What I Ate Wednesday #36: It’s Really Real!

First things first, HUGEEEEE congratulations to our WIAW host, Jenn! If you didn’t see already, she spilled the beans the other day and I couldn’t be happier for her.

I’m less than 3 months away from my wedding and weekends have been completely taken over by plans. We have all of the big details done and now we’re just making all of the final decisions. It’s getting really real and Nathan keeps realizing he can’t back out anymore 😉 It’s already been over a year in the making and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition. But really, I can’t wait to wear my dress, party, and go on my honeymoon. Hey, I’m just being honest!

And speaking of the dress, Saturday was my first fitting; it fits almost perfectly and I’m in love. But that’s all you’re gonna get from me 😉 Afterwards, I headed to a baby shower to spend some time with these lovely ladies..

..and to celebrate the beautiful lady in the black flower dress. It was such a good time.. bellinis, good food, lots of chit chat, and most importantly, no games! Seriously, it was great!

Finally, I ended my day with a date night. Best part of all, other than the company, is that it was at Mr. Rain’s Funhouse; the restaurant at our wedding venue. It was a nice way to tie all of the crazy planning together to a nice, relaxing evening.

[Breakfast]
Slimmed down sweet scramble with fat free ricotta cheese instead of squash. A new spin I’ve been doing for a little extra kick of protein.

[Lunch]
Baby shower eats! Mini crustless quiches, bacon spirals, beet & pecan salad, artichoke crostinis, & a couple pear raspberry bellinis. I’m sorry I didn’t snap a few shots of the food, the hostess with the mostess did such a nice job.

[Dinner]
Started out with an incredible drink.. unfortunately I don’t remember exactly what was in it, but it involved rye, black tea, blood orange marmalade, bitters, and more. Completely out of the ordinary for me but so delicious and accented my entree perfectly.

I always appreciate freshly baked rolls to start a dinner, but even more, I love freshly baked pretzel bites! We also shared a charcuterie plate.. it’s kind of our thing. And there will be lots of charcuterie on the honeymoon!

Nathan got the burger and fries; it was cooked perfectly which is so rare to find these days. My entree choice was decided almost solely on the fact that it included kabocha squash which I’ve been dying to try but can’t find anywhere! The rest included roasted eggplant, bulgar wheat, olives, and lemon. It was so light and delicious!

[Snacks]
We skipped dessert after dinner because we shared a huge Levain Bakery style chocolate chip walnut cookie earlier in the day provided by the host of the baby shower. She really outdid herself with the food and it did not go unnoticed! And you should definitely make that cookie!

Tempting, right? 😉

Food for Thought

What is your favorite cookie? Is it a homemade recipe or from your favorite bakery?

Riding Out the Storm

It’s National Oatmeal Day and other than a snow storm, I don’t think there’s better weather to celebrate! Welcome, Sandy!

If you’re a North Eastern-er, grab yourself a nice hot cup of coffee (or tea), a big bowl of oatmeal, and hunker down. Speaking of hunkering down, I think I’ve heard the newscasters say that approximately 10 times in the last hour. Sounds like a drinking game if I’ve ever heard one..

A few of my favorite go-to oatmeal recipes are below. Not only are they super filling, they’re also chock full of protein (about 20g per bowl!) which makes them a great pre- or post-workout meal.

Chocolate Protein Oats

Pumpkin Spice Latte Proatmeal

And what else is there to do when you’re stuck inside all day but cook and bake? I did plenty of that yesterday for my Barr Bites clients so I wanted to share a few recipes that I’ve made recently that would be great for a rainy day.. or week.

Baked Pasta with Sausage & Spinach via SkinnyTaste.com

This is a new recipe for this week’s menu, but with tons of leftovers, I’ve been able to taste it and can confirm that it’s fantastic! I love Gina’s recipes; they’re delicious and healthy and are always sure to be crowd pleasers.

Cajun Chicken Pasta on the Lighter Side via SkinnyTaste.com

The Cajun Chicken Pasta is a recipe I’ve been making for a while now. It’s a big hit in my house and I was so excited when it went over just as well for Barr Bites.

Mayan Harvest Bake via Eating Bird Food

Finally, another deliciously comforting dish that was a big hit was Brittany’s copycat version of Kashi’s Mayan Harvest Bake. Having these hearty vegetables over top of a bulgar wheat and quinoa combo makes it a great stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal without being too heavy. I’ll definitely be making this one for myself soon!

Food for Thought

Are you stuck inside as Sandy passes? What are you doing to pass the time?

What I Ate Wednesday #5 – My Favorite Sensible Dessert

Another week, another What I Ate Wednesday post! But this one has a recipe.. check it out!

Recently my eats have been looking rather similar on the day-to-day front. And I’m perfectly ok with that! Breakfast is looking something like this..

A Tone It Up pineapple protein pancake (and dare I say, I’ve totally mastered the flip!), topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, a couple diced up strawberries, some blueberries, some unsweetened shredded coconut, and a little extra sprinkling of cinnamon. Along side of that, I have the Bombshell Spell, which is a deliciously wonderful way of getting a little shot of apple cider vinegar into your life. These recipes come directly from the Tone It Up Beach Babe plan that you get when you purchase their membership plan, and are a part of the 5 Day Slim Down that I did last week. Since mastering the pancake, I’ve been craving it like no other. I could seriously eat it everyday.. sometimes twice a day!

Snack #1 is 1/2 grapefruit sprinkled with Stevia or Truvia and some coffee with almond milk.

For lunch, I’m loving some teriyaki marinated tofu with homemade pineapple salsa all wrapped in collard greens. It’s a relatively new-to-me idea to use the collard greens as wraps, but it’s wonderful!

My absolute favorite afternoon snack is my new Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake, and the past few times I’ve made it, I put 1 cup of spinach in. You don’t even taste it and you get that little bit of extra veggie.

For dinner, I mixed it up a bit. This delicious bulgar wheat salad with asian slaw and chicken really hit the spot! I found a recipe awhile back for Asian Quinoa Salad, but when I found myself at the store looking for quinoa that wasn’t there, I grabbed the bulgar wheat and went to town! Other than being a wheat product as compared to a grain, bulgar wheat has many of the same nutritional aspects as quinoa. It’s high in protein, low in calories, and low in fat as well! It also has a little bite to it that I really enjoy. Please excuse the not-so-lovely picture..

And now onto my favorite sensible dessert. I’ve pretty much made it every night for the past couple weeks.

Apple Pie Parfait

1 serving

Ingredients
1 apple – I prefer fuji
1/4 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt
Cinnamon
Walden’s Sugar-Free, Calorie-Free Chocolate Syrup

Directions
Chop up apple into bite size pieces and toss with a little cinnamon. Put the apple in a glass and top with half of the yogurt, a little sprinkle of cinnamon, and a drizzle of the chocolate syrup. Repeat for the other half of the apple and yogurt, and devour!

If you really want to get fancy, throw some dark chocolate chips in there or even a little unsweetened shredded coconut.

I really love this as an after workout dessert because the yogurt gives me a little bit of protein, but it’s not too heavy before bed.

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite sensible dessert?