Monthly Archives: August 2012

An easy hearty lunch

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Good evening!

Life has been crazy, but crazy in the best way possible. I’ve been making the  majority of my meals at home, and this one was whipped up in about 5 minutes flat. Thanks for the inspiration goes to Emily @ Daily Garnish. I love her blog and she has some of the best meal ideas (sometimes it’s the simple things) not to mention the cutest baby ever.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we? Toasted Whole Foods seeduction bread with a dab of Earth Balance. On top is half an avocado spread between the 2 pieces of toast and one egg per toast. It was very filling and tasty. Sprinkle of sea salt on top.

Going back to Daily Garnish, the other day I realized how much I love reading my food and health blogs. I go through about 120 each day…and it has become an obsession. The good thing is I only get inspired to workout more and crave the most nutritious meals thanks to my fellow blogger friends. Although Emily may not know I don’t miss a post of hers, she does make an impact on people she doesn’t even know exist! Blogging is a very cool thing. You feel like you get to know the voices behind each blog…and celebrate with them too. Sounds creepy doesn’t it? It’s not as creepy as I made it sound.

Anyway, I guess this is my way of saying, go ahead and leave a comment to let me know you’re a reader. It will only put a smile on my face. And I vow to comment on other blogs instead of being a silent reader (which is OK too).

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Lazy Sundays

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Happy Lazy Sunday everyone!

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. A day with absolutely no expectations. A day to worship God. A day to sleep in. A day to snuggle with your loved ones (this includes pups!). A day to make waffles and sip on coffee. A day to do nothing. A day to be productive. Whatever your Sunday includes, be sure to soak it up!

Just in case you’re wondering, this Sunday (as in today) I slept in way past breakfast and got to enjoy lunch with my fiance.

This waffle was enjoyed Friday morning right here at my desk. Sometimes making waffles during the week makes your entire day feel special. This waffle was made with a mix plus a scoop of Juice Plus Complete for extra staying power, topped with a dollop of plain Voskos Greek yogurt and sprinkled with chia seeds. Berries on the side. Dab of PB on the side for good measure. This had me full for hours.

Bon Appetit,

That Foodie Girl

The Marine Room La Jolla

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The Marine Room

Where: La Jolla, CA

What: fine dining

Somehow this is the first time I’ve ever dined at the Marine Room despite it being my 23rd or so time to La Jolla. My family goes to La Jolla every August, and this time I got the pleasure of dining at The Marine Room. I fell in love with it without even walking through the cute double doors.

Take a few steps inside and this is what you sea. <— I meant to do that.

Started off with my favorite. Prosecco + St. Germaine.

Sorry for the photo..it got dark outside. I went with the halibut with red walnut, venere rice, tomato confit, chorizo and saffron sauce.

I also got a bite of this delicious table side made Caesar salad. It was everything a Caesar salad should be minus the anchovies–which is a good thing in my opinion.

If you’re ever in San Diego, head to La Jolla and dine by the sea. It’s a treat.

Bon Appetit,

That Foodie Girl

GUEST POST: Healthy Living {College Style}

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A big thanks to Anne @ Love Mint Chocolate Chip for this amazing guest post and for doing this for me at the drop of a hat! Anne is a fellow SMU food blogger and I just can’t get enough of her adorable blog. She’s got an infectious positive outlook on life and each of her posts brings a smile to my face. Basically, she sums up her blog as follows:

“Enjoying life to the fullest while trying to maintain a healthy balance between food, fun, fashion, fitness and ALWAYS saving room for dessert”. 

Love her already? Here she is:

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Hello there!

I blog over at Love Mint Chocolate Chip and am absolutely honored to be doing this guest post for Natalie! I love her blog and we have so much in common AKA our love for food:)

I am about to start my senior year at SMU!! Gosh time has flown. After gaining close to 40 pounds my freshman year (I am 5’1 and y’all this was just not a cute look) for the past 3 years I have really been around the block and back with trying to figure out how to live healthy in college and still have fun!!

A few tips I have learned along the way:

1. Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead.
My motto is: “Failure to plan is a plan to fail.” Think about your meals! Plan your clean eats for the week. I like to use Sundays to grocery shop and prep meals for the week.

Get a big thing of chicken and grill it for the week, cut up fresh veggies and fruit, make some healthy snacks… Whatever you have to do to prepare for the week!

Take snacks to class. I am totally that girl who will whip out an apple, some almonds, a granola bar, etc. Don’t let yourself get too hungry or you will binge later.

2. Set time for exercise. 

Put it in your planner and act like it is a class. If you have it set in your schedule, you will be less likely to miss!

If you feel overwhelmed with school work or too busy with extra curricular activities, do a quick run around the block. But, “I don’t have time” is not an excuse. Everybody has 20 minutes! You will feel better, function better and be an overall more enjoyable person to be around.

On the weekends grab your friends and go find something active to do! My friends and I love to try out new classes together, go on walks or find fun “active” activities.

3. Save your splurges for the weekend. 

Eat clean throughout the week and get in at least 4 good sweat sessions and then go have fun on the weekends!

There is no reason to miss out on anything because you are too worried about eating healthy. And I promise, you CAN find plenty of healthy options almost anywhere.
Just look at the menu beforehand and find something that sounds healthy and more importantly, tasty!

You deserve a treat every now and then.

4. Moderation is key. 

This goes with everything and in college, particularly with alcohol. A few drinks is not going to kill your waistline, just watch what you are drinking.

Skinny margaritas, vodka and soda with lime and light beer are great options.

5. Late night smartly! 

The problem is not necessarily the alcoholic drinks themselves, it is what we choose to EAT when we have a little happy buzz.

If you feel hungry or have the munchies when you get home, try to stick with something that will feel satisfying but won’t ruin all your hard work.

My personal favorites are pop chips and pirates booty popcorn. Grab a handful, drink a bottle water and GO TO BED.

And if you do happen to go through taco bell or what-a-burger… Don’t beat yourself up! It’s okay if it only happens once in a while.

Don’t forget… You will NEVER get these 4 years back!! Do not waste them in the gym.

Everyone gains a little weight at some point in college… Just get back on track, surround yourself with people who make you happy and enjoy life. Do not forget to live it to the very fullest.

Thanks again Natalie for having me! Come visit me over at my blog!

Have a happy, healthy, YUMMY
day!!

Anne

La Jolla, California

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Hello foodie friends!

I apologize for not posting a lot recently. My life has been work, yoga and wedding planning. I can’t complain.

Tomorrow morning I’m headed to La Jolla for our annual family vacation.

This photo was taken 6 years ago, but not much has changed. You can expect me to be laying on one of those chairs after my morning beach runs…

and eating at my favorite spot in La Jolla. The Coffee Cup.

But don’t worry! Stay tuned for That Foodie Girl’s very first guest post! I can’t wait to introduce you on Friday!!

Bon Appétit,
That Foodie Girl

Start Restaurant

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Start Restaurant

What: healthy food fast

Where: Dallas

If you follow me on Twitter or like my page on Facebook, you’d know I have been very exciting about this “real food fast” concept. It finally opened this Wednesday and I went in on their second day of business. I loved the wood and earthy/recycled feel of the place.

I couldn’t help but laugh at all the birds everywhere. Put a bird on it! (Portlandia anyone?)

I started off with their “go go juice” with spinach, carrot, apple and ginger. It was refreshing but would you take a look at their size small? I was wondering where the other half of my drink went. It was $3 for that size.

My friend George ordered the Mediterranean quinoa. Again, small size. Side of hummus and pita chips. He felt he got a little cheated with the amount of food he received with the amount he paid.

After he gotten his food and began eating, my friend Eme and I hadn’t gotten our food after over 20 minutes. George went up and they had lost our order. They asked for our receipts and they promptly reimbursed us and brought out our veggie-bean-quinoa burgers.

I was too hungry to capture a good photo of my burger. It was good, but next time I might get it without the bun and on top of a salad.

Side of sweet potato tater tots. These were very sweet as they had hardly any salt and were very lightly fried. You could taste that they were wholesome and healthy, but they could have used some sea salt and a little more crispiness.

I will say they handled our forgotten order very well. We ended up not having to pay, and he brought over drinks for us too. It was a nice gesture, and I can’t wait to be back to try their breakfast.

Cheers to a finally healthy fast restaurant in Dallas! They have a drive through too!

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Whole Foods shopping cart

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Before I show you what was in my little shopping cart at Whole Foods, you must watch this video.

Ok, now that you’ve been enlightened, you will never look at the WF parking lot the same way.

I am very interested in what people buy at the grocery store. Even the checkout lady will ask me what I’m going to make with certain ingredients. I think it’d be interesting to see what everyone buys. So here’s my latest shopping load full of summer staples.

Yes this is for ONE girl. It’ll last me about a week if I cook every meal at home. From the left we have my produce. Summer produce is the best. Bananas (huge), nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, sweet potatoes, Texas heirloom tomatoes, avocado and zucchini. I find that when I fill my fridge with the good stuff, I only eat fresh produce.

Continuing, we have chicken and turkey, and these whole grain sandwich thins that make things a whole lot easier.

I ended up making a sandwich right after I got home, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Moving across my WF loot, I also picked up some plain Voskos. My favorite Greek yogurt for delicious berry and oat bowls in the morning. A dozen eggs because eggs are great on just about everything, cranberry juice and coco water.

And my packaged items. I love this Near East couscous, so I decided to get the WF brand lemon & herb flavored as well. I love treating it like rice and adding grilled veggies and sometimes an egg too. And the Stubb’s BBQ sauce, honey pecan. I’ve never tried this kind, but I can’t wait to marinate and grill chicken with it.

Finally, my favorite almond butter. Mmmm.

After leaving WF hungrier than ever, I put together this little (big) lunch:

Fresh produce special of the day. Turkey, spinach, heirloom tomato, avocado. Side of fresh nectarine slices. It was heavenly.

There’s nothing quite like fresh avocado.

What would you make with all those groceries? Today’s lunch was a HUGE salad.

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Laduree, Sarabeths, Le Bain and more

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Good evening everyone! I’m back with another recap of my amazing NYC trip last weekend. I literally ate my way through the city and I have some iPhone photos to prove it.

My Saturday morning began at Sarabeth’s with my freshman roomie, Cameron! It was such a cute little brunch spot–we brunched at their South Central Park location. It was busy but it didn’t take too long to get seated. I had their veggie frittata with a pumpkin muffin and coffee. Filling and tasty.

I loved how we sat next to this little garden area. It really brightened up the damp and humid morning.

Next up was Laduree. Of course!

The store front was enough to melt my heart.

The inside was so cute. At $2.75 per macaron, I decided to get 4 to make the trip up there worth it, right? I got pistachio, salted caramel, coconut and chocolate. Mmmm…

For dinner we headed to the Meatpacking District with a few goals in mind: Biergarten at the Standard and a rooftop bar. We started out at Sea Thai–my prosecco, his Stella. I had pad thai and he had a green curry noodle dish. My pad Thai was too rich and left me feeling a little unsettled.

After dinner, I was dying to walk the high line. I practically stared at it all through dinner. We walked up and down the high line and were happy to see greenery and the Jersey shoreline. We also ran into a few food trucks up there…but I was too full to even think about food (not until 2am did I get my gelato). It was a romantic spot to walk around sunset time.After our walk, we had pint sized beers at the Biergarten at the Standard Hotel and enjoyed the people watching and the overall atmosphere. It was a fun place, but we were ready for a rooftop. We gulped those things down and headed up the elevator to Le Bain.

That would be a hot tub in the club. We were expecting a bar not a club, much less a club with a hot tub! We were shocked, but mostly in awe of the view.

After staring out the windows, we got drinks, sat down on a couch near the hot tub and enjoyed pure people watching entertainment on that Sunday night. Sorry for missing half your face in this photo, Ryan.

Things got wild and we got to be spectators. A hot tub in a club!? Still shocked.

Have you ever been to a club like that? Ever been to Sarabeths?

Bon Appetit,

That Foodie Girl

A new summer favorite: grilled peaches

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Good evening, foodie people!

I have been thinking about this dish ever since my friend and I made it a few nights ago. Meet grilled peaches.

We didn’t exactly get those pretty grill lines, but it tasted just like peach cobbler. Minus the unnecessary sugar and calories. Grilled peaches + plain Voskos Greek yogurt + oats + drizzle of honey. So. Good.

Besides new dessert creations, I have been eating everything in sight. This lunch plate proves I couldn’t make up my mind.

Allow me to take you on a tour.

This is a veggie masala pattie (bought it in the frozen section of WF) and my favorite summer veggies– sautéed zucchini and bell pepper.

On the other side of my plate are baby carrots, lentil crackers and a gouda Baby Bell cheese. The cheese is so good. And you know I try to avoid cheese….until I met these little guys.

On another note, this is how my mornings begin. The joys of working from home.

Let’s zoom in.

Thanks to my recent trip to WF, I got to jam pack my morning with fresh produce. The best way to start the day. Under that pile of berries is plain Greek yogurt. On the right is a slice of Seeduction bread toasted with Justin’s PB and bananas.

What do you like to eat for breakfast? Have you ever tried grilling peaches?

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl