Tag Archives: Food

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Favorite Summer Breakfasts

oats

Overnight Oats

As soon as the weather starts to warm up, I crave these oats!  When I first started reading running and healthy living blogs, I couldn’t understand how these bloggers ate cold oats soaked in yogurt!  Now I crave them and it is my favorite way to eat a big breakfast.  Don’t let the small bowl fool you!  If you are watching calories, you could easily get to 500+ calories in this tiny bowl… or else that is just me because I put so much peanut butter on top!  Here is my favorite mix…

  •  1/2 serving of So Delicious Blueberry Coconut Milk Yogurt
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Silk Almond Milk
  • 1 serving oats (usually 1/2 cup)
  • Tbsp Chia Seeds

Mix that up at night (I usually make two at a time because I split the yogurt container) and stick it in the fridge! In the morning I add…

  • Banana (or sometimes blueberries or strawberries)
  • Way too much White Chocolate Wonderful – Peanut Butter & Co (cheaper at Target)  This is my absolute favorite PB

 

My Favorite Smoothie

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milk

frozenberries

I am blessed with a beautiful Vitamix blender and I use it daily.  It is great for hot soups in the winter, sauces for dinner, chopping veggies and of course, smoothies!  Above are the ingredients I use, except I forgot to take a picture of my huge container of fresh spinach.

Here is my favorite variation and this is the order I put it into the Vitamix…

  • 1 cup vanilla or original almond or light chocolate soy milk (depends if I want extra chocolate)
  • Powder mixes (Usually 1 scoop chocolate vega protein, but I’ll add a scoop of Colby’s chocolate Recoverite if I just did a crazy workout or run)
  • Chia seeds and PB2
  • Tons and tons of spinach… seriously like 2 and 1/2 cups
  • Banana
  • Frozen berries (usually strawberries because they taste so good in this smoothie!)

The frozen berries and banana weigh down the spinach.  I feel like everything blends the best in this order.

smoothie

Not the prettiest color, but it is delicious!!

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Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

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Sometimes at night I want something sweet.  Lately, I have been dipping fresh strawberries into dark chocolate for a treat.  They are so good and it is just enough chocolate for me.

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I put some Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips (my favorite) into a small glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.  When you take them out, they won’t look much different, but mix them around with a spoon for a minute and they will slowly start to melt.  Then, put them into the microwave again for 30 seconds.  Take them out and mix, mix, mix!  It should turn into a smooth melted chocolate.  If you are doing a larger batch, try another 30 seconds.  By only putting them in the microwave for a short time, you won’t burn the chocolate!  Nothing is worse than ruining perfectly good chocolate!!

I wash the strawberries and dry them well.  If they are wet, the water will ruin the chocolate.  Dip the strawberries and place them on a parchment paper-covered plate.  Stick them in the freezer for a few minutes and they will be ready to eat!

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Or eat most of the melted chocolate straight out of the bowl before they even make it onto the strawberries like me :)

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Pesto Veggie Pizza

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Homemade pizza dough, pesto sauce, veggies and non-dairy cheese!

This pizza is vegan, except for the honey used in the pizza dough recipe.

I’ve always liked making my own pizza dough recipe and use Ina from the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe.  If you are trying this dough recipe here are a few tips that have worked for me…

  • Use a thermometer to make sure the water is just over 100 degrees and then add yeast, honey and olive oil.  Set the timer for 15 minutes and let it get foamy! 
  • Add 3 cups flour and set kitchenaid to #2 for 10 minutes.  Add a little flour to keep it from sticking and getting too crazy.

Colby and I always split the dough into two parts (his part is always much bigger than mine) so we can make separate pizzas.  The last few times I’ve had cheese on my pizza, I’ve felt really sick so I decided to make this one dairy free!

slice

 For the pesto… buy the new “More Peas, Thank You” book.  There are some really good recipes I’m looking forward to making this week.  I’ve already made a few and they are easy and delicious!

The pesto includes: chickpeas, basil, walnuts and nutritional yeast and I made it in my vitamix.  Fast and easy clean up!

For my toppings: mushrooms, onions and red peppers (sauteed first), toasted pine nuts and a little Daiya “cheddar cheese”.  I’ve tried the Daiya “mozzarella” many times and I hate it.  I LOVE their cheddar melted!

 

Getting ready to run my last long run for my Nike Women’s Half training! 12 miles :)

 

 

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Dairy Relapse

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I did something bad tonight.  I’ve had an addiction to the shamrock all my life.  I “gave them up” in 2010 after the worst stomach ache in my life.  I don’t react well to dairy so I avoid it.  Tonight… I couldn’t help myself and I drank this in about 2 minutes.  It was heaven.

Good luck to my stomach tonight :)  It was worth it!

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10K PR

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Don’t get too excited… it was my first 10K race!  I’ve just never done a 10k race before and I knew this one would be very flat.  It was on the rail trail I ran last Spring’s marathon on and I was very familiar with the path :)

I was scheduled to run 8 miles this weekend, so Amy and I ran 2 after the race was over.  I was so tired I could barely do two 10 minute miles.

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My legs are SO SORE today! I don’t even know why… I didn’t even run that hard but WOW my legs are just trashed.  I took a nap yesterday and today I was so tired.

salad

I went to my favorite restaurant with my BF Anne last night.  I changed it up and went for the “chop” salad with blue cheese, apples, cranberries, candied nuts and blue cheese dressing.  I loved it and it was huge.

dinner

I also had mushroom ravioli and I was stuffed.  I had this a few weeks ago and it was slightly different with ratatouille on the ravioli and I think I liked that a little better.  This was still really good.

I’m hoping to get myself to do a little yoga tonight to loosen up my robot legs.  Hoping to get all my runs and Les Mills workouts in this week!

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Inspired by Ina

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On Wednesday night, my Mom and I went downtown to see Ina Garten at the theater for a Q & A session with the local chef.  The chef was from my favorite restaurant, The Left Bank.  We had third row seats and were soooo excited! Mom and I love Barefoot Contessa, so we couldn’t believe how close our seats were that night.  I was really sick that night and ended up going to the doctors the next day for my sinus infection.  I’m feeling SO much better now after being on antibiotics for a few days :)

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After the show, it was extremely crowded but I made my way to the book signing line and my Mom tried to frantically snap a few pictures.  She seemed very kind and we were so happy to be there.

salad

Tonight, dinner was sort of inspired from Ina’s new book, “Fool Proof” with her beet salad.  Tonight was the first time I’ve roasted beets and it went well!  My salad was on arugula with goat cheese, pistachios and a vinaigrette.  Probably my absolute favorite salad ever.

beets

They can be messy, but I didn’t stain my hands too much.  400 degrees for the oven and I scrubbed the beets and cut off the ends.  I put them in foil and roasted them for just under an hour.  When you take them out, open up the foil and let them rest for a bit because they are HOT.  Then, cut off the outside skin and cut them up! YUM!

dinner

After the beets were out of the oven, I roasted red peppers, onions, mushrooms and shrimp.  I marinated the shrimp in garlic and lemon juice and then tossed them in olive oil, salt/pepper and a little parmesan cheese and put them in the oven for 10 minutes.  The veggies took about 25 minutes and I kept the oven on 400.  I put all this on a mixture of quinoa and black lentils.  I was feeling super healthy and happy to have leftovers for lunch.

I also ran 6 miles on the treadmill this morning and thought I was going to die.  I had music on, but no TV and I can’t run that long on the TM without tv!  I need to get my laptop set up down there or something.

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Valentine’s Weekend

I’m getting over a sinus-cold thing but I was feeling pretty bad this weekend.  I still got in some workouts and probably pushed myself a little too hard on my weekend 5 miler. My heart rate was a little out of control (high of 187) for not running that fast.  I took it easier tonight on the treadmill and make sure to keep it under 170 for a change.

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Friday night, Colby and I went out to dinner at a pretty nice restaurant downtown.

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Colby had french onion soup and a roast beef and coleslaw sandwich.

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I had mushroom ravioli with asparagus and grilled salmon.  It was really good!

Safe%20Haven

Then we went to see Safe Haven at the movies.  I read this book a few months ago and really loved it.  I’m not a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, but this was different.  The movie was just okay.  I liked it, but of course I liked the book better.

rockofages

On Saturday, I went to see Rock of Ages at the theater with my Mom, her friend and Colby.  Colby and I watched the movie on the plane to Hawaii for our honeymoon and he really liked the music.  When my Mom saw it was going to be at a theater near us, we knew we would enjoy it.  The show was great and I liked it just as much as the movie.

Die-Hard-5

Finally, on Sunday… Colby, Mom and I went to see the new Die Hard movie.  I know, lots of movies this weekend!  My Mom is full on obsessed with Die Hard and Bruce Willis so it was a give-in that we had to see this opening weekend.  I wrote about my Mom’s obsession in one of my very first blog posts ever!  It was good, but I like the last one that was out a few years ago with the “mac boy” better.

I am crazy excited because tomorrow my Mom and I are going to meet this wonderful lady…

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We LOVE Ina and I will fill you in with details later!  :)

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Why My Birthday Has Been Great So Far…

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So today is the day I turn 27 and it is a Friday. Today was my one day of the week that I teach at the middle school and start a half an hour earlier… but… We had a 2 hour delay!! I think it was supposed to be icy this morning, but the roads were completely clear. It was also “wear your favorite sports team shirt day” so I got to wear my Yankees shirt to school. Any school day is great when you get to dress down!

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I also made chocolate chip cookies for my kids to be nice. I have about 50 of them, so I had to make two batches the other night. I use the Hershey’s Special Dark recipe on the back of the chip bag and they are always awesome. All of my students made sure to say Happy Birthday to me once word got around that I had cookies. Teenagers will do anything for food.

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Colby let me open my Birthday present last night and I knew exactly what it was :) I am so excited to wear it for all my Les Mills classes and cross training sessions! LOVE how small and pink it is! I really wish I could have worn it last night to see how many calories I burned at the gym. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to run 3 miles on the treadmill AND take both CXWORX and BodyPump classes! That was 2 full hours of working out at the gym! I really wanted to try the new releases for both classes so I thought I would try it all. Is is what I texted Colby half way through BodyPump…

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I’m actually not that sore today, but I was dying after CX and Pump back to back!

We are going to my favorite restaurant tonight for dinner :)

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Our Thanksgiving

No “turkey trot” for Colby and I today, but he went on a 35 mile bike ride this morning.  I did some yoga while I prepared a few food items.

 

I used this Barefoot Contessa recipe for sweet potatoes and it was easy and great.  I used soy milk instead of heavy cream and earth balance in place of regular butter.  It turned out great! (I forgot to take a picture)

 

I also made William Sonoma’s Pumpkin Pecan Dessert Squares.  The pumpkin butter is from William Sonoma and so is the recipe paper.  These are really easy to make and always turn out great.  I also used soy milk/earth balance for this recipe.

 

 

I found this idea of a turkey veggie tray on Pinterest.  This is my kind of turkey and it was a big hit!

 

Also… I signed up for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in DC!  It is a lottery system, so I really hope I get in!  I think I find out in a few weeks.  I would be really excited to train for a half this spring.  I would really like to start running on a regular basis again!

 

A little expensive for a half marathon, but I would be reaaaallllly happy to get that Tiffany’s necklace at the end for a race medal!!

Going to visit my friend Andrea tomorrow for the weekend! She lives 5-6 hours away, so I’m pretty excited to go and see her new house!  :)

 

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Vitamix Butternut Squash Soup

 

(adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe found here)

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs butternut squash, peeled and seeded (I used 3 medium sized squash)

1 yellow onion

2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Condiments- scallions, flaked sweetened coconut (lightly toasted), roasted salted cashews (toasted and chopped) and diced banana

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut the butternut squash, onion and apples into 1-inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet

Toss squash, onion and apples with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 35-40 minutes

Lightly toast coconut and cashews on the stove for a few minutes, or until they turn a light brown color.

When roasting is finished, place squash, onion and apples into Vitamix.  Add 2 cups of chicken stock, curry powder, salt and pepper and set to the “soup” setting.

Let the Vitamix run until the “soup” setting is finished.  Pour hot soup and add chopped scallions, coconut, cashews and fresh banana on the top. Enjoy :)