Muffins at Midnight

Midnight is a great time for making muffins.  A few months ago I discovered these vegan zucchini date muffins on ChoosingRaw.com. They are absolutely delicious. I’ve been craving them for a few weeks and now that I’m running more I want to have plenty of clean post-run snacks around.

Zucchini Date Muffins

Not sure that midnight was an ideal time to bake these but I will be so happy when I have them after today’s boot camp.

Also, since it’s gotten warmer I’ve been obsessing over Arugula. This is the third day in a row that I’ve prepared this salad.

Shrimp & Blackberry Salad

Ingredients:
1 cup organic baby arugula
1/3 cup organic blackberries
1/2 organic zucchini, sliced
1 small Persian cucumber, sliced
2 TBS green onion, chopped
1 lemon wedge
6 wild caught jumbo gulf shrimp
1 tsp coconut oil

Saute the shrimp in coconut oil over medium-high heat, toss all ingredients in lemon juice and enjoy. This salad takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

For all of you muffin lovers I leave you with, Muffins, a clip by one of my favorite comedians.

Which seasonal fruits and veggies are you craving right now? Do you have a favorite muffin flavor or recipe?

Random Report: Balls, Hancock and Lunch

Remember that bowling party I went to a couple of weeks ago? Remember how ballsy I was and asked to order off the menu? Well my request was granted and I ordered a grilled steak salad with extra arugula. They prepared it just how I like it, medium-rare and dressing on the side.

Steak Salad

It’s a good thing I made the request because it was an after work party and I was very hungry by the time I arrived. The buffet food included pizzas and fried mac and cheese balls, which I would have resorted to eating. This way I got to stay on track with eating clean.

This past Sunday was my second Hustle Up the Hancock race. I participated last year and ran up 94 flights of stairs in 20:30. I had a goal of 18 minutes and I DID IT! My final time was 18:05.

Hustle with my trainer

This is all thanks to my trainer. He had me on a weight-lifting, stair-climbing regimen specific to meet my goal. There’s no better feeling than accomplishing a fitness goal after training hard!

It’s been a busy week this week and I haven’t had much time to prepare meals and shop for groceries, luckily where I work (in the heart of Chicago) I have an abundance of  lunch spots to choose from. Yesterday I chose Freshii and ordered off their Freshii 15 menu. The Freshii 15 is a menu of low-cal, portion appropriate options created by Ashley Koff, RD. I like that they have this option, I think it helps if you aren’t confident with choosing healthy off a menu on your own. It does the work for you.

Freshii 15 menu

The thing that I really like about Freshii is that everything is customizable and they have almost endless combinations for creating soups, salads and wraps.

Freshii Boostii-q salad

For lunch I chose the Boostii-q salad because it has all the ingredients I would use at home: greens, bbq chicken (skip the cheese), avocado, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon juice and a splash of Sriracha (which I have never put into a salad before but now is going to become a staple salad ingredient).

I can’t wait to recharge this weekend. I’ll be registering for races, planning meals, hitting the gym and creating some running plans for the spring and summer.

What have you been up to this week? How do you manage eating healthy during a busy week?

Full flavor and food philosophy

My food philosophy… what I eat is healthy, tastes great and gives me the energy I need for future activities. In other words when I prepare meals I make sure that they are nutritious, bursting with flavor and won’t put me in a food coma after I’ve eaten them. From time-to-time I eat strictly for flavor, but for the most part this is it folks and most of what you’ll be seeing from now on is food prepared with this intention.

Eating this way has gotten me in tune with my body and what it needs. I look at it as tapping into survival instincts, well modern-day survival instincts. I don’t eat huge portions so it’s important for me to eat every couple of hours otherwise my body starts to get tired and my mind slows down. Those are both no-nos in a fast-paced corporate environment since I want to move ahead and be productive.

Yesterday’s lunch was no exception to my philosophy. This shrimp, navel orange and quinoa salad kept me full and full of energy. It was a party for my taste buds and treat for my body. It does look festive, doesn’t it?

Shrimp navel orange and quinoa salad

Ingredients:
1 tsp coconut oil (or preferred cooking oil)
4 raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup raw spinach, lightly packed
1 peeled navel orange, sliced
(if you can get your hands on an heirloom navel orange, DO IT!)
1 small bunch walnuts
2 small colored beets, sliced

Step 1:
Drizzle lemon juice over shrimp. Then sprinkle with paprika, garlic powder and chili powder. Let stand for 5 – 30 minutes.

Step 2:
Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Sautee shrimp for approx. 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. The shrimp will turn pink. Remove from skillet, set aside.

Step 3:
In a bowl or plate place quinoa at the bottom of the dish. Layer spinach on top until quinoa is covered. Add the rest of the ingredients and top with shrimp. And enjoy!

Do you notice a difference in energy levels depending on what you eat? Which natural foods are your favorite energy boosters?