Category Archives: Dinners
The Vegginator
Yours truly has a new nickname, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
My company happens to be a Relay for Life sponsor, and to raise some final donations for this weekend’s walk, we organized a hot dog eating fundraiser. They secured Frank n Steins, a casual bar in downtown Orlando, to host the shenanigans, and I gleefully followed along with the planning…
Until my name – and new nickname – appeared on the promotional flyer.
Apparently, the rumor around the office is that the resident food blogger likes to eat. I’m not sure what led them to that conclusion…
Five minutes…3.75 veggie dogs…$1,000 for cancer research…
…and with that, we shall never speak of this again.
Or put pictures on Facebook.
I’m a lady, after all. I don’t shove weiners in my mouth for money and then plaster it all over the internet.
Moving right along.
I spent an hour or two enjoying the happy hour that followed before heading out to make dinner with some girlfriends. After going ham on the hot dogs, there wasn’t a ton of room in my stomach, but I still made room to sample the Vegginator-friendly goods 
{Salad of the gods: strawberries, blueberries, gorgonzola and pistachios}
{asparagus with basil pesto}
{deconstructed strawberry shortcake}
Just like that, it’s Friday. Here’s to the weekend!
Ever done an eating contest? Would you consider it?
Eating Healthy with Family
Hello from the tail end of a family visit!
Please tell me that some of your families are as food-oriented as mine. Maybe it’s because mine is Italian and my grandmother feels happiest when she’s providing food for us, but there was hardly a second this weekend that I wasn’t either eating or being offered food.
Luckily my grandmother is a fabulous cook and my grandfather has excellent taste in restaurants!
The visit started out with a Saturday lunch at Mykonos – a family favorite Greek restaurant. The eggplant medley was completely vegan and came with a rockin’ veggie-packed starter salad:
The main dish was hands down the star of the show. The plate was packed with huge portions of nearly every Greek vegetable imaginable {tomatoes, spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms, onions and eggplant} and served on a bed of yellow rice and lettuce.
Even though this was the first time I’d ordered the eggplant medley, it’s hands down one of my favorite restaurant dishes of all time!
Other delectable eats provided by the family included:
It’s easy to find myself waddling around the house by the last day of my visit, but this Mother’s Day was distinctly less gut-busting than other vacations with the family. I ate as mindfully as possible– enjoying reasonable servings of my favorite dishes and skipping over the “meh” foods that didn’t exactly appeal to me. Between mindful eating and a long Saturday morning run, I headed home feeling like I hadn’t completely gone off the health wagon on the trip .
Some of my other favorite tricks for staying healthy with the family:
- Don’t be afraid to ask for modifications. Want to skip the cheese or opt for a meatless dish? Family is usually understanding enough to modify.
- Offer to prepare a healthy meal. My grandma was grateful to have Mother’s Day dinner covered, and my grandpa actually loved the sesame tofu stir fry I whipped up for the group.
- Don’t feel obligated to eat all the food offered. If I said yes to every edible my mother tried to give me, I’d have been simultaneously eating Oreos, pretzel sticks, smoothies and buttered toast. Just because it’s available to you doesn’t mean you have to eat it!
- On that same note, let the access to someone else’s pantry make you more adventurous. I enjoyed plenty of honeydew and Nutella over the trip – two foods I realized I love but rarely purchase on my own grocery runs!
How do you stay healthy when visiting family?
From Podium to Pavement
Did anyone else watch the draft last night?
Even though I cherish draft day as the sole bright spot in the depressive void that is the NFL off-season, I’d forgotten that the draft was yesterday until about 10 minutes before it started. Thank God for internet streaming!
While watching the announcers make their predictions, I made myself a quick plate to enjoy during the first round.
{Sautéed asparagus + lemon, steamed spinach + stoneground mustard, smoky macaroni}
The recipe I followed for the white cheddar and gruyere macaroni wasn’t the best, but it was easily salvaged by a few drops of liquid smoke. If you’ve never splashed liquid smoke in your mac and cheese – you’re missing out!
The first round began right as I sat down to my first bite.
I know that a lot of you aren’t as football-crazed as I am, but stick with me for a second. This night was the culmination of everything those kids have worked for throughout their high school and college careers. It was their hopes, their dreams, their dedication and their luck {not of the Andrew persuasion} all paying off. It was everything the players had worked their tail off for, written all over their faces as they heard their new NFL team call their name.
I had chills just thinking about how proud these men {and their families} must be and how athletes can achieve great things when they bust butt.
The motivation was enough to convince myself to take on a short 6 AM run. I may not be a pro-caliber athlete, but I hope to one day stand on the pavement at the end of a marathon finish line, feeling some of the same emotions the now-NFL’ers must have felt last night at the Radio City Music Hall podium.
…Less sappy ramblings, more breakfast.
{Chocolate protein smoothie + toasted coconut + toasted walnuts}
Let the countdown to the weekend {and the second round of draft picks} begin!
Do professional athletes motivate you to push harder or go further in your own sport?
Off the Clock
This week’s long run is officially completed!
I’d penciled five miles in on Monday’s schedule, but impromptu dinner plans prompted me to postpone them until Tuesday.
I started working on psyching myself up around lunchtime:
{Romaine, cucumber, carrot, chickpea and gorgonzola salad, side of honey mustard.}
I don’t even have a Pinterest and still managed to spend a half hour browsing running photos for inspirational mantras.
A little later in the day, I put some carbs in the tank with the best flavor of Clif bar known to man:
White chocolate macadamia nut for the win.
To make the run more interesting, I plotted a path through a gorgeous part of town I was introduced to last weekend.
I was taken to the Orlando Science Center last Sunday, and on the walk over, I fell in love with the scenic roads around the museum-heavy strip of north Orlando.
Running past the museums yesterday was almost as fun as wandering through them last weekend!
The only downside to the run was the pretty heavy peppering of stoplights. Yesterday’s route was dotted with at least five major lights {and plenty of other short stops}. The lights are usually a welcome relief, but I’m never quite sure how to handle them when tracking my time.
{Without accounting for forced stops at the traffic lights, the 5 miles took me 52:38}.
Because I have to stop at red lights whether I want to or not {runners may be a crazy breed, but not quite crazy enough to dart into oncoming Orlando traffic}, I’ve been pausing the Soleus while I catch my breath and wait for the walk signal to flicker on.
I have no problem leaving the clock ticking when I take walking breaks on my own volition, but waiting for the longer lights to turn green can chew two or three full minutes off the clock. I don’t want those wasted minutes to skew my final stats.
Unfortunately, race clocks don’t stop ticking, and I also don’t want to chart my training using unrealistic patterns. A break is a break, and if my body is used to them, it’ll be hard to perform at the same pace without them come race day.
Decisions, decisions!
Even though I spent the last mile of my run mulling over my clock-stopping strategy, the debate was quickly forgotten once dinner was underway.
Long run, hungry girl!
My bowl was packed with quinoa, vegan spinach artichoke dip and tomatoes – I’m not sure I stopped to chew, but I am sure that you won’t want to miss the recipe for the dip coming your way tomorrow. See you then!
If you run outdoors with a tracking watch, how do you handle forced breaks for traffic? Do you take a breather off the clock or let the minutes count against your final time?
Let’s Get Back To It
Remember that time in your life when you didn’t take yourself so seriously?
Let’s get back to it.
There’s a lot to be said for maturity, and responsibility, and all of the other fun, “grown-up” things…but there’s also a lot to be said about chilling the hell out and having fun.
Like la-bamba-ing around a friend’s living room when they make you fajitas.
Like saying yes to seconds. And drinks. And dessert. All in the same night.
Like bringing leftovers home to make breakfast a snap so that you can justify spending some extra time at their house in the evening.
Like turning disgusting Orlando rush hour traffic into a Pit Bull dance party.
Like driving home with the windows open and your face halfway sticking out of the car like a mentally deranged mutt.
Whatever it takes to feel free for just a bit…
Let’s get back to it.
Central Florida Food Truck Bazaar
Someone around here is a genius.
Throw a dozen plus gourmet food trucks in one location, sprinkle in some live music and awesome people watching, and you have yourself a perfect date night!
We decided it would be a blast to head to Kissimmee for the traveling Food Truck Bazaar. Our game plan was to split a few different plates from the most unique trucks to maximize the amount of awesomeness we got to sample.
First up: the Tastebuds truck, a Latin-themed truck offering a savory and sweet cheese sticks sampler platter.
The tequenos weren’t fried, which was nice – they were just wrapped in a chewy, buttery bread that almost reminded me of a dense croissant. The ones with the guava jelly were my favorite – it added an unexpected punch!
For our next pick, I requested a stop at The Flattery, a gourmet flatbread truck.
I’d had my eye on the veggie-matic, and he agreed that it sounded fantastic. It was my favorite plate of the night thanks to a creamy white sauce, peppery arugula and a heaping variety of delicious vegetables.
The flatbread was actually more filling than we’d anticipated, so we decided to cap off the night with just one more dish.
He was dying to try the fried yucca, and I happily put my own dent in the crispy Cuban goodness.
Like I said, sheer genius.
Are food trucks a big trend in your area? Ever ordered from them?
The Newest Addition
There’s a new toy in my collection of runner’s paraphernalia:
For the past week or two, I’ve been in the market for a GPS-equipped running watch to simplify my running routine.
Until now, I’ve been a pretty low-tech runner, tracking my pace and time with the Map My Fitness app on my Android. The GPS tracker immediately proved to be not-so-reliable, marking my first run at less than half of what the distance actually was, so I began pre-plotting my running route around the neighborhood and simply using the app for a timer. Naturally, I kept it klassy by tucking my phone into my sports bra while I ran, which…well…do I even need to explain all the reasons that was less than ideal?
During my lunch break today, I did some final research on my sports watch options while enjoying an awesome avocado and Gardein salad:
{The crispy meatless tenders and creamy avocado made each bite a texture-lovers dream!}
I first ruled out the Garmin line; although truly impressive pieces of machinery, they cost more than I was looking to spend. As a recreational runner, I didn’t want to drop several hundred dollars on an advanced runner’s watch. I was hoping to keep things in the $70 range, but all of my Google shopping results made it clear I’d have to pony up a little more for a GPS-enabled watch. I was really intrigued (and price-giddy) by the IronMan sports watches, but in the end my desire for a pace function won out.
One Track Shack stop and $106 later, the Soleus 1.0 was securely strapped around my wrist and set for its inaugural run! It was extremely comfortable and easy to read, although it did take a few seconds to adjust to major changes in pace {it took about six seconds to register the faster speed whenever I broke into a sprint}. So far, it’s doing exactly what I needed it to do, and I can’t wait to play with it again.
I ended up paying more attention to the new gadget than my run itself, and after only 15 minutes I was back at my house, ready to get some food into my empty belly.
The quickest thing to pull together was sautéed asparagus and scrambled eggs with organic sharp white cheddar. I’m totally wishing that I hadn’t used up all the asparagus – a repeat meal sounds great right now, but I’ll have to come up with something new!
Have a great Friday!
What was the last fitness item you splurged on? Are you still happy with it?
I Flew To Flat Top
Just kidding – I had a slightly more important reason for this weekend’s little getaway…
Congrats to my best friend Tiffany and her new husband, Eric!
When the two met in high school, he passed her a note asking her to attend all the school dances with him. She checked his “no” box…but now, after being platonic best friends for nine years, then dating after a “prove you aren’t in love with me” kiss backfired….
She checked yes to being his wife. {Cue awwwwwws from basically everyone at the reception}
I scrapped my original plans to travel to Illinois by bus, finding a last-minute flight on a budget airline that got me to Illinois much faster. Less travel time = more time to catch up with Tiff, Eric and some of our other friends from college!
And of course, more time to eat!
Tiff’s twin and I checked in to a hotel after a loooong night dancing and enjoying the festivities. It was great to sleep in and have breakfast at our fingertips in the lobby!
I kept it light with a cheese omelette, black coffee and tons of fresh fruit!
Britt fell back asleep after breakfast, so I took advantage of the free time and the hotel amenities to squeeze in a quick run.
I’d originally decided not to stress about fitting in a workout during the wedding festivities, but when a golden opportunity for a quick run presented itself, I was happy to sneak in a quick 2.1 miles.
While I was gone, Britt woke up and developed a Chili’s craving, so after checking out, we headed straight over.
I haven’t been to Chili’s in AGES, so I was rather entertained by the new-to-me Ziosk news feed/virtual menu/trivia game that adorned each table. While I clicked through the Illinois headlines, I decided on my veggie-loaded order!
House salad, add avocado, plus a side of broccoli. It’s always been tough to eat healthfully at chain restaurants, but getting creative with side order combinations is usually a decent option. Normally, I’d add a sweet potato, but I knew our next stop was at the twins’ father’s house, and I wanted to leave plenty room for dinner.
I’ve always referred to their father as my Illinois Daddy, and his cooking is the best!
The last time I stayed at their house, I wasn’t a vegetarian, but he did an amazing job of whipping up meat-free deliciousness once I told him about my diet. I started with a bit of everything – salad, a veggie burger, macaroni salad and potato salad. Throughout the course of the evening, though, I must have loaded up on the potato salad at least three more times! So tangy and creamy.
When I woke up the next morning, he was at it again, whipping up a fresh loaf of the zucchini bread that Tiff and I practically lived off of during my junior and senior year. {Note to college kids: sharing your care packages with your roommate definitely leads to lasting friendships 
}
My last meal before jetting home was the one I’d been looking forward to since planning the trip.
Two years ago, Tiff introduced me to Flat Top Grill, an assemble-your-own Mongolian grill with not only an insane variety of vegetable choices, but some incredible meatless proteins as well. Flat Top gave me my first taste of seitan, long before I was even in the vegetarian camp!
Naturally I had to load up on the wheat protein this time as well, as well as an amazing non-GMO tofu pakora. I packed as many veggies as I could on to the top of the bowl and drenched it in a coconut curry sauce, the remainder of which I sopped up with an incredibly buttery, flaky flatbread.
I joked that the Flat Top trip was my main reason for flying in – their stir-frys are just that good!
What are your favorite restaurants to hit when you travel? Do you adjust your workout schedule to your travel, or do you look for opportunites to get one in on the road?
I Will Not Fall Asleep With Hair Dye On My Head. I Will Not…
Oof – was yesterday especially hectic for anybody else?
I felt like I was rushing from one to-do-list item to the next. Gotta love the productivity, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dead exhausted by the time I finally sat down around 9 pm. There were still plenty of household chores I’d hoped to do, but I simply didn’t have the energy. Or the domestic prowess…but we’ll go with the former.
It all began the same way today did – with a 5:30 wakeup call, some freelance to-dos and a bowl of pumpkin yogurt:
I actually ran out of time in my morning to eat the yogurt like a civilized human being at my kitchen table, so I tossed it into a Tupperware container to snack on at work.
Butt in chair by 7:59 AM – not too shabby!
A few hours later, I may or may not have unhinged my jaw to consume my lunch.
{Part uno: wimpy romaine salad with ranch and Gardein crispy veggie tenders}
{Part dos: bean, yellow carrot and spinach frozen blend}
Despite my best ongoing efforts to pass on the processed carbs, I felt compelled to take a sanity/bagel break near the end of the work day. The asiago-tinged doughiness was calling my name from across the street and making it too hard to verbally explain what a medical dosimetrist does {other than hand out business cards with a really impressive-sounding title}.
{Do as I say, not as I do when I’m under-carbed}.
The bagel actually gave me some great energy for the run I decided to squeeze in before my blood donation appointment. After donating, you’re required to take the rest of the day off from physical activity, so I adjusted my schedule to fit a speedy two-miler in before leaving for the donation center.
My personal theory when it comes to scheduling is that the “I don’t have time” excuse is reserved for things that really aren’t priorities. Convenient or not, when something is important to you, you make the time!
During one of my post-blood center errands, I started to feel ravenously thirsty, so I picked up a bottle of Vitaminwater Zero Rhythm. I rarely drink bottled juices/specialty drinks, but this was a winner!
Less of a winner: dinner.
Eggs. Not eggs and insert-other-food-group here. Just eggs.
I had about 2 seconds worth of energy left in my body in which to stick food in my face before flopping melodramatically onto the bed, and scrambled eggs was the only thing in my sparse fridge that fit the bill. What it lacked in vegetables, it made up for in speed.
I’m just glad I didn’t fall asleep with hair dye on my head later in the evening. I was thisclose to passing out with blonde #9 melting into my roots, but I vowed that I wouldn’t let myself fall asleep with dye on my head two days before a major picture-taking extravaganza goes on the books…
How often do you have go-go-go nonstop days? Do you thrive under a packed schedule or make it through and then melt into your bed?
Smitten
Ethos can do no wrong!
I’d barely finished lunch when I decided to order the seitan Philly for dinner. I know it’s nothing new around here, but what can I say – I’m smitten!
Speaking of smitten…
Have y’all heard of AppSmitten?
I’ve been looking for some new workout apps {especially for weight training, since I have such little idea what I’m doing in that realm and need someone to plan that aspect of my workout for me}. AppSmitten invited me to be part of their affiliate program, and as I was clicking around their website, I found a TON of awesome health and fitness apps to download onto my Android. {They also offer iPhone and iPad apps for you Apple diehards}.
I’m most excited about their Pocket Yoga app, but I’m also super intrigued by the What’s In Your Food app? I’m always freaked out and fascinated to find out what ingredients are really in my favorite foods.
The coolest part? Instead of me having to dig through Android market, I signed up for AppSmitten’s weekly emails that give me custom-tailored app suggestions based on my interests.
Some of their categories include health and fitness apps, recipe apps and creativity apps. Sweet, right?
You can sign up for your own AppSmitten if you’re interested. {Full disclosure – although I’m not compensated for this post, I do get a small stipend for any new subscriptions as an AppSmitten affiliate. My views are my own, though, and everything I’ve mentioned has been from my own experience using the site!}
Off to go use my new NPR app to keep myself entertained at the gym!
If you could design your dream health and fitness app, what would it be? Mine would direct me to the closest vegetarian restaurants in my area.
