I feel pretty and witty and bright

I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by! February is National Heart month and Valentines Day so it’s only right that we brand it “Love Month”. Since we only have 1 week left in February I wanted to touch on a topic I’ve been reading a lot about, “Self-Love”.

If someone asked me “Do you love yourself?” I would immediately respond “Of course!” But if I sat down and actually thought about that question I wouldn’t be so sure… I’ve noticed that if I have that cookie I’m craving after dinner I’ll say to myself “Good job on ruining your entire workout”  but if a friend told me that she had a cookie after dinner and was upset about it I would reply “Omg, don’t be so silly it’s just one cookie! Everyone needs to indulge sometimes.” It’s so easy to give advice but following it? Wellllll, not so much. Why couldn’t I be that easy on myself? Why am I beating myself up over 1 cookie? For the most part I am extremely healthy – I eat a well-balanced diet and exercise 5-6 times a week so I should be able to have a cookie without feeling guilt if that’s what my body wants! Everyone knows that love is a good thing. We love to give it and we love to receive it. But how often do we actually take the time to give it to ourselves?

I’m sure I am not the only person who beats themselves up over silly issues like this so we should all make a pact to follow Katelyn’s mission: I feel pretty! Today, I am making a promise to myself to be a little nicer, speak a little sweeter and cut myself some slack from time to time. I deserve it, and so do you 🙂

I feel as if I’m always on the go, go go to do things for others and I want to make sure I give myself the same attention. Each day this week I am going to post something I did for myself as a token of love: To me, Love me.

Here is what I gifted myself today – Relaxation Time –I know this doesn’t sound like much but I couldn’t tell you the last time I laid down with my phone, TV and computer off. It felt so good to sleep for 3 hours and I am feeling very refreshed now!

I think that everyone should join me and do something for themselves in the last week of the month of love – Feel free to share with me your plan and remember this: You are a truly loveable person — and you deserve only kind treatment, especially from yourself. 🙂

On a lighter note! I had a great weekend filled with 3 workouts – Zumba, Bodypump & Spin Class. I took full advantage of the $60 a month I pay to my gym! Nothing better than getting a good sweat in on the weekends. After my workout on Sunday I did my weekly grocery shopping where Whole Foods then took advantage of me. Why is it that I can never leave with just what’s on my list? I also left my brand spankin new iPhone in an aisle I shouldn’t have even been in while browsing labels – Thank goodness someone with a good heart found it and returned it to the lost and found! Whew..

Saturday night I had one of my girlfriends over for some girl time. We made dinner, went out for some Tasti D-lite (i know, again?) and watched hours worth of Bachelor re-runs on my DVR til 1 am. We get crazy and wild sometimes 😉

For dinner we made quesadillas…not just a plain boring quesadilla. But an exciting chicken, peach and pepperjack quesadilla. I’ve made this before and LOVED it but I think the peaches were a little bland this time around… It was still delicious and if you have some fresh peaches I suggest you try this combo out!

Chicken, Peach & Pepperjack Quesadilla

Ingredients

• Rotisserie chicken
• Pepperjack cheese (w/ jalapenos)
• Peaches
• Greek Yogurt
• Agave
• Cilantro
• Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

Directions

• Shred chicken

• Slice peaches

• Place tortilla on plate and add the chicken, cheese and peach slices to HALF.
• Sprinkle Cilantro on top
• Fold in half and place in an olive oil misted skillet
• Place a cast iron skillet on top so it flattens out the quesadilla and everything cooks evenly.
• Cook for 4 minutes on side – Flip and repeat.
• While quesadillas are cooking Mix together your greek yogurt, agave and lime juice.

• Slice the quesadillas and serve with the dipping sauce

The sweetness of the peaches and the dipping sauce go perfectly together! Sorry the pictures are blurry – I need to stop rushing them but sometimes I’m just so excited to eat 🙂

Our dessert from Tasti D-Lite

My friend had smores with choc chips and crushed graham cracker and I enjoyed bananas foster with the same toppings. I’ve yet to try a flavor that I haven’t loved yet! We may or may not have bought some Oreo & Peanut butter to go… Whoops.

Yesterday I also got my haircut (got some side bangs, wild!), had lunch with my grandma at Nordstrom Cafe and got some goodies in the mail!

Carba nada pasta, PB2, Donut Pan, Pizza Crisper, Gluten Free Pretzels, Banana Supreme Pancake mix and Alternative Bagels! I ordered these from a lo carb site – I’ve read about some of these items on various blogs but couldn’t find them ANYWHERE in stores so I resorted to some online shopping. I’m excited to try these out and hope they live up to the hype!

Tonight I am going to test out my pizza crisper and throw myself a pizza party… I might also get a little crazy and have some more of that Oreo & Peanut butter Ice Cream. I really need to settle down.

Day 23: Favorite Movie

I believe they already asked my favorite movies so I’m going to go ahead and skip this challenge and if you are that interested you can check out Day 7’s post here

Day 24: Something you’ve learned

I think it’s only fair that I say to love myself! Starting with treating myself the same I would to others or as Katelyn would put it a 5-year-old version of myself!

Also, Kate is having another giveaway! Check it out 🙂

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and if you have the day off tomorrow (lucky) you enjoy it!!

QUESTIONS: What do you do to show yourself love? Have you ever tried any of the lo-carb items I purchased? What was the craziest thing you did this weekend (get bangs, stay up til 1 am watching the bachelor, eat ice cream?? 😉 )

 

3 days in 1 post

Hellllo out there. I have so many great things to tell you guys! Let’s start off with food… I have Thurs, Fri & Sat to catch you up on… I’ve had A LOT of awesome Vegan eats. My meals have are so much easier now, which is great because I would’ve quit by now if it was anything like day 1!

Thursday

Breakfast: Banana Berry Protein Smoothie (1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, frozen berries & Amazing Grass chocolate flavor)

Lunch: Whole Wheat Pasta w/ Crushed Tomatoes and grilled Vegetables

Dinner: Homemade Vegan Chili

Dessert: Vegan Peanut  Butter cups – Chocolate + Better n Peanut Butter  + Cinnamon Graham Crackers = LOVE

I have to share this recipe. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t give you a recipe that included chocolate and peanut butter? Let alone combined…

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups adapted from Alicia Silverstone’s Kind Diet

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Earth Balance butter
• 1/2 cup Better n Peanut Butter
• 2/3 cup cinnamon graham crackers crushed + more if desired for topping
• 2 tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1/2 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
• 3 tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk

Directions

• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well.
• Remove the mixture from the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the mold cups.
• Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
• Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
• Top with more crushed graham crackers
• Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

I’m gonna pull a Rachel Ray and say Yumm-O (even though I make fun of her for saying that). Not only are these healthy, low in calories and easy to make but they are SO SO good. I even tricked one of my cousins into thinking it was a high calorie, unhealthy dessert 🙂

Friday

Breakfast: Van’s Whole Wheat Waffles w/ Protein “Cake Batter”

Protein “Cake Batter”

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 packet of Vega Vanilla Protein Powder

Directions

• Blend together

Dessert for breakfast is becoming way too common… But I don’t mind. It’s healthy 🙂

Lunch: Leftover Vegan Chili

Dinner: Vegan Mushroom Pizza & A vegan chocolate chip cookie

The cookie monster must’ve gotten a hold of this before I could grab the camera 🙂 Btw, soy cheese – um, really? Why does every pizza place not offer this as an option? Try it just once, for me! Pleassseee.

Saturday

Breakfast: Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Swirl Pancakes w/ Apple Topping (longest name?)

I wanted to make something that my boyfriend and I could eat together so I had to think of something that looked like a man’s meal! He had seconds so I’m pretty positive I succeeded.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Swirl Pancakes w/ Apple Topping

Ingredients:

Pancake Batter

• 3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
• 1/2 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
• 2 tablespoons stevia
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tablespoon Ener-G mixed with 2 tablespoons water

Cinnamon-Apple Swirl Batter:

• 2 tablespoons prepared batter (above)
• 2 tablespoons natural apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Apple “Syrup” Topping

 

• 1 chopped granny smith apple
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

• Add almond (or soy) milk and egg replacer mixture and stir just until flour is moistened. (For thicker pancakes, use only 1 cup milk.) Let the batter rest for 5 minutes while the skillet heats.

• While the batter is resting, combine all of the “swirl” ingredients, using 2 tablespoons of the prepared batter.
• Heat a non-stick griddle or skillet (sprayed lightly with non-stick spray) over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles. Pour batter by scant 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle. Immediately drizzle the cinnamon-apple batter over the top of each pancake in a swirl pattern. Cook until tops are bubbly and bubbles burst; edges will look dry. With a pancake turner, turn and cook until undersides are golden. Place on a warm platter; keep warm.

• Repeat until all batter is used, brushing griddle lightly with olive oil, if necessary, to prevent sticking.

• Cook apple topping.

• Melt butter in saucepan.
• Add brown sugar, apples and cinnamon and cook until apples are tender and syrup has formed.
• Pour over pancakes.

These were delightful and kept us full for hours… Well me, longer than him. But I wasn’t hungry until dinner! (I did have a snack at the show – 2 clementines and 100 calorie pack of almonds)

We went out to dinner to celebrate Valentines Day since we wont actually see each other on Monday. My boyfriend IS the best because he was craving lamb chops and we had reservations at Capital Grille but they didn’t have ONE Vegan option so he switched it to an Organic restaurant nearby just for me. Such a good guy 🙂 The restaurant was called Dogwood. If you live in Maryland this is definitely a place to check out. Everything was so fresh, the service was great and the atmosphere was comfy-cozy yet funky. I will 100% be a repeat offender.

FYI – I only had my iPhone for pictures so they didn’t come out that great…

Appetizer: Beet & Carrot Soup w/ a slice of Fresh Bread

Dinner: Forbidden Rice & Roasted Butternut Squash Curry with zucchini and yellow squash, organic black rice, mild curried coconut sauce with Vann’s spices, golden currants and toasted almonds

I am literally speechless over a veggie dish! These flavors were spicy, nutty and flavorful. I would love to make this one night…and eat it for days and days.

Unfortunately they didn’t offer any Vegan desserts 😦 But my trusty iPhone found a place right around the corner that did!

Thank you, Sweet Sin for fulfilling my craving. I ordered a chocolate ganache raspberry cupcake.

I die.

On our way out there was something else staring me in the eye.

I couldn’t eat a cupcake and not a cookie. That’s prejudiced and I wont stand for that. So i ordered one for the car ride home. Hey, it was 40 minutes you never know when a craving will strike! I ate it 5 minutes into the drive. This cookie was so fluffy. I had only planned to eat half…Half turned into 3/4’s which turned into the whole thing. Oh well, life goes on. The cupcake was also lovely. Extremely decadent is how I would describe it.

Are you hungry after reading all of that? Because I am!

Friday night my boyfriend arrived and I FINALLY got to give him his birthday present… 5 days in Key West in less than a month!!! I better get serious about my workouts!

Can.Not.Wait. Sun.Beach.Drinks w/ Umbrellas. Need I say more?

On Saturday he got me tickets to the Disney Princess on Ice show in Baltimore. I LOVE princesses and claim to be am one so I was overly excited. There was a couple in the elevator with us who were probably in their 80’s going to see the show too and that made me think “That will absolutely be us one day”. Once a princess, always a princess.

I was like a little kid in a candy shop…or a little girl at a Disney Princess show. After the show was over we waited in line with the 6 year olds other girls and he bought me a light up tiara.

Really, does it get any better than this? Pancakes for breakfast, Disney on Ice, a Princess tiara, amazing vegan dinner, even better 2 vegan desserts? I think not. If you think of something please, feel free to let me know.

I highly doubt Adam had as much fun as I did but he was a great sport.

Thanks babe 🙂 Love you lots!

We also watched The Social Network & Easy A. Neither were academy award winners but they were both entertaining and I liked learning the background story about how Facebook begun.

On Friday night we also discovered Tasti D-lite was FINALLY open. I have been waiting for this for about a year…No joke. Please tell me you have one of these near you? If not maybe I should do a giveaway with some because I know they ship them ( I may or may not have had some shipped to me from Florida once). I discovered this ice cream with one of my best friends last May. 50 calories, 2 grams of fat, 2 grams of sugar, over 100 flavors and 50 toppings.  You can guarantee I will be there at least 3x next week.

They switch flavors out daily so I have already programmed their number to my speed dial. Even though I couldn’t order anything because of Vegan week I went in and told the owner he’d be seeing a lot more of me and expressed my excitement. I’m not sure if he was flattered or wanted to request a restraining order.

Ah, okay. I’m done obsessing.

Also some other great news is I won the shoes from Shanna’s giveaway!! Charles David wedges are on their way to my house and I am so thankful and happy 🙂 Thanks so much again. I’ll post a picture of me in them when I get them but here is a sneak peek in the meantime.

Sorry I didn’t have time to post on Favorite Friday… I’ll make up for it next week! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. This post was really long so hopefully you didn’t get too bored!

QUESTIONS: Have you ever had a vegan dessert? What are you doing for Valentines Day?

Day 16: Dream house

I dream big… I want a lot of children, a huge kitchen where I have so much room I could ice skate if I wanted to, and someone to clean up after me because I am sort of messy when I cook. I’d also like an amazing view of the water and pottery barn-esque designed rooms. It will be colorful yet classy. Is that too much to ask?

Day 17: Something you’re looking forward to

Key West vacation… I’m so done with the snow, ice and numbing winds. Goodbye winter coat. Hello bikini.

ANOTHER great giveaway by Angie! Go enter 🙂 All of these giveaways are making me want to have another….