Category Archives: Food

Cinnamon Baked Apples

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

So I really wanted to make these on Saturday night after recipe stalking on Pinterest – but I needed to be searching for recipes for dinner, not dessert!

But suddenly, I stumbled upon the same baked apples as a side dish in a dinner recipe. One that didn’t involve pork.

I had a potato I could use for the starch and frozen green beans in the freezer to have for a side. I glanced at the ingredients.

Oooo, herbes de Provence, fancy. Wait…that was the name of the fru fru salad dressing I bought at Whole Foods last week! I could pour it all over the chicken and then grill it. That  would go well with my cinnamon baked apples!

It was a damn good dinner.

Cinnamon Baked Apples

Original recipe from Fresh Tastes. 

Makes 4 small servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 large apples
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Chop up the apples and mix with cinnamon, brown sugar, and water in a casserole dish or baking pan.

Bake apples for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Serve with meat for dinner or for dessert with vanilla ice cream.

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

5-Minute Ab Blast

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Workouts by

Last run before the Rockville 10K complete!

I did a teensy two miler on the treadmill last night at Crunch. Everything feels just fine, and after my five and a half mile run outside last Friday, I feel pretty confident about the race. Confident = I can finish, not that I will be speedy. I’m going to run nice and slow and have fun.

(source) Please don’t judge me for watching this crap. I only had so many trashy shows to entertain myself with during the hurricane.

It’s hard not to get caught up in the speedy adrenaline of races (like I know, I’ve run one slash kind-of two races) and get caught in the rush of pounding Nikes.

As long as I run just for me on Sunday, I think everything will be OK.

After my last run yesterday, I ended my workout with some lengthy [hurts so good] foam rolling. While I was daydreaming foam rolling, I realized Tuna and I leave for Brazil in three weeks!

Sick, bro.

So about those abs I was going to get before the trip? Cue scrambling onto the mat and frantically doing crunches.

I’m going to try to do this lil’ ab workout twice a week. Hey, at least it’s a start.

What are…Crunches?

I’m definitely getting my hair cut like this.

What are…Mid Raise Crunches?

What are…Leg Up Crunches?

What are…Toe Touch Crunches?

I could not decide what to have for dinner last night after the gym. I kind of wanted everything. And everything, I did have.

Carrots, spicy hummus, wheat thins, cheddar cheese, and not quite guacamole avocado mash. With a glass of red wine on the side. 😉

TGIFF. Is it me, or did we smush five days of work into three? This calls for some couch surfing.

Are you running a race this weekend?

Chocolate Covered Apple Wedges

Posted in Food, Recipes, WIAW by

You had me at chocolate covered ________.

Yes, I’m the one with the salty tooth, but sometimes a gal just needs her chocolate and red wine. I’ve never made a pie before, so I needed something to do with apples this fall that didn’t involve some complicated baking recipe.

Did you know that dark chocolate is actually good for you? That means I must have a lot of dark chocolate to lower my blood pressure. (Pretend I actually know what my blood pressure reading is.)

These chocolate covered apple wedges are just what the doctor ordered!

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light.

Serving size: 2 wedges. Recipe makes 16 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup plain granola
  • 2 large apples

Directions:

Slice each apple into 16 wedges.

Microwave chocolate in a bowl  for 1 to 2 minutes until the chocolate melts. Make sure to stir every 15 seconds.

Dip apple wedges into melted chocolate, skin side up. Allow any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl.

Pour granola on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Dip the chocolate covered wedges into the granola.

Refrigerate finished wedges for at least five minutes before serving. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve them.

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

How did you get your pumpkins?

Posted in Adventure, Food by

Tuna and I spent Saturday afternoon with my four year old cousin at a sweet pumpkin patch.

My cuz was appalled because Tuna had never been to a pumpkin patch before.
“But, but – how did you get your pumpkins?” she gasped. When Tuna said most some  people buy pumpkins at the grocery store, she was horrified.

We started out the trip with legit country hayride.

The hayride stopped after half a mile or so at the field where did our pumpkin picking. We kept trying to get my cousin to pick a small pumpkin by exclaiming each small pumpkin was the shiniest or the best color, but of course she would only settle for the biggest pumpkin of all!

Tuna and I took turns lugging it around. Arm workout!

Good job taking a picture, cuz! Ridiculous that a four year old can work a iPhone just fine.

Next we were on to the animals.

There was a very grumpy, very old emaciated cow.

There were multiple goats too. My cuz and Tuna fed the baby goats. This one was their favorite.

The piggies were my favorite. My apartment doesn’t allow cats or dogs, but do you think they would allow a pig? Honey Boo Boo had one.

They were adorable and made me not want to eat bacon. After I saw the movie Babe when I was eight, I boycotted bacon for years. I do love my BLTs though….

We ended the afternoon with caramel apples (the clear winner!) and Apples Maureen, which consisted of sponge cake and baked cinnamon apples with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

Later that night Tuna and I spiked the apple cider we bought. It made a good after-dinner treat!

How did you spend your Saturday afternoon?

Have you ever been to a pumpkin patch or on a hayride? It was Tuna’s first hayride too!

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

What’s one of your favorite foods that you feel like you need to give up when you’re trying to be healthy?

My mind immediately goes to pizza. Whether I’m hungover, having a movie marathon, or just finished a hard workout, I want pizza. Sometimes ordering a pizza is just an automatic response when you don’t have anything in the pantry for dinner.

Once in awhile, it won’t kill to you indulge and eat an entire pizza by yourself. But wouldn’t it be nice if you could have your pizza and eat it too?

Enter: Quinoa Pizza Bites. These bites are great on their own as an appetizer or atop a spinach salad garnished with tomato and mozzarella.

This recipe was adapted from Fit Sugar.

Makes 30 bites

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • pizza sauce for dipping

Directions:

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a covered pot. Turn town the burner to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix all of the ingredients together (excluding the pizza sauce) in a mixing bowl.

Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin. Fill each cup to the top and press down gently to compact.

Bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to cool for at least ten 10 minutes before removing from the pan. I used one muffin tin and made several batches.

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

I’m Not Complaining!

Posted in Food, Sports by

This past weekend was spent catching up with old friends and staring at pretty colored trees.

Friday night I headed down to Fredericksburg to visit my college roomie and go to the UVA football game in Charlottesville on Saturday. Luckily, I was scarred from my ineptitude to take blog photos a few weeks ago, so I overcompensated by taking pictures of everything. Saturday morning started off early – with pretty much the only thing that would get me out of bed on the weekend before 9:00AM: mimosas.

We lucked out with a perfect fall day!

Ahhhh, I forgot how much I love the smell of Virginia boxwood.

It was great to drink beer get some fresh air in the gardens.

We wandered to the game at the end of the second quarter (whoops) and made it just in time for a touchdown! Let’s be honest, all I care about anyways is getting to sing The Good Old Song and watch a massive amount of people sway at the same time.

We stayed at the game for approximately the same amount of time that we did in college – 20 minutes. It gets like, hot and stuff.

On Sunday, I got to see another friend of mine. I’ve known B since I was 6 years old! We got – what else – self serve fro yo. We’re so trendy.

B got angel food cake with strawberries.

I got dark chocolate, pumpkin, and chocolate sprinkles! This was probably the only time I’ve ever gotten chocolate sprinkles – I’m usually a rainbow girl all the way.

As the weekend wound down, Tuna surprised me with, “fall themed flowers.”

I’m starting to think Tuna is just buying me flowers so that I post them on here…

But I’m not complaining!

Are the trees changing colors where you live?

Very important question: chocolate sprinkles or rainbow sprinkles?

Ready, go!

Posted in Food, Run by

Last night I ventured to my gym for the first time since before Tough Mudder in early September.

Whaaat.

I’ve run outside a few times, but I really want to get back into having the gym as a regular installment in my daily weekly routine. While driving to the gym, I decided to do 4 miles on the treadmill and try for 5 miles if I was feeling good. I need to get back in shape for my 10K on November 4th.

Um…I didn’t realize that when you don’t really run for a month, you pretty much lose your endurance! Welp, looks like I’ve got a lot of work to do in the next 4.5 weeks.

Starting from week 4, mid-week – ready, go!

I huffed and puffed through a 3.1 mi treadmill run and waddled over to my long-lost friend. (Please ignore my sweaty knees.)

Thanks for my new running spandex, Mom!

Oh, how I’ve missed you, foam roller.

After I got a good workout in, I promptly ate an entire bag of gummi bears.

I needed to refuel…

Do you ever take breaks from running? How long does it take you to get back into shape?

Old Bay Zucchini Chips

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

Whenever people ask me whether I have a sweet tooth or a salty tooth, I look at them in disgust.

Who would choose cake over potato chips? When I was little (OK…maybe I did this last week) I would snack on dill pickle after dill pickle. The thing I probably crave most when I’m eating clean is potato chips. BBQ Utz Ruffles are my kryptonite.

I’m not a huge fan of kale, so I haven’t caught on to the kale chip craze. But I do like the idea of a healthy snack that is crunchy – and most importantly, salty .

These Old Bay Zucchini Chips will do the trick!  My version of the chips were inspired by Mary at 17 Apart.

Makes 2 small servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 fresh zucchini
  • Old Bay seasoning
  • Salt
  • Cooking Spray

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 225°F.
  • Line the baking sheet with foil.
  • Slice the zucchini and place evenly on the baking sheet.
  • Lightly spray tops of zucchini slices with cooking spray.
  • Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning and salt.
  • Cook for 50 minutes.
  •  Take out the pan and flip over each slice. Then spray with cooking spray and salt/season this side.
  • Cook for 45 more minutes.

Let the chips cool for awhile – this will dry them out and make them crunchier!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday! 

Do you have a sweet tooth or a salty tooth?

A Weekend Away

Posted in Food, Recipes, Run by

Four-day weekend for me! Woo hoo!

I’m headed down to central Virginia today for the weekend. One of my best friends is getting married! It’s going to be a fun time catching up with girlfriends, getting pampered, and celebrating.

Eating and drinking gluttonously is most certainly going to accompany the celebrating. I’m going to relax and enjoy eating everything in my sight this weekend, but I’m also arriving stocked with healthy goodies so that I shovel them into my mouth as opposed to seven Bodos bagels.

A cooler is a must-have in order to clean eat on the go. I’m stocking up my cooler and bringing:

Have a great weekend!

Do you have any plans this weekend? What are you up to?

Homemade Green Machine

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes by

I woke up on Saturday morning in the mood to run! My a cappella group was singing at the National Mall in the afternoon, so I only had time for a quick 2.5 mile run outside.

Fall is the only time of year I really enjoy running outside. It’s too hot in the swamps of DC to run outside for most of the summer, too icy and freezing in the winter to get my butt out in the cold, and I have terrible pollen allergies in the spring. I was glad to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather on Saturday!

After my run, I had to quickly get ready for the gig. I didn’t have enough time to slowly munch on a salad for lunch, so I multi-tasked and dried my hair while sucking down this smoothie:

I’ve tried Naked’s Green Machine smoothie before but didn’t really like the taste. And I always see bloggers’ green smoothies online but green smoothies look kind of gross, don’t they? But since they swear you can’t taste the added spinach, I figured what the heck.

The bloggers were right – you definitely can’t taste the spinach! My homemade Green Machine tasted like a regular chocolate milkshake. It’s magic.

Homemade Green Machine

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 4 ice cubes
  • 1 scoop chocolate whey protein
  • 1 cup fresh spinach

Directions:

Blend all of the above ingredients in a blender.

*****

The smoothie kept me full during the gig. It sure was a perfect afternoon in D.C.

What is your favorite healthy smoothie combo?

Do you put spinach or other veggies in your smoothies? What kind of veggies do you add?