40% of the items in a grocery store are new each year.
I’d rather have an actual Oreo Blizzard
According to what Michael Pollen found in his research. Â I doubted this until I realized that new flavors and formulas count. Â Think about all the variations done on Oreos – peanut butter, mint, 100 calorie packets… it’s endless.
An article on So Good Blog called out food-makers for going too far on the holiday variations.  Specifically cited is Chocolate Eggnog (agreed – but I don’t like nog) and Pumpkin Cream Cheese (he’s crazy… pumpkin was practically born on a bagel).
On my list is peppermint-flavored items. Â I like peppermints, but please don’t add the flavor to perfectly good food. Â Like coffee.
Enough about bad foods.  It’s What I Ate Wednesday!
Pre-Workout Breakfast:
When I workout first thing in the morning I usually don’t eat anything more than a nibble of peanut butter or a date. Â That is unless I wake up STARVING! Â After the killer workout yesterday I must have been burning food like a mad man woman in my sleep!
I heated a Van’s Organic Blueberry Waffle in the oven and topped it with banana, cinnamon, and sugar-free syrup.
Perfect for my needs… I did a solid hour with some heavy weights.
Post-workout snack:
Since the pre-workout was only a waffle, I was ready for more after I finished in the gym. Â My post-workout 20g of protein (must-have to build muscle!) came in the form of a (green)Â sweet potato protein shake.
Sweet Potato Protein Shake
- 3 T sweet potato puree
- 1 C spinach
- 3/4 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (a la So Delicious)
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 2 tsp ground flax seeds
- 1 tsp maca
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of guar gum (to thicken)
- Shake of salt
- Ice + water, to taste
*Normally I add Stevia or banana to sweeten my shakes, but the So Delicious and the sweet potato provided enough sweetness on their own!
Lunch:
If you read my post yesterday you may have seen a lovely salad.  So lovely that I had a repeat for lunch today.
Those carrot patties are really incredible (hot or cold) and I love having my Basil Walnut Pesto creation (also on yesterday’s post) in the salad mix.  The sweet bursts from the pomegranate seeds make for a fun salad.  (Read: Trying to avoid staining the shirt I wore to work.)
Dinner:
This barley-based “risotto” was even better than I expected!
This recipe will come tomorrow, along with a special feature –
I scored an interview with Chef Cindi Avilia, who works in recipe development for Lightlife!
Snacks:
I had a little biscuit-baking fail… and snacked on my misery while deciding that yes, they really were un-servable (is that a word?).
There was also a citrus Kombucha involved.  I love Kombucha.
Old pic… same drink, sans jerky
I made 100 Sparkling Cake Balls (cake balls made with sparkling wine, in case you missed it) for orders received (so exciting – people are BUYING my food!)… which called for a little pairing experiment. 😉
***
Head over to Peas and Crayons to celebrated the Humpty-Hump on Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday.
Have you seen any crazy holiday flavors? Â Which ones do you like or dislike?
What’s your best holiday baking fail?
awww bummer about the biscuits!!! try again!!!
Wow! That’s a lot of new products each year!! and seasonal flavors tend to attract me because I think of them as ‘limited edition’!! HAHA My fave is not a product but from Starbucks!! Yay for Gingerbread Latte!! 😀
I just had a baking fail the other day, it is such a bummer! I was trying to make Pumpkin Banana bread. I followed the recipe exactly and it just came out, blah, blah blah & totally not worth eating!
Thanks for commiserating with me. 🙂 Did you try it again?
haha, no. i was out of ingredients. if I ever try again, it will be with a different recipe for sure! =)
I’m with you. Peppermint in the coffee…so weird…and gross.
Happy WIAW!!!
Totally with you on the whole pre-workout eating thing… unless I’m starving, I don’t eat before a morning workout! All your eats look great. 😀 Loving all the salads!
Ugh, I only wish I could get back into the habit of working out in the mornings! I had gotten so good at getting up but after almost a month on night shifts, I just can’t do it anymore…tried to wake up at 5am every day last week and every day, I hit snooze! One day I actually GOT UP, thought about it, and went back to bed! Haha! Guess I’ll have to suck it up and give myself a big smack in the mornings, or stick to going to the gym after work! :-/
That salad looks incredible and I just bought some pomegranates on sale at the store the other day! Yay!
Sorry to hear about the biscuit flop! I’ve had my fair share of baking fails too with the most recent one on Thanksgiving Day when I forgot to add the milk to the pumpkin pie…it was awful! Tasted like straight sugar and looked like pudding! Haha!
I’ve seen those Oreos and I thought the same thing…I can’t believe how many different flavors they have now! Have you seen the neapolitan ones? Honestly, they sound a bit gross to me. What they NEED to do is make a pumpkin spice Oreo…now THAT would be phenomenal! 🙂
I love that you got up and went back to bed. LOL! I would totally do that.
Pumpkin spice Oreos would be delish! You have to write them an email and suggest it!
Are you serious about the 40%? That makes me so excited to go to the grocery store after having been abroad for a year!! WOO a whole almost 1/2 the store of new things plus my favourite staples.
Chocolate nog. I don’t like hot chocolate or egg nog so that sounds like a double no. But, like you, I’m sure pumpkin was a spread in its past life.
I love working out in the mornings but I always wake up hungry or at least need something to power me through whatever workout I decide on. Then I have a big breakfast afterwards, because I deserve it 🙂 I haven’t had frozen waffles in so long so that might have to be part of my shop when I am back in the states….those carrot things look great as well. I’m such a fan of orange foods. There must be a gene for that. Perhaps the gene for blogging and an affinity for green/orange foods is linked? I think so.
wait how are people buying your food- do you have a business? That said, wow sparkling cake balls!! That could be an exclamation how- holy sparkling cake balls! I like it.
LOL @ that “orange” gene…. and the holy balls exclamation. 😉
Affinity is my favorite word, btw.
Isn’t sugar free syrup illegal? 😉
Pumpkin cream cheese? Yum! 🙂
I love the holiday flavored items this time of year. I get frustrated when they’re not available anymore. Your salads look yummy!
That sweet potato smoothie sounds great! I used to be grossed out by the idea of a sweet potato in a smoothie, but I have seen it so much around the blog world lately and I am thinking it looks good now
Working out in the mornings is just the best… I would not do it if I had to wait until later in the day!
You have to try it! I have a recipe posted for a cherry-butternut shake. It was surprisingly delicious!
I love anything mint flavoured, so that mint coffee sounds kind of good to me! That’s crazy that 40% of products are new each year… I guess they’re just trying to rope us into buying more. And it totally works because every time I see a new product, I want to buy it! 😛
I know I’ve already seen some crazy things in the grocery store. I can see why people are tempted, even if it’s just for trying sake!
And how exciting that you are now selling your delicious food!
Eggnog flavored things are gross to me. Bleh.
I like peppermint/chocolate combos but not peppermint alone. Of course I am pumpkin obsessed… I’ve never tried eggnog so I can’t weigh in on that one!
Of course, my pumpkin soulmate! 🙂
Peppermint coffee actually sounds just weird enough to be good – no?
And sweet potato in a smoothie – very inventive, I’m impressed! Looking forward to the barley risotto recipe, I’ve had a lot of people recommend it to me but have never tried it myself.
I haaaaaate eggnog, so anything that is flavored eggnog immediately grosses me out, and that includes soy nog, pumpkin nog, and peppermint nog or whatever haha.
A non-eggnog cheers to that!
The craziest thing so far… eggnog almonds at TJ’s.
I’m with you on the peppermint -flavored coffee!!
I am seriously excited that people are buying your balls right now lol… that is awesome. Maybe you can submit them to TJ’s as a frozen dessert item!
And sweet potato in smoothies is the best — it’s the perfect sweetener =)
Wouldn’t that be amazing if TJ’s sold my balls?! I’d die.
Interesting fact about the grocery store. We certainly do to live in the land of plenty.
Trying to think of what holiday flavor I’m not a fan of…hmmmmm….still thinking. I am SO not a picky eater, lol.
That is crazy about grocery stores and new products. I know that they come out with a lot of products, but daaamn 40% every year. I think some of them are good though, but others are too artificial and odd.
I love the Vans blueberry waffles. My mom had bought be a box of gluten free ones, so I just had them for the first time and wam bam they are good. I must make me some of those carrot patties. They look beautiful haha sitting on top of that salad.
Woman, I love your posts! I totally agree with you on the peppermint coffee …ewwww… and also pass on the blizzard oreo. My favorite blizzard is actually a coffee one with oreos… while we’re on that topic 🙂
Now I want to make some carrot patties!
Wow…not sure if I could part with a whole cup of bubbly…hee hee They look great!
xoxo from Trinidad
p.s. Laura – dont miss my new giveaway..
I don’t like candy canes, so while not necessarily crazy, lots of Christmas items are out for me.
As for baking fail… that would have to be mocha meringues that were runny/liquid even after 2 hours in the oven. Except the top had turned black.
Meringues are tricky!!!
Interesting, I’ve never had sweet potatoes in my green smoothie – sounds like it went well! The barley risotto looks awesome too! Looking forward to that recipe tomorrow! Did you notice that I made up a batch of your chili – the leftovers are in my WIAW post for today! 🙂
Yay!!! I get so excited when I hear people actually make my goods. 🙂
I feel like I have seen SO many flavors of Oreos… strawberry, chocolate fudge covered, vanilla, mint. My favorite flavor of oreos= “orange” haha the Halloween ones!
I’m sooo into peppermint seasonal goodies. Marketers are so good at hyping up the “limited time only” goodies.
I’m excited for the recipe, but I’m also super excited to hear more about that interview. Good luck with it!
Biscuits and I are not baking BFFs… I have failed so many times, and it’s usually because I forget to add baking powder or some such nonsense… stupid biscuits! 😉
That stat is crazy! I usually like the idea of most of the holiday flavors out there, but I never really get around to trying them. I’d rather have an actual blizzard too. And – yay! People buying your food! That is so exciting!
That citrus kombucha is my absolute favorite!!
Your carrot patties are beautiful! I’m all for that peppermint coffee as well!
Don’t you just love Michael Pollan – always exposing things for what they are and not afraid to take the tough, unpopular stand. Love his work.
Gorgeous colour on those carrot patties! I like… !
I know – it’s refreshing to read someone taking an honest stance.
People are buying your sparkly balls? Damn, I’m so excited for you now! How many people want your balls? This is so awesome (and I really mean that, although I still tried to fit balls in way too much in this comment)
Comment of the day! HAHAHA!
Your eats look awesome!! I’m all about the workout fuel !! :]
As someone from a country where there are barely any “holiday flavours” at any point in the yaar, I’m kind of envious of the novelty! But, truly, I just want a good allergy-friendsly staples, like almond milk, here throughout the year, not fancy flavour varieties…
P.S. The risotto looks fantastic!
I completely concur that peppermint-flavored coffee is an abomination. I want my coffee clean and pure like the Virgin Mary…or something like that.
Yes, as pure as the driven snow. 😉
Thats sooo cool that your selling your food! I see a business formingggg!! 🙂 Your own little deli/bakery! How cool would that be!
It would be amazing. If only I had the cash… boo!
That risotto looks delicious!