Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Wedding Recovery

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One of my best friends got married this past weekend at the Inn at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina.

Mallory and I hit the road for the wedding weekend, well-prepared with snacks.

No pedestrian road food for us!

That’s right.  I made guac for a road trip.  Normal, no?

In my guac:

  • Avocado
  • Jalapeno
  • Carrots
  • Red onion
  • Cilantro
  • Cumin
  • Coriander
  • S+P

 

We hit a little traffic at the end.

Inching along

We distracted ourselves by singing some Alanis Morissette.  Ironic.

Despite the crawl, we arrived in plenty of time to enjoy the view from our cottage before the rehearsal and dinner.

Looking out from the screened in porch

The Bride showed up to the rehearsal wearing the perfect dress.  Isn’t she pretty?

How cute is this chapel?!

Buffet.  S’mores.  Open bar.  You do the math. It was a good night.

Mallory, the (sober) mommy-to-be, and me

Side note: I’m not so sure I’m digging my spray tan.  Too Snookie?!


Saturday morning we had time to roam around and enjoy the day before the wedding festivities began.

It doesn't even look real!

 

Mallory and I wandered into the Market and I found nut butter heaven.

Guess what I'll be making soon...

 

We all got dressed and headed to pictures at the family’s guest house.  These houses were no joke.  I could have gotten lost in there.  Specifically, in the Viking stove.

Erica and Me

 

The wedding went without a hitch (pun intended).  Christina was a GORGEOUS bride!  I can’t wait to see the pics from the professional photog.

 

Post-wedding we had wine and hors d’oeuvres on the lawn.  My favorite people in the world were all in the same place!  (RARE occasion these days.)

Dallas, me, Angie, Mallory, Erica, and Jim

The we were treated to an awesome 5-course dinner, plenty of toasts and dancing all night.

We had a great time with fellow bridesmaids and new friends Lauren and Tricia… Lauren is modeling the longest cucumber slice I have ever seen.

You can't make this up

Sadly, we had to all part ways Sunday morning.  Slowly. Fueled with coffee and eggs, compliments of the bride’s dad.

The view driving out made it hard to leave!

Being cooped up in a car all morning did motive me.  After getting home, I went for a run, cleaned, played with Stevie (who was very glad I came home!) and got some work done for an early meeting.

Run stats:

  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Time: 34:06
  • Pace: 8:52

 

Today’s breakfast was simple (so was the cell phone pic), but hit the spot after a weekend of over-the-top food.

Protein, good fats, and antioxidants.  Just what the doctor ordered.

***

This afternoon I’m off to the airport for a business trip.  This will be the story of my life for the next month or so.  #marriedtowork

Does it seem like all of your friends are paired off/married/having babies?


Pre-Wedding Oatmeal

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This is going to be a quickie – I’m about to hit the road with my preg-o BFF. (I’m bringing lots of roadtrip snacks for the fetus baby!)

We leave in 2 hours.  I haven’t packed or even showered.  But the snacks are ready.  Typical. 🙂

First though – my Braves WON yesterday!!!  This is going to be a great season.


Back to the roadtrip.  It’s wedding weekend for Christina!

Check out her wedding location:

This girl is getting hitched in fairy-tale land!

 

I’ll be taking tons of pics to share – from the location to the dresses to the food (did I mention the bride’s degree in PASTRIES?!), this wedding is going to be off the chain.  Fo’ shizzle.

 

Why does Snoop Dog carry an umbrella?

Fo’ drizzle.

 

Laugh.  You know you want to.

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The bridesmaid dresses are strapless… so you know I went to the gym this morning for one last workout to pump up my arms/shoulders.

My workout clearly exhausted Stevie, who had to sleep while holding my hand.  Gimme back my caffeine, kitten!

How cute is that?!

 

For me, that workout called for a protein-filled breakfast.

 

Chocolate-banana-butterscotch-banana-filled oats, to be specific.

I like protein powder.  I like oatmeal.  The combo never sounded great though…

In need of the protein and not feelin’ a shake, I went for the hot oat-protein blend.  It was surprisingly good!

I’m confident this is how Arnold eats his oatmeal.

Actually… this is supposedly an actual pic of Arnold’s oats:

 

Cheese.

 

I’m fascinated and creeped out at the same time.

My oats are slightly less cheerful, but very good nonetheless.


Pumped up oatmeal

Pumped Up Oatmeal

  • 1/2 C oats
  • 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1/2 tsp butterscotch extract
  • shake of salt
  • 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
  • 1 tsp maca
  • Scoop of PB

Combine first 6 ingredients in pot and cook according to you oatmeal packaging instructions, stirring and mashing banana as you go.  Just before done (~30 secs to go), stir in the maca and protein powder.

Pour into bowl and top with your choice of deliciousness.  Mine was TJ’s Roasted Valencia PB.

***

Have you ever put protein powder in something unexpected?  Was it good?

Hasta la vista, Baby!


Chocolate Sweet Potato Shake

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Happy last day of the month!

This was a month of spectacular eats, so choosing a recipe to submit to Spicie Foodie’s Your Best Recipe was difficult!  She rounded up a ton of great, international recipes – check out her site for the line up!

Ultimately I went with the Tempeh Crab-Free Cakes.  They were so cool to make.

I’m crab-free!

Vegan-izing food is fun… even if you’re not vegan…

Other items I wanted to choose (click the pics for the recipes):

Chickpeas + Spiced Tomato Sauce

Egg-fin

Zucchini-Banana Muffins

Olive Basil Cookies

Mango-Cucumber Lentil Salad

Then there was the following tasty creation….

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I’ve made sweet potato shakes before.  They were good.  Delicious, in fact.

Like every other red-blooded female out there, chocolate is one of my favorite things to nosh on.

How is it that I never thought to combine the two tasty treats?!

Check out my new black border in the background!

Until now. *Insert evil cackle*

For this shake I used half of a Rich Dark Chocolate EAS drink.

I love these for a few reasons:

  • Taste = good
  • 17g protein
  • 0g sugar
  • 110 calories

That makes a perfect post-workout snack for me.  I also like the Strawberry flavor, but only in shakes.

I threw out the coffee flavor after trying it.  Not my cup of coffee tea.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Shake

  • 1/4 large sweet potato (pre-baked)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 dark chocolate EAS drink
  • 1/2 C kale*
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • shake of salt
  • ice + water, to taste

Throw it all in a blender and blend until well-mixed.  Add straw and try to go drink it so fast you get an ice cream headache.

*Only 1/2 a cup because it was the Whole Food frozen variety.  Fresh is less condensed, so you’ll want to add more.  If green creeps you out, leave it out altogether!

***

My boss just called.  We’re meeting at a bar to watch the Brave’s opener.  Have I mentioned I love my job?!

Anyone else excited for baseball season?!

Qu-egg-sadilla

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The Bachelorette had a great time.  We even were graced with the presence of the token interpretive dancer.

Wouldn’t it be funny if someone who knew him read this?!

Normal people sleep off a Bachelorette party.  Normal people may go to brunch, eat pancakes, and drink a little hair of the dog mimosa.

I, on the other hand, eat a Zucchini-Banana Muffin, get inspired by fellow-bloggers (thanks, Tina!), and write up a new work out.

I’m a glutton for punishment, my friends.

Killer (read: awesome) work outs get me excited.

New shoes also get me pumped.  Running shoes, heels, flip flops… doesn’t matter.

Here’s the Post-Party Workout:

Round 1:

20 reps of each (except squats)

  • Bicep curls
  • Tricep skull crushers
  • Bench leg lifts
  • 30-seconds quick squats

*** Sprint 0.3 miles***

Round 2:

3 sets, 12 reps each

  • Bent over barbell row
  • Wide grip lat pull-down
  • Seated row
  • Straight arm lat pull-down

*** Sprint 0.3 miles***

Round 3:

3 sets, 12 reps each

  • Alternating dumbbell curls (rotating wrists in as lifting)
  • Bicep curls
  • Hammer curls (last set until exhaustion)

*** Sprint 0.5 miles***

Round 4:

  • Stability ball roll outs (20)
  • Stability ball crunches (30)
  • Crunches with medicine call (50)
  • Alternating lunges with lat raise (20 total)
  • Side plank twists (12 on each side)
  • Decline crunch (50)
  • Side plank with leg lift (1 min each side)

Worth. It.

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Party like a rockstar.  Workout like a rockstar.  Eat a well-deserved a rockstar lunch.

Thankfully, 101 Cookbooks just posted an irresistible-looking Quesadilla.

(Side note: everything on 101 Cookbooks is basically brilliant.)

So here’s my version.  With a TON of local ingredients.

It was good.  Real good.

 ________________________________________________________________________________

Qu-egg-sadilla

  • 1 T lime zest
  • 1/4 C Greek yogurt
  • 2 T capers
  • Splash of habanero-infused EVOO (regular is fine too!)
  • 1 egg
  • S+P, to taste
  • 1 tortilla
  • 1 T pimento cheese
  • 1 C fresh spinach

Mix together lime zest and Greek yogurt (Atlanta Farm Fresh is my Greek-style of choice) in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Rinse capers and pan fry them over medium-high heat in a small splash of oil (I used Sweetwater Growers’ habanero-infused) until just wrinkling.  Remove from pan and set aside on paper towel to cool a bit.

Beat the egg a in a small bowl.  Beat the egg with a little water (water makes it more fluffy than milk!) and S+P, to taste.

Spread pimento cheese (I used my new fav American Gra-frutti) on tortilla.

Add a splash of EVOO to small skillet, heating over medium heat.  Add egg mixture to skillet.  Do not touch until bottom sets, ~20-25 secs.  Top the eggs with spinach, then place tortilla (I used a Rudi’s spelt tortilla) on top of egg and spinach.  The top of the egg will still be a bit runny, so it should attach itself to the tortilla/spinach as it sets.  

Wait another 20-25 secs (until egg has set enough not to run), and flip.  Fold tortilla in half, and cook each side a bit longer until outside of tortilla is nicely browned.

Place tortilla on a plate, top with yogurt mixture, capers, and freshly ground pepper.

***

Do you read other blogs to get motivated for a workout?  

What are your favorites?

Mango-Cucumber Lentil Salad

By

Found on the packaging for a set of pots:

Creepy McCreeperson

The marketing person that approved this should be fired.  LOL!

 

Buuuut… who am I to talk?  I eat cold spinach-strawberry soup for breakfast.  And I like love it.

It’s not easy being green

I also think it’s funny to try on my bridesmaid dress (alteration success!) and send punk rock pics of myself to the bride-to-be:

All dressed up and no where to go

Welcome to my pre-5K Friday night:

  • Pasta/pizza dinner with my bestie
  • Trip to HomeGoods
  • Talk self out of unnecessary fro-yo trip
  • Download pics
  • Make sure bridesmaid dress alterations are correct
  • Cup ‘o tea
  • Watch movie bossman gave me – Glengarry Glen Ross

 

What 5K, you ask?  Welllll… I decided a couple of days ago to do it. By myself.  For no good reason.

File under: you might be a runner if…

So here I am at 6a on a Saturday morning drinking coffee, eating a banana, and blogging pre-race. Happy as a clam.

Earning this evening’s bachelorette party-dinner, one race at a time. 😉

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In case you’re trying to decide what to do with all of the produce you bought whilst at Whole Paycheck Foods, over-excited about spring… I have a good one for ya!

For that reason, this time of year is killer on my grocery budget (or lack thereof).  However, this meal is low cost, fairly quick to assemble, and can be made in advance (in fact, its even better on day 2 once the flavors meld).

 

 

Beluga Lentils with a simple vinaigrette, tossed with onion, jalapeno, mango, and cucumber.

 

Served up with a sweet potato, topped with coconut butter and roasted cinnamon.

True, that frozen soup was a decent lunch as far as frozen foods go.  But THIS was well-deserved after a week of quickie lunches.  There will be a repeat tomorrow.

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

Mango-Cucumber Lentil Salad

  • 1/4 C beluga lentils
  • 1 1/4 C water
  • 1/4 C red onion
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds removed
  • Juice from 1/2 a lime
  • 1 T EVOO (is used basil-infused)
  • 1 T apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • S+P, to taste
  • 1 small mango (I used a champagne mango)
  • 1/2 cucumber

 

Rinse the lentils, then put them in a small pot with the water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer gently until lentils are cooked, ~25 mins.  They will be tender, but hold their shape.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic cloves & chop the onion very finely. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion & garlic and cook over a very low heat until well softened but not coloured, about 10 – 12 minutes. Then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, dice the onions, jalapeno, mango, and cucumber.  Place a small amount of EVOO in a pan and sauté onions until almost translucent, ~5 mins.  Add jalapenos and sauté 1-2 mins more (you want to mellow the flavor a bit without losing the crunch).

Whisk together the lime juice, EVOO, vinegar, cumin, and S+P.

When lentils are cooked, drain and place in a bowl to cool.  Pour the vinaigrette over the lentils and gently stir with a fork so that lentils are coated.

Mix in the mango and cucumber, season with S+P as needed.

Makes: 1 serving, easily multiplied

***

This rain may force an afternoon snooze for me!

Did you run a race today?  

If you are going out tonight (post-race?!), will you be taking a nap?

 

Roasted Red Pepper-Asparagus Mini Quiches

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It is an unwritten rule in the South that you cannot have a bridal shower without the following items:

  • Mimosas
  • Pimento cheese
  • Chips and dips
  • Quiche

We covered all the required bases

 

Wait!  Where’s proof of the mimosas?!  Hold up…

How cute is Christina showing off her ring?!

The pimento was my new favorite, American Gra-frutti.  Mayo and gluten-free.

SO much better than the typical mayo-soaked version at your family picnic.

This chips and dip were also well-represented.

Tostidos sent me a coupon via She Speaks to try one of their new Artisan Recipe flavors.  I selected the Roasted Garlic and Black Bean.

We served them with homemade hummus and fresh veggies.

The ingredient list is pretty clean for the Artisan chips- they are 100% natural and contain real black beans.

However, I found them to be a bit salty.  Weird, as the package says there’s only 90mg sodium. I bet they are good with pico and guac.

Then there was quiche.  Mini quiche.


I love these for parties – you can customize them with virtually any veggie or  cheese (I’ve even made them with bacon).

 

AND they are super easy to make ahead and re-heat.

Of course, they are also a finger food.  Finger foods will get you bonus points on the Southern unwritten rules test.

Reminiscent of the awesome breakfast eggfins, no?

Mini Quiche recipe after the jump…

… 

Read More »

Getting Ready to Shower

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Bridal Shower, that is. 🙂

The other bridesmaid throwing this party would kill me if she knew I was blogging right now.  Shower begins in 3 hours!

It’s been crazy trying to get everything ready.  I thought I’d do a brief, 10 step pictorial of how to get ready to host a shower.

10 Steps to Shower-Ready

 

Step 1: Get your hair did

 

Step 2: Pre-bake mini-quiches

 

Step 3: Hide your clutter

 

4. Go for a run.

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 33:16

Pace: 8:29

 

 

Step 5: Share cannoli cream with a (very happy) kitten

 

Step 6: Buy new dress (apparently jeans are a no-no)

 

Step 7: Break for dinner at Empire State South

 

Step 8: Bake cookies. Do not eat them all.

 

Step 9: Make quick microwave oats for breakfast. Add blackberries.

 

Step 10: Don’t forget to clean the toilet!!!

***

Who ran the Georgia Marathon today?  How was it?

Congratulations to all the finishers!


It’s Bananas

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The perfect end to an out-of-control b-a-n-a-n-a-s week is a new ‘do.

My hair is now blonde-ish.

I love Karen, Stylist Extraordinaire

I’ve been going to Karen since I was 15.  She moved 5-ish years ago to open her own salon – Lava Hair Studio – almost 60 miles outside of Atlanta… and I drive all the way out there to see her.

If I moved out of state, I’d probably fly back to see her.

Crappy in-the-car-rushing-to-meet-friends cell phone pic, but…

  • It’s no longer red-brown (therefore NOT clashing with my bridesmaid dress for upcoming wedding)
  • It’s no longer bushy (why does my hair grow SO fast?!)
  • I can style it in 5 mins flat.

FTW

Active.com recently posted an article called 5 Reasons to Work Out in the Morning.

In light of my recent morning work out success, I got really excited to read this and decided to share my own Top 5.  (There may be some overlap… they were spot on!)

My Top 5 Reasons to Work Out in the Morning

  1. It’s done – there’s no backing out because you’re too tired after work/would rather go to happy hour
  2. One shower – they listed this too and I couldn’t agree more.  2-3 showers/day es no bueno
  3. No crowds – the gym in my building is usually empty in the morning, so there’s no wait, I can control the TV, and no one is in the small-ish gym stinking it up
  4. Temperature control – in the winter months, it warms me up for the day and in the summer months it’s not unbearably hot
  5. Alertness – yes, it’s hard to actually wake up enough to get going, but once you do it’s almost better than coffee for my wakefulness

Speaking of being awake… I’m eating my pre-work out banana breakfast appetizer and hitting the pavement for a quickie run before resuming wedding shower prep!

It’s going to be 80 degrees and sunny today!  If I leave the balcony door open, I wonder if Stevie will try to jump off…

Note to self: train kitten NOT to go on kamikaze missions.

I love grilled bananas – they caramelize and create a delicious banana syrup.

Plate them and immediately top with cocoa powder your favorite nut butter, letting the hot bananas turn the butter slightly melty.  Mmmmm…

Caramelized Banana Bites

  • 1 banana
  • 1 T nut butter
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder

Heat pan to med-high on stove top.  Cut banana into 1 inch slices and place in pan.  Grill ~2-3 mins, or until just turning brown.  Flip and grill 1-2 mins longer until other side is browned.  Plate, sprinkle with cocoa powder, and top each slice with your favorite nut butter.

Try not to lick and left over syrup/cocoa mixture off the plate if others are watching.

***

Make me feel more sane.

Do you drive a ridiculous distance to you stylist/restaurant/market/etc?

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