Blueberry Bliss

Hellerrrr...

 Happy Wednesday peeps! Spring has slowly been creeping in, and I am super stoked about it. So many awesome things happen in spring:

Flowers

Warm Florida weather

Pink lipstick

And…

Blueberries! Ok, so blueberries aren’t quite “in season” in the colder climates, but they’re coming your way soon!

I love anything with blueberries in it or blueberry flavored. I was that little kid at school that took the blue lollipop before anyone else. Sorry guys. Blueberries are the bomb-diggity.

In honor of these (really) purple-ish balls of finger-staning goodness, I decided to make two very different foods that incorporate them. Must try!!

Blue Quinoa 

This is the dish that inspired this post. I stumbled upon this crazy concoction at 6:30 am Monday morning, and it was love at first bite.

Blue delight.

½ cup cooked quinoa

½ cup almond milk

¼ cup craisins

½ cup frozen (or fresh) blueberries

3 tbsp. almonds

dash cinnamon

1 tsp brown sugar

Stevia to taste

Mix it all up in a small sauce pan and heat to a simmer. That’s it. Enjoy!! I did…

Classic Blueberry Muffins 

I used a recipe on the box of Ener-G’s Rice Mix. However, I am aware that this is not a super common brand, so I found an easy recipe that doesn’t require a million different flours. Thank you FoodNetwork.com!

I used frozen ones

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/blueberry-muffins-recipe2/index.html

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose baking flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup agave nectar

2/3 cup rice milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, and cinnamon. Add the oil, agave nectar, rice milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. Using a plastic spatula, gently fold in the blueberries just until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into each prepared cup, almost filling the cup. Bake the muffins on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 15 minutes. The muffin will bounce slightly when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

Let the muffins stand for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Stained hands are totally worth it.

Goodbye friend.

The Trouble With Love

Hi there everyone. I hope you are all having a great week. I am, but it’s been, well, ordinary thus far. The purpose of this blog is to be inspiring, entertaining, and fun. The last thing I want to do it bore you all with monotony. So I thought I’d break things up and give you a glimpse of another side of me. So here it is. Just little something I like to do on my free time. Enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi snicker doodles! Monday was the second Valentine’s Day in a row that I have spent without Miguel. It’s sad, but it makes me super happy to think that the next one will be spent together!

I decided that I wasn’t going to let the distance between my Valentine and I get me down. I couldn’t afford to have another emotional day, so I woke up and went straight to working. I got so much done in only an hour and a half. Once I got to a stopping place, I rewarded myself with some scrumptious eats.

Blueberry pancakes and banana.

Pancakes are God’s gift to the world.

Fueled on blueberry goodness, I accomplished still more homework. Great success.

More homework completion was followed by more food.

Not sure why my lunch looks so yellow... Rutabaga, spaghetti squash with onions and tomatoes, and toast with Cheddar cheese.

 In an effort to keep up the momentum on my feel-good day, I did some Valentine’s Day good deeds. As requested, I sang at the assisted living where my mama is a beautician and made some old folks smile. Why not spread joy when you can? Sadly, no pictures or videos were taken from this event. L Just trust me when I say it was good.

After the Valentine’s Day performance, the fam exchanged gifties.

Beer and flowers. Gigantor knows the way to my heart.

I have been dying to taste New Grist gluten-free beer. I’ve never tried GF beer before, but I haven’t heard very nice things. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this refreshingly cold beverage. It’s pale in color and is not strong smelling. Because it’s made out of rice and sorghum, it’s super light and crisp. Kinda tangy with a little bit of a bite at the end.

 It was a perfect accompaniment to my dinner.

Pot roast and quinoa snuggling in my bowl.

 I followed it up with some V-Day chocolate from my mama. My Valentine’s Day was significantly better than I had hoped. I can sleep happy. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

This Side of the Ocean

Hello fellow fit food lovers! This weekend has been a whirlwind of emotions and stress. I realize that I have recently been writing about my unproductive days and my stressful, homework-laden evenings, making me seem like an unstable, emotional rollercoaster. That, I am not. However, I will admit to succumbing to the pressures of school and life in general. Simply put, it’s making me nuts.

Saturday, I awoke bright and early to leave Biff’s house and head back home. I had homework on the brain. Must accomplish something this weekend. When I arrived, my mama told me that the family would be going to see The Eagle, and if I didn’t have too much to do, I could join. I went, of course, and was happier for it, except for the fact that by 4 pm, I still had not touched school work. Afterward I did a measly amount of work and then was pulled into watching Nanny McPhee. Ok, truthfully, I was asked and gladly obliged.

Here is montage of my Saturday chow, in case you’re curious:

Chocolate Chai with Chobani, oats, and strawberries.

Toasted turkey provolone sandwich, cucumbers, and an apple.

Flat bread pizza. Millet flat bread, ricotta cheese, and roasted tomatoes and onions.

Stuffing my face.

 I didn't eat him, but sometimes I want to. This is the cutest creature on the face of the earth.

Sunday was the same story. I woke up at 6 am with a plan to conquer the world. Unfortunately, all I have to show for the day is a complete workout, 4 pages of writing, and a little bit of “planning.” The other 10 hours of my day were spent eating, walking around the house, talking to my lovey, and procrastinating in every way possible.

Here is a large component of the time-wasting problem:

Black coffee, toast with blueberry jam, banana, and cottage cheese.

My take on fitnessista's recovery smoothie: 4 oz. vanilla almond milk, 5 strawberries, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 tsp instant coffee, and a handful of ice cubes. Divine.

My unfinished half of pizza.

Veggie soup, GF garlic and mozzarella sausage, french fries, and a half-empty glass of wine. We know how to do it classy.

I just can’t seem to get my brain in gear these days. Through mulling over my dilemma and self-analyzing (as usual), I have realized two things:

Number one: the projects that I have taken on this semester (namely, a wedding and a senior thesis) require structure and extensive planning, neither of which I am good at. I am a very go-with-the-flow kind of person, and I don’t really like to think about things until they are upon me (whether or not that is a good thing is not part of this discussion). Planning stresses me out to the nth degree. Luckily for me, my mom is an amazing event planner. Unluckily for me, no one in my family has a clue what the heck my senior thesis is about.

Number two: in the back of my mind, I keep thinking to myself, these next few months are the end of an era in my life. I will be moving away from my family, getting married, and going to live in a foreign country. I am over-the-moon excited to marry the love of my life, but I am incredibly torn up about leaving my family and my home. I know I will see them again, soon and often, but I can’t help but feel like I have to savor every second of the next few months with them. I don’t even want to miss a trip to the grocery store. If you haven’t gotten it by now, my family means everything to me. It’s going to be so bittersweet to leave.

There you have it folks. I know it’s a little heavy, but I felt the need to explain my unpredictable emotional state these days. It’s a growing process. It’s a journey. It’s what life is all about. I know that in four months, I will be starting the adventure of a lifetime with the person who completes me in every way. But until then, I will be appreciating every little moment with the ones I love on this side of the ocean.

Smile-Worthy Inventory

Hi guys! This week has been a pretty good week. It wasn’t extraordinary by any means, but why chug along through life without noticing the little things that make you smile. I took inventory of those little things from this week and came out with a lot more than I anticipated.

1. Discovered that no matter how many times I watch Star Wars Boy, I still laugh just as hard as the first time. Possibly the cutest commercial I have ever seen.

2. Had a senior research breakthrough of sorts. Well, I guess you could say that now I know what the heck I’m doing… I think.

3. Forgot about any strict workout schedule, following the direction of my athletic fiancé (It's safe to assume he knows everything about everything… don’t tell him I said that.), and did whatever floated my boat at the moment. 

-Mon.- Sculpt and Tone Zumba with my mama

-Tues.- rest day

-Wed.- Zumba, Pilates, and Core Fusion

-Thurs.- Zumba and dance it up with friends

-Fri.- I was super sore from Thurs., so I decided to do some core work and push-ups and call it a day

4. Got a kick-in-the- butt inspiration from Crystal Renn. I have already noticed a difference in my body image outlook.  

Renn with her book.

5. Made a custom domain name for my bloggity. Hooray for professionalism! It's fitfoodlover.com... Oh, wait, you're already here.

6. Came to Biffs and found no-bake cookies waiting to be eaten.

How can I resist GF desserts?

Yumalicious.

7. Found out that I will be getting some new products in the mail pretty soon for review!

8. Enjoyed watching my dogs be cute.

Max snuggled under my desk.

Mizzer. Flippin' cute, man.

Tormentor and tormented. Yes, in that order.

9. Found out that the plank is a million times better than crunches!
    Reasons to Stop Crunching

10. Spent time with good friends.

Smiles!

Dancing it up. I am certain that I could dance indefinitely.

11. Thought a lot about my upcoming wedding and how excited I am to be with my man soon (The only thing that could make it better is if time would move along a little faster)! Although it is a stressful process, it makes me smile every time I think about it. :D Only 4 months to go!

What are some good things that have happened to you this week?