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4th of July and Paleo Oatmeal

July 5, 2012 By Laura

Can you imagine running a 10K in 27:36?

 

The 24-year-old winner of this year’s Peachtree Road Race (the largest 10K in the world) did it.  His name is Peter Kirui.  He’s Kenyan.  Surprise, surprise.

Peachtree runners

 

I spectated for a bit this year, but didn’t run.  It’s a little disheartening because it’s the first I’ve skipped in 5 years.  My knee and my trainer both have put a halt to my running, so I passed my number along to my boss’ wife.  She didn’t win the women’s division.  That prize went to Mamitu Daska from Ethiopia, who finished the 6.2 mile run in 32:22.

After a little cheerleading, I hit the gym to lift weights before heading to the lake for a day of getting sunburned fun in the sun.  Having done shoulders with my trainer on Tuesday, chest and biceps yesterday, a jet ski ride, and a sunburn… I can barely lift my arms.  Good thing its leg day!

 

Post-lake there were fireworks.  My BFF and I hit the country club where we grew up for a 20 minute display that would rival and city production.

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The breakfast I began the day with for-sure kept me moving all day.

 

 

Several people had told me about Paleo “Oatmeal,” but I wast in a hurry to try a Paleo meal when I can have the real thing.  You see, the Paleo diet shuns bread-y carbs.  This oatmeal doesn’t actually include oats.

Despite my hesitation, curiosity got the best of me and I’m so glad it did.  This creamy oat-less oatmeal is going in constant rotation.

 

 

The banana gets that yummy caramelized taste, and I was surprised and how much this actually LOOKED like oatmeal.

Even better, it came together quickly and delivered and TON of protein to my tired muscles.  I amped it up more in my version with protein powder (I used Sun Warrior Vanilla here).  The addition of butter extract really have it that oatmeal taste – you know the one.  When you were a kid and would have a glob of melty butter on top of your oats… alongside wayyyy too much brown sugar.  It’s cool, we didn’t know and better

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Paleo Oatmeal

  • 1/2 C egg whites
  • 1/2 scoop protein powder
  • 2 T unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other liquid)
  • 1 T ground flaxseed
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 banana, well-mashed
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/8 tsp butter extract

 

Whisk together ingredients in a small bowl until well-combined.

In a small saucepan, cook mixture over low-med heat, stirring frequently to avoid lumps and reach oatmeal-like  consistency (~5 mins).

Top your “oatmeal” with your favorite oatmeal topping.  I went with blueberries.

Serves 1.

***

I’m a little annoyed with myself for getting so badly burned.  Doh.

Did you run a race?  Enjoy a fireworks show?  Both?

Have you tired one of the Paleo oatmeal bowls before?  Any thoughts on the program?  It wouldn’t work for me right now, but I’m curious about others’ experiences!

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: 4th of July, breakfast, gluten-free, oats, paleo, protein

Blueberry Protein Tart + WIAW

July 4, 2012 By Laura

Happy 4th of July!

I wasn’t going to post today, but how could I miss my favorite day of the week – Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday.

Last week I talked a lot about the nutrition plan I’m on to achieve my new fitness goal (competing in a figure competition).  I’m still packing in the protein and keeping it (mostly) vegetarian.  I’m struggling to find a wider variety of protein sources.

One thing I noticed last week was that my skin is breaking out from the increase in dairy.  Greek yogurt and cottage cheese had become protein-staples.  I’m aiming to just cut back a bit this week, limiting it to 1-2 servings of dairy per day, to see if that helps.

Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday theme for July is of “Food, Fun, and Fitness.”  Girl reads my mind with these themes!

Check out my protein-filled fuel below; then click here to the WIAW round-up on Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to see everyone else’s fitness treats!


Meal 1:

Last week I talked about how I’m now eating 7 meals a day.  Meal 1 occurred yesterday at 8am.  Knowing I had an appointment with my trainer later, I focused on getting as much energy as possible from my morning eats.

Workout energy can be quite tasty!

This is a Blueberry Protein Tart.  I ate it for breakfast, but it would make one helluva dessert too!
The inspiration for this creation was Tessa’s own creation.  I am not allowed the peanut butter she added, and I needed to reduce the size because when you eat 7 meals a day they need to be a tad smaller (yet still protein rich – that’s a whole other challenge).
Despite the omission of peanut butter, my crust was fantastically chewy and fudgey.  And the “cream filling” was just perfect.  If you haven’t invested in peanut flour, you should do so ASAP.  I’m not kidding.
Recipe at the bottom of this post.

Meal 2:

This was my pre-workout meal.  In effort to limit the dairy, I made a massive tomato and egg white scramble with basil and a drizzle of balsamic.  I’m also allowed 1 T of sunflower seeds, which I sprinkled on top of the mix.

Meal 3:

This meal is like lunch.  Since it was also my post-workout meal, a protein smoothie was in order.  I have to eat immediately after my workout to build muscle, so portability is key.  I also packed cereal for some carbs to top my smoothie and a water mixed with Amino Energy to drink during and after the workout for energy and recovery.

This is one of my new favorite smoothies.  Carrot Cake.  I’ve tried it before, but I think this particular combo is the winner.  A couple more trials and I’ll post the recipe.

It did get the thumbs up from both trainers who sampled it.

Meal 4:

This is like an afternoon snack.  That means I can have a protein source (25g) and a 3/4 C serving of veggies.  Hmmmm… a protein-packed nori roll?  Is that possible?

Yes, yes it is.  I mixed a scoop of protein powder and ~1 tsp of wasabi with water to form a paste.

I slathered my nori rolls with it and filled them with sprouts, beets, raw asparagus, and raw cauliflower.  Not too shabby for a snack on the fly!

Meal 5:

Usually I have some sort of dinner in mind, but today I was drawing a blank on where my dinner protein would come from.  My protein ended up being partially in the form of beans, and some of the secret was in the sauce.

Note: I know several will comment that I should eat more to beans, quinoa, and lentils for vegetarian/vegan protein sources.  The problem with that is that they count as carbs.  I am limited to 3/4 C of carbs at meals 1, 3, and 5.  3/4 a cup of beans is about 12g of protein.  That leaves 8-13g protein I’d still need for that meal!

For this protein-rich salad, I combined 1/2 cup of fava beans and cannellini beans with 3 oz Greek yogurt, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and lavar flakes.  Then I tossed it all with beets, sprouts, green pepper, and onion.  Topped with 1/4 C edamame, basil, more nooch, and red pepper flakes.

Sort of like a bean-based chicken salad.  Sort of.

Meal 6:

By this time of day I am sick of eating.  That’s something I never thought I’d say!  Meal 6 was a quick scramble of soy-based ground “beef,” egg whites, and zucchini topped with nooch and radish.

Meal 7:

Last meal.  This – I am told – is my “dessert.”  I’ve pulled some good ones, but tonight I was just proud of myself for getting in the 7th meal.  Typically I’m too stuffed by meal 6 to get anything else in mah belly.

1/2 banana covered in Greek yogurt and frozen with bowl of peanut butter protein pudding (protein powder, peanut flour, almond milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon).


Blueberry Protein Tart - delicious (mostly) make-ahead clean breakfast!

Blueberry Protein Tart

For the Crust:

  • 1/4 C cereal
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 T vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 2 T unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or liquid of choice)
  • 5-6 drops vanilla liquid stevia (or your favorite sweetener)
For the Cream:
  • 3 oz (1/2 container) Greek yogurt
  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 5-6 drops vanilla liquid stevia

For the Crust:

Place your favorite cereal in a blender and mix until it’s dust.  Pour into a small bowl and stir in cinnamon, protein powder, and chia seeds.  Stir in stevia and milk.  (Note: You may have to adjust liquid amounts depending on the powder and cereal you use.)  It should form a sticky ball.  

Spread the crust mixture evenly across a small plate (~1/4 in thick).  Refrigerate over night, or at least 20 mins.

For the Cream:

In a small bowl combine yogurt, peanut flour (you could sub more protein powder here), and stevia.  

Spread evenly atop your crust.
Top with the fruit of your choice and enjoy!

Makes 1 serving.

Approximate nutritionals (without toppings; can vary widely depending on cereal, powder, and yogurt used): 219 calories, 6.9g fat, 22.4g carbohydrates, 6.8g fiber, 4.3g sugar, 23.6g protein

***

In case you’re curious, I managed 154.5 g of protein with these eats. BAM.

How do you refuel post-workout?

What is your favorite 4th of July dish?

Filed Under: Breakfast, Fitness, Recipes, Weights Tagged With: 4th of July, breakfast, dessert, dinner, figure competition, lunch, protein, smoothies, snacks, vegetarian, WIAW, workout, yogurt

Seasonal Baking: Fluffy Fig Scones

July 3, 2012 By Laura

Seasonal baked goods are worth a cheat meal.

As if I need an excuse…

When a friend brought me figs from her dad’s yard, I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.

These are not your typical dried out coffee shop scones. They are quite moist, flaky, and full of rich figgy flavor.... and they're healthier!

You could use dried figs to make these scones, but why?  The juicy sweet fruit-candy is plentiful right now.

This recipe for fig-laced scones is one of my all-time favorites.  I make a batch once a year when figs are in season… it’s self-preservation, really.  If I make them, I eat them.

Over time I have lightened the recipe up a tad, but not to the detriment of taste or texture.

These are not your typical dried out coffee shop scones.  They are quite moist, flaky, and full of rich figgy flavor.  These free-form scones could masquerade as a muffin top in a pinch.

To sweeten these I used some “real” sugar, but also incorporated a NuNaturals Stevia blend.  Using a mix rather than replacing all of the real thing avoids any problem of aftertaste.

Maple extract is another great addition – you can achieve that rich maple flavor without having to add sugary syrup.  If you don’t have maple extract, try adding a vanilla or almond extract.

If you make these now, you’ll have them ready to eat while you cheer on the 4th of July race-runners.  Or to inhale after YOU run your own race.  I’ll be cheerleading for the world’s largest 10K with one of these and a cup of coffee in hand.  Stupid knee injury.

[Tweet “These Fig Scones are 100x better than anything in a coffee shop!”]


Fluffy Fig Scones

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Keywords: bake breakfast brunch snack figs spring summer

Ingredients (14 scones)

  • 4 1/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/4 C NuNaturals Fiber Baking Blend (or more regular sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 stick (1/2 C) salted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 pound fresh figs (~6 large)
  • 1 C buttermilk (I made mine with just under 1C almond milk and 1T lemon juice)
  • 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 T cream
  • Palm (or raw) sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter until you have pea-sized pieces. I find it’s easiest to just use my (clean) hands to do this.

Once combined, dice up your figs into 1 inch pieces and toss them in with the dry ingredients/butter mix.

Add milk, cream applesauce, and extract and briefly stir, just enough to bring the batter together. Do NOT over-mix.

the batter is moist, so I just make these free-form scones. Scoop ~1/4 C blob of the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Mix together your egg yolk and cream to form a wash. Lightly brush the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Powered by Recipage

***

Totally off subject, but I laughed so hard when a friend posted this on Facebook that I have to share:

“NBC Gymnastics Trials Announcer: ‘This young lady has certainly turned into quite the confident beam-worker.’
If I said that about a 14 year-old girl, I’d be arrested.”

What are your plans for the 4th?  Any race-runners?

What is your favorite scone flavor?

Filed Under: Baking, Breakfast, Recipes Tagged With: 4th of July, baking, breakfast, brunch, figs, scones

A Protein-Filled Wednesday + a Snack Giveaway!

June 27, 2012 By Laura

Snacking is the new name of the game for me.

Yesterday I revealed my new fitness goal to you all – to compete in a figure competition.  This means HUGE change in my plant-based diet.  Now I have to focus more on protein than plants, and I’m eating constantly… but my goal is to to keep to a vegetarian protein diet.

The Basic Plan:

  • 7 “meals” per day (I eat every 2 hours)
  • 20-25g of protein at each meal
  • 120 oz of water daily
  • 1 serving of fruit for the first 2 meals, and at meal 7 (“dessert”)
  • 1 serving of veggies for meals 3-6
  • 1/2 C carbs at meal 1, 3, 5, and 7 (beans, lentils, and sweet potatoes count as carbs)
  • Limited fats – flax at meal 1, nuts at meal 2, olive oil at meals 3 and 5

The good parts: no calorie counting or macro tracking; I get a cheat day once a week; I already love protein shakes

The hard parts: only eating 1 serving of veggies at a time is hard; eating that much protein on a veg diet is REALLY hard; eating all the time sounds fun at first, but I am really never hungry (except for when I wake up); eating every two hours take a ton of planning; all of that water has me running to the bathroom every 30 mins.


Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday theme of “Sensible Snacking” this month is just perfect for my new plan.  I am snacking all day!

Check out a day in  the food life of a wanna-be figure competitor; then click here to hop on to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to see everyone else’s day of eats!


Meal 1:

Janetha hipped me to the fact that I was appropriately celebrating National Chocolate Pudding Day at breakfast

I made a chocolate-peanut butter protein pudding/spread to top my Ezekial bread.  This was accompanied by 1/2 cup of cherries (good for inflammation/muscle recovery).

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding:

  • 1 T GNC Soy chocolate protein powder (check out the review here)
  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 1 T ground flax seed
  • 2 T unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Meal 2:

It’s blueberry season!  They are so sweet right now, making of an especially tasty shake… even if it did splash on my brand-new white shirt.  Note to self: don’t drink smoothies and drive.

Blueberry-Ginger Smoothie

  • 1 scoop Vega vanilla protein powder (see review here)
  • 1/2 C blueberries
  • 1 in piece of fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C spinach (I “cheated” and added veggies… I can’t help myself!)
  • 1 T sunflower seeds
  • Ice + water, to taste

Meal 3:

Leftovers!  Some of you may have seen the vegan quiche I posted on Instagram.  With a chickpea flour base, this high-protein dish made 6 slices which I will be bringing for lunch all week.  I enjoyed it with a side of sprouts.  For those that asked, I promise the recipe will come tomorrow!

While the quiche is high-protein, it’s not quite high enough.  No worries – it gave me an opportunity to have dessert with my meal.  A little sweet and a little savory, I loved this cardamom-laced treat!

Cardamom-Cinnamon Cottage Cheese Mix

  • 1/2 C cottage cheese
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom
  • 4-5 drops NuNaturals orange liquid stevia
  • 1 T unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk

Meal 4:

Here is where it gets hard to keep eating.  At this point I’ve downed 60g of protein and I’m feeling satisfied.  However, I’m not even half way through my daily meals!

Remember this seitan chorizo I made a couple of months ago?  I froze what I couldn’t eat for future uses.  I’m beyond happy I did that!  It gave me the protein I needed for the meal, re-heating well and retaining its flavor and moisture.  It was fantastic with the last of my Ultimate Veggie Trail Mix.

Meal 5:

I had an appointment with my trainer at 8p (more legs – OMG), so I wanted my dinner-time meal to be easy to digest.  That can only mean on thing.  Liquid Sweet Potato Pie-Shake.  Meal 5 requires veggies, carbs, and protein.

Since sweet potatoes count as a carb, I ate a side of celery sticks as well.

Meal 6:

This also served as my post-workout recovery meal.  It was also my favorite meal of the day!  This rendition of overnight (over-day?) oats was cool and refreshing after a excruciating really hard workout.  If you’re from Georgia, you know it doesn’t get any better than peaches and cream this time of year.

Creamy Peach-Ginger Overnight Protein Oats

  • 1 peach, mashed
  • 1 scoop GNC Whey vanilla protein powder (see review here)
  • 1/3 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup raw oats
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4-5 drops vanilla liquid stevia
Stir it all together and allow to chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Meal 7:

I cheated.  I ate meal 7 as meal 6 (fruit, carbs, and protein).  Truth be told, I’m having a really hard time working in 7 meals.  I am hitting the protein goal of 150 grams, so I’m not going to worry about it until I’m told otherwise.  🙂


Now for the part you really wanted to hear about – the giveaway!

I was contacted by Special K just before heading to Chile with an opportunity to try their new granola bar.  I don’t eat a lot of processed foods/bars, but I was intrigued by their new concept.  They sent me the samples just in time for me to pack these up as a tasty plane snack.

Of course, I shared with my concierge, Kim, who was in love with the sweet treats.  She couldn’t believe that the bars are just 110 calories and contain only 7g of sugar.  Perfect for sating your mid-afternoon sweet tooth.  They also deliver 4g of fiber and 4g of protein.

My favorite part? The Special K Granola Bars come in my favorite flavors – Dark Chocolate and Chocolatey Peanut Butter.  The chocolate-peanut butter will rock your socks off.  

Yes, they are processed and they have more than 5 ingredients.  If you’re that isn’t a problem for you, you will be really happy with these bars.  They have a great crunch and won’t leave you feeling weighed down.

The lovely people at Special K have offered to let one reader try a box of each flavor.  Here’s how to enter to win:

  1. Follow me on Twitter or Subscribe to the Sprint 2 the Table RSS feed or email
  2. Tweet: You could say something like: I’ve entered to win 2 boxes of @SpecialKUS granola bars at @sprint2thetable http://wp.me/p16jDn-1po #giveaway
  3. Be Social: Twitter Follow Special K, Pinterest Follow Me and/or Pin Something of Mine, Instagram Follow Me
  4. Comment: What is your favorite sweet tooth satisfier?

Please leave a *separate comment* for each entry!

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Monday, July 2nd.  The winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 3rd.

***

And again with the sore legs/glutes.  Thank god the counter is close enough to my toilet to provide support for lowering down.

Do you prefer to eat 3 solid meals, or snack throughout the day?

What is your favorite protein-rich meal?

Filed Under: Breakfast, Fitness, Giveaway, Products, Recipes, Smoothies, Weights Tagged With: breakfast, dessert, dinner, figure competition, lunch, oats, protein, salad, smoothies, snacks, So Delicious, sweet potato, vegetarian, WIAW, workout

Aboard the USS Underwood

June 21, 2012 By Laura

Only in Chile…

Katherine, Me, Julia, and Captain Pete

…would 3 American women end up aboard a US Navy ship.

Our officer-friends, Pete and Michael, gave us a tour of a their ship, the USS Underwood.  This was not your boring 5th grade field trip tour.  We were privileged to a ~3 hour behind the scenes view of the ship.  Touring the ship was certainly a highlight of our trip to Chile.  SO cool!

The USS Underwood was commissioned in 1983 (an excellent year, if I may say so).  This thing was HUGE.  I would get lost on there.  The guided missile ship is 453 feet long and houses a helicopter!  It also has machine guns and torpedoes.  I felt like I was in a 10 year old’s fantasy land. 🙂

Here are a few highlights:

Clockwise, Left to Right: Captain’s coffee mug, the surf board the Captain keeps in his office/room, radar room (in additions to enemies, they have to watch for whales!), the Chilean ship parked next door, view of Valparaiso from the deck, look out, weights so they can work on their fitness, us posing with a machine gun, staring down the barrel, the on-board helicopter, us IN the helicopter, the flag in the back of the boat

Fun fact of the day: Navy men are fans of Beachbody.  During our tour we ran across a group of guys doing one of the Insanity DVDs!  I wanted to join them, but didn’t have the right attire. *sigh*

The Captain knew about my food obsession and offered to let us take a peek into the ship’s kitchen.  It would be so hard to live on their diet – they can’t keep a lot of fresh fruits and veggies on board because it goes bad after a few days at sea.  The chef, Livingston, was nice enough to let us intrude as he was preparing for dinner.

We finished up the tour at the front of the ship.

One fun fact: the bell you see in the middle-left pic below doubles as a baptismal pool.  If you are assigned to a ship when your child is ready to be baptized, the bell is turned upside down and filled with water for the baby to be dunked in.  Afterwards the baby’s name is engraved inside – it remains there for the life of the ship!

To our friends aboard the USS Underwood: Thank you so much for your hospitality, and for your service.  We wish you the best on the rest of your journey!

Please ignore the fact that I look sickly in a baseball cap.

The ship’s motto:

“Whensoever hostile aggressions . . . require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just friends and brave enemies.”  -Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Andrew Jackson, December 3, 1806


On an entirely different note, please click here to hop over the Lindsay’s blog, The Lean Green Bean, today and check out my guest post.  While she’s vacationing in the sunshine, I’m home baking these no-sugar-added, gluten-free Banana-Maple Zucchini Muffins:

There is a vegan option, of course. 🙂

***

Recaps = over!  Back to your regularly scheduled food blog.

What is you favorite type of muffin?

Can you imagine trying to find something to eat aboard a ship for months at a time?  Poor guys!

Filed Under: Baking, Breakfast, Guest Post, Recipes, Travel Tagged With: breakfast, Chile, gluten-free, muffins, USS Underwood, Valparaiso, vegan, vegetarian

Sausage Making: Seitan Chorizo

May 24, 2012 By Laura

No, this isn’t a turd:

Homemade Seitan Chorizo

It’s my seitan chorizo.

I love chorizo.  The spicier, the better.  When I quit eating red meat, it this spicy sausage was one of the things I continued to crave.  I do eat meat on occasion now; however, I discovered that meat alternatives can be just as good.

Making Homemade Seitan Chorizo

Sausage “batter”

The ingredient list is long, but the spices come together quickly.  It probably seems like a lot of heat but after you mix it in the with other ingredients, it tones down a lot.  I would actually increase the amounts next time.  This was child-level spice.

Vital Wheat Gluten is the protein found in wheat.  It is the base for seitan, and can easily ordered online or found at most heath food stores.

Making Homemade Seitan Chorizo

When you wrap them to bake, be careful not to get them too tight.   It’s all fun and games until sausage explodes in your oven.

They should look like those wrapped sausages you see at the fair.

Homemade Seitan Chorizo

This seitan version of chorizo is just as good as the “real” thing.  I actually prefer it because it isn’t so greasy.  Not to mention the nutritionals are a million times better.

A serving of meat chorizo has about 23g of fat and 9g saturated fat.  This deliciousness only contains 1.4g of fat and 0.1g of saturated fat!  Not to mention the 20g of protein.

Homemade Seitan Chorizo

I’ve been eating it on salads at work all week, but last night I made a little Mexican breakfast for dinner.

It took all my willpower not to make a second helping.  

Homemade Seitan Chorizo

Mashed avocado on English muffin, sautéed spinach and tomatoes, a runny egg, and chorizo seitan.  Topped with cilantro, red pepper flakes, and white truffle salt.

In conclusion:  Don’t be scared.  Try my sausage.



[tasty-recipe id=”18066″]

 

***

Thank you all so much for the supportive comments yesterday regarding my ACL tear.  I was pretty down about it and you all made me feel more hopeful.

What is your favorite non-meat “meat” creation?

Does anyone know how to correctly pronounce “seitan” – is it like the devil?

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes Tagged With: chorizo, dinner, Mexican, protein, vegan, vegetarian

Vegan Food Is Not Healthy

May 22, 2012 By Laura

This according to Jason Kessler, contributing writer to Bon Appetite.

 

In a recent article he brings up the point that people often eat vegan (or vegetarian) because they assume it’s healthier.  While veggies are good, I do agree with Kessler that vegan does NOT equal healthy.  You can find junk food to fit any diet!  I’ve had many a super-sugary (and tasty) vegan chocolate cake!

Society falls into this belief trap so often.  Somehow “vegan” or “organic” or “all-natural” became synonymous with “healthy.”

 

Oreos are vegan. They are not healthy (but they are tasty).

 

The truth is that fried is fried and sugar is sugar, whether it’s vegan or not.  And the sodium?  Look at it the next time you pick up that vegan frozen meal at Whole Foods.  It’s just as bad as the rest of the freezer section.

 

This Vegan Fried Ruben won the Best Taste at Texas State Veggie Fair in 2010

 

We all indulge, no matter what our diet.  Yes, a plant-based diet can be more healthy.  But so can a carnivore’s fare.  The key is moderation.

My bottom line:

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

Now for a fun vegan story.

I was in Chicago on business last week and was pleased to find an unusual offering on the breakfast menu at the Hyatt in Schaumburg:

 

 

The room service menu included a VEGAN tofu and veggie breakfast hash!

You guys know I’m not 100% vegan, but I do strive for a plant-based diet.  Of course I had to order this!  I was pleased to find that is was light and fresh, and served with a side of hot salsa.  It was a great way to start the day before an 8 hour presentation.

 

 

Thank you, Hyatt for offering a delicious vegan breakfast option!

***

Don’t forget to enter to win 1 of 2 BENGAY Zero Degrees prize bags: http://wp.me/p16jDn-1hS

Does it bother you that “vegan,” “organic,” etc. is so often thought of as being automatically healthy?

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a hotel or restaurant offering dishes for specific diets?  This Hyatt also offered gluten-free options!

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Giveaway, Products, Travel Tagged With: breakfast, Hyatt, vegan, vegetarian

Blueberry-Green Tea Bulgur Antioxidant Bowl

May 11, 2012 By Laura

Because breakfast is the most important meal of the day…

 

I bring you an antioxidant-rich breakfast bowl!  This RAW Blueberry-Green Tea Bulgur Bowl will help you start the day out right.

Seriously – this thing kept me energized and full until lunch.

 

 

Curious for the recipe?  Click here to check out my guest post today over on A Dash of Meg!

***

I’m headed to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival this weekend.  Can’t wait to recap for you next week!

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Does Food & wine hold a festival where you live?  I would love to attend the one in Aspen!

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Wine Tagged With: breakfast, Food & Wine Festival, raw food, vegan

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Food lover. Constant Wine-r. Gym Rat. More is more.

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