdy tech gadgets! I think I'm still going to get a garmin however - that will just have to wait until I can afford it ~~three years from now~~.

What is your favorite fitness gadget? Mine is definitely my iPod armband, which I know isn't really a gadget but I swear I wouldn't make it through some workouts without it supplying my tunes! It counts, trust me. Well I'm off lovebugs, it's boy toy time. I think we're watching Wolf Man tonight - please leave your numbers so I can call you crying for comfort in the middle of the night. I'm the biggest baby, no lie. Wish me luck!

Asparagus Scones

2010-06-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all your concern about my ankle! It's feeling wayyy better now. I ended up skipping out on the race Saturday, but I did run about four miles yesterday and everything is feeling pretty legit. Hurray!! I just love all of the support you guys give me (:

Speaking of love, I also love new recipes. And I love brunch, so you can see how yesterday was conducive to my overall happiness. While flipping through the Vegetarian Times cookbook I borrowed from the library the other day, I saw an awesome looking breakfast idea: asparagus scones. And I totally had some asparagus from the farmers market just chilling in my fridge, begging to be scone-ified.

Asparagus Scones

12 oz steamed asparagus

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon raw sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 425° F. Place the asparagus in a shallow bowl with a tablespoon or two of water and microwave for 2 minutes to steam. Remove from the microwave and cut into small ¼ inch pieces. Separate out the tips and put aside for later.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut cold butter into small chunks and rub into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in milk and mix thoroughly. Fold in asparagus, cheese, cayenne and pepper.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Shape the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle and then slice into three even strips. Cut each strip into five triangles. Coat a baking sheet in cooking spray and place scones spaced an inch or so apart on it. Brush scones with remaining milk and press asparagus tips into tops.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

I don't even know if it's possible for me to fully describe how delicious these were. They were slightly hot from the cayenne, so add less or none at all if you're not a spicy fan. These bad boys just melted in your mouth! And I'll let you in on a little secret - I totally devour three of these before I even got around to making the rest of my brunch. Shhhh!!

The meal I eventually got around to eating also included scrambled eggs and no, not cantelope - orange watermelon!! I love differently colored foods, it's a weakness of mine. Back home, there was an amish farm nearby that always had yellow watermelon and I stopped by nearly every week to buy one. When I saw this hanging out in the ice at Mustard Seed Market, I just had to snatch it!

fit happenings.

So the Beach Booty Challenge is a go! I've already started working on it, I can't wait to get going - my booty's gonna thank me later (and my bikini lol). I'm having way more fun than I should be picking out items for the Booty Giveaway too. Epic.

I also started my half-marathon training today! I decided to roll with the intermediate training plan from Hal Higdon. He seems to be so highly recommended by everyone. Hopefully this will keep me strength training more than usual as well! Wish me luck little bloggies!

There's still more fitness news, I've added a new event to my line up this year - The Men's Health Urbanathlon! The Urbanathlon is a nine mile run with 7 obstacles dispersed throughout the course, like jumping over taxi cabs, scaling walls and crawling under wire. It is seriously looking sickkkkk. They are having the event in two cities: Chicago and New York. I think I'm going to go to the Chicago arena. This is mainly because a. I've never been to Chicago (gasp!) and b. I'd rather not have to fly to NYC. I'm currently in the process of ~~shaming~~ convincing my boyfriend to participate as well. If anyone else is interested in doing this with me, I would definitely not turn down the company!

I'm off to do some whittling! Of the middle variety, of course. I apologize for not getting back to any blogs/comments - my internet has been having a great time being the bane of my existence, but I have beaten it back to submission and all is well. Looking forward to a good three hours of blog reading later (:

It's Gonna Be A Great Day

2010-06-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks again for the support on the guys 5k guys! And a big thank you to Scott for complimenting my pancaking ability! I couldn't find your blog for some reason? Leave it for me if you have one!

However, I must report an unfortunate accident that occured last night at my soccer game - I rolled my ankle. Ahhhh so sad!! It hurt terribly and I immediately took myself out of the game. It was feeling better by the second half so I ended up finishing cause, you know, that's just how I roll (ha! pun!). Today it is feeling pretty much healed, but I'm still not sure if I'm going to race tomorrow or not. I really don't want to push it, but at the same time, if I feel I am capable of running, I totally will. Fingers crossed!

Before the Awful Ankle Roll of June 2010, I was having a pretty stellar day I must say. I hit up the Maxx to see what they had going on. It's true, I've got a problem and if there was a self help group for TJ Maxx Addicts, I'd be spearheading it.

I found a bunch of cute new workout clothes, but I somehow managed to narrow it down to two shirts and a sports bra.

I know, I know, I've got the gift. The gift of impulse buying, that is. I also grabbed a vegan Bumble Bar I saw at the counter. I love all the random healthy food you can find at the Maxx. It makes my shopping trips so much more fulfilling! And look what else I found:

Goji juice! I didn't even know this was an option? What do you think guys, should I run back and get it or leave it looking pretty on the shelf?

After my impromptu Maxx spree, I ran down to the library to turn in my books and get some new ones:

Just flipping through the cookbooks, I can already tell a lot of new, delcious eats are in my - and that means our - future. The first thing I plan on making? The breakfast blueberry quesadilla. Why have I never thought of that!? And if any of you are wondering why I'm picking up sex books at the local library, please don't be alarmed. I promise it's not what it looks like. If any of you are biology nerds out there like me and haven't checked out anything by Sharon Moalem, you really need to. His other book, Survival of the Sickest, will blow your freakin mind.

While glancing through my new (to me) cookbooks, I figured this was now the perfect time to try something new - jicama! Which is apparently pronounced hik-uh-muh and not jik-ah-muh as I had been saying it. Oops. It's like quinoa all over again.

fresh eats.
I've never had jicama before, but when I saw it this past weekend at The Mustard Seed Market, I couldn't leave without it. I scoured the internet for some good uses and decided to mix a couple recipes together to create some vegan cheezy jicama fries. They turned out pretty yummy, but they were crunchier than I thought they'd be. Almost like undercooked potatoes? Is that how they're supposed to be or did I totally mess these up? Anyone know? Either way, I would definitely use this recipe again - but I'd probably switch it out for potatoes!

Cheezy Jicama Fries

1 medium jicama

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the ends off of the jicama and peel the skin. Slice the jicama into half and then into planks. Cut the planks in strips and ta-da! Fries! Toss the fries in the olive oil before laying out on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Take them out and toss them with the remaining spices. Add your favorite burger and enjoy!

I ended up enjoying mine with a grilled BBQ cheese sandwich. I don't know what it is about barbeque, but I'll eat it as a condiment on just about anything. I'll even eat it by the spoonful if no one is looking.

Weird? Perhaps. Delcious? You bet your jicama.

fit happenings.
So I've decided that I am definitely holding a Beach Booty Challenge! I'll have more details available on that front soon, however I hope you all join in. Everyone who does decide to participate will be entered in my Booty for Your Booty Giveaway! You gotta sweat if you want free stuff from this girl (;

I will leave you with the following because: a. Andy Samberg is funny AND hot and b. this video has been making me laugh all week (don't press play if you are easily offended by drug comedy and offensive language). Hopefully this will be me tomorrow. The great day part, I mean!

I'll Take Ashton Kutcher Any Day

2010-06-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hey bloggies! I was so glad to read that a lot of you eat like crazy when you're tired as well - it made me feel way less guilty about stuffing my silly little face all day - You guys rock!

fresh eats.
For breakfast today, I made some of Beth's Chiacakes!

Topped with blueberry syrup I made by nuking frozen blueberries and syrup together in the microwave. These were so good and so filling! I thought I would be able to taste the chia seeds, but I definitely couldn't. I would advise anyone to make these for a quick yummy breakfast soon!

For the rest of my eats today, I plan on making the jicama I bought over the weekend! Has anyone ever had this veggie before? I decided to make it into little jicama fries so you'll be hearing how that turns out later today. Oh yeahhhh.

fit happenings.
I've decided I am going to do the 5k this Saturday - friends or no friends! I figure I'm pretty bomb at making new friends anyway, so why not go if I want to? Thanks for giving me the encouragement I needed my little blog loves!

Oh and remember how I said I only have a week left of the Whittle My Middle Challenge? Well, now I'm thinking of setting a new challenge for myself. The Beach Booty Challenge!! I'm going to be posting more information soon, but it's going to be along the same guidelines as the WMMC. If anyone wants to join along with me, I'm thinking of having a giveaway at the end for all participants! Booty for your booty, if you know what I'm saying. What do you think? Anyone interested?

Okay before I go, I have something to rant about so stay with me. I'd say it's pretty well known that actors and actresses will devote hours of their time every day to get in shape for an upcoming role. Realistically speaking, if you work a full time job, go to school, take care of a family and still have some kind of social life, it's pretty much impossible to set aside daily three hour chunks to hit the gym. Even if it wasn't, I'm not exactly sure working out that much regularly would be good for you. But this is the kind of thing actors have to do and when it's basically your job to be fit, time isn't really an issue. I can get that. So when you're done with that movie, I can totally understand why you stop exercising as hard. Apparently, however, Demi Moore doesn't.

According to an interview in British Magazine GMTV, Ashton Kutcher said:

"Unfortunately... I kinda wish that I hadn't (let her see the movie) because now she expects (my body) to look like that and it doesn't. You can't maintain that. That's not possible. I disappoint her every evening. I walk in to get ready to go to bed and she's just, 'Oh'. She's like, 'You know what that's capable of, you're not living up to your potential'."

Now, I'm not one to believe everything I read, but if this interview wasn't taken out of context, I'm seriously disappointed in Demi Moore. To project unrealistic goals on someone else is so wrong. And kinda selfish in my opinion. On the other hand, I'm truly psyched that Ashton Kutcher has enough self-confidence and realism to know that his movie body wasn't something he could keep up. What do you guys think? I'd love to hear differing views on this. You can read the full (albeit short) article here.

Well I'm off to run about a billion errands - stay classy guys!

Hungry Hungry Hippo

2010-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

That's seriously what I feel like. I've been running on about nine hours of sleep total the last two days and I feel like I just can't get full! Weird, right? I swear there's science behind it, check out more on the topic here. I can't wait to get a full eight hours of sleep tonight and hopefully return to a state where I'm not shoving everything I see into my mouth. Does anyone else eat more when they're tired?

fresh eats.
Breakfast was a sunnyside up egg and jelly on 12 grain toast. I was running late so I literally threw tin foil over this bad boy and took it to work with me. Thinking about it now, maybe that's something I should do more often.

I was hungry again a couple hours later so I snacked on a banana and a Special K bar one of the patrons brought me.

After that, I was hungry again a couple hours later! However, I'm not one to avoid my hunger twangs, so I had an apple and a Nature Valley Oats n Honey bar [unpictured]. No lie - I was hungry again like an hour later! I tossed some TJ's Quinoa Duo in the microwave and gobbled it up with some shrimpies.

Delicious! Mind you, it's only about 1:00 by this time and I've eaten my way through about 1200 calories. What is the deal? Please someone, comfort me.

Dinner was kind of a new thing for me. Would you believe me if I told you I've never had a peanut butter and banana sandwich? Yeah, I'm that guy. Instead of just making a plain PB&B, I decided to put a little spin on it and make it monte cristo style baby!

Drizzled in a little honey and MMM so good. I'm thinking about entering it into The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition - but it needs a little more work first! I promise to post the recipe when it's just right. And you guys should definitely try coming up with a recipe! Who doesn't love peanut butter? And it's okay if someone doesn't because I love it enough to make up for a small peanut-intolerant country.

After work, I ran out to Woodmere for some supplies and maybe secretly for the sole purpose of buy more PB&Co. I saw these at TJ's and just had to grab them:

Honey Plantain Strips! I've never had plantains before though I've always wanted to. If they taste anything like these chips did then I think we're in business. Good job teej!

fit happenings.
In Whittle My Middle news, I'm already more than halfway through the challenge! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. I can hold a plank for two minutes steady now and Kelly and I are slowly working up for more. Yesterday was the midway mark so I took our second set of measurements. I haven't really lost much inch-wise, but I can feel my abs are flatter and more solid already. Kelly, on the other hand, has lost 3 inches total so far!! You freakin go girl!!

I'm also thinking about running another 5k this weekend. That is, if I can find someone to come with me. I hate going by myself - I get lonely, okay!? A few friends of mine have mentioned that they might come with, but that's not exactly concrete for them if you know what I'm saying. Time for Operation Peer Pressure! (:

After all of this snacking (and a WF/TJ run!!), I'm not exactly hungry for dinner. Finally! So I'm gonna shove my booty outside for some running and maybe throw together a smoothie later. What do you think? Peace bloggies!

Fall for the Falls

2010-06-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day. The start of the farmers market season. I was giddy with delight! I've been so jealous seeing other bloggers scoring dope finds for cheap at their farmers markets and finally my day came!! I practically skipped to the car as my aunt and I set out to the lovely little town of Chagrin Falls.

Get ready for some major picturage.

First of all, let me just say that I love Chagrin Falls. It's such a gorge place, even without the farmers market. Note to self: convince lame friends to spend a day there some time in the near future. If they refuse: find new friends.

There were a bunch of cute little stands, and a few things I wasn't expecting - like this booth selling goat cheese! They had some divine flavors like Cocoa Caprine, Lemon Scone, Herbs de Provence and Black Truffle.

I ended up rolling with the Cranberry Cinnamon Walnut.

Bomb. There was also a stand selling homemade pasta!! I may or may not have let out a little squeal of delight, but I swear, it wasn't really my fault. It's an uncontrollable thing, so please try to understand.

Papardelle is like my all time FAVORITE and it's so hard to find, it's just infuriating. My heart went all aflutter when I saw it amongst the pastas!

Get in my bag.

I also found a cute hippy guy selling hand packeted tea!

It was a tough choice between Green Pomegranate and Red Buzz-Berry, but in the end - Buzz-Berry won me over with all its extra fruitiness.

Ahhh the happiness. And what would shopping be without a little mood music I ask you?

Not nearly as much fun, that's for certain. After carefully stowing away my precious packages (and kissing them goodbye), my aunt wanted to go check out The Popcorn Shop which is this cute little store right on the falls that sells popcorn, nostalgia candy and ice cream.

It's pretty sweet, I gotta admit it.

I was tempted to get some Chocolate Blackout (for the listed medical benefits of course), but opted for some of these instead:

Someone get me a gold star!! I snacked happily on these yummy treats while my aunt went balls to wall. Just as we were about to leave and head to Mustard Seed Market (swoon), my aunt saw one of her favorite places:

Yep. Starbucks. No lie, they've taken over the world. I'm pretty sure that I could be walking down a barren street in Zimbabwe and pass by at least two.

A tall soy chia latte was had by yours truly and we finally continued on to our final destination: Mustard Seed Market!

If you live in the North East Ohio area and have not been to Mustard Seed Market, please stop reading this, get into your car and drive straight there. Don't stop at any red lights. Don't slow down for passersby. Trust me, they'll forgive you and it will be well worth the incarceration period you might receive. Seriously, this place is like a health nut's utopia!!

I got my first green juice here too!

The Grasshopper. This bad boy was packed with a shot of wheatgrass, pear, pineapple juice and mint. It was so good!! It's actually made me want to get a juicer! Any suggestions guys?

I also grabbed a yummy tofu pocket for lunch.

Marinated tofu stuffed with mushrooms, onions, spinach and more tofu! I was speechless. I really need to try to recreate this beauty, but to be honest - I suck at cooking with tofu. Practice makes perfect though, right?

And while I'm asking questions, could you end a perfect shopping trip any better than with a perfect vegan carrot cookie?

My taste buds will undoubtedly refuse anything I try to feed them for the rest of the week. My food is mediocre at best compared to the deliciousness of Mustard Seed Market. So sad.

Well lovies, I still have to run, make dinner and force myself to clean my room! Send me encouraging thoughts... and check out my guest post at Eater Not A Runner if you get hungry later (;

The Dirty on Produce

2010-06-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

If you’re anything like me (note: frugal, money-aware, budget-friendly = all very nice words to describe a poor college student), then you probably realized early on how expensive organic produce is compared to commercially farmed produce. Now everyone is well aware of the horrors of pesticides and GMOs, but when it comes down to buying a pound of strawberries for $4.99 or $2.50 - you can bet my cash strapped booty is reaching for the cheapest ones! This isn’t something I like or am proud of, but it’s economics baby. We’re in a recession!

So I decided to do a little research and find out what produce is most highly recommended to be bought organic. After perusing through dozens of sites, I found I was consistently referred back to the Environmental Work Group. The EWG is a leader in the health world, often testing products and produce as well as common chemicals to determine their affects (both negative or otherwise) on our lives.

It was here that I discovered The Dirty Dozen. According to the EWG, these are the 12 most pesticide-ridden fruits and vegetables and the ones you should buy organic most often. The list, from worst to best?

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Sweet Bell Peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale/Collard Greens
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes

The statistics they provided were more than slightly shocking. For example, out of all the apples tested, 95.1% were positive for harmful pesticides. That may not have surprised me much - if they hadn’t been washed before testing. However, the EWG tested their produce the way people would eat them and that means washed first. It made me think back to all the times I was too lazy to wash off an apple before devouring it or too eager to wash my cherries before popping a few into my mouth. Eww.

The EWG also says you can reduce the amount of pesticides you consume yearly by 4/5 if you just stick to eating these 12 fruits and vegetables organic. That’s insane! A few other produce items that I found repeatedly through my internet searching to be consistently dirty: red raspberries, lettuce, green beans and cantaloupe.

Don’t think you can remember these items off hand? Never fear! The EWG offers a print-out of this list as well as an iPhone App! Pretty cool, right? I mean, I thought so but I’m kinda nerdy.

Now that I know when to splurge and when to save, I feel a lot better about my purchasing power. I can still support organic producers while keeping myself out of the poor house! Cause dude - I’m way too pretty for the poor house.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday babes! I’m off for a run and a movie with the boy. A little Hot Tub Time Machine is in order. Has anyone seen that yet? I heard it was funny, but to be honest the trailers looked a little weak. Don’t tell my boyfriend I said that though, it would break his little heart.

The Bucket List

2010-06-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the fitness goals I one day hope to accomplish. I feel like every time I see something new, my instant reaction is “I wanna do that!” Now it’s getting to the point where there is so much I want to do, I’m having trouble figuring out what I want to do first! So I was inspired to create my own Fitness Bucket List. And here is what I’ve come up with so far:

1. Run a 10k
2. Run a half-marathon
3. Run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon
4. Run a full marathon (maybe?)
5. Race in a European country
6. Bike a century
7. Complete a mini-triathlon
8. Participate in a Spin-a-Thon
9. Complete a Half-Ironman
10. Hike in a foreign country
11. Backpack through the jungle
12. Go kayaking
13. Rock climb in Colorado
14. Study jiu jitsu
15. Practice hot yoga

I know there’s still a lot more that I want to do, so of course I’ll add to my list whenever those come to me. The best part about it? There’s always more to do. No matter how many things I cross off this list, I can always find something new and fun to add! What do I hope to cross off this year, you ask?

Well! I’m already signed up for my first half-marathon September 4, there’s talk of a Spinning Tour-de-France simulation around here that I might have to get into and I just saw a flyer for a mini-triathlon in Pittsburgh in the fall! I’m trying to resist the urge to do everything all at once (which I fall pray to often due to my spastic go-get-em attitude). I wanted to also try for a Half-Ironman by the end of this year too, but I think that would be just a little too much – baby steps, guys, baby steps!

What kind of things do you have on your fitness bucket list? Anything you’ve accomplished lately that you’ve always dreamed of doing?

What’s so awesome about blogging, in my opinion, is the inspiration you get from your fellow bloggers! I didn’t even know what a century was until I watched Caitlin from Healthy Tipping Point train and complete one. And I’m pretty sure I saw the Disney Princess Half-Marathon on a blog somewhere too! You guys keep me going and give me the reassurance that I can do anything. So thanks, my little blends, for moving me to set new goals and reach heights I never though I would. (:

Before I go, I know that you’ve probably seen this a million times all over the blog-o-sphere, but I’m sure you’ll see it a million times more so I don’t feel bad saying:

Happy National Running Day!!

Yeah, that's right. A whole day. Dedicated to running. Can you even stand it?! Although I feel like there's a national day for just about everything (National Donut Day anyone?), this is definitely a cause I can get behind.

I’m going to be celebrating later tonight with my little cousin and I hope you all plan on participating as well! Lace up those sneakers baby and go run with your bad self!

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

Soooo I may have taken a little hiatus from blogging for a couple days - but fear not! I'm back to brighten your day (:

fit happenings.
Let's rewind to Saturday! I had my first 5 mile race! First of all, I think I'm really getting the hang of a pre-race routine. For breakfast, I had a piece of whole wheat toast with almond and flax butter with an orange on the side (this is becoming a tradition for me) which I ate on the way there. I was a bit nervous at the starting line, but I don't think that will ever go away no matter how many runs I do! There were wayyyy more people at this race than any of the ones I've done before on top of that.

Plus there was a Spin-a-thon going on that I had no idea about!!

I actually knew most of the spin instructors from work and they told me they also run a program in July where they simulate the Tour-de-France! They were trying to convince me to join it, but I'm not too sure how I feel about that - however, it's totally a real possibility.

Anyways, back to the race! It started in downtown Youngstown and ran through Mill Creek Park around Lake Glacier and then back to the YMCA. I pushed myself the whole time, chanting little things in my head like "Don't stop!" and "You can do it!" (Cheesy, I know - don't laugh!) There was a monstrous hill right at the start of mile 4 which I wanted to maim someone for, but I pushed through and finished in 47:07! That's a personal record for me!! I was ecstatic to say the very least, I actually think I'm still high on it now lol!

On a side note, I've learned that no one takes a good picture after running any amount of time in the blistering sun. I didn't place in the top three for my age group - third place ran it in 44:36 - but I was okay with that. The overall winner was a boy from Kenya who ran it in 25 minutes!!! I was floored. This kid was straight BOOKING.

For my next race, I really want to try to do better than a 9 minute mile. I'm not sure if it's in the cards for me, but I'm going to be doing more HIIT runs as well as possibly a couple little lower body workout sessions. We'll see what kind of information I can dig up!

fresh eats.
After the race, I was famished so I quickly created this little feast.

I cut up my remaining veggie burger and threw it in a wrap with some roasted asparagus and potatoes on the side. Mmmmmmm I was in lunch heaven! I love asparagus, it's so easy to make and it tastes awesome!! Crunchy and a little sweet. Just yum.

Another advancement on the fresh eats front - I had my first OIAJ! Sadly, I only had a little bit of White Chocolate Wonderful left...

...so I took the opportunity to throw together some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oats in a Jar at work!

Wow. I can't believe I've waited so long to try this out! Eating out of a jar is just something the feels so sinful - I loved every second of it!

Seriously delicious. Well blog loves, I'm off once more! It's grill time baby - fire it up!! I've got to abercize and run before my family cookout, I hope you guys all have a great Memorial Day!

If you're going to be outside, don't forget the sunscreen!

Food and Flea Markets

2010-05-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just a whole day filled with good eats! After the s'mores oatmeal (killer) I was in a cooking mood and since I knew I had to work most of the day, I decided to have a bigger home-cooked lunch rather than a large dinner. I've been dying to try my hand at making veggie burgers and Beth's Easy Homemade Veggie Burgers seemed just too delicious to pass up! So I ran out and bought the few necessary ingredients, which included kale! A veggie I have never tried! No worries guys, we became fast friends. I'm making us BFF bracelets as you read this.

I threw all the ingredients in the food processor (minus the basil because I totally forgot to grab it at the store - rookie mistake!), chopped it all up for a bit and then formed the mixture into two patties.

Threw them on the stove for a couple minutes per side and voila! Veggie burgers!!

The perfect compliment to any burger in my opinion? French fries and watermelon. The veggie burger was really quite good, but I think it would have had more zip to it if I hadn't forgetten the basil. It was just slightly bland, but that was easily disguised with the ten gallons of ketchup I ate it with. Mmmm ketchupy goodness.

I saved the other one for a rainy day, I'm thinking about smashing it up and stuffing it in a wrap for lunch sometime this week. Yay or nay? All in all, I would definitely make these again. They were so easy and quick to make and I am very impressed with Miss Beth! Thanks for the awesome recipe!

Dinner was also stellar as well.

A California roll with a house salad and ginger dressing. I have a serious love connection with sushi. I could probably eat it daily and never get tired of it. However, I sometimes cheat on sushi with ginger dressing. It's a crazy little Japanese love triangle, I know.

Unfortunately I suffered a small injury while trying to rip into the aluminum packaging like some kind of starved rabid animal.

My pride was only consolable by what laid inside.

Crying Crisis: Averted.

fit happenings.
Today I had planned on laying low since race day (!) is tomorrow, but I'm always down for a little spontaneity. My friend Kelly and her parents invited me to go to Roger's Flea Market, which is apparently a big deal. This place was enormous. They had all sorts of crazy things! No lie, a lady was selling baby foxes. Baby foxes!!

They. Were. ADORABLE. The seller said you treat them just like a dog! I was intrigued, but also a little hesitant. I'm pretty sure you'd need some kind of license or permit in order to have a pet fox so the operation seemed a little shady to me. Still - ADORABLE!

I also learned a fun new fact while haggling for fresh produce. There are male and female eggplants! I know, I was shocked too. The difference, Mr. Produce Seller explained, was in the seeds. Female eggplants have small seeds and male eggplants have large seeds. How can you tell one from the other, you ask? Why you look at their bottoms! Male eggplants have a circular indentation on the bottom while female eggplants have oval, slit-like indentations. Huh. Go figure. I can't believe I have lived my life so ignorant to the delicate anatomy of eggplants! I feel ashamed...

Flea market eats weren't exactly the healthiest, but I can't be held accountable for my actions. At a random ice cream vendor (one of about 50), I saw THIS:

Look towards the bottom. See it? Buckeye Bites. Yeah there was no way that wasn't going down.

Peanut butter ice cream with chocolate ripples and whole buckeyes!! I'm still speechless. It was the best ice cream I've ever had. I split it with Kelly though because I'm such a good friend.

We walked everywhereeee trying to find something semi-healthy to eat, but it just wasn't happening. So I settled on the healthiest food I could find:

Doused in vinegar. Magnifique. What kind of food do you guys eat when you're dealing with vendors that mainly sell things like deep fried oreos?

It was a really fun trip and when I got to work, I unloaded all my produce booty.

one (female) eggplant
one bundle of asparagus
1/2 pound of cherries
one bundle of green seedless grapes
bushel of local (huge!) strawberries
three peaches

All of this for the low low price of ten dollars! I was straight giddy with happiness! Those strawberries are just begging to be covered in chocolate. Or maybe not covered in chocolate ala HowSweetEats!

I know this was a crazy long post, but I promise I'm done now! Rest your eyes little bloggies and I'll see you tomorrow with a race recap - I'm off to whittle my middle (:

Deliciousosity

2010-05-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Morning all you beautiful bloggies! Let's start this day off right, shall we? And what better way to do that than with oatmeal!

Oh I'm sorry - Are you drooling? I should have warned you I meant S'mores Oatmeal. Slipped my silly little mind! I needed a little oatmeal inspiration and where do you go to find it? Why Kath Eats of course! Her oatmeal page is ridiculous and when I saw the words "S'mores Oatmeal", I knew I didn't even have a choice in the matter. I ran upstairs and grabbed my hidden Chocolove stash (I have to hid it from myself, is that sad? Just lie to me and tell me it's not) and this was born!

Some serious awesomeness. It was wayyyy filling, I was practically shoving the last few bites in my mouth. And you know me, I had to top it off with a little White Chocolate Wonderful of which I'm running dangerously low on... this could become a problem... Who's down for a Whole Foods run with me? I'll drive!

fit happenings.
Is it possible that my abs have already gotten flatter or am I just thinking that because of the massive amount of sore I'm in? I'm gonna just say they're flatter anyway to make myself feel better! Today is my first day off and I'm feeling weird about it, like I should be doing something still - ever get that feeling? I'm sure a little break is just what my abbys need though! Seriously, I'm not even a week into it and I'd recommend OhSheGlow's Challenge to anyone.

Speaking of OhSheGlows, I totally won an auction at the SHOP 4 A CAUSE yesterday!! I'm pretty stoked about it because I've been debating getting a fitness watch for a while now and when I saw one up for auction yesterday, I just had to jump on it. And no worries, I'll show it off to you guys just as soon as I get it. (:

Did anyone else participate in the auction yesterday? Or even just stop by? It was so well organized, I'm really impressed with Angela and her whole setup, for that matter.

Okay well this little girl has lots of running around to do today! Plus I need to fit in time to run a couple miles (I'm tapering off for Saturday), make these awesome looking veggie burgers I saw the other day and clean my room since I totally have been ignoring it for the past few days.

Catch ya later my blog loves!

Peanut Butter Pancakes

2010-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Finally. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein. It's aliveeeee!! *thunder crackles mercilessly in the background*

After working hard for a whole week (that's some serious dedication for me people!), I've finally nailed my peanut butter pancake recipe! Unfortunately, now I'm so sick of pancakes, I don't think I'll be making them again for at least a month! Ahh such is life. However, you, my lucky friend, can make them today! I'm just so good to you guys.

(*Side note - Do you guys like the recipes posted like this in border or just normally through the text? Thought I'd try something new and I'd love some feedback!)

Seriously, these pancakes were phenom. The peanut butter made them so moist and fluffy! I actually used my new favorite White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut butter and I think these were taste tongue-numbingly good with white chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate, but sadly we were all out... cruel fate!! Still they were delicious!! And the best part? They're actually really filling! I messed around with adding a little protein powder to them, but honestly they are completely fine without it. This is my very first from scratch recipe!! Aren't you proud of me!? It's cool if you're not, I'm proud enough for the both of us.

fit happenings.
So this is only Day 3 of the Whittle My Middle Challenge and already my abs are feeling it! I'm surprised by how sore I am, but it's a good feeling. I haven't been sore like this in a while, I feel like it's making me want to do MORE strength training than normal (normal being none at all so really anything is an improvement lol).

I'm also not sure if I've mentioned that I have another race this weekend! It's the Memorial Day 5 Mile out in Youngstown and I'm pretty freakin stoked for it. I'm hoping to run it in at least 48 minutes, but as long as I finish I'll be happy. My aunt is once again coming with me too! My grandparents find it hysterical that she would never run a day in high school and now that she's in her 40s, I'm getting her to do a half-marathon!! We laugh about it quite often lol but hey, fitness can start at any age right?

Personally, I don't think my "fitness" really started until about 2 years ago. I mean, I've always been active I'd say. I did sports in high school and I'd workout sporadically in the beginning of college - I was never overweight, but I never had any set fitness goals and I think that's when I went from active to athlete. When I decided to do a 5k, when I decided to do a strength training program, when I decided to sign up for a half-marathon.

All these things are quantifiable, they're attainable. Before, I was doing the same 30-60 minute routines on the elliptical or the treadmill over and over again, zoning out while reading a magazine or studying notes. I never really noticed a difference nor did I get any stronger/faster, but I did it because it was what I was used to. I love the way I feel now, more recently especially and I actually credit it a lot to reading blogs. Seeing what goals other people are reaching and striving for makes me feel like I could do those things too if I just try. It's simply inspirational.

Where do you guys draw inspiration from? When did you start being fit instead of just active? And how did you stumble into the awesome world of health blogs?

Day 3 is calling my name! I'm gonna see if my poor little abs have it in them to do the plank for 1:30 today! And speaking of planks, my friend Angela at Eat, Spin, Run, Repeat is attempting to do a plank for 21 minutes!! This crazy girl's got abs of steel, no lie. I'll think of you when my abs are screaming out for mercy through my belly button lol have a good day guys! Go enjoy the sunshine, take a walk outside or pack a picnic - just don't forget the sunscreen (;

Lemon Groovy

2010-05-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I feel like yesterday was one big blur! It started out with another visit to Mill Creek Park which is quickly becoming my favorite place to go. There are just so many trails and beautiful attractions! I took my friend Kelly with me this time because she had never been there before. In Fellows Riverside Garden, we saw the coolest tree!

It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie. Upon closer inspection, the tree was dead and there was a sign in front of that read:

So sad! I couldn't believe people actually killed this tree by carving initials into it. Like anyone really cares that "Matt hearts Sarah forever?" I'd like to hunt Matt down and show him how much I heart him! Just let me catch someone doing this to a tree and it'll be ON!!

We should move on before my anger combusts the screen.

fresh eats.
After our walk through the trails, we decided to grab some lunch at a new restaurant that opened recently in the plaza - The Lemon Grove. I've wanted to stop here for a while, I heard they had pretty good food, all fair trade and organic teas and coffees and a pretty artsy atmosphere.

I decided on the Louie Free for lunch. Sidenote: I have successfully avoided meat for the past three weeks! Go me! (:

I got a salad instead of chips on the side with balsamic vinaigrette. I took some pictures, but it was so dark in there that they didn't turn out very well sooo I'm not gonna post them. All in all, the food was good, but WAY overpriced. I spent ten bucks on a small sandwich and a tiny side salad! I mean, it was good, but not that good. Plus I'm pretty sure I could easily recreate this at home for next to nothing. It was a fun experience, but I don't think I'll be back. Thanks anyway though Lemon Grove!

fit happenings.
Kelly and I also decided to take OhSheGlow's Whittle My Middle Challenge! Kelly's sister is getting married in October so it's time for a little Bride Bootcamp action! We started yesterday and I'm going to keep track of it on the new page. I'm pretty excited to see some results from this - I've never stuck with a strength routine before (I blush), but I'm hoping that doing it with a friend will keep me dedicated!

If anyone would like to join in, I'd love some groupies! Okay well I'm off! I've got a lot to do before work including:

Clean my room
Whittle my middle!
Target run
Visit the boyfriend

Have a bright happy day (:

Awesomeness

2010-05-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Just when you think we can advance no further, the Japanese have to one up us with this crafty invention:

The Rice-Growing Bra

I couldn't help it, I just had to share this ridiculous story. You can read more about it here. Thank you internet! I'm off to enjoy the fruits of netflix and figure out how I can acquire one of these. Have a good night lovies!

Unexpected Journey

2010-05-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Don't you just hate it when things don't go according to plan? Yesterday, I was supposed to work all day and then today a few friends and I were going to travel up to Chagrin Falls and spend the day walking around and exploring. Chagrin Falls is a cute little mill town with a ton of small shops and a farmers market on Saturdays. I was totally stoked to go - I cleaned my car and everything! - and when I got to work yesterday, I'm informed that my schedule had been changed. Now I had Friday off and work on Saturday. Bummer.

I was heartbroken to say the least. However, I decided to make the best of my day anyway and what better way to do that than a Trader Joe's/Whole Foods Market trip! So I busted out my trusty Magellan and routed out my journey.

First stop - Whole Foods Market. Yay for Whole Foods! I love how The Fitnessista calls it Whole Paycheck by the way. So true. (:

But so worth it. I've had a list handy for quite some time now full of things I wanted to pick up from here. I tried to stay true to it, though I mayyyy have strayed ever so slightly when I got to the aisle that had all the teas and drinks. My boyfriend guzzles brisk like he'll never find another - it makes me cringe every time. I, like almost every other health food junkie, am digusted by anything with an ingredient list including high fructose corn syrup.

Being the amazing girlfriend that I am (*sigh*), I raided Whole Foods for acceptable substitutes to solve this problem. I picked up a couple Honest Teas, the sweetened green and blackforest berry, Joe's Half and Half Raspberry Tea, and a Steaz Teaz Peach Tea and presented them all to my less-than-ecstatic boyfriend. I had the last laugh in the end though when he admitted he really liked the Joe's Tea. Take that Pepsi Co!

I just love when the power of pure overcomes the chemicals of commercialized foods.

Next stop - Trader Joe's House.

It always amazes me how small Trader Joe's is, yet how much stuff they can pack inside. I swear, if you blink, you miss half the store! I found my beloved mochi there though so I really can't complain. I was beyond happy, practically singing even as I headed to the register. Expect to see daily pictures of me making kissy faces to my ice cream from now till the box is sadly empty.

All in all, a pretty good day I'd say.

fresh eats.
Today I awoke with a craving for peanut butter and pancakes - so why not combine the two? That's right friends, I'm currently hard at work on a peanut butter pancake recipe!! The ones I made today were pretty good considering they were a first attempt, but the batter was a little too thick and there just wasn't enough peanut butter taste. Tomorrow I shall do better!

And you know I had to break open one of my Whole Foods buys for this:

I would like to thank Girl Meets Health for starting an UNhealthy obsession with this peanut butter for me. Hands down the BEST peanut butter I've ever had. Ever. I originally wanted the Dark Chocolate Dreams, but apparently everyone else did as well since it was completely sold out. Never fear though, White Chocolate Wonderful turned out to be pretty wonderful indeed.

After breakfast, I decided to bake the cookies that have been going around the blog world like wildfire - Dreena's Super Charge Me Cookies. I made just a few substitutions, whole wheat flour instead of spelt flour, wheat bran instead of flax meal and dried cranberries instead of raisins. I made a little rookie mistake by accidentally reading over the "in a separate bowl" part when adding the wet ingredients and combined them all together in one (oopsies), but even though they were a little crumbly, they were still delicious! I gobbled up two as soon as they came out!

For lunch, I sauteed some mixed veggies in balsamic vinaigrette at home and threw them in a wrap at work with a little goat cheese and an apple on the side to round it all out. I'm just so super creative like that.

So quick. So easy. So delicious. My three favorite things for a meal! Dinner was also these things, a blueberry walnut salad with another Whole Foods find - Spiced Pomegranate Dressing. Mmmmm!

Andddd okay, maybe another cookie or two - for dessert, naturally.

It's not me, it's my sweet tooth. I swear it.

By the way, check out my interview with Erin on her blog, The Healthy Apron! A stellar post if I do say so myself. (:

Bloglovin

2010-05-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

A lot of people in the blog-o-sphere seem to be relying on Google Reader to keep track of all their blog fixes. I tried this for a short while, but it just didn't really work out for me. I hated the way it was set up and the site wasn't exactly appealing to the eye. Enter: Bloglovin.

I originally found this site through the fashion blogworld, but I use it to manage all my blogs now. So here's a little preview of Bloglovin - maybe you'll find it easier too!

This is the main site. You can sign up or login in through here. They also let you save your login information so if you want, you never really have to see the main page. Once logged in, you will be directed here:

Your blog management! All your blogs will be listed in order from newest posted to last seen and each one will have a little preview picture from the post as well as the first few sentences so you can get a feel for each post. You can easily mark a blog as read or unread by scrolling over the picture for the post like so:

If you really like the post you're reading - Like it! Bloglovin keeps track of all your liked posts and you can go back to them by viewing your Liked posts on the side. You can also organize your blogs by category and that's shown along the side too.

Yeahhh, it's pretty sweet. Now, when you want to view the post in it's entirety, just click on the preview and it will bring you straight to the blog it belongs to.

The only difference will be the small toolbar on the bottom like so.

Once you've finished reading/commenting on the post, just click next to go to the next unread post in your blog reel! You can also like a post from the toolbar. Convenient? I think so. And if you decide you don't want the toolbar there anymore, just click the X and bye byeee bloglovin.

I absolutely LOVE this site! I think it's so much more user friendly than Google Reader and it makes my addiction to blogs way more controllable. Hopefully it will help you guys out as well - check it out! (:

Thai me up

2010-05-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon ladies! I hope you all had a good night/morning. After work last night, I took a really nice, relaxing bath and painted my toenails the cutest shade of summer pink. I felt totally spoiled - by myself lol. Now let's get to it!

fresh eats.
My sweetheart of a boyfriend ~~lost a bet~~ loves me sooo much that he took me to a new Thai restaurant for lunch today! Oh Thai food, why must you be so far away? Unfortunately, the closest Thai place is half an hour from here, but no distance is too far for this girl to travel in order to get her hands on some yummy pad thai!

This place used wayyy less vegetables than most of the other pad thai's I've had in the past and the original meal came with chicken and shrimp which is also unusual, but I subbed them out for tofu instead. With all these differences, it still tasted divine! The tofu I think is always the hardest to cook right and it was delicious, totally soaked up the peanut sauce. My poor culture-shocked boyfriend just ordered the sesame chicken which I didn't take a picture of because I was starving and I'm pretty sure I was ten seconds away from taking a bite out of my camera. If the food had taken a few minutes longer, you may have had no pictures at all!

At the end, the waiter brought us both a fortune cookie? It was more a mesh of chinese/japanese/thai food than I had originally thought, but hey I never turn down a fortune cookie. And my fortune was, well it was plain awesome.

Oh yeah. The chinese fortune cookie writers are so wise. New inspirational quote of the month? I think so.

fit happenings.
So it's official! I am going to be running the Cure Thirst Half-Marathon in Youngstown September 4!

This will be my first half-marathon. I'm nervous, but I'm also really excited! I can't wait to just run it, even though it's like 4 months away. Speaking of races, I'm off to run! I'm gonna try out my nike+ tonight - stay tuned!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

2010-05-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, I consume enough pumpkin to support a small farm. If you were to look through what few recipes I have posted, I'm pretty sure somewhere between 40-60% involve it in some way. I have no real defense for this, just the fact that I really like pumpkin.

So when I decided to make The Healthy Apron's Banana Bread Oatmeal Pancakes this morning, umm of course I had to tweak it for a little pumpkin action, right?!

Seriously, these are ahhhmazing! As if I needed another pumpkin recipe to add to my repertoire. My poor future children will probably resemble small pumpkins by the time they're toddlers. At least they'll be cute!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup of old fashioned oats, ground

1/2 cup 100% whole wheat flour

1 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 TBSP butter, melted

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup + 2 TBSP almond milk

1/2 TBSP honey

1 large egg

1/2 cup cooked oats (mine were made with 1/2 cup pumpkin,

cinnamon, vanilla and stevia to taste)

Cook your oatmeal as you usually would and set aside. Grind up oats in food processor/blender till fine and combine with whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder. Melt butter and set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, vanilla, honey, egg and cooked oats, adding butter once it has sufficiently cooled so that it doesn't cook the egg. Fold in flour mixture until just combined - don't over mix! Heat skillet on low/medium and spray with cooking spray before adding batter in

1/4 cup increments. Cook and enjoy! Add whatever toppings you'd like. I chose a few dark chocolate chips, walnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup - perfection!

I halved the original recipe and I kinda guesstimated on the amount of baking powder because I couldn't find it anywhere in the original post? I probably missed it somewhere along the way cause that's how things always seem to happen for me - still even with that, these turned out face melting. And I still have a ton of batter left! Does anyone know, can you freeze batter? Or how long it lasts in the fridge? I'll probably break out the rest of these bad boys tomorrow morning, but I'm just curious. As usual.

fit happenings.

So last night, I had to put the new kicks to the test and I decided to try for a personal record. I ran 5 miles straight. That's the furthest I've ever gone without stopping! That may or may not seem like a lot to you, but to me - it totally is.

It's not like I made great time or anything, I finished in 53:08 which averages out to about 10:36 or so a mile. I wasn't exactly trying to book it since it was my first time at this distance, but I think I could definitely go faster next time. I signed up for a 5 MILE RACE next weekend so knowing that I can do it now is really relieving. I'm totally stoked for it.

Oh! And is anyone planning on going to The Healthy Living Summit in August!? Tickets are going on sale tomorrow at 9 pm so don't miss out! I definitely plan on attending and if anyone is going from the Northern Ohio/Pennsylvania region, I'm down for some riding buddies and roommates! (:

Have an awesome day little bloggies! I have to work all day unfortunately, but at least it's another rainy day. Has anyone seen the sun lately? I'm about to file a missing persons report.

New kicks

2010-05-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

I love sneakers. I'd consider it one of my ~~many~~ addictions. You know, I never realized how many I had until I started blogging? I haven't decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing yet!

Good or bad, I scored a sweeeeet pair of kicks yesterday! Limited Edition Virtue Sauconys! It was the very last pair and it was my size! I so love destiny.

Excuse the dark tint, you just can't find good sunlight these days. My favorite part: the lace-like flower detailing.

I also picked up a pair of new nike running shorts! I've had a gift card to Finish Line since Christmas and I finally decided to use it.

Is it weird that nothing makes me happier than new workout gear? After malling, my aunt invited me to dinner and I was only too happy to oblige her. They all had grilled steak, but my uncle was kind enough to grill me a salmon burger! What a great guy.

A salmon burger, enormous salad and greens with parmesan! You can see why I never turn down an invite. My uncle also had the gall to bring out a mini plate of assorted cheesecake bites!! Thankfully, they were a little more than half gone before he brought them out, but my cousins and I did some damage too, I think.

Cheesecake - it's my kryptonite. Is there any one food you can never turn down, even if you're full?

Well loves, I'm off to start the day. I have a few things I need to do before work, the most important being shower and run - catch ya on the flipside and have a great day!

Race Recap & then some

2010-05-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

I hope your eyes are ready for some serious visual intake. I have about a bazillion pictures from today, but I'm going to try to narrow it down to ohhh a few a hundred or so. I'd hate to be held responsible for your failing eyesight two hours from now.

Now the race! I'm not sure if I even mentioned it earlier at all because it was kind of a last minute thing, but I ended up in the Run for Amyloidosis this morning. Even though I only got like three terrible hours of sleep last night (*sad face*), I knew it was going to be a good day when I turned on the radio and heard Bulletproof by La Roux AND Your Love Is My Drug by Kesha. I hate to admit it, but I have a terrible weakness for cheesy pop songs. I hope you don't think less of me.

Oh and heads up, please excuse the awful pictures of me in the following. Beauty sleep is a literal thing for me and three hours just doesn't cut it.

There were so many people! This is by far the biggest run I've been in. Almost two hundred people showed up today! It was really touching since the run was held by the family of a woman who died last year from amyloidosis. She actually went to school with my aunt, who ran the race with me! It was her very first race so instead of running it at my pace, I slowed down to match hers and doubled back every time she walked. What can I say? I love the woman.

And can you blame me? Look at her! Isn't she just darling? This is us post-race (if you couldn't tell from the insane hair). All in all, I finished in 32:45 alongside my aunt. Not bad considering with all the doubling back I did, I probably ran a little over 3.5 miles. And guess what? Even with that sucky time, I placed second in my age group. My aunt placed first in hers and my aunt's friend who also came with us placed first in hers as well. Crazy, right?! I couldn't stop laughing when they called me up during the awards ceremony. The worst time I've ever run a 5k in and they give me a medal. Next time, maybe I'll walk and cross my fingers for a brand new car?

La Roux and Kesha did me right. Once the race ended, we decided to explore Mill Creek Park where the race was held. I had never been there before and boy have I been missing out! This place is gorgeous. I couldn't stop gawking. I felt like a tourist in my own town. We went to the Fellows Riverside Garden first. It was set up like an English Tea Garden. So so beautiful.

Then we ventured over to Lanterman's Mill which is an old mill that was restored and now continues to make all sorts of flours! Buckwheat, spelt, oat - it has it all baby.

As if all this natural beauty wasn't enough to make my day complete, we decided to hit up The Flaming Ice Cube for lunch!

Now here is where a little random craziness happened. There is a little gift shop attached to the restaurant and I was idly walking around, trying my best not to accidentally break anything, when I saw this:

which just so happened to be on this:

The shirt I got from the race today! Totally weird, right? Especially since I've never even heard that quote before today. Has anything crazy ironic like this ever happened to you?

Before I stray too far, let's get back to my beloved Flaming Ice Cube. This name probably doesn't mean much to you right now, but it would if you had even one bite of their food. It's all completely vegan and 100% rocking! It's the kind of place you go to and have trouble ordering at because you just want to have one of everything on the menu. I ordered the Organic Soba Noodle Salad - soba noodles with spicy plum dressing tossed with carrots, cucumbers, peanuts and tofu over romaine lettuce.

Try your best not to lick the screen. Honestly, it was every bit as yummy as it looks. I laid waste to my poor, defenseless lunch. My aunt got a flatbread whole wheat pizza with pistachio pesto, daiya cheese, grilled zucchini and diced tomatoes which I had to try, you know, just to make sure it was good enough for her.

And uhhhh yeah, yeah it was definitely good enough. Maybe even too good. In fact, it should be illegal for anything to be this good. I should alert the proper authorities...

You would think my amazingly awesome day would be over, but, oh no, my friends, not just yet! To top it all off, when I didn't think my day could possibly get any better, I found these goodies at the counter when I went to pay.

Was this day even real? I'm not too certain. Someone pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming. This was probably the best day I've had in a while, hands down. Oh and how hot is that chipping nail polish? Ha!

You know, I could totally just keep going on about my day, but I think your brains might be fried from overstimulation by now. Go rest up little chickies and I will see you all soon (:

Here's hoping your tomorrow is as good as my today! And just to guarantee it, press play for instant happiness.

Slavin in the kitchen all DAY

2010-05-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

If I have to wash another dish, I swear I'll break it. I'll do it. Don't think I won't! I have a new found respect for Momma Fit who who practically spends her life in the kitchen cooking and baking for her five never satisfied children.

Brats.

First I had to make my boyfriend's father a batch of chocolate chip cookies to repay him for the Granny's Cycle Salsa he bought me! What a sweet guy. This stuff is amazing, a crazy biker chops it up in batches in his kitchen like 15 minutes from here. Honestly my all-time favorite salsa ever and I consider myself a highly seasoned salsa connoisseur. What can I say? Mexican food and I have an amazing relationship.

I digress! Back to the cookies. I decided not to make him my healthy variety and opted for the standard Nestle Tollhouse recipe.

They turned out pretty rockin if I do say so myself. God, my boyfriend has the BEST girlfriend. I'm jealous.

I may have snagged one before I bagged them all up - actually it was probably more like three with all the random spoonfuls of cookie dough I "tested". How would I have known it was good otherwise? Come onnnnn!

After dropping off those goodies and running a few errands, I returned to my kitchen to try my very first curry recipe. I've never had curry before, but I keep seeing it on Fitnessista's Indian Food Wednesday and I just couldn't resist. I'm a curious little kitten after all. So I popped open the awesome new cookbook I scored at the Maxx (thanks Teej!) and went at it!

This is what I was trying to recreate tonight. I felt more like a mad scientist than a chef with all the crazy ingredients I never knew existed before. Cardamom? It took me a while to realize I had to crack the shells open to get the seeds out... Don't judge me.

It actually looked a lot like the picture. Sweet. And it didn't taste half bad either. I'm not too sure I'd make it again. I mean, it was good - just not great. I'd totally be down to try a curry at a restaurant now though, no doubt it'd be wayyyy better than mine!

Sun Protection Awareness Month.
Today I slathered on some SPF 50! I'm going to try to do this every day for the month and hopefully form a skin saving habit. You should try it too!

Well my loves, I'm off to snuggle and watch some italians get whacked soprano-style. Have a great night (:

I'm in love with How Sweet Eats

2010-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my silly little thumb in the corner, but I just had to start this off with the picture since words can't accurately describe the pure euphoria I experienced for breakfast this morning. It's official: I'm in love with Mrs. How Sweet Eats. Does anyone know how to make a ring out of bacon?

When I saw her recipe for fruit filled omelets with cinnamon cream, I may or may not have shed a tear of joy. I rushed to the kitchen to create this masterpiece and though I didn't have any yogurt (sad but true, grocery shopping is on my list of things to do today, be sure about that), I ended up making a ricotta cinnamon cream instead and it was equally amazing!

I think breakfast is quickly becoming my favorite meal of the day - which is extra weird because I used to be a hardcore cereal-for-breakfast kinda girl. However, I'm liking the change.

It's a good thing I had such a filling breakfast today because I've got a lot on my to do list today, including but not limited to:

hit the gym
pick up some groceries
mallin with two lovely ladies
clean my terribly dirty car!! (it's bad, it really is)
bake cookies for a certain someone
try my hand at curry! mmmm

Wish me luck with dinner tonight, I've never made curry so cross your fingers! If it's good, maybe I'll send you some (;

Pale Power

2010-05-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of discovering a fantastic new (to me) blog - The Healthy Apron. It was love at first post! And one of the first things I've decided to do thanks to this super awesome site is support the Ban The Tan Movement. Being pale-tastic myself, I have already taken on many of the views against tanning and tanning salons that other pretty pales stand behind. But, as Erin said, it's time to USE MY VOICE.

For the next 30 days, I'm going to be proactive about my skincare. Look forward to daily posts/tweets on something new each day! Today, I decided to try what I read in The Healthy Apron and eat 2 oz of dark chocolate. Ahh it was just torturous! I've no idea how I'm going to get through the rest of this month! (:

Seriously though, if it tastes this good to protect my skin, my body will feel baby smooth in no time. As if I need more reasons to slap my boyfriend's hands away from me!

If you haven't read Erin's killer post on skin protection, check it out here STAT!

fit happenings.
I found an awesome recipe for vegetable curry that I will be showing no mercy towards tomorrow night (recipe to follow), but I needed to run out and grab a few things I didn't have on hand and that meant - Cindy's.

This is one of those health food stores that smells a little like your grandmother's house. In a good way, of course. Although some of the items sold here are ridiculously overpriced (no lie, I've seen Kashi cereal here for $6.00!! that's twice the amount I could get it at the store), sometimes you can find yourself some gold. And that's exactly what I did today when I went straight to the bulk bins!

I re-upped on my chia seeds since I'd used the remainder of what I have for those delicious chocolate vegan overnight oats last night and grabbed from ginger root for the recipe.

I also saw some Sunspire dark chocolate chips! The ingredient list looked pretty banging so I picked up some of them as well.

I may or may not have sample one or two ~~dozen~~ of them. Chocolate is too yummy for it's own good. After running a few errands, it was time for my very last Lil Kicks class! *sad face* I know I've mentioned Lil Kicks before, but I'm not sure if I ever actually explained what it was. Basically, I teach children aged 3-6 soccer! And I love it!! I don't know how I'm going to make it to fall...

Snapped a quick picture of myself before heading out the door - please note the crazy dirty hair and clothing. I'm such a grody things sometimes, but hey a little filth never hurt anyone, right? .....right?! Please someone agree with me!!

Okay loves, I'm off to feed my growling tummy (it just rules me sometimes, honestly) and then I'm heading out with some of the girls! Always a great time. Hope you guys have the same (:

Chocolate Vegan Overnight Oats

2010-05-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm really starting to love overnight oats. At first I was pretty sure that eating oats without heating them AND after leaving them in the fridge for 8-10 hours would be about as enjoyable as slinging back chilled slime. Or cold grout. I wasn't too sure on the consistency at that point.

However, this is only my second time experimenting with overnight oats and it is clear that I am hooked. I practically tangoed to my refrigerator this morning with happy expectancy. If you too would like to start your day off dancing, I'd advise you to make these VOO from the lovely OhSheGlow's as soon as possible. The original recipe can be found here, but I had to tweak mine ever so slightly since coconut milk isn't exactly a thing I keep on hand at all times. Though maybe I'll start today.

Chocolate Vegan Overnight Oats

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 + 1/4 cup almond milk

1/3 cup greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBSP chocolate protein powder

1 TBSP cocoa powder

1TBSP chia seeds

Mix together all the dry ingredients first before adding the wet ones. Whisk together and

then cover (or not) and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, cha cha to your fridge,

take out VOO and add whatever fixins you'd like!

I added strawberries, walnuts andddd a little cool whip to mine. Don't even say it - I know I have a problem. But hey, if cool whip is my only vice for the rest of my life I think I'll be okay. This tasted more like dessert than breakfast and that, my friends, is something I certainly do not have a problem with.

Just looking at these pictures is tempting me to make it again for lunch. Which is something I would totally do for more excusable cool whip.

A Day of Recipes

2010-05-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

I'm already loving the summer days. More spare time = more time to cook delicious homemade meals! I started my morning off right with some Chocolate Blueberry Protein Pancakes! I nicked this off of The Fitnessista and twisted it a bit to make these yummy pancakes.

Chocolate Blueberry Protein Pancakes

1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

2 TBSP Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Mix

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg white

1/2 TBSP cocoa powder

2 TBSP almond milk

Stevia to taste

Chocolate chips

Blueberries

Combine all the dry ingredients together then add the wet. After you've

poured the batter onto the griddle, add in your chocolate chips and blueberries.

Flip pancake after 1-3 minutes. Enjoy one huge pancake or a few small ones!

These kept me full for a while! I loved the idea of adding protein powder to bulk them up. The Fitnessista is a genius. (:

After such a glorious breakfast, there was only one thing to do - shop! I still needed to pick up a few things to send momma fit for a (way belated) mother's day package. Of course I had to make the customary stop at TJ Maxx to search for goodies while I was out and there I found this deeeelish snack bar:

Has anybody ever tried one of these before? The ingredient list was really impressive.

Macadamia nuts, Coconut, Brazil nuts, Glucose syrup, Sultanas, Apricots, Honey, Puffed rice, Sesame seeds

Umm yum? You bet it was! I loved the sweetness the coconut and dried apricot lent to the bar. I might just have to run back and grab a few more. You're the man TJ!

I also picked up a book of vegetarian recipes at the Maxx and that's where I snagged tonight's dinner from. I didn't have everything on hand so I messed with the recipe (that's a first!) and actually, it turned out AHMAZING! Seriously, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Fafalle with Pumpkin Sauce

2 oz (1 serving) fafalle

1/2 cup pumpkin

3/4 TBSP butter

1 slice of white onion

1/2 cup almond milk

2 TBSP parmesan cheese

parsley to taste

Bring water to a boil and add in the pasta. Cook for 8-10 minutes. In

separate pan, heat butter and onions until soft. Add in pumpkin, milk,

cheese and parsley. If you'd like a thinner sauce, add more milk. Combine

pasta and sauce and top with a little more parmesan to taste.

Devour promptly.

Ahhh so good!! I'm going to make this again next week. That will give me some time to try and figure out a way to trick my boyfriend into eating it. I can be pretty devious when I want to be. This recipe is only one serving though, so if you plan on sharing - double it! Or triple it. Or triple it and don't share it. I could see myself doing that too. I'm starting to think pumpkin might be my all time favorite veggie.

What's your favorite vegetable? Favorite fruit? Favorite meal?

Well I'm off! Movie time with the boy toy. He's narrowed it down the Fantastic Mr Fox or The Libertine - random choices right? He's lucky he's cute. Love!

Falafel Fun

2010-05-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a totally gloomy day. The kind of day where you just want to tuck under your covers (or your boyfriends covers in my case since his bed is absurdly more comfortable than mine) and waste the day away lounging in your pjs, eating in bed and catching up on all those blogs you've been meaning to read - via lap top of course. Ahhh bliss.

You know, I think I can actually hear reality laughing at me.

Begrudgingly, I rallied myself for the rain and realized that only one thing could turn this day around. Take-out Tuesday. Yep, that's right. Take-out Tuesday. It's a new little thing happening once a week here in the world of Fit n Fresh. Everyone else has a fun day of the week to look forward to so hey, why not yours truly?

And I just so happened to know exactly where I wanted to go for the first official Take-out Tuesday. A tiny little medditeranean place called Ghossain's.

Not only is the signage completely adorable - cause that would have been enough to suck me in right there - but I heard from a very reliable source that they have falafels!

Falafels = One Happy Tummy.

My tummy thanks me. Not only was the falafel DELICIOUS, but they also had an assortment of killer homemade hummuses (hummi? spell check on the plural please?), pitas, pita chips, dinners and tons of other yummy looking stuff. I walked out of there with the BEST hummus I have ever had - black bean. This stuff is like a fiesta in your mouth! In fact, instead of walking out, I'm fairly certain I threw in a little flamenco. Don't laugh! Once I demolish this pack of hummus - and that will be soon I assure you - I already have my eye on a new flavor: parmesan. God bless those amazing Greeks at ghossains!

fresh eats.
In keeping with trying as many new things as possible as fast as I can (what can I say? I'm like a kid on crack when it comes to decisions), I found a recipe at katheats.com for pumpkin overnight oats. I've never made overnight oats before but due to my obsession with pumpkin, I was sure I'd eat them even if they tasted like crap.

Thankfully they didn't though - they tasted AWESOME.

Let's get a little closer, shall we?

Wow. So good. I topped mine off with crushed shredded wheat, maple syrup, crushed walnuts and a little bit of brown sugar. To die for, I'm telling you. If you like pumpkin, march yourself to your kitchen and make this right now. Ill just say you're welcome now since I'm sure you'll be singing my thanks in the morning.

Lunch was obviously the glorious falafel I mentioned earlier. I consumed that bad boy in under five seconds while my boyfriend watched in what I'm going to assume was abject disgust. Good thing he's stuck with me otherwise I might have been forced to slow down.

Dinner was another salad. You can say I am currently blessed with an overabundance of lettuce. I couldn't bring myself to spend 3$ on a single bag when I could spend 6$ on an enormous tub. You'd be correct in assuming I'm not the type of girl to go to Sam's Club often for fear of spending my entire paycheck. Looks like I'll be having salads all week!

This one had chickpeas, goat cheese, cucumbers, black olives and red onion. I went with this Parmesan asiago balsamic vinaigrette today, it's one of my favorites mmmm!

Later on, I snacked on a lot of unpictured pita chips with black bean hummus as well as a bowl of blueberries finished off with cool whip. If you don't know by now - I loveeee cool whip. Like ridiculously love. Like I eat it by the spoonful when I think no one's looking love. Like I've written poems about it on my notebooks love. It's sad I know.

Well chickies I'm off! I have a hot date with the boyfriend and Mr Soprano. Nothing's more romantique than watching a bunch of italians off each other. At least not to my boyfriend.

Sweet Potato + Baked Beans = Yum

2010-05-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm (finally) done with school, I have a lot of extra time on hands and being as bored as I was at work today, I decided to be productive. Shocked? I know I am. Not only did I write out my workouts for the week, but I even created a cute little chart to write them in! Yay me! I can't put it up right now because the internet is against me, but it will definitely be up tomorrow. Feel free to use it if you'd like (:

daily eats.
Breakfast was thrown together in a matter of seconds since I was on the run. Ezekiel sprouted grain bread with the crunchy almond butter I picked up at Trader Joe's in Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Seriously this stuff was GOOD. Wayyyyy better than the first almond butter I tried, which I think was the blue diamond kind? This also had flaxseed in it! Double score.

For a mid-afternoon snack, I whipped me up a blueberry banana and chia seed smoothie! After reading so many posts in the blog world with bloggers adding chia seeds to just about everything, I was totally stoked to finally find some at a health food store nearby. Totally. Stoked.

I really like the texture that chia seeds add to smoothies. I mean, yeah, they're kinda on the slimy side but I love the crunch they add. What I don't love however is when they get stuck in my teeth! lol

Lunch was pretty much my fav. I recreated my favorite house salad from Up A Creek - spring greens with chickpeas, black olives, red onion, cucumber and raspberry vinaigrette. Mmmm delish!

And finally dinnertime! I actually tried something new tonight - the sweet potato/baked beans combo that I've been seeing over and over again through the blogsphere. Really really quick and easy to throw together at work. It was way more filling than I thought it'd be, I couldn't even eat it all! Definitely will make this again whenever I need a fast dinner.

Notice anything about my meals today? No meat! Props if you got that right. I've been leaning in this direction for a while lately and I think it's time I just do it. It's crazy how you really don't even miss meat. I don't feel less full or less satisfied. Plus I'm interested in learning a few new veggie recipes.

Any other vegetarians out there? Vegans maybe? What is your favorite go-to recipe when you're craving a good, fast all veggie meal?

Bests in the Burgh

2010-05-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, a couple girlfriends and I headed down to Pittsburgh for a little birthday celebration! I absolutely adore Pittsburgh and of course a couple trips to Trader Joe's were definitely in order. (:

Here are just a few pictures to highlight the insaneee time spent there:

All homemade rings - wayyy beautiful

Totally bought one of these and now I wish I would have bought 10

Sweet hippie dress I found in a sweet hippie store

Sweet hippie bracelets also in sweet hippie store

They really sell these?

I love mochi! seriously, I devour it whenever possible

The lady who served us at the Roland overheard me ~~whining~~ talking about how we missed the fresh produce market so she brought us out some strawberries she bought there earlier! Who said there are no nice people in the world anymore?

Umm a few treats we bought? lol

Delicious pad thai from Lu Lu's Noodles *heart*

Mmm pad thai makes me a happy girl!

Right before an amazing night out!

So what do you think? Time well spent? Definitely. Did I blow wayyy too much money on food? That's debatable I think.

Have you had a girls weekend lately? Plan on having one? Want to have one? Where would you guys go? My next trip is going to be Baltimore in June! I just love the inner harbor and the aquarium is out of this world!

New Blogspot?

2010-05-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm thinking about trying out wordpress for a bit to see how I like it. It just seems a lot more clean-cut compared to blogger, but we'll see. It's also a little bit more complicated!

I've been working hard today to stick with my weekly goal of cutting out unnecessary sweets and so far so good. today = pass! I made the most delicious dinner tonight as well!

Quinoa Primavera with Chicken, Spring Peas and Asparagus

Seriously - this was to DIE for. I couldn't stop eating it! I didn't have any olive oil (ran out! oh no!) so I subbed in canola oil and I ended up not adding any spinach to the mix either, but these little differences didn't mean a thing. I'm gonna be dreaming about this for lunch tomorrow, that's for certain :)

I've also been working on my own version of an oatmeal protein cookie! This is exciting news for me, considering the closest thing I've come to creating on my own in the kitchen came out of an easy bake oven lol. I'm still tweaking the recipe, but it's tasting better every batch. Yay!!

Well that's all for now loves! Sweet dreams about sweet eats for all of you *

Relay for Life

2010-05-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a hot minute since the last time I posted! Sorry for the delay, but this past weekend we had the Relay for Life at the sports complex where I work. Just like last year, the event was spectacular! I had a great time! It always feels good to help out a charity or organization like that and the amount of fun I had was just insane.

What didn't feel good, however, was all the JUNK I mindlessly ingested all weekend long. I woke up feeling like I was going to hurl from all the sugar. Whoops.

Though I tried to make good food choices whenever I could, there really wasn't much to be found. I grabbed up fresh fruit whenever possible, but I also devoured cookies, cupcakes and kettlecorn like it was my job. As if that wasn't enough, it also happened to be my birthday and my family was bringing me sweets left and right! I mean, the thought was nice, but my food baby later? Not so much.

Time for: A Healthy Food Detox! That's right people, nothing but good food for me for a quite a while. In fact, I think I'll go start right now! Later loves (:

Xanthum Gum: Is It Healthy?

2010-04-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm getting into uncommon, healthy ingredients, I keep seeing Xanthum gum. I don't know about you, but that just sounds so chemical to me. Alas, it just keeps popping up! In recipes, in food labels - I even saw it for sale in bulk at my local health food store! That, people, was the last straw. I had to do a little research on this mystery subject. I was really surprised by what I found.

Xanthum gum is actually....... SUGAR made from CORN! This is no natural substance my friend. You can't go out and pick a pack of xanthum gum or tap xanthum gum from a maple tree. First, you have to start out with glucose or sucrose and ferment it by using the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. The result is, you guessed it: xanthum gum.

If you'd like to read up some more on xanthum gum and it's properties, check out this post I found at The Fit Shack here or you could always go to the good old trusty wikipedia and check it out here.

All in all, I've decided that personally I do not consider this a healthy eating alternative, health food store or not.

You know what? It feels good to be making educated decisions involving what I choose to put or not put into my body. Empowerment is pretty sweet. Ahhhh the internet! Making my life easier one click at a time. (:

UPDATE ON THE NEW CAMERA: Should be coming soooon! I absolutely cannot wait! I think I've decided to go with a cannon rebel instead of a nikon. I just really like them more now that I've tried them both out in the store. Seriously excited.

Stay tuned for a blog on snacking! (Since obviously, I'm the queen)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

2010-04-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Since my first dietary challenge was to cut out white flour, I decided to try a recipe using my new whole wheat flour and fell upon this: Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins.

I don't know why, but I've had this need to bake lately! So I headed to my kitchen Saturday morning and created these scrumptious little servings of whole wheat goodness. I liked this recipe because it didn't call for any sugar! I also tweaked the recipe a bit to get rid of the all-purpose flour.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

3/4 cup vanilla soymilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
2 TBSP brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Beat milk, oil, honey and egg together till blended. Stir in
flour, baking powder and salt until just moistened
3. Fold in blueberries
4. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray and divide batter
5. Sprinkle each muffin with mixed brown sugar and cinnamon
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Cannot WAIT for my new camera. Anyway, these turned out to be sooo goodddd! I also worked out the nutritional information and at 165 calories, they came pretty close to the given caloric value of 170. I was impressed. My grandmother liked these so much, she asked me for a copy of the recipe. Now that's when you know something is good!

I've been on the search for a new race (to prove to myself that I can do better than the last) and I think I've found one next weekend in Pittsburgh that I might sign up for. The only thing is, I'm going to Pittsburgh that weekend for my birthday bonanza! So we'll have to see how this one turns out. Trust me, I'll let you know.

Sweet dreams!

Race Recap

2010-04-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

So today was the day: my first 5k race. It went a lot better than I thought it would, however I was also slightly disappointed in myself. I ended up having to walk a bit. Sad face. To top that off, Sarah, the girl I was supposed to go with, ended up going out last night and didn't make it to the race today (please see Responsibility posted earlier). Although I was a little ticked, it showed again that I made the right choice to stay in last night. Yay me!

I'm going to break it down like this:

THINGS I DID RIGHT.
1. I pinned my hair up completely out of my face. I was very very very thankful that I did this, even though I'm sure I looked like a retard.
2. I wore leggings without shorts over them. Again, another retard move, but way more comfortable.

THINGS I DID WRONG.
umm wow, where to begin?
1. I checked the weather the night before and dressed accordingly for 55 degrees and rain in leggings, a tank top, an underamour and a long sleeve t-shirt. Unfortunately, it ended up being way nicer than that and I'm pretty sure I was seconds away from a heat stroke. Oops.
2. Instead of eating what I normally eat for break - fruit - I thought I'd make a power breakfast and had some yummy pumpkin oatmeal (recipe to follow). Next time, however, I'm sticking with fruit. The oatmeal was way to dense and even though I ate it two hours before the run, I ended up with terrible stomach cramps which lead to my decision to walk about half of the last mile.
3. I ran just a little too fast at the beginning. I think I just got overzealous. There were a lot of older people and I thought I could easily outrun them. Bigggg mistake.

In the end, even with my little walking stint, I ended up finishing in 29:33. I'm actually really impressed with that and it shows how must faster than normal I must have been going in the beginning to be able to walk and still finish in under 30 minutes.

All in all, I had a good time and I'm definitely going to make the next race better! Though I read a lot of tips and such on the internet, I think maybe it's something you have to do firsthand before you can really learn from it.

Before I go, I'm gonna leave you with delicious pumpkin oatmeal recipe I totally stole from Eat Spin Run Repeat! The original is right here.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1/3 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup pumpkin

1/2 scoop protein (I used chocolate)

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

squeeze of agave nectar

Mix oats and water and heat in the microwave for

2 mins. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Heat until you reach desired consistency. I like mine

thick so I had to throw it in a few times. Then top with

nuts of your choice! I used chopped walnuts. Mmm!

So good, it tasted like warm pumpkin pie filling which means this gets two thumbs up by me! It's totally going into my breakfast cookbook - no doubt. I think I might try a few variations on it as well. Maybe a little brown sugar topping? Cinnamon? Ohhh yeahhhh!

Okay lovies, I'm off to eat lunch with the boy and then study before work. I've got an exam on Tuesday that I really don't feel like taking. I just keep telling myself "One week till summer!"

Responsibility

2010-04-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

I've never been one for responsibility. I wouldn't say I'm irresponsible exactly. I've never missed paying on my loan or credit card and if you asked me to hold your purse for you, I definitely wouldn't lose it. But sometimes, I'd really rather do what I want than what I should. Take tonight, for example. Tomorrow I will be running in my very first 5k. I'm wicked excited for it, but at the same time I'm a little bummed that it's so early in the morning. All of my friends are partying it up at Springfest or Collegefest or this one kid's house whose parents went out of town this weekend.

On the one hand, I know that I should stay in, definitely not drink and probably go to bed early. But on the other hand, I totally want to go out and have some fun - it's Saturday night, people! I know it's not really a big deal, but as I was debating on where I wanted to go out tonight, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

I'm not all that responsible.

It made me think back to the quote I posted earlier today. If you don't make any changes in your life today, how will you expect anything to be different tomorrow?

Taking this into consideration, I've decided to stay in tonight, throw on a movie and pass out by ten. Hey, it may be Saturday night, but it will be Saturday night next Saturday too! And when that day comes, it will DEFINTELY be time for me to get my dance on. A well deserved dance on for that!

Challenge Me Baby

2010-04-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

While I was randomly traversing the world wide web yesterday, I glanced over a quote that in retrospect I probably should have written down because it definitely struck a chord with me. It went something like

"You can't expect to see any changes in yourself if you never change what you're doing now"

I really liked this thought and it made me think about my own health and fitness regime. Everyone wants to see changes, but you can't expect them to happen when you continue to do everything as you always have. So I'm going to start implementing biweekly Change Challenges! I know it's not the beginning of the week yet, but I'm gonna give myself a head start on the first one.

Change Challenge:

Make the switch from white flour to whole wheat flour

This is one I've been meaning to do for a while, but just haven't yet. Today I'm gonna march my little tush down to the store and grab the biggest bag of whole wheat flour I can find! Hurray for healthy changes!!

Since I didn't have time to finish posting yesterday, here are some snapshots of the foods I completelyyy enjoyed.

A yummy grilled chicken salad

I cannot get enough of these protein cookies!

Today's gameplan is actually surprisingly not packed. After getting some much needed basics at the store, all I really have planned is dinner with my grandparents and studying for my chem exam. My first race is tomorrow (eek!) so I won't be running or working out at all. I'm really super nervous, but I know I'll do well. I've been reading a bunch of tips online so I'm off to down as much water as possible.

Catch ya on the flipside!