Even my skeptical father was pleasantly delighted by the taste of this Green Pea Guacamole. The green peas add a sweet flavor to the dip while maintaining the creamy texture. Give it a try and see if your guests/family members can tell there is an extra veggie in there!

Green Pea Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized avocado
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• Juice of 1/3 of a lime
• Salt + Pepper

Directions:

1. Microwave the green peas for 1 min. to defrost

2. Blend green peas in a food process/blender/Magic Bullet. You can also mash them with a fork if you do not have access to a processor.

3. Add diced tomatoes, onions, lime juice, avocado flesh, and S+P.

4. Mix thoroughly using a fork

5. Serve with tortilla chips and/or pita chips

Easy PEASy

[Random thought: Kids who were born on 2/22/00 will turn 22 on 2/2/22. WOAH. Major jealousy over here. Too bad I'm turning 50 on 3/8/38 and not 38. Ha!]

***

Alrighty then…

Breakfast: TJ’s Euro yogurt w/ a crumbled granola bar and 1/2 a pear

I finished the batch of granola bars in 2 days. Oopsies.

Obligatory birthday carrot cake for breakfast. It’s all I wanted when I woke up! To those who asked: I will be posting the recipe I used and my modifications soon. Promise!

With some iced half caf coffee.

After waiting 4 looooooong hours for my breakfast to digest (I have to or else I’ll get crazy cramps), I hit the running trail in my back yard. This 45 mi. run/bike trail leads to Washington D.C! There were so many people taking advantage of the beautiful day on this trail.

It hit 70 degrees here!!!!

I ran 3.5 miles and walked 0.5 miles to cool down for a total of….

It was grand! For the first mile, I kept thinking about how far I was going to run before turning around. It made for one sloooooow mile. Finally I started thinking about some aspects of my life that I’m not so happy about and the time flew by. It’s all about mental strength for me when it comes to running!

….AND I started feeling better about whatever I thought about.

***

Look how tall I am!! I could have used an inch or two of height for my birthday .

Then I hit the trail again after grabbing some $$ to walk to Whole Foods (~0.85 miles away). You read that right, the trail leads to Whole Foods!!! It’s like the Yellow Brick Road!

…Black Asphalt Trail??

***

I caught up on some blogs while walkin’. It really was just an excuse to be in the sunshine!

Check out the background image on my phone

LLE!!!

I picked up some almond cheese and dried goji berries from the bulk section. The almond cheese is 80 cents cheaper here than in Durham!!

Walk stats just to see exactly how far WF’s is from my condo. Not far!

I had some samples at Whole Foods to tie me over but I was in need of some real nourishment when I got back.

Enter a Ginormous Green Protein Monstah.

• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 scoop of Riceotein Powder

I found this protein powder in the pantry. I’m assuming it’s my brother’s (Thanks, bro!) It is mixed with STEVIA and is free of soy, milk, and egg protein.

+1/2 a pear

+bites of birthday cake

+a Harvest Spice crunchy granola bar I found lurking in my house

Chocolates!

Dinner was super duper late because we were waiting for my Momma to come home from work! I was a hungry hippo so I made a mini pizza and photographed my food while eagerly waiting her arrival (aka gnawing my hand off).

I broke off a serving of TJ’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough and topped it with TJ’s pizza sauce, almond cheese, shrimp, and asparagus.

Baked at 450 F for ~ 10 minutes.

I can make 8 of these with the 99 cent pizza dough! Cha ching!

My dad cooked up some shrimp with carrots and asparagus (where I got the pizza topping):

Cabbage w/ pickled something?

My plate except I had about 8 more shrimp than what’s photographed and twice as many veggies.

I’m so shrimp deprived at school….

Dessert was CHOCOLATE and GOJI BERRIES!

Quirky Q

What instantly brightens your mood no matter what? For me, it’s a great run under the sun and baking up a storm!

More on my day a little later. First, I gotta report the prezzies, as promised. In case you missed my farewell to 21, here’s my birthday recap,

After some cake eating…

(Me on my very FIRST birthday 21 years ago. There is no doubt that I’ve loved cake and chocolate from a young age)

***

My dad picked out this prezzie for me:

Before I opened the box, I commented ‘is this another watch?’

Under the note was this ring!

After tugging at the ring, there was another note below a cardboard flap:

It’s a MUG!! The faux diamond is actually a genuine Swarovski crystal, according to the label.

So I can sip my coffee in style!

Money or Party

Ever since I can remember, my brother and I have had this choice every birthday. Money, in the amount of your age x10 or a birthday party. My parents figured they would offer us the amount  of money it would cost to have a party in cash (to go in the bank). Of course, as money hungry as my brother and I were, we always chose money. Party? Who needs a party?

So as a 7 year old, I got $70!! That’s a big deal!  Some years I got both, hehe.

So in my mug yesterday was $220 to contribute to the SLR fund. I wonder how long this tradition will last .

My Uncle also contributed some $$ to my SLR fund…

I got a lot of cupcake cards this year….what can I say? People know me too well.

***

Before I left for spring break, my roomie gave me a SPOONULA!! I mentioned the day before while watching Rachel Ray that I had always wanted a spoonula and she went out and got one for me. She also got me a cupcake card. Thank you, Christina!!!

It’s not just ANY spoonula…it’s one from Giada’s new collection at Target.

I also got a box full o’ chocolatey goodies from Lauren. It arrived ON my birthday…how perfect. Thank you, Lauren!

I’m in love with this baby spoon!! I can’t wait to eat kefir + yogurt with it .

….AND a cupcake card, of course.

My bestie got me some TJ’s goodies as well as some adorable baking tools. Thank you, Katherine!!

A rabbit spatula.

Along with some collapsable measuring cups.

Saves space!

That’s a wrap! So I’m now that much closer to my dreams of owning an SLR camera as well as opening a bakery. Sweet!

I always make out birthdays to be a grand celebration in my head and when they fall short, I get the case of the birthday blues. I have to remind myself that it’s just another day!

***

My Momma got me these beautiful birthday flowers!

***

As someone who loves to bake, but doesn’t get a chance to bake very often (cough skool cough), there was no chance I would let my parents spend $30 on a cake. That would take away all the fun! I made a chocolate zucchini cake for my birthday last year too. Perhaps, I’ve started my own tradition?

When your fridge gives you carrots, you make carrot cake!! Vanilla didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.

It was a good thing I was home alone because I made a big ol’ mess!

We don’t have any cake pans in this house, so I had to use a pie pan, which made for an awkwardly shaped cake.

A pineapple chunk peeking out….

This birthday carrot cake was made with whole wheat flour, oat flour, coconut oil, walnuts, coconut, crushed pineapple, eggs, and agave nectar.

For the cream cheese icing, I creamed 8 oz. of cream cheese, agave nectar and vanilla extract with an OLD SKOOL electric beater. No Kitchenaid stand mixer over here .

I decided to cut the circle into two halves and make it a double layer semi-circle cake. Ya gotta have a layer of icing in the middle!

***

Birthday Workout:

• 65 min. elliptical: I squeezed in about 7-30 sec. intervals of all out high intensity pedaling while watching Oprah and Barefoot Contessa
• 25 min. leg weights: lunges, squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, etc.

***

For my birthday dinner, I chose a restaurant 2 blocks from our condo (there are about 10!), American Tap Room.

Fun Fact: I waitressed here the summer after my freshmen year but a few months later, they were bought out and the entire restaurant/bar was revamped.

It looks completely different now and the menu (that I worked so hard to memorize) has changed.

This was my first time back since waitressing there and since they got bought out.

***Warning: a dimly lit restaurant + an old skool point ‘n’ shoot camera= blinding photos!

I ordered the Seared Tuna Salad: Sashimi grade tuna with an exotic mix of Asian greens and seaweed

It felt like there was a birthday candle burning in my mouth!!! Oh my goodness, my tongue was sizzling this was so spicy! I guzzled about 5 glasses of water in about 15 minutes.

My mom ordered the Blackened Fish Sandwich. You can see the tie of the manager in the background as well as my BLOG address written down on a napkin. Hello Mr. Manager if you’re reading!

My uncle and dad went to a buffet for lunch with a friend so they weren’t too hungry. They shared a plate of Phoenix Wings and each ordered a big ol’ beer.

We sat in comfy couch-style seats.

We passed on dessert because there was a cake waiting for us, made by yours truly.

No, I didn’t turn 211!

My Momma forgot to pick up candles, so we had an interesting ‘22′ on my cake. We had a ‘2′ leftover from my 21st birthday and then stuck two candles beside it.

Making a wish and blowing out the candles.

A BIG slice for a BIG girl with a BIG carrot cake tooth!

This cake was suuuuper dense and moist, just how I like ‘em!

Goodbye 21!! Adios! Sayonara! Au Revoir! Ciao!

I’ll be back later with the birthday prezzies! I need to take advantage of the sunshine while it lasts….oh and get cracking on the boatload of work I have for this week!

Happy 22nd Birthday to ME!!!!

It’s my birfday and I’ll eat almond butter ‘n’ nannas if I want to!!

Breakfast:

I snatched the veeeery last can o’ pumpkin at Target a couple weeks back. I decided to open it up today, although I felt like I should’ve saved it!

I made a 2 min. microwave pumpkin pie!

• 1/3 cup pumpkin
• 1 egg white
• cinnamon
• stevia

Mixed up real good!

Microwaved for 2 minutes.

Ta da!

I topped it with a TJ’s European Style Yogurt + coconut butter icing and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I picked this up yesterday when I made a pit stop at TJ’s for some staples. Going a day without dairy was way too difficult for this Dairy Queen!! I technically dove into this last night so I didn’t even have a day off from dairy…ha!

I love this yogurt because it’s like a mix of Greek yogurt and kefir (what could be more perfect?). This is both creamy and tangy!

I had some yogurt with pineapples, Kashi cereal and hazelnuts (another TJ’s purchase).

I found these Pillsbury honey biscuits on the kitchen table when I woke up so I added it to the breakfast spread.

After organizing/planning/working, I made a simple salad using the leftover Baked Tempeh and Avocado from last night’s dinner at Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant.

I added them to a bed of romaine lettuce and red bell peppers.

Dressing was WF’s Ginger Soy Vinaigrette.

I love avocado with meat/fake meat together. A winning combo in my book!

I got my thinking cap on and set out to replicate my absolute favorite Rosie’s Granola Bars (they are made at a bakery/cafe in Raleigh and sold on campus).

SUCCESS!!! Holy moly! I couldn’t believe I did it on the first try. These were exactly like the Rosie’s bars.

They fell apart a bit so I think I need to pack it in better next time and perhaps change up some of the ingredients? There definitely WILL be a next time!

I had a granola bar (#1) before playing tennis with my Poppa. We had a great rally going for over an hour. I barely broke a sweat because it was sunny yet cool outside.

And then I came home and had another granola bar (#2)!

I was feeling energized so I went down to the gym for 60 min. on the elliptical and 15 min. arm weights while watching Ryan Seacrest (love him) on the Oscar Red Carpet.

Those bars gave me so so so so much energy–I couldn’t believe it. I was flying!

***

Dinner courtesy of my dear Poppa. He’s an amazing cook. I’ve missed his food!!

A mini seafood-fest:

Scallops, snow peas, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, and wheat gluten.

Grilled Salmon!

Snow pea tips. I have no idea what this is but I’m pretty sure I’ve been eating it since I was 3 years old. Nothing new!

I had a little bit of everything on a bed of romaine lettuce.

Look at those succulent scallops! Mmm Mmm Mmm!

Wheat gluten close up. The texture was interesting…sort of like gnocchi?

I went back for a little bit more of each dish.

Dessert:

Pineapples

And ANOTHER granola bar (#3!!!).

The rest of the night was spent watching The Oscars and sipping on decaf coffee with my Momma.

…and that’s how I spent my last day as a 21 year old (!!!!!!).

My daddy-o sure knows how to make me happy .

***

Last night was the Duke vs. UNC Basketball Game. THE game that hundreds of students slept countless freezing cold nights in tents to watch live.

Since I’ve been a Dukie, we’ve won a couple times at UNC but never home at Duke, in Cameron Stadium. I actually had a terrible nightmare on Friday night that we lost by 1 point. I didn’t want to say anything out loud to jinx it!

Finally, on senior night, we crushed them! Wow. We crushed them so hard I actually felt bad for them (and that’s sayin’ something!!). I don’t even want to know the shenanigans (aka burning stuff) that went down last night back at school!

Get excited for the ACC Tournament this weekend!!

***

Some random nibblings from yesterday:

Coconut Flavor sunflower seeds!! The outside had a hint of salty and sweet…like kettle corn with a slight coconutty flavah.

***

My bestie, Katherine (bless her heart), accompanied me to Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant again! The last time we saw each other I dragged her to this veggie paradise and had a jaw-dropping experience. You can read my first post here about Sunflower and see the crazy items they offer on their menu.

My dear Katherine isn’t a big veggie eater but she gladly came with me . What a trooper!

I thought about going to a regular restaurant, but they’re just not as exciting. I like going to restaurants where I wouldn’t be likely to make the same food in my own kitchen…ya know?

And that is precisely what Sunflower is in a nutshell. So many ingredients I wouldn’t even know where to find!

Here she is trying to figure out what all the mumbo jumbo is on the menu .

…while I couldn’t get enough of it! What a selection this place has.

I love the dessert ideas and check out the ingredients….how cool?

After hours of deliberation, I ordered Raw World: Japanese style akatosaka, aotosaka, jicama, tomato, organic sunflower seeds, avocado, pine nuts, dried blueberry, dried cranberry and daikon on a bed of mixed greens.

Check out that beautiful avocado. You can’t see the jicama underneath the seaweed but that was one of the main reasons I ordered this dish. I was craving me some jicama!!

And Organic Baked Marinated 5 Grain Tempeh. I wanted to try tempeh prepared by someone other than me to see if it still had the bitter taste. It did, but only slightly.

I liked it though (of course)!! I wonder what they use as the marinade.

Katherine ordered Curry Fried Rice–I had a few bites.

It looks like I’m heading back to Sunflower again on Friday night for my birthday blogger meet up! I sent out an email asking for people to vote and Sunflower is in the lead.

If you missed it, I am having a meet up for bloggers and readers in Northern VA on Friday 3/12 at 6:30 PM. Email me (allie at livelaugheat dot com) if you want to join!

Here’s what went down yesterday–the last day of my fridge cleaning mission. I successfully finished off every last bite of perishable food. I was extremely proud of myself–arguably too proud .

Here’s the list of food I still had to finish:

• Fruit: strawberries, 1/2 banana, kumquats, 1/2 apple
• 2 eggs
• ~1 cup almond milk
• leftover salad
• 5 carrot stix

Ready or not, here I come!

Breakfast:

I decided to use my last 2 eggs to make french toast!

Whole wheat bread soakin’ in a bath of egg whites, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and almond milk:

Topped with strawberries, bananas, ground flax seeds and pecans:

And a glaze of kefir + Greek yogurt:

91.5 FM

For my Culinary Cultures class, we headed to the North Carolina Public Radio station in downtown Durham because our class had a 20 min. segment on “The State of Things,” which runs every weekday at 12 PM.

My professor and 3 of my classmates spoke LIVE on the show. The rest of us sat in the control room and got to see the behind the scenes action. T’was pretty cool!

You can listen to the segment, Hometown Appetites, here if you want (I just found it Google searching).

The American Tobacco Warehouse District in Downturn Durham has undergone major renovations. This used to be a warehouse! Now it is a modern, sleek business building.

***

Run, Allie, Run!

After class, I decided it would be 100% necessary to take advantage of the beautiful weather. This weekend is going to be gorgeous in Durham (except I’m home)! Can you believe it’s going to be 66 degrees on my birthday down there?

I always have a hard time dealing with my keys when I run. I get nervous when I tie them on my shoe because I always think they’re gonna fly off!

I came up with this brilliant idea at the very last second to loop de loop my hair tie and wear it as a bracelet!

Ready to go with my shin sleeves, iPod, and Garmy .

The workout rocked my SOX:

• 4 mile run (to and around the WaDuke trail)
• 15 min. leg weights at the gym
• 10 min. elliptical to cool down

My Garmin died mid way through the run. It made for a relaxing run though. I didn’t feel pressure to increase my pace and I could just run to enjoy the trail and the sunshine. I felt like a million bux!

***

I had to take care of some business after I showered so my post-workout meal was delayed!! My blood sugar went tumbling down and as a result, I scarfed down dinner in seconds.

I hate the that shaky, low blood sugar feeling!

Leftover salad with apples, carrots, eggplant, and pecans. I topped it with TJ’s Gyoza Dipping Sauce.

I also had a leftover 1/2 slice of French toast from breakfast.

And I finished off the kefir and Greek yogurt!! Just in the nick o’ time. My bowl included strawberries, banana slices, and a homemade granola that my friend Amanda made me–thanks, Amanda!! Tell your Momma her recipe is delicious!

I accidentally dropped this guy on his head!!

I snacked on the rest of the granola bag while packing because even after all that food, I was still a little shaky.

After 2 hours of packing (whew!) I hit the road. I packed the kumquats and strawberries to snack on while driving.

As well as an Chocolate Heart Thrive and 1/2 a Rosie’s Granola Bar.

Nothing left in the fridge! Success. Fridge Cleaning Mission Accomplished!

***

Today is another loaded day. I’m hanging out with my bestie and then the Duke vs. UNC game is on!!! Oh my oh my.

….and my BOOKS!! I’ve got an exam to study for, 2 papers to write, an entire book to read, and a slew of other assignments.

Spring Break? Pshhh more like Spring WORK!

2moremonths2moremonths2moremonths. I know I’ll want back this time in my life once it’s over but for now I can’t help but countdown the days until graduation.

***

Breakfast:

1/4 cup Oats + 1/4 cup Oat Bran w/ apples, pecans and ground flax seed.

I also made a glaze to go on top!

To create the ‘glaze,’ I thoroughly mixed equal parts coconut butter, almond butter and almond milk.

It gave my bowl of oats just the kick it needed.

My sunflower dishes sure brought the sun out!

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it, I was hungry again.

Snax:

Carrot stix + almond butter

Apples:

I decided to mix in some Greek yogurt with the almond butter to create a special dip. Ooooh lala!

***

After class I hit up the gym for 45 min. of LIGHT ellipticalling and 15 min. of arm weights. I was NOT feeling the workout whatsoever. My bum bum was sore and my legs felt like led. I decided to go easy on the resistance and just try to get the blood flowing to my sore muscles. As always, I was still glad I went!

Post workout:

A monstrous salad w/ eggplant, sweet potatoes and other veggies:

2 microwaved egg whites on a sandwich round.

I feel like all I’ve been doing is eating eggs and I still have 2 left!!! I should’ve just hard-boiled them–they always go faster when they’re readily available to eat.

I also had some apple slices, kumquats, and a strawberry.

For dessert I started with pumpkin ice cream, Ferrero Rocher and a corner of a Chocolate Heart Thrive.

Dessert continued as I munched away. I had 2 papers to write and I quickly turned into a munchie monster!!!

1/2 Rosie’s Granola Bar and a Green Tea Latte:

My spring break mission will be to replicate these bad boys.

I continued to munch on chocolate chips (finished off the bag), biscotti, more ice cream and a spoonful of almond butter.

Usually I leave a little more room for dessert because I prefer sweet over savory but the munchie monster from within went a little too far. Dessert was more like a MEAL but I finished my papers and that’s what’s important. It happens.

***

I’m off to one LAST class and then I’ll see you at HOME tonight!!!

“eeeeeeeeeeek”

“come on come on come on”

“gahhhhhh”

“get it get it get it get it get it”

“YESSSSSSS!”

“WHAT THE @$%!#$%?!?!?”

And then….

This was a big game for both teams. Had we won, we would’ve secured the top spot in the ACC. Unfortunately we lost, so now we share the spot….with THEM.  UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH x500000!!

After 60 min. on the elliptical, I needed to either leave or eat something and I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t miss a single second of the game….are you kidding? So I got these fruit snax from the vending machine and walked on the treadmill for the rest of the time. They worked like a charm.

Silly, Kellogs, you spelled SNAX wrong!

If you haven’t noticed, our basketball team is the only thing at this school that I care about and have any positive feelings towards. Truth.

***
Back trackin’…

Breakfast:

Kefir Yogurt Fondue!! I made this a couple months ago and recently remembered just how much I loved it.

I’m like a child and I like things in bite-sized pieces. Dipping in the kefir + yogurt is ze best part!

Strawberries

Kumquats (I’m still working on this box!!):

1/2 TJ’s Carrot Ginger Muffin

Microwaved pear chunks:

The STAR of the show:

With cinnamon spice coffee. It looks like I got my fruit servings in, huh?

Snax:

Repeat photo but same dealio

Chocolate covered expresso beans. I polished off these 2 bags in 2 days!

I had an early dinner because I had to teach and I didn’t want to have a full stomach for my late-night workout:

Salad w/ carrot stix, artichoke hearts and cottage cheese:

Ezekiel Eng Muff w/ almond butter and banana as well as a handful of almonds.

More chocolate!!! (It doesn’t end there )

***

Post basketball workout I made a green protein shake:

• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 packet protein powder

Matches my sheets .

I also had some pumpkin ice cream and a Chocolate Heart Thrive w/ pecans. Gotta get those carbs in!!

More Chocolate. At least I had chocolate to comfort my dying soul!

Ferrero Rocher.

I grew up fearing these because they had nuts and I was allergic. Finally, when I discovered I could eat hazelnuts, I couldn’t wait to try the gold foil chocolates my brother and daddy-o enjoyed so much while I sat on the sidelines!

I was a lil hungry going to bed but I wasn’t about to eat any more at 2 AM! It just made waking up for breakfast that much easier.