Pinning Away

For those of you that follow me on Pinterest, you know I pin a lot of recipes. So many, in fact, that the majority of the meals I’ve been making over the past few weeks have come from what I’ve found on the site.

My husband’s birthday was last Sunday, so I had to make some sweet treats for the little get together we had. First up was a batch of peanut butter and chocolate protein cookies from The Frugal Girls that were filling and good for you! I found the recipe Saturday morning, and just knew I wanted to make them.

Next up was a batch of brownie batter dip. Oh yes. I’ve seen plenty of recipes for cookie dough dip, but this was one of the first brownie batter dips I’ve seen, and I’m so glad I made it. It’s from Crumbs and Chaos and is super easy to make, and you can’t go wrong when it’s paired with some animal crackers. Everyone was impressed with the treat, and I had enough leftover to take a little spoonful here and there throughout the week.

Aside from desserts (which are the majority of pins I see), I’ve made some really delicious dinners as well. Since it was so hot the past few weeks, I wasn’t feeling anything too heavy or that required serious oven time, so I made this chipotle chopped salad from Nutmeg Notebook one night, which was SO good. I subbed the sour cream for plain Chobani, and served it alongside some “chicken” fingers to bulk it up a bit. I would absolutely eat this salad again, for either lunch or dinner.

choppedsalad — Just like a Chipotle salad!

We also had some buffalo chicken chili since it got cooler as last week progressed, and I subbed out the shredded chicken for tempeh. It was really good, and I could definitely see it as a crowd pleaser during football season. You should really check out Closet Cooking’s blog – I want to make pretty much every single recipe.

After spending some time perusing Pinterest, I think I have some inspiration and ideas for some of my own recipes that I’d like to try. Hopefully I can make at least one a week, and share them with you!

March Foodie Pen Pals!

Another month, another box of delicious goodies! This time, I received my box of treats from Ashley over at Simple Food Healthy Life.

I think everyone is catching on, because I’ve received a bar of chocolate from almost every foodie pen pal I’ve had. Certainly keep it coming – I love chocolate! In addition to the chocolate, Ashley sent me some treats from a local whole foods store in Connecticut, Mrs. Greens, which I loved! There were some dried veggies, strawberry yogurt covered pretzels, wasabi peas, and cheddar sesame sticks. Unfortunately, one of the containers had a little accident while en route, and exploded everywhere in the box.

I would be lying if I told you I just quickly discarded the box… I totally tried to salvage some and sampled each of the dried veggies. Totally gross, I know, but I just couldn’t bear throwing it out without at least taking a sample! Thankfully everything else made it in one piece, and I’ve been enjoying everything throughout the month.

If I had to pick a favorite (aside from the chocolate bar, of course), I’d have to go with the cheddar sesame sticks. It may be a bit of a stretch, but they reminded me a lot of crunchy Cheetos. I’ve also been enjoying the strawberry yogurt covered pretzels when I’m looking for something salty and sweet, and the wasabi peas are a nice kick every once in awhile. I just recently finished the chocolate bar, which I was somehow able to restrain myself with, and I was sad to see it go. But, there’s always next month’s box!

I’m so thankful for all the goodies Ashley sent me, and if you’re interested in finding out what I sent this month, head over to Diana’s blog Veggie Next Door to check it out!

If you’d like to join in on the fun, here are the details:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for April, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-Whether you are a US or Canadian resident (Super important to make sure you’re on the right list!)

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

Super Easy Lunch

Cross training is something that I actually enjoy. I think it keeps me from going insane when it comes to running, and I like seeing other body parts getting stronger. It’s also helpful for days when I really just dont’ want to go outside because it’s either too hot, too cold, or I’m just being lazy. This week has been HOT by March standards in New Jersey, so I’ve been able to do some cross-training outside. The heat has meant extra sweating, which is always sexy. Case and point:

After my sweat-filled workout on Tuesday, I had a great idea for a perfect protein packed sandwich.

Every time I say it, my husband shudders in disbelief. I’m not a big breakfast foods fan. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy an omelette, some pancakes, waffles, or other typical breakfast foods here and there, but I rarely crave them. My husband, on the other hand, could eat breakfast for every meal, and is excited to find breakfast foods on “non-breakfast” menus.

So, after picking up some coconut curry simmer sauce from Target a few weeks ago for dinner, I had half the jar sitting in the fridge just staring at me, begging to be used. With the sauce sitting mere inches from a carton of eggs, I had an idea. Coconut curry egg salad! Yes, it sounds weird but I promise it doesn’t taste weird. I actually loathe egg salad, mostly because I can’t handle mayo. So, I figured this would be a flavorful alternative to mix together the smashed eggs. Thankfully, the taste experiment didn’t backfire.

This sandwich comes together in a matter of 20 minutes (if you include the time it takes to hard-boil the eggs), and is absolutely delicious. I had mine on some toast with spinach, but the possibilities for a sandwich are endless. It’s super creamy and isn’t overly eggy, but the egg is there. I could even see this working really well with tofu if you aren’t an egg fan.

Quick Coconut Curry Egg Salad
– Serves 1 –

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Target’s Coconut Curry Simmer Sauce
2 Hard-boiled eggs (see directions below)

Directions:
1. To hard-boil an egg: Fill a large pot with cold water, enough to cover the eggs by about 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring it to a rolling boil. Once it’s boiling, take it off the heat and allow to sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain the water and let it sit at room temperature, or pop it in the fridge for a few minutes before peeling.
2. Mash the hardboiled eggs with a fork.
3. Add the simmer sauce and mash/mix to combine.
*I had mine on two pieces of toast as a sandwich with some spinach, but you can enjoy it any way you’d like!

Rowdy Ramen

When I was contacted about this infographic, I knew I just had to share it.

Growing up, my parents always kept some Top Ramen in the house for those quick and easy snacks or lunches. They still to this day have a drawer full of it, and I think my dad has an equally impressive stash in his office at work. I remember making that for lunch a lot in the summer, as it was the only thing I could really “cook.” Even my younger sister was able to figure out the “cooking” process, and as she got older, started spicing up her noodles.

I use the noodles a lot myself (stir-fry, uncooked in a salad, etc.), and enjoy a good real-deal ramen dish as well. So, here’s the Hack College “We Love Ramen” infographic, because really, we all do love it.

Created by: Hack College

Love the run

Since I’ve been in a lull in terms of my racing schedule, I’ve had the opportunity to really enjoy running for what it is. While it can be a struggle some days, once I finally drag myself outside I always end the run happy. I haven’t been running tons of miles each week (topping at about 30), but I’ve definitely been speeding up, and enjoying myself more. I tend to go through phases where I am absolutely in love with running one minute, and then the next I question my ability to continue training for races. Right now I’m embracing the love moment!

I picked up a pair of Brooks Green Silence early this week, and took them out for a test run. They’re more on the minimalist side, but aren’t as minimal as the Vibram Five Fingers I have. I actually took those out for a 1.25 mile jaunt last weekend, and am excited to slowly incorporate them back into my running as it’s been 2 years since the last time I ran in them. I’m really happy with the Green Silence, and plan to rotate them in with my Ghosts for shorter runs until my legs get stronger, since I definitely felt my calves screaming by the end of my 3.5 miles on Wednesday. Brooks’ “Run Happy” mantra certainly applies to me.

In terms of my near-future running plans, I’m looking forward to a 10 mile race on March 25th (an automatic PR since I’ve never raced that distance!), and then a half marathon April 22nd. From there, I’m not really sure what my plans are (maybe another half or two?), aside from the annual summer 5k’s, and then the Chicago Marathon in October!

My running has been fueled by some good eats, of course. On Wednesday I decided to give Healthy Happy Life’s Easy Sweet Potato Burgers a try, and they were awesome. The only change I made to the recipe was subbing tahini for almond butter (just because I didn’t have any tahini), and I also threw in a teaspoon of chili powder. The recipe made six decent sized burgers, so I’ve been enjoying the leftovers!

Even though there was a mashed sweet potato in the burger, I couldn’t help but have some fries. Conveniently, the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program sent me a coupon to sample an Alexia Foods product. I’ve had a few of the different french fries they offer, and was immediately drawn to their waffle fries (my favorite). I find that oftentimes the heating instructions on frozen potato products aren’t sufficient – I wind up having to babysit the fries because when the timer goes off, they are still mush, but after that they can go from mush to burnt in a matter of seconds. These fries were easy, though. I popped them in for the suggested 25-30 minutes, and they were good enough at 25 for my liking, and perfect at 30 minutes for my husband (he likes them on the crunchier side). Paired with the veggie burger, we had ourselves a simple but delicious meal. I absolutely plan on trying some of their other flavors, because I wanted to grab multiple bags while I was in the frozen aisle!

I’ve got some big plans for the weekend in terms of running and food – I mean, what else is there?! I’m looking forward to some running, eating, and of course, lesson planning. It’s hard to believe I’m already half way through my student teaching.

February Foodie Pen Pals!

Every month, I feel like I hit the jackpot when it comes to my Foodie Pen Pals package. February was no exception, and since I got my package nice and early, I’ve had the opportunity to sample almost everything that the wonderful Mellissa from A Fit & Spicy Life sent me.

It’s as though Mellissa read my mind when she sent me Target’s Archer Farms granola. My absolute favorite is the chocolate chunk hazelnut biscotti, so I was beside myself when I saw that was included! I also got to try the pecan sticky bun, and that is definitely a close second favorite. These granola goodies were just in time, since only a few days before I finished my Pure Bliss Eats peanut butter chocolate chip granola. Now I’m itching to take a trip to Target and grab a full sized box of each flavor!

Since I’ve been teaching, granola bars for breakfast have become my new best friends. Naturally, seeing a box of blueberry almond flax bars got me excited. I enjoyed one every morning last week, and am looking forward to checking out what other flavors they have (while getting more granola, of course). While I was a little wary of the black currant chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised when I had a taste – it’s a nice balance of fruity sweet with chocolate – I’ll be taking my time to finish off that bad-boy. The “Monster” trail mix has also been a great afternoon snack to help get me through grading essay after essay. My 11th graders are taking the HSPAs next week, so we’ve been all about practicing expository, open ended, and persuasive writing. Nuts and chocolate are the right kind of pick me up for that!

While I haven’t tried the Mio yet, every single time I see it, myself and my husband start singing the commercial jingle… who would have thought Foodie Pen Pals could bring music to the home! I also haven’t tried the Gatorade energy bites, but I’ll have to report back after I devour some pre-run.

I’m so thankful for all the goodies Mellissa sent me, and if you’re interested in finding out what I sent this month, head over to Linday’s blog It’s Linz to check it out!

So, you may be wondering how you too can get in on the fun. Need not fret, here are all the details!:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for March, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-Whether you are a US or Canadian resident (Super important to make sure you’re on the right list!)

You must submit your information by March 4th as pairings will be emailed on March 5th!

This Week in Yum

I’m still here, I promise! I’ve been slowly taking over my cooperating teacher’s schedule, so I’ve been getting more and more work (yay!). My time in the kitchen has mostly been spent recreating favorites and making quick meals. However, there have been a few noteworthy dishes I’ve devoured recently.

On Sunday, I sent my husband off to a Superbowl party with some Buffalo Chicken Dip, a true football party classic. He surprisingly brought some home, so on Tuesday I decided to use the leftovers to make grilled sandwiches, my family loves sandwiches, we typically visit the sandwich shop at least once a week so I thought it was a perfect idea. It was super easy, and really delicious – it tasted like it was a million calories, but I promise it wasn’t! All you need to do is make this buffalo chicken dip (second recipe listed), put about 3 tablespoons on your favorite bread, and grill away. Yum.

The next night, I made veggie burgers, but not just any veggie burger. A few weeks ago, Megan over at Running Foodie posted a recipe for eggplant burgers. As luck would have it, eggplants and burgers are two of my favorite things, and combining them was right up my alley. So, I bookmarked the recipe and finally made them. My husband isn’t a big eggplant fan, but he was pleasantly surprised when he found out the ingredients. The recipe makes 8 burgers, so I was able to enjoy some for lunch throughout the week. Double win. Unfortunately I was so excited to eat it all I didn’t snap a picture, but you should absolutely make them.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge burrito fan, so I decided to add that to our menu for the week. This wasn’t just any burrito, though, it was a grilled burrito, which is something I need to do more often. It was such an easy way to upgrade the burrito to a whole new level. If you can muster up waiting a few extra minutes before devouring your burrito, all you need to do is spray a pan with some non-stick cooking spray and heat it for about 2-3 minutes on each side. So good.

To round out my week of yum, I received some goodies I ordered from Pure Bliss Eats, and it’s been a struggle not to eat everything right away! I ordered the Chocolate Chip Dough Balls and some Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola. Almost all of the dough balls are gone already, and there is only a bit of the granola left, too. They are both SO good and since it’s healthy, I have no problem indulging frequently. If you’re in the market for some delicious healthy treats I would highly recommend checking out Pure Bliss Eats, especially because it’s a fellow foodie fitness blogger’s brainchild!

There’s plenty of yum on this week’s menu, and also lots of running. I signed up for the Chicago Marathon in October, so base training for that has begun! This round both the husband and I are planning to incorporate weight training into our plan as well, and we actually spent an extra hour at the gym today doing some leg work. I’m looking forward to making that a more regular occurrence, because I really believe cross training can help someone like me who’s so injury prone. Bring it on, running.

January Foodie Pen Pals!

I can’t believe that my last post about donuts marked my 300th post! That’s not a lot for some who blogs daily, but for me, that’s a nice round number I can relate to.

Anyway, after having such a great experience in December, I decided to participate in the Foodie Pen Pal Program in January, and was once again pleasantly surprised with my goodies. My package arrived nice and early from Betsy at A Dancer in the Kitchen. Coming home to a package that’s for you, but you don’t know what’s inside is so exciting – I look forward to it all month! Betsy was generous and everything I’ve tried so far is absolutely delicious!

The package had a little bit of everything – savory, sweet, healthy… I couldn’t wait to dig in! Of course, I had to wait long enough to snap some photos, but then everything was fair game. I’ve sampled everything, and I think my favorite may be the Wasa crackers. At first I wasn’t too sure about them – they’re almost paper thin, and were pretty bland looking. The taste, however, is far from bland. Betsy sent me a box of rosemary, and they pack a serious flavor punch! I’ve been having a cracker or two almost every day since I opened the package, and I am most definitely adding them to my future grocery list!

I have also been enjoying the Kashi cereal that Betsy sent before I head off to school. I even had the two delicious granola bars she sent as mid-morning snacks my first week! I’ve also been loving the cinnamon honey and preserves from Utah (where Betsy lives) – getting something a little regional is always a nice surprise. While I haven’t tried the Vega Sport goodies that also came, I definitely are keeping my eye on them for when I get into some longer runs again. I’ve only heard good things about their products and can’t wait to sample them for myself.

This month I had the pleasure of sending a package to Kristen of Mind Your Bees and Trees all the way in Japan! You’ll have to head over to her blog to see what I sent!

So you may be asking yourself – what exactly is Foodie Pen Pals, and more importantly, how can I get in on the deliciousness? Well, here’s all the info in case you want to join for February!:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
*Canada is now included!

If you’re interested in participating for February, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com by February 4th and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-Whether you are a US or Canada resident (to be paired up accordingly)

Bulked Up

When it comes to salad, I tend to think of it as a side dish, or acceptable lunch entreé, but rarely as the focus of dinner. My main reasoning for that is simple – I eat, a lot. I’ve come to learn that with the right ingredients a salad can be quite filling and in fact be a very appropriate dinner. Of course I made some frozen french fries just in case the salad wasn’t filling, but it was! We even wound up having leftovers that I was able to take for lunch the next day.

The recipe comes from Betty Crocker, and I was drawn to it because it had vegetarian in the title. Since the beginning of my vegetarian month wasn’t very successful, I’ve been sure to stick to it since then. I couldn’t help but laugh out-loud when reading the first ingredient was chicken broth. There were a few comments on the recipe bemoaning the vegetarian title, since obviously chicken broth is far from it. That was easy enough to adjust with vegetable broth to make it a truly vegetarian dish. In all honesty, that probably could have been omitted as well, and the bulgur could have been cooked in water.

This was actually my first time making bulgur wheat, and I’ve only ever had it before in tabouleh. If we’re going to be honest here, it smells like bird food before it’s cooked. It kind of looks like it too. But thankfully after cooking, it doesn’t have much of a flavor – if anything it’s a bit nutty, and for this particular salad it added a nice contrast. The other surprise of the salad was the dressing – it had a nice kick and was flavorful without being too oily or too salty (something I find a lot with “Asian inspired” dressings).

While I wouldn’t recommend this being your dinner after a full day of work and a workout, I think it’s appropriate for those rest days. Conveniently my entire week was a rest day. I like to use the excuse that I was adjusting to my new schedule. The truth of the matter is that it was cold, windy, and I was exhausted. Once the snow clears I’ll be back out on the roads – April’s half marathon isn’t going to PR itself.

Food Planning: Teacher Edition

For those of you that are frequent readers, you know that I quit my job at the end of December and will be starting to student teach tomorrow! To say I’m nervous is an understatement, but I’m also very excited. I’m lucky enough to be in a school district that’s only about 10 minutes away, and working with a teacher that I had the opportunity to work with in previous semesters for observation hours. Going from working in an office (with my husband) for three years to a classroom is definitely going to be a big adjustment, but like I said, one I’m excited for.

One of the biggest challenges, I think, is going to be planning and preparing my lunches accordingly. When I did my observations, I found myself bringing a peanut butter & jelly sandwich most days. Now don’t get me wrong, a good PB&J is necessary sometimes, but shouldn’t be a daily occurrence for a 25 year old. That being said, I’ve been researching quick, easy, healthy, and most importantly affordable options for lunches. Growing up I had a turkey and cheese sandwich or wrap almost every day, with some type of fruit and some type of dessert. I want to keep my meals room-temperature friendly if at all possible, so frozen lunches that I’ve relied on throughout my cubicle days are no more.

[Source]

I have plenty of veggie wraps in mind (with cucumbers, avocado, hummus, etc.), but don’t want to tire of those too quickly either. And there’s always the option of bringing leftovers (that is, if we have any). So, this is where I need your help – what do you guys bring for lunch, especially the teachers out there?

Fingers crossed for my first day of school tomorrow – the next 14 weeks should be interesting to say the least!