What I Ate Wednesday #41

'Ello, lovelies!

So, this post marks the last WIAW... of March 2013! (Tricked ya! Hehe.)

...Wait, what?!?!

Does this mean I'm graduating high school in less than 3 months?!

Holy guacamole... So many mixed feelings about April being literally right around the corner! Though I AM excited for the warmer weather, I would very much appreciate if time would slooooooow downnnnnn! Haha.

Okay, okay, anyways! Moving onto the POINT of this post -- all things food! Since this is the last WIAW of March and 'going green' month, I shall, again, just highlight my green-friendly meals! The descriptions for the rest can alwaaaaays be found on my Instagram!

3/20/13 - Breakfast & Dessert

3/21/13 - Breakfast & Dessert/Snack

 3/22/13 - Breakfast

 3/22/13 - Dinner: bento at work was a crab & tuna vegetable-loaded salad topped with salsa & honey mustard, and two lightly salted rice cakes!
Odd confession: I LOVE rice cakes. Even plain ones, by their crunchy lonesome.

3/22/13 - Dessert & 3/23/13 - Breakfast

 3/23/13 - Lunch: took over my boy's early Saturday morning shift at Rite Aid so he could have some relaxation time before heading back up to college... and my mommy brought me lunch at work from WaWa!
Chicken salad topped with honey mustard & hard boiled eggs.

3/23/13 - Dessert & 3/24/13 - Breakfast

 3/24/13 - Dessert & 3/25/13 - Breakfast

   3/25/13 - Dinner: omg... SO GOOD! We got Chinese food for my brother's birthday, but instead of getting my usual 9876545678 entrees, I got two quarts (I think these are considered quarts? I dunno... Either way, it was A LOT!) of steamed vegetables. Yes. Two. Quarts. I had one with lunch, and one with some baked chicken & honey mustard for dinner. Mouthgasm x10!

Honestly, I don’t know how there was ever a point where the only vegetable I ate was lettuce or the occasional cucumber. I’m beyond obsessed now! Haha. Also, I had some apple slices & a lollipop during work because I was listening to my cravings and my hunger cues. My body thanked me. (Inspired to do so by the super lovely Meg!)

3/26/13 - Breakfast & Dessert

Workout {Pictures} of the Week:

(Look at that! Again, I unintentionally picked two WOD with the same calorie burn! Haha.)

'Little Thing' of the Week:

(Something small that made me smile big)

 Meet my prom date, Vinnie! 
This kid is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. He's absolutely not like any other boy I've "talked" to, and he's FAR from immature. Though he's definitely more outgoing than I am, he's honestly the perfect person to help me break out of my shell and my comfort zone sometimes.
I've "known" him for actually nearly two years now (thanks to me being an avid Rite Aid customer! Haha), but we recently started talking since I started working where he works... aka at Rite Aid!
 I asked him to MY prom (I'm a senior in high school; he's a freshman in college), and he accepted with the most adorable answer... then told me he wanted to go as dates. Then, we began "talking", and now we're here. I thought this was cute and I wanted to share!

Outfit of the Week:

Well, that's all for now, folks!  Decided to add more personal touches to this week's WIAW... I hope you guys enjoyed it! Have a lovely Wednesday and rest of your week, and remember to always stay positive!

Arctic Zero & Fluffy Pancakes

Hello, lovebugs!

I'm excited to say this is my first ever review post! But, it's not only a review...

It's a review AND a new favorite recipe of mine! *Yayyyyy!!* 

This review is dedicated to one of my absolute favorite companies to date -- Arctic Zero. I've heard loads of amazing reviews raving about them for about two years now, but I never had the chance to buy them because they're not sold anywhere near me! (I would've bought them online, but I didn't want to buy in bulk until I knew I liked them. And trust me, now I know...)

Arctic Zero has amazing workers, some of the sweetest people ever. They were kind enough to send me some of their products for a review in return, and it's the LEAST I could do!

I've been having SO MUCH FUN with all of these pints... Adding them to pancakes, smoothies, desserts... Even oatmeal! (If you own AZ and never put a big scoop on a bowl of warm oats... Do it and thank me later!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter with my nightly mug cake & Strawberry with peanut butter protein pancakes!

Cookies and Cream with my nightly mug cake & homemade "Shamrock Shake" using Mint Chocolate Cookie!

Vanilla Maple with my nightly mug cake & again with a big ol' bowl of fluffy apple pie oats!

Chocolate Peanut Butter with my delicious OIAJ & Cookies and Cream with a delicious dessert bowl!

Vanilla Maple in a bowl of coconut protein oats & Strawberry and Chocolate Peanut Butter with my nightly mug cake!

Coffee with my nightly mug cake & Chocolate Peanut Butter in a fluffy bowl of chocolate pr-oats!

Chocolate with my nightly mug cake & the new recipe...

Coconut "Cream Pie" Protein Pancakes!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats, ground into flour
1 tbsp protein powder (I used cookies and cream)
1 tbsp shredded coconut
1 tsp coconut extract
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup almond (or coconut) milk
1 packet of Stevia
pinch of salt
1/3 banana, microwaved to soften if not ripe enough
1 tbsp flaxseed
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Blend oats until flour consistency.

Mix all dry ingredients. Mash/stir in wet.

Cook on medium-high heat. For a "cream" filling, sweetened Greek yogurt or cottage cheese will suffice.

(Optional, but 110% recommended) Plop a big ol' scoop of vanilla maple Arctic Zero on the warm pancakes... And DEVOUR!

Okay, so in conclusion... I LOVE ARCTIC ZERO! I will definitely be spending my own money on some more products asap. All of these pints are true to their name, and none have a gross after-taste like you'd expect from a "healthy ice cream" alternative. The nutrition facts are outstanding, and I have nothing bad to say about these products. I definitely recommend adding a scoop to your favorite warm breakfast or dessert, and again, thank me later! 

I would like to end this with a HUGE thank you to Arctic Zero for being kind and amazing enough to send me all of these products for free. My family and I are extremely appreciative of it, and I will definitely be coming back for more with my own money! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! 

Arctic Zero

Arctic Zero Twitter

Arctic Zero | Facebook

Q: Have YOU ever tried any Arctic Zero products? If so, what's your favorite?!

My favorite is probably vanilla maple... Just ran out this morning!

What I Ate Wednesday #37

Hello, hello darlings!

In this week's What I Ate Wednesday, I'm sharing my weekend's-worth of eats!

The rest of my eats can be found here and on my Instagram!

Thanks to the beautiful Jenn for always hosting this little web foodie part-aaaay! 

2/22/13 - Breakfast: super fluffaaaay chocolate protein egg white & flaxseed oats with defrosted frozen berries + PB2 Greek yogurt + banana slices + peanut butters + a wittle bit of marshmallow Fluff!

Such a delicious combination!

2/22/13 - Lunch: as Cassey Ho would say, Friday was a “YOLO” meal day… And I have no regrets! We raised more than $300 for the American Heart Association at Rite Aid, so we got LOADS of FREE SUBS! I was soooo hungry and I treated myself to white bread and mayo-filled sammiez and I don’t even care. I can’t even tell you the last time I had mayonnaise(!) or white bread(!). I had my two favorites — pepperoni & CHEESE(!), and turkey & cheese. Sooooooo yummy and WORTH IT!

2/22/13 - Dinner: went to Friendly's with my family for my little sister’s 12th birthday!

"YOLO" meal #2 for the day! Haha. Breaded honey barbecue chicken sandwich on white bread(!) with American cheese(!) and regular ol’ french fries(!), plus lots of ‘loaded’ waffle fries(!)! I didn’t feel overly full, or sick, which is a good thing, but if I could pick another entree to treat myself to, I would! But, the night overall was nice. There’s only so many opportunities to enjoy with my family as a whole. Food and all, no regrets should follow! (The food with (!) means it’s a “fear food”.) ❤ Treat yourselves.

2/22/13 - Dessert/Snack: chocolate peanut butter protein & flaxseed mug cake stuffed with pieces of chocolate brownie flavored Quest bar & topped with peanut butters + plain Greek yogurt + more peanut butter, melted + snowflake sprinkles ❄ + a mint green vanilla mini marshmallow bunny, on top of a diced small apple mixed with healthy/organic cereals, with half-frozen strawberry Greek yogurt topped with chia fruit clusters & whole flaxseed on da side!

2/23/13 - Breakfast: chocolate-pumpkin protein & flaxseed pancakes stuffed with sweet maple Greek yogurt + crunchy gluten-free brown rice cereal & topped with melted peanut butters + my new favorite thing >> clean caramelized banana slices + a sprinkle of shredded coconut + small drizzle of maple syrup! Around 300 more/less (if y’all are concerned) & over 40g of protein. These smelled and tasted AMAZING! Though, pumpkin pancakes are my least favorite to make and flip...

2/23/13 - Lunch: giant 'powerbowl' for lunch after food shopping & such with mommy and sissy! Also had some almonds and grapes beforehand because I was feeling faint.

This bowl consisted of steamed fresh vegetables + 3/4 of a sweet potato + sliced tomato + banana pepper + marinated mushrooms + roasted red peppers, all topped with 1 egg plus egg whites, scrambled & garlic/oil sautéed turkey slices with a wittle bit of blue cheese crumbles! Super spicy mustard added post-picture.

2/23/13 - Dinner: made my family our own clean burrito bowls (Chipotle-inspired since we have none around here)! Mine was finely chopped lettuce + homemade teriyaki grilled chicken, shredded + corn + a bit of sweet potato + banana peppers + tomatoes + roasted red peppers + marinated mushrooms + jalapeños + brown rice & the most delicious Chinese-inspired cauliflower rice + a ~toasted pita broken up into chips & a few multi-grain tortilla chips! With cottage cheese + Greek yogurt & salsa on top!

2/23/13 - Dessert/Snack: fluffy banana bread (in honor of National Banana Bread Day!) protein & flaxseed mug cake topped with peanut butter + Greek yogurt + milk chocolate casein/whey protein cream sauce + more PB, melted + sliced almonds + a mini pastel pink vanilla marshmallow bunny on top of a diced apple mixed with healthy/organic cereals, with blueberry Greek yogurt topped with chia fruit clusters on the side! I actually did Insanity Cardio Abs + some cleans & squats not too long before this... Though Saturdays are usually a rest day, I wanted to do something after looking and feeling incredibly bloated all night. It felt so good to get a mini workout in! ANYTHING is better than NOTHING! That’s for sure! 

2/24/13 - Breakfast: made some sweet potato protein pancakes (and added flaxseed) post-workout!

They came out small since I just a small-ish potato, though, so I had them with cinnamon-vanilla egg whites & some chocolate protein Greek yogurt topped with melted creamy peanut butter + banana slices + slivered almonds! So fluffaaaaayyyy! (Yes, I do use that phrase too much.)

2/24/13 - Snack: experimented with the cinnamon swirl protein bread/cake again, and this time made cookies and cream protein cake & cinnamon-almond swirl protein cake (and, of course, my peanut butter fudge black bean brownies! My family’s as obsessed as I am!), and they were both complete SUCCESSES! Hehe. Well... The second time around! ...I forgot the milk the first time...

2/24/13 - Dessert/Snack: I am obsessed with my new cookies and cream protein powder, omg.

Cookies and cream protein-packed & flaxseed mug cake stuffed with chocolate protein cream & topped with PB2 “fudge” + melted White Chocolate Wonderful + a drizzle of maple syrup + whole flaxseed + a mint green vanilla mini marshmallow bunny on top of a diced apple with some healthy/organic cereals, with a side of homemade banana frozen {Greek} yogurt topped with 1/2 a PB fudge black bean brownie + chia fruit clusters!

Goal check-in: (last weeks goals)

• I actually did eat less salads! YAY for being more creative!
• Multiple new sweet recipes... Need to come up with some savory ones! Ahhh! Think, Alissa! THINK!
• Posted at least one recipe... WOOT!
• Blogged A LOT more!
• Body shaming was a bit less, as well... Not as lessened as I would've liked it to be, but that's okay. It's gonna take time!

Well, I'd say I did pretty good as far as succeeding with my goals this week! 

Goals for this week:

• Continue to be more creative with my meals
• Try to get back into planking! I was the ultimate planker last year until I stopped timing myself and got lazy with them! My ab definition has lessened because of it, I believe.
• Treat myself WITHOUT regretting it, at least once... Maybe to FROYO?!
• Keep up the rapid blogging! I love it and I hope you guys do, as well!!
• Keep trying at the no-body shaming thing.

That's all for my WIAW this week, folks! I hope you're all having a fabulous Wednesday and week thus far! Stay positive, and most importantly, stay YOU!!


P.S. I've been doing Zuzka Light's ZCUT Power Cardio, and holy bananas is it HARD! The workouts are only about 10-15 minutes long or so, yet they feel like they're harder than some Insanity workouts. They feel so good to complete, though! I definitely, definitely recommend trying it out! SO worth the $15!