>Thunderstorms yield great wine

>I have a confession: I still sleep with the teddy bear I was giving when I was born.

His name is Berry. AKA Strawberry Jones (sick name, right?). But I call him Berry for short. Hopefully I am not alone on this one like my Manfriend and sister lead me to believe…

Yesterday was quite the day. I started it out with PB + Chocolate + Chia Overnight Oats:

– 1/4 cup oats

– 2 tbsp PB Flour

– 1/2 scoop Chocolate protein powder (I use SunWarrior)

-1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt

– 1 tbsp chia seeds

– H20

– stevia

– dash sea salt

Hit.the.spot

I also delivered the Manfriend Breakfast IN BED:

Everything bagel with 2 over-easy eggs, grilled ham, and Laughing Cow cheese. Nice girlfriend I am, eh? heheh

[Insert 4 hours of thesis work (MS thesis in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology) while listening to the massive thunderstorms outside]

I love (being inside during) storms. So cozy.

During a brief storm intermission, I snuck out for a fabulous light-rain 5-mile run. Do you run in the rain. It is SO THERAPEUTIC. Seriously try it.

Feeling amazing and recharged for more thesis work, I came home to NO POWER. Bored and unsure what to do, I threw in p90x Arms and Shoulders on the Mac and got ma lift on in the dining room (our brightest room). Eh, if it works?

After 45 mins of lifting, the power was STILL not on. Then another FOUR hours went by of reading by limited candlelight. DCers: WHY does the power always go out in the SUMMER? I am from NH/Boston and the power has gone out more times HERE than when I lived in NEW ENGLAND!!!!!

So what’s a girl to do? 1) I showered in the dark. Interesting to say the least. Then 2) made dinner by candle light. Kelsey (sister) and I made one quick sweep into the fridge as to lose the least amount of cold air and whipped up dinnah.

*Sorry for the poor-quality pics. I was in the dark… 😉

Summer salad:

Romaine, tofu (medium), red grapes, diced watermelon, cucumbers served with Goddess Dressing + Nutritional yeast. Fab.

Hard-boiled eggs (fortunately we have a gas stove):

PB + Chocolate mousse for dessert:

1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp PB Flour, stevia, dash sea salt, drizzle organic chocolate syrup, drizzle Better N’ Peanut Butter

STILL without power, I threw in the Thesis-Towel, put my face on by candle (and flash) light..

..and met the Manfriend and his cousin Dan for drinks at this awesome place. <— If you live in the area, this bar is fantastic. TONS of beer, great vino selection, and FANTASTIC ambiance. Seth informed me this morning the AMAZING Cabernet I was drinking was $15/glass. Whoops 🙂 BUTTTT…we did come home to POWER!

And that brings us to today. I woke craving something TROPICAL. Perhaps it’s due to the SUN that’s finally out?? I went for a Green-a-Colada Protein Smoothie (inspired by Gina’s):

– 1 scoop vanilla protein (Used SunWarrior)

– 1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt

– 1/4 cup frozen pineapple

– 1/2 cup frozen mango

– 1 frozen banana

– 2 tbsp red. fat unsweetened coconut

– 2 hand fulls fresh spinach

– stevia

– 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (optional; to thicken)

– teeny dash sea salt (brings out sweetness)

– Ice + H20 (or almond milk)

Perfection.

So what’s up for the rest of the day???

– Thesisss
– Lunch
– Workout (Run or TurboFiyyyah)
– Pack for tomorrow’s Road trip (hint: clue in 4th picture)
– Clean apt
– Dinnah
– RHDC and Jersey Shore (hehehe)

Have a fantastic day Y’ALLLLLLL (hint #2)

-Laur

QUESTIONS:

Do you still sleep with a stuffed animal?

Have you taken any road trips lately???

>Eggs + oats + Laughing Cow+ noosh + hot sauce = MAGIC

>Ummm, wow. I needed to post this immediately because I am completely taken back by this SUPER QUICK, EASY, and DELISHHHH dish! I’ve heard about ‘savory oats’ and different combos using noosh (nutritional yeast), but asides from topping it over popcorn, I had little use for the stuff.

Um yeah, that changed. Behold the best combo everrrr:

SCRAMBLED EGGS + NUTRITIONAL YEAST + HOT SAUCE
Check out these incredible BENEFITS of NOOSH!

I stared by soaking 1/4 cups in 1/2 cup boiling water + 1/4 cup egg whites. While the oats softened, I microwaved a handful of frozen spinach and veggies I had on hand. Next I microwaved the oats/egg whites combo until done and cooked 1 scrambled egg on the side. When done, I combined all items and added 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast + 1 Laughing Cow Light + pinch sea salt + pepper + hot sauce.

And behold:

^The MOST OOEY GOOEY CHEESY (healthy!) dish I ever did have! It tasted like mac and cheese! SO. FREAKIN. GOOD.

It paired nicely with this guy I picked up on sale at Tar-jay:

So wowed by the meal, I made it aaaagain today. This time I wasn’t quite as ravishing, so I omitted the oats. I had this guy lying around:

Good veggies but the sauce was a little overpowering. To fix this, I soaked the veggies in H20 then nuked veggies in H20, drained then added 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast + 2 scrambled eggs + pinch sea salt + pepper + hot sauce.

OMG. I am truly in love.

Sooo…..I’ve MISSED EVERYONE SO MUCH during these last few weeks of craziness. PLEASE TELL ME what you’ve been up to!!!!! I misssss youuuuuuu!

HAVE A FAB WEEKEND!!!!

XX,

Laur

PS..Check out the beautiful Gabriela’s awesome giveaway!

>Randomness

>HOWWWDYYY HOOOO!!!!! Happy Friday, y’alllll!!!!

Whatcha doing this weekend? My No. 1 priority is finishing my Master’s Thesis. A few exciting things coming up in my neck of the woods..

1) Graduation parties
2) Monday is my LAST day in Scienceland
3) My nursing assistant course starts on Tuesday (I’m doing this to get patient care hours required for the Physician Assistant (PA) program I’m applying to)
4) The weather is supposed to be GORGEOUS!!!

What’s on YOUR LIST???

Really sorry I’ve been MIA lately, I’m SUPA busy finishing up in lab, getting ready for my big career change, moving to a new apartment, aaaaaand coordinating last min details of a bachelorette party I’m hosting! Exhausting, right?!

This post is going to be quick and RANDOM, because my photo taking has been pretty scarce lately.

RANDOM ITEM #1: A new purchase

^The Blender Bottle (I picked mine up at Whole Foods)

The night before I add:

– 1 scoop protein powder
– Frozen fruit
– Dash stevia
– 1 tsp flax seed oil (to promote absorption of fat soluble vitamins)
– 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (for extra thickness)

The reasons I prepare my smoothie the night before are:

1) To save time in the AM
2) To give the fruit time to thaw and become mush so it can be easily whisked

When I’m ready to have it, I’ll add ~1 cup cold water, SHAKE, then throw in some ice cubes.

The RESULT? Pretty good considering no blender required. Don’t get me wrong, it’s doesn’t whip up one like my magic bullet does..

But it’s a good 2nd choice for when you’re on-the-run. HAVE YOU TRIED ONE???

RANDOM ITEM #2: p90x

I’ve had these DVDs for some time now, but have done workouts other than Shoulders and Arms and yoga. Kelsey (sistah) and I did the PLYOMETRICS DVD last night, and let me tell you – it KICKED OUR BUTTS! It was sooo fun though! A nice cardio break from running and spinning 🙂

Kels post workout:

^HA!

RANDOM ITEM #3: All natural margaritas

You knowwww I LOVE me some tequila, but I’ve always questioned what’s in that supa thick triple sec I add to them to make the perfect skinny margarita. Until now…

^ALL NATURAL Triple Sec! BOOOO YA!

That paired nicely last night with Sir Patron:

TRUE.LOVE.

RANDOM ITEM #4: Old pics

Attempting to clean my room in anticipation of our move, I came across these pics from college:

^Flip cup!

^Check out my SWEET highlights! LOL

^Me posing with my BFF Alyson (redhead) and old roomie Julie

TOO FUNNY! Can’t believe how YOUNG we look. Seems like yesterday that I was in undergrad!

Well I’m gonna get back to thesis writing (you can imagine how much fun that is!)

QUESTION: What are you MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO this weekend????

XOXOX,

Lauren

>The finer things

>Hey heyyyy,

How’s your week going??? Mine has been bueno. I have 3 very exciting experiments this week. Cross your fingers for those ones 😉

Yesterday I planned to hit the gym after work but decided to meet the Manfriend for dinner at Chop’t, my favvvvvvorite quickie restaurant. Seth has always teased me for loving/craving monster salads claiming they “never fill him up”. But alas, whooo didn’t finish their meal last night????? hehehe.

After dinner I lounged for a bit then did a home workout of p90x shoulders and arms followed by Yogalosophy (30- min). Yogalosophy isn’t really yoga per se (imo), I think it’s more pilates but it’s def a great workout, the legs were killin’ today!

After that Seth and I caught up with Big Love (who else watches that show? Love it.) and cuddled him:

^Like his apparel? LOL

And enjoyed the finer things in life:

^Organic dark mint chocolate and vino, clearly. PS, this choc is BOMB. Tastes like Girl Scouts’ Thin Mint Cookies.

This morning I woke and headed out for a 4-mile run (casa to White House back to casa). I took it slow today as my knee was feeling a little tight. I neeeeeed some Bikram in my life!

For breakfast I was craving eggs and toast so I whipped up this:

^3 Egg whites and spinach w/ red pepper flakes, dash sea salt. Piece of Ezekiel toast w/ Earth Balance

And savored this new bag of Caribou:

^With soy, and cinnamon. Ahhhh, you never let me down.

Lab was pretty crazy today, I didn’t eat lunch until 3pm. I couldn’t help but notice how unhealthy our vending machines are:

Don’t get me wrong, I do love ma snacks. But c’mon, there should be at least some healthy choices. On days when you forget your bag of almonds, apple, etc. wouldn’t it be convenient if you could purchase a Luna or Kashi bar. I don’t know about you but I’d pay the extra 50 cents for a nutritious snack. Well today’s lunch didn’t quite hit the spot so after so I settled on the cleanest food I could find, trail mix. I ate the almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and raisins, but check out the ingredients for the “yogurt” pieces:

ICK.

Most people assume yogurt actually equals yogurt, not hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup. You’d think a top research institution where DIABETES is highly studied, might offer healthy options in their machines.

Anywhooooo, tonight Seth and I made a Trader Joe’s trip and whipped up a taco salad in no time:

^Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cuban-style beans, ground lean turkey, roasted corn salsa, pico de gallo, light mexican blend cheese, and our secret dressing.

Aaaaamazing, as always (aka I make this A LOT).

Well I’m off to shower then read a bit before bed. Have a great night!!!

QUESTION: What do you buy from vending machines or convenience stores for snacks????

xoxox