WIAW: Intimidation and Eats

June 18, 2014 by Christine Skari

So. Hmm. I just spent 10 minutes trying to think of an intro. I’ve been typing the same sentence five different ways, then deleting it everytime. I think it might have something to do with just finishing writing a freelance recipe/post, but my brain is farting all over this blog. Cute.

ANYWAYS. It’s Wednesday, which means I have the perfect excuse to take pictures of everything I eat and post them for the whole world to see. Let’s just ignore the fact that I basically do that every day 😉 .

Breakfast:

My sister is back from studying abroad in Ireland for a year and she whipped up a batch of Norwegian waffles for my dad. Luckily, there was one left for me to snag and I enjoyed it with a latte, some homemade strawberry jam, and sour cream. I know the sour cream sounds weird, but don’t judge it till you try it! I 100% prefer the Norsk combo of jam/sour cream to the heavy maple syrup we use in the US of A.

After eating breakfast, Kyle and I went to a local tennis court to play some, well, tennis. I usually try to intimidate him beforehand because that’ll obvi help me win. Today’s shit talking included me repeating 24839 times how I was going to school him and waving my racket menacingly in the air and stomping around like an angry troll. It didn’t work as well as I planned .

That smile is actually a grimace of fear.

Lunch:

Lunch was a weird smorgasbord of yogurt/cottage cheese/granola, baked panko lemon shrimp, and lots of bites from my newest freelance recipe (I’ll link to it when it’s up!).

Dinner:

When dinner rolled around, I was absolutely craving something savory. A girl can only have so much sugar in one day and something healthy sounded right up my alley. Baked chicken, a mountain of steamed veggies, a little rice, and hummus filled up my plate.

And ever since dinner I’ve been alternating watching House on Netflix with catching up with blog and freelance work. Oh! And on the topic of bloggy-related things, I’d love to have your opinion on my post from earlier today.

Hope you all had some great eats as well!

Let’s Catch Up!

June 17, 2014 by Christine Skari

You guys. This break from college is… awesome. I feel like a totally new person and the idea that I can do whatever I want for most of the summer has me almost giddy! Let’s catch up.

Life:

Life has been wonderful now that I’ve finished my worst year of college. Next quarter I’m going to be taking classes on neurobiology, molecular genetics, psychology, and American literature. Oh! And I’m probably going to sign up for a soccer exercise class as well. Little known fact about me, but I played soccer for 12 years (5 of those being on a competitive club team) and I really miss the sport. FREAKING EXCITING.

Other than that, I’ve been soaking up my time in my hometown and have been developing some new recipes for Apple of My Eye and for my freelance job. Exercise is starting to make a come back as well and I went on a walk/run with my sister yesterday and played a good amount of tennis with Kyle today. This Thursday also happens to be my birthday, so there’s always that excitement :).

Blog:

One thing that really killed me this year was not being able to put much time into AoME. I love to blog. I love seeing my photography improve. I love to connect with all my bloggy friends. I love watching the site grow and think, “holy heck, could this turn into something?”. It’s exciting to say the least. One of my main goals for the summer is to nurture my little corner on the internet machine and (hopefully) watch it thrive! I don’t really mention monetizing my blog since that is NOT why I blog, but the idea that one day, maybe, it could turn into a part-time income is thrilling. Even if it just means paying for my Starbucks and food expenses, woweeeeeeee.

One thought that I’ve been toying with is posting monthly income reports like the fine folk at Pinch of Yum do. Lately, I’ve been talking a lot with Amanda about how we both plan on growing our blogs, and the transparency of talking numbers, different ad companies, freelance work, and improving our sites has been unbelievably helpful. There seems to be almost a taboo on mentioning making an income from blogging, which leaves little baby bloggers like me grappling for a sense on what works and what doesn’t. I’m still iffy about it, but I love the idea that my other blogging friends could learn something helpful from my trial and error and that we can all grow together. My one major reserve is that I don’t want to come off as insincere to my readers. The thought of you guys thinking that my primary goal is to make money makes me cringe.

Thoughts? I’d love to hear from some non-blogging readers as well! Your opinions mean the world to me.

Kyle:

Still happy as a clam with this handsome guy. He’s glad to be done for the summer as well, but has a really difficult year coming up since he’s on track for an insane schedule of engineering classes. We have a couple of fun dates planned in the next few months like an oceanside dinner, korean BBQ get-togethers with friends and family, hiking in our local canyon, and a possible road trip! Lots to look forward to .

So there you have it! A quick recap of things. I think not being able to blog has left me deprived because I have SO much pent up energy to write and post and take pictures of everything I eat. Expect to hear a lot from me via Apple of My Eye in the future because I can’t seem to shut up. HOORAY FOR SUMMER!

Healthy Snack Combos You Might Not Have Thought Of

June 16, 2014 by Christine Skari

Hello friends! Today’s post is brought to you by the lovely Andi Singer, who contacted me after reading my weekend recap with my California girl outfit. We bonded over both being girls who genetically store lots of weight and muscle in our legs and she kindly offered to write up a fun guest post for Apple of My Eye! Enjoy!

Andi Singer writes about dieting and nutrition for IHM Online, a company providingat home HMR resources. At age 7 her cousin taught her the joys of peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, she has since become fearless in experimenting with odd food combinations.

As a competitive athlete and fitness coach, I pride myself in eating whole foods with purpose. If you’ve run out of snack ideas and need a bit more variety, try some of these ideas for a unique spin on foods you probably already have in your fridge and pantry!

Cottage Cheese and Jam… or Hot Sauce

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Cottage cheese is one of my favorites because it is so healthy, and so versatile. It provides a natural source of casein protein, which is slower to be used by your body than other sources, and therefore is good to consume before you sleep or fast for several hours. It is also versatile in that it can be enjoyed sweet or savory.

If you add a tsp of jam or jelly to your cottage cheese, you have a quick sweet snack that combines flavors similar to cheesecake (I am NOT claiming that it tastes just like cheesecake, okay, I know it’s a far cry, but you have the similar creamy, cheese, and fruity flavors combined.)

Another of my favorite cottage cheese combos? Cottage cheese and hot sauce! It might sound weird, but the hot sauce (I use sriracha) cuts perfectly through the cool, creamy cottage cheese for a uniquely flavorful low carb, low calorie, high protein snack.

Veggies and Salsa… or Nut Butter

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If I’m looking for a crunchy, low calorie, low carb snack I’ll often reach for veggies and salsa. Hummus is a great dipping option as well, but is slightly higher in calories and contains legumes, which are excluded from certain diet types. This is also a great substitution for chips if you want to mindlessly snack on something crunchy and flavorful while you watch TV or read.

If you are not concerned with calories or are looking for extra healthy fats and proteins, veggies and nut butters are a great combo. For diets that exclude legumes, you can use almond or sunflower butter, while those without restrictions can opt for a natural peanut butter. It will be a different experience than your standard apple-and-peanut butter, but nuts often are used in savory dishes with vegetables such as salads and curries so it is not a completely foreign concept.

My favorite veggies to use with either salsa or nut butter are carrot sticks, sliced green bell peppers, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Oatmeal and Protein Powder… or Scrambled Eggs

If you’re looking for a quick breakfast or post-workout snack with protein and carbohydrates, oatmeal and protein powder is a great go-to. I typically use a chocolate or vanilla whey protein, but you can use flavored soy or pea protein for vegan options.

For the best results I microwave ½ cup 1-minute oats with water, and add in the protein powder after it’s cooked to ensure that the protein isn’t denatured or curdled by the heat.

Similar to our other snack combos, oatmeal can be used either sweet or savory! If you want to use whole foods instead of protein powder, you can cook your oats and top them with a few scrambled (or fried) eggs. I use the same process mixing water and oats and then microwaving, but I also add a dash of salt, paprika, garlic powder, and lemon juice or lemon pepper for a more flavorful dish.

Whether you just eat what feels good to your body, or you follow a low calorie or other type of diet, you don’t have to eat the same few snacks every day. Breaking out of your routine and finding new snack combinations makes enjoying healthy foods a whole lot easier!

I DID IT!

June 14, 2014 by Christine Skari

YOU GUYS! I did it!!!

I finished my last final at 11 a.m yesterday morning and am officially free from the worst academic year for biology majors. No more having to take stats, bio, physics, organic chemistry, and labs at the same time ever again!!! AHHH. I’m ecstatic!!

After I got back to my apartment, I immediately ran around my apartment screaming and then jumped into my housemate’s bed with her and her boyfriend. Typing that out it sounds really weird, but I promise it was completely PG and I just lay there rolling around and yelling how happy I was while they laughed at me. Can you tell I was excited?

Then, I cleaned up my room and lay in bed watching Say Yes to the Dress with Kelty and internet shopping. While I was cleaning out an old purse, I stumbled on over $100 worth of Forever21 giftcards from 5 years ago, so I made sure to take advantage of it. Turns out you can get A LOT from the store there for a hundred bucks. This is what my basket currently looks like:

So true. Coffee, you get me.

Thoughts before I press the order button?

Today I slept in till 8, then made myself some coffee and whole wheat pancakes before walking to the gym and doing 30 minutes of cardio and an arm workout. I haven’t done anything but sit on my butt and study for the last week and a half, so it felt so so so good to move!

Plans for today include packing, finishing up a freelance recipe (I’ll post the link when it’s up- it’s a good one! 😉 ), and hanging out with my housemates before everyone heads back to their hometown. I’ll be going back home fore a week or so before coming back to Santa Barbara for summer school, which should be pretty relaxed compared to what this last year has been. Did I mention that I’m moving into a beachside house with a whole bunch of other friends? So stoked!!

Life is good, my friends.

Question of the Day: What’s the most exciting thing to happen to you this last week?

I’m Alive! Kinda…

June 11, 2014 by Christine Skari

Hi friends, just popping in to say that I’m still alive… kinda.

I had my stats exam Monday (got a 95 on it- woo!) and physics exam today (meh). Tomorrow is organic chemistry and bio is on Friday. I’m absolutely exhausted.

My stress levels have been through the room and the only things that have been keeping me from completely breaking down have been coffee and Kyle. Have I mentioned he’s the most thoughtful and caring guy ever? He brought me some “summer flowers” to remind me that I’m thisclose to being done. Kyle usually brings me my coffee as well, so he is the root of all things good haha.

Anyways, wish me luck! I hope all is good with you guys. I can’t wait to get back to regular blogging and to see what all of you have been up to. Oh and I can’t wait for sleep. Pleeassseeeeee let me done soon.