Strange But Good Spinach Dip

February 15, 2013 By Laura

Green food has my heart.

Next year I may revolt and turn Valentine’s Day into an ode green food.

Dip is always good in my book. Well, almost. I’m sure there have been nasty dips made. One of my favorite dips – Spinach – is beautifully green. The problem with most spinach dips is that they are loaded with cheese/fat/salt/other stuff I can’t have. And where’s the protein?!

I went back to my vegetarian days for the solution. Tofu and nutritional yeast. I swear there is nothing these two ingredients can’t do.

Blending the two together with my favorite spices created a creamy, cheesy base for my spinach dip. Cinnamon and nutmeg may seem like strange additions, but they are really good with greens! They complemented the smoked paprika to give this dip a fabulous depth.

Of course I then I un-veganized the recipe. Twice.

For lunch I made a crust from 2T Kamut flour, 1T coconut flour, 1T apple cider vinegar, and just enough water to make it pancake batter consistency. Then I cooked it a pan like a pancake before topping it with my Spinach Tofu Dip, zucchini, and balsamic chicken and placing it under the broiler to brown.

Then for Meal 6 I mixed my dip with shredded chicken in a ramekin and baked it for 10 mins to make a creamy spinach-chicken treat. The dip alone would be awesome wamred in the oven and eaten with crusty bread.

It tasted even better because my chicken was FREE! Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods took much longer than promised to get the Naked (read: no salt) rotisserie chicken out of the oven. I waited SO long to get it that they comped my whole chicken! They may be pricey, but Whole Foods has the BEST customer service. Amazing Valentine’s Day present. 🙂

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Cheesy Spinach Tofu Dip

9 oz firm tofu
3 cloves garlic
2 T nutritional yeast
2 T apple cider vinegar
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 C frozen spinach, thawed

Place all ingredients except the spinach in a high-speed blender and mix until smooth.

Squeeze excess moisture out of spinach, then add to blender.

Pulse until just combined; there should still be large pieces of spinach.

Makes 1 3/4 C.

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I want to see YOUR strange but good food!

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.

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

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Single’s Awareness Day isn’t so bad. I visited to my two loves: the gym and Whole Foods. Good workout + free chicken = happy blogger.

When was the last time you experienced excellent customer service?

Did you do anything strange for Valentine’s Day? Keep it clean, ya’ll… 😉

Happy Singles Awareness Day

February 14, 2013 By Laura

I like being ~~married to the gym~~ single.

I couldn’t even handle having a cat in my life.

What I can handle is eating red food. I’ve been traveling too much to make anything special, but if I make it to the grocery store today I may eat something red.

In the meantime, I did manage to round-up my favorites… and separate them into courses. ~~This is what happens when you blog on an airplane.~~

Then I couldn’t help myself – I made a new sugar-free, high protein microwave cake when I got home from the airport. It was late, the pics are dark… but this is what happens when you are without chocolate cake and Nuttzo for days. Cravings must be satisfied! Recipe at the end.

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Breakfast

Raspberry Baked Oatmeal (To-Go!)

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Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

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Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie

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Mains

Crabby Smoked Gazpacho

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Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

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Veggie Sushi with Beet Wasabi Sauce

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Dessert

Beet Protein Frozen Custard

♥

Strawberry Smoky Almond Tart

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This last dessert is the one I made upon arriving home last night. I had a fierce peanut butter and chocolate craving, and this sugar-less treat fit the bill. And did I mention it has 30g of protein???

If you stop the microwave while it still looks a tad jiggly on top, you’ll have a gooey, molten cake. Which is exactly when I did, and highly recommend. Then I topped it with a healthy serving of Nuttzo (which I am obsessed with), and a festive strawberry heart.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Microwave Cake

2 T peanut flour
1 scoop (2T) chocolate protein powder
1 T cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 T pumpkin puree
1/4 C egg whites
1/4 unsweetened almond milk (or water)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 drops chocolate liquid stevia (I used NuNaturals)

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add wet to dry and stir to combine.

Transfer to a small, greased bowl (I used coconut oil). Microwave until just done, ~ 45-60 secs.

Transfer to a plate, top as desired, and enjoy!

Approximate Nutritionals: 180 calories, 4g fat, 150.8mg sodium, 11.2g carbohydrates, 4.8g fiber, 1.5g sugar, 31.5g protein

I received this jar of NuttZo free of charge through participation in a FitFluential campaign. I was not otherwise compensated; all opinions on the product are my own (I already ate the stuff religiously). Check out NuttZo on Twitter and/or Facebook!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

I think this is the perfect night to curl up with a glass of red wine, some popcorn, and dark chocolate while watching Grey’s.

Do you have big Valentine’s plans?

What is your favorite Valentine-themed food? I dig those Reese’s hearts… the shapes have more PB!

What I Ate in Ohio

February 13, 2013 By Laura

Road food can be scary.

Opossum, McDonald’s, gas station dinners…

If you do frequent gas stations for dinner on the road, you might be excited by this news… Lay’s is testing some new flavors: Chicken & Waffles, Cheesy Garlic Bread, and Sriracha.

Apparently you’ll be able to find all 3 flavors in the next week or so. Lay’s is then offering customers a chance to vote for their favorite in May. The flavor with the most votes stays, the other 2 are ~~voted off the island~~ discontinued.

I don’t even need to taste them. I vote for Sriracha. It could be Strange But Good… ~~or it could be nasty.~~

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I assure you, I avoided Lay’s on my business trip. Remember last WIAW when I was packing all my food to-go? This week we left earlier, so you get to see all that food in action. I’ve been whipping out my prepared meals (and iPhone camera) with pride! ~~Ohio doesn’t know what to think of me.~~

Check out this post for a super-detailed explanation and tips for traveling with healthy foods!

Check out my 7 meals below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how others dined this week!

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Meal 1:

My hotel stay hasn’t stopped me from my morning cocktail. I have had to change the mix a bit – liquids are the one thing I can’t pack with me, so rather than using apple cider vinegar in the mix I asked the hotel to give me a lemon to add. I juiced half the lemon to mix with my water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos in a recycled Fiji bottle.

One gripe: the hotel actually CHARGED me for the lemon. Thank you, Cambria Suites.

I’ve been rocking my Caffeinated Protein Oatmeal. The hotel has been giving me cinnamon to add, which I love. I also grab a side of fruit – today was pineapple and honeydew.

This morning’s oats consisted of :

Oatmeal (pre-made at the continental breakfast bar)
Vanilla protein powder
Cinnamon
Coffee
Bacon (just a little crumbled on top. 🙂 )

Meal 2:

I am loving my no-salt turkey deli meat. It’s a great option to pack up and take anywhere. It’s also not too heavy, making it a tasty snack at 10:30am. Enjoyed with pumpkin seeds and an apple. There was also a lot of coffee and water involved.

Meal 3:

Lunch was two parts. Our client was having a Fat Tuesday lunch and invited us to join the potluck. I took small bites of the best stuff… including a littttttle bit crock pot lava cake (OMG it was fabulous). Added to my plate was a turkey burger I brought from home.

Then I hit the cafeteria salad bar:

Meal 4:

I have really been loving the Balsamic Grilled Chicken from Trader Joe’s. It only has 65g of sodium and it isn’t dry in the least. I cut it into strips for easy-eating in conference rooms. Eaten with carrot sticks, also pre-cut and brought from home.

There was a mid-afternoon sweet tooth satisfier: Extra’s Lemon Square dessert gum. I’m so glad I finally found this flavor. It’s 2nd only to the Apple Pie!

Meal 5:

My co-worker and I hit the gym before dinner last night. This was a treat because we’ve been going after… not ideal to lift on a full tummy.

The downside was that we were starving by the time we finished and settled for dinner in the hotel. We both ordered the salmon over green chili grits and a side of steamed spinach and mushrooms. It wasn’t bad… but quite salty!

Meal 6:

I was actually hungry but not for this. I miss eggs. The powdered eggs on the breakfast bar don’t cut it. Whatever. I ate a turkey burger and pretended it was topped with a runny egg. The zucchini and cauliflower with it were really good. Cauliflower is a new road-snack for me. It holds up well!

Here’s what to do when you don’t have a plate: cut up the burger and microwave it in a hotel glass. Then stack your veggies on top so you can get it all in one picture.

Meal 7:

Another yogurt creation! I looked forward to My Strawberry-Cinnamon Fro-Yo all day.

This was a single serving plain Greek yogurt and mixed with mashed strawberries, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, and a couple of stevia drops. Then I froze it at home to take with me, and then turned the hotel fridge to the max to keep it pretty frozen here. Two days later, this was the perfect texture – half-frozen like fro-yo!

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The protein count for the day: 163.1g. One more day and I’m hoooooome!

Which Lay’s flavor would you try? Any?

Have you tried the Dessert gum yet? I resisted at first, but have declared it Strange But Good.

Strange But Good Travels

February 8, 2013 By Laura

My food get stares at home.

And comments.

On the road, people really think I’m odd. I suppose it isn’t exactly normal to travel with 21+ servings of protein. Whatever. Today’s Strange But Good eats may not be strange in the comfort of your own home, but on a business trip in snowy Ohio they weren’t exactly mainstream.

My breakfasts were semi-homemade hotel hot bar creations. The best combo was this high-protein coffee oatmeal:

Coffee Protein Oatmeal

Oatmeal (pre-made from the breakfast bar)
1 serving vanilla protein powder
Cinnamon (from hotel kitchen – they usually have it if you ask)
Coffee
Peanut butter

Mix oatmeal, protein powder, and cinnamon with just enough coffee to combine. This oatmeal was quite dry, so it took about 3/4 cup. Top with peanut butter and enjoy!

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My mid-morning snack was not to shabby either! I packed no-salt deli turkey and almonds, and grabbed an apple from the hotel. Not strange, but maybe a bit odd to pull out of your bag in a conference room.

Everyone wanted to go out for lunch, so we caravaned to Outback Steakhouse. I suppose I could have found something on the menu, but it would have been filled with salt. Knowing we’d go out for dinner and I’d get more than my fill of salt later, I ordered a salad and topped it with my BYO protein – balsamic marinated chicken. You better believe I swiped a slice of their warm bread. It’s the only thing I like at Outback, and oh boy is it good.

Again, not a strange meal, but bringing your own food into a restaurant will earn you some stares.

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I am REALLY proud of myself for getting to the gym both nights at the hotel. I had great workouts, and my co-workers even joined me for a bit. Of course, I crammed in my protein back in the room.

Dessert protein (i.e. Meal 7) is the most important meal of the day, right? 😉 This is one of my favorites on the road. I buy individual servings of Greek yogurt (I used Oikos here), mix it with fruit and other flavors, and cover with foil to freeze. When it comes time to eat, it’s thawed into fro-yo!

This was an Asian Pear-Cardamom Frozen Yogurt.

Asian Pear-Cardamom Frozen Yogurt

1 serving plain Greek yogurt
1/2 Asian pear
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp vanilla
Stevia or other sweetener, to taste

Pulse pear in a blender or food processor until only a few small chunks remain.

Stir together yogurt, pear, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and sweetener.

Cover container and place in freezer. Remove and let soften to frozen yogurt consistency. You can freeze just 1 hour if eating immediately. Or, if you don’t have time to thaw, microwave ~30 seconds.

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Time for some legit strange but good food from YOU!

The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above.

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

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I'm praying we get off the ground this afternoon before the snow storm hits! Then I get to do it all over again next week...

Have you ever brought your own food to a restaurant?

What is your strange but good this week? Do share!

Healthy Travel Food + WIAW

February 6, 2013 By Laura

I am traveling for work this week.

In the cold. So very, very cold…

Finding healthy food option is one thing if I’m headed to a bigger city, but when I head to smaller towns I know I have to PLAN. With less than 2 months until my next competition, I’m not “wasting” cheat days on crappy travel food. I mean, did you see this post? Why would I eat fast food when I can save it for dinners like that?

The night before I go, I pack up vitamins and supplements. And then I pray that I don’t get arrested for traveling with white powder (it’s just BCAAs and glutamine!).

I also gather my protein powders, gum, my own salt-free spice blend, “emergency” bars and tuna. Most of these items are “back up” in case I get stuck somewhere.

Last, I portion out proteins and veggies. This trip I am taking chicken burgers, lamb, no salt deli turkey meat, balsamic grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini, snow peas, and Greek yogurt (see Meal 7 pic below – mixed with fruit and frozen for safe travel).

Check out this post for a super-detailed explanation and tips for traveling with healthy foods! And yes, I made it through security with ALL of this, no questions asked.

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This WIAW my task was to eat everything left in my fridge. I not-so-secretly love these days because they lead to come fun concoctions!

Check out my 7 meals below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how others dined this week!

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