What to do if you get hANGRY

I stopped in to see my thoracic surgeon yesterday morning, as a follow up from when he removed my chest tube last week. Good news- everything is healing just as it should. My heart rate and blood pressure are all back to normal after being high throughout the whole ordeal- I think my body was just super stressed out. My oxygen level is a perfect 100. Excellent.

Bad news- I can't work out for another two weeks. And that doesn't just include running, it really includes everything- crunches, yoga… basically anything that would cause my muscles to strain or my lungs to work hard. As bummed as I am, I'm still very committed to this recovery and I don't plan to push the limits. I am focusing on food for health and packed up tons of healthy snacks for today.

When I first cut out processed foods, like Special K bars, crackers and Yoplait, I noticed a huge difference in how much better I felt. Its so sad that snack foods tend to be super processed, because they crowd out healthy, whole foods that fit the bill.

I pretty much always have some type of portable food in my purse because I am the type of person to get really hANGRY when I go without food. Some of my favorite options for snacks include:

Fruit Salad: Consisting of whatever fresh fruits I happen to have- strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, pineapple, grapefruit, grapes and watermelon are my top choices.

Veggies Dipped in Hummus: Carrots, celery, endive and sliced bell peppers (this is a new one for me) all taste delicious when dipped in hummus. 

Homemade Trail Mix: I use unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raisins. It sounds boring, but your taste buds adjust. You could also use half salted peanuts, half unsalted.

Frozen Mango & Yogurt: Trader Joe's frozen mangoes are frozen when they are perfectly ripe- seriously avoid Whole Foods brand- and I toss some in a container with some plain yogurt for an afternoon snack. By afternoon, the mangoes have defrosted and some of the juice has flavored the yogurt. 

Edamame: I'll throw a handful of frozen edamame (in shells) into a baggie and bring it to work. Then just microwave for a bit and you have an easily stackable veggie. 

Ants on a Log: Maybe I'm too old for this one, but I still like it. Celery filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins.

Rice Cakes with PB&J: I love brown rice cakes (ingredient list: brown rice and salt) and I love peanut butter, so you really can't go wrong.

Fruit and Cheese: Apples, grapes or pears and cheese. Basically I'm obsessed with pairing fruit and cheese. 

Bananas and Peanut Butter: Brian and I usually enjoy this one on weekends, we just slice up some bananas and throw a pile of peanut butter on a plate.

Popcorn: It's a whole grain! I won't touch the microwavable stuff, but buying popcorn in bulk is so cheap- you can put it in a brown paper bag and microwave it on your own, add a tiny bit of oil to a pan over the stove and pop the kernels in there with the lid on, or buy a fancier air popping tool. Add salt or parmesan. 

Larabars: It's no secret that these are my favorite back up. They're expensive, so I try to only use them when I'm really running out the door, but I do love them.

I'm looking for more ideas of veggie snacks. Honestly, sometimes I'll just microwave some frozen broccoli or cauliflower and eat that if I don't have any other snacks around or I need a veggie. I don't really feel like I can recommend that option though because it sounds really weird. Any other veggie options out there?

Gratitude

The news last night was pretty devastating, and it doesn't seem to be getting much better this morning. I certainly have Moore, OK in my thoughts today and I am remembering to be extra grateful for my family, friends, health and home. 

A question came to mind last night when I was watching the news, and Brian and I started to talk about it a little bit, so I had to do some research this morning.

Why don't tornadoes it big cities? The answer: They do (or at least, they can),  but the odds are less simply because there is a lot more open/ rural land than urban. 

I came across some other interesting facts today too:

• Violent tornadoes are fairly rare outside of the United States, although a few significant tornadoes occur each year in Europe, Asia, Southern Africa and South America.
• North America's geography contributes to the frequency of tornados- the continent extends from the tropics into the arctic without a major mountain range spanning east to west which would block the air flow. "Tornado Alley" has more frequent tornadoes because of the pressure created as air flows east off of the Rocky Mountains. 
• Tornados occur most frequently during the spring.
• The most devastating tornado in the US occurred in 1925 when 695 people were killed. The tornado that struck in Joplin, MO in 2011 was the most deadly in recent history with 158 deaths. 

I'm one of those people who is always comforted by information, although some of what I learned simply made me more grateful that I just don't live in an area that experiences frequent (if any) tornadoes because there is such a lack of information. We have so much information and technology today, but humans are still no match for nature.

I was planning dinner for the night when reports of the tornado first came out, and maybe that's why I gravitated towards something really comforting.

We had salmon, sweet potatoes and kale chips.

I was coming home late last night, and this was both comforting and quick to put together. I made the sweet potatoes in the microwave for the first time- 5 minutes, then 2 minutes, then 2 minutes more. I also put them in the oven with the salmon for the last 10 minutes of cook time at 400F. I definitely prefer the roasted flavor that comes when you bake the potatoes the whole time, but this was a decent quick-fix. 

The salmon was Wild- Caught Coho Salmon from Canada. Coho salmon has a green rating on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. That means that the species of fish is abundant and that the fishing method used causes little damage to the natural habitat. It is also significantly less than Alaskan Salmon, but provides the nutrients that you can expect from a wild caught fish (more omegas than farmed fish). I don't see it in Whole Foods too often, but I always like to buy some when I do. 

15 Minute Lamb Marinade

Continuing with my new theme of trying to relax, this weekend was somewhat uneventful, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it. AKA- I am lazy. When I have to start doing things like grocery shopping on the weekend again, it's going to be quite difficult.

After work on Friday, I came home and crashed. I actually think I fell asleep on the couch before making dinner. So glad I woke up though, because we enjoyed a really incredible meal.

I tested out skinny alfredo sauce from Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life. It was fantastic. I didn't have any broth on hand (need to get on that), so I just used water in place of it and increased the garlic that I used.

It was really phenomenal. I have never made any type of alfredo sauce before, and I thought it sounded kind of intimidating, but this was a simple meal to throw together. I tossed some pasta in the sauce and added asparagus, sliced portabellas and greens. Topped with more cheese :)

On Saturday morning, I got up and went out for bagels and coffee. Waiting in line at Bethesda Bagel's in Dupont is such a pain- I was probably there for 20 minutes- but, Brian braved it for me when I was stuck on the couch so I definitely owed him a turn. Then, I managed not to do anything for the rest of the day until late afternoon when I headed out for a mani/pedi to get ready for the main event of my weekend.

The All Junior League's International Annual Conference was in DC this year and I was invited to attend the awards banquet on Saturday evening. The Junior League of Washington submitted for an award based on some of the social media work we do, which was executed by my committee. And, we won!

(That's a cutout of Mary Harriman, the founder of the Junior League. Love her hair.)

Sunday followed with more bagels and coffee, plus a trip to the farmer's market. I am getting really excited to go to the market every week now because more and more things are available. Things I am looking forward to- strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches, peppers, green beans, okra, tomatoes and corn. We were lucky to be able to pick up some mini zucchini this week. I absolutely love all things squash/ zucchini, so this was a good one.

I marinated some lamb and cooked beet greens on the side.

The lamb was fantastic. Brian has had lamb on his mind for awhile now, and we were happy to see it at the market. This marinade is so, so simple, but incredibly flavorful. I left the lamb in the marinade for just about 15- 20 minutes before cooking it in a frying pan. I cooked the beet greens alongside, and then tossed them in the lamb pan after I took the meat out so that they'd have a little extra flavor.

15 Minute Lamb Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Combine ingredients and allow lamb chops to marinate for 15- 20 minutes before cooking.