Recent Eats

today was my first day of class of the year! i only had one class and it was a lab, so it wasn't too exciting. at least i didn't trip on some stairs and faceplant like i did last year, though. that was pretty embarassing.

since i don't have much to do for class yet, i'm still watching vampire diaries. i'm on season 4 episode 5, and have approximately 7 days to finish 17 episodes, since season 5 premieres next week. totally doable. right? right. anyway a bunch of my other favorite tv shows are coming back soon too. like nashville premiered last night and dang that episode was cray. my friends also decided it would be a good idea to watch the newest how i met your mother episode last night when we were painting our nails, and i was freaking out the whole time. i'm only on season 3 of himym so i'm currently trying to block out all information that i learned so that somehow i can still make it through 6 more seasons of the show. it's a legit problem, guys.

anyway. i'll stop ranting about my tv shows now (blame my roomie. she's the one that got me hooked on all of this!) and get on with the yummy eats. i really miss food from home again, anyone want to come cook me roasted brussels sprouts? but i've been eating pretty well regardless. i can't wait til our new healthy dining hall opens! THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE FRESHLY GROUND NUT BUTTER. that needed all caps. it really did though. how could you not freak out about that?!?! i go to the best school ever.

and i just went to look for these photos of my recent eats that i thought i had a million of and it turns out that i don't have a million. oh well. i promise i've been eating yummy things. like froyo and fluff ice and cheese and crackers.

hotel breakfast on move-in day = oatmeal. 

new favorite snacks thanks to seapoint farms! these babies are packed with protein and are super flavorful. they're perfect for carrying around with me or when i need something crunch and salty. my favorite flavor is the black edamame with sea salt. un. real. 

chicken kebab gyro at a really yummy mediterranean place in santa monica. whatever was in the creamy sauce was sooo good!

typical breakfast of egg scramble with ketchup. i miss my own eggs!

greek yogurt, frozen raspberries, honey, almond butter. and pumpkin spice coffee aka the best.

most of my recent lunches have been chicken salad sandwiches. i used to hate chicken salad but this one is really good. none of that weird grape or apple stuff going on here! 

chicken taco salad

and that's all i've got for ya, folks. i promise i've been eating lots more yummy food than this. better start remembering to take pictures!

favorite tv show to watch?

MIMM 9.9.13

thanks to Katie for hosting!

marvelous is... this album by Bastille. i'm obsessed. it's soooo good, and only 6.99 on iTunes (yep, i still buy my music. i'm crazy, i know). but really though, do yourself a favor and listen to this! 

marvelous is... a vitality bowl while shopping with my momma. 

marvelous is... finally getting a much needed haircut! 

marvelous is... going into GNC for some quest bars and getting a free extra bar, a free baby blender bottle (i can't get over how cute it is), and a free gold card membership. score!

marvelous is... brunch dates with friends (because even when your egg scramble isn't that good, at least the company is!) 

marvelous is... snuggles with my baby girl. i'm gonna miss this pumpkin soon!

marvelous is... getting whole foods hot bar and coffee after a killer Saturday WOD. we did "donny" which was 21-15-9-9-15-21 of deadlifts and burpees. i used 113 pounds and am still sore today! 

marvelous is... my Junk Brands headbands that i bought a few weeks ago. they're by far the best headband i've bought! they keep all my hair and sweat out of my face and don't move at all when i'm working out. highly recommended.

marvelous is... these Paleo peanut butter cups that i made yesterday. guys, not even kidding, these are probably the best thing i've ever created in my kitchen. the recipe will be up soon (promise!) so stay tuned! 

what's marvelous in your monday?

WIAW: Guacamole.

apparently, i really like guacamole. and eggs. and sriracha.

that is all. happy WIAW! 

cheerios, kashi golean, strawberries, blueberries, almond butter, almond milk

dinner packed for work: carrots with guac, blueberries, almonds, string cheese, and a paleoish brownie

breakfast burrito with eggs, laughing cow, and guacamole

coconut oil roasted brussel sprouts (one of my favorite foods ever!)

sweet potato fries, chicken with guacamole

an open face sandwich on california black bread with guacamole and eggs

a salad at the counter, with mixed greens, tomatoes, carrots, pickles, onions, a 1/3 pound beef burger with cheddar cheese, and avocado

only the best pizza in the entire world: golden boy pizza.

post run smoothie with berries, vanilla protein powder, lemon juice, and almond milk

eggs with spinach, goat cheese, sriracha, and a trader joe's chicken sausage (i love the spicy jalepeno kind!)

a green chocolate protein smoothie

eggs with spinach, chicken sausage, laughing cow wedge, and sriracha

a brunch at Denica's: an egg scramble with mushrooms, green onion, andouille sausage, and pepperjack cheese, with a side of toast and fruit 

a bowl of grilled chicken, spinach, shredded cheese, guacamole, and sriracha 

what food are you currently loving right now?

MIMM 8.19.13

happy almost-tuesday, everyone! thought i'd participate in katie's marvelous in my monday link-up since this is a random post and what better way to tie it together than some marvelousness?

marvelous is... snuggles with my baby girl. who apparently had a question while she was sleeping, haha!

marvelous is... saturday morning coconut flour pancakes with dark chocolate dreams PB and fresh raspberries. 

marvelous is... this awesome sign i found in chinatown! regretting not buying it already..

marvelous is... a beautiful day in the city!

marvelous is... being reunited with one of my best friends from school for the weekend! she matches my crazy.

marvelous is... brunch with friends! i got a spinach, mushroom, and avocado omelet that was delicious. 

marvelous is... iced skinny mochas from starbucks. i'm obsessed and it's kind of a problem because my wallet isn't happy about spending $4 every other day on a drink, haha. 

marvelous is... going shopping & finding some good deals! i love this dress, and i also got a pair of mint shorts for $10 (score!) and a few pieces of jewelry (like the ring in the above photo for $3).

marvelous is... the toasted marshmallow latte i got at biscoff in SF. soooo good! 

 marvelous is... RX'ing a WOD! even when it's one with tons of pull-ups and you forgot to tape your hands and now they're ripped. #worthit

marvelous is... luke bryan. and his new album. playing it again. and again.

what was marvelous in your monday?

Paleo-ish Pumpkin Muffins

hey guys! i just wanted to pop in and share this delicious recipe with you today. i've been experimenting baking with almond flour and coconut flour lately, and these muffins were one of my best successes. they were such a hit in my house that in less than 24 hours, only 3 of them are left! even my mom, the queen of baked goods, loved them.

you can easily make this recipe paleo by swapping out the brown sugar & almond milk with pure maple syrup - i just didn't have any on hand. i do have to say the best way to defeat the purpose of this paleo baked good is to eat one warm with a scoop of sunflower butter and vanilla ice cream, though!

Paleo-ish Pumpkin Muffins

by Julianna Foster

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 25 min

6051310

Ingredients (12 muffins)

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (replace with pure maple syrup to make this paleo)
• 1/8 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (omit this if you use maple syrup)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin pan with coconut oil spray (you can find it at Trader Joe's).

Mix flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and brown sugar together in a large bowl.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients (almond milk, pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla).

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Scoop batter into muffin pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Powered by Recipage

WIAW: Goals

happy wednesday y'all! hope you're having a good week. i've had another busy one around here, stay tuned for a post going up tomorrow about something crazy exciting that i signed up for & the huge progress i've made in crossfit recently!

but for now, here's what i've been eating lately + a little tangent at the end about my current goals.

pizza night out with the fam! 

i've been adding this to my coffee lately and absolutely loving it. it's delicious and pretty 'clean' for a coffee creamer, in my book. 

a warrior bowl from vitality bowls, a local place that makes acai bowls & smoothies. this one was an acai, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, flaxseed, broccoli, soy milk, & apple juice, topped with sliced banana, strawberries, granola, almonds, goji berries, and honey. sooo good!

homemade mushroom pizza by the madre. 

oats with defrosted berries and peanut butter

TJ's mexican salad at work for dinner

one of my go-to breakfasts: coconut flour pancakes with sunbutter and raw honey

a smoothie from vitality bowls after crossfit. this was acai, blueberry pomegranate juice, soy milk, blueberries, bananas, raspberries and whey protein

aaand another smoothie! this was called 'the hulk' and the girl that rung me up said that she was the one that came up with it. it was really good! i can't remember exactly what was in it (and it's not on the menu online) but i know there was spinach, spirulina, almond milk, whey protein, and a few different fruits. 

a new-to-me bar that i got at whole foods. i was starving on the way home from the PT office, and this did the trick of tiding me over til dinner. i wish i'd picked a different flavor though because i liked everything about this bar, except that the flavor wasn't super strong (which i should have expected since sunflower butter doesn't have a really strong taste). 

grilled cheeses on black california bread have been my thing lately! this one was spinach, bacon, havarti, and cheddar. i've been eating these so often the past few days (i had two today, haha) - all different variations every time. i think my favorite was chicken, cheddar, pepperjack, and avocado. SOOO good. 

yet another smoothie... now you guys know where all of the money from my tips goes, haha! this was the same smoothie as the pink one above, except i asked them to add spirulina. just as delicious with more nutrients!

one of my favorite dinners: burger and sweet potato fries. this burger was a mushroom & mozzarella turkey burger from whole foods. it was really good! 

my momma brought me whole foods salad bar for dinner at work when i didn't have time to make myself one before dashing out the door. she's the best mom in the world! & that vitaminwater zero is my all time favorite drink. 

lots of my peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bites! i love having them on top of plain greek yogurt with honey for breakfast and dessert. 

i haven't taken too many photos of my food lately (this was a collection of the past week) mostly because i've become a creature of habit, and when i find something i like, i eat it a ton for about a week and then get tired of it. the past week i basically ate grilled cheese, smoothies, egg scrambles, grapes, protein bars, and frozen yogurt.

i am trying to work on squeezing in more fruits & vegetables since i haven't been eating a lot of those lately. i've probably eaten 4 salads since coming home from school (2 of them are in this post, haha) because i ate salads at school so often for so long that i am totally sick of them. i also hate prepping fruit! i've been getting my fruits and veggies in mostly in smoothie form because it's an easy way to get a lot of servings in and it isn't too hard to make. i also almost always have some form of green juice in the fridge (i like odwalla, naked juice, and trader joe's green juice - i just buy whatever is on sale because it's expensive). 

i know that food has a lot to do with performance and with the rate that i'm improving in crossfit i can't help but think that if i cleaned up my eats a little bit more, i could perform even better and improve even more. i'm setting small little goals for myself to help with this, one of which is to eat MORE veggies and the other is to get bowls of berries at work instead of bowls of froyo (i get a free one every shift i work, which means a lot of free yogurt). i like setting goals of adding healthy things in, or making healthy swaps, instead of just cutting things out, because that doesn't work for me. to each his/her own! 

what's the best thing you ate this week? 

current favorite healthy swap?