What I ate today ~ 08.06.15

Hello! Today I thought I'd share what I ate. I was stuck at home all day so I didn't eat super exciting but it is a fairly real representation of what I eat. I kind of fell of the healthy trend when I returned from Vegas. I've been focusing on enjoying my Summer without limiting myself. I have also stopped working out for the time being and I don't even feel bad about it. It's good to take breaks, life is too short to restrict yourself especially if it's making you unhappy. I saw an Instagram post that said "Moments count. Calories don't." And it really changed my viewpoint. 

 Since I slept till nearly 11 (jeez) all I had was an oatmeal blueberry muffin for breakfast.

 For lunch I had a nice, juicy peach and some chickpea feta salad which I actually have a recipe for!

 I had a banana flavored popsicle for an early snack. I am definitely a snacker throughout the afternoon!

 If you have never tried these cookies you must! They are amazing!

 I was actually super hungry by 4pm so I also had some crackers...

 ...and a blueberry yogurt!

Dinner was some (funky-looking) hot dogs and frozen fries.

I know that wasn't super healthy or fancy but it's really pretty much an average day for me. I don't eat the exact same stuff daily but along the same-ish lines!

Las Vegas Food Diary!

As you can probably tell (It's hard to hide) I am borderline obsessed with food. You might have been wondering why there was no food in yesterdays post. That's because I have a devoted this entire post to the food of Las Vegas. I'm not going to lie, the food was what I was most excited for. Boy was I not disappointed. I apologize if some photo quality isn't 100%, I had to take some on my phone. The food in Vegas is unbelievable. See for yourself and try not to drool!

 I had slightly heard about Shake Shack so we decided to try it out. It was so amazing, probably one of the best burgers I've ever had (as good or better than Hodad's in San Diego).

 I opted for the Shack Burger with crinkle cut fries and a black and white shake!

 Everyone was telling me go to Serendipity 3 so I tried it out! Everything was huge!

 We ordered the frozen hot chocolate and the Forbidden Broadway Sundae. They were both amazing! We nearly finished the frozen hot chocolate but the 3 of us couldn't even get through half of the sundae!

 The sundae had a whole piece of cake in it!

 Of course we had to hit up In-n-out which was the busiest I've ever seen it.

 Cheeseburger, fries, and strawberry shake for me!

 The Aria Buffet was definitely up there in the best food of the trip. I got quite an assortment and I'm not ashamed to say this is not all of the food I ending up trying. My favorites were the fried rice, provolone sticks, cheesecake and pot roast!

 One day we tried The Roasted Bean @ the Aria for breakfast. I got a caramel blending coffee with a cheese danish. The small blended coffee was huge and I couldn't quite finish but the danish was amazing!

 Here's a few more miscellaneous things. Panera Bread, Banana Foster crepe from Jean Phillipe, desserts from the Mirage Buffet (not as good as Aria), Rita's italian ice, and a Deluxe Grilled Cheese fro Zoozacrackers Deli at the Wynn .

 Mini chocolate cheesecake from Jean Phillipe, A chicken sandwich I had at the airport, some frozen drink by the pool, more desserts from Jean Phillipe, and the World's largest chocolate fountain at Bellagio I believe.

 Amazing nachos from Yard House, The Batista's menu (too dark for other photos) I had chicken parm and it was amazing! Caribbean Passion Jamba Juice, Sprinkles cupcakes (never went) and a McDonald's happy meal (I was desperate).

I also picked up some food for the hotel room! That mint limeade from Whole foods was so delicious!

Here's a list of all the places we ate at:

Starbucks
Capriotti's
Aria Cafe
Yard House
Chipotle
Serendipity 3
Zoozacrackers
The Buffet @ Aria
McDonald's
The Roasted Bean
Batista's
Jamba Juice
Shake Shack
Panera Bread
Cravings (Mirage Buffet)
In-n-out
Javier's (Aria)
Jean Phillipe

As you can probably tell, I definitely ditched my diet for the trip. I have no regrets, you really need to treat yourself! Well that was an experience! What looked the best to you?

Summer party food

 

Summer is the season of backyard festivities and late night barbeques. I don't know about you, but I'd say that the main event is definitely the food! I've put together a collection of a variety of different party foods that are easy to make and also on the healthier side. Party food needs to be easy to grab and eat which all of these are. Make these for yourself or for your very own backyard BBQ!
 I am so proud of this post! I didn't really expect half of these to turn out as good as they did so I really hope you enjoy!

Cucumber cream cheese sandwiches

These are a great, lightweight sandwich. They are fairly simple (and meatless) so they should be a hit for everyone!

Serves 3 (adjust to your liking)

Ingredients: 

Whole wheat or white bread with crusts cut off

1 tbsp plain cream cheese

1/4 large cucumber sliced

After removing the crust of your bread. Spread the cream cheese evenly on each slice of bread. Align the cucumbers evenly. Top with the other slice of bread and cut into 3 mini sandwiches.

Tuna salad veggie rolls

These rolls are great alternatives to a sandwich. The protein in the tuna will fill you up and the flavors mix together effortlessly. 

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

1/2 large cucumber 

1/2 large carrot

1 can drained tuna

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard  (optional)

1 tsp sweet relish (optional)

Any other desired veggies

Use a peeler to peel long, wide, thin strips of cucumber. This will be the "wrapper".

Add about 1 tbsp of tuna salad to one end. Add desired veggie sticks. Roll.
You will have leftover tuna salad (a lot of it), so peel more cucumber to use it up. Or you could make yourself a tuna melt!

Fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips

This is the Summer version of the Apple Pie Dip  I shared in my Fall Treats post. This is a great dip to share and the cinnamon chips complement it perfectly. 

Serves: 6-10

Ingredients:

2 kiwis (finely chopped)

1 apple (finely chopped)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped strawberries 

1/2 lemon

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fruit jam

3-5 whole wheat tortillas

 Cooking spray or melted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Brush tortillas with melted butter or spray with cooking spray on both sides. Use a pizza cutter to slice tortillas into triangles. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over tortilla wedges only on the top.

Arrange chips on lined baking sheet and bake 6-10 minutes or until golden brown, turning the pan halfway through. 

For the salsa, combine all fruits except for lemon juice and apple in a large bowl. Mix chopped apple with the juice of the lemon. 

Mix fruit mixture, apple mixture, brown sugar and jam until combined. 

Allow flavors to settle for 15-30 minutes before serving.

Serve with cinnamon chips!

Fruit skewers

Now this one is pretty basic but just as delicious. It's a great way for people to grab fruit without digging their hands in it.

Serves: As many as you'd like!

Ingredients: 

Wood skewers

Assortment of your favorite fruits

Melted chocolate (optional)

Chop your fruits into bite sized pieces and arrange on skewers.

For a decadent twist, drizzle some melted chocolate (milk or dark) over the fruit. 

Iced Tea & Lemonade

{sorry I don't have a photo for this one!}
Serves: As many as you'd like!

Ingredients: 

Lemonade

Iced tea (homemade or store bought) 

Ice!

A fun idea for drinks is to have a pitcher of iced tea, a pitcher of lemonade, and a pitcher of the two mixed!

There you go, a few savory snacks, some sweet ones and some drink option! I tested these all out (duh!) and must say they are absolutely delicious! It's a whole lot of fruits and veggies without being just plain fruits and veggies! The cucumber sandwiches were my favorite for eating but the tuna veggie rolls are the best looking!

Have an amazing Summer party!

DIY Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiato

Here is the final DIY Starbucks recipe of the month! This weekend's drink is their Iced Caramel Macchiato. This is the drink I order when I'm looking for something with coffee but that is also a tad sweet. This drink is very simple to make so I hope you try it out!

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp (or less) vanilla syrup

1-2 tsp caramel syrup

2 shots espresso or 3 shots strong brewed coffee

1 cup milk

1 cup ice

 Add a tablespoon or so of vanilla syrup to the bottom of your cup. This is optional, only add it if you're looking for extra sweetness. I believe Starbucks does not add anything to the bottom of the cup.

 Add your ice.

 And your milk.

 Pour in your espresso/coffee.

 Top it all off with a (generous) drizzle of caramel syrup!

 I love the layers of this drink!

But I prefer to mix it all up to equalize the flavor.

That's it!

DIY Starbucks Iced Green Tea Latte

I've been having a ton of fun trying out drink recipes for these DIY Starbucks posts! This week's beverage of choice is the Iced Green Tea Latte. This is a bit of a different drink that you either love or hate. I personally love it. It's the perfect "in between" of a coffee drink or a tea, if you're searching for something a bit different.
The Starbucks grande drink comes to a total 290-350 calories (depending on your milk) while the homemade version is only around 196 (Depending on milk and amount of syrup)! I think it tastes just as good if not better than Starbucks and it will save you a bit of money and calories.
If you would prefer to take the easy route, I have also tried the Tazo green tea latte concentrate of this that you can shake with milk and ice to create an almost identical drink. I've found these drink bases at many grocery stores but they are a bit pricy.
Anyways, on with the recipe!

You are going to need only 4 ingredients:

- 1 cup milk of your choice (I used 1%)
- Starbucks vanilla syrup (however much for your desired sweetness)
- 1 tsp matcha powder
- Ice

I purchased my vanilla syrup right from Starbucks! I love it, it works for so many drinks. My matcha powder is from David's Tea but I've seen it many places. I ended up using about 1-2 tbsp of the syrup since the pump wasn't working quite as it should.

For a super smooth drink with no matcha clumps, try sifting it with a fine tea strainer.

To assemble the drink, add all of the ingredients into a shaker, shake it up, pour and enjoy!

This is quite a frothy drink since you shake up the milk quite a bit.

That's about it, enjoy!
xx

DIY Starbucks Iced Tea Lemonades

Continuing on with the DIY Starbucks series, next up is recreating their iced tea lemonades. These are one of the easiest drinks to recreate and they're super delicious too! As you can see, I didn't have enough Starbucks cups to show. I'll be sharing recipes for 3 drinks. The green tea lemonade, passion tea lemonade, and black tea lemonade which I think is my favorite one!

Start the day before by brewing 1-2 cups of your desired tea. I used Tazo passion tea (I've seen it at Starbucks and the grocery store), Tazo china green tips tea, and just plain black tea. Brew it, let it cool, and refrigerate overnight.

When you're ready, shake the tea with equal parts lemonade and enjoy! 

If you have a real sweet tooth, you can add a bit of sugar or simple syrup but I find the lemonade sweetens them enough.

Enjoy :)