Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Oats, Coffee & Agave

It is so beautiful outside! I think it is safe to say that summer is officially here to stay. I have not had oatmeal for awhile, so it was time to kick it back into gear.

What's in the bowl:
A handful of old fashioned oats
Splash of milk
1/3 cup of water
Leftover fruit salad: Strawberries, blueberries, and you can see one piece of pineapple!
1/2 small banana
a few crunched up pecans
1/2 tsp. of organic blue agave sweetener
2 tbs. of flax seeds
A dash of cinnamon

There are a lot of different items in the bowl, but variety is the spice of life! Right? Plus, the combination is really fresh, fruity and tasty. The cold fruit salad really cooled off the oatmeal, which is perfect, because I hate eating hot foods on hot days! It just doesn't work out for me.
With the oatmeal, comes a cup of coffee, which really is my own personal latte that I make.


I mix half of the cup with coffee, and the other half of the cup is organic fat free milk, a dash of cinnamon, and a dollop of the organic blue agave sweetener from Trader Joe's. I love this stuff! It is, for now, my go to sweetener. As you can tell, I was a little "agave happy" this morning, adding it into my oatmeal and coffee. But, use just a little bit!

Happy Hump Day!
P.S. Really appreciate this beautiful weather we have, because before you know it, it will be back to bitter cold, unless you live in an almost always warm place :)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The New Gatorade Addition

Whole Foods carries Gatorade. It is true. Gatorade now has G Natural and G2 Natural. They are both made with all natural ingredients, G2 Natural just has lower calories than G Natural. They are made with very few ingredients including sea salt, fruit flavors and natural sweeteners. They taste so incredible and hydrate you naturally.

My favorite flavor is the G2 Natural Orange Pomegranate. The new Gatorade is now available at Whole Foods in select cities, but check out Gatorade's Website to learn more about the new product. Really enjoyable and all natural!

Giveaway!

The blog, Iowa Girl Eats, has the following giveaway!

Subway is offering four, $5 gift cards so you can try a breakfast sandwich, or any of their other sandwiches, yourself! Enter to win a gift card by 5:00pm central TONIGHT by doing one or all of the following:

1. Leave a comment telling Iowa Girl Eats your must have toppings on your Subway sandwich (mine are pickles, banana peppers and vinegar!!)

2. Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook, and leave another comment at Iowa Girl Eats.

3. Tweet “@IowaGirlEats and @subwayfreshbuzz are giving away $5 giftcards! http://tinyurl.com/24lytm9“ and leave another comment here.

Good luck!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Feast, Family, Friskee

I probably would be putting this together later tonight, but the storms have rolled in and it is pitch black outside (not a good sign). So, let the blogging commence. Earlier today it was super hot and muggy and I took my dog, Lacey, on a walk to my favorite place. She loves it, I love it. Win. Win. See how happy she is!?

So tonight was the family barbeque. All three of my brothers and I were at my parent's house plus one of my brother's girlfriend. My sister had to work! Boo!
So, while my parent's started getting dinner together and firing up the grill, the "kids" played a game of Friskee. What is Friskee you ask? Allow me to explain.
Friskee is usually a sport played with a frisbee, two gates and two teams. However, the version we played was invented by college students and is pretty fun.

Here's how to play:
Friskee
Equipment:
You need two ski poles, two empty beer/root beer bottles and a frisbee.
How to Play:
1. You will need to stick two ski poles straight into the grass. Distance them about 30 feet.
2. Then, balance the empty beer bottle on top of each ski pole. You will need to make sure the ski pole has a pretty nice size handle to balance the bottles.
3. Each team of two will stand at opposite ends of the ski poles.
4. Each team member must hold a beverage of any kind in their non-throwing hand during the entire game. Trust me, it makes the game so much more fun!
Object of the Game:
Each team member takes a turn to try and knock the empty bottle off of the ski pole with the frisbee. For example, team one, one member would go. Then, team two, one of their members would go and then back to team one. Every time a team member knocks down the beer bottle they earn 1 point. However, if the empty bottle is knocked down by the opposing team and the defending team catches the falling bottle with their one open hand, they earn 2 points. First team to 20 points wins!

This game is so much fun! It gets tricky too, because you only have one free hand to throw the frisbee and try and catch the falling bottle if it is hit. Give it a try!
Okay, so back to what we had for dinner. While the fabulous game of friskee was going on in the backyard, dinner was coming together. Dinner consisted of homemade fries, fresh fruit salad, jalapeno cheddar bbq bacon burgers and Wickles!

The fries were Idaho potatoes cut into about 1/4 inch length. They were then marinated in a water/vinegar bath in a big bowl. This makes the fries extra crispy. After they marinated for about 10 minutes, they were dried completely. They were then submerged into a cast iron skillet filled with vegetable oil on high heat. Fry them about for about 10 minutes and delicious! Super crispy. The jalapeno cheddar burgers were from Whole Foods, already pre-made and packaged. They were incredible! Not spicy at all, just a little hint of the jalapeno. Served on top of the burger was a slice of cheddar cheese, fresh bacon and a drizzle of bbq sauce. We also had a side of fruit salad with pineapple, blueberries and strawberries, along with a side of incredible sweet and tangy Wickles!

My eyes were bigger than my stomach, I could barely finish any of this! But what a great way to end Memorial Day Weekend with an incredible feast, family and game of friskee!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Let the Weekend Continue!

Another beautiful day this Memorial Day Weekend! I know I had mentioned that everything is in full bloom, I mean look at this basil. It is gorgeous. The basil leaves are thriving in this weather.

I took notice to how beautiful the basil was while I was mowing the lawn. Call me crazy, but I LOVE mowing the lawn. Put on your Ipod, get some sun, sweat and exercise!
Tonight for dinner we had Fish Tacos. I absolutely love Fish Tacos. I believe they taste the best with Fresh Halibut right off the grill. I love halibut because it is such a tender fish that has almost no fish scent to it. If someone didn't know it, they would think they were eating chicken! Fresh fish from Whole Foods is awesome, because it is actually fresh fish.

My halibut fish taco was layered with watercress, cilantro, fresh tomato salsa, guacamole, chipolte sauce, lime creme fraiche and a sprinkle of cheese. Look at how tasty it is! And oh, was it tasty. I love the bitter taste of watercress and the fresh taste of cilantro together. Who needs lettuce when you have watercress and cilantro!


Served with a fresh lime margarita! Perfect.

My uncle told me this great quote today and he said, "Surround yourself with people who believe in you". I love it, and of course believe in it :)

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Bring Out Those Grills!

I love Memorial Weekend. Even though I am sure plenty of people have already used their grills, Memorial Day Weekend is the official "bring out the grill and slap some meat on it" weekend.

This is also the time of the year when everything is starting to come into full bloom, which I absolutely love. Look at these roses! Literally, last week they were just budding and now they are just breathtaking. Did you see that full moon last night?! So eerie, yet so incredible.

So as I was saying, grilling has officially started. So to follow suit, tonight we had a wonderful grilled flank steak. The best meat comes from Whole Foods. This is the honest truth. We also popped some corn on the grill too. Shuck the corn so you leave just a few pieces of the outer layer and it really grills it perfect.

Accompanied with some fresh fruit salad that included pineapple, grapes, strawberries and blueberries. It is so close to the perfect time of the year for fresh fruit and I can totally tell because NONE of the fruit had a bitter taste at all. Just a fresh, clean and sweet flavor.


And finally, something I am so excited to share...Wickles. Oh yes, wickles. I am one that does not usually crave a pickle or really get into pickles, but these are amazing. I actually hate sweet pickles but these are semi-sweet. I really loved the flavor. Wickles are flavored with dill, garlic, and a little bit of sweetness. Check out their website, www.wickles.com, they also have wickles okra, wickles relish and quite a few other products that I am sure are just as awesome.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Go to Snack After Workout


After an afternoon run I love to drink one of these Vitamin Water Zero. My personal choice today was the Rise. Great orange flavor packed with plenty of Vitamin C.

As you can see, I already drank half, I just could not wait to gulp the sucker down. The drink also has Vitamin B3, B5, B6 and B12. It's got some Vitamin E & A and your ever so important electrolytes.

I also love to snack on a Clif Bar. My personal new favorite is the Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar. The chocolate flavor is incredible and I feel so satisfied after I eat one of these.