46

PSA: Your Butt Wants Attention

October 31, 2011 By

It’s feeling neglected.

Lucky for you, there is a solution out there.

Have you heard of the Butt Bible Workouts?

I just discovered that they are on Exercise TV and the Video OnDemand section of my cable box (don’t worry, you can also find them on amazon, and maybe even at the library).

What to expect

1. Paula will use the word “butt” at least 100 times, with her awesome Sweedish accent

2. She will also use phrases like “love making for your butt”

3. The moves aren’t anything crazy-new, but they might not be moves you’ve been doing for awhile

4. You will be sore the next day

Now that I conquered my morning workout I’m going to go enjoy my homemade “cake batter” yogurt. 

Cake Batter Yogurt

  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 2 packets of stevia
  • 2 drops of vanilla extract
  • 2 drops of butter extract
  • Optional: Blueberries + granola

Oh, and I’m going to have a sore butt tomorrow.

46 Comments
31

Because I Say Yes to Everything

October 28, 2011 By

The conversation went like this:

It doesn’t take much to convince me of things. That’s how I end up at things like pole dancing and roller derby tryouts. (Maybe one day I’ll tell you about the time I accidentally tried out for the Lady Raiders.)

So I have a 3 second part in this. And it’s not like I say anything. But clearly, I’m on the verge of fame here.

Don’t worry. When I make it big, I’ll still keep blogging, because it’s not like I’m suddenly going to start eating like a normal person.

I also said yes to fall festivities.

But honestly, who says no to pumpkin carving? Especially when it involves spiked apple cider. Just saying.

I decided a pumpkin type of treat was in order... but since I’m lazy I was busy being famous and filming a commercial *ahem* I went with my 2 ingredient dessert.

They’re cute, tasty, and the nutritionals on these can’t be beat! ~60 calories each for those gooey, dense, muffin cupcake things!

I said yes to cookie requests

G-love wanted oatmeal raisin, and AJ (see text above) requested chocolate chip with walnuts. So I took my pissed off oatmeal cookie recipe, and subbed in chocolate chips for the raisins in half the batter. Two types of cookies. Everyones happy.

What are you saying yes to?

31 Comments
59

What I Ate [With a Twist] Wednesday

October 26, 2011 By

I’m a bad food blogger.

90% of the time, I eat the same thing. Yogurt for breakfast, salad for lunch, some type of vegetable for dinner. Lots of fruit and cereal in between. Super exciting, I know. Calm down. We can’t all have lives this exciting.

But sometimes, I like to switch things up. Sometimes. And by switch it up, I mean barely. Stick with me here.

This is What I Ate Wednesday… with a twist!

The other day, I was out of blueberries. *gasp* I know. #whitegirlproblems right there. Actually, it’s a problem for anyone who doesn’t own a blueberry factory, because they’re freakin’ expensive. You know what else is expensive? Greek yogurt. So occasionally, when I’m feeling like ballin’ on a budget (yeah, I just said that) I get the carbmaster yogurt from kroger. It’s high in protein and low in calories, so it makes a decent substitute!

Uh yes. That’s carrot cake yogurt with coconut on top. Your tongue, and your wallet, will rejoice. (And yes, that’s an old picture, so please ignore the March 10th date. I didn’t take a new picture, but I didn’t eat 7 month old yogurt.)

Moving on to lunch.

Ok fine. I didn’t even switch it up. I suck. But avocado on salads is SO good. There is really no point in switching this up.

Ah, Dinner.

Butternut squash is definitely one of my favorite vegetables. I normally just slice it, salt it, and roast it. But I was feeling slightly more adventurous. (Yeah, this is my adventure for the day.)

Remember those spice blends I picked up over the weekend? I tossed my squash in the spices before baking.

Oh. My. Gosh. I loved squash fries before… but these. These are like a party in your mouth. (Ew? Sorry for the weird analogy.)

If you want to make these for yourself, try a combination of garlic salt, parsley, cayenne, crushed red pepper, oregano, basil, celery salt, and onion powder. You can use any amounts you want, just keep tasting until you get it to your liking!

I even switched up my workout a little bit!

I’ve been doing Jillian’s Power Yoga, on days when I can’t make it to the gym. But yesterday, I tried a new one, I picked up at Target!

In typical Jillian style, it’s a circuit workout, so it keeps you moving with no breaks! It made me sweat more than the power yoga dvd (which I expected) and it was a nice change of pace. It has a different workout for each week (4 total). I don’t plan on doing it every day, but I think it will be nice on the days I can’t make it to the gym, and if you think about it, you get a lot more for your money since it has 4 different workouts! The actual workouts are really similar to the 30 day shred, where it’s 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs, during each circuit. I like that, because it keeps me from getting bored!

Do you like to change things up or are you a routine kind of person?

59 Comments
47

What Crazy People Do

October 24, 2011 By

After driving 7 hours to Charleston on Friday… I stayed a day and a half, and then drove 7 hours home.

Yes. This is what crazy people do.

But that’s ok. Totally worth it. Because Charleston is awesome!

Saturday night, we went out downtown and we went to a place called Wet Willies. It basically had a million alcohol slurpee flavors.

Tyler and I had a “Call-A-Cab”, which came  strongly recommended by the locals. Yes, it was just as amazing as you’re imagining. You just have to ignore the 500 grams of sugar that your body is taking in. Sugar coma.

I also got to meet up with the lovely Christina, a local Charleston blogger! It made me wish Charleston wasn’t so far away, because I would love to try some fried pickles with this girl ;)

Now I need your help.

I got to go to the farmers market and I picked up these things!

The spices smell amazing, but I don’t really know what to do with them! I’m thinking maybe I could mix them into a veggie burger… I bet that would be good.

What do you do with spice blends?

What did you do this weekend?

47 Comments
35

Morning Workouts & Road Trips

October 21, 2011 By

I don’t like morning workouts.

There. I said it.

I much prefer to workout during lunch, or right after work. The problem is, work has been insanely busy which means no time for a break. And it’s been so mentally exhausting, I haven’t felt like going to the gym after work. Well it’s not a good cycle, because I get grumpy when I don’t work out ;)

New Plan: Morning Workout

Get it done early, before my brain wakes up before I have time for excuses

But this plan doesn’t sound so great when the alarm goes off at 6am.

So I had to make this as easy as possible.

Step 1: Pick a workout that doesn’t seem that bad in the morning.

Jillian’s Yoga Meltdown is 30 minutes, gives me a decent workout, but doesn’t make me want to die. That’s a plus.

Step 2: Set everything up the night before

I don’t just mean lay out your clothes and yoga mat. No. I wanted to give myself some extra time, so I got evvvvverything ready for work. Prep-ed the coffee. Picked out my work clothes. Packed my lunch. I wasn’t going to waste any time!

Step 3: Make yourself accountable

I wrote this post the night before, so I knew I’d have to follow through… otherwise this post would be pointless ;) But it doesn’t have to be a blog post. Tell your friend to text you in the morning and remind you! Tell your roommate you’re going for a morning run. Tell your boyfriend you’re waking up early to tone that hot bum of yours ;) Whatever it takes to make you DO it!

So how was it?

It’s not like I suddenly like working out in the morning. But I did it! And I totally had the smug “I worked out this morning” feeling when I got to work ;) mmhmm. That’s right. I already worked out today.

Morning workout. Check.

I had to get it out of the way, because most of my afternoon/evening will be spent in the car, driving 7 hours…

South Carolina, here I come!

One of my good friends/almost-family-member-through-marriage (my brother is married to his sister) lives in Charleston, and I’m long overdue for a visit!

I’ve know Tyler since… 8th grade? He was my date to my Junior prom, my drinking buddy alcohol mentor in college, my let’s-just-go-for-a-drive friend, and also the person that came to my rescue the time I locked my keys in my car while it was running. Yeah, Tyler has seen me at my best and my worst. I’m glad to have him as an “almost” brother in law.

It’s hookah people, calm down. And yes, this picture is like 3 years old. My hair looks dumb here, but whatever.

And if I’m really lucky, I’ll get to meet up with the lovely Christina!

Alright friends, I’m off to Charleston!

When do you like to work out?

What is the one thing you must have for a road trip?

35 Comments
57

What I [Threw in my Bag] Wednesday

October 19, 2011 By

I love giant bags.

Regular laptop bags don’t do it for me.

I need a bag large enough for the contents of my life.

So for What I Ate Wednesday,

I’m going to admit that I cram a ridiculous amount of crap necessary items in my bag.

What you’ll find in my bag:

  • Laptop
  • Power cord
  • Notebook
  • Pens/Pencils
  • T-shirt, shorts, sports bra (I keep shoes in my gym locker)
  • Ipod/headphones
  • Blackberry, iphone (yes, both)
  • Water bottle
  • Food (see below)

Cereal

Lately, this has been Kelloggs Fiber Plus Cinnamon Oat cereal. 110 calories, and a whoooole lotta fiber. Keeps me full until lunch time!

Crystal Light

Yeah, yeah, yeah, aspartame & artificial sweeteners are the devil and I’m going to die. But I’m trying to ween myself off my daily diet coke habit. So it’s the lesser of two evils. Now get off your high horse and keep reading.

Hummus + Whole Wheat Wraps

It’s still cheaper to get my greens from the cafeteria… but I’ve been bringing my own wraps and hummus to work with me. Yes, I assemble my wraps at my desk. So what? (That cucumber is from my garden!)

And no, I don’t waste money on those travel size packs of hummus. I bring the whole tub of hummus to work.

Fruit

Apple, pear, peach, banana… something. If I don’t have a snack in the afternoon, I will raid the pantry when I get home. (Not pretty.) Sure, I could probably just eat a larger lunch and stay full… but I like looking forward to my daily dose of Vitamin C.

Truvia (Stevia)

Sometimes, I want a little sweet-ness in my coffee (or my greek yogurt) so I like to keep these on hand, just in case!

Do you pack your lunch? What’s the strangest thing you carry in your bag?

57 Comments
43

Pumpkin Roasted Almond Butter

October 17, 2011 By

Woah, did you see that? Look. Up there, in your browser. Notice anything? Yeah, I know, you probably didn’t notice, but there is no longer a “wordpress” up there. I’m just www.iheartvegetables.com. Pretty exciting, for me ;)

Anyways, I wasn’t going to jump on the Pumpkin Trend… except for those pumpkin roasted almonds that I mentioned on Friday, but then I  had a problem.

I couldn’t stop reaching into that almond jar every time I came into the kitchen. Something had to be done, but more on that later.

I saw this awesome recipe from the kabocha fashionista! If you haven’t checked out her blog, you should! I made her Dark Chocolate Pudding Peanut Flour Muffins, except I only used 1 tbsp of peanut butter, and I used sugar free pudding mix prepared with soymilk, instead of the soya pudding, because I couldn’t find any at the store!

They may not be the prettiest muffins ever, but they sure are tasty! Not to mention they’re only 100 calories, and 6g of protein, at least if you make them the way I did!

But wait. We’re missing something.

Remember those almonds I needed to use up? Well naturally this was the only option:

Pumpkin Roasted Almond Butter

  • 2 cups pumpkin roasted almonds*
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • pinch of salt

*If you can’t find the Planters Pumpkin Roasted Almonds at the store, you could probably just add 2-3 tbsp of pumpkin puree, and double the amount of pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar. You’ll need to keep the butter in the fridge but it should still give you that delicious pumpkin flavor!

Oh yes. That’s the perfect solution.

43 Comments
45

Friday Food Finds

October 14, 2011 By

The good. The bad. The incredible.

You know what I love about bloggers? (You know, aside from motivation, support, and inspiration?) They make me feel a whole lot less crazy for getting so excited about grocery shopping. I just love trying something new! So naturally, I wanted to share a few things I’ve been munching on recently!

First up, let me share the ONE pumpkin trend I have yet to see anywhere else.

Pumpkin roasted almonds!

Confession: I’m not actually a HUGE pumpkin fanatic. (sorry) I mean, I like it, but I’m not an oh-my-gosh-it’s-fall-so-every-recipe-must-contain-pumpkin. And “never have I ever” had a pumpkin spice latte. But even I couldn’t pass up trying these! They are delicious! Just the right hint of pumpkin!

Next up, popped sorghum

I was really excited about this when I saw it at Whole Foods! The nutritional breakdown was pretty good for a snack food, so I had to give it a try.

Sadly, it turned out to be disappointing. It tasted like bottom-of-the-barrel, slightly burnt popcorn. And the pieces were SO small that it was really awkward to try to eat it.

See how small the pieces are? I threw an almond in there to give you some perspective.

If I wanted a popcorn type of snack.. I’d just stick with popcorn.

But I didn’t stay disappointed for long, because I found these at Trader Joe’s and I have a feeling these are going to be a staple in my food rotation!

Sure sure you’ve seen whole wheat wraps before. But these little wraps have only 45 calories each AND pack a punch of 7g of fiber and 4g of protein. Yes, you read that right. Isn’t that crazy?! And they even taste great! I’ve been topping them with some stir fried pepper strips and salsa. Major yum.

And now, I’m going to go enjoy Friday and prepare for the weekend!

Have you found any fun food products recently?

45 Comments
45

What I [Created] Wednesday

October 12, 2011 By

Yogurt companies should let us design new yogurt flavors. Like seriously.

I’ve seen some awesome creations around the blogworld. Pumpkin yogurt, peanut butter yogurt… and other flavors that the companies haven’t figured out produced (yet).

Lucky for you, you don’t have to wait on them.

As I was exploring the supermarket, I stumbled across these babies.

I’ve seen recipes that call for extracts of flavors but other than vanilla or cocoa, I’ve never used any. Clearly, this needed to change.

When I got home from the store, I was in the mood for a snack, and I had some greek yogurt in the fridge. Are you following where I’m going with this?

Within minutes, my kitchen became a laboratory and shot glasses were turned into beakers.

Coconut yogurt? Yes please.

1 cup greek yogurt, 2 packets of stevia, 5 drops of coconut extract. 

If I had pineapple on hand, I would have made pina colada. That would have been epic.

So this was the first of my eats. Normally, I’d stop there, but it’s What I Ate Wednesday, so you get to see allllll my eats. Lucky you, no? These aren’t all from one day, just some recent things I snapped pictures off.


I tried out a Moroccan place called Cous Cous with my friend Kristin, since we had Monday off of work! They had a pretty big lunch menu, and the prices were great!

I got a hummus wrap and it came with a side of “platas” which were kind of like french fries… but they had a bunch of spices on them. It was served with a side of tzatziki sauce and some kind of pesto type of dip. If you’re ever in Richmond, I’d highly recommend this place for a quick lunch!

Oh and just in case you were wondering about the fish… we finally picked names! Ponyo and Keto! (Ponyo is the fish from this movie and Keto means “sea monster” in Greek!) I’m happy to report that I no longer refer to them as 1 fish & 2 fish.

Have you ever had Moroccan food? Do you have any uses for flavor extracts?

45 Comments
46

Weekend of Surprises

October 10, 2011 By

This weekend was filled with some random-ness. So let’s recap.

Surprise Number 1:

You know how I said I wanted a fish? Well Saturday afternoon, I walked into my bedroom to find all this:

The man-friend got me two betta fish and allllll of the necessary accessories. How cool is that? (And which is cooler, that I got fish, or that the man-friend was apparently paying attention when I was rambling about how I wanted fish?)

So this is where I need your help. I need names for these two cute girl-fishys! Ideas?

Surprise Number 2:

Saturday afternoon, we went to a movie set where they were filming a movie trailer, so if the movie ever comes out, I can tell you I was there! ;)


Wait, isn’t this a food blog? Yeah, sorry about that. Moving on.

Surprise Number 3:

Friday afternoon, I actually felt like going for a run. So I finally laced up my running shoes for the first time in 2 months? far too long

There is a sweet park near my house, and the best part is, they have little circuit stations along the way. Pull up bars, walls to scale, etc. It’s awesome, and it totally calms the attention problem that typically comes with running. I’m hoping to visit things again.

Surprise Number 4:

Eric went to our garden and said we had a lot of sweet potatoes. Which was cool, because I’m obsessed with sweet potatoes + almond butter.

But not just regular sweet potatoes. MONSTER POTATOES.

Do you see this? I put a fork next to it for perspective. Yes. It’s ginormous.

Did you have any fun surprises this weekend?

46 Comments