Grilled Cheese Craving

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a bangin’ grilled cheese. If you ever get it at a restaurant (oh, diners make the best ones!), chances are, it’s saturated in butter and loaded with full fat cheese. To satisfy my craving without all the guilt, I make them with light, whole wheat bread, reduced fat cheese and just a smidgen of light butter. To add a bit of produce into the mix, I include sliced avocado and tomato.

Healthier Grilled Cheese

2 slices of Nature’s Own whole wheat bread

2 Sargento reduced fat medium cheddar cheese slices

1/2 TBSP Land O’ Lakes light butter with canola oil, half spread on each side

1 oz of sliced avocado (about 1/4 of one)

3 slices of ripe tomato

Nutrition stats: 300 calories, 18 g fat, 20 g protein, 24 g carbs

Earlier I made what we’ll call a healthy pudding. It’s a great snack to have pre-workout to give you some fuel, or really, whenever you’d like!

Makes 2 servings.

Healthy Protein Pudding

1 scoop of chocolate protein powder, I use Designer Whey

2 bananas

1 cup of blueberries

1 TBSP of peanut butter or almond butter

1 TSP of lemon juice

Salt to taste, I just sprinkle a tiny bit in

About 1 TBSP, maybe less, of liquid to adjust consistency. I use almond milk but you could use soy milk, regular milk, water, etc.

Combine all ingredients but the last into a food processor. See if it’s thick/thin enough for you, if not add a bit of liquid. Pour into cups or bowls and let chill in the fridge for a few hours. Then enjoy!

When I first got a food processor, I thought it was such a weird concept to be putting a bunch of solid ingredients like this in it and winding up with a pudding or liquid, but I have to tell ya, I love making snacks like this! It’s a great way to add some fruits & veggies in. Half of this recipe will give you 3 servings of fruit for the day.

Info: About 250 calories, 4 g fat, 12 g protein, 42 g carbs

Here’s some motivation to leave you with – hope you have a great start to your weekend!

Peanut Butter & Strawberry Quick Jam Burrito

Check out the cutie pies I got to play with last night at the San Diego Humane Society:

If anyone out there lives in the San Diego area and is interested in rescuing a dog (or cat or bunny or even rat!), they have a special going on called My Furry Valentine. From now through Valentine’s Day, the adoption fee for any animal is only $14! There were tons of people looking to adopt last night, and the two dogs above will most likely be gone very soon, but there are always a lot of dogs to look at and see if they’re right for your home.

And, in case you were wondering, the 9-month old Siberian Husky mix pictured above had to get her leg amputated after getting attacked by another dog. She is incredibly sweet and all she wanted to do was lick my face!

Life is pretty entertaining when you have a canine like this one inhabiting your home:

Now on to food!

Any PB & J fans out there, you’ll like this simple and yummy recipe I tried from Vegetarian Times magazine. I enjoyed using fresh strawberries instead of jarred jelly. You can find the full recipe that makes 4 burritos here, but I made just one for a quick meal.

PB & Strawberry Quick Jam Burrito

Ingredients:

6 fresh strawberries, sliced

1 TBSP agave nectar

1 tortilla (I like La Tortilla Factory’s Smart & Delicious multigrain wraps with extra virgin olive oil because they’re delicious and have 9 g of protein per serving)

2 TBSP crunchy or creamy peanut butter (Peter Pan reduced fat is my favorite!)

Combine strawberries and agave in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until strawberries soften and juices thicken (5-10 minutes), stirring gently and often. Slightly cool.

The recipe suggests that if you have a gas burner, you can warm the tortilla directly over the flames until they are heated through, about 20 seconds per side. I just threw my tortilla in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up.

Spread the PB down the center of the tortilla, then spoon the jam on top. Roll up the tortilla, and there you have it – a new take on the usual PB & J!

Nutrition facts: 400 calories, 17 g fat, 19 g protein, 60 g carbs

Favorite Exercise Tunes for Winter 2012

I just read an article on the top 10 workout songs for this winter. The list was compiled after a poll was taken that asked people what their favorite, current exercise songs are. It got me thinking about what my favorite workout tunes are nowadays. You can see their list here, but here are my top picks that I’ve been listening to recently:

Rihanna – We Found Love (Remix)

Flo Rida – Good Feeling

Cobra Starship (feat. Sabi) – You Make Me Feel

The Fray – Heartbeat

David Guetta & Usher – Without You

OneRepublic – Good Life

Beyonce – Run the World (Girls)

Taio Cruz – Dynamite

Florence + the Machine – You’ve Got the Love

Andy Grammer – Keep Your Head Up

Question: What are your favorite songs to exercise to? I’m always looking for new music to keep me moving during a workout!

Caprese with a Twist

If I had to choose one last meal to eat before I die, it would include what’s pictured above (along with wine, pasta, and chocolate cake!). Caprese salads are my favorite. When I studied abroad in Italy, I swear, I ate one every single day. The only thing this salad is missing is chopped fresh basil (my farmer’s market was out). For last night’s dinner I added in some avocado for a bit of a twist on this classic Italian fare.

In the mix:

1 vine ripe tomato

About 1/2 roasted red pepper

1 oz avocado

1/2 ball of Trader Joe’s ovoline fresh mozzarella

Arugula, as a bed of greens, optional

1/2 TBSP olive oil (I used basil olive oil – SO GOOD!)

1/2 TBSP balsamic vinegar (I used Blackberry flavored)

I also had a Trader’s Joe’s organic baby baquette on the side for my dipping pleasure.

Nutrition facts: 384 calories, 21 g fat, 17 g protein, 35 g carbs.

Due to my circuit workout on Sunday, weight training + cycling on Monday, and Jillian Michaels’ DVDs yesterday, my whole body felt a bit achy and sore today. I decided to make it a light workout day to give myself some rest.

When lunchtime rolled around, I took Harley on a long walk around our neighborhood trail. Isn’t the view so pretty?

I love when I’m able to take a break from the workday to get a bit of time outside. Following our walk, I did some yoga. Though I get bored easily with the slow, meditation types of yoga, I really enjoy more of a fast-paced, fusion kind of yoga/pilates exercise sess. It’s great for stretching out (sore) muscles and improving flexibility. Plus, doing repetitions of the yoga poses increases heart rate and gets a bit of a sweat going. I haven’t been to a class in awhile, but since I’ve done so many classes in the past, I know enough moves to just create the routine myself as I go along, or I do the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD (Between yesterday and today’s post, I sound like a spokesperson for her workouts!? Not that that woman needs any help whatsoever!)

Well, I’m back to getting some work done this afternoon, and then tonight I’m volunteering at the San Diego Humane Society. I usually go once a week to help out with the adoptable dogs. Cute pictures of any animal I fall in love with to come!

Mmm Mmm Muffins

After having various puppy toys nudged onto my lap for most of the day in an effort to get me to play, I took a break from working this afternoon to take Harley to run around at a nearby park. By the end of our playtime she was a very happy girl:

Check out the dirt on her tongue. Yum.

This morning I whipped up a batch of banana cinnamon muffins from my Skinny Bitch cookbook. I’ve made these a few times before and they are delish! I’ve tried out a lot of recipes from this book and have enjoyed the vast majority of them. I like the author’s no-nonsense approach to clean eating. Her recipes are all vegan, but I tend to add some dairy into the mix, as I did with these muffins today. The only problem I’ve noticed with the cookbook is that sometimes the nutrition stats and/or serving sizes are inaccurate.

I pretty much halved the recipe (because just me in the house to eat 12+ muffins is not a good idea!) and came out with 8 muffins. It also calls for a chopped walnut/brown sugar mix as a topping, but I just left out the topping this time. When I eat these babies, I like to sprinkle extra cinnamon and a tiny bit of brown sugar on top and pop em in the microwave for a few seconds.

Ingredient List:

3/4 cup of Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 TSP of apple cider vinegar

1 1/3 cup of flour – I used half all-purpose white, half whole wheat

3/4 TSP of baking powder

1/4 TSP of baking soda

1/2 TSP salt

1 TSP ground cinnamon

2 1/2 TBSP of butter – I used Land O’ Lakes light butter with canola oil (recipe calls for Earth Balance, a vegan butter alternative, but for some reason I’m not a fan of it)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vanilla yogurt – I used Stonyfield Oikos Greek yogurt (it called for soy yogurt)

1/2 TSP pure vanilla extract

1 large banana, mashed

Preheat the oven to 325.

In a small bowl, mix the milk and vinegar and let sit until curdled. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the yogurt, milk mixture, and vanilla. Beat until mixed well. Pour the wet mix into the flour mix and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the banana.

Pour batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Facts for 1 muffin: About 160 calories, 2 g fat, 4 g protein, 15 g sugar, 25 g carbs.

I ate one for lunch (and will be eating them all week!) with a Stonyfield Oikos vanilla Greek yogurt and a cup of strawberries and blueberries.

So today my gym was closed due to repainting. What’s a girl to do?

I had a date with Jillian Michaels! I own the 2 DVDs pictured and a bunch of others because her workouts are awesome. I find that with a lot of workout DVDs, they either aren’t hard enough for me or the trainers really annoy me (or both). But I really like her videos because I’m a sweaty mess at the end of them and she’s really motivating. Today I did the No More Trouble Zones DVD, a 45-minute workout that targets all those notorious problem areas, and one of the 20-minute workouts on her 30 Day Shred DVD. I definitely recommend getting them if you’re looking for an at-home workout solution when you can’t make it to the gym.

While making muffins this morning, I started flipping around the cookbook and found a quote from the author that I like:

“…Invest in yourself, and your body will invest in you. Any positive changes you continue to make in your diet are steps in the right direction, and every choice you make is a new chance to discover just what you’re capable of.” – Kim Barnouin

Amen sista!

Hello world!

Welcome to my first post ever!

Let me first start off by giving you a look at a few gorgeous pictures I took last weekend while I was in La Jolla –

San Diego, I’m in love with you.

To spare you my bragging about how lucky I am to get to live here, I’ll get right down to my good eats of today:

I started my day off with a smoothie. I LOVE making smoothies because it’s a good way to throw fruits and veggies into my diet, and it’s also a nice protein source because I typically add some protein powder in. I don’t buy the hype out there about consuming massive amounts of protein in your diet. However, being a vegetarian who works out a lot, I definitely pay attention to the amount I’m taking in to make sure I’m getting what I feel is enough.

In the mix this morning:

1 cup of Blue Diamond unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 cup of frozen strawberries (I use Dole)

1/2 scoop of Designer Whey French Vanilla protein powder

1/2 frozen banana

1 TSP of pure vanilla extract

Stats: 200 calories, 5 g fat, 12 g protein, 32 g carbs

My lunch today was a yummy salad. Hate to sound repetitive here, but I also love salads (what a stereotypical vegetarian I am huh?). They can be so versatile –  the possibilities are endless to what you can throw in the mix depending on the flavors you’re craving.

Here’s what was in mine today:

A few cups of 5-Lettuce Mix of European lettuces

1 oz of Trader Joe’s English cheddar cheese with caramelized onions (Holy yum!)

1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, sliced

2 Calimyrna figs, chopped

Wish-Bone Salad Spritzers – Balsamic Breeze Vinaigrette  (I used about 20 spritzes)

I also had a slice of whole wheat toast on the side. I love the Nature’s Own brand because they’re light (50 calories a slice) but not too small and thin like other lighter breads out there.

Stats: 300 calories, 14 g fat, 13 g protein, 39 g carbs

The interesting thing about salads is that although people think they’re always making the healthy choice when eating one, it’s very easy to go overboard and make them too caloric and fattening. For instance, adding too much cheese, nuts, or Ranch dressing is no bueno. I love to eat olive oil + balsamic vinaigrette on my salads, but since I included a serving of full-fat cheese in mine, I opted for a lighter dressing. I think sometimes to achieve a healthy food balance, it’s just a choice of picking what you want to eat more. I like to keep my lunches around 300 calories, so the choice was olive oil or the yummy cheese. This afternoon the cheese won.

In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, here are a few quotes from him:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”

May you find yourself doing a selfless, good deed for someone else this week 🙂