The Healthy Everythingtarian

What you get is not always what you see.  Or, as in the case of this blog, what you see is not always what you get. What do I mean by my Saturday morning cryptic words? Let me debunk this week of craziness by dispelling the lies and setting the truth straight…

LIE: I couldn’t taste the spinach in this smoothie in a bowl (a.k.a. SIAB) at all.

TRUTH: Let’s be real, I could definitely taste the spinach, but (a) I needed the veggies (after the previous night’s beer), and (b) the smoothie was still DEE-LISH-USS! By the way, I am totally hesitant of people who say you can’t taste the spinach at all.  I believe that’s kind of a lie – I swear I can always taste it!

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. vanilla brown rice protein powder
as much spinach as I could fit in my mini-blender
1/4 cup Raspberry Galaxy Granola

LIE: I finished my to-do list last night.

TRUTH: How much more of a blatant lie do you want?  Out of this list, I successfully completed three things: (1) picking up a baby book for a baby shower this weekend, (2) buy my friend Jamie her belated b-day present and (3) BOOK A FLIGHT TO BANFF!  Yeah, that’s right.

Susan and I have been planning a week of hiking, biking and camping in Banff, British Columbia, Canada for a couple months now, and I finally booked my plane ticket!  My bank account may hate me, but I love me.  And, if you are still interested in coming along for what will be a foodie-filled adventure, e-mail me at healthyeverythingtarian@gmail.com or Susan at thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com.

I take that back, I finished four things on the list. I went on a killer 6.5 mile run last night – it wasn’t yoga, but my Saturday morning is now far more relaxing now that I got that out of the way.

LIE: I love juice.

TRUTH: Juice and I are in a love-hate relationship.  Most of the time, I just want coffee or Diet Coke. True fact. However, every once in an everythingtarian while, juice is EXACTLY what I want.

LIE: Raw carrots make for an excellent lunch addition.

TRUTH: Sometimes raw carrots make me so incredibly nauseous, I feel like I want to hurl.  Does anybody else have this problem? I Googled it (naturally), but all the Web sites told me its either in my head or just a weird thang my body does.  By the way, this lunch also included a peanut butter blondie and leftover Bulgur, Spinach and Toasted Walnut Pancakes.  Yummo.

LIE: I’ve been taking a lot of time this week to just relax and do the things I want to do.

TRUTH: Hola! Clearly, that was another blatant lie.  The truth is this week has been insane. Between work (a sick co-worker and a co-worker going out of town next week = more chaos); attending an awesome lecture by Vandana Shiva, who advocates for non-GMO food and a return to “soil, not oil”; fitting in some workouts; attending to all the other little tasks (i.e. blogging, cooking, errands) and of course, salsa class, free time this week was non-existent.

LIE: I have no food left in my house.

TRUTH: Even when it may appear as though you have “no food in the house,” there is always a junk salad of love to be made out of random ingredients.

1 handful of spinach
1/2 sliced yellow pepper
1/2 cup sliced cucumber
1 crumbled bulgur pancake
handful of walnuts
generous sprinkle of nutritional yeast
balsamic + EVOO

LIE: After eating the lovely sunflower seed butter-topped peanut butter blondie, I set to work on finishing the rest of my to-do list last night.

TRUTH: I may or may not have checked off nada from the list and hung out with Mr. Lawyer instead .

LIE: My appetite was raging when I woke up this morning.

TRUTH: After a week of inconsistent, odd eating patterns, I think my tumtum is a bit out of whack.  Quite frankly, I wanted coffee more than I wanted food.  Ummm…that ain’t right. So, I compromised.  I devoured a two-egg puff (sprinkled with salt + nutritional yeast) and am going to devote myself to eating less sugar (and ahem, alcohol), more balanced meals and lots of fruits/veggies the next week.

LIE: I have the rest of the day to do whatever I please.

TRUTH: My college roomies are in town, I have a baby shower in about 1.5 hours and this weekend is probably going to involve more food + drinking.  I won’t lie…the truth of it is: I think I’ve spoiled my upcoming week’s goal already.

Give me one lie + one truth of your own…

Ello loves!

It’s me again…and I may or may not have just drunk (drank?  drinken?) two pints of beer.  And I may or may not be slightly tipsy as I am writing this. No shame people. A lil’ beer never hurt nobody, especially on a thirsty Thursday night.  Because clearly, I am still in college.

This morning started out with a lovely breakfast of sunflower seed butter + banana toast. The best part? I discovered the sunflower seed butter I bought this past weekend has FLAXSEEDS in it.  Short-chain omega-3s, here I come!

P.S. Mondo shout-out to Jess for turning me on to sunflower seed butter – it’s so gooooodddd!

Work was especially crazy today, especially since one of my co-workers was out sick.  Feel better Chris! However, I still managed to find the time to donate blood today.  The American Red Cross comes to our workplace several times a year, and when they do, I make sure to donate.  I’m eligible; I don’t suffer any ill side effects; and SO MANY people need blood transfusions every day…we can’t not help!

Plus, you get some killer snacks after you donate…

Pretzels + juice = every little kid’s dream snack.

Apparently, you do need to eat more after giving blood because 1 pint of blood = 650 calories.  Holla! I always love a good excuse to eat more food.  And not work out.  This giving blood thing really has its advantages…

After my post-donation snack, I was still hungry so I noshed on an orange…

Then, I worked like a madwoman until I realized it was 2pm, and I still had not eaten lunch. Tsk tsk. Waiting too many hours between meals is never good.  Since I was too lazy didn’t have time this morning to make a lunch, I may or may not have snuck out of work to grab a Subway veggie sammie + Naked Green Machine juice.

Then I worked away the day and came home STARVING.  I immediately set to work on a recipe I have had my eye on for awhile…Bulgur, Spinach and Toasted Walnut Pancakes!

I don’t even know where to start.  These may or may not have been one of the best recipes I have made in a long time.

There were amazing. Spinach, toasted walnuts, bulgur, orange juice, soy sauce, onion, egg…they all make for one kick arse vegetarian meal.  I was searching for recipes that used bulgur wheat earlier this week, since I had about 1 cup to use up.  Low and behold, this recipe popped up, and I am so glad it did.

I ate three pancakes, then headed off for dranks with Mr. Lawyer.  We had two beers (plus some buttery, salty bar popcorn) each.  Twas’ a lovely evening.

Now, it’s 9:31pm. I have some dishes to do, an apartment to clean, and I am most likely to do none of it. Tomorrow is Friday, and I am PUMPED.

Have you ever donated blood? Yes, see above.

What are you up to this weekend? I have a baby shower for a college roommate, then lots of quality time with my college roomies who are all coming in town for the weekend!!!

Tonight during salsa class, I was reminded of a valuable lesson from my pal Doug.  He’s 60 years old; he’s rockin’ out two artificial hips; he can move like no other in the class; AND he can teach a young gal a thing or two about life.

“Holly, you’re turning before I’m directing you to turn,” Doug said, shaking his hips to the salsa beat.

“What are you talking about?” I responded, even though I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“You are supposed to be following,” Doug replied. “NOT leading.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Doug E. Doug, but I am not the following type.”

“Oh, I noticed. Trust me.”

“I’m a lady of the 21st century,” I said laughing. “I can’t help it.”

“And I’m an old man stuck in his ways.  I will lead, and you follow.”

I happily consider myself a modern woman – independent, strong and capable. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve liked being the one in charge.  Whether it was taking the lead on a group project in high school or being the bank in a game of LIFE,  I’ve always sought out the leader role. You can almost always find me on a need-to-know basis, because well…I need to know.

Through the years, I’ve slowly (but surely) learned there is a time and a place to lead as well as a time and a place to follow.  Nobody likes a know-it-all who can do anything and everything for themselves – and quite frankly, I can annoyingly be that person.  When I was teaching in Thailand, my friend Thomas constantly got mad at me when I would refuse to let him carry my luggage (even when I clearly needed it).  He would always remind me, “Holly, it’s okay to ask for help.”

Because it is.

It’s okay to follow others’ leads and make a smoothie you saw on their blog…

1 cup vanilla almond milk
3/4 cup frozen cherries
1/2 banana
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tbsp. vanilla brown rice protein powder
splash of vanilla
1/4 cup Not Sweet Vanilla Galaxy Granola

…or perhaps take inspiration from their blog for a delicious bowl of oatmeal.

1/2 cup oats
1 cup water
1 egg (whisked in)
1/2 smashed banana
cinnamon + 1 NuNaturals stevia packet
1 heaping tbsp. Nuttzo
1 heaping tsp. blackberry jam
handful Raspberry Galaxy Granola

Whether it’s following ways of the world and enjoying what’s in season…

…or taking a hint from a Web site for inspiration…

…or listening to your body’s needs for what to eat pre-run, surrendering control can sometimes be the BEST thing we can do.

Maybe it’s just following the beat of some good workout jams…

• Fresh Air Brother Ali
• Bust Your Windows Glee
• Hate on Me Glee
• Ooh La La Goldfrapp
• Butterfly Jason Mraz
• Down Jay Sean f/ Lil’ Wayne
• Pumpkin Soup Kate Nash
• Poker Face Lady GaGa
• Bamboo Banga M.I.A.
• Paper Planes M.I.A.
• Pure Pleasure Seeker Moloko
• Rude Boy Rihanna
• Momma’s Place Roisin Murphy
• Hips Don’t Lie Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean
• Holiday Vampire Weekend
• Young Money Vita Chambers

But that doesn’t mean you can’t take control of what you eat and put together, for example, the perfect yog mess.  There’s nothing wrong with 0% Plain Chobani Greek yog + 1 tbsp. sunflower seed butter…

…along with a sliced banana…

…topped with 1/4 cup of Not Sweet Vanilla Galaxy Granola…

…and all mixed together.

The question is: why don’t we follow – including our cravings – more often? Whether that means a big ol’ yog mess or a giant bowl of roughage (ahem, salad), following the natural signals our bodies are sending us is probably a much better thing than trying to force your body to want something.

2 cups spinach
1/2 cup edamame
1/2 cup sliced cucumber
1/4 cup yellow pepper
1/2 diced avocado
drizzle of ranch dressing
sprinkle of nutritional yeast

Or forcing something to happen when it’s not ready. Perhaps a new relationship?  Maybe patience is the best thing I can be learning right now.  And yes, that is what Mama Everythingtarian said.  And yes, mom – you are right. And yes, she loves it when I actually admit that.

Because when I let things happen, unexpected good things can result…like brown rice + edamame alongside roasted broccoli (with salt, garlic, crushed red pepper + nutritional yeast).

I still don’t always like following. No offense Sateesh, but you dance too rigid and slow for me.

And I still don’t have patience. Can we set up a real date already Mr. Lawyer?

And I really do enjoy leading others. I mean, I am a blogger for a reason…

But sometimes that can all take a back seat. Sometimes it’s okay for me to just go along for the ride…

So, thank you Doug for taking control, twirling a girl around and letting her just FOLLOW.

There are two things in this world I do not handle well: criticism + rejection.

In all honestly, I don’t really handle them at all. It is perhaps one reason why I’ve put off pursuing this writing thang – fear of my work (of me!) being torn to shreds.  The latter of the two is perhaps the reason why I am extremely cautious in matters of the heart.  I’ve been working on taking more chances in the love department, but sometimes things happen that make me take a step back in fear of rejection.

For example, it’s been three weeks, and Mr. Lawyer hasn’t called.

Naturally, I’ve come up with three excuses as to why this might be:

(1) His business trip abroad somehow got extended, and his phone obviously doesn’t work in Mongolia.

(2) He’s been so busy and jetlagged upon his return, he simply has not had the time.

(3) He’s a douchelord.

In my younger days, I may have freaked out about this and lamented the situation with a big ol’ carton of Ben + Jerry’s. However, this time around, I am surprisingly not letting this get to me.  Yeah, it sucks he hasn’t called, but ya know what? Why would I want to waste my time on someone who doesn’t want to waste their time on me? I don’t.

I am chalking this up as his loss and my win.  If I can fight through my fear of both criticism and rejection, then I’m the real winner in this deal.

Speaking of wins/losses, here’s lil’ tally of the past couple days…

Win: Two days straight of waking up to delicious Classic Banana Oats.

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup organic skim milk
1 small smashed banana
pinch of salt
1 packet NuNaturals stevia
cinnamon
blob of Nuttzo
Total Cinnamon Crunch cereal

Loss: Having to ration my coffee stash (a.k.a. less morning joe) to last the rest of the week.

Win: Waking up this morning to find my tax refund automatically deposited into my bank account.  Can I get a hells yeah? There is no better feeling than logging-in to my account and seeing WAY more money in there than expected.

Win: Delicious snacks – in this case, 3/4 cup Plain Chobani Greek yog, 1/2 cup Total Cinnamon Crunch cereal + 1/2 tbsp. raspberry jelly mixed all togetha!

Loss: As soon as I was finished eating this, I wanted more.

Win: Lunches you throw together in five minutes that end up turning out to be uber-delicious.  Like today, the carrots + Roasted Shallot Ranch Hummus alongside a grilled chicken salad (with cucumbers, spinach and red wine blackberry sauce).

Loss: Saying goodbye to your co-worker and accidentally back somersaulting over a small table, tumbling onto the floor and ending up with two bruises on your legs, one on your back and a jacked-up shoulder. True story.

Extra Loss: Having two witnesses who will not let you forget that incident happened.

Win: Leftovers (not to be confused with food that is left over).

Win/Loss: Spending two hours on a gorgeous Monday night doing laundry.  Good part? Done.  Bad part? Being stuck inside in 50+ degree weather.

Win: Snacking on cereal.  Quite frankly, I think it is by far one of my fave snacky foods.

Loss: Realizing you’ve devoured 1/2 a box of cereal in three days.  Cereal does NOT = balance.

Win: A cup of pomegranate frozen yogurt, graham cracker crumbs + blackberries on a 62 degree spring day.  Glorious.

Loss: This was way smaller than it looked, and I got seriously shafted on toppings.

Win: Dancing it up in salsa class then going on a long, leisurely walk in the aforementioned beautiful, sunny spring weather. So very enjoyable.

Win: Wearing leopard print flats without my feet freezing off.

Win: Stealing Bit-O-Honey candies (one of my all-time faves!) from the office down the hall.  This candy is often an elusive one – so when I find them, I stock up (in my stomach, that is).

Win: Unexpected combinations that TOTALLY work.  Two slices of sprouted Ezekiel bread, 1 slice Spinach + Pasta Frittata + a healthy slathering of red wine blackberry sauce. Seriously, this was amazing.  So amazing in fact, I had it for dinner both last night and tonight.

Win: Tallying up your wins and losses to find that the W’s outweigh the L’s 12:6:1.

Moral of the Story?

Be a winner.  In all facets of your life.  Criticism and rejection won’t get you unless you let it.

source: Curly Girl Design

The fates.

source

*ahem* I mean: The well-endowed fates.

Anyways, that’s what I am chalking this day up to.  Because clearly, there is no other rational explanation besides relying on ancient Greek mythologies to explain what happens in your life. When weird things happen, it’s the only explanation, no?

It all started with le foodie français. Me? Turning French? Overnight? But I speak Spanish!

As if the fates themselves were personally trying to screw with me, I then ran 7 1/2 miles at 7:30am this morning! I wouldn’t lie about something like this.  Who am I?  I can barely get up for work by 7:30am!  I chalk this up to one thing: my running buddy Kristie. Take that fates.

The weirdness continued with a seemingly innocent looking bowl of post-run oatmeal…

1/2 cup oats
1 cup water
1 egg (whisked in)
pinch of salt
1 small smashed banana
1 packet NuNaturals stevia
cinnamon
Nuttzo
1/2 crumbled PB blondie

But what’s so out of the ordinary about that bowl? It looks like just about every other I’ve consumed this week, right?

One word: COFFEE.

Two words: NO COFFEE.

Three words: THIS ISN’T ACCEPTABLE.

Four words: HOLLY WAS NOT HAPPY.

Lunch wasn’t TOO out of the ordinary; however, it did feature a new foodie item added to my repertoire today. Can you guess what it is?

This one is kind of a trick question.  It’s the hummus!  But not just any hummus, Roasted Shallot Ranch Hummus!

In a food processor, I mixed 1 cup chickpeas, 1 tbsp. tahini, a couple of glugs EVOO, 2 shallots (roasted in EVOO + salt @ 350), 1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Mix and a pinch of salt.  Delicious.

I also spent money today.

That may seem like an innocent statement, but I’m really trying to cutback this month to save some $$$.  However, after running this morning and feeling my knees tweak (which happens when I need new shoes), I knew it was time to take the plunge.  Plus, the shoes I was wearing were the same ones from my marathon in October. Bad runner Holly, bad runner.

And they’re pink. Chosen by the fates clearly, because pink is definitely not my style.

Also out of the ordinary? Reading my new Women’s Health mag in bed while munching on cereal.

Then I took an 1 1/2 long nap. For the record, THIS NEVER HAPPENS.  I don’t take naps.  The fates have seriously screwed with my body clock on this one.  *shaking fist*

Dinner was also an unusual inspiration…Spinach + Pasta Frittata!

Pasta + eggs? Never had I ever.

Good thing the fates took care of that one for me.

Spinach + Pasta Frittata

1 tbsp. EVOO
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups baby spinach
2 servings (4 oz.) whole wheat penne pasta, cooked until al dente
5 eggs, whisked
salt + pepper
crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese

Set your broiler to low.

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat.  Add the onion, and cook until tender.  Add the spinach, cooking until it wilts.  Then add the pasta and mix well, making sure you make an even layer of the mixture in the saucepan.  Pour the eggs over and let cook for 5-7 minutes.

Once the bottom is cooked, sprinkle the top with salt and crushed red pepper to taste.  Then, place the saucepan under the broiler and let sit until the egg is cooking through.  Take the saucepan out, and sprinkled the cheese over the frittata.  Place under the broiler again, and cook until the cheese is lightly browned.

Serves 4

My recipe writing skills clearly need work.

Served with watered-down POM juice…

Going in for the $$$ shot…

Devoured.

It’s 9:54pm, and I am freakishly awake.

One thing that’s completely and totally ordinary? This blondie.

Clearly, the fates are no longer in control.

Nuff’ said.