I always eat a bunch of servings of fruits & veggies on a daily basis, but lately I've been really putting in an effort to ramp up my produce intake even more. I just feel that eating whole foods as often as possible is the healthiest way to eat. I'm somewhere in between a vegan who eats a high amount of (good for you) carbs, and someone who thinks that eating lots of protein is key. I've been trying to find balance between eating a ton of fruits and veggies, while also getting what I feel is enough protein in my diet to feed my muscles, especially on days when I have hard workouts. Today I'm sharing my eats from yesterday to show you what that balance looks like to me. Note that every single day isn't as clean eating as this. I indulged on Tuesday night and had tortilla chips with my ... [Read More]
fennel
My Monday By Numbers {Fennel, Candied Pecans & Mandarin Orange Salad}
Today was no doubt a busy day - one where I had every task and activity timed out in order to fit everything in that I wanted to do. This doesn't always work out perfectly, like today when my physical therapy session went later than usual and I didn't make it to volunteer at the Humane Society, but I still like to crunch my timing on most days to be as productive as I can. For some reason I started thinking about random numbers that coincide with things in my day, so here goes some of my Monday by numbers: Minutes spent at the gym: 45 Number of times I took Harley for a walk: 2 (1 long, 1 short) Minutes it took me to complete a writing assignment this AM: 160 Number of steps taken: 10, 044 so far (via my FitBit) ...Which equates to this many miles walked: 4.33 Servings of produce eaten: 7 ... [Read More]
Roasted Fennel with Parmesan Vinaigrette
A couple of weeks ago, I found an intriguing recipe on the Vegetarian Times website for roasted fennel. I began experimenting with fennel somewhat recently, and have been a bit surprised to find myself liking its licorice-like flavor. With this recipe in mind, I picked up some fennel bulbs with the intention of roasting them for the first time... and then totally forgot about them in the back of one of my produce drawers. Today I was digging around my fridge and found them, slightly browned but luckily still useable... And I turned them into this... To make the dish, I first sliced the fennel bulbs into wedges... Next I mixed olive oil, minced garlic, mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then added grated parmesan cheese to the mix. I tossed the fennel with the dressing, ... [Read More]
Fancy Pants Lunch: Fennel, Apple, & Feta Salad
Ok, perhaps this salad really isn't fancy at all. But to someone whose lunches usually consist of a smoothie or yogurt with fruit, consumed while plugging away at a work project, it felt like it to me. Taking the few minutes to chop up fruits and veggies and then sitting at my kitchen table to eat in the middle of a weekday is a rare occurrence, but today I did just that. Combining licorice-like fennel, salty feta cheese, tart apple, sweet figs, and just a hint of crunchy pecans, this salad packs a lot of tasty flavors. I didn't feel the need to add a lot of dressing to it, and ate mine with just a squirt of balsamic vinegar. Fennel, Apple & Feta Salad 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced 1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped 6 pitted dates, sliced 1 oz crumbled Feta cheese 1 ... [Read More]
Citrusy Fennel & Guava Salad
First thing this AM before I started working, I took Harley for a quick run/walk interval around our neighborhood trail. It took 20 minutes, I felt like I got a bit of exercise in, and the puppy was content all morning with just laying around. Why don't I do that everyday?! I'm certainly going to try to start more of my weekdays off like that. How to Beat Exercise Boredom In lieu of boxing this evening, I volunteered at the Humane Society. In order to get a workout in today, I squeezed in a weight training + cycling session at my gym beforehand. As I was doing some strength training exercises, and sweating my butt off since I haven't been doing that kind of workout much lately, I started thinking about how important it is to diversify your workouts. True, there may be some people out ... [Read More]