On the Third Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: November 30, 2014

Author: astottler

3 new recipes!

I know recipes are few and far between around here, so for my blogiversary I took to the kitchen and got to work!

Here are last year’s. Note-the double chocolate banana bread is possibly the best recipe I’ve created.

Another note-I’m currently blogging from Starbucks because our Internet has been down since Wednesday, so I apologize for not responding to comments!

Last year’s recipes were all banana/bread based. This year, I made some roasted veggies!

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

3 T olive oil

1 lb broccoli

1/4 c nutritional yeast

1 T garlic paste or 3 cloves of garlic, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Toss all ingredients together.

3. Roast until broccoli is tender and starts to brown, about 30 minutes.

Guys. This was good. Like, I wish I had more pictures but we ate it straight from the pan good. The garlic and nutritional yeast makes it almost creamy. The best part? I still have another pound of broccoli I can roast!

Cheesy Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower

about 2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup ground parmesan

1/2 cup grated gruyere or cheese of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Toss together olive oil, salt and pepper.

3. Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until almost tender.

4. Remove from oven and toss with cheeses. Return and roast another 5-10 minutes, until the cauliflower is golden and the cheese is melted.

This is super versatile-use any cheese of your choice, but I loved the flavor of the gruyere!

Basic Roasted Asparagus

I feel like I’m almost cheating with this one, but it’s something my family makes on a regular basis so I thought I’d share!

1 bunch of asparagus

2 T olive oil

a few sprinkles garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1. On a cookie sheet, toss all ingredients together.

2. Broil in the oven for 7-8 minutes.

WIAW and Life Lately

Date: October 22, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! Today’s WIAW is going up a little bit late, but that’s ok!

Today’s post will sort of be photo dump style. Expect more organization tomorrow-I’m recording a “Day in the Life” today!

Dinner on Sunday night was a giant Mexican salad with an obscene amount of avocado. I can count of one hand the number of times I’ve had avocado since coming to school….

Also a cheese quesadilla on top.

Breakfasts have been same old, same old. Which I actually like, because it’s nice to have a routine, but doesn’t make for the most interesting blog content. The other day there were bananas though, which was a nice change!

While this lunch wasn’t the most exciting, I loved how colorful it was! Mashed sweet potatoes, hard boiled egg, and broccoli.

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with my family. My mom and I split a chopped salad (see my version here!) and an arepa with gouda.

Dinner at the dining hall was meh. The roasted vegetables were great-the food I did get was good, but there wasn’t a protein source so my meal felt like it was majorly missing something.

I remedied that by making some chia pudding, eaten in front of the Giant’s game.

I left it in the communal fridge to thicken, and I feel like people probably judged me heavily because it looks pretty weird!

In terms of life things, I’m officially having a Halloween party! I’m a little obsessed with holidays, and I feel like if I didn’t have one, I’d be sitting around by myself on Halloween. I invited people yesterday, and have zero idea what type of turnout I’ll get. On the plus side, my high school friend is visiting, and she’s very artsy so she can help decorate!

Other life news: this gum. It tastes like love and happiness.

Also, I love my Giants and I love my friends.

SO HAPPY about yesterday’s game! I’ve planned my whole life around the games so it was great to get a win! So happy guys, you have no idea. Let’s hope we keep this up!

What have you eaten lately?

It’s Another Edition Of….

Date: February 27, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Heyy! Happy Thursday/Friday/weekend depending on when you’re reading this! I really love Thursday evenings. It’s basically Friday for me so I had a really low key afternoon. ANYWAYS, that means it’s time for another edition of BLOGGING FROM THE LAUNDRY ROOM. Which really isn’t different from normal blogging so we’re gonna go with it.

Notable about Wednesday is that I ran in the rain. And I ate this little creation:

Under all that deliciousness is cottage cheese. Kind of a random combo, but easy to throw together! Also notable was my evening workout-I normally never go to the gym late at night, but I’ve gone a few times in the past couple of weeks. I’m proud of myself for actually sticking to it and going! I had wanted to go to Crossfit, but the workout was either movements I don’t like, or movements that might irritate my shoulder. It feels fine, but I did heavy lifts using it the day before and I didn’t want to push it! Instead, I did my own little workout. I worked on pull ups and the following:

30 sit ups, 21 kb swings and box jumps

30 sit ups, 18 kb swings and box jumps

etc. 15, 12, 9, 6, 3

I REALLY like this one! I actually did it once before, right when I was recovering from mono! Yeah, a little bit easier this time through! My abs are feeling it today too!

Last night I finished my Nutrition paper, and despite numerous distractions, I got a reasonable amount of sleep. I also got a reasonable amount of sugar in the form of doughnuts at our hall meeting, so I woke up drenched in sweat (TMI?) and very sluggish. Spin definitely perked me up!

Plus coffee and a delicious breakfast of egg and pesto gouda, plus a grapefruit.

(Here’s my beautiful title page. I blurred out the title because if I ever write a book, I’m totally using this! Kind of kidding…)

And yes, I did put chemical structures on there.

Lunch was kind of random. I have some butternut squash soup, and I spruced it up a bit by adding a sundried tomato chicken sausage and creme fraiche. To be honest, the flavors didn’t meld but it was still tasty! Maybe if I cooked the sausage in with the soup.

Also-I’m officially done with Chem lab! Like, forever! Today was my last lab section, and we even got out a bit early. I hightailed it to the campus market to try and use up some meal plan dollars and got some awesome things! I’ve been wanting cereal to spice up my morning yogurt, and I found some that is puffed grain, with no sugar or weird ingredients! Plus some 85% chocolate, and lots of plasticware. Whatever meal plan dollars I have at the end of the quarter are going towards plasticware. In bulk.

I spent a little time decompressing from a crazy week with Netflix, and some new purchases. Grape kombucha and white cheddar black truffle popcorn.

Then I proceeded to begin the process of the grand room cleaning. So far I’m through my desk and am currently working on laundry. Hence why you will notice my dinner was eaten on a paper towel-I didn’t want to get food on my newly cleaned surface!

I was planning on going to a yoga class today, but apparently it was cancelled. I decided to not let that deter me-I need to be ready for race day on Saturday! So I grabbed my mat and headed outside in the dark. And don’t worry-I was just outside my window in our courtyard!

It. Was. Awesome. It hasn’t rained all day, and it’s been fairly warm lately. It was a bit windy, and very peaceful. I turned on my “Quick Yoga” playlist, and when that ran out, I turned on the “relaxing” Pandora station. I loved having my own practice. I felt strong and could do whatever I wanted! I actually made some decent progress on crow and didn’t fall flat on my face, thank goodness! I left feeling grounded and loose. When the weather warms up, this may need to be a nightly thing. Spring here is so nice, and a little nightly yoga sounds heavenly.

Since I was expecting my yoga class to end after the dining halls closed, I had already bought myself a Mexican salad for dinner. This had some sparse beans and rice, and a cilantro dressing.

And more popcorn!

In other food news, I’m attempting to plan my meals for next week so I can go grocery shopping tomorrow. I’m thinking of something similar to my California Chop Salad, partly because I already have olives! I don’t think I’m getting enough veggies in the early parts of the day, so I’m planning on making a whole bunch of the salad minus dressing and pack it into ziplock bags for the week. Then, I can pour it into a bowl. Because my salads will not fit in tupperware!

While writing my paper on how sugar is toxic and eating doughnuts last night, I realized I’m totally addicted to sugar. I started tracking my adding sugar, and it’s a bit frightening. (Speaking of which-has anyone seen the proposed new Nutrition labels? I’m a fan! It’s time they added added sugar!) I think instead of going cold turkey, I’m going to try to schedule a bit into my day, likely in the form of a mid afternoon snack, since that’s when I always seem to want it! Thanks to herring about them on the blog world, I really want to try the new KIND grain bars! I love how KIND bars are low sugar, but thanks to my nut allergy, I can’t eat any of the normal bars! The new grain bars look delicious, and 4/5 of the flavors are nut free! Plus, they all have less than 10g of sugar, which is my general criteria for a bar. Now I just need to get my hands on some…

What’s your favorite type of granola/protein bar?

Next Quarter’s Meal Plan and Dining Hall Breakfasts

Date: December 12, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey everyone! I am literally so close to being on break! I only have one more exam to go-tomorrow morning! I’m taking a study break to blog-ok, to b honest, a pre-study break. For some reason I got a late start on the day, despite waking up and getting going before my alarm. But I’ve been thinking up a post all morning and I know I’ll be distracted until I post.

First thing’s first. Since my roommate’s birthday is over break, I wanted to do something for her before. She can’t eat gluten, and we’ve both in theory been trying to avoid sugar, so I made her the 21 Day Sugar Detox Apple Spice Sponge Cake from Pain Free Kitchen, and it came out so well! Delicious!

I started my morning with a spin workout on my own and a short run. When I walked out the door, I came upon Finnegan, the friendly campus cat.

He was meowing at someone’s window when I heard him and called out to him. It was 31 degrees this morning-I think he was so cold! He walked right up to the door of my dorm and acted like he wanted in. I felt so bad, but I was on my way out!

My run was only an easy mile on the treadmill. I was planning for 2 but my calves were kind of tired from spinning, and my book on tape ran out. Ok, maybe MOSTLY because my book on tape ran out. Since I was on the other side of campus, it occurred to me to try the campus coffeeshop (a different one). I’m so glad I did, my cappuccino was fantastic.

Also, I just wanted to share with you guys-I’m wearing sparkly pants. Hey, anything that makes me happy during finals week is good enough for me!

Now, let’s talk food. My eating habits haven’t been terrible this quarter. They’ve been pretty decent for the most part (not counting finals/midterm weeks…) and I generally feel pretty good.

As for my body? It’s fine. It’s whatever. I can lift heavy things. That’s cool. But I’m ready for the next thing, the next challenge. I’ve set my sights on faster 5ks-I think my life goal is to break 23:00 (and no I’m not particularly close). I think leaning out is definitely going to help get me there-carrying around extra weight will only make this more difficult! Plus, I hate wasting food. And I hate spending money. And dining hall food for the most part is so-so. And I could definitely feel more awesome overall-I’ve had way too many stomachaches lately.

For some reason, I’ve been especially hungry in the mornings the past few days, and I’ve actually been craving dining hall breakfasts. Here’s today’s (plus a pancake):

Toast with cream cheese, eggs, and spinach, a small blueberry muffin, and fruit. There’s nothing wrong with that. And yet…I feel so gross right now! Dining hall eggs…not the best. I’m not sure what they cook them in-tons of butter? Cream? Ugh. Anyways, back to the meal plan. I’ve made meal plans for myself in the past but they always horribly fail. Why? They’re completely unrealistic. Tip-never make meal plans when you’re really full and can’t imagine being hungry again. The food I plan is only a fraction of what I need to eat so I’m never able to follow them. That being said, I’ve been tracking my caloric intake the past few weeks. I have a pretty decent idea of how much I can eat to maintain my weight. Which means I can make much more realistic meal plans. Honestly, one of the biggest reasons I want to meal plan is to avoid wasting food and eat better food. And have more of a routine-if I have a plan for a similar eating schedule everyday, my body will adjust to it. Plus, if I plan I can go to the campus store and stock up on the veggies I need for the week-which takes meal plan dollars so free food!

I also want to focus more on eating REAL food. It’s hard to eat well when you don’t have the right things on hand. I found myself overdosing on Thinkthin bars the past few days, which is not great for my stomach-but they’re so convenient!

In the afternoons, I usually want something sweet and carby. So why fight it? It’s better than stuffing myself on “healthy alternatives” immediately before a workout (not a good feeling). I used to eat banana bread before morning weights in high school, and all kinds of quick bread before morning practice for crew last year, so it actually is the perfect pre-workout fuel for me (wonder why my body craves it? Our bodies are smart!). Over break, I’m going to make a ton of quick breads and freeze them. I’m already dreaming of my double chocolate banana bread.

For breakfasts, I might go back to my typical high school post workout meal of yogurt with honey (which the school market sells), or with brown rice syrup and cocoa powder.

Maybe some days, cottage cheese and fruit. Maybe something with sweet potato? It’s going to take some experimentation. And maybe some meals at the dining hall-with hard boiled eggs, not scrambled though!

I also want to do weekly veggie prep. And lunch prep-I generally pack my lunch, and given I usually have -2 seconds to pack my lunch as I run out the door, it would be great if it was easy. And I love getting some veggies in at lunch!

I’m also crazy excited to go home tomorrow and eat whatever my little heart desires. I’ve been craving my spinach-chocolate protein smoothies like crazy lately!

I’m also confident that I can maintain good health over the holidays-and no, I have no intention of depriving myself either! I’m in a much better place this year than last year-last year I felt like I was missing out on the holidays by being at school, so I compensating by gorging on holiday foods. I felt awesome over Thanksgiving break, so I’m just looking forward to enjoying the holidays free of worry!

Speaking of looking forward to-not sure if anyone’s been keeping track, but I have my Santa Run 5k on Sunday! I’m super excited-I pretty much have my outfit planned out. And no, I won’t be wearing a Santa Suit-I want to PR! After not being able to see me at the finish of the Turkey Trot, I had requests form my family to not wear the same color as everyone else, so I’m thinking my neon green shirt from last year’s Santa Run should stick out!

I’ve been training my butt off for this race! Track workouts 2x a week in dark sub-freezing temperatures, Crossfit, and extra rowing workouts…I’m ready!

I have 5ks scheduled for February and March before I get into half training, so I will definitely be able to see if my whole meal planning thing makes any progress for me!

As for the future? I really love short speed workouts. I have 2 halfs scheduled…and after that? Haha, most likely I will either retire from distance running for a while because my feet definitely prefer shorter distances, or run a full marathon. Opposite extremes, right?

Have a great day everyone!

Do you plan or prep meals?