Gluten Free Cereal Bowl

I owe my wonderful breakfast yesterday to my new and dear, fellow blogger, fellow Paleo’er friend, Shannon. While in Boston we swapped recipe ideas, and she shared a breakfast one with  me that I knew I had to try.

You ready for this?

In the bowl: blueberries (I actually used frozen then thawed because that is what I had on hand), a heaping handful of fresh Driscoll’s raspberries, a handful of chopped walnuts, chia seeds, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a drizzle of honey.

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Oh my gosh. I loved this. It’s just like Shannon said, “it’s like eating a bowl of cereal, except Paleo style.” Coming from a gal who loves a heaping bowl of cereal with milk, I was happy to find an alternative that was more healthful and fit my lifestyle right now.

Lunch was eaten at work but it still deserved a photo because it was truly delicious. In the to-go Gladware container: mixed greens, mini bell peppers, olives, tomato, black beans, avocado, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard. Man, I’m good. Winking smile

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After work I headed over to hang out with my babes, Bets and Emmy (my cousins who I love to pieces). They were making cake balls for a family birthday party and were pretty hilarious in the process.

Em, don’t quit your day job to start making cake balls.

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I am so proud of both of them; they are both going through major career endeavors and have worked so hard to get where they are. Open-mouthed smile

Dinner last night was embarrassing being that it was completely unstructured.

When I got home I snacked on a handful of grape tomatoes from the garden which by the way have become completely out of hand. The branches are so long that they are falling into the next plant and pushing them over. We have A LOT of tomatoes. I’m not complaining though!

After the tomatoes, I moved on to a few large handfuls of trail mix. After the trail mix, I needed something salty of course, so I dug into the pickle jar. After that, I was full.

Not a very balanced meal at all. Well, wait a minute…grape tomatoes, nuts, raisins, pickles….yes there were chocolates in the trail mix, but overall, it could have been a lot worse.

I needed to get the body moving, body movin’ get your body movin’, so I harnessed on Moose’s new leash and went for a stroll through the neighborhood.

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When I say harnessed on his leash, I mean I harnessed it on myself. We bought a new leash for Moose that attaches to his collar like normal, and the other end of it attaches to a band that goes around the owner’s waist. It is hand’s free and has a bungee cord which allows enough give that I’m not being ripped out of my shoes if he sees a squirrel, but not so much give that he is ever too far away. I’ll try to remember to take a picture next time.

This was my first time using it on a walk with just Moose and me, without Dana, who he listens to a lot better than me. It went pretty well though I must say. I will definitely be doing it again. I would love to make that an evening routine. It was gorgeous out with the sun setting and the temperature cooling down.

It was the perfect way to end the night.

Now, I am off to tackle my Friday to-do list, and then we have a wedding to attend tonight, oh and did I mention my brother and his girlfriend are coming into town from up north? It is going to be a great weekend.

Have a beautiful day!

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It’s time for the Sneaky Pete’s Giveaway winner to be announced!

Random.org picked comment #2.

Congratulations Jamie A.! Jamie if you could email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your full name and address I will have your beverages shipped right to your door!

Thank you everyone for participating!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Sometimes when life gets stressful and all too busy, I like to take a moment to remember the good old days; before the teen years, before drama or difficult homework. The days when my biggest concern was which friend I was going to invite over to play or what my doll was going to wear for the day; the early years of life.

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Put on your jelly shoes and grab your cabbage patch doll. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at some of my favorite things as a little one.

Favorite Meals (mom always served meals with fruits and veggies too!):

  • Tacos
  • Build your own pizza
  • Build your own sub sandwich
  • Thanksgiving meal
  • Chips and cheese

Mom said I was creative with my food even back when.

Favorite Shows:

  • Raffi
  • Sesame Street
  • Barney
  • Mr. Rogers

My family can still to this day sing all of the Raffi songs because I watched him so much.

Favorite Movies:

  • Wizard of Oz
  • Willy Wonka
  • Little Mermaid
  • Kid Songs

Favorite Games:

  • Skip-Bo
  • Scrabble Jr.
  • Chutes and Ladders
  • Candy Land

Some of my Favorite Memories:

  • Houseboat trips, camping, swimming

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  • Dance (especially when I was older and got to dance with Bets). I enjoyed it all: tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, lyrical…

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  • School: Halloween parties, first day of school, brand new sharp crayons, recess, field trips, friends.

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  • Vacations and outings with my family: road trips up north, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin Dells, Disneyworld, the Zoo, etc. I loved spending time with my family.

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Being the cheerleader at my brother’s games: basketball, football, baseball (eventually I played basketball too!).  I spent a WHOLE LOT of time at these sporting events.

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  • Playing Barbie’s with my cousins and my friend, Laura.
  • Going to grandma’s pool in the summer- It will forever be called “grandma’s pool.”
  • Holidays, Birthday parties, get-togethers with my huge family, friends, sleepovers, movie nights with my family…

I could go on and on about my favorite memories from growing up. Life was so simple then and it warms my heart to take a moment to reminisce on those days. I need to try and simplify my life now.

I need to remember to make every day count, to look on the bright side, to tell the people in my life just how much they mean to me, and how much I love them, to stop waiting for a better time to do something because there may never be a better time than the present, to stop feeling sorry for myself because I am sick and just live the life I was given and live it fully. Things could be a whole lot worse.

I need to stop worrying about what other people think, that I’m not working out as often as I think I should, or that I’m eating far too much peanut butter and chocolate. Life is too short for that.

Life is busy. We are all busy. But we absolutely must remember to take the time to do what matters most to us. Spend time with the ones you love. Don’t hang on the past or any regrets. Do little things with a lot of love.

If you don’t know by now, I am a very sentimental person. I am also very emotional and I don’t hide my emotions well. I’m a gushy lovey-dovey person. I love love, and have a lot of love to give. This post turned into a real gushy one and I’m proud of it!

Have a LOVELY Thursday my friends! I will if you will.

P.S. There’s still time to enter into the Sneaky Pete’s Beverage giveaway!

 

French Onion Soup & A GIVEAWAY!

Well, I survived my Monday, did you? It is gloomy around here this morning which immediately puts me into a lethargic mood. I am going to get the legs moving on a walk to see if that can amp me up a bit.

Breakfast

I didn’t have a chance to snap a photo of my breakfast yesterday but I had a peach flavored Chobani with blueberries on top (Chobani hooked us up at the HLS with some great coupons btw). I learned that I don’t enjoy the peach blueberry combo and will probably never do that again. It wasn’t terrible but there definitely wasn’t the peanut butter-banana-combo love action happening in the least bit. I didn’t really think that one through. I was in a hurry. The peach yogurt would have been great by itself but I was trying to increase my fruit intake! Well, better luck next time.

Lunch

I booked it home for lunch and threw together a semi-sweet salad made of mixed greens, Driscoll’s raspberries, crunchy grapes, avocado, feta cheese, and walnuts. I topped it off with a light drizzle of Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard dressing.

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I finished lunch off with an apple and a bite of peanut butter before heading back to work.

Dinner

Dinner was wonderful last night for many reasons:

  1. It was VERY simple.
  2. It was ready for me when I got home from work and errands thanks to the crock pot.
  3. It is one of my all-time favorite soups.
  4. I got to use cute soup bowls that my co-worker gave me.

On the menu was French onion soup. Into the crockpot  went 3 yellow onions, 2-32 ounce boxes beef broth (reduced sodium), a splash of Worcestershire, a few cracks of black pepper.

I covered the soup and set it on high for 4 hours.

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The soup turned out great but I would change the cooking time next time. Instead of the short cooking time, I would cook it on low for about  7-9 hours. I couldn’t time it right with work to do it that way so I had to do it the high temp way, and the onions ended up a little crunchy. I like them to be more tender and ended up sautéing them for a few minutes in a separate pan on the stovetop and then adding the back into the soup.

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So, here is the recipe for you that I would use the NEXT time I made this soup, and it would turn out perfect.

French Onion Soup Crock Pot Style

Ingredients

Soup:

  • 2-32 ounce boxes of low sodium beef broth
  • 3 Vidalia onions, chopped into 2-3 inch strips
  • 1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire
  • 2 tsp black pepper

Topping:

  • Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
  • Bagel chips, homemade croutons, or crunchy bread*

*I made my version gluten-free so I used thinly sliced almond bread which I toasted in the oven.

Directions

  1. Place soup ingredients into large crock pot. Cover and turn on low for 7-9 hours, or until onions are tender.
  2. Ladle soup into microwave safe bowls. Top with crunchy bread of choice, then cheese. Microwave for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.

ENJOY!

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Sneaky Pete’s Oatstanding Giveaway

Now, sound the horns. It’s time for my very first giveaway on Beautifully Nutty!

When I was at the Healthy Living Summit in Cambridge, I sampled a beverage from  Sneaky Pete’s Beverage Co.  called Oatstanding which is an oat-based beverage. Oats have been shown to have many health benefits. The soluble fiber in oats can help to lower cholesterol, can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, and can help to improve overall heart health.

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One bottle of Oatstanding has 3 grams of fiber (2 grams of soluble fiber) which is equivalent to about one bowl of oatmeal. The majority of people do not get the recommended amount of dietary fiber daily, so this is another way to help increase your fiber intake.

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Besides the health benefits, this product also tastes good. I am a gal who enjoys a sweetened beverage now and then, and this one was refreshingly light, and had just the right amount of sweetness to it (only 5 grams of sugar). It is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up and also great for on the go.

They offer 5 different flavors: Apple Away, Grape Escape, Mango Mystique, Peach Perfection, and Raspberry Beret.

They have a great site full of even more information on their product. If you would like to learn more, click here.

They are so excited about their product, that they want to giveaway a sample of all 5 of their flavors to one of my lucky readers (U.S. residents only).

Enter to win: Simply write a comment on this post about your favorite on-the-go drink or snack. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced Friday morning. Good luck!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED.

Have a great day. :smile:

Note: I was not paid by Sneaky Pete’s for the opinions in this post, however I did receive the beverages at no cost for this giveaway. The opinions expressed about this product are solely my own.

Birthdays, 5k, State Fair

Yes, it was a jam-packed full of fun weekend.

It began Saturday morning. Dana and I hit the gym together (the what?!) and we worked through a back and bicep strength training routine. I left feeling very disappointed because I have noticed how weak I have become lately due to the U.C. and the limited energy I have had.

“But you gotta keep your head up….” and then laugh a little. I was pretty mopey after the gym but Dana cheered me up with this:

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My mood improved after that. I know I need to get through this, and will get through this, and I will slowly begin to rebuild my strength. After my little moment, I cheered up thinking about the fun day ahead.

Dana and I headed to my grandpa’s house to visit with him, my mom and dad, and many of other family members who were in from out of town. We were only able to stay for a short while, but I absolutely loved seeing each and every one of them. I miss them all so much.

While we were there I felt the need to explain to them why we were looking all gnarly that day in our 80’s outfits. We were heading to an 80’s themed birthday party…

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For our dear friend, Stacy.

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The day was full of lots of laughs, big hair, neon, Glen Gulia, creepers (Nate and Nate) and great “rad” friends. We had a blast celebrating Stacy’s big day with her. Today is her ACTUAL birthday so…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACY!!! Love ya!

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Sunday

On Saturday morning Dana and I participated in our 3rd annual Minnesota State Fair Milk run. It is a 5k race which takes place just outside of the state fair grounds and starts at 7:45 am.

The weather was perfect. It was overcast, cool, and humid so I felt like my legs warmed up really fast but the cool temperature kept me cool. Duh?

Anyway, it felt like a great run. I am really curious to see our times which haven’t been posted yet. I felt like we were running at a pretty good pace but I’ve been wrong before so we’ll see.

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After the race we headed to the great Minnesota get-together, aka The Minnesota State Fair. Those of you who aren’t from MN, the state fair is a BIG deal around here. I frankly don’t think it deserves all of the hype, but I do enjoy going every year.

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It’s mostly a food fest, but there are other activities such as carnival rides, farm animals, sky rides, an agriculture building, a health building, etc. I do enjoy checking out a lot of those things, but I can’t handle crowds very well, so the visits are usually short lived.

Dana’s one item that he gets every year is the Pronto-Pup, or a corn dog if you will. I pass on the wiener on a stick.

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Since I know we never stay long at the fair, and I have a limited stomach capacity, I try to choose my foods wisely. My first choice was falafel on a stick which I shared with hubs.

Next, was our free malts that we got from the Milk Run.

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Mashed potatoes on a stick. These were actually very good. I was craving salty and this was definitely that. It was mashed potatoes, cheese, and bacon, all deep fried. Again, “says the dietitian.” We split these as well.

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The last item we wanted to try was the bacon ice cream. The ice cream had a maple flavor and the bacon added a touch of salty bite to the combo. Meh, it was okay. We both agreed we wouldn’t get it again, but were glad we tried it.

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Food fest 2012. I’m not proud of what I ate, but it only happens once a year so I know I shouldn’t feel too bad about it.

Sunday afternoon led us to celebrate yet another birthday, this one for my amazing brother Kevin. His birthday was last week but it worked out best to celebrate last night.

We had a very relaxing evening outside where we chatted, gave Kevi his birthday presents…

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Ate delicious turkey sliders with chili cheese dip courtesy a la madre…

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And birthday cake courtesy a la Melanie.

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Kevin loves chocolate and peanut butter just as much as I do, so I decided to make him a chocolate peanut butter cake (inspired by Courtney).

I cheated and used a boxed gluten-free devil’s food cake mix. I baked two round cakes, and made a homemade peanut butter frosting to glue the layers together (don’t think I didn’t taste test the frosting as I was making the cake). It was peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla all whipped together.

I then topped the cake with store-bought sugar-free chocolate frosting and finished it off with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.

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I completely forgot to snap a photo of the inside of the cake! It was beautiful too. Oh well. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t believe I was able to scarf down a piece of cake after all of the sugar I had already consumed that day. Blah. Dana and I both left feeling Thanksgiving stuffed, but it was well worth it. I loved celebrating with you Kevi! Love you all so much.

What an amazing weekend. Now, it’s time to detoxify my body from all of this extra sugar it’s not used to, and try to give it the rest it needs.

Have a great day everyone.

Peanut Sauce Spice Baby

I have to give credit where credit is due. The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cambridge, MA, where I stayed for the Healthy Living Summit last weekend, really had it goin’ on. Right off the bat their customer service was fabulous and the front desk staff was so kind and accommodating.

We stepped into our very spacious room and I was blown away at how modern and clean the rooms were; clean-looking and literally clean which I automatically assume when I get into a hotel room but it’s not always the case unfortunately.

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There was a walkway behind the bed that led to the vanity on the left and the bathroom on the right.

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I really appreciated this vanity area. This is where I got ready for the day and evening.

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And I always love a nice bathroom. Open-mouthed smile

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To top it all off, we had an incredible view from our room.

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I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a great place to stay when visiting the Boston area. Thank you to the Hyatt staff for such a comfortable stay and for accommodating our large healthy living group so well.

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Got wrinkles? I do.

They’re happy wrinkles because I smile all of the time.

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In our swag bags from HLS we were given Hydroxatone Instant Lift pads that supposedly help ward off wrinkles. The directions are to place these pads on your wrinkles for 20 minutes every other morning. They are very soothing which I like, and the directions suggest keeping them in the fridge for an even cooler soothing effect. But about those wrinkles, we shall see.

I thought if nothing else I might give someone a giggle from this self-portrait…

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It’s good to embarrass yourself sometimes right? Done and done. Keeping it classy.

I enjoyed a cup of coffee yesterday morning in my love mug that I got as a wedding shower gift from my mom and dad. I feel like it’s too cute to use, but I really needed the warm fuzzy feeling yesterday, so I broke it out. Mom would want me to use it anyway. Right, mom?

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Breakfast was the exact same as yesterday and lunch was eaten at my desk; both very lame. Therefore no photos.

After work I met up with my girlfriend Courtney who I went to school with and who is also a dietitian. We met at Centennial Lakes and walked around the Farmer’s Market and made a loop through Whole Foods. It’s a lot of fun walking through both of those places with another dietitian. We have lots to criticize and discuss. Smile

We spent the majority of our Whole Foods trip in the nut butter aisle as I contemplated buying some more sunflower seed butter. We also spent quality time in front of the chocolate. If you can believe it, I walked away empty-handed. I know, I’m impressed too.

Dinner came together in a pinch.

I threw together mixed greens, mushrooms, red bell pepper, cilantro, grape tomatoes, black beans, a small amount of feta (because I wasn’t sure if feta worked on this salad), and topped it all with Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard dressing.

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Dana made us strawberry banana soft serve for dessert. I watched last week’s episode of SYTYCD. It was a quiet night which was just what I needed.

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Zucchini AGAIN

This is turning into a very random post, but now I have to share a recipe with you that I made back on Tuesday evening. Thai Peanut salad complete with zucchini pasta making it 100% grain free. It was AWESOME.

 

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Such a beautiful complex dish but it’s really not. Wait no, it is beautiful, but it’s NOT complex. But man, be careful with the peanut sauce. It tends to run on the spicy side. I forgot about that and am such a spice baby. My nose was running as I ate this dish but I still really enjoyed it.

Thai Peanut Salad
Print

Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • medium zucchini
  • medium carrot, shredded using knife, food processor, or vegetable peeler
  • ¾ cup cooked mukimame
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • 3 Tbsp. peanuts, chopped
  • a drizzle of peanut sauce (I actually used store-bought this time)
Instructions
  1. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut zucchini into thin linguini-like “pasta”
  2. Place zucchini in colander over sink, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry.
  3. Plate zucchini on two plates. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Top with remaining ingredients.

So there you have it. The 10 millionth way I have shown you to use zucchini. The possibilities are endless!

I am off to conquer my Friday, my favorite day of the week. Make it a happy day!