Mediterranean Feast

I finally got in sync with the weather today and had cold cereal for breakfast.

I had a mix of Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted and Trader Joe's High Fiber finished off with skim milk, blueberries, sliced banana, and MaraNatha Raw Almond Butter.

My mom and I ran errands this morning and did lots of "job looking" things. We were in downtown Birmingham at lunch time, so I suggested we eat lunch at Brick & Tin, a really cool sandwich shop that uses local ingredients. I had been there once with my dad and loved it. I'm usually never in that area, so I knew I had to jump on my opportunity to eat there! Each of the sandwiches on their menu represents a different region of the country or world. I chose the Provence, which came on crusty, buttery bread with warm goat cheese, pesto, and farmer's market vegetables. Heck yes. I chose the field pea salad as my side item, which I loved. It was so fresh! They have a tapas menu on Friday nights, and I've been dying to go. Anyone wanna join me?

Downtown Birmingham

After lunch, we went to Whole Foods to pick up some ingredients for dinner tonight, and I ran into Laura. So fun seeing her-we both would be there! I worked on some more stuff this afternoon and went to the gym for a pretty standard workout-45 minutes on the arc trainer and 15 on the treadmill.

Snack Time:

A peach and a Banana and Coconut Grawnola Bar that I picked up at Whole Foods. I thought this bar was pretty tasty, and I was very impressed with the ingredients list + nutrition facts!

I wanted to incorporate the veggies that I bought at the Farmer's Market into dinner tonight. My mom and I decided to re-create a dish that we had at the Olive Branch earlier this summer. We made stuffed squash that was filled with ground chuck, brown rice, a can of diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. On the side, we had a tomato and cucumber salad, carrots, and whole wheat pita bread. I also made hummus for the first time ever tonight!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 16 oz can garbanzo beans
• 4 T lemon juice
• 1 1/2 T tahini
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 T olive oil

Method:

• Drain chickpeas and save remaining liquid from the can
• Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor
• Add 1/4 C of liquid from the can of garbanzo beans
• Blend until thoroughly mixed
• Add 2 T of olive oil on top

It was so good-you really can taste the difference between homemade and store-bought!

Best dinner ever.

And, just because I can't walk into Whole Foods and not get a cookie.

Vegan Almond Cookie-tastes like a grown up version of a Sandies Shortbread Cookie!

I realized that I didn't have the Vegan Almond Cookie last week when I thought I did. I actually had the Vegan Nut Coconut Cookie. It wasn't labeled, and I just assumed it was the Vegan Almond Cookie because it was with the other vegan cookies and had almonds in it. Today it was correctly labeled, and I learned otherwise! Anyway, they were BOTH delish! Next on my list: the Ginger Cookie.

Now for the reason I look forward to Mondays-the Bachelorette!

Quote of the Week: "For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Fast Food for Foodies

Yesterday after lunch, my mom and I went to the Vera Bradley store to use our birthday coupons (we're both June bugs!). I ended up getting the Get Carried Away tote in Java Blue to use for our trip to Nice, Paris, and London at the end of this month.

Once we got back home, I studied for the RD exam and ate this snack:

Super Fruits Oikos with blueberries

We continued our girl's day into the night. I suggested we go see Water for Elephants, because I just finished reading the book. We wanted to grab a quick dinner before the movie, so naturally we went to Whole Foods. I wasn't really in the mood for a salad and nothing on the hot bar caught my eye. But then I walked by the pizza station and lo and behold-they were pulling a spinach and mushroom pizza out of the brick oven!

Meant to be.

While we were eating last night, I realized that one of the reasons I like Whole Foods so much is because it's like a fast food restaurant for foodies. Even I can admit, it can be really hard to cook every night with a busy schedule and sometimes you just want to pick up something quick and convenient. But Whole Foods takes a different approach to "fast food"-they have so many different options (salad bar, hot bar, sushi, pizza-how can you ever decide?) and you never have to worry about eating fake food with weird ingredients. Making sure you get enough fruits, veggies, whole grains, and healthy fats in your meal is never an issue. They also have free wi-fi, so you can get work done or study and it's totally normal to eat there by yourself. And if you ever need a little pick me up, coffee, cookies, and gelato are at your disposal. It's not always super cheap (although, pizza is only $3.99 a slice-not bad), but I for one am willing to fork over a little extra cash for good health-I'll be saving myself money in health care costs later in life.

I really liked Water for Elephants! As always, the movie was slightly different than the book, but I still really enjoyed it. I also liked watching Robert Pattinson play a role other than Edward in the Twilight Saga-he was great in this movie! And way more adorable without all the creepy eye makeup.

I sneaked in a Vitamin Water Zero and Chocolove bar into the movie. No big deal. Btw, this is the BEST dark chocolate!

Even though it's like 104º outside, I made banana pumpkin oat bran with chia seeds for breakfast this morning. It was topped with TJ's Sunflower Seed Butter and 1/2 sliced banana. The picture didn't turn out very pretty, but it was a very satisfying and delicious breakfast.

I went to late church with the fam this morning and afterwards, we ate lunch at P.F. Chang's. I ate breakfast at 8 this morning, and we didn't sit down for lunch until about 1:30. I normally do not like to wait that long between meals, so my stomach was definitely growling and ready for lunch! I ordered the lunch special of Buddha's Feast, which is baked tofu and mixed vegetables served over brown rice. It also came with a cup of egg drop soup. They were both delicious, so I guess it was well worth the wait!

This afternoon consisted of a sweat sesh at the gym, lots of studying, and watermelon.

Dinner was a sandwich on two slices of Rudi's 14 grain (it's really good-kinda reminds me of Great Harvest bread!) with Sunflower Seed Butter and Crofter's Raspberry Spread, carrots from the Farmer's Market, and apple slices.

Current Music Obsession: Mumford & Sons. I've had the Sigh No More album on repeat for about a week now. This kind of works out, because I'm going to their concert in Atlanta on June 12 with Mary Alice!!! She's been doing some serious work in the kitchen this summer, so go check out her recipe page for new ideas!

Now for a little Next Food Network Star + dark chocolate...

Banana Pudding Bliss

The wedding shower was nice last night. It was a Southern themed fish fry, and it was decorated really pretty. I loved all the sunflowers (whenever I get married, there WILL be sunflowers!) My parents helped host the party, so we got to take some home!

Sunflowers always brighten my day!

I mostly just talked and mingled while I was there. I didn't eat anything (seeing as how the menu consisted only of fried chicken, fried fish, french fries, and hushpuppies) and only stayed for about an hour or so.

On the way to the shower

After I left, I met up with Laura and Callie at Baha Burger. We sat outside and enjoyed listening to live music-it was a nice chill, low-key atmosphere. I love that Baha Burger puts a healthy and creative twist on an old classic. They have salmon, lamb, chicken, and turkey burgers on the menu (all of which I've previously had). Last night I ordered the Portabello and Eggplant Veggie Burger on a whole wheat bun with a side of cantaloupe. The burger was also topped with havarti cheese, caramelized vidalia onions, and roasted red peppers. It was delicious but really hard to eat, so I ended up just eating most of it with a fork. Probably not your first date food of choice.

But I think the highlight of my night was:

Whole Foods Banana Pudding! 

If you think this looks disgusting, think again-one of the best banana puddings I've ever had! There were even chunks of cake in there, which made it even more awesome than it already was! I demolished this in record-breaking time.

Breakfast this morning was two slices of Rudi's 14 grain bread topped with PB & Co Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and a sliced banana.

After eating breakfast, I met up with Callie at the Mt. Laurel Farmer's Market. It was really cute!

I walked away with squash, carrots, peaches, and tomatoes-all of summer's best!

My mom and I were out and about today and ended up having a very spontaneous lunch at ORE, a new restaurant in Crestline opened by former American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks. Let me just say that this is one of the coolest restaurants in Birmingham. It's named after iron ore, because steel is Birmingham's main industry.

The bar looked like it would be hoppin' at night.

They even had a cool lounge area.

This totally made my day when I saw this in the restroom! (I couldn't fit the "y" and "o").

Everything on the menu looked good, but when I saw crab and avocado in the same sentence, I knew I had to get the ORE Crab Salad. It was to die for. 

My mom got the Chicken Cobb Sandwich, and she said it was one of the best lunches of her life. I tried a few of her homemade chips, and they were pretty darn good.

On top of the cool decor and delectable food, we had excellent service! Our waiter was so nice and let me keep a copy of the brunch, lunch, and dinner menu. Two noteworthy dinner entrees include Grilled Salmon with sugar snap pea succotash and spinach and a Vegetable Plate. I will definitely be back in the near future!

Off to go do things. Have a great Saturday!

Salad Repeat

I have no problem admitting that I have an addiction to frozen yogurt.

There is no shame in going through the TCBY drive-thru by yourself.

No shame at all.

On a different note, Bridesmaids was hilarious! I think I may have actually cried tears during a few different scenes of the movie. Of course it was a little raunchy (as everyone probably already knows), but I actually found it to be inspiring and quite touching in a weird kind of way.

All I wanted for breakfast this morning was a bowl of Barbara's PB Puffins with skim milk, sliced banana, and blueberries.

I went to the gym after breakfast to start my Friday right. It was insanely crowded-probably due to the fact that it's way too hot to do anything outside.

Lunch was another chicken fajita salad using up all of the leftovers from last night. Seriously, this salad rivals any restaurant salad, and it's super filling! I didn't use any dressing last night, but today I drizzled it with Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard per my mom's suggestion. It definitely kicked things up a notch!

Yep, that's a recycled pic from last night. It pretty much looked identical today minus the blue corn chips.

For "dessert", I had a mug of my favorite fruits-strawberries, peaches, and bananas. It was especially delicious on such a hot summer day!

I ran errands all afternoon and ate this Mango Macadamia KIND bar for a snack. I like that this particular bar has added Calcium + Vitamin D!

Going to my first of many wedding showers of the summer tonight!

Peanut Butter Pumpkin

I woke up this morning and decided today was going to be a good day:) It's all about positivity, people.

And, guess what news I found out: PINKBERRY IS COMING TO BIRMINGHAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously, I'm kind of excited.

I just realized that I hardly ever post pictures of myself, family, or friends on my blog. And I really like blogs with lots of pictures of who I'm reading about, so here ya go-some really high quality pics.

I tried a new little breakfast concoction this morning. I toasted some multigrain bread this morning and spread it with a mixture of a mashed banana, pumpkin, PB & Co Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, and cinnamon. I topped it off with Love Grown Foods Apple Walnut Delight granola. Oh my gosh-this tasted amazing! But then again, anything with banana, PB, and pumpkin would be good! I had some unpictured strawbs on the side.

My mom and I met a friend for lunch today at The Olive Branch. I ordered the chicken gyro with tabouleh salad as the side. Loved the pita bread!

It just so happened that my Groupon deal yesterday was $14 towards lunch at The Olive Branch. All in all, we walked away paying $3.11-not too shabby!

Loved my little breakfast creation so much that I made another PB + pumpkin dip for my afternoon apple. This time I left out the mashed banana and added shredded coconut to sweeten things up.

Dinner was assemble your own chicken fajita salad night. I made a Hugh Jass salad consisting of romaine, corn, tomatoes, onions, peppers, avocado, grilled chicken, and black bean salsa with some blue corn chips on the side. It was awesome-fresh Mexican flavors work so well in the summer.

Going to see Bridesmaids with a friend tonight! I've heard so many good things, I can't wait to see it!

Have a great night!

Autumn in June

I had a great time with Laura at Area 41 last night!

I always like a little green with my pizza-all about balance! We forgot to order the salads at first, so about 20 minutes after we ordered the pizza, we flagged the waitress down and asked for salads.

We split the veggie pizza. 

I love that nights with Laura ALWAYS end in a trip to TCBY! I got the same thing as last time-white chocolate mousse and peanut butter yogurt topped with chocolate chips-so good!

I would be such a good Italian-one of my all-time favorite meals includes a glass of wine, salad, pizza, and ice cream or gelato. Simple, but it never gets old to me!

Ann's been eating so much pumpkin lately, it inspired me to pull a can out of my pantry and use it in this morning's breakfast. I love fall flavors so much-pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut squash-that I eat them year round. I can't completely give up my hot oats in the summer months either!

I would also like to note that I drank hot green tea instead of coffee this morning. I'm trying to decrease my caffeine intake a little, but I would never completely give up coffee-I got a half-caff later today!

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

In the Mix:

• 1/2 C oats
• 1/4 C 0% Fage Greek yogurt
• 1/4 C unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 C pumpkin
• Cinnamon 
• Truvia

Toppings:

• 1/2 sliced banana
• Love Grown Foods Cocoa Goodness granola
• MaraNatha Raw Creamy Almond Butter

Lunch was a slice of toasted multigrain bread with Crofter's Raspberry Spread and a fried egg on top. On the side, I had a spinach salad with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, goat cheese, and slivered almonds with EVOO and red wine vinegar. I finished it off with some pineapple.

I went to the gym for a 45 minute workout on the arc trainer followed by some weights and abs. I ate this Walnut & Date KIND bar in the car as a snack.

My mom made Greek Spaghetti (using whole wheat noodles) for dinner tonight. It was filled with broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers and was tossed in Zoe's Greek Dressing. I added goat cheese on top, because let's face it- it makes everything better.

Dessert was half of a dark chocolate peanut butter cup (perfect combo) from a candy shop in Savannah with strawberries and blueberries.

I just got back from church with my mom and spent most of my day studying. My goal is to take the RD exam before my birthday, so that means lots of crazy studying in June!

Good night!