Rapid Fire Updates!

Okay quick rapid fire post! I'm in the middle of study for a chemistry exam tomorrow, but I need a break so what better way to do so than by telling you guys about my week/weekend at a mile a minute.

First food...food is always first....

So many smoothies in the past week! When school gets crazy and I have hardly any time to prepare food, throwing stuff into the blender is a great way to make a quick, but filling meal!

In this particular concoction went almond milk, ground flax seed (maybe a little too much of it), a little almond butter, strawberries, and half a banana.

Carrots and quinoa (with spinach mixed in) made more appearances than I'm willing to admit last week. 

Then after a busy week at school I got to go home for a relaxing weekend visiting with my family. Joey came too and we got to see my brother's cross country meet on Friday night! He ran a great race...as usual. I played proud sister and cheered Evan on throughout the race plus annoyed him for pictures afterward :) 

Joey and Evan <3

I got to see one of my best friends from high school, Meredith, race too! I can't believe she's already a senior and XC team captain! So proud of her :) 

Go Mer Go!

Yaya! I'm not sure what her exact time was, but she seriously looked like she was having a great race. GO PDXC! 

After the race my parents and I took Joey out to a unique restaurant in Charlotte called Cowfish which specializes in burgers, sushi, and burger sushi combos called "burgushi". It's a huge menu to sift through, but the food is always good and worth the hour and a half wait!

Mom and Dad <3 

I started with a ahi tuna + avocado appetizer that came in a martini glass! And then had a spinach salad with salmon, strawberries, and goat cheese. 

A little blurry,sorry-Joey got a "Bento Box Fusion Combo" which included a slider, edamame, sweet potato fries, sushi, and a cucumber salad. So much food! 

The rainy Saturday was spent in total relaxation mode. I took a much needed day off of studying and working out in favor of laying on the couch all day watching Homeland (aka-such a good show!!).

Meals for the day included breakfast of Ezekiel flax crunch cereal +berries and almond milk. Tea too of course! Lunch was some carrots+hummus and a taste test of two delicious vegan soups that my mom made-tomato basil and lentil! Mmmm so perfect for a rainy lazy day. We were planning on going out to dinner but our laziness got the better of us so we decided to order out (good thing we did, apparently the restaurant was PACKED). We ordered food from a restaurant called Cabo Fish Taco. It has a great menu full of mexican food with california twists. So good. I got a salad with grilled tuna and later had an apple with almond butter and some air popped popcorn while STILL watching Tv on the couch. *Disclaimer- these lugly days (lazy+ugly) are a rare occurrence for me...seriously...once in a blue moon.*

Workouts all last week were pretty scattered in terms of time of day/ amount of time/ intensity. When school gets crazy, it's hard to keep a consistent gym schedule because no matter what, school comes first. Therefore, I just fit in gym time whenever I can and try not to push things too hard so I don't get overly exhausted. Most days last week consisted of some medium distance runs (4-6.5 miles) and time on the elliptical as well because my ankles have been bothering me lately so I'm trying to prevent any injury before the half marathon (T-13 days!!). After my day off yesterday I did find time to run to the gym today once I got back to Baltimore. Quick 5.35 miles and I was off to the library for studying! Wish me luck on my exam tomorrow!...I'll need it....

I'm off! Be back later in the week.

A Low Key Weekend and a 10K!

It was a pretty low key weekend for Jordan. I had/still have a number of exams and tests this coming week so I knew I needed to take advantage of the weekend to catch up on sleep and studies. Definitely not the most fun weekend I've ever had, but hey, when you go to Hopkins, you do what you gotta do.

I also mad slacked on taking pics of food this weekend...the only one I managed to get was of my lunch Friday. My apologies. 

Warmed up quinoa and cooked veggies on a bed of arugula with cranberries and goat cheese mixed in. 'Nanner on the side!

 The weather this weekend has been gorgeous! I couldn't resist being a nerd and taking a picture of my beautiful campus.

90% of my weekend was spent with these two lovely ladies, Sami and Lara (aka-my Sirens besties). We all had a lot of work so they were kind enough to keep me company in the library all weekend as well as relax with a movie night Friday night :) 

Sami <3

Lara <3

The only eventful thing that happened this weekend was that I ran a 10k Sunday morning! My alarm went off at the still dark hour of 6:30am and I rolled out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the race in a half-asleep zombie like state. Somehow I managed to munch on a banana and 1/2 a piece of wheat toast to fuel me for the race that began at 8am. 

Luckily I had some company with me! To be honest, if they hadn't agreed to go with me, I'm not sure if I would have had the strength to get up this morning. So glad they joined! They pushed me so much and I ended up finishing with a great time of 54:30! My chip said 56 minutes, but my watch said 54:30 so let's go with that. Averaging 8:45 minute miles for 6.2 miles was better than I expected to do so I'm pretty pleased! My next goal is to hopefully run a 10 miler before the half marathon in October!

Katie and Battina=speed demons.

Nerd selfy with my race number (yes, I realize that it's backwards)....

That's all I got for now! See you guys later in the week! 

Quick and Easy Eats!

This week of meals has been all about convenience. My class schedule is really strange this year in that I have a lot of awkward gaps of time in between classes and sometimes those gaps fall around meal times. Usually I'm trying to be as productive as I can during this spurts of 30 minutes or an hour hear and there, and that definitely doesn't leave a lot of time to cook meals. With that being said, I also don't love to spend money all the time going out to restaurants or ordering food to go because it just adds up really quickly and I am on a meal plan. Here's a look at what I've been doing to eat well this week without spending a lot of time or money.

First up, protein shakes and smoothies! I've followed in Sophie's footsteps and have been hooked on these frozen treats lately. Every morning this week I've taken a protein shake to class with me via with the help of a solo cup and straw. In the blender goes ice, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop organic Trader Joe's coffee, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, a little unsweetened vanilla hemp milk, and flaxseed. Quick and easy! You could also add a scoop of almond butter in there for an extra protein punch! 

Today I had a protein shake for breakfast and then was in a huge hurry to get to my 1:30 class but was starving so I quickly whipped up a SMOOTHIE to go! Ice, 1/2 banana, raspberries, 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, unsweetened vanilla hemp milk, and a little greek yogurt all into the blender to make a deliciously fast meal to sip on during class. 

Yeahhhh blended meal two-a-days.

With such little time, sometimes lunch is as pathetic as this. A kind bar and a fruit cup I grabbed from one of our food courts before going to Chemistry Lab for 3 hours (you don't know misery until you've had to be locked in chemistry lab for hours). 

Quick sautéing of VEGGIES! I can't get enough of them this week! I really great way I like to save a little money is to use the "dining dollars" allotted to me through my meal plan to buy a bunch of raw veggies from the salad bar at our food court and then bring them up to my room to cook them for dinner! 

Green and delicious. Also some tofu in there from the salad bar.

Lately I've also been cooking things in bulk and then putting the leftovers in tupperware and throwing them in the fridge so that I can quickly grab them and heat them up for lunch the next day if I need to. Easy as cake!..only it's carrots :) I do this with veggies and quinoa mostly.

I had a little more time to make tonight's dinner so I had some elegant canned tuna, heated up tomato soup, and sautéd veggies. I also had some of those cooked carrots. 

Switching gears, tis the season for colds. It seems like everyone around me has a cough, a runny nose, watery eyes, etc. Just the other day a girl sat down next to me in chem lab lecture and was almost hacking up her lungs the whole class. I felt so bad for her plus I'm paranoid about catching other people's colds. I hate being sick (and hardly every am!) so I've been taking extra caution to protect my body against sickness this season. Enter extra Purel, Emergen-C (vitamin C packets you mix in water), Kombucha, and tea (well tea probably doesn't really prevent a cold, but it's very comforting). 

So much studying lately too. We're coming up on the first round of midterms here at Hopkins which is never a fun time, but at least I have friends to keep me company in my second home--the library.

A Week Later....

This week, like most, has been a crazy one. I'll jump right into things to fill you in!

Lots of good home cooked food:

Steamed farmers' market broccoli

Broccoli, goat cheese, and dried cranberries mixed in with quinoa (notice the Belle spoon)

Egg white scramble, steamed edamame, carrots +hummus, and tomato soup

Whole Foods Shopping Trip!

Picking out a plant for decoration

'Nanners galore! 

Obviously much of the weeks' food went un-pictured but I feel like it would be pretty redundant and boring for me to go back type out everything for you guys. Just know that it included a lot of egg white scrambles, quinoa, carrots, greek yogurt, and apples (they're in season right now so definitely take advantage of that if you can!).

Workouts have been un-exciting too. Just long runs every day in preparation for the 10K I'm running next weekend and the half marathon in October! I even got Joey to run a 6-miler with me outside the other day. The weather here has been so nice that outdoor runs are hard to pass up!

Other than that, nothing else really new has been going on. I promise I'll do a couple of posts this week with more thorough updates, but this is all I have for now! Also, look forward to a few guest posts from  healthy and fit friends of mine coming up!

Have a great start to the week!

Audition Weekend :)

Hi there! I'm finally back from the other side of audition weekend. It was a longggg few days, but so worth it! Let me explain...

My a cappella group (The Sirens) along with all of the a cappella groups on campus held auditions this weekend to accept new members. After three days filled with hours and hours of listening to girls come in and sing for us, we ended up choosing three newbies to join the group!

Look how cute they are! From left- Katie, Madi, and Cara. I'm kind of obsessed with them....

Due to auditions, my weekend was a little all over the place in terms of eats and workouts. Being cooped up in a room all day is bound to throw things off. I'll do my best to explain...

Friday Eats:

Breakfast- Usual nonfat plain greek yogurt, crofter's jam, flax, strawberries, Whole foods fiber o's

Lunch- 1 slice whole wheat toast spread with light swiss cheese spread and hummus. Apple too!

Dinner (at auditions)-egg whites scrambled with spinach, quinoa, a little melted light provolone, and dried cranberries on top! It might sound like a strange combo, but it's delicious. Carrots and hummus, an apple, and a piece of whole wheat toast. 

To get through the long night of auditions, we obviously had to have snacks :)

Some of us were a little tired during auditions and found any place to take a nap during breaks...

Saturday Eats:
Breakfast- A to go bowl of nonfat greek yogurt, berries, flax, crofter's jam, and fiber o's
Lunch- Wheat berry salad from the market around the corner from campus. Apple and banana on the side.

Lara enjoyed the wheat berry salad avec moi.

Dinner- Fruit, veggie, and tofu salad from one of the school's cafeteria type place. Banana on the side. Also I got hungry later that night during auditions so I had some air popped popcorn and dark chocolate that I had intentionally thrown in my bag for that purpose. 

On another break, we had mouth catching goldfish competitions. Teehee...the things we do to keep ourselves entertained. 

Sunday Eats: 
Breakfast- Oatmeal with flax mixed in, berries, and some raisins sprinkled on top.
Lunch-

Packed to go and eaten during day 3 of auditions. Quinoa, carrots, Trader Joes "reduced fat, reduced guilt" pita chips and a light swiss cheese wedge. Apple from the farmers' market packed as a snack too!

Dinner- Cooked broccoli and carrots with scrambled egg whites. Apple with almond butter and a banana. 

Monday Eats:

Breakfast- "peanut butter and jelly oatmeal" cooked oatmeal + flax + farmers' market raspberries, a little almond butter, and 1/2 banana. It was delicious and kept me full until my late lunch at 2:30pm.

Lunch- Whole wheat sandwich thin with light swiss cheese spread, spinach, and quinoa. Farmers' market apple on the side! AND THEN my roommate Lauren had 72 mini cupcakes in our room because it's her birthday today. So naturally I had to try two. Vanilla with vanilla frosting for cupcake one, and then a peanut butter chocolate was irresistible! 

Dinner- soy chai from Carma's Cafe along with a cup of their gazpacho soup. Apple and a piece of whole wheat toast on the side! YUM!

PhOtOsHoOt teheh

Alright I'm off to finish homework and get some zzz's! 

Pham Eats Good...

My Phi Mu Phamily knows how to eat!

My distantly related Phamily cousin/roomie Sophie makes delicious protein shakes and chickpea mash (among other things) so I asked her to share the recipes so I could post them on here!

Sophie's Protein Shakes: 
Into the blender goes:
ice cubes
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop of instant coffee
1 scoop of chocolate Spiru-tein (a protein powder made with spirulina)
Blend ingredients together until they are the proper consistency.
half a banana (optional)

Sophie says these shakes have a mocha flavor to them that's delicious. I have yet to try one myself, but they look so good! She also says they're a great breakfast that keeps her full until lunch. Can't wait to try it out!

Sophie's Chickpea Mash: 
Into a food processor goes:
pre-cooked canned chickpeas (plus a little of the juice from the can)
olive oil
garlic
salt and pepper
Blend together ingredients until properly mixed together. Doesn't necessarily have to be as creamy as hummus. The batch she made the other day was a little chunkier and it was soooo good.

Enjoy!


If that wasn't enough good food for one pham, I had dinner tonight my twin (meaning we share the same big) Haley and my big big, Ashley (we missed you Jordan!). I packed my own dinner because my stomach issues have been especially hindering lately, but they ended up cooking almost exactly what I brought!

Quinoa with spinach, craisins, and light provolone melted on top. Chickpea mash with carrots and an apple + almond butter (for a teensy bit more protein) on the side! 

They made quinoa mixed with olive oil, garlic, feta cheese and sautéd zuchinni, red peppers, green peppers, and onions. It looked delicious! 

Whoever thinks quinoa isn't trending...is dumb...

Other meals have been far from new and/or exciting so I won't go into them.

As far as exercise goes, that has also been pretty boring and uneventful I'm afraid. Like I said last post, I have been focusing on doing longer runs (at a slower pace) more frequently in preparation for a half-marathon. Yesterday I ran 6.5 miles, and today I ran 7.5.

Alright I'm off to do some homework while watching Four Weddings and munching on air popped popcorn...somehow I doubt I will get that much work done.

Night!