Friday, November 29, 2013

November Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day

Happy Friday! I hope you are all recovering from your tryptophan/turkey overdoes and any injuries suffered while fighting for those Black Friday deals. Today I am super excited to share the results of the Foodie Pen Pals program that I joined for the first time this month.


Foodie Pen Pals is a food-related item exchange run by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for bloggers, blog readers, and anyone who enjoys food and making friends. Each month, participants receive pen pal pairings via email. After contacting your pen pal for shipping information and dietary restrictions (and maybe a little internet stalking to find out food likes) you have until the 15th of the month to mail up to $15 worth of local food items, homemade treats, or other cool items to your pen pal. On the last day of the month. you post about the items you received (if you have a blog).

For my first exchange, I was paired with Julie from Forbidden Rice Blog. After going through her blog, I was super excited and also a little intimidated. Julie is a serious foodie and her blog is full of delicious recipes and amazingly beautiful food photos. The box I received from Julie last week definitely met and even exceeded my expectations. 



Here's a breakdown of what she sent me:


-Sahale Crunchers Fruit & Almond Snack: Really good mix of crunchy, sweet and salty. The bf liked these too!
-Two Artisana Organic Nut Butter Squeeze Packs: Haven't tried these yet but they look amazing and perfect for traveling.
-Eco Teas Organic Roiboos Chai: I love tea but have never been a huge chai person, but I love this tea! Sweet, spicy, and comforting, perfect for an afternoon treat.
-Old Fashioned Marionberry Jam: An Oregon specialty! I've enjoyed this stirred in Greek yogurt and, my favorite, toasted on sprouted wheat bread with the Roiboos Chai. Mmmm.
-Big Island Bees Organic Honey: All the way from Julie's native Hawaii! 
-Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears: Umm I'm not sure how Julie new this but I have a huge gummy bear obsession. These have a refreshingly short list of organic ingredients and were still amazing.
-Two Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bars: The lavender blueberry one was my favorite! Such an unusual but awesome flavor combo.
-Justin's Almond Chocolate Bar: I am saving this for a special occasion and know I'll love it. Can't really go wrong with almonds nestled between a layer of caramel and nougat, especially when it's made with high-quality all natural ingredients!
-A really beautiful hand-written card

Thanks so much for the delicious and thoughtful package, Julie! And thanks so much, Lindsay, for putting together such an awesome program!

I loved my first Foodie Pen Pal experience and highly recommend it to anyone who's considering signed up for the next exchange. The program is taking a break in December, so I'll definitely be back again when it starts in January! If you'd like to sign up too, fill out this form by January 4th.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to stop in quickly before I begin my crazy 3-Thanksgiving-meal marathon to wish you all a wonderful day. I hope you are able to relax and enjoy every minute spent with loved ones and every bite of your delicious meal. Take a day off from worrying about calorie counts, sugar content, or whether or not a cave man would have eaten it and treat yourself to some of the foods you love. Seriously, eat the darn pie.  And feel good about it afterwards!


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Healthy/Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! (that's totally a thing, right?) I love Thanksgiving and (unsurprising) go really hard for the holiday. With almost everyone from both sides of my family in the area, I grew up going to two different houses and eating two Thanksgiving meals year. And, now that the bf's family is in the area too, we've gone to THREE houses for the past few years. That is a whole lot of eating, even for me.

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Since I'm still not totally a full adult, at least in my family's opinion, I've never hosted dinner or been responsible for anything as important as the turkey. But, since I am at least a little adult, I do bring a side. And to maintain the whole healthy living lifestyle/blogger cred thing, I try to keep it fairly healthy. But because it's me and I really enjoy eating, it has to still be delicious. Last year I made a quinoa dish that everyone liked, but I can't remember what I put in it besides cranberries. If only I had a blog back then I'd be able to recreate it.

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So I'm still not sure what I am going to make this year/tomorrow. I know it's going to involve quinoa and some kind of squash and am hoping the rest will just magically transport itself from Pinterest to my kitchen. Here's some of the recipes I'm using for inspiration, as well as some others that look like they would be really yummy/seasonally appropriate.

My Vegan Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili: This pumpkin chili would make a really good turkey alternative main dish for any vegans at your meal, and since you can make it in the slow cooker it doesn't take up valuable stove real-estate. 


Nutritionella's Pumpkin-Herb Quinoa: The pumpkin makes this instantly Thanksgiving appropriate and the creamy texture would set it apart from your usual quinoa. As a bonus, it also looks pretty easy.

Eating Made Easy Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Dried Cherries and PistachiosI LOVE Brussels sprouts, especially when covered in bacon fat and pieces of bacon. This version sounds just as yummy and much healthier.

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ASweetLife Butternut Squash and Cauliflower Casserole: I love butternut squash and this sounds really warm and comforting. This would make a good mashed potatoes alternative or, more realistically, would be great next to the huge pile of mashed potatoes on your plate.

FitSugar Butternut Squash Quinotto: Not gonna lie, I was mostly drawn to this quinoa risotto recipe because of the name. But a risotto preparation for quinoa also sounds like a great idea, and you can't go wrong with butternut squash.

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Two Peas and Their Pod Sweet Potato Pomegranate Salad: I'm kind of sweet potato obsessed, and adding pomegranate seeds pepitas, and feta cheese sounds like it would really take this recipe over the top.

My Pumpkin Apple Quinoa Muffins: My aunt has dibs on the dinner baked goods and always makes sweet potato muffins so I won't be bringing these, but I think they would be really great for Thanksgiving dinner. They're sweet, but not too sweet, and also really hearty without being too heavy.


Q: What are your favorite Thanksgiving recipes, healthy or otherwise :)


Monday, November 25, 2013

Meal Prep Monday - Baked Blueberry Oatmeal and Tofu

Happy Monday! I had a pretty relaxing but productive weekend with a fun volleyball scrimmage tournament and lots of eating, including this awe-inspiring spread from Lighthouse Tofu.


Don't worry though, I also got some good workouts in. Besides the volleyball tournament, I had a really productive and almost FUN treadmill run using this interval workout from Self Magazine. Warning: those hill intervals are no joke.

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I meal prepped a little less (and lighter) than usual. Because I go hard for Thanksgiving. Three times. Yea it's pretty epic. So here's what I came up with for this week.

Breakfast

I am on a serious breakfast bake kick. This week's baked oatmeal features blueberries and coconut, and is just as delicious as last week's Apple Quinoa Breakfast Bake or the Baked Banana Almond Oatmeal I made a few weeks before that.


Baked Blueberry Coconut Banana Oatmeal

Recipe

Calories: 266 | Fat: 12 g | Cholest: 0 mg | Sodium: 94 mg | Carbs: 31 g | Fiber: 6 g | Sugars: 10 g | Protein: 9 g

1 1/2 cups oats
3 tbsp chia seeds
6 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut, divided in 2
1/3 cup sliced almonds, divided in 2
1/4 cup walnut pieces, divided in 2
1 cup blueberries
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
3/4 cup egg whites
2 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all ingredients (including only half of the divided ingredients) in a large rectangular microwave and oven safe baking dish.
Microwave on high for 10 minutes, stirring halfway.
Mix the rest of the shredded coconut, sliced almonds and walnuts together, then sprinkle over the oatmeal mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes or until mixture is firm. Broil for the last minute if desired, so the toppings get a nice golden brown crisp. Using the timer is highly recommended to avoid burning :)
Makes 6 servings.


This may be my new favorite oatmeal. Despite not having a lot of added sugar, the blueberries give it a nice sweetness and the texture from all the toasty nuts is great. And, despite the additional egg whites for extra protein, it wasn't too "eggy" for the bf.

Protein

For this week's lightened up and lazy easy meal prep, I didn't make any meat. I also didn't make any vegetarian protein recipes. All I did was buy some tofu and chop it up so it would be easier to grab and throw in salads or stir frys. But hey, I'm going to be slaving over a hot stove and cooking a 30 lb turkey Thursday. Ok no I'm not. But I am going to make some kind of a healthy side to bring to Thanksgiving...


Sides

To go with the tofu, I roasted a bunch of broccoli and cauliflower with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and baked some sweet potatoes.


Workouts

In my last week of Pile on the Miles and I have just over 6 miles to go to reach my goal of 30 miles. I know it doesn't seem like a lot of miles but I'm pretty proud of myself since I've never run this much in a month before. I'm also running a 5K on Sunday to finish my monthly goal of one race 1 day late. Typical. 

Monday: Rec league volleyball playoffs, Blogilates Hard Core Workout
Tuesday: 5K Run
Wednesday:  Nutritionella Arm Sandwich, Pull-ups
Thursday: 5K Pre-Turkey Run!
Saturday: Rest

I'm also super excited to start the Elf for Health Holiday Challenge, a four week challenge with a buddy-support system to stay motivated and healthy during the crazy holiday season. I have a great elf buddy and am really excited to work through the challenges together. Oh and if you're interested, you can still sign up for the second two weeks of the challenge at the link above. Here's a brief look at the daily tasks.


Q: How are you staying healthy through the holidays?

Friday, November 22, 2013

Friday Favs - Cold Weather Running Gear

Happy Friday! This month's NatureBox (<-this link that get's you 50% off your first box and $10 credit for me) came in yesterday so I've been happily snacking away. I'll, give you a run down of what's in the box sometime soon but am trying to not use the blog as an excuse to eat all the snacks immediately this time :)


In other news I have been running a lot more than usual thanks to Pile on the Miles 2013, including running outside. Even though it is cold out. And I hate the cold. Here's some of my fav gear I've used to help my starts-to-whine-when-it-drops-below-50 self brave the elements.

Under Armour ColdGear Fitted Crew


I have a couple ColdGear compression mock turtlenecks, which I like for the warmth and the nice squeeze-you-in feel of the compression fit, but I don't feel like I can wear them without a t-shirt or something on top. They are just so...tight. I like that this shirt is fitted instead, so it's still tight enough that it doesn't flap around or anything, but I feel like I can wear it on its own. It is also plenty warm enough for 40 degree weather, even for a cold-weather wimp like me. 

Nike Therma-Fit Reversible Headband


My ears get cold when it gets below 50, but hats don't stay on my head when I have my pair in a ponytail. A warm headband provides a great solution, and doubles by keeping the hair out of my face. I have the older version of this headband and I love that one side is warm and fleecy and the other side is not, making it wearable in a wide range of temps.

Under Armour ColdGear Compression Leggings 


I was skeptical about these leggings before I tried them out. They are supposed to be compression but they didn't feel that tight on me (maybe I needed a small?!?) and they also felt much thinner than my old Nike Therma-Fit leggings, so I was doubtful they would keep me warm enough. But somehow the magic/fabric-technology they put in these pants really works! They kept me really warm on two sub 40 degree runs, and almost TOO warm on a 45 degree day, which never happens to me.

Runner's World LED Armband

Ok so this doesn't really help with the cold, but along with the cold weather winter has also brought ridiculously early sunsets. Since I am not a morning person, running outside sometimes means running in the dark. This band has LED lights and is also reflective, providing added visibility to help me run safely after sundown.

Reebok ONE Polar Fleece Jacket


This jacket is REALLY warm, maybe even too warm for 40 degrees even for me. I also love that it has a lot of reflective threading throughout for improved low-light visibility. And it has thumbholes! I love thumbholes! Side note: Anyone else go cross-eyed during mirror selfies? Just me? Typical.

Q: Do you run outside in the winter? (if it's actually cold in winter where you are) Any favorite tips or cold-weather gear?

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with any of the above companies and paid for all the above gear myself. I won't get anything if you purchase the above products except the satisfaction of making your life just a little bit better. Which actually sounds like a pretty great perk. So go try this stuff out! :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

PRO Compression Marathon Socks Review

A couple weeks ago, I received a pair of PRO Compression socks of my choice in a FitFluential giveaway. I'd never tried compression socks before, but have heard a lot about them and was super excited to try them out, especially since I ran one 5K and am totally a runner now.


According to PRO Compression, their socks are "designed specifically to deliver both maximum comfort and speedy recovery times" with benefits such as "improved blood flow, stability and comfort". I picked the Marathon socks in Lime, which are PRO Compression's full length socks. To put them to the test, I tried them out a couple times during different workouts and recovery.


The first time I tried the socks was during a crazy late night volleyball tournament. If there's ever a time my legs could use a little extra endurance, a 4s volleyball tournament from 7 PM to 4:30 AM after I already played two flag football games would definitely qualify. Plus, the bright lime green socks go really well with my volleyball shoes :) 

Putting on the socks for the first time was a little weird. When I pulled them to what I felt like was their normal fit, they went up above my knees to the top of my thighs. Not a good look and not very comfortable. Adjusting them to hit below my knees looked better but it seemed like they could have been tighter. 

Maybe because of the fit, they twisted around in my shoes during the tournament and I had to adjust after every match to keep from getting blisters. Not sure if they helped my endurance or not, by the semi finals they were pretty tired, but at that point I'm not sure anything would have saved me. My quads and butt also tend to get much more tired than my calves during volleyball.

I also tried them out during one of my regular runs. The socks didn't shift at all, and the support felt great on my shins. The only issue I had was a little extra pressure on my achilles, which have been very tight while running. That workout was only a little more than 30 minutes versus 9 hours of volleyball, so I'm not sure if it was the sport or length that made a difference.

Finally, I wore the socks while recovering from a long volleyball tournament. The socks felt pretty good on my sore and tired legs, but I couldn't really tell if it made a difference. My quads and glutes also tend to be much more sore than my calves post-tournament, so not sure this type of sock is the best solution for me.


Pros

Support: I appreciated the extra support the socks offered, especially on my shins while running.
Comfort: Besides the achilles pressure issue, the socks were very comfortable. The material felt great and did a good job of wicking sweat, even after 9 hours of volleyball.
Quality: The material of the socks feels really high quality and still looks new after three trips through the washing machine (and hang drying).

Cons

Fit: I picked the S/M according to PRO Compression's size chart, but as I mentioned they seemed a little long and maybe big for me and twisted a little as a result. I think if I buy another pair I might follow PRO Compression's suggestion to size down for a tighter fit.
Length: I'm not sure if this was a mental thing, but I kind of felt like having compression on the lower half of my legs pushed all the swelling to the top of my legs and made them feel worse. And my quads, glutes, and hamstrings tend to get much more sore than my calves after most activity. So for recovery, I think what I really need may be compression tights. Or a full body compression suit :)

Bottom Line

These socks are made of high quality material and are very comfortable. The fit didn't quite work out for me, so I think if I buy another pair I'd probably go for the calf sleeves instead of another pair of socks to address that. The socks also weren't ideal for volleyball so I'm not sure I would recommend them for sports other than running. But if you are a serious runner, or a casual runner that suffers from shin splints, then I would highly recommend giving them a try.

Q: Have you ever tried compression socks? Whats your favorite brand?

Disclosure: I received these socks in a FitFlutential giveaway sponsored by PRO Compression. I'm not affiliated with PRO Compression, wasn't compensated for this post, and none of the links are affiliate links. PRO Compression doesn't know me from Adam. Or whatever the female version of knowing someone from Adam is.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Meal Prep Monday - Apple Quinoa Breakfast Bake and Chicken Nuggets

Happy Monday! (is that an oxymoron?) I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was pretty awesome and included my volleyball team's first ever cash tournament win. So proud of us! My legs are still super sore today, but it was totally worth it :)



Since the weather's gotten colder having the oven on is a lot less miserable and baking is a lot more appealing. Here's what I came up with for this week.

Breakfast

I liked changing things up with a savory breakfast last week, but cold weather makes me crave warm, sweet baked goods. I was inspired by this recipe that I found on Pinterest, but I changed it up a little to get in more protein and healthy fats.



Apple Quinoa Breakfast Bake

Recipe

Calories: 284 | Fat: 10 g | Cholest: 31 mg | Sodium: 84 mg | Carbs: 41 g | Fiber: 6 g | Sugars: 15 g | Protein: 10 g 

1 cup uncooked quinoa
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup raisins
1 small apple, diced
1 egg
2 egg whites
2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 7 x 11 or 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix the quinoa, chia seeds, and spices in the baking dish.
Sprinkle the raisins and diced apple on top of the quinoa mixture.
Whisk together the eggs, almond milk, apple sauce and maple syrup in a bowl.
Pour the egg mixture over the quinoa mixture.
Sprinkle the almonds and walnuts evenly over top.
Bake for 1 hour or until liquid is absorbed.
Makes 6 servings.



I am a big fan of this breakfast and it would be a great gluten free option to serve at brunch. It's really easy since you don't even have to pre-cook the quinoa, and it isn't too sweet but has a nice spiciness.  The quinoa makes it very filling, and every bite is also loaded with raisins and nutty goodness. Not your typical breakfast, but I highly recommend giving it a try.

Protein

I wanted to make an easy baked chicken recipe, and Skinnytaste's chicken nuggets fit the bill, although breading the nuggets was a little time consuming. Definitely worth it though for how tasty they turned out. Typically, this was one of the bf's favorite meal prep recipes ever. He's seriously a giant 5 year old.



Sides

Since I was set up for breading things, I went ahead and also breaded and baked some eggplant. Super tasty. Along with the eggplant, I roasted a spaghetti squash, and made some peas (the one thing I didn't make in the oven. although oven roasted peas sound promising).



Workouts

I came up a little short on my Pile on the Miles goal last week since I couldn't convince my legs to run the day after the volleyball tournament, so I'm trying to make up a little this week.

Monday: Nike Training Club Jeanette Jenkins abs, pull-ups, 2 rec league volleyball games
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednesday:  Fitness Blender Tank Top Arms 2, pull-ups
Thursday: 4 miles run, coed rec league volleyball 
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Women's volleyball tournament
Sunday: 5K run

Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday Favs - Fitness Apps

Happy Friday! I just got a really exciting (and large!) package in the mail thanks to winning a giveaway from Fit Bottomed Eats. More on that to come. Gotta build up that anticipation :)



Y'all know I'm cheap fiscally responsible, so I don't pay for a gym membership and relay a lot on free Youtube workout videos and fitness apps to stay in shape. For this week's Friday Favs, I thought I'd give you a look at some of my favorite (free!) fitness apps.

Nike Training Club




According to Nike, Nike Training Club is like having "your own personal trainer, anytime, anywhere" and I agree! The app includes over 100 workouts developed by Nike professional trainers and there are really clear photo as well as video instructions for each move. I love that all the workouts are interval training so you get an effective and efficient workout and that there is so much variety. My favorite workouts are the 15 minute "get focused" routines that target a specific body part. 

MyFitnessPal















MyFitnessPal is a free calorie counter that has both a desktop and mobile app. Now I have a love/hate relationship with counting calories (hate how time consuming it is and how it makes me obsess about numbers, love that it's the only thing that has ever helped me lose weigh) but I have to admit that it is MUCH easier to do with MyFitnessPal than when I did it back in college before smart phones (yea and we walked to school barefoot uphill both ways too). MyFitnessPal claims to have the largest food database of any calorie counter, and it is definitely gratifying to be able to scan or search and find most ingredients with no problems. Being able to find nutrition info for major restaurant chains is also really helpful for making healthy choices on the go.

MapMyRun















Since I started running outside while training for my first 5k (I know, who even am I right now?) having a great GPS running tracker has been key. I love being able to track my speed, pace, and distance to keep my training on track. It's also really helpful to search what MapMyRun says is the world's largest database of running, walking and cycling routes to find new training runs. One of my favorite features is the ability to set customized audible cues so I can monitor my distance and pace without having to look at my phone.

Gymboss Interval Timer
(Android, iOS)















I love HIIT (high intensity interval training) and having a good timer is super helpful for doing HIIT routines. Gymboss sells small, fairly inexpensive interval times that I have heard good things about, but they also make a free mobile app! Admittedly, the app is a little buggy and hard to figure out. But once you get the hang of it, it's also really customizable, allowing you to make and save multiple timers with different intervals. For example, I have a tabata timer which has 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest, and a 1 min on 20 seconds off timer which I've used to do a lot of the Blogilates POP HIITs.

Q: What are your favorite fitness apps? Any other tips for getting fit on the cheap?

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Workout Wednesday: Terrapin Adventures Terrapin Challenge

As I hinted in Monday's post, I had some fun fitness adventures this weekend. Thanks to a deal from LivingSocial, the bf and I checked out Terrapin Adventures in Savage, MD.



This outdoor adventure center features a three level, 40 ft tall high ropes course; a 43 ft high climbing tower, a 330 foot zip line, and a giant swing. Our LivingSocial coupon was for the Terrapin Challenge, an all inclusive package granting up to 4 hours of access to all the center's attractions. 



Before giving a rundown of the attractions, it's probably worth noting why doing this was such a big deal for me. Sure, doing a ropes course probably doesn't seem that hardcore to most people. But most people did not have a mini meltdown the last time they were at a ropes course. In front of their bf's friends. Yea no bueno. I think the major factor in my freak out last time was a surprising fear of heights (not sure when I developed that) and also a lack of strength that made the obstacles really challenging and only increased my fear. So going back a year later and a lot stronger was a big deal to me and I was a little nervous.

After signing our wavers and registering at the Terrapin Adventure's storefront inside the mall, we were given our harnesses and helmets, and walked through putting them on and various safety procedures. Terrapin Adventures staff then escorted groups of about 10 guests out to the course, where they explained and helped walk you through the various attractions. 


So how did it go? While being up high will probably never be fun on it's own to me, it was really satisfying to complete different elements and really feel how far I've come in a year or so. I really liked the climbing tower. I was super proud to make it the top of the climbing wall on my first try (unlike at Sportrock) and also conquered the more unconventional side which involved climbing some twisty poles. My favorite part was probably the high ropes course for the variety of obstacles. The hardest obstacle involved jumping off a platform to swing on a rope to a cargo net below. As you can see in the below video, while I didn't exactly own it, I did complete it!



Pros

Instruction: The Terrapin Adventures guides were really helpful and encouraging. The staff have the philosophy that their course should allow you to "choose your challenge" so there was never any pressure, only support. It made a huge difference in terms of comfort level to have knowledgeable people there to help me through the course.
Difficulty: The courses were definitely hard enough to challenge pretty much everyone, but there were also a lot of options for all levels. My arms, especially forearms, were predictably sore after, but both the bf and I also had surprisingly sore legs.
Variety: There was definitely a lot to do at the center with all the different attractions. And the climbing tower, in particular, had a lot of different routes you could take.

Cons

Price: With the coupon from LivingSocial, the cost of the Terrapin Challenge was $90 for the two of us, which is not cheap but wasn't bad for how much we got out of it. Without the deal, however, the cost of the package is about $80 per person, which is way too pricey for me.
Wait time: Although it was nice to have guides helping you through all the attractions, it did mean there was a bit of wait time on some of the attractions. The climbing tower happened to get particularly crowded while we were there, so the wait time to get a staff to belay you for a climb got pretty long. We probably would have spent more time at this attraction if there was less of a wait.

Bottom Line

I really enjoyed the Terrapin Challenge! I'm not sure I would pay full price for it, but I would definitely be on the lookout for deals or coupons since it is a lot of fun. It was also an especially good experience for me since I overcame my previous terrible embarrassment. Not that the trip was entirely embarrassment free, as you can see in my attempt to conquer the "Leap of Faith". In case you can't tell, the idea is to leap off the platform aiming for the hanging rope. My attempt was a little weak, but really amused the bf.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Meal Prep Monday - Egg Muffin Cups, Pumpkin Burgers and Tempeh

Happy Monday! I had a pretty fun Saturday, including some new fitness adventures (more on that soon) and then on Sunday I had a spectacularly crappy outdoor run. On the bright side, I looked pretty cool in my new cold weather workout clothes :) Win some lose some. 


Anyways, since I made the bf happy by including some red meat (liberally mixed with lean ground turkey but still) last week I was planning to go vegetarian for this week's meal prep. But then I saw these egg muffin cups and really wanted to make them for breakfast. And sliced turkey is a kind of key ingredient. So this week's menu features vegetarian lunches and dinners and meaty breakfasts, which is the opposite of usual. I'm such a rebel.

Breakfast

I decided to switch up my normal sweet breakfasts with these egg muffin cups from My Dream Shape. I pretty much stuck to her recipe, except for substituting green pepper and cheddar cheese for the spinach and mozzarella.


They came out pretty well, except my turkey slices were a little too small so the egg ran out a little into the muffin cups. They still taste good, but aren't quite as pretty looking as the original and the egg was a little bit of a pain to scrub out of the muffin tins. So if you try this, I would definitely recommend going for a slice large enough to drape over the edge of your tins.

Protein

For my first vegetarian protein, I made my marinated baked tempeh. The bf was out of town last time I made this, so fingers crossed he likes it.


I also tried out a new veggie burger recipe featuring, surprise surprise, pumpkin. This black bean and pumpkin recipe is from fANNEtastic food. I pretty much followed her recipe, subbing coconut flour, adding 2 eggs and tripling the quantities to make 6 burgers instead of 2.


I tasted the batter and a lot of the crumbly pieces that I "accidentally" kept breaking off and I love the flavor! However, my patties kept breaking apart on me. 


I've had a lot of trouble keeping veggie burgers from crumbling before (which is why I added the eggs to this one) so it's probably my fault rather then the fault of the recipe. Any tips for how to solve this?

Sides

I saw this recipe for roasted broccoli with garlic from Kalyn's Kitchen on Pinterest and had a really hard time waiting to get to the grocery store to make it. We may or may not have eaten half the pan to "test" it when it came out of the oven. I also made some more quinoa and some extra black beans.


Workouts

Still trying to Pile on the Miles so I'll be running three times this week. 

Monday: Blogilates Abs on Fire/VS Abs, Rec league volleyball 
Tuesday: 5K Run 
Wednesday:  Nike Training Club Arms and Shoulders, Pull-ups
Thursday: 5K Run, Coed rec league volleyball 
Friday: Rec league volleyball 
Saturday: Women's volleyball tournament!
Sunday: 5K Run