uc davis | Fitness is Sweet

I hope everyone is enjoying spring weather! The rain has stopped here, and it was mid-80s all weekend! Perfect for spending outside! I have some fun to share today, but I want to start with an amazing soup recipe I threw together tonight. And in true Fitness is Sweet fashion, this was done in less than 30 minutes. It would have been even faster if my blender wasn’t small! (Although the small blender still worked like a charm!)

Rosemary Zucchini Soup

Note that the quantities are approximate; I just threw everything together!

Ingredients:

3 large zucchinis

1 cup riced cauliflower

1 T minced garlic

2 T fresh rosemary

3 handfuls of spinach

salt and pepper to taste

broth to desired consistency

Sautee the zucchini, cauliflower, and rosemary with salt, pepper, and a little water. I covered it as well to soften. Cook until both are soft. Then, wilt the spinach on top of that mixture. Add garlic, and blend to desired consistency with broth. That’s it! It’s SO perfect for spring. You can also use any herb you want! I’ve made this before with sage because it was the only herb at the store that day, and it was good (rosemary is better). This would also be awesome with fresh dill, and then a touch of fresh lemon!

As for the rest of my weekend, I spent it mostly outdoors! Friday night I skyped some college friends before going to an outdoor brewery. Saturday was really the main day. I had the Sacramento Giant Race bright and early, and the weather could not have been more perfect!

I decided to try and maintain about an 8:20 pace. It seemed about right since I’m finally running regularly (as in once a week) again post-ankle bone bruise thing. I definitely lost some speed after not running for so long, and the couple of races I did (without running for months prior) during the course of the injury felt pretty awful and definitely were slower. I felt pretty good out there! More importantly, my ankle felt good too! The weather was beautiful, and the course was really nice. It went along the river, through some neighborhoods, and finished on the field!

It was a fun one, and so nice for my speed to be coming back! Again, the weather was amazing. It feels like summer! After some debate, I did go for the post-race beer because they had a non-IPA option, although I didn’t drink that much of it!

Next up was Picnic Day! It’s a huge deal here in Davis, and I can’t very well describe it. People come in from all over, and it’s basically a day of celebrating UC Davis. There’s a parade with floats (the vet school always wins), and basically every club and group on campus has some sort of booth. There’s lots of food and lots of people!

Here’s the one parade photo I got:

As I was getting ready to meet up with friends, I sipped on a green juice cocktail. Seriously, don’t knock it ’til you try it!

I spent the day walking around enjoying the weather and festivities with my friends.

Including the kittens from a vet school club…

Sunday involved Crossfit in the morning, which was mostly outside because it involved 3000m of running, some studying with an iced latte in a coffee shop, and a softball game. And ice cream. I’m currently loving the new Yasso frozen yogurt chocolate-vanilla swirl. I put GF mini soft chocolate chip cookies in it.

Besides the weather and fun things happening, I also really love what we’re doing in class right now. The gastrointestinal system is by far my favorite body system. I have lots of fun things coming up as well—I’m going home next weekend to go to some Giant’s games!

I’ll leave you with Jackson:

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I spent the weekend in Davis at a pre-health conference, although I stayed on the pre-vet side!

Overall, the conference was awesome. I learned some, but was also reassured about how much I’ve learned about this kind of thing in the past year. Let’s back up, shall we?

Friday, I worked at the vet, as per usual with my schedule this quarter. It was a bit of a rough one, but my amazing mother surprised me with gluten free pumpkin bread with pumpkin cream cheese! Um, yes! AMAZING. I haven’t had real pumpkin bread this year-only banana pumpkin and it’s not exactly the same.

From there I headed to the local mall to pick up some things for my trip. The attire was professional/business casual, so I wanted to pick up some nicer jeans. I had a bit of a clothing dilemma-I needed business casual/sheep appropriate attire. #prevetlife On the way back from the mall, I stopped at Whole Foods for dinner and items for my trip.

Apple butternut squash soup-so good-plus avocado kale salad with feta.

Saturday morning, I was up bright and early (4:30) to make the drive over. The drive was…interesting. It was SO dark and foggy. I couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of me in some places, which was surreal. It was dark, and in some places the only lights were my own cutting through the fog. Not the most relaxing drive to say the least! I arrived in Davis at the perfect time-just before the crowds to check in.

I went to the keynote addresses, and then to various workshops on vet school applications, livestock reproduction, animal nutrition, and mixed animal practices. Overall, they were very helpful. I was surprised by how much I’ve learned about the veterinary field, animal physiology, and the vet school process in the past year. I wish I had gone last year when I knew nothing!

After a full day of conferencing, I went in search of dinner and ended up at the downtown Davis Whole Foods. I actually ran into someone from high school there! Dinner was fantastic-I actually managed to make a good salad bar salad. In the salad was lettuce, grapes, bleu cheese, and balsamic. Sometimes it is best to keep things simple. Plus, I got some rice and roasted carrots and the star of the meal-a black bean and cheese tamale. YUM.

The conference was nice enough to provide housing for just $14 to attendees, so I had the chance to talk with some other people there that I roomed with that night. After some homework, I turned in for an early night.

I was up bright and early the next morning. I wanted a cappuccino and knew the Stackbucks on campus would be packed, so I Googled mapped one on the way. Right before I turned onto the street, I spotted another awesome looking coffeeshop and decided to give it a try instead-SUCH a good decision. Check this out!

Sidenote-downtown Davis is adorable. I also saw a pub that during “puppy hour” gives you discounted drinks if you bring your dog-how awesome is that?

Also-I nailed it with the Starbucks prediction on campus-check out this insane line:

My main event today was a sheep handling workshop. As you probably know by now, I’m obsessed with ruminants. In the workshop, we got to learn how to give sheep a basic exam, trimmed their hooves, and practiced moving them. Experiences like this make me think I might like to go into large animal medicine-everything about ruminant physiology is just so fascinating to me!

After the workshop, I made the trek back to campus. Overall, it was a good (albeit tiring) weekend!

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Amazing Zucchini Soup + Sac Giant Race and Picnic Day

Vet Stuff