For The Sake of Cake

Hello, hello!

I haven’t participated in What I Ate Wednesday in a few weeks, and I (surprisingly) remembered to photograph what I ate on Monday, so I thought I’d join in the link-up.

Thanks to Jenn for hosting!

Breakfast – Overnight oats with blackberries, pb, and honey and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee

This meal should come as no surprise to my long-time readers—overnight oats are my go-to. If you’re wondering why there are so few blackberries, that would be because they are expensive and I have to share with Chris.

I picked up a box of Dunkin’ Donuts K-Cups the other weekend, and it was a wise, wise decision.

Lunch – Peanut butter and jelly, Special K popcorn chips, and a raspberry Chobani

Monday was a hectic day, so I ate at my desk (I try not to do this). I was away all day Sunday at a bridal shower, so I used every “free” second on Monday to catch up on some work.

Oh, and I’m obsessed with those chips—so good!

Afternoon Snack – Cookie dough Quest bar

I snacked on this Quest bar during my prep period. I had heard so many people rave about it, so I was excited to give it a try for myself. The taste is great and the texture of the bar – and all Quest bars, in my opinion – really is cookie dough-like.

Dinner – Tuna noodle casserole

This recipe – from Skinnytaste – was fantastic. I really liked the flavor that the mushrooms added, and I even ate all of my peas, which really aren’t my favorite vegetable. My only complaint was that this took a little while to prepare and more effort than I’m used to on a weeknight. Luckily, Monday was a rest day for me, but if I had to make this after a gym session, I’d probably get pretty hangry.

Dessert – Cake pop

For dessert on Monday, I had a cake pop that was a favor from Sunday’s bridal shower. I had a picture of it, but now I can’t find it on my computer… whoopsies!

Definitely a good day of eats!

Cake pops – yay or nay? I think they’re adorable favors and wonderful portion control, but if I’m being honest… I want all. of. the. cake.

Evening friends!

Wow, what a week it has been! I’ve been so tired for some reason, and have really had to dig deep for motivation to do anything. We’re talking it’s a challenge to wash the dishes at night. I don’t know what’s up, but the exhaustion has been hard to shake. I really wanted to recap the rest of Disney Princess yesterday (you can read part 1 here), but it just didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow?

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Tonight, I’ve got a product review (+ giveaway!) to share.

Have you guys heard of Sambazon before? Here’s a bit about the company, straight from the CEO:

“We make healthy products with full integrity that promote a better you – the kind of you that lives better, works better, feels better and inspires the world to be a better place. That’s why we are organic, we believe in non-GMO and we support fair trade. It’s the reason we craft our recipes with superfood ingredients that provide epic flavors and amazing health benefits. Ingredients like Acerola Cherry to boost your immune system, Yerba Mate & Guarana for energy, and protein from whole food, vegan sources instead of processed isolates. The food we eat makes our minds bright, keeps our spirits high and fills our hearts with so much purple love we just gotta share.”

–from the Sambazon website

Sambazon offers a wide variety of products including “freshies” (kind of like smoothies), sorbet, energy drinks, and supplements (just to name a few!).

I was provided with coupons to try a few Sambazon products for myself.

First, I sampled the blueberry + pomegranate superfood juice blend.

I loved this flavor! It was fresh and fruity tasting, and it gave me a little boost of energy as I was prepping for the work week this past Sunday.

I also tried the vanilla protein smoothie.

This one had a higher calorie count (180 vs. 130), but it was also quite a bit thicker and definitely more smoothie-like than the juice blend.

I really liked the vanilla flavor. It wasn’t overly vanilla-tasting (if that makes any sense!) and the addition of the acai berry definitely added a little something extra. I had this as an after-work/pre-workout snack and it helped to keep me satisfied until dinner time.

There are many other Sambazon products that I’m eager to try; I’ll definitely be picking up the mocha java energy drink and the blended breakfast soon!

Giveaway

You all have the chance to try Sambazon, too – for free! One winner will receive a bamboo bowl and spoon set, plus coupons for free Sambazon!

I’ve found the bowl to be especially perfect for oatmeal.

Here’s how to enter:

• Visit the Sambazon website and leave a comment letting me know which flavor/product you’d most like to try.
• Follow Sambazon on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know that you did.

If you’re interested, you can also follow Sambazon on Facebook and Instagram.

This giveaway will be open until 12:00PM EST on Friday, March 8.

If you just can’t wait until then to try some Sambazon, check out the store locator to find these products near you.

Happy entering!

Thank you all so much for your congratulatory comments on my post last night! Like I said, I’ll be working on a race recap over the next few days and will post it ASAP. (I don’t want to rush and throw something together, so I’ll need to find a big chunk of time where I can sit and reflect on everything about the race!)

Also from last night’s post… don’t forget to sign up for my Spring Shape Up Challenge, hosted via ChallengeLoop. The randomly selected winner will receive a $50 Lululemon gift card.

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Now that we’ve got the “housekeeping” business out of the way, I’ve got a yummy, healthy product review for you… Designer Whey!

When I received a big box of Designer Whey products to sample, I was super excited and didn’t know where to start first!

So, before I sampled anything I decided to read up a bit on the benefits of whey protein:

• Protein in all forms helps to keep you full, recover from a workout, and build muscle.
• Whey is pure, which means it is absorbed quickly by the body.
• Whey is a “complete” lean protein; it has a high biological value, strong amino acids, and antioxidants.

From the Designer Whey website

You can read more about the “specifics” of Designer Whey on the company’s FAQ page.

Now, onto the products!

The first thing I tried was the peanut butter crunch protein bar.

Each bar has 160 calories and 10 grams of protein – the perfect afternoon snack. I really loved this flavor! It was very peanut buttery and didn’t taste “healthified” at all. I also really liked the chocolate and caramel bars, but the peanut butter was by far my favorite.

I also tried the Protein 2Go drink mix packets.

Like other single-served powdered drink mixes, this couldn’t have been easier to mix or more portable. What makes this product stand out, however, is the 10g of protein! I drank this is the morning before a long afternoon of errands one day and didn’t feel my usual hunger pains. These are great to keep on-hand in your purse or at work for a quick and easy protein fix.

Next up, the brand’s protein shakes!

I tried the chocolate shake last week after getting home from BodyPump. I drank about half of the shake as I was prepping dinner (to take the edge of my hunger and recover from my workout!) and had the rest after dinner. While the taste was great, these were a bit more watery than I was expecting. Again, not bad taste-wise, just not the consistency I had anticipated.

Finally, I tried the protein powder.

I started with the white chocolate protein powder, and followed the instructions on the container to make a white chocolate raspberry shake.

Oh my goodness; this was delicious! It tasted like dessert and not at all like a healthy shake (it clocks in at around 20 grams of protein and 220 calories).

I can’t wait to experiment with different mix-ins and the French vanilla powder! I’m already eyeing up a few recipes by my fellow Fitfluential Ambassadors (<— click the links for some protein powder recipes!)

Designer Whey protein products are available at various retailers; you can use the store locator to search for one near you! No retailers nearby? Not a problem. You can order products online in the Designer Whey online shop.

Do you make a conscious effort to get enough protein in your diet? Are you a fan of protein shakes? My gym makes seriously delicious protein shakes, but they are expensive! I’m so glad I found Designer Whey so I’m not stuck shilling out $6 every time I want my protein shake fix!

Any questions about the products? Feel free to ask in the comment section!

Disclaimer: I was provided the above products free of charge by Designer Whey through a partnership with Fitfluential, LLC. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hey hey! Phew, it feels like it’s been a while since I last posted. (I guess it sort of has been!)

Time to play catch up!

Thursday

On Thursday Chris and I finally signed the papers and became homeowners! For those of you that may not know, we’ve been living in “our” house for just over 6 months, but we were doing a rent-to-own deal. We were supposed to settle at the end of December, but nothing in our home-buying process has been easy, so that didn’t happen. Needless to say, I was about ready to cry tears of joy on Thursday… such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders!

Since I had to leave work early for our appointment and Chris had some time to kill before he had to go into work, we went out to lunch. Chris selected Chili’s; I hadn’t been in what felt like forever. We talked about how strange it was that we hadn’t been there in so long because it used to be one of our go-to spots.

Anyway, I went with the Big Mouth Bites which are basically cheeseburger sliders.

So good, yet so greasy

Of course, since we were celebrating, I requested a stop at my favorite place in all the land… Sublime Cupcakes.

Chris had to leave for work not long after we got home, and Stewie and I ended up taking an unexpected – yet much needed! – nap.

In the evening I headed to a combo class that my gym offers – CX Worx + express BodyPump. I had to make a quick pit-stop at Target on my way home, and I stumbled upon these goodies:

Peanut Butter Toast Crunch + Key Lime Crumble Chobani! I had been keeping an eye out for both, and trust me… neither disappoints! The key lime Cho’ qualifies as a legit dessert (and coming from a dessert fiend like me, that’s saying something!). I’ll definitely be stocking up at the grocery store for when my sweet tooth is in full force.

Friday

Friday was just another “normal” workday… nothing too eventful! I had to stay a little late – on a Friday, gasp! – to work on some yearbook stuff, then after a quick stop at home I was off to run a few errands. Since I was out, I stopped at Panera for dinner. I didn’t take a picture, but I got the “You Pick 2” – broccoli cheddar soup (yum!) + their new chopped chicken salad with avocado (also yum!).

Stewie and I ended up falling asleep on the couch (shocker!) before heading up to bed for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday

Saturday morning I had a training run on the agenda – 8 miles.

This was the first time I had to track down a bathroom during a run! haha I made it about halfway through when I realized I was not going to make it a full 8 miles. A local grocery store did the trick (I was nearly distracted by the Girl Scouts selling cookies!) and I was on my way.

This run felt so much more difficult than last week’s 7. I’m thinking I need to make more of an effort to squeeze in a extra short run during the week. Anyway, I had to take a few walking breaks, but I always promise myself to not walk during the last mile. It was tough but I finished in just over an hour and a half and felt accomplished!

The majority of my afternoon Saturday was spent cleaning (blah!). I went to church, then Chris and I enjoyed our weekly pizza night.

Sunday

Since I had gone to church last night, I was able to get a workout in this morning. (I usually take a rest day on Sundays.)

BodyPump was on the agenda!

The rest of my Sunday was spent grading… seriously. The. entire. day. I wish I could say I’ve got my day off tomorrow wide open for fun and relaxation, but there’s a yearbook deadline so I’ll likely definitely be working on that. How many days until summer?!?!

Did you do anything fun this weekend? I definitely don’t count cleaning and grading as fun, so I have to live vicariously through all of you!

Hi there!

We’re halfway through the week and 6.5 days out from Christmas break… woohoo!

Thanks to Jenn for hosting yet another What I Ate Wednesday link-up.

Breakfast – Overnight oats + coffee

Ok, I promise – I have started to branch out a bit and have been incorporating different breakfasts (besides overnight oats) into my rotation. It just so happens that I went with my old stand-by yesterday!

In the mix –

• 1/2 c. oats
• 2 heaping tbsp. vanilla Chobani
• 1 heaping tbsp. pumpkin puree (still going strong with pumpkin!)

Added in the morning –

• 1 tsp. peanut butter
• Chocolate chips
• Honey

This combo just never gets old for me. And of course, it wouldn’t be breakfast without my AM coffee.

Lunch – Chicken + green beans, blueberry Chobani

I found this chicken recipe on Pinterest, and it’s become one of my favorites. All you do is combine 1/2 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt) with 1/4 c. parmesan cheese. Next, add the mixture to the chicken, sprinkle with Italian bread crumbs and bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes. So simple!

Snacks – Chocolate peppermint stick Luna bar + baby carrots with ranch dressing (unpictured)

I had the snack bar during my prep period at work (this flavor is one of my favorites!), and I had the carrots as a pre-workout snack.

Dinner – Tuscan chili + a slice of wheat bread with butter

This chili is a quick-cooking crockpot recipe, so I prepped everything when I got home from work. After a few hours of cooking on high, it was ready just as I was getting home from the gym.

Snack – Diet hot chocolate with marshmallows + two mini Twix

This has been my go-to dessert lately. The hot chocolate + marshmallows has really been hitting the spot!

Are you a hot chocolate drinker? What’s your favorite brand? I just grabbed the diet Swiss Miss because it was cheap, but I’ve definitely been eyeing up some of the more decadent brands I’ve spotted at Target!

I disappeared for a few days, didn’t I?

That always seems to happen with me during the second half of the week.

Thursday evening, I had conferences after school from 3:00-5:30PM. By the time I left work and stopped at Subway for a quick dinner, it was apparent that no blogging would be happening.

Friday, I had a few quick errands to run after work. I’m attending a baby shower for Chris’s cousin today, so one of my stops was Babies “R” Us. I always feel completely lost in there! I usually try to pick out one item that’s the exact price I want to spend, or else I’ll get totally overwhelmed trying to pick out a few different things. Anyway, I made it out within 30 minutes which I think is a record for me.

I stopped at Saladworks to pick up something for dinner, since we really didn’t have much in the house. (And what we did have, I didn’t feel like eating.) I don’t eat at Saladworks frequently – they are way overpriced in my opinion! – but sometimes a few extra dollars is worth the convenience.

I spent the rest of my evening curled up on the couch with this little dude:

Speaking of dogs…

We ended up not adopting Crosby. Chris took Stewie to meet him on Thursday and didn’t feel 100% convinced that the two would be the best of friends. Stewie is very laid back and doesn’t even really pay attention to most other dogs. However, Crosby wanted to play (aw) and wouldn’t leave Stewie alone until Stewie barked at him.

It’s hard to tell if it would be the same once we got him home. After all, he’s all caged up at the shelter! Chris and I didn’t want to take the risk though. It wouldn’t be fair to either dog if things didn’t work out well. The good news is, I noticed his picture was taken off the animal rescue league website. I’m hoping this means he found a wonderful home!

Okay, back to the weekend…

Saturday morning I was supposed to run 6 miles. After Monday’s post, a few people suggested that the training plan seems to be increasing my mileage too drastically. So, while I hadn’t planned to necessarily run 6 miles, I still had the intentions of getting a run in on Saturday morning.

Then, I just didn’t feel like it. I understand that I’m training for a half marathon and I’ll have to run even when I don’t feel like it, especially once I get closer to the race. Yesterday, however, I wanted to go to spin, so that’s what I did. I thought about doing a quick run after, but I had stuff I wanted to get done so I just moved on with my life and promised myself I’d run a few times this coming week.

After spin class, I threw together a quick breakfast… a cranberry English muffin with a little bit of butter and jelly, a blueberry Chobani, and hazelnut coffee with foam made in my Keurig milk frother.

I need to work on my cinnamon sprinkling skills!

The rest of Saturday was spent doing a little cleaning, grocery shopping, going to church, and eating pizza… yum!

I also ate quite a few of these Pretzel Crisps. Look for these immediately; they’re delicious!

This morning, I was up bright and early at 6:00AM. Chris had to go in to work for 7:00AM today, so I told him I’d get up with him. Waking up early is 100% easier if you have company. Since we went to bed relatively early last night, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

After helping Chris get his lunch together and sending him off to work, I prepared some pumpkin chocolate chip baked oatmeal for myself.

Now, I’m about to jump in the shower and get ready for the… shower. Ha!

I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to blog tomorrow; I have parent/teacher conferences from 8:00AM until 9:00PM… yikes! Of course, we have lunch and dinner breaks so I won’t truly be locked in my classroom for 13 hours.

Have a great Sunday!

Have you discovered any amazingly yummy products lately? Those Pretzel Crisps are to die for!!!

Hey everyone! How was your Tuesday? Did you get out there and vote? I went after school and didn’t have to wait at all, so I was pretty happy. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results this evening!

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A few weeks ago, I was contacted by SOYJOY and asked if I’d like to sample their two new flavors – dark chocolate cherry and cranberry. I had never had a SOYJOY bar before, but I love keeping snack bars like this on-hand, so I eagerly accepted.

A bit about SOYJOY products…

• Each bar is made with all-natural, real ingredients.
• Bars are made with whole soy.
• Each bar is high in protein, iron, fiber, potassium, magnesium, and calcium (you can check out a cool comparison chart here).
• Other flavors include apple walnut, banana, and pineapple (full list of flavors here).

After trying both of the new flavors, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed! Both tasted like a healthy cookie. I won’t say a “dessert cookie,” because let’s be real… but I still really enjoyed the taste and I consider myself to be pretty picky about this kind of thing!

My favorite time to eat these bars is before a workout. They are just big enough to put a little something in my stomach without being such a big portion that I start cramping up during a workout (I actually had one Saturday morning before my 5 mile run).

As always, I like to include whether or not certain products/meals are “man-approved,” so I had Chris try both flavors too. He liked the taste; his only complaint was the size, but hey, he’s a guy!

I’ll definitely be stocking up on some of the other flavors soon. If you see the cranberry or dark chocolate cherry at your local store, I suggest grabbing a few and sampling them yourself!

Have you ever tried SOYJOY bars? What’s your favorite snack bar?

Hey everyone!

We’re already half-way through the week and tomorrow is my Friday! We always have Friday-Monday off for Labor Day, and it’s a nice chance to enjoy the last little bit of summer (plus recuperate from getting thrown back into the whole work thing!).

For today’s What I Ate Wednesday, I’m sharing what I ate on Tuesday, but to be honest, today’s eats were pretty similar!

Stop by Peas and Crayons if you’d like to see more WIAW posts!

For some reason, I totally forgot to photograph breakfast. I meant to do it this morning since I ate the same thing but forgot again! I’m sure you’ve seen one of my bowls of overnight oats before, so you can use your imagination.

Lunch – Turkey wrap, Chobani, and grapes

I saw the idea for this turkey wrap on Pinterest (aka, where I find all of my ideas). All you have to do is combine one Laughing Cow cheese wedge (I used reduced-fat Swiss) with chopped cucumber. Then, I spread a few slices of deli turkey on a whole wheat wrap, added the cheese/cucumber and that’s it! Very tasty!

Snack – Banana topped with Justin’s honey peanut butter

I ate this as an after school/pre-Body Pump snack yesterday. I’m really loving Justin’s honey peanut butter; I think I like it better than Justin’s almond butter!

Dinner – Baked corn and crab cakes (from Skinnytaste)

Please check out the original recipe here; Gina’s look 100x better than mine! I needed to use more crab (I think that’s why mine sort of fell apart) but I just made do with what I had (a can of crab meat that I purchased at Trader Joe’s). That’s a blob of cocktail sauce on the side for dipping!

Dessert – Dark chocolate cookie butter bar

I forgot to take a picture, but dessert last night was a few squares of the dark chocolate cookie butter bar I picked up on my last Trader Joe’s visit. It was delicious.

There you have it, friends; your weekly peek into what I eat!

Off to spend some QT with the pug.

What’s your favorite kind of nut butter? Although I’ve been trying different kinds lately, Jif Natural is still my go-to; I just love peanut butter! I’ve always been intrigued by walnut butter, but haven’t tried it yet.

Is it just me, or have peaches been really, really good this year?

I love all fruits, but I was never one to go crazy over peaches. However, this year I’ve been loving them!

On Sunday, Chris came home with a box full of peaches and plums gifted to him by his parents. The only downside to our fruit inheritance was that the peaches were super ripe and needed to be used ASAP.

I already use peaches frequently in my overnight oats, but that would only knock out one ripe peach per day. I love muffins, and haven’t made homemade ones in a while, so I got to researching peach muffin recipes.

I found this recipe, and tweaked it (just slightly). Just a friendly head’s up… this recipe requires a bit of time (although that’s not to say it’s challenging) and will dirty a lot of dishes. Do as I say and not as I did and make sure your husband/boyfriend/muffin-loving friend is around to help with the clean up!

I loved the way these muffins turned out. They are sweet, but not overly sweet. They are also surprisingly hearty; I had one as an AM snack today and it held me over well into the afternoon!

Do you like peaches? Do you have any good peach recipes? Feel free to link to your recipe!

I’ve talked about snacking habits here on the blog several times before. Lately, it’s something I’ve been thinking more about, since I’ve caught myself doing quite a bit of mindless snacking out of boredom. (Someone please remind me of how “horrible” being bored is in 2 months when I’m grading stacks of essays, thanks!)

This morning after breakfast, I sat down to flip through the August issue of Real Simple when I came across a feature titled “How to Snack Smarter.” The article had a lot of great tips + snack ideas, so I thought I’d pass a few along in case you’re not a Real Simple subscriber (which you should be; it’s my favorite magazine by far)!

When to Snack

Only snack when you’re hungry, not just because it’s your usual snack time. Jessica Crandall, an RD consulted for the article, suggested gauging hunger on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = starving, 10 = stuffed). The best time to snack is when you would rate your hunger at a 3 or 4.

What to Snack on

Snacks should be between 150 to 250 calories, with about 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein, and no more than 12 grams of fat. Of course, as the article points out, it’s impossible to always achieve this ratio, so it’s all about balancing snacks throughout the day and being mindful of what you’ve already had.

How to Snack

The key word here should be no surprise; it’s all about being mindful. This is something I definitely need to work on! The article suggests treating each snack as a mini-meal and enjoying your snack on a plate, if possible.

Snack Ideas

There were several yummy-sounding snack ideas provided in the article that I want to try out, including:

• Ham and jicama wraps – wrap 6 jicama (or celery) sticks with ham & serve with mustard for dipping
• Bagel with ricotta and strawberries – spread 1/2 toasted whole-grain bagel thin with 2 tbsp. ricotta. Top with strawberries and a drizzle of honey (this seems like it would be perfect for a sweet treat!)
• Whole grain bread with almond butter and peaches

I couldn’t find the entire original article online, but I did find a few other helpful reads on the Real Simple website:

• 9 Healthy Pre-Dinner Snacks
• How to Snack Smarter
• Easy On-the-Go Snack Ideas
• Which Snack will Satisfy your Food Craving?

How many snacks do you eat during a day? During the school year, I typically snack during my prep period, when I get home from work (pre-workout), & after dinner (dessert).