What I Ate Wednesday #22 – Election Day Eats

The day after a presidential election is always a good day. Whether you’re please with the result or not, I think we’re all glad the ads are over!

All politics aside, the day after election day means it’s time for another WIAW!

[Breakfast]
Poor, poor planning on my part of not requesting an absentee ballot, not changing my voting place to right down the street from where I live now as opposed to down the street from my parents house, and not attempting to vote early resulted in an early morning for this gal. Knowing this, I planned accordingly. Cinnamon overnight oats adapted from my Overnight Oats & Quinoa recipe made me quite happy while I was waiting in line to vote.

[Lunch]
Trader Joe’s has some awesome boxed soups. If you haven’t tried them yet, I’d highly recommend you get on it! I added some edamame and nutritional yeast* to my tomato and roasted red pepper soup. Delicious and full of protein!

[Dinner]
Thai red curry chicken with roasted broccoli, sweet potato, red onion, and turnip. I’ve become a big fan of Sharwood’s sauces and since finding a reasonably priced bag o’ garam masala, I’ve been looking forward to breaking out the Thai red curry. I’m happy to have leftovers 🙂

[Snacks]
A (not pictured) grapefruit in the morning and Gnu Espresso Chip Bar in the afternoon are added to the list. But the snack to top them all is my current favorite (clean eating) dessert. Vanilla greek yogurt with mini chocolate chips and peanut fluff (peanut flour*, stevia, & water). This has been satisfying my night time sweet tooth and has a good amount of protein to make it a great snack for after workouts. Sometimes when I need a little crunch, I top it with a few bunnies 😉

*I get my peanut flour and nutritional yeast from iHerb.com. Use code ZAF482 for $5 off of your first order.

Look out Friday! I have a delicious treat coming for ya that I can’t wait to share.

And big thanks to FitSugar for sharing my Pumpkin Protein Souffle with Cream Cheese Filling & Frosting!

Food for Thought

Did you stay up all night watching the election results roll in or did you find out this morning?

I zonked out at 11, but woke up at 2am and checked twitter to find out. Because really, where else do you go to learn about current events?! 😉

What I Ate Wednesday #17 – Holiday Recovery

I love getting together with my entire family for meals. It’s great to see everyone, catch up, and eat good food. Ooooh, the food!

Jewish holiday meals always include brisket, some sort of poultry, whether it’s chicken or turkey, often there is fish, usually salmon, matzah ball soup, vegetables, kugel, an assortment of desserts, and the list could go on and on. To say I overeat at these dinners would be an understatement.

I always tell myself, “1 piece of this, 1 piece of that, a couple little bites of this, a couple little pieces of that… you can always go back for more.” And I do. I take a little bit of everything and always go back for more. What can I say? My family knows how to cook and I’m going to take advantage of it when I can!

So after two Rosh Hashana dinners, I find myself trying to recover and pick up the pieces of my “has-been” healthy eating habits.

[Breakfast]
Tone It Up pumpkin protein pancake topped with peanut fluff and, with all of the benefits of ACV (courtesy of Brittany at Eating Bird Food), I knew I had to have my bombshell spell. Steering clear from the grains for a day or two will definitely help, so I put the oatmeal on the back burner. Get it?! 😉

[Snack] Not Pictured
I found out that I’m not a huge fan of vanilla Greek yogurt without any fruit or granola in it. And unfortunately I had no fruit or granola in sight, so I went for the next best thing. I mixed in a tablespoon of no sugar added Swiss Miss. What, you don’t have a container of Swiss Miss at your desk?!

[Lunch]
The only good picture of the day. Salad topped with veggies and roasted salmon. The salmon was leftover from Rosh Hashana dinner and man, my mom did an awesome job! It’s a little smokey and a little sweet. And luckily I have some more leftovers to hold me over through the week!

[Snack]
It was a sad, sad day as I finished my very last Premier Protein shake. The vanilla is awesome and I will definitely be making my way over to Sam’s Club as soon as I can to get more!

[Dinner]
Chipotle honey lime chicken with coconut oil roasted brussel sprouts and broccoli. This chicken was so good! Nathan tasted the sauce and I got an “oh yea!” in approval and that’s when I knew I’d have to share the recipe with all of you! You know what that means.. check it out this Foodie Friday! 🙂

[Snack]
I just feel the need to apologize for this picture. It’s not a pretty one, but it was so tasty and hit the spot after a hard interval workout, courtesy of Julie at PBFingers! I mixed 1/4 cup Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp peanut flour, 1 packet stevia, and 1/2 tbsp vegan carob chips. Then I mixed in a chopped up apple and sprinkled a little cinnamon on top. Yum!

[Goals]
In the spirit of continuing with my previous goal of beating my 5K time of 26:08, I ran my second 5K on Sunday. Unfortunately, this one didn’t have a chip time, only a gun time. But according to MapMyRun on my phone, I had the exact same time and pace as my first 5K. And I have to say, that while I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t beat my time, I’m still pretty pleased that I did just as well. Next up, 5K on September 29th. It’s on!

Speak Up!

What is your favorite holiday meal and what are your favorite foods that go along with that meal?

Strawberry Yogurt Bites

One thing I love about summer is always having fruit in the house. One thing I don’t love is letting that fruit go bad, so I’m always looking for fun ways to mix it up! And the easier the idea, the better.

Yogurt dipped strawberries are delicious, but they always get so messy! So why not stuff the strawberries and jazz it up a bit while I’m at it?

Serves 2 (or just 1.. I won’t tell!)

Ingredients
8 – 12 strawberries, depending on size
1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/2 banana
1 – 2 tbsp sliced almonds
Cinnamon
Ice cube tray or another serving piece that will allow the strawberries to sit straight up

Directions
In a bowl, mash the 1/2 banana until pureed. Add the 1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt and mix until well combined.

Using a paring knife, cut a little bowl into the top of each strawberry. Fill each strawberry with some of the banana / yogurt mixture and set into your serving piece to sit up straight. (I used an ice cube tray!) Once all of the strawberries are filled, sprinkle the tops with the sliced almonds and a little cinnamon.

Devour!

..I mean, enjoy!

This snack is perfect for the morning or afternoon. It’s a little sweet and also has some protein from the yogurt and almonds. Next time I might toss some dark chocolate chips into the mix. Because who can say no to a little chocolate?!

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite summertime snack?