279/365 You say Tabbouleh, I say Tabarley

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I am a huge fan of tabbouleh. I decided to try this spin on it because I knew that I would like it simply because it's tabbouleh. The mix of parsley, lemon, garlic, cucumbers, EVOO, and tomatoes is refreshing on a warm day. The difference between this recipe and most others is that it uses barley instead of bulgar wheat. Bulgar wheat is usually pretty easy to come by; easier if you've got a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods in your area. If not, barley is a decent substitute.

I got my recipe from a blog called Seasonal Ontario Food. Here is her recipe with my alterations (dish makes about 8 servings, 177cal/serving!):

Salad Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw barley
a pinch of salt
1 cup minced chives
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup minced cilantro (couldn't find parsley for some reason)1/2 a cucumber, diced
2 tomatoes, diced

Dressing Ingredients:
the juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
a pinch of cayenne or other hot ground chile

Recipe:
1. Cook the barley with a pinch of salt in 1 1/2 cups water. As ever, I do this in my rice cooker, and I cook extra to have on hand for other dishes and salads.
2. Wash, drain well, and mince the green onions or chives, the garlic scapes or garlic if available and wanted, the parsley and the mint.
3. Cut the cucumbers into small bite-sized pieces, if you are adding cucumbers.
4. When the barley is cool, break it up with wet hands, and mix it with the herbs and cucumbers. Toss it with the dressing.
5. I have left the tomatoes for last, as the salad can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours - without the tomatoes. At any rate, I think the salad does well to rest for at least half an hour once the dressing has been added. Rinse the tomatoes and cut them in halves or quarters, and add them to the salad at the last moment.

If you're not convinced that tabbouleh is worth a try, check out this guy, he'll let you know what's up:


In health,

Lauren

267/365 Homemade Energy Granola Bar

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Though I totally love Kashi's GoLean Crunchy! granola bars, I've always wanted to make my own bar. FYI: if a granola bar says "energy" in the title, it usually means its high in carbohydrates and/or fat. If it says "power" then it is most likely high in protein. Moving along, here is my first attempt at this allrecipes.com recipe:

note the incredible texture  :)

It is loaded with carbohydrates and good fat from all the oats, seeds, and peanut butter (I also added sweetened coconut flakes). Sadly, I didn't have enough peanut butter when I made this so it kind of falls apart. Still, it is very good! If you want to try this recipe, cut the salt down to 1/4 tsp because 1 tsp is a little too much especially when you've used roasted and salted sunflower seeds and mix in the chocolate chips. Anyway, I recommend this recipe and I will definitely try this again with all the right ingredients; it makes 24 servings. Each bar has about 200 calories according to livestrong.com's "My Recipes" feature.

In health,

Lauren

266/365 Going Vegetarian: Update and Insight

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

It's been a week and a day since I started my vegetarian diet and it has gone pretty well so far. It's not as bad as I thought it'd be. I don't really miss meat except when I smell it; my co-worker's calzone during lunch today was especially tantalizing. Since becoming vegetarian, nothing has really changed except my skin. I've noticed that its gotten clearer without much effort on my part except giving up meat. I am still meeting (and exceeding) my protein requirements thanks to my post-workout whey, my vegetarian bean curry, and my energy granola bars (you'll find out tomorrow).

I did take a cheat/meat day like I said I would; I decided to make it last Saturday after hiking and went all out. I went to Five Guys and ordered a little cheeseburger and regular fries. This was not a good life choice. My GI system was not happy; my body was totally thrown off by this meal and I suffered. Next time, I'll be kinder and choose something more lean.

In health,

Lauren

265/365 Vegetarian Bean Curry

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

As promised, here is the dish that I made that compliments the quinoa from yesterday so well. My motive for making a bean and lentil dish was because of a packaged version from TastyBite. Don't get me wrong, it tastes pretty good, just really salty. I figured that I could make my own with less salt and with more nutrition. I found this recipe from allrecipes.com. I mostly stuck to the recipe but had to make a few adjustments since I had diced tomatoes instead of crushed. I decided to add more liquid since the crushed tomatoes usually gives more liquid by nature and I didn't want this to dry out.

The tweaks are as follows:
- I did not put cayenne pepper because I didn't have any. After trying a little spoonful of the sauce, I was happy I didn't as the curry powder provided its own kick. If you like things a little more spicy, go for it!
- I didn't put kidney beans because I had a little box of mushrooms that I wanted to use. I chopped my mushrooms and used about 1.5 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms
- Like I said, I had to add more liquid. I used 1 cup of vegetable stock made from water and a vegetable stock cube

It is quite good and I was very pleased with myself and my pairing prowess. The spiciness and saltiness of this dish jive nicely with the light quinoa. I'm sure this would be good with brown rice or on crackers. According to thedailyplate.com, this dish is a little over 200 calories with more fiber and more protein.

In health,

Lauren

233/365 Happy Snack Tip 5: Turkey Roll Ups

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Carbs from bread, crackers, granola, Goldfish, etc. seem to be a large part of snacks. To cut that out and focus on the protein and fat, here's an easy happy snack recipe for you!

Ingredients:
- slice of deli meat of choice (I prefer turkey breast)
- slice of cheese
- slice of avocado, nice and thick!

Recipe:
- stack deli meat on top of cheese
- arrange avocado on one side of your meat-cheese stack
- roll up, enjoy!

One of these roll ups is about ~150 calories so you can go ahead and have two of them!

In health,

Lauren

231/365 Happy Snack Tip 3: Seeds

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,


To piggy back on what I wrote about yesterday, nuts are a great way to add protein and fat to your happy snack. However, not everyone can eat nuts (sorry to those of you with allergies). An alternative to nuts are seeds!

From freshman Biology, you can recall that seeds are mostly made up of nutrients so that the fertilized cells can grow into big strong plants. Hence, seeds are a great addition to your snacking repertoire. Sunflower seeds have vitamin B1, B5, B9, and E in a 1/4 cup worth ~180 calories, 16g fat (unsaturated, the good kind!), and 6g protein. You can read more about them here. Pumpkin seeds are also a good option.

If you get the seeds in the shells, you also have to work a little harder to get your snack. This can be good for those of us who sometimes speed through snack time. It allows you to slow down and really decide if you're hungry and need more energy from a snack.


In health,

Lauren

226/365 Edamame, Edamayou

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

One of my favorite restaurants in Richmond, Sticky Rice, serves this rolled in salt as one of its appetizers. Edamame, soybeans, are a great snack that is packed with fiber, protein, and good fat. They can be purchased fresh or frozen, in their pods or out of them, and are easy to prepare; all you do is steam them on the stove or in the microwave. You can eat them as a snack or add them to your fried rice or noodles.

In health,

Lauren

109/365 Addressing a Myth about Protein

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

You know that I am a firm believer in protein. I just want to clear up a myth about protein:

I'm a girl. Protein is going to make me huge. Protein is not going to make you huge whether you are a guy or a girl. Protein is protein; it's the same as it is in a can of beans, meat, or just plain. Working hard will make you a little bigger; your muscles will naturally hypertrophy but only to an extent. Women don't have enough testosterone to get huge. It's never going to happen unless you're on steroids. Steroids will make you scary huge and you better not be going anywhere near that.

Guys, you will certainly get bigger than your female counterparts with hard work. Protein will help you recover quicker so you can get back out there and rock it some more.

In health,

Lauren

66/365 Food Diary Example 1

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

As requested, here is what I ate yesterday and their approximate caloric values (after doing The Daily Plate for so long, you kind of memorize the calories of everything you eat):

Breakfast:
1/2 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt (90)
1 diced peach cup, no syrup (60)
1/4 c Bear Naked Granola (140)

1/3 c. oatmeal (150)
1 tbsp nutella (50)

Total Net Calories: 490

Post Workout:
1 banana (70)
1 scoop of Gold Standard double chocolate protein in water (120)

Total Net Calories: 680

Lunch
1/2 cup potato gnocchi (150)
1/4 c gorgonzola zucchini sauce (110)

Total Net Calories: 940

Dinner
1/2 chicken breast (110)
about 1 cup of zucchini (45)

Total Net Calories: 1095

Other food
a chocolate chip cookie (120)
a fudge brownie piece (120)
2 cucumber slice tea sandwich (60)
bell peppers and cucumbers in hummus(75)
1/2 bagel (110)
raspberry cream cheese (80)

Total Net Calories: 1660

I also worked out which probably sets me back 300 calories (rough guess), so my total is probably closer to 1260. So yesterday, I could have eaten a little more. I try to aim for 1600 calories/day. Some days are better than others. I'll do this again randomly and see what's up. I hope that helps you get an idea of what the day in the life of my diet is like.

In health,

Lauren

59/365 Coffee Protein Smoothie Anyone?

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Are you not really a breakfast person? Is the food just a little too much for your system? Have no fear, you can still get the necessary nutrients without having a traditional breakfast (and me not getting upset with you).

Kelby likes to do this in the morning to get things revved up: make a coffee protein smoothie! If you already enjoy having your java in the morning, add some protein (chocolate works wonderfully), soy/non-fat milk, and some fruit if you have it. Blend it all together and enjoy. The flavor is rich and full of energy to fuel your morning.

Sipping on your breakfast won't make you feel so full even though you're packing away close to 300 calories. So gather your ingredients, blend them together, and enjoy!

In health,

Lauren

16/365 The Power of Protein

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Let's talk protein. As a girl, I was intimidated and curious about protein. Who will I become if I start taking protein? Am I going to turn full meat head? Will I Hulk out?


First off, protein is essential for your survival. It helps restore "muscle glycogen, repair[s] muscle damage, attenuat[es] protein degredation, and initiat[es] protein synthesis. (Ivy and Ferguson)" What more will you need after you've been exercising? When you exercise, you use up a ton of glycogen to supply you energy. You also tear up your muscles so that they can rebuild and get bigger. Proteins are super important for exercisers of all kinds, from performance athletes to enthusiasts.

As a recovery drink, my double chocolate whey protein from Gold Standard mixed with water hits the spot. Unless you're a vegetarian, there's really no difference in drinking whey and soy protein.You ought to have your recovery drink within 30 to 40 minutes of your exercise to optimize it's uptake. You may not feel hungry but, your cells are. If you wait longer than that, your body takes a longer time absorbing all those nutritional goodies you feed it. Also, if you wait until you actually feel hungry (remember, blood gets shunted away from those organs and areas that don't need it), you will most likely ravenously scarf down your food.

So, take the leap, invest in some protein at your local GNC or Vitamin Shoppe. You won't feel as sore after your workout and your body will recover faster for your next bout. Also! Be sure to drink lots of water as the nitrogen in your protein will not be very nice to your kidneys.

In health,

Lauren

Ivy, JL, and LM Ferguson. "Optimizing resistance exercise adaptations through the timing of post-exercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation." Strength & Conditioning Journal (Allen Press) 32.1 (2010): 30-36. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 5 Aug. 2010.