Crêpe-inspired breakfast

What's your favorite food of all time?? For me, it's the first thing I really learned how to make. When I was really young, my French grandma always used to make sugared crêpes and I quickly figured it out on my own. Then living in France I used to find crêpe stands all over the country.

Needless to say one of my favorite foods, for both taste and nostalgia, are crêpes.

(Source)

J.D. and I made a batch a few months back, and for some reason I had a hungering for crêpes last night. The desire inspired an idea for breakfast I'd been envisioning for literally over 12 hours.

Let me introduce my Crêpe-inspired oats:

The idea came from the delicious pairing of Nutella, strawberries and bananas in most of the typical dessert crêpe menus.

First I chopped up some strawberries and a banana, since both are running on their last legs (fruit doesn't last too long in this valley heat):

Next up, prepped some quick cook oats on the stove and topped them with the fruit plus a large dallop of low fat Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's (love that store!!):

And now the fun part: NUTELLA!!!! (Plus a little bit of peanut butter for some protein):

Once I was satisfied with my creation -- except for the lack of actual crêpe haha -- I washed it all down with some vanilla soy chai tea.

Yum, yum. I loved playing around with crêpe toppings and just might have to do it again!! ...Or I just might have to make some crêpes soon to satisfy my craving for them.

So why am I on such a French kick lately (well, minus the obvious fact that I am French)??? It all started with the new tablecloth I donned for last night's dinner post. Check it out if you haven't yet!

Puppy update and dinner!

Don't know if you can tell, but Woodstock is doing better after pet hospital visit No. 2 this afternoon.

He was still in a funk all morning/afternoon and I nervously had the vet's number ready to call if it got any worse. Knowing there really wasn't anything I could do, I went for my 3.1 mile run as soon as I got off work at 4 p.m. in preparation for my 5K on Sunday. P.S. Let me recommend that you don't EVER run without dryfit clothing or a bottle of water in 85+ degree weather. It was horrendous. Though I still clocked in around 27ish minutes. Well over my mark, but not terrible given how awful I felt the entire time.

When I returned home, I saw that Woodstock had some issues - I'll spare you the details. So off to the pet hospital we went. They didn't charge me for the visit since it was a lingering complication from last week's visit, but we did get him new food that he's finally eating!! YAY, and a new medicine that hopefully he won't have violent reactions to.

After talking to J.D. post interview when we returned home, I started preparing dinner for one while he hopped on his plane home.

I kicked off the meal with an easy roasted garlic hummus salad drizzled with olive oil balsamic vinaigrette.

Like my "white wine"??? Haha, that joke never gets old. Anyways, I followed the meal up with a repeat of last night's dinner (since I couldn't finish it): artichoke pesto crusted tilapia with garlic sea salt asparagus. It wasn't as good nuked obviously, but it still filled me up.

How French am I??? A Provencal tablecloth purchased in Europe, along with a set of plates I'm sure my dad brought home from one of our many times in France. (Dad, when are you going to take me again, it's been over two years?!?!)

And the meal's finale included a fruit salad I "desserted up" with vanilla honey crème: nonfat Greek yogurt blended with a drop of vanilla extract and teaspoon of honey. I topped it all off sundae style with some chopped walnuts. Something I'll definitely prepare again :)

And in true European fashion the meal ended with coffee!!! I used my French press to make a soy latte in my Paris mug haha. So fun.

And speaking of finales.... what shows do you all watch?! I've been hooked on ABC for a few years now and am kind of shocked by a few of their season finales. J.D. and I watched Grey's Anatomy last night and OH MY GOSH - every commercial break I was on baited breath (which is normal for that show and season enders), but it all wrapped up so neatly at the end, save for the random deaths. Aren't season finales supposed to be cliffhangers for several months?!

Well, Modern Family wrapped up neatly as well, but Brothers & Sisters was extremely suspenseful and is going to leave me asking questions until September!!!!

Hope all your shows kept you waiting for another season :) For now, I'm going to sip my latte and veg on some Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe and await my boyfriend's return from his one day interview trip to Malibu. Good night all! xx

Busting out the camera again

I'm fairly certain the last time I used my camera was for our Halloween party. Well over six months ago.

So let's just say I'm inspired by all you food bloggers out there! I wanted to try it for a day, just to see how it feels. I'm pretty lazy about loading my photos, so this might just be a once-in-a-blue-moon type of update ;) Or not, I haven't decided yet.

Last night J.D. came back from work early and while I wanted to run with today off, he hadn't consumed lunch and was STARVING. I got on board with that, so I started cooking up a storm in my neeeeew apron while he made the 45-minute drive back from Sacramento. Sidenote, it's a good thing I took yesterday as my rest day because June 2 is: NATIONAL RUNNING DAY! I'm thinking about celebrating by doing a timed 5K as my last aggressive run before Sunday's 5K race.

So back to the dinner. Knowing that we both work in athletics and are VERY short on time some days, I like to throw things in the freezer, or buy frozen "healthy" foods. Luckily, everything I wanted to make last night all required the same cooking temp and time in the oven.

On the menu was artichoke pesto tilapia, sweet potato frites from Trader Joe's and asparagus spears I marinated in olive oil and a little bit of garlic sea salt for taste.

I was given a GIGANTIC bundle of asparagus at one of the baseball games last month and ate half, froze the other half. Last night was a good time to bust it out because both the tilapia and frites called for a cooking temp of 425º at 20-22 minutes. Just enough time to cook my asparagus!

It was pretty much all ready by the time J.D. arrived and we enjoyed our dinner while watching House Hunters on HGTV. I can't wait until I'm at a point where a.) I know where my permanent career will be and b.) I'm financially stable enough to purchase a house :) But that's a long time from now. Until then, I'll keep watching all the ups and downs with H.H. or My First Place!

I was on my own for breakfast this morning because..........

............J.D. flew out at 7 a.m. to Burbank for his interview at Pepperdine!! So maybe big news coming in the next few weeks? Or maybe things will stay the same as they've been for a while now. I'll keep y'all updated. Wish him luck for me!

My baby's still sick, so I opted for a quick breakfast this a.m. I mixed together half a bowl of Crispix and half Smart Start (because I get waaaay too bored with just one cereal in my bowl, I love to mix up textures). Then I tossed in some dried cherries/cranberries, cut up a banana and drizzled some almond butter over the top before dousing it all with light soymilk. Voilà, quick and easy breakfast.

Now that I'm back to work, I'll leave you with one final picture. I love him! Doesn't Woody look like a muppet or something??? haha :)

You CAN eat healthy on the road!!

(The Greek falafel salad and pita + hummus I had for dinner tonight)

My job requires a LOT of travel. It seems like every other weekend I'm on the road.

When traveling with teams, I'm often at the mercy of the coaching staff's discretion when selecting dining establishments. However, our baseball travel roster is nearly 30 players and with a number like that, it's difficult to find something for everyone. Let alone a place to sit with all 35 of us. So I'm often left to wandering and discovering city streets alone, allowing for me to make better eating decisions.

The last two road trips have coincided with my new push to start a healthier life that includes a great deal of running and eating healthier. So here's my list of ways to eat healthy when you're traveling.

1.) If you have to eat fast food, be smart about it!

Lots of places are wising up and adding healthier choices to their menus. For example, Subway and McDonald's among others are adding "lighter sides." If you're going to splurge on calories with a burger or a large sandwich (see if you can opt for a whole wheat bread instead of white), get a fruit on the side and a bottle of water or even low-fat milk to drink with it! You won't have a craving for junk later and you'll shave off about 600 calories by ditching the fries.

2.) Skip the taxi.

We got placed in the middle of nowhere in Bakersfield on this trip (not a pun, I'm well aware of the fact that Bakersfield is the middle of nowhere). I overheard some of my guys talking about a shopping center near the freeway and curiously began looking up where it was located. I found out on my iPhone's GPS that the center was located about a mile away from me. After working all afternoon, I decided to save the $6-10 it might have cost me to grab a taxi and I walked. It took me about 40 minutes round trip, which was awesome because I got in some added exercise. So that gave me some room to play around with dessert and still fit in under my daily caloric goals!

3.) Get sauces on the sides.

For things like salads, wraps and sensible sandwiches that seem healthy, hidden fats, calories and cholesterols lie in the sauces doused all over those bad boys. Last night for dinner I ordered a Cajun blackened chicken wrap with veggies, avocados and bacon. I saw that it came with a pesto aioli (mayo) sauce and asked for that to be put on the side. It was a good call, because I saw some of the others and they were DRENCHED in sauce. The "side sauce" they gave me rivaled my drink - seriously. I dipped my wrap in the sauce every couple of bites to moisten it up a bit, but when all was said and done I barely used 1/4 of the sauce. Same went for the salad. It takes so much fat and unwanted additives from a meal when you put the sauce on the side.

4.) Half the plate and EAT.SLOWLY.

Most portions at restaurants are ridiculous. If you're like me, you feel bad not eating something you paid for. But then again, do you really want your extra money to go towards your belly or save you from over-eating?! I'd pay $5 to rid five extra pounds.... ha. Well, no matter how hungry you may be, cut the plate in half. Eat a bit and waste time talking with friends, reading a newspaper, checking your e-mail, etc. I guarantee you'll find that if you let your stomach rest a bit, your food will catch up with your mouth and you won't want that extra half of the sandwich. A good option is to save the other half for another meal, or just toss it. You really don't need all the food that's loaded onto restaurant plates these days (unless it's a fancy, schmancy place with teeny portions, but those places are out of my wallet's league anyways).

5.) Consult the nutritional information.

Yeah, it's a drag and yes it takes a lot of fun out of ordering off a menu. But if you're on the road, dining out isn't the same special occasion as it is at home. Yes, let yourself splurge for one meal. But for the others, be smart! There's no need to ruin any diet or health goals you may have set for yourself on a few meals out. California law now requires chain restaurants to provide nutritional information at every table or on the menu. Consult the menu and see what's the smartest choice to eat, instead of what sounds the best to you. And if you don't have a calorie counting menu, there are many of websites and iPhone applications out there to help you figure it out. My personal fave is the Daily Plate iPhone application. It cost about $5, and I've been using it every day since I purchased it. It's one of the best few iPhone apps I've paid for and I love it.

Don't believe me? Here's a list of trips I've taken this year:

Hawaii

Long Beach

New York & New Jersey
Portland

Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo

Southern California x8

Bakersfield

Wow, 4 posts away from 500!

I don't know if I've told you guys or not, but the 3rd of every month is a special date in our little condo. I'm sure you can guess why ;)

Well, anyways J.D. and I have been trying to have a special, pre-planned date night once a month and it's usually around the third of the month. When we're really busy with work and sports in full swing (i.e., baseball season still has about a month left), we try to fit in something quick. A big favorite of ours in the ways of restaurants is something called Famous Dave's, about 20 minutes west in Tracy.


I've been really hungry lately - I'll get to that later - so this sounded like the perfect idea for our date night! Disclaimer: we don't always do something cheesy and silly, but sometimes it's fun! We've been to the Melting Pot fondue restaurant and went to a winery restaurant in Lodi after a full day of wine tasting back in October, so we can class it up or down, depending on the mood :)

Anyways, F.D. is a really messy, delicious southern BBQ place that serves gigantic portions of meat, your choice of two sides, corn on the cob and corn bread muffins. I went for the tri-tip/Georgia pulled pork combo plate and got fire cracker green beans and red skin garlic mashed potatoes. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS and I had enough left over to make me a repeat lunch today :)

And then afterward we had fun hanging out in the nearby Target allowing ourselves plenty of time to digest because...... we grabbed some frozen yogurt in Stockton! I opted for raspberry pomegranate blended with mango tart, topped with blackberries, kiwis and strawberries. YUM!

So why have I been so famished lately?!

That's because I ran FIVE MILES in 47 minutes on Saturday morning before our baseball game at 6 p.m. (which I had to arrive and prep for at 3 p.m.). Oh man it was crazy, I was only a little sore, but not too bad. However, I've been developing quite the healthy appetite. So I took two days off and I plan to get back at it tonight with at least a 20-30 minute run. I hope to become a better runner (like I was in high school), but know that my all-time longest run was between 6-7 miles back when I was full steam running cross country. So five miles isn't bad at all for someone who just decided to get back into this about two weeks ago :) In fact, I'm excited about it! Even though I ran about a 9:50 mile pace, it's still a good start! And something to certainly improve on.

With this new mindset in place, I'm ready to sign up for the Fleet Feet Women's Fitness Festival held in Sacramento on June 6th (or is it the 7th?) with my sister. She did a half marathon last year and I think at some point in the next year, I'd like to make that a goal of mine as well. So just say the word, Aimeé, and I'll sign up for this!

Baby steps! 5K first, then we'll talk about a longer race :)

Gotta case of the Mondays? Tuesdays?

Every morning, I wake up at 7:30 a.m. when my alarm goes off. And every morning I struggle to stay awake, hitting snooze until 8, sometimes even 9 a.m. Don't worry, I'm off to work before 10 a.m. usually (hey, when you stay until 10 p.m. three nights a week AND work weekends, you can complain about me showing up at 10 a.m.).

But those days, it's suuuuuch a struggle to get out of bed so I don't have time to make anything to eat all day. Usually, I'll grab a yogurt out of the fridge and off I go.

Which is why over the past several months, I've been going leftover crazy. I loooove making enough dinner for 4-6 people. When J.D. and I are done, I portion out several different Tupperware containers for various lunches and/or dinners! Leftovers might just be my favorite lunch :)


Today it was a mix of Zatarian's jambalaya with spicy andouille sausage and cilantro lime rice. So yummy! As a follow-up meal a little later in the day, I grabbed a bag of trail mix from Trader Joe's!

Some mornings when I'm feeling ambitious enough, I'll make a French press latte or a fruit smoothie. Or in the case of yesterday: I ran 3.25 miles and made a post-run smoothie. I know J.D. doesn't really care much for the smoothies, so I had an entire pitcher to myself! Instead of going crazy and not having room for dinner, I plopped it in the fridge and voilà, had enough for breakfast (and an after-work snack) today.

Leftovers really are the lazy man's meal :) And I wouldn't have it any other way.

What do you do for lunch/snacks at work? Do you go out? Do you make something in the morning? Or are you too tired in the a.m. like me and bring last night's dinner??

Lots to put in my mouth

I've been on the multiple small meals per day kick lately.

For breakfast I tried Dannon's new plain Greek yogurt and mixed it with Trader Joe's (loooove that place) Omega 3 Trek Mix which is loaded with cranberries and nuts. Also chopped up a banana at my desk and voilà, breakfast was ready! Oh yeah, I made my own nonfat latte earlier with my French press - frothed the milk in it as well.

But I'm definitely going to get some more of that Greek yogurt. I really like Trader Joe's own flavors, but its kind of high in sugar. However the fig one is taaaaasty.

Then came home for lunch and chowed down on a mini sandwich with sea salt pita chips while playing with my doggie a bit. At work, I packed an apple, 100% fruit juice fruit snacks and a stick of string cheese. You know, having food at my desk all afternoon is kind of a pain. Even though I was still full from lunch, I wanted to eat it ha. But I told myself I couldn't have any more food until 2:30 p.m. and it worked.

I had zero desire to grab crappy food for a snack when I got home too! So that's a big plus for me. After walking Woodstock to take out the trash and get the mail (our complex is weird, the mail center is located in the middle of the condo complex so it's not like I walked my dog five feet to get the mail and then came back in, for those of you who previously had been judging me haha).

Then I went for nearly a two-mile run in the sunshine! It was actually fairly warm outside at 6 p.m. When I came home, I was beat. But I pulled out some flank steak we'd been storing in the freezer and lathered it in lavender pepper and some garlic salt.

I grilled the steaks on the stove with some onions and peppers, made cilantro lime rice and had...... FAJITAS for dinner! We wrapped them in whole wheat tortillas and chopped up a quarter of a watermelon on the side. Nothing says summer is just around the corner like a fresh watermelon :)

It was delicious! As a reward for all my good work (or, maybe canceling out all my hard work?), I had some Breyer's double-churned ice cream with chocolate hard shell on top!

I'm really going to try to stick with this regimen too. Wish me luck :) But it feels good! And my goal is to get back to running a 5K in less than 30 minutes. So far, I'm averaging between a 9-10 minute mile. Which isn't terrible, but it's also not the 22:00 it took me to run three miles back in my cross country glory days ;)

Murder?

After a painfully close game at UC Davis this evening, J.D. and I continue our quest of finding hole-in-the-wall dining establishments.

Oddly in the same vein as Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts, we're trying Redrum - formerly Murder - Burger here in Davis.

I can't figure out why it's called such... If anyone up here knows why please enlighten me.

But the menu features an odd array of various fried items, an entire one pound burger meal, BBQ slathered fries, nacho sauce drenched fries, over 50 milkshake/Italian soda combos and the big bird burger. I ended up getting the bird - ostrich burger, o rings and a kiwi soda.

Seating about 10 patrons inside, I'm curious to see if the taste is anything like the curb appeal here.

Luckily, it came highly recommended. Bon appétit!


Notice how the onion rings are the same size as J.D.'s half-pound burger!!! Huge!!


(Aaaand I bought a box of hair dye tonight. New hair post comig soon!)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Joyeux Anniversaire

This weekend, J.D. and I celebrated our anniversary (yup, right word, it really has been a year) at the place I took him for his 26th birthday - The Melting Pot in San Mateo. I guess he registered for some birthday club thing, and included in it was also a space to write in your anniversary.

So come January, he received a coupon via e-mail for a free chocolate dessert for two in celebration of the "anniversary." However, the coupon said wedding anniversary, so that was a little odd to me. Rest assured Mom and Dad, we did not get married without your knowing.

Anyways, we all know how crazy I am about all things French, so a nice fondue meal with ambient French music (that later morphed into French rap, or Raï) was really a nice treat.

The featured menu for this month is Alpine Fondue, tapping into fondue's Swiss history. Nevermind they already feature Swiss cheeses in one of the cheese courses.

We ended up going with the four-course meal (And I, of course, kicked off the meal with a passion fruit vodka, strawberry and mint martini):

-Traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue:
Gruyère and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses, white wine, a touch of garlic, nutmeg, fresh lemon, and Kirschwasser. Served to dip included Granny Smith apples, celery, cauliflower, carrots and an array of three breads.

-California Salad:
Mixed baby salad greens, Roma tomatoes, walnuts, and Gorgonzola Cheese, topped with Raspberry Black Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing.

-Coq au Vin Fondue:
Our own interpretation of the cooking style favored in the French countryside. It combines the flavors of fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, imported spices, and a hearty Burgundy Wine. Served to dip included two lobster tails, Dijon marinated chicken, sirloin steak, hefeweizen-marinated shrimp, sun dried tomato ravioli, potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms.

-Yin & Yang (free dessert with coupon, heck yes!):
Half dark chocolate and half milk chocolate, artfully swirled in the same pot for that special mix of flavors, we added some Grand Marnier specially to our fondue for taste! Served to dip included strawberries, bananas, marshmallow treats, graham cracker dipped marshmallows, brownies, pound cake and cheesecake.

YUMMY. We've gone twice now, and I would definitely do it again!

Now enjoy the photos taken from my phone (sorry, the lighting was very dim, so they turned out kind of weird):

martini

cheese course

meats and coq au vin sauce


dessert

Voodoo

While in Portland this weekend, I certainly wanted to sample a quirky place I'd seen featured on the Food Network: Voodoo Doughnuts, whose menu includes things like a maple bacon bar and at one point used to sell a NyQuil doughnut that's since been banned by the FDA.

So Kyle and I went there and purchased two treats a piece, which we certainly did not consume at the same time. Those things were sooooo sweet that I could only eat half before throwing the rest of it out.

The menu


Miami Vice Berry (Berry powdered drink and sprinkles)


Voodoo Doll (Complete with pretzel "pin" and red jelly filling)


Old Dirty Bastard (Rice Krispies, chocolate & peanut butter drizzle)

Gosh they were good though. And even though it was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall place, the line was out the door at all hours of operation. Which is crazy, since it's open from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. Yeah, it's only closed for three hours.

Oh yeah, and I kept walking past/seeing this sign from my hotel room:


Think that about sums it up!

A taste of Southern France

It's been a while since I've lived in the South of France and every now and then my mouth still waters thinking about all the incredible food I've eaten there.

So tonight, after purchasing a pound for $4, J.D. and I are going to make moules frites!



And for dessert: crême brulée of some sort.... either regular, raspberry or chocolate. I'm not sure yet!