Oh hey, bloggie...

...you thought I forgot about you.  But nope, today I need to rant for a sec.  And that's what this blog thing is for (in addition to delicious recipes and brilliant DIY projects!).

After a day like today, I can't wait to be in my clinical rotation this summer... A full 3 months without written tests and group projects... Just get up, go to work, appreciate what I saw that day, relax, maybe actually make it to the gym, go to bed, repeat. Just have to make it to June! (yes, I know it will have its own stressors, but they will be different from the ones that are driving me crazy this week!) 

This week has been so crazy busy, I feel like I can't get a good breath before starting something else.   I had 2 projects due this week, a lab practical, a quiz, a brain harvest, plus Georgia State's first ever DPT White Coat Ceremony! On top of all of that, finals start NEXT WEEK! How did those sneak up on me when this is the desktop on my computer:

????????

Anyway, Caroline (the rooms) and I have taken on a large portion of planning this White Coat Ceremony tomorrow, which has taken time away from studyinig for finals and finishing my Neuro Atlas that's due on Monday.  I have no idea how I'm going to fit this next week and a half of school work into only just a week and a half of real time... {And none of that includes my real-life stuff going on this weekend, like pink barre (go PT PAC!) and Abrielle's dance competition (pics to follow)}

And on top of all that, our professors just love those pesky little group projects. You know, the ones where it's impossible to get 6 peoples' schedules outside of class time to line up so that you can do the project together as a group.  So you try to piece together 6 little mini-versions of the project to sound like a cohesive group effort, which works about as well as a 5 year old's art project.  I'm so over those. 

Well, It's well past time to go to bed since I have to be up in the morning for a brain harvest... You know what they say, "the early bird gets to dissect the spinal cord!"

#roadtodpt

Veggie Pasta and Avocado Chick Pea Salad

Hello!

I'm on a study break, so I wanted to write a quick blog with a few new recipes I've tried out this past week!

First, my new Starbucks drink that I'm obsessed with! I spend way too much time at Starbucks studying, so I've tried to find a drink that A) doesn't cost too much B) isn't full of a bunch of sugar and C) will keep me awake while studying Neuro and Exercise Physiology... So here's what I've come up with: I order a double shot of expresso with a shot of sugar free caramel over ice in a grande cup (yes... I'm one of those girls with a complicated order) and then I add fat free milk! Look at how beautiful and delicious this looks! {even though they always spell my name wrong.....}

So now on to the recipes! I've got two for ya!

Veggie Pasta
One of the items I got on my trip to the Dekalb Farmers Market [which you can read about here] was a can of Organic Fire Roasted Whole Tomatoes.  I had the idea of making a pasta sauce from it (shout out to Stacey Simpson for teaching me how to do this a few years ago!)

For sauce
1 Can of whole tomatoes
Olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
Pinch of sugar
Spices

Veggies
1/2 Zucchini
1/2 Squash
1/4 Red bell pepper
1/2 can of Chickpeas
Garlic salt
Handful of spinach

Pasta
Cook according to package

1. Empty full can of tomatoes (with sauce from can) into sauce pan [Tip: keep an eye out for a stem in there... Wasn't expecting that, but I guess that's something that can sneak in there when they're "field to can in 8 hours" and organic]

2.  Add about 1-2 tsp olive oil, a pinch of sugar, 1-2 cloves of garlic finely diced or thrown through a garlic press and any spices in your cabinet that you think might go well in pasta sauce (I honestly have no idea what I threw in there!)
3. Cook on medium-high heat while you cook the pasta and veggies:
4. Cook pasta of your choice according to the package
5. Dice up veggies of your choice (I had pre-cut zucchini, squash, and red bell pepper in my fridge) and throw in a sauté pan with chick peas, olive oil, and some garlic salt - watch and stir until veggies are soft then add a handful of spinach

6. Cook veggies about 1-2 more minutes (until spinach wilts) then take off the heat
7. Check on the tomatoes and use a potato masher or fork or whisk or whatever you have to mash everything up and let it simmer for another minute or so

8.  Put everything together, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy!

Avocado Chickpea Salad-Salad (Or Avocado Chicken Salad Salad)
I've never really been a chicken salad fan for multiple reasons. First, I haven't eaten meat in about 10 years and second, most of them use mayo as a base and mayo is the devil (ammiright, dad?).  So when I started seeing recipes around pinterest like this one: Avocado Chicken Salad and this one Avocado Chickpea Salad Sandwich, I decided to try out a hybrid that kept all the things I liked, trashed the things I didn't, and then added a few of my own ingredients. So here's how I made my Avocado Chickpea Salad: 

(most of these are approximate measurements - I usually go by the little-bit-of-this, spoonful-of-that method!)
1 Avocado
1/3 c. plain yogurt
1/8 c. finely diced onion (more or less to taste)
1 clove garlic
1/4 lime
1/4 c. crushed cashews
Cilantro
Pinch of sea salt
Cherry tomatoes
1/2 can chick peas {or cooked chicken}

1. Add avocado, yogurt, onion, crushed garlic clove, juice of lime, cashews, cilantro (diced), salt, and diced tomatoes to a bowl and mash/mix until smooth

2. Rinse chick peas and add to mix {or add cooked chicken to the mix}

...and that's it for the actual Chickpea Salad...

From there, I made the Chickpea Salad-Salad with:

Chickpea Salad (duhh)
Kale
Spinach
Edamame
Shredded cheese
Strawberries
Cantaloupe

~Hope you enjoy these recipes! Let me know if you ever try out any of my recipes, I'd love to hear how they work out and how I could write these blogs to make them easier to follow!~

Also, just want to shoutout to these amazing ladies.  I went to Athens last weekend to watch UGA Noteworthy compete in ICCA quarterfinals.  They looked and sounded awesome and I'm so proud of them! They took 3rd place overall and won best solo (*Jordan*)! If you're interested, you can watch their entire set here! So proud to have been a part of this group and can't wait to see what they do next!

Farmers Market, Rainbow Chard, and a Sick Day Smoothie

Farmers Market

  Have y'all ever been to the Dakalb Farmers Market? It's amazing! You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, but Their produce section is GIANT and everything is so cheap! I went earlier this week and got a giant loot! My only problem is that whenever I go, I feel like I need to get EVERYTHING... not a good idea when you're buying fresh, organic produce that goes bad in about 4 days... My goal is to get better at planning meals and only buying what I specifically need for that week!

Rainbow Chard Sweet Potato Hash

  The first thing I made with all my farmers market goodies was a delicious hash for dinner that night! It was so good and super healthy!

Ingredients:

Tofu

1 sweet potato

1 zucchini

1 squash

1/2 onion

1 (very large) rainbow chard leaf

Coconut oil

Garlic salt

Lime

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut a slice of tofu, wrap it in paper towels, and place something heavy on top to press out the excess liquid

3. Dice sweet potato, zucchini, squash, and onion (I diced extra and put in a tupperware to leave in the fridge for easy access to diced veggies throughout the week!)

4. Cut stems off rainbow chard, slice the stems into thin sticks and cut the leafy part into smaller pieces (look how pretty rainbow chard is!!)

5. Line a baking sheet with foil

6. Massage some coconut oil onto the sweet potatoes and rainbow chard stems and place on the baking sheet 

7. Sprinkle with some garlic salt and squeeze a slice of lime over them - cook for ~ 50 min (until the sweet potatoes have some char on them and the chard stems are dehydrated), tossing the veggies avery 10 minutes or so

While the sweet potatoes and rainbow chard stems are cooking: (wait about 30 minutes to do the next steps so that everything is done at the same time!)

7. Dice the pressed tofu into ~ 1 in. cubes

8. Sauté onion, zucchini, squash, tofu, and the rainbow chard leaf pieces in coconut oil and garlic salt

9. When everything is cooked, place the sweet potatoes and sautéed veggies/tofu on the plate, top with the chard stems, and squeeze another lime slice on top

Sick Day Smoothie

  I woke up this morning with the 'crud.'  Just didn't feel good in general - stomach ache, headache, sore throat, and ears felt a little itchy.  When I feel sick, eating healthy and spending time cooking aren't the first things on my list.  I usually just want to go for the easiest thing to grab between tv shows... So this morning when I woke up and knew it wouldn't be a super productive, healthy day, I decided to at least start to morning off right.  So I snuggled up on the couch with a giant glass of water, hot tea, and a green smoothie.  This way, even if I don't eat great the rest of the day, I've got some greens and fruit in me already!

Hot tea ~ I mixed three different teas:

1 bag of green tea

1 bag of peppermint tea

1 bag of ginger tea

Grated ginger (peal and cut fresh ginger and keep it in the freezer for easier grating without getting the stringy mess)

Slice of lime

Honey

I just boiled some water and added the 3 tea bags, ginger, and lime and let simmer for about 5 min then added the honey

Green smoothie

Handful of spinach (I took off the stems)

Handful of kale

1/2 avocado

~5 strawberries

Small handful of frozen blueberries

1/2 banana

Juice from 1 orange

~1/3 cup of POM coconut (that pomegranate juice brand)

Diced fresh ginger

1 spoonful of plain yogurt

I blended all that up first to make it easier to blend THEN added about 10 ice cubes

There are a lot of greens in this smoothie, but the natural sweetness from the fruit makes it delicious!

I'm going to try to get SOME studying done the rest of today because tomorrow, I'm going to Athens to cheer on UGA Noteworthy in ICCA QUARTERFINALS!!!!!! And then Sunday, I'm going to a Superbowl party! Soooo.... gots to get some work done today even though I don't feel too hot. :/

Here's a pic from when I competed with Noteworthy two years ago! Can't wait to see them compete again this weekend.  I'm already so proud of them! They've worked so hard for this competition!

I'm Baaaaack With 3 New Tofu/Chicken Recipes!!

Hello, lovelies!

After quite a long hiatus, I'm back! And I'm going to try to post more regularly!

WARNING: This is a long, rambling post... I didn't make any of these recipes with blogging on the mind, so I didn't think about measuring anything or thinking of the proper steps to type out. I'll get better!

So last week was my first week back at school! Semester 3 out of 9... oof!

I have a few recipes and a project that I wanted to share!  Since I've been back at my apartment after Christmas break, I've been trying out new made up tofu recipes and so far they've all turned out delicious! (Especially the dinner I just finished... but we'll get to that later)

First, for the (super easy, shouldn't even really be called a project) project:
So, the other day, I was looking through a bunch of old pics of me with friends and family the past few years and decided I wanted more of those pictures in my room because they make me smile.  :) I also really didn't want to get rid of the Christmas lights that I was taking down from our living room (because I firmly believe Christmas should be celebrated all year). SO I put the two together and got this:

It was super easy, I just used the mini Command hooks to hang the two ends of the lights on either side of my wall then did the zig-zag formation in the middle because that strand of lights was so long!  Then I used some photo 

paper I found in my room to print out all the pictures from my computer.  

From there, I just used those ornament hangers that look like bent paperclips to hang the pictures by poking one end through the top of the picture then just hanging it on the strand of lights!

I absolutely love my new photo wall!

Now on to the recipes! They're all tofu recipes, just with different sauces that I put together! Any of these could be done with chicken as well, just make sure that you cook your chicken through (and there is where the chicken tips stop, as I haven't had it in 10 years... not the best to give advice!)

1. Ginger Soy Tofu 
Preheat oven to 400*
A. I just cut off a piece of tofu, wrapped it in paper towels a bunch of times, then pressed it under a stack of plates for about 15 minutes to get out the excess water.

B. While the tofu was pressing, I put together the sauce:
(I just used a bit of this and a bit of that. Totally didn't measure... didn't have blogging on my mind at the time! But overall, it made about 1/2 cup of sauce if that helps to guide you)

*Soy Sauce
*Sriracha (just a few drops because I'm a wuss and can't stand spicy things)
*Crushed fresh garlic
*Ken's Steak House Lite Asian Sesame With Ginger & Soy Dressing
*Minced/grated fresh garlic (Saw a trick where you cut knobs of ginger and go ahead and cut of the skin layer, then put them all in a plastic baggie and throw it in the freezer.  From there, you can grate it much easier without it getting stringy like it normally does!!)

C. After the excess water was pressed out of the tofu, I cut it into cubes then threw the cubes in the bowls with the sauce.  I lined a small baking sheet with a rim (actually the sheet that goes with our toaster oven) with foil and poured the whole bowl of tofu-sauce mix onto it (there will be extra sauce because it's too thin to really stick to the tofu at this point... just go with it!).  I baked the tofu for probably about 30 min on 400* tossing it every 8 min or so to make sure every piece was coated.

D. To go with the tofu, I made a tomato quinoa by mixing a little bit of tomato soup with plain quinoa. It was delicious, easy, and a great alternative to just plain quinoa like I normally eat!

2. Orange Glazed Tofu and Lime Asparagus
Preheat oven to 400*

A. First steps are same as Recipe 1, just different ingredient for the sauce/glaze (so follow 1A and B)

B. For the glaze:

*Soy Sauce: about 2 Tsp?
*The juice from 2 orange
*The juice from a small slice of lime (like 1/8 of the lime... very tiny slice because the lime can easily  outweigh the orange)
*Sriracha: just a few drops for me, go for more if you're dragon...
*Brown Sugar: about 2 Tsp
*Ginger (follow same tip from Recipe 1)
*Flour: about 1 Tbsp to help thicken the glaze

C. I cut the tofu into cubes and threw them in the bowl with the glaze.  Mixed them around some, then put the tofu on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet.  This time, don't just pour all the glaze on top like I did before, just drizzle some of it on top of the tofu.  I baked for about 35 min at 400*, checking the tofu and adding another drizzle of glaze on the tofu every 8 min or so

D. For the asparagus,

I. Rinse a bunch of it and cut 1/2 inch off the bottoms of each of them
II. Line a baking sheet with foil then spray the foil with cooking spray
III. Put the asparagus on the foil and spray another layer of cooking spray on top
IV. Squeeze a slice of lime over the asparagus and sprinkle with sea salt

V. Bake in the oven at 400* until they are at a doneness you like (I like mine more crispy)
(Hint): If the tops start to brown before the stalks are done, fold the foil over the tops to keep them from cooking as fast

Done!

3. Coconut Lime Tofu Lettuce Tacos (MY FAVORITE!!!!!)

A. Follow 1A and 1B again

B. For the sauce: (This makes enough for at least two batches if you're only cooking for one!)

*2/3 can of coconut milk
*Juice from 1/2 a lime
*Soy sauce: about 2 tsp - NOT TOO MUCH! I accidentally made mine over-salty
*Grated fresh ginger
*1 Tsp(ish) brown sugar

(You will also need: coconut flakes, cherry tomatoes [diced], 1/2 an avocado [diced], hearts of romaine)

C. Cut the tofu into small cubes and cook them in a sauté pan with just some olive oil over medium high heat until they were golden brown

D. Turn the heat down to low

E. Add the coconut lime sauce until you fill the pan (it will look like way too much at first) and sprinkle in some coconut flakes

F. Cook the coconut lime tofu for about 5-10 minutes, stirring often

G. After about 5-10 min, I added a pinch of flour to help the sauce thicken up a bit.

H. Add sliced cherry tomatoes

I. Cook until the sauce has become a glaze on the tofu (looks so much better in real life than it ended up in this pic)

J. Place some coconut flakes on a foil lined pan and bake at 375 *WATCHING CLOSELY* to toast

K. Wash and dry hearts of romaine

L. Assemble tacos: place coconut-lime-tomato tofu, diced avocado, toasted coconut

M. Enjoy AMAZINGNESS

Congrats if you made it here! I warned you it was long and rambling! Sorry bout that! I'll make my recipes more organized from now on!

If you *did* make it this far, here are some random/adorable pics I found over Christmas break!

21/30

I've made it 3 weeks! Only 9 days to go!

...that's what I keep repeating to myself 'cause y'all, it's getting tough.  I feel like I've pretty much been eating the same meal in different forms every day.  Whole 30 as a vegetarian is NOT an easy task.  I also haven't had that much time to prep my food (which, as I said before, is what makes Whole 30 do-able).  Therefore, I've been having some mix of eggs, red pepper, onion, kale, avocado, and sweet potato pretty much every day.  

However, I do have 2 new recipes I tried out to share! On Friday, I finally had the chance to make a trip to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make this Coconut Lime Cauliflower "Rice"! (found on pinterest here:  http://meatified.com/lime-coconut-cauliflower-rice/) It is SO good! In short, you "rice up" some cauliflower in the blender then sauté it with coconut milk and lime juice until all of the liquid has been soaked up! I think I put a little too much lime juice, but it's still delicious.  I had some just plain friday night as a snack, then made my dinner out of it on Saturday! I sautéed up some kale, red bell pepper, onion, black beans, and sweet potato, then mixed all of that with the "rice" and some avocado! 

Aaand the second recipe is super simple: For breakfast on Sunday, I blended my coffee with some of the leftover coconut milk and it came out like a latte! A nice alternative to the plain black coffee I've had every morning so far!

So, I'm definitely struggling, but I'm determined to make it! I'm more than 2/3 of the way done and have just a little over a week left.  I just need to find some time to prep my food and some new recipes to try out!  I know I definitely haven't had enough variety in my diet in the last week, so I'm going to try to mix it up some this week! 

~9 days. 9 days. 9 days~

{Almost} Halfway There!!

As of today, I have finished 12 days of Whole 30! So almost 2 weeks in and still going [pretty] strong... 18 days to go!

{Spinach salad with tomatoes, avocado, red bell pepper, and a homemade strawberry vinegrette! The dressing was so easy! I just diced up some strawberries and threw them in the magic bullet with a little balsamic vinegar. Gave it a quick blend and, voilà!}

Let's start from last week - that was easy! I've found that Whole 30 is very do-able when you plan ahead, have the proper food at your house, and are actually eating at your house. I did all of this M-F of week 1, so I stayed very true to Whole 30 and didn't have too much of a problem. 

{Breakfast: Sautéed sweet potatoes and red bell pepper with a fried egg, 

an orange, blueberries, and black coffee!}

HOWEVER, Friday night, I went to the Ed Sheeran concert and that's when things started to get difficult. We went out to eat beforehand at a Mexican restaurant and I still did pretty good.  I got a bowl with black beans, sautéed veggies, corn, and avocados. They brought it out with chicken first, so I had to send it back and when the new one came out, it was cold and didn't keep me super full for very long.  Pretty disappointing... :/

{Pictures from the Ed Sheeran concert!!}

After the concert, we went to Waffle House.  THAT. WAS. TORTURE. All I wanted was a chocolate chip waffle and diced and covered hash browns! But I was good and just got 2 eggs scrambled with diced tomatoes in them.  I almost took just a bite of Allison's waffle ("what's this ONE bite really going to do to me?"), but stopped myself (tiny win!!). The eating out is hard, because technically I don't really know how things are being prepared. They probably have butter and olive oil (not allowed), but there's really only so much I can do. So I'm following rules when I make my own food and just doing the best I can with the things I have no control over. 

{Another picture from the concert!}

I spent the weekend in Athens with the family I used to nanny for (my Athens family).  It was the 16-year old daughter, Allison, and her friend I took to the concert Friday, and then the younger daughter, Abrielle's 8th birthday was on Saturday!  So, again, I did the best I could with the circumstances (not being at home in complete control of the preparation of my food).

{At Abrielle's party!}

{The adorable cake at her popcorn-themed party!}

Overall, I'm pretty proud of how well I did being gone the whole weekend, eating out and cooking in someone else's kitchen!

Then, we had 2 tests this week on monday and tuesday.  Since I was in Athens all weekend, I wasn't event close to prepared.  To be honest, those 2 days were a blur.  I slept 2 hours Monday night. I don't even know what I ate those 2 days.  I know I stayed within Whole 30 limits, but I pretty much just snacked all day.

I got back on track Tuesday night! I made a delicious sweet potato quiche dish that I had for dinner that night then for breakfast the rest of the week! It was so good! I found it on pinterest here: http://bydawnnicole.com/2014/07/crispy-kale-sausage-quiche-with-sweet-potato-crust-paleo-whole30-compliant.html
I changed a few things (subbed red pepper for the sausage and made a smaller one, so didn't use as many eggs) and it was delicious!!

{First you make a 'crust' out of just shaved sweet potato and coconut oil!)

{Add the kale, red peppers, and eggs and bake!}

{I ate it with avocado and salsa!}

Well, this update has gone on long enough, so I'll leave you here.  Tomorrow night is Meredith's wedding!!! I can't wait to have a UGA Noteworthy reunion (and have my cheat night!!)!  I am only letting myself break at the reception, so I'll eat right all day tomorrow before the wedding then will get right back on Whole 30 Sunday morning!  Now that those crazy tests are over, I'll try to update more often! Promise!!

{At the last Noteworthy wedding! Love these girls!!}