Ahhh, Wednesday already? Days in the summer tend to blend together for me since the pace of everything slows down. Right now I’m back up at Santa Barbara and am just taking two summer classes: a comparative literature class and a chemistry lab. That means I finally have some free time! I was hoping to devote a good number of hours towards AOME, but I’ve been making the most of Netflix and friends instead. After such an exhausting year, vegging out is just what I need! That plus the fact that I’m basically homeless/kitchenless and crashing with Kyle until my lease starts means that recipes have been on the back burner. I’m hoping that changes soon and I get my blogging passion back. Anyways, enough of that. Here are some of my eats!  Breakfast: Breakfast was on-the-go today and picked up from Jamba Juice. You guys. Their Brown Sugar Crumble Slow-Cooked Oats are to die for. I’m already craving them for breakfast tomorrow, but getting into the habit of buying my oats when I can make it at home for 2321 times cheaper makes me feel a little guilty. A small latte was also enjoyed to help wake me up. I went with only a normal latte (not the 3 shots of espresso that I usually get) and was feeling extra drowsy in my first class. Guess I’m building up a pretty strong tolerance 😯 . Kyle and I also got a bit peckish while doing some reading and decided to split a donut. It was a good idea.  Lunch: Lunch was also bought out and came in the form of a Subway salad in between my class and lab. My favorite part? This new beef jerky I tried. SO GOOD. The flavor is absolutely delicious and I could honestly eat it all day.  Smoothie Break: After a workout with my sister and Kyle, we grabbed a smoothie to hold us over till dinner was made. If you’re ever up in the Santa Barbara area, make sure you visit Blenders and order one of their red orange smoothies. My old roommate, Lakshmi, first got me addicted and I’ve passed that addiction on to Kyle and Marie.  Dinner: Bad blogger here. I was too busy eating to remember that I should have snapped a pic before . Kyle and I made tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hard boiled eggs which were enjoyed while watching the first season of Orange is the New Black. I’ve seen it before, but wanted to refresh my memory before watching the new episodes. And that’s all she wrote! I’ll probably snack on some chocolate chips before heading to bed for my necessary chocolate fix, but other than that, I’m more than ready for bed. A solid day of weightlifting reeeeaaalllyy tires me out! Hope your week is going well!

Hello, hello my lovely friends!

I’m just popping in with a short recap today. Kyle and I drove back up to Santa Barbara and we’ve been unpacking all day, so I’m pretty tired and just want to watch an episode of Orange is the New Black and hit the hay. The lease for my house doesn’t start for another week or so, so I’m going to be crashing with him and his three friends for a while. Hopefully I don’t drive them too crazy 😉 .

So let’s talk birthday fun! 

On Thursday (my actual birthday) Kyle and I went out to a nice seafood lunch before heading over to my friend Karissa’s house for a party! It’s always fun to catch up with our oldest friends from our hometown now that everyone is separated for college. No pics because I was too busy enjoying myself!

Friday involved lots of korean BBQ with Kyle, his little brother and his girlfriend (Hi Taylor! I love you!!), and a big group of his little brother’s friends. 

I’m realizing now that I’m seriously lacking on the photo evidence, but I’m guessing that’s a good sign that I had a great time!

On Saturday I went on a walk with Karissa before grabbing some tasty Mexican food for lunch. She’s off to India for the summer to teach English to underprivileged kids and, even though I’m going to miss her, I’m so proud of all the good she’s doing! After getting back from lunch, I headed over to a jewelry shop with my mom and sister to pick out a piece as a semi-belated present. This is a milestone year for women in Japanese culture, and apparently the big gift is jewelry. I’ll take it haha! We stopped at three stores before I found this gorgeous rose gold necklace with a morganite stone. I’m in love and haven’t taken it off!

While we were out, my sister and I also stumbled upon the cutest flower maxi dress with a lace bust. Usually I have trouble finding maxi dresses that fit (I’m 5″3 on a good day), but this one fits like a charm! We both ended up getting the same one so we can twin it up 😉 .

After getting back, we quickly got ready for a family dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. I only snagged a few good pictures before my camera decided to malfunction, but we had a big group and ate a ton of tasty food. 

After dinner, it was cake time! I’ve gotten the same mint and chip ice cream cake from Baskin’ Robbins for basically the last 12 years, so a birthday doesn’t feel complete without one. Leftovers were enjoyed the next morning for breakast 😉 .

I’m not sure what’s going on with my camera here, but sparkles!!

And there ya have it! Tons of good food and family. Just the way I like it!

Question of the Day: Do you always have the same cake for your birthday, or do you switch it up?

 

 

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 .

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!

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!