Soaking Up the Slumber

Posted on September 1, 2017 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I have goosebumps.

It’s been a little bit chilly here in Boston this week! But man, is it lovely. We have been blessed with sunshine and ~perfect~ temperatures.

Classes start again in just 4 days, so I have given myself guilt-free permission to soak up as much slumber and relaxation as I can before all hell breaks loose (← drama queen).

For example, on Monday I set my alarm for 8 am, but I closed my eyes for two seconds… and the next thing I know, it’s 10 am. LOL. It’s still been a productive week of getting some errands done, catching up with friends, praying, and (yes) even a little bit of studying to prepare for classes.

Here are some random thoughts and things from the noggin on this Friday:

1) What is your all-time favorite fudgy brownie recipe? I made some for my friends and myself last weekend using this recipe from I Am Baker, and they were delicious, but I’m open to recommendations!

2) The Super Premium French Vanilla ice cream from Trader Joe’s is RIDICULOUS. It is the most luxuriously creamy and dreamy ice cream I have ever purchased from a store.

3) Shoutout to my friend Evan for poaching eggs for avocado toast. We ran into each other at Mass on Sunday and decided to catch up over lunch. I offered to make us avocado toast instead of going out to eat (yo girl has been spending so much $$ recently), and we both appreciated the decision.

I think making avocado toast is my love language to all my friends.

more egg toasts this week (one with cheese, garlic salt, red pepper flakes and cumin + one classic avocado with sriracha)

4) I had some random determination to make a vegetarian meal for this week’s dinners, so I made this chickpea and spinach curry. The full-fat coconut milk in it warms my heart and clogs my heart all at the same time, and I love it. This was also my first time using garam masala! It only took me TWENTY MINUTES to find it at the grocery store.

5) The BEST thing I made this week was peach blueberry cobbler — a summer necessity in my book! I doubled this recipe and obviously added blueberries.

buttery biscuit goodness enveloping saucy sweet fruit YES

Undoubtedly had to eat it a la mode (hot out of the oven, might I add). More of that dreamy vanilla ice cream from TJs.

I got to share it with many friends the day I made it, which made me very happy.

6) I ate out for three meals in a row, and although I felt a little “blah” from all the heavy food, it was so worth the company and conversation. The food was also fabulous.

Meal #1 was at Audubon with my dear friend Casey. We hadn’t caught up one-on-one in so long, so this was much needed.

love this girl so much

We shared the polpette (meatballs that they made with venison and beef) with asiago, tomato sauce and the most delicious charred hunk o’ bread.

And then I had the roasted vegetable salad, which had delicious things like sweet potatoes, beets, fennel (did not realize how much I liked fennel ’til that night!), brussels sprouts, fennel, arugula, and pine nuts. Look how pretty this stack is!

It does’t look like much in this photo, but there were SO MANY vegetables in there. I had to take some home.

Meal #2 and #3 do not have photo documentation because I didn’t feel like whipping out my phone in the middle of conversation. Yesterday afternoon, Fr. Barnes (our Catholic Center chaplain) kindly treated me to a burger and a beer at the Sunset Grill and Tap as a belated birthday gift to me. Both the burger and the beer (I got the Great Divide “Roadie” Grapefruit Radler) were superb.

Late at night, my friend Elayne and her parents generously treated me to dinner at Barcelona Wine and Tapas, since I helped Elayne move earlier in the day. We shared four bomb tapas + seafood paella + crepes and ice cream. Oh my goodness.

Full of many good things indeed.

7) I am convinced that my current training goals include move-in and move-out. I work out so that I can move furniture and boxes up and down stairs efficiently and safely. #FunctionalFitness.

8) This burpee box jump workout is killer if you ever need something to get the heart rate up. I subbed 12 heavy over-the-shoulder slam ball throws for the wall balls. Your soleus might be extremely sore the next day, to the point of wanting to strangle a small animal when foam rolling them.

This is also a short and sweet 16- minute workout that will make your butt sore for days.

4 rounds, 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off:

goblet squats (35# KB)
dive bomber pushups
box jumps (25 in)
side jump lunges
pushup burpees
KB swings (35#)

9) I just enjoyed a very green smoothie, because my veggie intake yesterday included lettuce on my burger and a couple mushrooms smothered in goat cheese. And many many potatoes.

10) I hope my American/Canadian friends have wonderful Labor/Labour Day weekends! And good luck to all my fellow college students starting the new semester. If you’re anxious…

Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan? If even the smallest things are out of your control, why are you anxious about the rest? – Luke 12:25

These words have been giving me a lot of peace amidst the worry of a very busy semester ahead.

BYE FOR NOW!

So tell me:

What is a classic summer dessert that you love to eat/make every year?

What is your favorite store-bought brand of ice cream?

Favorite brownie recipe?

What are you doing this weekend?

College students: How does the schedule look like this semester? Mine makes me a little nauseous looking at it, but we shall overcome!!

Big Kids in the Big City

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I just finished one of the best smoothie bowls I’ve ever made!

How I made it: Last night I mixed together 1/3 c. milk, 1/4 c. Greek yogurt, 1/4 c. [dry] quick cooking steel cut oats, 1 tbsp. chia seeds in a bowl. I also sliced and froze a whole ripe banana and half a mango. This morning I added to a blender another 1/2 c. milk, the oat mixture, a lot of mixed greens, a pinch of salt, a drizzle of honey, and the frozen fruit. Then I blended ’til the cows came home (probably also ’til I woke up Madre, sorry ).

This was the thickest and coldest smoothie ever, thanks to the overnight chia mixture + the frozen fruit. Topped with sunflower seeds, Honey Bunches of Oats, and sweetened shredded coconut.

All I need is a tropical beach.

Other fun eats from this week at home:

quick cook steel cut oats (that 1/4 c. serving size is diddly squat) with butter-caramelized banana slices + Greek yogurt with the rest of the caramelized banana, chia seeds, cheerios, and sunflower seeds

half of one of my lunches: salmon and hummus on top of the last of the spinach in the container (fewer dishes FTW)

crockpot split soup – one of my all time faves

overnight oats (made with the quick cook steel cut oats again, because that’s all we have at home), topped with sunflower seeds + Honey Bunches of Oats

leftover split pea soup + salad with homemade honey dijon vinaigrette

I’ve also been eating copious amounts of Boom Chicka Pop’s kettle corn, because once you start you can’t stop.

On Wednesday I had the privilege of hanging out with some of my beautiful friends from Boston University in NYC! Casey, Connor, Louis, Adrienne, and Fiona ♥︎

We met up in Times Square and walked almost 4 miles down to The World Trade Center from there. We lucked out with some gorgeous weather!

I also lucked out when this famous bagel place was on the way.

It’s called Best Bagel and Coffee, which is the most gimmicky name ever, but over 1,000 people on Yelp loved it, so I went. In Yelp I trust.

I went for bacon, egg, and cheese on a whole wheat everything bagel.

Indeed, this was whole and everything.

Confession: This was my first NY bagel in my entire life. Like, I’ve eaten bagels in the state of New York, but I’ve never had a quality NY bagel until this day. I’ve only lived here for 12 years. I’m a slow person in many regards.

My bagel sandwich was absolutely delicious and great walking fuel while the rest of my friends built up a “hangry” appetite for lunch by the time we arrived at the World Trade Center. It’s so interesting being the only nourished one in the group. You just watch everyone else get angry and/or delirious.

After they were all fed at a gastropub called Suspenders, we walked around to the 9/11 Memorial.

Connor is from Maine, so the big city was a bit too overwhelming for him.

sees grass. lays down.

And since I’m queen of navigation when it comes to food places, I brought my pals to Rice to Riches (the most vulgar but amazing rice pudding place you will ever enter)…

…and then Eileen’s Special Cheesecake (it was featured on Food Network, so you know it’s legit).

Holla for International Women’s Day!

A delightful amount of food, a crap ton of walking, and countless laughs with some of my favorite people (I kind of hate myself for the cheesiness of that last one…but it’s true).

When I got home, my body wasn’t sore and had a lot of energy for the first time this whole week, so I did a quick 16 minute workout in the basement (30 seconds work/10 seconds rest/4 rounds):

front squats (36#)
pike up spider lunges
bent over rows
reverse lunges
KB swings
pushup to T

Yesterday started with that smoothie up there + a manicure and pedicure with Madre early in the morning, because I had to take a train right back into the city for lunch with Pop, my brother, and Christine from Boutiquefull (also my good friend from BU)! Christine met my brother and dad in NYC, since they all work down there, so Pop asked to take us out to lunch one day.

I wouldn’t usually take a 40 minute train + 20 minute subway ride just to eat lunch in NYC, but I’d do it for these folks 🙂

We went to Harry’s Italian, and let me just say, thank God for complimentary focaccia bread.

Also for giant meatball subs, one of my favorite meals on the planet.

It was so fun catching up with Christine and hanging out with Pop and bro Ben!

After lunch, I headed uptown to meet with a couple of the Sisters of Life. I signed up to be a co-worker for them, which is essentially a volunteer to help women in crisis pregnancies (with resources, babysitting, material donations, praying, just being a friend, etc.), so we just chatted about that and all about life (duh).

All the Sisters of Life are just pure JOY. Ugh. Love ’em.

stopped into this church as I was speed walking to catch my train back home

Last night we went to flavor town (as Guy Fieri would say) for dinner. In other words, I roasted/grilled a bunch of veggies, Madre made salmon and rice, and we dug in.

grilled eggplant with s+p

Moroccan roasted carrots (olive oil, salt, pepper, Moroccan spice, brown sugar)

honey balsamic roasted brussels sprouts!!!

the crispy leaves are the best, and I pretty much ate all of them straight out of the oven

homemade roasted bell peppers for the first time ever

Madre’s perfectly cooked teriyaki salmon

altogether now

Madre bought apple strudels, so I ate one a la mode of course

Fancy, eh? The occasion was our friend Brother Sam visiting for the night!

‘Twas a lovely evening of food, fellowship, and watching embarrassing home videos with the guest.

I’ll catch ya back in Boston! I need to buckle down and study, because I spent 75% of this spring break reading blogs (#noragrets).

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

So tell me:

Do you like to sip or eat your smoothies? Eating them out of a bowl with a spoon is the superior way, but your opinion is still welcome.

Have you ever eaten a real New York bagel?

One fun thing you did this week!

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?

Home Is Where the Food Is

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

So much food, so little time!!!

That seems to be the theme whenever I come home. Not the worst situation.

I’ve been home for a little over two days, and I have definitely been soaking up some R&R, spending time with the ‘rents, eating mom’s home cooking, and utilizing the kitchen.

Friday

My friends Joe and Louis let me hitch a ride with them back home since we all live fairly close to one another. We left Boston on Friday afternoon, bumpin’ some tunes, chatting about our lives, and criticizing Joe for his love of country music for the 4 hour drive.

Madre prepared a fabulous dinner that was waiting for us when we got to my house. What a wonderful woman.

She sent Joe and Louis home with fried rice and egg rolls, because you don’t leave her establishment without food.

The rest of my night involved laundry, reading blogs, and watching YouTube videos until 2 AM because I’m dumb.

Saturday

I woke up naturally at 8:30 on Saturday (weird, considering I went to sleep so late), so I took my time getting downstairs and deciding what to eat for breakfast. I get very pensive about breakfast when I’m home, especially if I’m only home for a few days, because I know that I have limited time to utilize the kitchen/time to make some of my favorite breakfast recipes.

I was in the mood for either pancakes or oatmeal. But I can do regular oatmeal in my dorm any day… homemade pancakes though? Girl.

I used The Baker Mama’s recipe for whole wheat banana pancakes, which were fluffy and delicious. I had three (+ another baby one) with blueberry Chobani, peanut butter, and fresh blueberries. Served with a glass o’ milk.

WOW. I keep staring at this picture and reminiscing on the amazingness of this breakfast.

I think I caught up on some more blogs and took a nap before interviewing my mom for my Behavioral Biology of Women term paper. It was fun to hear all her stories! Lunch happened sometime in there.

sautéed spinach, avocado, egg, and sriracha in a Flatout wrap + too many snacks to count

I got to move and groove in the basement for a bit as well! I worked on pull-up/chin-up negatives, pushups, and wall walks before doing a 20 minute circuit (and then stretching! #PTtobe).

We went to Mass at night and then came home for dinner to make our way through some of the leftovers from Friday night.

hodgepodge of noodles, spaghetti squash, tofu, fish, and vegetables topped with sriracha (the condiment of the gods) + a bunch of unpictured crackers with eggplant dip

Dad and I decided to watch Eddie the Eagle later that night at the theater, which was a good choice! An entertaining, feel-good kinda movie (with British accents, so +100).

Upon coming home, I ate another pancake with peanut butter, dried figs, and a glass o’ milk. 😀

Sunday

Smoothie Sunday (#smoothiesunday?)! This was an overnight oat smoothie (same recipe as this one) topped with granola that my dear friend Emma gifted me! (Catholic friend giving granola made by Catholic monks to fellow Catholic friend. How Catholic.)

Fast forward through some relaxing reading, school reading, and blog reading… My parents and I went out to lunch at a seafood restaurant thanks to— the one and only— Groupon.

Their warm sourdough with a ~~sprinkle~~ heavy dose of pepper to start.

I went with the prix fixe option since it was the best deal. For appetizer I got the salad of the day, which was arugula with bell peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, candied pistachios (!!!), and a lemon vinaigrette. It didn’t look like all that much at first, but it tasted great!

For my entree I ordered the scallops with mushroom risotto. I also helped my mom with some of her lobster ravioli and had a bite of my dad’s parmesan-crusted cod. It was all pretty darn tasty!

We took most of my risotto to go, along with the dessert that came with my prix fixe (pistachio cheesecake!) because a) I was full, b) we were in a rush to go to a concert, and c) we knew there would be cookies at the concert reception.

It was a benefit concert to help support the Maryknoll Sisters’ global outreach mission. A local orchestra performed some awesome classical and cinematic pieces. My fave was the Jurassic Park piece at the end (mostly because it was the only one I could recognize, but also because it was spectacular).

During intermission, these happened.

Beautiful mini desserts!!! I got a plate for myself and then had a bite of, like, five different cookies from my mom’s plate.

Ugh, so good. The sisters baked all of them!

Back at home, I changed into comfy clothes and went on a 3 mile walk around the ‘hood while listening to the latest Girls Gone WOD podcast. I ate a light dinner at around 8 since I was still kind of full from our big, late lunch.

And here I am typing up this blog post. It’s taken me two hours to type up this little recap. I’m queen of getting sidetracked (aka dancing to music and texting my friend about exploding stars).

The funny thing is that I had several different plans for spring break including a possible mission trip to Ireland or Guyana. Then I planned for a weeklong retreat after the mission trips didn’t work out, but the weeklong retreat was canceled, so then I was left with little to work with. Home has been a nice treat though ♥︎

Hope you all have a mighty fine Monday!

So tell me:

What is the best thing you ate this weekend?

Oatmeal or pancakes?

Are you a fan of country music?

Are you a fan of orchestra concerts? They’re not my number one activity of choice, but I can definitely enjoy and appreciate the music!

Sick Day Eats

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

In the past four days, I have only left the house to go to church, the grocery store, and the train station.

I wish I could say I’ve gone on some fun hometown excursions with friends, but alas, I have come down with something. I’ve had flu-like symptoms, but nothing too serious. Just enough to make me want nothing but sleep, soup, and bread. (I just looked back at a post at this exact time last year, and I was sick, haha.)

It’s weird that I don’t have a million things to do, people to see, and places to walk. Nevertheless, I am enjoying this change of pace. I think that’s why I’m sick. Thanks to human physiology, I now understand that my immune system is repressed in times of stress, so when I am no longer stressed, my immune system starts to fight whatever pathogen has been lurking in my body.

I proudly told that to Pop, and he was like, “I know that.”

WELL.

Cooking in the kitchen has also been making me happy. Today I’m sharing my day of eats from Monday. It’s been a mighty long time since I participated in What I Ate Wednesday (aka WIAW aka wheeee-awwww)!

630 am: Hot honey lemon water

After I dropped off Pop at the train station, I went to the grocery store to get some lemons. All my throat wanted was some hot honey lemon water, and boy was it soothing.

9 am: Green overnight oat smoothie

Festive, yeah? The night before, I put into a blender:

1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
1 HUGE tbsp. peanut butter (so like, 2 tbsp. probably)
2 tsp. chia seeds
cinnamon and nutmeg
pinch of salt

Stirred it together straight in the blender and put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I added another splash of milk, a frozen banana, and lots of spinach. Blend, pour into a bowl, top with granola, eat with a spoon.

1 pm: Avocado, cheddar, egg, mustard sandwich

I went on a 20 minute ~~run~~ jog around the neighborhood before I decided that I was very done. I had worked out the night before, so I was sore and also achy from being sick. Thus, I came home and made this beautiful thing. I even got fancy and broiled the cheese on the toast. DREAMY.

I also ate some colorful pomegranate seeds and carrots with hummus.

A package came in the mail during lunchtime that included no-bake balls from Arman, so I obviously had to try one. I think this was a cinnamon bun no-bake bite. Basically everything good all rolled into a convenient ball. Thank you so much, Arman!

5 pm: Nuts

Balls and nuts, good. (12 year-old boy.)

630 pm: Theraflu

I appreciate that Theraflu makes tasty medicine.

730 pm: Split pea soup, leftover pesto chicken, peppers and hummus

I made a big batch of slow cooker split pea soup during the day, and it totally hit the spot for dinner. Also, the thought of raw peppers kinda makes me queasy while I’m sick, but I ate them anyway.

Split pea soup is my FAVORITE soup!

10 pm: More hot honey lemon water

(I washed my mug between uses :)) I think I might even have hot honey lemon water even when I’m not sick. It’s so comforting yet refreshing from the zing of lemon. At the same time though, I might want to keep it as a sick day “treat”. Kind of like mom’s chicken noodle soup, ya know? Maybe. I dunno.

Two more days until Christmas!!! It’s 60 degrees outside right now. It’s like a Florida Christmas or something!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! Go broil some cheese toast.

So tell me:

What do you like to eat or drink when you’re sick?

What is your favorite kind of soup?

What is the best thing you’ve eaten this week? It’s a tie between that sandwich and the split pea soup!