Grilled Chicken Flatbread Pizza

So after my quinoa fail a few days ago, I was more determined than ever to make a quick and delicious dinner. For people in college, it takes some effort to properly fuel our bodies. My goal is to make meals that are quick, delicious, and nutritious. Today’s dinner was definitely all of that.

Grilled Chicken Flatbread Pizza! This a variation of the pesto pizza I made before using my beloved Flatout Wraps.

Ingredients:

• 1 grilled chicken breast, shredded
• 1/2 cup tomato or pizza sauce (I used plain and then sprinkled in some garlic powder and pepper)
• 1 flatbread
• Parmesan cheese to your heart’s content

Directions:

Set oven to 375. Place flatbread in immediately (no need to preheat!). Bake flatbread for about 10 minutes, until the edges just start to turn brown. Top pizza with sauce, chicken, Parmesan, and any other topping you might desire! Place in the oven on high broil for about 4 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts.

Seriously. This. Was. Amazing. It was super easy for me to get grilled chicken because I took a few breasts from the dining hall today For those of you who don’t have access to a dining hall, you can grill a few breasts on a Sunday (or any other not so busy day) and use them in meals throughout the week. Off the top of my head, a few great ways to use pre-cooked chicken are: chicken quesadillas, grilled chicken salad, or on top of pasta. You could also just reheat the chicken breast and enjoy it with a side of rice, potatoes, veggies, or some really crusty french bread with olive oil for dipping. Hmmm…I think some french bread is going on my grocery list. Dessert would have been a cookie dough protein bar, but I’m all out, and poor college students can’t always afford protein bars. The dress I bought instead was totally worth it. was a big juicy crunchy apple. Not really sure what kind it was because I also took that from the dining hall. (Shhh, this is our little secret).

I realize that I haven’t been blogging nearly as frequently as I did during the summer. One reason behind the decreased frequency in posting is that I’m busy with classes, work, mentorship, etc. However, I think the bigger reason I haven’t been blogging as frequently is because a HUGE part of my enjoyment in blogging was photography. Now that I’ve been taking pictures with my phone (yes, because it has better picture quality than my camera) instead of a DSLR, I don’t get to enjoy that aspect of blogging anymore. Anyways, I’m still fully committed to sharing my enjoyment and enthusiasm for food with you all, and I’m hoping we can all continue growing along the way.

XOXO,

Jamie

Quinoa Fail

An update on school: Class are going great, I meet with my professor to talk about my research position next week, and I’m waiting to hear back from the doctor I’m planning to shadow. My most difficult class is probably going to be Renaissance Literature. English is so not my forte. That’s alright though because Animal Physiology and Virology will totally make up for it this semester.

Wednesday Dinner: I am a terrible cook.  I saw on Paula Deen that adding a splash of water to your eggs before scrambling them makes them super fluffy. Apparently I took that comment a little too seriously. I added too much water and ended up with inedible egg soup.

Today I added a little too much water to my quinoa and ended up with quinoa soup.

By the way, do you notice how measly this bowl of quinoa is? I didn’t know how much the dry quinoa would fluff up when I cooked it, so I looked at the serving size on the back. The serving size was 1/4 cup of dry quinoa. I know for next time to AT LEAST double that amount. Dinner was this bowl of quinoa soup followed by a bowl of Special K protein plus cereal topped with lots of yogurt and wheat puffs.

XOXO,

Jamie

Pizza Making

Just as a warning, since I’m no longer living at home, I no longer have my sister’s DSLR at my disposal. This makes me very, very sad because the difference in photo quality is huge! So if you’re wondering why my photography is suddenly so blah, that is why.

Onto pizza making!

Darren came to visit me my first night at Oberlin! He is seriously the best! We had a really fun night which included this pizza:

Darren made the crust from a dry package mix, and the sauce is straight from the can. I didn’t realize how easy making your own pizza (with crust mix and canned sauce shortcuts) actually is. I laugh every time I look at the picture of this pizza because the crust is so…ugly! The real irony in all of this is that my dad actually owns a very successful pizza restaurant called Fort Ball Pizza Palace.

Our pizza was quite tasty. I think Darren and I are ready to take over the family business!

And of course no Italian feast is complete without wine.

And creepy picture taking…

We shared this glass of Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel. It was so yummy, and definitely my favorite wine I’ve ever had. (That’s really not saying much. I’ve had wine about 4 times. But still! Yum!)

Classes start tomorrow. Yikes! I have a lot of things to get around in the meantime.

 

XOXO,

Jamie

All moved in!

Hey everyone. I’m all moved in here at Oberlin. Some pictures of my apartment…

Bedroom.

 

Closet.

Kitchen.

Classic “in the fridge” shot

The cottage cheese and pretzels I demolished after all my hard work moving in.

The view from my window. Not too shabby

I’m out to enjoy the rest of the day. Have a good one!

XOXO,

Jamie

Blissful Blogger

Happy Saturday everyone!

Today I was tagged by the lovely Brittany for the blissful blogger award. She’s a gorgeous girl both inside and out, so make sure to check out her awesome blog!

The Rules:

Write 9 things about yourself that most people don’t know about you. 

Then tag 7 other bloggers.

1. I was a cheerleader in high school!

This is a picture of my school cheerleading team at a competition. I’m the top girl on the left!

This is a picture of me with some of my friends on my allstar cheerleading squad. I miss cheerleading so much. It was a huge part of my life in high school. I seriously felt like a part of me was missing when I stopped cheerleading. I’ve gotten past that though now, and have found new loves in my life such as blogging

2. I’m addicted to Diet Coke

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I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this on my blog. I eat wholesome foods most of the time while never failing to indulge my sweet tooth. My one vice though, is Diet Coke. I know the phosphorus is bad for my bones and the artificial sweeteners are controversial. I’ve tried to kick the habit, but I’ve failed every time. Maybe some day…

3. I have enough clothes for a small village.

I hate to admit it, but this is what my closet looks like AFTER I’ve already packed to go back to college. It still looks completely full despite the fact that I’ve already packed all my favorite clothes. Insanity.

I’m actually going to break the rules a little bit, and stop here. I have a lot to get ready before I move back to Oberlin tomorrow. Talk to you all when I get there!I’ll be adding the rest of my 9 facts about me into my posts throughout the next couple weeks.

And here’s who I’m tagging:

Jenna @ We’re Jumpin

Ashley @ This Valley Life…

Emma @ Sweet Tooth Runner

Julie @ Shining From Within

Stephanie @ The New Healthy

Katie @ Dashing Dish

Katie @ Chocolate Covered Katie

XOXO,

Jamie

On a lighter note

Hey everyone!

After today’s rather serious post about food guilt, I decided I wanted to have some fun and share some silly things with you all too!  Needless to say, I’m feeling much, much better.

After I posted earlier, I decided to go on a walk. I live in the country, and the nature is so peaceful.

This is the view looking down my road towards my house. Walking and listening to angsty music on my ipod always calms me down. It clears my mind, and brings me back to the present. When I returned home, I was a hot sweaty mess. It was like a bajillion degrees outside today!

So naturally, I stripped…

And jumped in my pool!

Let me just say, my pool was fah-reezing! Firstly it has been cold for the past couple weeks. Secondly, we just got a new liner put in our pool, so about half the water in it is fresh from the hose. Hose water is cold!

My pool/ice bath

Hope you all are having a lovely Thursday!

XOXO,

Jamie

 

Imma be real with ya

I’ve noticed that there are several different types of healthy lifestyle bloggers out there. Some focus mostly on nutrition. Some focus mostly on fitness. Some integrate the two. Some bloggers mostly write super happy posts to encourage and inspire. While other bloggers, myself included, write whatever they’re feeling in the moment. I started this blog as a way to talk about my experience, share my newfound love for food, and hopefully help some people struggling through their own disordered eating.

 

Little did I know, my blog would actually help me grow even more to love and respect my body. I use my blog to help encourage others to break free from disordered eating, but I also use it to think through my own problems whenever I have a misstep.

 

Well Imma be real with ya. Today I had a misstep. About an hour before I usually have lunch, my appetite was raging. I listened to my body, and just went with it. I ate earlier than normal, and I ate a larger lunch than normal.

 

Then, in steps my long lost enemy, Mr. Guilt. I felt like a cartoon character with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.

The devil was saying, “You ate too much. You don’t deserve to feel full. You will get f**.” While the angel was saying ,”You are giving your body exactly what it wants. You are paying attention and doing a great job. Your body needs fuel and it thanks you every time you feed it what it needs.”

Honestly, I felt kind of cruddy for a hot second. It’s usually not too hard for me to tune out the guilt, but sometimes I get upset for even feeling guilty at all. I have to learn that no one is perfect. Even as I consider myself recovered, there will still be missteps. It’s how I deal with those missteps that makes me recovered.

So here I am being completely real, completely honest. Although I’m recovered, I’m not perfect. I’ve learned to love and enjoy food, but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally slip up. It means I don’t let it ruin my day. I vent and move on.

Lots of love to all my wonderful friends reading this!

XOXO,

Jamie