Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

By

I am not a morning person.

That’s an understatement.

After hitting snooze too many a few times, I’m forced to race through my morning routine. I squeeze in a quick workout, shower, try to make my face look presentable for work, and inhale breakfast. This means I NEVER have time for something a decadent as baked oatmeal.

Then light bulb went off. Pre-Baked Oatmeal.  I made this Raspberry version last spring, but wanted to create one for the winter months.

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

Sweet Potatoes are one of the seasonal items I most look forward to. The sweet potato helps to bind these bakes together, and provides a creamy texture that is excellent against the chewy rolled oats.

Aside from the pie-like taste they add, sweet potatoes also pack a ton of nutrients. They are rich in Vitamins B6, C, D, and are good sources of iron and magnesium.

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

When you freeze them, all you have to do is pull one or two out and pop it in the microwave to defrost.  45 seconds later you can be shoveling delicately eating your oatmeal on the run.

Yes, this baked oatmeal recipe was created to be made in advance to freeze… however, I dare you not to eat one hot out of the oven.  I “iced” mine with a mixture of Greek yogurt, cinnamon, and a couple of drops of liquid Stevia.

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal with Icing

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

  • 1 ½ C canned or mashed sweet potato
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ¼ tsp maple extract
  • 3 C rolled oats
  • 1 T cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 20 drops liquid stevia
  • ¾ C Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners, or grease with cooking spray.

Mix together sweet potato, egg, milk, and extracts. Stir in oats, spices, baking powder, and sweetener. Mix in milk and stir until combined.

Pour batter evenly into tins.  Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Enjoy a few fresh, and allow the remaining to cool completely before placing in a freezer bag for storage. For a quick breakfast, remove muffin from the freezer and microwave ~30 seconds (until warmed through).

Makes 12 muffins.

Notes:

  • Use a flax egg (1T ground flax + 3T water) to make the recipe vegan
  • Use Gluten-Free Oatmeal to make these gluten-free
  • Can sub ¼ C sugar for the Stevia
  • Using Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla rather than skim milk saves you 42 calories in this recipe

Laura Hall Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal Nutrition

Be sure to check out Silk Pure Almond website and Facebook page to see more delicious, creative recipes!

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential, LLC. All opinions are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook andTwitter.

***

Thank you all SO much for all of your support during the past weekend’s race.  It was SO much fun, and we didn’t come in last. 🙂  I’m working on a recap!

Are you a morning person?

What is your favorite “quick” breakfast?

Strange But Good Mornings

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Strange doesn’t wait for 5 o’clock!

Neither does my mother… she’s in Mexico! 😉 

Remember Kat’s “Amazing Kitchen Mistakes” post?  We’ve been on the same wave-length eating similarly, so I apparently am also making happy accidents.

Have you ever under estimated how much is left in a bottle?  I thought there was just a drop of butter extract left when I dumped it into my oatmeal… it was more like 1/2 a teaspoon.  I thought I’d ruined it.  Too much extract can be nauseating (and I don’t need more of that!).  It turn out, too much butter extract in your oats is like eating cookie dough for breakfast.  Strange, but unbelievably good. Cookie Dough Oatmeal

Cookie Dough Oatmeal

  • 1/2 C oatmeal
  • 1 C water
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp butter extract
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 5-6 drops liquid Stevia
  • 1 T peanut flour (or nut butter, to taste)
  • My toppings: pomegranate arils, Greek yogurt, more cinnamon

Cook oatmeal as usual, adding flavors in the last 2-3 mins (or when your microwave finishes).  Stir in peanut flour when just done, adding addition liquid as needed.  

Add toppings.  Inhale.

I’m not the first person to do eat quinoa in the morning… but it’s still uncommon enough to be strange.  And it’s good!

What took me so long it beyond me, but quinoa for breakfast is amazing.  If you haven’t tried it, you must.  Particularly this cinnamon-y version.  The heaping scoop of cinnamon with the coconut butter had me dreaming of an airport treat that shall not be named.

I just realized this looks a lot like the oatmeal above.  I had a lot of pomegranate.*  Sorry.

 *Did you hear the FTC found “POM Wonderful health claims to be deceptive?”

Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Quinoa

Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Quinoa

  • 1/2 C quinoa, cooked with a cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 tsp coconut butter
  • 1 tsp ground flax
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 heaping tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • Milk, to taste (I used ~ 1/8 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
  • My toppings: pomegranate arils, Morningstar maple breakfast sausage

Stir it all together, top with your favorites, and enjoy!

In order to kill two craving with one stone for Meal 2, I added a poached egg to the last of my mom’s Matzo Ball Soup.  The strange part isn’t even the egg.  It’s HOW I poached it.  My lazy arse poached that thang in the microwave.

Let me be the first to tell you that runny, silky, yolk porn goodness streaming into a hot bowl of soup is heaven on a spoon.  So good that I wanted to be spooned after it was over.

Matzo Ball Soup

Microwave Poached Egg

  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1 T apple cider vinegar

Fill a small bowl (I used a cereal bowl) with water.  Add 1 T of apple cider vinegar (this is important – it keeps the egg white intact).  Microwave until boiling hot, about 2 mins.

Crack the egg and gently drop it into the water.  Whites will begin to cook/thicken, and you may need to use a spoon to carefully direct them around the yolk.  

Microwave for another 20-30 seconds.  Remove immediately from water and place in soup, atop salad, on bread, etc.

 

Now for the link up!  The rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above.

In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends!  Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.

 

Sprint 2 the Table

 

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instragrams of your creations. 🙂



***

This time tomorrow I’ll be in a forest in FLA… in the midst of an 8-hour adventure race.  Ahhhh!  #strangebutcrazy

Also, I forgot to mention I was featured in FitFluential’s Ambassador Spotlight yesterday! Check it out here.

Have you ever made breakfast quinoa?  What are your favorite mix-ins?

What #strangebutgood creations have you enjoyed lately?

Flu Fighting + Oatmeal Cookie Shake

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This was going to be an “easier” week leading up to my big race Saturday.

I just didn’t realize how easy…

About 1:30am on Sunday I got sick.  Stomach flu sick.  Hence the super-late post today.

At 4am I was a little worried I was going to pass out and texted to see if my mom was awake.  The woman never sleeps, I swear.  She was at my door in 30 mins.  Yup, I’m almost 30 and I call my mom when I’m sick.

I actually feel really lucky that I didn’t get it worse.  My little sister had it last week and she was in the ER getting fluids!  When I felt like I could make it in the car, Mom took me back to her house where she nursed me back to health.

Flu remedy

Ginger Kombucha with bananas.  And a flamingo.  Sure to make the sickest patient smile.  I ♥ my mom.

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Enough unpleasantry!  Let’s drink cookie shakes!

You may remember this creation from last year… it is on my “sick craving” list today.  Thankfully, it’s one that would actually be good on my tummy since it uses Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla and bananas (bananas are good on an upset tummy, FYI).

Appropriate for breakfast or dessert, this is one tasty batter. The mix of oats, banana, flax, and coconut flour give it a fabulously doughy texture. I almost wanted to put the mix in the oven once I blended it.

Nutritional yeast may seem like a weird addition, but it has a rich, nutty taste that compliments the sweet flavors in this dough. The vanilla and cinnamon add to the cookie flavor, and – if you have it – the butter extract just adds a hint of “fresh from the oven.”

Oatmeal Cookie Protein Shake

Oatmeal Cookie Shake

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/4 C rolled oats (use gluten-free for a GF shake)
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1.5 tsp ground flax
  • 1 T coconut flour
  • 1.5 tsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp butter extract
  • 7-8 drops liquid stevia
  • 1/2 C Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
  • Ice, to taste
  • 1/8 tsp Guar Gum (optional, but this addition will make your smoothie thicker)
  • Toppings: crushed walnuts, raisins, cacao nibs (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a high-seed blender and blend until smooth.

Add toppings and drink your dough!

Notes:

  • Nutrition will vary based on the protein powder you use.
  • You may leave out the protein powder; however, I like the addition because protein is good for muscle building/recovery and it makes this even more filling.
  • Using Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla rather than skim milk saves you 25 calories in this recipe

Oatmeal Shake Nutrition

Be sure to check out Silk Pure Almond website and Facebook page to see more delicious, creative recipes!

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential, LLC. All opinions are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

***

The endurance cram-session post is coming.  I swear… unforseen circumstances.  Ugh.

Do you have a stomach bug miracle cure?  I have to be 100% by Saturday!

What is your favorite milk?  I will never go back to regular again.

Strange But Good Re-Imaginations

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Strange doesn’t have to mean all-new.

 

Things I’ve been doing for years are strange.  Just ask my mother.

Many of my recent Strange But Good recipe creations were born out of old favorites.  Re-imaginations, if you will.

 

Oatmeal has always been a sweet treat for me.  When we had oatmeal as a kid (usually on a Brinner night), it was doused with brown sugar and raisins.  And butter.  When mom wasn’t looking, I added more.  I cannot believe I’m on obese.

I’ve seen versions of savory oats on Instagram and finally had to try it for myself.  Boy, am I glad I did!

Savory Oatmeal

I took my davory oats in the direction of Mexico.  I did cook my oats with cinnamon, but the toppings made that cinnamon a savory compliment.

Savory Mexican Oatmeal

  • 1/2 C oatmeal (cooked)
  • Cinnamon, to taste
  • Runny egg
  • Black bean salsa
  • Cumin
  • Nutritional Yeast

 

Prepare oatmeal as usual, adding cinnamon.  Place cooked oatmeal in a bowl and add toppings.  Devour.

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Cauliflower pizzas have been an obsession for a while now.  I took my (cheese-less) crust and topped it with seafood Strange But Goodness:

Salmon Cauliflower Pizza

  • Cauliflower pizza crust
  • Wasabi paste
  • Salmon
  • Spinach
  • Yellow Pepper
  • Red Onion

 

The following day I repeated the crust recipe, except I turned it into pizza minis!  These were awesome to keep in the fridge during the week for little pizzas, or re-heated under the broiler to make crackers for my salad.

One Cauliflower Crust recipe gives you 4 minis.

Mini Cauliflower Pizzas

Mini Cauliflower Pizzas

 

Cauliflower Crust Crackers

Cauliflower Crust Crackers with a trout-broccoli slaw salad

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You guys saw this Simply Snackin’ jerky on WIAW.  That one was a Strange But Good Flavor – Beef with Cranberry and Blueberry.

Yesterday I tried another version.  This one is Teriyaki Chicken with Mango and Papayas.  I can’t get over how good these are!  Fruit in jerky… who would have thought?!

The company is offering a discount of you’d like to try them for yourself.  Enter SSjan2013 for 10% off at check out.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Now for the link up!  The rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above.

In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends!  Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.

 

Sprint 2 the Table

 

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instragrams of your creations. 🙂

 



***

Junk-Free January is still going strong!  I've been experimenting with a high-fat diet... and I'll post about that on Monday.  It's been an adventure.

Have you ever made savory oats?

What have you eaten lately that's earned you stares from co-workers/family/friends?

 

Setting the Tone for a New Year + Amazing Kitchen Mistakes

By

Life is full of failures.

 

I am going to discuss one on Monday, in fact.

Sometimes they are happy accidents!  One of my favorite stir-frys happened because I couldn’t figure out how to use my spiralizer.  This Indian Ginger Tempeh Stir-Fry happened when I wanted zucchini pasta but failed to  spiralize:

 

Or how about last week when I accidentally sprouted a spaghetti squash I’d planned for my meal?  That forced me to come up with this Sweet Potato Chicken Salad Strange But Good (don’t forget tomorrow’s link up!) creation:

Sweet Potato Chicken Salad

 

Breaking my jaw playing roller derby was a fail… but without that experience I would have never come up with one of my favorite oatmeal discoveries: Blueberry Pie.  Made smooth enough to slurp thanks to an immersion blender.

Jaw-breaking in action.

 

Or how about when you leave for vacation thinking you’re going to Argentina, but end up in Chile?  That was one FUN fail!

All that said, don’t be too discouraged by fails.  Trust in what will be and happy accidents you shall see.

And now I’ll shut up and let Kat tell you about hers!

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Because I blog bi-weekly, this is my first opportunity to say, “Happy New Year!”

I had an A-typical New Year’s Eve, which I used to help me set the tone for the year.  I went to a hot yoga class that lasted from 10:30pm-12:15am.  Yep, meditating, thinking about goals, who I am, who I have been, and who I want to be this year.  It was amazing!  I felt centered, and was happy to bring in the New Year thinking about health, community, and grounded-ness. (Editor’s note: Remind me to do this next year.)

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

 

I want to share a couple of my goals, so you all can partially hold me accountable.  First, I want to say, “No,” more often – in work, in family, and in social aspects of my life.  This seems easy for a lot of people, but it give me knots in my stomach just to think about possibly disappointing someone.

This goal is in support of my second goal, to stop stretching myself so thin.  I tend to take on way too much, and some things I do become a little bit less “quality.”  So, in order to enjoy what I do more, and to have more quality, I have to reduce quantity.  These are lofty goals.  I also started a journal for the first time since I was 12, to help keep me working towards my goals and thinking about them often.

 

thequieteryoubecome

 

I later got to celebrate with a holiday party, a West Side Story theme.  I got to get all dolled-up, and I was SO excited to get dressed up and dance the night away.  My feet and legs were definitely sore afterwards!

I’m also back on track with all of my runs and work outs.  I didn’t mention it, but December was rough for me and threw me through a loop.

alldolledup

 

I’ve also been cooking at home like a madwoman!  I had a New Years Day party with mocktails and healthy food to start the New Year catching up with a few friends.

Many didn’t make it due to hangovers and being out way too late, but it was still fun!  The mocktails were delicious, but too sweet, and kept me up all night from sugar!  I made Indian food, pop-corn (Kat-classic), and a number of other fun dishes with lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

 

NewYearSpread

 

Eating and cooking more at home, for me, means many unplanned meals, sometimes just throwing whatever I have in my fridge together, and last week, amazing kitchen mistakes!

I was making dinner for a friend this week, and I had left over quinoa and brown rice, extra fresh broccolini, kale, and sweet potatoes, and some random tofu.  So I just got started, and this is what ended up happening:

 

kitchenmistake1

Amazing Kitchen Mistake

 

I sautéed the veggies with fresh ginger and garlic, re-heated the quinoa/brown rice combo (about 75% quinoa, 25% brown rice), and felt like the dish needed something else.  Tofu.  The tofu preparation was the amazing mistake.  I wanted to sort of “fry” it, so I coated it with some brown rice flour mixed with cayenne, salt, and white pepper.  I carefully coated each cube and placed it on a plate for frying.  But I totally forgot cornstarch!  This would have gotten the flour mixture to stick to the tofu and fry properly.  Instead, when I put it in the hot coconut oil, the flour started to stick to the bottom, and it wasn’t going very well.

So, to save the tofu, I took part of a box of Trader Joe’s Carrot Ginger Soup and poured some in the pan with the tofu, stirred and scrambled the tofu with the soup and flour mixture, let it simmer, and made THE most delicious scrambled tofu I have ever had.  (Editor’s note: will you plase make me a mistake too?)

 

kitchenmistake2

 

Amazing Tofu Carrot-Ginger Scramble (Mistake)

  • 1 block firm Tofu, 1 in cubes (which are later scrambled)
  • ½ C brown rice flour
  • Salt, Cayenne and White Pepper to taste
  • 2 T Coconut Oil (for frying)
  • ~ ½ cup of Carrot-Ginger Soup (Trader Joe’s or Imagine Brand)

 

kitchenmistake3

 

Follow the directions above and serve with the brown rice/quinoa mixture and sautéed veggies!  This was definitely a healthy meal too!

It feels good to give.  I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t also say that I’m donating blood today.  It’s SO important.  I also tend to be low-iron so I’ve had an iron-packed diet this week.

Note some things you should eat to pump up your iron (Editor’s note: I read this in an Arnola accent):

  • Sunflower seeds
  • Sun-dried tomatoes
  • Lentils
  • Raisins
  • Black beans
  • Pumpkin seeds

All of these give you almost as much iron as a big steak, and is less harmful to your body if you ingest too much iron because they contain nonheme iron.  They also give you more per serving than the dark, leafy greens that are often recommended.  If you eat whatever, nothing can compare to the iron-filled foods like liver, clams and mussels.  And don’t forget dark chocolate and cocoa powder!  Check out their nutrition facts for confirmation!

 

Donate

 

Additionally, I have a theory about blood donation for my own health.  I think it promotes cell-regeneration throughout my own body!  Do something good for others, while doing something good for yourself!

***

 I echo Kat’s thoughts on the importance of blood donation.  My dad suffered from cancer for 4.5 years and made it as long as he did largely in part to blood, platlet, and bone marrow doners.  Click here for more info on becoming a marrow donor.  It only takes a cotton swab!

What amazing kitchen mistakes have you had that you want to share?

How do you get re-centered when you have an “off” month?

 

Nuttzo Over Nut Butter + Giveaway

By

Lame jokes are my favorite.

Q: What did the fish say when he hit a wall?

A: Damn.

I’ll spare you more jokes and get right to the point. Remember my post competition treat of choice? 

NuttZo was a big treat for me because I hadn’t been “allowed” nut butter on my training plan for a while, and because at ~$15 it’s a pricey jar of creamy, nutty deliciousness (worth every penny, btw).

That’s not a problem for one of you… The lovely people at Nuttzo have offered to give away a jar of the good stuff!  this is a jar of the Original flavor (my favorite).  It contains peanuts, cashews, almonds, Brazilian nuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, hazelnuts, sea salt.  All organic.  No added sugar or oil.

Other reason NuttZo rocks: 

  • Legumes + nuts and seeds = a complete protein (all your amino acids)
  • Provides 50% of your DV of ALA Omega 3 per serving (650 mg)
  • A 16-ounce jar of NuttZo Original provides 14 servings – less than $1 per serving of organic nut-nutrition

 Receive up to 4 entries by:

  1. Follow me on Twitter or Subscribe to the Sprint 2 the Table RSS feed or email
  2. Tweet: You could say something like: I’ve entered to win a jar of nut butter in the @NuttZoCEO giveaway at @sprint2thetable http://wp.me/p16jDn-1hN  #giveaway
  3. Be Social: Facebook Like NuttZo, Pinterest Follow Me and/or Pin Something of Mine, Instagram Follow Me
  4. Comment: What is your favorite way to eat nut butter?

Please leave a *separate comment* for each entry!

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, November 13th.  The winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 14th.

Just in case you need some ideas for using nut butter, here are my top 5: 

(Note: many of these call for peanut butter or peanut flour, but you can sub in NuttZ or your favorite nut butter.)

1.  Nut Butter & Aggs 

All-time favorite breakfast invention.

 2. Nut Butter-Baked Oatmeal 

Perfect on a cold morning.  Like now.

3. Chili Nutty Tofu

Lauren can vouch for me – baked tofu is fantastic fluffy goodness.

4. Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

These are only 100 cals and have just 2g of sugar.  And you’d never know it.

5. Sweet Potato Nut Butter Ice Cream

To my fellow addicts: this is also amazing with pumpkin. 

***

I get my new nutrition plan today… I’m at once relieved (this has been a junk food bender) and sad. 

What’s the most #strangebutgood way you eat nut butter?

What is your favorite lame joke?

Semi-Normal Eats + WIAW

By

Freedom.

 

 

It makes me happy.

After a week of boring, #stinkypee eats, lean white protein and asparagus are NOT What I Ate Wednesday. 

 

My post-competition trip to Whole Paycheck Foods was the stuff of dreams.  I had a list and nothing but time.

2 hours later I emerged from Whole Foods almost $200 poorer and without a single piece of meat in my cart.  I even skipped the bacon (the line at the meat counter was too long).

Of course I had to fuel up properly before making this epic grocery trip.  Toad in the Hole made with P28 High Protein Bread and a local farm egg.  Cooked in truffle oil and topped with sriracha.  Welcome back, #yolkporn. 

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I’m so happy to get to post a semi-normal What I Ate Wednesday!  I say semi-normal because It has been a busy day and I didn’t get to be quite a funk with my foods… and I went to an election night gathering… so I had a bug ‘ol treat dinner.  Woot!

Also different is how my meals are labeled.  No “Meal 1, Meal 2,” etc. this week!  I ate a proper Breakfast-Lunch-Snack-Dinner.  I’ll have another meal plan soon, but these are my days “off” before we start training again.  I hate to admit it… but I kind of missed eating more meals!

Check out my semi-good habit eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else ate on Election Day.

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Breakfast:

Somethings will never change.  I started out with my morning cocktail (mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).

This was followed by my TVP “Oatmeal” done up apple pie-style.  I add apple pie spice and mixed in fresh apple at the end.  Topped with a peanut butter drizzle and cinnamon.

 

Lunch:

I brought my leftover’s from last night’s dinner to work.  Roasted brussels, cauliflouwer, and baby bellas.  I tossed then in salty fish sauce, red peppe flakes, and coconut oil pre-roasting.

 

The noodles are kelp noodles.  I heated them in hot water to soften and toss in a pad thai-ish sauce.  I’m enjoying my freedom from measurement, but here are the ingredients for the sauce:

  • Peanut flour
  • Unsweetened almond milk
  • Grated ginger
  • Lime juice
  • Cayenne
  • 1 drop lemon Stevia

 

Still trying to get my protein in (and because I wanted them), I had a bag of Veggie Pizza Protein Puffs from Kay’s Naturals.  I ordered online; click here to find them and get 20% off your order. 

 

Snack:

Pumpkin hummus, cauliflower, and edamame.

Eating carbs mid afternoon still feels so scandalous!

Dinner:

I spent the evening with my friends Todd and Jeff watching the election results like some people watch football games.  If people watch football with Malbec and cookbooks…

 

Election Day = pizza night!  Mellow Mushroom pizza (side note: I worked there in college for a hot minute) with meatballs, red peppers, and feta cheese with a side salad.  

Look at this plate and that glass of wine above.  Then multiply it by 2.  It was a 2x dinner.  

 

Dessert:

A celebration bowl of pumpkin ice cream (real ice cream – full fat and yummy) topped with a crumbled cinnamon muffin and chocolate syrup.

***

The protein count for the day: KIDDING!!!  I have NO idea.  Freedom from numbers.

What’s the most you’ve ever spent on groceries?

Did you do any election night partying?

 

Healthy Traveling Food (BYOP)

By

Operation Bring Your Own Protein (BYOP) is in full swing.

Keeping it clean while traveling is daunting.  Traveling while on a competition diet is downright terrifying.

When I realized I was going to have to fly to a client meeting at 3 weeks out from my competition, I immediately panicked started planning.  Eating 7 meals per day is hard enough without throwing airport security, conference rooms, and clients into the mix.

10 Healthy Travel Tips

I had to think about what I could transport, how I could keep it at a safe temperature (food poisoning isn’t the ideal way to cut pre-contest), and what I could do to avoid disrupting meetings when I needed to eat.

The packing process was simple.

I gathered all of the dry/room temperature foods and packed most of them in my suitcase.

The refrigerated stuff I measured out in advance and divided it into baggies.  This was my effort to avoid the last-minute panicked rush to get out the door.  All I needed to do was pull everything out and put it in a cooler when it came time to leave (the panicked rush still ensued… but food prep wasn’t the cause).

The following 8 meals were all eaten on the fly (tee hee).  I thought a meal-by-meal explanation would be easiest to follow, but there are bullets tips at the bottom if you don’t feel like reading the whole post (I know it’s long).

1. Airport Dinner

My flight was scheduled to depart at dinner time.  For this meal, I needed a protein, a carb, and 2 vegetable servings.  Of course, my flight was delayed… which was fine since it enabled me to spread out and eat dinner at the gate.

  • Chicken
  • Spinach salad (squirted with lime just before leaving the house)
  • Zucchini and celery sticks
  • Butternut squash cubes

2. Plane Snacks

No peanuts for me!  This meal required a protein and a vegetable.  I enjoyed homemade fro-yo.  The night before leaving, I mixed peanut flour, cinnamon, and a little Stevia into a single serving container of Greek yogurt.  Then I wrapped foil around it and stuck it in the freezer.

By the time I was ready for this snack, it had thawed just enough to be a fro-yo treat!  It was also dark on the plane – sorry for the fuzzy pic.

Added bonus: the frozen container helped keep my other items in my bag cool.

3. Dessert

I bought an orange, but spied apples in the hotel lobby and opted for that instead.  I made a peanut butter-chocolate protein “pudding” dip for my apple using protein powder, peanut flour, and water.  Stirred up in a hotel cup (I never use the glass cups – according to an ABC expose those are NOT properly cleaned).

4. Room Service Breakfast

The night before I filled out the breakfast order form and hung it on my door.  (Tip: time the delivery so that it also acts as wake up call.)  Breakfast consists of fruit, a protein, and a carb.  I request oatmeal prepared with water only (no milk, butter, or salt), fresh fruit, and coffee.  Pretty basic, right?

Then I request some special sides: ice water and tons of lemon (a cleansing way to start the day since I couldn’t bring my apple cider vinegar cocktail), and cinnamon.  Sometimes I ask for peanut butter too, but that wasn’t on the meal plan this week.

In my oatmeal went ground flax seed and protein powder brought from home, the hotel cinnamon, and blueberries from the fruit plate.  Brown is beautiful.

5. A Bathroom Snack

Meal 2 had to be eaten at an awkward time.  No one else in the meeting was eating, and I needed a protein and a fruit.  I packed my Curried Tuna Salad (sans apple) in a baggie.  It is delicious, but curry and tuna have a strong scent.

One of the benefits of being female is that I can bring my bag to the bathroom without anyone questioning me.  this is exactly what I did.  I camped out in the Ladies with my tuna and a fruit squeeze.  I promise it tasted better than it looks in that baggie.

6. Bringing In Lunch

Predictably, they ordered sandwiches for lunch.  I needed a protein, a carb, and a vegetable.  I can’t have “regular” bread or deli meat, so I brought my own carb and protein.  Curried chicken and butternut squash cubes.

I took a gamble that they would have vegetables and I was right.  Carrot sticks and celery, courtesy of the deli.

7. Taxi To-Go

My afternoon snack is a protein and a vegetable.  I had one last serving of chicken – this time it was an herbed flavor.  I saved celery to eat at the end of the trip, as it’s the most travel-friendly veggie.  It can take a lot of abuse!

8. Airplane Food Doesn’t Have to Suck

Well, it doesn’t suck when you bring your own.  I had a packet of low-sodium tuna, peanut flour, a seasoning packet, red pepper flakes (stolen from pizza day at my office), and previously frozen edamame.  In the airport I purchased a salad.  They didn’t have a plain one, so I had to throw out the deli meat.  I hate to waste, but what was I going to do with all that salty deli meat?

On the plane I assembled my meal.  From the flight attendant, I requested water to mix my peanut flour and seasoning.  I put the tuna and edamame on the salad, then drizzled my spicy peanut dressing on top.  Delicious and pretty!

The lady next to me was a sleep and didn’t even stir at the smell of tuna.  😉

See?  Not that hard, as long s you plan!

Here are the 10 things I keep in mind on every trip.

Top 10 Healthy Travel Tips

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It seems complicated at first; however, this process was really quite simple.  I have done it repeatedly, and use the same tips to pack for long work days and in-town conferences.

Do you have any travel tips to share?

What “kid” food do you buy for yourself?

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