A Rainbow a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Forget the old apple saying; a colorful rainbow will keep you out of the doctor's office. The idea behind eating a rainbow a day is to make sure you get a healthy dose of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from fruits and vegetables. You can enjoy these fruits and vegetables fresh, frozen, canned, dried, or from 100% juice. 

What exactly are the colors of the rainbow? Below is a list of the color categories and some of my favorites within each one:

• Red: strawberries, apples, cherries, pomegranate, watermelon, beets (!!), tomatoes
• Orange/Yellow: cantaloupe, grapefruit, oranges, peaches, pineapples, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes
• Dark Green: avocados, kiwi, limes, peas, arugula, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, spinach
• Blue/Purple: blueberries, plums, purple asparagus, purple potatoes
• White or Tan/Brown: bananas, dates, brown pears, garlic, ginger, parsnips, artichokes

For a full list of fruits and vegetables by category, please visit this site.

Easy ways to make a rainbow on your plate include:

• blending fruits into a smoothie: strawberry, banana, blueberries, papaya
• creating a fun, colorful salad: spinach, cranberries, mandarin oranges, peaches
• mixing your favorite fruit into a summery fruit salad: watermelon, kiwi, mango, grapes, melon
• chopping up a bunch of veggies to make a delicous salsa: tomatoes, corn, peppers, red onions, black beans
• using your food processor to create your own hummus: chick peas, artichoke hearts, 
• flipping an omelet full of veggies: tomatoes, peppers, spinach

On Sunday, I went back and looked at my biggest meals of the day to see how successful I was at eating a rainbow. For breakfast, my roommate and I made omelets. Well, Diana made an omelet and my disaster turned into a scramble.

My scramble = 1 egg + 2 egg whites + spinach + tomatoes:

Diana's omelet = 3 eggs + green peppers + red peppers.

For lunch I mixed up some Sesame noodles while we watched Spain win the World Cup! Noodles + sesame oil + soy sauce + carrots + ginger + garlic + cilantro + sesame seeds + crushed red pepper. Recipe soon!

For dinner, Brandon and I made Summery Salads with chicken + spinach + peaches + blueberries + a walnut encrusted goat cheese round.Our salads were topped with a homemade dressing of balsamic vinegar + olive oil + Dijon mustard + fresh garlic.

I was successful in eating something from each color category!

Red: tomatoes

Orange/Yellow: carrots, peaches

Dark Green: spinach x 2

Blue/Purple: blueberries

White or Tan/Brown: ginger, garlic

Do you follow this guide or any other eating guide to assist in your healthy eating habits? How do you make your rainbows on a plate? What is your favorite rainbow color category? I don't strictly follow this, but I do find it to be a great way to asses your diet each day and ensure that you are getting your vitamins! Also remember that this is only a guide for fruits + veggies. I do not recommend using carrot cake as a way to say you ate some of the Yellow/Orange category!

Hope you guys are having a great week! As always, I welcome your questions on any topic! :)

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day July 9, 2010

Woohoo!! It's a Chick-fil-A holiday! To celebrate Cow Appreciation Day, all 1,400+ locations were offering free food! For those dressed up "head-to-hoof" like a cow, Chick-fil-A handed out free meals. Guests partially dressed in cow attire were given a free entrée. As Chick-fil-A is my faaavorite restaurant, I had a reason to celebrate.


A couple weeks ago, my friend Kim let me know about the holiday...I thought: "C'mon Kim, I got this." She said she wanted to dress up too, and I was so excited that someone else would consider something so weird. At first I thought Kim was joking around...until she made an official Facebook event! The two of us, along with my other wacky best friend Nicole, agreed to make it a date! We all made our own costumes and met up my house to get ready.

We used the kit from the Chick-fil-A site to make our ears and signs:

And we even had tails!:

The restaurant was fully decorated as well:

And there was an official cow!

We all got free entrees which we quickly inhaled! Look how the three of us eat...
In my typical fashion, I made a huge, obnoxious mess and used too much sauce:

Kim was pretty messy herself and drowned her food in ketchup:

And Nicole was the neat eater of the group:

I asked if dessert was included in the free meal and they brought us little ice cream cups! I added leftover strawbberies from my fruit cup:

Kim with her cup:

We had a blast, even if we were the only adults dressed up! We're definitely saving our costumes for next year. Our friend Frank joined us for the affair and since he works for the Channel 2 news, he put a clip of us on the air!! FAMOUS!! Yay for free Chick-fil-A!!

Beat Yourself Up at the Gym and then Beet Yourself Up for Dinner

Last Friday I had dinner at the Mustard Seed with my friend Margaret and her (my new) friend Marie. While the purpose of dinner was originally to bash boys, the topic of conversation turned into something of actual interest: healthy eating! As Margaret and I consumed two baskets of bread and a bottle of wine, Marie daintily dined on her salad and sipped a glass of wine. It was obvious that Margaret and I were having some issues and Marie was our stability ball. Marie also loves cooking and incorporating local produce into her diet whenever possible. We discussed my blog a bit, and she was even inspired to start her own. The next day, she already had her first post up. A couple days later, I went back and found a really interesting recipe for a Beet and Arugula Salad.

I used Marie's recipe as inspiration, but made some minor changes. Beets are fugly little vegetables, but once peeled, they are quite the beauties. This is why we shouldn't judge things at face value! Right Margaret? ;)

I sliced and quartered the beets, splashed them with a ton of balsamic vinegar, and roasted them for about 50 minutes at 400*.

While they were roasting, I made goat cheese medallions. I measured out 1 ounce of goat cheese and squashed them into rounds. I really measured them you guys. I felt like a scientist.

I then covered them in honey and crusted them with crushed walnuts.

I then made a dressing that consisted of:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

I placed the medallions and dressing in the fridge to chill and skidaddled to the gym. Today was cardio + arms...ok I think everyday is arms. I love doing arms! Once I finished up at the sweat shop, I raced home to make my salad: mixed baby greens, roasted beets, and one goat cheese medallion:

Great News: Beets taste like candy!! I read that they have a high sugar content and they sure taste like it! The combination of the sweet + salty was definitely present in this dish. I officially love beets and they were awesome with the walnuts and goat cheese. Believe it or not, this was one of those dishes I got emotional over. Not only do I suggest you make this recipe, but you should start following Marie's blog. :)

Worthy of Discussion:

Occasionally at the gym I like to take these things called "breaks." Breaks at the gym = talking to my bff Julius, glaring at the new machines/torture devices before I jump on, or staring at hotties. I had already played on the vagina-breaking machine (the adductor) and pranced around in front of boys, so it was time to chat it up with my much-missed trainer/bff. 

 

That lovely, awkward family photo is actually on a boat, not the gym. Imagine if you could dress like that at the gym? Rarrrrrrrrr. Ok, totally lost my train of thought -- while I was discussing muscles with Julius, my a.d.d. got the best of me (again), and I noticed the July/August issue of Women's Health.

That, my friends is Twilight's Ashley Greene. Ashley may be my new inspiration to be more productive at the gym: stare less, run more. In order to fit the role of vampire Alice Cullen, Ashley had to make some changes to her body. Her workouts included cardio, squats, planks, working with kettlebells, and pushing a big box filled with weights across a room. 

I agree 100% with her outlooks too. On body shape: "A lot of people like to be super tiny, but I don't want a child's body -- I want a woman's body that is extremely fit. It's so much sexier." Woo. 

And on dieting: "I don't do the diet thing anymore. I'm a big believer in feeding your body what it needs. Deny yourself something and you're going to end up shoving your face full of it." So true!

Who is your celebrity role model? Have you ever looked up their workouts? Ever achieve any goals this way?

What's your favorite ugly veggie? 

How to Effectively Enjoy and Destroy a Cupcake

As demonstrated by my 2 year old cousin, here is the proper way to indulge:

Step 1: Wave to the camera. Show off your cute face. 

Step 2: Position yourself over the object of your desire.

Step 3: Carefully, but not cautiously, slam face into your dessert.

Step 4: Show the camera your scary fangs and tell them "I can destroy you, too!"

Step 5: Go back for more. Repeat as necessary until the majority, or all, of the dessert is demolished.

Step 6: Get even closer to the camera. Make sure they really know who's boss.

Step 7: Look around. Stay alert. Intruders may try to steal some of your goods.

Step 8: Be so proud of your accomplishment.

Step 9: Stick the remains in your mouth and wave them around in excitement!

Step 10: Realize that, ew, you can't eat paper.

Step 12: Hold it up to the sky to show the world your accomplishment.

Step 13: And then go back for crumbs.

Disclaimer: No children were hurt during this demonstration. Wearing safety Crocs is advised when performing these dangerous activities.

Why I Love Blogging: Part Uno

I've said it before and I'll say it again: My blog is my child. I love it more than any man or pet and it's by far the healthiest relationship I've ever had. And since I'm not in the mood to have a real child, I think I'll stick with it for a while. :) There are so many benefits to having a blog, some of which I'd like to share.

1. Blogger meet ups: On Tuesday, I met up with Erica and Amelia to take Body Attack. Erica is a fitness instructor, and this is one of the classes she teaches. She was nice enough to give us passes to the latest release. Here's a picture of the three of us before we got hot nasty:

The class was SO much fun. Although my clumsy, uncoordinated little body was all over the place, I felt like it was a really solid workout. I sweated up a storm and worked lots of baby muscles. Please note the nice, tame, straight hair above...and enjoy the damp, unruly, curly mess below:

2. Blogger goodies: Amelia, a pastry chef, whipped us up some treats.

Vegan and dairy-free coconut covered chocolate truffles and breakfast cookies:

They were both sooooooo good. 

And for my birthday, Erica gave me a sweet card and sesame honey cashews. 

The cashews shown with supermodel Jenna Beck:

Erica warned me that these were addicting, and yes, they really are. Thank you girlies for the gifts!

3. Finding other foodie friends:

Because of my blog, I have made new friends who share the same type of love for food as I do. Today I met up with my new friend Erin. We met at The Eclectic Chef in downtown Summerville. We both got The Eclectic House Salad: baby field greens, walnuts, mandarin oranges, and dried cranberries topped with sliced chicken. Per Erin's recommendation, I got the house-made raspberry vinaigrette. 

Erin is such a cool girl and I had so much fun chatting with her about food, nutrition, fitness and life in general. She's a really sweet girl and I look forward to more lunch dates! Erin has done the P90x program and her husband is giving me a copy. Yay! My newborn baby muscles might just grow into toddler muscles!

3. Bloggers' thoughtfulness: Last weekend a bunch of us got together to watch the USA vs. Ghana soccer game. 

While I was sipping my adult beverages, I got an email from Sara. She was writing to let me know that the latest issue of Food Network magazine had a copycat recipe of the Chick-Fil-A original sandwich. She even offered to mail me a copy of the recipe in case I didn't want to buy the magazine. How sweet is she? Luckily, I'm a subscriber. I hadn't actually read that article so I was very excited to check it out. 

And then, in yesterday's mail, I got a little note from Allison. 

She had ripped out the very same article and sent it to me! I thought it was so cute that both of them thought of me. Thank you Allison and Sara - you guys are awesome :)

4. Inspiration for blog content is everywhere: Emily from Puppies, Paychecks and Prozac sent me The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger award:

I'm supposed to share 10 random things about me. Let's get personal!

1. I'm left-handed. I can do everything with my left hand except cut with scissors. I'm also goofy-footed. In case you don't know, this just means that I am right-foot dominant when snowboarding, kicking, or doing cartwheels.

2. And speaking of goofy, I'm ridiculously clumsy. I have no sense of balance, crappy coordination, and little to no motor skills. It's kinda like I have a buzz all the time. I walk out into the street without looking, I constantly drop things, and I have an unusual amount of cuts, bruises and burns at all times. Check out this sweet calf bruise that I don't know how I got:

Seriously, how does one get a bruise on the back of their leg? I think ghosts beat me in my sleep.

3. I am a horrible driver. "I feel like I'm driving with a sixteen year old I'm so nervous." -Julius, the day he let me drive his car to the beach.

4. My favorite dessert to eat and bake is cookies. I love love love cookies. When I bake them, I get extreme joy out of giving them to people and watching them smile as they chew away. My favorite kind is plain old chocolate chip and I prefer mine to be thick and chewy over thin, crispy, or cakey.

5. My family situation is quite unusual. My mom was 20 and my dad was 18 when I was born. That awesome relationship lasted until I was about 2 months old. Both parents found new partners: John had my half-brother Sean when I was 3, and my mom had my brother Justin when I was 4 1/2. Years later when I was 8, the wackos got back together, got married, and had my youngest brother Jake. By the grace of God, they divorced when in 2003. True story.

6. I can't jump into a pool without plugging my nose. I'm petrified of water getting up my nose. I can swim just fine but I don't stick my head underwater without pinching the nostrils or wearing an extremely ugly mask. I can do a cartwheel off a diving board, but it has to be a one-handed cartwheel because the other hand is plugging up. 

7. I can't stand bad grammar and spelling. I have deleted people off of my facebook because their statuses annoyed me. I wouldn't date someone whose love notes had spelling errors. Ew. It all started when Grammy taught me how to respond on the telephone. When someone asks "Is Christina there?" or "May I speak with Christina?" I reply, "This is she." It sounds odd, but it is correct.

8. I've mentioned this before, but I love love love lime green. I have a laptop, Blackberry cover, Longchamp purse, keychain, gym shorts, and many kitchen utensils all in lime green. I want more. I also really love actual lime juice in my liquor drinks and guacamole.

9. My favorite animals are penguins and sheep! If I could ride a sheep, I'd be in heaven. I also really love small, white dogs. 

10. I love bumpy roads. When I was little my mom used to drive me down "the bumpy road" because it had lots of little hills and bumps. It makes me giggle every time. There's a road in my town that has a few bumps and I get really excited whenever I have to drive over it. I still laugh like I'm 3 years old again.

I'm passing this lovely award onto:

1. Jenna @ The Charleston Nugget

2. Callie @ If You're Bored then You're Boring

3. Brittany @ Smart Cookie

4. Allison @ One Day at a Time

5. Megan @ Fried Green Pickles

Get excited for the weekend!!