Namaste

Hey, hey everybody and happy Monday! I love Mondays because it feels like a fresh start to a new week so with that I hope everyone has a had a good one.

I kicked off this morning with a yoga class at the Rec with my friend Madeline (Madslou, love you!). We actually ran to the Rec, did the class, and then ran back so it was a good workout. 

At the end of the class the instructor explained what namaste meant in her opinion. She said namaste means to respect and love yourself and your body as well as others and that really put a smile on my face! Learning to respect and love yourself is such a huge accomplishment and I really admire those who are able to do so and are also able to respect others. 

So that was something cool about this morning. What was also cool was my breakfast... 

This morning I was feeling a cereal bowl that included the following:

- Newman's Own Flax Flakes

- Strawberries

- organic dried apples and cranberries

- PB2

- unsweetened vanilla almond milk

The combination of everything was just so good, especially the peanut butter powder! I found the PB2 at Earthfare while I was in Auburn this weekend and I'm very glad I did. It's only 45 calories with 4 grams of protein per serving. All you do is mix 2 Tbsp of the peanut butter powder with 1 Tbsp of water and you have peanut butter! I really like to mix it in with my cereal and yogurt.

As I mentioned above, I was in Auburn this weekend to surprise my boyfriend. I got to hang out with some good friends, go to the game, get pulled over on the way down, and get my car towed the morning I was leaving. Always a good time.

Here's a picture of us at the game. How cute?! 

I had to be up and at 'em early Sunday morning so I could get on the road and be back in Tuscaloosa in time for my meeting with Project Health. I recently applied to become a Health Ambassador on campus and was interviewed and ended up getting chosen to be apart of the organization. I've got to say, I am very excited about it because I get to educate my peers on the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle and I get the title of ambassador. How cool? 

And to wrap things up here is a picture of my dinner from tonight...

I religiously ate an almond butter and strawberry jam sandwich for lunch in high school and it had been so long since I had one so I thought it sounded good tonight and boy was I right. I even sprinkled some cinnamon on it to go the extra mile. It was just too tasty.

Oh, and one last thing. In case you didn't already know, I've been a vegetarian pecsetarian for nearly two years now. It started off as more of a challenge for myself and once it became easy I just kept to it however, I always allowed myself meat if the opportunity arose and I really wanted it (namely if I was the one cooking). Anyways, a few days ago I got a really weird craving for chicken and turkey so I've

decided that my pecsetarian days are over. Who knows, I might decide to pick it up again but for now I'll stick to going meatless a few days of the week. 

XOXO,

Claire

A Delicious Meal

Hello and good afternoon!

I hope everyone as been enjoying the weather lately - specifically all my Tuscaloosa friends - because it has been incredible. It's finally starting to feel like fall! And you guys...I love fall. 

---

Since I've turned into a runner again I got up early this morning and went for what was suppose to be a quick 30-minute run but ended up being more of a 40-minute run because my sense of direction (rather lack there of) couldn't remember how to get back to my dorm. Whoops.  

Once I finally made it back up to my room I whipped up some breakfast...

You must be shocked not to see Greek yogurt and granola, am I right? I'm currently out of Greek yogurt and can't even begin to find time to run over to Publix and stock up so some good ole oatmeal was on today's agenda. 

Along with my oatmeal I mixed in 1/2 a peach, 2 Tbsp dried craisins and apples, and a spoonful of almond butter. Yuuum. 

---

A little recap on my weekend...

I took a trip down to Auburn to visit the boyfriend, catch up on my laundry, and watch a little football. While I managed to do all the following I also was able to bake three loaves of beer bread (so good!), clean literally his entire kitchen, and enjoy a deeelish meal! 

More on this delicious meal... 

How impressive is this picture? Props to my amazing boyfriend for cooking for me! 

He pan seared bourbon marinated salmon and sautéed peppers and onions seasoned with dried basil. 

To round off the meal we had some of the beer bread I made since Stephen's rice didn't turn out quite as planned. It's ok you'll get it right next time.

---

Just to make up for the lack of a parfait picture, here's breakfast from about four days ago...

---

And just because...

Meet Monicka (left) and Meagan (right)! They say hi! 

Have a good rest of your Tuesday guys!

XOXO,

Claire

Odd Combinations

Good morning! Hope everyone's week is going good so far. Only one more day till Friday and I cannot wait!

I'd like to start off by letting everyone know that I whipped up this bomb.com healthy dinner the other night for my parents, Grandma, and the boyfriend with every intention of posting about it. However, being my eager self, I remembered to take a picture of my plate of panko-herb crusted tilapia, garlic mashed cauliflower, roasted broccoli, onion, zucchini, and a slice of beer bread immediately after I polished it clean. I'm still angry with myself over that.

---

First, let's check out this odd combo of fruit I had in my parfait the other morning while I was home for the holiday weekend...

Since I wasn't home long enough to grocery shop I was like a scavenger in the fridge. I managed to bring together grapes, blueberries, strawberries, and 1/2 mango - along with the usez Greek yogurt and Kashi GoLean Crunch - for a super tasty breakfast.

---

And now for my latest obsession...

See that glob of Wickle's relish amidst my salad? That right there is my new obsession. All thanks to deciding to toss in the pickles at Newk's with my go to order, the Simply Salad with grilled salmon.

Along with the bomb addition of relish to my salad I also did something a little weird and seasoned my salmon with a hot curry spice from William's Sonoma.

Alright, so you're probably thinking something is up with my tastes buds considering my unusual combination of fruit in my breakfast and now relish and hot curry in my salad. Maybe something is up but hey, I'm not complaining! These flavor pairings are rocking my world lately!

This post is really starting to make my mouth water so let's get a change of pace.

---

Keeping up with my workout of late, I'm on the path of turning into a runner again. I guess after five years of cross-country practices something has to stick. The thought of running can really be dreadful to me but recently I can't get enough of it. Maybe it's because it's the quickest and easiest form of exercise I can squeeze into a busy college schedule. Or maybe it's the feeling of getting into my stride - which resembles that of a duck - and just rolling across campus. But really I think it's finishing a run and being drenched in sweat - ew I look so nasty, too - and having that feeling of accomplishment. Yup, that's it. Go for a run ladies and gents and you'll see what I'm talking about.

---

To wrap things up, I encourage all of you to click here and check things out. The film, Food, Inc., is available on Netflix. This is the kind of thing I really care about bringing to society's attention.

Have a happy Thursday!

XOXO,

Claire 

Can I Really?

Good Saturday Morning everybody! We've got a lot to catch up on!

Who's excited about college football? Labor Day? Breakfast?

Me!

I'm also excited to be home for the weekend! It was the weirdest feeling to pack a bag to come home.

---

bear claw + party cookies

You can't blame me for being extra excited about breakfast. Fried dough and apples glazed with icing the size of my face? Sometimes it just has to happen and this morning demanded it.

I get a lot of questions about the way I eat. People will say how can you eat that and be such a health nut? The answer is I'm not striving for a perfect healthy lifestyle because in my opinion a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean depriving yourself. In other words, there's always room for dessert! 

I aim for 90/10 when it comes to the way I eat. Since I eat at least five times (three meals and two snacks) per day, seven days of the week that means I eat around 35 meals each week. So I want 90% of those meals to come from clean, whole, and healthy foods and then the other 10% to be whatever I feel like having within reason. This makes it easier to stay on track and still be able to treat myself!

---

Rewinding to Thursday night...

top to bottom: Me, Meagan, Monicka

If you haven't already guessed by the pictures, a group of us decided to get our ears pierced at Claire's before going bowling with the senior Alpha Gams on Thursday night. I was so nervous considering the last time I had my ears pierced I was in the first grade but it really wasn't bad at all! Between getting my ears pierced and dancing to the Cupid Shuffle at the bowling alley, Thursday was such a blast! I'm beyond thrilled and blessed to already have met so many amazing girls in my pledge class. I love you guys! 

---

Moving on to Friday...

from my dorm room: salsa + Newman's Own Lite Honey Mustard + cherry tomatoes + Publix's chickpea salad + raw onion + broken whole grain Wasa cracker + cracked pepper

from lunch at AGD house: baby spinach + broccoli + feta cheese + 3 hardboiled eggs (whites only)

If there's a will then there's a way to create great tasting healthy meals regardless of the situation - in my case a tiny dorm with no kitchen. Even though it was Fried Friday at the house I still managed to use the salad bar to my advantage along with just a few things I can keep in my dorm. Of course I had to maintain my 90/10 rule and have a small side of potato wedges off the fried buffet. 

;)

---

Fast forwarding back to today...

Zach and myself from ~12 years ago and then Christmas 2011

I'm positive everybody will be watching football today. The two games I'm looking forward to watching will be LSU v. North Texas and Alabama v. Michigan for two reasons. Number one - my cousin will be playing his first game as LSU's starting QB and number two - I'm finally a student at the University of Alabama and get to cheer for my school! 

Hopefully I'll have time to change out of my #8 LSU jersey and into my Alabama attire before kickoff. 

Can I really end this post with a Geaux Tigers and a Roll Tide? :-/

Looks like it! :-bd

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend! 

XOXO,

Claire

Dorm Salad

Happy Wednesday everybody. Hope things are going splendid on the other side of the screen because this side is in some serious need of a nap.



We've got a few things to catch up on so let's start off with breakfast...

Newman's Own Honey Flax Flakes + 1/2 banana + 1/2 cup strawberries + unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Breakfast is my favorite meal - next to dessert of course - and I literally never miss it. It's important to give your body fuel to begin the day and kick start your metabolism. While Poptarts and Fruity Pebbles might be an easy goto morning meal, they will leave you feeling hungry in no time. Next time you grab for that packaged pastry or the box of kid's cereal check out the nutrition info. I bet your cereal bowl holds more than a few servings and the calorie count on that Poptart isn't too pretty either.

*End rant now.*  

Moving on to the workout of the week so far...

View from my dorm.

Monday morning I took a nice thirty minute run around campus with one of my pledge sisters. The weather in the morning and evening are polar opposites compared to during the day. It felt ahhhmazing Monday morning and then I swear I was dripping sweat walking to class later that day. Monday afternoon I hit up the Rec Center for an arm workout. I've got some sore limbs from that one!

As for yesterday, I had every intention of working out but somehow taking the stairs to the eleventh floor at least 17 times turned into my workout along with dancing in heels later in the night. My feet are still numb!

Now for lunch...

I promise I'll take a better picture next time!

Dorm life is really bringing out a whole new array of salad add ins. I'm not complaining though! This salad was deeelish and contained the following...

• romaine
• chickpea salad from Publix
• gluten free pretzels
• salsa
• onion
• cucumber
• broccoli
• feta
• cherry tomatoes
• black bean and corn something from the lunch provided at the house

That's all for today! 

XOXO,

Claire

Recipe and Sistas

I started off my morning with some yoga at the Rec center and it was awesome.
Definitely going to be a weekly thing.


Breakfast was the usez...

plain Greek yogurt + Kashi GoLean Crunch + blueberries + a peach

sprinkle of cinnamon in meh coffee

---

Backing up to this weekend.

After opening my bid and running to the Alpha Gamma Delta house on Saturday I finally got to meet my pledge class and all my new sisters! For our pledge retreat we spent Sunday and Monday at Lake Martin chillaxin' by the pool and playing on the lake. I water skied and ate Krispy Creme donuts for breakfast (that kinda negates the empty calories, right?) and all in all had a great time.

Hot Damn Alpha Gam!

---

If you remember my popover success then you might also remember me promising a recipe shortly after.

Oops...

Please forgive me? But better late than never in my opinion so here it is...

Cheesy-Herb Popovers

Ingredients

- 4 large eggs

- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (skim, low-fat, full-fat)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp black pepper

- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary, minced

- 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

- 3 Tbsp melted butter

- 1 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat/organic white)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F and postion rack on bottom shelf. Grease popover pan and place in oven. Warm eggs in a bowl of hot water for ~10 minutes. Using a whisk, beat together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Next, whisk in flour and mix until smooth then stir in melted butter and rosemary. Remove pan from oven and fill each cup 3/4 full with batter and top with 1-2 Tbsp cheese. Bake popovers at 450F for 20 minutes and then at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

*Popover pan is key to popover success.

*Do not open oven during cooking time.

*Cut slits in popovers when they come out of the oven so steam can escape. 

Best enjoyed with soup!

XOXO,

Claire

It's Almost the Weekend

It's Thursday.

Which means tomorrow is Friday.

I cannot wait for Friday.

Because Friday means 24 hours until Saturday.

And Saturday means BID DAY!


---


This morning for breakfast I had the usez.

plain Greek yogurt + Kashi GoLean Crunch + fresh berries

Last night I finally had some time to go to Publix and stock up the ole dorm room fridge. I picked up some plain Greek yogurt, fruit, Arctic Zero, and some Newman's Own salad dressings which I haven't tried before and I'm stoked to do so. I also managed to grab some dark chocolate covered cherries and almonds that will probably be polished off in no time. Sooo good!

And now for lunch...

Zoe's Kitchen Mediterranean tuna salad + marinated slaw + an apple

I'm ecstatic with how this lunch turned out! I walked over to Zoe's earlier and picked up a half pint of their Mediterranean tuna salad and a side of marinated slaw and made a sandwich out of it with some bread I had back in the dorm. With the addition of an apple I had a perfect balanced meal. Deeelicious!

--- 

As far as the workout goes I've been sticking to the stairs. Eleven flights of stairs at least three times a day. I honestly believe my calves are growing! Yes! But hopefully after this week I'll slip into a routine and be able to hit the gym. I'll keep you posted!

I have gnarly pit stains from the Alabama heat and the stairs though!

That should count for something, right? 

  

---


Have a great Thursday everyone! It's almost the weekend.

XOXO,
Claire