Mango

Cabbage: Take One

How is it only Tuesday!? I woke up today and could barely believe we’re only into day two of the week… I have so much to do that it wouldn’t be possible to get it all done if it was Thursday, but still.

To help console myself, I made pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes, but Chocolate Frosted Banana Pancakes.

I realize that frosting looks like it leaves something to be desired, but it was delicious, I promise. I had made these once before, but this time I put banana in the pancakes as well as in the frosting.

I love how the bananas caramelize in the pan and get all brown and gooey.

In the mix:

  • 2 tbsp pancake and waffle mix (1 pt)
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (1 pt)
  • 1/2 tbsp chia seeds (.5 pts)
  • 2 tbsp egg whites (0 pts)
  • 1 medium banana (1.5 pts), divided (1/2 in the pancakes, 1/2 in the frosting)
  • 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (0 pts)
  • 1/4 cup light soy milk (2 tbsp in the pancakes, 2 tbsp in the frosting)

These were awesome and the perfect thing to get me motivated to start my day.

Lunch was my first use of the 4 heads of cabbage (1/2 down, 3.5 heads to go) and it was quite a success!

I made a chopped cabbage salad which coincidentally is vegan as well.

The mix had:

  • 1.5 cups raw cabbage (0 pts)
  • 1/2 cucumber, deseeded and chopped (0 pts)
  • 1/2 small red onion, chopped (0 pts)
  • 1/2 mango, chopped (1 pt)
  • 1/2 cup black beans (1 pt)
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar (0 pts)
  • 1 tsp olive oil (1 pt)
  • salt and pepper to taste (0 pts)

It was AWESOME. I honestly wasn’t too sure how it was going to turn out because I just kept randomly throwing things in there, but it worked perfectly. The textures and colors went so well together, and the vinegar was the perfect background flavor. I probably would have added cilantro if I had some, but overall, take one on the cabbage was a big success! With the salad, I also had some organic red grapes (1 pt).

So the whole lunch was only 4 points and super satisfying.

Whats your favorite produce right now? I have been loving peaches lately since I’ve been getting them in my farmshare for a few weeks, but grapes are always a favorite. I’m lucky I love fruit and veggies so its very easy for me to get lots of servings of them in every day.

Unchargeable

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Ugh. My laptop died last night while I had it plugged in and only then did I realize my charger was not working. It was sad because I had an awesome meal on the roof at a nice restaurant followed by self serve fro yo and took lots of great pics. I loaded them onto my computer and selected delete from device after uploading just befote it died. So this really puts a wrench in my blogging plans for the weekend but ill try to blog from my phone as much as I can because I want to keep you guys posted on how I’m doing with being on track during my business trip.

After the course yesterday I went to the gym again and did arm weights. They only have free weights so I did biceps triceps pushups and some other random things with a weighted ball. I need to learn to do more stuff without instruction or machines. After that I did 40 minutes of intervals on the elliptical, alternating between incline of 4 with 1 resistance and incline of 10 with 8 resistance every 2 minutes. I did 5 minutes cool down for a total of 4.35 miles and 552 calories according to the machine. (I know the calorie count is off but I still like to look at it).

After the workout And shower I went to Nonna’s, a cute restaurant in Bricktown. I got a salad to start which was awesome! It had fried goat cheese on it along with strawberries and sliced radishes but I’m sure you can guess which the star ingredient was for me. For my main course I ordered an appetizer which was out of this world. It had avocado, mango and crab and was stacked Napoleon style in a cylindrical shape. It Wish topped with microgreens for garnish and was served with crostini. Oh my was it good! Avocado plus mango plus crab!? Match made in heaven. I must recreate this at home. I also had a glass of Viogner (white wine) with my meal which was perfect. I actually got to sit upstairs on the outdoor patio and it was a beautiful night so it was a gray experience. I left with a smile on my face.

After dinner I wandered around Bricktown a bit more and went to a frozen yogurt place that just opened over the weekend. It was super cute inside and had 16 flavors from peanut butter to pomegranate to cheesecake to pineapple. There were also toms of toppings and since it was self serve it was fun to put a little bit of everything I wanted on there (and not pay a dollar for each topping!) I ended up being boring and getting original tart flavor, but I topped it with raspberries, kiwi, mochi, and organic granola. It was awesome! I definitely plan to return again before I leave okc.

I just had an early night reading a book (side note – I have not turned on my TV once since I’ve been here!). This morning I went to the breakasr buffet at the hotel and it was really good! They had an omelet to order station, tons of fruit, hot dishes, oatmeal that looked a little funky, bagels and lox, plus cereal and milk. I ended up going with an eggwhite omelet with all the veggies they had – mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and spinach. I asked them to use as little oil as possible and also found out it was a mix of olive and calls oils, so quite healthy. I also loaded my plate up with fruit – pineapple, strawberries and melon, plus had a small cup of skim milk. It was delicious and I feel a lot less cranky than I did yesterday!

Busy day again today but ill be back.

Make me jealous – what are your plans for the weekend? Ill be having a blast working 14+ hour days…

How Do You Take ‘Em?

I think my body really enjoyed yesterday’s leisurely morning because today I woke up before my alarm went off (around 7:20 which I know is considered late to some) and I was wide awake! I got out of bed and had time to make a nice breakfast, watch the Today show, drink a cup of coffee, fold a load of laundry, get ready, and pack my lunch before work! My normal morning routine is more like get out of bed, get ready as quickly as possible, grab my breakfast/lunch out of the fridge, and hurry to the metro. I am really enjoying getting up a little earlier and having a lot more time for me in the mornings.

I’m also glad to report that I am feeling a lot better this morning. Soreness wise (from Saturday’s shenanigans) I am feeling 95% better, and sick-wise, 75%. Those numbers are a bit arbitrary, but point is I am feeling a lot better today. I am so glad I took it easy yesterday.

Breakfast today was simple, but delicious. Ever seen one of these before?

It kind of looks like a pear, but it’s actually a Champagne Mango. It’s similar to a regular mango, but is smaller in size and the flesh is less fibrous (doesn’t get stuck in your teeth as much!) I’d never seen these before, but I found them on the grocery store (on sale!) so I picked one up to try and had it today with breakfast. It was delicious! I love mango and this was pretty sweet and juicy, and not stringy like larger mangos can sometimes be. The seed is the same as a larger mango, thin down the middle of the fruit.

I made two eggs over easy, and had each one on top of a toasted piece of Martin’s Whole Wheat Potato Bread (my new fav). I also scored the mango and had that on the side.

This was an awesome breakfast, albeit simple. As you probably know by now, I love love love eggs, and sometimes simple is best when it comes to breakfast!

What’s your favorite way to eat eggs? Or, if you’re not an egg lover, what’s your favorite breakfast? My absolute favorite way to have eggs is poached, but over easy is a close second. As long as the yolk is super runny, I am good.

Back to Bikram

Happy Weekend to you! Disappearing on Friday nights seems to be a trend for me lately, sorry about that! I ended up spontaneously going to a Bikram class at 6 after work yesterday and it was awesome. I tend to get really into things when I get into them, and I think I burned myself out a little bit from going to Bikram for almost a week straight when I first started. I loved it, but getting the week unlimited of Bikram at the new studio made me overdo it a bit because I wanted to get my money’s worth (even though it was only $20).

I haven’t gone since that week, so it’s been almost 3 weeks, and when I went last night, it felt GREAT. I was a little concerned because I hadn’t planned to go, so I hadn’t been drinking that much water throughout the day and I wasn’t sure if I’d be mentally ready since its so intense, but when I got there, it just felt right. In the previous times I’d gone I was sort of counting down until the class was over (“Only 20 minutes left”) because I was so hot, but this time I could barely believe when the class was wrapping up and I just felt good the whole time. Lesson to me is that Bikram is good for me, but I should only go a few times a week max so I don’t get burned out on it.

After Bikram, I went into DC and hung out with my friend Lianne for a while. On the way there, I ate a Luna Bar that I had packed.

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I really liked this flavor and to be honest I kind of thought I wasn’t going to like it. It was pretty refreshing and perfect for after Bikram. Lianne and I drank some wine and had some snacks (Garden Sunchips and toasted bread with hummus) but no pics. I had about 3 glasses of wine over the course of 3 hours so I didn’t overdo it too much. And our friends Amber and Mike came over for a bit to hang out too, which was fun. I didn’t end up getting home until almost 1am so just went to sleep pretty quickly after getting home.

And I slept hard – I don’t think I moved all night. I love that about Bikram. When I woke up this morning around 10:30am, I was starving since I didn’t have anything too significant after Bikram last night. I had some veggies in the fridge I wanted to use up, so I decided to do a farm fresh egg scramble.

I caramelized some onions, added in Mediterranean squash (which looks a lot like avocado to me!), and then added 4 eggs (for me and my boyfriend). Towards the end I added some crumbled goat cheese which was the perfect finish.

Doesn’t that squash look like avocado?? I served the scramble alongside a toasted english muffin (the only bread we have left in the house!) and 1/2 a mango. For the mango, I just sliced it along both sides of the big seed in the middle to separate the two halves. Then, for each half, I just sliced it (but not through the skin) and you can eat it like that with a spoon, a fork, or use a knife to cut those off the skin for perfect mango chunks.

Today I am going to a bootcamp style workout party with some other bloggers and friends in the DC area. It’s sponsored by Dove and apparently we’re getting free shirts and dove samples! I love me some free stuff, plus I’m sure this workout with kick my butt. Assuming I make it through alive, I’ll be back afterwards.

Have a good day!

7 Reasons to Bike

Hiya! I found a really interesting article on Womens Health Magazine’s website about biking and why its good for you. I’m trying to break myself of this mentality because I know it’s good for me, but I find biking to be a lot easier than running. Sometimes I let myself feel guilty when I bike instead of run, which is ridiculous! It’s easier on your joints, its FUN, you can go so much faster and cover more mileage, and its an awesome supplement to my workout routine. Knowing all this though, I sometimes feel like I don’t get the same quality of workout that I do with running. This article was good for me because it solidified a lot of what I already knew but also taught me some new things (#3 and#6).

7 Reasons to Start Bike Riding

  1. Calorie burn – The average woman burns 488 calories biking 12-14mph.
  2. Good for On the Go – If you live within 5 miles of work, biking to work 2x a week burns an extra 3,000 calories a month, which is almost 1 pound of fat you could lose just from using your bike to commute.
  3. Total Body Workout – Obviously your legs, quads, calves and glutes are working to keep the pedals going, but you work your upper body too with controlling the handlebars, so you get toned all over.
  4. Boosts Energy & Fights Fatigue – A study published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics found that bike riding improved energy levels by 20 percent and decreased fatigue by 65 percent. This is because biking causes your brain to release dopamine which is directly related to energy.
  5. Easy on Joints – It puts a lot less pressure on your knees, ankles, and joints than running or walking.
  6. Every Muscle Feels It – Biking uphill, 1/2 sitting 1/2 standing, engages your core and your triceps in addition to your legs and upper body.
  7. Protects your Heart – It lowers your blood pressure and LDL (bad cholesterol) and increases aerobic fitness, all big fighters against heart disease.

I’m going for a bike ride tonight after work so in an effort to pump myself up, thought I’d share this with you all. 🙂

Lunch today turned out to be better than I anticipated. I just wasn’t that excited about it, but it ended up being really delicious and satisfying! I had a bowl of leftover soup from last night

This soup was really chunky and delicious, and held up really well over night. It was perfect to contrast with the crappy weather here in DC. 🙂 Along with the soup, I had an awesome Strawberry Mango Salad.

This salad had:

  • 2-3 cups spinach
  • 1/2 mango, chopped
  • 5 large strawberries, chopped
  • 1 serving light feta, crumbled
  • 1/2 green onion, chopped

It was SO good! The green onions made such a difference and I almost forgot about them after getting them at the Farmer’s Market last week. I still have a ton left and love using them with eggs, in quesadillas, and on salads. I asked my boyfriend (the chef) if I could eat them just as a veggie, and he said they grill them whole at the restaurant and eat them just like that! I’ve yet to do that, but could be tasty!

Ciao for now!

Unwrapped Lettuce Wraps

Hey! Those Chia Seeds seriously kept me full until after 1pm.. unheard of. I’m excited to experiment with them in different ways because there are a ton of ideas all over the place!

For lunch today, I used leftovers from last night’s lettuce wraps to make a salad.

Onto my plate went:

  • torn organic green leaf lettuce
  • bean sprouts
  • 1/2 cup rice noodles
  • mango chunks
  • marinated tofu
  • pickled red onions for garnish

There was so much going on in this salad and the flavors were awesome. It was easier to eat than the wraps last night because the lettuce didn’t work well to hold everything together.. so throwing it all together and diving in with a fork worked well. With the salad, I had some red grapes (on sale at Whole Foods!)

And a serving of Dr. Krackers Seedlander Snackers.

I had commented on Kath’s blog about how I had never tried these crackers before but they look so good, so someone from Dr. Kracker reached out to me and asked if I’d like to sample some. They sent me a box with all the flavors, so I’m really excited to make my way through them. According to the Dr. Kracker website, “Millet-crunchy and molasses-sweet, our Seedlander Kracker is baked with our specially milled, 100% whole grain organic spelt flour, combined with organic pumpkin seeds, millet, sesame, flax, and poppy seeds. Its sturdy texture and nutty, slightly sweet flavor make it the perfect cracker for cheese and fruit plates and creamy dips and spreads.”

As you can see from looking at these up close, they are LOADED with different kinds of seeds. They are very crunchy – in fact, I was a little taken aback by how hard they were at first – but once I got used to them, I was in love! They taste so good, and have just a hint of sweetness. They went great with my sandwich and I’m looking forward to figuring out new ways to use them and try the other flavors!

As I was eating my lunch, I noticed that I ate my whole salad first, then moved onto the crackers, and then finished with the grapes. I never really noticed before that I finish one thing before moving onto the next.. strange!

Question for today: Do you eat a little bit of everything in your meal and finish it all together, or do you finish one item at a time (like I do apparently!) when you’re eating?

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Anyone have any fun plans?

Lettuce Wraps

Hey! Today was one of the busiest days at work that I’ve had in a loooong time. I decided against taking a picture of my lunch because it was a business lunch. Not gonna lie though, it felt a little weird not to take a picture. When I first started the blog, I felt weird taking pictures and kept forgetting, and now it feels like somethings missing if I don’t! We ended up going to Old Ebbitt Grill and there were 5 of us total. We got an order of fried calamari to share to start and I had one piece of sourdough bread with real butter. So good! For my main course, I ordered the Salmon Nicoise Salad (no dressing). It was a piece of seared salmon on top of a bed of greens with kalamata olives, boiled potatoes, a hard boiled egg, green beens, chopped tomatoes, and red onions. So good, and I ate the entire thing.

For an afternoon snack, a bunch of coworkers and I headed over to Yogen Fruz. Today I changed it up and got the nonfat plain mixed with frozen cherries. I had it topped with dark chocolate shavings…

It was sooo good. I love how this place will stir in whatever frozen fruit or flavor you want to make the yogurt actually change flavors. Mmmm.

The greatest part of being so busy at work is that the days have been FLYING by. When 5 o’clock came I could honestly barely believe it. Once I stepped outside, it was still SO nice out. I think it was still around 80 degrees and sunny, but not humid at all. That’s rare for DC! I decided to take the night off completely from working out just to give my body a break. Three days of Bikram in a row plus an 8 mile bike ride thrown in there called for a day off.

My boyfriend had the night off too, so we ran to heaven Whole Foods to pick up a few things and got ingredients for Lettuce Wraps! The perfect warm weather dinner in my opinion. 🙂

I marinated some tofu right in the container with fish sauce, soy sauce, and sweet chili sauce for about 30  minutes while I put the rest of the groceries away and unloaded the dishwasher.

I also boiled the rice noodles, which only took 2 minutes and then ran them under cold water to get them cold. The boyfriend was in charge of everything else, including cooking the tofu in the wok after it had marinated. Here was the spread:

The tofu, chicken thighs in a similar marinade (for him), mango, rice noodles, bean sprouts, pickled kale and red onions (!!!), sliced red onions and cilantro, and organic green leaf lettuce. I put together 4 lettuce wraps and piled them high with bean sprouts, rice noodles, pickled onions, mango, and the marinated tofu.

They were sooooo good, but definitely a little messy.

Everything was so fresh and the textures, flavors, and colors worked perfectly together. The tofu was so flavorful from sitting in the marinade for longer than I usually let it – I have to work on my patience and give the tofu time to soak up the marinade more often! I love lettuce wraps and these were perfect.

I’m off to watch a movie and relax – be back tomorrow!