Taste of Chico Review

As promised, I am offering my opinion about The Taste of Chico since it was my first time attending the event!

So, my review may not be the best depiction since I started off my day with Champagne Brunch at Bellas unexpectedly thanks to the boyfriend (side-note, you pay $5 over your meal price for champagne, and they are not stingy in ANY way with their bottles, so that was an awesome deal)!

After the champagne, I headed to the event with my friend and her boyfriend. For anyone who has never attended, you pay for different types of tickets. I, of course, bought the ticket that included the most alcohol and food tastings for a prime experience! My ticket included 8 food tastings, 9 alcohol tastings & I think 6 non-alcohol tastings, not like it mattered because I did not use the non-alcohol punches :) My ticket price was $34.

I had initially planned on being VERY choosy with my food punches, but I let go of that mindset once I hit the beer garden. I started off with Aca Taco, which was delightful as always and I got to say hi to my old friend Maritzi who is always a joy to see. We then stopped randomly at some casino stand (Feather Falls I think) and were given a really tasty Chicken Salad, which I proceeded to drop on the ground (NOOOOOOOOO!) fumbling for my camera.

After the salad fiasco, I grabbed a sandwich sample at Broadway Heights which made me feel a lot better. They were sampling their Pesto Chicken sandwich, which is awesome. With three punches down on my card, I decided to stop to grab a bite at Priya which was SO good. I really enjoy Indian food, but wasn't impressed when my bf and I dined there last, so I should definitely give it another go.

After the great food sampling, we decided it was time to head to the Beer/Wine Garden. We got a cute little commemorative cup to place our samples into and take home as a souvenir. 

I stopped to get some Stella Artois (my fave) first, and then tried some different brews that were new to my taste-buds (most of them were not to my liking). We soon found that many of the vendors were not remembering to take the alcohol tickets, so I had about 5 samples of Great White :) I think we were in the Beer Garden for at least an hour or more, which was plenty of time for us to get a good (major) buzz on. I ended up giving away a lot of my tickets in the end, so I definitely got my value out of that portion.

Once we left the Beer Garden, it was probably time to go home (reiterating Champagne consumption), but we had plenty of food punches remaining. I then had the chance to try what ended up being my favorite stop of the day: Upper Crust! 

I used two of my punches at Upper Crust and tried out their salad trio, which was fantastic, and a light berry dessert. After trying the salads, I have decided I must go there for lunch ASAP. I've heard they have an amazing lunch offering, but I've never been, so it is time to check it out!

After Upper Crust, it was time to retreat home for a nap. I neglected my lonely little punches, but I had a great time, a $34 well spent, and will definitely attend next year!

Live Fit Challenge Update, Easy Summer Recipes

I want to first give a little update on the Live Fit Challenge... So, my little tricep injury was a major set-back the first week that I started the program. I got to the point where I could not bend my left arm at all. That sucked. I had to majorly modify the plan and only do the ab and leg workouts. As far as cardio, I just stuck to the elliptical with my hands at my sides. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to regain my mobility and get back in the groove of things toward the end of last week!

On Saturday, I did a full upper body workout and did not have issues with pain. I now make sure I stretch majorly before and during my routine. I'm really enjoying incorporating weight training into my workout plan and I have noticed some small changes, which is nice.

As far as weight loss goes, I think most of the weight I thought I had gained was water weight. Word to the wise: Don't weigh yourself the morning after a weekend long vacation laden with wine and tasty (but unhealthy) food choices! Although I was pretty let down the first morning of this program when I weighed in, it was also kind of nice to lose 5 pounds in 4 days! Geeze. You know it's too awesome to be true. Good 'ole water retention. I'll have a more realistic weigh in tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. I don't expect a lot of change since I'm likely building muscle mass. I'm more interested in toning than anything else, so I'm okay with that.

Lately I've been trying to get more creative in the kitchen, and I've gotten into a Roasted Red Bell Pepper kick. I don't like roasted peppers out of a jar (they're gross and taste too burnt half of the time). You can easily roast your own peppers by setting your oven to 400 degrees, cutting a bell pepper in half and de-seeding, spraying a cookie sheet with Pam, and letting the peppers cook for about 8-10 minutes (keep an eye on them!). Once you take the peppers out of the oven and let them cool off a bit, make sure to peel off the skin that has hardened and lifted.

Roasted Red Bell Peppers are great on their own in salads and sandwiches, but I've been food processing them up with other pre-prepared items to add some freshness.

I have been loving adding peppers to store-bought jarred marinara (with extra garlic of course). For dinner the other night, I made some whole wheat pasta with chicken meatballs and doctored up marinara sauce:

Last week I made a plain hummus into something homemade (deceivingly) for guests. I took a store-bought Red Pepper Tapenade and food processed with the roasted peppers. The consistency came out like this:

You'll have quite a bit to save for later, but you can place a generous dollop on some store-bought hummus. It was tasty!

On this particular night, I had my best friend over and we were set on making Blackberry Mojitos! On a summer night, there's nothing better, really!

For our Mojitos we used:

1 Shot Premium Silver Rum

4 Mint Leaves

3 Lime Wedges

4-5 Blackberries

Sugar Free Sierra Mist

Crushed Ice

Basically you throw all of the fresh ingredients into the bottom of the glass and mull them together. I don't have any fancy bar tools, so I just used the back of a wooden spoon. The drinks were super refreshing and also really healthy (Approx. 100 Calories each, 115 if you were to eat the berries).

You can substitute blueberries or strawberries and the drink would be just as tasty. It was nice to change things up a bit. 

Lastly, I made a batch of tasty salsa! I love homemade salsa during August-September when the tomatoes are in top condition. My salsa this time consisted of:

1 Garden Tomato

10 Grape Tomatoes

Handful Cilantro

4 Cloves Garlic

1 Garden Bell Pepper

1 Jalapeno

1 Anaheim Pepper

1/2 Medium Red Onion

Juice of 2 Limes

1 Ripe Medium Plum

I processed all of the above ingredients in the food processor until everything was chopped finely. I then coarsely chopped about 7 more Grape tomatoes for extra texture and added salt and pepper to taste.

Pardon the dorky Instagram picture, I guess that's the only one I took. The plum balanced out the spiciness really well and the salsa was very tasty!

For a quick/healthy dinner to go with the salsa, I made quick Enchiladas for dinner:

2 Servings

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

2 Frozen Burritos (I used Amy's Organic)

3/4 Small Can Enchilada Sauce

1/2 Cup Fat Free Shredded Cheddar (1/4 cup per burrito)

Add all ingredients in a baking dish and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 55-60 Minutes or as instructed on Frozen Burrito packaging.

The finished product looks kind of like a blob, but trust me, it's very tasty!

I rambled on sufficiently for tonight, but it is seldom these days that I get the chance to sit down to blog, so I may as well make it count!

This Sunday I am going to The Taste of Chico event and I am SO excited since it's the first time I've been able to go. I'll try to post a review about the value of the event for the cost of the ticket I purchased next week :)

Food Planning (sort of) and the Live Fit Challenge

Hello Blog World! It has been a long while since I've posted much of anything, but it's mostly due to the fact that I've been busy and doing a lot of fun things! The summer has been filled with boat trips, camping, vacations and also many hours on the clock at work. I'll share about some of the fun things in another post :)

Even though I've been out of college for over a year now, I still get a sense of motivation when the school year begins. I'm not sure why this occurs or if it will ever go away, but I like it!

Along with the summer fun came a little neglect for the gym and eating habits. I've definitely packed on a couple of pounds (especially after going to Wine Country last weekend!) over the summer months, but I think I kind of always do that.

So with my school year motivation and summer coat (haha) I've decided to take on a plan I read about in a fellow blogger's post. This Plan (follow link) centers around weight training, which is always something I've been interested in and even participated in, but have never picked up on a regular basis. I started Phase 1 on Monday, so I'm only on Day 2 so far, but I really like it!

The Diet is kind of labor intensive for someone like me who doesn't plan ahead or take an entire day to cook meals for the week (who does that?!). I have been cutting up veggies and bagging them for an easy raw snack or a ready to microwave/sautee pouch. I've also made a couple of Jamie's recipes (creator of the plan) including Carrot Cake Protein Bars and Ground Turkey Meatloaf Muffins (recipes/pictures below). Along with the slight planning, I've also been cooking my lunches rather than making an easy turkey sandwich so that I can acquire a plethora of nutrients for the same caloric value (and with a tasty result).

The things I'm not doing:

Eating the Egg White Breakfast - I don't have time in the morning, so I've been eating high protein bars with an equal or lesser value of carbohydrates)

Eating the Egg White After-Dinner Meal - I am not hungry after dinner and if I were, I would want dessert, not Egg Whites!

Following the "no starches after 7pm" rule - I don't cook dinner until 7:30 or 8pm due to my work schedule/gym schedule

Taking Fish Oil/Flax Oil - I despise Fish Oil. It's gross. Even the "No Burps" pills are gross and make me burp fishiness. I've never tried Flax, so I plan to, but I haven't gotten there quite yet.

Following the workout plan exactly - I slightly injured my elbow joint on Monday and my triceps (which made the bending of the elbow motion IMPOSSIBLE) so I didn't do the workouts scheduled for Day 2 (involved curls which I could not do). I did the Leg workout from Day 3 instead. Also, the plan says you do not have to do Cardio, but I actually enjoy it as a part of my routine, so I've been doing 20-60 minutes per day. I may as well if I'm in the gym anyway :)

Other than that, I've been doing really well eating every few hours (5-6 meals a day) and following the plan as instructed.

Here is an example of a typical Dinner:

Blackened Teriyaki Tilapia Filet over Brown Rice & Mixed Grilled Vegetables with a Side Salad tossed in Goddess Balsamic Vinaigrette

Here are some other pictures and links to recipes for the items I mentioned earlier:

Homemade Carrot Cake Protein Bars

(Follow Link above for recipe) I made exactly as instructed but forgot to add water. They are tasty, but a little dry. The Protein Powder I used was Pro5 Vanilla (which is AMAZING)

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

(Follow link above) I made this recipe exactly as instructed, but forgot the egg whites! ahhhh! I realized this at minute 39 of cooking (out of 40), but they still came out fine.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm not too far into this plan, so let me know if you'd like to join! I will keep my blog updated each week with tips/experiences, so it would be great to have buddies to share/compare.

Have a wonderful week!

Best Summer Dinner Ever.

It's not hard to impress a girl like me on a Summer night after a long day at work. I typically yearn for a cocktail (if I'm going out to dinner) & some fresh fare after a hot day, but on this particular night, I was satisfied beyond my expectations...

Perhaps it was the company. I met up with two of my dearest, most genuine, wonderful friends at Crush and I ordered a Blueberry Vodka/Soda to warm my palate. I enjoyed some wonderful conversation, ignoring the menu in favor of a catch-up session on life. When I did take a glance at the menu, I was immediately drawn to the "Summer" Salad. Heirloom Tomatoes, Fresh Corn, Avocado, Burrata Cheese, Micro Greens & Balsamic Vinegar.... Yes please! I have had yet to try a garden fresh tomato this summer that really made me realize that it is "Tomato Season", so I was intrigued. I was first torn between this plate and a run of the mill Spring Mix salad, but opted for the Summer Salad, and boy am I happy I did!

The girls and I split the "Luca" Pizza along with our salad choices, which is equally delicious (how could it not be delicious with Chicken, Pesto & Artichoke Hearts?!), but the salad was the shining star of the meal. The corn and burrata cheese (a softer, more delicate version of mozzarella) really balanced out the acidity of the tomatoes, which were AWESOME. Avocado is naturally amazing with anything, but all of the ingredients worked together beautifully. I was in love... With a salad. It wouldn't be the first time :)

The best thing about all of this is that I can make a salad like this at home, and I'm absolutely planning on doing so. I am loving finding such inspirational Summer activities/foods/clothing all around me and applying these things to my life! Here's to a great work week and making it to the Farmer's Market for some of these ingredients ASAP!