Pencils and Pancakes

What makes you cave?

I am probably going to be able to count the nice, perfect sunny days on one hand this summer (AUGUST 2nd BEING ONE OF THEM). So later today I will be taking advantage of the sun. This ‘live it up while you can’ attitude got me thinking about things in terms of food (of course).

I (and probably many of you) have attempted “food challenges” or “diets”- whatever you want to call them, that tell you to eat a specified diet for so many days. When I try to do this I always start the week off great, aaaaand then the weekend comes.

This happened when I was doing the Whole 30 challenge. I am so good all week and then the weekend comes and something will come up. In my head will be a constant battle between two forces.

“But you feel so great being good all week” ,“It’s really not that hard to just say no” ,“Wine isn’t going anywhere…it will be around next month too”

VS.

“Why are you even doing this? You’re skinny enough”, “YOLO”, “How often do you get to see ______________, just get what you want”, “There’s no reason you can’t enjoy yourself”

Usually, the second set of voices wins. And I end up regretting it. Usually I get back on track the next day and everything is fine. But I do suffer physical effects of indulging like bloating, sick stomach and more cravings.

Enjoying myself at Red Lobster ^^

It got me coming to the conclusion that social events and being social is the only thing that makes me ‘cave’. If it’s a Tuesday night and Austin is sitting next to me eating peanut butter fudge ice cream- I could care less. I will be perfectly content with my Carrot Cake Pudding. It’s not even an option to cheat. At all.

Seriously, go make this^^

But if it’s a Friday night and some friends ask us to a bar, I’d really rather just enjoy myself instead of sitting cooped up on my couch by myself because I can’t drink or whatever. I’ve also had a lot of wedding related functions, and I find myself saying that I need to fully enjoy these moments and not obsess over food.

And I think I just have to come to terms with that, and not feel guilty. This is what works for me- staying super strict during the week in order to enjoy myself on weekends. In my mind it’s worth it. I’d rather enjoy myself then obsess, worry and stress over not eating/drinking this or that. My question is this- what makes YOU cave- is it stress? Emotions? Just seeing the food? Or is it a social issue like mine?

That being said- I’ll probably be enjoying some cocktails on one of the only nice days we’ve had this summer!

Tags: cravings, food, summer, tempation

Comments 12 Comments
Categories healthy living

WIAW: Lately

12 Jun

Peas and Crayons

I really don’t usually participate in What I Ate Wednesday but I have ALL these food pics just sitting on my phone. I don’t have a day’s worth of eats, just some yummy stuff I’ve made lately that I thought was worth sharing.

This meal was a throw together that ended up being SO good

Grilled zucchini with a runny egg smothered in avocado basil pesto and tomatoes. OMGG

Yummy lunch last week- grass fed burger with grilled zucchini and rutabaga hash. Rutabaga is sautéed in coconut oil and mixed with shredded coconut.

One dinner last week- slow cooker beef shanks with roasted broccoli. I LOVE roasting broccoli or cauliflower in the oven with garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Breakfast ( I guess I kind of went backwards) Saturday. Coconut rutabaga hash again with two drippy eggs. You have got to try rutabaga hash if you haven’t. Better than potatoes.

Fancy stem less wine glasses I got for my shower made their first appearance Friday night!

Delicious and colorful salad on Sunday with hard boiled egg, tomatoes, roasted/grilled peppers, banana peppers and scallions. YUM!

And I’ll leave you with the picture of the cupcakes I made for my kids Monday. I held my ground and didn’t eat one but they were devoured in no time. Two more days of school left ! Happy yet a little sad.

Most of my food pictures look nasty, but trust me they tasted good. I always feel inadequate in the ‘great looking food’ dept when it comes to blogging.

Anyone else feel the same way? Food looks nasty but tastes good?!?!

Tags: broccoli, cauliflower, cupcakes, grass fed burger, rutabagas, WIAW

Comments 6 Comments
Categories healthy living, recipes

Grocery Series Part I: What’s in my cart?

9 Jun

I’ve decided to do a short blog series regarding my grocery shopping and food purchasing habits for anyone interested. For anyone who’s not interested….#sorrynotsorry.

This is what works for me…..remember everyone’s different. I want to start off by giving a glimpse into my typical grocery cart on Sundays. Now I say typical but I will put a disclaimer out that it was a lighter week in terms of things purchased.I still had some things left over from last week’s trip. Austin and I just went shopping Tuesday….I was pushed back a day from the previous week because of Memorial Day, so usually I would buy more than what’s here. Also, next week starts my CSA membership!!! But nonetheless I thought it would still be helpful.

The first stop was Aldi’s. Not the best for quality but it’s cheap! For those of you that don’t know…Aldi’s is a discount grocery store that sells off brands. Sometimes I get produce and snacks for Austin there but I don’t buy meat or dairy there.

Then I went to tops to pick up the rest.

Here’s the loot:

Veggies and fruit:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Squash/zucchini
Baby spinach
Peppers
Sweet potatoes
Plantains
Green apples

lemon
Carrots

Organic milk: I don’t really use this, but Austin likes whole milk. Dairy is one if the things I TRY to buy organic when possible. But I don’t really eat that much dairy. More on that in the next segment on groceries!

I am trying out this new spice blend for curries!

The brand of coconut milk I buy! No added sulfites

Proteins:
Canned salmon…I’ve never tried this ! I am going to make Practical Paleo’s salmon cakes with it.

It was cheaper than frozen salmon.
Chicken.. Tops had it on sale. No it’s not pastured but at least it’s antibiotic free. Vegetarian fed means nothing.

You may notice I’m lacking in other proteins…that’s because yesterday Austin and I took a drive out to the farm to pick up 10 lbs of grass fed ground beef. I also got pastured eggs at the farmer’s market yesterday. I already talked about eating local in a previous post…I’ll go into more detail in the next post of the series about organic.

Other:
Nuts- going to try and make almond milk, cashews for Austin to snack
Corn chips- NOT for me
Spices
Olives
Tomato sauce

So I spent $25 at Aldi’s and $30 at tops. Not too bad. But I spent $66 on the meat yesterday. That meat will prob last almost two months.

Normally I spend about $80 a week not including the meat. I’m not going to cut corners on what I put in my body. Normally I get more fruit, but I’m trying an experiment to see how I feel when cutting back on fruit. Can’t wait for the CSA next week!

There you have it! Next week: what to buy organic

What staples do you get every week?

Tags: canned salmon, food, Grocery, healthy, thai kitchen coconut milk

Comments 5 Comments
Categories healthy living

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

8 Jun

Typing this I realize I forgot to take a picture of the finished product…

Usually it’s the opposite. I get a pic of the finished product but forget to take pictures along the way. I like a blog that has pictures of the various steps. I succeeded in that for this recipe but forgot to snap a pic of the muffins when they were finished. I guess you just have to trust me on this one!!! They were so moist and delicious and Austin just ate the last one. So unless I ask him to regurgitate it you don’t get a finished pic. Hopefully, I can fake you out into thinking these were mine.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Recipe

source- not mine

Did I trick you? No? Oh well. Trust me they were greeaaat! So make them.

I am super excited because I got to use something really exciting for the first time while making these. Drum roll please…….

Kitchen Aid!!!! I got this at my shower Sunday. Technically I’m “not supposed to use this until we’re married”. Pshhhhhhhhh. Can’t wait. #sorrynotsorry

I was inspired to make these because my friend Jenna knows I will eat a banana up until they are way past normal brown status, and she threw some of these in my shower present. Can’t let them go to waste!!!!!!

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

3 eggs

2-3 ripe and mushy bananas

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil. didn’t feel like melting it)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp of baking soda

Mix wet ingredients (bananas, eggs, maple syrup, oil) Then add the dry and mix (by hand or with your awesome Kitchen Aid like I did) until it becomes a batter. The batter will be thick. You can add more syrup or a little almond or coconut milk if it’s too thick.

Thick batter^

Then add chocolate chips. I have been obsessed with these Enjoy Life chocolate chunks. Yeah- they’re not lasting long in my house. I may or may not be grabbing handfuls as I pass by the cabinet.

I love this brand of chocolate. I like it more than regular chocolate. Never going back.

I chopped them up and added them to the batter.

I baked the muffins at 350 for about 25 minutes.

I even snapped an extremely terrible picture of them in the oven but forgot to do one at the end!!! Terrible blogger. I reaaaaaally have to get a better camera.

Does anyone want to give me suggestions for a starter camera for blogging? Seriously considering buying one. I don’t have a fortune to spend.

Tags: baking, banana, coconut flour, enjoy life chocolate, kitchen aid, muffins, Paleo, paleo banana chocolate chip muffins, shower

Comments 8 Comments
Categories healthy living, recipes, wedding

Pin It Party!

7 Jun

I’m so excited that Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean decided to do another Pinterest Party! I am obsessed with Pinterest…I think I’ve mentioned it once or twice on here. Pinterest came into my life in February 2012 and it has never been the same. I am slightly having an anxiety attack over what my life will be after I am done pinning wedding ideas on Pinterest. So sad.

Anyways, the idea of the Pin It Party is to help us bloggers get exposure by sharing pinnable images and then visiting other sites to pin what we like! Great idea. Pinterest is actually how I got into blogging. Pinterest brought me to blogs, which in turn made my read more, which made me want to start my own. So- needless to say I think it’s pretty sweet.

Here are my five Pin-able images:

Strawberry Almond Flax Smoothie

Spinach Garlic Pizza

Banana Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast

PB & J Protein Dessert

How to grocery shop on a budget using coupons

There you have it…check out some of my recipes that I did before you followed my blog! And join the Pinterest Link Up Party!!!

Can we just all talk about how awesome Pinterest is? Like, for everything in life?

Tags: dessert, french toast, grocery shopping, peanut butter, pinterest, pizza, protein, spinach and garlic, strawberry almond smoothie

Comments 6 Comments
Categories healthy living, recipes

Squash & Parsnip Curry

6 Jun

I discovered curry powder about two months ago, and have been obsessed with it ever since. The greatest part is I probably haven’t even tapped the surface of its potential. I know there are probably so many other types of curry powder and curry paste and flavors to experience, far beyond the cheapest brand Wal -Mart had to offer when I bought it. But even that made several delicious dinners!

Ever since then I have been throwing together various meat and vegetables together with some coconut milk and calling it a ‘curry’. But every single time it is SO delicious. I can’t wait to experience other varieties of the spice.

This particular recipe produced a meal that isn’t necessarily pretty- but yummy just the same. It was also my first time making curry with beef instead of chicken.

Squash & Parsnip Beef Curry

Cook & Prep Time: 40 minutes Serves: 4

1 lb of parsnips, peeled and diced

1 large yellow squash, diced

1 lb of ground beef

1 red onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 can of coconut milk (I used light, regular would prob be creamier)

1/2-1 tbsp curry powder (depending on how much you like the flavor)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I like it hot!!!)

1/2 TBSP cumin

Salt & Pepper

1.Peel and dice the parsnips and squash while you cook up your ground beef until browned in a deep sauté pan.

I love parsnips! If you haven’t tried them, get on that stat.

2. Drain fat from sauté pan and set meat aside. Add olive olive of FOC to the pan and add you garlic.

3. When fragrant, add your onions, then your parsnips and squash. Stir around and cook for about 6-8 minutes.

4. Add your can of coconut milk and mix it all up. Then add spices.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil then turn it down to simmer and cook until parsnips and squash are soft (about 15 minutes). Add beef back in and cook for 5 more minutes.

Parsnips are a great addition to any curry dish. I have used them in almost all of the curries I’ve made and their tangy flavor (think super strong carrot taste) really compliments the curry powder.

I never said my food was pretty! But it tastes pretty good!

Please leave me with your favorite curry powder/paste!!! I’m in need of more and would love suggestions!

Tags: beef, curry, curry powder, dinner, hamburger, healthy living blogs, healty, Paleo, paleo curry, parsnips, squash

Comments 3 Comments
Categories healthy living, recipes

Review: Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant

4 Jun

This weekend we went out to dinner with some friends at a new chain restaurant in Syracuse at what is now the new Destiny USA mall.

Growing up this was always called Carousel Mall and had plans to be this huge attraction type mall with all sorts of bars, restaurants, recreation, etc. But it just always seemed to be something far away that was never really going to happen. Since I don’t live in Syracuse anymore I hadn’t been to Carousel since they opened it as Destiny, so we decided to grab dinner Friday night. I was impressed!

We decided to go to the new restaurant/brewery Gordon Biersch. We’ve been to the one in Buffalo before just for drinks, which I wasn’t too impressed with, but I loved the beer I got this time.

I went with the schwarzbier, which is a dark lager. It had a nice coffee finish. Coffee and beer? I’m all over that.

They had an outer deck seating area (not outside, just in the mall) as well as an inner restaurant with a huge bar.

Friends!

For dinner I ordered the steak tacos with chimichurri sauce. They came wrapped in a crispy blue tortilla shell and soft taco, which made for a nice texture and crunch. Tomatoes and lettuce were also stuffed in there.

Horrible Iphone photo, I apologize. I have GOT to get a new camera for blogging.

I asked for steamed veggies instead of the beans and rice (yummy but they make my stomach hurt), and they ended up bringing both. No harm done I guess. I just ignored the beans! The tacos were fabulous.

Austin ordered a Kobe burger with sweet potato fries. One or two of the fries might have ended up in my belly. They were good. He said the burger was cooked perfectly.

After dinner, we roamed around the mall looking for an ‘ice bar’ that didn’t exist. It was actually an ice museum, that wasn’t open yet. But there was an indoor go-kart track, a ropes course, a comedy club, many fro-yo spots (I was too stuffed from dinner at this point), and other restaurants. I had no idea there was so much stuff to do here!

If you’re ever in Syracuse, I would definitely check out Destiny. Especially if you love shopping! I couldn’t resist getting a pair of shoes after dinner too……

What is your favorite type of beer?? Lately I have been a fan of darker stouts for some reason….

Tags: beer, brewery, destiny USA, destiny USA restaurants, friends, gordon biersch review, restaurant, review, syracuse, syracuse restaurant gordon biersch

Comments 4 Comments
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Pencils and Pancakes

What makes you cave?

WIAW: Lately

Grocery Series Part I: What’s in my cart?

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pin It Party!

Squash & Parsnip Curry

Review: Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant

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