This Healthy Chocolate Chip Waffle is reminiscent of a Waffle House favorite. This waffle doesn’t sacrifice on flavor, but it’s much cleaner than its inspiration. Make a bunch to freeze for a quick breakfast!
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Marvelous Mandible Monday
Let the food obsession begin.
Oh wait… that started at birth.
I had fully intended to do a recap of this weekend’s competition today… but I’m a little tired and still processing. It’s a huge build up to the event and then it happens… and you feel a little lost when it’s over. Does that make sense? Not that I’m not doing more (I am!). I’m just taking it all in.
For now, I just want to say that I am honored and overwhelmed by everyone’s support via comments, emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… this blogging community really is just that – a community. I felt that 100% this weekend. THANK YOU!!
So in the meantime, let’s talk about food! I mean, that’s the MOST marvelous thing about completing the cutting process, right? 😉
After pre-judging I had a little treat – Barney Butter! Kristina swore by it and I’m glad I trust her. This almond butter packet of deliciousness was the smoothest, most fantastic nut butter I’ve never out in my mouth. Absence makes the heart grow weirder.
Do my teeth look oddly large in this pic?
After the show itself, my team headed to a fantastic restaurant in Columbia, SC called The Oak Table. It was absolutely perfect – kind of tucked away in a large building, it had a speakeasy feel to it. Our server was very accommodating, even if we did walk in 30 mins before closing and looking… well, a little like drag queens with our stage make up, fake lashes and glow-in-the-dark orange spray tans.
We downed a couple of draaanks, duck, seared scallops, NY strip steak, roasted mushrooms, salad, a butterscotch bread pudding with salted caramel popcorn and smoked cinnamon ice cream, and homemade s’mores. The food was all phenomenal, but in the end the simplest pleasure won my heart – truffled frites with shaved smoked gouda. And water. Lots and lots of water.
By the time we got back to the hotel and I did the best I could to scrub off the spray tan and bikini bite, it was 1am. I passed out.
Only to wake up at 8am starving and thirsty. I managed to soothe myself with water and slept another 1.5 hours… but them breakfast needed to happen. I was hangry for a trashy favorite: Waffle House.
Chocolate chip waffle topped with runny egg
I like to dip my waffle in coffee. It’s redneck biscotti. 😉
If you thought my trainer would be a better food-influence, you’d be wrong.
On the ride home I enjoyed another (much classier) favorite: Ginger-Peach Greek Yogurt by Atlanta Farm Fresh. I’m not sure you can find it outside of Georgia, but in Atlanta you can get it at Whole Foods and some Kroger stores.
It’s the best flavored yogurt out there. Try the Peach-Ginger and the Port-Cherry. And the plain, too.
We got back to Georgia and I went straight to the Farmer’s Market – didn’t even go home first! I didn’t have a list – I just bought everything that looked good. Lots of veggies, pineapple, eggs, crab, sea bass… and injera!
Injera is Ethiopian bread. It sounds fancy, but it’s really just teff flour and water left to ferment for a few days before being cooked in pancake-fashion. The finished product is a little sour and sponge-y in texture. I know that doesn’t sound terrible appealing, but it really is good!
There may have also been a trip to Whole Foods involved… I was craving my favorite Roots hummus!
When I got home with all my loot, I made a strange but good snack: injera with chipotle hummus, spinach, and crab. What the belly wants, the belly gets!
So there you have it. A little bit of what’s been making my mandible-parts smile in this Marvelous Monday.
Check out my favorite diva’s (Katie) blog to see what’s Marvelous is everyone else’s Monday!
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I’m still overwhelmed. Thank you again… I promise the recap will be coming as soon as my head stops spinning. 🙂
What marvelous thing has you smiling today?
Have you ever felt a little lost when a big event comes and goes?
Stay Calm + WIAW
Try to stay calm.
There may be a bacon shortage. The LA Times reports that drought conditions caused a reduction in corn and soybean crops, which means less feed for swine… which means less bacon. Stock your freezers now.
Despite my frequent posting about bacon, I really am not a fanatic. Yes, I do enjoy the occasional Maple-Bacon Pancake Cookie. And I think Bacon Toothpaste is funny.
HOWEVER… I bought a mere 2 slices at the farmer’s market to add just a little extra flava-flav to my food this week. And, I worked bacon into a meal today.
It’s a really stressful week. Today I craved comfort food, and having developed the habit of reaching for healthy comforts helped me keep it clean… and sticking with September’s What I Ate Wednesday theme: “Fall Into Good Habits.”
Check out my healthy comfort foods below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how everyone else maintained healthy habits this Wednesday.
Meal 1:
Like every morning, I arose and had my morning cocktail: a mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine and Fitmixer Aminos. Then I almost panicked when I realized I’m almost out of my Aminos.
After a quick 2 mile walk, I enjoyed a Stuft Mama-inspired sandwich:
P28 Bread panini-pressed in the George Foreman with cinnamon and flax-scrambled egg whites, sugar-free strawberry jam, a little Daiya pepper jack. With a side of golden kiwi.
Meal 2:
This is truly random. Certainly a Strange But Good candidate. Pre-baked lemon-dill salmon… mixed with ricotta cheese, a little cinnamon, and blackberries.
Strangely delicious leg-day fuel.
Meal 3:
I spent my lunch break in the gym blowing off some steam busting out some leg work. When I got back home all I could think about was a giant green smoothie bowl.
In my bowl:
- Vanilla protein powder
- Chocolate unsweetened almond milk
- TONS of spinach
- Cinnamon
- Liquid stevia
- Crumbled Zucchini Protein Muffin to top (recipe for that coming soon!)
Meal 4:
Did I mention work is really, really, really stressful this week. It called for my protein-comfort snack: PB Cottage Cheese and celery (a riff on my childhood “ants on a log”).
I mix 1/2 C no-salt added cottage cheese with 2T of peanut flour, cinnamon, stevia, and butterscotch extract. Then I dip my celery. There may have also been a side of dark chocolate… shhhhh…
Meal 5:
Clearly I can never get enough pizza. This week’s pizza meal’s base was my beloved cauliflower crust.
Toppings:
- Swordfish
- Bacon (just a little bit…)
- Avocado
- Truffle oil
- Radishes
- Asparagus
- Brussels
My crust “dough” felt a little too wet, so I added a little nutritional yeast. It worked well to soak up a little moisture, and it was really good!
Meal 6:
Still working (it was a late night). So stressed I had no appetite. Late nights in college always meant Waffle House… so I made a healthier version of my old order – egg whites with red onion, jalapeno, and spinach.
Meal 7:
Comfort food is the name of the game for this post. More smoothie bowls! Meal 7 was a Pumpkin-Chocolate Vitamix ice-cream-like concoction.
In my Fall Smoothie Bowl:
- Pumpkin puree
- Chocolate protein powder
- Cocoa powder
- Unsweetened chocolate almond milk
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Stevia
- Ice
- Apple slices on top
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Does my posting most of this on Instagram ruin the suspense? Oh! And the protein count for the day: 195.8g from fall clean eats!
What are you favorite healthy comfort foods?
Do you have a fall chill yet? It’s still pretty warm here (yay!).
Indulging in 2012
Happy New Years Eve!!!
In case you do get a little over-zealous while welcoming 2012…
Top 5 Hangover Helpers:
- Sleep – roll over and pray it goes away
- Hydrate – before you roll over and go back to sleep, chug a big glass of water or Gatorade (taking a Motrin or Excedrin Migraine with it may not be a bad idea either)
- Exercise – nothing works better than to sweat out all those toxins (not that I would know)
- Hair of the Dog – there’s a reason bloody’s and mimosas are breakfast drinks. They work. Just watch out or you’ll only have a worse hang over the following day!
- Kombucha – It may be in my head, but I swear this stuff lessens a hangover. Is it the tummy-pleasing enzymes? The fermentation? The carbonation? Who cares. It works.
Other ideas include: Waffle House, coffee, (caffeine), Pedialyte. Mom says orange juice. Baby sis says Emergen-C before going out and pickles the next day.
You can thank us later (when your head stops pounding).
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In all the excitement I almost forgot to post about my December Foodie Penpal treats!
The amazing Rachael @ The Avid Appetite sent me a package not to be forgotten!
In it was homemade marshmallows (which were gone in about 30 minutes!), a fantastic loaf of banana bread, KIND bars, and a couple of holiday teas. Sometimes I think bloggers have ESP – how did she know that banana bread is my favorite loaf and that KIND bars have been on my “to try” list for literally a year? Thanks, Rachel!!! And thank you for organizing, Lindsay!
Want a Foodie Penpal of your own?
Please send an email to Lindsay @ theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
She will need to hear from you by January 4th – penpals will be notified on January 5th!
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Thank you for all of the wonderful comments yesterday AND for the votes to land me in the FoodBuzz Top 9 today (check it out here) – you guys made my 2011!
What are your big plans tonight?
Any hangover cures to share? 🙂
