10 Things, 5 Awards

April 6, 2012 By Laura

The blog world is filled with talent.

My Google Reader, Pinterest boards, FoodBuzz inbox, and browser bookmarks are jam-packed with recipes and ideas from other bloggers. In fact, I rarely read cookbooks anymore!

That’s why I was honored to have received a smorgasbord of awards from one of my favorite bloggers, Kimberly @ Grubarazzi.

Along with the award comes with a “10 Things You May Not Know” obligation. I’m pretty much an open book… so I thought I’d do a little twist on it.

Below is a list of 10 things. 9 of them are true. 1 is a lie. Can you pick out the lie?

I started walking before I learned to crawl. I was 6 months old.
Like Kim, I hate voicemail. I purposefully let my mailbox fill up so that you can’t leave a message.
In undergrad, I minored in Religious Studies.
I rarely make the same thing twice. Except for last night when I made Blueberry Cilantro ~~Bulgur~~ Quinoa.
I use Excel to keep me on track with workouts and meal ideas during the week.
I have never eaten a fast food hamburger.
Sometimes when I think about the future get totally overwhelmed. There’s so much to accomplish/do!
I eat raw spinach by the handful while standing in the fridge door.
Monday night I ate octopus for the first time.
My lucky number is 13.

I’m passing these awards on to a few of fairly-recently-discovered blogs:

Meg @ A Dash of Meg
Kushboo @ Kushboo’s Blog
Laura @ Laura Lives Life
Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself
Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family

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I’m catering a wedding shower this weekend – can’t wait to share the creations with you guys!

Are you doing anything special for Easter? Who’s excited to break their Lent restrictions?

How do you keep track of recipes you want to try?

Oh! And could you pick out my “lie” from the list?

Edamame and Jicama Salad

April 5, 2012 By Laura

What do you do when its 20 degrees warmer than usual?

Embrace it with big green salads for lunch!

This creation was inspired by a wandering trip through the grocery store. I am someone who reads menus or looks at ingredients and can get a sense of what a flavor combination will taste like. As I strolled through Whole Foods (and it was a stroll – 2 hours!), I began tossing the ingredients in my cart and a refreshing summer salad idea formed in my head.

Edamame has long been a favorite snack, but for some reason I rarely use it as the “main event” in a dish. Having picked up a huge jicama, I began to imagine the contrast of the textures – the soft edamame with the crunchy apple-like fruit.

Jicama always makes me crave cilantro, which also make me want to toss onion in the mix (have I mentioned that I love Mexican food?). A little jalapeño for some heat and lemon zest for brightness brought the dish to life.

Best of all, this light dish comes together in less than 10 mins!

The measurements are just guidelines – I literally just tossed this in a large bowl. Add or adjust ingredients to your liking.

I loaded up extra cilantro and jalapeño on mine and served it alongside gazpacho and broccoli slaw.

Edamame Jicama Salad

1 C edamame seeds
3/4 C jicama, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1/2 C cilantro
1/3 C yellow onion
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
S+P, to taste

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy!

Serves 2-4.

***

The rest of my family ate this in lieu of fries alongside their (grilled) Chick-fil-a sandwiches.

Have you tried jicama before? How do you like to eat it?

Are you planning an Easter brunch? What are you serving?

Facebook and Eating Disorders + WIAW

April 4, 2012 By Laura

Facebook may lead to eating disorders.

Last week it was narcissism, this week it’s eating disorders. Poor Facebook is taking a hit!

A new study that found that “51% of respondents felt more self-conscious about their physical appearance after looking at pictures of themselves on Facebook.” These Facebook users are checking out their friend’s photos, which leads them to be more critical of their own physiques.

I don’t know about this… you can compare yourself to other people just walking down the street.

Read the full article on Newser by clicking here.

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Want to know how to feel better? Eat some veggies!

Yesterday I asked you all to join me in the Green Giant Veg Pledge to add an additional cup of veggies to your daily eats. Jenn @ Peas and Crayons is also taking part in the challenge, so this month her What I Ate Wednesday theme is…

Check out my veggies below; then click here to see how everyone else incorporated extra servings.

Breakfast:

Do you ever wake up starving? After Sunday’s jam-packed day of softball and plyometrics, I was in need of an extra-filling breakfast. I mixed this concoction and let it sit in the fridge to thicken (~15 mins) while I downed a glass of water and got the coffee started.

Those blackberries on top were incredible – the first perfect berries of the season!

In my oat bowl:

Rolled oats
Chia
Greek yogurt
Chia seeds
Unsweetened almond milk
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Blackberries

Lunch:

I failed to take a picture of the final result… but here’s what my veggie-centric lunch consisted of:

I am fully aware that gazpacho is easy to make yourself… but with my crazy schedule, Whole Foods’ soup had to happen. It was delicious with some red pepper flakes and avocado (unpictured) on top.

I devoured this with some spinach, broccoli slaw, and ak-mak crackers. These crackers were new to me – they were delicious and reminded me of Wasa crisps.

Snacks:

It was a snack-y sort of day – handfuls of this and that here and there. A few munchies:

KIND bars are my new addiction

Bowls of grapes and edamame

My two favorite drinks - coffee and kombucha

Dinner:

I was starving by dinner time. You know what that means…

All that remained were 2 strips of tempeh when I remembered to take a pic. My cousin and I hit up a local vegetarian spot called World Peace Cafe for dinner. It was my first time there, but certainly won’t be the last!

That tempeh was sitting on top of a huge salad with shredded beets, carrots, and tomatoes. On the left is a bowl that held a delicious mushroom–kale–lentil soup. The crumbs around to bowl belonged to a slice of rye toast. The tea pot in the background was filled with lemon-gnger tea.

We also split a piece of vegan chocolate-almond cake. It was divine.

***

Adding veggies isn’t so hard… I think I could eat edamame all day long.

Did you incorporate an extra veggie serving to your day? If so, how?

Any thoughts on the Facebook story? Do you think it’s any worse than the millions of other way you can compare yourself to others?

Green Giant Veg Pledge

April 3, 2012 By Laura

Eating clean takes effort.

Many of us use spring as an opportunity to clean up our diets. The crisp, seasonal produce and the warmer air lends itself to lightening up our dishes. Adieu, winter squashes.

However, the feeling in the air alone doesn’t make it easier to eat cleaner. Eating better does take some forethought.

Skinny Girl Thai Greek Sauce

As part of the Food Buzz Tastemakers program, I was selected to take the Green Giant Veg Pledge. This is a two-week pledge to eat one more cup of vegetables per day. I am especially excited to have the extra motivation to step away from the Peeps and towards the rabbit food.

Beet Sunflower Pesto

Who else is up for the challenge?

To help us get started, here are some ways I like to add additional veggies to my diet:

Add a handful of spinach to smoothies/shakes – it will turn your beverage green, but you’ll never taste a difference. Check out this green spinach smoothie:

Before dinner each night, begin with a side salad – this can get your greens in and help you to fill up on the good stuff before filling up on heavier fare
Use greens in place of carbs, like I did with these collard tacos
Keep pre-cut veggies in your fridge for a quick grab-and-go snack
Shop the perimeters of the grocery store – if you don’t meander down the cookie aisle, those treats won’t end up in your pantry at home and you’ll be “forced” to choose a healthier (veggie) snack option
Turn salads into meals by “eating the rainbow” – add colorful veggies like beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sugar peas, raw yellow squash/zucchini, etc. (Check out these lunch salad ideas!)

Add a veggie or two to your usual meals: saute spinach and mushrooms to go with scrambled eggs, toss some kale into soups, serve grains in a roasted red pepper or tomato, use parsnips as rice or beans for burgers.

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I do love my greens. ~~Nevermind the gas~~. 🙂

Will you take the Green Giant 2 Week Veg Pledge with me?

How do you incorporate more veggies into your diet?

Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Ice Cream

March 29, 2012 By Laura

I’ve been keeping secrets.

A few weeks ago you were all asking what this ice cream creation was:

It still needed some tweaking… and to avoid scaring people off I re-dressed it. ~~It’s not easy being green.~~

This was the end result:

Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Ice Cream.

Sweet potatoes have long been abused. For years they been drowned with brown sugar and marshmallows at your grandmother’s Thanksgiving table. These tasty ‘taters don’t need to be hidden by all that sugar-laden stuff!

It’s time they were liberated. In fact, sweet potatoes don’t even need to be served hot to be delicious. It’s 80 degrees outside! Let’s celebrate with ice cream. And peanut butter.

Beware: it will soften in the sun while you take pics

This sweet, nutty creation was especially good with the cinnamon and ginger additions. Just enough to add a hint of flavor, these spices brought out the sweetness of the potato and highlighted the peanut element.

Topped with a little more cinnamon and enjoyed in the sunshine, this was the perfect afternoon treat.

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Sweet Potato-Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 medium garnet sweet potato, baked
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)
1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 in piece of ginger
2 T peanut flour (can sub peanut or other nut butter)
8 drops stevia
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of guar gum (or other thickener)
2 C ice

Place all ingredients in Vitamix. Turn on machine and increase speed to #10; then to high. Use the tamper as needed to press the mixture into the blades while processing. In ~45 seconds, four mounds will form in the mixture. Stop blending and serve immediately.

Note: Do not over-mix or your ice cream will melt. If your ice cream is more of a milkshake, firm it up by adding more ice cubes.

You may also use an ice cream maker; prepare according to maker instructions.

Serves 2.

***

I must have been strange kid because I didn’t even like the marshmallow-topped casserole stuff back in the day.

Do you like all of that ‘mallowed up casserole of your youth?

What is your favorite flavor or ice cream?

Narcissism + WIAW

March 28, 2012 By Laura

Facebook is an indicator of narcissism.

Raise your hand if you’re in trouble…

According to a recent study, there is a link between the number of “friends” you have and narcissism. The participants were assessed on the based on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). ~~Who knew that even existed?!~~

The study wasn’t fully representative, but the theory is that a high friend count indicates you need excessive attention.

Clearly these people never played in a ~100 person roller derby league or went to grad school. That’s like 50% of my friend count!

But I digress. Today is the last green themed What I Ate Wednesday! Give my day of eats some attention, and then give Jenn’s blog some attention by clicking here to see what everyone chowed down on.