Some people travel to Paris to visit the Arc de Triomphe. Some people travel to Paris to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Some people travel to Paris to go wine tasting. Some people travel to Paris to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.

Some people travel to Paris to get lucky.

I travelled to Paris to eat crepes.

Two years ago, I took a 4-day trip to Paris while studying abroad in London. I ate crepes day and night….night and day.

I ordered crepes from the takeaway stands on the side of the street. I ordered crepes while dining in restaurants. I ate crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner….oh and dessert!

I would go as far as saying the banana + Nutella crepe I had in Paris qualifies as the best thing I have ever eaten.

It helped that my travel buddy and I walked over 10 miles a day and I constantly needed fuel. I mean, we walked everywhere. 5 miles to the Eiffel Tower? Okay, let’s walk there…and back!

Not to mention, my travel buddy’s walking speed could pass for jogging…err sprinting! I was so focused on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other, I could barely eat my crepe(s). She was also not a very big fan of crepes and thought I was a bit of a nut case.

Clearly, she was the nut case.

Even though I wasn’t yet a food blogger back then, I did take a photo of my crepe. It was that good.

***

Now, I have a confession to make. Up until today, I had never made a real, authentic, French crepe. I tried once when I was about 10 years old but it turned out way too thick to be a crepe. Meaning, it was more like a pancake. When I found out challenge #2 for the Project Food Blog contest was to recreate a classic ethnic dish, there was no question I wanted to make crepes.

Real crepes.

Authentic French crepes.

Sweet and savory crepes.

I researched online for crepe-making tips. You know, crepe making is an art form. I didn’t want to just combine ingredients and make a flat pancake. I wanted to recreate the crepes I ate in Paris using real butter, whole milk, flour, and eggs. I visited a crepe-load of websites to learn all the different types of crepes out there, namely sweet crepes or crêpes sucrées and savory crepes/buckwheat crepes or galettes de sarrasin.

I copied down about 20 different variations so I could compare them. I even drew diagrams of how I wanted to photograph them (Did you know I painted the Mona Lisa? ). Yes, ‘Julia’ at the bottom right hand corner is short for Julia Child.

***

The first thing I had to do was make the crepe batter. I made it the night before because I learned that it’s best to make the batter ahead of time so the bubbles can settle and the flour can absorb the liquid. This prevents the crepe from tearing when you cook them.

So at 1AM in the morning, I blended the ingredients for my crepe batter in my bedroom as not to disturb my family.

For the savory crepes, or galettes de sarrasin, I used buckwheat flour and oat flour. I learned that in France, savory crêpes are typically made with buckwheat flour.

Galettes de Sarrasin

Adapted from NY Times

Ingedients:

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 large eggs
• 2 TBSP butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions: 1) Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 20 min. before cooking. Stir well. Add more milk to the batter until it is the consistency of heavy cream. 2) Heat a large pan and coat with butter. Pour 1/2 cup of crepe batter and tilt pan until bottom is evenly coated. Cook both sides until lightly browned. 3) Wrap crepes in a damp towel and keep in the oven while cooking the rest of the crepes.

For the sweet crepes (crêpes sucrées), I increased the amount of oat flour and decreased the amount of buckwheat flour. I also added vanilla extract and sugar.

Crêpes Sucrées

Adapted from Alton Brown (Food Network)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 TBSP butter, melted
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Same as above

***

Then it was time to brainstorm the filings/toppings for my crepes.

Crepe Menu:

1. A savory crepe filled with pan-seared salmon, asparagus and an avocado mayonnaise dressing

2. A savory crepe filled with brie cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and spinach

3. A sweet crepe filled with chocolate hazelnut butter and banana, topped with strawberries

I coated the pan with pats of butter before pouring the crepe batter.

Ready, set, go!

I did not have a flat crepe pan, so I whirled my pan around and around until the crepe batter was evenly distributed.

Savory Crepe #1

Savory Crepe #2

Last but certainly not least, the sweet crepe.

Bon Appétit!

Notes:

1. All photos of France and crepes were taken by moi.
2. You are all invited over for crepes. Seriously, we have 80 billion crepes sitting in the refrigerator.
3. Voting for Project Food Buzz Round 2 begins tomorrow at 9AM. If you enjoyed this post and would like to vote for me, you can do so by clicking here. Thank you in advance for your vote!

Tell me: What is the best thing you have ever eaten?

*** Edited to add: check out the outtakes for this post here!

Last night my dear friend Mari came to visit! She and her dad are driving from Boston, MA to Austin, TX (!!). Mari and I have a lot in common. She loves to run, she has endured many running-related injuries, she’s a Craigslist enthusiast, and she graduated from college last year feeling directionless.

Needless to say, we always have plenty to talk about when we’re together.

Mari was one of my many flatmates when I studied abroad in London (8 girls in one teeny tiny flat). We interned at the same company over there too. We immediately hit it off and became very good friends. I’m not kidding when I say our flat (AKA apartment) was teeny tiny. I’m pretty sure it was a fire code violation. We were jammed in there like sardines. You can see a photo of our Harry Potter closet-of-a-room in my London Study Abroad Photo Album.

(Please don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining about the size of our living quarters, simply commenting. All 8 of us grew to love our flat a lot. After all we were students living in a posh area of the city–we were lucky to even have beds to sleep in.)

Here we are with two other flatmates while touring Cambridge University.

I stayed with Mari when I went to Boston for the Healthy Living Summit in 2009. You can read about our adventures here and here!

Oh yeah, and she was my partner in crime on Halloween back in 2008 .

***

Onto the food.

We went out to The Counter last night for dinner with my parents. The Counter is the 21st century’s bold answer to the classic burger joint….burger options are only limited to your imagination.

We got some coupons in the mail so we decided it would be a great night to try out the restaurant.

To be honest, as of a couple weeks ago, my parents and I thought this place was just any ol’ burger place. Boy were we wrong!

We snapped a few photos while waiting for our table.

My dad looked over the menu.

The menu is actually quite simple. You choose what you want: protein, cheese, toppings (so many options!!), sauce, and a bun or greens.

The Counter uses humanely raised and handled meat.

They also have already brainstormed menu options to choose from.

We started off with a trio of sweet potato fries, regular fries and crispy onion strings.

It came with three sauces: BBQ, Ranch Dressing, and Apricot Sauce. I added ketchup to that plate!

I ate my fair share of sweet potato fries and crispy onion strings. They were phenomenal.

Mari and my parents snuck bites as I was trying to get a good photo .

Peter appears to be very excited to have the night off from his chef duties at Peter’s Kitchen. Perhaps a little too excited?

Mari ordered a Greek-inspired burger with 1/3 lb. beef, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, olives, greens, and tzatziki sauce.

My Momma ordered a 1/3 lb. beef burger with brie cheese, jalapenos, roasted red peppers, greens, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.

My Dad ordered a 1/3 lb. beef burger with lettuce, tomato, red onions, cucumbers, applewood smoked bacon, Danish blue cheese and honey mustard sauce.

To take advantage of the coupon, I ordered a Asian Veggie Signature Burger Bowl. It came very close to what I would have selected had I built my own bowl.

1/3 lb. Housemade Veggie Patty, organic mixed greens, carrot strings, chopped red onion, grilled pineapple, roasted red peppers, scallions, with a ginger soy glaze on the side.

I’m gonna go ahead and say this is the absolute best veggie burger that has ever entered my mouth. It even surpassed the amazing veggie patty from Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant–in fact, it kicked it off my veggie burger radar, completely.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I was blown away. I wish I had saved a bite so I could’ve brought it back home and analyzed the ingredients. I must go back and order this again!

Dim lighting=Fuzzilicious photos.

…but I want you to see how real it is!! No weird/sketchy ingredients.

Demolished.

So so stuffed…but in the best way possible.

We came back, chatted like old times, reminisced about our London days, and then hit the hay.

***

Tell me: What is the best burger (meat or veggie) that has ever entered your mouth? Did it come from a restaurant? A box? A fast food joint? I don’t judge burger preferences…honestly, I don’t at all .

Happy Friday!

My life on the blog is still behind compared to my real life! I had way too much fun in Chicago and I’ve been playing major ketch up this past week. Well, after this post I will finally finally be up-to-date. Hopefully, my posts will be a little less random after this one…although I can’t guarantee that .

Live Laugh Momma’s breakfast. P.Brie-nana-dilla.

Peanut butter, brie cheese, and banana in a whole grain wrap. Panini-pressed on a pan. Momma said there was too much banana (she used a whole naner instead of 1/2), but otherwise it was delicious.

She was my guinea pig. I suggested she add brie cheese to make a sweet ‘n’ salty ‘dilla. Now I just have to try it for myself.

I forgot to tell you, I broke my favorite rectangular dish . Life will never be the same. Can we have a moment of silence, please?

***

Last night, I made a big salad to use up some odds ‘n’ ends in the fridge:

• Bargain grape tomatoes (I’m never gonna finish these!)
• 1/2 a leftover sweet potato (from my sweet potato No-Bake Baked Oatmeal)
• The last TJ’s Italian Veggie Sausage
• TJ’s Spring Mix

For the dressing, I used KETCHUP! I love ketchup with veggie sausage and sweet taters. People eat ketchup with lettuce in burgers too, ya know?

It’s really not as weird as it looks….

I also had some homemade Pad Thai courtesy of the line cook at Peter’s Kitchen (my uncle). Do you all want me to find out his recipe? As the sous chef, I suppose I should already know….oops!

***

I had most of this chocolate cupcake from Cinnabon last night while typing up my cover letter for the bakery job. Fitting, no?

My uncle brought it back home for us to try. He said people were lining up to buy cupcakes (and not cinnamon buns) so he had to get one. The frosting was amazing. The cake was alright…average.

….as if I hadn’t eaten enough chocolate already!!

***

This morning, I put the finishing touches on my cover letter while snacking on bread+almond butter+banana. No photo because I was in full-focus mode. On my way out the door, I ate a juicy plum.

If you haven’t noticed, I tend to go crazy with fruits after I find out I’m not allergic to them. Remember my fresh apricot obsession? I sense a plum obsession developing.

***

On my way home from the bakery, I spontaneously stopped by Trader Joe’s to pick up some goods (yep, totally spontaneous). I was walking in a danger zone without a shopping list in hand!! I came out alive though….just a few bumps and bruises.

I wanted to get some muffins, but I had a baking project brewing in my mind so I put ‘em back.

The grocery bag:

In the store, I sampled a small salad with bleu cheese, beets, and chicken. I really just wanted a beet slice! Oh and I had 1/2 an amazing chocolate chip cookie. I sampled these when I was there with my Momma over the weekend too. Crispy yet not rock hard–love it!

Pre-workout snack: a smoothie with Vega Shake & Go, strawberries and almond milk. Chocolate ‘n’ Berries is one of my favorite combos, y’all.

I’m gonna ketch up on blog emails now and then hit up the gym. Are your fingers still crossed?!

***

ALL KETCHED UP!! (feels so good)

I haven’t posted since Saturday…oops. I’ve been in a funky funk lately and I sort of lost my blogging mojo for a bit. So what’s going on?

*This next section isn’t the perkiest. Skip it if you’re just here to see some food.

1) I have one last paper left to write and it’s taking me 100x longer than it should. It’s not a long paper and it’s not even worth that much of my grade but my motivation is buried somewhere far far away. Sigh.

2) It doesn’t help that I’ve been eating a lot of junk lately. A lot of sugar and processed food. As a result, I feel like crap and then eat more crap and then feel like more crap and you get the picture. You really are what you eat. I was reminded of that this past week.

3) I got an email from a reader trying to make me feel bad about not having friends at school (really?!). I’ve never received anything but love and support from the community until this email came along. I hate that one person’s negative words can be so hurtful despite the many positive comments/emails I’ve received. Needless to say the motivation to open up about anything in my life sort of dwindled for a bit.

***

Anyways, here is about 7% of what I’ve eaten the last couple of days….

On Sunday (feels like light years ago) I finished my Sugarland paper (whew!):

I turned it in at my professor’s end-of-the-year-potluck (The professor of the Our Culinary Cultures class). I was excited for this potluck because a) it meant I would be done with my paper and b) I enjoyed getting to know my 16 foodie classmates and I knew they would all prepare fabulous food.

Here are some snapshots of the food and drink:

This wine gets an A+. A little bubbly and slightly sweet. Somebody said it was from TJ’s. I’ll be on the look out!

Pork and Leek Pot Stickers.

Kale Salad (amazing! I went back for seconds and thirds).

Cornbread.

Pasta.

Broccoli Crunch Salad. Yep, there’s raw ramen noodles in there.

Ham.

Chorizo Flat Bread.

CHEESE! Goat Gouda, Stilton, and Brie.

Caramel Apple Pie.

Pound Cake (served with strawberries and whipped cream).

And I brought Almond Butter Blondies (the 6 ingredient ones).

+a lot of fresh fruit!

We discussed post-grad plans while listening to the chipper voices of her two little sons. They were jumping all over the couches and tickling people left and right. So cute. It’s always nice to get a dose of family life at school.

***

Some random photos….

A new AllieBar flavor (with chocolate chips). I still have to work on it a little bit.

Ezekiel topped with a fried egg.

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Another one with cheese. I’ve been eating fried whole eggs every single day. Brain food, ya know?

Fridge Cleaning Salad:

Spinach with peas, carrots, grilled tofu and TJ’s Gyoza Dipping sauce.

I had ~1/2 a bag of frozen peas to eat up.

Brown Rice Sushi from Whole Foods. I love the texture of brown rice. So nutty.

Cheddar Food Should Taste Good chips…a new flavah flave. .

Those chips are long gone. They were good but I ate them really really fast!

I am going to work on my paper tonight and pack up as much of my room as possible before heading home tomorrow. I will have about 1 1/2 weeks at home before I come back with my parents for graduation weekend. I have to pack up at least 1/2 of my room so we can get the rest when we come back.

My paper is due Thurs. via email so I still have a teensy weensy bit of time to finish it. I’m hoping the looming deadline will pressure me to just get it done already. I’ll be on the lookout for my motivation if you need to reach me .

ALMOST DONE!!!!!!

Valentine’s Day was just another normal day for this single gal. Don’t worry, I made sure to get my hearts in!

Hearty <3 Breakfast (and heart smart too!):

Pink oat bran w/ a heart-shaped black bean brownie and strawberries.  Hello, cutting skills

Don’t ask how I got it to be pink

Faux cookie dough that my friend Amanda sent me a recipe for. I’ll post it once I get the proportions right.

More strawberries (from an on campus eatery):

I went on a 40 min. walk while reading and had a heart to heart phone chat with my Momma. I was anticipating working out in the afternoon but kept putting it off for hours so I never committed to a real meal. Hence, lotsa random snax!

Pumpkin Kefir w/ pecans and Kashi GoLean:

Ezekiel English Muffin w/ almond butter and pumpkin butter. While snuggling in my pink bed and working on my Trader Joe’s presentation.

I accidentally I took a 2 hour nap (it was supposed to be 20 min)!!! I never take naps because I have a hard time falling asleep at night as it is. Oopsies. I guess I needed it.

FINALLY, at around 7pm, I went to the gym for a heart pumpin’ workout! Before I left for the gym, my stomach was growling so I had one of these:

My workout consisted of 50 min. elliptical + 13 min. stationary bike. It was pretty quiet at the gym for a Sunday night. A great time/place to meet single people, eh?

***

Dinner (prepped before my nap):

2 egg whites + brie cheese on a Whole Wheat Nature’s Own Sandwich Round.

I found these at an on-campus convenience store yesterday for $2.50!! Every time I go grocery shopping, I am tempted to get these. However, I know I have access to bread on campus (using my dining points) so I refrain. For once, something on-campus wasn’t severely overpriced.

Side of Broc:

Beta-Carotene Trio: Kabocha squash, carrots, sweet potatoes

After dinner I had a HUGE craving for chocolate, V-Day style. I had no chocolate though!! Too bad I ate an entire bag of chocolate chips last week, huh?

So I made hot chocolate with:

• 1 tbsp chocolate protein powder
• 2 tsp Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• stevia

Microwaved!!!

I <3 chocolate!!!!

I was still hungry and craving more chocolate so I had a Luna Bar.

***

I <3 TJ’s

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I spent the rest of the night working on my Trader Joe’s presentation. Researching about Trader Joe’s has made me fall even more in love with them–if that’s possible!

***

Quirky Q’s

1. What’s one of your favorite products from Trader Joe’s? Ummm besides kefir, I’d have to say Pineapple Chips and Carrot Ginger Muffins. That’s 2 products, I know.

2. Are you a person that takes naps? Normally, no. Only when I’m sick or by accident while I’m reading.

3. What did you do for V-Day??

I woke up feeling a bit under the weather. I feel fine now, so I think it was just from being horizontal all night, ya know?

Regardless, I wanted an energy/vitamin boost so I made an Amazing Meal Smoothie:

• 1/3 packet Amazing Meal
• 1/3 cup frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 3 slices frozen peaches

While Emerile Lagasse made some pasta . P.S. My roommate got cable because she wanted to be able to watch March Madness and the Olympics. I really don’t have time to watch TV when I’m at school, but I hope to catch at least some of the Olympics.

The Olympics start tonight, right!? Wow…almost forgot!

Shortly after, my tummy started grumbling so I prepped breakfast WATERLESS! I woke up 30 min. before they told us the water would get shut off so I could pee but they shut it off an hour earlier than said.

…so I washed my face out of a bowl of water…like I was living in the 1800s!

***

Okay, focus Allie!!

Beauties

2 egg whites, brie cheese, on a whole wheat bagel. I missed my fakey Kraft slices.

Mini bowl of kefir and Kashi GoLean

I never forget my candy vitamins

Then I took to slaughtering my 2nd (and last) kabocha squash from home. I was afraid it would start to rot if I saved it any longer.

This is the ONLY knife we have in the apartment. A flimsy one at best. I came out alive though!

ORANGE snack plate!

Orange slices, orange baby carrots, and orange kabocha squash.

Almond butter ‘n’ ketchup on an orange plate!

Early Dinner:

DEEP colored greens:

• Eggplant
• Tofu
• Tomatoes
• Red Peppers
• Orange slices

Kefir w/ Kashi GoLean, pecans, orange chunks and part of a Rosie’s Granola Bar

All Day I Dream About Sports These Granola Bars!

I brought the rest of the granola bar with me to the Think Pink Women’s Basketball Game. My sorority attends this game every year because our philanthropy is Breast Cancer Education and Awareness.

Loved their shorts!

While waiting, I cracked open Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’m reading this book for my Food and Energy class! One of my sorority sisters said her TA last year was Camille Kingsolver, the daughter of the author!!! I didn’t know she was a Duke student, although it clearly states that on the back cover .

After I came back, I enjoyed a green tea latte, while baking for my class tomorrow. Of course, I had a serving of what I baked fresh outta the oven with some almond milk.

You’ll have to wait and see what I made for my classmates!!

P.S. If you emailed me or asked me a question sometime this week, I’m working on getting back to you!! My inbox stands at 84 new emails as we speak. I’m hoping to catch up this weekend.

I spoiled you all with TWO posts yesterday so I figured I would allow you to enjoy Sunday all over again with me as I sit in my TWO Monday classes…one of which is TWO and half hours long!

But first, TWO TIDBITS!

So I have this annoying patch of dry skin under my right eye that never goes away no matter how much lotion I slather on it. My coworker this summer (an esthetician) told me it was eczema. I wasn’t too surprised because my mother has eczema too…but on my face!?

Anyways, It’s been super super super dry this winter and FLAKY! The other day, Lauren commented that she uses coconut oil as a moisturizer. I would have never thought to put oil on my face since I associate oil with zits! But I thought I’d give it a try.

I put a dab on my dry skin patch (using a spoon, don’t worry) and the next morning it was GONE!!!! I couldn’t believe it when I woke up with a smooth patch o’ skin under my eye! The darn dry patch has been there for SO long and POOF! it was gone….just like that!

I need TWO jars of this magical oil–so I can use one as a moisturizer and one for baking

Coconut oil kills helps 2 birds with 1 stone!

***

This is my space heater. The other day, I tweeted that I seared my leg on this guy. I accidentally touched it for a split second (OW!!) and then YELLED all sorts of profane words….

Yesterday I decided to take a look at my burn and found the honey comb imprint burned on there!! So weird!! I wonder how long my tattoo burn will stay there.

Sorry, that was so random.

***

Let’s get to the food shall we?

Sunday mornin’ brunch:

Whole Wheat Bagel Thin w/ TWO egg whites and a slice of Kraft cheese.

I found these bagels at a convenience store on campus. They’re not as small as mini-bagels but they’re not as big as normal bagels. How PERF!

Apple CHUNX!

Cafetiere Coff

Then I went out in the beautiful sunshine and walk-read for ~TWO miles. This is killing 2 birds with 1 stone at it’s very very best.

…..and yes, I use grocery receipts as my book marks. Shush

Snackables:

Graham cracker w/ a black bean brownie and chocolate chips. It tastes great this way! The crunch of the graham cracker and the sweet of the chocolate accentuate the brownie taste!

My roomie went to Trader Joe’s so I had her get me TWO things: Kefir (it’s been far too long) and Pineapple chips (it’s been WAY too long)!!!

I ate this whole bag throughout the day. Okay, there’s only 1 1/4 cups inside which is 2.5 servings….not so bad, right? At least I stretched it out and ate them in TWO sittings .

…I’m so addicted to these it’s not even funny.

I went to the gym for 60 min on the elliptical and then I busted out a 1 mile sprint! I need to clear my head!!

Dinner:

Panini-pressed sweet potato discs:

A 3-day old dining hall salad on it’s LAST leg.

Eggplant Black Bean veggie cheeseburger w/ brie and avocado on an Ezekiel English Muffin

Mickey D’s has nothin’ on ME!

Dessert:

TJ’s Tart Froyo with kefir, a crumbled oatmeal cookie, strawberries, chocolate chips.

And then I ate another handful of chocolate chips. I had a super duper chocolate craving!!

***

Alright that’s enough birds and TWOs for today. Hope you are enjoying your Mondays!

Which Superbowl commercial was your favorite? I gotta find them online to watch!

FRESH Coffee

Yesterday I didn’t feel like making coffee using the personal-cup method, which I demonstrated a few months ago nor did I want to use my roomie’s coffee machine. Enter the Bodum Cafetiere (French Press) I received from Kath’s Open Sky promotion back in December! (I can’t believe I waited this long to take it out of the box!).

I haven’t used a cafetiere since my London days. My coworkers actually called it a ‘cafetiere’ so that’s what usually comes to mind when I see these, as opposed to ‘French press.’

Short story: When I studied abroad in London, I interned with an advertising/brand consultancy firm. For a couple of weeks,  I worked on a commercial shoot. I was the ‘runner’ (aka witch with a B) so one of my main tasks was to make coffee for the crew members….using a cafetiere! Needless to say, I have A LOT of practice using this contraption.

That takes skill

Pre-Workout Breakfast

Ezekiel English Muffin with Almond Butter

…and a super soft ‘n’ juicy pear from the dining hall. I need to load up on these ugly pears–they are so damn good.

With my candy vitamins

I also had a snack of Kashi Go Lean, chocolate chips, and walnuts. I’m lovin’ this combo!

Fresh [Gonna Be] Sore Legs

I worked out (elliptical and incline walking) while watching the Duke basketball game at the gym. It was a longer workout than I anticipated because I couldn’t peel my eyes off the TV screen! Usually I’ll leave in the 2nd half if I know we’ll win but yesterday’s game got tiiiiiight at the very end. I figured I would be okay since the walking portion on my workout was low intensity and I was feeling pretty good throughout.

FRESH Smoothie

Post-workout shake. I am trying to incorporate more protein in my post-workout eats because I’ve been skimping on the important macronutrient lately.

• 1/2 of a Vega Smoothie Infusion Packet (leftover from AUGUST!!!)
• A sprinkle of Amazing Meal
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/3 banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk

I love that the Vega Smoothie Infusion has protein from yellow peas, hemp, and brown rice. Cool, huh?

I also wanted to get in a ’snack’ so I could take some quality time to prepare dinner. I was just going to whip up something fast but then I got the brilliant idea to make:

Eggplant Black Bean Burgers!!

Just you wait and see what these are made out of! I turned it into a cheeseburger with melted brie cheese.

Ketchup makes the world go ’round.

I also added some avocado to make it that much better.

The bun was an Ezekiel English Muffin

With a FRESH 2 day-old dining hall salad. Spicy Brown Mustard=delicious salad dressing!

I’ll post the recipe for these eggplant black bean burgers in my next post. This post is getting super long already!

***

What to do with the leftover can of black beans? Make black bean brownies!

I wanted to make chick pea blondies but the whole point was to finish off my open can of black beans . I’ll post the changes I made to the recipe and my thoughts on them along the burger recipe.

***

Before I go, my Momma sent me photos she took of the massive snow storm that hit the mid-atlantic area. She sent me a link to 84 photos….so I narrowed it down to 3 .

FRESH SNOW!!!

I wish I were at HOME to experience this crazy blizzard!! So much frolicking I’m missing out on!

Jealous!!

Have a great Sunday! Recipes to come!

Whew! Today was quite the snowy adventure. While I got to experience a massive snow storm at home during winter break, it was exciting to get snow at SCHOOL in North Carolina!  It doesn’t snow here often so I got a little camera crazy….

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Before: Last night it snowed and snowed and snowed….

After: Today it continued to snow and snow and snow….

Before: The day before it was 61 degrees and sunny. Remember when I sat outside in a t-shirt to study??

After: NOT today…

Before breakfast, I did a Dave Farmar yoga podcast for ~30 min. in my room and some ab work.

I think I tried every possible way to find out if the gym was open or not. I was starting to get cranky when I realized my planned workout was not gonna happen. At home, I wouldn’t have cared one bit. I mean, come ON, there’s SNOW!!!

Not at school though. At school, I get irked and frazzled when my plans get jumbled up. Why? .

Gosh I wish I could answer that. I guess I just need some sort of ‘control’ in a place where I feel so vulnerable? I’m trying REALLY hard to be okay with the world the way it turns but it’s hard!

(That’s the psychology major in me analyzing MYSELF)

Yoga hurt because my muscles were tiiiiiiiiight. I also did tricep pushups yesterday so chatarungas were paaaaainful.

***

There are a lot of things that simply cannot be explained. Such as…

-Why it snows after a 60 degree day.

-Why I found the AC turned on and set at 50 degrees this morning (!!!).

-Why the gym was closed after a snow storm.

…Okay maybe not that last one .

Another thing? How I could possibly CRAVE a Kefir Green TEA Monster this morning…!?!?!??!?!?!?!

After:

Well, it was a strong craving, so I went with it.

• 1/4 cup kefir
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• Instant Green Tea powder
• h20

And some homemade chocolate covered pretzels!

Some little birdy came to visit!

Before going on a SNOWY adventure…
.

Half-caf coffee (this is my roommmate’s new mug….sadly, not mine!). It’s so pretty and matches my SCARF.

1/2 Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel English Muffin w/ Almond Butter and an Apple with Almond Butter

Got me warmed up before heading out the door.

5 layers up top: tank top, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, puffy vest, wind breaker

1 layer down low: FROZE MY BOOTY OFFFFF!!

Rain boots. Scarf. Hat. Gloves.

Blogger gloves…

To take photos

I love the layer of micro fleece inside!

And then I ventured off on a 25 min. walk through the snow to watch the Duke Basketball game on campus.

See the beautiful chapel?

The chapel up-close and personal. Hands down my favorite building at Duke.

I mean…Hogwarts.

Did I tell you? Duke is a school for witchcraft and wizardry .

Resemblance…??

That’s me in my cloak!

I finally found my roommates in time to watch us LOSE (in front of Prezzie Obama too! BAH!)

I had a decaf coffee and an ORANGE to keep warm.

Our hike back was craaaaaazy and a workout in itself!

First my roomie and I went sledding on trash bags and a random piece of cardboard….

Then we went into the wishing well to ice skate. SO SLIPPERY. Almost broke this little guy’s arm off…

This was all in the Duke Gardens. Breathtaking no matter what the weather is like.

Remember how beautiful the Gardens looked in August?

After:

A much-needed and much-craved salad w/ tofu ‘n’ veggies. Topped with TJ’s Gyoza dippin’ sauce

And a brie + avocado panini!

Not sure what I’ll be munching on tonight. If it’s anything like last night, it’ll be gobs of chocolate+cereal+walnuts .

***

What a day!! I ended up having quite an ACTIVE DAY. More importantly, I had a lot of fun. I could let go for a little bit and just be my adventurous self again….and It felt great!

Before: Cranky and anxious

After: Happy (and cold)

As predicted, I was h-h-hungry this morning. I think my late-night workout continued to burn throughout the night. Despite being hungry enough to eat anything, I wanted to make something special this morning. You know…change things up a bit. Yes, I could eat kefir + Greek yogurt bowls all the live long day (check out the tutorial if you missed it!) but I had a hankering for pancakes.

I referred to my recipe for Multigrain Butternut Squash Banana Pancakes but used OAT BRAN instead of GROUND OATS. Oh and I added a lil’ kefir . I simply couldn’t resist.

Butternut Banana Oat Bran Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 1 egg white
• 1/8 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup butternut squash
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBSP kefir (!!!)
• 1/4 cup water or milk
• Stevia
• Banana slices
• Toppings

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except banana slices)

2. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into skillet

3. Gently press banana slices into pancake

4. Flip

5. Top pancakes with whatever you want!

My toppings included….

Almond butter and Agave Nectar Drizzle

Apple slices.

Whipped Cream Greek Yogurt and cinnamon.

I think I hit every food group with this breakfast.   IHOP’s got nothin’ on me!!

***

After walking + reading (simultaneously) for ~30 min., I popped a squat at this picnic table to sip some half-caf coffee and read/write for class.

I had to take advantage of the sun + 60 degree warmth because it’s supposed to SNOW on Saturday!!! Whaaaat!?

After class, I went to the WaDuke Trail for a 5K run. I was SO JAZZED UP for this run because I had been looking forward to it since I checked the weather last weekend. The weather did not disappoint me but my legs did. UFFF my legs were dragging. I tried to take it easy on the crazy roller coaster hills to avoid injury, but even so, I was not feeling the endorphins.

So I decided I would hit the elliptical to finish out my workout. After 10 min. I made the crazy/awesome decision to go to a CARDIO DANCE class at our gym.

Despite being POOPED to the max, it was SO MUCH FUN!! I was a sweaty beast afterwards. It did not feel like a workout at all. Just fun aerobics-style dancing. I was honestly surprised my legs survived the hour long class!

(before the class, I had a handful of dried sugary fruit)

***
The pancakes I made for breakfast held me over for sooo many hours. I snacked on some almonds throughout the morning and together they kept me going and going.

For dinner, I decided I would continue my breakfast craze…

An omelet (1 egg+2 egg whites) w/ mushrooms, broccoli and BRIE cheese!

I’m still chipping away at these mini bries I got from Costco back in October!! See? That’s exactly why I love these tubs. I can never finish a whole huge wedge. These are perfect because I can have fresh brie at my own pace.

I was too optimistic about stuffing my omelet with veggies so it ended up being uncloseable

That’s okay because now you get a peak at the inside!

Panini-pressed sweet potato discs with ketchup.

Salsa w/ avocado chunks.

Panini-smushed toast.

All together now.

I have a scary amount of work due tomorrow morning. Gotta get crackin’!! I’ll probably have a green monster w/ Kashi Go Lean soon since my stomach is already calling for food. I blame cardio dance

I’m excited for my Culinary Cultures class tomorrow!! We’re making something exotic, I hear. Okay WORK TIME!!!