Daily Grind

Since finishing my student teaching, I’ve been back to work at my old company on a part-time basis. Even though it’s part-time I’m still trying to work as much as possible, which means heading into the office almost every day of the week. While there are a lot of differences between working in an office and a classroom, I of course find some of the biggest differences when it comes to food (surprise!).

Prior to student teaching I was concerned with my lunch options – because I wasn’t familiar with the layout of the school and what most teachers did for lunch, I spent the first few weeks bringing only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now don’t get me wrong – I love a good PB&J, but that doesn’t quite cut it for me when it comes to lunch – I prefer it as a snack. I brought creative leftovers every now and then, but for the most part my meals were less than inspired. Knowing that I would have constant access to a toaster oven, microwaves, and a refrigerator when coming back to the office did spark a little excitement.

Despite having grand plans for my lunches, I tend to gravitate towards the frozen section during my weekly grocery shopping trips. It doesn’t require much thinking when I’m at the grocery store, or when I’m packing my lunch. Of course once it’s actually time for lunch I’m disappointed I didn’t take the extra time to prepare something myself. Since I’m currently in a no-dairy zone, and I also stay away from meat, I’m currently living more of a vegan lifestyle, but I’m far from calling myself a vegan. Just in the past week I’ve been shocked to see how many seemingly dairy-free items actually have dairy in them (like Morningstar Farms’ soy crumbles) making my frozen lunch choices slim.

So what do I eat for lunch?
– peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (on a rare, uninspired occassion)
– wraps (typically filled with a smattering of veggies)
– salad (previousy topped with cheese, and I’ve since been experimenting with other toppings)
– cold-cut sandwiches (also rare, but I’m a big fan of Hormel’s natual line)
– frozen meals or quick microwave meals (Hormel makes awesome “Compleates” and I’m generally a Lean Cuisine fan)

Of course the aformentioned lunches are not alone – snacks are important, too! My snacking habits are all over the place, but I try to make sure there’s some type of cracker/carb, a fruit, and either yogurt or a dessert-like treat. Since I particpate in Foodie Pen Pals, I can usually guarantee I’ll have a snack for at least a week that fits one of the criteria I mentioned.

Now that marathon training is about to start (more on that later), I need to make sure I’m eating the right stuff, and the right amount to keep myself fueled. Of course it’s been a little difficult due to all the tests I’ve been having recently, but hopefully I can get back to a normal eating schedule soon.

So, what do you usually eat for lunch? Any awesome bring-to-work friendly things I should check out?

It’s All Fun and Games Until…

I try not to get too personal on the blog, simply because I don’t feel the need to bore you all to tears. But, since something that’s going on in my personal life is affecting food, I feel like it’s appropriate to mention. I mean, the blog is FOODosaurus Rex, after all!

For quite some time now I’ve been experiencing some, ahhem, bathroom issues. It’s something that has started as a gradual process since about middle school and has gotten increasingly worse over the last few years, with the worst starting about a year ago. At first, I assumed it was because of the increase in running – everyone’s heard of runner’s trots, and I was training for my first marathon. Eventually, though, I realized something was off but couldn’t put my finger on it. Being the stubborn person that I am, I refused to go to the doctor, despite my parents knowing an awesome gastroenterologist.

Eventually my parents decided to make an appointment for me, and so on Thursday, I finally made it to the doctor’s office that my parents had been suggesting I visit for over a year. I knew from the second I walked in the door that things would work themselves out – instead of going into an exam room, I met with the doctor in his office, and we talked. He asked me questions, and I talked about my bathroom habits with a complete stranger.

While he has a few ideas as to what it may be, we still have to do some tests. You guessed it – endoscopy, colonoscopy, ultrasound… all the fun stuff! And to rule out any lactose intolerance, I can’t have any dairy in the meantime. This wasn’t something I expected, so of course I’m stocked with milk, yogurt, cheese, and milk chocolate. It’s amazing how much you want something when you can’t have it. I’ve also come to realize that I really don’t know what is in my food, and I was shocked when reading the labels how many things have traces of dairy that I never would have suspected. The doctor doesn’t think the cause of my problems are lactose related, but he wants to rule it out – fingers crossed!

[source]

So, I’m currently on a quest for dairy-free eats (suggestions welcomed!!), and unfortunately won’t be eating much over the next few weeks. It isn’t going to be easy or fun, but I know it can’t be any worse than I’m feeling now. I’m hoping that everything will be squared away by mid-June, and won’t have to worry about stopping multiple times during a marathon, what I’m eating, or where the nearest bathroom is.

A Love Affair

I’m lucky enough to live only about 30 minutes away from my parents, so I’m able to stop by and visit a few times a month. They happen to live in a town that’s full of yummy restaurants, specialty shops, and grocery stores, so it’s only natural that I try to take advantage of that as much as possible. There is one place, though, that seems to have a magnetic pull, and I can’t bear to leave without making a pit-stop – Trader Joe’s! Naturally I went this past weekend when I was visiting for Mother’s Day.

The store is always packed, and parking can be a nightmare. That would typically keep me away from a store, but I’m never disappointed with what I find once inside. There are some things I grab every single time I go, whether or not I’m actually in need of them. I’m a big fan of tempeh and tofu, and theirs is always reasonably priced. I can get a block of 7 grain tempeh for under $2, and it’s usually double at most grocery stores near me. They also have really delicious soy chorizo and sausage-less sausage. Non-meat and meat eaters alike should be impressed with their substitutes!

I also almost always pick up some quick lunch options, and can never pass up some Indian Fare. Paired with a tortilla or naan, all you need to do is heat up the pouch in the microwave for about a minute or two, and lunch is served! It’s also really great over rice. They have a bunch of different kinds – some with chickpeas, lentils, paneer, spinach… you name it, they’ve got it. I have one in my lunchbox for today.

There are a lot of other “staples” I pick-up from Trader Joe’s each time I visit, but the most decadent and far from necessary treat is their Cookie Butter. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know I’m obsessed. I had it for the first time in the winter, and was immediately hooked. There was a brief period after I had it for the first time where it was on hiatus at the store (I think they underestimated it’s popularity), so as soon as it was back in stock I grabbed multiple jars. Now that it’s regularly in stock I make sure to grab just one jar. If you’ve never had it before and there’s a Trader Joes anywhere near you (or you have someone that can mail it to you), I HIGHLY suggest getting it. But, be forewarned – it’s addicting!

So there you have it – my love affair with Trader Joe’s. I’m sure if I lived closer to a Whole Foods that would be an equal affair as well (it’s just a little too far, but I get excited any time I do have the opportunity to go). I have quite a few trips to Westfield planned for the next few weeks, so Trader Joes will definitely be seeing me more, and I don’t think my bank account is going to like it!

Do you have any favorite groceries, or particular grocery items?

Giveaway Winner!

This past week I was lucky enough to not only host a blog giveaway, but also win one!

Samantha over at Running and Cupcakes has been hosting some pretty awesome giveaways recently, so I had to get in on the action. I decided to try my luck at winning some Perky Jerky beef jerky. That may seem like an odd giveaway to enter for someone that doesn’t really eat meat, but my husband is a huge jerky fan and I’m always willing to give food a try. When my package arrived I was expecting a bag or two of jerky… but oh no – I got a handful of bags and a personalized note!

I’m pleased to report that the jerky was an overall win for both myself and my husband. And the entire pouch is only 90 calories, so it’s a perfect snack. I’m psyched I have so many packets to enjoy, and will definitely be looking into ordering more in the future!

Now onto my giveaway – thanks to Random.org, the winner is comment #4…

Congratulations! E-mail me your address [ foodosaurusrex (at) gmail (dot) com] so I can have the goodies on their way! Thanks to everyone that entered!

Cinco de Yum

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

It’s no secret that I’m in love with Mexican food and drink. I tell the story all the time, but once in high school someone asked me if I was Mexican because I ate a lot of Mexican food. Well the “eating lots of Mexican food” has only increased as I’ve become the meal planner of the house, and I can never get enough!

Looking through my arsenal of recipes that I’ve blogged about, it’s clear that I’m in love with Mexican and Southwestern flavors. I decided to pare it down a bit to share with you some of my favorites, in case you’re looking for some last minute ideas!:

Veggieful Enchiladas
Grilled Cheesy Burritos
Southwestern Lasagna
Roasted Zucchini, Corn, and Onion Tacos
Veggie Loaded Nachos

Now go enjoy a margarita – you deserve it!

Do you love Mexican food as much as me? How are you celebrating?

Easy Baked Chicken

When I found a recipe for cheesy slow cooker potatoes on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to pair it with chicken breast. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it, but I eventually settled on baking it with a dry rub. This should be prefaced by me saying that cooking meat scares me, and this fear is nearly irrational when it comes to chicken. I’m always afraid I’ll undercook it, and somehow contaminate my entire kitchen in the process. Thankfully I haven’t had any real meat cooking blunders, but I’m always much more comfortable with non-meat meals.

Anyway, this is super easy, and aside from taking the chicken out of the package and putting the spices on it, there really isn’t anything else you need to do. The chicken breasts I picked up were a little on the thick side, so I pounded them out a bit (with my fist, since I don’t have a meat tenderizer – classy) before adding the spices. I think this would be perfect sliced and over a salad, or maybe with some Mexican rice. The possibilities are endless!

Easy Baked Chicken
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp adobo
1 tsp paprika
Cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. If needed, pound out the chicken. Mix together all of the spices.
3. Take about a teaspoon of the spice mixture and rub it on each side of the chicken breast. If you have some left over at the end you can spread it across the chicken as you see fit.
4. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Add the chicken to the sheet.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven), flipping at the half-way point.

A little sparkle

If you’ve ever looked closely at my race photographs, you’ll notice I am almost always wearing a headband. Not just any headband, though… one of those brightly colored plastic ones that comes in a package of about 10, usually meant for little kids. Totally cool, I know.

headbandz — See? Plastic headbands are not cool for running.

So as you can imagine, I’ve been on the hunt for a more athletic styled headband, but haven’t had much luck. I’ve been graced with a rather large head (it’s okay, I’ve come to terms with it), so most of the headbands that are elastic either squeeze my head to death, or slip off. So instead of dealing with a pesky headband during a race, I figured the plastic ones would be the easiest way to go (forgetting of course that they dig into the back of your ears after hours).

After scouring the interwebs for suggestions, I figured I’d give Noodle Huggers by Little Slice of Awesome a try. They’re only $6 for the thin style, and I was okay with the idea of losing $6 if it didn’t work out. Even though I like to match my running outfits (nerd alert) as much as possible, I knew the black sparkle would be the most versatile option. I mean, who doesn’t love a little sparkle in their lives?

You can’t doubt my commitment to sparkle motion!

After getting the headband, I realized I needed to put it through some different tests. First up was an easy weights and yoga workout. I was impressed that the band didn’t budge, even when I was nearly upside down. I sweat during the workout, but not like I do when I’m running, so later in the week I took it out for a spin. Conveniently it was also drizzling, so that added to the moisture test. I’m happy to report that my headband didn’t budge! I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little skeptical at first, but this headband is in heavy rotation (ok, it’s the only one in rotation).

Do you wear a headband when you work out? What’s your favorite brand?

Note: The opinions expressed in this post are all my own. I purchased my own Noodle Hugger at full price, and wanted to share it’s awesomeness with you. I’m constantly looking for product reviews from like-minded people, and wanted to contribute.

Too Much Fun and a Giveaway!

Not too long ago I was posting about how I gave my two weeks notice, and was ready to start student teaching. Well, in reality that was more than 14 weeks ago, and I’m all done! I finished student teaching last Friday, took the Praxis II Saturday, and am finishing up the semester this week. Being a teacher is something that I’ve always wanted to do, and it’s crazy to think that I am finally at the point where I can actually look for teaching jobs. So to celebrate on Saturday I headed down to Philly to meet up with some of my college friends and enjoy dinner and drinks. Nothing like spending the evening pretending you’re still in college!

I attended a beautiful wedding on Sunday afternoon in South Jersey, and the food was amazing. A highlight was the favors – little cake balls! One of them was a complete delicious surprise, and it was a cinnamon cake and I’m hanging on to the second for as long as I possible can (which means it’s a miracle I haven’t eaten it already).

Now onto the giveaway goodies! When the folks at Peloponnese contacted me asking if I’d be interested in sampling their entertaining package and offering it to a reader, I couldn’t turn it down. I’m a huge fan of the grocery store olive bar, and my parents always have a container in their fridge. So when I headed to their house last Friday for a celebratory post-student teaching, pre-test dinner, I brought the package with me. I was a bit skeptical at the jarred olives, but was pleasantly surprised! I’m a big Kalamata olive fan and went to town on them. We had quite an impressive appetizer spread, and the adorable olive platter didn’t hurt the occasion either!

You have the chance to win the entire Entertaining with Peloponnese package too! Here’s what is included:
– Artichoke Spread
– Hummus Spread
– Halved Kalamata Gourmet Black Olives
– Florina Whole Sweet Peppers
– Baba Ganoush
– Antipasto Party Olives
– Specialty Olive Bowl

To enter, you can do any of the following. The more you do, the more chances you have (leave a comment for each)!:
**You have until Saturday 5/5 at 9pm EST to enter!
– Leave a comment telling me what you’d do with this party pack – have people over for wine and olives? Keep it all for yourself?
– Tweet about the giveaway – “I want to win a Peloponnese Entertaining Pack from @Foodosaurusrex!”
– “Like” Peloponnese Mediterranean Foods on Facebook
– Follow FoodosaurusRex on Twitter

April Foodie Pen Pals!

I can always tell just how quickly time is passing when I have to sit down to write another Foodie Pen Pal post. I joined the fun back in December, and have been loving every minute of it since! The idea of getting to put together a box of goodies and exchange with people who also love food and blogging is right up my alley. I’ve yet to be disappointed with anything in any of the packages I’ve received, and usually devour everything.

This month’s box came from Emily over at The Last Corral. Emily asked if there was anything that I liked/didn’t like, and I mentioned my affinity for chocolate. Well, she didn’t skimp and sent me quite a few goodies that had chocolate in them! To balance out the chocolate, there was also some healthy stuff, but you know what I went for first!

As you can see, there was plenty of snack foods, which my husband and I are always on the hunt for. We both like to have portable snacks to enjoy throughout the day at work, and I was able to use pretty much all of what Emily sent me as a snack at one point or another! First up was the chocolate – dark chocolate malt balls, a chocolate covered Peep, and homemade “slutty” brownies! I couldn’t help but laugh at the name, and Emily’s note hoping that I wasn’t offended. She said they’re called slutty brownies because they’re fast and easy – ha! The Wheat Thins were also appreciated and quickly devoured – I loved the little hint of buffalo hot sauce right when you first eat the cracker, and then it mellows out to a regular Wheat Thin. I may or may not have had them as a snack at work for a week straight…

Emily also included some healthier options, like the berry edamame blend and two KIND bars. I’ve actually never had a KIND bar, and I’m not sure why – I seem to always pass them by in the aisle at the store. But not anymore – these things are delicious!

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the almond & apricot simply because I’m not a big apricot fan. This bar didn’t taste like the dried apricots I remember from my childhood, but instead it was fruity and tropical. The fact that there were full-sized almonds in the bar was also a nice change of pace. I knew I’d be in love with the almond & coconut bar, and it didn’t disappoint. It had huge chunks of coconut, and again the whole almonds. They were SO good and I can’t wait to get more. I’m really glad Emily introduced me to them!

Thanks again to Emily for the goodies – I loved them all!

If you’re interested in finding out what I sent this month, head over to Richa’s blog, Hobby and More and check it out! And if you want to participate next month, here are the details (you really should!):

-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.

If you’re interested in participating for May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

Lovely Earth

This month’s Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger post centers around something that should be near and dear to our hearts – the earth! I suppose you could say I celebrated earth day since I ran a half marathon, but I’d like to think I do a little bit every day to help try and keep us here, and enjoying what we’ve got. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I contribute every now and then to part of the problems, but for the most part, I try not to!

Since I’ve started running more, I’ve come to appreciate nature more. It’s still not my absolute favorite (I’d much prefer a hotel over camping on most days), but with simple views like this on my morning long runs, how could I not want to keep it alive?

towpath — Delaware & Raritan Rivers canal tow path

So, what do I do to try and keep nature beautiful? First, my husband and I always try to bring reusable shopping bags when we go to the grocery store. Some groceries even give you a little cash back (5 cents) for each bag you use! I’ve been collecting a few here and there, and of course have two obligatory cupcake related bags. Those usually bring a smile to the cashier’s face. The hardest part about using reusable bags? Remembering them.

Screen Shot 2012-04-26 at 5.57.45 PM — Yes, I bring this bag to the grocery store.

While we’re at the grocery store, I try not to buy too many prepackaged foods, mostly because they’re more expensive. But in terms of the environment, they help keep excess papers and plastics away as well. I was happy to learn from Hormel that they try to use as little packing as possible. I love that their Natural Choice packaged deli meats come in recycled packaging! It also helps that it’s delicious.

Equally as important as bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, and buying products with less packaging, in my opinion, is the reusable water bottle. I’ve been using them for years, ever since Nalgenes became all the rage while I was in high school. I grabbed a purple Loyola College bottle on a visit my senior year of college, and I still use it today. The folks at Hormel sent me an awesome Camelbak bottle that I’ve used before and after two long runs and also after this past weekend’s half marathon. It has a straw that only lets out liquid when you bite it, like their backpacks. This feature is much appreciated since the wide mouth of the Nalgene usually results in water dribbled down my chin.

While you can’t call me “Mother Earth,” I’ve been making a conscious effort more recently to try and not only appreciate the earth and everything we have more, but to also make sure I’m not actively contributing to it’s problems. I’d have to attribute the majority of that to my husband who is a big fan of good ‘ole earth. I certainly have room for improvement, but I’m working on it!

Disclaimer: Hormel Foods sent me Camelbak water bottle as a member of their Extended Family Food Blogger program in order to blog about Earth day and the Hormel family. The opinions in this post are my own.