Author: Lauren

What does a dietitian eat?  Healthy foods all the time?  NO!  Organic foods daily?  NO!  Super small portions?  Nope!  Dietitians are just like you!  We have food days that are super healthy (fruits and veggies at every meal, lean proteins, alcohol free and no sweets!) and we have days that are not as healthy (think chocolate, beer and nachos).  Check out my weekly weekend roundup posts so you can see what my weekend eats are all about!

Friday

Breakfast: I didn’t go to the gym this Friday because it had been a loooongggg week.  Monday night we went to WWE in Brooklyn (actually way more fun than I thought it would be LOL) and Wednesday we went to the Opera in NYC (La Traviota).  Both nights we got home super late and I definitely did not sleep enough, so I was trying to get a full 8 hours on Friday.  For breakfast I had dark chocolate peanut butter overnight oats.  I made a huge batch of these and was eating them for breakfast every day.  Super simple to make and so delish!

Lunch:  For lunch, I made my Crunch Chickpea Veggie Bowl and added half an avocado.  MMMMMmmmm.

Snack 1:  I was feeling super full from lunch (must have been all that avoooo), so I didn’t have a snack at work, but I ate about 3 cups of White Cheddar Skinny Pop on the way to Long Island.

Dinner:  Since I was on Long Island, it was pizza Friday again!  I had 2 slices of Sicilian pizza and got some laundry done.

Dessert:  My best friend Jenn came by and we all went to Charlottes in my hometown for some froyo!  I forgot to take a pic, but I got cake batter fro yo and topped it with fresh strawberries and brownie bits (my all time fave flavor and toppings).

Saturday

On Saturday, I woke up with a stomach virus at 4 AM.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any meals to show you because my day consisted of eating some crackers, pretzels and chicken noodle soup.  To make up for this missing day and lack of food on Sunday, I extended the weekend to include Monday’s eats as well!

Sunday

Breakfast:  My stomach was still feeling off, so for breakfast I nibbled on about a quarter of a toasted everything bagel and sipped on some iced coffee.  Sunday was girls’ day with my Dad’s side of the family and we went to go see Madagascar at a small theater on Long Island.  It was super cute!

Lunch:  We went out to lunch and I was feeling a little better at lunch and ordered their panini with chicken, fig jam and brie cheese.  I ate a little more than half of the panini and had a few fries.

Dinner:  For dinner, my mom heated up some left over ziti and I had a little of that.  My stomach still wasn’t feeling 100%, so everything I ate, I ate very slowly.  I also was feeling more comfort food and carbs, so I stayed away from salads because I wasn’t sure how they would sit in my stomach. Monday

Breakfast: For breakfast I had Siggi’s vanilla yogurt topped with 10 dark chocolate chips chopped up and ¼ cup Purely Elizabeth’s granola + a cold brew coffee from Starbucks (cold brew is my new favorite type of coffee) 

Lunch:  Lunch was the Roasted Turkey Health Cobb Salad from Just Salad with cucumbers and pita chips added in.  I love this salad because I get a good amount of veggies, carbs, proteins and fats and it’s very filling 🙂

Snack: 100 calorie Dark Chocolate Mint Zing Bar.  I was feeling full from lunch, so I had a small snack because I went to a cycle class before dinner and I wanted to make sure I fueled up so I could do well in class.

Dinner: Acai Bowl from Shaka Bowl.  I got an acai base with strawberries, granola and peanut butter on top.  I love how these are like smoothies in a bowl.  They are so yummy! There you have it!  A weekend full of dietitian’s eats!

I’ve been on a veggie bowl kick lately.  We’ve had an overload of brussels sprouts and broccoli in the fridge, so I’ve been roasting brussels sprouts and broccoli and throwing them in a bowl with a starch and protein and sometimes some avocado.  It has been amazing, and the best part is that it’s super easy to create your own!  So, I decided to share my newest bowl creation with all of you for this installment of meatless recipes.  I roasted my favorite veggies (brussies and broccoli), got my starch in with a small sweet potato and my protein in with delicious, crunchy roasted chick peas.  Chick peas are a great source of protein and provide you with fiber, folate, iron and B vitamins too!  Plus, roasting them gives this bowl a nice crunch, something I’m always looking for in a meal.  You can purchase roasted chick peas, or make them on your own!  I added 1 tablespoon of Franks Red Hot sauce for an extra kick, but you can eat this bowl without the sauce if you don’t like spicy flavors.

Crunchy Chickpea Veggie Bowl

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1 small sweet potato
• Olive oil spray
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup brussels sprouts
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 1/3 cup roasted chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon of Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375⁰F
• Chop sweet potato into ½ inch pieces.  Add to baking sheet, spray with olive oil and add garlic and onion powder.  Place baking sheet in oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until they are cooked the way you like them.
• Chop broccoli and brussels sprouts.  Add to baking sheet, spray with olive oil and add garlic and onion powder.  Place baking sheet in oven and roast for 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked the way you like them.
• Add sweet potato, broccoli, brussels sprouts and chickpeas to a bowl.  Drizzle hot sauce on top.  Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 321; Fat: 3 g; Saturated fat: .113 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 584 mg; Carb: 63.4 g; Fiber: 17.2 g; Sugars: 12.42 g; Protein: 14.58 g

Check out the recipes below from my amazing colleagues for some additional meatless lunch ideas!

Christy, of Christy Wilson Nutrition shared her Black Bean and Quinoa with Cilantro, Lime and Feta recipe.  She combines black beans and quinoa, which she calls a “superfood power couple,” in this delicious recipe that takes on 25 minutes to make!

Amy, of Amy Gorin Nutrition, shared her Vegan Hummus Pita Pizza recipe.  She tops these yummy pizzas with one of her favorite foods, mushrooms, and uses fresh oregano as a finishing touch.  Delish!

Judy, of Live Best, shared her Layered Spelt Salad recipe.  If you’re looking to shake up your salads a bit, then this is the recipe for you!  Judy uses spelt, a whole grain with lots of fiber and a chewy texture, in this delicious salad.

Tawnie, of Krolls Korner, shared her Zucchini and Avocado Mac & Cheese recipe.  This amazing mac and cheese uses nutritional yeast, which Tawnie tells us contains fiber, protein and B vitamins.  Why have mac and cheese from the box when you can make your own with veggies and avocado?!

Kelli, of Hungry Hobby, shared how to make an adult lunchable.  You get to pick your favorite high quality protein, healthy fat, veggies and goodies to make your own!  The examples she has look pretty sweet!  **The lunchable pictured does include meat, however, you can make your own to be meatless!

Katie shared her Tuna Salad with Apples and Herbs.  She changed up a regular old tuna salad by adding some crunchy diced apples.  YUM!

What does a dietitian eat?  Healthy foods all the time?  NO!  Organic foods daily?  NO!  Super small portions?  Nope!  Dietitians are just like you!  We have food days that are super healthy (fruits and veggies at every meal, lean proteins, alcohol free and no sweets!) and we have days that are not as healthy (think chocolate, beer and nachos).  Check out my weekly weekend roundup posts so you can see what my weekend eats are all about!

Friday

Breakfast: I woke up Friday and went to the gym to run and lift.  It was super cold last week and it snowed, so I had to run on the treadmill a few days because of the ice.  I used to be a treadmill only runner, and then I tried outdoor running and I’ve never looked back.  Running on the treadmill, even if it was only for 2 or 3 days, was the worst.  I’m so happy that this week will have milder temperatures so I can run outside again.  After my workout, I came home and whipped up a Chai Pumpkin Protein Smoothie and chopped up a bunch of veggies and threw them in the oven to roast for lunch.  I got home pretty late on Thursday night.  I had a dietitian happy hour and met Bernie at his job for their happy hour after, so when I got home, I went straight to bed.  It was so much easier for me to wake up early, go to the gym and make lunch.  I don’t think I could be more of a morning person if I tried.

Lunch:  Lunch was pretty random on Friday.  We had a broccoli, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts at home, so I decided to toss them in olive oil, season them and roast them for a veggie packed lunch.  Then I added a hardboiled egg and 2 tablespoons of everything hummus for my protein.  Friday was a super busy day for me at work, so I ate the egg around 11 AM and then had the veggies dipped in hummus around 1 PM.  The veggies and hummus were AMAZING.  I cannot wait to make this lunch again.  SO DELICIOUS.

Snack 1:  I needed a quick snack on the go, so Kashi’s Dark Chocolate and Cinnamon Pecan bar was my go to!  This was my first time trying this flavor and, like all of Kashi’s flavors, it was delish!

Snack 2:  I drove to Long Island Friday night after work and knew I would get hungry on the way, so I packed myself a few cups of skinny pop cheddar popcorn.

Dinner:  Since I was on Long Island, it was pizza Friday!  I had 2 slices of Sicilian pizza and caught up on some work and laundry before hopping in to bed.

Saturday

Breakfast: I had a bunch of emails and laundry to get through on Saturday, so I woke up a little early and had Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch with almond milk and strawberries before my long run.  Since half marathon training has started, my long runs are always on Saturdays.  This Saturday was the first time I’ve run 6 miles in a LONG TIME.  It felt great!  As the runs get longer, I will need to eat a little something during them to stay fueled up.  I will be trying some new things this time around and I can’t wait to tell you all about them!  Breakfast is not pictured since I woke up super hungry and scarfed it down before I remembered!

Snack 1:  After lunch, I had a quick snack of triscuits and hummus and hopped in the shower.

Lunch:  Bernie came in on the train around 12 PM, so I picked him up at the train and had some lunch after we got home.  My mom had some Pad Thai leftover, so I had a plate of that.  The place we usually get Pad Thai from in Jersey City hasn’t tasted as good lately, so it has been a while since I’ve had my fave Thai dish.  It hit the spot!

Snack 2: Iced coffee with skim milk and 1 packet of sugar before we got pedicures.  A new place opened in my hometown and it is amazing!  I can’t wait for them to get iced coffee and cold brew on tap.  I have a feeling I’ll be going here before I get my pedicures every time I’m home.  It’s so cute inside and the coffee was awesome! Dinner:  We went to a Saint Patrick’s Day dance at my church on Saturday night.  It was a great time with my best friends, Gina and Jenn, and my fam.  We spent the night dancing and laughing and we had some pretty yummy food.  Since the celebration was a mix of Saint Patrick’s Day and the feast of Saint Joseph, there was Irish AND Italian food (YUMMMOOO).  I had corned beef (my fave Irish dish) with mustard on rye bread (my fave bread), eggplant rolatini, sausage and peppers, penne ala vodka and salad.  The food was delicious.  Then I spent the rest of the night getting some good cardio in with all that dancing.  For dessert, I had a small chocolate covered cannoli – the best!

Sunday

Breakfast:  Sunday we had a family get together to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, on my mom’s side of the family.  We stayed up super late on Saturday, so it was a little hard to get up on Sunday morning.  I tried to do an at home workout from Fitnessblender.com, but I got halfway through and my body was just telling me it was tired.  So I went on a power walk around my parent’s neighborhood instead.  After that, I had half an everything bagel with peanut butter and some strawberries.

Lunch:  Lunch was two slices of American hero and some potato salad.  Prior to the food being served, I did munch on a few chips.  After the food, I also had 2 desserts, a chocolate covered oreo and this amazing granola bar my aunt made.  My aunt Di is the most amazing baker, so I ALWAYS have to have her desserts at family events.  SO DELICIOUS EVERY TIME.

Dinner:  I was still super full from lunch, so dinner was half of a Sicilian slice left over from Friday night.

There you have it!  A weekend full of dietitian’s eats!

Meatless lunch recipe round up 2 is here, along with an easy recipe from yours truly 🙂

I had egg salad for the first time last year at my old job.  I had forgotten to bring lunch and the only thing that looked appetizing to me was an egg salad sandwich.  I must point out that this is shocking, because I’ve always steered clear of egg salad.  Story time!  When I was in elementary school, a girl I was friends with used to have and egg salad sandwich EVERY. DAY. and, honestly, it just always looked (and smelled) so gross.  Cue me, swearing off egg salad forever.  Until…that one day at work.

I ended up liking it so much, that it became one of my go to sandwiches at my job when I would forget lunch.  Since I’ve moved on, job wise, I no longer have access to those yummy sandies, but I do have the option to make my own!  And so this Smoked Avocado and Egg Salad was created.  I used avocado to give this salad a creamy texture instead of mayonnaise, because, let’s be honest, avo is soooo much tastier than mayo (and healthier too!).  Plus, I added some smoked paprika to give it a nice smokey flavor.  With healthy fats AND protein, this tasty lunch is sure to keep you satisfied until afternoon snack time!  Have it with a side of your favorite crackers or between two slices of your fave whole wheat bread!

Smoked Avocado and Egg Salad

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1 large hard boiled egg
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions

• Slice hard boiled egg
• Slice the avocado into 1/2 inch pieces
• Add avocado and egg to a bowl and add smoked paprika
• Gently mix together until combined
• Serve on 2 slices of whole wheat bread or with your favorite crackers.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 195; Fat: 16.5 g; Saturated fat: 3 g; Cholesterol: 185 mg; Sodium: 75 mg; Carb: 6.5 g; Fiber: 5 g; Sugars: 0 g; Protein: 7.5 g

In addition to this, I have six more meatless recipes from some amazing dietitians to share!

Lindsey, from Nutrition To Fit, shared her Polenta Panzanella Salad with homemade vinaigrette.  If you’re looking to shake up your daily salads, this is the recipe for you!  Lindsey suggests adding some fresh mozzarella or cannellini beans for an extra protein punch!

Kelli, from Hungry Hobby, shared her Tzatziki Tuna Pita.  Getting tired of the same old tuna sandwich?  Whip these up yummy pitas instead!

Pushpa Soundararajan shared her Low Potassium Savory Pasta Primavera.  This is a delicious meatless meal that Pushpa says you can add additional veggies to (like asparagus or spinach) and tastes good without being warmed up!

Erica Julson shared her Quinoa Collard Green Wraps.  Replace your tortilla wraps with blanched collard greens in this awesome protein AND veggie packed meal!

Jessica, from Nutritioulicious, shared her Grilled Avocados Stuffed with Corn and Black Bean Salsa.  Try something new and GRILL an avocado!  She added yummy black beans for protein and suggests that you eat something else with this or pile a bit more of the salsa on to help keep you full and satisfied.

Danielle, from The Every Kitchen shared her Golden Beet Couscous Salad.  Her salad has a simple dressing to help the flavors of the delicious toppings shine through!  Plus, it’s super pretty which makes lunch that much more awesome.

Stay tuned for next week’s recipes!

What does a dietitian eat?  Healthy foods all the time?  NO!  Organic foods daily?  NO!  Super small portions?  Nope!  Dietitians are just like you!  We have food days that are super healthy (fruits and veggies at every meal, lean proteins, alcohol free and no sweets!) and we have days that are not as healthy (think chocolate, beer and nachos).  Check out my weekly weekend roundup posts so you can see what my weekend eats are all about!

Friday

Breakfast: 1 cup Siggi’s vanilla yogurt, 10 chopped dark chocolate chips, ¼ cup Purely Elizabeth granola, 1 cup of strawberries.  I totally forgot to snap a pic of this and didn’t even realize until I went into my phone to upload the picture here!  This breakfast is always delicious and filling and is so easy to throw together when I forget to pack my meals the night before.  Thursday was a late night because I had a Greater New York Dietetic Association event that night and then spontaneously met Bernie and his dad at the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden for the final game that night.  We didn’t get home until 11:30-12 PM, so I was definitely not making my meals that night.  I came home and went right to bed!

Snack 1:  I was feeling a little hungry between breakfast and lunch, so I snacked on a few extra dark pretzels that I had in my desk.  The other day, I was hungry at work and went to the store for a quick snack.  Since I shopped hungry, which I know I shouldn’t do, I ended up buying a big bag of these pretzels and white cheddar skinny pop.  I have to admit, I am someone who needs to have things pre-portioned out because, if not, I have a hard time saying no and only having one serving.   I was doing some extra snacking when I wasn’t hungry at work because these bags were easily accessible in my desk.  I’ve learned my lesson and will either have pre-portioned snacks in my desk or no snacks at all so I don’t unconsciously over eat.

Lunch:  Sons of Thunder poke bowl.  When I started my new job, the girl who was training me introduced me to a bunch of delicious places in that area.  One of them was Sons of Thunder.  They have amazing poke bowls!  I get one with brown rice, ahi tuna, avocado, mixed greens and spicy sauce on the side.  It hits the spot every time!

Snack 1:  My easiest on the go snack to grab is a banana with a tablespoon of sunflower seed butter.

Dinner:  Friday Funday in NY was cancelled because it was FREEZING and we were exhausted from being out late the night before.  Instead, I met Bernie at work and we went home to Jersey City together to watch a movie and eat some pizza.  We got a spinach roll and an eggplant parmesan pie.  I had a slice and a half of pizza and half of the spinach roll with some of my new favorite iced tea.  DELICIOUS!  I love pizza Fridays.

Saturday

Breakfast: I slept in a bit on Saturday morning and woke up to a coffee and a whole wheat everything bagel with veggie cream cheese from Bernie!  YAY!!!  I took off most of the cream cheese (jeez do they pile that stuff on there) and ate half of the bagel before my run.  I am running in my third half marathon in May and training started last week!  My first long run was 5 miles, this Saturday, in the cold.  I did my run and then stopped at the gym for some weight lifting.  I haven’t been really following a weight lifting schedule and was able to start that up again this week too and it felt great!

Lunch:  After the gym, I got home and made Bernie and myself some Chai Pumpkin Protein Smoothies.  They are the perfect post workout meal.

Snack 1:  Bernie and I had church at 4 PM and were meeting some friends for a drink before I had dinner in the city with a friend, so I knew I needed a small snack beforehand, because I didn’t want to go until 7 PM without eating.  I had a 100 calorie Zing Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter bar and it was amazing!  This was a sample I had gotten when I went to the food and nutrition conference in November and I haven’t tried it yet.  I’m so glad I did, I will DEFINITELY be buying more!

Dinner:  A good friend of mine is moving to Miami, so I met up with him for food before he went.  I got a turkey burger with a side salad and we split some fries.  I removed half of the bun, since I wanted to indulge in the fries, but didn’t want to over do it.  After dinner, I went back to Jersey and met up our friends for dueling pianos at House of Que in Hoboken.  It was so fun!  I had a drink with dinner and another drink when I met up with our friends after dinner.  I had to be up early on Sunday for a spin class, so I didn’t want to over do it with the drinking.

Sunday

Breakfast:  Sunday was a day full of spinning.  I started it off with a Show Tunes themed spin class at Hoboken CycleBar, with two of my friends.  It was the best!  Afterwards, I got breakfast with one of my them at Shaka Bowl in Hoboken.  I made my own acai bowl with, acai base, granola, strawberries and cacao nibs and had a cold brew coffee (you may have seen this on my insta) and it was so delicious!  I can’t wait to go back!!

Snack 1:  I was scheduled to cycle at Cycle For Survival in NYC with the Greater New York Dietetic Association.  Upon my arrival, I got a banana and ate half since I knew I was going to feel hungry soon, but didn’t want to eat too much because I was about to exercise.  I hopped on the bike at two and cycled for 50 minutes.

Lunch:  They had free food at the event, so lunch was a turkey sandwich with mustard.  Prior to the event, I was scheduled to cycle once, but someone had to pull out of the event because of an injury, so I volunteered to cycle again at 4 PM.  The sandwich was just what I needed between both cycle times.  A good mix of carbs and protein to fuel me before my second ride.

Dinner:  After the event, we went to an italian restaurant where I got my fave, chicken parm, and some pasta with vodka sauce.  I also had a bit of bread and olive oil.  I really needed/wanted to load up on some carbs after all the cardio I did that day and this meal was so delicious!

There you have it!  A weekend full of dietitian’s eats!

Confession time!  Even as a dietitian, I’m not always as creative as I would like to be when it comes to meat-free meals for lunch at work.  My go to lunch, as you know, is a turkey sandwich, but now that Lent has started, I need some new options for Fridays.  I do like a tunafish sandwich, but that definitely gets boring after a while.  So, I did some thinking during one of my runs and created this recipe!  I also reached out to my fellow AWESOME dietitians about what their best meat-free recipes were, and I got some delicious answers!  For the next 6 weeks, I’ll be sharing my new recipes AND theirs on Thursdays.  Get ready for some new, amazing lunch ideas!

Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Quinoa Bowl

Servings: 1

Serving Size: 1 bowl

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• Olive oil spray
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 1/2 cup canned low sodium black beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350⁰F.
• Cook quinoa according to package.
• Half grape tomatoes, add to a sheet pan, spray with olive oil, season with garlic and onion powder and place in oven for 10-15 minutes.
• Open canned beans, drain and rinse.
• Add cooked quinoa, tomatoes and beans to bowl and mix together.
• Add mozzarella cheese on top.  When you heat this meal in the microwave the next day, the cheese will melt on top for a delicious, protein packed meal!

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 420; Fat: 8.5 g; Saturated fat: 3.5 g; Cholesterol: 15 mg; Sodium: 250 mg; Carb: 60 g; Fiber: 13 g; Sugars: 8 g; Protein: 22 g

Check out these yummy meals below for some great lunch options!

Lindsey, of Nutrition To Fit, shared this delicious Freezer to Slow Cooker Lentil Stew.  This is an easily prepared meal that healthy and full of vegetables!

Dixya, of Food, Pleasure & Health, shared her Lunchbox Chickpea Salad.  This is a great meatless recipe that can be whipped up in only 10 minutes and lasts for days!

Haven’t tried cauliflower hummus yet?  Then give Kara Lydon’s, recipe a try!  She shared this drool-worthy Grilled Cauliflower Hummus Sandwich.

You all know by now that I love my brussies, so I was super excited when One Hungry Bunny’s Katie, shared this Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad.  Filled with veggies and protein and topped with a delicious homemade dressing, this recipe is an awesome lunch idea!

Amy, of Amy Gorin Nutrition, shared her Protein Punch Marinara Spaghetti Squash.  She uses cottage cheese for the protein punch in this meal and it looks delicious!

Liz, of Simple Swaps, shared her Cowboy Salsa Tacos.  These are delicious, vegan and ready in 5 minutes!

Stay tuned for more recipes over the next few weeks!

What does a dietitian eat?  Healthy foods all the time?  NO!  Organic foods daily?  NO!  Super small portions?  Nope!  Dietitians are just like you!  We have food days that are super healthy (fruits and veggies at every meal, lean proteins, alcohol free and no sweets!) and we have days that are not as healthy (think chocolate, beer and nachos).  Check out my weekly weekend roundup posts so you can see what my weekend eats are all about!

Friday

Breakfast: 1 cup Siggi’s vanlla yogurt, 10 chopped dark chocolate chips, ¼ cup Purely Elizabeth granola. Unfortunately, we ran out of fruit by the end of the week and I was so busy I didn’t have time to run out and grab something to add to my yogurt.

Lunch:  Just Salad’s new avocado toast! Since it’s Lent, I can’t have meat on Fridays for the next few weeks. I’ve got some awesome blog posts coming up that will have some delicious meat free recipes that you can make.  But for now, I ran to Just Salad and got some meat free toast! Smashed avocado, feta cheese, pumpkin seeds and crispy onions. Yummy!

Snack 1:  Since the avocado toast was so filling and I knew we’d be going out to dinner, I munched on a bit of White Cheddar Skinny Pop.

Snack 2: After work, I met with my good friend at Le Pain Quotidien and got a cappuccino.

Dinner:  Friday Funday was back in NY this week.  We went to Becco, one of our favorite Italian places and got their pasta special and a glass of moscato! For the special, you get a salad or anti pasta and unlimited pasta. Each day they have different specialty pastas. We got to try their linguini with clams, kale and ricotta ravioli and bow tie pasta with red sauce. We finished dinner up with two cappuccinos. It was amazing, as always!

Saturday

Breakfast: Breakfast was a delicious wrap with egg whites, spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese and coffee that Bernie surprised me.

Dinner:  I wasn’t feeling great on Saturday and the wrap was pretty filling, so I ended up skipping meals until dinner. I don’t usually do that, but Saturday was an exception. Our friends came over and we went to Talde and split a few menu items. We had the pretzel pork and chive dumplings, shrimp shumai, kung pao chicken wings, everything roti bread and beef short rib kare kare.

Dessert: We went to Cookies and Crepes in Jersey City for the first time. I got the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake and ate about half.

Sunday

Breakfast: I woke up on Sunday and ran 5 miles. It was super cold, but since I hadn’t been able to exercise for the four previous days, it felt awesome. After my run, I had a Health Warrior chocolate peanut butter chia bar because we were going to church and we had brunch reservations at 11:30 AM.  I chose to have a small granola bar because I don’t like to wait more then 1 hour after exercising to eat and I didn’t want to eat something large before brunch. We had a delicious brunch on Sunday at Kitchen Step with some great friends. Bernie and I got the eggs benedict with smoked salmon and croissant French toast and split them. YUMMO!

Dinner:  For dinner, we decided to get some pizza and split it. It was still freezing out and we still have to go food shopping for the week. We went to Rustique, which is right down the block from our apartment. We got the Red and White pizza which is half white pizza and half margarita and the Tammy which has spinach, caramelized and garlic. The Red and White was delicious, but we didn’t really like the Tammy as much.

There you have it!  A weekend full of dietitian’s eats!

Who doesn’t love avocados AND dark chocolate?  I love them so much I decided to put them together for this delicious parfait.  I’ve seen a few different recipes for avocado mousse, but I think my rendition has the perfect amount of sweetness and chocolatey taste.  Make these for your next get together and your guests will be thanking you all night long!

Avocado Mousse Parfait

Servings: 4

Serving Size: 1/2 cup mousse; 1/2 cup strawberries; 1/4 cup whipped cream

Ingredients

• 2 medium avocados
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/3 cup Hershey’s dark chocolate cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons agave
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup fat free whipped cream

Directions

• Add all ingredients to food processor and process until smooth.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Layer avocados, strawberries and whipped cream to make parfait.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 233; Fat: 11.58 g; Saturated fat: 1.45 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 91.97 mg; Carb: 38.31 g; Fiber: 7.67 g; Sugars: 22.2 g; Protein: 2.06 g