Bachelor Pad and Pizza

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start! Here's what I've been up to so far...

Yesterday:

I brought back an old classic for breakfast yesterday. I made oatmeal with skim milk and topped it off with blueberries and walnuts. This is how I made my oatmeal every single time when I first started eating it religiously a couple of years ago.

Blueberries and walnuts are always good toppings. I also got a pretty new bowl on sale at Anthropologie this weekend!

Yesterday, I was out running errands and couldn't help but stop by Urban Cookhouse. I've been wanting to eat there for the longest time, and when it was right there, I couldn't not go. I ordered the Berry Good Wrap, a whole wheat tortilla filled with strawberries, blackberries, lettuce, tomatoes, spiced pecans, and grilled chicken in citrus vinaigrette, with roasted vegetables on the side.

Take Out Love. <3

I've been wanting to add some variety to my fruit and veggie intake, so I snacked on this Asian Pear. 

Dinner was the Monday night usual, whole wheat veggie pizzas to eat while watching the Bachelor Pad!

Last night I made these on a Multigrain FlatOut Wrap spread with sun dried tomato pesto and topped 'em with sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes, part skim mozzarella, and goat cheese (just for extra awesomeness). LOVE pizza so much! And it's so easy to make healthy swaps!

Today:

So today, I've eaten 2 out of 3 meals in my car, but I guess that's real life for ya!

Breakfast was a bowl of Strawberry Chobani Greek yogurt, 2/3 C Oatmeal Squares, blueberries, and strawberries. Brought back such fond memories of eating breakfast in my car every morning during my nutrition rotations! 

If I wake up early and am on my feet all morning, it never fails that I am absolutely starving around 10 AM. Today was no exception. To curb my hunger, I snacked on some Emerald's Cinnamon Roast Almonds, which are absolutely delicious and pretty darn addicting!

I was downtown today going to meetings and such, which meant I was close to Al's Deli & Grill, another restaurant I've been wanting to try, around lunchtime! I ordered the Grilled Chicken Gyro, which was eaten in my car. 

I had some carrots when I got home.

After my workout, I snacked on some cherries. 

I'm about go meet some friends at Jackson's for dinner + drinks-I'm loving this Tuesday night tradition!

And in case you forgot what I look like....

Here I am, ready for the night!

In Holland

“Planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy? You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.” “Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrants.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.” – Emily Perl Kingsley

Organic Harvest

Happy weekend, everyone!

I've had a pretty fun and social week-Jackson's on Tuesday, Billy's on Thursday, and Zydeco to see Trotline last night! I felt like a college student all over again and loved it. I also have some exciting news that I will share in a week or so!

Here are some recent eats:

Since cantaloupe and strawberries are delicious by themselves, I thought they would work beautifully in a Green Monster.

I was right! Loved this mix of 1 C unsweetened almond milk, cantaloupe, strawberries, 1/2 banana, 2 C spinach, 3 spoonfuls plain Greek yogurt, and ice. Obviously, I topped it off with Love Grown Foods granola for a little crunch.

Sometimes I google things like "nutrition and Birmingham" just to see what pulls up. I scored big the other day by discovering a new organic cafe and juice bar in Birmingham! It's a little bit of a drive from my house, so I probably never would have heard of it otherwise.

This is Organic Harvest. A health food store with a cafe inside!


The concept reminded me a lot of Manna in Tuscaloosa, one of my absolute favorite lunch spots.


I ordered the Harvest Salad & Sandwich Special. I got half of the Organic Turkey & Jack Sandwich, which came with Applegate Farms smoked turkey, Monterey Jack cheese, avocado, veganaise, and lettuce on Big Sky Three Seed Bread and half of a Harvest House Salad, organic spring mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and sprouts with balsamic vinaigrette. I also got a Steaz Black Cherry Sparkling Green Tea.

I was really surprised that I actually liked the veganaise! Organic Harvest also has a full juice and smoothie bar, so I plan on going back soon! Totally worth the drive!

Oatmeal with almond milk, sliced bananas, blueberries, and slivered almonds.

Taziki's Grilled Chicken Roll Ups with fruit. Didn't eat the chips.

Brunch at Over Easy. This is my new favorite place! I ordered the Breakfast Sandwich on wheat with scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and provolone with hash browns on the side. They have the best wheat toast and hash browns in town!

Banana soft serve is one of the best things I've ever had in my life. I just blended a frozen banana, a spoonful of Skippy Natural PB, and a splash of almond milk together to make a healthy dessert that tasted sinfully delicious. I'm super classy and licked the blender clean. Oh, and it's about a zillion times more delicious than I just made it look with my pictures.

Go make some banana soft serve now! Just do it.

WIAW

Two posts in one day! I know...crazy, right?! In addition to telling you about last night's delicious dinner, I am also going to post my very first What I Ate Wednesday, except I can't figure out how to get the little graphic thing on here. Oh well. Hope you are excited!

Breakfast:

Strawberry Oikos, 1/3 C oats, 1/2 sliced banana, Love Grown Foods Sweet Cranberry Pecan granola, Justin's Maple Almond Butter. I also threw in a handful of blueberries and Almond Squares after the photo was taken. It was a good afterthought. This granola is so good that I've been trying to just limit myself to sprinkling it on top of my breakfasts. So far, so good-no mindless grazing yet!

Lunch:

I made a salad using some leftover veggies from last night-romaine, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, bell pepper, sunflower seeds, and a hard boiled egg drizzled with Bolthouse Farms Honey Mustard Yogurt Dressing.

I love adding hardboiled eggs to salads. Such an easy way to get some protein!

Also had one of these heated up in the microwave.

Plain tortillas are good.

Snack:

A bowl of cantaloupe and strawberries + a spoonful of almond butter.

 I kind of forgot how freakin delicious cantaloupe is.

Dinner:

My mom made turkey meatballs!!! These are a pretty standard meal in our house. I topped them off with sautéed mushrooms and lots of ketchup and also had a baked sweet potato topped with lots of cinnamon and steamed broccoli on the side. Gotta have a little something green.

Good dinner! I'll find any excuse I can to use ketchup and cinnamon!

Dessert:

I needed a little something sweet after dinner. Always. I'm loving Publix low fat frozen yogurt right now! I had one scoop of Moose Tracks and one of Berry Granola. It was nice to have a mix of chocolatey and fruity flavors. 

Ice cream will always be my favorite dessert.

Workout: 50 minutes on the arc trainer + 6.4 mile walk. I was a little bored today, if you couldn't tell.

Now I'm about to make my ritual cup of nightly peppermint hot tea. Good night!

Tomato Salad

I kept thinking of ways I could use all the tomatoes and okra I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday, and then it hit me....

This is the famous tomato salad from Hot and Hot. It's on the list of top 100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die, and it is one of the best things you'll ever eat in your life.

My mom and I cooked some corn and black eyed peas, fried some okra, and boiled some potatoes (just because we had them). We decided to omit the bacon and chive dressing from the recipe. However, lima beans would have been a welcome addition.

I wanted my tomato salad to be more of a "salad salad" with lettuce, so I covered the bottom of my plate with crunchy romaine, stacked my tomatoes, threw all of the other ingredients on top, and drizzled with balsamic vinegar + EVOO.

That was not the most instructive recipe I've ever given, but I basically just assembled a lot of veggies on top of lettuce. That's why I love salads. They're so quick and easy to throw together, and it's such a great way to pack in a ton of produce. People always complain that salads aren't filling enough, but if you make them big enough and add all the right ingredients, salads can make a very satiating meal.

Here's what I came up with:

So what I made didn't look exactly like the salad pictured above, but it served as good inspiration.

 Not bad, right?

This is an awesome Southern summer salad, and it will not disappoint!

Brio Again

Hey everyone. Hope your week is off to a good start!

Here are some recent eats...

Breakfasts:

Strawberry Oikos, 1/2 sliced banana, blueberries, Oatmeal Squares, granola. Oatmeal Squares are really addicting. I somehow always go back for another handful or two after I finish breakfast.

Oatmeal topped with a peach, granola, and sunflower seed butter. My breakfasts are repetitive, yet delicious.

Brio:

I went to Brio again for lunch! I've been on a serious salad kick lately, and they have some of the best salads around. They also have one of the best bread baskets around. Sun dried tomato olive oil, yes please.

I wanted to a try a salad I'd never had before and the Citrus Garden Salad sounded intriguing. Fresh linguine tossed with spinach, peppers, carrots, scallions, basil, dried cranberries, candied pecans, lemon vinaigrette, and a spicy citrus glaze. I also added shrimp to the salad for some protein. I loved it-although, I wish there'd been more spinach and less pasta.

Sandwiches:

We haven't had much produce in our house the past couple of days, so sandwiches have been my go to for meals.

Half of a turkey and swiss panini on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, and mustard. Fuji apple on the side.

I used the last egg to make a fried egg sandwich on toasted whole wheat spread with Garden Gourmet Italian Herbs and topped with melted swiss and tomato. It was an easy dinner to throw together and really good! Just wish I'd had more veggies or another egg to put on the sandwich.

PB&J Roll Ups! A whole wheat tortilla spread with Trader Joe's Valencia PB with Roasted Flaxseeds (haven't used this in awhile!) and Crofter's Grape Spread with baby carrots on the side.

I just noticed that I used the same plate in the last three pictures. Oops. And I just went to the grocery store, so the fridge is fully stocked now!

Scenes From the Weekend

Peach Mango Oikos (loving all these new flavors!), peach slices, strawberries, Oatmeal Squares, and Love Grown Foods Sweet Cranberry Pecan granola.

Whole Grain SmartBagel spread with PB & Co The Bee's Knees and topped with sliced banana. I'm a huge bagel fan, and I love that these are only 100 calories!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew KIND bar. This flavor was pretty good!

1 C unsweetened almond milk, a banana, 1/2 C blueberries, 2 C spinach, 3 spoonfuls plain Greek yogurt.

Dinner with Laura and Cameron at Pablo's Cantina. I ordered the grilled tilapia tacos, which came with a side of mixed veggies and Mexican rice. They were pretty tasty, and I loved getting veggies with my tacos!

Saturday morning means Farmer's Market!!! Here's what I picked up....

Tomatoes- a standard.

Sweet potatoes-a personal favorite.

Okra-a recent affinity.

A bakery I've always wanted to go to but never have until now.

They're famous for their "Baby Bites." 

I brought home Turtle, Red Velvet Cake, Caramel, Strawberry, and Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Red Velvet Cake and Turtle were my favorites!

Downtown Homewood.

Best coffee in Birmingham.

Drippy egg served over a bed of sautéed veggies, including onions, peppers, squash, spinach, and tomatoes. Sweet potato rounds on the side. Delish. Total comfort food.

Lunch at Brio after church with Cameron and another friend from high school. I ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Salad, tricolore lettuce, grilled chicken, orzo, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, roasted red peppers, asparagus, capers, crispy lavoush, and lemon vinaigrette.

I finally made a collage of all my favorite pictures from studying abroad in Italy! It makes me happy.

Hope you had a great weekend!