Luna Bar – Page 3 – Fervent Foodie

Big Fat Flop(s)

June 23, 2010 7 Comments

Breakfast #1

Last night I was apparently in the mood to try 3,000 new concoctions. I found this recipe for Protein Cakes the other day. They are super simple to make and work out to less than 100 calories each (before you add toppings) so I decided to make two different kinds to try out for breakfast #1.

Protein Cake #1

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 packet truvia
1 tbsp sugar free applesauce
1 egg white
1 tsp choc chips

Protein Cake #2

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 drops vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 packet truvia
1 tbsp sugar free applesauce
1 egg white
1/4 cup fresh blueberries

They only take 1 minute to cook in the microwave!

Cakes in the mugs:

Check out the height on the chocolate cake:

As you can see, one of these cakes is not like the other. One of these cakes just doesn’t belong…

Apparently the blueberries had a negative effect on the vanilla protein cake. BUMMER! (PS, that one got tossed, it was just gross looking).

BIG FAT FLOP #1.

This morning, I was really excited to try the surviving chocolate cake. I heated it up in the microwave for about 15 seconds, and took a big ole bite. I guess since they have “cake” in the title, I was expecting something moist and delicious. But this was super dry and not very tasty. I put some blackberry preserves on top, but still ended up throwing most of it away.

BIG FAT FLOP #2.

Because I’m such a smarty pants, I had planned ahead for such a catastrophe by bringing a Peanut Butter Cookie Lara Bar. This is the first time I had tried a Lara Bar. What really intrigued me was the mere 3 ingredients:

Gotta be honest, I wasn’t super happy with it. If it weren’t for the ingredients list, I probably wouldn’t buy it again. Maybe some of the other flavors I picked up will be better–but as of now I’m not sure when I’ll be trying them.

Any of you prefer Lara Bars to Luna Bars? Looks like I’m a Luna girl…

BIG FAT FLOP #3.

OVERNIGHT OATS!!! YAY! 😀 😀 😀

No let downs here! My oats today consisted of:

1/2 cup oats
3/4 cup almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 packet stevia
1 tbsp PB2
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
fresh strawberries

These were coldy, creamy, and delicious, as usual!

Stats on the oats: 219 calories, 36g carbs, 7g fat, 9g protien, 8g fiber

Lunch

After the flops I had for Breakfast #1, I was kind of anxious for lunch. I have always really enjoyed chicken salad with grapes in it, so last night I decided to whip up my own healthified chicken salad using Oikos plain greek yogurt:

3 oz shredded chicken breast (grilled up last week with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning)
2 tbsp Plain Oikos greek yogurt
1 small green onion, minced
1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp chopped cilantro
Sprinkling of S&P, cumin, cayenne pepper, celery seed
1/3 cup grapes, halved

I put the chicken salad in a Joseph’s Low Carb Pita.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — chicken salad with greek yogurt and grapes

SUCCESSS!!!!!! This was really yummy! Hooray!

Stats on the chicken salad: 215 calories, 14g carbs, 5g fat, 25g protein, 4g fiber

Recipes

Hot Caprese, Jalapeno Turkey Burgers, and Dessert!

June 22, 2010 10 Comments

One of my all-time favorite things to eat is caprese salad. For those who have never had it, it usually consists of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil. It’s so simple and amazingly delicious.

After my Jambalaya! success last night, I decided to try the recipe for Hot Caprese in the July/August 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine.

I used their basic ingredients, but modified it to keep it a little healthier (and also to bring it down to a single–albeit it large–serving).

1 cup grape tomatoes
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp olive oil
S&P
1 clove garlic, minced
1 light babybel cheese
fresh basil

Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese and basil) in a bowl, then pour onto a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Wrap into a pouch, taking care to ensure all edges are sealed so that no liquid seeps out. Poke a few holes in the packet to let steam escape, then pop into a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to burst and let their juices go.

Next, I carefully poured the liquid out of the packet and topped the tomatoes with a cubed light babybel cheese round. Close the packet back up and make sure to leave space between the cheese and the foil so that the melted cheese does not stick. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melty.

When the tomatoes were finished cooking, I poured them out onto my plate and topped with fresh basil that I grew in my very own back yard! 🙂

To go along side the tomatoes, I cooked up two Jalapeno turkey burgers that consisted of:

10 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
1 clove garlic
1/2 a small zucchini, grated
1/4 cup white onion, chopped
S&P, RPF, Onion powder
1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped

Once the burgers started cooking, my nose could tell that the little jalapeno was gonna add some kick to the burger. So I decided to top the burger with some tomatoes, onion, and cool fat free sour cream atop a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.

Sooooo tasty!

Word to the wise — use more seasonings on the tomatoes than you think you need. I’ll def bump it up next time.

Also, I definitely want to add some fresh herbs to the jalapeno turkey burger next time. Possibly cilantro or flat leaf parsley.

Stats on Dinner: 387 calories, 46g carbs, 7g fat, 47g protein, 7g fiber

Post-Dinner

After dinner, I completed Day #2 of my interval running/walking plan. I was able to complete all 5 intervals of running without any knee pain! Yay! 🙂

After exercising, I threw half of a peach onto the george foreman grill for about 6 minutes. Then I topped it with some plain greek yogurt I had sweetened with 1/2 packet of truvia and a sprinkle of cinnamon and cloves.

This was quite tasty! But let’s be honest, I was thinking about ice cream the entire time. Definitely need to give this a shot with the good stuff.

Other thoughts before bed

For those of you who have hopped on the Greek Yogurt train (gimme a whoop whoop!), and even for those of you who haven’t this FitSugar link gives a few different ideas on how to switch up your normal yogurt routine.

I’m trying out some new things for breakfast and lunch tomorrow…. this should be interesting 🙂

Oh yes! I tried the Oatmeal Luna Bar today, and thought it was pretty darn tasty!

Not my all time favorite flavor, but overall I was very pleased with my afternoon snack. It definitely tasted like an oatmeal cookie. I went to a grocery store by work tonight rather than my usual store, and they had a huge selection of Lara Bars. So I picked up a few of those to try out 🙂

QUESTION FOR ALL YOU SILENT READERS OUT THERE: Have you tried overnight oats yet? If so, did you love them as much as I do? If you haven’t tried them, what’s holding you back?

Recipes, What I ate

The best guacamole recipe EVER

June 20, 2010 16 Comments

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:

Recipes, What I ate

Fajitas & Guac succeeded by Cold Oatmeal

June 20, 2010 11 Comments

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!

What I ate

Early bird catches the corn dog

June 19, 2010 1 Comment

It’s Saturday, and you know what that means. Yard work!

You’d think for as much time as I devote to my yard, it’d be in pristine shape…. Oh what a pain in the ass homeownership is the joys of home ownership 🙂

There is one specific area of the yard that I leave completely untouched. You can see I have quite the crop of poison ivy growing:

I hit up the Home Depot this morning to pick up some spray to (hopefully) help with my poison ivy. Did you know Home Depot opens at 6am??? I leaned this little nugget of information when I called them at 7am to see when they opened. 6am? Those customers must be hard-core home improvers.

Before I got to work in the back yard, I cooked up my favorite egg breakfast: 1 dippy egg & 3 egg white scramble with S&P, Red Pepper Flakes, and Frank’s Red Hot. I always add a splash of liquid (usually skim milk or water) to the egg whites to help them stay fluffy. Also, toasted up a Thomas’ multi grain english muffin on the side.

Stats on breakfast: 218 calories, 28g carbs, 6g fat, 22g protien, 8g fiber

After chowing down, I headed to the yard.

Until last summer, I was one of those people who thought I wasn’t allergic to poison ivy. Well, that is until I accidently weed wacked some of it. I really didn’t know what poison ivy even looked like, so I was unaware of the horrible mistake I had made and basically let myself marinate in the poison ivy juices all day while I worked away in the yard. This resulted in what I will call a immobilizing infestation of poison ivy all over my legs. Since then I will not go near the stuff.

Today, I put on pants and long sleeves (despite temps in the mid 80’s) just so that I could approach the “infested area.” My luck, I’ll get poison ivy on the only part that was left exposed: my face 🙁 I’m sure I’ll have nightmares about that tonight!

I’ll have to post some before and after shots once I get it all finished (which will be never sometime soon).

After all the yard work, I was starving!

Sometimes I just get cravings for weird foods. Case in point, today I had a sudden craving for a corn dog! I can’t remember the last time I had one, but something triggered the corn dog eating machine deep inside me. So, I decided to try and make a healthified version of a corn dog. Even typing “healthified corn dog” makes me scoff. How ridiculous sounding is that?

I had some frozen Jennie-O turkey sausages in the freezer and also some Joseph’s Lavash bread, so I pulled them out to defrost before hitting up the yard early this morning.

I cooked up 2 turkey sausages – 1 for the “corn dog” and 1 for a healthified jambalaya recipe I’m going to try later in the week. Once cooked, I wrapped 1 turkey sausage in 1/2 a Joseph’s Low-Carb lavash bread, stuck in on a skewer, and threw it back on the grill.

Ridiculous, I know…

Once the lavash was crispy, I pulled it off the grill and served it up with a big squirt of mustard.

Ok – so it’s not exactly a corn dog, but eating it off a stick sure made it seem like one and it definitely hit the spot 🙂 I’m a BIG fan of Jennie-O’s hot turkey sausage.

Corn dog stats: 210 calories, 7g carbs, 12g fat, 22g protien, 3g fiber

BTW – yesterday while volunteering I had a Smores Luna Bar – and I wasn’t a big fan. It wasn’t bad tasting — just didn’t remind me of a smore AT ALL. Definitely the least favorite of all the flavors I have tried to date. I also had a few bites of a Chocolate Cherry Bear Naked Grain-ola Bar. It was OK – but again, I wasn’t super impressed. Apparently I was hard to please yesterday…

What did hit the spot, however, was the Gioniono’s pizza we had for dinner:

Still trying to decide what to cook up for dinner tonight… Suffering from foodie’s block.