Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Foodie Penpals + I’m a Joiner

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Remember having pen pals in elementary school?

They were the best!  I looked forward to getting a handwritten (*gasp*) note in the mail from my penal in Oklahoma.  The adult version of the tradition dreamed up by Lindsay is even better – it involves food!

My Foodie PenPal this month, Jennifer @ Peanut Butter & Peppers, sent me a big box of awesome:

From my pal Jennifer:

  • TJs Seaweed Snacks
  • Lucy’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (so flippin’ good)
  • SDT & Basil Quinoa
  • Sesame Wasa Crackers (my new fav work snack)
  • Roasted Almonds
  • Lara Bars
  • A cute mat to take pics on (such a cool blogger-gift idea!)
  • A hand-written note

To sign up for a Foodie PenPals in April, send an email to the brilliant Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com with the following info:

-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address (if you’ve got one)
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-Whether you are a US resident or Canadian

Join in by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

I’m at a work retreat for the latter part of this week, so I’m a bit light on the post today.  Translation: perfect time for a survey post!

You may have seen this “ABCs” survey circling the blog world… I’m about 2+ weeks behind the times, but thought I’d finally be a joiner. 🙂

A is for age: 28.  When did I get so close to 30?!

B is for breakfast today: Nothing yet, but it will be conference food (which is 100x better than average, I must say).

C is for currently craving: Kombucha!  Since I’ve been travelling, it’s been 3 days without!!!

D is for dinner tonight: I’m going to a mother-daughter dinner with my mom, my BFF, and her mom.  Atlanta, beware!

E is for favorite type of exercise: Weight lifting!  Although not being able to run has really made me appreciate/crave running.

F is for an irrational fear: Roaches.  I can’t handle them.

G is for gross food: I know this is weird, but I cannot STAND white potatoes.

H is for hometown: Atlanta.  Where that playas play.

I is for something important: Being the best you possible.  Why bother doing anything half way?

J is for current favorite jam: Tough choice!!!  Anything by Mumford & Sons.

K is for kids: I know what causes that… nothankyou.

L is for current location: In my cute cottage at my work retreat.

M is for the most recent way you spent money: I bit the bullet and bought the VitaMix.  Best purchasing decision EVER.

N is for something you need:  A good sweat.  If I don’t get moving for at least for 15 mins every day, I start pacing like a caged animal.

O is for occupation:  Consulting in the area of Sales Effectiveness.

P is for pet peeve: When servers start clearing plates before everyone is done.  In the words of Stephanie Tanner, “How rude!”

Q is for a quote:  “You can do anything you want to if you want to badly enough.” – My Dad

R is for random fact about you: I would love to do a tri, but I can’t swim.  Actually, I downright hate swimming.

S is for favorite healthy snack: I legit LOVE healthy snacks – protein shakes or chia pudding are my go-tos.  Loved this Roasted Beet and Orange. 

Unhealthy Snack: Hmmm… my snacks really aren’t bad.  Desserts are my weakness. Warm chocolate chip cookies, anyone?

T is for favorite treat: Really, really good wine (Amarone, anyone?) and chocolate cake.  Preferably together.

U is for something that makes you unique: I’m special just like everyone else!  Maybe having played roller derby? That’s a pretty cool adventure.

This is me breaking my jaw.

V is for favorite vegetable: Spinach!  Every smoothie I make is a peculiar shade of green. 🙂

W is for today’s workout: A quick HIIT thing in my room this morning.

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Jaw (see letter U), teeth, knee (fractured)… I think that’s it (surprisingly).

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Meeting my new colleagues AND doing a “Cooking Experience” activity with the founder of Serenbe.

Z is for your time zone: East Coast, represent!

***

I always say this… but I really mean it this week… TGIF!!!

What are you up to this weekend?  Any races?

Time for your quiz!  Pick a few letters and tell me a little more about YOU.  Please. 🙂

Feeling Irish on a Green WIAW

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I’ve never had a Shamrock Shake.

Out of curiosity I want to try one of the “healthy” Shamrock Shakes everyone has been posting… but I really don’t like mint desserts.

This time 2 years ago I was in Ireland!  Time flies… I was there on St. Patrick’s Day by accident.  When I booked the trip that happened to be the week I had free.  It wasn’t until we were leaving that I realized it was St. Patrick’s!  Only me.

Check out my Top 5 Things to Do in Ireland and the souper spinach-asparagus soup pictured below by clicking here.

Since I don’t post on weekends, it seemed that today is the perfect time for an Irish shout out because it’s a green-themed What I Ate Wednesday.

Green is my favorite food-color; however, I managed to fail a little at eating food that was colored green.  It was all plant-based though!

 

Breakfast:

Surprise, surprise… I had a smoothie!  Thank god it’s getting warmer because my smoothie addiction is only growing as I find more and more things I can thrown into the Vitamix.

I’ll be drinking all of my smoothies this week from my trusty Guinness pint glass. 🙂

In my smoothie:

  • Spinach
  • Raw beet
  • Carrot
  • Cucumber
  • Celery
  • Flax meal
  • Ginger
  • Maca
  • Vanilla protein powder
  • Unsweetened almond milk
  • Almond extract
  • Stevia
  • Ice + water

Lunch:

Salad box!  This is such a convenient way to travel – I toss veggies and dressing in a half-eaten container of greens to take to work.  Easy and there are no dishes to clean up!

In my box:

Snacks:

I was bad about picture-taking with all my snacks.  Un-pictured was a kombucha, a sweet potato with nooch, and a handful of almonds.  My Piñata apple did make it (barely)!

A new (to me) waffle was scarfed down as well.  I normally buy the Kashi brand, but I liked this Nature’s Path waffle even more!

The actual waffle didn’t make it to the camera, but I assure you it was delicious with protein sauce (protein powder, almond milk, cinnamon, and stevia).

Dinner:

Parsnip rice finally happened.  I think I like it even better than parsnip fries!  I enjoyed it with roasted veggies and a cashew-curry sauce that will be posted tomorrow!

***

Doesn’t it feel like it should be Friday already?

Vote-begging time! I was honored with a nomination as a “Best Healthy Eating Blog” for the 2012 Fitterati Blog Awards on FitnessMagazine.com.  Not to sound desperate (I’m never going to reach the 400+vote mark, I know), but pretty please click here and vote for me. 🙂

How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year?

Have you ever traveled to a city/country specifically to celebrate a holiday there (other than to grandma’s house for Christmas 🙂 )?

Pop Quiz

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My inner high schooler is showing.

 

I used to LOVE taking quizzes.  The ones people would pass around in school or MySpace or email… I took them all.  To the point where it probably annoyed people.  

When I was tagged for this quiz on Claire’s blog, I got unnaturally excited.  Thanks Claire!

 

The rules:

  1. You must post these rules
  2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog
  3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer

___________________________________________________________________________________

11 Things About Me

1. I sit on a Swiss ball at work.  The desk chair hurts my hips!


2. My co-workers think I’m weird – for the Swiss ball and for the random foods I bring for lunch.  Sorry, no Big Macs for me.

3. I haven’t had more than a few bites of meat in 2012.  I’m not a vegetarian because I love to try new things and don’t want to feel restricted… but I do have a plant-based diet.

4. 2 years ago I ate about 3-4 burgers and 1 steak a week.  Since the end of 2010 I haven’t had more than half of a burger or a bite of steak (with the exception of my 2 weeks in Italy… when in Rome Florence!).

 

5. I have the a terrible memory when it come to names or events, but I can rattle off recipes and statistics like nobody’s business.

6. In high school I went through a phase where I only work men’s XL shirts and Birkenstocks.  Those pictures have been burned.

7. I’ve been going to the same hair stylist since I was 15… despite the fact that I now have to drive an hour to see her.  Karen and Lava Hair Studio are the best!

 

8. If I could have any job, I would develop recipes/new concepts for restaurants.

9. Yes, I really do 100 push-ups nearly every day.  No, I don’t do them at once – sets of 3!

10. Red wine is my weakness kryptonite.   Specifically, Italian reds.  I would even choose it over cookies.

Which leads me to #11…

11. Just like Claire, if I had no other ties or commitments and unlimited funds I would move to Italy and never look back.  I might do it anyway.

 

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Claire’s 11 questions were in list form: “Tell me about your 11 favorite foods (restaurant, grocery store, or homemade).”

 

This is actually really hard for me – it’s like choosing a favorite child!  In no particular order, here’s what comes to mind…

  1. These Chocolate Sea Salt Cookies
  2. Sweet potatoes protein shakes like this one
  3. The hummus from Top Flr.  It’s the best I’ve ever had.
  4. My mom’s Carrot Cake (made from my grandmother’s recipe)
  5. Flourless chocolate cake with sea salt and olive oil from La Tavola (with a glass of Amarone)
  6. This Zucchini Bread Oatmeal
  7. Sriracha (a.k.a. Rooster Sauce)
  8. Guacamole – extra jalapenos
  9. Indian food – I don’t care what it is, just pass it this way with extra spice on the side
  10. Gnocchi with shaved black truffles from one of Italy’s first Slow Food restaurants – Osteria dell’ Arco in Alba
  11. Pizza – specifically authentic Italian pizza from places like Antico Pizza

 

Now I get to tag!  It doesn’t say how many people, so I’ll choose 5 because I like prime numbers.

 

For my 11 questions, I would love to know:

  • What are your 5 favorite foods?
  • What are the 3 best things you cook/bake/concoct in the kitchen?
  • What 3 things you would do first if you were President of the United States?

***

This weekend I’m going to the Atlanta Underground Market again.  The theme is Bruch… which I think should always be the theme. 🙂

What are you getting into this weekend?

What are some of your favorite foods?  Do we share any of the same?

 

Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal

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The truth is…

 

While I have shared with you all the good food from the past two days, it’s been a pretty tough week.

 

 

Following that delicious Vietnamese meal I posted for WIAW, I went back to a hotel room where I worked until 4am.

And my computer crashed before I saved.  Twice.

 

 

The next morning I learned my spreadsheet fun isn’t over and I’m now in the middle of a new circle of hell another pile of VLOOKUPs and analysis.

I really do love my job… but I really do hate Excel.

 

 

 

The week has also left me short of time to workout.  I did manage to hit the hotel dreadmill for a quick mile… only to discover my knee still isn’t better.  Like clockwork, at 0.8 miles it hurts and feels like it’s going to buckle under me.

 

So today I’m not feeling wordy.  Nor do I have time to be.

 

Bad hotel breakfasts also drag me down.  What I really wanted was this:

 

 

This breakfast really is a good one.  Hotels, please take note.

 

 

Baked oats with mashed banana and peanut butter.  Topped with blueberries, chopped hazelnuts, and syrup at the very end.

It’s comfort food.  And I need to be held.

 

 

End of the bowl = end of my pity party today.

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal

  • 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 T peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4-5 drops vanilla stevia
  • 1 tsp coconut oil (optional)
  • Shake of salt
  • 1/3 C oatmeal
  • 1/4 C unsweetened almond milk

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place all ingredients except oats and milk in small bowl.  Mix until combined, then add raw oats and milk. Pour into a ramekin and cook for 15-20 mins, or until firm. Finish on broil for just a few seconds to brown the top.

Optional toppings: nuts, blueberries, more peanut butter, coconut oil, syrup

Serves 1.

***

Now I feel bad whining because I really am grateful for a lot this week: being in the Top 9, my awesome mom, and having a good job.

Do you ever need a pity party… and feel bad about said pity party?

What are you grateful for this week?

 

What I Ate in Maryland

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Travel can be an adventure in eating.

 

It can also be an adventure in finding workspaces with outlets, tables, cell phone signals… yesterday I worked all afternoon in a flatbread pizza place.

Barnes & Noble was closed for MLK (WTF?!  That’s like Starbucks closing – it just doesn’t happen!).  This meant that Starbucks was even more crowded than usual.  Flatbread it was.  I left the store having been cured of craving pizza for a while and smelling like an Italian mamma.

At least I had a wonderful dinner recommendation from Kimberly @ Grubarazzi to look forward to – Woodberry Kitchen.  They even celebrate Meatless Monday!

Side note: check out her blog – she makes some rockstar dishes!  

Goldeneye

 

Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore is incredible.  It was a little dark for pics (I was ill-prepared in the camera department), but everything was delicious.  Don’t skip the Goldeneye drink.  It was stellar.  Say hi to Conner the bartender for me.

If you ever go, DO NOT skimp the CMP for dessert.  Malted ice cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallow fluff, and wet peanuts.  All house-made.  It was one of those “moment of silence” desserts.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

This is What I Ate Wednesday, not what I drank Monday.

 

 

Breakfast:

An adventure in hotel icky oatmeal.

 

I grabbed some of the hotel’s runny, mucus-like oatmeal and made it edible with a few mix-ins:

  • Double vanilla ice cream-flavored protein powder from home (really good, btw)
  • Peanut butter
  • Apple
  • Coffee

It was not Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal, but by the time I got done with it these oats were not too shabby!

 

Lunch:

We ate at a burger place.  I had a salad and a sweet potato.  It was underwhelming… this is what was left when I remembered to take a pic:

 

Dinner:

I don’t care what Hollywood says, the Grubarazzi won’t lead you astray.  Thanks to another of her recommendations we dined like A-listers in a Vietnamese restaurant located in a strip mall.

 

The Saigon Noodle House doesn’t look like much from the outside, but their summer rolls and pho were ah-mazing.

Tofu Summer Role with peanut sauce and sriracha

Tofu Pho with Thai basil, jalapenos, and bean sprouts to garnish

Shrimp Curry (I picked around the shrimp)

Chicken and Rice Clay Pot… in an aluminum pot

 

Verdict:  Do NOT miss the summer rolls and the pho.  I could to skipped the other two dishes, but – to be fair – I picked around all the seafood/meat and didn’t get the full effect.

 

Snacks:

B&N-Starbucks-style.  Raspberry Oolong tea and the best KIND bar I’ve had to date – Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew.

 

There was also some late-night chocolate that had to be eaten. 😉

***

I made the FoodBuzz Top 9 today with these Chewy (Vegan) Granola Cookies!!!  Thanks to everyone for the BUZZ and welcome to any new visitors!  Check out the Top 9 by clicking here.

Have you ever had pho?

What’s the best “bar” you’ve tried lately?  Have you had a KIND bar?

 

Text-less Tuesday

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It’s a busy time of year.

This isn’t news to anyone, but it has finally caught up to me.  As a result, an (almost) Text-less Tuesday post.  Here’s a bit about what I’ve been up to lately:

1. Another fantastic meal from Push Start Kitchens:

Crepe Cake with Dulce de Leche, Pears, and Lime Creme

You would have do it too

2. A (cold) visit to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens Holiday Lights show:

3. New hair from the fabulous Karen @ Lava Hair Studio.  Nothing too funky since I had a client meeting the next day.  Just wait ’til February. 🙂

Picture of Karen taking a picture of me

4. A business trip to Farm Links Golf Resort that had me sleeping in an 1800s farmhouse.  Alone.  It may have been haunted.

Complete with ample reading material in case you left your laptop battery in Atlanta… I’m surprised lightning didn’t strike me. 

Not that religious books are bad… but they were literally the only option out of 100s of books in the house.

I did discover the Kindle app and the Pinterest app, both of which saved my life.

***

I’m 5 seconds from a full holiday nervous break down.  (Not really.  Yet.) 

What fun apps have you discovered lately?

Are you in holiday panic-mode, or are you more organized than I am?

Chili Time + WIAW

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Three days ago it was 70 degrees.

 

 

Yesterday morning I braved the airport amidst snow flurries.  Ok, ok, it was more like slightly freezing drizzle.  I hope this doesn’t mean we have a crazy, ice-filled winter!

 

Today I’m lucky because not only is it my favorite What I Ate Wednesday:

 

It’s also Spicie’s Foodie‘s November Your Best Recipe reveal!  Click here to check out my Red Wine Cake Balls and everyone else’s best dish of the month on her blog.

On to the eats!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Pre-Flight Breakfast:

I love to make muffins, but never am able to eat a dozen alone while they are fresh.  My solution is the freezer.  You can always bet I have 3-4 muffins varieties just 30 seconds away from being breakfast-ready.  Perfect for those of us who aren’t morning people.

 

 

My pre-flight rush breakfast involved these Pumpkin-Zucchini Muffins (low sugar!) and my recently concocted Cinnamon Cacao Nut Butter.

Scarfed down in the car to fuel a morning jaunt through Concourse A. 🙂

 

The beverage portion of my breakfast happened in the airport – my traditional Starbucks coffee treat and some water.  Flying dries me out!

 

 

 

Lunch:

Having landed wayyyy before our meeting was to begin, my boss and I stopped in a Starbucks (this time I had an unpictured Orange Blossom tea) to get some work done… followed by a surprisingly delicious lunch near our destination.

Bocci is a new Italian spot in Clayton, MO (a suburb of St. Louis).  Their northern Italian-style soups hit the spot after walking through some serious cold St. Louis wind!

 

 

I ordered the Aquacotta – a tomato soup with mushrooms, onions, basil… and a poached egg!  Italian egg drop soup?!  I broke the egg and the yolk ran out, adding a wonderful creaminess to the brothy tomato.  With copious amounts of Bocci’s crack foccacia-like bread sticks dipped in olive oil, balsamic, and parm.

Moment of Boss Appreciation: You’ll notice I got a pic.  My boss didn’t even flinch when I whipped out the camera to go paparazzi on my food.  My job satisfaction went through the roof today.

 

 

Dinner:

I made my first chili!  It is a vegan tempeh chili… with 2 “secret” ingredients.  I could have made it hotter, but that’s nothing a little Sriracha didn’t fix!

 

 

Short on time so the recipe will come tomorrow!

 

 

Snacks:

We landed right at dinner time, but I wanted to get a workout in.  I downed a Sweet Tango Apple to tide me over until chili-time.  Sarah introduced me to this variety – if you ever see one grab it immediately!  Of course I had my pretzels on the plane too.

I also had a late-night protein shake for dessert:

 

 

Strawberry-Banana Shake

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1 Strawberry EAS
  • 1 tsp ground flax
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Ice

 

***

Check out Peas and Crayons to see how everyone else celebrated Hump Day on Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday.

Did you get any snow?

What is the best thing you’ve eaten post-Turkey Day? (P.S. Quit eating leftovers!  6 day post-meal that meal is growing bacteria!)

 

A Taste of Everything

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Saturday was one of those days where I feel like I never stopped eating.

In other words, it was a perfect day.

 

 

After the panels, we made our way to the Tasting Pavilion.  There was definitely a buzz in the air as the bloggers lined up to be let in.

 

 

Inside there were companies offering samples of everything from coffee to wine, chocolates to endive, vegan meal bars to lamb-filled phyllo.

 

 

I left no corner undiscovered as I bounced from table to table in a state of foodie euphoria.

 

Some favorites:

 

Oren's Nuts

 

Espolon tequila drink made with COCOA bitters (recipe at the end!!!)

 

Decadent, thick balsamic (aged 8 years) from House of Balsamic

 

Mission Minis Cupcakes – the chocolate PB (eaten, thus not pictured) was the best

 

21st Amendment's craft brews - loved them all, but Allies Win the War took the prize

 

The Girl & The Fig’s Black Mission Fig Jam

 

 

The best part was yet to come…

at 2pm a crowd formed around the Alexia display.  None other than Tyler Florence had arrived.

 

Everything was fine until someone shouted and a mob formed!  Tyler was surrounded and security couldn’t restrain the hysterical group of women (and a few men).

 

The police arrived with tear gas and mob shields.  It was like a scene from a movie!

 

 

I’m kidding.

 

It was a very calm line.  I waited patiently, along with the other bloggers and received an autograph photo.  Tyler and I chatted for a moment about the demo he would be giving at the banquet later that night, and I got a pic with him.

 

Why doesn't Picnik have an "add lipstick" feature?

 

 

Tyler’s demo that evening was also mob-free.  Pre-demo/dinner there was a cocktail hour where we snacked on the 4 finalist recipes for the new Alexia flavor.

 

 

No surprise, my favorite was the Thai-Spiced Sweet Potato

 

 

The reception was a great experience because I was able to meet even more bloggers – including Mamma Pea (who told me she thought I would be taller in person… I thought she’d be shorter 🙂  ).

 

 

 

I also got to hang with some of the same people we met the night before.  Our table was a fun one!

 

Pictured: Karen, Lauren, Maissa, Christin, Me, Sarah, and Lori.  (Thanks to Sarah for sharing this pic!)

 

Last but certainly not least – I spent some QT goofing off with my new favorite person – Andy (a.k.a. orange pants).

 

Andy and Me

Andy's pants

 

 

For his demo, T-Flo (his new nickname, pass it on) made a fantastic-smelling sage pork chop with sautéed cabbage.

 

T Flo's meat

Gentle hands to saute the cabbage

TV screen shot of the plated dish

"My name is T Flo, and my pork is fantastic."

 

 

Unfortunately that was NOT what we had for dinner.  It was kind of a cruel tease because Tyler’s sage and seared pork smelled incredible.

What we had:

 

Banquet menu

 

Even FoodBuzz couldn’t make hotel banquet food taste good…

I requested the vegetarian meal, which consisted of wheatberries, leek, tomatoes, and carrots.  Sounds ok, but in reality it was overall greasy and tough.  Ho hum.  

 

Looking on the bright side, I did get to practice my iPhone photography on Karen’s surf n’ turf main!  The lighting was terrible, but one of these was shot with a point-and-shoot and the other with my iPhone.  

Can you tell which is which?  

 

I like to call these “I’m still learning.”

 

 

Until next year, my friends!  P.S. Come to Atlanta!!!

 

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Here’s the tequila-cocoa bitters recipe, as promised.  If you serve this at your next party, please invite me.  So.  Good.  🙂

 

La Bandita

  • 2 oz Espolon tequila
  • 3/4 oz Wild Turkey American Honey
  • 1/4 oz Frangelico
  • 2 dashes Angostura cocoa bitters

 

Shake and serve chilled!

***

If Thomas Keller had been there, I probably would have started a mob.

 

Have you ever had good banquet food?

 

Who is your favorite “celebrity” chef?

 

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