Strawberry Fields Forever

June 10, 2013 By Laura

Let me take you down…

Random fact: I listened to The Beatles religiously high school.

I’ve been religiously adding berries to everything lately. You’ve seen these if you follow me on Instagram, but here’s round up of some marvelous strawberry creations last week.

You may have noticed that I love to add fruit to seafood. Most of the time it’s in the form of a salmon creation
(Like salmon and peaches. Try it.) Last week I was on a crab bender, and so this salad was born:

Crab and Strawberry Salad

Crab meat
Strawberries, sliced
Basil
Balsamic
Lime juice
Pepper
Paprika

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Strawberries are also good for breakfast! Friday morning I treated myself with a breakfast pizza. Normally this would involve yolk porn, but I was out.

Instead, I made a creamy spread by blending my cottage cheese, and used bacon and strawberries as toppings. The kicker was the fig balsamic glaze I’ve been adding to everything.

Strawberry Breakfast Pizza

Flatbread or pizza crust (I used P28)
1/4 C no-salt cottage cheese
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp almond extract
3-4 drops liquid stevia
Strawberries
Bacon, pre-cooked and broken into “sprinkles”
Optional toppings: hemp seeds, cacao nibs, balsamic

Top pizza and place in oven under broil for a few mins.

Sprinkle with hemp seeds, cacao nibs, balsamic… or other toppings of choice!

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Lastly, we must have strawberries on dessert! My #1 favorite “healthy” dessert is my 150 Calorie Chocolate Cake. Who knew 2 minutes in the microwave could produce such a perfectly moist individual cake?! I followed my original recipe, but used mashed sweet potato in place of the apple sauce. I think I’ll be doing that from now on – it was fabulous!

For the strawberry topping, I simply mashed up some fresh berries in a bowl, added a tiny bit of balsamic, and microwaved it to warm. The heat juices the berries even more, making for a delicious fruit syrup.

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One more thing… I’m now a strawberry blonde! I went lighter for the summer. Yes, my hair color is seasonal. Holla at Karen and Lava Hair Studio.

How’s that for a berry Marvelous Monday? Check out all of the Monday Marvels at Katie’s linkup!

***

I have a little announcement tomorrow… I’m a little nervous about it, but I’m all about being real. Suspense.

What is your favorite way to use strawberries (other than plain)?

Do you change your hair or something about your “look” seasonally?

Getting Schooled at the Food & Wine Festival

June 6, 2013 By Laura

Food & Wine is about more than stuffing your face.

Though you know from my last post on the topic that I stuffed it well.

My favorite feature of Atlanta’s Food & Wine Festival is the focus on education. Each day of the festival begins with classes led by well-known Southern chefs and libation experts. You get to choose 3 per day from a long list. Proof that life is full of tough choices.

My friend Rich and Me

My strategy was to choose classes that were diverse. The amount of time I spent creating my schedule is embarrassing, but in the end it paid off!

Without rambling on (hopefully), I want to share some photos and takeaways from a few of those classes.

This Little Piggy Got Spicy

This class was taught by Chef Asha Gomez, a lady I admire and respect (she inspired me to try curry leaves!). She owns Cardamom Hill, one of the best Indian restaurants in Atlanta. She focuses on cuisine from her home-region of Kerala. It’s much different that the spicy curry dishes many associate with Indian food!

I especially love Asha’s mentality when it comes to trying new things:

I will never walk away from a fruit, vegetable, or spice that I am not familiar with. I will always pick it up and try it.

Pork Vindaloo

While some of her dishes may seem like fusion, she prefers to call it evolution. Her fried chicken recipe is one her mother made back in India!
Curry powder is a Western thing; in India curry simply means that something is braised with a sauce
Classic Indian spices are black pepper, cardamom, and ginger; cumin and red chili pepper were introduced later by foreign merchants
There is no naan in Kerala – gluten is not produced there so their main carb is rice
The smaller the pepper, the spicier it is (I can’t believe I never realized this, but SO true)
To learn the nuances of a spice, blanch a vegetable it in it

Fresh Start

Chef Nathan Lyon taught this clean eating course. You may be familiar with his series on Discovery Health, A Lyon in the Kitchen, or from his appearance on The Next Food Network Star.

Summer Squash Salad

When you salt food, do it from high up; this allows the salt to be distributed more evenly
Sea salt is better than table salt (duh), and you can use less of it
You don’t need to spend a ton of money on a variety of knives, rather have a couple of favorites and keep them sharp
His focus on eating seasonally was best demonstrated with a delicious gazpacho-esque smoothie combo (that I forgot to take a pic of): watermelon, tomatoes, jalapeno, parsley, mint, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, red wine vinegar, and freshly squeezed lemon juice

Beer & Doughnuts

Beer Director Greg Elbert and Pastry Chef Tiffany MacIsaac (read: doughnut genius) from Birch & Barley and GBD Chicken & Donuts in Washington DC blew my mind with this session. Who knew beer would be so tasty for breakfast?!

Beers sampled:

Gose – old German beer style from Leipzig, unfiltered wheat beer, crispness and low hop, hints of coriander
Allagash Curieux – this is Allagash’s Tripel Ale in Jim Beam bourbon barrels, amber color, soft and flavorful, yeast and vanilla upfront with hints of tasty bourbon at the end (this was my favorite)
Avery Anniversary Twenty – new release (we were the frist in GA to try it), copper color, super hoppy IPA, citrus sweetness, surprisingly not bitter

Doughnuts sampled:

Passion Fruit glazed, churro-style
Classic yeast doughnut with a chocolate pudding filling, topped with chocolate glaze, maldon salt, and Cocoa Krispies
Sour cream doughnut with a grapefruit and campari glaze

Like wine, the best pairing is the one that tastes good to you
What tastes good to me is the Allagash Curieux with the chocolate yeast doughnut or the grapefruit glazed
When pairing food and drink, “make sure the impact matches” (this is why we typically don’t drink a light white wine with a T-bone steak)

Aged to Delicious Bourbon and Cheese

Led by Tim Gaddis of Atlanta’s Star Provisions and Seth Thompson of The Bourbon Review magazine, this session was a boozy treat. At least it was after noon at this point. To be honest I think all cheeses go with bourbon… I was an easy sell.

The Bourbons:

Blanton’s Single Barrel – amber color, lots of citrus on the nose, nice caramel and clove taste
Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey – reddish gold color, more oak and leather in taste, some vanilla
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked – dark copper color, tons of butterscotch up front, deepens to a warm and woody finish (easily my #1)
Four Roses Small Batch – amber color, lighter with more caramel and fruit on the finish

There isn’t much in terms of education notes to share here – you really have to experiment at home!

The cheeses were all scrumptious – we sampled Sweet Grass Dairy’s Green Hill Cow’s Milk, Ossau Inaty Sheep’s Milk, Rogue Blue, and Gouda. I’d had all but one before (I love cheese, what can I say?).

The one I hadn’t tried was actually my favorite! It was a Aged 5 Year Gouda. It wasn’t smoked – it was a deliciously sweet butterscotch/caramel flavor that sung when paired with the Woodford.

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One other note: don’t be afraid to go to events by yourself! I went solo on Saturday and met two awesome friends who I hung out with into the evening.

Were any of the lessons/takeaways new or surprising to you?

What is the most valuable food or drink-related lesson you’ve learned?

Meet Luci-furrrr + WIAW

May 29, 2013 By Laura

Lucifer isn’t always scary.

Be honest – how many of you are already horrified at this post? 😉

My best friend has a cat that she named Lucifer. Shortened to Lucy to keep it PC. My friend had a baby and both her and the baby are allergic to Lucy, so I offered to take the cat on a trial basis.

Meet Lucy:

I secretly got her because she matches my rug.

She’s a beautiful grey 9-year-old cat who is NOTHING like her namesake. Thank god.

You may judge me, but I am not a big animal person. I am not home a lot and can’t even keep a plant alive, so the thought of having something that needs constant care doesn’t appeal to me. However, this cat is cool. She sleeps all the time and mostly keeps to herself except at night when she jumps in bed to cuddle with me. Perfect animal for me!

My mom thought it was a stuffed animal and I was playing a prank on her!

To recap: I’m turning 30. I got a cat. The cat is my cuddle partner. I’ll soon be a creepy old cat lady.

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My WIAW meals should be re-title “meals of desperation.” There has been so much going to that I still haven’t done a big trip to the market since Blend! This means I was eating the last of everything in my fridge. By snack time I was 100% out of veggies and had convinced myself to ditch kickboxing for a grocery run.

Check out my semi-normal eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see what delicious spring foods everyone else is enjoying!

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Breakfast:

Forgetting to bring my Aminos to my mom’s house made me realize just how much I crave my morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos). This morning we were happily reunited. 🙂

Breakfast was an old favorite: PB & Jeggs. After a pretty indulgent weekend finished off with burgers and homemade strawberry margaritas I wanted something simple! The “jam” this morning was raspberry.

This fueled a great leg day workout. The gym was still not crowded!!! I guess people are still recovering from the weekend?

I took full advantage of the desertion and did a little Instagram photo shoot. ~~#bloggersterotype~~

Post-Workout Re-Fuel:

In the spirit of ~~not having groceries~~ old favorites, I turned an almost-empty container of Greek yogurt into a Carrot Cake Protein Batter.

Lunch:

Desperation was setting in. The last of the no-salt turkey deli meat, the end of a jar of salsa, and frozen edamame.

I 100% thought I had a bag of Pirate’s Booty in my desk drawer. Nope… I forgot I ate it last week. Don’t you hate it when that happens?!

Snack:

This happened not long after lunch since I didn’t have my desk draw snack. I had one piece of salmon left and the end of bag of spinach. I topped with the lemon, red pepper flakes, herbs de provence, and nutritional yeast.

That salmon may had been of a questionable age… if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, call 9-1-1.

Dinner:

This is when I caved. I wanted to go to kickboxing, but the need for food was greater. Instead I went to the chiro and then to Fresh Market.

I was craving a million different things, but settled on a ghetto version of carbonara.

Instead of pasta, I used tofu spinach noodles. My sauce was a mix of Greek yogurt cream cheese, parsley, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Then I mixed in some shredded turkey, topped it with the infamous runny egg, and drizzled with the a thick fig balsamic. #strangebutgood

Any excuse for a runny egg!

#yolkporn

Dessert:

My favorite meal of the day. I froze some Greek yogurt mixed with half a scoop of protein powder, cinnamon, stevia, and butter extract for about 30 minutes. Then I topped it with cubed butternut squash roasted with cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne. And a little cocoa powder sauce (cocoa power, almond milk, cinnamon, and stevia), for good measure.

Translation of this meal: cinnamon roll yogurt with sweet butternut bites and dark chocolate sauce.

***

As much as going back to work after a long weekend hurts, remembering it’s a short week is enough to keep me smiling!

Are you an animal person? What was/is your favorite pet?

What is your typical I’m-desperate-for-groceries meal?

What I Ate at Blend

May 22, 2013 By Laura

Everyone in a while you meet total strangers who aren’t.

I swear that made sense in my head…

I hope I’m not the only one that feel like they “know” bloggers. So many of the fabulous ladies I met at Blend this past weekend are bloggers I’ve been reading for so long that I felt like they were my “real” friends already!

First, I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Janetha, Lindsay (with credits for the following pic), and Katie for putting together another life-changing weekend!

Heather, Me, and Lindaay

Second, I owe a big thanks to Growing Naturals for sponsoring me at the retreat. These guys are truly a great example of a small business offering good, clean products.

I was so thrilled to share their pea and rice protein powders and their protein drink mixes with my friends. More on their products here.

I know Bonnie was extra-excited to try this after the 9 mile run they did in the chilly Park CIty rain!

My friend Heather already used hers and shared a pic on Instagram:

It was also the start of my first post-workout recovery meal.

The vanilla rice protein was fabulous in my green smoothie (extra spinach!) topped with Muesli Fusion:

Stay tuned – this fall they are coming out with a new addition to their protein/supplement line – yummy greens to throw into shakes!!!

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Rather than a “traditional” WIAW post, today is all about What I Ate at Blend! We were totally spoiled all weekend, and I’m still enjoying all the tasty schwag-bag selections at home. 🙂

Check out my eats with my Blends below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see what delicious foods everyone else is enjoying!

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Friday:

We arrived at the hotel excited and famished from travel. Famished. The schwag gods were smiling though… check out all the goodies we had to munch on: protein from Vega, Zevia, SoyJoys, a Lara Bar, muesli and granola from Bob’s Red Mill, Attune Foods chocolates, Healthy Bites (so in love)…. and more!

After a photo ops, we gabbed, snacked… and headed to event #1: a pre-happy hour with Justin’s Nut Butter! I was careful to sample everything, but stopped for a pic with one of the lovely organizers – Katie!

My top butters were: Maple Peanut and Chocolate Hazelnut. They were even better on Attune Foods graham crackers. All I needed was some apple juice.

The kind folks at Silk must have wanted to make absolutely sure the Blends were happy, so they set up a Happy Hour where we could unwind from travel ~~and begin the photo-taking frenzy~~. Heather was patient enough to take a gorgeous pic of her ginger-Silk drink.

There was also an amazing buffet of black bean cakes, veggie summer rolls, and cute veggie sticks in jars (how did they know bloggers like Mason jars?!). Let’s pretend like I didn’t attack this… the temptation was too tasty and I couldn’t wait until dinner! Plus, we all know it’s bad to drink on an empty tummy. 😉

Dinner itself was off the chain. It was a buffet… but a good buffet. Normally I’m anti due to the rogue dirty hands and food sitting out too long. That didn’t happen here. My Blends were nice and clean, and the hotel staff couldn’t have done a better job and keeping the food refreshed.

There were salad options, quinoa patties, roasted veggies, chicken breasts, and lemon-y fish filets. There was literally something for everyone! And it was all good!

No dinner is complete without dessert! there was Chobani panna cotta, apple pie, and berry tarts.

A few of us decided to split all 3… which I graciously finished off. Starving kinds in Africa, you know.

Thanks to Lindsay for this artful photo.

Saturday:

One would think that after all that I’d still be full… well, GPP Fitness fixed that with a little workout that left me waddling. More on that tomorrow but let me just say 200 burpees (I did refuse to yell “Yay burpees!” after each rep as instructed) is a certain cure for lack of appetite.

The highlight of breakfast for me was getting to try a new granola – Muesli Fusion. They have an “Athlete’s Fuel” mix that rocks my socks off. NO added sugar or sodium, and 7g of protein per serving. It’s like they designed it for me. I poured my unsweetened Silk all over that! There was a ton of fresh fruit (holy pineapple deliciousness), and a fabulously strong brew from Green Mountain coffee.

Then we had another workout! Zoomba. I’ll spare you the pics of this white girl shaking her thang… until tomorrow. 😉 Following that we did what any normal blogger does – we went to Whole Foods. I totally failed at life and didn’t take a pic.

I DID take a pic of the snack break that followed – Onnit provided us with some amazing chocolate-banana hemp protein smoothies and rice cakes with cashew-walnut butter (totally crave-worthy). What’s better than these blogger staples? Getting them handed to you by Miss United States! Whitney is one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met. How cute is she?!

And then there was dinner. Calee, Michelle, Heather, Heather, Heather (that’s not a typo – there were 3 beautiful Heathers) found an amazing restaurant on Main St. in Park City called Riverhorse. The food was incredible.

We started with a great Pinot Noir, chosen by fellow-wine lover Michelle (who I will gush about meeting later) and a beet salad served with micro greens, brie cheese, and a potato crisp with tarragon vinaigrette. Calee and I split the Trio of Wild Game for our entrée. It came with buffalo, venison chop, and elk over broccolini and asparagus with a port wine and huckleberry reduction.

I was nice and full… but when I saw the dessert menus I had to place one more order. Peanut Butter Bread Pudding with caramelized bananas and a chocolate drizzle. Can you blame me? 🙂

Every dish was near perfection. Lucky because our server was terrible. I swear I have the worst luck. She basically ignored us all night, added 20% gratuity (for a party of 6 who was clearly spending money… WTF?!), and when Heather asked about the charge (there was NO warning note on the menu) she snatched the bill out of Heather’s hand and stalked off. We tipped the man refilling our waters in cash on the side and spoke to the manager on the way out.

Like I said, the food was great. That combined with the fantastic company made for a great evening and we laughed about our crazy experience all the way back to the hotel (the cab driver was thoroughly entertained).

Sunday:

Holy breakfast heaven. This was the best breakfast out of any Blend Retreat. They had an omelette station!!! Protein at breakfast?! Color me happy. Thank you for this sponsored deliciousness, Chobani!

I got an egg white omelette with mushrooms, garlic, onions, and spinach. And a Chobani yogurt pancake. And fruit. I wanted ALL the foods! 😉

Be sure to check the #blend2013 hashtag on Twitter and Instagram for more action from the weekend!

***

I snacked my way back to ATL with schwag bag goodies, and (obv) hit the Whole Foods hot bar immediatly after getting home. 😉

Soooo… are you all going to come to Blend next year with me?

Have you ever tried any of these fun products? What are you loving right now?

What’s Beautiful?

May 15, 2013 By Laura

Beautiful comes in all forms.

Much like diet, it’s personal!

There’s no right or wrong definition. When I heard about Under Armour’s What’s Beautiful competition aimed at getting women to set epic goals and prove themselves, I was really excited. You goal, your definition of what beauty is, is totally customized!

I immediately signed up, and I hope you will too! All you need to do is click here and enter some basic info, including what fitness goal you WILL accomplish. You can customize the top pic (like your Facebook header), join teams, and follow/encourage others!

To me, beautiful is embodied by spirits unwilling to settle for less than they are. Strong woman are beautiful to me, so of course that’s what my goal involves. 🙂

Check out my goal and challenges thus far here:

The competition is 100% personalized for you. There are mini-challenges you can participate in along the way, but you can choose those that apply to you.

You don’t have to do the challenges… but you might want to because there are prizes along the way (read: Under Armour schwag bags) and one BIG reward at the end: a trip to Costa Rica to attend a four-day yoga and surf retreat, complete with massages, spa treatments and healthy, locally sourced meals prepared by personal chefs!!!

Once you create your profile, I’d love it if you’d join my team: Team Fabulously Fit! There are four of us FitFluential Ambassadors headed it up. We have some diverse goals, but the underlying theme is healthy and fitness. We are super excited to cheer for you and motivate each other!

Our team includes: Lindsay @ Itz Linz, Melissa @ Treats With A Twist, Lindsay @ Cotter Crunch, and me!

The competition will be using the hashtags #whatsbeautiful and #iwill. Follow along both hashtags on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest to stay motivated and dedicated to achieving YOUR goal!

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Don’t worry – we’re still going to talk about food today! My WIAW meals were right in line with the No Shit Diet principles. Including a little dinner indulgence. 🙂

Check out my eats and treats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see what delicious foods everyone else is enjoying!

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