San Diego Bound

I'm headed out to San Diego for the American Dietetic Association's annual conference early tomorrow morning. It will be my first time in San Diego, and I can't wait!

My mom is accompanying me, and we have plans to hit up the zoo tomorrow! I've also already made dinner reservations for each night (via spending a few hours on UrbanSpoon), but are you really surprised?

Food from the Week:

Leftover pasta.

 

Oatmeal season!!!
1/2 C oats, water, skim milk, 1 T ground flax, sliced banana, blueberries, sunflower seed butter.


Overnight Oats.
1/3 C oats, 1/3 C Greek yogurt, 1/3 C skim milk, 1 T ground flax, 1 T Smart Balance Crunchy PB, sliced banana, blueberries, cinnamon.


3/4 C Kashi Heart to Heart Cinnamon, skim milk, sliced banana, blueberries.

I had one of those days where I just needed some melty, cheesy goodness and a Cherry Coke Zero. I just did. I used Rudi's 7 grain with flax, one slice cheddar, one slice provolone, sliced tomato, and pesto. The pesto and mix of cheeses make all the difference in the world. I was so content after eating this.

Quiche with spinach, mushrooms, red bell pepper, and bacon. Spinach salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, and Annie's Balsamic on the side.

Grilled salmon with vegetable couscous and Greek salad from Taziki's. Even though I've eaten at Taziki's probably more than any other restaurant, I never really get sick of it. Probably because they always have some kind of spectacular dinner special, such as the aforementioned.

I got all domestic and made homemade granola this week. Here's my awesome recipe:

1 C almonds, 1 C cashews, 1 C walnuts, 1 C oats, 1/2 C sunflower seeds, 1/2 C pumpkin seeds, 6 T agave nectar (favorite sweetener at the moment!). Bake for 15 minutes at 300º. Once the granola has cooled, add 1/2 raisins and 1/2 C dried cranberries. It's crazy good granola.

Redwood Hill Farms Vanilla Goat Milk Yogurt topped with homemade granola. I was a fan of the goat milk yogurt-although, it's a little higher in fat (5 grams). I've loved trying new types and flavors of yogurt this week!

Chips + guacamole. Guacamole is the food the gods, seriously.

Dinner at Cantina. I ordered the Cilantro Chicken served with roasted corn, poblano peppers, cheese, and saffron rice. Soooo yummy!!

Vanilla Chobani with shredded coconut, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and agave. Typically, I'm not one of those "I'll just eat Greek yogurt as an ice cream replacement and be totally satisfied type people." Somehow, this little concoction magically worked for me, and I turned into one of those people.

This was even better! Vanilla Chobani mixed with Nutella. It would've been good by itself, but I kicked things up a notch by adding chocolate chips and blueberries. Go. Try. This. Now. Forreal.

Have a great weekend! I'll be California dreamin' tonight:)

Glee is back!

Today was a yucky, rainy day. The season premiere of Glee was the only thing getting me through! I went over to a friend's house to watch Glee with a few friends. Watching TV is always fun with other people. It was fun seeing Lindsey from The Glee Project on the show!! Can't wait until Damian and Samuel make an appearance! Those kids are just so amazingly talented. I've always wished singing was a talent I possessed.

Speaking of the Glee Project, go check out this video asap. And this one (one of my fav Snow Patrol songs!). While you're at it, check out all of his videos!

 Cameron was named fan favorite of the show. He actually eliminated himself from the competition (although, the producers begged him to stay), and I just think he is phenomenal.

So anyway, here I am.

This is a picture of me in my car. I've just never really been able to master the whole "take a picture of myself in a full length mirror thing." I always feel really creepy and awkward, not that taking pictures of yourself in your car is any less creepy or awkward. It was a sweater and side ponytail kind of day.

Moving onto the important stuff, food....

Sunday lunch from FlatTop Grill. Can't get enough stir fry!

Brown rice, bok choy, spinach, broccoli, corn, edamame, mushrooms, squash, zucchini, snap peas, water chestnuts, chicken, a mix of Asian Sesame Ginger and Hot Red Chili sauce, and grilled roti flatbread. I swear this bread should be renamed "crack bread." It's addicting and keeps me coming back for more!

3/4 C Oatmeal Squares, 1/2 C skim milk, sliced banana, handful of Cinnamon Roast Almonds.

AB&J on Rudis 7 Grain with Flax (love this bread). Apple slices and Wallaby Maple yogurt on the side. Loved the maple flavor...so dessert like!

Whole wheat penne with squash, zucchini, heirloom cherry tomatoes, broccoli, red and green bell pepper, mushrooms, and sautéed shrimp tossed in pesto sauce and topped with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes. My goals was to get less pasta than normal and load up on the veggies...success!! I had leftovers for dinner tonight too!

The beautiful pesto I got from the Pepper Place farmer's market on Saturday. Pepper Place is the big farmer's market in downtown Birmingham. I usually go to a smaller farmer's market closer to my house, so it was quite the treat to go to Pepper Place. It's huge and awesome, and I tried a lot of free samples. The squash, zucchini, and broccoli used in my pasta dish also came courtesy of the farmer's market.

Overnight oats make my mornings so easy!

1/3 C oats, 1/3 C Vanilla Chobani, 1/3 C skim milk, 1 T sunflower seed butter, blueberries, 1/2 Bartlett pear, cinnamon. Sunflower seed butter works so well in overnight oats, maybe even more so than almond butter?

Other things not pictured: lots of Cinnamon Roast almonds, a veggie goat cheese scramble, cantaloupe and honeydew, Greek yogurt with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and agave, Fuji apples, Dove dark chocolates with almonds, Clif Mojo Bars, etc.

Hope you have a great night! If not, the season premiere of Modern Family comes on tomorrow night, so that is sure to make up for it! 

Siggi's Success!

Hello!

Can you believe it's already September 17? I can't! Crazy how fast time goes by.

So, I haven't exactly been the best blogger this week and have failed to take pictures of several of my meals.

I have had some pretty good eats though! Here are the ones I did manage to document....

1/3 C oats, 1/3 C skim milk, 1/3 C Greek yogurt, 1/4 C pumpkin, 1 T ground flax, 1 T almond butter, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice. I promise it tastes better than it looks!

1/3 C oats, 1/3 C skim milk, 1/3 C  Greek yogurt, 1 T ground flax, 1/2 sliced banana, blueberries, 1 T almond butter, cinnamon. Overnight oats were my lifesaver this week!

Veggie & Jack panini-spinach, avocado, tomato, Monterey Jack, and Veganaise-made into a wrap with a brown rice tortilla. Apple slices on the side. Organic Harvest is becoming a weekly tradition!

Moroccan Chicken Salad from California Pizza Kitchen. Romaine lettuce topped with Moroccan spiced chicken, roasted butternut squash, dates, avocado, toasted almonds, beets, chopped egg, dried cranberries, and bell peppers tossed in champagne vinaigrette. This is one EPIC salad!!!

Almond Walnut Macadamia KIND bar. With 10 g of protein, this baby kept me full all afternoon!

Spinach salad topped with mushrooms sautéed in garlic and tomato sauce, heirloom cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, black bean hummus, and a few Mary's Gone Crackers. It would have been good with avocado too, but I didn't have any. This is such an Ann lunch, and it reminded me of her while I was eating it! Miss you, Ann:)

I've shocked the blogosphere on several occasions by mentioning that I'm not the biggest Siggi's fan (every other blogger seems to rave about it!), however-I think I've finally made a breakthrough! I tried the Orange & Ginger flavor, and I really liked it! It was still pretty thick, but there was just something about it that made it easier to eat. Glad I know which flavor I like now. Would probably get this again!

Cantaloupe is so refreshing.

Leftover quinoa topped with sautéed squash, zucchini, broccoli, and heirloom cherry tomatoes. 'Twas delicious. So many awesome veggies!

Zoe's Chicken Roll Ups with fruit. This is a recycled pic, but it works. Zoe's is always a good call.

TCBY is also always a good call. Here's another recycled pic: White Chocolate Mousse and Peanut Butter yogurt. The only difference is the topping- I got Reese's instead of chocolate chips this time. It's so funny how I used to eat fro-yo about 3x a week (at least!) in college, and now I hardly ever eat it. It's actually really sad, because frozen yogurt is my favorite. I miss it.

I'm thinking tonight is a stay at home and watch movies in your pajamas and eat dark chocolate with caramel kind of night. Much needed!

Fabulous Fall Salad

It's no secret that I adore fall flavors, and I wanted to share a wonderful fall salad I made the other day!

It was so easy to make. I started off by roasting a pan of sweet potato rounds, cubed eggplant, and Brussels sprouts seasoned with EVOO, sea salt, pepper, and Cavender's Greek Seasoning (it makes everything better).

I assembled the veggies over a bed of spinach.

And added toasted pumpkin seeds and goat cheese.

I dressed the salad with balsamic vinegar + a little EVOO. It was perfection. So many of my favorite foods all in one dish!

To complete my meal, I had Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt with agave nectar. Surprisingly, this really satisfies my sweet tooth!

The leftover veggies also make really great leftovers to pack as a lunch! It's so easy to just throw them on top of a bed of lettuce and add whatever other toppings you like. Enjoy! 

Dekalb Market

Hello!

I ended up staying an extra night in Atlanta, because MA had today off, and I didn't have anything that I absolutely had to be back for today. We decided to start our morning off right by heading to Nectar, an organic juice bar in Decatur for breakfast. I love fresh juices, and I really do feel more energized after drinking them!

It was a neat place. I think it would be fun to go back for lunch.

I ordered the 5 a day juice, which consisted of apples, beets, carrots, greens, cucumbers, and lemon. To be honest, this juice was a bit blander than other juices I've had. I'm thinking cucumber might be the culprit, making the juice more watery than usual?

Next, we headed over to the Dekalb Market. Go check out the website-it's a freakin' awesome place! It's basically a huge Farmer's Market located in a warehouse, and it's open every day. 

Every kind of food imaginable is located in there. While I walked around, I enjoyed a 2/3 decaf 1/3 regular coffee. 

So much delicious bread.

And a million different types of granola.

There were so many fruits and veggies that I'd never even heard of before!

This isn't a good picture, but basically I bought amaranth, coffee extract, cocoa nibs, Aviva Chai Tea, Hearty Barley Lentil Soup, and a bottle of Gamekeeper's Reserve Chenin Blanc. I also hit up the bread aisle later and picked up a focaccia with tomato and onions for my parents and some bran muffins.

When we left Dekalb Market, it was lunchtime, and we were conveniently located about 10 minutes from YEAH! Burger. We discovered this place earlier this summer, and I'd have to say it makes the list of my top 5 favorite restaurants. That's kind of a big deal.

When I walked into YEAH! Burger, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People was playing, and I was instantly happy. YEAH! Burger is glorious and magnificent. It's one of my happy places. I'm not really sure what that says about me.

I got a turkey burger without the bun and added lettuce, tomato, grilled vidalia onions, sautéed shrooms, sliced avocado, and sunflower pesto.

I couldn't resist the sweet potato wedges-they are absolutely to die for. And it's not every day that I get to these little nuggets of heaven.

Bliss. Sheer bliss.

Last time we were there, we noticed the cute t-shirts for sale and kind of joked about buying one. Well today, WE DID, and I am now the proud owner of a YEAH! Burger tee.

Keepin' it real, yo. It has a cute little YEAH! Burger logo on the back!

When I got home, I went on a long evening walk, and it felt incredible outside. Then I got to work on my dinner. 

Quinoa mixed with tomato sauce and sautéed spinach and topped it with toasted pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes.

I just made up this recipe on a whim, using ingredients I had at home. Would make this again for sure! 

Now I'm watching the finale of Bachelor Pad and enjoying my dessert of almond butter mousse-Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt mixed with Trader Joe's Creamy Almond Butter with Sea Salt. After I mixed it together, I let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to give it a really nice texture. Sooooo good!!!

I had such a fun time in Atlanta, but it's good to be back home and get on my regular schedule. I'm already planning my next trip to Atlanta though!