March 17, 2015

Sprouts Farmer's Market - Heights Grand Opening Day

March 17, 2015/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

Sprouts Farmer's Market Heights is now open for bidness as of wednesday, march 11th! i planned on being one of the first 200 shoppers at 7am to get 20% off my entire basket...and then i woke up. i wanted Frick and Frack to come with me so that we could all enjoy the grand opening samples and experience together, so i chose to go get my solo, early workout in instead. i posted this still shot via IG,

but here's the vid so you can incorporate this med ball move that works your core into your leg routine too.

[wpvideo GWl0lc1G]

i'm so glad i chose to hit the gym cause i had no chance of going the rest of the day. that's usually how my days go though! anyway, we met my mom and aunt there that gloomy day,

and we had a good ol' time shoppin'

and snackin'.

a ton.

of course i'll try some So Delicious strawberry dairy-free ice cream.

i have always loved the size of SFM.

it's just right. neither overwhelming nor cramped.

a sales associate saw how much we loved these roasted and salted okra chips (we kept going back for more samples) so she brought this over to me lol! i put them back though as i would have finished the entire thing in the car on the way home.

trying not to overdo it and get stuck in the matrix, i.e., that infamous bulk aisle.

almost done! what exactly did i bring home? check out the VLOG and seeee:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCCXitoqmnI]

a few of my faves:

YumEarth Organic Gummy Bears

Lisanatti Almond Cheese

Annie's Naturals Organic Dressings

La Tortilla Factory Tortillas

i was looking for the new Arctic Zero flavors and i found'em! just not key lime pie though:( they are 75 cals per serving and 300 cals per pint. love. this. stuff. their new chunky pint flavors are fat-free, low glycemic, gluten-free, nut-free, GMO-free, and lactose-free.

here's that baby food recipe for ya:

Maple Cinnamon Papplesauce (Pear + Apple = Papple ;) )

the stuff:

3 opal apples
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp water
2 tsp cinnamon

do this:

peel, core, and chop apples preferably the same size so that they cook evenly
add all ingredients to your sauce pan set to medium high heat and coated with no stick cooking spray
saute apples until tender, about 5-7 minutes or until super soft to the touch. keep covered, but stir every so often
transfer mixture to your blender or food processor and blend until super-duper smooth

Q: what do you love about SFM? what do you buy there? what would you change?

December 11, 2012

HEB meal deals + banana french toast

December 11, 2012/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

it's cooooooold. Houston finally got with it and the temps have dropped. enjoy it while it lasts. this morning though... i did NOT wanna get up. you hear me? 4:15am came way too quick and my bed was way too comfy. i admire my members for just showing up to class like they always do. THAT is true commitment and dedication if i ever saw it. cause ummmm, if i didn't have to be there today.... yeah :shock: watching them file into the studio one by one, collect their equipment, and wait in anticipation as the clock winded down to begin class gave me the energy and inspiration i needed to give them nothing short of my absolute best!! and that cup of coffee /green tea combo didn't hurt either. let nothing stop you from remaining consistent and making progress. nothing. especially something as petty as the weather!

after class i did some upper body (shoulders + chest),

took a pic of my polar HR monitor :lol:

zipped up my Lululemon,

and headed home to take more pics and make breakfast! saturday i saw all this french toast on IG and it inspired me to make some of my own. i had some again this morning with my egg white omelette and they hit the spot. carbolicious.

i used sesame ezekiel sprouted grain bread and made a sliced banana sandwich first,

then, i dipped the entire thing in a mixture of:

stuffed banana french toast

the stuff:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp pure vanilla
3-5 drops of vanilla creme stevia
1 tbsp coconut crystals
2 tsp cinnamon
2 egg whites

do this:

combine all ingredients into a bowl big enough for your sandwich to fit in.
mix them well, then dip your sandwich in on one side for 2 seconds, then flip it to the other side for 2 seconds.
immediately transfer it to a medium heated no stick pan and 'fry' it until brown on one side.
flip it and brown the other side! plate it up however you'd like and top it with more cinnamon, walden farms pancake syrup, and fresh banana slices. i even shot it with some 'i can't believe it's not butter' spray a few times.
NOM.

i like mine crispy!

@ HEB this past weekend, i took advantage of one of their popular meal deal specials. i got the two-step gumbo and the BBQ shrimp mix for free. yep, i had some help.

it's not considered clean, but it's all natural, decent nutritional stats, and quite good!

stats (per 1/2 cup): 60 cals, 1.5g fat, 470 mg sodium, 9g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 2g protein

to the gumbo mix, i added 1 cup of water, another cup of low sodium chicken broth, a bag of frozen okra, cut up two roma tomatoes, some fresh cilantro,

and even though it didn't really need it, extra seasonings! just a few dashes of my sweet smokey chipotle paprika, black pepper, sriracha, and 2 squirts of liquid aminos. it all came to a rolling boil, then i let it simmer for about 20 min on low so it could thicken up.

i THOUGHT i had some shrimp leftover from last week's kale tacos, but nope...all gone. wish i had realized that before i went to the store!! i ended up using some of the bbq tilapia that you're gonna read about in a sec. so if you have some, you can totally add shellfish, crab, sausage, etc. because gumbo just ain't gumbo without it ;)

i added a scoop of brown rice on top and Sonny mixed it all together before he gobbled it up.

when you buy the gumbo mix, you get this free. i got to sample this stuff on some steel head trout while in the store which is what sold me on it! i believe the cooking demo lady used olive oil to thin it out though:( but it was soooo good. when i got home, i took 2 tablespoons of the shrimp mix and added 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk to make a creamy marinade for my tilapia.

stats: (per tbsp) 25 cals, 1g fat, 1g sat fat, 340 mg sodium, 3 carbs, 2 sugars

loved it!!! yes, almond milk!!

oh yeah, while i was @ the store, i came across these guys. can you read that sign? it says purple sweet potatoes are higher in nutritional value than the traditional sweet potato. who knew? i didn't. a friend of mine advised that i check out an Asian market for these babies though cause that 2.98 a lb is a little too steep for me. can't wait to try them!

now for my last unexpected purchase! i've been drinking almond milk for like the past 3 years now and i have no plans to go back to dairy milk anytime soon, or ever. but when i tell you i almost slurped down this whole box, you better believe it.

it was worth the gas and bloating :lol:

Chiso hasn't been a fan of drinking milk solo, so i've just been using it to make his oatmeal instead of water so he can still get his vitamin D and calcium. after i let him sample a little of this Horizon Organic Vanilla milk @ the store, to my surprise, he asked for more immediately! actually i'm not surprised cause it's a little high in sugar (22g) and it's vanilla flavored. lol. however, it's all natural, and still loaded with nutrients, so it went in the basket.

he tried to tear that box open after it was empty. score! if only he loved his veggies the same way...

September 25, 2012

Trader Joe's H-O-U-S-T-O-N!!!

September 25, 2012/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

the cardio horse is back in her saddle! after a week off from teaching my Lifetime classes, it's great to be BACK. burnout is a lose-lose for the instructor and the members... breaks always re-energize and re-fuel me to teach the best class i possibly can. especially at 530am.

after 1 hr of Total Conditioning, i jumped on my fav elliptical machine and did 45 minutes of fat-burning cardio and called it a day. no more gym for me until tomorrow...maybe even thursday!! no more two a days. for now! until i decide to compete again (i'm sure i will) i'm focusing on maintaining my current weight, give or take a few pounds.

all i could think about was breakfast on my way home as usual.

so i'm back on the clean eating train. as of yesterday. for the most part. i've been adding extra things (for example, the tomatoes and asparagus ) to my meals that i normally couldn't when i was preparing for my show. usually what i add doesn't really affect the total calorie count of the meal anyway. extra veggies is nothing compared to an extra egg or some meat or something, you know?!

second shot of meal 1,

and here's meal 2 so far. i'm sticking with 5-6 small meals a day. my body responds so well to this routine so i'm keeping it going. try it out and see how your body responds!

so, Houston has just become that much cooler.

Sonny and i made it back in time from Jamaica to attend the grand opening extravaganza of Trader Joe's this past Friday, Sept. 21st.

If you are familiar with H-town, then you know that this historic building was once a theater, then a book store for 25 years, and finally the home of our very 1st TJ's! we didn't even go home first- it was that important. to me.

taking pics to pass the time while Sonny finished his phone call.

8 days later and my 'show' hair is already in a pony tail.

walking up- i love that they kept and used the old school marquee.

getting started. the store is not as big as i anticipated, but it was still jam-packed with a ton of cool items. it was lunch time AND the grand opening so space got a little tight. i didn't mind.

Joe's O's for Chiso.

saying a prayer and thanking God for these low sodium rice cakes!!! i used to get the popular Lundberg brown rice cakes, but why have one of those when i can have TWO of Joe's for a 10 cal difference?!

sampling some kinda fresh squeezed juice. and yep, that's my tummy. i left my abs in Jamaica.

i definitely grabbed something off of every isle.

ok people are going absolutely nuts over this stuff and i completely understand. i passed a tower of it on the way to checkout and thought to myself 'man i wonder what that tastes like!!'. i literally looked up and walked right into a store associate shoving a sampling spoon of it right in my face!! of course i'll take some! our cashier told us it's their top-selling item right now and that they will be coming out with a crunchy version for the Christmas holidays. Lord have mercy.

turkey jerky!!!!!!! haven't had this stuff since my Cali trip back in 2010. great high protein, low-fat snack.

what i ended up with- roasted seaweed snacks, popping corn, unsalted pb filled pretzels, unsalted rice cakes, turkey jerky, lite coconut milk, unsweetened apple sauce, Joe's O's (whole grain cereal), lobster rolls, black mission figs, organic pizza sauce, lactose-free milk, fresh sugar snap peas, coconut oil, goat cheese, fat-free feta, egg-plant humus, egg whites, spicy mustard, fig butter, and some fresh fruit. no cookie butter yet!!!

i was expecting to go well over 100, maybe even 150. but i did NOT break the bank. gotta love those reasonable prices for organic, natural, fresh foods. i'm THRILLED that TJ's is finally here and will gladly make the drive to visit.

after buying all that delicious food, what does Sonny want for lunch? Mission Tortilla. because he was a great sport and even came grocery shopping with me i shut my trap right up :shock:

i waited til we got home to fix my lunch. here are some of the items up close for you to look for on your TJ's trip.

the fig butter is AWESOME- and no, there isn't a drop of butter in it. it even says that on the package. "To be a butter, a spread must contain more fruit than sugar.."

whole wheat pita pockets and eggplant humus - only 35 cals per 2 tbsp. serving!

there was no cooked meat (ok fresh cooked meat) in our house since we had been gone for a week, so i made some fig and feta tuna and grilled a whole wheat pita to go with it.

my seasonings for the tuna. i almost ALWAYS add boiled eggs to my tuna, but i was too hungry to wait!

i also spread some of the fig butter and eggplant humus on the pita bread-

DELICIOUS.

what else can you put fig butter on? it's great in wraps too- i made a grilled chicken, kale, tomato, avocado wrap on a whole wheat tortilla for my next meal. the spicy salty mustard and the sweet fig go great together. try it.

what are your favorite must have Trader Joe's items?? and have you tried the cookie butter :lol: