Back in Boston + Five Minute Friday #7

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Dinner last night was leftover salad with hummus, Popcorners, a frozen banana, and two spoonfuls of cashew butter. Why did I come back to Boston when the dining halls aren’t open yet???

Well, despite the fact that dining halls aren’t open, I am both nourished and having a great time with friends.

Rewinding back to New York: On Tuesday night, my parents kindly took me out to dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant for the best sushi ever.

I came home and made myself some peanut butter banana soft serve (frozen bananas blended in a food processor with a splash of milk and peanut butter)— an old time fave. I ate it with a little Greek yogurt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and granola. Fabulous.

And then this beautiful person came to visit me after her class ended (at 10 pm!)!

Daliza! ♥︎ I fed her a pancake with half peanut butter and half nutella + glass o’ milk. Her visit would be incomplete without me giving her something with peanut butter or nutella on it.

Wednesday morning involved overnight oats, packing, and some moves and grooves (handstand walks, pushups, and a 16 minute interval workout) before preparing brunch for my friends Joe and Louis.

French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon

“The bacon was very good, Alison. The whole brunch was very good, but the bacon was VERY good.” — Louis

It was my first time cooking bacon, so I’m glad it turned out well. I also blended up a green peanut butter banana smoothie (milk, greek yogurt, frozen banana, peanut butter, and spinach) and ~~forced it down their throats~~ convinced them to try it, since I knew for a fact that they would not be able to taste the spinach.

Screen Shot 2016-03-10 at 11.34.58 PM

They didn’t taste the spinach. #VICTORIOUS. (“There’s like a little bit of an aftertaste.” ← yeah, sure, believe what you want.)

I made myself an avocado, bacon, and egg toast + another egg + sriracha. I also ate my weight in leftover roasted brussels sprouts while I was cooking.

This was amazing.

Joe, Louis and I hit the road for Boston and made it back in time to enjoy the FREAKING GORGEOUS weather. It hit 70 F — shorts and t-shirt weather! As soon as we arrived on campus, we joined more friends for Can-Jam until it got dark.

Then we ate dinner at the food court on campus, chilled out on the dock, and played the Ellen Degeneres iPhone game, “Psych”, until we were all falling asleep. Good people, good times.

Yesterday’s activities included some quick moves and grooves (this ab workout), Mass, lunch at Tasty Burger, the Museum of Fine Art, and a special pre-screening of the new movie, The Young Messiah. It’s hard to pick out the best part of the day!

This was a “dine-in” theater with the most luxurious seats I’ve ever seen in a movie theater.

And today I’m going to Mass and lunch with a friend, maybe working out at the gym, and definitely doing lots of studying.

Now that we’re all caught up, how about some Five Minute Friday action? (This post probably took you five minutes to read already…sorry.) This week I’m talking about something very random: where I would want to live after I graduate!

link to the video!

Taking a video of myself on a tire swing in a park that I’d never visited before. Sounds about right for me.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

So tell me:

Have you ever tried convincing someone that a smoothie with spinach does NOT taste gross?

If you could live anywhere, where would you live and why?

If you love where you live, why is that?

Overnight Breakfast Obsession

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

God bless refrigerators.

Some of you might know how much I love overnight oats (<— I need to update that recipe a little!), but in the past couple years I’ve discovered some other overnight breakfasts that are making me dance before I’m fully cognizant in the morning.

Not only are these breakfasts delicious (thanks to the breakfast trifecta), but they require little to no effort in the morning when you’re ~~running late~~ so ready to eat breakfast. Here’s a look at some of the overnight breakfasts I’ve been loving lately.

“Banana Pudding for Breakfast” via Yeah…Imma Eat That

One of the most ingenious and impressive-looking breakfasts ever. It’s basically a peanut butter oatmeal cookie – yogurt parfait. Praaaaise.

Next up is this banana bread “custard” oatmeal, inspired by The Big Man’s World.

Get this: You cook oatmeal on the stovetop the night before, and you add a whole egg and some coconut flour to make it the most doughy, fluffy oatmeal ever. Then you chill it in the fridge overnight, which makes it this dense, cake-like dish.

The night before, I cooked 1/2 c. rolled oats in 1/2 c. water and 1/2 c. milk. Then I stirred in half a very ripe banana, 1 tbsp. coconut flour, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of honey. Once it was thickened, I turned off the heat and whisked in a whole egg.

Optional: eat with a side of plain Greek yogurt for some more texture and creamy dreaminess.

Last one is something you’ve often seen: overnight oat smoothies, inspired by Kath Eats.

This is what I ate this morning, and it was the most luscious smoothie ever. I’m sad it’s gone.

In the blender last night:

1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. oats
1/3 c. plain greek yogurt
cinnamon and nutmeg
1-2 tbsp. peanut butter
1 tbsp. chia seeds
pinch of salt

Pop it in the fridge. Then in the morning, add half a frozen banana and half a frozen peach (~1.5 c. frozen fruit total). Add more milk as needed to blend your concoction into a magical cloud of peachy, peanut buttery goodness.

The chia seeds and frozen fruit MAKE this smoothie.

I’m done fan-girling over my breakfasts.

(for today.)

Now onto Weekly Moves and Grooves! I’m still keeping workouts low-key and feeling pretty awesome. I’ve loved working on mobility and skills such as handstands this summer.

Friday: handstands and mobility in the hotel
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 8 minute abs
Tuesday: 45 minute yoga
Wednesday: 1 mile walk, (probably too many) air squats and other bodyweight leg exercises, handstands
Thursday: Rest

Today is my last day at my physical therapy internship! It’s been an amazing learning experience, and I’m grateful for the people with whom I’ve worked.

Tomorrow starts early for Dad and I, since we’re driving up to Ontariooooo. It’s been a hot minute since we visited our relatives in Canada, so I’m stoked!

Happy Friday! Let your hair loose, let your foot loose, don’t let your dog loose.

So tell me:

Do you like overnight breakfasts? Any favorites?

How did you move this week?

What are you doing this weekend?

WIAW: My New Favorite Thing

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

So there’s no Greek yogurt here at BU. Y’all know how much I love the stuff and tend to get a lot of it in my tummy…and on my laptop and calculator.

Since I’m currently separated from the creamy, tangy dairy product, I’ve found another thing that is quickly rising on my OMG-I-Want-It-Every-Day list (you have a list like that too, don’t lie).

It’s cottage cheese.

The sound of the words cottage and cheese together kind of make me squeamish, but I have been opened to a whole new world during this time of adaptation without Greek yogurt. You’ll see below how I like my cottage cheese.

I’ve also thrown in some of the other things I’ve been eating in the past week!

Sharing my eats on Jenn’s WIAW!

Breakfasts

Dorm oatmeal with vanilla protein powder, banana, and peanut butter

Makeshift overnight oats: warmed up some quick oats with water, added protein powder and banana, put it into an almost-empty sunflower seed butter jar, left in fridge overnight, enjoyed in the morn!

And again in a pb jar 🙂

My new favorite thing: cottage cheese with strawberry yogurt and peanut butter + whole wheat apple cinnamon muffin with more pb + an apple + glass o’ milk

Weirdest brunch ever: two eggs with veggies and whole wheat toast + three pieces of dim sum (dining hall special of that day) + my new favorite thing

Whole wheat apple pancake with pb and a glass o’ milk + my new favorite thing…again.

Lunches

Huge salad + roast beef, provolone, lettuce, tomato, honey mustard panini on multigrain

Lunch with brother Ben: cornmeal-crusted fish tacos + a few bites of his “El Guapo” burrito that contained everything and anything (beef, rice, beans, veggies, sweet plantains…and probably more)

Snacky lunch in the dorm: apple + Wheat Thins (a lot more than what’s pictured here) with sunflower seed butter (delicious!) + mixed nuts + unpictured banana

Baked pollock with roasted potatoes and bruschetta + salad with a hard boiled egg, feta, and light honey mustard dressing

Moroccan chicken with quinoa + salad with some sort of bean tuna salad and balsamic dressing

Snacks

LOTS of fruit and nuts!

Post-workout oatmeal with vanilla protein powder, half a banana, and sunflower seed butter

Dinners

Turkey breast + mashed sweet potatoes + cornbread(?) stuffing + broccoli {I did it all for the carbs. YUMMM.}

Butternut squash risotto with vegan chicken + salad with lentils and honey mustard dressing

A different kind of Moroccan chicken + squash (and later I ate spaghetti and a meatball with more veggies at the Catholic center!)

Desserts

Yes. My new favorite thing for dessert too. With granola!

Freshly baked apple pie and a brownie from one of the faculty in residence living on our floor! She even read us stories as we ate her baked goods. She’s the sweetest (pun intended)!

Cookies and cream ice cream at bro’s apartment

Vanilla soft serve with granola

Free peanut butter Insomnia cookie before watching the hypnotist

Banana cake. WOW so good.

Plus a bunch of other free cookies and treats that EVERYONE KEEPS PUTTING IN OUR FACES. I mean, I’m not complaining (I’m so grateful for such generous friends!), but this week has definitely been a little more sugar-coated than normal. I guess I can just stop getting things like banana cake from the dining hall…I guess…

Holy crap, so much foooooood. It’s a good thing we walk a lot here 😉

Happy Wednesday, friends!

So tell me:

What have you been obsessed with lately?

Do you like cottage cheese? How do you like to eat it?