Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Obesity Outbreak

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HALF of U.S. adults will be obese by 2030.*

Half.

We aren’t talking about a few extra pounds here.  Obesity is a serious problem.

That’s a mug… made of bacon… filled with cheese.

My co-worker and I were running through an airport the other day and he commented that he judges people that are clearly at an unhealthy weight who are eating Big Macs and riding on the moving walkways in airports.

His point is that they are adding to healthcare costs and, in turn, costing everyone.  It may be controversial, but I can’t say that I disagree.

Relax – you’ll never be more than a 145 mile drive from the nearest B’Mac.

 Source: Data Pointed

The other thing that bothers me?

Denny’s new sandwich offering is a 1650 calorie gut-buster: The Mac ‘n Cheese Patty Melt.

The contents?  “A hand-pressed beef patty topped with new creamy Mac ‘n Cheese, melted cheddar cheese, and zesty Frisco sauce on grilled potato bread.”

I get it’s their prerogative and people have the right to choose.  But really Denny’s… is this necessary? 

*As reported in the Washington Post, and according to a report released Thursday on the international obesity crisis in the British medical journal the Lancet.

***

This week of living at the mercy of hotel and airports have driven home the point that it’s not always easy to find healthy options.

Are restaurants being irresponsible serving items like this when half of our population will be at dangerous weights in less than 20 years?

WIAW: The Rockies Edition

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Starting the week 3 hours behind is weird.

 

I woke up Monday morning in Denver, CO.

  • The Good: I woke up super early because I was on East Coast time
  • The Bad: By the end of the day I was pooped
  • The Weird, cont.: Now I’m in Chicago… in another time zone

 

Have you guys ever been in the Denver airport?  Having a massive airplane inside the airport gives it extra cool points.

I checked into the Hampton Inn (which was surprisingly well-kept/updated) and discovered that they had little pictures outside each guest room.  Pretty cool – they were all different!

However… don’t you think mine was a little risque?!

I swear I’m not running a prostitution business out of my hotel room.

Waking up super early meant I got in a couple of good workouts.  Hooray for hotel gyms!  Note the motivational sign across the mirror.

The WIAW part of my week is… weak…

Don’t kick me out, Jenn!

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Breakfast:

Luke-warm hotel instant oatmeal.  Made with water.  Eaten out of a styro-foam bowl with a plastic spoon.  Thank god for peanut butter.

Instead, let’s pretend I ate some of this:

Zucchini Bread Oatmeal with homemade quick blueberry “jam” was one of my better ideas.

I may stop for zucchini on my way back from the airport Friday…

Lunch:

How one conference could offer SO MUCH bad food is beyond me.

This was some sort of attempt at enchiladas.  I picked out the chicken and made a salad with the shredded lettuce.  Maybe one of those tortilla chips was eaten – they were ridiculously salty (even for a generic brand).

Snacks:

Not pictured, but these items were key to my survival:

  • Apple taken from the hotel breakfast bar
  • Peanuts I saved from my flight
  • Chocolate-Toffee Think Thin bar from home

 

 

Plus copious amount of tea to keep warm in the very well-air conditioned room and remain heavily caffeinated.

 

Dinner:

Again, not worthy of a picture.  It was an airport salad with 2 cucumbers and 2 tomatoes (not kidding).  I did manage to convince them to give me some hummus then regretted it.

This would have been much more delicious:

 

A big salad with hummus dressing (basil hummus mixed with a bit of apple cider  vinaigrette) and a side of roasted brussel sprouts (coated with herbed dijon mustard and olive oil).

Served with 1/2 a Food for Life Sprouted Grain and Seed English muffin and a big ‘ol scoop of my new favorite oil-free, vegan condiment:

Beet Sunflower Pesto.

 

You should try the pesto.  No need to like beets.  Guaranteed.

***

For a whole slew of eats MUCH better than mine, please hop over to Peas and Crayons. 

Do you prefer East Coast time?  West?  Somewhere in between or far away?

Let me live vicariously through you – what deliciousness are you eating this week?

Cheese, Nuttiness, and Raw ABCs

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Confession:

 

I haven’t run at all this week because I pulled something in my calf area (still not sure how).

It is what it is… but now I’m about to walk out the door for a 5K.  I probably should still be taking it easy, I know.  However I’m all registered and I reallllly want to run after a week off.  Bring on the KT Tape and call me a glutton for punishment.

*Disclaimer: I don’t think it’s a serious injury.  I’m just going to prolong the healing process if anything.  I don’t advocate being as stubborn as I am being right now.*

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Less controversial is the topic of peanut flour.  Particularly how fantastic it is.  I should have bought the 5lb bag.

 

In peanut sauce-form atop cottage cheese:

In the mix:

  • 1/2 C cottage cheese
  • 1/4 C raspberries
  • 1 T peanut flour, mixed with…
  • 1 T unsweetened almond milk

 

All that salty and little sweetness… it was like PBJ cottage cheese!

 

There was also a pea-nutty afternoon snack:

 Spicy Peanut Dip

  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 1 T unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp Sriracha garlic sauce
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • pinch of salt

 

Veggie sticks will never eaten the same way.

 

Now that you know I like peanut flour in with sweet, salty, and spicy twists…

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Here’s even more than you ever wanted to know about me (borrowed from Gina @ Choosing Raw).

 

The ABC’s of Me… the raw foodie’s version (yes, I’m fully aware that I am not a raw foodist… but am a foodie and I like raw food!)

 

A) Preferred way to eat avocados: homemade guacamole… or in a smoothie.

B) Daily banana intake:  typically 1/2 in a breakfast (oats or smoothies) and half in an evening smoothie

C) Cacao or carob? Carob!

D) Durian? I’m told it’s stinky, but I haven’t had the pleasure of making it’s acquaintance.

E) Essential to start the day: Water – I start everyday with a glass of ice water and a tsp of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.

It’s good for the the *ahem* digestion.

 

F) Favorite fruit: Watermelon or peaches

G) Guru you like: I march to my own drum.

H) Healthy meal: that’s tough… I like so many things… and this should probably be raw… I made a mango-avocado gazpacho that rocked my world.

I) Ice cream base: Banana soft-serve.

J) Juice or smoothies? Smoothies!  I drink them almost daily.  With spinach, always.

K) Favorite way to eat kale: Marinated so it gets a little soft.  YUM.  This was a tasty one:

L) # of Lemons in your house right now: 2, plus a lime

M) Muscle testing: hoax or real? I’m a skeptic – hoax.

N) Nut butter: favorite kind? CHUNKY TJ’s Roasted Flax Seed Valencia Peanut Butter or homemade Spiced Almond Butter

Like bar nuts... in dip form and with fewer germs.

 

O) Organic or conventional? I make an effort to only buy organic or local produce.

P) Pickled veggies: Love them!

Q) Questions you get asked about your diet: You really put spinach in smoothies?  Ewwww!

R) Recipe you love: Keeping with the raw theme – there are so many great things made within the blogging community that it’s hard to choose!  I’m going to have to go with one of Gena’s (who I got the survey from).  I made her Cashew Cheese with Meyer Lemon and Dried Cherries and ate it like it was my j-o-b this winter.

S) Skin brushing? I have not a clue what this is.

T) Type of water you drink: Atlanta’s finest (tap).  Extra lemon.

U) Unbelievable thing that’s related to eating raw: That “high” feeling you get after a good raw meal.  And how amazing the glow is of raw foodists’ skin!

V) Vegetable you love: Spinach!  My 10-year old self is judging me right now.

W) Why did you start eating raw? I don’t eat all raw, but I do make an effort to eat a good deal of raw foods.  I think the more pure/clean we eat, the better we feel.  My energy level is signinficantly increased when I’m eating clean.

X) X-rated vegetable or fruit: X-rated?!  I have just the picture…

 

Y) Yummy food you make: Raw… Peach Cobbler Chia Pudding, Brazilian Flax Cookies, Asian-Spiced Flax Crackers,  Mexican Raw Bulgur Bowl, and – most recently – Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad

Z) Favorite use of zucchinis: Sliced into sticks and dipped into peanut butter.  Simple and delicious.

***

Time to run and then do something totally unhealthy… a food and wine festival.  😉

Do you make an effort to eat raw foods?

What are your ABCs?  Pick a couple and leave a comment!

 

Everybody’s WIAW

By

Happy Hump-WIAW!

 Get yer mind out of the gutter.

 

As always, head over Peas & Crayons to check out 100+ others’ creative eats!

 

With football season so close (Tech’s opener is 8 days away!) and the Italy trip in less than 5 weeks, I’m getting really antsy.  Ants.  In.  My.  Pants.

Here’s our high-level Italian wine region/city itinerary:

  • Days 1-3 – Veneto/Verona
  • Days 3-5 – Friuli/Cormons
  • Days 5-6 – Lombardy/Milan
  • Days 6-8 – Piedmont/Alba
  • Day 9 – Driving/Hike Cinque Terre(!!!)
  • Days 9-11 – Tuscany/Lucca/Sienna
  • Days 12-13 – Tuscany/Florence

 

Of course, there will be side trips to smaller towns.  We are working out the winery strategy now.  Our trip also falls at the beginning of truffle season and I couldn’t be more excited.  One stop in the Piedmont region includes 2 hours hanging out with the chef at a family run, Michelin star restaurant before enjoying dinner there.

It is looking like this will be a trip to remember!

________________________________________________________________________________________

After listing all of that my day’s eats seem anti-climatic, right?

 

Breakfast

 

 

A hodge-podge overnight oats mix in poor lighting at 7am:

  • 3/4 C unsweetened almond milk (a little too much… maybe just 1/2 C next time)
  • 1/2 scoop cookies and cream protein powder
  • 1/2 banana, mashed
  • 1/2 C uncooked oatmeal
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Blueberries

 

Lunch

Here I go again with leftovers!

I made my Chili Nutty Tofu again – I think this is the recipe I repeat most often (which says a lot since I rarely repeat anything).  The spicy chili with the sweet, nutty peanut butter (use chunky!) is addicting.  It’s a baked tofu, which is my favorite way to eat it because of the way the tofu fluffs up in the oven while the outside becomes nice and crispy.  My only edit this time was to add freshly grated ginger to the marinade.

 

Served with a leftover raw kale and oyster mushroom salad (full recipe for the raw kale salad tomorrow).

 

Snack

 

Dinner

Everybody’s Pizza

Mom and I ate dinner together in honor of my dad.  He would have been 56 yesterday.

Is it the best pizza in Atlanta?  No.  But it’s the most memory-filled.  My parents used to hang out at Everybody’s when they were in college.  Growing up, he would take the family there and sometimes as a special treat on Friday nights he would take just me.

Same front door they had when my dad was in college.

 

I always ordered the same thing – a pie with pepperoni and feta.  They are huge individual pies, but I conquered it.

20 years later… my order has changed!  Mom and I split 2 massive pies.

The Pizza Salad has a pizza base, but is piled with salad on top.  We chose the Panzanella – a pie topped with lettuce, basil and Roma tomatoes tossed with house roasted chicken, mozzarella, provolone, sun-dried tomato and onion on a pesto cheese pizza.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds.

 

Pie #2 was a Cheeseless Pizza.

 It consisted of oven roasted zucchini, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onion, fire-roasted red peppers, Roma tomatoes, broccoli artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, sesame seeds, and hot pepper-infused E.V. olive oil.

My first helping:

 Dad didn’t like to miss dessert and we honored that tonight.  The last part of the tradition at Everybody’s is to order bread pudding.

It’s the only dessert they serve and it is rich amazing.  I often wonder how many they could possibly sell since it’s not even on the menu… but I like to think it as a cult following. 🙂

***

Life is short.  Don’t skip dessert.

Did anyone on the East Coast feel the earthquakes yesterday?

Does your family have food traditions?

 

Coconut Chocolate Banana Squares

By

Another weekend.  Over too soon.

It was a fun one!  My friend Kat was in town from South Korea.

She moved there a few years ago to teach, which I think is incredibly cool.  It’s good to see old friends so happy and fulfilled.  We used to be concert buddies, so naturally we caught up over a show.

Michelle Malone was playing the Sunday night 99X Unplugged in the Park show.  Unplugged in the Park is a summer-long free music series put on by a local radio station.  They pull in some great musicians at these!

The weekend was also punctuated with…

a baking WIN!!!

 

I’m not gonna lie – my ego needed this one after last week’s baking fail(s).

During my weekend trip to the Farmer’s Market I found coconut flour on the cheap.  $1.36

Normally I hoard the stuff because… well, do you know how much it costs at Whole Foods?  Hint: more than $1.36.

Click here for some of the benefits of coconut flour (and for an awesome coconut chocolate chip cookie recipe).

I was so excited to use it with reckless abandon in Coconut Chocolate Banana Bars!  Low in sugar and high in fiber, these tasty little chocolate bars can be eaten as breakfast OR dessert.

To bake them, I used my square pan, but you could also bake them in cookie-like form on a baking sheet.

The texture coconut flour gives baked goods is so silky it’s downright luxurious.  I also love the notes of sweetness from the banana with the rich cocoa.

Tip: use a good cocoa powder in dishes like this – the difference in taste/quality is worth the splurge!

Recipe at the end!  First a bit ‘o fitness.

Here’s the weekly recap.  I’m happy with last week because I worked out every day!  Usually there’s one day that I simply cannot motivate (unintended “rest” days).

Whatever happened, it worked well because I landed a new PR in Saturday’s hill-filled 5K. 🙂

Workout Recap (8/15-8/21)

  • Monday – Kickboxing
  • Tuesday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Wednesday – Biceps/Back, 84 push-ups, 6 Minute Plank Sequence
  • Thursday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Friday – Triceps/Chest, Plank Sequence, 84 push-ups
  • Saturday – 5K, + 1 mile run, 84 push-ups 
  • Sunday – 4 mile run x2, 100 push-ups

Coconut Chocolate Banana Squares

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10-12 mins

Keywords: bake snack dessert vegetarian low-sodium nut-free low-sugar sugar-free banana coconut flour cocoa greek yogurt healthy cookie

Ingredients (9 squares)

  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 T Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/4 C NuNaturals’ More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend
  • 1 C whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/3 C coconut flour
  • 2 T cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place muffin cups in muffin tins

Whisk together NuNaturals, applesauce, and egg until creamy and light yellow

Add mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla, and whisk to combine

Add flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and stir until smooth.

Spoon the batter into tins

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Approximate Nutritionals: 108 calories, 1.9g fat, 21.3g carbohydrates, 6.1g fiber, 3.9g sugar, 3.8g protein.

Powered by Recipage

***

I’m already excited to eat one of these for afternoon snack.

How was your weekend?  Anything exciting?

Do you have a favorite flour to use?

Free to Breathe 5K

By

I am writing this from a Korean Spa.

 

JeJu.  It’s really the only way to recover from a 5K!  I also used it to recover from Tough Mudder.

No, there isn’t a happy ending.

 

The race was the Free to Breathe 5K.  It was a very, very hilly race through an Atlanta neighborhood called Virginia Highlands.

Despite the humidity and hills, I nailed a PR!

 

Stats:

  • Distance – 3.14 miles
  • Time: 23:06
  • Average Pace – 7:21

 

1st place in my age group and 5th overall!  The fastest female finished in just over 19 mins.  Crazy fast.

 

 

Which clearly deserved a hearty breakfast from Osteria with my friend Jessica.

The omelet was good, but the grits were icky soupy.  In my omelet: red pepper, onion, spinach, basil, and a side of pomodoro sauce.  YUM.

***

Back to the sauna I go!

What are you doing this weekend?

Can any of you run a 19 minute 5K?  How?!

Coconut Milk Greek Yogurt + WIAW

By

Jen’s WIAW is becoming my favorite weekly feature.

 

 

I get SO many great ideas reading other people’s posts!  Head over Peas & Crayons to check them out.

 

Breakfast

I was fortunate enough to receive samples of the new So Delicious Greek-style yogurt.  The flavors include blueberry, raspberry, chocolate, and plain.  Made with coconut milk, the Greek-sytle yogurt is VEGAN.

 

The nutritional information overall is good.  The fiber contect is awesome – 8g!  For those who prefer flavored yogurt, it only has 11g of sugar.  That’s a lot for my taste, but it is pretty low compared to others on the market.  It also have a ton of Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, and Magnesium.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed with protein.  One of the reasons I love Greek yogurt so much is the high protein content.  This coconut version only contains 2g.

 

I tried the blueberry version first.  While I did like it… it was very different than Greek yogurt.  The texture wasn’t as creamy and it didn’t have the tartness.

Recognizing that this may be a plus for some of you (especially if you don’t like/have never had Greek yogurt), I like the “real” thing better.

 

Had I tried it expecting a traditional yogurt, I would have been happier.  I think it’s better than “regular” yogurt!  (Disclaimer: I don’t like regular yogurt.)

 

I gave it some more “oomph” with my new love: Peanut Flour.  Why didn’t you guys beat me over the head to order this sooner?!  It’s life-changing!!!

 

It’s incredible.  Just add a little liquid and salt and you have a protein and fiber-rich peanut butter substance with less fat.  Did I mention it’s also gluten-free?!  I cannot wait to make pancakes and cookies with this.

I’m not sharing – order your own here: Protein Peanut Flour (woo hoo for this hometown Georgia company!)

From a galaxy far, far away...

 

PBJ Vegan Yogurt Deliciousness

  • 2 T Peanut flour
  • 2 T So Delicious unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 container So Delicious Blueberry Greek-style yogurt

 

In small bowl, mix together first 3 ingredients to form a peanut butter-like substance.  Swirl in yogurt.  Inhale bowl of deliciousness.

 

 

Lunch

Moroccan Carrot Salad is even better a day or 2 later!  I made some extra so I could eat it through0ut the week and I thoroughly enjoyed it in a wrap today.  I used a Rudi’s spelt tortilla and stuffed it with hummus, carrot salad, cucumber, celery, spinach, and green pepper.

With lots of water throughout the day in my Georgia Tech glass.  (16 days until the beginning of the GT football season!!!)

Insert 4 mile, music-less run here.  Silly Shuffle was out of juice. 🙁

Do you see that sweat?!  It was so flipping hot.  No music.  630pm.  I think I ran fast just to get ‘er done.

I fantasized thought about dinner the WHOLE way.

Dinner

More carrots!  This time with Shirataki tofu noodles and peanut sauce (yes, more peanut flour!).

Tomorrow you get more details on this!  This post is getting loooong… it was a fantastic throw-together-meal.  You should check back.  Everybody’s doing it.

Snacks

I cannot believe I FORGOT to take a pic of my snack today.

 

Pinkberry yogurt.  Sheer deliciousness.  I got the watermelon (only in stores until August 19th!) with mango and toasted almonds on top.

I also sampled the Salted Caramel.  It was good, but I prefer yogurts in fruity flavors.  “Dessert” flavors (like chocolate and caramel) are reserved for ice cream treats.  Clearly I don’t mind a fruity tart!  (That’s what she said.)

 

My nighttime snack doubled as dessert – a chocolate-peanut butter protein shake.  With spinach, of course.

Almost forgot the pic.  Lucky me – I was chatting with the famous Jen while drinking it and remembered just in time.

In my shake:

  • 1 scoop chocolate casein protein powder
  • 1/2 C spinach (I ran out!)
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 T crunchy peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of guar gum (helps to make the texture more shake-like)
  • Ice + Water, to taste

***

I have dinner plans tonight and it’s making the day dragggggg.

Do you have dessert preferences in terms of what you like fruity vs. chocolate-y?

What is the best thing you’ve eaten so far this week?

 

Monkeying Around

By

This week I feel like I’ve been swinging from vine-to-vino vine.

 

An airplane monkey, if you will.

I’ve also been a room service monkey.

Forgetting my razor made me a hairy monkey.

The security line in Charlotte made me WANT to be a poo-slinging monkey.

Even after all that travel, I have to go into the office today on a Friday and be an all-day meeting monkey.

It’s all good.  This weekend I am planning an Italian wine tour with my wine-drinking monkey-friends.

First I need to satisfy a caveman-like craving.  Due to travel, it’s been a smoothie-less week… and the last day of a loooong week necessitates the appearance of Coffee Monkey.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Coffee Monkey Smoothie

  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 C coffee
  • 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp maca
  • 1 C spinach
  • 10 drops vanilla NuNaturals Stevia
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum
  • Ice + water, to taste

 

Toss everything in a blender/Magic Bullet/Vitamix and blend until smooth.  

Try not to spill while monkey-swinging your way through getting dressed and running out the door.

***

2 months until Italy!!!  

Anyone have any winery suggestions for the Veneto, Friuli, Piedmont, or Tuscan regions?

Are you planning to go to the FoodBuzz Blogger Festival?  I signed up this morning!!! 

 

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