Recipes, What I ate

Fajitas & Guac succeeded by Cold Oatmeal

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Jarrod and I wanted something delicious for dinner, so we decided to try this recipe for Chicken Fajitas.  We followed Skinny Taste’s recipe to a T, except we also made some brown rice to mix in.  The recipe doesn’t say how long to marinate the chicken, so we let it go for about 30 minutes.

We both felt what threw this meal over the edge to amazingness was the guacamole we made to go with it. 

My recipe for guacamole adapted from my Chipotle days in college:

 

I kid you not, this recipe post-it has been on my fridge for over five years.  I’ve moved from apartment to apartment to house, and this puppy is ALWAYS displayed on the fridge 🙂

We each had 1 Mama Lupe’s low carb tortillas that I had ordered from Netrition, and we threw everything that couldn’t fit into the tortilla atop a bed of lettuce.  We also had some fresh salsa we had picked up last week, so we drizzled a little on top.

One giant plate of food: 

Yes, I cleared my plate.  Yes, I contemplated licking it clean.

Skinny Taste chicken fajitas + chipotle inspired guac = best dinner we’ve made in a long friggin time!

BTW, I told Jarrod he is now required to plate all foods before photo sessions.  That plate looks absolutely beautiful!

Side Note –

Yesterday on the way home from the hair stylist, I tried the Chocolate Raspberry Luna bar.  The bar had been in the hot car for a little while, so it was slightly melty and absolutely divine tasting!

Breakfast

I hadn’t had cold oatmeal (or “overnight oats” as food bloggers call it) in quite a while.  After reading about Leashieloo’s recent success with overnight oats, I decided to make some up last night.

Here’s what I threw in:

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 cup almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp peanut butter
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp choc chips (which was like 4 chips, but I figured what the hay that’d give me four chocolately delicious bites)
  • A sprinkling of cinnamon

I stirred up the oats and popped them into the fridge to hang out for the night.  This morning, I added some chopped up strawberries.

Oatmeal is great for you, but who the heck wants a steaming bowl of oats in the hot summer months? Most people think cold oatmeal sounds appalling.  To those people I say quit being so cantankerous and give it a shot!  What’s most fun about overnight oats is you can mix in ANYTHING you want.  Seriously, just give it a shot already!  And let me know how they turn out!

Stats on overnight oats:  233 calories, 36g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

On the agenda today:

  • Day 1 of walking/running interval training
  • Father’s Day!
  • Wine, food, family time!
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Fitness, Ramblings

Busy Bee & I miss running

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Tonight has been one of those nights where I haven’t stopped moving since the moment I got off work.  Walked in the park with my sister, grocery shopping, mowed the lawn, laundry… and it’s after 9 and I’m pooped!

Tomorrow I am volunteering with the United Way of Summit County for the Day of Action.  I decided I’d try and pack some healthy snacks to take along since I know they will be providing us with some unhealthy temptations.  (I’m sure I’ll succumb to at least one 😉  )

Walking in the metro parks this afternoon really got my desire to start running churning again.  I would consider myself an active person since I’ve played soccer since elementary school, and I just generally enjoy being outside and moving around.  A few months back I decided to start running and I loved it!  I felt like I had found a new passion.  Running first thing in the morning really energized me for my day, and I felt absolutely great.  But unfortunately I injured my knee.  Still not entirely sure what happened there.  The doctor tells me “some knees just aren’t made for running.”  I’m not ready to accept that.  I hate doctors.  But that’s a different blog for a different day.

I stumbled upon this website which gives a plan for building yourself up from walking to running.  Stamina is not my issue — I can run 5K no problem (well before the knee issues began that is).  I think what I need to focus on is not stamina but strength. 

  

The Plan (3o minutes per day, 3 days per week):

Week #1: Two minutes running/four minutes walking
Week #2: Three minutes running/three minutes walking
Week #3: Four minutes running/two minutes walking
Week #4: Five minutes running/three minutes walking
Week #5: Seven minutes running/three minutes walking
Week #6: Eight minutes running/two minutes walking
Week #7: Nine minutes running/one minute walking
Week #8: Thirteen minutes running/two minutes walking
Week #9: Fourteen minutes running/one minute walking
Week #10: Run the whole time!

I guess the worst that could happen is my knee will hurt, and I’ll have to stop.  I think I’m going to give it a shot!  I’m just hoping the knee can handle it.  Also, how the heck do I keep track of my time in 2 minute intervals?  Maybe there’s an iphone app….  Haha.. of course there’s an app 😉 

As of yet, no big plans for the weekend and no new recipes scheduled for experimentation.  But I did find this little message in a treat I had earlier this week:

Now I have to do something new!  I’m really funny about messages like this, or even messages that come in fortune cookies.  I often carry them around in my wallet as a reminder to think positively and enjoy everyday.  Somtimes you just need a visual.

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What I ate

Trader Joe’s & Melt. Mmmmm.

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Today I made my very first trip to Trader Joe’s, and I was pretty impressed.  Everything in the store looked edible … drool worthy … delicious but I narrowed my purchase down to: 

  • Jalapeno & cilantro hummus
  • pomegranate greek yogurt
  • French Roast Coffee
  • Almond butter!
  • Salmon Patties
Trader Joe's Goodies

While in Cleveland, we also had lunch at Melt and devoured the blackened chicken gourmet grilled cheese and 3 bean chili with chicken AND hand cut fries with malt vinegar.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………. 

Pic is blurry because I was too hungry to focus the camera 🙂
3 Bean Chili + Chicken

Even though Trader Joe’s has a ton of delectable goodies for me to try, I was a little sad that they didn’t have more low calorie or low carb options.  I need to find a store in the area that sells the crazy healthy items I’ve thus far only been able to find on the internet.  I just put in my next Netrition order, so that shall fill the void in the meantime. 

Some recipes I’d like to attempt this week (or sometime soon): 

Also searching for some healthy tapas recipes for the jewelry party I’m hosting Wednesday evening.  The BF thinks these jewelry parties are like cults, I however enjoy them because it brings together a random group of women for a fun female-only evening.  That sounds like a cult worth joining 🙂 

Some thoughts of the tapas: 

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Ramblings

One of these acmes is not like the other…

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Over the years, I have developed an addiction to eBay.  I love searching for good deals, but unfortunately the object of desire is not always what you expect it to be.  Pictures can be crazy misleading.  Case in point:  a FABULOUS pair of black strappy sandals I won last week that sadly squeezed my feet like sad little sausages. 

On the way home from work, I sent the shoes back to the seller and decided to stop at acme to pick up some ground turkey which was BOGO this week (HOLLER!).  Turns out, not all acmes run the same specials so my intended efficient pit stop was a waste. 

I then went to MY acme to pick up the turkey and fell into a zombie like state that frequently washes over me when I enter a grocery store.  I’m instantly in awe of all the CHOICES and goodies on every corner and have to exert extreme self control to not start throwing things in my cart super-market-sweep style.  Today, I went in for ground turkey and left with quite a few other odds and ends.  One of which was some honey bunches of oats cereal.  I’m on a mission to find delicious and nutritious cereals.  I just LOVE cereal… If that were my only food weakness I’d be set, problem is I am a serious FOODIE.  I love food.  I love eating it, making it, reading about it, sharing it, researching it… on and on.  This poses a problem because I have also been on a mission to healthify my life in 2010.  So far so good.  Much of this blog will focus on this particular goal.  Don’t you worry… indulgences will be frequent

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Fitness, Ramblings

My take on healthy living.

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With all this EATING going on, here’s my take on healthy living (AKA the obligatory blog back story):

Since January 2010, I’ve been on a mission to healthify my life. For many years, I thought I was being “healthy” by eating minimal food throughout the day so that I could engorge at dinner. I also jumped on the frozen-entrees-that-leave-you-feeling-hungry-20-minutes-later bandwagon. I’ve never really been grossly overweight (thank the genes for that), but my eating habits were far from healthy. Blood sugar issues seem to run in my family, and I frequently felt tired, run down, and like I was burning the candle from both ends of the stick.

I’ve always been a big eater. I just love food. Period.

My personal challenge is juggling my love of food with my desire to live a heathful life. I tend to follow the “all things in moderation” way of thinking. I work to eat healthful nutritional meals, but I also love (LOVE I SAY!) to go out to eat and experience new delicious foods.

It’s all about balance.

One big step in the right direction I made is making an effort to plan my meals out in advance so that I’m sure I’m giving my body the fuel it needs to chug along throughout the day. I try as hard as I can to not over do it at any one sitting. I HATE that sickly full feeling you get when you overeat. Yuck. So what if my coworkers call me the Tupperware Lady because of the crap load of food I bring to work everyday 🙂

Healthifying my life goes deeper than just the calories I’m consuming or the exercise I’m getting in. It’s also about my PMA (positive mental attitude). I believe mental health is just as important as physical health. My goal is to learn to live each day to the fullest, not take things for granted, and to not let others take me or my talents for granted either!  Honestly, this is HARDER than talking myself out of eating that second Christmas cookie, or that steaming salty batch of fries, or sticking my hand in that delicious basket of buttery rolls on the table… mmmmmm freeeeeee breadddddddddddd….

 
Email me at: ferventfoodie@gmail.com

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