September | 2010 | healthy laps

homemade pizza

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Jen

After my 30 minute powerwalk yesterday morning, I was craving cold cereal with milk. I made up a bowl with 3 different types of cereal and 1% milk.

Trader Joe’s O’s
Uncle Sam’s Flax Cereal
Bob’s Red Mill Museli

It was a good mix of cold and crunchy. Topped with a super ripe banana for potassium.

It was a crazy day at work, so all of a sudden it was 2 o’clock and I was more than ready for lunch!

Good thing I packed a salad from home.

CSA lettuce topped with tabouli, chopped raisins, sunflower seeds and feta cheese.

With a yogurt and apple on the side.

After a mid-afternoon snack of a Brownie Larabar, I was ready for our pizza party!

I chopped up some peppers, kale and chicken sausage for toppings. Cooked before makingthe pizza.

Dough and Pizza sauce from Trader Joe’s:

Whole wheat and my favorite garlic and herb dough!

Their dough and sauce are made with simple ingredients!

Pizza #1 – Whole Wheat dough with mozzarella cheese, chicken sausage, green pepper and feta cheese.

We cook our pizza on a preheated (in a 400* oven) pizza stone, which works great! I pre-bake the dough for about 5 minutes, add the toppings, then cook for an additional 7-10 minutes. They come out great everytime!

Pizza #2 – Garlic & Herb dough with mozzarella cheese, red pepper and sauteed kale.

I enjoyed a slice of each (minus the chicken sausage, which I removed) and they were both delicious!

Pizza really is a simple meal to make, especially if you use pre-made dough and sauce.

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: breakfast, larabar, pizza, salad | Leave a comment »

keeping active

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Jen

Happy Wednesday! Thank you all so much for the congrats! We are so excited to have a little one on the way! 🙂

It feels so great to have our baby news out in the open…it will make it so much easier for me to post my meals and recipes and tips. I don’t have to worry about slipping with cravings or if what I eat is just plain wierd!

I woke up yesterday morning and snacked on 2 slices of toast with maple almond butter. Then, I headed outside for a run. I have been trying to keep as active as I can because I think that it will help me throughout my pregnancy. There are wonderful benefits to working out while pregnant, but I just have to remember to listen to my body and rest if that is what I need.

I make sure to always carry water with me (or stop at the water fountains frequently) in order to keep hydrated! I definitely get tired more quickly now, but I still feel good while running (and swimming and walking). It is nice to not worry about time, just to run by how I feel. I have really been enjoying it!

I walked for about 10 minutes, ran for 35 minutes, then walked for another 10 minutes. I love my warm-ups and cool-downs now, whereas before, I hated them and often skipped them!

After my run, I whipped up a smoothie to get some nutrients and protein.

In the mix:

1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup hemp milk
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen berries (cherries, blueberries, raspberries)
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 tsp honey
shake of cinnamon

Blended in the Vita-Mix for about 30 seconds until smooth. And, served in my new glass smoothie jar!

I saw this idea awhile ago, but just got around to having my Dad drill a hole in the lid. Just take a glass mason jar, drill a hole in the plastic lid and enjoy your smoothie. It fits my glass straws perfectly! And, I don’t have to worry about plastic or anything spilling. I love it.

Smoothie’s taste great on humid days.

When lunch time rolled around, I didn’t really want my packed lunch. So, I stopped at Panera Bread for a salad.

BBQ Chopped Salad with romaine, corn, black beans, peppers, tomatoes and tortilla strips. Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce on the side.

I drizzled on a little BBQ sauce and shook it up. It was a great salad dressing!

After my salad, I snacked on some a lot of dried canteloupe spears.

I skipped my afternoon snack today because I wasn’t very hungry, and surprisingly I still wasn’t hungry when I got home! For some reason, I haven’t been very hungry at night…but, I know I need the extra fuel!

Dinner was simple, but so delicious! A salad with CSA greens, dried cranberries, kaia curry flavored sprouted sunflower seeds and honey balsamic dressing.

And, a grilled cheese with apple on flax grain bread.

This was a perfect light dinner…and it made it feel like fall with the apples.

We’re having a pizza party tonight! Have a great day. 🙂

Filed under: Eating Laps, Running Laps | Tagged: almond butter, Running Laps, salad, simple, smoothie | 1 Comment »

an exciting announcement!

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Jen

That’s right! We’re having a baby! And, we couldn’t be more excited!

(Source)

Having a food blog makes being pregnant really hard to keep a secret! Throughout my first trimester I was feeling very nauseous all day long, so eating healthy meals and snacks just didn’t cut it. Instead, all vegetables and healthy food seemed to make me feel even more nauseous (go figure?!), so I mainly stuck with plain, bland foods like bread, pasta and cereal. Boring, I know, but at that point it was all I wanted.

There was no way that I could post about that without everyone knowing that something was up! Cereal for breakfast, toast for lunch and pasta for dinner…

At first, I was worried about the lack of nutrients that I was consuming, but I was reassured that during your first trimester, you just eat what you can. The baby is so small that they don’t need much at this point anyways.

Now that I am in my second trimester (yay!), I am feeling great. I have started to exercise again and am eating more and more like my normal self. Each week seems to be better and better and it is becoming more and more exciting that we are expecting a little one on March 26, 2011! 🙂

Now that it is finally out in the open in the blog world, I can’t wait to write about my eating and exercising during pregnancy. I am trying to stick with my normal routine of eating real food and working out, but I definitely give in more to snacks and desserts and have been much better at listening to my body to give it the rest it needs. I haven’t noticed any weird cravings yet, but I’m sure those come with the territory.

Thanks for letting me share our next adventure with you! 🙂

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: announcement | 10 Comments »

the maxwell house hotel – seattle, wa

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Jen

During the second part of our trip to Seattle, WA, we stayed in a fun and modern hotel right in Seattle Center.

The hotel is definitely worth mentioning because I loved the atmosphere so much!

The Maxwell House Hotel

The hotel ‘symbol’ was a pineapple! Did you know that pineapples are seen as a welcome symbol? That is why some people have a pineapple door knocker or place a pineapple sculpture above their doorways.

Anyways, we checked in.

And, they had pineapple cupcakes and coffee waiting upon arrival!

We headed up to our room, to find these carpets by the elevators.

So fun!

Inside our room was very funky and modern as well.

Entryway

Bedroom

I loved the colors!

Bathroom

The hotel was located on Roy Street, which is one block from Seattle Center and a few blocks from Queen Anne. It was a great location. Perfect to walk down to the water in the morning, and perfect to take the Monorail home at night!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: hotel | 3 Comments »

allandale farm csa, week 13

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Jen

Technically it is week 16 or 17, but we have missed a few weeks do to being away and just being busy. So, this was our week 13. 🙂

I am still loving our CSA, but I don’t love how it takes me some extra time to pick it up from the farm. Something closer would definitely be better. Oh well, fresh, local veggies are worth it to me.

And, fresh these were. The green beans were unbelievable! By far the best we have had. YUM!