We’re back in the tundra!

“Tundra” meaning New York, meaning below freezing temperatures, meaning I’ve been warming up by standing next to the crock pot and wrapping my face in laundry straight out of the dryer.

Florida has made me soft.

Fortunately, we had smooth travels on both the auto train (a train running between Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL both ways that takes you and your car!) and on the drive back home from the train station. The auto train had some snazzy food for dinner that was quite impressive. Mom and I both tried their salmon with pesto, rice pilaf, and steamed veggies.

Not the least bit shabby for train food, I’d say!

On our drive back to New York from the train station in Virginia, we stopped by Woody’s Crab House for some crab cakes. We were in Maryland, so why not? These were some fantastic crab cakes too!

shared house salad to start

my crab cake sandwich with coleslaw and steamed veggies // mom’s two crab cakes with sweet potato fries and corn on the cob

she wanted me to take a picture of the copious amount of lump crab meat in those cakes

We picked off each other’s plates (I helped her out a good bit with those sweet taters) and agreed that the crab cakes were phenomenal. It was worth going backwards 10 miles to this place just because Yelp told us it had stellar reviews. The labor of love for good food.

Speaking of a labor of love, we are also willing to go the distance to get a sweet taste of one of the most time-consuming fruits out there.

massacre

Pomegranate! It takes a good 10-20 minutes to get all the arils out of that sucker, while it takes only 10 minutes to consume all of it if we really wanted to. Especially when you eat it with a spoon like my dad and me.

But after my moves last night, which consisted of this cute (yet challenging) gymnastics core routine and the 500 rep workout from Purely Twins, I went for a more classy route of eating the rubies I harvested.

atop plain Greek yogurt sweetened with cherry vanilla stevia + BelVita biscuits for dippin’!

My friends and I always used to call pomegranate arils juicy little explosions of flavor. If you have never tried pomegranate, you must experience the tiny yet amazing explosion! Even if it means taking every single aril out of the rind. Or just buying pre-harvested arils.

P.S. we’ve already finished that whole pomegranate.

Breakfast this morning was a delicious “dough boy” smoothie inspired by Kath Eats!

Last night I combined the following ingredients in a blender (just stirred them, not blended) and let them sit overnight in the fridge.

• 1/2 c. almond milk
• 1/2 c. quick oats (regular rolled oats would work too)
• 1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 heaping tbsp. peanut butter
• dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
• splash of vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

This morning I added another 1/4 cup or so of almond milk and then blended it all up! The result is a thick, doughy, creamy smoothie that will make you smile. Unless you don’t like happiness in a mug.

topped with cereal (times five) for crunch and eaten with a spoon!

I came to the realization that I want to make so many breakfast recipes before going back to college on Friday that I might just have breakfast for every meal of the day. #WinterBreakBreakfastMission isn’t over ’til it’s over.

I am currently blogging from my parents’ desktop computer because my laptop froze last night and will not start up, even after letting it load up throughout the whole night. I might have to take it to the Mac Store if it doesn’t cooperate. Meep.

Have a splendid day, folks! Here’s an awesome list of 25 ways to stop feeling overwhelmed and overworked, which is something we all need in life, especially as we get back into our working routines.

So tell me:

Is there a food for which you are willing to make a “labor of love”?

Do you like pomegranate?

Have you ever tried an overnight smoothie?

What are you doing today!?

I am going to pick up a new graphing calculator (my previous one got soaked in my backpack when it rained in Boston…I’m having the best luck with technology recently), pack and prepare for going back to school, work out, and see Daliza tonight!