What I Ate Wednesday #97: 100 Meals

About that Barry’s Bootcamp class last night.. if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I missed the class. And it was totally Beyonce’s fault! I left my place around 5:15 for a 6:30 class, drove into the city, looked for parking, and at 7 p.m. decided to head back home. Damnit, Beyonce! You ruined my burn! I’m definitely going to have to try to go back another time, preferably when there’s no concert or Giants’ game.

Anywho, maybe 100 meals is an exaggeration, but working a 5 a.m. shift always ends up with at least 3 breakfasts. I, of course, want to sleep as late as possible so my real breakfast was prepped Sunday night and I decided to pack a couple snacks too to hold me over until my “lunch” break.. at 9:30 a.m. haha.

[Breakfast #1]
A Detour Cranberry Flax SMART Bar with a little macadamia cashew butter. I have to say, I’m not a fan of this bar. I was hoping that warming it up in the microwave for a few seconds and putting some nut butter on top would help it out, but it really just ended up being.. well, weird. People rave about the Apple Cinnamon and Blueberry so I have high hopes that those are truly delicious.

[Breakfast #2]

Recycling a picture but this was essentially what I ate. Just swap the bloobs for figs.

[Breakfast #3]

Here we go. This was the real deal! A sweet scramble with egg whites, spaghetti squash, banana, cinnamon, and coconut peanut butter. That hit the spot!

[Lunch]

I was seriously craving a hot lunch so I whipped up some spaghetti squash [best idea to roast one on Sunday!], a little southwestern black bean salad, Trader Joe’s jalapeno chicken sausage, buffalo sauce, and nutritional yeast. And it was so good!

[Afternoon Snack]

The peanut butter mug cake made a reappearance! Always a delicious option.

[Dinner]

I knew Nathan was going to want something nice and light for dinner after 4 days in Vegas so I was happy to make the California chicken, veggies, avocado, and cauli rice bowl. Chicken for him, salmon for me. The avocado was like a fake-out guac and it was really good.. so easy too! Another Half Baked Harvest win!

[Evening Snack]
I ended the night with the usual apple and a dark chocolate berry protein bite. Those bites are super chocolate and definitely hit the spot for my chocolate cravings.

Food for Thought

Have you ever been to Barry’s Bootcamp?
What’s your favorite breakfast?

What I Ate Wednesday #76: Newbs

Yesterday I took an impromptu day off from the gym. In my head, it sucked. But when it hurts to move your legs to get out of bed, it’s really a good sign. And after chatting with a few friends blends, I decided that I should get over myself and listen to my body. That said, I still couldn’t sit still all day so I did some quick workouts every hour. But guess what, I’m alive! An extra rest day didn’t kill me and, in fact, was kind of nice. Whoda thunk?! Hopefully now my legs will consider forgiving me and go back to moving like normal.

Speaking of normal, we’re finally back to our regularly scheduled meal plans this week, but I did try some new fun things on Monday.

[Breakfast]

This iced coffee promptly reminded me that I needed to buy some straws.

Another rendition of the sweet breakfast scramble. Topped with nut butters and granola.. what else?!
– 1 egg
– 3 egg whites
– 1/2 banana; mashed
– 2 tbsp coconut flour
– Splash of almond milk

Mid-Morning Snack

Wild blueberries really are so much better.

Frozen wild blueberries are my new favorite. And the kiwis out here are pretty awesome!

[Lunch]

I’ve been addicted to eggs lately.

No huge salad is complete without a fried egg on top. And if you’ve never had the pizza veggie burgers from Trader Joe’s, get on it! I’m pretty sure Nathan even admitted to liking them.

Afternoon Snack

This is my kinda dr!

This is a new-to-me brand of kombucha and it was great. Unlike some other brands, it didn’t have that noticeable fermented tea flavor [otherwise known as gym socks.. ha!] and kind of tasted like apple cider. I really enjoyed it.

A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

I’m still celebrating National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day…….

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

ALL THE BARS!

One of my faves.

A few weeks ago I was sent a box of the KIND Healthy Grains bars to review. Because I’m a big fan of KIND bars anyway, I was really excited to try their new product line. These bars are essentially their healthy grains clusters in bar form which makes it even easier to take with you. These bars are all around 150 calories and have 6-9g sugar. Not bad for a quick bite! I really enjoyed the Maple Pumpkin Seed bar but of course my favorite was the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate!

[Dinner]

I went back for more potatoes. That didn’t last long!

Out of our ordinary, I decided to make baked pesto chicken parm. This might be the first time we’ve actually had pesto in the house but I think it’s going to be used up pretty quickly.

[Evening Snack]
Finished off the night with an apple. And more puffins. Because why not?

Food for Thought

What are your thoughts on multiple rest days per week?
What’s your favorite sweet and crunchy snack?
Have you tried the KIND Healthy Grains Bars yet?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Own Metabolism Experiment

Happy Halloween!

On Friday, I mentioned Alysia’s post about her metabolism experiment. After having considered doing the same thing for a while, I decided to give it a shot. Like Alysia, on rest days I find myself wondering if I’m eating too much so I thought this would be a great way to figure it out. I like knowing numbers and of course, I knew that no matter what, I would compare my number to her’s, but hey, that’s just the name of the game sometimes! Knowing that going into it helped me stay out of the comparison trap.

So how did it go..?

Hmm..

Well, to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed. My day started out strong. I noticed for the first few hours in the morning, I was averaging about 100 calories per hour. I didn’t think that would hold up throughout the day, even though I had some errands to run, but I was definitely surprised by how much it slowed down as the day progressed.

My day looked a little something like this:
7:45 am – Wake up and strap on the heart rate monitor
8:30 am – Time for breakfast!

Carrots ‘N’ Cake sweet breakfast scramble with pumpkin, topped with nut butters and granola

9:30 am – Haircut
11:00 am – Nail appointment [and a little Target shopping..]
1:00 pm – Lunch and baking time!

Awesome huge salad!

Snickerdoodle biscotti with white chocolate drizzle [recipe soon!]

3:00 pm – House stuff.. laundry, dishes, etc.
6:30 pm – Heading out to a fabulous dinner and drinks!

Verde Pizza

10:30 pm – Hit the hay! Yes, we’re old farts.
7:45 am – Wake up and take off heart rate monitor.

That is usually about the amount of activity I have an on rest day. So while Alysia found that an average 2000 calorie/day diet is about right for her, I’m wondering what I could do to help speed up my metabolism on rest days. I feel like 1700 calories is a decent amount, but I’m always looking to improve!

I also wonder if it had anything to do with having a harder week with my workouts. I felt like the quality of my workouts last week were not up to par and it makes me think that if I had a stronger week of workouts, that maybe the results would be different. I may try the experiment again in a few months to see if anything has changed, but in the mean time, I’ll continue to work on listening to my body and feeding it right!

Food for Thought

Have you ever considered trying this kind of metabolism experiment?

If you’ve done this before, was the calorie burn higher or lower than you expected?

Any tips on speeding up my metabolism on rest days?

Are you dressing up for Halloween?

Guest Post: Carrots ‘N’ Cake 10 Tasty Cookie Recipes

If you don’t know Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake, you should really get on that! Her blog is one of my faves to read daily. She posts so many awesome recipes, workouts, and pictures of her adorable pug, Murphy! You may recognize the name from my many shout outs to her Sweet Breakfast Scramble that I couldn’t enough of! I’m so glad to be featuring Tina in today’s guest post and I hope you love all of these mouth-watering cookie recipes as much as I do!

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Hi! My name is Tina, and I blog at Carrots ‘N’ Cake.

CNC is where I share my love for healthy living by documenting my meals and workout (and photos of my pug). While I try to pack the most nutrients possible into each meal, I have a number of favorites that are not necessarily “healthy,” but are still delicious and fun to eat. If eaten in moderation, I believe that the “bad” foods can be part of a well-balanced diet. With that said, here are ten of my favorite cookie recipes. Hopefully, you will love them as much as I do!

3-Minute Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Banana Oatmeal Chip Cookies

Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Cherry-Walnut Almond Flour Cookies

Chewy Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies

Gluten-Free Trail Mix Cookies

Loaded Pumpkin Cookies

Reeses Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Thanks again to Tina for sharing these delicious recipes!

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite go-to cookie recipe?

What I Ate Wednesday #40: Passover Fail

I tried really hard. Really, I thought “Passover will be so easy.. I’ll just continue to eat exactly how I always do!” I had recipes ready to go, I had food prepped, and then I realized I forgot about legumes. Ok, no big deal. And then I realized I forgot to read a list of ingredients.

So I’m not perfect.. but I’m doing the best that I can! I mean, it has been a whole day and a half.

[Breakfast]
Slimmed down sweet scramble topped with my homemade maple cinnamon walnut butter, cashew butter, and walnut butter quinoa granola. Success! A delicious, Passover-friendly breakfast.

[Lunch]
Kale salad with lots of veggies, buffalo sauce, and a Savory Mushroom & Roasted Garlic No Bull Burger. Sounds like it should be good.. and then I realized I didn’t read the ingredients on the burgers. One ingredient is lentils; alright, legumes aren’t the end of the world. Oh, how about the barley and spelt? Whoops! Good thing I have the rest of the week to make up for it, right?

[Dinner]
Leftovers! My family always does 2 nights of everything. Seriously, I thought there were 2 nights of Thanksgiving growing up and I didn’t understand why other people didn’t celebrate the second night.

Regardless, the second night of Passover we had some leftovers and some new additions. Salmon, Bube’s brisket, roasted broccoli and sweet potato, and some fabulous charoset which I will be sharing the recipe for very soon! [Figs, orange, and dates! OH MY!]

[Snacks]
Apple.
Carrots with baba ghanoush and curried golden raisin hummus. Gotta work out a recipe for this hummus!
Mini carrot cake cupcake and a piece of dark chocolate covered matzah. Those paleo cupcakes were a huge hit! Glad I doubled the recipe and made minis!

No more No Bull Burgers for me this week.. back on the Passover wagon today. I promise! [Except for the beans in my sweet potato burgers.. ohh legumes, you get me every time!]

Food for Thought

Have you ever failed on day 1 because of minor oversights?

Does your family have any traditions like my family’s two-night celebrations?

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: National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day!

Let’s be honest, I celebrate peanut butter everyday. Personally, I think everyone should. Peanut butter is delicious and nutritious and should be a balance part of every diet; and by balanced, I mean feel free to replace meals with jars of peanut butter. [I wish I could!]

I want you to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day the right way, so I’ve compiled a list of sweet and savory peanut butter recipes. Enjoy!

Sweet

Hail Merry Peanut Butter Coconut Banana Bites

Healthy Banana Peanut Butter Cups*

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake*

Peanut Butter Wonderful Powerballs

Sweet Potato Dippers

Savory

Buddha’s Feast with Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce*

Peanut Chili Baked Tofu*

Tilapia Stir-Fry with Chili Peanut Sauce*

And of course, don’t forget to top any of your favorite oatmeals or sweet scrambles with peanut butter. It’s just wrong not to! 😉

*These recipes were made using peanut flour, but you can substitute regular peanut butter.

Food for Thought

What is your number one go-to peanut butter? Do you prefer other nut or seed butters over peanut butter?

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?

Holy Week 7!

Remember wayyy back at week 1 when I mentioned rumors of burpees? Yea. I found em. Welcome to week 7 where we are not. Messing. Around.

Power training is the name of the game for the final 2 weeks of bootcamp. I absolutely do not hesitate to admit that these workouts are the most difficult of the entire 8 weeks, but they’ve also been my favorite and most rewarding.

Week 7 Thoughts

You really don’t realize how so many simple movements can add up. Ever tried an Alligator Walk? I didn’t think it looked that bad. And it didn’t feel that bad either for the first few steps. But by the end of 4 sets my body was burning! Another move to try is the bench popover. I was definitely intimidated seeing the short clip of this but I’m in love. It’s my new favorite move! Maybe I’m crazy, but I think it’s fun 🙂

And while I was having fun mid-week, when I got to Friday’s 3-move workout, I knew I was in for it. Three moves? No problem, right? How about when that includes 180 burpees? Definitely found the burpees. It was rough but I got one hell of a burn that day and somehow still left the gym with a smile. [Go figure!]

I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to my workouts this week and even more so, finishing bootcamp strong! It doesn’t get much better than this..

Favorite Meal of the Week

Sometimes all I really want is a big bowl of roasted vegetables. I may have also thrown a homemade turkey meatball on top for extra protein, but the entire bowl really hit the spot. If you haven’t already, check out my Buddha’s Feast!

Previous Reviews

Best Butt-Kicking Bootcamp [Week 1]
Bootcamp – Take 2 [Week 2]
Beat Up Bootcamp [Week 3]
Bootcamp: The Midway Point [Week 4]
Bootcamp is Almost Over?! [Weeks 5 & 6]

Food for Thought

What is your favorite workout move? Is it something that you were intimidated by when you first saw it?

What I Ate Wednesday #35: Recent Favorites

This week hasn’t exactly been the most exciting in the kitchen, so I thought for this week’s What I Ate Wednesday, I would share some of my recent favorites that I’ve had. I’ve already shared my Valentine’s Day dinner and dessert [have you made those chocolate cups yet?!] and I figured I’d save you from another week of sweet breakfast scramble 😉

A couple weeks ago, Nathan and I ventured over to BonChon, a Korean restaurant in the area that we had yet to try. As I noted last week, we love Asian food so we were pretty psyched to go! I absolutely love beef bulgogi and had never tried Bibimbob before so there was no question as to what I was getting.

Amazing. Seriously, I couldn’t have imagined it to be any better. The bottom of this hot pot [which was really hot!] was lightly lined with sticky rice that crisped up as it sat. Tons of veggies were loaded on top; picked carrots, daikon, green onion, mushrooms, etc. Finally it was topped with beef bulgogi and a single egg yolk that, once popped, cooked over the hot beef and coated everything. It was so good.. I wish I could go get one right now! I think I might have to make a trip this weekend.. Luckily for you, it’s a chain. Find one in your area and go!

Another recent favorite is, of course, brussels sprouts. I constantly wish I had an unlimited supply so I could eat them everyday. What’s with the bad rep that these delicious morsels get? I’ll never understand. Rather than roasting my sprouts, I decided to put a little spin on them and came up with a sweet and tangy twist. And how appropriate for the love your veggies month theme?

Cranberry Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4

Ingredients
– 1 lb brussels sprouts
– 1/4 cup dried cranberries [dried cherries would be great too!]
– 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
– 1/2 tbsp EVOO
– Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Toppings
– Cashews or your favorite nut
– Unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Chop the ends off of the brussels sprouts and slice in half. Once the water is boiling, drop the sprouts in and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain completely and return the pot to a burner over medium heat. Add the EVOO to the pot and return the brussels sprouts back in.

Saute the brussels for a minute and then add in your balsamic vinegar and cranberries. Cook for a few more minutes, allowing the vinegar to caramelize the brussels sprouts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with some nuts or coconut and enjoy!

Nutritional Information
Per 1/4 lb serving without toppings

100 Calories  /  2g Fat  /  19g Carbs  /  5g Fiber  /  8g Sugar  /  4g Protein

Food for Thought

What is your favorite vegetable?