All posts tagged healthy

What I Ate… at Fit Expo {WIAW}

First off, I’d like to wish a very happy birthday to the best mom in the world.

nerf

fam

I think she’s still younger at heart than I am. Love you mom!

——-

This week has been CRAZY. I feel like I say that every week, but this week has really been extra crazy.

I went to the 2013 Southeast Collegiate Fitness Expo which was AMAZING and such a wonderful experience that it deserves it’s own recap, but I’ve been doing some major catch-up since I got back. 100% worth it but still no less crazy.

One of the best things about being on a trip with 9 group fitness instructors is that 2/3 of them are pescetarians, they all get the same crazy salad cravings, and no one bats an eyelash when I bust out a tupperware full of kale chips. Finally some people who share my intense love of vegetables!

The Fit Expo was in Norfolk and you’ll be happy to know that we took advantage of being in a big city and ate at Chipotle and Starbucks no less than two times. Boone, can you get it together and get a Chipotle? Please and thank you. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have one because I’m pretty sure 90% of my weekly budget (I have to buy coffee too you know) on Chipotle.

We left Boone Friday around 2, making a pit stop in Greensboro for Starbucks, NECESSARY when you’ve got a 6 hour car ride ahead of you.

It didn’t quite make it into a picture, but long car rides and limited sleep makes coffee extra delicious because it was gone in no time.

Lots of car snacks happened, lots and lots.

We finally got into Norfolk around 9:00pm and we were going to check out a local restaurant The Ten Top but they were closing, luckily there was a Chipotle across the street. Hey, I can’t complain about that!

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Look at all that beautiful guacamole 🙂

Saturday began Clif bar extravaganza. Appstate recreation is sponsored by Clif bar so we brought along a HUGE box of mini-chocolate chip Clif bars. I don’t even want to talk about how many I ate.

Good thing they’re so tasty, because I’m pretty sure I ate at least 10. Eight hours of group fitness classes works up one SERIOUS appetite.

Lunch was provided for us but I didn’t even bother taking a picture because it sucked. Sorry, Old Dominion University. I had the vegetarian wrap (basically a tortilla with a few grilled veggies inside) an apple, and chocolate chip cookies. Actually it probably would have been a tasty lunch if I was a normal eater, but I was left the with just the wrap innards because my apple had a big crack in it. Vegetarians don’t need protein, not at all!

I sound a little bitter, whoops, sorry guys, I get a little hangry sometimes. I had a very tasty Peanut butter chocolate chip Larabar to make up for it. Peanut butter and chocolate fixes everything.

Good thing dinner made up for lunch. My boss grew up in Norfolk so she knew all the tasty local restaurants. At the end of day one we dragged our tired and very sore butts (literally, SO MANY SQUATS) to Pasha, a very delicious Turkish restaurant.

(source)

My boss wasn’t lying when she said this place was good. So many tasty options, and the menu labelled all the gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian restaurant. Basically I was in mediterranean restaurant heaven.

pasha vegetarian gluten-free kale hummus black bean wrap

I ended up ordering the Hummus, Kale and Black Bean Wrap – hummus, fresh, local kale, black bean & corn salad, vegan with organic ingredients

Ordered with a millet and flax gluten free wrap with a side of amazing lentil soup.

This meal was amazing, the lentil soup was hearty, well seasoned and DELICIOUS and the wrap was equally amazing. My only complaint was that because I ordered the gluten free wrap, my wrap was tiny (another girl ordered the same wrap with a regular tortilla and the wrap was significantly bigger) which was frustrating because one, I was hungry and hoping for something bigger and two, I had to pay extra for the wrap so it stinks that it was so much smaller.

There’s my hangry-ness popping up again.

Sunday consisted of more Clif bars (even more this time, I’m a mini-Clif bar eating machine!). The expo finished around 1 pm so we all grabbed some lunch at Tropical Smoothie Cafe before leaving Norfolk.

tropical smoothie cafe southwest salad no chicken

I had the Southwest salad minus the chicken and chipotle ranch, because we all know I can’t order anything as it is. The salad was pretty good and filled my veggie craving. I love Clif bars but sometimes you just need some veggies.

We also made a mandatory Starbucks stop before leaving town, of course.

The original plan was to power through the drive home, but we all got a little hungry and stopped for dinner in Winston-Salem. Time for Chipotle round two.

chipotle vegetarian salad

Okay, that’s the same picture again but just imagine it with pico de gallo this time because I ordered the same thing. Creature of habit right here.

The weekend was a delicious one but it feels good to get back to my normal eating. My mouth may love the taste of Clif bars, but my stomach doesn’t appreciate all the extra sugar and grains. Give this girl some veggies.

What did you do this weekend?

How do you fuel for a long day of working out?

What’s your favorite kind of bar? I love them all, but Larabars have to be one of my favorites!

PS. Don’t forget to enter my Blogiversary giveaway! You have until next Friday!

8 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on February 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in College LIfe, Fitness, Food, Restaurant Review, What I Ate Wednesday
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on February 20, 2013

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/what-i-ate-at-fit-expo-wiaw/

Finding My Food Groove {WIAW}

I spent the last week unplugging for a little bit. It felt good to take a couple days off, I just wasn’t feeling sitting down and writing so… I didn’t. Funny how that works. But I’m glad to be back for What I Ate Wednesday! My posting has been pretty sporadic lately but classes are starting back up on Monday so things should be a little more regular once I get back into the groove of classes.

Happy Wednesday!

(Thanks Jenn for hosting!)

But before we get to the food I have to have a running gush for a second. I ran 7 miles this morning! NEW PDR! It was tough and my feet are a little sore but I did it! I always doubt myself during longer runs but the feeling when I finish them is amazingggg.

And now for the food.

I’ve been falling back into a pattern with my food and I’m loving it. It might be a little boring to eat the same thing everyday but after the craziness of holiday sweets I’m loving boring 🙂 Gimme some of those veggies.

Breakfast

Surprise, surprise, it’s oatmeal!

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In a jar this time. I’ve been alternating between peanut butter oatmeal and peanut butter topped toaster waffles. I’m sensing a peanut butter theme here…

Morning Snack

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I’ve doing a terrible job getting enough protein lately. Carbs are just so much more delicious 🙂 But I’ve been making a conscious effort to get more protein in because I feel way more satisfied when I do.

Lunch

I think I’ve eaten the same thing for lunch everyday for the past week and I’m 100% okay with that.

kale2

Tofu, kale, mixed frozen veggies and liquid aminos. Plant powered goodness in a bowl! It’s a good combo, light but filling and so many veggies. Love it.

Afternoon Snack

sweettatermash

Sweet potato, peanut butter, cocoa powder and cinnamon. It might sound a little weird, but it’s one tasty combo. I also had some un-pictured frozen strawberries and Baker’s chocolate (yes, the baking chocolate addiction is back full force!)

Dinner

wiaw

Dinner was a there’s-not-a-lot-of-veggies-left-in-the-fridge-so-let’s-see-what-happens kinda meal. I chopped up half of a leftover bell pepper and onion, sliced up some baby carrots, tofu, threw in the rest of a bag of kale I had, added some marinara and then I added some liquid aminos because I’m obsessed and can’t help myself. My bottle is almost out and I need to get some more ASAP! I might have a problem.

Late Snack

chocolate covered almonds

These are way to easy to eat. They’re not as good as Trader Joe’s Sea Salt & Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds but that doesn’t slow me down too much.

I also had some homemade hot chocolate.

hotchocolate

Chocolate was calling to me and I answered 🙂

Chocolate of Vanilla?

Are you a creature of habit when it comes to food, or do you like a little variety?

6 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on January 10, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Food, Running, What I Ate Wednesday
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on January 10, 2013

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/finding-my-food-groove-wiaw/

Recent Food Obsessions {WIAW}

Hey guys, happy hump day! It’s a little crazy that it’s already Wednesday, this week is flying by!

(Thanks Jenn!)I’ve been slacking in the picture taking department lately so instead today I have a list of my recent food obsessions. Plus Christmas leftovers and endless tofu stir-fries are really not all that entertaining.

  1. Food obsession number one is Bragg’s Liquid Aminos 
    bragg's liquid aminos

    (source)

    To say I’m a little obsessed with this is an understatement , I have sprayed this on almost every vegetable that has crossed my lips in the past month. I love that it gives everything a little saltiness without being crazy packed with sodium and the spray bottle is just fun.

    And it makes brussel sprouts extra delicious 🙂

  2. Almond Meal 
    almond meal

    (source)

    It’s been a great addition to gluten-free cookies and I love the almond flavor and dense texture it lends to everything. Plus thanks to Joe the Trader it’s only $4 and you really can’t beat that.

  3. Trader Joe’s Wheat-Free Waffles
    trader joe's wheat free waffles

    (source)

    Speaking of Joe the Trader, these waffles are AMAZING. And only $2, bonus. They’ve been great topped with peanut butter for a pre-workout breakfast. Shocker, I broke my oatmeal breakfast streak, but as much as I love oatmeal, it doesn’t feel awesome when it’s chilling in my stomach during a run.

    The texture is like real waffles, they only take a few minutes in the toaster oven and did I mention they’re only $2 a box?

  4. Coconut Oil 
    coconut oil

    (source)

    I’ve been a big fan of the stuff for a while but my brother bought me a new jar for Christmas so I’ve been using the stuff like crazy lately. It’s a nice change from the olive oil I usually use.

    Non-foodwise I also love it as a face moisturizer. My face usually gets super dry in the winter and most moisturizers don’t make a difference but my skin hasn’t been dry at all this winter, I’m sold.

  5. Advent Calendars – okay, this one is a little dated…
    advent calendar

    (source)

    But starting the day with a little chocolate is basically the best thing ever. Yes, I’m 21-years old and I still buy advent calendars. Don’t care. I was seriously sad Christmas Eve morning when I finished my last piece of chocolate, I think there needs to be a chocolate calendar for every month. A little chocolate just makes every day a little better because it is magical like that.

What are some of your recent food obsessions?

8 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on January 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Food, What I Ate Wednesday
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on January 2, 2013

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Snack Bar Cookies

Saturday night my brain was on the verge of implosion after 6 straight hours of homework. Yep, as fun as it sounds. Luckily, baking up these cookies gave me a nice little break from the books, and they make a great study snack too!

cookie2

When I set out to make these cookies I was looking for something healthy and packed full of healthy fats to power me through a couple more hours of studying.  Basically, I wanted a snack bar in a fun cookie shape, because cookies make everything better, you know it’s true.

So as a heads up, don’t think of these as a dessert-y cookie, they’re not overly sweet but I ate the entire batch in two days so I can safely say they’re still delicious.

Snack Bar Cookies

(Gluten-Free, Vegan Option)

cookie1

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups rolled oats (make sure they’re certified GF if that’s an issue for you)
  • 0.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 cup milk of choice (I used Blue Diamond’s Unsweetened Almond and Coconut Blend)
  • 0.25 cups peanut butter
  • 0.25 cups pepitas
  • 2 scoops protein powder (I used unflavored pea protein)
  • 1 tbsp flax seed meal
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
  • 2 tbsp honey*
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

*If you have normal taste buds you’ll probably want to increase this to 0.25 cups, I don’t like things very sweet, just a warning. Also, you can sub agave, maple syrup or another liquid sweetener if you want to keep the cookies vegan

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a small bowl, combine the flax seed meal and water, let sit for a few minutes.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, in a separate bowl, stir together the wet ingredients including the flax egg.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
  5. Scoop the batter on to a lightly greased cookie sheet and back for 10-12 minutes, taking the cookies out when they are slightly underdone because they will continue to cook on the pan.
  6. Enjoy as a snack or during an intense study session, and just remember if you eat half the batch in one night it’s okay because they’re healthy 🙂

Makes 24-26 two-inch cookies

I hope you enjoy!

What’s your favorite healthy study/homework/work snack?

What’s your favorite kind of cookie? I don’t think I’ve ever had a cookie, healthy or not, that I didn’t like 🙂

2 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on December 4, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Food, Recipes
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on December 4, 2012

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Fall Favorites {WIAW}

I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday. This week has been longggg and I’m so ready for the weekend. It’s just one of those weeks.

Spooky Snacks and Healthy Halloween Treats

This week my appetite has just disappeared. I don’t know what’s up with it (stress maybe?) but I haven’t been hungry at all, which is weird because we all know how much this girl loves to eat.

Instead of boring you with my lame Tuesday eats, I thought I’d share some of my favorite fall foods. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, especially when it comes to food. While I miss all the delicious melons, peaches and berries of summertime, fall produce like apples and squashes galore, help ease the pain.

Apples

 

I’d be more sad that there’s so little fruit in season in the fall (or at least here in North Carolina) if it weren’t for apples. They make a great snack because they’re portable, tasty and packed with lots of fiber. Golden delicious are my favorites, but I haven’t met many apples I didn’t like (except red delicious, but no one actually likes those). One day last week I realized I had eaten 4 apples in one day. Whoops. If an apple keeps the doctor away, I’m thinking I won’t need a doctor’s appointment for the 5 years.

Sweet Potatoes

 

Sweet potato season is basically all year long in North Carolina, but I especially love them in the fall. I’ll eat them anyway you can make them, baked, mashed, as fries, the opportunities are endless with this little guy, but they’re especially good with a little coconut oil and cinnamon. Not to mention they’re full of vitamins and nutrients!

Chili

 

You already know from yesterday’s recipe how much I love chili. It’s the perfect fall meal, hearty but healthy, versatile, and most importantly WARM! I’m one of those people that’s always cold, so warm foods are a MUST for me when the weather starts getting cold. There’s nothing more comforting than a warm bowl of chili on a chilly (hehe) day.

Roasted Vegetables

 

During the fall my salad cravings take a nosedive. Not that I don’t still crave vegetables, but when I’m already cold, a salad just doesn’t sound all the appetizing. Luckily roasting vegetables lets me get all the veggie-goodness my body craves while keeping me warm and toasty. I just chop up a bunch of veggies, throw them on a baking sheet with some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and roast at 425 until they look done. I will roast any and every vegetable, but my favorites are zucchini, bell peppers, potatoes, brussel sprouts, and asparagus, okay that was a long list, but it’s not fair to make me pick my favorite.

PUMPKIN!

You know no blogger fall food round up is complete without pumpkin! I’m obsessed! Unfortunately, being gluten-free has cut down on a lot of the pumpkin treats I’ve been able to indulge in. Actually, that’s probably a good thing, because I’m pretty sure I could have eaten 20 loaves of pumpkin bread by now. Not even kidding. One gluten-free pumpkin treat I’ve been loving lately is Trader Joe’s Greek Pumpkin Yogurt. You heard me. Pumpkin AND Greek yogurt, in one lovely little container. If you haven’t tried it and you live near a Trader Joe’s, go track it down ASAP you won’t be sorry. And if you don’t live near Trader Joe’s, call up someone who does.

What are your favorite fall foods?

Are you pumpkin obsessed like the rest of the blogging world?

 

 

6 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on October 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Food, What I Ate Wednesday
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on October 24, 2012

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WIAW Fall Break Style

I missed you guys yesterday! I was feeling pretty pooey and not like writing, so I didn’t. Funny how that works. I have lots to catch up on though, I owe you guys a race recap and a chili recipe, but I’ll probably procrastinate more so it might make a couple days (:

Spooky Snacks and Healthy Halloween Treats

 

So I eat basically the same thing every Tuesday, it’s one of my busiest days of the week, so instead of showing you the same lame snacks I switching it up this week. Instead, I’m going to show you some of the delicious things I ate over fall break. For some reason, my meals get so much more interesting when my parents are footing the bill…

Wednesday

 

Bye bye mountains! The view coming down the mountain on the way home is amazing! Too bad I have to keep my eyes on the road and be safe and what not.

I drove home right after class on Wednesday and grabbed dinner with my dad at Tijuana Flats as soon as I got home. Three hours of driving can work up an appetite.

 

Black bean salad the size of my head, with salsa, onions, olives and jalapenos on top. And lots of hot sauce. Adding hot sauce to salads is totally normal, I mean Tijuana Flats has a hot sauce bar, of course I couldn’t leave it alone.

My salad was also supposed to have guacamole, I’ve found that at Tijuana Flats I only end up with guacamole 50% of the time, it wasn’t worth the energy to complain about it. I was already in a veggie induced bliss.

Thursday

I spent Thursday with my boyfriend, I managed to convince him to go pumpkin picking with me, except we didn’t really end up pumpkin picking so much as we went to the farmer’s market and picked one out. I can’t complain, you all know I love the farmer’s market!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So many pumpkins! Luckily me and my boyfriend are both pumpkin freaks (he actually has a jack-o-lantern tattoo!), so we had lots of fun navigating the literal mountains of pumpkins!

For dinner we stopped by Whole Foods for some hot bar action. I consider it an accomplishment that I was able to convince my junk-food loving boyfriend to have dinner at Whole Foods. Well, he still got fried chicken.

Green beans, palak paneer, chana masala and mock chicken with curry sauce. Clearly I was feeling some Indian food. And the mock chicken was surprisingly good, I’m not to big on fake meats (even though I practically lived off them my freshman year), but this wasn’t too bad.

And my boyfriend got fried chicken, pork belly, macaroni and cheese and black beans. Yeah, we eat a little bit differently.

On the way home we got stuck in fair traffic, so I convinced my boyfriend to stop for fro yo while we waited it out. Which means he really loves me because he hates all things frozen and creamy.

 

The pinkish color is oatmeal cookie (I’m not sure why it was pink?) and peanut butter (so. freaking. good.) topped with reese’s dark chocolate chips, and chocolate covered raisins. Plus a peanut butter sauce that looked like peanut butter snot. Gross.

We finished the night with pumpkin beer!

 

It was pretty sweet for a beer but really spicy and fall-ish. It was pretty good!

Friday

I spent Friday doing absolutely nothing. It was pure bliss and I didn’t even change out of my PJs until 3:00pm. It was a beautiful thing.

For lunch I had some roasted veggies

 

 

So pretty.

I washed that down with some kombucha!

 

I picked one up from Earth Fare on the way out of town on Wednesday because it was on sale. This was my first time trying kombucha but it was really tasty! I think next time I might get a less sweet flavor though, I know I’m weird.

For dinner my parents and I went to Neomonde‘s a lebanese deli. I love this restaurant because they have lots of vegetarian and gluten-free options and it’s a deli so you can purchase everything by the pound to take home too!

 

I ordered a cup of Foul (a soup-ish stew-ish thing with chick peas, kidney beans and veggies), roasted tomatoes and cauliflower, roasted eggplant and a greek salad. Super delicious.

I also picked up a package of roasted chick peas but those disappeared pretty fast, so fast that I didn’t get a picture, whoopsies. They were very addictive.

Saturday

Saturday morning I ran in Triangle Run/Walk 5K for Autism. More on that soon! I owe you guys a recap. Soon!

After the race my parents were nice enough to take me out for lunch, at the always delicious Flying Biscuit.

 

I got the tofu scramble (tamari-marinated tofu, red and green peppers, mushrooms, onions and spinach) with a side of rosemary potatoes. Too good. Such a yummy post-race meal!

After dinner a little fro-yo action happened. I had a cold and obviously fro-yo is the best cure for that.

 

Tart yogurt, bananas, chocolate covered raises, candy corn (!!!), and non-snotty peanut butter. Delicious. Candy corn is an amazing fro yo topping fyi.

Sunday

My family had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes before I headed back to school. Even my brother made it to lunch with us.

 

A recycled picture, but I ate the same crazy amount of vegetables. Any meal where I can 10 servings of vegetables is a good one.

Well now I’m back at school, eating the same old boring stuff.

 

Where’s your favorite place to eat out?

What is your favorite meal to order out?

 

13 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on October 17, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Farmer's Market, Food, What I Ate Wednesday
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on October 17, 2012

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/wiaw-fall-break-style/

I’m a Human Popsicle {WIAW}

TGIWednesday! Fall break officially starts todayyy! I’m a little excited to say the least!

Of course Tuesday I spend 12 hours on campus. Why does that always happen to me? Despite a busy day, I still got in some pretty good meals. And I actually took a picture of everything! Score one for Lea!

6:30 am

Peanut butter oatmeal! Rolled oats, almond milk, peanut butter (of course!), flax meal and cinnamon. With a side of big toe. A warm breakfast was definitely necessary, it was 62 degrees in my apartment when I woke up. Not okay. So I snuck the heat on. Shhh. I was a popsicle all day yesterday. Literally. Have I mentioned that I hate the cold? A lot?

8:30 am

Two eggs to get some protein in my belly before class. I scarfed them down just in time to catch the bus to campus, which had like 60 people crammed on it. Oh the Appalcart… (Appal because I go to Appalachian, they’re so clever.)

And some unsweetened Baker’s chocolate. I can’t help myself. Chocolate before noon is totally acceptable.

11:20 am

Golden Delicious apple from the farmer’s market! There’s a vendor with THE BEST apple ever. And you can fill up a bag for $4, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when the farmer’s market closes at the end of the month. Grocery store apples just don’t compare.

And tofu cubes cooked in coconut oil! I love the tofu/coconut combo, it makes plain tofu extra tasty. And the tofu looks a little funky because I froze it then thawed it before cooking, it gives an interesting spongy texture which was a nice change from the typical texture of tofu.

2:00pm

I liked this bar so much last week that I went back and bought more. Plus they were still on sale, my college grocery budget loves it.

Remember when I said I took a picture of everything I ate yesterday? I lied. I also had a microwaved sweet potato with cinnamon and coconut oil, soooo good. So good, that I was too busy stuffing my face to take a picture of it. I’m not really sorry about it.

4:00pm

COFFEEEEEE! Much needed, I was frozen at this point because the weather man lied and said the high would be 66 so I didn’t wear a jacket, but it was actually only 55. Lies. I was a human popsicle all. I should know better, Boone weather is ridiculous.

5:00pm

I should start off by saying I ate like 3 dinners yesterday. Not even kidding.

Dinner #1 was a salad with Romaine lettuce, farmer’s market heirloom tomato (so much better than normal tomatoes, and much prettier!), and avocado topped with a splash of apple cider vinegar and black pepper.

6:00pm

So I planned really poorly and that salad was way too teeny to keep me full. So I picked up the beans and rice special from the student union. The whole plate was only $3.00, pretty much the only good deal on campus! I got black beans, brown rice (most of which I didn’t eat, not such a fan of rice), lettuce, salsa, shredded carrots and olives. I pretty much lived off the meal last year, and I miss it a little bit!

I stayed on campus for a Power Yoga class and it was an amazing class! I have to gush about it for a second.

I used to go to this class all the time last year but stopped going this year because my Tuesdays are already really long and the class doesn’t end until 9:00pm, but it was so good to go back to it! I love the teachers (one of them actually led my Pilates training last semester, she’s awesome!). It felt so good to take a yoga class again and it was just what I needed. I felt so at peace with myself for the whole class, which was something I haven’t been feeling lately, and I don’t know, everything just clicked. I need to get my booty to yoga more often!

9:30pm

Time for dinner #3!

Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce, zucchini, nutritional yeast and sriracha! Sriracha is making a comeback in my life, it tastes good on everything. Everything.

10:00pm

Protein pudding? I don’t really know what to call this but it’s protein powder + almond milk + peanut butter + cinnamon and makes one tasty late night snack. Hit the spot.

Healthy Halloween Snacks

I picked up one of these guys on the way out of town today to fuel my 3 hour drive home. I really love halloween-themed things, so the festive package and name made this Z bar taste extra good (:

I need to cook up some healthy halloween snacks but I haven’t had the time/ingredients. Maybe while I’m home for fall break?

Do you use public transportation? Any fun stories? My roommate was on the bus once and the guy next to her puked. Good times.

Have you ever been pumpkin picking? I’m trying to convince my boyfriend to go pumpkin picking with me tomorrow. Things are looking in my favor (:

7 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on October 10, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Food, What I Ate Wednesday, Yoga
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on October 10, 2012

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/im-a-human-popsicle/

How to Avoid the Cafeteria.

Now that I’m living off campus, and without a meal plan, it’s my personal mission to eat as little food from the dining hall as possible. Mainly because the food is gross and overpriced. Well it’s not gross, but it’s not exactly tasty and I’m a broke little college student so I’m trying to save money where I can.

Here are tips for avoiding the cafeteria (your wallet, and maybe even your waistline, will thank you!)

  1. Invest in some tupperware. Tupperware is absolutely key for packing food. I have no less than 3 tupperware containers wedged in my book bag on any given day. If you’re sporting a book bag, flat compact tupperware is best. We won’t talk about plastic baggies because we love the Earth and we’re not going there, right? Right.


    Tupperware with built-in utensils is an added bonus, but not if they awkwardly snap in half when you’re using them. Not that I know from experience or anything. RIP blue plastic fork.
  2. Nutritionally dense foods are your friend. When book bag (or purse/lunch bag for all you working adults) space is at a premium, higher calorie (but healthy!) are important. They will keep you fuller longer and take up less space. Kale is delicious, but it’s not exactly small (but if you want to keep a bundle of kale in your book bag, by all means go for it). Excuse to eat more peanut butter? I think so.

    Peanut butter!

  3. Avoid runny foods. It’s not cute when your backpack starts to drip. Especially when it ruins that paper you spent all night working on.
  4. Make sure you pack enough food. This is important. You don’t want the hunger beast causing you to make rash decisions. It’s not pretty, and it makes that junky vending machine look tempting. Don’t fall into it’s trap by packing lots of healthy snacks. I always find it’s better to pack more food and have some left over than to not pack enough and be crabby and hungry.

    Me when I’m hungry. Watch out.

  5. Don’t pack stinky food. I have an unnatural love for curry but I will never use curry sauce in a meal I plan to eat on campus. It’s like the tuna sandwich on an airplane, don’t be that person. And stay away from the garlic.

    Exnay on the curry.

  6. If you want to pack temperature-sensitive foods, make sure they’re the first thing you’re going to eat. I generally pack something that should be refrigerated for lunch because it will still be cold when I’m ready to eat it, but I pack room temperature foods for dinner. Let’s keep things food-poisioning free.

Do you eat at the dining hall on your campus or cafeteria at your work (if you have one)?

Favorite item from your childhood lunch box? I was a big fan of bagels, I think I ate one everyday for two years in middle school. Little Debby Nutter Butters and Swiss Rolls were the highlight of my elementary school lunch box.

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by greensandcoffeebeans on August 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in College LIfe, Food
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on August 28, 2012

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/how-to-avoid-the-cafeteria/

Triathlons and Veggie Mountain.

Nothing like kicking off the weekend with a 5:30am wake up call on Saturday morning.

Actually I won’t lie, I like getting up early, it’s the going to bed early part I don’t do so well with. But it was for a good cause, so I can’t complain.

I was volunteering at a triathlon! The Triangle Triathlon to be specific. The YMCA’s We Build People charity was donated $10 for every hour of volunteer time at the race so I thought volunteering would be a fun way to support a good cause, and get in on some race action. It’s been over a month since I’ve run a race (I’m going through withdrawals!) so I got as close to one as possible.

I got to help pass out water along the running leg of the race. Passing out water is much harder than it looks. I didn’t want to slow anyone down!

I totally have triathlon fever now. It’s officially on the bucket list. We’ll skip the minor detail of me not knowing how to swim. I’ll work on that one. We’ll also skip the fact I’ve been on a bike approximately 3 times in the past 10 years. It’s a work in progress. It will happen though.

One of the women volunteering with me was telling me about the Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon and it’s sounds like it would be a great challenge to work for. I’ve officially got the race bug.

I brought along one of my Healthy Surprise snacks for some midmorning sustenance.

Vanilla Maple Almonds from Hail Merry. Sooo freaking good. I loved that they weren’t overly sugary like most flavored nuts are and were made with wholesome ingredients. The packaging was also really well designed, because I’m nerdy and into stuff like that.

After I finished up at the triathlon I head straight to the gym, nothing like watching triathletes run for 2.5 hours for a little motivation right? Plus thanks to that good old NC humidity, I was already nice and sweaty. Lovely.

Post-gym lunch was a mountain of vegetables.

Literally.

I stir-fried a ton of veggies and then opened the cabinet only to realize all of our bigger bowls were dirty, so I ended up with a mini-veggie mountain. I wasn’t upset about it. That’s a mountain I don’t mind climbing.

After dinner I went for a short bike ride around the neighborhood (I told you I’ve got the racing bug!). I’m a little rusty on the bike, and terrified of all traffic, but riding is a lot of fun.

When I got back from my ride I was greeted with this beautiful treasure:

That is a peanut butter machine.

A machine that makes peanut butter.

I. Am. In. Heaven.

How has my family owned one of these for all these years without me knowing?! It’s from 1975, I’ve been missing out on a lot of peanut butter making in my life.

We’re going to have a peanut butter monster on our hands pretty soon.

My grandmother was apparently the queen of kitchen gadgets. She passed away back in 2001 and since my dad was the only living family member everything she owned was passed along to us. Most of her things are up in the attic of our garage and which we’ve been working on sorting through and cleaning out. Sorting through her stuff has put me in cooking heaven. So far I’ve found an ice cream maker, a dehydrator, a cast iron skillet and the peanut butter machine. Rumor has it there’s also Vitamix hiding up there somewhere, which I can keep if I can find it (I WILL find it).  So many fun hidden treasures.

I haven’t tested out the peanut butter machine yet (I don’t have any nuts, kind of a crucial ingredients) but I will soon! I know you can make nut butter in the food processor, but a peanut butter machine is so much more fun.

How was your weekend?

Have you ever made your own nut butter?

7 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on July 15, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Fitness, Food, Running, Uncategorized
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on July 15, 2012

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/triathlons-and-veggie-mountain/

What I Ate Wednesday!


WIAW is pretty fun, except I usually forget about it until Wednesday morning. Oopsies. But I did actually take some pictures of my food yesterday because it was all pretty yummy!

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with peanut butter, soy milk and obsessive amounts of cinnamon. Same old, same old. I love this combination, thought it’s quite tasty and actually sticks with me! Also add a microwaved scramble egg on the side for some extra protein. Is it sad when your whole breakfast is made in the microwave? Maybe. You can take the dorm life away from the girl but you can’t take the girl away from the microwave.

Lunch:

Black beans, a scrambled egg (non-microwaved!), spinach and chopped onions, with a side of quinoa and Trader Joe’s Soycustash. A very yummy (and filling!) combination. I immediately wanted to eat it all over again.

Snacks:

I’m a huggeee snacker. Seriously, they’re the highlight of my meals. I’ve actually been trying to cut back a little though because I can get a little snack crazy sometimes. I don’t have any pictures though, sorry! But today’s snacks included brussel sprouts (obsessed with them), a sweet potato with a scoop of peanut butter (AMAZING combo, try it sometime), and a banana. Delicious.

Dinner:

I had a volunteer orientation session at my local SPCA (so excited about this! Puppies, kitties and doing good, what more could I ask for?) from 6 to 9 so dinner was eaten at 4:30 like a senior citizen, but that’s okay.

Tofu cooked with tahini sauce, lemon juice and cumin and more of the same quinoa from earlier all over a bed of steamed kale. Hit the spot, even at 4:30.

My evening snack was the exact bowl of oatmeal as breakfast. Which I also just ate again this morning for breakfast. Food creativity at its finest.

My cat had a more interesting snack though, because she slaughtered a bunny. I’m a little appalled Maybe I should be worried that she chooses my room to sleep in?

Don’t let that innocent, fluffy demeanor fool you.

I just got back from a fantastic, super sweaty spin class and should go shower before I stink up the whole house!

What did you eat this Wednesday?
Seriously, all my meals are the same, if you ate anything good let me know and give me some good meal ideas!

4 Comments
by greensandcoffeebeans on May 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Fitness, Food
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Posted by greensandcoffeebeans on May 23, 2012

https://greensandcoffeebeans.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/what-i-ate-wednesday-2/