A Protein-Filled Wednesday + a Snack Giveaway!

June 27, 2012 By Laura

Snacking is the new name of the game for me.

Yesterday I revealed my new fitness goal to you all – to compete in a figure competition. This means HUGE change in my plant-based diet. Now I have to focus more on protein than plants, and I’m eating constantly… but my goal is to to keep to a vegetarian protein diet.

The Basic Plan:

7 “meals” per day (I eat every 2 hours)
20-25g of protein at each meal
120 oz of water daily
1 serving of fruit for the first 2 meals, and at meal 7 (“dessert”)
1 serving of veggies for meals 3-6
1/2 C carbs at meal 1, 3, 5, and 7 (beans, lentils, and sweet potatoes count as carbs)
Limited fats – flax at meal 1, nuts at meal 2, olive oil at meals 3 and 5

The good parts: no calorie counting or macro tracking; I get a cheat day once a week; I already love protein shakes

The hard parts: only eating 1 serving of veggies at a time is hard; eating that much protein on a veg diet is REALLY hard; eating all the time sounds fun at first, but I am really never hungry (except for when I wake up); eating every two hours take a ton of planning; all of that water has me running to the bathroom every 30 mins.

Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday theme of “Sensible Snacking” this month is just perfect for my new plan. I am snacking all day!

Check out a day in the food life of a wanna-be figure competitor; then click here to hop on to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to see everyone else’s day of eats!

Meal 1:

Janetha hipped me to the fact that I was appropriately celebrating National Chocolate Pudding Day at breakfast

I made a chocolate-peanut butter protein pudding/spread to top my Ezekial bread. This was accompanied by 1/2 cup of cherries (good for inflammation/muscle recovery).

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding:

1 T GNC Soy chocolate protein powder (check out the review here)
1 T peanut flour
1 T ground flax seed
2 T unsweetened almond milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Meal 2:

It’s blueberry season! They are so sweet right now, making of an especially tasty shake… even if it did splash on my brand-new white shirt. Note to self: don’t drink smoothies and drive.

Blueberry-Ginger Smoothie

1 scoop Vega vanilla protein powder (see review here)
1/2 C blueberries
1 in piece of fresh ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C spinach (I “cheated” and added veggies… I can’t help myself!)
1 T sunflower seeds
Ice + water, to taste

Meal 3:

Leftovers! Some of you may have seen the vegan quiche I posted on Instagram. With a chickpea flour base, this high-protein dish made 6 slices which I will be bringing for lunch all week. I enjoyed it with a side of sprouts. For those that asked, I promise the recipe will come tomorrow!

While the quiche is high-protein, it’s not quite high enough. No worries – it gave me an opportunity to have dessert with my meal. A little sweet and a little savory, I loved this cardamom-laced treat!

Cardamom-Cinnamon Cottage Cheese Mix

1/2 C cottage cheese
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom
4-5 drops NuNaturals orange liquid stevia
1 T unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk

Meal 4:

Here is where it gets hard to keep eating. At this point I’ve downed 60g of protein and I’m feeling satisfied. However, I’m not even half way through my daily meals!

Remember this seitan chorizo I made a couple of months ago? I froze what I couldn’t eat for future uses. I’m beyond happy I did that! It gave me the protein I needed for the meal, re-heating well and retaining its flavor and moisture. It was fantastic with the last of my Ultimate Veggie Trail Mix.

Meal 5:

I had an appointment with my trainer at 8p (more legs – OMG), so I wanted my dinner-time meal to be easy to digest. That can only mean on thing. Liquid Sweet Potato Pie-Shake. Meal 5 requires veggies, carbs, and protein.

Since sweet potatoes count as a carb, I ate a side of celery sticks as well.

Meal 6:

This also served as my post-workout recovery meal. It was also my favorite meal of the day! This rendition of overnight (over-day?) oats was cool and refreshing after a ~~excruciating~~ really hard workout. If you’re from Georgia, you know it doesn’t get any better than peaches and cream this time of year.

Creamy Peach-Ginger Overnight Protein Oats

1 peach, mashed
1 scoop GNC Whey vanilla protein powder (see review here)
1/3 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup raw oats
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4-5 drops vanilla liquid stevia

Stir it all together and allow to chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Meal 7:

I cheated. I ate meal 7 as meal 6 (fruit, carbs, and protein). Truth be told, I’m having a really hard time working in 7 meals. I am hitting the protein goal of 150 grams, so I’m not going to worry about it until I’m told otherwise. 🙂

Now for the part you really wanted to hear about – the giveaway!

I was contacted by Special K just before heading to Chile with an opportunity to try their new granola bar. I don’t eat a lot of processed foods/bars, but I was intrigued by their new concept. They sent me the samples just in time for me to pack these up as a tasty plane snack.

Of course, I shared with my concierge, Kim, who was in love with the sweet treats. She couldn’t believe that the bars are just 110 calories and contain only 7g of sugar. Perfect for sating your mid-afternoon sweet tooth. They also deliver 4g of fiber and 4g of protein.

My favorite part? The Special K Granola Bars come in my favorite flavors – Dark Chocolate and Chocolatey Peanut Butter. The chocolate-peanut butter will rock your socks off.

Yes, they are processed and they have more than 5 ingredients. If you’re that isn’t a problem for you, you will be really happy with these bars. They have a great crunch and won’t leave you feeling weighed down.

The lovely people at Special K have offered to let one reader try a box of each flavor. Here’s how to enter to win:

Follow me on Twitter or Subscribe to the Sprint 2 the Table RSS feed or email
Tweet: You could say something like: I’ve entered to win 2 boxes of @SpecialKUS granola bars at @sprint2thetable http://wp.me/p16jDn-1po #giveaway
Be Social: Twitter Follow Special K, Pinterest Follow Me and/or Pin Something of Mine, Instagram Follow Me
Comment: What is your favorite sweet tooth satisfier?

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Monday, July 2nd. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 3rd.

***

And again with the sore legs/glutes. Thank god the counter is close enough to my toilet to provide support for lowering down.

Do you prefer to eat 3 solid meals, or snack throughout the day?

What is your favorite protein-rich meal?

5 on Friday + Vanilla Chai Frappuccino

March 9, 2012 By Laura

Life gets crazy.

I have about a million things that I ran out of time to do this week. There are pictures on my computer of things I’ve been meaning to share with you all for weeks. It’s embarrassing.

This Friday I am going to begin to catch up! Here are 5 things I’m digging lately:

1. Dandy Blend

I won a bag of Dandy Blend in a giveaway from Tiffany @ Como Water. It’s an herbal dandelion powder that supposedly has a coffee-like taste.

You know what? It does! Granted, it’s no replacement for your fancy Ethiopian blends… but for you non-fancy coffee drinkers and herbal drink lovers, I would recommend it.

The bag says to mix 1 rounded tsp with a mug of hot water. That didn’t cut it for me. I had to use 2 heaping tsp to get that coffee taste. Hot “coffee” is good, but my favorite way to drink it was been mixed into other things. Namely, mixed into a vanilla chai frappuccino. (Recipe at bottom.)

Speaking of the frapp below…

2. Vanilla Chai Vega Nutritional Powder

Vega’s re-formulated Vanilla Chai also had a starring role in my vanilla chai frappucchino. I have previously tried Vega’s plant-based protein powder and didn’t care for it. They did a great job on the reformulation! I loved the 15g of protein to keep me full, and that it only contained 2g of sugar.

With many powders I find that the flavors are either too diluted or leave an artificial aftertaste – the new Vega doesn’t commit either crime. It made an awesome chai-spiced cold drink to start out the crazy-winter-balmy 75 degree day!

3. Super Me! Wrist Cuff

This rockin’ cuff was ordered from Horse Feathers several weeks ago.

(Side note: Does any one else think “finger cuffs!” every time they hear the word cuff? Chasing Amy reference? Any one?)

Check out the website here. They sell a bunch of different items and other cuffs with various quotes. Mine says: “If I gotta be me, I’m gonna be super-me.”

They shipped fast and it arrived in a cute blue bag. Sold.

4. So Delicious Chocolate Dairy-Free Ice Cream

This deliciousness is almost sugar-free – only 1g of sugar!!! It was on sale (mind you, on sale meant it was still $5 a pint) at Whole Foods, so I treated myself. My expectations were low… but OMG it is delicious!!!

5. YOU

You guys have been making me smile all week.

One of my new favorite bloggers, Lauren @ Oatmeal After Spinning made a variation of my Chili Nutty Tofu and declare it “perfection.” If you haven’t tried baking tofu yet… you should! 🙂

Click here for my version (pictured below):

Click here for Lauren’s variation.

Gina @ Running to the Kitchen (Our blogs’ names should get married – no wonder I love her!) made my Vegan Goat Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes.

I’m not one to brag ~~(ok, I can be one to brag…)~~, but these were damn good:

Click here to see Gina’s post, which includes some killer pics! ~~Read: much better than my iPhone efforts.~~

________________________________________________________________________________________

Vanilla Chai Frappuccino

Vega Vanilla Chai protein powder
2 heaping tsp Dandy Blend (or instant coffee, to taste)
2 big kale leaves (optional)
Handful of wheatgrass (optional)
1/2 c unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Ice

Toss everything in your blender of choice, mix until smooth, and happily slurp away!

I topped mine with a few cacao nibs. Whipped cream would have also been good. 😉

***

Crossfit update: I’m so sore that I actually did yoga yesterday. ~~I hate yoga.~~ It helped.

What’s the best new food/product/recipe you’ve tried lately?

Has anyone tried any of the above products? I’d love to hear your opinions!

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb +WIAW

February 15, 2012 By Laura

We’re half way there… whoaaaa, livin’ on a prayer…

Last Wednesday I shared with you all that 2 friends and I began the Standard Process Cleanse. Which means this is another super-clean What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW). And by Wednesday, I mean Tuesday. 🙂

10 days in to the cleanse (half way – woot!), I can honestly say that I haven’t been hungry one time. Veggies are really filling! Admittedly, eating and plant-based diet with no processed foods or breads is more time consuming. The key is to be sure you are prepared.

For instance, on Sunday I roasted beets, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash. Easy fixin’s for smoothies, salads, and “pastas.”

Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday during this veggie-centric month!

___________________________________________________________________________________

Breakfast:

Ice cream isn’t legal, but that didn’t stop me from a Neapolitan smoothie.

It didn’t stay so pretty after it was fully mixed… but these things happen when you mix green, red, and orange.

Trust me, it tasted better than it looks here:

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb Smoothie

1 C spinach
1/2 C butternut squash, roasted
1/2 C black cherries
1/2 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (a la So Delicious)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
5-6 drops vanilla stevia
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
Shake of allspice
Shake of salt

Looks bad, taste good. 🙂

Lunch:

The deliciousness below is brought to you by a new (to me) blog: The Vegetable Centric Kitchen.

Rande makes some delicious-looking, vegetarian dishes. This is her Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Tahini Sauce and Roasted Crimini Mushrooms.

Since I don’t have a spiralizer, I used the nifty orange tool picture below to peel my zucchini. I’m not sure what it’s called other than a peeler with razor teeth, but thanks to OXO from gift from the FoodBuzz Festival!

My tweaks:

Used a mix of crimini, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms
Sautéed my mushrooms and onions in coconut oil
Edited the sauce: 2 T tahini, 1/2 lemon juiced, 1 garlic clove (pressed), heaping 1/4 tsp sriracha, S+P, and a bit of water to thin it out.

I’ll be making this on the regular – especially that sauce. It’s going to be making an appearance as a sauce for broccolini tomorrow night! Thanks, Rande!

Snacks:

More veggies! (Try to hide your surprise.)

This dip was ah-mazing with my celery and flax cracker (flax seeds are cleanse-legal!). Recipe to come! 🙂

Pre-dinner snack was another shake – this time with avocado! Nothing earth-shattering in this one…banana, avocado, protein powder, almond extract, cinnamon, vanilla stevia, water, and ice. You’ve seen it all before… I’m scared my shakes are going to bore you! 🙂

Dinner:

I mentioned yesterday that I had some super-cool Valentine’s Day plans cleanse dinner with by best friend! And her baby boy. And her mom. These are some of my favorite people in the world, so it was actually a really nice way to spend Valentine’s Day.

This un-photogenic brown soup was my contribution. It’s a Sweet Potato-Pineapple-Eggplant Curry soup served over wild rice. I’d had it pinned to try for a while, but it was just ok. I’d try again to tweak it to my liking… but honestly it was so time-consuming I don’t think it’s worth it. That takes A LOT for me to say.

More delicious was the raw French green bean salad Mallory made. She tossed them with olive oil, lots of lemon, dill, and a few other herbs. It was fantastically light and the dill was wonderful.

Note to self: use dill more often!

Lastly, I received the nicest surprise – Mallory’s mom brought us both flowers! I was the lucky Valentine’s recipient of a gorgeous bouquet of white tulips.

Overall, it was a nice V-Day. ~~Even if it was chocolate-free.~~

***

I’m driving to AL for a client meeting with my boss. It’s my first one to lead in this role… nervous!!!

What was the best Valentine’s treat/dish you had yesterday?

Do you prep food for week on Sundays?

Top 11 in 2011

December 30, 2011 By Laura

2011 was a big year.

I began this blog at the end of 2010 (yes, I missed my blogiversary), and I cannot believe how much my life has evolved since.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the wonderful bloggers out there. You have inspired me in so many ways – introducing me to new foods, pushing me to think of new flavor combinations, motivating fitness and healthy living by example and through kind comments.

Resolutions aren’t my cup ‘o tea – I like to tackle goals as I think of them throughout the year.

In lieu of posting those and in honor of a rockin’ 2011, I decided to list the top 11 posts for the year.

Often I see bloggers comment that they don’t necessarily agree with the top posts… but in this case I largely agree. There are a couple of soups/stews not on the list – but you guys apparently like breakfast and dessert (and I have no room to judge)! Out of these 11 my top 3 are #1, 2, and 7.

Top 11 in 2011

1. Sparkling (Champagne) Cake Balls (these would be great to bring to a NYE party – toast with balls!)

2. Peach Cobbler Chia Pudding (with an overview on the benefits of chia)

3. Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal

4. Rosemary Lemon Shortbread Cookies

5. Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies (with an overview on the benefits of coconut flour)

6. Coconut Milk Greek Yogurt (with PBJ Vegan Yogurt recipe)

7. Cherry Balsamic Chickpea Salad (this was one of my favorite meals of the year)

8. Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls

9. Liquid Sweet Potato Pie

10. Garam Masala Daal (this post also includes my favorite Banana Cashew Chia Pudding recipe!)

11. PB&J Pancakes (gluten-free and vegan!)

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog, left a comment, passed along my link, written an inspiring blog… I am honored to have you all in my life and wish nothing but the best for us all in 2012!

***

I stopped posting on weekends… but check back tomorrow for a special Saturday post that might come in handy this weekend.

If you are a blogger, are your “most viewed” recipes the one you like the most?

What is your biggest hope or goal for 2012?

Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal + WIAW

December 14, 2011 By Laura

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

This was the drama club’s “quote” in high school. You know, the one that everyone had written some where. I think there is even a video of the club reciting it in unison post-curtain call.

Yes, I was a drama dork. Not the cool kind that was the lead in musicals. I did make up backstage. ~~Secretly, I wished I could act.~~

Having given up on drama (as an art and a personality trait I avoid like the plague), on Jenn’s infamous What I Ate Wednesday I use this quote in reference to breakfast.