Cookie Crumbs & Carrying On

Hellooo and hooray for the weekend! I hope ya’ll have something exciting and/or enjoyable planned. Whatever you do, don’t forget to enter my Greek GIVEAWAY by Sunday @ 12:00pm. You’ve got three chances to win! …and speaking of Greek, I had my free honey Oikos for breakfast today with the last of my homemade granola and half of a crunchy pear. This was too sweet for my a.m. taste buds. It seems as though most of you prefer Plain Jane style when in comes to Greek, too.

After class this afternoon, I attempted to run outside. Key word: afternoon. I should have known…exercise in the middle of day is rarely a success for me. I gave it another shot though, and ran for 20 minutes around campus and our track until I finally listened to the throbbing pain in my upper back and gave in to walking. I added another 10 minutes to my watch as I made my way back to the gym where I did a thorough stretch. My legs are still unusually sore from Tuesday – what the heck! Hello, off week. You’re excused to leave now.

Lunch was an exact repeat of Wednesday’s eats, because 1) today was a lazy day, and 2) why wouldn’t I want a very berry Green Monster & jam-cheddar sandwich again?

Then I turned on Food Network – which I haven’t watched in ages! – while I winded down from the week with cookie baking. I think many of you would agree that the kitchen can often be a place to destress [ahem, Allie & Jenna]. So, I got to making Pioneer Woman’s “Good Ol’ Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies”. [Before you read on, go check out this amazing blog!]

 I made a couple tweaks to the original recipe:

1 cup real butter

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour & 1 cup + 2 T whole wheat flour

1 tsp. instant coffee granules

1/2 T baking powder

1/2 T salt

2 T ground flax

~2/3 bag Guittard semisweet chocolate chips

Note to self: Do not make cookies while home alone, and there isn’t anyone with whom to share 3 dozen cookies. I ended up eating more cookies than I deserved, but then I thought about Allie and Tina who have admitted to eating 4 1/2 granola bars or half a dozen cookies themselves; then I didn’t feel so bad. How do you handle food guilt?

***

I was surprised that I never got hungry for dinner, but when 8 o’clock rolled around I finally decided to eat something. I threw together a salad [basically a repeat from last night plus a bit a creamy chevre]. I made a smart choice in eating dinner [like I would miss a meal!] because it was nothing short of scrumptious!

I have a quiet, yet BUSY weekend planned. I’m hoping to tackle a few lingering items on my to-do list, fit in a couple worthwhile workouts, and pick up the slack with my studies.

“See you” soon!

Hillary

Silver Medal for Me

Hey there!

Wow, I can’t believe there are just a few more minutes until we can turn the calendar to April 2010. This year isn’t taking it’s time…that’s for sure. Have any tricks up your sleeve for tomorrow? =]

Today California honored Cesar Chavez with a holiday. No school para me. I slept in way past my scheduled alarm, and then made a bowl of latte oatmeal:

1 1/4 cup water

2/3 cup rolled oats

1/2 T instant espresso powder

1 /2 T ground flax

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

bittersweet chocolate chips, almonds & a splash of 1% milk

It gave me that little buzz I needed to get pumped up about my final workout of my Move It in March Challenge. My roommates and I decided on a spin class to take together. Usually we have to leave extra early in order to get a bike…but that wasn’t the case this afternoon. It seems as though everyone else was taking a vacation from exercise.

We warmed up by running 1/2 mile together around the track before the 30-minute class. Then I ran on the treadmill for another 20 afterwards [2.2 mi.] + 1/2 mile cool down around the track.

Move It In March Results

Days of Exercise: 24/31

Run: 14.0 hrs. [~91 miles]

Spin: 5.0 hrs.

Other: 4.25 hrs.

Looking at the results, I am pretty pleased with how much I moved. I am a little disappointed about the 7 rest days [1 entire week], but think that I worked pretty hard during the three weeks I did exercise. My goal was to move more during the month of March. I didn’t have anything to measure my results against, so that would be something I would change if I do such a challenge again. I am proud of myself for pushing myself to run faster, as that is something I haven’t concentrated on in the past; I have certainly witnessed my strength – especially in regards to speed – increase this past month. 

Are you working on any fitness goals currently?

***

An hour later, after picking up paperwork for a prospective new condo, I came home starving. Enter lunch:

Wrap a la Homemade Hummus, Cucumber, Tomato & Baby Spinach 

0% Greek a la Homemade Granola & Strawberries

 

…and cookies [x2].

Have you had Lu European Biscuits? They are a favorite of my family. We prefer the darkest of the dark, of course =]

After my late lunch, I got ready and joined the masses in the streets downtown “celebrating Cesar”. It felt odd lettin’ loose on a Wednesday afternoon, but what the heck. The rest was history…

A for Effort

Hey Guys! I’ve got a little gift for you tonight: pictures! I know I’ve been a slacker lately – the photos I have taken are barely passing quality – but I think I deserve an A for effort today : )

Breakfast #1

3/4 cup Raisin Bran, 1/4 cup Cheery Cherry Almond Granola, 1/2 Banana & 3/4 cup Almond Milk

Breakfast #2

Whole Wheat Toast + PB + [other] 1/2 Banana

Snacks

I packed a couple snacks to eat after my 3 hour lab. I didn’t pack a whole lot since I planned to exercise post-class.

Back to Nature Multigrain Flax Seeded Flatbread Crackers [that’s a mouthful] + my daddy’s homemade hummus & a carrot

Dried Apricots + Dark Chocolate Almonds [6 ea.]

After 3 painful hours of Infrared Spectroscopy – don’t even ask me what that is – I sat outside in the sunshine and savored my snacks. I still had quite a bit of steam to burn off from my overwhelming class, so I threw my books into a locker at the gym and kicked up my heals. I didn’t run for very long [appox. 36 minutes], but I started to feel like my freckly face was getting pink from the radiant rays. It was just enough time to sweat out some of my stress. Running cures all. I finished up with a little conditioning…but should have done more.

While I waited for the bus, I grabbed a smoothie from Jamba. I tried one of their new all-fruit creations: the Five Fruit Frenzy. It was tasty, but nothing I’m anxious to have again. I’d much rather make my own mix…with spinach!

Appetizer

Buttery Smooth Heart-Healthy Monounsaturated Fat [a.k.a. 1/2 Avocado]

Dinner

I traded in my boring plain penne rigate for a more exciting option:

The garlic and basil flavors add a lot to a simple dish. I sautéed a few cherry tomatoes in olive oil with garlic and red onion, tossed the al dente pasta in the skillet with the tomatoes, sprinkled in a little chevre & parm, and poured all that over fresh baby spinach – voila…dinner.

Dessert

…fooled ya! I actually did not eat any Chocolove today, but wanted to show you my new finds:

1. Coffee Crunch! My mom brought their new flavor to my attention as she knows coffee/espresso & dark chocolate sits high on my totem pole of favorite flavors – yummm.

2. MINI Chocolove Bars! How cute, right?

***

There ya have it…I finally managed to show you a day of all my eats…well, 90% of them. What can I say, this girl can eat! I have my very important ServSafe Certification Exam tomorrow. I am actually being recertified. I will be disappointed if I receive a lower score the second time around. [I dominated the test in 2007 with a 95%]. The pressure is on!

Hope you have a happy Hump Day tomorrow!

Hillary

While We Wait

Although the blog surgery hasn’t gone as scheduled [still currently sitting in the waiting room], life must go on… and it has.

Yesterday, my aunt hosted a family dinner. Of course there were green, gourmet eats, including:

classic homemade hummus with fresh green parsley + raw veggies to start

…and homemade, bistro-style pizza with baby green spinach, artichoke hearts & chevre – two thumbs up!

***

Today went a little like this:

— Run with Ali, Amy & Stacy [50 min.]

— Run errands

— Meet Mom for lunch

— Fresh, spring haircut – bye bye long, winter locks

— Gather ingredients at the local co-op

— Smile due to SUNSHINE!

— Bake, bake, bake

— Realize Day Light Savings is glorious for running addicts

— Slip into shorts & ugly new race tee

— Run Sprint around town [32 min.]

— Eat homegrown green salad for dinner

— Watch Food, Inc. with my dad & contemplate never eating meat again

Proof:

post [second] run stretching in our green grass

I made mounds of Cheery Cherry Almond Granola

…and was even nice enough to share some with friends. Truth be told, I could eat a trough of this stuff, but I set a goal – remember?

I also made brown bread…perhaps a beautiful photo will appear for breakfast tomorrow?

Hard to believe Break is almost over. Hasn’t exactly turned out as I had planned, but I never regret a trip home.

Eat well. Be well… and watch FOOD, INC.

Hillary

Smart Move

Ahhh…finally, a Sunday to relax. I am loving the fact that I don’t have to stress about getting everything done today since I have the entire week off – hallelujah! That’s not to say I don’t have a huge to-list that I want to accomplish this week. To-do lists are never ending…at least for me. If they were, life would be boring…wouldn’t ya say?

Anyway, I just got home from another great morning run with the girls. It was a completely different story getting out of bed today – losing 1 hour of sleep really makes a difference. The frosty rooftops and grey sky outside were not the most inviting either. Nonetheless, I piled on my layers, ate a half of a banana, and met the girls at 8:00 7:00am for our usual 7-mile Marsh run. That makes 17 miles of running for the weekend, or 2 hours and 32 minutes – yeehaw!

Post-Run Breakfast

My Dad’s Homemade Non-Fat Yogurt & Humboldt Honey Granola

+ the other half my banana & a drizzle of honey

Organic Oat & Wheat Toast + Homemade Blackberry Jam [courtesy of my aunt]

Speaking of blackberries, I jumped on the bandwagon yesterday by getting my 1st smartphone. As if I wasn’t connected enough, right? I figured the Nutrition Nut on the run needed to be able to keep up with the speed of the blog world…if only I could figure out how to use this advanced piece of technology.

A hot shower followed by a hot latte is sounding like it’ll be the next thing on my to-do list. Totally not prepared for a funeral this afternoon, but such is life.

Take it easy, my friends!

Hillary

Life’s Unfair Itinerary

Hey. I really should not be spending the time to blog write now, but I’m hoping that a little writing will help with my angry, sad, anxious and stressed emotions. Today started out well; I love having Thursday mornings to hang around the house. I began my day by scraping the container of my 0% Greek + 1/4 cup Raisin Bran, 1/4 cup Humboldt Honey Granola & 1/2 banana.

Love the stats! Ya’ll know that Greek has 2x the protein, fewer carbs & less sugar than regular yogurt, right?

Lunch was another oldie, but goodie: Low-Fat Cottage Cheese & Raw Veggies. Operation Empty Fridge is almost complete!

It was nice to have the sun peaking out again today, but I don’t understand why it can’t stick around for just 1 day longer! It is supposed to dump buckets tomorrow – the day I’ve been planning to drive home for Winter Spring Break. My 4-hour drive is not exactly an easy one either; therefore, creating the anxiousness.

 

***

Just before leaving for The Resort for my final gym workout before Break, I got a call from my mama. I love talking to my mom, but tonight she didn’t have good news…awful news actually. She called to tell me that our really close family friend passed away this morning from cancer. Although I was not surprised by the news, I was enraged. I just do not get why life has to take away the most innocent, kind, good-hearted people. I just don’t get it! My heart is aching for her 12, 16, and 22-year-old kids, and loving husband : (

The memorial is scheduled for Sunday at this point…the day of my race. Life’s itinerary is just not in sync right now. I’ve been really looking forward to my 10-mile run on Sunday, but now I may only be running the 4-mile course in order to make it to the service.

Just in case I end up running the 10-miler (cross my fingers), I got in some quality running. The atmosphere of the gym was totally dead tonight (everyone’s checked outta here!), but I didn’t need any more distractions during my “therapy” run.

• 1.5-mile indoor track run
• 3.25-mile treadmill run – 5 minutes ea. @ 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 6.8, 7.0mph
• 1.5-mile indoor track run

“Running is sanity in an insane world.”

I apologize for such a downer post. I’ve got a lot tumbling around in my mind and so much to do before I leave town – which I’m hoping is tomorrow.

Have a good weekend. I’ll be in touch!

Hillary

Tasty Saturday Eats

Saturday, why do you always zoom by? How cool would a 48-hour Saturday be? I don’t know about you all, but my Saturday to-do lists are always a mile long and rarely do I ever get everything done, leaving me one more thing for Sunday: stress.

– EATS –

Every single bite of food I ate today was entirely delicious, starting with my last two Cappuccino Chip Muffins. It’s kind of ironic that I happened to have these particular muffins today because this weekend is the annual Super Sale at my dad’s bike store, and my mom originally made these for the customers way back when in 1992. What a coincidence.

I’ll definitely be baking another batch of these soon!

I went to The Resort in the a.m. for day 5 of my challenge. My [other] roommate joined me for my usual 1-hour Saturday spin class. I did not have a terrific workout; though, perspired enough to call it exercise.

Lunch was KERF-inspired:

1/2 Sandwich on Toasted Whole Wheat with Raspberry Preserves, Sharp White Cheddar & Organic Baby Spinach

Mini Green Monster: 1 Huge Handful of Spinach, 1/2 Frozen Banana & 1/2 cup Almond Milk

The sandwich combo was to die for. Thanks for the jam & cheddar idea, Kath!

***

Then it was back to campus. School on a Saturday – ewww.

After two hours of carbon, carbon, and more carbon, I refueled my brain with the snack of all snacks.

I bought 1 6-oz. container of Fage yesterday – such a treat!

Add 3T Humboldt Honey Granola & 1T raisins and you’ve made magic.

***

My roommate and I picked up Chipotle for dindin. My second experience was just as tasty as the first! I ordered a Veggie Fajita Burrito Bowl. I had mine piled high with: black beans, cilantro-lime rice, fajita veggies, cheese [jack + white cheddar], lettuce, roasted chile-corn salsa, fresh tomato salsa & guac! I seriously have a Chipotle baby in my belly at the moment – so full!

Well, I’m off to cram cram cram…and find a recipe for a scrumptious Sunday breakfast. Good night!

Move It in March

Happy MARCH!

Wow, Spring is just around the corner…20 days away, in fact! I think Spring is actually my least favorite of the four seasons, but if it means I am getting closer to completing another semester of college and never having to open my Organic Chemistry book again, then it couldn’t come sooner.

I always love it when the first day of month falls on a Monday because I use it as a marker to set new goals for myself. I already have a list of 10 goals I am aiming to accomplish in 2010, but I figured adding an extra challenge couldn’t hurt.

For the month of March, I want to challenge myself to MOVE as much as possible! I know I am already pretty good at fitting in my physical activity, but I think there is room for more. I’m young, healthy, and injury-free…why not? I will be recording my workouts – including the distance & duration – on my Running Page. Feel free to join me by moving your muscles more this month too!

My Monday schedule is tight – leaving very little time to exercise – but I did want to publicize that I had a glorious 50-minute run in the sunshine yesterday afternoon. I must get moving; after all, my race is two weeks away!

***

Monday’s Munches

Breakfast was cold cereal.

Raisin Bran, Humboldt Honey Granola, Banana & Organic Almond Milk in every bite!

Today’s school snacks reminded me of a Harry & David Box:

raw veggies + dried apricots & dark chocolate almonds + 1/2 of a d’anjou pear

Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells (a first for me) & White Cheddar…with peas and real buttah.

Organic Romaine, Avocado, Cucumber, Carrot, Red Onion & Low-Fat Parmesan Ranch

It was a perfect medley. I’m a fan of the whole wheat pasta, too : )

[No, I didn’t eat in bed in case you were curious. It was just for photography sake.]

***

Alright, well I bet 96% of you can guess where I’m rushing off to next: The Bachelor Finale – hello! Hope your month began on a bright note!

Hasta la proxima,

~ Hillary

If you missed the memo, my recipe is featured on Green Monster Movement!

I Like It Green

Hello, how goes it? I got up nice and early this morning and have been crossing things off my to-do list right and left.

First thing first…breakfast! Today’s inspiration came from Miss Caitlin. She is sort of famous for her pumpkin yogurt, and even though it’s no longer “pumpkin season”, she still enjoys her orange yogurt bowls on a regular basis. I love pumpkin, so yesterday while on my grocery quest, I bought a huge 30 oz. can of pumpkin. I was really excited adding another item to my breakfast possibilities list, but was so disappointed when I did not like it [icky texture]. I maybe ate half of what is pictured, and then resorted to a piece of toast. Dang it! Now I’ve got a life-supply of canned pumpkin that I need to figure out what to do with. Ideas?

1/3 cup Pumpkin, 1/3 cup 0%  Plain Greek, 1/3 cup Humboldt Honey Granola + a few raisins & drizzle of agave

Whole Wheat Toast with Real Butter, Cinnamon & Sugar

…sometimes you just need the real deal.

Next on my list: SPIN! I went to my usual 10:00am class at The Resort and left an hour later after a rockin’ ride. I think that makes three hard rides for the week – yippee!

After running a couple errands, I refueled with a Green Monster. Oh, how I missed these. It’s been far too long.

In the mix:

1 banana

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 T ground flax

1 cup fresh spinach

Ice

…polished off with of hunk of 73% dark chocolate, of course!

I am hoping the addition of the oats to my smoothie will make it stick to my ribs a little longer than normal, so I can keep moving on down my Saturday “chore” list.

What are ya’ll up to today? Anyone have a kick-butt workout to share?

Peace Out,

~ Hillary

***

Your Questions Answered

What’s your workout schedule like? Do you plan it out or just do whatever you feel like doing that particular day?

My workout schedule is fairly random. It changes depending on whether or not I am at school [where I have a “free” gym], or at home where I do not belong to a gym, but have friends to run with/make me run a million miles =] I currently exercise an average of 5 days per week. I would probably prefer 6, but my school schedule makes that difficult. With the luxurious recreation center on campus [a.k.a. The Resort], I am able to switch up my workouts…as there are numerous types of cardio machines and fun classes, such as Zumba. The majority of my gym workouts usually include some sort of strength training as well. While at home, my workouts consist of running and DanceFit classes [run 3-4 days a week & dance 3 days].

A Crunchy Comeback

Yes, that’s right. I have a blog…almost forgot. I hope you managed without your daily Nutrition Nut news for the weekend. I needed a weekend away from the blog world…and time to enjoy the real world with real friends. Unfortunately, the chest cold that arrived Wednesday put a bit of a damper on my weekend festivities. I was so bummed that the one weekend I had guests, I didn’t feel 100% =[

Sickness aside, Tasha & I had a fun time.

***

My chest cold has now migrated to my head. However, after a ton of sleep and gallons of water and tea, I’m feeling on the mend. It’s an absolute gorgeous day here in NorCal. I would do anything to be outside in the sunshine running (or washing my car), but alas…I have my first O. Chem exam to study for. Instead, I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and studied at Starbucks with an iced latte. I hope to be able to enjoy the sunshine at some point week – 70* weather is in the forecast =] Spring is in the air!

I took a study break this afternoon and made my 2nd batch of Humboldt Honey Granola. It was a bittersweet meal eating the last of my homemade granola. I don’t know if I could have survived without it much longer. I cut the original recipe “in half” today:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 T vanilla extract
• sprinkle of salt

It came out of the oven just in time for snack hour.

2% Greek & Granola is back!

Speaking of granola, many of you asked if my mom would share her recipe for the granola bars she sent me for Valentine’s Day. I asked her where she got the recipe, and no surprise, it is one of Sarah’s @ In Praise of Leftovers. You can find the recipe here.

Alright…going to give O. Chem a couple more hours of my time and then relax with the usual Monday night trash TV.

See you again soon,

~ Hillary

***

Just a reminder: If you have any questions for me about college, cooking, exercise, food, life, etc…don’t hesitate to ask! =]