A-Camping We Will Go

The weekend is almost here!

My office is a bit of a ghost town today. It’s hard to concentrate and hunker down when so few people are working, but I’m powering through.

Once I get off work, the weekend officially begins and Ryan and I will head two hours north to join several of our friends for a camping trip, complete with lots of s’mores, hot dogs, beer and all-around unhealthy fare.

Fortunately I did stock up on some healthy nibbles as well. Aside from the camping staples, Ryan and I are keeping our food nutritious and are bringing:

• Red and green pepper slices
• Grape tomatoes
• Raspberries
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Whole wheat hot dog buns
• Strawberries
• Cucumber slices
• Peanut butter
• Apples
• Granola

In past camping trips with our friends our meals consisted of Clif bars, peanut butter sandwiches, hot dogs and canned soup. This time, I’m hoping to squeeze some fresh produce in there as well!

I am particularly excited to break into the grape tomatoes we’re packing.

Plump Tomatoes

I added quite a few of the plump red guys in my lunch salad, and they were sweet, slightly crunchy and very flavorful. I think this time of year must be their time to shine or something!

In All Their Glory

My lunchtime salad included:

• Romaine lettuce
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Goat cheese
• Balsamic vinegar

Big Salad

On the side I had the ridiculously addicting Rold Gold honey wheat pretzel twists, which I dipped in Greek yogurt that I sweetened with honey.

Come See How Good Looking We Are!

Dip-a-Dip

I feel like I have a food-baby belly right now! That salad is sittin’ like a rock… but it’s keeping me full. 😀

Questions of the Afternoon

Do you like camping? Are you more of a city person or a country person?

Foodie Friday

Today was the inaugural Foodie Friday at my work.

What is Foodie Friday?

Allow me to elaborate for ya! 😉

Last week, a few of the women I work with and I decided to take turns making new homemade treats for the office to enjoy every Friday. The idea for Foodie Friday surfaced when we were talking about how excited we all get for office birthday goodies. We figured why not make office treats a weekly occurrence?

I signed up for the first Foodie Friday and after much debate settled on a recipe I thought would be a crowd pleaser.

Peanut butter pretzel truffles, a la Jessica!

I jotted down the recipe that Jessica followed from EatingWell.com and doubled it to make the truffles.

Follow Me to Deliciousness

In my truffles I used crunchy peanut butter and Rold Gold honey wheat braided pretzel twists because they’re my all-time favorite pretzels. They’re salty, slightly sweet and 100 percent addicting. I definitely ate a couple of servings while making the truffles.

PB & The PB Gremlin (Can You Spot Her?)

Best Pretzels Everrr

I combined the peanut butter with the chopped pretzels and placed them in the freezer to chill for a bit.

PB 'n' Pretz

After dipping the peanut butter/pretzel mixture in melted milk chocolate, I placed the truffles in the freezer overnight (they’re sweating off the cold in the pictures below 😉 ).

Sweatin' Truffles

A Peek Inside

PB & Chocolate: A Match Made in Heaven

These truffles taste so much like Reese’s peanut butter cups to me!

I popped one in my mouth as a breakfast appetizer and will be having one for dessert after lunch today as well.

Recipe success!

A platter of these truffles and Oreo balls would be one heck of a contribution to any party. Something to keep in mind for Memorial Day weekend! 😀

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie

Sometimes a random experiment just works.

Throughout my workout this morning (BodyPump + 25 minutes on the elliptical), I was daydreaming about a creamy, cold smoothie for breakfast.

After leaving the gym and taking a quick shower, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to get crackin’. I opened the freezer and *gasp* no frozen bananas were to be found! 😦

Instant sadness set in, but I was determined to get a little creative and still make a stellar smoothie.

I had a bunch of frozen strawberries on hand, and decided to use the berries as the smoothie’s base, rather than a banana like I typically would.

Into the blender went:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 large scoop All the Whey chocolate protein powder
• ¾ c. almond milk
• ½ tbsp. cocoa powder
• 6 ice cubes

The result was a chocolate covered strawberry smoothie!

I'll Take Some o' That!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie

I figured the chocolate flavors in the protein and cocoa powders would overwhelm the strawberries, but the fruity flavor held its own.

It didn’t seem like my blender was all that full until I started blending and the smoothie seemed to grow.

I filled up a very large cup and had a couple of spoonfuls leftover in the blender, which I enjoyed with a spoon.

Filled to the Brim

Time to Drink

With or without bananas, smoothies are the jam.

Me and My Ginormous Smoothie

Of Possible Interest

• Click here to check out a video Meghann posted  of us going to get our massages last night!

More Fun Finds

• How Lauren Conrad, Fergie & Jessica Szohr get beach ready (FitSugar.com)
• Flat Belly Tricks (Health.com)
• Yummy Side Dishes for Memorial Day Weekend (CookingLight.com)

Questions of the Day

Do you typically use the same things in your smoothies? What are your smoothie must-haves?