The Pantry

This must be my week of trying new restaurants! 

Today after class, I met my mom for lunch at The Pantry, a new restaurant that has exciting words like hemp seeds, daikon, and kohlrabi on the menu. I'm so excited that Birmingham is stepping up its game in the healthy restaurants department!

I ordered an iced tea sweetened with Stevia to drink.

The owner made us salads with all kinds of different greens, a shot of lentil soup, tomato basil crackers, and lavender shallot vinaigrette. It's amazing how something soooo simple can taste so delicious. Freshness makes a difference, people!

She was going to add quinoa to the salad too but she forgot, so she brought it out to us later to add to our salads.

We also got to sample some goat cheese ice cream! I'm pretty sure everyone is aware of my deep affinity for goat cheese and ice cream, so of course, I thought it tasted phenomenal.

Here is my weekly workout plan:

Monday: 4 mile run (complete)

Tuesday: spin class + arm weights (complete)

Wednesday: vinyasa flow yoga (complete)

Thursday: spin class + arm weights + an evening yoga class...maybe

Friday: yoga + 30 mins cardio

Saturday: off

Sunday: yoga + 3 mile run (maybe?)

Official half marathon training starts in 2 weeks!

Here are some other meals I've eaten this week:

Wild Alaskan Salmon Burger on a whole-wheat sandwich thin with sautéed spinach, portabellos, and goat cheese.

Overnight Oats + Coffee. 

In the mix: 1/3 C oats. 1/3 C skim milk, 1/ 3 C Stonyfield Nonfat Vanilla yogurt, 1 T ground flax, 1 T crunchy PB, sliced banana, blueberries, strawberries. I wanted to add granola on top but I don't have any, so I added some Kashi Cinnamon Crumble for some crunch.

Two eggs sunny side up (why do they always turn out so ugly?) on a whole-wheat sandwich thin with Crofter's Strawberry Spread and roasted sweet potato round and Brussels on the side.

Dinner packed for class- brown rice, black beans, roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, sunflower seeds, bbq sauce. 

Post class snack- Stonyfield 0% Vanilla yogurt, blueberries, slivered almonds, chocolate chunks.

Just got back from a 3.5 hour stats class and am about to fall into bed. Hope you have a great night!

Golden Temple

Even though I still eat meat, it's no secret that I love a good vegetarian meal.

Some of my favorite vegetarian restaurants include:

Candle 79 in New York.

Cafe Sunflower in Atlanta.

World Peace Cafe in Atlanta.

Food For Thought in London. I also loved it this time. And this time.

Mildred's in London.

I just got really nostalgic reading over my travel posts from the past year. I'm ready for another trip!

As you may have guessed, Birmingham AL, is not exactly the most vegetarian-friendly city in the world.  However, there is one exclusively vegetarian restaurant here (also vegan-friendly) called Golden Temple. It's located downtown and is just a short drive from UAB's campus. Class gets out at 11 on Mondays, so I decided to head over there after class and try it out.

Look who I ran into:

Daddy-O and I had the same brilliant idea to get a delicious vegetarian meal! As my mom would say, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

I ordered the Golden Temple Stack, a bowl of brown rice, black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, salsa, and guacamole. I asked for it without sour cream. I decided to order the "large bowl" because the "small bowl" looked too small, but when my order came out, I immediately regretted my decision. This bowl was PACKED full! I could only eat about half and boxed up the rest for leftovers.

MMMM. Plant-based protein!

My dad ordered Red Beans and Rice which was the special of the day. It also came with a side salad and brown rice tortilla. I tried a bite, and it was really good!

Overall, it was a great lunch, and it was fun having a surprise dining companion! The food was healthy and hearty, and there are several more items on the menu that I want to try. They also have a smoothie and juice bar, so I might start making this a regular lunch spot. 

Definitely one of Birmingham's best-kept secrets- I can't believe I didn't know about this place until a few months ago! 

Weekend

This weekend consisted of:

My favorite Saturday lunch spot: Organic Harvest. I pass it on the way home from work and couldn't resist pulling over.

1/2 Organic Spinach and Jack Panini (Applegate Farms smoked turkey, Monterey Jack cheese, veganaise (I swear this stuff is actually good), and spinach on Big Sky 3 Seed Bread) with Mushroom and Brown Rice soup. All of the soups are homemade, healthy, and really delicious- I hate salty soups!

Homemade Dinner:

This time I sat back and let Will do all the cooking. I was impressed with his culinary skills.

On the Menu: teriyaki chicken meatballs, sweet potato fries, and broccoli slaw with Greek dressing. It was a good meal!

The table looked so pretty!

Frozen Yogurt:

Espresso and vanilla with toasted coconut and dark chocolate chips.

Post-church lunch at V. Richard's:

I ordered the salad plate with grilled chicken salad, broccoli salad, dilled cucumber salad, and Moroccan chickpea salad. Kombucha to drink!

Also included: laundry, grocery shopping, downward dogs and sun salutations (love yoga!), oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes (no recipe or pictures yet cause I'm still making some adjustments), and lots of homework!

Back to Running

Happy Friday- so glad it's finally the weekend!

I've been thinking about registering for a spring half marathon for the past month or so. Today I went ahead and signed up for the Country Music Half Marathon! I ran it last year and had a great time. I've been slowly getting back into running after taking a little hiatus and have been dying to get back to Nashville, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity. I'm still looking for a training partner though. Any takers?

Food:

Dinner packed for class-half of a Kashi Margherita pizza with broccoli slaw. Class doesn't get over until 9, so packing a dinner is a must!

Lunch the next day- the other half with spinach salad, tomatoes, and Whole Foods No Oil Balsamic.

Scrambled eggs with spinach + goat cheese and roasted sweet potatoes + butternut squash on the side (my healthy version of hash browns). Amazing. So much good stuff in this meal!

Overnight Oats- always a delicious breakfast choice.

This was on sale at Target this week, so I decided to give it a try. With 10 g protein and 9 g fiber, it's definitely a winner!

I used it to make trail mix along with some almonds and raisins.

Going to dinner at Rojo later tonight. Hope you have a great weekend!

Nabeel's

Good Weekend Eats:

On Friday night, Will and I went to a new Mexican restaurant called Frio En La Paz for dinner.

Texas-Style Margarita. I'm usually not a big fan of the margs, but this was really good and not too strong.

Baja Fish Tacos (grilled whitefish, honey cilantro lime slaw, chipotle tartar, avocado, and mango pico) with Roasted Street Corn on the Cob. I was very impressed with how fresh the ingredients were and loved how colorful my plate was! This is the kind of Mexican food I love- not the greasy, fried stuff.

 Greek Chicken Pita with fruit. I could eat at Zoe's every day.

On Monday, I had the day off, so I went to lunch with my parents at Nabeel's- a super authentic Greek restaurant.

Don't you feel like you're in Greece?

We started out with some pita bread and hummus.

I went with the Sautéed Shrimp Special.

Greek Peasant Salad- cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and olives.

Seafood is just so good.

Some other food:

Spinach salad with tomatoes, avocado, butternut squash, hardboiled eggs, raisins, and walnuts. It doesn't look pretty but it was good!

Wild Alaskan Salmon Burger with whole wheat pasta and broccoli slaw. Bought these salmon burgers at Sam's this weekend and really like them a lot!

Scrambled eggs, spinach, tomatoes, pesto, and goat cheese on a Multigrain flatout wrap.

Since December, I've been scheduling my weekly workouts in advance and writing them in my planner. I've found this is the most effective way for me to get my workouts done. It's a good habit that's carried over into the new year!

Here's the projected schedule for this week....

Workout Schedule:

Monday: Grand Jeté barre class (got a Groupon for 5 of these classes!) + 4 mile run with Laura (complete)

Tuesday: spin class + weights (complete)

Wednesday: off

Thursday: spin class + weights

Friday: yoga + 30 mins arc trainer

Saturday: 3 mile run + weights? This one is still up in the air.

Sunday: yoga

Just turned in my first paper for grad school and am off to do some reading before my next class!

It's Been Awhile

So, it's been awhile.

Being busy means there's not a whole lot of time for blogging. Since I posted last, I started graduate school and have been getting into the swing of a new job.  I've felt a little out of touch with the blog world and I miss it, but at the same time, it's been nice to not have to worry about taking pictures of everything I eat or varying up my meals as much. Sometimes I eat the same thing for lunch every day for a week and sometimes I eat dinner in my car at 9 pm when I get off work. Whatever, I'm learning to make it work.

Being busy is not an excuse to compromise your health! Here are some quick and easy meals that never let me down:

1. Whole wheat sandwich thin with peanut butter, pumpkin butter, sliced banana, and cinnamon.

Best pre-spin class breakfast ever. (if you're going to the 8:30 class)

2. Overnight Oats.

Best post-spin class breakfast ever. (if you're going to the 5:30 class)

3. Baked tilapia with roasted sweet potato rounds and Brussels sprouts.

Look how pretty my new dishes are!

4. Whole wheat veggie pasta.

Veggies=sautéed spinach, eggplant, and mushrooms.

5. Turkey Burger with provolone and sautéed mushrooms and a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Everything tastes better with ketchup, obviously.

6. Scrambled eggs with cheese, avocado, and salsa.

I've said it many times before, eggs + avocado= amazing.

7. Chicken Salad Salad.

Other salad additions: carrots, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, raisins.

Of course I've been eating out some too....

Turkey Crunch with roasted veggies from Urban Cookhouse.

Moroccan Chicken Salad from CPK. This is my favorite salad of all time. It's so so so good!

Whole Foods Hot Bar.

Other Things Worth Mentioning:

• I celebrated NYE with these two:

Laura and I at dinner.

We were festive :)

Why do I look so awkward?

• Will and I like to eat cookies from Whole Foods sometimes.

Sometimes we split them....

Half Ginger, half Pecan Pie.

Other times, we take them home, drink hot tea, and watch movies...

This is my ideal night.

• Muffins are one of my favorite foods. Fun fact: I asked for muffins one year for Christmas (I was two), and I even named my grandparents' dog Muffin. 

Let me introduce you to the "Health Nut" muffin from Magic Muffins. It is one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life, and the best part is that it contains no butter, sugar, or white flour!

• Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a really good movie.

Suspenseful.

• NEEDTOBREATHE is my current musical obsession.

Love love this song!

• I registered for Food Blog South with Brittany. It's a food blogger conference at the end of this month! The great part is that it's located in Birmingham! What, there are actually other people who take pictures of their food in this city?! It's kind of ironic due to the fact that I've been doing such a poor job keeping up with my blog lately, but perhaps the conference will provide me with some inspiration. I'm really looking forward to it!

I guess that's enough rambling for now. I'll try to update as often as I can!

Hope you have a great rest of the week!