Pictures!

Ok folks, so I took some pictures to share with you today to make up for Tuesday's picture-less post.

First - a couple pictures of the lovely, tasty and nutritional powerhouse green monster smoothie! I drink a little bit while getting ready and put the rest in my water bottle and take it to school to drink during my 8am classes.


Also a picture of my yogurt and granola all ready to be mixed and consumed before my 11am class :-)

Now I have LOVED these Oikos individual organic greek yogurt cups with honey and they are perfect for bringing to school. However, my budget will no longer allow me to buy them so I am probably going to just be switching to regular plain yogurt and premixing it in my lovely 1 cup liquid-tight tupperware containers with my homemade granola. Oh the sacrifices of a poor student!

And here is a picture of the illustrious Blue Bomber - my trusty companion to and from school and all over campus.

Please note the helmet hanging from the handlebar (normally on my head) because safety is important and I have had a couple of bad bike accidents in my past (if you launch headfirst over the front of your bike and catch a handlebar in the gut you may end up with a face full of pavement, a lacerated spleen and internal bleeding...I'm just sayin'!), the backpack and water bottle with WATER in the basket up front, and the water bottle with smoothie in the handy dandy water bottle holder. Much like running, I may not be the fastest one in the pack, but by god I am going to get there!

For a couple of new items may I present my new breakfast goodie - pumpkin spice muffins!

"Now wait a moment!" You might be saying..."I thought there was no canned pumpkin available in the stores right now because of the big pumpkin harvest rotting last year!" And you would be right. For those of you who don't know, all the commercial pumpkins last year basically rotted on the vines and there has been no canned pumpkin available since Christmas last year until the new harvest ripens this year. So I did what any enterprising cook who wanted muffins would do, I baked sweet potatoes used the mashed meat from those instead. Voila! Made with whole wheat flour, sweet potato, applesauce instead of oil, and studded with cranberries and almonds. A not-too-sweet but oh so delicious breakfast item to keep in the fridge and grab all week. I will do a separate post with the recipe and nutrition info.

Note to self however - do NOT attempt to balance said muffin on the backpack in the above pictured bike basket and expect it to stay in place when going over a speed bump...1/2 a muffin was sacrificed to learn that lesson today. Will adjust for tomorrow :-)

Also a pic of my sandwich today. Tuesday/Thursday is my day that I have 10 minutes to eat lunch because I have class from 11am-2pm with only that short break in between. Last time I brought tuna and dill dip and crackers, and decided that eating pungent tuna before going into acting class was not the greatest idea. Last night I made some lemon dill hummus and turned it into a hummus/sprouts/cucumber sandwich for lunch today. Will let you know how that goes, but it sure looks yummy!

By the way...any suggestions or ideas on 10 minute lunches would be greatly appreciated!

Biking and Cooking

So - This whole riding my bike back and forth to school thing may possibly kill me before it gets me in shape! Ok, maybe not, but going from basic couch potato all summer (with one good 9 mile hike) to riding my bike all around campus does feel pretty intense and was definitely feeling more tired on the ride this morning than I did yesterday. I am taking it slow, not pushing myself, taking rests when I need to, and just knowing that if I keep it up it WILL get easier and I WILL get in better shape before I even realize it :-) In the meantime though...even with a padded seat (and a padded rear) my backside hurts! I just keep telling myself that I will get used to it and it is only day 2. And honestly, the good feelings, the exercise, the endorphins, the cured insomnia and the flexibility to get around campus without looking for parking is worth the trade off so I will keep the whining to a minimum.

So - I promised recipes yesterday and today I shall deliver! And both are vegetarian and I will note the easy substitution to make it vegan.

Granola:
I LOVE making granola...it is so cheap, you can make it much lower fat and lower sugar than the stuff you buy in a box or bag, and you can add whatever you want to it! I see that Bear Naked granola selling for $7 a bag and it makes my head hurt because I could make the same amount of granola for about $2 and it tastes even better.

So here is the basic recipe:
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2/3 cup honey (or agave nectar to make it vegan)
1/3 cup nut butter or oil (choose your favorite nut butter, peanut, almond, sunflower, cashew...it all good!)
1 Tb. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup seeds
1/2 cup dried fruit

-Spread the oats out on an ungreased baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes stirring often and watching carefully to make sure they toast, not burn.
-While the oats are toasting in the oven, in a small pan on the stove bring the honey, nut butter and vanilla just to a simmer so it all melts together and remove it from the heat.
-Once the oats are toasted transfer them to a large mixing bowl and add the cinnamon, nuts, seeds and dried fruit and mix well.
-Pour the honey/nut butter mixture in with the oats and mix well so that the oats are all moist.
-Spray your baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the mixture evenly over the pan and return to the oven
***At this point I usually just turn the oven off and let the granola sit in the cooling oven for a couple of hours or overnight to crisp up. You could also turn the oven down to 250 degrees and let it bake for 30-45 minutes, stirring often until it is toasty. I think leaving it overnight is easier, less chance of burning it on accident, and then it is crunchy and ready for breakfast in the morning!***

Now, that is the basic recipe and it is endlessly customizable to your taste and depending on what you have in your cabinets. Almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried mango, dried apples, dried cherries, dried cranberries, grated coconut, chocolate chips, orange extract, almond extract, flax seeds, anything and everything you can think of would taste GREAT in this. You can even cut the honey in half if you want it to be a little less sweet and I find it is still enough stickiness to hold the granola together well. As an example, for my most recent batch I didn't have any peanut butter or seeds in the house but I wanted granola so I used 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup Earth Balance spread, and vanilla extract for the liquid. Oats, pumpkin pie spice, cocoa roasted almonds, orange flavored cranberries and unsweetened coconut for the granola base and it is totally AMAZING. Not overly sweet, tons of flavor, perfect to mix into my plain yogurt with an extra drizzle of honey. So try it out, use your imagination...it is a very easy, quick recipe and will make tasty granola for pennies of what you would pay in the store.

Smoothie:
I am also making a smoothie every morning as my breakfast because it is easy to make and I can put it in a water bottle to take to school and drink during my 8am class. I absolutely love my smoothies so I wanted to share that recipe too.

Tina Version of a Green Monster Smoothie-
- 1 scoop protein powder (I use unsweetened chocolate flavor)
- 1 Tb. ground flax seed
-1/2 frozen banana
-handful of frozen fruit
- approx. 1/2-1 cup frozen spinach (to taste)
-2 Tb. 100% pineapple juice frozen concentrate
- 2 dashes cinnamon
-1 cup almond milk
- water as needed for consistency

I just put all of this into my blender and blend away until it is smooth and green and yummy! You don't really taste the spinach but it is a great boost of veggies and nutrients in the morning. The pineapple juice concentrate adds some natural sweetness. I add a little extra water if it is feeling too thick with just the 1 cup of liquid from the almond milk, you could also use more almond milk but I like my carton to last the week and a little water really doesn't change the flavor. Super yummy, super filling, super natural energy!

So that is my morning recipes right now. I apologize for there being no pictures, I was in a rush this morning and forgot to take any. I will try to update this post later to include some pictures so you can see my granola and green goodness and a picture of the Blue Bomber Bicycle that is transporting me every so faithfully around campus and kicking my butt into shape!

Have a great day everyone :-)

I'm Back!

Hi there folks (for anyone who may actually be reading this). Sorry for the long absence but my dad's lovely little pug knocked a glass of healthy, antioxidant filled red wine on my laptop and now a few vital keys are no longer working! Rather than copy and paste every single A, S, D, and W into a blog post, I had to wait until I could come use the computers at school. So, hopefully I should be able to stay a bit more on top of things now that I will be on campus every day and will have access to fully functioning keyboards :-)

So, since today is the first day of school I figured I would kick off with my healthy approach to school post! First off, I am not your typical college student in many ways. The fact that I am not 18 would be a big indicator of that. I went to school full time for a year when I was 19 at Rutgers University in New Jersey and then quit and started working and taking classes online at the community college for several years. I have spent most of the last 8 years working in finance and am just now going back to pursue a degree in my passion, acting. So needless to say, my 28 (almost 29) year old self stands out a bit next to all the fresh faced recent high school graduates! Also because of that, I am not living in a dorm and I am not on a meal plan.

However, in many ways this is a great thing when it comes to healthy living. I gotta tell you, when I did go to college when I was 19 I FULLY indulged in the crazy cafeteria eating that freshman can be so famous for! Can you say large soda cups full of soft serve ice cream and Reese's Pieces?? Oh yeah...I did it. So when I had lunch in the cafeteria here during orientation and was surrounded by basically the equivalent of fast food for $8 a meal I just said "No" and have decided to keep it in house. Now, when I was working in corporate America I packed a lunch just about every day and kept a cabinet full of healthy breakfast and snack options to eat at my desk. Oatmeal, tea, nuts, dried fruit, all the good stuff. I also had a fridge and a microwave to keep perishables and heat up my lunch. Of course, when I have nothing but a backpack to bring to school every day those are no longer options so I have to reevaluate my choices based on lack of cooling/heating and more limited space.

So here are the things I am doing immediately, and some medium term goals that I will be pursuing to make my return to school also conducive for maintaining and improving my health!
1) I am biking to and from school every day. I live about a mile from campus, and 1/2 mile is straight uphill and the other 1/2 mile is straight downhill so it is a great workout going both ways! It takes me about 15-20 minutes so right there is 2 miles and 30-40 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.

2) I am eating a healthy breakfast and packing a morning snack and light lunch. I have all morning and early afternoon classes so I have to leave fairly early and am on campus for lunch every day. I am planning on a piece of toast and a green monster smoothie at 7am in the morning, a small bowl of plain yogurt with honey and homemade granola for a morning snack, and a light lunch of leftovers, a sandwich, or some sort of homemade dip/spread and crackers with a fruit or veggie for lunch. Compact, easy, doesn't require reheating, portable. Today I had my slice of toast and smoothie, brought a container of greek yogurt and granola for a snack, and packed some whole grain pasta with homemade tomato sauce that I filled with shredded veggies for lunch.
*** I will do a separate post tomorrow with the recipes for my smoothie and granola with real pictures***

3) I am cooking and prepping in advance so that it is easy to have healthy food already portioned and ready to grab in the morning. I made granola last night, I packed leftover pasta in a single serving tupperware, I had my waterbottle for my smoothie clean and ready to go. I wish I could think of a way to prep my smoothie the night before, but I really like the texture from having all the frozen fruit, and I think if I prepped it and kept it in the fridge instead it would lose that nice milkshakey texture for me.
***Any ideas here readers on how smoothie prep might be shortened or done in advance?***

4) In the more medium term goal I am going to start going to the gym at school in between classes. I have a nice hour long break every morning that would be perfect for doing a 1/2 hour strength training routine to supplement my biking and dog walking. I need to figure out the best way to pack my exercise clothes in addition to my textbooks and get it all here on my bike, but I would like to start that next week once I get settled into a routine and actually KNOW where all my classes are!

5) I am allowing myself small treats as I go so that nothing seems overly painful or restrictive. I bought a bag of individual Ghirardelli chocolate squares that are in my freezer and I have one in the evening with a glass of wine so that I have a high quality, yummy treat while I am watching a movie or reading a book (or doing schoolwork as I will be starting now!) I really appreciate that little bit of sweetness and I am finding that when I savor it and enjoy it I am not running back to the freezer to bust open the rest of the bag like I might if I was just scarfing down a gas station candy bar!

So there you have it! And I have to tell you, I am feeling great right now...I have been focusing on eating healthy, eating moderate meals, enjoying my food, indulging in great seasonal produce (I just LOVE living so close to Georgia and getting the sweetest, juicy peaches for $0.50 a lb!) and working on treating myself with kindness, caring and appreciation every day.

Now I just need a LITTLE more sleep (but hey, falling asleep at 11:30pm instead of 3:30am is an improvement!) and a job and I will be set! If anyone has any other suggestions on easy to pack, healthy, natural options for snacks and lunches it would be greatly appreciated or fast breakfast options. Thanks y'all :-)