After our daytime adventures in Cville (lunch + dessert and then wine tasting), we headed back to the KERF house to uhh eat s’more!

Kath’s 26(+2)th birthday party was a casual potluck—perfect for mixing ‘n’ mingling while drinking ‘n’ eating. I think there were about 20 people in attendance: half bloggers and half readers/spouses/civilians .

The Spread:

Matt cracks. Pita Chips.

Goat cheese (Mmmm). Hummus.

Root veggies. Brittany’s Kale Waldorf Salad.

The Booze: Oatmeal stout, pumpkin ale, and Irish red.

All supplied by Matt’s beer station in the basement.

I had some of the Pumpkin Ale.

More food:

Andrea’s empanadas!

Bread, more cheese and lamb salami. Bacon wrapped dates.

I tried a bacon wrapped date. It was one of those gotta-try-it instances and it was out-of-this-world delicious!

Butternut squash soup.

And then I owned the pita chip bowl.

My favorite item of the night? Pumpkin Goat Cheese from Feast!

It tasted like a classy pumpkin cream cheese. ‘Twas sweet, creamy, and goooaty.

Dessert: Kath’s gingerbread cookies and Heather’s caramel filled chocolate chip pecan cookies!

I had one (maybe 2) of each.

After dessert, the hosts broke out 4 different pumpkin ales for a beer tasting.

We even got a quick history lesson from the brew master himself!

This was our ‘birthday cake’ for the night .

Then I sent everyone home with some AllieBars! What a fun night.

If I learned anything this weekend it is that I am the slowest blogger on the face of the earth. I am determined to wrap up my Cville adventures tonight so stay tuned!

Tell me: Do you like pumpkin ale? Got a favorite?

My family just left boo hoo hoo . I had a stupendous weekend and I didn’t want it to end! It’s such a different feeling spending time with people who love and care about you. I feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the insanity that is FINALS now. Actually, I would say I’m more petrified and anxious than rejuvenated but I’m trying to stay positive here!

My brother and I started our days by getting in a workout. I woke up still full from my rich meal last night at the WaDuke. I did a quick 40 min. Elliptical and 20 min. StairMill (it kicked my butt as always).

***

After showering and getting ready, we headed to the Nasher Art Museum Cafe. The Nasher Art Museum is in the center of Duke’s campus and inside is a cute and modern cafe that uses local ingredients.

**Bonus: it accepts Food Point$!!!

The menu is small but there are a wide range of options. Today’s menu included brunch items too.

My Daddy-o started off with a Lhasa Beer (Tibetan). What a lovely shirt–I wonder who picked it out for him?

Cool ‘n’ refreshing. Isn’t the picture of the little goat so cute?

Bread roll. It wasn’t anything special so I had about half to tide me over.

I ordered the Sprouts and Avocado Sandwich with red onion, cucumber and Havarti cheese on whole wheat bread.

It came with a side of fruit. I wanted to try their quinoa side dish but I figured I had enough grains already with the bread.

My Momma ordered the special–Eggs Benedict with lump crab meat and spiralized cucumbers served with home fries.

I had a taste of the crab and home fries.

My dad and brother both ordered the Local scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, capers, red onion, dill creme fraiche and home fries.

We were very happy with our meals!

Next we popped over to Chapel Hill, NC (~20 min. away) to visit the other school. None of my family members had visited Chapel Hill before.

Within 2 min. of parking the car my dad and I went straight to Starbucks Coffee for a pick-me-up. Can you believe Duke doesn’t have a Starbucks on campus? Crazy, huh? What a money maker that would be.

I got a Venti Iced Cafe Americano (half caf) and my dad got a venti hot coffee. I slurped that down so fast!

I’ll say it…UNC has a beautiful campus. I often wonder if I would have liked UNC better.

We stopped by Sugarland Bakery (where I’m shadowing) to say a quick hello.

Next, we headed to Great Harvest Bread Co. to try some samples but it was CLOSED!!!

We also hit up the beautiful Whole Foods Market in Chapel Hill. This one is about twice the size of the WF in Durham.

I got an Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushroom and a small cup of a Grain Salad.

The stuffing included artichoke hearts, eggs, parmesan cheese, crab meat, and onions.

The salad had brown rice, quinoa, wild rice, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, olive oil and other ingredients I forgot.

We also hit up Trader Joe’s and Costco to pick up some snax and essentials.

One thing I got was a big bag of grain sweetened carob chips and a chocolate covered cherry slipped in too . Mmm.

I’m not sure what dinner’s gonna be but I gotta hit publish and get cracking on my work!

Goodbye family, Hello sKoOL

I was thinking about mental strength and running when I was on the treadmill yesterday. A couple years ago, I ONLY wanted to run on a treadmill. I was scared of running outside. I didn’t have numbers to keep me going/motivated and I didn’t have distractions such as the jumbo TV screens at the gym. Since I got my Garmin Forerunner 405, I have grown to love running outside and actually dread the treadmill now. I love breathing in the fresh air, actually going somewhere, and having changes in terrain (hills, wind, steps, etc).

Well the snow made it a little hard to run outside yesterday (although I did see the track team running in the snow!). Which leads me to the topic of today’s post.

For me, running, especially on a treadmill, takes as much mental strength as it does physical strength. I often find that when I have a when-can-I-stop-running?! attitude, my runs drag on forever and ever. However, when I start to think about how good it feels to be running (or other distracting thoughts completely unrelated), my runs breeze by.

Back when I first started running longer distances, running served as a therapy session. I was lost in a sea of depression and loneliness, but running put a smile on my face and gave me an optimistic outlook–a big feat at the time.

I challenged myself to run until I literally could not take another step. Then I would run for a little longer. Well, a little longer turned into a lot longer and before I knew it I was running a personal distance record EVERY day. First it was 4 miles, then 5 miles, then 6 miles, then 8 miles. I felt like I was on top of the world.

Mental strength powered me through my runs. All I had to do was keep thinking about whatever was troubling my mind that day. I would think about it for miles and miles until finally it didn’t bother me anymore and I was in a great mood. If my legs got tired, I would muster up the mental strength to keep going and my legs kept flying!

However, too much of a good thing can be VERY bad. Soon enough, I was sidelined for 3 months with a stress fracture in my shin, as I explain in my story.

Well yesterday, I couldn’t find anything to think about on the treadmill until finally I got distracted by this very topic! Before I knew it, I was on my way to 2 miles. However I had to call it quits at 2.2 miles because I felt a twinge of pain in my left shin. Mental strength, in my opinion, is one of the tricks to lasting on the treadmill. However, you have to know when to stop so you don’t get injured.

If you run, do you prefer to run on the treadmill or outside?

What gets you through your runs? Distractions? Songs? Thoughts?

***

This morning I woke up and needed to get the juices flowing. I was goose-bump cold and moving slooooowly. So I did some jumping jacks and a mini dance sesh in my room for ~15 min. At one point I put on my HRM and saw that my heart rate got up to 160 bpm!!!

I couldn’t believe I was sweating from just moving around my shoe-box room.

Brunch:

I also cannot believe how strong my cravings have been for green monsters!!

It’s all I want these days. I added 2 slices of frozen peaches and instant green tea to the classic combo (banana, milk, spinach).

I also prepped overnight oats last night (duh). Look at this recipe card I picked up at Whole Foods. I didn’t follow this recipe…I just wanted to show ya

Overnight cOmBo:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1/2 T chia seeds
• 1/4 Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup kefir
• 1/4 cup skim milk

MoRnIn’ Add-Ins:

• 1/3 banana
• 1/3 cup butternut squash puree
• Mango + Strawberry chunks
• Shredded coconut

I was rather excited for this cold meal after my sweaty dance sesh….until I went outside in the freezing cold to photograph it in my t-shirt and shorts!!!

This doesn’t look a big meal but it was fairly caloric when you put it all together. I’m hoping it lasts a couple hours in my tummy!

I’ve got a busy busy busy day today so I packed some snax to get me through class (from left to right):

• Kabocha Squash + Ketchup
• Baby Carrots
• Apple Slices

And a granola square:

All packed up in my $1 reusable lunch sack from Target

Agenda:

I’m gonna need some mental strength to get me through today!

• Class from 2:50-7:00 pm (shoulda been a snow day!!)
• Gym 7:15-8:45pm (maybe the Body Tone class?)
• Meeting 9:00-10:00pm
• Shower –> eat –> work –> sleep

**Dinner will be whatever I can scrounge up! It probably won’t be pretty seeing as how it won’t be until ~10 PM!

Off to classy wass!! But first, I have to pick up a package from the Post Office–wahoO!!

I’m sad to announce that despite the snow storm (which lasted over 24 hours may I add!!), we have classes tomorrow! Whaaaaat?! When I was on campus today, all the walkways and even some of the main roads were snowy, slushy, and some ICY. I was so sure classes would be cancelled. Sad face.

Check out the crazy winter weather advisory for Raleigh/Durham (source: weather.com):

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLACK ICE… WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 600 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON EST MONDAY. THE LINGERING SNOW AND ICE THAT BEGAN MELTING TODAY WILL RAPIDLY FREEZE AFTER SUNSET THIS EVENING. BLACK ICE WILL BECOME A PROBLEM AS THE MELT WATER WILL QUICKLY FREEZE. MANY SECONDARY AND RESIDENTIAL STREETS AND ROADS WILL HAVE A COMBINATION OF A HARDENING SNOW AND ICE PACK… ALONG WITH DEVELOPMENT BLACK ICE. THIS WILL BE A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING HAZARD AS THE TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE 20S BY 800 PM… AND INTO THE TEENS OVERNIGHT. CONDITIONS WILL NOT IMPROVE GREATLY UNTIL NOON MONDAY.

Turn that SMILE upside down, Mr. Slender Snowman!!!

(Notice the clementine eyes???)

The sun was shining all day, melting all the precious snow. It is definitely going to freeze over tonight though. It’s supposed to be 12 degrees F!! Count ‘em!!

This morning I woke up and was delighted to find out the gym was open! Funny, because then I got lazy and kept putting it off.

I had an amazing creamy coffee concoction w/ farm fresh chocolate milk, stevia, and whipped cream!

I also had a cinnamon raisin Ezekiel English Muffin w/ almond butter and banana when I realized I was gonna linger in my apartment before going to the gym.

I’m going to pass these tents in K-Ville on my way to and from the gym for the next month and a half. Students sleep in tents from now until March 6th to get into the UNC game.

Nutz. I wake up freezing under my down comforter + 2 blankets. I can’t even imagine….and I don’t wanna!

Workout:

• Ran 2.2 miles
• Incline walked 1 mile
• 15 min. Arctrainer
• 35 min. elliptical.

WHEW!!! My fresh legs just kept chugging and chugging. I was having so much fun I didn’t wanna stop. Well, more like I didn’t want to go back to the piles and piles of reading I have for tomorrow! The active rest day I had yesterday refilled the juice in my legs though that’s for sure.

***

My post workout meal didn’t come until 5pm…yikes. BUT I woke up at 10am. So if I woke up at 6 am like some people, it would have only been 1pm. That doesn’t seem as bad, right?!

I pan-fried a filet of mahi-mahi in TJ’s Gyoza Dipping Sauce and put it on a salad bed.

Veggies included:

• avocado
• red peppers
• grape tomatoes
• red onions
• 1 cucumber slice

I also used s’more dipping sauce for dressing.

A side of kabocha slices w/ ketchup. I roasted this guy last night (1 of 2 squashies I brought back from home).

The final product.

Post dinner, I made butternut squash yogurt with apple chunks and Kashi GoLean

I combined butternut squash puree with Greek yogurt, cinnamon, and stevia.

To make this creamy concoction:

Then topped it with microwaved apple slices and Kashi Go Lean.

I’ll probably have a Luna bar and some fruit w/ almond butter after I hit publish!

***

I’m going to go read until my eyes pop out now….NO THANX to whoever decides if we have a snow day or not!! I hope you all had lovely weekends. Do anything fun/exciting/adventurous?

Call me crazy but I woke up extra early on a Friday morning (okay maybe just MY version of ‘extra early’) just to make breakfast—strawberries ‘n’ cream.

….in my oat bran! That’s Greek yogurt by the way. I kept it light knowing we would be eating in class.

Call my crazy but I opted to walk the mile to class instead of drive, despite it being a frigid 20-some degrees outside. Then one of my classmates picked me up midway because she felt bad for me .

Anyone else just enjoy walking?!

Call me crazy but I whipped out my camera in my Culinary Cultures class. Not in front of the class….well sorta. I am now the designated camera girl (or photographer if you will) and I help take photos of the food that each student brings in. I also brought my own camera and snapped some shots.

Today we had 2 students bring in food.

1) Italian Creme Cake (no substitutions in this baby!)

I did tell Amanda, the baker of this cake, about my blog when I whipped out my camera. (Hello Amanda if you’re reading!)

2) Coffee Cake (again, no substitutions)

The crumbly topping was outta this world!

Call me crazy but I think it’s somewhat refreshing eating desserts made with the real stuff. It’s true–you really don’t need a big portion when it’s made with REAL butter, eggs, and sugar. A little goes a long way.

**We also enjoyed a creeeeamy tomato soup that our professor made. It looked like this…except in a plastic cup

Source

Call me crazy but I was excited to get to the gym despite having an intense work out yesterday. I ellipticalled for 65 min. and then did a quick 20 min. full body strength training sesh.

I’ve been doing 1 set (sometimes 2) for each muscle group. I’m thinking it’s about time I take my strength training up a notch and increase it to 2 sets or 1 set of 2 different exercises per muscle group. I am certainly reaping the health benefits of strength training with what I am doing now, but I think my body is ready for more.

***

Call me CRAZY but I was craving a Kefir Green Monster despite my body being frozen.

• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 cup kefir
• 1 TBSP Butternut Squash
• H20
• Stevia

.

Call me even crazier for photographing my food outside in a t-shirt and wet hair!

I also enjoyed a BANINI (I haven’t had one in ages).

Inside the Banini was almond butter, banana, and butternut squash puree. See it?

And an apple w/ almond butter (not pictured).

All together now.

Call me crazy for worrying about not having enough veggies in case we actually wake up with the predicted 6-10 inches of snow tomorrow morning. Most people stock up on bread, eggs, and milk….

Not this crazy chica! I scrambled around campus to get some veggies in case the whole world shuts down tomorrow (highly likely in NC).

I’ll probably have some version of this beautiful salad tonight for dinner. Perhaps some kabocha squash too?

Now I am snackin’ on a Rosie’s Granola Bar as I type this.

LOVE.

Call me crazy but I’m thinking the weathermen might be right this time….

100%.

***Winter Storm Warning for tonight. I guess I can’t go out later. Bummer, huh?

‘SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE EXPECTED IN THE TRIANGLE…. ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW AND SLEET WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT TRAVEL ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. AFTER PRECIPITATION BEGINS LATE FRIDAY EVENING… TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING THROUGH MIDDAY MONDAY.’

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!!!

I have one early and looong class on Friday mornings. Usually this would be somewhat inconvenient, especially considering if I didn’t take it, I would have NO classes on Fridays. However, this class is my Culinary Cultures class, which I found myself bursting out of bed this morning to attend!

I kept it on the light side for breakfast because I knew we would be eating in class!

Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel English Muffin w/ a side of strawberries and mango. A teenager strawberry babysitting some youngins. See it?

With nutritious whipped cream (again, Greek yogurt ).

Half calf coffee to-go! This tumbler is finally appropriate because it’s nearing Valentine’s Day! My parents bought me this tumbler as a V-Day gift 2 years ago. It’s only relevant for about 1 month out of the entire year but I use it year-round! It makes me feel loved….and it’s a super durable Starbucks tumbler .

Eggs Galore

The theme of our class today was ‘Narrative Form in Food Writing.’ We discussed a few essays, one of which was written by Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of Julie & Julia. It was also a very eggiful class. One student brought in deviled eggs that he made with one day old eggs from his own chicken coop! He raises his own chickens!!

(We each have to cook a food for the class that is special to us in some way. I guess that means I have to cook kefir?! Haha just kidding….I’m not bringing in kefir, don’t worry )

Our cooking demonstration today was 1 hour long scrambled eggs. Can you believe it can take an entire hour to cook scrambled eggs?

Well, it was worth the wait because they tasted magnificent!!! If you ever have the time you should try it. She added about 1 cup of cream (which probably helped) to 18 eggs. The professor said that most of us ‘beat the hell out of eggs‘ when scrambling. Instead, she used a fork to break up the yolks and lightly fluff out the eggs. She then put them on the stove at low heat for an hour, stirring every so often. The scrambled eggs turned out runnier than the typical kind you would find in cafeterias and diners.

Next, we each fried our OWN egg, one at a time with her by our side. I was grateful I had learned how to fry eggs growing up because one girl had never fried one herself and had no idea what she was doing!

I decided on sunny side up! Our professor also brought us fresh baked bread from 2 different local bakeries to go along with our egg.

I snuck a quick photo outside when the others were frying up their own eggs. I was SO close to whipping out my camera to take photos of what was going on in the kitchen but I chickened out. Haha chicken…egg…get it?

My classmates don’t know about my blog (I told a different class about my blog) so I don’t want to be creepy….YET! I’ll break out of my shell soon. Haha get it? shell…egg….

So along with this guy I had a deviled egg and a scrambled egg w/ cream. I was all egged up!!

***

I headed to the gym after class for 30 min. on the Arc Trainer and 30 min. on the Elliptical. It went by in a blink of an eye because I had so much on my mind!

I was rushed showering and eating because I had to meet for recruitment. This was the quickest thing I could whip up! Oatbran with cinnamon, sesame honey almonds and mango chunks.

I considered adding an egg white because I love my oats with eggs but I was all egged out and my tummy was actually really uncomfortable from working out with eggs inside!

There aren’t many dining options on the campus to which I was assigned, so I packed a dinner to bring with me. As a recruitment counselor I have quite a bit of free time as long as my girls are okay.

I packed a sandwich of smoked salmon, avocado and cucumber on whole wheat bread.

And veggies galore! Toppings include eggplant, red/green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers.

By the time I cracked open my din din, I realized I didn’t have DRESSING!! I can usually forego dressing (because I love the taste of veggies on their own) but I wanted some flavah flave tonight.

So I walked over to Whole Foods (literally 1 block from my assigned campus) and got some Spicy Thai Vinaigrette and some salad bar tastings.

I also packed CRACK Rosie’s granola bar, which just gets better and better. The addiction is official!

…and an orange.

I’m thinking some tea and chocolate might be in order. Have a great weekend!!!!

Thanks for all your kind words about my new blog layout!! It feels so naked without a header image though. It’s funny how one static image can make such a difference.

I’m afraid my days have been a little too relaxed lately. I roll out of bed at a frighteningly late time, dilly dally around, eat, dilly dally some more and all of a sudden it’s time for bed again. I know it’s winter break and I need to de-stress but I’ve been feeling like blob.

[Note to self: this is why you need to find a job. Doing nothing will eventually get boring. It's only been a week and a half and you are already feeling like a waste of space.]

Now, someone remind me of that when I’m pulling out my hair back at school

Look out for a holigoals (midterm) reflection post soon!

***

Lunch (I’m not even gonna try and call these breakfasts anymore).

• Kefir+Greek Yogurt
• Kashi Puffs
• Nuked Apple
• Pecans

It doesn’t get much better than this! Especially when you eat it with a side of Key Lime Mousse Cake

My calves were too tight to go to the gym just yet, so I channeled my frustration at the oven!

Have you ever started with a recipe, made a complete 180, and came out with something totally different?

I set out to make raspberry coconut bars but realized I only had about 1/6 of the amount of coconut I needed! So these will be called CocOATnut Fig Bars.

I need to make these again to work out the ingredient measurements but here’s a sneak peak.

The crust was made up primarily of oat flour, shredded coconut and agave nectar.

Then I spread a layer of ficoco spread that I found at TJ Maxx the other day.

It’s made out of figs, cocoa, and sugar…and it’s delicious. I love fig seeds

Note: I used a loaf pan rather than a bars/brownies pan because I’m trying to save energy by using the toaster oven. Since I just wanted to try out the recipe, I figured making a smaller batch would be ideal.

Then I totally improvised a crumbly topping.

The result was pretty tasty!! The crust ended up soft yet crumbly. It’s vegan and gluten free. Coolio!

Now I just need to play around some more with the ingredients. I had to eat half the pan to get a good taste of this one though, hehe.

I definitely want to add some bulk to them so they are thicker ‘bars’.

Since I had already pulled out my Magic Bullet, I decided to make some Pecan Butter!! I put in 1 cup of pecans and about 1 TBSP of pumpkin butter to give it some sweet. Plus I needed some moisture to get it to meld together. Looks like a blob but it’s a mighty tasty blob.

Mmmmmm. Pecans=Allie’s favorite nut. Just stating the obvious here.

What’s your favorite nut?! (I used to ask everyone this question when I was little because I wasn’t able to eat any nuts and I was so curious as to why people liked them).

***

I ate a small dinner in preparation for Gossip Girl at the gym. It happened again. I looked up the episode that was going to be on and it was coincidentally the episode I needed to see next! I am a die hard watch-in-order kind of gal. No skipping episodes for me! This was too perfect.

I didn’t want to fill my belly too much to avoid cramps. Plus, I knew I would need to eat afterwards as well.

So I broke out a carton of soup I got at Trader Joe’s last week. Organic Butternut Squash Soup.

The soup was slightly sweet and perfectly creamy.

I added some avocado chunks and had a side salad with baby spinach, cinnamon cranberry goat cheese, more avocado and a pita point with goat cheese inside.

I did a light 60 min. on the elliptical. My calves were mighty tighty but it felt good to let them move around.

At the gym I found an issue of Southern Living. I’ve never read this magazine before but boy was it FUN!!

Hey Pioneer Woman!!!

Dream KITCH!!! I spot Murphy

Did someone say pecans!?

Happy Tuesday!! What are your plans for Christmas (if you celebrate)? Home or away?

I’m engaging in illegal blogging right now, so I’ve gotta make it lickety split! More photos, less yapping, more studying, less procrastinating. My textbooks are awaiting my return so here we go!

I haven’t gone on a real grocery shopping trip to restock my kitchen because I am going home on Friday. So, I’ve been eating some of the same things the last couple of days. I did however get 4 products to help me along…and comfort me

First up, Cranberry Creme Brulee Kefir. Oh YES!!! Believe whatcha see!

With hemp granola and banana slices.

Next we have an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin w/ a new (to me) almond butter and banana slices.

I wanted to get a huge jar of Maranatha Almond Butter from Costco (the best deal around), but I left the membership card at home, so I got a new to me brand: Blue Diamond Almond Butter Creamy. Just almonds and salt in the ingredients.

I also got my favorite Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins. Now THIS is my kind of comfort food

I KNOW you got excited by my kefir earlier and scrolled down as fast as you could to see where it came from. Here she is:

Not gonna lie, it’s pretty damn fabulous. It was on sale at Whole Foods this week so I figured I’d give flavored kefir a shot (literally ha ha ha get it? Shot…shot glass….).

I usually get plain because it doesn’t have the added sugar, but who can pass up a seasonal flavor like this one!?

Still has all my health favorite benefits. Read more about my love for kefir in my post, Krazy for Kefir.

I whipped out the Ezekiel again before heading to the gym.  I topped it with butternut squash, brie cheese, and pecans. This is a winning combo, I’m tellin’ ya!

Sweet and Salty!!

Last night, I needed the comfort of the Whole Foods Salad Bar. My Whole Foods consumption always increases come finals week. There’s something about a big box/bowl of veggies topped with samples of this and that.

My ‘this and that’ included: tofu, broccoli w/ mayo, winter squash casserole, roasted carrots, beets, red cabbage, roasted veggies, mushrooms, and some spicy Thai dressing.

And some bubbly…

Mr. Comfort made another appearance this morning.   I spread some almond butter, microwaved banana slices, and cinnamon on top.

So warm and delightful. So comforting.

I paired it with some hot Tazo Passion Tea. See my camera in the reflection!?

Post workout, I had dining hall salad bar fare. Whole Foods > Dining Hall

• Sweet potato cubes
• Eggplant
• Tofu
• Red peppers
• Cucumber slices
• Grape Tomatoes
• AND Olive Oil and Herb Dressing

That’s all folks! I feel like I’ve been gone for weeks, but it’s actually been 2 days haha. Time in the blog world moves at light speed. Light years…blog years??

I’ve got an exam tomorrow night, the dreaded Financial Accounting exam on Wednesday, and a paper/marketing plan due Thursday. I probably shouldn’t have posted tonight but I had too many photos on my camera to show you all!

Off to the library

Look who came out from behind the clouds today! It had been gone for so long I could feel the vitamin D lacking in my body. Too bad it wasn’t out when I went out on my [terrible] run this morning.

I ran about a mile outside until I finally accepted the pain in my left knee was there to stay. My hips have also had a pinchy feeling lately. Of course, now that my shins aren’t hurting, other parts of my body have to begin this nonsense. Come on, BOD!!! Work with me!!!

So I did 15 min. on the elliptical and walked back to to my apartment, sulking the whole way.

For lunch I had yogurt (surprise surprise) with kefir, pecans, and pom seeds. Best combo in the nation! Get it? Combi-nation….ha. ha. ha.

I also had a piece of toast with almond butter and banana. I haven’t had this in awhile. And by awhile, I mean a couple weeks

Like the plate I got for $2 at TJ Maxx on clearance!? I bet it’s why the sun came out!!

I also noshed on some Disney Animal Crackers….Winnie the Pooh to be exact.

I got this tub at Costco the other day because they are some of the best animal crackers I have had….ever! This tub does not support portion control but I figure I need to be able to trust myself with uncontrolled portions sometimes, you know? I can’t have portion controlled packs (that are more expensive) just because I’m afraid of big containers of food.

I’m training myself, if you will Makes for a nice excuse to get delicious animal cracks!

Then Caroline came over and we started and completed our Health Fitness and Wellness project. Oh yes, we are quite the team! Of course being able to choose a topic like teaching young adults ways to grocery shop, find healthy recipes, and prepare healthy meals, makes work pretty fun!

I snacked throughout work time on some more pomegranate seeds (while splashing both our computers red, oops!) and some more yogurt with banana and almond butter drizzle.

After we finished, we went over to Whole Foods to wander around and talk about food products, our favorite past time. We were being quite indecisive but finally decided to go to Butternut Squash, a Contemporary Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant in Chapel Hill for dinner.

It was so exciting to see so many veggie options!! And not only that, they were quirky and interesting.

Our even quirkier waiter started us off with some bread.

I got the Butternut Squash House Salad w/ feta cheese, grilled pears, and a citrus vinaigrette. I’m allergic to pears raw but not when they’re grilled. Mmmm how I’ve missed pears oh so much!!

Next we stopped by Trader Joe’s where I got some usuals. I ate a sample of this Honey Pecan Tart while shoppin.’ Glad I passed on dessert at the restaurant!

Before we left our beloved Chapel Hill, we went to the Bux where I got a Decaf Coffee w/ 2 pumps of Pumpkin Spice Syrup and a splash of half and half. <3

Check out this huge sample of peppermint bark that I got from Whole Foods today. I ate about half while typing up this post.

I’m so lucky to have Caroline as a food/bloggie buddy here at school. It’s so great to spend time with someone who has such similar interests….in other words, she makes me feel normal!

Wishing you a fabulous Sunday!!