Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

What I Ate On My 30th Birthday

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Birthdays should be drawn out.

 

I’m celebrating mine for a solid week.

Today I leave for a fabulous birthday trip with two of my best wine-os friend: Lisa and Heather.  At 21 we celebrated with cheap shots and beer, at 30 we spend too much money on fine wine and taking mud baths.  I choose 30.

The celebration have been on going though!  Later in the post are some birthday eats, but I wanted to share my favorite treats first.  My actual birth DAY was fabulous – I was totally overwhelmed by the comments on this post and on Instagram.  If you get a chance, look back at everyone’s “lessons learned” in the post comments.  So much wisdom!

I had a wonderful dinner with my family, including my best friend who is basically my sister.  We missed my Portland sister though!

Mallory, me, Mom, and Madison

Mallory, me, Mom, and Madison

 

Mom nailed the gift department – I told her not to buy clothes or anything.  There’s not much I need… but I wouldn’t turn down a little Napa spending money.  She made that happen in a rockstar way.

Nothing says “I love you” like cash credit!

 

Just when I thought the night couldn’t get better, I received this gem from Lauren.  Lauren’s fur babies, to be more precise.

Does it get any cuter?!

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This WIAW is actually what I ate on my birthday.  I had some favorites, and some indulgences.  It was exactly as it should be on one’s 30th  birthday.

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Read on for my celebration eats, and then check out Jenn’s link up for everyone else’s delicious days.

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Breakfast:

My morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos) was served martini-style in honor of my birthday.  Who doesn’t want to start their 30th year out with a draaaank?

Morning-tini

Morning-tini

 

This is an old favorite.  I don’t know why it’s been so long since I’ve made PB & Ceggs, but it’s what I wanted for my birthday.  This is the perfect time of year to make it because the carrots are so sweet and juicy!

This is the version with an egg scramble, not the tofu in the linked recipe.  It’s good both ways though!  Even better with sprinkles:

PB & Ceggs

 

Lunch:

This was a desperation meal.  I leave for Napa today and I knew I’d be eating out for a couple of meals due to birthday celebrations so I didn’t do my usual grocery trip.  Bring on the canned tuna!

This mix is tuna, nutritional yeast, cayenne, cumin, pepper, herbs de provence, turmeric, and balsamic vinegar.  I tossed it with the end of a bag of spinach and ate it with a slice of P28 protein bread… on a ZooPals plate to preserve my youthfulness. 😉

Dinner:

Finally time for my birthday meal!  My mom treated baby sister, my best friend, and me to dinner at Seed Kitchen & Bar.  I was really excited because I got to try a new-to-me fish: Wreckfish.  Wreckfish is like a cross between Sea Bass (my favorite!) and Halibut.

Wreckfish at Seed

We did have to send my dish back (wayyyy overcooked), but on the second round it was perfection.  Our server was nice enough to give me the sides from another special, so I was able to have caramelized brussels and roasted cauliflower on my birthday.  It was a giant plate of my favorite things!

 

Dessert:

Simple and delicious.  As my “cake,” I ordered a fresh-baked and slightly undercooked chocolate chunk skillet cookie a la mode.  Mom and baby sis were allowed one bite each. 😉

Birthday skillet cookie

***

I forgot to take a picture of the 3 cards I received at dinner.  All were related to boobs.  Way to go, Family! 😉

Have you ever tried Wreckfish?

What is your favorite thing to eat on your birthday?  

 

Weekend Update + WIAW

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I get behind in my over-sharing.

Thank god for Instagram!

There has been a lot going on lately that I’ve just run out of time to blog about!  Hump Day seems the perfect time for a download.

I’ve been getting some good runs in (between all the summer storms).  This is taken on the GA Tech campus.  Saturday marked 5 years since my dad died.  Without intention, I found myself heading to his alma mater for a run.

It was nice to run by all the places we used to walk past on game days and relive some of my own memories from grad school.  The rain didn’t hold off for long – about 5 mins after I took this pic the sky turned black and it started pouring.

GA Tech

Sunday I met some of my favorite Atlanta bloggers for lunch at Dough Bakery, my favorite local vegan spot.  That’s (very pregnant) Alayna, Tina, Lee, me, and Heather.  Heather is former Atlanta blogger… she left us for Colorado. 😛

I always have so much fun with these ladies.  We talked and ate for a long time before I had to run back home to get ready for dinner.  That’s right  – I said run.  I ran a total of 6.65 miles there and back thanks to Atlanta’s new Beltline trail!  I’m lucky my friends would be seen with me sweaty and dressed like a bum.

Atlanta Bloggers

The dinner I was running home to was at one of Atlanta’s best new restaurants: King + Duke.  I’m too lazy to write  full review, but let me just say… if you are in ATL or are coming to visit make a reservation.  So.  Good.

Their wine program is excellent, which you know makes me happy, and the food is even better.  Don’t skip the roasted beet and carrots with feta and harissa, the roasted bone marrow with smoked mushrooms, blackberries, and short rib marmalade, and the “Dates & Ale” (a fantastic sticky toffee pudding with Sweetwater IPA cream).

Marrow at King + Duke ATL

Meat butter

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This WIAW was less indulgent than this weekend.  Thank god.  I love going out to eat, but whoa.  I was dragging on Monday after eating half my meals out over the weekend.  I jumped back on the healthy eating train with reckless abandon.

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Read on for my eats, and then check out Jenn’s link up for everyone else’s delicious days.

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Breakfast:

My morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos) was of course the start to my day.

If you follow me on Instagram you saw that I have a mini crisis: my air conditioning quit working.  I live in the South.  It is HOT.  I was really glad I thought ahead and made a nice, cool breakfast: overnight oats!

This bowl is a little different because I combined a few protein sources.  The oats, cottage cheese, and protein powder made for the most deliciously creamy bowl of cheesecake-like oats I’ve ever had!

Blueberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats

Blueberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats

  • 1/4 C oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill GF)
  • 1/4 C cottage cheese
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Blueberries
  • Stevia, to taste
  • 1/2 C almond milk (or other liquid)

Combine everything in a bowl, cover, and place in fridge overnight.

Remove from fridge in morning.  You may need to add additional liquid, especially if you choose to heat it.

Top as desired and enjoy!

Note: I order my peanut flour from iHerb – I like it better than PB2 because it is less processed and doesn’t have the added sugar and sodium.  Use my discount code – USO924 – for $5-10 off your order!

Mid-Morning Snack:

I love making random mixes with no salt deli turkey.  Often I do fruit, but today I had some celery to use up.  I broke up the turkey and mixed it with nutritional yeast, cayenne, pepper, herbs de provence, and apple cider vinegar.  Then I chopped up my celery (and some of the celery leaves) and stirred that in.

Deli turkey salad

Lunch:

I’m getting low on groceries, so I had to bust out the emergency veggie burger.  If you’re going to eat frozen food, the Lightlife burgers are pretty tasty.

Eaten with spinach salad, celery, kabocha, and a quick dressing made from spinach hummus, apple cider vinegar, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  Yes, I spent time “plating” this at work.  People stared.

Lightlife veggie burger salad

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

This was fancy-looking, but I’d made it the day before.  Baked swordfish in a foil pocket with veggies and Indian spices.  It was fast and the clean up was easy – just throw away the foil!

I posted the recipe here on Facebook if you’re interested.

Indian Baked Swordfish

Dinner:

Did I mention my A/C is broken?  It was 85 degrees and humid in my condo.  I couldn’t think of a single thing to eat for dinner because I was SO hot.  So I got creative.

Egg pizza.  The idea was to cook the egg in a big pan so it would be thin like a pizza crust, then top it and finish in the oven under the broiler.  It would have been perfect had a greased the middle of the pan a little better.  It stuck.  No worries… I just ate it out of the pan.  Less dishes to wash!

egg pizza

My toppings: broccolini, edamame, tomato, spinach, and ricotta salata.  It was really good!  Will try it again, this time properly greased to get onto a plate.

Midnight Snack:

I ate some snacks at my mom’s… she made a quiche and had these yummy chocolate-salted nut things from Trader Joes… but it was just bites and when I got home I still needed a little something.

Despite the heat, I wanted cake (when do I NOT want cake?).  I made my favorite 150 Calorie Chocolate Microwave Cake, topped it with a peanut flour “icing,” and served it with a side of cookies and cream Arctic Zero.  And a little Stevia-sweetened Smuckers strawberry jam… it went really well with the peanut butter icing!

150 calorie chocolate cake

***

In less than I week I turn 30.  And I identify with just about all of these 30 Signs You’re Almost 30.  My mom likes to remind me of #19.

What do you eat when it’s too hot to eat?

Do you make and effort to have your food look pretty at work?  It’s so much nicer than eating out of tupperware!  This should probably be added to the signs you’re almost 30…

International Blogger Fro-Yo + WIAW

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Blogger meet ups are always fun.

 

Yes, always.  It’s a rule.

Meet ups with bloggers from the other side of the world ROCK.

Last night I had the honor of eating dinner with Hannah of Wayfaring Chocolate.  She is in town from Australia (via Canada).  I remember the day I added her to my Reader (RIP).  I’d read a review of a chocolate bar she’d written and fell in love with the way she turned a chocolate description into poetry.  If you haven’t ever read her blog, I don’t recommend doing so while hungry.

Me and Hannah

 

Hannah was staying with Alayna (who also has quite the way with words… and Japanese food!) and her husband.  I’m so grateful to her for coordinating this meet up.  And impressed with how amazing she looks while carrying a small human inside her.  Only 6 weeks to go!!!

Read on for our dinner adventure…

Hannah, Alanya, and Me

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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.

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Check out my (mostly) clean 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:

I’m kicking myself that I wrote that whole post yesterday on detoxing and didn’t mention my morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).  This little drink will start your day out in a (ahem) cleansing manner.

Breakfast was a #strangebutgood creation.  Can anyone guess what it is?  I asked on Instagram yesterday and the only ingredient guessed correctly was the collard green wrap.  Hints: It doesn’t involve quinoa, chickpeas, or TVP (though all would be good adds).

strange but good collard wrap

Recipe will be posted in Friday’s #strangebutgood link up! 🙂

Snack 1:

Crab salad with blueberries, basil, black pepper, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes.  Seafood and fruit are the best combo!

Blueberry-Crab Salad

 

Lunch:

A super-satisfying “deconstructed” salad.  This was spinach, collards, parsley, butternut squash, shredded raw beets, red bell pepper, and red onions.  I ate the rainbow!

deconstructed salad

Snack 2:

These Terra veggie chips happened while on  mute during a conference call.  They are super crunchy, but delicious.  The best part?  Only 50mg of sodium!

Terra chips

 

Dinner:

This was my Hannah meal!  We went to one of my favorites, Metro Fresh.  I had the sautéed mussels, scallops, and salmon in tomato broth with grilled garlic bread.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds!

mussels at Metro Fresh

Dessert:

Like good bloggers, we made our way across the street to Yoforia for some frozen yogurt.  Can you guess which one is mine? 😉

Yoforia

Hint: Mine involved banana pudding and chocolate flavors.

I’m sad we didn’t have more time, but Hannah is jetting off again tomorrow. Did I mention this girl is living the dream traveling around the US and Canada?!  #colormejealous

***

Did you notice how many of my detox foods were included?!  Until the fro-yo, that is.  LOL!

Do you try to eat the rainbow?

What is your favorite frozen yogurt flavor?  

 

A Food & Wine Weekend

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3 days of all the food and drinks imaginable.

It’s like how I envision heaven, except in heaven you never get too full.

This weekend was my favorite event in Atlanta: The Food & Wine Festival.  Many of you have probably heard of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.  This event was modeled after that.  It’s in its 3rd year, and this was my 3rd year attending.  It just keeps getting better!

Kat, my friend and bi-weekly guest blogger, came with me to the first day:

Kat and Me

I can’t even being to recap everything from the weekend, but today I wanted to share some of the eats (and drinks) with you.  You will be shocked at the volume… but one thing you learn is NOT to clean your plate.  Take a bite and toss it.  It sounds wasteful, and I had a really hard time (read: failed) doing it in my first year… but if you ate everything you’d explode.  Those starving children in Africa aren’t going to benefit from you finishing every dish.  I was stuffed from the millions of bites!

The kickoff was on Thursday night at JCT Kitchen in Atlanta.  It was set up like a tailgate party where you went from table to table sampling foods and drink created by chefs and mixologists around the Southeast.  It was aptly named Pig Out.

Food & Wine Atlanta Pig Out Dinner

Clockwise from top left: Tito’s vodka with , bonal, aperol, lemon, cucumber, tonic from Paper Plane in Atlanta; Southern BLT Slider with pimento cheese and bacon jam from The Hungry Peach in Atlanta; Pork ribs with moonshine BBQ and peach slaw and a deviled egg from JCT Kitchen (this was my favorite… and I don’t even like ribs!); Cupcake heaven: coconut with marshmallow icing, strawberry, and red velvet by Sugaree’s in Mississippi; Shrimp with rhubarb and summer pea sauce

Atlanta Food & Wine Pig Out at JCT

Clockwise from top left: tailgate scene; Four Roses bourbon with marsaca cherry paste, lemon, and orange blossom from The Crunkleton in Chapel Hill, NC; Blood sausage queso fundido with corn tortillas from Underbelly in Houston, TX (blood sausage is not my favorite… but I tried a bite); Grilled andoullie, cheese grits, and sauce piquante from Restaurant Iris in Memphis, TN (the piquante was amazing); Cherry Old Smokey moonshine cocktail (I loved the ‘staches); Country sausage with Southern kraut and beer mustard from Local Three in Atlanta (mustard WIN).

 

Friday and Saturday started out with workouts.  A good sweat to begin the day is a must during this weekend!  I got in a great weight session and ran some stairs in the park on Saturday.  They sky looked threatening, but it cleared up by the time I walked to the event!

Workout

 

We had classes each morning, then it was on to the tasting tents!  More on the classes later – I learned a LOT!  For now, the gluttony.

I wish I could remember each restaurant, but it’s hard to juggle food, wine, cameras, and taking notes.  #bloggerfail

Atlanta Food and Wine 2013 Tasting Tents

Things to note:

  • Strawberry moonshine is delicious.  And dangerous – it tastes like candy.
  • The bottom left pic is a piece of pork belly… with a Pop Rocks crust.  Literally an explosion in your mouth.  That’s what she said.
  • The bottom middle is the Pine Street Market table, which was my overall favorite each day.
  • The bottom right was a collard-wrapped sweet potato tamale from Acre, a restaurant set to open this fall in Auburn, AL.  It was really, really good.

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2013 tasting tents

Things to note:

  • The BBQ taco in the top middle was from Fox Bros. BBQ and was enough to convince me I actually do like some BBQ.
  • The salad on the bottom left was incredible – it was topped with blueberry-lemon-thyme jam from Sallie’s Greatest.
  • Honeysuckle Gelato continues to be good.  Their honey-fig is my favorite!
  • Frozen Pints is beer ice cream.  I SWEAR I had this idea to do this when I was 16.

2013 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival tasting tents

Things to note:

  • The salmon in the top middle is crave-worthy.  I’m considering a trip to Louisville, KY to get more from Proof on Main.
  • Mole Negro Chocolate (bottom right) from French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC was impressive – at first I thought it was plain… and then a full 5 second into the bite the kicker came – a delicious wave of chili and spice.

2013 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival tasting tents

Things to note:

  • The Lazy Goat in Greenville, SC made the dish on the bottom left.  It was a Moroccan braised lamb shank with cucumber yogurt and a plantain chip.  It stands out in my mind because I loved the warm sauce and rich lamb again the fresh, cool yogurt.
  • I wish I could remember where the dish in the bottom middle came from.  It was a cucumber wasabi sorbet with shrimp and mango sauce.  Light and delicious.

 

Annnnd… salads are also marvelous.  Sunday I sold my pass – I was stuffed!  Instead, I played 3 softball games (we are 8-1 for the season!) and spent $50 on veggies alone at the farmer’s market.  There will be a lot of this happening this week:

Salad

***

Stick a fork in me, I am DONE.

Have you been to a food festival?  Are any of the restaurants I mentioned in your hometown?

What was the most marvelous part of your weekend?

What I Ate at Blend

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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

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.

Growing Naturals at Blend 2013

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:

Growing Naturals protein shake

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:

growing naturals green smoothie

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. 🙂

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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!

Blend schwag

 

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.

Blend Justin's snack

 

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. 😉

Blend Silk happy hour

 

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!

Blend Dinner 1

 

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.

I heart dessert

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.

Blend breakfast - museli fusion

 

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?!

Onnit at Blend

 

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? 🙂

Riverhorse in Park City, UT

 

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! 😉

Chobani Blend breakfast

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

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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?

 

Travel Meals, Roasted Wins, + Jillian Michaels

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Traveling to pretty locations is fabulous.

 

And then you come home…

Last week I was in Arizona at the Camel Back Inn with my mom.  You guys saw part of my travel meals Wednesday.  I made it – and I ate pretty well!  In fact, often I was more happy to be eating my food than the resort food!  That, the fact that I didn’t give in to the temptation of a tasty margarita in the desert sun… the overall sense of accomplishment… is carrying over today to make my Monday Marvelous.

Marvelous Monday

 

Breakfast was easy – oatmeal all doctored up with my delicious Growing Naturals protein and berries and cinnamon from the hotel.  I also asked for lots of lemon.

Best eaten with beautiful patio view!

Arizona breakfast

 

Some of my other meals are below: I took lots of fresh veggies, sweet potatoes, bison burgers, no-salt deli turkey, and baked chicken.  And my delicious greek yogurt dessert creations.

I was able to get plain salmon and brown rice from the hotel, which helped a lot.  I brought my own nutritional yeast, but remember you can always ask for seasonings – lemon, vinegar, red pepper flakes are my standard requests.

Travel meals

travel meals 2

Two favorites:  the cucumber-mint “mocktail” on the bottom right above was a fantastic refresher at the spa restaurant (See my mom in the background?  She was Instagramming her carrot-apple juice!).  My last meal (on the bottom right above) was on the airplane.  Sweet potato, turkey, and a fresh salad purchased at Wendy’s (surprisingly fresh and tasty!) in the airport before take off.

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Despite all the fun, it was nice to be home in my kitchen.  Saturday I got up and went to posing practice, followed by a killer leg day (seriously – SO SORE today).  After all my travels there was NO food at my house so I had a great time reloading at the farmer’s market.  Sea Bass must be in season because this was some of the best I’ve ever had.  Buttery, moist (sorry), and not at all fishy.

Served with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, spinach, eggplant, and edamame.

Sea Bass

 

I also roasted a kabocha squash with cocoa powder, cinnamon, and cayenne.  It sounds strange, but it is GOOD!

No real measurements… I just sprayed my squash with some coconut oil and tossed it together.  I roasted it at 350 until tender.

Kabocha Squash

 

Sunday was softball day.  We won the game… I slid into 2nd base at one point.  Maybe not the best decision 2 weeks before a competition because my knee got a little scraped up.

BUT I was safe.  And then I scored.

scraped up

 

That didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the split I did off 1st base to catch a ball.  Note to self: splits are not a good idea the day after heavy leg day.

I missed the second game because I had to shower off in order to meet a friend to see Jillian Michaels!!!  I still had to run my sprints, so I just ran them on the way to the show (about 2 miles away) instead of driving.  Haha.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 

Jillian was good… but a lot of what she said I already knew.  Don’t eat crap.  If you want to lose weight, burn more calories than you eat.  It was refreshing to hear someone talk about the basics though.  No “special” diets.

The secret to being in shape is that there is NO SECRET!  Eat good, clean food.  Eat it in moderation.  Exercise.  Why can’t I get paid millions to tell people this?!

The best exercise

 

My favorite part was when she talked about exercise.  She called people out of their half-assed elliptical-while-reading-a-magazine workouts.

Raise your heart rate.  If it’s not high enough, move your ass faster.

Jillian Michaels in Atlanta

I also loved that she wore flip flops.

 

What really got me was what happened in the audience in front of us.  These two (obviously drunk) girls were there… which was funny at first that they were drunk at a fitness event.  It became un-funny when one of the girls PUKED.  I can’t even make this shit up.  

They were clearly old enough to know better.  They even looked pretty fit.  I was embarrassed for them.  Cheers to not being that girl.  Not that I ever puked in a nice theatre (or anywhere in public), but I have had my moments.  What I am grateful for – what is marvelous – is that I’ve gotten past that in my journey and am in a happy, healthy place.  one where I know I’ll wake up tomorrow without a headache and sore only from my workouts.

***

Before you think I didn’t rest at all, I did stay home Saturday night at watch Life of Pi.  It was ok… I liked Argo better.

Does anyone have a magic trick for healing a knee scrape quickly?

What is your favorite part about where you are right now in your journey?

 

Griddled Chicken & Grapefruit Pizza

By

This will be shocking: the recipe was inspired by a recent meal at an Indian restaurant.

One day I’ll get over this Indian obsession.

In my defense, this #strangebutgood creation doesn’t actually involve Indian flavors (for a change).  Unless you count cinnamon and ginger, but I put those on basically everything. Several weeks ago I enjoyed a meal at a new Indian restaurant, Chai Pani.  New to Atlanta, I should say.  They have a location in Asheville, NC.  It’s an Indian street food concept, but it actually is a sit-down restaurant.  And it’s good!

The inspiration for my pizza creation came from the Tandoori Fish Wrap I ordered.  It consisted of “Tilapia seared with tandoori spices in a griddled wrap (brushed w/ egg) with onions, cilantro, rice, roasted lentils & chutneys.”

Chai Pani tandoori fish wrap

Tandoori Fish Wrap at Chai Pani

My non-Indian pizza version was a simple baked chicken breast.  The sweet and tangy grapefruit against the plain chicken was refreshing.

The bit of basil on top was a nice green addition, both in terms of taste and looks.  Of course I topped it with a little more cinnamon.  The warm spice always reminds me of dessert!

Griddled Chicken and Grapefruit Pizza

This could so easily be made vegetarian with tofu.  I absolutely love the way it puffs up when it bakes… that will for sure be my next version!  I think you could even use a flax egg in place of my “real” egg whites for a vegan version.  Someone let me know if that works.

Griddled bread.  Coolest idea ever.  It’s like French toast from the ‘hood.  (Get it?  Wrap?  Rap?  Blessed are those who amuse themselves…)  See the crispy, egg-y goodness peeling back from the tortilla?  That’s #strangebutgood heaven, friends.Griddled Chicken and Grapefruit Pizza

Griddled Chicken & Grapefruit Pizza

Griddled Chicken & Grapefruit Pizza

  • 2 T egg whites
  • 1 tsp flax seed
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 corn tortilla
  • 1/2 grapefruit, sectioned
  • 2 oz chicken, cubed
  • Basil

In a small bowl, combine egg whites, flax, and spices.  

Place tortilla in a small pan over medium-high heat.  Pour egg mixture on top.  

Cook 1-2 mins, until egg starts to firm.  Flip the tortilla, cooking 1-2 mins more. 

Remove from heat and place on a baking sheet or pizza stone (or keep on pan if oven-proof).  Top with grapefruit sections, chicken, and basil.  Sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired.

Place in oven under broil for 15 mins, until slightly browned.  Watch closely so as not to burn.

Remove from oven, plate, and enjoy!

 

Who else has enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family (or the occasional restaurant worker) stare with strange but good creations this week?

The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends!

Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.

Sprint 2 the Table

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂

 

***

I’m headed back home today.  I packed all that food, but now I have NO idea what I’ll eat until I get to the grocery store Saturday afternoon!  Whoops!

Have you ever had a griddled wrap?

What’s been #strangebutgood in your life lately?

Economic Woes + WIAW

By

Today I am going to complain about an improving economy.

Yes, I’m finding a dark cloud despite the fact that my condo value may actually one day recover.

As the economy got worse and worse, I noticed a positive.  The service at restaurants was improving!  Servers were more polished and professional, and they were able to speak intelligently about the menu.

Recently this pleasant restaurant experience has come to a halt.  Read more for an (extreme) example and my theory.

An Example:

Kat (my good friend and frequent guest post-er here) and I went to dinner for her birthday at the nicest restaurant in Atlanta, Bacchanalia.  If my meal is going to be over $100, it damn well better be flawless.

bacchanalia bar

The bartender was clueless about the wine program.  To his credit, he sent another – presumably more knowledgable – employee over to speak with us.  That would have been fine is the second guy had been knowledgable.

Server #2 didn’t know several of the bottles I inquired about, and then I had to correct their menu.  They had listed an Amarone as being from Barolo.  It’s from Valpolicella.  I’ve been there.  Amarones are my favorite.  At first he tried to tell me I was wrong, but he did come back over to admit the mistake.  Don’t challenge me on that one.

bacchanalia cheese cart

We ordered cheese; however, it took at least half an hour (and 2 inquiries) for the cart to be brought out.  We were waiting to order after our cheese course, but apparently almost missed dinner service… which the bartender acted like it was OUR fault when we would have been ordering much sooner had our cheese come out in a timely manner (we told him when we first sat down we would be having dinner).

When our food began to came out, we were rushed AND I had to send a dish back (over cooked Halibut).  They did replace it with a phenomenal snapper dish, and I was already done.

 

I realize this is a silly rant where there are starving children in Africa.  But really.  If I’m at a special occasion dinner and paying that much money… I expect the performance to be superior.  I’ve had (much cheaper) meals at chain restaurants with better service.

My Theory:

When the downturn occurred, many educated individuals were not able to find jobs in corporate America, and turned to the service industry for employment.  Their advanced capacity/skill levels resulted in a higher level of service.  Now that companies are beginning to hire again, the service industry is losing that talent.

bad service negative tip

My Plea:

Restaurants, know the value of having educated, capable staff!  Customers appreciate them, and will likely spend more money as a result of having a server with the knowledge and skills to sell.  Consider the ROI when you talk salary and benefits with potential hires!

It’s WIAW time!  I’m still trying to keep it green with my protein-filled meals.

WIAW GOES GREEN

Check out my 7 green-ish, protein-filled meals below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else is green-ing up their food this month!

Meal 1:

I – as always – enjoyed my morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).  I headed to the treadmill for a quick incline walk.  It’s a rest day, but I knew I’d be glued to a conference room chair all day so I wanted to get some movement in… and I like to watch GMA.

Post-walk I was starving and VERY glad to have made overnight oats.  And coffee.  There’s something about drinking out of a “Be the Change” mug first thing in the morning that’s motivating (thank you to The Universe Knows and FitFluential for sending this!).

My “oats” were a bit #strangebutgood.  They were TVP overnight oats!  The cinnamon and extracts in these make you feel like you’re eating cookie dough!  I know some people dislike cold oats – overnight oats are also fantastic warmed in the microwave too.  I heated these for 45 seconds before eating.

TVP Overnight Oats

Greek TVP Overnight Oats

  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 C TVP
  • 2 T raw oatmeal
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp butter extract
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/8 tsp freshly grate nutmeg
  • Stevia (or other sweetener), to taste
  • ~1/2 C Liquid of choice (you may need to adjust amount depending to the yogurt thickness)

Mix it all together and allow to soak overnight in the fridge.

In the morning, stir, adjust liquid as needed.  Add fruit if desired (I added fresh blood orange and blackberry juice).

Meal 2:

Despite being #strangebutgood, I’m also a creature of habit.  I ate salmon and fruit again.  It was lemon-dill salmon mixed with blueberries and pepitas… but I forgot to take a pic so you’re getting a recycled one made with grapes… but grapes kind of look like blueberries… 😉

Salmon and Grape Salad

Meal 3:

I have a new favorite veggie creation.  BBQ Cauliflower Bites.  It was awesome tossed with purple sweet potato!  I used my healthy (no sodium or sugar) BBQ sauce and added some nooch to cheese it up.

Tangy and creamy, this sauce was meant to be used for roasted things (in the original I roasted with tempeh)!  Recipe is at the end of this post.

BBQ Cauliflower Bites

For my protein, I enjoyed the Turbot fish I made last night – for that prep check out this FB post.  Lauren introduced me to this delicious fish – it’s incredibly light and buttery.

This is also a recycled pic from last night… It’s much prettier than the Tupperware I ate out of today at work.

Turbot

Meal 4:

I am back on the salt-free deli turkey this week.  I love the Plainville brand from Whole Foods.  Today I mixed it with red pepper, broccoli, red onion, and a quick nutritional yeast dressing (nooch + apple cider vinegar + cayenne)

salt-free deli turkey

Meal 5:

One of my favorite local spots is a order-at-the-counter spot called Metro Fresh.  They change their menu daily based on the ingredients they have.  Everything is fresh and healthy.  Perfect for a non-cheat meal out with a friend!  And it’s walkable from my house!

Tonight I ordered the seared salmon and a mixed greens with peaches, blackberries and goat cheese with a whole grain roll.

metrofresh salmon

Unpictured was wine and a cinnamon roll.  It was housemade and they gave it to us for free (I should add that the service here was fabulous)… we split it and it was divine.  After that extravaganza… there was no room for meals 6 and 7.

BBQ Cauliflower

BBQ Cauliflower Bites

  • 2 T BBQ sauce
  • 1 T nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence
  • 1 C cauliflower

Pre-heat oven 400 degrees.

Mix together BBQ sauce, nutritional yeast, and herbs.  Toss with cauliflower to coat.

Place on foil-lined pan and bake for 15 mins, tossing once half way through.

Enjoy!

***

The protein count for the day: not sure with the meal out, but I’d say I probably hit 140g of fuel. 🙂

Have you noticed a decline in service at restaurants?  Other services?

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

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