Gift Guide for Food and Fitness Lovers + Giveaway

December 3, 2012 By Laura

Gift giving is a big part of the holiday fun.

Almost as fun as gift-getting.

It is December 3rd whether the weather got the memo or not. I went on a jog yesterday in shorts and a tank top and was sweating while passing houses decked out for Christmas. Bizarre. My iPhone said it was 66 degrees, but I think it cleared 70.

Since it is the month of giving, I wanted to share some of my favorite things (aside from whiskers on kittens – that goes without saying). These are tried-and-true items – I already own most of them!

Whether you are brainstorming something for your favorite food-lover or for someone whose idea of fun is working out, I hope this will give you some ideas.

2012 Holiday Gift Guide

1. Shun Knife

This is my favorite knife. It’s a fantastic tool, but what makes it even better is that they make a left-handed version! Santa brought me one last year and it’s basically the only knife I use. Speaking of… I need to get mine sharpened for Christmas!

2. Magic Bullet

I used this thing religiously before I got my Vitamix. It can take some abuse, and you can blend smoothies right in the cup for a quick breakfast or post-workout refuel. I still use mine for small tasks like whipping cottage cheese for Apple Cupcakes or single-serving dips. But if you really loved the giftee… you’d buy them the $450 Vitamix.

3. FitBit

My FitBit inspires me to walk 10,000 steps and 20 flights of stairs a day, something I need since I am a cube monkey. I don’t use all the features, but it also can track sleep and calories (though it’s not entirely accurate as it can’t tell when you’re lifting weights or at a standing desk). Warning: If you are a little OCD, this may not be the best thing for you.

4. Handful

Greatest sports bra ever… if you’re a member of the itty bitty titty committee. It’s not a super-support bra, but if your pecs are biggest part of your chest (like mine) it’s perfect. There’s even a little layer of padding so you don’t like like a flat-chested 12-year old when you’re at the gym. AND they are having a $12 closeout sale on the size large.

5. Peanut Flour

I talk about it all the time. If I were to find peanut flour in my stocking, I’d be one happy girl. Better yet, if I could just get a year’s supply… Mom, are you reading this? If you order through iHerb.com, use discount code USO924 for $5-10 off your order!

6. Grow Your Own Wheatgrass Kit

Wheatgrass is awesome stuff. It’s full of amino acids, chlorophyll, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. It’s also expensive. I want to grow my own! You don’t even need a juicer to use it if you have a Vitamix! It will blend up the grass like a champ. The Wheatgrass Kit can be found on OpenSky at Robin McGraw‘s new Insider page (yes, it’s Dr. Phil’s wife).

Here’s the giveaway part….

To celebrate Robin’s new healthy living collection, OpenSky has offered to give one reader a $25 credit to use anywhere on the site!

OpenSky is a “social shopping site that helps people discover, buy and share unique goods that match their individual taste. Users can connect to friends and industry insiders in Food, Style, Beauty, Healthy Living, Electronics and Home Décor for exclusive information, advice and insider product recommendations.”

I’ve been a member for over a year now and have found lots of great products. They will often have sales on my favorite vegan protein powder (Sun Warrior), and its where I found my Kombucha homebrew kit (I’m on batch 8!). My favorite Insiders include: Robin McGraw, Bobby Flay, Dorie Greenspan, Tracy Anderson and Jackie Warner.

Receive up to 4 entries by:

Join OpenSky
Tweet: You could say something like: I entered to win a $25 @OpenSky gift certificate in the @sprint2thetable #giveaway http://wp.me/p16jDn-1OI
Be Social: Pinterest Follow Me and/or Pin Something of Mine, Instagram Follow Me, Follow Me and Open Sky on Twitter
Comment: What is on your wishlist this year?

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Thursday, December 6th. The winner will be announced on Friday, December 7th.

***

I quit posting a workout recap on Mondays… it seems like it was getting too repetitive/boring to read. If anyone has thoughts on that… feel free to share. For now I’m going to do away with it.

Is it still warm where you live?

Have you ever tried any of the things on my gift guide?

Semi-Normal Eats + WIAW

November 7, 2012 By Laura

Freedom.

It makes me happy.

After a week of boring, #stinkypee eats, lean white protein and asparagus are NOT What I Ate Wednesday.

My post-competition trip to Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods was the stuff of dreams. I had a list and nothing but time.

2 hours later I emerged from Whole Foods almost $200 poorer and without a single piece of meat in my cart. I even skipped the bacon (the line at the meat counter was too long).

Of course I had to fuel up properly before making this epic grocery trip. Toad in the Hole made with P28 High Protein Bread and a local farm egg. Cooked in truffle oil and topped with sriracha. Welcome back, #yolkporn.

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I’m so happy to get to post a semi-normal What I Ate Wednesday! I say semi-normal because It has been a busy day and I didn’t get to be quite a funk with my foods… and I went to an election night gathering… so I had a bug ‘ol treat dinner. Woot!

Also different is how my meals are labeled. No “Meal 1, Meal 2,” etc. this week! I ate a proper Breakfast-Lunch-Snack-Dinner. I’ll have another meal plan soon, but these are my days “off” before we start training again. I hate to admit it… but I kind of missed eating more meals!

Check out my semi-good habit eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else ate on Election Day.

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Breakfast:

Somethings will never change. I started out with my morning cocktail (mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).

This was followed by my TVP “Oatmeal” done up apple pie-style. I add apple pie spice and mixed in fresh apple at the end. Topped with a peanut butter drizzle and cinnamon.

Lunch:

I brought my leftover’s from last night’s dinner to work. Roasted brussels, cauliflouwer, and baby bellas. I tossed then in salty fish sauce, red peppe flakes, and coconut oil pre-roasting.

The noodles are kelp noodles. I heated them in hot water to soften and toss in a pad thai-ish sauce. I’m enjoying my freedom from measurement, but here are the ingredients for the sauce:

Peanut flour
Unsweetened almond milk
Grated ginger
Lime juice
Cayenne
1 drop lemon Stevia

Still trying to get my protein in (and because I wanted them), I had a bag of Veggie Pizza Protein Puffs from Kay’s Naturals. I ordered online; click here to find them and get 20% off your order.

Snack:

Pumpkin hummus, cauliflower, and edamame.

Eating carbs mid afternoon still feels so scandalous!

Dinner:

I spent the evening with my friends Todd and Jeff watching the election results like some people watch football games. If people watch football with Malbec and cookbooks…

Election Day = pizza night! Mellow Mushroom pizza (side note: I worked there in college for a hot minute) with meatballs, red peppers, and feta cheese with a side salad.

Look at this plate and that glass of wine above. Then multiply it by 2. It was a 2x dinner.

Dessert:

A celebration bowl of pumpkin ice cream (real ice cream – full fat and yummy) topped with a crumbled cinnamon muffin and chocolate syrup.

***

The protein count for the day: KIDDING!!! I have NO idea. Freedom from numbers.

What’s the most you’ve ever spent on groceries?

Did you do any election night partying?

The Good, the Bad, and the Strange

October 26, 2012 By Laura

Obviously these aren’t always mutually exclusive in my world.

Consultants will advise you to “sandwich” bad news.

If you have to deliver bad news or feedback, one theory is to begin with a positive, followed with the negative, then end on a positive. A positive sandwich. I’m not your traditional consultant – I prefer to get the bad out of the way immediately.

This bad in this post isn’t news (at least I HOPE it’s not new to anyone). I saw this on Instagram, and I think you’ll agree this spotting method is never good:

And now for the #strange but good. 🙂

~~Despite~~ Because of my insane diet, I’ve managed a good deal of #strangebutgood recently.

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1. Airplane Protein Muesli Pudding

2 days after the trip I chronicled in yesterday’s Healthy Traveling Food post, I had to do it again. This time I had a very early flight and brought breakfast on the plane. A (recycled) container of muesli, protein powder, strawberries, and walnuts.

Before boarding, I asked the coffee shop for a larger glass so I could mix it up without spilling on the plane. Once seated, I asked the flight attendant for some water to make it a pudding-like consistency.

Not too shabby… but I’m fairly certain the person next to me though I was insane.

2. Chicken ‘n Pears

This was from before most of the fruit was cut from my diet, but I had to share because it was a very #strangebutgood breakfast!

I cubed some pre-cooked chicken and sautéed it was a diced pear in a quick sauce of low-fat coconut milk (NOT as good and the real thing), cardamom, and ground flax. I had my doubts about this one, but it was pretty good… ~~it would have been even better for dinner over some parsnip rice~~.

3. My New Brinner

This kind of goes with #2 above. Brinner normally is breakfast for dinner. Lately I’ve been eating dinner for breakfast. At least that’s what it feel like when I’m eating chicken at 8am.

If you’re going to have to eat chicken at breakfast, I recommend my Cinnamon-Flax Chicken. It almost make it like breakfast. The roasted grapefruit on the side was fabulous, and I coated my no-sodium Ezekial toast with fantastically creamy new peanut flour combo.

Peanut Flour Spread

1 T peanut flour
2 T Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp butter vanilla extract (yes, this combo does exist – I found it at Home Goods)
2-3 drops liquid Stevia

4. Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream

The consensus last night on Instagram is that this is strange. I can’t take credit for this strange idea though! The Vitamix demo guy always makes a red cabbage “ice cream” when he’s at Whole Foods. His doesn’t have protein (I think he just adds apple juice), so I’ve been making my own post-workout Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream.

Once you get over the color, it’s really quite good. You can’t taste the cabbage, and it adds a lot of volume so you feel like you’re eating a gigantic bowl of ice cream.

Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream

90g red cabbage (~1 C)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp Guar Gum (optional, but adds creaminess)
7-8 drops liquid stevia
Ice + water, to taste

Place everything in your high-speed blender and mix until creamy.

Notes:

If your protein powder isn’t very chocolate-y, try adding some coca powder or chocolate extract
You could do this in a smaller blender, but you need to be sure you cabbage is cut into small piece before blending.

5. Lee’s Cauliflower Tuna Hummus

Lee @ In My Tummy was holding me to my idea to start a #strangebutgood link up… but I’ve been so busy with work travel and training that I haven’t been able to organize it. Being the awesome blogger she is, she agreed to share her #strangebutgood creation anyway!

Starting with a recipe for Cauliflower Couscous as the base, Lee funk-ed it up by adding tuna and hummus. Brilliant!!! From Lee: “It was surprisingly good!”

Totally trying this.

***

I really am going to do the link up. My competition is November 3rd and I hope to get myself together after that. #thebestlaidplans

Have you had any #strangebutgood items lately?

How do you prefer to give/receive bad news/feedback?

Healthy Traveling Food (BYOP)

October 25, 2012 By Laura

Operation Bring Your Own Protein (BYOP) is in full swing.

Keeping it clean while traveling is daunting. Traveling while on a competition diet is downright terrifying.

When I realized I was going to have to fly to a client meeting at 3 weeks out from my competition, I immediately ~~panicked~~ started planning. Eating 7 meals per day is hard enough without throwing airport security, conference rooms, and clients into the mix.

I had to think about what I could transport, how I could keep it at a safe temperature (food poisoning isn’t the ideal way to cut pre-contest), and what I could do to avoid disrupting meetings when I needed to eat.

The packing process was simple.

I gathered all of the dry/room temperature foods and packed most of them in my suitcase.

The refrigerated stuff I measured out in advance and divided it into baggies. This was my effort to avoid the last-minute panicked rush to get out the door. All I needed to do was pull everything out and put it in a cooler when it came time to leave (the panicked rush still ensued… but food prep wasn’t the cause).

The following 8 meals were all eaten on the fly (tee hee). I thought a meal-by-meal explanation would be easiest to follow, but there are bullets tips at the bottom if you don’t feel like reading the whole post (I know it’s long).

1. Airport Dinner

My flight was scheduled to depart at dinner time. For this meal, I needed a protein, a carb, and 2 vegetable servings. Of course, my flight was delayed… which was fine since it enabled me to spread out and eat dinner at the gate.

Chicken
Spinach salad (squirted with lime just before leaving the house)
Zucchini and celery sticks
Butternut squash cubes

2. Plane Snacks

No peanuts for me! This meal required a protein and a vegetable. I enjoyed homemade fro-yo. The night before leaving, I mixed peanut flour, cinnamon, and a little Stevia into a single serving container of Greek yogurt. Then I wrapped foil around it and stuck it in the freezer.

By the time I was ready for this snack, it had thawed just enough to be a fro-yo treat! It was also dark on the plane – sorry for the fuzzy pic.

Added bonus: the frozen container helped keep my other items in my bag cool.

3. Dessert

I bought an orange, but spied apples in the hotel lobby and opted for that instead. I made a peanut butter-chocolate protein “pudding” dip for my apple using protein powder, peanut flour, and water. Stirred up in a hotel cup (I never use the glass cups – according to an ABC expose those are NOT properly cleaned).

4. Room Service Breakfast

The night before I filled out the breakfast order form and hung it on my door. (Tip: time the delivery so that it also acts as wake up call.) Breakfast consists of fruit, a protein, and a carb. I request oatmeal prepared with water only (no milk, butter, or salt), fresh fruit, and coffee. Pretty basic, right?

Then I request some special sides: ice water and tons of lemon (a cleansing way to start the day since I couldn’t bring my apple cider vinegar cocktail), and cinnamon. Sometimes I ask for peanut butter too, but that wasn’t on the meal plan this week.

In my oatmeal went ground flax seed and protein powder brought from home, the hotel cinnamon, and blueberries from the fruit plate. Brown is beautiful.

5. A Bathroom Snack

Meal 2 had to be eaten at an awkward time. No one else in the meeting was eating, and I needed a protein and a fruit. I packed my Curried Tuna Salad (sans apple) in a baggie. It is delicious, but curry and tuna have a strong scent.

One of the benefits of being female is that I can bring my bag to the bathroom without anyone questioning me. this is exactly what I did. I camped out in the Ladies with my tuna and a fruit squeeze. I promise it tasted better than it looks in that baggie.

6. Bringing In Lunch

Predictably, they ordered sandwiches for lunch. I needed a protein, a carb, and a vegetable. I can’t have “regular” bread or deli meat, so I brought my own carb and protein. Curried chicken and butternut squash cubes.

I took a gamble that they would have vegetables and I was right. Carrot sticks and celery, courtesy of the deli.

7. Taxi To-Go

My afternoon snack is a protein and a vegetable. I had one last serving of chicken – this time it was an herbed flavor. I saved celery to eat at the end of the trip, as it’s the most travel-friendly veggie. It can take a lot of abuse!

8. Airplane Food Doesn’t Have to Suck

Well, it doesn’t suck when you bring your own. I had a packet of low-sodium tuna, peanut flour, a seasoning packet, red pepper flakes (stolen from pizza day at my office), and previously frozen edamame. In the airport I purchased a salad. They didn’t have a plain one, so I had to throw out the deli meat. I hate to waste, but what was I going to do with all that salty deli meat?

On the plane I assembled my meal. From the flight attendant, I requested water to mix my peanut flour and seasoning. I put the tuna and edamame on the salad, then drizzled my spicy peanut dressing on top. Delicious and pretty!

The lady next to me was a sleep and didn’t even stir at the smell of tuna. 😉

See? Not that hard, as long s you plan!

Here are the 10 things I keep in mind on every trip.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

I offer personalized online training and nutrition programs! Check out my philosophy here and fill out the from for more info.

***

It seems complicated at first; however, this process was really quite simple. I have done it repeatedly, and use the same tips to pack for long work days and in-town conferences.

Do you have any travel tips to share?

What “kid” food do you buy for yourself?

I Feel Scrambled + WIAW

October 3, 2012 By Laura

I feel scrambled.

It’s our busy season at work and I’ve been traveling, working, and not doing much sleeping. There are so many things I’ve fallen behind on. I’m seriously behind on blog reading, returning emails, and blogging topics.

I totally neglected to share an awesome offer from my friend Calee with you all. She’s offered a 15% discount when you use code “sprint2thediscount” in her Etsy shop. I first saw her goods at the Blend Retreat last year and fell in love.

A couple of my current favorite designs:

I’m going to stop feeling sorry and move on to some positive news. Last week I talked about the threat of a bacon shortage. Apparently there will be no baconpocalypse.

It wouldn’t be Wednesday if I didn’t blog about bacon, right?

I was almost too grossed out by this pic to post it…

According to a Mother Jones article, the swine shortage will “shave just a pound per capita off of US bacon production in 2013.” that means there are still 45 pounds of bacon per person for the year. Is that enough for you?

The real scare is fish. Climate change will sharply reduce the productivity of the oceans, meaning less seafood. the most affected ares are in the South, so those of us in the US and Europe probably won’t feel the bite.

It’s a new month (can you believe it’s already October?!), which means a new What I Ate Wednesday theme. Jenn just got even cooler in my eyes for going PINK this month for Breast Cancer Awareness. we’ll be sharing out Halloween-themed treats… as if bloggers needs any more reasons to eat pumpkin. 😉

Check out my sometimes spooky, sometimes pink eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else is getting their Halloween on this month!

Meal 1:

Like every morning, I enjoyed my morning cocktail: a mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos. I ran out of my favorite and I was forced to use a sample pack. It’s grape flavored. Not my favorite… to be fair, I don’t like grape flavored anything. I was desperate.

After a quick 2 mile walk, I enjoyed a new scrambled egg-creation. Egg whites, sweet potato, and a spiced maple-peanut sauce. PB & Speggs?

Served with a side of pear sprinkled with cinnamon.

This combo was the highlight of my day. Peanut butter and sweet potatoes were made for each other and you guys know I love my PB & Jeggs creations. The addition of some maple extract and a little nutritional yeast further blurred the sweet-savory line, creating a breakfast I’ll be repeating ~~ad nauseam~~.

Recipe at bottom.

Meal 2:

Spooky Green Frozen Custard at 11am? Why not?

Vega was nice enough to send me their Vega One French Vanilla protein powder to sample. Obviously, I couldn’t just eat it plain… so I made a frozen custard and topped it with a crumbled Endurance Cracker from Angela.

It had a wonderful flavor! I tried a little plain to test it out first, and I think it would be still be good without the flavor additions. My only complaint is that I’d like to see another 5g of protein (it only has 15g) and fewer carbs (11g). I fixed the protein problem by adding tofu, which made this a creamy custard-like frozen treat.

French Chai Pear Frozen Custard

1 serving French Vanilla Vega
3 oz tofu
1 pear
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom
Pinch cloves
1/3-1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
5-6 drops liquid Stevia
Ice, to taste
Guar gum (optional, but will thicken and add creaminess)

Meal 3:

My lunch went pink! I’ve been all over prepared salmon burgers found at Whole Foods. They are frozen, but not bad! This one is the Lemon Dill flavor. I topped it with my Sweet-Potato Chipotle Spread and served it with a side of chopped red cabbage and asparagus tossed in a lemon-rosemary white bean dip.

Meal 4:

I posted this brown meal on Instagram and a commenter informed me brown food is the most appealing to humans, and that blue is the least. Weird, huh?

This was certainly appealing post-workout:

Tempeh and cauliflower roasted in a sauce of nutritional yeast, sriracha, and lime juice, along with a fried egg. #yolkporn

Normally I don’t roast veggies mid-day. It seems like to much trouble to heat up the oven. Well, my own was already hot from giving the butternut below a thorough roast while I was at the gym…

Meal 5:

I was going to have another cauliflower crust pizza. After taking too long in Whole Foods I decided to ~~spare you~~ make a quick stir fry.

Rarely do I eat chicken. Tonight I was running really late and picked some up at Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods. It was pre-grilled. I knew it would be dry. I bought it anyway. It was dry. Note to self: Don’t shop hangry.

In the Mix:

~~Dry~~ Chicken
Eggplant
Brussels
Asparagus
Red Cabbage
Red Onion
Garlic
Marinara
Ricotta

Meal 6:

Another late night working. Another #strangebutgood candidate.

This is sort of like my Mexican Hot Chocolate Protein Ice Cream, except this one adds a cheese cake component. I know it sounds strange… but I blended in some cottage cheese. It added just the right amount of cheesecake tang. It’s also less green in color because I used zucchini as my veggie rather than spinach. Topped with cinnamon.

Meal 7:

Have you tried Heather’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cake yet? You should make it ASAP. I’m on my 4th.

The perfectly moist and delicious microwave cake was incredible. Again. This time I subbed 1T ricotta + an additional 1 T almond milk for the pumpkin (another WF #fail – they were out of pumpkin) and topped it with a scoop of Chocolate-Peanut Butter Arctic Zero.

Sweet Potato Scramble with Spiced Maple-Peanut Sauce

1/2 C egg whites
1 tsp flax
1/2 C sweet potato, pre-cooked and lightly mashed
1 T peanut flour
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1.5 T water (or other liquid)
1/4 tsp maple extract
2 drops liquid stevia
Pinch of cloves

Scramble egg whites and flax over medium heat until almost done. Add in sweet potato and toss to combine. Cook 1 min more, just until the potato is warm.

In a small bowl mix together remaining ingredients to make the sauce. Pour over the scramble and enjoy!

Serves 1.

***

The protein count for the day: 164.1g. A little low… this work/workout schedule craziness is killin’ me, Smalls!

What is the last thing you forgot in the oven? Anything?

It seems like everyone is stressing lately – are you entering the busy season full-force too?

Stay Calm + WIAW

September 26, 2012 By Laura

Try to stay calm.

There may be a bacon shortage. The LA Times reports that drought conditions caused a reduction in corn and soybean crops, which means less feed for swine… which means less bacon. Stock your freezers now.

Despite my frequent posting about bacon, I really am not a fanatic. Yes, I do enjoy the occasional Maple-Bacon Pancake Cookie. And I think Bacon Toothpaste is funny.

HOWEVER… I bought a mere 2 slices at the farmer’s market to add just a little extra flava-flav to my food this week. And, I worked bacon into a meal today.

It’s a really stressful week. Today I craved comfort food, and having developed the habit of reaching for healthy comforts helped me keep it clean… and sticking with September’s What I Ate Wednesday theme: “Fall Into Good Habits.”

Check out my healthy comfort foods below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else maintained healthy habits this Wednesday.