Yo Yo Yo

Hi Dolls!  I'm crazy busy and chasing my tail, but I just couldn't stay away!  I've been digging on some good food and I would like to feature the snack of the week!

Plain tart and dark chocolate fro yo with kiwi, blueberries, and a sprinkle of coconut and dark chocolate shavings.  Heaven in the middle of a cu-razy day!

I've got some nutty projects at work, nutty projects at school, a busy home, and time with my hubby!  All good things- no complaints!

Take care lovelies! I'll be back with regular programming soon!  XOXO <3
What's been keeping you busy lately?

Awesomely Bad Combos

One thing healthy food bloggers are known for is mixing together obnoxious combos and starting a revolution by getting other to follow along.  Have you ever thought of putting cocoa powder, cottage cheese, and protein powder in oats?  How about eating your oats from a near empty peanut butter jar?  Do you have the impulse to mix pumpkin into greek yogurt and sprinkle it with ten superfoods as well?

I've been digging the odd combos lately and wanted to share a couple with you!

First up- a flourless wrap by Alvarado Street Bakery filled with sliced apples and a slice a gouda cheese.  The cheeze and apple combo were awesome.  I also had it with the rest of the apple and sugar snap peas.  'Twas fabulous!

Next was cauliflower and green beans sauteed in veggie stalk then I added tomatoes and when the veggie stalk began to reduce, scrambled in two whole eggs.  I accidentally spilled half of my remains of nooch and drowned it in spicy peanut dressing.  It was surprising good, healthy, filling and high protein!  I called this dinner.

I mixed up my workout with:

• 5 minute warm up on the elliptical
• 15 minute interval run on the treadmill
• 10 minutes of intervals on the stairmill
• 5 back exercises that I can't even describe, but they took me about 25 minutes to complete

I've been guilty of falling into the cardio princess zone so I've been doing shorter, more intense spurts of cardio mixed with lifting.  I have been supervised by my personal trainer (hubby) and haven't been able to have full use of my arms in about three days, so I'm assuming I'm on the right track! 

Tell me what you've been doing to mix up your workouts?

What are you favorite food combos lately?

Got a question for me?  Ask me here!

Pancake Monster

Thank you guys for all the wishes on my last post!  You sure know how to make a girl feel special :)

I love reading your comments and besides making my head infinitely larger with each comment, ya'll sometimes even like my eats.  The fabulous Jenna asked me how I make my microwave protein pancakes so I decided to write out the recipe.  I have a bit of a problem with following recipes as I like to get creative (nevermind my problem with authority) and make my own up along the way.  I adapted this from lots of blog ladies who could actually flip pancakes!  I started making microwave pancakes when my regular pancake attempts looked like this:

I could never flip them, so I would end up in a blob.  Once I came to the realization that I will never be a pancake flipper, I put the whole mix in the microwave and got this:

Here is the recipe:
Microwave Protein Pancakes:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 whole egg or 1 eggwhite (I have also done the flax egg thang)
• Fruit substance- you can use one of the following: 
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 smashed banana

• Protein powder of choice- I use 1/2 scoop of vanilla whey by Cyto Sport or 1/2 scoop Trader Joe's Chocolate Hemp Powder
• Chia seeds and/or flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Liquid choice (pick one)
• Splash of almond milk
• POM juice
• Odwalla Superfood juice
• Water works too

Directions: Add all dry ingredients, mix in all of the wet ingredients- the liquid of choice should be used only if you feel like the batter isn't thick enough.  Nuke in the microwave for 90 seconds- if it is still squishy, add another 30 seconds at a time until it looks done.  Remember, food continues to cook even once the clock is up!
Top with toppings of choice- I like Greek yogurt, almond butter, cacao powder, cinnamon, or fruit.

The nutritionals on this vary, but it can pack anywhere from 350-450 fabulous filling protein and carb delicious calories.  Give the recipe a try and let me know how you like it!

Other things I've been loving:
Homemade juice pulp crackers (pre-cutting!):

Kumquats!

They are the size of large grapes and you can eat the whole thing.  Find out more about them here!
They are grown in California, so I guess they are semi-local for me.  I eat them and twitch each time because they are so sour they are sweet- if that makes any sense!

Announcements
Beth from Dining and Dishing  I need your contact info so I can get you your prize!


What's your favorite bizarro fruit?  I like kumquats (plus it's a fun word to say) and all the hybrid fruits like those donut peach things!

Have a great Tuesday!

Winner Winner Chia Seed Dinner!

Happy Sunday!  I've had a fabulous weekend and now that the USA vs. Canada hockey game is babysitting my husband for a bit, I'll do a little recap of the weekend.  I'm also here to announce the chia giveaway winner!

Weekend Highlights
Let's get started!  On Friday night I went out with some friends after school to get some drinkies.  I wasn't in a drink mood but it was lots of fun to see all my friends!

Gosh my friends are beauteous!  And my do I need to get my roots done!
Anyhoo, I also baked some mini cupcakes to have as appetizers because appetizers=sugar in my book!

We continued the celebration with extra foamy lattes and pancakes. 

We then immediately went to the movies to see Shutter Island (loved it!) and I got my ice cream cone!  We also stopped by my parents' house to chill with them and have some tea and dessert.  I also got a burger on Saturday night:

Veggie and Vegan friends cover your eyes and ears!  This is an ostrich burger with tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, cholula, and pickles on a toasted no butter bun.  Ostrich meat is a really good source of B12, lean protein, and low cholesterol as compared to beef and chicken.  My hot date had a buffalo burger :)  Fuddrucker's has some unique choices so we went with them!

Other weekend highlights included roses from my loving hubby and countless Facebook and email birthday wishes!

Please tell me you've seen a cuter birthday card!  It made my heart swell 1,000 times.  I LOVE this kid!

I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends and family and 26 is looking pretty good already!  I will have to practice my new age when I enter it into the treadmill soon!

Giveaway Winner: 

Beth from Dining and Dishing!

Please email me with your info- including address so I can get you your chia seeds!

I'm going to end this post with a few highlights from my Chia Seeds Giveaway Request.  I asked you for some favorite 90s songs to count as an entry and ya'll did NOT disappoint.  Each one made me giggle and I have added them to my awesomely bad list of music!  I think this could make one heck of a dysfunctional workout playlist.  Anyone with me?

• Spice Girls- apparently anything goes
• Tearin' Up My Heart and more *NSync
• EMF Unbelievable
• Ace of Base- my hubby agrees
• Bone Thugs- Crossroads
• Smells Like Teen Spirit
• Black Hole Sun
• Depeche Mode
• TLC- they are right up there with Spice Girls
• New Kids On The Block
• You Say- Lisa Loeb
• Genie In a Bottle
• "Baby Got Back"- it was on my 'must play list' at our wedding
• Mmmbop
• Backstreet Boys
• Faith Hill

Thank you all for playing along with me and for all the blog love!  I'm a very lucky girl and your comments and support adds to that even more!

Have a great day!
XOXO!!!!

Snackfest 2010!

Hi Guys!  Happy Friday!  I think I posted in my last post that if you lose track of me I would be passed out in my kitchen from cookie and trailmix overdose.  That hasn't happened (yet) but I've been making a dent in my stash:

First I tried this bar:

'Twas fabulous.  Thanks again Katie!  In addition to this, I spent a very leisurely 11 hour day at work yesterday meeting a deadline.  I needed an extra snack and broke into my work's trailmix and made myself an iced coffee:

Between having a long day and delaying dinner, I had a bit of a snackapalooza.  Stuff happens and there's nothing we can do right?  I ended up going to the gym to meet my hubby for a date at 9:15 and spent an hour on the treadmill doing jog-incline walk intervals.  It was great and stress-busting!

This morning I started out with a fabulous breakfast pancake:

-1/2 cup oats, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 eggwhite, baking powder, Chia seeds, cacao powder, and a banand.  My frosting is vanilla Greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp almond butter.  It was amazing! 

I've been up and working from home since 6:30 so I'm heading out for a lunchtime gym session!  See ya'll later- maybe even today :)  I've got some working, baking, and cleaning to do before our friends come over!

The Food Fairy Visited Me!

Hey Amigas!  I loved reading all your 'you know you're a blogger when' stories!  I'm hoping your day was great and if not, it's less than 2 days till the weekend begins, so let's fake it till we make it!

My day?  Meh.  My night?!  Amazing! Let's rewind.  I ate lunch in 5 minutes flat between conference calls.  After I ate all my veggies, I created this treat from the food at work to get some protein and more energy in:

• Whole grain waffle, strawberry yogurt, sprinkle of granola and almonds.  So good. soooo good!

After work I went to the gym and made a deal with myself that if I didn't want to stay longer than 20 minutes, I could leave.  I didn't and stayed for an hour.  I even got back into what is hopefully my new consistent lifting schedule.
I came home and had this for dinner:

• My favorite thins with a laughing cow wedge and wild smoked salmon, sugar snap peas, and tomato and basil hummus dip

I also had an apple pie (pie warmed in the micro for 90 seconds with a dollop of Greek yogurt and cinnamon scooped up with a little almond butter):

And this slipped in too:

• Treat of the day- 2 mini brownie sandwich with almond butter.  I almost died of happiness.

It was the best thing that happened today, until I opened my mail!  I got two packages.  First, the Chia Fairy visited me from chiaseedsdirect.com:

Thank you Don!  If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, do it now!

Next, this girl who just posted about how she sometimes dresses like a Fairy sent me this adorable birthday gift.  I was floored by the kind gesture.  Thank you sooooooo much Katie!  I love it all!
First, it was in this cute bag:

Then it had so much amazing goodness in it:

• Strawberry banana gum, cacao powder to sample, mini robin eggs, Archer Farms Chocolate Peanut Banana mix, a yummy Luna bar, a fabulous Mojo bar, and a cookie book!  

I opened the card first (I have some manners, ya know!) and it is the cutest thing ever:

If I don't post in a while, it's because I'm passed out in my kitchen from eating all the trailmix, bars, eggs, and baking cookies! Thank again luv!

P.S. Rose from On A Lobster Placemat was kind enough to humor me and post my interview on her adorable and artsy blog.  Check it out!

Mari is having a Pop Chips giveaway!

I hope you have a great day/night!  I'm in such a great mood despite having so much homework and work work.  A little positivity goes a long way, so try to find some in your life!

What made you happy today? My blog and my blog amigas made me happy!

Veggie Fail and an Award

Hey Kids!  Look, it's Tuesday already!  I'm just home from the gym and wrapping up my evening.  Today was filled with lots of fruits, veggies and a little less chocolate than yesterday!  Today was one of the days that I realized I'm a little quirkier than the normal girl and I had a lot of food blogger realizations!

You know you're a health blogger when people bring you stolen fruit:
I started with a plate of fruit that my work buddy brought me.  She had such a proud look when she told me she snagged it from a meeting she was in.  I ate the stolen fruit and really enjoyed it!

You know you're a blogger when you fill your plate with the equivalent of most people's weekly veggie intake for lunch:

You know you're a blogger when you feel like a failure for leaving this behind:

You know you're a blogger when you get to the gym, work out for 90 minutes, and are disappointed because you can't recall a single amount of time or rep you did to report on your blog!

You know you're a blogger when you attempt to redeem yourself with a veggie scramble for dinner:

Organic cherry tomatoes, Trader Joe's Organic Foursome, Spinach, 2 whole eggs, and Nooch

You know you're a blogger when you are sad that your camera is holding your snack of the day hostage!
(I had a mini brownie crumbled over vanilla Greek Yogurt with 1/4 serving of hemp protein added)


You know you're a blogger when you get an award for no reason but doing what you love to do!  
Katie of Fit to Wed gave me this sweet award and it totally made my day!  Katie is a bad ass runner and is getting married to her love really soon!  Thanks Katie!

I am supposed to pass the award on to 11 blog friends and let them know via a comment on their page. I tag:

Mari of Namaste Mari because I've known her for years and she's my Dominican East Coast twin!  She rocks crazy workouts, is an awesome motivator, and one of the most supportive girls ever!
Katie of Healthy Diva Eats because this is one of the sweetest blog girls you'll ever meet.  Her comments are the kindest and she is an awesome example of a hot mama!  If you like Hello Kitty and great eats, check her out!
Jolene of Everyday Foodie because here everyday eats are seriously amazing!  She's such a sweet girl and loves her Green Monsters!
Anna of Newlywed, Newly Veg because she is genuinely nice and rocks crazy challenges like Vegan Month and is in the middle of a sugar challenge!  I am so impressed by her writing and her self control!
Gina of Candid RD because she is my favorite RD and gives great advice through her informative posts.  She gently reminds me that dark chocolate will not save my life, but leaves the best comments!
Dawn of Dawn Dishes it Out because she has the best wholesome recipes and despite being a busy mom and professional makes it a priority to live a healthy lifestyle and educate strangers too!
Jessica of How Sweet It Is because she is an amazing baking diva and although I don't regularly eat any of them, I leave her blog thinking about butter, cheese, and even a little bacon!
Beth of Dining and Dishing because this DC foodie is so sweet and bubbly!  She also has time to keep up with blogs while in culinary school and working a day job!
Anne Marie of New Weigh of Life because she makes the most awesome pasta bakes, leaves the sweetest comments, and has an inspirational weightloss story!
Kalin of Eating Machine because she is an awesome teacher who cracks me up as she avoids cooking foods that will kill her future hubby!  Baby brother also kinda has me coming back to her blog for more too!
Naomi of One Fit Foodie because she is an awesome trainer who not only shares her workouts and knowledge, but shares her awesome eats too!

If you haven't entered my CHIA giveaway, please do it HERE!

What are some of the ways you know you're a blogger?