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Appetites and Adventures

Growing from Challenges + WIAW

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Challenges are necessary for growth.

Even though sometimes it hurts. 

Katy’s 28 Day Blogger Challenge isn’t too painful.  The painful part is find time to make blog improvements.  Since reading her post, I’ve begun making some improvements.

28 day blogger challenge

Progress thus far:

  • Going through old posts to make edits and fix any broken links/pics  
  • (Slowly) transferring all of my Recipes to my Recipage
  • Editing my Google Reader folders for better organization
  • Increased focus on growing my Facebook page
  • Visiting/commenting on new blogs

And the big one: I bit the bullet and created a media kit!  Katy was kind enough to review it for me and then posted it on her Best Blogger Media Kits page!

Does anyone else find these tasks daunting?!

 

Now on to the most important business: food!  A lot of my WIAW meals this week were eaten in the office.  With a little planning and prep on Sunday, I can grab meals to go spending much time in the morning (which is good because I am ALWAYS late).

WIAWbutton

Check out my 7 prepared meals below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how others dined this week!

 

Meal 1:

Of course, I enjoyed my morning cocktail (apple cider vinegar, water, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).

Then I took a 30 min incline walk on the treadmill, I devoured a favorite treat – overnight oats in a jar!  But this wasn’t just any jar… it was a tahini tin!  Strange But Good.

Tahini-Banana Oats

Tahini-Banana Overnight Oats

  • 1/3 C oatmeal
  • 1/2 banana, masked
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 2/3 C unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • End of a tahini jar (~2 tsp)
  • Stevia, to taste
  • Pinch of xanthan gum (to thicken)

Meal 2:

Salmon and fruit has become a typical meal for me.  Today I ate it with grapes and raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds).  My salmon was pepped on Sunday night, baked in the oven with curry and lime juice

Salmon and Grape Salad

Meal 3:

Lunch was one that made people in the breakroom stare.  I guess swordfish isn’t a popular lunch from home?

On Sunday I’d baked my swordfish with mediterranean seasonings and garlic.  I quickly chopped up some broccoli and red peppers and mixed it with nutritional yeast and apple cider vinegar.  Topped that off with edamame and red pepper flakes just before serving.  I keep red pepper flakes in my desk.

Swordfish and Edamame Salad

The sweet potato was “dessert.”  I coated it in cinnamon.  Cinnamon is also kept in my desk drawer.

Meal 4:

Nearly every week I buy a “naked” rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.  I de-bone it as soon as I get home, which makes it a really easy meal option throughout the week.  I mixed a portion with my Brown Beer Hummus, purple watercress, and celery.

Chicken and Beer Hummus

Cheers to sneaky beers at work!

Meal 5:

Something about a cold night makes me want meatballs.  Id’ baked a bunch for my Oscar party, so I took a couple of the leftover balls and made an open-faced sandwich with an Ezekial english muffin.

I served my meatball sandwich with a side of parsnip fries and a purple watercress and cucumber salad.  The salad dressing was awesome – I mixed nutritional yeast with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

Baked Meatball Sandwich with Parsnip Fries

Meal 6:

You know what’s awesome? Eggs and bacon with red pepper, mushrooms, and a little cheddar.  I mixed in smoked paprika, freshly gound pepper, and herbs de provence.

Confession: This was going to be an omelette… but I’m not so good at making those.  It tasted just as delicious scrambled. 😉

Bacon and Egg Scramble

Meal 7:

I’m going through a Greek yogurt and cereal addiction.  This bowl was like a creamy, deconstructed PB&J.  What’s not to love?

Deconstructed PB&J Bowl

Deconstructed PB&J Yogurt Bowl

  • 3/4 C Greek yogurt
  • 2 T peanut flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Stevia, to taste
  • Brown rice crispies
  • Blackberries
  • Cacao nibs

***

The protein count for the day: 159.4g.  I hope it goes to my ass…

What challenges have you powered through lately?

Is there anything that would enhance your experience on my blog of social media stuff?  I love feedback!

Comments

  1. Man, I’m with you those tasks totally feel daunting! Ha, I’ve totally neglected most of them…maybe I’ll stretch it to 3 months…that sounds way more doable for me.
    PB&J yogurt bowl! Oh man, that sounds incredible. Dang, I miss my greek yogurt.

  3. Man, your meals look yummy! And so great that you’ve been doing Katy’s challenge. I wanted to do it but knew that this month wouldn’t be good for me but I have made a list of things that I want to work on. They can be daunting – like making a media kit! I have to do that and your’s looks great!

  4. That bit about swordfish not being a typical lunch made me laugh! I’m currently eating nasi goreng (Indonesian rice dish with calamari & prawns) for lunch and let’s just say that it beats a plain ‘ol sandwich!

  5. I’m a big fan of grapes in chicken salad so salmon + fruit sounds tasty! I keep wanting to buy a roasted chicken since there are so many things you can make with them, IDK why I never do… Next week 😉

  6. I’m hoping to update some things on my blog in the upcoming months, now that everything should be settling down a bit more for me. You’re right, it is a bit daunting.

    Aren’t parsnip fries the best?!? I love them, yet my husband complains about the smell every time I cook them. Cracks me up, b/c I think it’s delicious! 🙂

  7. Nice job on the media kit! I’ve got one but it needs to be updated, just like everything else on my bloggy blog. So time consuming!

    I’ve got to try salmon and grapes together. I just had salmon with a spinach artichoke pesto that was amazing!

  8. Yes, I found the 28DBC a real challenge, too. In fact, I did not stick with it; things have been too busy. However, I did print out the list and plan on following through on many of the ideas for updating! Props to you for making the time.

    Salmon and fruit — interesting combo, there!

    • WEll, I didn’t do it all but I did what I could! Defintiely going to keep going with it at my own (snail’s) pace. 🙂

  10. This is something you did recently but I’m glad you did it. You made it so your posts appear in full in Google reader.

    • That was kind of an accident! I didn’t know how to make the whole thing show… though now I’m told you should only show half so people click thru and you get the pageviews. *sigh*

  11. Don’t even get me started on how daunting things are with my blog these days. Owning and running our own small businesses here makes things even more challenging for Tony and I. I have so many lists going right now. I get overwhelmed and then just put everything aside…which is not good at all. Tony is gone this weekend, so I think I’m going to actually sit down and focus on taking things off of my list!

    I’m hoping that protein goes to your ass too! 😉

    • I can only imagine… good luck this weekend! I always have such good intentions for my weekend… 😉

  12. I knew that the blogging challenge would be difficult for me to. This time of year I barely have time to write, what with work, family, etc. but I have done a few things, and will get a few more done, even if I miss the deadline. I really need to get that media kit done, though!

  13. I love that yogurt bowl recipe! I’m such a fan of yogurt as a nighttime snack so I will definitely be trying this! I signed up for Katy’s challenge but didn’t follow through with it yet. I might have to make some time to go back through the challenges and make some changes though. Sounds like it is awesome!

    • Totally undertand the time thing… I’m doing it at my own pace. Getting it all done in one month would give me a heart attack!

  15. Wow,you are awesome for really working your blog. I’d love to see your blog list because you are one dedicated commenter. 🙂 For you, recipage makes sense because it can be hard to find recipes on your blog (disjointed titles, multiple recipes, etc). I am too lazy to make my blog that user friendly. I want to index it at a certain point, though.

    • You just post so much awesome food to comment on. 😉

      Recipage is awesome, but yes… SO time consuming to transfer everything.

  17. I was so excited to join the 28 Day Blog Challenge and I’m so bummed that I failed. I’ve added some new blogs that I enjoy to my Google Reader (it’s still entirely too unorganized), created a new page to highlight my created workouts and fixed my social media buttons that weren’t working, but otherwise I failed. The thought of doing some of those things (and the ones that I REALLY need to do), were totally too daunting and I couldn’t get myself to do them. Hopefully in the months to come, I can tackle a few more to-dos.

  18. I can’t find tahini at our Kroger and have been to lazy to make a trip to Whole Foods. I’ll trade you some tahini for homemade ciabatta 😉 And you just reminded how lazy I’ve been about my blog. Gosh I need to do so many things like change out the design, stay on top of recipes, new image for FB page too.

    • Really? I think mine has it… did you check the “ethnic” aisle? It’s usually there or with the nut butters.

    • I hear that! I’m soooo glad I started self-hosted because that might give me a heart attack. 😉

  22. I swear, every time I look at your daily food I realize how lazy I am when it comes to daily food prep! If I cook, I go all out, and the rest of my meals are so simple. If you had one of those ‘subscribe to my food plan’ servies I would be all over that!

    xx Kait

    • It’s really not as hard as it looks! I just have everything ready to go on Sunday and I can eat well all week. But I would LOVE to have a service. 🙂

  24. Haha, all my omelets end up being scrambled eggs, too. How do people cook/flip/make those things so neatly?? Love your classy media kit!

    • You got this! I fly all the time – it’s actually fun. No effort required and you get free Bsicoff. 😉

  27. Woot woot , soo much good! *Drools* I have yet to get on the tahini wagon, I have never had it (as far as I know anyway) wahhh! I love all of your eats as always, I should probably stop looking haha making me hungry!

  28. Your scramble looks delicious.. I love bacon!

    I powered through my WOD this morning (1000m row, 50 thrusters, 30 pullups).. It sucked—but then (after) it was glorious!!!

  29. Parsnip fries are my favorite!! Holy moly… I just counted up my protein for yesterday and I don’t even come close to eating half of what you eat for protein. Sigh. And I truthfully think “omelets” taste better as scrambles. Bacon… nom.

  32. 1. I can’t make an omelette to save my life.
    2. I keep meaning to get on the tahini train. Ta-honey is where it’s at.
    3. I keep cinnamon in my lunchbox.
    4. Welcome to the Greek + cereal cycle of deliciousness. Don’t ever look back.
    5. Media kit? Do I need one? That stresses me out. So I’m going with…no. I’ll let you be popular and I’ll just be your friend.

    • 1. I think it’s an over-filling problem for me.
      2. You haven’t make tahini? #nuttytahini
      3. We are food soul-mates.
      4. My name is Laura and I am an addict.
      5. It’s really not as hard to make as you’d think – check out Katy’s site for a million ideas!

  33. You’re making some great progress – I still have MANY to-dos on my list for the blog this month, didn’t get as much time as I hoped. But I think I’ll just transfer the list to next month if I need to.

    NEED to update my media kit!

  34. Honestly Laura, you just amaze me with all you do with work & workouts & food & prep & Instagram & this – you are wonderwoman!!!! I so have to do a media kit but I need major help. I am NOT a techy! 🙂

  36. I would’ve liked a beer this morning after the hell that was getting to work in heavy rain post-snowfall when the streetcars decided not to run on my street so I walked for 45 minutes through 5-10cm deep puddles getting splashed by cars.

    But I digress.

  39. The time thing is so crazy — when I have 30 minutes, I have to decide whether I’m going to clean, run, do some work work or do some blog work. And by the time I decide, it’s more like 20 minutes 🙂

    So glad you liked the Challenge!

    • It’s so hard to make the time! I did find that once I started a task it wasn’t quite as bad as I’d built it up to be… when will I ever learn? 😉

  42. I wanted to do her 28 day challenge but Feb was too busy for me! I really want to fix up the ol blog though… however, I have no idea of where to start! I have 3 years worth of stuff on there!!! Does she give recommendations on where to start?

    • I definitely didn’t get through all 28 days, but it was a good jump-starter to begin working through my list… slowly… 😉

      She has a list of suggestions that got me thinking about my personal list! I linked to it in the post (clik on the 28 pic).

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  1. […] all heard of overnight oats in a jar, I’m sure.  I had an almost empty jar, but no oats!  No matter – I remembered my TVP […]

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