Merry Christmas!

It's been so wonderful to have the whole family around for the holidays!  I ordered the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout DVD from Amazon (which I've been hearing about from Elise's blog) for those days where you just don't want to be inside a gym, and it arrived in the mail just in the nick of time:  I'll tell you, I have never laughed so hard during a workout.  My 3 siblings and I all did this together in our house and we could not keep it together.

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Despite all the laughter, we got a really good workout!  Plus it was fun. 

Now, to the food!  For Christmas Eve dinner, my mom made Pasta a la Barbara (Her name is Barbara; this is her specialty).  It's fettuccine alfredo with peas and bits of crispy bacon.  But this year, I suggested my mom try a new Greek yogurt alfredo recipe instead of the traditional cream and butter recipe.

I first learned of this recipe from my friend Michelle, who got it from Runner's World Magazine.

My mom was weary to try it, but she gave it a go.  The verdict?  Success!!  My family said they liked it even better than the original recipe!  The recipe can be found here.

Also on the menu for Christmas Eve dinner, sauteed spinach and roasted butternut squash.  Killer.  I decided my second favorite food after mango is butternut squash.

For dessert we enjoyed boozy cherry brownies and chocolate walnut puddle cookies that my friend Michelle so sweetly sent us in the mail from NYC!

Haha.  I made my brother pose like that so I could send a picture to Michelle.  Scrumptious!

Christmas today was lovely, and this evening my family and I went to the movies to see The Fighter.  It was so GOOD!  Really great acting.  I loved it and now feel determined to marry Mark Wahlberg. 

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This Christmas night is ending white!  It started snowing on the way back from the theater and it's definitely sticking.  I can't wait to see how it looks in the morning!  I hope you all had a warm and jolly holiday!!  Merry Christmas!

Winter Skies

It's been such a nice Christmas break so far!  It hasn't been too cold, (or maybe it seems this way after being in New York?) and they sky has been awesome.

Also during this break, I have enjoyed a couple awesome yoga classes at Lululemon.  On Saturday morning, they offered us mini-mimosas and fresh mango after class.  Seriously?  Yes please!

 Also, I've been enjoying delicious things like these:

Grapefruit... Used to eat these all the time when I was little, but pretty sure I haven't had one in years, and I have been missing out!  I love these things!

Homemade maple cinnamon almond butter... Wow.

Plus more skies like these....

Plus creative pizza creations (redundant?) and fresh spinach salads with a good friend....

We set out to make pizza balls.  We used Katie's 15-minute pizza crust, but instead of making a pizza, we folded mini-crusts up into little pastries filled with deliciousness!  One mini-crust just felt too small to fold, so I left it flat which would explain the plate on the right.

These things were delicious!  Plus they're quick, simple, and fun.  I can't wait to make 'em again!

New bowls & a new wrap!

First of all, check out the new bowls I got in New York:

I love them and can't wait to eat oatmeal out of them.  I found them in Anthropologie; they were originally $12 each but were marked down to $3.95 a piece!

And now, I must introduce you to my new favorite thing.  The grilled turkey avocado wrap.

I used a Garden Spinach Flatout wrap, on which I spread guacamole and layered a few slices of smoked turkey.  I was going to buy an avocado for this, but instead I went with some already-made delicious guac since the avocados at the market were nowhere near being ripe.

I rolled it up and grilled it on the George Foreman.  These wraps are awesome because one tortilla alone has 9g of fiber and 9g of protein!  And even the spinach ones are made with 100% stone ground whole wheat.

That is what they look like if you are interested in making this wrap for yourself!  The whole process took less than 5 minutes, so this is really fast, but really delicious & satisfying.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Big Apple

New York was a blast.  Never have I seen so many Christmas decorations and beautiful lights.  It was brutally cold and windy at times, but being with good friends makes that part not so bad!

Some highlights of the trip...

The awesome farmer's market.

...which had a huge booth with spices and teas...

Cool sushi restaurant called Watawa...

(my California roll, which was great and fresh-tasting)

Seeing West Side Story on Broadway, from the 2nd row.

...and running into the actor who played Tony by the backstage exit.

Seeing the amazing St. Patrick's Cathedral...

Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

Seeing the glorious Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center...

And doing it all with these girls!

Last Day of the Semester

My morning began with coffee, a mini-yoga session, and... can you guess?  Pumpkin custard oats, of course!

Today I stirred in some coconut butter instead of sprinkling with coconut flakes.  This certainly gives the oats a more coconutty flavor.

 And I topped it off with my necessary granny smith apple chunks with sea salt and cinnamon.

My morning also included driving my roommate to the car shop after some unexpected car troubles.  And before long, I was off to work at the cupcake shop!

These were some cupcakes I made for a lady who was taking dessert to her mom's 70th birthday luncheon.

Work flew by pretty quickly, which meant my final exam was fast approaching.  I went home and opened by books while enjoying a bowl of greek yogurt + pumpkin butter + granola + roasty cocoa almonds.

After my Greek yogurt fix,, I was excited to try my new chocolate bar.

I love that some of the proceeds for these chocolate bars go to helping endangered species.  I also love chocolate and raspberries.

This bar had a nice flavor, but the chocolate wasn't quite creamy enough for my liking.  However I also bought a milk chocolate one, so I'll let you know if that one's any creamier.

The chocolate gave me some nice brain power for my exam!  I powered through it and felt great about it.  And now, the semester is officially over!  Now I can finally focus on New York!  Two days, really??

I've been to New York, but only in the summertime, so I'm really excited to see all the lights and Christmas decorations in the city!  Better get to packing... Good night!

Happiness

My morning began bright and early with a spin class at the gym with a friend.  The instructor incorporated some Christmas music into her playlist today, and I think the class was feeling it because I definitely heard Old Man Charlie next to me on the bike belting out the final notes of "Baby It's Cold Outside".

I came home for a shower and a delicious post-workout bowl of pumpkin custard oats, and then I was off to my last Anatomy & Physiology class of the semester.  Final grade?  A!  I was beaming with happiness.  Class was released early, so my friend Rebecca and I strolled through a couple shops downtown.

In a little natural foods shop, I was greeted by the friendliest little dog, and my happiness was elevated even more!

A 9-month old pup named Herbie.  He seemed to like my affection, which was a slight change from what I'm used to from Darla.

Don't get me wrong - Darla and I love each other, but she likes to limit the amount of affection she receives from me and sometimes prefers to just plop herself in between the biggest mound of pillows in the house.

My day continued with a scrumptious lunch with friends.  I made a killer salad from the salad bar.

Fresh greens, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, red onion, mushrooms, baby corn, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, and dressing!  All chopped up and mixed together.  Delicious.

Dinner was another round of brown rice and veggies with tofu.

I like tofu at restaurants, but not so much when I make it myself.  This was a no-go.  The tofu was too soft (although it was the "extra firm" kind) and something funky was going on with the frozen vegetable blend.  So that was set aside and I turned to a glistening plate of juicy, honey crisp apple chunks sprinkled with sea salt and cinnamon.

Perfection.

Tomorrow is my final exam, and Saturday I'll be on my way to New York!! 

Now, I'm off to study Medical Terminology!

Add a little umph to your oats!

My new found love for oatmeal has brought me to enjoy a hearty bowl of warm, pumpkin oats for breakfast quite often these days.

Here, my oats are topped with granny smith apple chunks, cinnamon, and shredded coconut.

The only problem is, they seem to hold me over for only a mere 2 hours max. 

I needed to find a way to give my oats some staying power, and through Holly the Healthy Everythingtarian, I learned the way.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's called adding an egg to your oatmeal.  It sounds weird, so I put off trying it for a few rounds of oatmeal, but I finally went for it and it is my new favorite thing.

The tutorial can be found here:  Banana Custard Oats.  But in short, you just put an egg in with your water, oats, and salt at the beginning of the cooking process and whisk it all together! Then let it cook and voila, you have oats that will tame your hunger for 5 hours.

Among my other recent eats, brown rice with veggies and tofu:

And the classic PB&J with raspberry jam on Great Harvest's delectable Dakota bread:

Served with none other than a cold class of milk.  A childhood favorite.  Except if this was a picture from my childhood, it would be on white bread with strawberry jam and the crusts cut off. 

How did you like your PB&J's as a kid?

Sweet & Salty Cocoa Almonds

We all know that when you're craving chocolate, nothing else can suffice.

Yesterday that was the case for me, so when I saw Hungry Hungry Hippie's recipe for Roasty Toasty Cocoa Almonds, I was on it.

This snack is heart healthy, antioxidant rich, and satisfies that chocolate craving. 

It's also really easy and takes a total of about 10 minutes to make.  Eight of those minutes are oven-time minutes, during which you'll be relaxing and inhaling the rich aroma of cocoa.

Here's the easy peasy recipe, straight from Hungry Hungry Hippie

Salty Cocoa Roasted Almonds

• 2/3 cup raw almonds
• 1 T. cocoa powder
• 1 t. salt
• sprinkle of stevia (to taste)
• 1 T. water 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put all ingredients into a bag, and SHAKE!  Shake until all the almonds are coated.

Spread the almonds out onto a baking sheet, and pop in the oven for 8 minutes.  No longer.

Remove from oven, let cool, and enjooooy the sweet and salty roasted goodness!