Mintz's Blintzes

I have always LOVED crepes. I tend to go into sensory overload in Trader Joe's and sometimes miss seeing all the different products. The other day, I was roaming around the store and noticed a woman had these in her cart.
Tofutti? Dairy Free? Could these still be good? I figured I would give them a try.


They were frozen, so I stuck them in the microwave for about a minute and then browned them on each side with a little butter. I didn't have any fresh fruit, so I topped them with some of Grandmom's homemade fig jam and had a cup of Hazelnut coffee from High Grounds.
The crepes were light and tasted absolutely amazing. Inside was sweet and creamy and reminded me of a ricotta tapioca pudding. Is there such a thing?

(Nutrition Facts: 1 blintz = 140 calories, 5g of fat)

Perfect Saturday morning breakfast. YUM.

Tomorrow is the Zooma 10k and Half Marathon in Annapolis! I am running the 10k and feel ready. The race is ALL-FEMALE and my mom and a few of my friends are all running. Should be fun and I plan to relax and enjoy it! The race starts at 7am to beat the heat, so bedtime will be EXTRA early tonight.


Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

[me] & goji - athlEAT Cereal

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Carl at [me] & goji - Custom Artisanal Cereal to see if I wanted to create my own cereal or granola concoction. I was SO excited to try it out.


Once on their website, you can easily navigate around to pick your base and then add mix-ins. Basically all of the choices are healthy SUPERfoods and I had a hard time not adding all of the 50+ ingredients!


Some of my favorite things about this product:

• All pure and organic ingredients, so you are getting some of the best whole foods nature has to offer.
  
• Gluten-free options, which would be great for those suffering from celiac disease.
• The capsules are packed with 50% more cereal than regular boxes. There is SO much in the capsule!
• Nutritional Values are updated real-time! As you create your customized mix, you can see what that particular ingredient does to the nutritional value....very cool.

So, let's check out my mix, but first - here is the nifty looking capsule.Ingredient List:
ARTISANAL CEREAL (multigrain oat bran, rye, spelt, barley, amaranth, wheat germ), CHOCO-GRANOLA (oats, agave syrup, sunflower seeds, chocolate, coconut, raisins, gojis, mulberries, sesame seeds, sea salt), GOJI, BLUEBERRY, MANGO, COCONUT, ALMOND.
For you history buffs, the lid provides a little background on cereal. Pop the top and it reveals some MAJOR deliciousness.
I couldn't wait to dig in...
And let me say - this stuff is pretty darn good and I also feel pretty healthy eating all this natural goodness. I especially love the tartness of the goji berries and the huge pieces of coconut!


So check out their website and order some for yourself, but I don't think you can go wrong with my athlEAT mix. It even made their blog for Top 5 Cereal Names of the week! :)

Rooftop Dining

For lunch today, I sauteed green peppers and onions while Kevin grilled up some Mushroom Asiago Chicken Sausages.It was my first time noticing this flavor at Trader Joes and since Asiago is my favorite cheese - I grabbed them immediately. Nutrition Facts for those interested...All together, served on a whole wheat hot dog bun with a schmear of dijon mustard and ketchup. Deeeelish.
Another item I picked up at Trader Joes are these Banana Beauties below. (Try saying that 10 times fast)
If you like the fruit leather thingees, you will love these. Simply Bananas - chewy and sweet.


Later on, it turned into a beautiful evening, so Kevin and I decided to head out for a run. Afterwards, we were stretching on the front steps and I decided to take some photos.


My potted flowers out front...there is a pot on each side of the steps and they are doing great!!Oscar looked so handsome next to the flowers.Kevin giving Oscar a kiss. Oscar gives us a million kisses after runs because he loves to lick the salt off our legs. Oscar looked so happy to be getting some lovin from Kevin. (And I just realized that our neighbors have The Sloman Shield! "Shield Your Home...The Sloman Shield!" ha.)
So, after taking the picture above...I was jealous and wanted a picture of Oscar and I like that. Well, it just wasn't happening...Oscar was not having any of it and wanted to get away from me more than anything. Since it was such a great night outside, we decided to have dinner up on the roof top deck! We really don't use it enough.


Baked Panko Crusted Tilapia (from TJs) w/ zucchini sauteed in smart balance topped with tomatoes and a little parm. Oh and fresh lemon to squeeze over the fish.I felt like I should have been drinking wine or something fancier, but we were all out. Crystal Light Lemonade in my Redskins cup was just fine!
I was "picture-happy" tonight, so we set up the automatic timer and tried to get a couple shot. First attempt - Oscar wouldn't leave me alone and the lighting was all wrong.Second attempt was much better. Notice that our plates were cleaned...that means you get to have dessert. Not sure what it will be though...
And I leave you with the gorgeous view of the Baltimore City skyline and Patterson Park from the roof deck...
Hope you enjoyed your Wednesday night...

Memorial Day Weekend/Early Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, I was whisked away by my boyfriend for a 2 night getaway at Rocky Gap Lodge/Resort in Rocky Gap State Park. Yes, that is the same place where we completed the Greenhorn Adventure Race a few weeks back!


My birthday is in a few weeks, but the weekend of my birthday AND the weekend before and after are filled with 2 weddings and a bachelor party - so this was our weekend to celebrate. Will probably still do a dinner out on my actual birthday though. :)


The lodge is settled on a large lake right below a mountain and has a TON of outdoor activities. Our days went a little something like this...Outdoor Activity...Eat...Sleep...Outdoor Activity...Eat...Sleep. You get the point. It was so incredibly relaxing and the perfect getaway.


We canoed, hiked, ran the lakeside trail loop, played tennis, laid out by the lake, and threw the frisbee. The one disappointment was the food at the resort - very pricey and not impressive at all.


We did find a great restaurant in the area - Puccini - that boasted Wood Fired Pizza! We were starving, so immediately ordered a house salad with the homemade italian dressing to split. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. I remembered to take the photo when we were almost finished.I couldn't resist ordering the zucchini fries because the menu said they were a house specialty! Plus, I LOVE Zucchini and LOVE fries. :)The plate had more zucchini fries than I could imagine for $4. They were crispy and the best fries I have every tasted. No lie. Better than any potato variety I have ever had.


I really wasn't very hungry when our personal pizza's came out. I had ordered the Quattro Formaggio. a.k.a. Four Cheese. Not my favorite pizza ever, but good quality. Maybe a little too much sauce for my liking, but the crust was crisp, light and airy. I guess I couldn't fully enjoy it since I was so full of salad and zucchini fries.


I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend and I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all the men and women in the military. (Especially my friend Camey who served a year in Afghanistan and is now stationed in Missouri.)

Chili and Smoothie

The weather has been perfect lately - 70s, sunny, breezy, low humidity. Yesterday evening, Kevin and I headed over to the park to play some tennis. We only played one set, but I beat him 6-2. His bruised ego caused him to be a little grouchy on the walk home. ha!


I put together a quick and easy crock pot meal while I was home during the day - Chili! I know it is almost summer and chili is soo last season, but I just threw together what I had on hand.


Last Minute Chili
(Please note that all measurements are estimated)

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef, brown and drain
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 large can chunky tomatoes w/ juice
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 package fajita seasoning
• 1 bay leaf
• Hot Sauce to taste
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix together in crock pot and then simmer on HIGH for 4 hours (or LOW for 8 hours). We served it with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of 0% Fage.I also had a package of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix that I used to make a bunch of mini corn muffins. So cute and crumbly. We ended up adding them into the chili and it was awesome.
This morning, I took a short walk/run with Oscar in the park. I noticed a girl riding the inner park loop on her road bike and I decided to be a copycat. I walked my bike 2 blocks to the park...and hopped on to ride the inner loop a few times. It was a great ride and when I came home, I decided to make the "green smoothie" that I have been seeing everywhere!


Green Smoothie Ingredients

• 1/2 banana
• large handful of baby spinach
• half fresh mango
• 3/4 c vanilla soy milk
• handful of ice

The color was so bright and I LOVED the taste. The vanilla soy milk and banana really gave it a wonderful sweetness. Plus, the fact that I was getting in a bunch of spinach made me feel healthy. :)


Tonight, I am going to meet my mom and sister at Iron Bridge Wine Company in Clarksville, MD and cant wait because I have been wanting to try this place forEVER.


Hope everyone has a great day.

Changes

Well, hello there! Anyone still out there? I have been gone for awhile, but I am BACK and a few things have changed.


The first change that is off blog topic, but worth mentioning, is that I resigned from the new job I got about a month back. I knew in my gut that it wasn't right for me and it was causing me too much stress. After going through that draining process, I was walking in the park with Oscar amongst a million clovers and looked down to see this...I took it as a sign that luck was on my side, so this little guy gets to hang out in his own personal bud vase. :)


The other change that happened is that I like learned to like watermelon. I have always hated it and been labeled "weird" by friends and family because of it. Kevin bought one and it was so ripe and juicy that he forced me to try it. I don't think I can turn back now. It was pretty darn good.


I think that's it for changes, but I am happy to report that I have still been cooking, eating, working out....all that good stuff. We had Kevin's mom over for dinner last Saturday and made a 4 course meal, but I only remembered to take pictures of 2 courses. Shoot!


1st Course: Grilled Jumbo Shrimp. (marinated in EVOO, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt & pepper)


2nd Course: Mixed Green Salad w/ candied walnuts, sliced apples, goat cheese, and homemade apple cider/herb vinaigrette. This was so completely incredible that I WILL be re-creating this and make sure I take a picture.


3rd Course: Fresh Spinach/Cheese Ravioli w/ a Robust Marinara, Basil, and Fresh Parmesan.


We cheated and picked up the homemade ravioli from DiPasquales. For the sauce, I used a jar of plain marinara and then added sauteed garlic, onion, zucchini, fresh basil, and fresh Italian parsley.


The ravioli w/ fresh chopped basil...plus...
...the sauce...equals...a pretty delicious meal.
4th Course: Strawberry Yogurt Freeze w/ Pirouette sugar cookie. This was whipped up using the lovely Vita-mix and was incredibly simple, refreshing, and DELICIOUS.
3 Ingredients

• 1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
• 4 cups frozen strawberries (we used fresh strawberries that we froze for about an hour)
• Few drizzles of Agave Nectar

Well, that's all for now folks. I hope everyone is doing wonderfully and I plan to catch up on all your blogs now that I have more time on my hands, but it has been hard staying indoors with this incredible weather!

Greenhorn AR (Part 2) and Bachelorette Party

Seems like forever ago that we did the Greenhorn Adventure Race (and I promised a Part 2). I have still been feeling pretty overwhelmed with my new job.


It is more about me figuring out if I am cut out for "management". While it is the next logical step in most people's minds - I need to feel personally satisfied in my job and doing the actual work gives me that more than telling someone what to do. So, there may be some tough conversations coming up in the next few days.


But...back to the adventure race...the pictures from the race were disappointing. There were no pictures of us during the run OR the bike.


The run was extremely tough and more like a steep hike up a mountain at times. We went straight up 2400 feet to the top of a mountain!! What goes up, must come down - so we decided to take a "short-cut" trail down, which was marked - extremely difficult.


They weren't joking. It was basically STRAIGHT DOWN with rocks and sticks and pricker bushes. People were falling and I had to watch every step very carefully. Luckily, we made it down in one piece.


Kevin and I eventually checked the map and decided to follow a stream down the rest of the mountain. That was fun and exciting, since we were basically making our own trail, but our legs and arms took a beating from all the pricker bushes.


We eventually found our way to the canoes and maneuvered over (through wind) to the first checkpoint on the lake. Notice all the boats behind us - we were doing pretty good - and hadn't killed each other yet. ;)


The canoe was almost tipping over in the picture below because Kevin liked to shift his weight with each stroke of his paddle, but overall we were working well as a team.
It was a tough mountain bike course but I think this is where we were most prepared. I felt strong on my bike, so Kevin and I were able to pass a bunch of people. The course felt easy and fun - with a few rough patches. Me and my muddy mountain bike are below - after the race.Once we racked our bikes, we had one last checkpoint to hit before we could finish. It was about 200 yards off the shore in the middle of the lake. You could either swim or paddle on a inner tube to reach it. We originally started out swimming. The water was 52 degrees. I repeat - the water was 52 degrees. We sulked back to shore and grabbed inner tubes.Well, Kevin sulked back in and I ran in as fast as I could. ha. It was really hard to paddle out on an inner tube. I ended up falling off into the 52 degree water. It was hilarious and really cold. BRRRR.


I figured I would get there faster by swimming, so I just went with it at that point. Kevin was already ahead of me and as long as we were 100 yards from each other - he could get the checkpoint and come back to me.I came out of the water laughing as we made our way to the finish line. This adventure race stuff is a blast.


Anyone notice my bloody finger in the picture below? (sorry if it grosses anyone out) Somehow I slit it on something while in the water....
We did it!! The most exciting thing is that a few days later, when they posted the results....we found out that Kevin and I placed 8th out of 39 co-ed duo teams!!


I thought that was pretty darn good for our first one...so we are already planning how we will place in the top 3 next year. Preferably #1.


I have been doing some other fun stuff recently too. This past weekend, I headed to the beach to celebrate my friend, Erica's, bachelorette party weekend!
We took some fun shots....and I hung out with this guy below a little too much.
Jeremiah Weed - Sweet Tea Vodka which I mixed with Crystal Light Lemonade. It is the most refreshing drink!
The entire group at dinner Saturday night. We headed to a place called - Castaways. I chose two appetizers as my meal. Seared Scallops w/ spinach and tomatoes in a citrus sauce. Oh man - this was SO good. I ate every bite and tried to drink as much of the sauce as I could.
Jerk seasoned, grilled chicken fingers, which I couldn't even finish. They were spicy and perfectly cooked.
After dinner, we hopped into a limo to head up to Dewey Beach to go out for the night. It was a blast!!! But...that's all for now folks...I am exhausted.


Oh - I have decided NOT to do the Baltimore Marathon this year. I just don't think I could take it on this summer. BUT, I do plan to train for the half marathon!


This Saturday - I am riding in the Tour de Cure Bike Ride to benefit Diabetes. I am on my father's team - Bagel Bikers. I decided to do the 50k (31 miles) bike ride, so hopefully it will go ok since I haven't been on my road bike since last year's ride. oopsie. :)


Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!