What I Ate Wednesday #88: Orange is My Color

A week later and I’d say the whole intuitive-ish eating is going pretty well! I’ve also noticed that my appetite has increased since I’ve been working more being on my feet for 5 hours at a time. It’s a really good feeling; and so is really feeling tired again. I actually took a nap after work on Monday. It was glorious!

Pre-Workout

Back in the days of my Tone It Up slim downs, they said to make sure to drink 2-3 cups of water before working out in the morning. That was something that really stuck with me because I’d always wake up so dehydrated. I’ve continued to do it everyday, even if I’m not working out, and adding this Vega energizer powder to my water really has given me a little extra pep. It’s been extra nice when I’m waking up earlier to get in a workout before heading to an earlier shift, like yesterday.

When I was offered the opportunity to review this product, I checked out the list of ingredients. Vega has a great reputation for clean ingredients so I had no doubts—coconut seed, yerba mate, ginseng, green tea, turmeric, ginger—sounded good to me! Admittedly, the taste takes a little getting used to, but if you ask me, it’s worth it for the benefits.

Breakfast

Post-workout, I refueled with one of my favorites: steel cut oats, egg whites, and nut butters. I love this breakfast; it packs a great carb/protein punch which is vital after a workout and the nut butters give it an extra staying power for me. I’ve been going back and forth everyday trying to choose which I prefer that day—coconut cashew butter or chia peanut butter—and yesterday the chia PB won. Gotta save the best bite for last!

Lunch

I actually had a smoothie for lunch—protein powder, coffee, 1/2 banana, a few strawberries, 1 tbsp PB, & beet/turnip greens. I love smoothie lunches at work; they’re quick, easy, and filling. Unfortunately the beet and turnip greens are entirely too “green” for this kind of smoothie and it was NOT good! I had half of this amazingly delicious bar to wash it down ha! Ya win some, ya lose some, right?

Snack

On my walk home for work, I had the other half of the bar and went to town on some carrots and greek yogurt/sriracha mix when I got home. The orange theme continued into the night..

Dinner

Orange rosemary chicken, roasted carrots, and kale. I also snacked on some of the oranges after I squeezed them for the sauce so I wasn’t super hungry when dinner rolled around. Whoops! This was, however, a nice refreshing salad.

Snack

My sweet potato wasn’t ready when dinner rolled around, so I sprinkled some cinnamon on it and tossed it back in the oven. For dessert, I put it on top of some yogurt with coconut cashew butter and unsweetened coconut. I think I could have eaten 5 more sweet potatoes! Food is fuel, right?

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite was to fuel your workouts?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary shipment of the Vega Sugar-Free Energizer as a Sweat Pink Ambassador. All thoughts and opinions of the product are my own.

What I Ate Wednesday #74: Our Valentine’s Feast

One of the reasons I love Valentine’s Day is because everyone loves showing off their “best meal ever.” Certainly I’m no different and I can guarantee you our dinner and dessert.. and drinks.. were all fabulous! We always make an effort to come up with a menu together, Nathan takes over the protein, we work together on the sides, and I’m in charge of dessert. It’s my favorite. And when everything comes out perfectly, it’s that much better!

I got dressed up.. right down to the shoes 😉

Nice angle, yes? Haha

Appetizer

We cheers-ed to our 10th Valentine’s Day together with Lagranja sparkles.

Don’t be fooled by the small pour. We smashed that bottle!

I love their red wines and figured I couldn’t go wrong trying this. We also demolished an awesomely tasty plate.

Truffle gouda, grapes, balsamic jam from Italy, smoked almonds, & nut thins.

The chunks of truffle in the cheese took us right back to Italy. That cheese is really something special!

Entree

To make the crust, we threw pistachios, rosemary, and garlic into the food processor. I think we both could have polished off a plate of the crust by itself. That’s always a good sign!

We hit the pan.

The flip. Check out that crust!

The final product! Pistachio-crusted lamb with cherry port sauce, Moroccan wheat berry salad, and roasted carrots & butternut squash.

The flavors of each pieces blended so well. I love the bite that the wheat berries have, the carrots and squash were roasted just right, and the lamb. Ooooh the lamb. Nathan couldn’t have cooked it more perfectly. It was medium rare and the crust had such a nice crunch. The cherry port sauce was flavorful and not sweet at all. I could have eaten more!

Dessert

More to drink? Beer goes well with dessert, right?

One of our faves.

What wouldn’t go with bourbon banana cheesecake?

Bourbon banana cheesecake with bourbon coconut cream, cinnamon,
and dark chocolate shavings.

I thought that amount of chocolate looked nice for my picture but I immediately added more before I actually sat down to eat it. It was so creamy and I’m happy to report that it’s actually not so bad for you either! I’ll be sharing the recipe this week 😉

My valentine.

After just a few drinks [ha!] and with full bellies, we cozied up on the couch to watch the first episode of House of Cards [holy moly!] I hope you had as great of a day as we did. Perfect way to kick off the weekend!

Food for Thought

What were your plans for Valentine’s Day?
Do you stay in or go out to celebrate?

Pink Lady Beet Juice

Recently I’ve seen a lot of people talking about juicing. It’s definitely something that has intrigued me for some time, but the price tag on the juicers was not so exciting. Mom to the rescue! Luckily for me, my mom happened to have a juicer that she hasn’t been using so I was happy to take it off her hands. And now with this new, fun appliance, I had to figure out where to start.

Last weekend, Nathan and I went to our local farmers’ market and I got myself a fresh juice. And I watched very closely to what was being put into it. Ingredients noted and I was off! I put my own little twist on the juice and absolutely love it! [Though it did take a few adjustments here and there..]

Makes three 1¼ cup servings

Ingredients
– 4 small beets & greens
– 2 large apples [I use fuji]
– 1 16oz package carrots
– 4-5″ english cucumber
– 1-2″ ginger root [Depends on how spicy you want it!]

Directions
Cut your fruits and vegetables as needed for your juicer and go! Feel free to adjust any ingredients to your taste.

Nutritional Stats
Per 1¼ cup serving

175 Calories  /  0g Fat  /  27g Carbs  /  27g Sugar  /  10g Fiber  /  4g Protein

Food for Thought

Have you ever made your own juice? What’s your favorite flavor combo? I’m always looking for new ones to try!

What I Ate Wednesday #24 – Thanksgiving Feast

This year might have been my most successful Thanksgiving ever. For the first time, probably ever in my life, I didn’t overeat and it was amazing! It also left me wanting more. Usually I’m all Thanksgiving-food’ed out after we have our 2 dinners, but this year I feel like I could eat Thanksgiving dinner a few more times.

One of the biggest tips I’ve always heard on not overeating is to eat all of your meals as you would normally. So that’s what I attempted to do.

[Breakfast]
Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake said it perfectly..

“…a good breakfast sets the tone for my day.”

Since I’ve tried her Sweet Breakfast Scramble, I haven’t turned back. It’s amazing.. my favorites are with spaghetti squash and pumpkin, topped with 1 tbsp peanut butter. Usually two different kinds of peanut butter to mix it up 🙂

[Lunch]
Peanut butter cup protein shake.

[Snacks]
Carrots and an apple.

[Dinner]
Thank goodness for Thanksgiving! I loved the menu this year; of course we had our staples, but some new side dishes popped up too.

• Deep fried turkey
• Sausage stuffing (secret recipe!)
• Roasted sweet potatoes
• Roasted broccoli
• Roasted asparagus
• Winter panzanella salad
• Cranberry relish

Check out my plate above.. I definitely had a little extra of a few things, but I couldn’t believe I walked away with white space on my plate!

This year I jumped at the opportunity to make a few items for the night, partially in an attempt to have a few healthier items on the table.

I brought one of my favorite winter salads; winter panzanella from smitten kitchen. I also wanted to bring a healthy dessert so I made my Kind Apple Crisp. And then the healthy options ended. My homemade peanut butter cups are an absolute must ever year. I’ve been making them since I was a kid and have perfected them in the last few years. Nathan said they were the best this year, but I think he tells me that every year! I’ll keep him around.. 😉

Mom slicing the turkey!

My brother deep fries the turkeys outside and as soon as they come in, everyone starts swarming the kitchen.

“Oh, this piece is going to fall off. I should grab it before it falls..”

And as soon as my mom starts slicing, you’d think we were a bunch of vultures that hadn’t eaten in days! Who knows, maybe some of us haven’t eaten in days in preparation? It’s well worth the wait!

[Dessert]

Along with my peanut butter cups and apple crisp, there was also a deconstructed pumpkin pie in the cutest little cups, chocolate chip banana bread courtesy of my brother’s girlfriend, and a pumpkin roll. My aunt makes this roll special for Nathan every year, so you can imagine our panic when we saw her facebook status in the early afternoon..

“First attempt at pumpkin roll a failure and dumped in trash. Helper off to the Giant for more sugar. I know Nathan is counting on me!”

I’m pleased to report that her second attempt was a success! Luckily, I convinced Nathan ahead of time to split the desserts with me so I was able to try a little bit of everything. And boy can my family bake! Seriously. We’re good!

What a great holiday! I’m so thankful for my wonderful family, especially since they’re such great cooks and bakers 😉

Food for Thought

What are you thankful for this year?

What I Ate Wednesday #14 – Rainy Day Adventures

We had some awesome plans last Saturday to rise and shine super early and head to Rehoboth Beach for the day. We haven’t been to the beach at all this summer so I was looking forward to it all week!

And then the weather forecast changed. To rain. All day. What do you even do when you’re at the beach and it’s raining? Exactly.

Well, fine then! We slept in, had a nice, relaxing morning, and then packed up and headed over to Alexandria, VA for the day! For what, you ask? Wine.

But not just any wine. Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck. Yep. We drove 1.5 hrs each way for Trader Joe’s wine. Don’t worry, we got some good eats on the way too!

[Breakfast]
Cinnamon protein Coach’s Oats, topped (of course) with Earth Balance coconut peanut spread and fig. Naturally, I had my Tone It Up Bombshell Spell and some coffee with almond milk on the side. Perfect way to start the day!

[Snack]
A relaxing morning turned into a very late lunch, so I munched on some baby carrots in the car. Nothing exciting.. or worth picturing.

[Lunch]
Here’s the exciting part. We googled for a good 30 minutes looking for the best place to go for lunch and ended up at Caphe Banh Mi. If you’re in the Alexandria area, definitely go!

We started out with a vegetarian summer roll with tofu, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, and other veggies with a peanut dipping sauce. The sauce made it for me.. anything peanut [butter] related is a big green light! For our meals, we both tried pho (our first time!) Nathan got the traditional and I got the chicken. Traditional is the way to go! The beef was so rich and delicious and I could have eaten all of his! But instead, I ate all of mine. Topped with bean sprouts and fresh Thai basil. YUM!

[Snack]
Old towne is such a cute place! We walked around looking for a place to get a sweet treat and found Pop’s. Peanut butter chocolate pretzel ice cream. This is no joke. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it (because I ate it too quickly), but that sample picture will do. I would make the drive for the ice cream.

[Dinner]
Late lunch + snack = late [lazy] dinner. Steamed some broccoli in the microwave, topped it with chicken and bbq sauce, and called it a day!

[Summer Staple]
Wine! Yep, I went there. Every summer day is better with a glass of wine.

Trader Joe’s in Maryland doesn’t sell wine and we’ve heard so many good things about it. But the biggest thing is that we’re trying to find every way to cut back on our wedding budget, so when Nathan heard about Two-Buck Chuck taking home a big prize, we knew we had to give it a try.

Results are in! And it was totally worth the drive. Wedding attendants, get ready for some Two-Buck Chuck! 🙂

Speak Up!

Where is your favorite place to day-trip? Have you ever taken a day trip for a meal? … Or a drink? 😉

What I Ate Wednesday #12 – Baltimore Restaurant Week

Baltimore Restaurant Week is one of my favorite weeks of summer. I guess winter too, but someone summer just seems better!

I absolutely love trying new restaurants and this is the time to do it. You get to taste 3 courses for $30, and if you choose the right place, you’re really getting a steal! Often, the restaurants on the list serve entrees ranging from $20-$40, so to add an appetizer and dessert to that makes it all worth it.

This time around, we decided to check out Salt. It’s a trendy little restaurant that we’ve been to before, but it’s been years. And while we usually use restaurant week as an excuse to try something new, we just couldn’t pass up the incredible menu.

Being that we went out on a Friday, the first part of my day is uber normal. Aka not so exciting. Except for this awesome pancake!

[Breakfast]

Chocolate coconut protein pancake topped with Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Spread, coconut, and cinnamon plus Bombshell Spell with ZICO. I’m absolutely obsessed with the coconut peanut spread. It’s like a little taste of heaven melted over chocolatey goodness!

[Snack]

(not pictured)
Apple

[Lunch]

(not pictured)
Mixed green salad with cucumber, tomatoes, onions, green bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, diced avocado, & chili sesame tofu. This tofu recipe is divine and so simple. I’ll be sharing it soon!

[Snack]

(not pictured)
thinkThin Creamy Peanut Butter Blizzard + a few pieces Almond Maple Pecan Snackle Mouth. The blizzard was a fun way to mix up my usual protein bar and the little chunks at the very bottom were so tasty! And the Snackle Mouth is really something special.. I was lucky enough to win a couple boxes and I hope to be featuring these (or some new products soon to launch!) in a giveaway very soon!

[Dinner]

The most exciting part of the day. Everything on the menu sounded absolutely phenomenal and we couldn’t make any decisions without asking for recommendations (of course!)

Primaterra Pinot Noir • Roasted Red Pepper Tapinade with freshly baked bread

Cool Vichyssoise Soup
Dungeness crab, pommes frites, chive oil

Country Pork Terrine (not pictured)
Pistachios, figs, dijon mustard

I went for the soup, Nathan for the terrine. We were both equally pleased with our choices and it was something new for each of us to try.

Grilled Swordfish with Charred Gazpacho Vegetables
Lemon and olive quinoa, avocado puree

Crispy Creek Stone Farms Beef Belly Confit
Ginger glaze, white kimchi with asian pears, spicy sriracha creamed corn

The swordfish had been recommended to me by a friend and the side dishes sold me. It was delicious and I savored every last bite. But Nathan totally won. The beef belly confit was rich and savory with a slight sweetness from the creamed corn, which wasn’t all mush, as some would assume. If I went back the next day, I’d get the beef belly confit, hands down!

Key Lime Tart
Coconut meringue, blue berry coulis

Goat Cheese Donuts
Lavender honey, vanilla sea salt, coffee ice cream

Finally, the best way to end a wonderful meal; with an even more wonderful dessert. I opted for the tart while Nathan chose the donuts. Really, he’d choose anything fried, but drizzled with honey and ice cream on the side? He couldn’t say no! They were fantastic, but I definitely preferred my key lime tart. It was light, sweet, and tart, and just the perfect ending to the meal.

[Summer Staples]
Fresh fruits and veggies. Not a day goes by that I don’t get my fill of all of the freshness that summer has to offer and Salt definitely feels the same way. All of my favorite restaurants are those that take advantage of the freshest ingredients available and plan their menus around that. Why offer farm-raised tilapia when rockfish are jumping?

Speak Up!

What would you have ordered? Are you a meat-and-potatoes kinda person or a sea-foodie?

What I Ate Wednesday #8 – It’s Hot Out There!

Last weekend was a hot one. And calling it a “hot one” doesn’t even do it justice. I believe temperatures reached close to 110° with the heat index! Needless to say, we did not have a very eventful weekend trying to stay inside the whole time. It was a perfect mall day so we ventured out to Bass Pro Shops to fill up on some fishing equipment.

Nathan loves to fish and I, too, enjoy fishing. But I’m not sure Nathan always enjoys fishing with me. It goes a little something like this..

1. Nathan hooks the worm for me
2. I cast out
3. I catch a fish
4. I call Nathan over to take the fish off the hook for me because I do not want to touch that thing!
5a. Nathan throws the fish back in the water and hooks another worm for me
or
5b. I let the hook set for too long and the fish swallowed the hook so Nathan has to re-tie me on and hook another worm for me

What?! Don’t judge! (I also usually end up with a plastic worm after 2 or 3 times of Nathan having to hook a worm on.)

Now he thinks he can try to get me to go stream fishing with him. All of this happening while we’re walking through a stream? I’ll have to report back on how successful this is.

In the meantime, let’s get to my Saturday eats, shall we?

Breakfast
A pineapple protein pancake and bombshell spell courtesy of Tone It Up. Any surprise here? No? Great!

Lunch
Before our trip to Bass Pro Shops, we made a quick lunch stop at DuClaw Brewing Company. They are a brewing company out of Maryland that have a few brew pubs in the area. The foods good and the beer is great! The Mysterium is a Belgian-style spiced ale and I love it. Alright, so this may be Nathan’s beer, but I had a few sips! I also had a delicious strawberry salad with chicken.. definitely recommended!

Snack
Not pictured, but super tasty.. baby carrots and mango curry hummus from The Wild Pea. Once again, highly recommended! They have so many delicious flavors, both sweet and savory. Ever seen peanut butter chocolate chip hummus? Get on it!

Dinner
Look familiar? It’s my tilapia stir-fry with chili peanut sauce. And it was delicious! I’m planning on making a big batch of that sauce to have around for everything. So good! You should really try it 😉

And we’re talking fitness, eh? Well if you know anything about a Tone It Up girl, you know that we love our bootycalls!

If you just gasped, you clearly don’t know what a bootycall is!

I get up at least 45 minutes early every morning to get in some cardio and abs. It was rough when I first started, there’s no doubt, but now I can’t start my day without it! My favorite cardio workouts in the morning are typically pulled from the SELF Drop 10 Challenge, created by the lovely Tone It Up ladies themselves, Karena and Katrina.

These cardio workouts are called HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. It’s such an awesome way to jump start your metabolism in the morning and burn more calories in a shorter amount of time than a regular steady cardio workout. If you’ve never tried a HIIT workout, definitely check it out. They’re all the rage! 😉

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite workout? Do you like to workout in the morning or the evening?

Tilapia Stir-Fry with Chili Peanut Sauce

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks over here.. planning a wedding is tough! I’ve been busy with caterer appointments, researching bands, and an engagement party (that wasway too much fun!) Not to mention 4th of July fell in there too, so when I finally had time to cook this past weekend, I was thrilled! I grabbed all of the random veggies left in my fridge and got to work.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Stir-Fry
2 4oz. tilapia filets
1 1/2 cups napa cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium zucchini
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup snow peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 radishes, sliced
1 large scallion, chopped
2 tbsp sliced almonds
2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp coconut oil for vegetables, 1/2 tbsp coconut oil for tilapia
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder

Sauce
1/4 cup PB2 or peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut water
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp spicy chili sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Black pepper

Directions
Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and warm in the microwave about 30 seconds.

Heat a pan over medium high heat with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Once preheated, toss in your cabbage and carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes.

At this time, in a separate pan, toast the almonds and coconut over medium low heat until a little brown and put it off to the side.

While the almonds and coconut are toasting, add the bell pepper and zucchini to the cabbage and carrot mixture. Saute another 10 minutes and finally add the snow peas and garlic. Saute until

Preheat a pan over medium high heat and add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. Season your tilapia with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Once the pan is preheated, add the tilapia. Saute about 5 minutes, then flip and saute another 5-7 minutes until the fish is completely cooked through.

Add some of the sauteed vegetables into a bowl and top with some sliced radishes. Place a piece of tilapia on top and sprinkle the coconut almond mixture, as well as the chopped green onion. Drizzle some chili peanut sauce on top and enjoy!

Speak Up!

What is your favorite way to use PB2?

What I Ate Wednesday #7 – Sunday Brunch

Sundays are definitely one of my favorite days. Morning yoga in the park, hitting up the farmers market, and on some special Sundays, we do brunch.

One thing you need to know about Nathan and me is that we love deals. Groupon and Living Social are my best friend. So much so, that people poke fun at me for work.. “Oh, you’re going out to eat? What kinda deal did you get?” I have no problem with this because as a foodie, trying new restaurants (for half price, mind you) is nothing less than awesome!

This past Sunday’s brunch was at Lebanese Taverna. It may not have been a new restaurant to try, but we absolutely love the food there, so when a deal popped up for brunch, we were on that like white on rice! Or hummus on pita.. you choose 😉

I realized when I went to put this post together that I didn’t take pictures of any of my food from Sunday, except brunch sooo here’s a quick break down!

Breakfast
Cinnamon raisin protein oats & quinoa. This recipe is coming soon and you don’t want to miss it!

Brunch
Lebanese Taverna deliciousness!

Homemade Bread
This is important enough for it’s own line. Have you had their bread?! It is incredible.

Red Sangria
Pomegranate wine, triple sec, brandy, cinnamon, basil, apples, and plums. I would order that every time!

Our Feast!
Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Lebanese Salad (cucumber, tomato, mint, & onion), Chicken Kabob, and Beef & Lamb Shwarma.

My favorite parts? The baba ganoush and beef & lamb shwarma. I could eat all of it. All day. Everyday.

Booza
An ice cream trio with Pistachio-Orange (my fave!), Vanilla Cardamom (Nathan’s fave!), and Honey (the overall crowd-pleaser.)

Clearly, it was too warm outside to let the ice cream pose for a picture, so naturally, we devoured it! Sorry. (Not really.)

Dinner
Leftover thai.. steamed bean thread noodles with fresh ginger, hu-nu, onions, carrots, baby corn, scallions,bean sprouts, pork, and bean sauce in a hot pot and a side of edamame. This comes from a place called Thai Arroy. It looks like a little whole-in-the-wall, but it is the best thai food in Baltimore!

Snack Time
Homemade peanut butter froyo. This is another recipe coming soon and definitely worth checking out! It’s so easy and much cheaper than going out 🙂

Like I said.. I didn’t do such a great job of taking pictures on Sunday, so now you’re subjected to a bad Instagramed phone picture. For this, I truly apologize.

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite Sunday tradition? Are you a Sunday brunch-er?

And don’t miss my giveaway; you have until tomorrow night to enter! You could win a case of the delicious CalNaturale Svelte! Yum!