For the Love of Brussel Sprouts

Normally I write my posts at night, but this post is coming to you right after breakfast! I have 15 minutes before I have to run off to class, dissect a tadpole/frog and then hopefully rock my chemistry exam!

15 minutes is totally enough time for a quick post.

Yesterday’s lunch: A turkey and blue cheese wrap with a side of roasted brussel sprouts. I should really try to eat more veggies. I naturally gravitate towards fruit or dairy for snacks and sides. I have a feeling that I will be on a brussel sprout kick for a while though because these hit the spot. I just tossed them with olive oil, salt, and garlic powder and baked them at 425 for about 25 minutes. The burnt parts are my favorite!

I just noticed that just about every sentence in that last paragraph starts with the word “I”…When I’m in a hurry, varied sentence structure is not a priority.

The purplest smoothie ever! My roommate thought I added food coloring to it because it was so purple. Nope. Just blueberries. In the mix is blueberries, cottage cheese, soy milk, and stevia. This was totally delicious, but my mouth was blue even after brushing my teeth. You’ve been warned.

My chapstick also makes an appearance in the above photo. Right now I am loving strawberry Carmex. My junior high/high school best friend, Megan, got me addicted to chapstick. She put it on like every 20 minutes, and the habit wore off on me.

And with that, I’m off to class. Have a good day friends! And may the chemistry gods be with me!

XOXO,

Jamie

 

Little Rascals and Mulan

Right now, I want more than anything to snuggle up with friends or my sisters (whom just so happen to be my BEST friends) and watch Little Rascals or Mulan. After the past few crazy days, I totally need to relax with my favorite kid movies.

So here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

Today I ran the Oberlin Earth Day 5k! Two of my friends ran it with me, and we all had a super amazing great time.

(sorry for the blurriness in this picture and all the rest of them. My phone has a lovely 2 megapixel camera. I really need to get a real camera…)

Anyways, that is clearly the face of a girl high on running endorphins! This picture was taken just after I walked home from the race. My hands were FROZEN! Also, I’m awkwardly holding up my shirt, so you can see my super cool official number.

I ran the 5k in 30:29. I know that’s still not fast, but I’m improving! I’m super happy with that time!! (Especially taking into consideration that I decided to run this race on a whim, I was going on a 5 hours of sleep, and I was probably a little dehydrated from Friday night’s festivities).

So today, after the race I forced my super tired self to study lots of chemistry and anthropology. I really hate when I’m not particularly interested in the classes I’m taking because I literally have to force myself to study for them. Studying for my biology classes isn’t always easy either, but it is much more enjoyable to me!

Onto some recent eats:

This could quite possibly be the most un-photogenic meal ever, but I promise it tasted amazing.

It’s taco salad containing shredded lettuce, refried beans, corn, salsa, and cottage cheese. And then of course there is a flat bread on the side for making tacos. I absolutely love food that involves dipping or wrapping as you eat it…playing with your food never quite grows old.

Speaking of which! Totally awesome date idea is to make a spaghetti dinner and eat it with your hands. Darren and I did that once, and it was super fun.

This is just toast with homemade white bean dip along with carrots and broccoli slaw salad on the side. My roommate, Emma, introduced me to this amazing white bean dip “recipe.”  Just put a can of white beans into a food processor or blender with about 1-3 teaspoons of Penzy’s Greek Seasoning (depending on your taste preference). I’m super in love with this Greek seasoning blend. I also love homemade bean dips/hummus because it’s SO much cheaper than buying store bought. A container of hummus= more than $3. A can of beans= about 66 cents. Winning.

Well that was a whole lot of random, but it felt good to write Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

XOXO,

Jamie

It’s WIAW time again :)

Hello lovelies!

These are my eats from Wednesday Tuesday!

Breakfast:

Chocolate Oats!

To make these oats, I prepared my oats as normal. When they were done cooking, I added two tablespoons cocoa powder, lots of sugar, a splash of coconut milk, and a dollop of whipped cream on top! Everything is better with whipped cream!

Lunch:

Grilled Turkey Sandwich with Laughing Cow Light cheese.

Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger Tea

Wheat puffs with vanilla yogurt and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Snack: Lots of jelly beans that I forgot to take a picture of before I devoured them! I needed a sugar rush before my three hour stint shadowing Doc (I will now refer to the Doctor I’m shadowing by the name Doc because it conceals his identity, and it prevents me from having to repeat the phrase “the doctor I’m shadowing”….whew)

Dinner:

Veggies and white beans sauteed with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light

Hot Chocolate with whipped cream! I’ve been on a whipped cream kick lately. Yummmmm.

And now I’m off to probably make a smoothie or some other delicious snack. I’ve been revising a problem set for the last hour and I’m still on the first question. I need brain food…majorly.

XOXO,

Jamie

In case you haven’t noticed…

…there having been a few changes around CollegeGirlCooking.  There is a recipe index and another index featuring all my thoughts on eating disorders and self-love.  There are also some fun little widgets to the right of the page. I hope you find that the site is now more accessible.

Now onto more exciting and delicious things like my lunch today. Have you all heard of the Flatout flatbread wraps? They are seriously amazingly good.  I (okay, my mom) bought the Multi-Grain with flax. There are 9 grams of protein in each wrap which I love. I’ve been eating these wraps with deli turkey, laughing cow light swiss, and whatever veggies I have in my fridge. However, there is a suggestion on the packaging to use the flatbread wrap as pizza crust. I knew that pizza would have to happen.

To my dismay though, when I opened my fridge today there was no mozzarella cheese. When I opened my pantry, there was no pizza sauce. There weren’t even any canned tomatoes. Well…how am I supposed to make a pizza without mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce? Then, in a moment of shear luck, I spotted a jar of pesto in the cupboard. EUREKA! Pesto Pizza

Why hello there gorgeous. GET IN MY BELLY! This pizza was seriously good. The flatbread made a wonderfully crispy crust. This lunch took approximately 7 minutes to put together from start to finish. Can’t beat that!

I love pesto. The olive oil is so good for my hair and nails. It can be a bit pricey, but a little bit goes a long way and it’s versatility makes it worth it. You could spread some on sandwiches or wraps, use it as a pasta sauce, or use it as a dipping sauce for some crusty french bread. Yum! That is going to happen in my near future.

Hey! Who took a big bite out of my pizza!?

Oh…that was me I just couldn’t wait for the photo shoot to be over before digging in!

Quick and Easy Pesto Pizza

• 1 high protein/high fiber flatbread wrap (I used Flatout multi-grain with flax)
• 1 wedge laughing cow light Swiss
• 1 Tablespoon pesto
• enough Parmesan cheese to coat pizza as desired

Place flatbread on a pizza pan in the oven, broiler set to 350. Let the flatbread bake for 3-5 minutes, watching it closely. Remove from the oven once the flatbread is crispy. Spread on the laughing cow cheese, then pesto, and top with Parmesan. Place under broiler for another 2 minutes. Enjoy!

XOXO,

Jamie

Loaded Microwave Baked Potato

I’ll be returning to college in 10 days, and this is my first year not living in a dorm! I’m super excited to have an apartment with my friends, and also to have my own kitchen! I’m also nervous about having a kitchen though because I’m not exactly an experienced cook. I love baking, but cooking is a whole other realm.

I know I’ll be a super busy student like I always am, so I’ll need meals that come together super quick. They’ll also have to be nutritious because running around campus all day, studying, and writing papers takes a lot of energy. I’ve been scouring the web in search of simple meal ideas. I came across an idea for microwave baked potatoes loaded with cottage cheese. I like cottage cheese, but even I was a skeptic of how it might taste.

I’m happy to report, that my microwave baked potato loaded with cottage cheese was delicious! The cottage cheese tasted just like sour cream, but it’s much more nutritious thanks to the high protein content. I will definitely be using this often as a quick and easy side dish next year. I can also see myself completely loading a potato with turkey bacon and cheddar cheese to make this a small meal.

Microwave Baked Potato

Run an idaho potato under water and scrub with a vegetable brush. Using a knife, puncture holes in the potato to allow steam to escape. This step is CRUCIAL or else your potato will explode in the microwave. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Microwave on high for 7 minutes. If you are making 2 potatoes, microwave for 11 minutes. Allow potato to sit in the microwave for another 2 minutes before removing. Slice potato lengthwise and fill with desired toppings. I used about half a cup of fat free cottage cheese and pepper. Enjoy!

XOXO,

Jamie

Homemade Nutella

Now, as I’ve spoken about in the passed, I have an aversion to processed food.

Neon orange “cheese” powder- No thanks.

Chicken Nuggets- Exactly what part of the chicken is the “nugget”?

High Fructose Corn Syrup- It’s a cheaper sweetener than sugar, but PLEASE I JUST WANT SUGAR.

Processed foods are edible food-like substances. They diminish my eating experience, and leave me feeling a little blah.  Now that’s not to say I never eat processed foods, because I certainly do. I love bagged snack mixes like chex mix, but I make sure to eat them in moderation because of the high salt content. I also eat them in combination with nutrient rich foods.

Nut butter’s can be super delicious and nutritious. You have to be careful when buying nut butters at the store though, as the regular varieties are often questionable containing a lot of sugar, hydrogenated oils, and glycerides. The best nut butters keep it plain and simple, usually with two ingredients: the nut and salt.

I’m boring you all with all this talk of healthy nut butters, so I’ll leave it at this: Whenever you make your own version of a processed food, it’s bound to be better for you. And here’s to homemade Nutella…

Homemade Nutella

• 150g hazelnuts- Roast at 200º C for 10-15 mins until very fragrant. Pulverize in a food processor or blender until you get a very smooth peanut butter-like paste.

Add these remaining ingredients and continue blending until smooth:

• 100g milk chocolate, (I used 2.5 regular sized Hershey bars, melted and cooled)

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1/2 cup icing sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• A few drops of vegetable oil

Store in a jar at room temperature. Enjoy on anything and everything!

Oh yeah, did I mention that the homemade is much more delicious than store bought? No joke.

XOXO,

Jamie

Chipotle Turkey Wrap

It’s time for a little round of…

What I ate Wednesday

Today I will be featuring my super delicious lunch. It seems like I’m always hungriest at lunch time, so I tend to eat a pretty decent sized lunch with foods full of protein and fiber to keep me going for the rest of the day.

The main component of today’s lunch consisted of a Chipotle Turkey Wrap. I used a high protein Tomato Basil wrap from The Smart and Delicious line by La Tortilla Factory.

This wrap was filled with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese in the Queso Fresco & Chipotle Flavor.  This creamy spreadable cheese is so delicious. It’s perfect on wraps or as a dip for pretzels. My Chipotle Turkey Wrap, of course, was loaded with about 6 slices of deli turkey and lots of iceburg lettuce. Yum! I’ve eaten one of these wraps every day this week for lunch.

For some added protein I had a Luna Bar on the side…

It was good, but I prefer the Cookie Dough Balance Bars over this Luna Bar. The Luna Bar is more of a high protein granola bar than an actual protein bar. I love the chewy cookie dough texture of Balance Bars.

And for dessert…

I had one of my delicious homemade oreos! I’m glad I got one when I did because my dad promptly gobbled up the last two right after I ate lunch.

What a delicious, satisfying lunch. I better get back to my daily studying duties now. The MCAT awaits…

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XOXO,

Jamie

Leftovers for lunch: veggie burrito

Hey everyone!  It’s a beautiful Saturday! Perfect weather for restoring an old Schwinn Hollywood bike which is exactly what I’ll be doing today! I’m super excited about this bike, and I’ll be sure to post pictures once it’s finished.  I’ve been so busy lately, but I did take some time to make a really yummy, super quick, microwave lunch yesterday!  I had a bunch of diced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers left over from when I made my portabella pizzas for my family.  I threw these into a burrito shell with some leftover diced onion, quesadilla cheese, and nuked it for about 1.5 minutes.  Out came my delicious veggie burrito.   I dipped it in mild sauce from taco bell.  My sisters and I always take extra packets from taco bell to keep at home- a wise trick our mother taught us

 

XOXO,

Jamie

Some of my favorite books and taco rolls ups

My passion outside of cooking/baking, food photography, blogging, and school is reading. I love reading for fun and to learn.  It sounds super corny, but reading lets me just take a break from life for a while and escape into a different world.

So I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite books.  It pretty much goes without saying that I love the Harry Potter and Twilight series, so I’ll refrain from exclaiming their complete awesomeness.  This list is in no particular order.  I’m just writing as the books come to my mind.

1.  The Uglies- This is the first book in a series about a dystopian society where at the age of 15 all citizens undergo plastic surgery to become beautiful.  However, the surgery is not purely cosmetic.  The story follows a brave young girl who challenges her society.

2.  The Giver- I read this book a really long time ago, so the details are a little fuzzy.  I should put it on my “to read again list.”  Anyways, this is another dystopian society book in which at a certain age, everyone is assigned their future job.  One boy finds out more about the inner-workings of this society, and…well you have to read the book to find out the rest!

3.  Women, Food, and God-  This book is just one of many by Geneen Roth.  If you’ve ever struggled with disordered eating, compulsive eating, yo-yo dieting, or just any weird attitudes towards food you should read this book!  This book is really what inspired my recovery.

4. Any book by Dan Brown

I just realized that I love almost every book I read, so listing my favorites would take me eternity.  Instead, I’ll talk about taco roll ups.  These are super easy to make.  They’re a delicious cheap appetizer or perfect for a picnic lunch.

Taco Roll Ups

2 packs of soft tortilla shells

1 package cream cheese

1 tub sour cream

1 packet taco seasoning

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning using a mixer until everything is incorporated.  Spread this mixture onto a tortilla shell.  Roll the shell and cut into thirds.

XOXO,

Jamie

Spontaneity and Grilled PB+J

Since I began my journey to love and take care of myself, I’ve become a lot more spontaneous.  I no longer feel the need to plan every minute of my day ahead of time.  Instead, I just gauge what I want and need in the moment and go with that. Life is so much more exuberant when you live in the present.  I can better appreciate each moment of my life because I’m more fully experiencing it.

One of my recent acts of spontaneity includes exiting off the turnpike about 50 miles too soon to drive through my college campus and take the scenic route home.  Sure, this may not seem like a big deal, but it was really remarkable to me. I saw the exit to my college, and thought about how nice it would be to drive through campus. Then I simply decided if that’s what I wanted, that’s what I would do!

Another act of spontaneity involves Darren.  Him and his friends are always doing crazy things.  A few days ago they decided to drive three hours to pick up his friend’s girlfriend.  Since my house was on the way, he asked me to go along.  It was already 10pm, and they wouldn’t get to my house until 11pm.  I said yes anyways because it sounded fun.  I didn’t get home until 3am.  I was a sleepy girl the next day, but it was totally worth it.  I’m glad I acted spontaneously.

Now, onto grilled peanut butter and jelly.  Everyone I tell make this sandwich for is a complete skeptic until they take that first crunchy, gooey bite.  Then, they are a total convert.  Just trust me on this one.  Peanut butter and jelly is good.  Grilled peanut butter and jelly is fabulous.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly

2 slices of bread

peanut butter

jelly

butter/margarine

Place skillet over high heat.  Place peanut butter and jelly inside the sandwich.  Coat the outside of the sandwich with butter or margarine.  Grill sandwich in the skillet until each side is golden, brown.

Also, if you want to be extra fancy, after coating the outside of the sandwich with butter/margarine, you can coat the outside with a cinnamon and sugar mixture, then grill.

 

XOXO,

Jamie