MOVED!

Heyyo bloggie-boos!

I have exciting news! I'M BACK. But I'm not staying on blogger. I'm moving to Wordpress. Miles better.

Check me out :)

Sweetly Fresh

short stress

oof. I lost my SD card. On my way to my photo class. 

Soooo, no bloggy posts for a while. Finding it hard to get into a blogging routine anyways.

Break?

For a while, at least.

Photo Block

So far this Friday has been super weird. Every have those days that you want to last and last but fly by? And then you can't remember what you did to fill up all the hours that slipped through your hands? Yeah, it's one of those days. 

Ever since I started nannying at a consistent weekly schedule my weekends have become so precious. I find myself wishing "I wish I could just relax without anything to do today" before I step out the door to head to my nanny fam's house. But every weekend, without fail, I find myself bored out of my wits without any constructive things to do. Thankfully, the weekends coming up are filled scattered with projects so hopefully I won't pull out too many strands of my hair. 

Today began with a bowl of almond butter protein Mesa Sunrise with flax, strawbs and sliced banana. Can't get enough of this cereal bowl.

recycled pic, #toobad

I waited a full two hours after eating before heading out on my run for a few important reasons:

1) last time I went on a post-breakfast run I was DEFINITELY not done digesting. Kapeesh?

2) I really wasn't feeling a run that early in the morning but I knew I needed to get my butt back out there and get training again if I want to actually complete this 5k in July.

3) it was cool and quiet and my patio was the perfect spot to read the local newspaper #likeagrandma

After my run I ran (ha) to my backyard with my camera and tripod to try to shoot a few photos for my class's assignment. We have to shoot a self portrait without a face. For some reason, this is so difficult for me. I'm pretty much on my own because both my parents are out of the house all day, and don't exactly have the time motivation to go scope out some interesting location with perfect lighting, so everything I took seemed rather uninspired. I feel like an author with writer's block. Photo block? I don't know, but everything I take seems cliche and all my ideas seem to impossible to accomplish. AYE.

By the time I tip toed into the kitchen for lunch, I was hungrayyy. My eyes were a bit bigger than my stomach, though, because I definitely felt too full 20 minutes after my meal. Woops.

Knocked out a cottage cheese craving with a half cup of the curds, a nectarine (that really didn't want to be pitted), some cranberry granola and a bunch of cinnamon. For some reason, the cinnamon flavor tasted a little off with the cottage cheese, but it didn't bother me enough to throw everything out. 

Then I heated up a small slice of leftover spinach and mushroom fritata and crumbled it on top of a bed of spinach, tossed with a little cucumber ranch, and ate. 

I should have stopped there, but I couldn't resist a slice of cornbread from Chili night on Wednesday. Ate one alongside a refreshing mix of Zico coconut water and Crystal Light margarita.

Big lunch. Big food baby.

Since then I've been a total slob kabob. I went to Target to pick up a prescription and deposited some checks at the bank but other than that productivity has eluded me. Andy Murray, Ina Garten and Bloglovin' have been my bffs today.

BUT

Tonight, finally, I'm getting a taste of a social life again! My girlfriends and I are hitting up Old Chicago (yes, that will make it twice in one week. too bad) and then probs going to see Bad Teacher. Back later :)

Oh yeah, and finally the weather gods heard my cries. It was sunny today!

What do you guys do when you're feeling uninspired?

How do you keep from overstuffing yourself when there are so many good things around to eat (lol)?

Muffin Madness

I am a muffin girl. Given the choice between a brownie, cookie or muffin, I'd go with the muffin. Something about their warm, crumbly goodness is so much more delicious to me than a gooey cookie or chocolatey brownie. One of my goals for the summer was to find and perfect an amazing muffin recipe. 

The first muffins my boyfriend and I made together when he visited a few weeks ago. Lemon Poppyseed muffins have probably always been my go-to muffin and I was excited to finally make them from scratch. The recipe as we made it is definitely traditional -- I'm going to experiment with healthier options soon!

The coconut cranberry lime muffins, on the other hand, are so bursting with wholesome goodness it's hard to call them an indulgence! Definitely a step in the right direction as far as my muffin journey goes, these mini muffs are sweet (but not too sweet), and flavorful despite minimal added sugar and zero butter. Woo! I made them for my book club meeting last night and I'm so happy I was able to come home with leftovers. You guys NEED to make these. The flavors are perfect for summer -- can anyone say BEACH? (The beach sounds so good right now, hopefully this darn weather will start cooperating.)

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins 

adapted from Annie's Eats recipe

- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour

- 2 T. poppy seeds

- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

-1/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 tsp. sea salt

- One stick unsalted butter at Room Temp

- 1 Cup sugar

- 2 large eggs

- Zest of 1 lemon

- 2 tsp. vanilla extract

- 6 oz. greek (or normal) yogurt

(makes about 12 large muffins)

1) preheat oven to 350 F, line a muffin tin with liners or spray with cooking spray

2) combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. To the dry ingredients at 1 tsp. of vanilla extract and stir to combine.

3) In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time, blending well. Mix in lemon zest and 1 tsp. of the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, mix in the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating each with the yogurt, beating after each addition until combined.

4) Fill tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to let them cool completely.

Coconut Cranberry Lime Muffins (Vegan)

adapted from Healthy Exposures

- 1 Cup + 2 T. rolled oats

- 1 T. poppy seeds

- 1 1/2 T. sugar

- 1/4 Cup shredded coconut

- Zest from one lime

- 1/8 tsp. sea salt

- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

- 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. baking soda

- Juice from one lime

- 1 T. ground flaxseed

- 1 tsp. chia seeds

- 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

- 3 T. almond milk

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 T. canola oil (optional: sub coconut oil)

-1/4 Cup dried cranberries (I used craisins because we had them on-hand)

(makes about 30 mini muffins)

1) Preheat oven to 375 F

2) in a small bowl, combine the lime juice, flaxseed and chia seeds. Stir and let sit.

3) in a large bowl, combine the oats, poppy seeds, sugar, coconut, lime zest, salt, nutmeg, flour, baking powder and baking soda.

4) to the lime juice and flax mixture, add remaining wet ingredients, stirring to combine. Stir in the oil, combine everything and stir until well combined. Fold in the dried cranberries.

5) spoon the batter into sprayed/nonstick mini muffin tins until 3/4 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until crisp on outside.

WIAW, Better Late Than Never..?

guys guys guysI've taken so many photos of my food lately but then have run out of time to blog about it. I feel like a blogging fool right now, but I don't want to spend too much time wallowing in my self-centered sorrow so I'll just get on with my eats from WEDNESDAY (woo Hump Day!).
Breakfast eaten leisurely at 6:15am -- keeps me full for an amazing four hours. Yep, this one is a nannying keeper. Vanilla protein and peanut butter mixed into Mesa Sunrise and buried in strawberries and a sliced banana. Doused in milk and eaten with a mini spoon (to slow down my plowing-like eating process)

Snack at 11:30 was half of a Banana Bread Larabar that I wasn't all too crazy about. I really wasn't that hungry for it either, I just wanted something to chew on as the girls ate their lunches. Ate the other half as a sweet end to my lunch, later.

Ate lunch after a quick 30 minute elliptical work out at 1:15. I was feeling eggs today for some reason and decided to fry one up. I topped they egg with a heap of sauteed onion, orange bell pepper, corn, mushrooms and spinach, sprinkled some feta and mixed in some salsa. Really hit the spot!

Cantaloupe Summer Smoothie provided thirst-quenching energy after my work out  

Didn't snack at all during the day -- surprising! Dinner, made by the dad, was vegetarian chile and a cornbread muffin. I topped my small bowl of chile with avocado and a dollop of greek yogurt. I wanted to keep dinner small because I knew I would snackaroo at my book club meeting later that night!

Guess what I did yesterday -- I BAKED! I baked vegan muffins. Yep, and they turned out pretty darn snazzy. Recipe will be soon-coming, as will more posts in general, I promise.

Father's Day Recap

So yesterday was a pretty special fathers day because I got to spend the day with JUST my dad! My mom had to take a surprise trip up to her hometown and my brother left for 3 weeks to be a CIT at a camp in Northern Minnesota. Normally, we celebrate mom's and dad's day with breakfast in bed and an activity of their choice, but since my dad had to get up early to drive my brother to the camp bus, breakfast in bed wasn't really an option.

Daddy Daughter Date Night, 1997 :)

After a relaxing morning of reading the newspaper and sipping coffee, we decided to bike to lunch! Taking the lakeside trail it took us about 35 minutes to travel 7 and a half miles to the restaurant. We both ordered salads -- mine, a greek salad with grilled shrimp and his a cobb salad with blue cheese dressing -- and gobbled them up. So yummy! We were lucky enough to have a coupon for BOGO meals if we each ordered drinks, so I had a 1/2 OJ with mineral water and he had an Arnie Palmer (1/2 lemonade, 1/2 tea). Super refreshing. After we got back from the restaurant on our bikes we decided salads were a good idea. We didn't feel sluggish, actually felt energized after our meal -- super rare after visiting a restaurant.

We just lounged after lunch and watched a bit of the U.S. Open (Rory McElroy anyone? ;) ) before church. After we got back from church dinner was up to ourselves! I was feeling an open-faced sandwich and a green monster, so that's what I made!

Berrylicious Green Monster!

- big handful of spinach

- sliced banana

- 1/2 cup frozen berries

- 2 T. ground flax

- 1 C. almond milk

- ice to thicken

Open-faced Spinach, Hummus, Mashed Avocado and Grape Tomato sandwich on Sprouted Wheat bread with a sprinkle of feta on top.

First fruit-ice cream bowl of the summer! Vanilla ice cream with a sliced peach, cinnamon and whipped cream.

Dad got creative with his dinner, too (and a little wild with portion sizes... what else is new?) Avocado, tomato, spinach and bell pepper with swiss melted on top. He had the other half of my smoothie, too. :)

How did you celebrate Fathers' Day with your dad?

FOOTBALL TICKETS!

Badger Pride Last Season

Heyya! This morning I'm up bright and early to get me some Badger football tickets. They go on sale at 7:30, but knowing how I hate being in a rush, I woke up at 6 to get my morning routine straightened out before I settled into my competitive seat infront of my laptop. Basically, there are only enough tickets for a puny amount of the students, so competition is FIERCE. I'm feeling especially competitive because last year, I was late by about 30 seconds and didn't get any -- I ended up buying them for double the price from a grad student off craigslist. Yeah, rather not have to do that again!

via

So this morning I had some deeelicious oats. I saw the one last peach remaining on the fruit stand and instantly knew the flavors I wanted to combine for the perfect summer oat recipe. Excellent! 

Summer Peach and Vanilla Oats

In the oats

- just under 1/4 C. rolled oats

- just under 1/4 C. oat bran

- 1 T. chia seeds

- 1/2 C. almond milk + 1/2 C. water

- about a 1/4 C. natural applesauce (added once oats begin to thicken)

- a generous sprinkle of cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

On top

- 1 ripe sliced peach

- 1 T. coconut butter

- 1/3 C. vanilla granola

- More cinnamon!

Enjoyed with a bowl of fresh strawbs and a cup of coffee. Perfection.

I'll be back later with a post recapping Dad's Day yesterday. Have a wonderful morning!

Did/do you participate in your school's school athletics and spirit?