Tag Archives: chia

Oh, Balls

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Oh.  Hello there.  Are you here to hear me talk about my balls?  Well calm down, I’m getting to that.  I do have some exciting ball news but there was lots of excitement today.

Like my discovery of my new favorite smoothie of all time.

I know it doesn’t look like much but this new combination was freaking amazing.  I put 1 cup of lemonade and 2 Tbsp of chia seeds in my blender and left them to soak.  Five minutes later I added 1 cup of frozen strawberries and then blended like crazy.  Here’s an outside picture so you can really see the color –

Un-be-leave-a-bull!  The chia seeds mostly blended but still left a nice chew and their nuttiness was the perfect foil to the sweet and sour of the strawberry lemonade.

Even better, my smoothie actually held my stomach through my 4 hour class.  I attribute this to the chia seeds.  My 2 Tbsp of chia seeds gave my smoothie an extra 140 calories, 5 grams of protein, 11 grams of fiber, and 7 grams of polyunsaturated fats (mostly omega-3s).  source

That’s not to say I wasn’t ready for lunch though.  We had a “welcome back” department lunch today, complete with food.

I took a slice of mushroom pizza,

a few fresh veggies,

and some amazingly fresh strawberries and watermelon.

I also grabbed a 2nd slice later on.

In other lunch news I finally had an apple month win!

This caramel apple iced coffee from my school’s coffee shop totally hit the spot.  I did only drink half of that monster (I thought I was ordering a small) but I definitely made sure to get every last lick of caramel out of my cup.

Fully fueled, I headed to the gym for a L-O-O-O-N-G spells long workout.  I had a time goal and a length goal and I ended up hitting my time goal long before my length one; ie I took too many walking breaks and was slow!  I did a looong warm up and looong cool down with walk/run intervals in between that ended up being a lot of walking. 

In the end I covered 9 miles in 1 hour and 53 minutes.  As slow as you can move and still call it running but the distance at least is nothing to sneeze at.  P.S. I’m having some issues with the bones in my right foot but my legs feel great; yay!

Alright already, let’s talk about the balls.

S’mores Oat Balls.  Click here for the recipe link.  I swear to God this recipe was inspired by the S’mores Quaker Chew Bars and not my desire to say the word balls repeatedly after eating and rewatching Schweddy Balls.

The recipe was simple but the end result was delicious yet subtle.  Part s’more, part oat, totally acceptable for breakfast!  I resisted any nibbling while I assembled but I did eat two balls as soon as they were formed.

Make them at home, I promise you’ll love my balls.

Since we ate dessert first dinner needed to be a 15 minute affair.

I prepared 2 servings of spirals pasta, stirring frozen spinach and peas into the mix in the last few minutes of boiling.  Then I made Emily’s Nutritional Yeast Sauce and tossed everything together.

Yum, I thought the nutritional yeast was really good; though that could have been my love for peas with pasta talking.  Head over to The Daily Garnish (recipe link) to see all the benefits of nutritional yeast, but suffice to say dinner was healthy.

Adam has a test tomorrow and I have a really hard time sleeping when he’s not in bed (the upcoming surgical rotation should be fun!) so I’m going to stay up with him.  Studying, blog reading, perhaps a shower; who knows what I’ll get done.

P.S. I used the word “balls” 10 times in this post.  Sorry, Nana!

Healthy Living Summit 2011 Mega Recap

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This post is going to be huge, so there are a few facts I want to establish before I begin –

* The Healthy Living Summit (HLS) was fabulous and I had a wonderfully fun time.  However, since I didn’t have internet all weekend this is going to be a monster post and I’m not going to include as many details as I’d like.

* I met and hung out with some amazing people.  So many, in fact, that I think it makes the most sense for me not to link back to anyone.

* I snapped a photo of every piece of food that went into my mouth but I wasn’t so good on people or places; I was too busy enjoying those things to photograph them.

Okey doke, let’s start from the beginning…

So, this happened exactly halfway between Buffalo and Philly –

Usually a picture of a flat tire would be followed by many four letter words but the only one I could think of was l-u-c-k.  My trip to Philly was greasy, two hours longer than planned and completely exhausting, but I actually started crying because I felt so grateful.  The things I am thankful for –

  • It rained 70% of my trip but not a drop fell during the two hours I was standing on the side of the road changing my tire.
  • My tire blew on a small side road and not when I was going 70 mph on the highway.
  • I was able to take off the nuts and jack up the car all by myself, and if the tire hadn’t been completely rusted to the axle I probably could have done the entire thing myself like a total badass.
  • The nicest man on earth not only stopped to help me out, but drove back to his house for the sledgehammer it took to get my tire off.
  • The nice man gave me directions to his nice friends’ body shop, where they replaced my tire and fixed me up for only $20.

Isn’t the world amazing?  Before the whole debacle I drank a guava Rockstar for breakfast,

and afterwards I shakily ate the half turkey sandwich with cheese and cranberry mayo that I packed from the Co-op. 

And I made it (with aching forearms) to Philly with time to shower and change before the HLS cocktail party.

The drinks, provided by Drink Chia, were super tasty.

This cocktail was a mix (I believe) of Drink Chia, strawberries, and vodka.  It tasted sort of like a bubble tea with mini bobba!

The food was pretty good as well.

I had a corn and crab fritter, a piece of pretzel crusted chicken, a few small bites, plus another piece of the chicken.

Everything was tasty but there wasn’t quite enough sustenance for dinner so a few of us ended up in the hotel restaurant for a late night snack.

I went with the s’mores mousse shooter.

Plus I scarfed up one of the Lindt truffles they brought with the bill.

It was a sweet end to the first day.

The next morning (Saturday) we were up bright and early for breakfast.  Cereal with skim milk,

an Oikos drinkable yogurt with a juicy plum – sidenote, I feel like I had food dripping down my face this whole weekend! –

and a much-needed coffee.

Around this point I realized I probably should be snapping more pictures like a good blogger.

Though I did snag a shot of me with two of my roomies.

I didn’t love the Quaker Smashbar provided on the snack break so I only ate half of it.

But I did love the RD Quaker provided as the key-note speaker.  She wrote a book on being a flexatarian and I loved her points about embracing plants more than avoiding meats.  In fact, all of the sessions were pretty darn informative and inspirational.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch.

Side salad for greens,

quinoa salad, which had some sort of acid component that took it over the top,

and half a tofu sandwich on Great Harvest bread, squeal!

For dessert I grabbed a milk chocolate crunch Attune probiotic bar.

I had no idea these would be so delicious!  I was very excited to see some coupons in my swag bag.

After the sessions we went to do some city exploring.

Here are all my roomates,

and here is the Liberty Bell.

I’m glad we sight-saw in the way that we did, because our travels took us to Farmacia for dinner.

Yum, seriously just yum x 1000.  The wait staff was so sweet and accommodating of our 12-person party, the space was adorable, and the food was delicious.

I was ravenous and I think my heart actually skipped a beat when this bread and herbed butter were brought to the table.

I ate this slice times two.

Since it was a vacation I went with a John Daly to drink.

Sweet tea vodka and fresh squeezed lemonade, yes please!  A few people sipped my drink and we all agreed it was the best Arnold Palmer ever.

And then came the food.  Which was basically ridiculous.

I ordered the sweet corn and risotto croquettes.  Which came with garden veggie ratatouille,

and sautéed spinach that blew my mind.  It must have been the butter sauce that was floating on my plate.

The spinach was the best thing I ate all weekend, but the croquettes were perfect too; crunchy and creamy all at the same time.  I ate 1.5 croquettes and all of my veggies and was basically in heaven.

You know I have to get self-serve froyo if I’m in a new city.

I got peanut butter, cream cheese (!!), and tart, topped with all the berries, caramel sauce, and sprinkles.

Fueled by sugar, a group of us stayed up until practically 3am!  Normally a 3 am bedtime and 8 am Sunday workout would feel brutal, but I think I was too excited to be tired.  I don’t have any pictures, but I did participate in the HLS 5k.  A huge group walked/ran around the city including the Rocky steps.

When we got back it was time for oatmeal.

Topped with flax, cinnamon, and walnuts.

I also had about a billion mugs of Tazo Earl Grey tea with skim milk.

I am completely obsessed (I stole a few packets from breakfast!) and need to buy this asap.

After the festivities wrapped, a group of us did some more exploring around Philly.

This is what happens when you give bloggers a group photo-op –

For lunch we sought out Philly cheese steaks.  I found success at the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar.

This monster was vegan, but there is basically no way that the traditional meat sandwich could be better.

I left a lot of the bread, but gobbled up the “meat” which was crunchy in the most pleasing way.  Such a great way to end the weekend!

Around 2 I made my final goodbyes and headed out.  Though I did stop at Whole Foods for an Argo Tea Mojitea for the road.

It was very tasty, but my next two drinks were much more telling.  A grande white mocha coconut frappuccino with 2 extra shots of espresso.

And a huge diet pop with a splash of cherry coke.

Can you say exhausted?!  But I made it home in one piece and had a wonderful weekend to boot!

Did you attend HLS?  What’d you think?

Blah, Blah, Blah.

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Blah, blah, blah.  Today was just blah.  My mood was blah, my food was blah, my workout was blah, my photos today basically redefine the word blah…

We started our morning by pulling the pre-made chia seed and banana buttermilk pancakes out of the freezer.

I topped mine with a smear of Smart Balance Light and drizzle of maple syrup.

They were good, not boring and blurry like the picture suggests.

Adam drove me to school – a high point in the day because the wind here is ca-razy! – so I could attend my final Biochem lab, my last science lab ever in my degree!  That last lab bit would be a lot more exciting if we didn’t have a huge lab final next week that is totally throwing off my study plans for my other finals.

In the afternoon I also attended a study session for another exam that is making me want to curl up in a ball and cry.  When I take my Metabolism final two weeks from now we will have a 5minute break after the test and then we’ll be sitting for a comprehensive exam that spans the material from a course two semesters ago through now.  Yay.  <– can you see why I’m in a blah mood?!

In between test bad news #1 and test bad news #2 I did manage to go to the gym.  My half marathon training schedule (which I promise to share on Monday) had me slated for three miles, so I hopped on the treadmill.  Aaaaaand I confirmed that I can’t run three miles without having to stop for breaks.  Ugh!  I ran 3 frustrating miles, followed by a 10minute cool down for a total of 3.5 miles and 40 minutes.  With a 5-minute strength/stretch session afterward.

For lunch I packed overnight made in the morning oats.  I combined and let stew –

  • 1/3 cup raw oatmeal
  • 2/3 cup skim milk
  • a 0% Plain Stonyfield yogurt
  • 1/2 a sliced banana
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp raisins

Tasted delicious, but looked as brown and boring as my breakfast –

Plus some greens in the form of roasted green beans.

Still tasty cold, and two days later, ps.

I was feeling seriously blah when I got home, and felt myself heading toward Crankypalooza.  So I did the not-being-a-psycho-wife thing and took a long shower, scrapped our dinner plans, ordered nachos with extra black beans and sour cream, and cuddled on the couch with Adam to watch some Scrubs.

A serving (weighed out because if you don’t weigh it you’ll seriously just eat the entire bag) of mini Reeses was also consumed.

I’m not sure if it was the cheese, the cuddling, or my Zach Braff crush, but my bad mood lifted!  And I knuckled down and finished off all of my remaining work for one of my classes; which further helped to lift my mood.  Bring it on finals week!

Are you having the crazy weather and winds in your neck of the woods?  Keep dry readers!

Why The Heck Not?

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Good morning!  I know I don’t usually blog weekend mornings, but I was up so I figured why the heck not?

I also usually don’t eat breakfast on the weekends, but I had to get out of bed at 7:30 to make Adam a smoothie so why the heck not?

I’ve never made buttermilk pancakes before (I doubt I’ve ever eaten them either), but there was a half used container of buttermilk in our fridge that was speaking to me.  Buttermilk as a muse, why the heck not?

I used this recipe for buttermilk pancakes, and topped mine with banana slices and chia seeds before the flip (why the heck not?).

It took me a while to get the hang of the flipping, and I ended up with one of Kath’s pancake tacos –

It was actually delicious.  P.S. My serving today was also topped with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of extra chia seeds, why the heck not?

AllRecipes lets you scale the recipes (amazing!) so I could have just made one serving but instead I made four, why the heck not?

I’ve got them individually wrapped – use wax paper to separate the individual pancakes within the serving – so they can be easily reheated for breakfasts throughout the week.

We’ve got a busy day around here, Adam has a clincal test this morning (hence the 7am smoothie) and we have to prep for the poker party he’s hosting here tonight.

“Honey, it’s my turn to host the poker game this weekend.  You can’t come, it’s just boys, but can you make the food for us please?  Oh, and baby, all the other wives made really good food, so please don’t make anything that sucks.”  Why the heck not?

Going Nutz

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I’m not gonna lie, I’m losing my mind a bit over here!  I feel a bit better than I did yesterday, but I’m still not well, and I’m ready to be well!  I’m annoyed that I can’t focus on my schoolwork, my legs are ready to run again, and I’m bitter as all get out over the fact that my two week sickness means I can’t run the upcoming Buffalo Half Marathon.  <– That was supposed to be my big announcement, more than a week ago now.  I flirted with the idea of trying to fit the training plan, but I’m still not able to run and the focus of the nye resolution was the training.  Since Buffalo only has one race a year, I might have to kiss that goal goodbye.

I wasn’t sure how hungry I’d be for it, but I knew a big breakfast would help cheer me up.

My stove-top base was 1/4 cup oats, cooked with a small banana and 1/2 cup each skim milk and water, with 1Tbsp chia seeds stirred in at the end. 

Topped with Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter with Honey and some butter toffee almonds.

Delicious!  I ended up finishing off the entire bowl.

A while back I bought a Groupon for Nutty Guys, which is where the nuts came from.

The website needs some serious streamlining, but it’s worth checking out for these nuts alone!

My morning’s off to a slow start while I wait for my Dayquil to kick in, but I’ve got a music test tomorrow to study for!

What’s driving you nuts today?

Dunchfast

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Dunchfast = this post covers breakfast, with dinner snack (yesterday’s) and lunch (coming later today) thrown in as well.

Yesterday after dinner, I enjoyed a snack while I studied for today’s metabolic pathways quiz.

That’s a half serving of Fiber One Caramel Delight Cereal, with soy milk and a few vegan marshmallows.

After I prattled on about being recharged from my lazy weekend, I had another terrible night’s sleep!  Probably part studying until after midnight and part being so cold that I actually got up at 2am to add another layer.

Breakfast needed to be good.

It was goooood,

and pink!

On the stove top, I cooked 1/4 cup of oats with 1 cup of water and 2/3 cup (frozen, defrosted) strawberries.  In the last few minutes I stirred in 1.5 Tbsp chia seeds, and I topped my finished bowl with 1 Tbsp each chunky peanut butter and maple syrup.

I’m not sure I’d try fresh strawberries in oatmeal, but the mushy texture of frozen ones is perfect.  Strawberries add this great tangy and sweet back-flavor.  Just be carefull; they hold a lot of heat so your bowl stays really hot!

I’m heading to school early to look over past quizzes before my first big nutrition test this week.  Since lunch is pre-packed, I thought I might as well pre-post!  A serving of leftover Tempeh Hashbrown Casserole,

with a juicy D’Anjou pear.

Just for fun – apples or pears?  Peanuts or almonds?  Broccoli or cauliflower?

I’m apples, peanuts, cauliflower 🙂

Fingers Uncrossed

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I went to bed dreaming of a workout, but apparently everyone else was crossing their fingers for snow.

Instead of gyming it I had breakfast with the husband, who’s going to drive me to and from school for BioChem, thank god.

At least breakfast was good.

Last night I took a near empty peanut butter jar and added 1/4 cup raw oats, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and a lot of plain soy milk; I was going for the soupy but gummy texture.

Didn’t it ended up looking kind of like the inside of a dragon fruit?

This morning I added a drizzle of maple syrup and dug in.

Overnight Oats in a Jar for the win!

Have you ever eaten a dragon fruit?  I’ve actually only seen pictures.

Slipping into Grumpsville

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The good news?  Several $100 later, I’ve got my computer back!  The bad news?  I’ve got a major case of the grumps.  I’ll try to keep this quick.

I haven’t been to the gym in a week.  I’ve also been cranky for a week.  I think that is solid scientific evidence that I’m happier when I workout 🙂  In the interest of considering all the data, I should also mention that I haven’t been going because my knee hurts and it’s possible I’m also cranky because I’m pissed about my knee.  <– that is extra-strength ironic, you’ll see why in a minute.

First, a breakfast that didn’t make me cranky.

I didn’t want to use banana so instead I beefed up my normal stove-top oats (1/3 cup oats, 1/2 cup each water and So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk) with 1.5 Tbsp of chia seeds and 2 tsp dark brown sugar.

I topped my chewy-in-the-best-way-ever creation with Trader Joe’s Sun Butter.

Sooo good.

Then I walked to school for lab.  And I slipped on the ice.  And fell.  Into a puddle.

Yeah, I don’t even really know what else to say about that.  I was angry and soaking wet and I wrenched my already hurt knee and bashed my ‘good’ knee into the sidewalk.  And as the day went on I realized my back also is killing me.  Hence the trip to Grumpsville.

After lab I walked home, gingerly, and took advantage of the Subway $5 Footlong promotion along the way.

I ate half today, and have the other half leftover for tomorrow.

I got the veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, spinach, red onion, green peppers, cucumber, black olives, and pickles.  I added a little Stubbs BBQ Sauce when I got home.

Delish.  Also another sandwich that did not miss the cheese.

I also got a large diet coke with ice and dipped pretzels into it.

Heaven.

And then I ate this thing of cashews.

Unfortunately the sandwich and massive snack attack didn’t take care of my other complaint – I was hungry, all day long.  Pretty much all day when I wasn’t complaining about my back I was frantic with hunger; Adam thinks I’m a joy to be with.  I took unphotographed nibbles of pretty much every item in the fridge (chickpeas leftovers, potatoes, peanut butter…).

Happy Sidenote – I was recently sent some Arnold’s 100% Whole Wheat Flax and Fiber Sandwich Thins to sample.  [I like them a lot]  The husband is obsessed with them!  Look at his lunch –

When we got the last-minute call about my computer (yay) we headed out, scrapping our dinner plans and opting for Moe’s instead.

I housed this veggie burrito with rice, pinto beans, sautéed mushrooms and onions, guacamole, and black olives.

I actually still have an assignment to do tonight (and of course I still have to complain about it) so I’ve got to go.  You’ll miss my cheery disposition 🙂

Have you ever slipped on the ice?