What I ate

Cold and crunchy Monday

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It’s Monday!  Woot. 

😉 actually today has been a pretty decent Monday thus far.  The office is super quiet since many of my coworkers opted to use our floating holiday today.  I decided to bank mine and take my birthday off (next week) instead.

Hope you all have a fabulous fun/food/framily filled weekend!

The PB2 Giveaway ended last night!!!  Read further for the lucky winner 😀

Breakfast #1

It’s been so hot these past few days, that I was craving something super cold for breakfast this morning.  I decided a fruit smoothie would be the ticket to cooling things off.  I threw the following into the blender:

  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Vanilla Greek Yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/4 cup blueberries
  • 1 packet Truvia (Stevia) all natural sweetener

Once I blended everything up, I opened the fridge to put the almond milk away and saw a lonely half-empty bag of spinach sitting on the shelf begging to be eaten. 

I’ve read lots of posts on the “green monster” smoothies, especially on Julie’s blog, but I’ve never tried one myself… Until today that is!

I grabbed a handful of spinach and threw it into the blender and gave it a good pulse. 

Yes, that is spinach you are seeing

The result:

One huge smoothie with “monster” flecks:

This was surprisingly tasty!  You can’t specifically taste the spinach itself, but it gives the smoothy a hearty fullness.  It also cuts on some of the sweetness of the fruit, so I was glad I used a whole packet of truvia.  I think I’ve officially jumped on the green monster bandwagon 😀

If you’re intrigued — check out the Green Monster Movement.

Stats on the Green Monster:  197 calories, 37g carbs, 2g fat, 12g protein, 6g fiber

Breakfast #2

O…. O…..   mmmmmm…. haven’t had overnight oats in a few days, so I went with the go-to OO Combo: 

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon
  • fresh strawberries

All stirred up:

Overnight oats… oh how I’ve missed you :-*

Stats on the oats:  208 calories, 38g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

Keeping on with today’s cold theme, I thought I’d add a little crunch to my lunch with a nice salad.  Last night, I threw together a monster salad that consisted of:

  • 1/2 bag fresh express romaine
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1/4 cup white onion
  • 1 serving baby carrots
  • 1 link of Jennie O’s hot turkey sausage

Topped it all off with 2 tbsp of fat free ranch dressing:

Stats on the Monster Salad:  295 calories, 28g carbs, 10g fat, 22g protein, 7g fiber

And the winner of the PB2 Giveaway ……………

Drumroll please……

Based on the random number generator, the lucky winner is:

Monique at She’s Going the Distance!!!

  

Thank you guys for taking the time to post on my blog!  I really love seeing what you guys have to say, and as cheesy as it may sound (who doesn’t love a little cheese?) it really brightens my day 😀

Monique – please send your mailing address to:  ferventfoodie@gmail.com

Everyone else – you can purchase PB2 online at www.netrition.com.  Since it’s flat rate shipping, I’d recommend getting some Mama Lupe’s low-carb tortillas, Joseph’s low-carb pita, and some carba nada pasta 🙂

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Recipes, What I ate

Something old, something new x2

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Breakfast #1

For breakfast this morning I was craving one of my standards:  dippy eggs and potatoes.  So, I cooked up 1 egg over easy, heated up some of Jarrod’s special cajun oven potatoes, and a Thomas’ multi-grain english muffin. 

Served up with a dollop of ketchup, of course! 😉

Delicious as always!  Sometimes you just gotta go with the tried and true.

Stats on breakfast #1:  219 calories, 39g carbs, 6g fat, 12g protein, 9g fiber

 

Breakfast #2 = Healthified Low-Carb Waffles

I recently picked up some Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking mix, so I decided to try and make some low-carb waffles this morning.

I mixed up:

  • 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking mix
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tsp Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 egg white
  • Sprinkling of cinnamon

Poured the mix onto the waffle iron, and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I mixed up half a serving of PB2 and made it a little on the runny side (for drizzling!).  I also microwaved 1/4 of fresh frozen strawberries.  Once nice and hot, I added a sprinkling of Truvia to sweeten them up and a drizzle of Smuckers sugar free syrup.

All together:

This was a good first stab at low-carb waffles!  Next time, I think I’ll add half a packet of the truvia to the actual waffle batter and also 1/8 tsp of baking powder to help the waffles perk up a bit.  Definitely gonna play with this idea some more!

Stats on just the waffles:  126 calories, 12g carbs, 3g fat, 18g protein, 5g fiber

Stats on waffles with all the fixins:  170 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 21g protein, 6g fiber

 

Larabar success!!

Yesterday, I was feeling adventurous (albeit hesitant) and decided to try the Peanut butter & Jelly Larabar that I’ve been neglecting for the past week due to Larabar Fail #1 and Fail #2. 

Every other larabar I’ve tried to date, I’ve taken 1 bite and tossed the rest.  I actually enjoyed this one!  Wow!  I’m so surprised!  And I LOVE the simple ingredients:  Dates, Peanuts, Unsweetened Cherries, and Salt.  Still keeping an eye out there for the coconut and key lime flavors…

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Recipes

Tabbouleh with Feta and Shrimp

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I don’t know why, but I always get the words bulgur and barley mixed up!  I know the difference between each of the grains, and I can easily identify them, but my brain just jumbles up the names sometimes!

Case in point:  I found this recipe for Tabbouleh with Feta and Shrimp a while back and decided over the weekend that I would make it sometime for dinner this week.  All week, I’ve been thinking to myself “why do they call it tabbouleh when it’s got bulgur in it?  Don’t they know tabbouleh is made with barley??”

After 5 days of contemplating this, it JUST NOW dawned on me that the recipe did, in fact, call for bulgur which is, in fact, what tabbouleh is made out of.  Hahahha… geesh.  Suddenly, this recipe made a lot more sense to me 🙂

First, I cooked up 1/4 cup of bulgur (AKA not barley) per the package instructions and 3 ounces of shrimp.  Then put it all in the fridge to cool off.

In a bowl, I mixed together:

  • 1 tbsp parsley, chopped (the smaller, the better)
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/8 tsp each salt, pepper, ground cumin

 Then I tossed the bulgur (I swear to you, I just typed BARLEY… wow) with:

For you visually challenged that is:

  • 1/2 large cucumber, diced
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped (the smaller, the better)
  • 1 roma tomato, diced
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 2 tbsp  crumbled reduced fat feta

 Topped it off with the dressing, and put everything back in the fridge so the flavors could mary merry 😉

Come clooooooossssseerrrrrr:

T-A-S-T-Y.  Just like the tabbouleh I’ve had at my favorite middle eastern restaurants… well not JUST like it, but still tasty in its own right.  Next time, I wont be so lazy and I’ll chop everything into smaller pieces 🙂

Stats on the tabbouleh:  360 calories, 50g carbs, 3g fat, 28g protein, 10g fiber

 

I’m off to mow the yard!  WOOHOOOOOOO!

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What I ate

Carb tooth strikes again

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Happy July!!!!

Can’t believe it’s already here… There is so much going on over the next few months (my birthday, vaca, parties, get-togethers, HLS!!!), I’m sure they are going to fly by!  Psst… don’t forget to comment on the PB2 giveaway by Sunday!

The first day of every month my firm brings in a “Birthday Breakfast” to celebrate all the employees whose birthdays fall in that month.  The spread always consists of fruits and a variety of carblicious goodies to tempt me:

I really wanted to toast up one of those bagels and smear it in cream cheese and hot sauce (if you haven’t tried it and you like hot food, TRY IT NOW).  Something about baked goods and breads make my mouth water….  I wish I could get past it, but my body is head over heals in love with these unhealthy treats!!!  Darn you, carb tooth!

Since my birthday falls in this particular month, I allowed myself a tiny sliver of a blueberry muffin.  Ridiculous.  I just picked up some Bob’s Red Mill low-carb baking mix, so maybe I’ll try and make some healthified baked goods this weekend 🙂

 

Breakfast #1

For breakfast today, I had the leftover Canadian Bacon Eggins I made earlier in the week.

Just as tasty the second time around 🙂

Stats:   147 calories, 6g carbs, 1g fat, 26g protein, 0g fiber

 

Breakfast #2

For breakfast #2, I had 1.5 cups Trader Joe’s Vanilla greek yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberries.

I love all the fresh fruits and berries this time of year!  Cannot get enough.

 Stats:   171 calories, 28g carbs, 0g fat, 14g protein, 1g fiber

 

Lunch

My sandwich yesterday was so frickin delicious, I decided to make a similar one today.  I took a 3.5 ounce chicken breast, 1 cup spinach, 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy Hummus, tomato, and onion and smashed it into a Joseph’s Low Carb Pita.

Also had some sliced up red pepper on the side.  I looovvveeeeee hummuss…. mmmmm…..

Stats on stuffed pita & red pepper:   240 calories, 25g carbs, 7g fat, 28g protein, 9g fiber

Snack

I tried the Trader Joe’s Mocha yogurt, but was NOT a fan. 

It had a weird tartness about it… and overall was just different than I was expecting.  First thing I’ve purchased from TJ’s that I didn’t enjoy!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  What are your favorite healthified cookout recipes?

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Fitness, What I ate

Getcho run on!

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What is it about running first thing in the morning that makes me feel like I can tackle anything the day brings me?  This morning I completed Day #3, Week #2 of my interval training plan.  Woo hoo!  That means Friday I’ll be up to 2 minutes walking, 4 minutes running… and still no knee pain in sight 🙂

  

Breakfast #1

In honor of the fabulous PB2 GIVEAWAY, I decided to make a grilled fruit and nut butter wrap using Chocolate PB2. 

I took 2 tbsp of powdered chocolate PB2:

Then added 1 tbsp water:

Then smeared it on a  Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla and topped with 1/4 cup each of strawberries and blueberries

I wrapped everything up, and put it on the george foreman for 5 minutes.  Then wrapped in foil and stuck in my purse:

And enjoyed at my desk at work:

Mmmmmmm…. love love love the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps!!!

Stats on the wrap:  145 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

 

Make sure you post a comment on the PB2 giveaway by midnight Sunday July 4th!

 

Breakfast #2

Bowl of overnight oats consisting of:

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze almond milk
  • 1 packet Truvia (stevia)
  • Cinnamon
  • Fresh Strawberries & Blueberries (added this morning)

I <3 overnight oats.

 Stats on the oats:  203 calories, 39g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

 

Lunch

Last night when I was packing my lunch I was really craving a sandwich.  (The carb tooth strikes again!) 

Sunday night I grilled up a big batch of chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning.  So I packed one of the breasts (about a 2.5 ouncer), 1 cup spinach, tomato, onion, a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat, and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy hummus.

Can you say YUM?  Yum. 😀

Stats on the sammy:  230 calories, 29g carbs, 5g fat, 22g protein, 9g fiber

 

Women Power

Tonight I’m headed up to Cleveland for the Athena Women’s award dinner.  This opportunity came up through my involvement with the Knowledgeable Network of Women through the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.

And I’m taking my camera.  First time for me to let my inner food blogger out at a business function… should be interesting 🙂

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