Easy Black Bean Dip for One

Hello, blog friends! How was your Wednesday? 


Tonight, I'd like to share one of my favorite go-to recipes for a quick weeknight meal: black bean dip! This is great with raw veggies, tortilla chips or by itself and eaten with a spoon. The recipe doesn't get any easier, and I'd like to think that eating a healthified version of bar food is rock n' roll. You know, the black beans are higher in antioxidants, a great source of protein and this dish is damn tasty. And the veggies on the side can't hurt either. So, here ya go:


Easy Black Bean Dip for One


Ingredients:
1/2 can vegetarian refried black beans
1/4 cup salsa of your choice
1/4 cup shredded cheese of choice
1. Scoop 1/2 can vegetarian refried black beans into a microwave-safe bowl. 
2. Cover and heat in microwave for two minutes.
3. Remove from microwave and stir in salsa and cheese
3. Recover, and heat in microwave for an additional minute
4. Remove from microwave, stir and enjoy!

That's an entire chopped green pepper right there. Ooh, yeah.

Can't be 'healthy' all of the time. We roll with salt-free chips, though.

With a side of puppy (optional).

New on the home front: The first two raspberries of the season! 

In other news... T-minus 4 days until the half marathon... and check out the forecast (Sunday):

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Ughhh. Fingers crossed that the weather-person who predicted this is wrong, and that it's a mild, partly cloudy day.


You do the talking: Have you done races in unpleasant weather? Any last-minute tips to share with me? I've been chugging water and sports drinks like it's my job, and have been mentally bracing myself for the worst case scenario. 


I'm pretty nervous about the race overall, and found a great article from Active.com: 4 Mental Tips to Overcome Pre-Race Jitters

My favorite bit of advice from this is "Set Yourself Up for a Life Experience:"  

Create a positive mental attitude about your personal expectations on race day. Focus on the overall experience... You'll be participating amongst hundreds or thousands of people that decided to get themselves out of bed early to put their bodies into action. That is a group of people you can learn from; embrace the event for all that it can bring to your life.


Open your mind and heart; be on alert to absorbing the special moments that will present themselves on event day. There may be a sign held by an onlooker that emotionally touches you, and motivates you to stay strong. 

Absorb the environment around you, and you will have an opportunity to take home inspiration. The memories of race day will be like a gift for your spirit that whispers, "You can do it" the next time you hit the road for training.


This really struck a chord with me, the race will be about so much more than the stupid weather. I'm going to try and focus on enjoying the race, taking photos with my friends and enjoying our running journey across the iconic Hoan Bridge. It's gonna be so cool (even if the weather is a challenge)!

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Live from Point Fish Fry & A Flick

Tonight's post is coming to you live from Discovery World, at the uber-awesome Point Fish Fry & A Flick.

Photo credit: The Pabst Theater

Tonight we are kicking off our 2010 series with...

The Hangover. An excellent choice, if I do say so myself.

This series is one of my favorite things about working for my company, we co-produce the event with Discovery World and Bartolotta Restaurant Group and yadda yadda yadda. But it really comes down to this... when the sun goes down tonight, I will be among a couple thousand friends and we will all get to watch a hilarious movie together. On Lake Michigan, enjoying a gorgeous summer night. Yes, please!

Dinner tonight was a fish fry, obviously.

Tasty.

Hoping that everyone's Friday night is going awesome. Talk to you manana!

Mad love for Trader Joe's stuff

Hello, world!

It's Friday and I have ZERO complaints. The week seemed long but it's OVER and it's going to be an awesome weekend!

Earlier this week, I went on a shopping raid at Trader Joe's. So a heads up, you're going to see a lot of products acquired from there in this post - thus, the title is fair warning :-)

1. Tonight - made a great dinner (more on that later). Possibly headed out to a retro bowling lounge with friends!

2. Tomorrow - our real estate agent is showing us four houses, and there is something exciting about each one. Afterwards, Zak is taking me to dinner and then we're off to the Pabst for a show from Jamey Johnson! He's kind of a badass on the country music circuit, and should put on a great show. Zak and I are not so much mainstream country fans as we enjoy alt-country music like Drive-By Truckers and The Old 97s.

3. Sunday - an early horseback riding lesson, then a friend's Super Bowl party!

Back to today's events. I hit up Trader Joe's the other night and discovered a new favorite treat - TJ's Pecan Praline Granola.

Doesn't it just sound delicious? I love that the serving size is close to "normal" for me - 1/2 cup. It's calorie dense, but packs a nutritional wallop with 3g of fiber, 5g of protein and 6.5g of heart-healthy unsaturated fats. It's pretty low in sugar, too - just 10g per serving.

I tried the granola as a snack today at the office - atop some Dannon 'toasted coconut vanilla' yogurt.

GASM.

This. Was. So. GOOD. I don't usually go for the fake sugar yogurts, however the flavor of this one is to die for! So rich tasting and decadent.

Also at work, I got into some 'Lovey Gummy Tummies' that were also acquired at TJ's.

THESE ARE GREAT! A perfect gummy candy with a cherry flavor. As a big fan of red gummy candy, I highly recommend these.

After work, I decided to make the star of dinner a new-to-me vegetable - Brussels sprouts!

Can you believe I had never worked with these babies prior to tonight? I sliced them in half, tossed with some e.v.o.o and seasoning, and roasted in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I made some quick Barilla Plus rotini, grabbed some red sauce and topped it with the roasted sprouts.

Gorgeous!

Zak started to eat it, and then began to groan with pleasure. I asked him what he thought, and he said - "Ohhhhh... these are like BACON! So good!"

Friends, Zak has been meat-free for several years now, so I take this as a high compliment :-)

I thought this dish tasted excellent. Can't wait to try it out again!

A little while later, I wanted something sweet. I topped about 1/3 cup of plain organic yogurt with 1/2 chopped TJ's fat-free brownie, and about 1/3 cup of TJ's granola.

So good!

I am off to primp for my retro bowling outing. Have a great Friday night!

Finally Friday

Can I get an Amen to that? Friday! Yes.

Today is going to go by quickly, and tonight will be a fun one. We have not one, but THREE events going on at work:

- Point Fish Fry & A Flick at Milwaukee's Lakefront at Discovery World Museum. It's a free outdoor movie series with a retail bazaar, beer a-plenty and good food. Tonight, we're showing PULP FICTION. That's right, no kids allowed. It's gonna be awesome!

- Tracy Chapman @ Pabst Theater, complete with pre- and post-concert dance party by PUMP! DJs. Tracy Chapman = "Gimme One Reason," "Fast Car," etc. Yes!

- Daniel Johnston @ Turner Hall Ballroom. He's a genius. Don't know if I'll make it over there, but it should be an amazing show. A Milwaukee band The Candleiers are opening and also backing Daniel.

What are your plans for this weekend?

I packed a bunch of good eats today as I am gonna be one busy gal!

- Stonyfield Organic Plain Yogurt, with frozen blueberries and Alterra Coffee Roasters granola

A review of granola will come later today, once I try it out :-)

- The last of my whole wheat pasta, bean and tuna salad with herbed feta

- Kashi Chewy Cherry Dark Chocolate bar and Country Cheddar crackers

- Breakfast on the go - one piece of Health Nut bread, spread with PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams (1 tbsp) and Roundy's Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter

Sooooo delicious. 

On the way in, I picked up a 'Venti' Iced Coffee with Soy from Starbucks. This + the aforementioned 1/2 sandwich are my favorite breakfast to get fueled up for a busy day!

What is your favorite meal / snack combination for a busy day?

If the Coach handbag looks familiar, I bought it from Angela's Shop 4 a Cause (benefitting the Canadian Cancer Research Fund) in June! LOVE it.

Time to get cracking at my multiple tasks. See you soon :-)

I wanna hear from you guys today!

What is your favorite late summer outdoor activity?

What kinds of entertainment options does your city offer during the summer?

Still Golden

Eating at lunch at my desk - it's 3PM! I am on concert time today.

Just returned from an appointment at GLOW Salon & Spa. I am now feeling extra golden as I had their airbrush tanning service! Nice to have bit of safe color on this gorgeous sunny day.

Lunch = about 2 cups of my whole wheat pasta, tuna & kidney bean salad that I threw together last night. Tastes pretty good now that the flavors have had a chance to meld. Wishin' I had some spinach for it, would be even better with the green stuff. 

Haven't yet gotten to eat the Dark Mocha Almond bar yet, but will be making that disappear shortly :-) 

This afternoon I've been working on several shows that are coming in September, and a few that we're putting on sale next week. I am a personal fan of a few of these artists, so I'm stoked. 

Back to work!

Review: Pita Bros.

With the gorgeous weather we're having today in Milwaukee - 76 degrees and sunny - I thought it'd be great to have lunch outside!

My coworker and I decided to check out Pita Bros., "Wisconsin's first electric foodie vendor!"

What does that mean? According to their website:

Pita Brothers™ is a mobile foodservice concept created by two brothers, Vijay and Manoj Swearingen. Pita Brothers™ can be found operating on the streets of downtown Milwaukee, WI starting June 2009. Customers can regularly find out where we are, what specials we may be offering and all of the latest happenings by joining our Facebook page or by following us on Twitter (search Pita Brothers™).

Pretty cool in my book - I follow them on Twitter, so I checked out where they'd be parked - Catalano Square in the Historic 3rd Ward area. We walked the 8 or so blocks from the Pabst offices, and found them parked in front!

Both guys were really nice and answered all of my questions. They have this whiteboard menu, but even cooler is their flat screen TV with rotating menu (other side of the truck).

I chose the Fresh Veggie Pita Wrap, my coworker selected the Chicken Caesar. One of the guys cooked on the grill while the other set up the wraps and their toppings. My Veggie Pita came with hummus and tahini, and I added romaine, spinach, tomatoes, cukes, banana peppers and feta.

The Twitter special today was a free cookie with the purchase of a combo, so we also got the gratis cookies, chips and drinks. $15 Bucks when all was said and done... a bargain!

That's one gorgeous Pita Wrap... 

We even had a friend join us near the picnic table. 

My Pita Wrap was tasty and the ingredients tasted very fresh, I ate about 3/4 of it. The herbed pita chips were pretty good, too - the brand was Stacy's Snacks and the package said they are "all natural." Had about 1/3 of the bag. I haven't tried the cookie yet, but will be sharing it with Zak later tonight :-)

Pita Bros., you get two thumbs up from me! Milwaukeeans can catch them on weekdays from 11:30AM - 2PM at Catalano Square (near MIAD).

The Beginning

First post!!! I feel like I should be setting off fireworks or popping champagne or something. I've never blogged before and can't wait to get started.

I figure that I'll eventually do an "About" section on here or whatnot... in the meantime, here's the scoop. My name is Laura, I am 27 and living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am entering a new phase of life, having just completed my undergraduate degree (BA) in professional communication from Alverno College here in Milwaukee. I had a great time over the year or so I was back at school, however my diet and fitness routine took a backseat to balancing homework, classes, a full time job and not totally neglecting my boyfriend of 4+ years - all at the same time!

Let's back up a moment. My full time gig is in the concert business, I buy media and plan marketing for three lovely concert venues here in Milwaukee - the Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater and Turner Hall Ballroom. Each venue is a historic building, which makes for unique settings for concerts. We book tons of awesome shows every year... Tomorrow we have Diana Krall (love her!) and over the next few weeks we have Tom Jones, Fountains of Wayne, Sonic Youth, and a plethora of others. My job is very challenging, requires a lot of time outside of the normal 9-5 day, but I love it! The company has grown so much since I started back in fall of 2003 - back then we had just one venue. Our company is a non-profit organization - so all of the work we put it is going to the greater benefit of the music community in Milwaukee / Wisconsin. The music scene here has improved, and what we do has had something to do with that. This makes me proud!

The job is absolutely my dream job, however the whirlwind activity of concerts every single night during the fall (ROCKtober is the busiest month) and spring, it's hard to keep a fitness routine going. Also, with tempting catering meal options available at most of the shows and an endless supply of booze / beers... let's just say that it's time for me to step back and get balanced. 

A moment to talk about the booze. It has been said that Milwaukeeans like to party like no other city. In 2006, Forbes Magazine released some stats that called Milwaukee the hardest-drinking city in America. I am aware of this unfortunate stereotype / statistic and want to experiment with cutting back on drinking when I do go out. Lately I've been limiting myself to one or two drinks, which has worked pretty well. One of my favorite liquid libations is Bourbon whiskey, on ice.

Did I mention that I LOVE FOOD? Good lord! I was a vegetarian earlier in life, and returned to my vege title about two years ago. I eat fish and seafood occasionally, and of course I love cheese (I am from Wisconsin, duh!), however have pretty much cut out cow's milk. I think that makes me a pesco-ovo-cheese-o(ha, ha)  vegetarian? In Milwaukee, at most restaurants there are vegetarian options aplenty so I can usually find some good eats. I have a weak spot for New York-style pizza and usually indulge once a week. There's a great Pakistani lunch place that I frequent, and the chana masala is to die for. At home, I love to try out new recipes, especially for baked goods and desserts. 

Speaking of home life... I live with my wonderful boyfriend of almost FIVE YEARS - Zak! I'll be sharing more about him later on. Zak loves to cook as well, and is also a vegetarian. He eats fish but no dairy at all, and just began eating eggs again. That makes him pesco-ovo vege, right? We live in a really cool loft-type apartment and have one roommate. Also have one dog named Blue and a cat named Rufus.

I've decided to start this blog to write about meals, recipes, workouts, etc. and to chronicle my journey of fitness / nutrition. I've enjoyed reading blogs like Oh She Glows, Kath Eats Real Food, Eat Live Run, The Beholder and keep finding other great ones as well. This blog will help to keep me accountable for my fitness and nutritional goals, and I am looking forward to having the creative outlet with writing as well.

Tonight I will be celebrating my friend Kristin's birthday, and will begin the blogging process with photos from the restaurant we're trying out - Riverfront Pizzeria. I am usually the only vegetarian in the group when I go out, so I won't be surprised if I get the usual questions. 

Thanks for reading! I look forward to blog post #2 :-)