Raspberry Runner

NEW SITE!!!

2009-02-12T00:11:00.000-05:00

I've moved!! Come see me at my new site: http://raspberryrunner.wordpress.com/

Forget love...I'd rather fall in chocolate!

2009-02-10T14:41:00.008-05:00

My blogger valentine came today!! It's from Sarah at Tales of Expansion. All edible treats contained dark chocolate...that's what I call a valentine!

Check out the cute wrapping and note :)

Dark chocolate cranberries and and 85% caoco dark chocolate bar!

This chocolate bar is super intense! I love it! But the dark chocolate cranberries are my favorite!! Think big plump cranberries (not crasin-like) coated in chocolatey goodness! They are like gourmet raisinets :)

A cute cupcake candle!!

This is not edible. I thought it was a truffle at first before I noticed the wick, and I broke off a little piece and tried to eat it....whoops! Doesn't taste good, but smells like a mocha! Mmm..

I also got these adorable little notebooks!

The one on the right says, "Je prends mon temps" (aka "I take my time" in English). Love it! I've never mentioned this on the blog before, but actually used to take French in high school and I really miss it!

Chocolate Flashback:

This is me next to a GIANT CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN in Belgium a couple summers ago.

The really good chocolate + the French message reminded me of this day. Also, my friend in the picture (who I met in Europe) was visiting me in America at this time last year :)

Thank you Sarah!!! What a fun valentine!

Savory Oats with Spinach and Gouda

2009-02-09T17:26:00.007-05:00

Its a warm and beautiful day in Athens, GA! I stocked up on oatmeal supplies over the weekend, but when I woke up to 70 degree weather, cereal sounded more appealing than a warm bowl of oats. So I made this:

Kashi Go Lean with fresh strawberries

My cereal bowl tasted wonderful, but by the time I got out of class, I was craving oatmeal! However, I also wanted some veggies. I found a delicious solution to these conflicting cravings: spinach and gouda oatmeal with sauteed green beans!

I am very proud of this creation! It turned out even better than I expected!

Spinach and Gouda Oats:

Cook 1/3 cup oats with 2/3 cup water
Mix in shredded gouda and fresh baby spinach while warm
Let cool and enjoy!

I sauteed my green beans in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and I also added some black beans after I took the picture. So good!

I wonder what other mix-ins would make some good savory oats....pesto? Parmesan and black pepper? What if you cooked them with chicken broth then added a bunch of veggies?? Endless possibilities! I can't wait to do more experiments :)

What are the most creative oats you have ever made?

Hair of the dog that bit you

2009-02-07T13:03:00.006-05:00

Drinking to help a hangover has never sounded like an appealing idea to me. But exercising to help muscle soreness? Sure!

Lunges and squats make me sore like nothing else!! The morning after my BodyPump class on Wednesday, my legs were killing me! I actually e-mailed Kelly from Every Gym's Nightmare Thursday night because I was dying to go to my spin class, but scared of perpetuating my leg soreness. She told me that spin was different enough from squats and lunges that I could go for it as long as I wasn't limping or having trouble sitting. Yay! With her permission, I went to spin class :) I had to go a little easy on the resistance, but I felt good to have my legs in motion.

Still sore on Friday, I was lured outside for a five mile run by beautiful weather! After being cold all week, how could I not go on a run when it is 60 degrees and sunny?! Although my legs had been hurting me all day while I was walking, after about a minute of running, the pain went away! I made sure to stretch out well afterwards. Today, my legs are still feeling the effects of the squats and lunges, but they are much much better!

Now onto a few yummy eats...

I bought some vanilla Greek yogurt at the grocery store that I used for a post-spin class snack:

This was very good! It was thick and creamy and had a mildly sweet vanilla flavor.

This is how I dressed up my yogurt: blueberries, strawberries, almond butter, and cinnamon! Mmmm....

I often crave sweets when I first wake up, but this morning I was craving eggs! So I sort of tried to recreate the "Lovin' Bagel" I ate in Nashville last weekend:

My version has a scrambled egg on an Arnold sandwich thin with Sabra roasted pine nut hummus, pesto, spinach, and a generous amount of avocado. Exactly what I wanted!

New discovery: Larabar with almond butter spread on top = so decadent and wonderful!!! Try it :)

Guess what today is???

2009-02-05T16:58:00.009-05:00

It is a very special day today...read end of post to find out :)

But first here are some good eats of today! This morning, I tried my second ever Odwalla bar:

Yes, the bar was a greenish color!! Doesn't look very appetizing, but this was actually very tasty!! It had some raisins in it and a subtle banana flavor. I think I like it better than the Berries GoMega flavor I tried last week.

I was starving after class, so for lunch I went up to Big City Bread, one of my favorite restaurants in Athens. I ordered my usual: chicken salad sandwich with a Greek salad. Their chicken salad is made with free range chicken and danish blue cheese and served with spinach on their walnut wheat bread. This is my favorite chicken salad in the whole world!! Their Greek salad is made with spinach, feta cheese, artichokes, chickpeas, olives (which I always tell them to leave off), and a lemon tahini dressing! Mmmm....I was so excited when my food came out that I accidently ate it all before I took a picture. Sorry!

I did take a picture of the little dessert I ordered:

A chocolate raspberry truffle!!!

Dark chocolate and raspberry is a divine combination!! Another wonderful and decadent combination is chocolate and hazelnut, which brings me to today's special celebration....

Guess what today is???

It's World Nutella Day!!!

I just found out yesterday that February 5 is officially World Nutella Day. I so glad this wonderful product has its own holiday. Unfortunately, I am very unprepared. I actually don't have any Nutella right now, but it will still be in my thoughts today. My all time favorite way to enjoy Nutella is to dip strawberries in it! What is your favorite way to eat Nutella??

Also, Frugal Foodie is having a Valentine chocolate box giveaway! Check it out here!

Blog Worthy Oatmeal and New Workout

2009-02-04T20:30:00.011-05:00

I have recently rediscovered my love for oatmeal thanks to reading food blogs. I've been in a cereal rut for a while, but after seeing all of your mouthwatering pictures of oats, I am convinced that oatmeal is the easiest delicious, filling, healthy, and versatile breakfast, and I should be eating it all the time! After a little trial and error, I have now created my own perfect bowl of oatmeal based on Kath's recipe for whipped banana oatmeal.

My Favorite Oats:

1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup water
1 whole banana (sliced)
cinnamon!
dried fruit and nuts

1. Put oats, milk, water, and banana in a microwavable bowl. Cook for 2 minutes.

2. Whip up the softened bananas in the oatmeal with a fork until smooth consistency.

3. Cook for 1:30 minutes and let cool a little.

4. Pour on some extra milk, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, and add dried fruit and nuts!

Today's oats were topped with dried cranberries and cherries, toasted almond slices, and pecans. Perfect breakfast! I like to use the whole banana in my oats because I love the flavor and the sweetness it adds! My oatmeal has the perfect amount of sweetness for me without tasting like one of those overly sweet instant oatmeal packets...

My favorite part of making this oatmeal is that it makes my kitchen smell like banana bread!! What a great way to wake up on a cold morning! I'm also having fun experimenting with different toppings. One morning I put fresh blueberries in my bowl...reminded me of a blueberry muffin!

Today, I did a workout that is very different from my normal routine... I went to a BodyPump class at my school's gym. They were having a special today were you could drop in on a class for $5 to check it out. You basically lift weights for an hour while listening to techno music. Lots of weighted squats, lunges, chest presses, bicep curls...my arms feel like jello! Maybe if I did this consistently, I would look like the BodyPump ad girl :)

We did ~~a million~~ a couple sets of those squats she is doing. It was a challenge, and I will most definitely be sore tomorrow! Although I had fun, I don't plan on going back enough to get those ripped abs and awesome biceps.... I know that weight bearing exercises are so good for you, but I feel more satisfied if a go for a long run, swim, or bike ride. I guess I am a cardio girl at heart. Hopefully, my legs won't be too sore for spin class tomorrow!

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

2009-02-03T18:58:00.007-05:00

Title inspired by Dori from Finding Nemo. Does anyone else love that movie?

Dori's mantra often passes through my head during swim practice. Swimming is probably the most challenging leg of the triathlon for me, and I feel like no matter how much I practice, I just don't improve that much. Sometimes I just feel like I'm flailing around in the water...forget concentrating on my form or trying to go fast...I just don't want to drown! Last night was different though. I'm not exactly sure what I did differently, but something just kind of *clicked* and I suddenly felt so much more efficient! I felt like I got a great workout :)

For anyone curious, this was the workout last night:

Warm Up: 300 meters

Main Set: 4 x 100 meters (faster every 100)

2 x 200 swim + 50 kick

400 meters (concentrate on distance per stroke)

4 x 100 meters (triathlon pace)

Cool Down: 200 meters EZ

This morning I went in for an appointment at the health center to get my resting metabolic rate measured. This is the amount of energy your body expends at rest...not including any calories you burn walking around, cleaning the house, exercising, etc. There are formulas that we learn in class that can estimate resting metabolic rate, but I always question how accurate they really are. The formula that is considered most accurate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. This is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for women in case you want to try it out:

[10 x wt (kg)] + [6.25 x ht (cm)] - [5 x age (yr)] -161 = RMR (calories per day)
Then multiply by a physical activity factor to determine your total calories expended (1.3 for sedentary, 1.5 for active...etc)

I found out that the dietitian at the health center at school can use a device to measure you metabolic rate using indirect calorimetry. I won't get into all the science behind it, but basically you breathe into this machine and it tells you what your resting metabolic rate is after a couple of minutes! This is much more accurate than the equations. I was really curious to know exactly how many calories I need, so I made an appointment.

The dietitian told me that normally women expend about 8-10 calories per pound of body weight. This is often on the higher end if you have more lean body mass. Mine was actually a little more than is expected for my body weight, so I was very pleased! (It was actually only 30 calories under what the Mifflin-St Jeor equation estimated. The dietitian said the formula tends to overestimate for women.)

To determine the total amount of calories I need, we added on an extra 800 calories per day to my RMR to account for my exercising (about 45 minutes, 5 days a week) and daily activities (walking around, riding my bike to class). Most people who get their metabolism measured are having trouble losing or gaining weight and want to see if their metabolism is unusually high or low. I was just really curious, and it was pretty cheap to get this done as a student, so why not?

The only appointment time I could get was at 8 AM, which was cutting it close to go back home and eat breakfast before my 9 AM class (you can't eat before you get your RMR measured). I almost grabbed a Carrot Cake Clif bar to take for breakfast, but I tasted it before I ran out the door, and BLEH! Did not taste like carrot cake!! All I tasted was soy nuggets! So I made myself a quick bowl of cereal:

Some Trader Joe's High Fiber cereal mixed with sweetened bran flakes, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, milk, and lots of cinnamon!! This made me 5 minutes late to class, but it was totally worth it!

Close up on the wrap I had for lunch.

This wrap was amazing! Whole wheat wrap with Sabra Lemon Hummus, pesto, avocado, turkey, spinach, and cherry tomatoes. This was a great flavor combo!

Another close up :) Mid-afternoon snack = banana with almond butter!

Dinner: Salmon with lemon and rosemary, sauteed spinach, and cherry tomatoes! After I started eating it added some avocado and toasted a piece Publix bakery bread. Mmmm...

Something to ponder: What was the best thing before sliced bread??

Good Eats in Nashville!

2009-02-02T14:34:00.013-05:00

I just got back last night from spending the whole weekend in Nashville with my sister! I really wanted to go visit her before school got crazy with midterms, spring break, etc. I had a great time, and I ate some great food! For breakfast on Saturday, we went to a restaurant across the street from her dorm called Noshville. They had a huge menu with pages of breakfast and lunch items. I got overwhelmed and ordered scrambled eggs with toast and fruit. This sounds very non-foodie, but check out how I dressed it up:

I spread cream cheese and blackberry jam on their whole wheat bread (so fresh and delicious!) and topped it with the eggs and some pepper! Yum!

Next stop was Las Paletas for popsicles. These aren't ordinary popsicles, which are usually just artificially flavored ice on a stick; these are fresh and creative gourmet popsicles! The restaurant was featured on Bobby Flay Throw-Down, and Las Paletas' popsicles were judged better than Bobby Flay's! My sister got the chocolate wasabi popsicle, which was very chocolately with a kick of spiciness at the end. They also have a bunch of fruit flavored ones with real chunks of fruit in them! I was tempted to try the avocado flavor, but I ended up choosing a yogurt popsicle with nuts, granola, and dried fruit:

Best. Popsicle. Ever.

Dinner was at a small, nearby Mediterranean restaurant. Mediterranean is probably my favorite type of cuisine...mainly because I am obsessed with hummus! All the food we got was amazing!

Jalapeno hummus with warm pita bread for an appetizer.

The veggie platter: falafel, tabouli, rice and lentils, and more hummus :)

On Sunday we walked to Cafe Cocoa, one of my sister's favorite restaurants. It was 60 degrees outside and beautiful!

By the way, all of these restaurants are included on the meal plan for Vanderbilt! They get a certain amount of money to spend at local restaurants in addition to meals in the dining hall! This is very unfair (really wish it was like this at UGA), but I benefited from it this weekend because my sister used her meal money to feed me...thanks!

Anyway, here is the delicious food (and drinks) we got at Cafe Cocoa:

A perfect cappuccino. This reminded me of Europe. It was not like a cappuccino at Starbucks that is basically just a latte with extra foam. This was good quality espresso with just a little steamed milk and a thick layer of creamy foam. Divine!

Fruit cup that came with my meal.

I ordered the "Lovin' Bagel." Fresh whole wheat bagel with pesto, tomato, egg, and swiss cheese!

Sister ordered a ham sandwich with spinach, cheese, and pesto on focaccia bread. This was wonderful...so much flavor!

And since it was so nice and warm outside, we decided to walk to Yogurt Oasis afterward (also on her meal plan!). They usually have really creative frozen yogurt flavors (sis says she has had butterscotch, kahlua, coconut...). They didn't have any really exciting flavors when we went yesterday, but it was still tasty! I was intending on getting a modest cup of fro yo, but this turned into a massive cup within seconds! It is impossible to get a small cup of frozen yogurt there... you fill your own cup, and the fro yo comes out so fast!! Not that I'm complaining though....I can eat lots of ice cream, so this was not a problem :)

My cup: strawberry and vanilla fro yo with blackberries, heath bar, chocolate sprinkles, and white chocolate sauce. Oh yes!

Now I'm back in Athens and trying to catch up on school work. Hope you all enjoyed your weekends!

Also, Hangry Pants is having a contest to win a free jar of almond butter. Yum!!

A whole lotta woman needs a whole lot more!

2009-01-30T10:12:00.014-05:00

For explanation of title, see video at end of post :)

New product! Well, for me, at least. These have been around for a while, but I just tried my first Odwalla bar!

I tried the Berries GoMega flavor. I don't think I've seen anybody blogging about it before, but the cutesy flavor name caught my eye, and I liked how they used all natural ingredients. The taste? I wasn't sure about it at first--tasted a little like a Nurti-Grain bar, but by the end, I think I liked it! I would definitely buy this again, and I would really like to try other flavors.

I also made a delicious sandwich yesterday on some Publix Bakery Multi-Grain bread. I am a little obsessed with this bread....it is so soft and fresh and has lots of little seeds in it. I put some oven-roasted turkey, avocado, baby romaine, peppers, cucumbers, and hummus on the sandwich. (Also a side of baby carrots and hummus--not pictured).

Delicious!

Today's lunch was a Kashi Southwestern Style Chicken meal over baby greens with avocado:

I love Kashi meals...the avocado I added to this one makes it incredible!

You will notice on the side that I am in the process of updating my pictures. I've been feeling guilty about having the pictures I originally put up representing me because I was actually pretty underweight at the time. I have been paying more attention to taking care of my body, and I have (finally!) reached a healthy BMI after a year of trying to gain weight. For your info (and to remind myself) here is why I decided to gain weight:

I felt hypocritical being a dietetics major and not maintaining a healthy weight and not giving my body proper nourishment.
I was determined to do a triathlon. I had assumed that since I was a good runner that I was in good shape... but then I tried swimming and biking. Having a higher fat mass gives you buoyancy in the water and scrawny legs will not power you up hills on the bike!
Curves are sexy. Not that I will ever truly be voluptuous (boyish figure genes...), but skin and bones is not a good look!
I like shopping in grown up stores. When size 0 doesn't fit, it's really embarrassing.
I don't want to be given a kid's menu. Being really skinny makes you look a lot younger. I'll pass on the chicken fingers and sippy cup. I'll have scallops and Chardonnay. I am 21, not 12!
I am a foodie!!! Eating delicious, exciting, fresh foods is fun! More good food = happy :)

The reactions I used to get from people when I was at my lowest weight were very interesting. People were either concerned about my health (once in a coffee shop, a homeless looking man told me I was "real skinny" and tried to buy me a muffin!!) or they tried to convince to go into modeling. How messed up is that? Apparently, you have to look malnourished to be runway worthy!

So now, I introduce some more recent pictures of me on the side! New pic of me and my bike coming soon.

In the spirit of not striving to be stick skinny, here is a video from one of my favorite artists! If you have never heard of Mika before, you most definitely need to check this out:

Happy Friday everyone! I'm going up to Nashville this weekend to visit my sister at Vandy, so I won't be posting for a couple days....see you Monday!

Cookies and Local Food

2009-01-29T18:03:00.011-05:00

As promised, here is the recipe from the cookie dough I was eating last night (they are delicious cooked also!). I was inspired by this recipe: Maple-Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I added my own touches to it. Here is my version:

Crazy Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup 60% caoco chocolate chips
1/4 cup pecan
1/4 cup toffee pieces
handful of unsweetened coconut (didn't measure, sorry)

I just mixed everything together and baked for 10 minutes at 350.

Great warm and dunked in a glass of milk! This is the only batch that actually got cooked. We just ate the rest of the dough raw, haha.

Now onto some exciting purchases I made today!

Earlier in the week, I ordered some items from athens.locallygrown.net where you can order fresh produce from local farmers!! I ordered some fresh eggs, rosemary, and Jerusalem artichokes. Pick up time was this afternoon. Check out what I got:

The eggs came in this cute, hand packed carton.

I was so excited that the eggs were multicolored! Looks like Easter!

The rest of the loot :)

Jerusalem artichokes are something I had never even heard of before, so of course I had to buy some! They look like little ginger roots. And the rosemary smells amazing! It was a very aromatic drive home!

Excited to try my new food, I immediately cut up some of the Jerusalem artichokes, tossed them with salt and olive oil, and threw them in the oven. This is my default way to cook veggies.

Then I cracked open an egg right on to the pan, cooked it, and then ate it with some rosemary sprinkled on top! Wow. What a taste! If you get the opportunity to buy some fresh eggs, do it! I'm really going to enjoy these.

When my Jerusalem artichokes were cooked, I had no idea what they were supposed to taste like. I popped one in my mouth, and it actually tasted exactly like an artichoke! I think I prefer them to normal artichokes because they have a nice crunch, and they are much more efficient to eat since you don't have to scrape the good stuff off of a leaf!

Jerusalem artichokes. Don't look too pretty in the picture, but they were delicious!

Has anyone else try any new and exciting foods lately?

Will run for ice cream! (and wine)

2009-01-28T18:20:00.017-05:00

I really pushed myself at run practice yesterday for triathlon club. We ran around some trails behind the intramural fields at about a 7 min/mile pace for 45 minutes... about 6 miles. I definitely never run this fast on my own, so I was very proud of myself. It was a very challenging run, but I felt incredible afterwards! I love endorphins :)

After my runner, I needed some delicious refueling! Dinner went much better then the baking disaster on Monday! My roommate and I made salmon, gnocchi, and sauteed spinach! I got this idea from a recipe card at Publix. They always have really quick and easy meal ideas. I used my frozen wild salmon filets I found at Wal-mart last week. Yup, Wal-mart. Who would have thought? Wild salmon actually has a lot more omega-3 fatty acids than farm raised; they are also usually darker in color and more flavorful. It is normally way more expensive to buy wild salmon...but not at Wal-mart! I was super excited!

Dinner: Marinara Salmon and Gnocchi with Butter Sauce and Sauteed Spinach

First, we put a 16 oz. package of gnocchi into a shallow, microwave-safe dish with 1 cup garlic flavored chicken broth, 1 tbsp butter, and paprika. We sealed it with plastic wrap and nuked it for 10 minutes. The broth and butter turned into a nice and creamy butter sauce :)
While that was cooking, we seared salmon filets on both sides, then covered them with spaghetti sauce (we used Classico Cabernet Marinara) and simmered until they were cooked.
We also sauteed some spinach in olive oil. It is always good to eat your greens with some healthy fat because it helps you absorb more of its nutrients! I love sauteed spinach, but I get a little sad when a heap of fresh spinach turns into a little blob. It's so tasty, but it seems like so much more food before you cook it!
This whole process took less than 20 minutes. The finished plate:

We sprinkled a little mozzarella cheese on everything :)

The wine selection. I love pinot noir.

We don't normally drink wine for weekday dinners.... but we also don't normally cook together and sit down for dinner on weekday, so I considered it a special occasion!

We had some cookie dough in the fridge left over from some awesome cookies we made over the weekend! The cookies were good, but the dough was even better! The dough had no eggs in it, so for dessert we made coffee cookie dough ice cream!!

Breyer's coffee ice cream with cookie dough and whipped cream!

I had two servings of this. What an indulgent dinner. Thank goodness I like to run! I will share the cookie dough recipe with you next time I post.... it has lots of crazy good stuff in it, including maple syrup!

And for all you coffee drinkers, I discovered an NY Times article today that says coffee is good for your mental health. Yay! Drink up!

Baking Disaster + Yummy Desserts!

2009-01-27T18:08:00.012-05:00

Last night I picked out this almond blondie triangle recipe to bring to my friend's cocktail and dessert party! I was very excited-- almonds + white chocolate...what could be better?? APRICOTS!! So my roommate and I added some dried apricots. The batter tasted amazing, and it had an almond crust. This is what it looked life before going into the oven:

Fluffy batter with toasted almonds and dried apricots :)

And then after:

What??!?! Top was burt crisp and inside was not cooked AT ALL! And we were late! I had no idea what we did wrong until I was looking over the recipe today....we left out 1 1/4 cups flour. Whoops. I feel dumb. I guess we were in a hurry!

I threw this plate together and ran off to the party:

Brie, cinnamon graham crackers, dried apricots, strawberries, and grapes

Here are some of the highlights from the party:

Chocolate covered strawberries!! These were my favorite!

Dark chocolate truffles in chocolate cups with orange peel. These were divine!

Fruit pizza...yum!

And of course there were cocktails. I had a pomegranate martini :)

So it was a good night, despite our baking mishap! I imagine that most food bloggers are more experienced cookers/bakers than me, but I would love to hear any of your cooking disasters!

Also, Every Gym's Nightmare is having a book giveaway, so check it out before Friday!

Applesauce Banana Berry Pancakes

2009-01-25T21:45:00.009-05:00

I woke up this morning in a cooking mood, and decided to make some pancakes!! After browsing some recipes and looking through my kitchen, I made these:

Applesauce Banana Berry Pancakes (adapted from allrecipes)

Makes 2 pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat buttermilk pancake mix
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp egg whites
2 tbsp milk
cinnamon to taste
handful of blueberries
1/2 banana sliced

I added fresh blueberries and sliced bananas after spooning batter in pan.

After I cooked both sides, I added more berries and sliced banana. Yum!

Had some almond butter and whipped cream on the side. The almond butter doesn't look too appetizing in the picture, but it was oh so good!

The aftermath. I licked the plate after taking this picture. I'm not kidding.

After this very satisfying breakfast, I did a yoga video that yoga is yummy posted! You do it right in your kitchen using counter tops and your fridge! It was some much needed stretching :)

Then I made some coffee:

Mmmm...I added a little vanilla syrup and a big splash of skim milk.

This stuff is so good! And it's fair trade!

I love Sunday mornings...so relaxing. I'm really excited about the dessert I'm going to make tomorrow for my friend's birthday, so stay tuned!

Thai Food + Almond Butter = Good Food Day!

2009-01-24T18:15:00.016-05:00

My mom came to Athens for lunch today, and we went to a restaurant called Siri Thai. Athens has several Thai restaurants, but this one is generally considered the most authentic. And everything is so delicious and fresh!!

All the lunch entrees come with a soup and some kind of fried spring roll with duck sauce...I guess kind of like an egg roll, but so much better!

The soup had veggies, tofu, and green onions in a spicy-ish broth. My mom thought this was the best part of the meal!

The sort of egg rolls....these were incredible!

This was the entree I ordered: salmon with veggies and a chili-curry sauce! I was worried this would be too spicy, but they assured me that they only use a little chili paste. The taste of salmon and curry together was definitely unique, but I loved it!

Mom's dish = basil shrimp with veggies! I got a little jealous when her dish was so much more colorful and prettier than mine, but I actually thought mine was tastier :)

And of course we got a dessert. When I went to this restaurant over the summer, they had fresh mango over sticky rice for dessert, which was amazing! They didn't have that today (mango's out of season I guess..), but they had pumpkin custard over sticky rice! Mmmm...

They gave us coupons with our check!!! Great excuse to go back soon!

I was excited to hear that Barney Butter is supposed available at Fresh Market now. Since there is a Fresh Market near where my parents live in Marietta, I asked my mom to look for it before she came. She said that the one near us didn't have Barney Butter, but she did bring me this:

A BIG container of almond butter freshly ground in the store! So yummy, but I'm still really curious to try Barney Butter because I hear it has a different texture and taste...

The almond butter in action! (With toast, banana slices, and cinnamon). I am eating this right now. I really need to get out of the habit of eating while blogging because it makes my computer sticky, but it's so hard to write about food and not be eating it! Does anyone else have this problem?

Also, my good friend is having a cocktails and dessert party for his 22nd birthday on Monday. I'm supposed to bring a dessert, and I want it to be really delicious, but not too complicated. Any suggestions??

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike...

2009-01-22T15:31:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow the high is 64 degrees!! Yay!!! I am so sick of this freezing weather. Its been awhile since I had the courage to ride my bike due to coldness, but on Friday I am going on a ride with some girls from triathlon club, and I am so excited! What a perfect start to the weekend!

This song always makes me smile...

I've been missing getting fresh fruits, veggies, and bread at the Athens Farmer's Market, which only runs May-November. But the dietitian that works for our school's health center did a presentation at one of my club meetings yesterday, and she told us about a website where you can order produce from local farms online! You order what you want on Monday and Tuesday, and you pick it up on Thursday. She said that her favorite thing to buy is the freshly laid eggs. I've never eaten an egg not bought from the supermarket, and now I'm really curious to try one! I know how much better homegrown fruits and veggies taste than the ones in the store, but I can't imagine what a non-commercially produced fresh egg would taste like! Have any of you ever tried one before?

I've been pretty busy and haven't made any blog worthy meals, but I do have some snacks to talk about:

I tried a Kashi Chocolate Coconut bar today. Couldn't resist this in the store! I Check it out:

This was pretty good for only 120 calories. (Also has 4 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein). My main disappointment was that bar didn't have as many walnuts on it as the picture on the box. But overall, I really liked it. I'm usually impressed with Kashi products.

I've been obsessed with this find:

Tiny Tolberone dark chocolate bars!!! I love the little almond nougats in Tolberone chocolate! This picture looks a little funny, but I got impatient trying to make it look right, so I finally just ate the chocolate :)

And I've been eating lots of these:

Salted deluxe mix nuts (no peanuts). These are super addicting!!

I plan on making some real food soon. I'm not sure what I will make yet, but it will be delicious and easy and I will post the recipe!

Also, Veggie Belly is doing an awesome giveaway of Malbec Jam and Ducle de Leche from Argentina. Yum! You can enter until the 24th :)

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T22:02:00.013-05:00

Thought I was going to miss the inauguration today because of my class schedule, but some friends and I were able to watch it on one of our laptops between classes. Thanks facebook for streaming CNN live! Obama finished his speech just before our next class started. What an inspiring historical moment! This was the first presidential that I really followed and cared about and voted! And I loved the Aretha Franklin and Yo-Yo Ma performances :)

I went impulse grocery shopping at Walmart after class because a friend had told me about these Wild Alaskan Salmon fillets that are individually vacuum sealed and frozen! I got a bag of 4 fillets for about $5!! I also bought strawberries and blueberries for $3 each and Roasted Pine Nut Sabra Hummus for less than $3!

I also found a new Kashi flavor: Mayan Harvest Bake.

It has plantains, black beans, sweet potato, and kale with Kashi 7 whole grain pilaf, polenta, and spicy ancho sauce! I'm very excited about this flavor, and I will review here whenever I try it!

Later in the afternoon, I couldn't brave the deathly coldness outside for a run, so I went to our school gym and ran around the 1/8 mile indoor track. The gym is always packed at this time of day! It's kinda fun see how many times I can lap the sorority girls that dress up to go to the gym, but this is definitely not my favorite way to run. It does beat the treadmill, but two 20 minute intervals was about all I could stand (did some abs and push ups in between). Despite the crowds and the monotony of running around a little circle, I like going to the gym because it motivates me to do things like ab work and stretching, which I don't normally do on my own.

Made a delicious dinner tonight:

Amy's California Veggie Burger over spinach and topped with sliced tomato. I served it with sauteed orange pepper, fresh cucumber, and avocado. This is by far my favorite kind of veggie burger, and the avocado was a perfect addition!

Didn't take a picture of this, but last night for dessert I had an apple pie Lara bar that I crumbled up and put whipped cream on! It was incredible.

Tonight's dessert:

Caramel ice cream topped with sliced strawberries and whipped cream and cinnamon! I was craving this after seeing something similar on Meghann's blog (Inner Working of a College Graduate). Food blogs have really been affecting my food cravings in a good way. I feel like I sometimes get into food ruts and reading blogs inspire me want to eat something new everyday!

What's in a Name?

2009-01-19T14:21:00.007-05:00

When I created this blog, I felt a little uncomfortable using my real name, so I came up with the alias "Ella Riley." Where did this come from??

This is Ella and Riley. They are our family dogs back at home in Marietta, GA.

Anyway, I bring this up because I feel like my real name suits me very well, and although aliases are kind of fun, I am considering using my real first name instead. I haven't decided if I'll change it yet... just something I'm considering. So if my name changes on this blog, I didn't have an identity crisis, I just got tired of having a fake internet name.

I am almost finished with writing my 4 cover letters for my dietetic internship applications. I have an appointment at the UGA writing center on Wednesday to help me revise them. After taking so many science classes, I feel like I've forgotten how to write an essay! This is just a brief break from working on applications, and I also have a quiz tomorrow at 9 AM. But I have just one pic I want to show you before I go back to being a responsible student:

The Pointless Pita. It just can't hold nearly enough veggies!

Also, Oh She Glows is having another contest to win Honest Foods prizes (or Neil Brothers if you are in Canada). You should check it out here if you haven't already!

What a Weekend!

2009-01-18T14:48:00.008-05:00

This cold weather is killing me. Yesterday I went for a run in under amour tights and 3 long sleeve shirts (it was about 35 degrees and sunny), and it was actually pretty nice expect that I couldn't find any gloves and my hands almost froze off! I can't wait for spring...

I made a delicious lunch with a Publix pre-made salad container that had baby greens, mushrooms, broccoli, green onions, tomatoes, and peppers. I put some of it in a wrap with sun dried tomato hummus (my new favorite flavor!), and the rest I had on the side with some Italian vinaigrette. I also topped the salad with some gouda cheese.

Mmmm....I figured out that the light in my bedroom is much better than the kitchen, so this pic was actually taken on my bed, haha.

Then I had a Kashi Oatmeal Raisin and Flax Cookie, which I heated up, sprinkled with cinnamon, and dipped in a glass of milk :)

Yum!

Since my roommate's good friend from Kennesaw was coming to visit for her birthday, I made some brownies for her! Our moms like to give us brownie mixes whenever we go home to bring back with us to Athens, so we have been accumulating brownie mixes (I think we had like 10 at one point...) and try to bake brownies for every special occasion. Of course, I can't just make a brownie mix without adding my own touch. I usually mix in cinnamon, and sometimes we layer dark chocolate bars in the middle so you get gooey melted chocolate in the middle of your brownie! Only for true chocoholics. We love the Ghiradeli brownie mixes, but this time I used a Trader Joe's Truffle Brownie Mix. It called for a whole stick of butter, but we only had half a stick, so I substituted applesauce and it turned out great! I sprinkled the top of the brownies with white chocolate chips and toffee pieces (left over from dipping pretzels on New Year's Eve)

Before going into the oven.

After it baked, the toffee pieces melted and the white chocolate were toasted golden! Perfect!

Candles for her "second annual 21st birthday," lol. It is weird that we are all starting to turn 22 now. I don't think I like it. Getting old is not fun anymore after 21.

A bite with almond butter and whipped cream!!!

Also, I feel like making brussels sprouts is kind of the cool thing to do in the blogging world, so I decided to try to make some with dinner! I just cut them in half, tossed them with extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt, and baked them at 425 for 15 minutes.

These were great!! I love roasted veggies!

Last night we went to a party that my friend was having called "Drinking for Diabetes." The party is in honor of her good friend who has diabetes. You pay $3 for a cup of hunch punch, $10 for endless keg beer, or $1 for a jello shot. And if you get a jello shot with a star under it, you get a free Diabetes Walk tee-shirt! All the profit they make goes to support juvenile diabetes research to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes. Last night they raised over $2,000!! It's a great party and a great cause!

This morning we went had Sunday brunch at one of our favorite restaurants called Last Resort. We started going almost every weekend last year, and we always go on special weekends, so of course we had to go for our friend's birthday! I can't believe I didn't bring my camera, but I will definitely bring it next time we go, which will be soon! My roommate and I spilt the Very Veggie Omelette that had zucchini, squash, artichokes, red onion, feta cheese, and a red pepper sauce on top. It came with fruit and roasted potatoes. And then we go their chocolate raspberry cheesecake!!!! Holy yum! I love how although it is weird to have dessert after breakfast, it is completely acceptable to have dessert with brunch!! Now I am full and happy, and I'm going to try to go get some work done. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Eat this, Not that: My version

2009-01-16T16:11:00.015-05:00

Many of you have probably heard of a book called Eat This, Not That, a nutrition book from Men's Health magazine that simplifies eating out by telling readers what foods not to order and what healthier option to order instead. I decided to make a mini version just for fun. So here we go:

For something sweet...

Eat This:

A homemade cake made with love (and real butter in sugar) by mon ami francais when he came to visit :)

Not That:

High fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, cellulose gum...eww.

For an enjoyable beverage...

Drink This:

"Red, red wine will make you feel so fine. Keeps me rockin' all of the time..." When enjoyed in moderation, you can get antioxidant benefits from red wine. Cheers to that!

Not That:

The infamous "Panty Dropper" martini. LOTS of liquor! Only to be ordered on birthdays and shared with at least 5 people. Whenever you drink liquor, make sure you also drink plenty of water.

For a yummy classic pancake topper:

Eat this:

Not low-cal, but very flavorful so you don't need a lot.

Not that:

Same amount of calories, but contains no actual maple syrup. Ingredients: Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Sugar...and a bunch of chemicals.

For a burger:

Eat this:

A Ted's bison burger. Bison tastes a lot like beef, but I like it because it feels less greasy and has less calories and saturated fat. At Ted's, you can also get an oatie wheat bun or without a bun and with cottage cheese.

Not that:

Watch CBS Videos Online

A quadruple bypass burger! 8,000 calories!

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a good weekend!

The incredible expanding palette

2009-01-15T01:22:00.001-05:00

I love pretty much all real foods. I say "real foods" because, while will eat almost any fruit or veggie, you couldn't pay me to eat a fast food hamburger. I love trying new and different foods, but this is actually I very recent interest. I guess I am a beginner foodie.

When I was 17, I was a picky eater: the only fruits I would eat were green apples and grapes (not the red ones, eww), the only fish I liked was salmon, and there were many veggies I avoided. In college, I became a lot more open minded very quickly. Some keyfood revelations:

I learned to love the salad bar and the vegetarian line in the dining hall, which actually had a great variety of fresh vegetables. Spinach, asparagus, squash, zucchini, etc.
I learned to like strawberries on Sunday mornings when the dining hall would have a chocolate fountain! Yes, every Sunday, a chocolate fountain. So I started dipping strawberries in the chocolate and eventually ventured to *gasp* eating them plain!
I learned that the triple berry smoothie in the dining hall was so delicious! I can't believe I went so long without eating berries...now they are my favorite.
I learned that red grapes actually taste a lot like green green grapes. I also discoveredblack grapes :)
I tried other types of fish and loved them. I also briefly worked at a sushi restaurant and discovered my love for raw fish!
I tried a real sweet potato (aka not cooked with butter and cream and covered in marshmallows) for the first time in the dining hall and then ate one every day for my first two years of college.
I tried a balsamic marinated portabella mushroom and instantly became a mushroom lover!
Tofu!! It just needs to be cooked and flavored correctly. My personal tofu cooking experiences have been disastrous, but there is a vegetarian restaurant in Athens called the Grit that does it perfectly. Their best dishes (according to me) are the teriyaki tofu wrap and the curried veggies with sauteed tofu. Yum, yum, yum.
Green apples are still my favorite. Especially with cinnamon and almond butter.

Always delicious!

There are still some foods that I just can't make myself like:

I hate peanut butter, peanuts, and anything that has touched I peanut. I don't know why I have such a strong aversion to this taste. The smell used to make me feel nauseous. While the smell doesn't affect me as much anymore, I still can't eat it. However I love all other nuts (almonds and pecans are my favorite).
Tuna from a can is nasty, but seared ahi tuna is amazing! I can't believe these things come from the same fish...
Peaches. I'm from Georgia, so this is terrible, but I really just don't like them at all.
I have trouble eating a banana by itself. I've sort of been forcing myself to like bananas because they are such a good pre workout food! They are useful in smoothies. I do enjoy them in oatmeal or with almond butter (or both!). They are also good warm with cinnamon :)
Oranges. I wish I liked them, but I don't.
Olives. Black or green. Bleh.
Anything too spicy. I can't taste my food if my mouth is on fire!!

Oh, shoot. I stayed up too late. This is more addicting than facebook. I'm off to bed, but first a random quote and a question:

Random Quote:

"You can tell a lot about a fella's character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful." Ronald Reagan explaining why he like to have a jar of jellybeans at important meetings

Question: Would a true foodie pick out one color of jelly beans or just grab a handful?

Life is Good

2009-01-13T11:45:00.010-05:00

School is back in full swing now. The classes I'm taking this semester are: Medical Nutrition Therapy, Public Health Dietetics, Foodservice Management, and Dietetic Practice and Support. They all seem pretty interesting so far. The first chapter we are doing in Nutrition Therapy is sports nutrition (my favorite topic!).

Interesting fact I learned today: "Fat burns in the flame of carbohydrate," meaning that you cannot burn fat without glucose in the body. The end product of glycolysis (glucose metabolism) is required in the reaction that burns fat. That is what cause people to "hit the wall" during a marathons. Even if your body has plenty of fat stores, you can't use them after you run out of glucose (carbohydrate).

Also, the first triathlon club practice of the season was last night! It was fun seeing everybody again. UGA Triathlon Club is a great group of kids to work out with. Mondays are swim nights, and it felt awesome to get a good swim workout in after not having access to a pool over winter break.

Last night's workout:

Warm-up: 300 meters
4 x 50 kick
2 x 100 pull
Main Set: 5 x 200 meters @ 70% effort
Cool Down: 3 x 100 meters (kick, pull, swim)

After practice, I had a Publix Carmel Creme non-fat yogurt for snack, which is now my new favorite flavor! Tastes like dulce de leche ice cream. Highly recommended :)

This morning when I was running out the door to class, I found a box of chocolates and a note outside of our door! Apparently, we have a secret admirer. Check it out:

Box of chocolate :)

The note: "To the Beautiful Ladies of 305- I hope these chocolates are as sweet as you!" Haha.

Yum!! These won't last long in our apartment. We love chocolate! And chocolate is definitely the way to a girl's heart. Nice job, mystery boy!

I was starving by lunch today (despite a hearty oatmeal and cranberry breakfast), and I came up with a delicious wrap of warm black beans with cumin, steamed butternut squash, avocado, and spinach! (And salsa on the side.) It was a great combo. The picture had terrible lighting, so that's why I'm not posting it...sorry. But it was tasty! Really hit the spot :)

I went running with the triathlon club this afternoon. We ran trails for about 45 minutes. The pace was a little faster that I thought I wanted to go, but I kept up and felt great afterwards!

Found this quote today that inspired me:

"Believe you can do it. Think no other way but 'Yes you can.' The human body is capable of considerably more endurance than most of us realize." Paul Reese

When I got home from running, I had a strange craving for red meat. I hardly ever eat red meat, so this is weird. We didn't have any at the apartment, and I didn't feel like going back out because it was cold, so I made this:

Chicken, red peppers, green beans, pasta, and mozzarella cheese. It was tasty, except that the pasta was extremely al dente (a.k.a. definitely not cooked all the way...) because I got hungry and impatient, lol.

Salmon with Pineapple Salsa and Asparagus

2009-01-12T16:32:00.013-05:00

My camera cord came in the mail today!!!! Now I can finally upload pictures again :)

One of my roommates and I went to Publix last night to get ingredients for dinner. Everday, Publix puts out recipe cards, and today they the recipe was Pineapple Salsa Salmon and Rice with Asparagus Tips! We immediately decided that this is what we had to make!!

First we made the pineapple salsa. We used:

1 8 oz. can of pineapple chunks
1 cup salsa (the fresh refrigerated kind is best)
1 tbsp honey mustard
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp prepared horseradish (this gives it a huge kick!)

This is the salsa that we bought. It was so fresh and delicious!!

Then we pan seared the salmon fillets on each side:

Then added pineapple salsa, covered, and reduced heat.

I completely disregarded the recipe's instructions to cook the asparagus in the microwave with garlic butter and chose to do asparagus my favorite way: broiled in the oven with olive oil and kosher salt.

I burned my tongue multiple times eating these hot out of the oven. It was worth it :)

We also bought a Steamfresh frozen bag of brown rice. Heats up in the microwave in 4 1/2 minutes. Awesome!

Ta da!! The finished product. This was sooo delicious! And I think ours looks better than the picture on the recipe card :)

My roommate's boyfriend is trying to eat healthier, so I sent her over to his place with a portion of this dinner with a note about why everything that he was about to eat is healthy for him! This is what I wrote:

Salmon- good source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your brain
Salsa- tomatoes have vitamin C and lycopene, which helps prevent cancers
Pineapple- Vitamin C
Brown rice- fiber to keep you full and have a healthy digestive system
Asparagus- fiber, protein, and lots of vitamins and minerals!

Most of these were off the top of my head, but I looked up asparagus because I didn't know exactly what vitamins were in it. It's a good source of pretty much all vitamins, but I was surprised to find that asparagus also has a significant amount of protein! Did anybody else know this???

For fun, I just looked up pineapple and found out that from this site that it also has micronutrients and chemicals that break up blood clots, stimulate the kidneys to help with removing toxins, and reduce inflammation. So I think I will start eating more pineapple!

For a healthy dessert, I also made my roomie take over some berries, whipped cream, and cinnamon. The reviews?? Her boyfriend loved it!!! He also said it was the best asparagus he'd ever had. I also got a marriage proposal from his roommate!

At Publix, they also had one of the best ice creams in the world in stock: Chocolate Trinity ice cream!! We discovered this ice cream last year, but recently Publix has been advertising this flavor, so we stopped seeing it in stock! But they had it last night, so this is what I had for dessert! And my other roommate (I live with 4 people, this might get confusing...) got home from work and enjoyed some as well.

This is a face of pure bliss. Her teeth are normally pearly white, but they are covered in delicious chocolate :)

More thoughts on the ice cream issue...A couple posts back, I talked about this fat free ice cream that I tried, but I was uncomfortable with the fact that most of the ingredients did not resemble real foods. Most commenters seemed to agree that small portions of real ice cream is the best, which is of course the correct answer, but the problem is that eating small portions of ice cream is nearly impossible for me. Serving size is 1/2 cup...that is tiny! I've measured it before. It's not enough. I went back and ate out of the carton (this always tastes so much better than from a bowl for some reason...) I am very good at portion control with most foods, but I like to eat a lot of ice cream. On average, I would say I eat about 1 1/2 cups of ice cream in one sitting. Fat-free ice cream has 100 calories in a serving, and Chocolate Trinity has 200 calories in a serving, so my serving of fat-free would be 300 calories while my serving of the good stuff would be 600 calories!! This is usually more calories than I consume at dinner. I don't have a huge appetite, but I can put away some ice cream! Solution: I really shouldn't eat ice cream everyday...I need a support group, lol

Happy Tastebuds

2009-01-10T13:49:00.006-05:00

So I still don't have my camera cord back, but I just realized I have so many old pictures of food I can talk about! As I explained in my first post, I've had a habit of taking pictures of my food for a while.

One of my favorite restaurants in Athens in the 5 and 10. It's owned by a well renowned chef who creates their incredibly delicious, seasonally changing menu. The restaurant has a very good relationship with local farmers, so the food is always as fresh and high quality. They also have an extensive wine list. Sorta of a pricey, so you need a special occasion to go there. Here are some mouth-watering pics from my 21st birthday dinner in September:

The bread before dinner.

The grouper special with potatoes, hericot verts, fresh cucumber, basil, and brown butter vinaigrette. Tastes even better than it sounds!

Cheers to good food and friends!

I didn't get I chance to take a picture of the dessert before we dove in. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I do remember that it involved chocolate mousse and toffee...

My roommate and I are making salmon with pineapple salsa for dinner! It looks wonderful, so look forward to those pics (and recipe) soon!!

Things to do before I die

2009-01-09T18:24:00.011-05:00

A long time ago, I made a list of "things to do before I'm 25," which I have since revised to "things to do before I die" when I realized that turning 25 does not mean that you are too old to do fun and crazy things. One goal I keep putting on and taking off the list is to run a marathon. I love half-marathons, but the marathon intimidates me. To state the obvious, 26.2 miles is a really long way to run! And I don't think it's healthy for your body either. That's a lot of mileage and a lot of stress on your joints. I thought that maybe I could replace doing a triathlon with my marathon goal, but after doing a few triathlons, I still can't get the dream of running a marathon out of my head. Recently I was very inspired by this video. She had 6 kids, and she ran a marathon!! I have no excuse!

So the Rock and Roll San Diego Marathon is May 31, 2009. This is perfect timing because if I start training in a couple weeks, then I have plenty of time to do a Runner's World training plan. I just need to find someone willing to go across the country and run 26.2 miles with me...

I do have some exciting upcoming races that I can definitely do!

Nachez Trace Triathlon 3/22/09- I'm a little worried about the water being cold since this is in March, but I'll wear a wet suit and survive the coldness. This is one that UGA Triathlon Club is doing, so I will go with them.
ING Georgia Half Marathon 3/29/09- Because I love half-marathons, and I've never done this one before. It goes through downtown Atlanta and some historic neighborhoods.
Country Music Half Marathon 4/25/09- I did this one last year with my mom and my sister. It's a great race!
Memphis in May 5/16-5/17- Also a triathlon I'll do with the club. This one sounds fun! It's part of a big month long celebration in Memphis. After the race they have barbeque, music, and prizes :)

This is a picture of me finishing my first triathlon. I love this pic despite the fact that it is the scariest I have ever seen my face! Even though I look like I might vomit, I am experiencing an incredible adrenaline and endorphins rush (aka runner's high)! Running is by far my best leg of the triathlon. If anyone has tips on marathon training, I'd love to hear them!

"It's not about speed and gold medals. It's about refusing to be stopped." Amby Burfoot

Other things on my list to do before I die include more traveling (Asia, Africa, South America), sky diving, although I did jump off a cliff in Switzerland, which is just as scary:

180 ft canyon jump in the Alps = pure exhilaration!!

I'm working on expanding my list of things to do before I die to include foods I must try at least once. Recently I checked swordfish off this list (see Dec. 29 post), but I still need to try truffles (mushrooms, not chocolate) and caviar (probably over-rated, but need to try once). I also want to try more exotic fruits and gourmet cheeses. I'm more hesitant to try different meats...venison and duck are probably the most adventurous meats I've tried, but I think I would like to try rabbit. That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are more foods that I should experience in my lifetime.

What foods do you want to try at least once before you die?

Squash and Arugula and Curry...oh my!

2009-01-08T19:27:00.007-05:00

As much as I love browsing recipes and looking at meal ideas, I never ever plan out my meals. I enjoy being a spontaneous grocery shopper. I just go to the store, without a plan or a list, and just buy whatever looks good! I tend to crave healthy foods, so I never come home with a bunch of junk...just a really random assortment of wonderful foods. But sometimes when my fridge is seemingly stocked, I feel like I have nothing to eat! It can be hard to find foods that work together as a meal.

Breakfast is easy...usually cereal, toast, oatmeal, yogurt, or maybe even eggs. Lunch tends to be between classes, so I often pack a sandwich (my favorite= turkey and pesto). But dinner is more of a challenge...I try not to just repeat lunch and get creative with what I have. It always turns out interesting. Sometimes weird, sometimes surprisingly delicious. Tonight was definitely one of my best random creations: curry butternut squash and arugula salad!

One reason why I chose butternut squash and arugula tonight is because they are both good sources of vitamin C. I had a terrible sore throat waking up this morning, and I can't stand getting sick! I'm not really convinced that extra vitamin C in your diet helps your immune system (although deficiency would certainly impair it), but some people swear it does. I'm not into supplements but getting some extra vitamin C from some really healthy veggies definitely can't hurt!

I really wish I could post a pic, but still no camera cord, so use your imagination!!

I steamed some butternut squash then mixed it with a big handful of arugula, drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt, some curry, and a bit of dried fruit (cranberries and golden raisins). This was sooo good, and it took about 3 minutes to make! Ate some crackers and hummus with it. Yum!

Since there is no visual, here is some verbal food porn: Big chucks of succulent squash surrounded by delicate arugula leaves with bursts of red from the cranberries and golden raisins subtly lingering in the crevices....mmmm....oh yes!!

Hope that was almost as good as a picture :)

Also, I have lots of arugula left, and I need to eat it before it goes bad. Any suggestions?

Forgot my camera cord....

2009-01-07T17:06:00.004-05:00

I am back in Athens for the semester, and I realized I left my camera cord at home! I took some yummy food pics I am excited about, but that will have to wait until I get my cord back (Mom is mailing it, thank you!).

I went on a Trader Joe's shopping spree before coming back (there is no Trader Joe's here) and found some really great things!

Items I am most excited about:

Frozen steel cut oatmeal- heats up in 2 minutes!
Big bag of wild arugula- can't wait to make a good salad
Sun-dried tomato hummus- this stuff is incredible!
Pomegranate seeds
Pre-made salad with roasted veggies and chicken
Ezekiel bread- never tried this before, but it looks good and really healthy!
Whole grain and flax tortillas
Red, yellow, orange bell peppers
Lots of beans- cannellini, garbanzo, black beans
Indian carrot lentil soup- new item :)
Greek yogurt - I want to try this with the pomegranate seeds
Brown rice fusilli- pasta made from brown rice...cool!
Pre-cut butternut squash- because butternut squash is delicious, and I am lazy

After I get my camera cord back, I will post a picture of my delicious lunch I made from some of my Trader Joe's finds. But for now, check out this enlightening blog post from Casual Kitchen called "41 Ways You Can Help the Environment from your Kitchen." Here are a few things I learned/ my favorite tips from the post.

"Keep the oven door closed": So no peaking at cookies (or blondies). I need to work on this.

"Never turn on hot water for brief use and use cold water for almost all of your kitchen tasks": When you run the hot water tap, most of the water you heated up never makes it out of the faucet, it just cools back down in the pipes, wasting energy that you paid for. This makes a lot of sense but is something I've never thought about before. Casual Kitchen blogger says he only uses hot water to wash dishes that have come in contact with meat.

"Eat more local foods": This summer, Athens, GA got a farmer's market where local farmers would bring there fresh produce every Saturday. The difference in taste of a tomato that was picked ripe yesterday then one you buy in the grocery store is indescribable....you have to try it! And when your food doesn't have to travel far, it reduced gas emissions. There are too many reasons to list right now about why eating local is good for you and the environment. Here in Athens, I started volunteering for an organization called PLACE (Promoting Local Agriculture and Cultural Experiences) that started up the farmer's market, I have learned a lot about sustainable agriculture, but that will have to be whole different post...

"Adopt part-time vegetarianism": I am by no means a vegetarian. I eat everything, but I try to eat mainly fruits, veggies, nuts, and legumes because it is healthier for me and the environment. I got a book for Christmas called the Flexitarian Diet, which pretty much describes the way I eat. It is a diet rich in plant products but flexible enough to include animal products occasionally.

"Invite neighbors or friends over instead of going out to eat": Dinner parties are way more fun than going to a restaurant! Offer to cook a main dish at your home, and get each friend to bring either an appetizer, a dessert, or wine, and Voila! You just saved money and energy costs of you all driving to a restaurant!

P.S.- Life is about to get crazy with school, new job, and triathlon training. Eating good food is a priority of mine, so I will try to share my eats with you as much as possible! I have fun posting on this, and I hope you all enjoy reading!

The Curious Case of the Fat Free Ice Cream

2009-01-05T14:17:00.008-05:00

I love ice cream. Coffee ice cream is my favorite, and if it has brownie chunks and fudge swirls, that's even better! So I was very excited when I found above carton in my freezer last night. I had enjoyed a nice bowl of this ice cream before I examined the carton and realized that it was fat free ice cream. How is that even possible??? I looked at the ingredients, and to my dismay, this list had at least 40 ingredients. I'm a big fan of Michael Pollan and his famous dietary advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." One of his ways to define exactly how to eat food (rather than edible food-like products) is to "avoid food products that contain ingredients that are A) unfamiliar, B) unpronounceable, C) more than five in number, and D) containing high fructose corn syrup." With ingredients like "propylene glyco mono esters," it's pretty safe to say this product fails the first two rules. Reading this list made me feel like I was studying organic chemistry again.... not very appetizing. It also has had way more than five ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup. I realize that most of the ice creams I buy probably fail to meet the standards to be a real food according to Michael Pollan, but this one seemed exceptionally processed and artificial due to all the fat replacers that were required to make this a fat-free product.

Also, this ice cream was made by Breyer's, a company that usually prides itself on being "all natural" and actually makes fun of other companies that use tons of food additives. Check out this old Breyer's commercial from the 1980s:

So what do you think: is it healthier to eat a high-fat dessert or to eat a high-chemical dessert???

The strangest part of this ice cream experience is that no one in my family admits to buying it. We do not typically buy fat free desserts, and no one knows where this came from! So I have no idea why this ice cream was in our freezer, or if I should even be eating it because of all the additives, but will I keep eating it? Probably (ok, definitely). This fake excuse for a frozen dessert actually tastes delicious! But next time I am at the store I will look for something more natural.

Now onto some truly good eats! (AKA real food!)

Mom, sister, and I went to a Mittie's Tea Room Cafe in Roswell for lunch. It was located in a cute historic building near the Roswell square. They had really fresh salad, homemade quiches, soups, sandwiches, and a great selection of loose leaf teas. Also, their menu stated that much of there ingredients were organic.

Mom and I got mango black tea :)

Mom got the crab quiche and I got the organic spinach and portabella quiche. This is the salad that came on the side...mixed greens with walnuts, dried cranberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It came with the house balsamic dressing, which was amazing!

Sister's sandwich: peach marinated chicken with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion on a croissant.

Hope you all get to enjoy some delicious real food today! And I'm very curious to hear opinions on the ice cream...

More Baking!

2009-01-04T11:38:00.010-05:00

I set my alarm this morning to try to get myself back on schedule for when my last semester of school ever starts again this Thursday. Laying in bed very sleepy, one of my first waking thoughts was, "I'm going to get up and make Veggie Girl's Fig-Almond Blondies."

So after breakfast (oatmeal with banana, cinnamon, almond milk, and almond butter), I started baking immediately. I made a few changes to the recipe Veggie Girl posted: used Fage yogurt b/c I couldn't find any non-dairy yogurt, substituted half the sugar for brown sugar, used half whole wheat flour, and added pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice).

The best part about cooking without eggs? You can eat as much of the dough as you want! (Yay for no Salmonella!!)

The spatula right before I licked it :)

Peeking in the oven...not ready yet!

Delicious! These have lots of almonds (a good thing). And the kitchen smells fabulous!

Trying to decide how to use the rest of my figs...any ideas? I'm thinking goat cheese, arugula, sliced dried figs on sourdough bread...

Mom, sister, and I are going out to tea later this afternoon. I'll try to take some good pictures :)

But now, I'm off to go for a run!

"There are few instincts more natural than the body in full motion as it races across a field or through the trees." Neil Bascomb

Eat 'n Run

2009-01-03T12:29:00.016-05:00

Last night, I found some almond milk at the store, which I have been dying to try since I read about it in so many people's blogs! I am not a fan of soy milk, but I love almonds, so I thought I would like almond milk better. The verdict? It tasted like a cross between soy milk and almonds...better than soy milk, but I still probably wouldn't drink it plain. I am looking forward to baking with it and maybe trying it in oatmeal.

As promised yesterday, I attempted to make some muffins this morning using black-eyed peas. I decided to try out my almond milk.... and since I was already substituting milk, I just decided I should make the whole recipe vegan! Using this recipe as a guideline here is the recipe I came up with:

Black-Eyed Blueberry Muffins

3 cups black beans
1/3 cup almond milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup slivered almonds

Blend beans and milk together in a food processor. Mix oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Mix in bean mixture. Then mix in combined flours, spices, salt, and baking powder. Then stir in blueberries and almonds.

This made 12 regular muffins and 20 mini muffins. At 375 degrees, regular muffins baked for 25 minutes, and mini muffin baked for 15 minutes.

Muffin with almond butter :)

These were interesting. A very dense muffin. I really liked the flavor, but the cake yesterday was better...speaking of which, I'm going to go have another piece!

After all that baking, I really really had to run. I felt a bit of withdrawal after not running for the past two days! My urge to run has nothing to do with will power to stay in shape or a desire to burn calories...sometimes I just crave running. Today I ended up doing 6 miles at about a 7 min/mile pace, which is faster than I usually run, but I had this incredible amount of energy (probably from cooking and eating ALL DAY yesterday), and I don't think I could slowed down if I wanted to. Afterwards I did a couple of 400 meter sprints, and then I finally felt satisfied. Found this quote that really expresses my compulsion to run:

"There comes a time late in the afternoon when the light is just so and my circadian rhythms are at exactly a certain point, when the only solid thought in my mind is to run." Alison Townsend

Does anyone else experience this?

I think I'm finally tried of black-eyed peas now, so this is what I made for a quick lunch after my run:

Spinach topped with tomato, chicken salad, and avocado. Yum!

Rainy Day Black-Eyed Pea Cooking Spree!

2009-01-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

The plan this morning was to go to yoga class and then on a long run. I am absolutely terrible at yoga as I have no flexibility or balancing skills, but I enjoy it every once in a while for a challenge, and I got a mat for Christmas! I was really looking forward to running afterward, however, 40 degrees + rain = no run :( So after a yoga classes full of chaturangas (ouch) and warrior poses (my fav), I had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean with cinnamon sprinkled on top and TJ's gingerbread coffee with skim milk (yum!). And then I found this:

MASSIVE bowl of left-over black-eyed peas!!!!!

I decide to take on a personal cooking challenge to use all the black-eyed peas! Here are my cooking experiments:

1. Black-Eyed Pea Chocolate Cake

Stumbled across this blog post from Bittersweet and got inspired! (Btw, if you haven't checked out this girl's blog before, it is awesome. She does lots of vegan cooking and has amazing food photography. I just found it today and will definitely be reading it again!)

We had my favorite kind of chocolate chips: Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chips!! My sister and I were snacking on them last night so we just barely had 1 1/2 cups :) Thank goodness! Microwaved the chips in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after each increment.

Melted Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Mmmmm....

The original recipe calls for 4 eggs (Bittersweet's recipe was adapted to use tofu instead), but I opened our egg carton and discovered we only had 3 eggs (and we don't have tofu). Crap. Google searched "egg substitute baking" and looked through pantry and refrigerator.... I found I had several options: 1/4 cup of applesauce, banana, pumpkin, or yogurt. I chose to mash up about 1/4 cup of banana.

Bittersweet added coffee powder to hers, which I'm sure was delicious, but I decided to use cinnamon! Chocolate and cinnamon is always a fabulous combination. (Actually I think cinnamon added to pretty much anything is tasty...)

So here are the ingredients I ended up using:

1 1/2 cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
2 cups black-eyed peas
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/4 cup mashed banana
about 2 tsp cinnamon (didn't measure)

So easy. Just melt the chips and blend it all in a food processor! Baked for 40 minutes at 350 in a 9 inch cake pan. It had a really nice flavor, and the texture was perfect! So moist and wonderful! I'm sure it would be super easy to make completely vegan by using carob chips in place of chocolate and tofu, fruit based egg substitute, or vegan "yogurt" in place of the eggs. Great reviews from the whole family...we are all chocolate lovers :)

Slice of cake with whipped cream and more cinnamon!

2. Garlicky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Hummus is one of my favorite foods! It is usually made with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), but black-eyed peas seemed like an acceptable substitute. And we happened to have tahini paste (essential hummus ingredient!), so I put this in a food processor:

2 cups black-eyed peas
1/4 cup tahini paste
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

I blended all this together, adding a few tablespoons of water to get it to the consistency I wanted (fresh squeezed lemon juice probably would have been better, but I didn't have any more lemons).

My top two hummus dippers = baby carrots and toasted whole wheat pita bread. But give me any raw veggie, cracker, chip... or just a spoon, and I will eat lots of hummus!

3. Black-Eyed Pea Veggie Burgers

Loved these!!! After looking a several bean burger recipes, I came up with this recipe (mainly inspired by this recipe):

1 1/2 cups black-eyed peas
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp McCormick's Cajun Seasoning
fresh cilantro
juice from 1/2 a lime

First I chopped up about half of a large onion (left over from last night) and a clove of garlic and sauteed them with olive oil. I would guess it came out to about 1/2 cup.

Then I added the seasonings and put all ingredients in a food processor.

Then I shaped into burgers and cooked them on the stove with a little olive oil until they browned a bit on each side.

Cooked these for dinner and served with oven-roasted red potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and peppers. (We also put some Fresh Market Plum Tomato Mild Salsa on the burgers.) This is my favorite way to cook veggies: just coat in a little olive oil and salt and put in the oven! I like to put aluminum foil over the pan for easy clean-up.

A healthy and delicious dinner.

Ok, so after all that cooking I actually barely made a dent in the gigantic bowl of black-eyed peas, but I still made some wonderful foods today! This challenge is officially to be continued. Any suggestions on how to use the rest? Since the cake turned out so well, I'm thinking of trying to make some muffins with them tomorrow morning. I also have some salad ideas in mind... Stay tuned!

Is it 2009 already?

2009-01-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

My friends and I had been talking about going out in Atlanta for this New Years since this is the first New Years that we are all finally 21! But we ended up deciding to celebrate in Athens where we know more people and have an apartment downtown :)

New Years Party Supplies:

1. Chocolate Covered Pretzels

One of my roommates has been making these regularly ever since I bought a single 75 cent chocolate covered pretzel to-go at a local coffee house as a painfully obvious excuse to flirt with the cute barista. Now whenever she thinks of me trying to flirt, she craves chocolate covered pretzels, haha. The original plan was to make half with dark chocolate and toffee pieces and half with white chocolate and sprinkles, however, the dark chocolate was not sticking to the pretzels and the toffee pieces were too heavy to stay on the pretzels. Solution: Dip in white chocolate and drizzle with dark chocolate!

2. Publix spinach artichoke dip. For some reason I feel guilty admitting that I bought this instead of making it myself. But this dip from the Publix deli is really really good! Awesome when heated up with pita chips :)

3. Champagne Punch (adapted from allrecipes.com) This was a hit!

1 can frozen limeade concentrate
1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 can frozen raspberry concentrate
1 750 mL bottle Yellow Tail Chardonnay
2 bottles Andre Extra Dry ($5 a bottle. we are so classy...)
2 liters seltzer water
Ice

We meant to put frozen berries in this for garnish, but we forgot :(

Although I am a food snob, I don't have the palette yet to be a wine snob, hence the Yellow Tail and Andre. If you have the budget to buy nicer stuff, go for it, but this was actually very tasty!

4. Sparklers!!!

My favorite restaurant (Big City Bread Cafe) in Athens was having a special New Year's brunch today! I got a cup of 1000 Faces Coffee (a fair trade brand) and apple stuffed french toast. Roomie got eggs benedict on their famous biscuits with smoked salmon and spinach. Yum!

A Very Southern Dinner

Went back home (parent's house...unsure of whether home is where I grew up or where I pay rent) and Mom made buttermilk corn bread and Ham and Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Collard Greens. This is probably not a recipe that would have caught my eye, but it was delicious!

Ham, garlic, and onions.

Big pot of black-eyed peas! (The blurriness is steam.)

Voila! After cooking everything with chicken broth and lots of collards.

Southern tradition says that black-eyed peas on New Year's Day are supposed to bring luck and prosperity for the new year. This is exactly what I need when I graduate! Hopefully this meal will help...I had 2 bowls :)

Also, I really do enjoy collard greens even though I never think to cook with them. When cooked they kind of taste like spinach but crunchier. And they are super healthy: lots of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, and fiber. Black-eyed peas have a lot of fiber, too, which makes this light soup very satisfying and filling!

2008 was a great year and I'm sort of sad to see it go. I accomplished a lot this past year including running 2 half-marathons, completing my first 3 triathlons, passing Biochemistry (B+), and starting this blog! I've been scared of 2009 for the past four years because it is the year I must leave college and be a real adult. Ahhh! Whatever happens in the next year, it will be an adventure at the very least.

Celebrate

2008-12-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

I waited to add a description to my blog because I actually wasn't quite sure what it was about when I made my first post. But I have since been considering why I am writing this blog. I plan on posting some recipes and sharing nutrition advice I think is interesting and relevant, but I decided the main reason I am writing this blog is to share my excitement about all the food I eat. I don't completely agree with the saying that you should eat to live rather than live to eat. Of course food is very important to give our bodies vital nourishment and energy (this is what I study everyday as a dietetics major), but it is also so much more. It is ingrained in our cultures and traditions. It can be a source of comfort. It can be an art form. And unfortunately, it can also be a source of anxiety and guilt with all the conflicting messages we are bombarded with on what we are supposed to eat. Since I study and read about nutrition all the time, it is often hard not to become obsessed with it, so through this blog I want celebrate all good food (from fruits and veggies to chocolate cake) and fitness.

To me, "good food" means real food that is delicious. It doesn't come from a drive through window, but it doesn't necessarily have to be gourmet cooking either (who has time for that everyday?). The pleasures I get from good food are similar to how a good work out makes me feel, so it made sense to me to include fitness as something to be celebrated.

So in the spirit of celebration I would like to share with you the delicious lunch I had yesterday:

Whole wheat toast with avocado slices, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, and hummus.

Granny smith apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon and a spoonful of chunky almond butter.

Now off to buy some champagne. Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

End of Holidays + Really Good Seafood!!

2008-12-29T15:03:00.000-05:00

First of all, I just wanted to say that I am loving this 60 degree weather in December! Great running weather! A friend and I rediscovered this gorgeous trail by the river that we used to run in high school, but they have since expanded it a little. Instead of the trail dead ending into a bunch of trees, it now leads you to this area next to some gigantic rocks overlooking the river. It was breathtaking!

Ok, now onto the food...

Before December is over, I would like to share some things I've been enjoying at home over the holidays. My mom was enticing me to hurry home after finals by telling me a had a surprise from Trader Joe's waiting for me. And it was.....

Gingerbread coffee! I've been enjoying this with a generous splash of milk every morning. Great incentive to get out of bed :)

We also have Trader Joe's cinnamon toasted almonds (little brother picked these out...nice job!) and egg nog ice cream!

Topped with whipped cream, freshly ground nutmeg, and pirouette wafers. Yes, Edy's can be gourmet!

Also, over the holidays I heard that Lara bar makes a gingersnap flavor! I went all over looking for one: none at Publix, none at Trader Joes, none at Fresh Market, but I finally found one at Kroger! Still on the search for a pumpkin spice Cliff bar. Haven't seen on of those yet...

Anyway, last night we had a fabulous dinner! We went to the Atlanta Fish Market, which had an enormous selection of fresh fish. They also had a lot of sushi, which we might have to go back and try another time. My favorite fish of all time is salmon (especially cedar plank salmon...oh yes!), but I decided that this would be a great place to try something new. I had never had swordfish before, so I got the swordfish entree, which consisted of Carolina corn grits, green beans, mushroom, and cashew crusted black pepper swordfish. The waitress smiled when I ordered, which was a good sign.... it was incredible!

My dad got sole sauteed in a brown butter sauce, and my sister got broiled red snapper.

The red snapper.

The sole.

They were all incredibly fresh and perfectly cooked, but I think mine was the best :)

Oh, and of course we got dessert:

Chocolate Mousse Cake!!!! Can't even describe how delicious...omg I love chocolate!!

Ok that's all for now. I could talk about food all day, but now I'm going to go take my bike in to get a tune up! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Check out new pics on the side!!

Salad Snob

2008-12-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

I love a truly good salad. Essential ingredients = really fresh veggies and a simple homemade vinaigrette. Good quality cheese, fresh (or dried) fruit, and nuts are some of my favorite additions that can add a lot of flavor even when you just use a little.

Things I think do not belong in salads: [Disclaimer: yes, I am a food snob]

Iceberg lettuce
Low-fat cheeses
Bacon bits (doesn't taste like bacon, unsure of what these really are...)
Croutons from a box (homemade croutons = much better)
Ranch dressing (or really any commercially bottled dressing)

Once I learned how delicious and easy it is to make my own salad dressing, it became one of my favorite things to make. My default salad dressing that I make at least once a week consists of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and a squirt of Dijon. Only 3 ingredients, tastes delicious, and no need to measure. I love it :)

I branched out a little from my usual dressing when I found this great video demonstration while browsing NY Times online. It's made by one of their food writers who lives in a tiny apartment in NY city with a 11.5 square foot apartment. She is cute and funny and makes a simply amazing salad!! I had to make this salad immediately after watching this video, and it was the best salad I have had in a while. (It was also my first attempt at candied walnuts, which was very successful!) The salad dressing had walnut oil, olive oil, sherry vinegar, and Dijon mustard. She also dressed the salad by drizzling the dressing around the bowl (not on the salad) and then tossing it with her bare hands. Awesome!

I wanted to embed the video, but I am a novice blogger, and a little technologically retarded, so here is a link: Tiny Kitchen: Not-Greek Roquefort Salad. Hope you all are as inspired as I was and would love to hear about your favorite salads! And I promise I won't judge (too much) if you like ranch dressing...

Oh, and I am very excited because tonight I taking my dad to the Atlanta Fish Market! I plan on taking pictures and posting about it tomorrow :)

Mmmm....quinoa

2008-12-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

One ingredient I have been trying to use more in my cooking is quinoa. It sort of looks like couscous, but it's so much better (in my opinion...). Its fluffier than couscous and has a nice nutty flavor. Looks like this when cooked:

The interesting thing about quinoa is that it is actually not a grain; it's a relative of leafy green veggies. It's also completely gluten free and a complete source of protein (it has all the essential amino acids, which is very unusual for a non-animal food product).

Quinoa is sort of expensive and hard to find, so that's why I don't eat it as much as I'd like. The last time I ate quinoa was the night before the Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon. My sister found this recipe: Quinoa Cakes with Eggplant-Tomato Ragù and Smoked Mozzarella, and we decided it would be a great pre-race dinner!

Cooking the quinoa cakes and sautéing veggies.

Close up on the veggies: eggplant, cherry tomatoes, onions, and red peppers :)

I dug into my meal before I thought to take a picture of the finished product (sorry!), but it did look gorgeous on the plate. And most importantly, it was delicious. However, I would definitely double the amount of cherry tomatoes next time!

Did it fuel us up well for the half marathon? Well, I didn't shatter any records, but I ran with some of my old friends from high school, and we had a great time chatting the whole way and felt great finishing in just under 2 hours (9 min miles? I'm bad at math...).

I guess it's time to try another quinoa recipe, as that meal was about a month ago! I've been wanting to try this recipe from NY Times: Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese. I will try to make this before I have to go back to school and will let you know it goes. And if anyone has any quinoa recipes they have tried and like, I would love to hear about it!

First Post!!!

2008-12-26T15:24:00.001-05:00

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I have recently become completely addicted to reading people's food blogs to the extent that I definitely need my own. Who knew that reading about what people eat everyday could be so fascinating! Hopefully other people might find my culinary adventures, food fantasies, and philosophies on health and nutrition as interesting as I find theirs :)

I am a senior in college (graduating in May, yikes!) currently studying to become a registered dietitian. I am also a foodie, a runner, a triathlete, and I like to take pictures of my food. This is often awkward in restaurants, but I've been doing it for years whenever I get a dish I am excited about. I am happy to know that there are others out there who share this habit.

This morning when I awoke from a food coma after 3 days of feasting on Christmas meals, went on an easy 5 mile run, and made one of my favorite light lunches: an open-faced avacodo and egg sandwich:

Frying the egg. (I am really enjoying using my parents' kitchen while home for the holidays. MUCH nicer than my apartment.)

Today I also added some slices of Gruyere cheese and sauteed some spinach.

Avocado on organic nine grain bread. Avocado = one of my favorite foods! :)

Ta da! All put together with a sprinkle of paprika.

And because I have to have something sweet after every meal (even breakfast...I'm a sugar addict!), here is a cup of Cinnamon Toast Crunch drizzled with plain yogurt and some fresh ground nutmeg:

I was pretty disappointed that we didn't have any Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls left over that my sister and I made for brunch yesterday, but this was actually pretty satisfying.

Oh, P.S., I am obsessed with cinnamon! I put it on cereal, yogurt, coffee, oatmeal, bananas, apples, and sneak it into every baked good I make!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!