WIAW – imperfectly courtney

Homemade Coconut Creme Larabars, WIAW & Weigh In Wednesday

May 15, 2013 Courtney

Guys. This is freaking brilliant. So, I’ve know that making “lara bars” seemed relatively easy. I liked regular Lara Bars, but it wasn’t until I tried the Coconut Creme ones that I was hooked. I’m pretty sure the only reason I survived my last week of Whole30 was because of those puppies. Thing is, at $1.25ish a piece… I was droppin a lot of dough on these little treats. So I decided to try to recreate them at home… and man oh man, they were spot on!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:5]

I did a ton of food prep on Sunday so that we would be well prepared for the week. Since feeling confused about my eating I realized I do better with a plan. Also with running the CrossFit we are gone most mornings, then have to come home and jump right into our “day” jobs then we are gone a lot of evenings too – when we come home and have to eat dinner later than I’d like. So I’ve been prepping lots of breakfast food like breakfast casserole and protein waffles

With the hubs on a quest to gain muscle and Little P on some kind of huge growth spurt eating kick, the breakfast casserole lasts about 3-4 days. It is seriously so good. Pop it in the microwave for about a minute, add some tabasco, tomato and avocado… the perfect breakfast in a pinch. and my kitchen stays clean. win-win.

For dinners I’ve been keeping it simple lately. For awhile I got all fancy with my meal planning and was trying something new (and most likely complicated) almost every night. Between coaching CrossFit classes, making sure my 3 year old gets to bed at a decent time, and school/house work I just don’t have the time for that. I’m relying on the crock pot a lot. I used one of my old favorites last night, Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken.

Instead of making it on a bun I put mine over roasted cauliflower and ate it with celery. Fulfills my buffalo chicken craving without the breaded and oil friend boneless buffalo wings.

I’m also trying to make an effort to keep most dairy out of my diet. I have been using canned coconut milk since the whole30 – and then I found this beauty and had to try it…

I’m not sure what makes this “Barista Style” different from the other coconut creamer I’ve tried… It seems a bit smoother. I noticed this one has pea protein and the regular one didn’t. Either way – It’s good!

Since we talked about all this amazing food, let’s also take a minute to talk weight. I know the scale is a lying whore. I also know that the last 2 weeks of food choices have been less than stellar. That is one of the reasons i’m trying to get more on board with prepping/planning so I don’t make bad choices. Since my last Weigh In Wednesday Post where I shared my Whole30 Results, I’m up 3 pounds. So, yup. I’m back to 190. I know, After eliminating dairy/grains/legumes for 30 days and then essentially bingeing on them is going to cause weight gain. Now I’m just striving to find balance. And pushing SO hard to get to my next mini goal of 175. Why are these 15lbs SO. DANG. HARD. to lose? UGH.

Linking up with Erin and Alex for Weigh In Wednesday and Linking up with Jenn for WIAW

Do you love LaraBars? Do you food prep? What have you been eating lately?

food, WIAW

Green BEAN Delivery {WIAW}

March 20, 2013January 9, 2019 Courtney

I told you I had some exciting thing to share with you over the next few weeks, so we are jumping right in today! I have heard about different kind of CSA programs and food delivery services but wasn’t sure how it would all work or how to find out if there were any in my local area. Well thanks to social media, I found out we had an amazing Produce Delivery Program in our area – Green BEAN Delivery. I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this sooner!

Green BEAN Delivery runs like a membership program. You create an account and have a card on file. You can choose your delivery frequency to be either weekly or bi-weekly. The minimum order is $35. For a grocery delivery service that is pretty reasonable! They offer different sizes of bins to suit your needs. I ordered the Small Fruit and Vegetable bin. It arrived in a cool green container and was filled with natural and organic goodies!

There were a mixture of fruits and vegetables, all organic! The lettuce still had the bulb on it! There were apples, oranges, grapes, spinach, lettuce, carrots, fingerling potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and an onion. I’ve been chomping on the grapes non stop. I have some plans for roasted potatoes and carrots with dinner and I made a mixed tuna salad for lunch yesterday using the lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and onion. It was so good!

Not only do they offer these bins of fruits and vegetables, but you can also add other natural groceries on to your order as well. They even stock my favorite hard to find Food Should Taste Good Chips in Chocolate! They also have local eggs and dairy, as well as grass fed meat. I am definitely going to keep getting these awesome deliveries. It makes it exciting and easy to get new fresh produce! Be sure to check out Green BEAN Delivery and see if they are in your local area!

Have you tried a produce delivery service? Would you?

food, WIAW

Homemade Pumpkin Chai Latte {WIAW}

November 27, 2012 Courtney

Man, is it Wednesday already? I swear time is in like fast forward or something. We are just a week away from the launch of our dietbet challenge, are you ready?! I’m so excited. I’ve been reading It Starts With Food like crazy and trying to think about how to avoid the normal holiday traps… One of my downfalls is Starbucks. I love a good latte! I’ve been trying to figure out substitutes and I think I found one. I’m not sure this is “whole30” approved… but it has a heck of a lot less calories than an eggnog latte!

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The last few days have been a bit of a blur. My BFF came to visit and we had a ton of fun, but it went by so fast! Because it has been a bit crazy, I have some random pictures of what my eats have looked like lately. Linking up with Jenn from Peas and Crayons for WIAW!

Homemade Paleo Pizza (Crust recipe here) – West Allen Grill, Grilled Chicken Salad- Banana Soft Serve topped with Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Tortilla Chips.

Yes, you read that right. Chocolate Tortilla Chips. They were sent to me from Food Should Taste Good as a part of their Holiday Simple Survival Kit.

It also included goodies from Justin’s Nut Butter (that didn’t last very long after opening), Larabar, Little Duck Organics, SmartWool, Spout Wellness, and Teatulia. Everything I’ve tried so far has been amazing!

What’s your favorite holiday drink?
Are you joining in the dietbet? DO IT NOW!

EAT, food, WIAW

WIAW: “Good Conscience” Waffles

November 7, 2012 Courtney

Welcome to Journey of a Dreamer! So glad you joined me today. If you are new around here feel free to click around and get to know me. You can also subscribe via email or Google Reader in the sidebar on the right. Glad to have you! If you have been around awhile you know what today is… What I Ate Wednesday!! This is just a typical day of eats for me. We link up over at Peas & Crayons and get to explore what everyone else is eating too!

So the other day the hubs and his BFF were talking about how they wanted waffles for breakfast (I make them both breakfast after CrossFit almost every day, usually Eggs and Bacon) Something about going to vote and it being election day… and waffles. Real Waffles (because if it were up to me I’d make Paleo waffles). Well I started looking up recipes for waffles and found one that looked fine, but then I started to feel guilty before even cooking it. I couldn’t, in good conscience, just give them plain old white flour white sugar filled waffles.

I had a guilty conscience. So I made a few substitutions to the recipe and created my “good conscience” waffles.

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They were so good. I put some Almond butter and Maple Syrup on mine.

For Lunch I had some leftover chili inside an Acorn Squash that I cooked in the Microwave. and it was good. Dinner was a simple Chicken Fajita Salad.

The good stuff happened after dinner (doesn’t it always?!) Awhile ago I was offered a $25 Gift certificate to use over at Swanson Vitamins to review their products. I spent a good while shopping around and found that they have a lot of my typical “health food” staples at seriously LOW prices. Look at everything I got for just over $25…

That is Coconut flour, Coconut oil, Coconut Shreds, Almond Flour, and Liquid Stevia. They had super quick shipping and are always offering specials. I will continue to shop here for my health food staple items for sure.

Back to the food…I was really wanting some dessert and had a few frozen bananas in the freezer. Enter Banana Soft Serve.

I just put 2 frozen bananas and a splash of almond milk in the food processor. I added a tablespoon of nutella, some cocao chips, a few drops of liquid stevia, and about a tablespoon of coconut shreds. It was delicious. You could also add protein powder for some extra nutritional punch. It really curbs my sweet tooth and my 2 year old looooves it.

What are some of your favorite meals lately? How do you make your guilt meals into good conscience meals?

Thankful Thoughts

7. I’m thankful for my Keurig.

EAT, WIAW

WIAW: October Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

October 30, 2012January 9, 2019 Courtney

Happy Halloween! As fate would have it the Foodie Pen Pal reveal falls on Wednesday… which is my favorite link up day of the week: What I Ate Wednesday! This month is all about snacks and treats which works out great because my foodie pen pal, Audra, sent me a box full of snacks and treats!

Thanks so much to Lindsay and Jenn for hosting both of these link ups!

Can I first tell you how awesome Foodie Pen Pals is? You send a box to someone, and another person sends you a box. Who doesn’t love getting packages in the mail? ESPECIALLY edible ones! I always enjoy putting something “local” in the box to represent where I’m from, especially if they have never been. This month I sent my box to Claire, who doesn’t have a blog. She said she enjoyed it though!

The box I received was very obviously from TEXAS! Have I told you how much I love Texas?! Well, I do. I will live there again some day.

Now onto the goodies!!

I ripped the box open to find a bag of blue corn tortilla chips – One of my favorite kinds! Along with that was a Black Bean and Corn Salsa. I mean, what else says Texas like Chips & Salsa? I had some of those today with my lunch. Yummers!

The two sauces looked so interesting, but I have yet to try them. Horrible I know. The only thing I think of is how those cute boutiques in Texas have pretzels you dip into the sauces to taste them. I need to find any actual meal to make with them.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw the Cholula. It reminds me of how STUFT Mama carries hers around in her purse with her. This is a smaller size so it may or may not end up in my purse, HA.

The winner for most interested part of the package toes to Mo’s Milk Bar with Hickory Smoked Bacon and Sea Salt. I was all like WHHHHAAAT?! Apparently it’s a pretty big deal. I tried it and honestly wasn’t sure if I would like it our not, but in small does it is actually pretty good. The salt and sweet strikes a good balance.

Finally, my favorite thing! Texas Turtle Coffee. I love flavored coffee. I love Texas. Turtles are ok too. I have been saving this for a special occasion… but I think that special occasion may just be tomorrow morning. Ha.

So far this was one of my favorite Foodie Pen Pals yet, Thanks Audra!!!

What is the most interesting/unique food you have tried?

STL, WIAW

WIAW #14 – STL Edition

October 24, 2012 Courtney

I’m so excited that it’s Wednesday! Tuesday’s are always pretty crazy for me because it is my deadline for school work for the week… and of course I procrastinate until just before the deadline. Oops. Anyway- I always look forward to Wednesday because the stress of meeting deadlines is lifted, if even just for a moment.

This week I am focusing on my #KeysToSTL so instead of sharing random meals and snacks with you I’m going to share some of my favorite places to eat in the STL area.

54th Street Bar & Grill – Wentzville

We have one of these about a mile from our house here in Wentzville. It is a casual dining experience, similar to an applebee’s. Their menu is quite extensive – They have burgers, Sandwiches, Salads, Soups, Appetizers, Steaks, even a Mexican inspired portion of the menu. They are famous for their Gringo Dip. I swear they put something in it to make is so addicting! My go to meal there used to be the Buffalo Chicken Salad, until I realized the amount of sodium in it. It is still delicious though, lol. Now I try to use their online nutritional calculator to figure out what to order. I’m a huge fan of their grilled chicken sandwiches (or burgers) and sweet potato fries!

Stefanina’s Pizzeria – Wentzville

This is another local Wentzville favorite. They have a $20 special that gets you a large pizza, salad, and cheesy garlic bread. The pizza is fresh and delicious. We always go for the classic Pepperoni and Mozzarella, even though they are known for their Provel Cheese. This is great for taking out a small group of people on a budget. They have other locations throughout the STL area, so be sure to check them out!

Little Hills Winery – St Charles

This is probably the most “nostalgic” restaurant for me in the St Louis area, since it is the place we ate after we eloped. They have a charming outdoor area with fire pits. When you are sitting outside you are looking out onto Historical Main St in Saint Charles. That is probably my favorite area in St Louis. They have great wine (obviously) and good food. They used to have these cheese coins that were to die for, but they changed their menu and got rid of them… sad day. Their Pulled Pork Nachos are wonderful.

Quintessential Dining – St Charles

This is by far my favorite restaurant in the St Louis area. It is a very classy place. Their level of service is unmatched in my book. I would recommend going with friends and ordering The Feast. It seems pricey for an appetizer sampler but there is a huge amount of food and it is all good! Their Q-Dip is amazing and the Jalapeno & Cream Cheese Wontons are spectacular.

Last time I went I ordered the Cuban Sandwich and was kind of disappointed that it wasn’t more authentic pork (it was smoked pulled pork, instead of marinated roast pork). I wasn’t upset at all, but I didn’t eat much of it and the waiter noticed. I explained to him it wasn’t their fault, it just wasn’t what I was expecting (growing up with a Cuban grandpa and all). He brought over the manager and they ended up taking the sandwich off our bill and asking if I wanted anything else. I was blown away. I filled out a comment card because I was so impressed with the service and got a handwritten note in the mail the next week. It wasn’t a bad sandwich, just not what I was looking for. They went above and beyond in my book. Also- their desserts are delicious.

So those are my favorite places to eat in St Louis – All of which I’ve been to in the last month, ha!

What are some of your favorite places or meals to eat out in your area?

food, Reviews, WIAW

WIAW #13 – KEEN-WAH Decadence Review

October 17, 2012January 9, 2019 Courtney

I have some good news (at least for one of you… ) Rafflecopter picked the winner for the Food Should Taste Good Giveaway! Congratulations to Georgiana – Check your email!

And even more good news… Remember the shoulder issue from last week? It is doing SO much better. A trip to the best Chiropractor, lots of rest, stretching, and KT Tape have helped with a quick recovery. Mostly I’m excited to be able to sleep without intense pain. I wake up so rested! I even woke up before my 4:20am alarm this morning for CrossFit!

Now- Since it’s Wednesday, On to the Eats! Thanks again to Jenn for hosting my favorite link up!

So for breakfast I was craving Pumpkin Pancakes and I really liked Danielle’s recipe so I pulled up her blog… only to find she had a new recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes that I just HAD to try. Seriously, she is a Paleo genius. I really didn’t want to share these with my 2 year old… but she had to eat, so I shared.

For a snack I was SO excited to try one of these Keen-Wah Decadence bars. I was sent a few of each bar to review. I was really looking forward to it. I love Quinoa – it is so versatile! Also, I love that they spelled it out Keen-Wah. One time the husband spent like 30 minutes in the store looking for Quinoa before realizing it wasn’t spelled with a K. ha. Anyway, back to the bars… I tried the organic chocolate Chia. It was good, the texture was different. It isn’t exactly like a granola bar, but its not like a date bar either… kinda in the middle. I love that it is made with organic whole foods. The chocolate Chia bar has just 195 calories and 6 grams of protein. The ingredients are all pronounceable: Almond butter, coconut nectar, Peruvian cacao powder, chopped almonds, cacao butter, Peruvian cacao nibs, chia seeds, sprouted quinoa flour, quinoa crisps, brown rice protein powder, Himalayan sea salt, Chocolate Coating: Dark chocolate (evaporated cane juice, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, soy lecithin). I love when I can pronounce and understand all the ingredients. I am a fan of these bars, they reminded me of a candy bar, but without the guilt!

Lunch was a quick bowl of leftover chili. I’m pretty sure leftover chili tastes better than fresh chili. The longer the flavors sit the better it gets!

Dinner was simple. It usually is when I have school work due. Alexia’s Sweet Potato Tots and a Turkey burger with Cheese, Bacon and Sautéed Onions on top of a bed of Spinach leaves. Ketchup was added after this picture. To be honest, I really don’t miss eating the bun with a burger. This satisfied me just fine without making me feel bloated. Score!

What were some of your favorite meals this week? What is your go to Bar for a quick snack?

EAT, food, WIAW

WIAW # 12 and a Food Should Taste Good Giveaway!

October 10, 2012January 9, 2019 Courtney

I’ve been having these weird shoulder pains recently. Like my shoulder hurts throughout the day, but not horribly. Then at night when I wish I was sleeping it hurts SO bad. I just can’t get comfortable. So I don’t sleep well. I sometimes cry in frustration. Then I wake up kinda cranky and super emotional. This has happened since last Thursday night… I figured it would just go away with rest. I didn’t go to CrossFit on Friday and took rest days Saturday and Sunday as well…. but no change. I guess I need to go see the chiropractor… or doctor… not sure which one is supposed to take care of this type of thing. All that to say I’m kinda emotional and slightly cranky this morning.

Enough grumbling. Let’s talking about food. It’s What I Ate Wednesday!

Thanks again to Jenn for hosting WIAW every week – seriously my favorite day.

My morning started with a mix of my Muscle Gauge Nutrition Whey Protein with a teaspoon of my Nutrex-Hawaii Spirulina. You can actually enter to win a $500 supply of supplements from Nutrex-Hawaii! I’m going to write a more in depth post about the Spirulina after I have used it for a little while longer.

Post WOD Breakfast was another round of Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes, but this time I used Danielle’s recipe (Sidenote- you need to check out her website! She is like a Paleo Recipe Magician). I liked the addition of Flax. I topped it with some Organic Peanut Butter and had a slice of bacon on the side.

Lunch was just random leftovers. We had a ton of baked beans leftover from this weekend, plus some Spinach Garlic Sausage and sweet potato fries. Also ketchup. I love ketchup.

I kinda lost count of how many cups of coffee I drank yesterday. Obviously Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice has reappeared in my cabinet and I can’t restrain myself. That and I was super tired.

I was starving when I started making dinner so I pulled out my Food Should Taste Good chips and Clint’s Salsa (Seriously – one of my favorite snacks!) I’ve been pretty vocal about my love of these sweet potato chips since I discovered them. Obviously that doesn’t go unnoticed… I’ll get to that in a minute… first, dinner!

Yummy Taco Salad!

Now- Back to the Food Should Taste Good Chips…

I had inquired on their website about blogger programs and in a few weeks I received a package!

It included 4 different flavors of chips: Cheddar, Olive, Multigrain, and Sweet Potato! It also had chip clips and an awesome notebook.

Notice how the Multigrain and Sweet Potato Chips are in Pink bags? That’s because the company doesn’t just believe that Food Should Taste Good – They also believe that Food Should DO Good. They are teaming up with Ellen Degeneres and donating $150,000 to Ellen For The Cure to help find a cure for Breast Cancer. So, In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month they turned their bags Pink!

And guess what? The wonderful people at Food Should Taste Good want to give YOU the opportunity to win an awesome prize pack!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are some of your favorite snack foods?
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EAT, food, WIAW

WIAW #11

October 3, 2012January 9, 2019 Courtney

Don’t forget to enter yesterday’s awesome WOD Toys and WOD ink Giveaway!!

Good Morning, Friends!

It’s Wednesday. Which means it’s close to Friday. Ha. This week has my mind all confused – I thought yesterday was Friday for a minute. But it wasn’t. Obviously.

I’m in such a random mood today. You’re welcome.

Speaking of Random, let’s talk about my food. That’s right folks, it’s time for What I Ate Wednesday! Thanks to Jenn from Peas & Crayons for hosting this link up. It really has become one of my favorite things to post.

I just saw that this month’s theme is Healthy Halloween Treats. I’ll have to remember that for next week. Until then you get my aforementioned randomness.

Breakfast- Scrambled eggs with sausage and sweet potato hash. This is probably one of my favorite savory breakfast ideas. So easy too. Cook up some sausage. Shred some sweet potatoes. Add to sausage. Scramble eggs. And yes- that is ketchup in the upper right corner of the picture. Ketchup makes this even more delicious.

I included this picture because we took a trip to Peak Nutrition. The Intek Evolution Protein is Mr Dreamer’s favorite and they were having a killer sale – 2lb tubs for $29. This is something we both have on a daily basis. Protein builds muscle, baby! We go through some protein in this house! We talked with David while we were there, super nice guy! If you are in the O’Fallon area be sure to check out. He even gave us a sample of the Kids D3 Vitamin Spray for Payton to try out – so far she loves it. It’s bubblegum flavored. She keeps asking for more vitamins. Love that girl.

Anyway- back to the food. Lunch was last night’s leftovers. Shredded Flank Steak Fajita Bowl. I had some of these on the side. I’ve kept it no secret that I love Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips- but these were on sale and I thought I’d try them out. I used them to scoop up my meat in my fajita bowl and they were pretty good. I think I still prefer the Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips though.

There was also this as a post lunch dessert… Maybe not all of them… I’m going to tell you all about them in a later post. Until then – Wipe the drool from your screen…

A couple hours later I was super hungry – So I grabbed a snack! One of my Peanut Butter Promax Bars. I had it with a cup of my current obsession: Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice Coffee. It was a nice warm and filling afternoon snack.

I was stoaked about dinner. You see – I’m obsessed with Thai food. I could eat it every day. I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it. It certainly did not disappoint. Sylvia is a genius.

This may not look pretty- but it tasted great. I have become a pro at finding the ugliest food… but it all tastes so good!

There also may or may not have been a ChickFilA Milkshake consumed after dinner. YOLO – Right? haha.

What are some of your ugly but yummy favorites? Or are you a pro at making food look pretty?

EAT, food, WIAW

WIAW #10 – Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes

September 26, 2012 Courtney

I’ve written before about how I love What I Ate Wednesday because it lets me see what other people eat and find inspiration for my own meals. I recently realized another reason! Because when I know I am going to post what I eat I actually try new things so I don’t bore you with a million posts about buffalo chicken (even if I could eat it every day). So for this week’s WIAW I tried new recipes at every meal!

As always, thanks to Jenn from Peas & Crayons for hosting this awesome link up! Make sure to join in for some WIAW fun! Now on to the eats! In the spirit of Fall, I whipped up a batch of Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes. These were actually pretty good! Especially with Pure Maple Syrup from Trader Joe’s. I had an inspiration recipe but tweaked it a little more towards our taste (and doubled it!)

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For lunch I have been stuck in a Tuna rut. I like tuna because it’s great protein that is usually not too fussy to prepare. I really struggle with finding the oomph to make lunch in the middle of the work at home work day. I’m working on it. I tried Tina’s Curry Tuna Cake and it was pretty good! I served it up with my favorite crunchy snack: Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips. These things are SO good. It’s like a tortilla chip and a cracker. In one. and it has an easy ingredient list too.

I’ve really started to like these neuro drinks lately. My husband got me hooked. I like the neurosonic and neurobliss. They give me a little extra boost in the afternoon!

My afternoon was sorta chaotic so I wanted something easy for dinner. Another Pinterest inspiration FTW! When I saw a recipe dubbed “World’s Best Chicken” I knew I had to try it. I cooked it a tad too long, but other than that it was great. I don’t know if it was World’s Best… but it was good for a quick dinner. I added some Quinoa and Green Beans on the side for a round meal.

I get a lot of my meal inspiration from other blogs and pinterest. Are you on Pinterest? You should follow me! I’m also on twitter, facebook, & instagram. And if that’s not enough… You can follow my blog in your google reader or even get it emailed to you daily! Just click the “+ Google” subscribe button on the right hand side of your screen or enter your email and press subscribe, easy peasy!

What are some of your favorite meals this week? Where do you get your meal inspiration from?