Highlights

Leaving for DC tomorrow morning!

Highlights of the Week:

• Dinner with Laura and my nice friend at Rojo. Black Bean Burger + Blue Moon = winning combination.

This is Rojo. It's a cool place.

• Lunch at Chez Lulu. I ordered the Half Soup Half Sandwich Special with the Garlic Soup and the Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Pesto Sandwich. Both items came highly recommended by the waiter.

• Kombucha. I tried Cosmic Cranberry this time. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I really do feel healthier/cleansed after drinking them.

• Sharing Cheesecake Factory's Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake and then watching The Lion King in 3D with my nice friend. Yeah, we're pretty cool. Surprisingly, there were only adults in the theater, so we didn't have to fight off any little kids for good seats!

Omg. Delicious. So glad it's pumpkin season.

Cute, huh? I <3 Disney.

• Attending the Birmingham District Dietetic Association meeting. Nutrition nerd alert. The meeting was about a local high school's new culinary arts program. Pretty interesting stuff!

Did you really think a group of dietitians could hold a meeting without having food? The brie was fantastic.

• In case you were wondering what else I ate, I had a lot of apples, blueberries, Greek yogurt, almond butter/sunflower seed butter, almonds, pom seeds, scrambled eggs with cheddar and salsa, oatmeal, Oatmeal Squares, KIND bars, and spinach- but you probably could have guessed that!

Here is one of my breakfast creations. I promise it was a lot better than it looks.

Here's another one. Again, a lot better than it looks. 

So easy. So satisfying.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Two Concerts in One Weekend!

So remember how I mentioned yesterday I'd had the best weekend ever, and it wasn't even over yet? 

Let's just say my weekend continued in its awesomeness.

Here's where I left off...

Yesterday after church, I met my parents for a delicious lunch at Brio.

Per usual, I ordered the Salmon Salad. It never fails me.

Yesterday afternoon/evening involved Antiques at the Garden, watching old seasons of How I Met Your Mother, drinking wine, cooking dinner, and a surprise concert with a nice friend.

The dinner menu included balsamic grilled chicken, sweet potato rounds, and sautéed spinach. My nice friend prepared the chicken, while I handled the side dishes. 

Teamwork.

Beforehand, I was instructed that we needed to be finished with dinner by 7:30 because there was somewhere we had to be, but I couldn't know where that was. I happen to love surprises, but I also have this need to know exactly what I'm doing every second of the day. Therefore, I required several hints and did a lot of guessing. Turns out, my friend is pretty bad at keeping secrets, so I was able to figure out the venue- WorkPlay. I also determined that some kind of tickets would be involved.

It was still a surprise because I had no idea that they would be tickets to the Mat Kearney concert!!!

Yes, it was awesome. I can't believe I ended up going to two concerts over the weekend and didn't plan on either of them. I am lucky.

Favorite song of the night was Chicago. It's a beautiful song and after interning in Chicago, I am kind of partial to the city.

Good surprise? You bet.

This morning I woke up craving oatmeal. 

1/2 C oats, water, 1 T ground flax, 1/2 chopped apple, dried cranberries, cinnamon, 1 T Sunbutter. 

Lunch was leftover quinoa. Instead of enhancing this dish with avocado and salsa like I did last time, I added sun dried tomatoes and Zoe's Greek dressing. 

I love how versatile quinoa is- you can pretty much add any combination of veggies and toppings, and it will turn out great!  

I had sliced strawberries with Stevia to finish off the meal.

Afternoon snack was the other half of my apple from this morning + more Sunbutter. 

Dang, that stuff is good. Love the crunchiness from the sunflower seeds!

My mom is out of town, and my dad requested to go to Area 41 for dinner, so that's where we went. I ordered the Panini Portabello-portabello mushrooms, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, spinach, and pesto on ciabatta bread with mixed greens on the side. 

Sooooo good.

Exciting News: I passed my Adult Weight Management pre-test before the deadline, and I will be attending a conference in Williamsburg, VA next Monday-Wednesday! Procrastination pays off. The really exciting news is that I will be spending the weekend in DC to visit my cousin for the weekend! On Sunday, I'll be taking the Amtrak from DC to Williamsburg for the conference. I've been meaning to visit her for awhile, and this just worked out perfectly. We have many exciting things planned already, and I can't wait!

Peppermint tea and dark chocolate time. Have a great night!

CIvil Wars and Alabama Homecoming

Best. Weekend. Ever. And it's not even over yet!

On Friday, I made an impromptu decision to go to The Civil Wars concert- oh, about 3 hours before the concert started. I'm usually not very spontaneous, but it's so fun when I am!

I was supposed to be working on a pre-test for my Adult Weight Management certification, but my friends easily persuaded me to come to the concert instead. My test isn't technically due until Monday at midnight, so I figured I had a little room for procrastination. I searched for the cheapest tickets available and somehow ended up on the second row- not too shabby.

The concert was amazing. The Civil Wars are one of my favorite bands, and they are just so talented. Just a girl, a guy, and a guitar. Their voices literally give me chills. I always tend to like lesser known bands- and I knew The Civil Wars were gaining popularity, but I had no idea just how big they had gotten. They just finished touring with Adele in the UK and one of their songs is going to be on The Hunger Games soundtrack. Remember, this is the book that was so good I read the whole thing on a 3 hour plane ride. I had such a great time at the concert and was so happy with my spontaneous decision!

Catheryne, me, and Cameron.
Good music + hanging out with friends > studying.

On Saturday, I went to Alabama's homecoming game with Cameron, Laura, and Regan (she was home from NYC for the weekend!). 

First stop- Alpha Chi House:

We placed 2nd in lawn decorations and won all of homecoming! So proud:)

Homecoming Parade:

After the parade, we were starving and went to Zoe's for lunch. Of course, they finally opened the Zoe's in the stadium after I'd already graduated. Probably a good thing- I would have gone there way too much. No pictures, but I ordered a Chicken Salad Sandwich with fruit. Hit the spot.

We ran into Rebekah! She's the Crimsonette captain this year!

Also got to see Dara and Mandy!

It was my first time to go back since I've graduated, and honestly, I felt really really old. I'm really happy with the place I am now in life and would never want to go back to college, but I've missed it a lot more than I realized. It was so good to see people and catch up with friends! 

I've been a bad food blogger this weekend, but here are a few pictures i managed to take:

Quaker Oatmeal Squares, skim milk, sliced banana, blueberries, raw almonds.

Overnight Oats.

1/3 C Greek yogurt, 1/3 C skim milk, 1/3 C oats, 1/2 pear, dried cranberries, cinnamon, granola.

Packed lunch + snacks for the day. Leftover quinoa, Honeycrisp apple, raw almonds.

Scrambled eggs with cheddar, avocado, salsa and steamed broccoli on the side.

Off to church!

Short & Sweet

I've got a lot to get done before tomorrow, so I'm going to make this short and sweet and get right down to business. Here's what I've been eating this week....

Breakfasts:

 Greek yogurt, 1/2 Bartlett pear, blueberries, sweet potato bread, 1 T sunflower seed butter. Yogurt bowls are always better with carbs, especially sweet potato bread.

Overnight Oats in a Jar!

 1/3 C Greek yogurt, 1/3 C skim milk, 1/3 C oats, 1 T ground flax, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, cinnamon. Love scraping the sunflower seed butter off the sides of the jar! I always make this breakfast last extra long.

Close up!

Wallaby Nonfat Vanilla yogurt, Oatmeal Squares, 1/2 diced Honeycrisp apple, blueberries, Love Grown Foods granola, 1 T almond butter.

Lunches:

I'm trying to work on my food photography, so here is a fun photo shoot of one of my lunches you can enjoy:

For lunch one day, I heated up the rest of my Spicy Sweet Potato Marsala Soup and made a spinach salad on the side. 

I diced up half of a pear and also added pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and Whole Foods No Oil Balsamic Dressing. I also spread some leftover naan bread with Belle Chevre Fig Goat Cheese spread. 

I love soup. I love sweet potatoes. Therefore, sweet potato soup is a beautiful thing.

Such an awesome fall-inspired lunch!

Sunshine Burger on a toasted whole wheat English muffin with spinach and tomato and leftover roasted veggies on the side. We were out of ketchup- tragic, I know- so I used salsa instead. It served as a good substitute.

Panera You Pick Two with the Thai Chicken Salad, Black Bean Soup, and a whole grain baguette.

Snacks:

Per usual, I've eaten one my lovely Honeycrisps from the farmer's market every afternoon. Sadly, they are all gone now:( Apples have always been such a go to snack for me.

Dinners:

On Tuesday night, my parents and I went to Anniston for dinner to celebrate my grandpa's birthday at Longhorn Steakhouse. I ordered the Citrus Grilled Chicken with seasonal vegetables, which ended up being pretty good! 

Veggie quinoa bowl with red bell pepper, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, avocado, and salsa. Quick, easy, and soooo delicious!!

So excited about my leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Will be back tomorrow for a more thorough update. Have a great night!

Sweet Potato Soup

So yesterday evening, I went to Whole Foods to use my LivingSocial deal I purchased a few weeks ago. $10 for $20 worth of groceries. I won't bore you with pictures of the mainstays in my diet (sweet potatoes, spinach, mushrooms, Greek yogurt etc.), but I will show you a few of the specialty items I bought. 

Maple Vanilla Arctic Zero (150 calories for a whole pint!), Sunshine Burgers, pomegranates, Whole Foods Spicy Sweet Potato Marsala Soup, Whole Foods No Oil Balsamic Dressing, and Belle Chevre fig goat cheese spread.

I heated up some of the Spicy Sweet Potato Marsala Soup for dinner. I loved how thick it was, and it was a little spicy- but in a good way. Of course, I had to doctor it up just a little before eating. I toasted a slice of Rudi's 7 Grain with Flax and cut it into cubes for "croutons." I also added goat cheese and pumpkin seeds for creaminess and crunch. Instant gourmet soup!

Breakfast was a bowl of eats featuring the sweet potato bread I bought at the farmer's market.

1/3 C oats, 1 T ground flax, 1/2 sliced banana, sweet potato bread, 1 T almond butter.

I had an awesome lunch today! My mom had some leftover salmon and shrimp from this weekend, which I heated up and served atop a bed of spinach. I also added tomato, avocado, and walnuts and drizzled Zoe's Greek dressing on top. Such a healthy and filling lunch, packed with Omega- 3's!

I snacked on a Honeycrisp apple in between babysitting and running errands.

Dinner was barbeque chicken, roasted veggies (x2)- sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, and naan with black bean hummus. Such a classic dinner for me. Roasted veggies are my favorite thing to cook! I'm always in the mood for them.

Peppermint tea and more sweet potato bread after dinner. Good night!