Grocery Shopping and New Ingredients February 1, 2011

I’m back! It’s been a blasty reading those blogs and catching up on your lives.

Today’s breakfast: red chai tea and…

I-Wanna-Try-a-Blueberry-Muffin-Larabar Oats

Here are the ingredients in the new Larabar that I’m aching to try. I still can’t find one. 😦

Dates Cashews Blueberries Blueberry Juice Concentrate Lemon Juice Concentrate

Vanilla Extract

sooooo….here are the oats I cam up with

• usual banana/chia seed/greek yogurt mix
• 1 chopped date
• handful of blueberries
• lemon zest from an organic lemon (NEW ingredient for the day!)
• maple extract (because the vanilla we had in the panty had corn syrup in it)
• toppings: honey drizzled over peanut flour banana sauce, almonds (since I didn’t have cashews)

It was the closest I could come to the Larabar, and it was gooooooooooooooood!!! The lemon zest really added the perfect hint of flavor. I use it in baking a lot, but haven’t used it in oats yet.

***If anyone has connections at Larabar, please let me know ;)***

Also, I got this info today from my friend Lindsay…”Tragedy! Trader Joe’s has discontinued their peanut flour!! Ugh!! I went on Saturday to buy some and they were sold out. I just called to see if they had any in and they said it has been discontinued :(” I guess we’ll all be ordering PB2.

Workout today: taught Zumba and took BodyCombat.

Lunch when I got home from gym and running errands (including grocery shopping as I was low on produce), I made some kale chips. They are AMAZING!!!! I just drizzled some EVOO on a bunch of kale de-stemmed on a baking sheet, sprinkled with some sea salt, and put in oven for 15 minutes in the oven at 375*…just until the ends brown and get crunchy.

It makes enough for at least 2 meals. I had some kale chips with a Caitlin lunch of a sweet potato topped with organic baked beans (thanks, Caitlin!), a little edamame, and a few carrots topped with tahini. (This is a dinner-sized plate.)

And lunch dessert…red chai tea and an orange.

After some studying, I had a phone date with the owner of Angus Barn to talk about her experience in Africa as I am going to South Africa on a Christian medical missions trip in May. She’s absolutely amazing and someone that I look up to so much. She told me, “I admire anyone who is giving of their time and efforts to a third world country as you are doing! I can completely relate to your passion.” One of friends went to the restaurant over the weekend and got to tour the wine cellar and their son got to make an ice cream sundae in the kitchen. Angus Barn is class act. Period. I can’t wait to go back.

Quick snack and my favorite smoothie I’ve made to date…my favorite color to date. It’s always fun to press “blend” and see what color comes out of the ingredients I put in the blender.

Purple Chocolate Berry Bomb

• 1/2 cup plain keifer
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• a few blueberries and goji berries (hey, I used every kind of berry I had hehe)
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• a little ice

It was sooooooooooo good!

I’m a wedding planner on the side, so I had a meeting with a bride and her fiance the mother of the bride today to go over some details.  When I got home, I was hungry for exactly this…

…the rest of my Amy’s pizza (Roasted Vegetable with no cheese) and a salad BEAST (mixed greens, a few carrots, grape tomatoes, 3 slices of organic cucumber, edamame, 3 sliced mushrooms, tabouli, and original tahini hummus). YUMMMMMMM! I couldn’t wait to inhale this 😉

Dinner dessert (y’all know my rule: Every meal gets dessert 😉 ): an organic Pink Lady (so crunchy and perfectly sweet) with a square of 100% unsweetened chocolate, and some Yogi Bedtime tea as I watch my Heels slaughter BC!!!! GO Heels!!!!

Getting to grocery shop is such a privilege, and it’s great to have all these new ingredients! It’s great to be back. Sweet dreams, y’all!

Love,

me

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Breaking the Blog Fast January 31, 2011

Hey y’all! Guess what? Blog fast ends tonight! So, obviously I can’t re-read ALL of your lovely posts from the 10th, even though I wish that I could. Will you please leave a comment and let me know which posts are your favorite or that you really want me to read? I’m excited to get back to y’all…I’ve missed youuuuuuuuu!

It’s been a while since I’ve had oats, I can’t believe it! This morning, it was back to the basics…with red chai tea.

In the mix:

• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (the Trader Joe’s ones are better than Quaker…better flavor and texture), water, almond milk, greek yogurt
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• sprinkle of sea salt and cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp pure maple extract
• 1/2 smashed nanner
• toppings: blueberries, a few raw soaked almonds, drizzle of honey (a yummy new addition), peanut flour banana sauce, sexy spice 😉

Workout: 45-minute RPM, BodyPump, BodyFlow

Lunch: a slice of leftover Amy’s Roasted Vegetable Pizza with no cheese, salad BEAST (organic mixed greens, 2 pieces of celery, tabouli, hummus, 7 baby carrots, a leftover chicken tender from last night), …

…and a pear for dessert 😉

After a lot of studying, a snack…a small organic fuji apple with 2 tbsp Naturally More, and a chocolate berry smoothie.

Berry Chocolate Smoothie

• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• a few blueberries
• 5 sliced strawberries
• a little ice
• cacao nibs to garnish

A little more studying, taught a Zumba class for my Club 59 ladies, a shower hehe, and then some dinna!

I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a Mom who buys mahi mahi for dinner 😉 (I love you, Mom!)

…a hunk of mahi mahi cooked stovetop with a little EVOO, a squirt of lemon juice, a little basil, and 1/2 cup plain brown rice, and some steamed brussels sprouts (I think they are officially my favorite veggie 😉 ) YUMMY!!!! This is the most “comfortable” meal I’ve had in a while, and it felt nice to just enjoy it without thinking about every little ingredient.

And dessert…orange and 2 squares of 100% cocoa chocolate.

Has anyone tried the new blueberry muffin Larabar? I can’t find them anywhere. Also, I only have 2 Larabars left for snacks. Anybody seen them on sale anywhere? Leave me those comments! I can’t wait to get to readin’ tomorrow…

Calorie Counting January 26, 2011

What’s up, buttercups?! How’s your hump day been? Mine was fantastico…until I calorie counted.

Beginning with breakfast:

A Bowl of Goodness

• 3/4 cup Nature’s Path Organic  Pumpkin Seed Raisin Cereal
• 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
• peanut flour banana sauce
• cacao nibs
• sliced strawberries
• blueberries
• goji berries
• cinnamon
• 1/2 cup almond milk

Mix all together and enjoy!

I went to do RPM and BodyFlow at the gym then off to Starbucks to study with a Lemon Pie Larabar that paired lovely with some Earl Grey tea. I’m trying different teas to see what I like, and this one was good.

 

After studying for a few hours, I met my friend Melissa for a late lunch at Cafe Carolina. I got the Cafe Carolina Signature salad: “a unique blend of flavors available exclusively at Cafe Carolina! mixed greens with mandarin oranges, strawberries, dried cranberries, raisins, pineapple, pecans and gorgonzola cheese tossed with our poppy seed dressing and croutons.” YUMMY! They only use a little dressing, and it’s served with a sweet potato biscuit 😉 I didn’t eat the croutons. I just pulled up the nutrition info on this beast and WHOA…almost a 1300 calorie lunch for the salad, dressing, and biscuit. OUCH!

I’ve been in a tea mood all day as it’s been so chilly and rainy outside, so I had some chamomile tea on the side.

After teaching an amazingly fun group of women at Zumba tonight, I was ready for some dinner. Tonight that meant about 1/3 of Amy’s Roasted Vegetable Pizza with no cheese, a salad beast (herb greens, sliced cucs, 4 grape tomatoes, tabouli, hummus, a few carrots), a smoothie, and some mint water.

Smoothie for Today (inspired by my friend Mira’s)

• 1 cup coconut water
• a few sliced strawberries
• blueberries
• a few slices of kiwi
• Twisted Power Powder from Whole Foods
• 1/2 sliced nanner
• cinnamon
• goji berries

 

Here’s Mira’s just to inspire y’all: Banana, blueberries, mango, hemp seeds, maca, vitamineral earth powder, cinnamon, gojis, almond mylk and loooove. She’s the best!

And dessert: organic fuji apple with a little greek yogurt and apple pie spice heated, a 100% unsweetened chocolate square, and an energy ball.

It was just OK. I’m feeling like I ate a lot of calories today..hmmmmm. How do y’all handle calorie counting?

Also, I am blogging about my team’s trip to South Africa here: http://southafricamedicalmission2011.blogspot.com/. Check it out and subscribe for changes if you want to keep up with us. I’ll be blogging from South Africa on this site once we get there.

Off to watch Off the Map with my Mom and then off to bed as I teach 6 a.m. BodyPump tomorrow. Sweet dreams, y’all!