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dani california cooks

homegrown and homemade in CA

One Month Later Check In

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Hi friends! I apologize my posts have been so sporadic this summer. I blame the new job…lack of recipe inspiration…and definitely the olympics.

I promised last week that I would provide a check in on my progress with healing my metabolism and my relationship with food. So…

Let’s start with the good.

  • My hunger cues have come back! It’s been amazing to get hungry for meals and snacks and recognize that my body is burning through fuel properly and not “storing” it in case I restrict calories or a specific food group the next time I ate. It means that my body is learning to trust itself…which is awesome.
  • It has been SUCH A RELIEF that no food is off-limits. It makes vacations, work lunches, weekends, or even snack cravings totally OK for whatever is placed in front of me or what I’m in the mood for. I can’t express how much that freedom means to me and how long it’s been since I’ve felt this way
  • My rheumatoid arthritis is gone, for the time being. And I’m surely eating plenty of gluten and dairy! I contribute it to the lack of stress with food and the being gentle on my body with exercise
  • Everyone is super supportive and wonderful. Nate, my parents, my friends, you name it. And I have a few friends who are going through similar journeys, and it’s great to just talk about it with someone who gets it
  • I feel more present at mealtimes, because I’m not worried if I should only eat half my plate or comparing to what other people are eating. I can just enjoy my meal and the conversation

All that said, it hasn’t been a completely challenge-free ride.

  • I feel fat. I’m not allowed to weigh myself right now, but I’m guessing I’ve put on a few pounds, maybe more. My clothes are tight. I go through phases where I feel OK with this, and other phases where I’m like, “but one of my best friend’s wedding is in 3 weeks and there will be photos!!” Cody (my nutritionist) assures me that once my body learns to trust itself, any extra energy it’s holding on to will be expended. But what if the weight I’ve gained isn’t “extra” and this is how my body is supposed to look?
  • I don’t entirely feel like myself, or at least the person that I was accustomed to prior to this journey. Like I said, I feel fat. I’m not as obsessive about exercise or controlling about food. It’s been interesting getting to know this person and trying to be ok with it, especially since so many of my friends/family/coworkers know me as the very active and super healthy person. I doubt to them they even see a big difference, but I certainly feel different

To me, the good definitely outweighs the bad. So I’ll keep chugging (and eating) along!

Shoutout to Hayley Blake for the photo!

What I Ate Wednesday

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Hello blogosphere! Did you see Monday’s post? Been one of my favorite things I’ve shared in a while.

Moving on…I am going to do a full re-cap of my progress to heal my metabolism soon, but I am so excited that my hunger cues and appetite have returned!! This was something I had no idea was even an issue but once Cody and I talked about it I realized that I really didn’t get hungry very often. That obviously didn’t stop me from eating since I love food, but since I’ve been eating every 2-3 hours on this new program I just realized how little I got hungry. Cody promised that once my body started to burn through fuel properly and efficiently, my hunger cues and appetite would return and HELLO just out of nowhere these past few weeks, I wake up hungry, I feel hungry for snacks in between meals, and I’m hungry for the meals too! I love to eat when I feel hungry <- sounds like a dumb statement but that’s how I feel.

Linking up for today’s WIAW!

BREAKFAST

I teach Spinning on Tuesday mornings, so it was half a date with a little almond butter before I taught an awesome class. I love my morning regulars!

Then it was returning back to home to dig into this Coconut Flour Breakfast Bake with peanut butter and blueberries, plus coffee on the side.

SNACK

Around 10:30 I ate my favorite Evo hemp bar in the Cashew Cacao flavor. I bought these in bulk from Thrive Market - such a good deal. No picture - I ate this walking to and fro meetings.

LUNCH

I had a lunch date with a colleague at Mixt Greens and I had a grain bowl. My server was clearly new and kept looking at the list of ingredients and didn’t get everything in (i.e. no fresh mint or basil, cheddar instead of feta) but it was still very filling and delicious. This bowl had kale, farro, cucumbers, fennel, chickpeas, cheddar (feta would have been better), olives, and plums. I probably got through 3/4 and am looking on finishing up the rest tomorrow!

 

SNACK

Later in the afternoon I snacked on some Mary’s Gone Crackers with one of the mini Wholly Guacamole packs. Both great Costco finds, and also no pictures :(. I also had one of Arman’s 3-Ingredient Brownies which are so, so good but I overbaked them this time…womp.

We had dinner on the later side, so I snacked on some cheese and more crackers, and nibbled on some of the dried fruit that was going on Nate’s salad. This wasn’t just any cheese, though. This was Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam, which is one of the most delicious cheeses to ever grace this earth.

 

DINNER

Dinner was an easy favorite. I roasted up some cauliflower and purple/red potatoes from the farmer’s market, and made some sausage from the local butcher, Fatted Calf. Served with sauerkraut and salad - so perfect.

Then it was tea and watching the Olympics! Does anyone else think the NBC coverage could be a bit better this year? I want more personal stories of the athletes, and it would also be great if it started earlier/ended earlier! Regardless, I’m absolutely loving the Olympics this year.

Have a great day, everyone!

Recent Fancies

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This has been a whirlwind week - starting with a wonderful weekend with some of my best college girlfriends in town, a great day of sailing on the bay in honor of the boyfriend’s birthday, then diving face first back into a productive and busy workweek. Sharing some of the things that I’ve been enjoying as of late!

  1. Marion Nestle’s food politics distribution list - one of the few e-mail list servs that I’m SO glad I subscribe to and share on my Facebook page all of the time. She is one of the premier authors on “food politics” and is a professor of nutrition. She provides her own commentary and summarizes research, articles, advertisements - anything that is happening with the food movement.
  2. Dr Bronner’s lavender soap - as I’ve been moving towards incorporating more natural products into my beauty routine, this discovery was HUGE. This soap lathers like a dream and smells lightly of coconut and lavender.
  3. The videos that came out of the DNC like this one and this one:
  4. This vegan bowl lunch recipe - I made it for lunches this week, but was unable to spiralize the carrots/beets without almost chopping off a finger and forgot the dressing and forgot to toast the pepitas and it was alright. I do want to give it another shot and actually follow the recipe to a T!
  5. And last but not least...celebrating the boyfriend’s 28th birthday with homemade dinner! What was on the menu? Cheese, crackers and olives to start. Salad. Carmelized onions and mushrooms over FILET MIGNON. Roasted potatoes and carrots. Smitten ice cream for dessert. And red wine! Happy birthday, Nate!

    Dinner for two

What To Buy at Thrive Market

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I had been very curious about Thrive Market - it had been hailed to me around the interwebs as the Costco but for organic foods and goods. Well, your first month is free so I decided to give it a try! They have truly amazing deals when you compare a lot of stuff to Amazon, particularly with protein bars and organic body products..

Before I hit “buy”, I did a lot of research for what other people had used Thrive Market for, so I hope that this provides some guidance if you ever decide to check out the deals as well!

Here’s what I got!

FOOD:

  • Cashew Cacao Evo Hemp Bars - I absolutely love these bars. I got a 12 pack from Thrive for $20.45, when I would have spent $42.99 (!!) on a 12-pack from Amazon
  • Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo - $7.45 on Thrive Market, compared with $13.53 on Amazon
  • Thrive Market Brand Organic Sprouted Brown Rice - 16oz for $3.55. May actually be cheaper at Trader Joe’s…
  • Great Lakes Collagen Hydrosalate - I’ve been wanting to try adding collagen to my diet given all of the hype for joint pain and gut health and hair/skin/nail repair so I snagged this for $17.25, compared to $22.99 on Amazon.
  • Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour - about the same price as Amazon
  • Organic Whole Peppercorns - $2.95 on Thrive Market
  • Dang Coconut Chips - $3.75 for the big bag, actually cheaper on Amazon for a whopping $3.63!

BEAUTY:

  • Acure Shampoo and Conditioner - $5.95 each. Really excited to start converting more of my beauty products to more natural and organic ingredients!
  • Alba Face Scrub - $6.75, also cheaper on Amazon for $6.57
  • Avalon Organics Aloe Unscented Lotion - $12.95 for a huge pump bottle
  • Dr. Bronner’s Organic Peppermint Lip Balm - $2.25 each

OTHER:

  • Parchment Paper - $4.45

I already went back and purchased more stuff from Thrive Market, including more Evo bars, Organic Sprouted Garbanzo Bean Flour, facial moisturizer, cacao powder (AMAZING deal), and oat flour. Safe to say that I’ve made good use out of my free subscription! Now I just

10 Ways I’m Practicing Self Care This Summer

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Normally in the summer, I’m all about preparing for the few days that I do don a bathing suit. So many days of dieting in preparation for just a few hours in a bikini, and for the most point, no one is even noticing what you look like!

This year, I’m doing healthy summer differently. Since I’m currently working to repair my metabolism and regulate my hormones, that means more food, less exercise, less stress overall. I’ll be honest - it has not been easy. When you’re used to tracking and limiting the food that you eat and planning out your exercise days in advance, it’s a big change! And change can be hard! So when Old Navy Active asked me what my healthy summer challenge was, I immediately starting thinking about healthy eating or work outs. I really had to take a step back and think deep and hard and come to terms with what my challenge has been all along.

It’s never been to eat healthier or exercise more. It has always been to love my body - not despite of one “problem area” or any flab - just wholly appreciate all that this body does for me and in return, give it some long-due respect and rest and care. So in align with my ‘summer of carbs’ this has also been my summer of self-care!

So far, it’s overall been really liberating. I mean, we are so tough on ourselves all of the time. Although sometimes when my clothes feel tight or when I feel like I’m eating more/exercising less than my peers, I do feel a little stressed about it. But I’m trusting the system and the process, and really giving this a go. So what am I doing this summer to be a little easier on my heart, body, and soul?

  1. Doing exercise that feels good - sometimes it’s pilates, sometimes it’s really giving it my all when I teach Spinning, sometimes it’s nothing at all

    Old Navy Active // Capris

  2. Accepting when something is offered to me - if food was offered to me that wasn’t in my daily “plan”, I would knee-jerk reaction say no. At work the other day, someone had brought back fudge from their beach family vacation and was passing it around. I decided to have a bite! It was delicious, I enjoyed it, and I didn’t stress about what it meant that I ate it, and I didn’t balloon out 10 lbs
  3. Walking - I absolutely love to walk. Choosing to walk places instead of taking an Uber has really allowed me to discover new places all over San Francisco that I’ve been bookmarking and can’t wait to try!
  4. No food is off-limits - I’ve been eating what I want. Most of the time it’s healthy food. Sometimes it’s not.
  5. Cleaning out my closet and drawers - I did a total purge of my closet and took out anything that pinches me or is too tight or that I don’t feel 100% comfortable in. And of course, donating all of the clothes that I was keeping in the case that I lost 5 lbs
  6. Not measuring - I used to use measuring cups and spoons to measure out my oatmeal and chia seeds every morning to keep track of my calories in my head. I’m working with my nutritionist to move away from measuring and move towards just mindful portions. The first day it was difficult, and then after that I realized that if I went a little under or over - who cares!
  7. Trying new places - I feel like a whole new world of San Francisco opened up to me when I decided that no food was off limits. Boba on a Friday night? Yes please

    Old Navy Active // Shorts

  8. Resting - As I write this, I’m lounging in bed and its 2:30pm on a Saturday. I’ve got Chef’s Table on in the background, and I plan to paint my nails in preparation for a girl’s night out tonight. Perhaps a nap is in my future. Definitely some snacking will happen soon too
  9. Not planning out exercise or food - I still do a little meal planning when it comes to buying groceries for our meals and snacks, but I haven’t been planning out exactly what my week is going to look like and I’m flexible to spontaneous meals or snacks out
  10. Being more present - Instead on focusing on how little I can eat off my plate and therefore, not paying attention to conversation, I’m making an effort to be more present during mealtimes

Thank you for Old Navy Active for sponsoring this post, and for giving me a reason to take a step back and really document all of these things I’m working on this summer. Are there any ways that you practice self-care that I should add to the list?

What I Ate - Lots of Local Brands!

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I’m back on the “What I Ate Wednesday” train today with another sneak peak into how I’m eating more carbohydrates and healthy fats as I heal my metabolism. Joining up with the weekly link up to share the eats!

BREAKFAST

I grabbed a prune dipped in a bit of PB (I know - sounds weird, but great pre-workout fuel) before I taught spinning this morning. The class was really fun and challenging and everyone had GREAT energy. I’m telling ya - morning warriors! If you’re ever looking for great workout songs, my Spotify (username: dani nemzer) is public and while being slightly disorganized, I have lots of great 45 minute get-your-blood-pumping-playlists.

In the car on the way to my client site, I grabbed a couple bites of my prepared overnight oats (oats, chia seeds, soymilk) that had a little more PB and fresh blueberries. I talked about the soy milk brand in yesterday’s post - so, so delicious. Once I got to the office, I finished the oats and had coffee.

SNACK

During a meeting, I snacked on one of Trader Joe’s Omega-3 Trail Mix Snack packs - mix of walnuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas, cranberries, and pistachios.

LUNCH

Lunch was eaten out of my dorky bento box, and it had homemade tuna salad (based off this recipe) using new avocado oil mayo that I bought from Thrive Market (post on this soon). I also had fresh spinach, some cut-up green bell pepper and a little Wholly Guacamole (best Costco buy!!) on the side. Plus a sprouted grain tortilla from Trader Joe’s, and a little bit of sauerkraut. Lots of veg, a little protein, healthy fats and healthy carbohydrates. Yum.

SNACK

I had some green tea and a Evo bar. These are some of my favorite on-the-go bars - they have a super small ingredient list and are always less than 10g in sugar, and the same amount of protein as 2 tbsp of nut butter. No photo!

DINNER

On Monday, I had made Oh She Glows’s Glowing Lentil Soup with some substitutions - fresh chickpeas instead of lentils, added zucchini and grated ginger, and used red wine vinegar instead of lime juice. It was SO delicious. Nate always grumbles about “meatless monday” but I really like doing completely vegetarian/vegan meals for one or two nights a week because a) health and b) cost! It’s so much cheaper to buy a bag of organic chickpeas than pasture-raised chicken or wild caught fish. We had the soup again on Tuesday with some of Bread Srsly’s gluten-free sourdough rolls, plus with some very not tasty snap peas that are on their last leg.

Bread Srsly is a local gluten-free, sourdough bakery but they ship around the country. I first discovered them when I wanted to get in on the San Francisco sourdough craze but I was avoiding wheat at the time due to my arthritis. These rolls are made of millet and sorghum, and are fermented just like any other typical sourdough so you get the benefit of the grains being partially broken down already and easier to digest. They are so good!

DESSERT

I noshed on half of a gorgeous nectarine and two of Arman’s 3 Ingredient Brownies which I pretty much make every week as my evening dessert. Just almond butter, cacao powder, and bananas. They are insanely fudgy and I don’t know how this recipe works but it does!

 

WIAW - More carbs!

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If you read Monday’s post, you’ll know why you’re seeing more carbohydrates in my day’s worth of eats today! I’m happy to be linking back up with the WIAW team after a few weeks off in between vacations to Mexico City and Virginia.

BREAKFAST

I grabbed a prune dipped in a little almond butter before heading out the door to teach spinning. The class ROCKED and the energy level was great. I then stopped at Whole Foods on my walk to work to pick up some kombucha and eat the overnight oats I had prepped the night before.This was oats with chia seeds, almond milk, cinnamon and almond butter. Strawberries and coffee once I got into the office.

SNACK

I noshed on a gluten free blueberry zucchini muffin that I had made over the weekend - will share the recipe soon! I forgot to snap a picture so here’s one post-recipe testing on Saturday. I have to say, I LOVE baking with almond flour. You’d think it would be super dense, but I find that my baking goods will still rise and and have a good texture to them, and they have this delicious nutty flavor too.

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Saturday afternoon recipe testing!

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

LUNCH

I grabbed lunch with a previous colleague who just moved to the Bay Area at Eatsa! Have you heard of Eatsa? It’s a quinoa bowl restaurant that you order on these iPads, and then it’s prepared and your name pops up on these interactive robot cabinets and you grab your lunch. Their tagline is “if you don’t like meat or people, we’re your lunch spot”. Well I like meat and people, but I still enjoy their food too! And it was SO great to catch up with my girlfriend - what a nice thing to do in the middle of the day. I love not traveling for work anymore :)!

I had the “hurry curry” quinoa bowl that had sort of a stir-fried quinoa with egg, apple vinegar coleslaw, pickled onions, spaghetti squash, arugula, and curry. It was delicious! I wish the portion was bigger…maybe the quinoa robots in the background were feeling stingy.

SNACK

After running around all afternoon and working from all sorts of bizarre places (hello client lobby bench) I was pretty hungry when I returned back to the office. I made a yogurt bowl with Chobani black cherry, a small banana and a small handful of chopped cashews. My office kitchen is pretty well stocked, although I wish they did have just plain yogurt! I also had some of the kombucha and some hot green tea.

DINNER

I snacked on some cut up veggies from my CSA while I prepped dinner. Dinner was homemade stuffed peppers - I used quinoa (yeah, more quinoa. Sunday food prep…) and black beans and chopped swiss chard and onions. I gave them a Mexican-twist by spicing them up with chili powder and cumin and tomato paste. We topped them with avocado, and then had corn on the cob on the side. Nate unfortunately had to work late so while I had set up the table all nice I ended up eating in front of the TV. Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine!

DESSERT

Dessert was a small slice of homemade blueberry pie from the weekend. I had made a blueberry pie over the weekend thanks to the 3 quarts of blueberries Nate had brought home from his family farm! Continuing the ramble on from my love of almond flour - we were both kind of “meh” on the white flour/butter crust. Definitely prefer the complex flavors of grains and seeds and nuts flours. My mom had sent me the pie recipe from the NY Times this weekend and I have to say, it was really fun to make a pie! No pictures of last night’s slice, but here’s one from Sunday!

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Just call me martha! Who wants to come over for blueberry pie? Or maybe @natewapner wont want to share 😊

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

And that was all! Early wake up tomorrow to drive out to San Ramon for my client. I’ll be doing more driving than I’m used to for this client, and could use lots of podcast recommendations!

Summer of CARBS!

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Since I was about 21, I’ve had a fear of grain, flour, and starch carbohydrates. Not just white bread carbs, but also things like beans and sweet potatoes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever outwardly stated that on my blog before, but there ya have it.

That’s not to say that I didn’t eat them, it just always was kind of a “treat” in my mind. I know I’ve written time and time again about how I’m working to repair my relationship with food, but you can probably tell from most of the recipes I’ve shared are not carb-heavy at all. Or my “What I Ate Wednesday” posts – here is one and another where I ate very little of those forbidden carbs all day, and I would say that that was a very normal weekday for me. It wasn’t until this winter when I tried to integrate more carbs into my day to day that I found myself gaining weight, and that freaked me out more – was I destined to a life without carbs? Every time I would try and healthfully incorporate more sweet potatoes or brown rice it was like my body would harbor all of those carbs as pounds. So I removed starches and grains from my “routine” diet again this past spring.

But…it just didn’t feel right. I had met with a nutritionist last year who I loved, and she incorporated a lot of really healthy habits into my day-to-day that I’m really appreciative of. Honestly though, I never felt like I was moving towards a more healthful relationship with food overall, and I also was gaining weight while eating what I considered really healthfully – low carb during the week, enjoying carbs on the weekend. The thing was, is that I didn’t feel “unsatisfied” or undernourished, and I ate a ton of vegetables and healthy proteins and healthy fats. To me, this seemed like I should be at my optimal weight and energy levels, and instead I was gaining.

I reached out to Robyn, a dietitian and nurse who shares a lot on her blog about helping women eat more to balance their hormones and return to a happy state with food. Her posts really resonate with me, and I remember reading for years thinking “man, if only I could eat like Robyn!” So I reached out, and set up some time with her partner Cody at Nutshell Nutrition to discuss my story and a path forward.

I totally bonded with Cody from our first chat, and to summarize what we discussed – likely the years of restricting carbs and internal stress behind that and all of my other food control issues has caused all sorts of hormonal imbalances within my system that hey – big surprise – has kind of caused me to go into metabolic hibernation of sorts. Since I wasn’t giving my body enough carbohydrates and nutrition some days, the other days when I did it went into storage mode. Great news – it’s reparable!

So now, I’m working on a plan that has me eating a significant more amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats than I’m used to. And just eating straight up more than I’m used to. I’m both excited – because I love sweet potatoes and nut butter and food – but I’m also nervous because there is probably inevitable weight gain at the beginning of this while everything heals. The opposite of everything I’ve tried to work against these past 5 years, right? Well, I trust Cody and Robyn, and I’m going to give it a try.

Hello to the summer of carbs, 2016!

Weekend Recap & Weekly Meal Plan & Workouts III

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Coming off a great weekend for an upcoming short week at work! The weather was GORGEOUS and so warm - a nice surprise after super foggy Friday. We’re taking next Friday off for a family reunion with Nate’s mom’s side of the family in Chincoteague, VA, so just have to power through four days of work.

On Friday night Nate and I had date night, which included dinner in the Marina plus ice cream. We love Pacific Catch because the portions are so huge!

Saturday I taught back-to-back cycle classes and then grabbed brunch with Nate and a bunch of friends who attended my later class. It’s so fun to have people I know come.

I had an omelet, but the star of the brunch was definitely the challah french toast and we all had order envy

I then caught up with Paige and her fiance who was in town for a wedding, and took her on a little tour of my neighborhood which included a stop at the Painted Ladies. And at Project Juice for some kombucha on tap!

Then it was a girls night out in the Haight Ashbury at Parada 22! I was in a happy place with good company, fried plantains and sangria. We found our way to Smuggler’s Cove afterwards, which is a pirate themed bar with delicious drinks.

Sunday was really relaxed with getting ready for the week ahead, with a trip to the farmer’s market, trips to the laundry, and lots of cooking. And another attempt at perfecting my homemade sprouted grain bread! It’s not quite there yet but this batch was pretty good. IMG_20160619_163455

What’s on the menu this week?

  • Sunday: Salmon, avocado and kale salad, and fresh corn (Check out my Instagram of the finished product!)
  • Monday: Chickpea burgers (recipe to come!)
  • Tuesday: Shrimp and pesto zoodles
  • Wednesday: Crockpot salsa chicken bowls
  • Thursday: Leftovers of salsa chicken
  • Friday: We will be flying to Chincoteague, VA for a long weekend with Nate’s family, and I’m hoping for lots of seafood and hush puppies on Friday!

Lunches will be leftovers turned into salads (have you seen my post on dinners that make great leftover lunches?).

Breakfasts will DEFINITELY be this coconut flour breakfast bake. I made it last week, and it’s so delicious. I am going to experiment with adding in more egg whites to the mix, and I serve it with nut butter and blueberries.

General plan for workouts, subject to change:

  • Sunday: off
  • Monday: 4 mile run
  • Tuesday: cycle, plus pilates if there is space
  • Wednesday: 4 mile run
  • Thursday: cycle, plus pilates if there is space
  • Friday: hoping we get a nice jog or bike ride in!

Long post - so thanks for hanging in there!

WIAW - Sunny Tuesday

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I’ve had a busy start to the week, with visitors Sunday through Tuesday of this week. We haven’t gotten to catch up on Game of Thrones this week (so don’t tell us what happened yet!!) but I’ve really enjoyed spending time with Nate’s lil sister and my BFF Chelsea (and using them as reasons to try out some new recipes.)

I’m still not staffed on a client yet, so it was a typical day in the office for me on Tuesday. Linking up to show the eats!

BREAKFAST

Woke up and grabbed a prune and a few almonds before heading out to teach 6:50am cycle at Core40! I then hopped into the pilates class right after. Loving the cycle/pilates combo recently - Lisa’s class was killer. My office is about a 15 minute walk from the studio, so I wanted to swing by this smoothie place I had seen to grab some breakfast. I don’t know why I haven’t done a good job with prepping breakfasts recently, but I definitely will kick my butt into action because I paid $9 for a smoothie!!

This one had banana, SunWarrior protein, spinach, almond milk (I think), peanut butter. It was delicious but I definitely prefer thicker smoothies (and ones that don’t break the bank).

I thought I had a networking coffee with someone from work, but turns out they had rescheduled for a later date and I just hadn’t noticed on my calendar yet. Total kerfuffle early in the AM for me! Once I realized it I took my coffee to the office and settled in for the day.

LUNCH

I had made a salad with tahini, lemon, kale, and onion and topped it off with a leftover Black Bean Burger that I had made for meatless monday the day before, plus some carrots.

After lunch I had some hot water with lemon. Been my post-lunch ritual recently since it’s pretty cold in our office. But check out the view from the building!

Thats the Bay Bridge connecting SF to Oakland which runs through Treasure Island

SNACK

Snacks on Tuesday were a pear….

A decaf soy iced latte from Blue Bottle that I drank about half of on a networking coffee and walk. Maybe its the soy, or maybe it’s that I drink any coffee that isn’t just black wayy too fast, but my stomach never feels great. Or maybe today it was all of the raw fruit and vegetables I had eaten?

And two hard boiled eggs. They’ve started keeping hard boiled eggs in the office fridge - makes for an awesome easy breakfast or snack!

 

DINNER

Chelsea was still in town for dinner last night, so I made fish taco bowls. Lightly seasoned and grilled tilapia over quinoa with a homemade coleslaw, plus avocado. I love these bowls - I need to post the recipe soon. Sometimes I use cauli-rice instead of quinoa! We snacked on carrots and some tortilla chips too.

 

A little chocolate, tea, and lots of catching up to end the night! It was so fun to hear about Chelsea’s daily life in her hut and on the farms in Zambia. She documented a bit over at her blog, “A to Zambia” if you ever want insight into the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer!