Link Love #64

Have you entered my Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway?

After staying with my parents for 2 weeks in Baltimore, it feels downright strange to be back in California. I’m a little confused as to where I actually live and why my parents aren’t around watching tv at night. Ha! Of course, Nathan and I made sure to get a little pick-me-up after we landed.

Well, that pick-me-up really ended up making us even more tired after a 3 a.m. wake up call so we just made our way to the grocery store and then back to the apartment to unpack. Just in case we didn’t have enough beer in our lives, we successfully hauled about 12 more beers back from Baltimore! Do you know how hard it is to find Bourbon County Stout?!

It was a long, tiring day so I was more than thankful for a delicious bibimbop carryout dinner from around the corner. Success!

I knew it was necessary when the thought of even microwaving the meatballs in the freezer seemed like too much. Yep. But now we’re back to the daily grind.

Health

10 Tips for Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season – Eating Bird Food

10 Tips for Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season – Eating Bird Food
All About Cider Vinegar – The Lean Green Bean
Mindful Monday: Herbs for Winter Wellness and Immunity – The Foodie Dietitien
The One Thing Top Nutrition Experts Do to Stay Healthy During the Holidays – Greatist
6 Ways Perfectionism is Sabotaging You – Too Much On Her Plate

Fitness

Fast Paced Upper Body Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers

Fast Paced Upper Body Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers
The 25 Reps Of Christmas Workout {Bodyweight} – Lifting Revolution
Why I love Drop Sets & Why They Are Effective – Powercakes
30-Minute At-Home Workout – Pumps & Iron
My Top 3 Exercises to Build the Glutes – and Why Squatting isn’t One of Them – Trainer Paige

Food

Pomegranate Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice Pilaf – Half Baked Harvest

Pomegranate Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice Pilaf – Half Baked harvest
Bourbon Peanut Butter Gingerbread Healthy Bites {Cyber Monday Giveaway} – Cotter Crunch
Crepe Cake with Pistachios And Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting – Food Faith Fitness
Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Farro Salad – Fit Foodie Finds
Peppermint Pretzel Marshmallow Fudge – Joy the Baker

Food for Thought

What’s one of your favorite posts from the past week?

Link Love #42

This week is all about go, go, go for me. So that’s exactly what I’m giving you—some quick link lovin’! Enjoy 🙂

Health

7 Signs You Should Eat a Burger, Fries, & Even Ice Cream – Lifting Revolution

7 Signs You Should Eat a Burger, Fries, & Even Ice Cream – Lifting Revolution
Why You’ll Fail At Losing Weight – Workout Nirvana
Chronic Inflammation and Turmeric Ginger Lemonade – Cotter Crunch
A Note (Rant) on Fattism & Fat Shaming – Food & Nonsense
If Mama ain’t healthy–ain’t nobody healthy. – Carla Birnberg

Fitness

5 Ways to Truly Brace Your Core – Trainer Paige

5 Ways to Truly Brace Your Core – Trainer Paige
10 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Results in the Gym – FitKnitChick
Partner Plank Resistance Band Pull Downs! [Workout Video] – Powercakes
5 Ways to Get a Strong Stomach – Running Rachel
HIIT + Abs Workout – Reach Your Peak

Food

Inside-Out Grain Free Oreos – Fit Foodie Finds

Inside-Out Grain Free Oreos – Fit Foodie Finds
Most Ridiculous Breakfast Sandwich Ever – Bev Cooks
Blueberry Pie Bars – Averie Cooks
Spicy Salmon Sushi Bowls – Heather Christo
Whiskey Braised Short Rib Flatbread – How Sweet It Is

Food for Thought

What was one of your favorite posts from the past week?

Link Love #20

You’ll never guess what happened yesterday. The last box was unpacked! Given, we still need to figure out where to put things, but damn, it feels good to get rid of boxes! That said, still accepting any creative storage tips 😉 But now for a little weekly love..

Health

Is Intuitive Eating Always a Good Thing? – the Real Life RD

Is Intuitive Eating Always a Good Thing? – the Real Life RD
Skinny: The Ultimate Compliment? – Snack Therapy
9 Self-Destructive Habits to Ditch in 2014 – Babble
Fit Myths That Need to Go: Fat Makes You Fat – Thrive Personal Fitness
If you could have good health from a pill, would you still exercise? – Fit and Femenist

Fitness

Burn It to Earn It Circuit Workout – Fitnessista

Chefs in the kitchen + a new circuit – Fitnessista
Wednesday Warm-Up: 4 New Running Drills – Cotter Crunch
Box Exercises Beyond Step Ups and Box Jumps – Lifting Revolution
Love Your Total Body – Tone It Up
New Workout Video! Ropes, Push Press, & TRX Plank Power Circuit. – Powercakes

Food

Thai Peanut Beef – Damn Delicious

Thai Peanut Beef – Damn Delicious
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Mousse – Minimalist Baker
Bulgogi: Korean Beef BBQ – A Spicy Perspective
The Big Vegan Bowl – Oh She Glows
The Winter Abundance Bowl – My New Roots

Food for Thought

What was your favorite post from the past week?

Link Love #8

I’m always so impressed with the quality of the posts that I see every week and this past week was no different. I never have any trouble picking out posts to share!

Health

Food Is Joyous — Treat It As So – Wild Things RUN Free

Food Is Joyous — Treat It As So – Wild Things RUN Free
The 5 Reasons You Are Not Seeing Results – HuffPost Healthy Living
What my daughter taught me about body image – Daily Life
41 Awesome Non-Food Rewards for Weight Loss – Anytime Health
Wicked Winter Squash with IBS and IBD – Sarah Kay Hoffman

Fitness

20-Minute Hotel Room Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers

20-Minute Hotel Room Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers
20-Minute Treadmill HIIT Workout – Blonde Ponytail
POP Pilates: Hot Abs – Blogilates
Frisky Fall Routine – Tone It Up
Muscle Ropes Review & Workout – Bess Be Fit
Some of My Favorite Back Exercises – Powercakes

Food

Greek Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce – Brown Eyed Baker

Greek Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce – Brown Eyed Baker
Pumpkin Spice Whole Wheat English Muffins – A Kitchen Addiction
Warm Farro and Barley Cereal – Knead for Food
Cheesy Maple Roast Brussels Sprouts – Healthy Aperture
Chocolate Turtle Energy Bites – Lifting Revolution
Make Your Own Pumpkin Spiced Latte {gluten, grain, dairy, soy free} – Sarah Kay Hoffman

Food for Thought

What was your favorite post from last week?

What I Ate Wednesday #53: A Couple New Faves

Happy Wednesday, friends! Nathan sent me this video yesterday and I had to share it. This guy is incredibly inspirational and it’s so nice to see someone with such a positive attitude. It’s definitely worth the watch.. I hope you enjoy!

Now onto the food..

I have to admit, my eats have not been the most exciting lately. I’ve been loving big salads and roasted veggies and there are really only so many times I can show the same old stuff. So today I wanted to share another new twist on my protein oats and a couple other favorites that I’ve enjoyed recently.

Zucchini Bread Protein TVP Oats

I decided to explore a few breakfast options [only a little] and tried Zoats. I really enjoyed them but wanted to give them my own little twist and I’ve been devouring ever since! And obviously zucchini is not in short supply right now, so this is the perfect recipe to use some up!

Serves 1

Ingredients
– 1/2 cup almond milk
– 1/2 banana; mashed
– 4 egg whites
– 1 small zucchini; shredded and squeezed dry
– 1/8 cup rolled oats
– 1/8 cup TVP* [If you don’t have TVP, just substitute another 1/8 cup of oats]
– Cinnamon
– Nutmeg
– Your fave nut and/or seed butters [Optional.. but why wouldn’t you?!]
– Your fave granola [Optional.. see note above]

Directions
In a small pot, bring almond milk to a boil with mashed banana and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Turn the heat down to medium high, add in your egg whites and mix continuously so the egg whites don’t poach. After the egg whites are partially cooked, add in the zucchini [make sure you squeezed as much of the moisture out as possible!] and mix to combine.

Let the zucchini and egg mixture cook for a few minutes, then add in the oats and TVP. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the oats reach your desired consistency. Once cooked, top with 1 tbsp nut or seed butter, a sprinkling of cinnamon, and your favorite granola for crunch!

*You can purchase TVP from iHerb.com. Use discount code ZAF482 at checkout for up to $10 off your purchase!

Nutritional Information

Per serving, without optional toppings

235 Calories  /  2g Fat  /  32g Carbs  /  7g Fiber  /  12g Sugar  /  24g Protein

Pretty close to the original protein TVP oats, but with a little spin 🙂 This is also a perfect #PowerbowlChallenge breakfast. If you’re not participating, get with the program!

Snacks

I’m sure you’ve heard Chobani’s recent news and after having to toss a few of my beloved flips*, I’ve decided to take a little break and branch out to other brands of Greek yogurt. I’ve discovered some new flavors from Oikos that are off the chains! Yep. I went there. And I highly recommend you check them out.

I love that the lids say “with room for toppings” 😉

*Chobani’s customer service is incredible. If you’ve had any issues with your yogurt, be sure to contact them and they will send you coupons for free cups!

Salad Topper

I finally found a store in my area that carries miso and was super psyched to start cooking with it. I’m in love with Kathy’s miso dressing and have made miso-dipped tofu multiple times!

The tofu is perfect to throw on top of salads or into a wrap. I can’t wait to try it with tempeh and other proteins!

Food for Thought

What is your favorite flavor of yogurt?

Have you ever cooked with miso? Are you a fan?

Never Forget. 9/11/01

Guest Post: Powercakes Lemon Carrot Poppy Seed Cookies

It’s Friday!! And that means another Foodie Friday guest post. Today’s post is from Kasey at Powercakes.

Talk about inspirational, this girl is not too far out of college and is in the works of starting her own business (which I can’t wait to learn more about!) Over the past year or so, Kasey has teamed up with Heather for challenges that I’ve mentioned so many times before, like the plantPOWER challenge. These challenges have totally changed the way I look at food and how I eat and it’s something I could never thank these two ladies for enough! Kasey is also the creator of the amazing tahini nooch sauce that I eat all the time! Yum!

With that said, I’m so excited to share this fun recipe that Kasey created for Mother’s Day (aka my wedding day 😉 ). Hope you enjoy!

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Hey everyone! My name is Kasey & I blog over at http://powercakes.net about healthy eating, fitness, & clean recipes! I am a certified personal trainer who is passionate about helping others & being true to myself! I embrace everyone for who they are and their choices they make. I think being different is beautiful! I have a passion for cooking & baking to correspond with my active lifestyle to properly fuel my fitness. I think it’s so important to enjoy foods & try to find a balance! If you’d like to follow me please check out my social media outlets so we can be in touch!

Lemon Carrot Poppy Seed Cookies

[gluten free, egg free, dairy free, nut free, plant based, loaded with power]

Makes 12-14 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup grated carrots
• 1 large banana
• Zest & juice from 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds
• 1 + 1/2 cup buckwheat groat flour
  • [buckwheat groats blended to make flour]
  • You can sub flour of choice [oat flour, buckwheat flour, whole wheat flour]
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2 TB Lucuma Powder [natural sweetness]
  • or sub 3-4 TB coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
  • Lucuma is an alternative sweetener that is packed with minerals and vitamins.
  • Great addition to recipes, smoothies, yogurt, milkshakes, or desserts!
• 1 TB Maca Powder
  • optional [makes it creamy & adds more power]
• 1/2 cup almond milk or milk of choice
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 15 drops of liquid stevia or stevia to taste

These can be enjoyed as single snack…

OR you can stack some up & pretend they are powercakes

I happen to think that pure maple syrup would be absolutely delish on these!

Directions:

[preheat oven to 375 degrees]

1. Pulse the buckwheat groats in a good processor until flour consistency & add into a bowl.

2. Add your wet ingredients [banana, milk, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest] into the processor & blend until creamy.

3. Pour wet ingredients into a bowl & combine with all dry ingredients + grated carrots.

4. The batter will be thick & absorb the liquid.

5. I used a small ice cream scoop to portion out the cookies & then flattened them down with the back of the scoop!

6. Bake on parchment paper or greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

7. Let cool & ENJOY!

These were so delish with some nut butter spread on top or [peanut fluff]! I would bag two of them up & take them in my gym bag on to the go for a pre-workout snack!

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I also wanted to give a special one year shout out to the boyfriend Corey!

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How cute are those two?! 😉 Thanks again to Kasey for sharing this delicious recipe and always being so #fitfluential!

Food for Thought

How would you eat your lemon carrot poppy seed cookies? I love the idea of spreading nut butter on top!

What I Ate Wednesday #39: A Weekend of Good

I’ve been loving having the past few weekends free of wedding planning. It has definitely been nice to take my good old time with everything and not have to make it to 100 appointments; plus I actually get to spend time with Nathan! We’ve been taking this time to take advantage of some of our favorite restaurants around town too which is one of my favorite things to do with him. Highlights to follow..

[Friday Night]
Thai Arroy. If you like Thai food, this is the place to be. Their food is authentic and always delicious. It’s also not too expensive [$11 for a chicken hot pot with leftovers!] and to top it off, it’s BYOB. You can’t go wrong with good food and wine.

[Saturday]

Lunch
I’m still not sure how I did it, but I convinced Nathan to stay home for lunch on a weekend. And I made myself an epic kale salad. Seriously, there were so many awesome veggies, a sweet potato quinao bean burger, homemade dijon vinaigrette, and avocado. Everything is better with avocado!

Wedding Research
We’ve been in the market of tasting cupcakes to choose the perfect flavors. I have to say, we might have found our chocolate! The salted caramel cupcake was incredible too, but so close to the vanilla that we’re going to have to find another. Such a tough life..

Dinner
…and a movie! The most important part of the night was the pitcher of white sangria we shared during the movie. Wonderful.

[Sunday]

Breakfast
A lineup of a chocolate Shakeology protein shake, water, and Lamplighter Triple Espresso Blend from my Relay Foods order were the highlight of my post-workout nourishment. I can’t speak highly enough about this coffee; it’s so tasty!

Brunch
Lebanese Taverna. While I love this restaurant to pieces, I should have stuck with what I knew. My poached eggs were not quite what I was expecting. Nor was the fruit parfait. Still, I devoured some of their amazing bread and baba ghanoush so I was a happy camper!

We spent the rest of Sunday grocery shopping and cooking up food for the week, including Spaghetti Squash Kugel and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bark. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend with my fiance!

Food for Thought

What is your favorite weekend activity?

What I Ate Wednesday #38: Luck of the Irish

March seriously snuck up on me! I signed up for the Shamrock 5K months ago and all of the sudden this race was right around the corner. I have no idea how it happened, but it did and I had to be ready! I hadn’t run outside since my last race in October, but I had to suck it up and go for a run!

Typically race-day breakfasts are light; more of a snack than anything else, and I follow up with a nice brunch. But there’s just something about mid-day races that totally screw with me. Maybe I just still want to enjoy the weekend and take advantage of Sunday brunch, but these are definitely not my normal go-to race eats!

[Breakfast/Brunch]
Groupon to the rescue! We went to a new place, Langermann’s on Light.. I had the crab cake benedict, hollandaise on the side, a fruit cup, and a mimosa. Is it just me or do eggs benedict not need hollandaise sauce? I’m totally satisfied with the runny yolks as my sauce.

The crab cakes were good.. the flavor was there, but definitely not the lump crab you should get from a Maryland crab cake. Still, I’d get it again!

RACE TIME!! Check out those lovely ladies I had the pleasure of spending my afternoon with 🙂 [Thanks for the pic, Kate!] And after a new PR of 24:15, it doesn’t get much better than that! Being that it was my first race of the year, I wasn’t expecting much.. really I was just hoping for under 28:00, so when I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I was totally psyched that it was under 25:00. I sprinted.. there was no way was letting that clock hit 25!

[Lunch]
Uhh.. well.. it seems that lunch was taken over by a few beers and some sort of bomb that included Monster. I certainly didn’t mean for that to happen, but clearly I had to celebrate! As did the rest of the sea of green 😉

[Dinner]
VEGETABLES! PLEASE! The lack of vegetables in my lunch [and lack of food..] had me craving some serious greens for dinner. I mixed up a bunch of roasted broccoli, brussels sprouts, and snow peas with some creamy tahini nooch sauce and topped with a little shredded chicken that simmered in Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup. So good!

Food for Thought

What are your typical race-day eats?

What I Ate Wednesday #37: Powerbowl A Day Challenge

I think I’m beginning to see the end in sight! Weekend wedding errands have slowed down and the little pieces are finally falling into place. It’s such a relief to know that all of this crazy is, in fact, coming together. It’s going to be an awesome wedding, if I do say so myself!

In the meantime, last week finished up another #plantPOWER challenge hosted by the wonderful Kasey of Powercakes and Heather of For the Love of Kale. I really enjoyed this challenge the first time around, and while I didn’t participate quite as much this time, I enjoyed it just as much. It really has introduced me to so many options in the world of plant-based food! And since Kasey can’t sit still ;), she’s started another challenge which I am equally in love with; Powerbowl a Day! This challenge just started on Monday, so there’s still plenty of time to join and I would highly recommend you do. [Don’t know what a powerbowl is? Check out Kasey’s tutorial!]

And it happens to go perfectly with this month’s WIAW theme.. go figure! 😉

[Breakfast]
Slimmed down sweet scramble.. gasp! But I do have a little surprise for you.. I’ve been topping my scrambles with homemade cashew butter. Look for the recipe this Foodie Friday!

[Lunch]
Powerbowl #1: spinach base with beets, green pepper, cucumber, carrots, tomato, 2 veggie patch falafel, 1/2 avocado, roasted garlic hummus, and baba ghanoush. It was awesome. And it was devoured!

[Dinner]
I was definitely feeling a big bowl of veggies for dinner so I knew a warm kale salad would be perfect! Enter powerbowl #2: kale base with sweet potato, roasted broccoli, beets, and Kasey’s creamy tahini nooch sauce. It was epic. And I had leftovers for lunch yesterday too!

[Snacks]
– Key lime pie greek yogurt [more green!!] with coconut.. I’m thinking tropical. Take me somewhere warm!
– Good N Natural Peanut Butter bar. I believe my tweet said something along the lines of “natural and SO good!” Thanks for the insight.. happens to be the name of the bar. Duh. But definitely check these out!
– Peanut butter. Yep. I mixed a little old fashioned smooth with a little white chocolate wonderful and popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds for dessert! I added a few blueberries and some dark and white chocolate chips too 🙂

Food for Thought

Are you a powerbowl eater? What are your favorite toppings?

Foodie Friday: Buddha’s Feast

Often times, Thursday ends up being a dinner of leftovers from the meals we had during the rest of the week. We typically plan on going out to dinner on Friday so we’re happy to use up what’s available in the fridge. This Thursday offered up some delicious choices; homemade turkey meatballs, lemon herb chicken, and roasted spicy orange chicken.

As I was trying to figure out what intrigued me, I came across this tweet. Done! I couldn’t wait to get home for dinner!

Traditionally, a “Buddha’s Feast” bowl is a vegetarian dish, but since I was using what was already cooked, I decided a turkey meatball would be a great addition. Below is the recipe for the specific bowl that I made, but this is so versatile that you could really make it with anything! The end of this post has a bunch of different options you could try!

Buddha’s Feast

Serves 1

Ingredients
– 2 beets; sliced
– 1/2 medium sweet potato; diced
– 1 cup broccoli florets
– 2 oz turkey meatball
– 1 cup baby spinach
– 1 tbsp peanuts; chopped
– 1 – 2 tbsp spicy Thai peanut sauce [recipe below]
– 1/3 – 1/2 tbsp EVOO
– Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place beets and sweet potato on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with EVOO, season with salt and pepper to taste, and roast about 20 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, add broccoli florets, and toss with EVOO, salt, and pepper. Return to the oven and roast another 20 minutes until all vegetables are tender.

In a bowl, add your spinach and top with roasted vegetables and turkey meatball. Drizzle with spicy Thai peanut sauce, top with chopped peanuts, and devour!

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients
– 2 tbsp peanut flour*
– 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
– 1/2 tbsp lite soy sauce
– 1/2 tbsp garlic chili paste
– 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Directions
Add all ingredients into a small bowl and mix until well combined.

Nutritional Information
Per Buddha’s Feast bowl with 1 serving Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

371 Calories  /  18g Fat  /  37g Carbs  /  7g Sugar  /  10g Fiber  /  23g Protein

Additional Buddha’s Feast Options

Bases:
– Quinoa
– Brown rice

Greens:
– Spinach
– Kale
– Collard greens
– Swiss chard

Roasted Vegetables:
– Sweet Potato
– Broccoli
– Brussels sprouts
– Asparagus
– Beets

Protein:
– Chicken
– Beef
– Turkey
– Tofu
– Tempeh
– Beans
– Nuts
– Seeds

Dressings:
– Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce
– Creamy Tahini Nooch
– Spinach Basil Walnut Pesto Aioli

Food for Thought

Do others’ posts or tweets ever inspire your meals? How would you customize this bowl?