Peas in a Blog

Tips for Eating Out as a Vegetarian.

May 18, 2012 by Katie

My husband and I are visiting my parents in Iowa right now. We’re leaving next week, it’s been great spending time with family. But, it’s not easy being a vegetarian around these parts. You can’t even buy Boca burgers in my hometown–which means I’ve been eating WAY too much pasta (I’m not complaining too much!).

But, I have learned a few tricks for eating out. Especially at some of the chains that don’t offer much for vegetarians. Here’s a list of a few nationwide restaurants, and what I usually order.

Applebee’s

I worked here in college, this was pre-vegetarian, so I can’t order my college staples. We went last week with my parents, and I was surprised that they still don’t have a single vegetarian option on the menu. Even their entree salads have chicken.

So, I ordered a half Oriental Chicken Salad sans Chicken. It was filling and the noodles added a little crunch.

As we were walking in, my husband said that he has never had good service at Applebees. And, since I worked there, I was quick to say that of course this Applebees would be different. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The service was the worst I’ve had in a long time. Bummer! I hate when he’s right

Chili’s

Chili’s has a vegetarian burger on their menu. But, I’m not always feeling a burger, so I’m always looking for something else vegetarian on the menu.

Last time we went to chili’s I ordered the Quesadilla Explosion Salad. Since they have a veggie burger on their menu, they were able to exchange the grilled chicken for the veggie burger. This is nice, because I hate asking them to leave off the chicken and then still pay the same price.

Ruby Tuesdays

My last experience with Ruby Tuesdays was not a great one. There was one near my house in Orlando, but it was sketchy to say the least. But, they opened one near my parent’s house so we went to check it out the other day. I was pleasantly surprised with the vegetarian options on the menu.

They had these Zucchini Cake Minis that were made with red peppers and feta cheese, and topped with traditional burger toppings that looked pretty tasty. And then, they also had a veggie platter–you order 3 sides and it includes the salad bar. They have a great variety of sides, so this is what I chose. I went with the green beans, mac & cheese and sweet potato fries (my husband’s pick)–it was all tasty and filling. I appreciated having at least a couple options. That doesn’t happen very often around these parts!

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31Bits Summer Collection.

May 17, 2012 by Katie

We take a break from our regularly scheduled vegetarian and fitness posts for some summer jewelry fun. As you know, I lived in Africa for the last 4 years. We’re currently living in the States, but my connection to Africa runs deep. I love finding organizations that support women in Africa–especially those that help women rise above poverty.

3 1Bits launched their summer collection today. If you are looking for a gift for someone (or for yourself!), this is a great place to shop. You can shop online or 31Bits is carried in stores across the US.

I love they offer a great resources for the women that work with them, like:

English Lessons
Finance Training
Community Groups
AIDS and Health Education
Vocational Training

This one is majorly on my wish list!

What’s on your wish list for this summer?

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Love Grown Foods Giveaway Winner.

May 16, 2012 by Carolina

The verdict’s in: You guys love good granola as much as I do! Over 40 of you entered for a chance to win my favorite granola brand, Love Grown Foods. We used a random number selector & the winner is…

Commenter #29!

Congratulations Jordan! We will be emailing you today to get your mailing information to send some Love Grown Foods Granola your way! Enjoy!

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Vegan Ricotta.

May 16, 2012 by Carolina

Who said you can’t have cheese as a vegan? Well technically you can’t have “real” cheese but there are plenty of vegan options out there you can substitute for popular cheeses like mozzarella & cheddar. I’ll admit, though I think the vegan substitutes at the store are okay I’ve yet to discover a vegan cheese I love, that is, until now. I recently discovered vegan ricotta & was blown away — it’s seriously tasty! My friend Joe told me he made vegan ricotta with tofu at home & I’m not gonna lie, my head kind of spun — I had never thought about making ricotta out of tofu!

Joe likes his vegan ricotta plain, just straight up tofu, but you know me, I like my flava (as in flavor, just went Miami on you). Below is the combination I feel tastes the most like creamy, delicious ricotta cheese. Are you ready for this? It’s going to rock your socks off.

Ingredients (makes 1 cup of ricotta)

7 ounces extra firm tofu (half a block)

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

First things first: make sure to drain the tofu for at least 15 minutes. Crumble the tofu & place in a food processor with garlic, olive oil, salt & oregano & pulse until it reaches the smooth consistency of ricotta — that’s it! It’s that simple!

Trust me when I tell you this tastes so similar to ricotta it’s crazy! I love topping off my pasta with it (this time I topped my zucchini noodles with it — so good!), stuff peppers or shells with it, even spread it on wraps. Absolutely delicious, full of protein & so awesome.

Have you tried vegan substitute cheeses? What’s your favorite?

Make sure to swing by later today to find out who won our Love Grown Foods Granola giveaway!

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Meet the Girls: CrossFit Betty.

May 15, 2012 by Carolina

Have you entered our Love Grown Foods Granola giveaway yet? Today’s your last day to enter, don’t miss out & enter now!

Can I just say I love hearing from you guys? It brings a smile to my face when you tell me you ran your first 5k. That you tried to go meatless for one meal a week. That you tried CrossFit. I also love receiving your questions, though I’m just a fitness aficionado I love to help.

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about CrossFit, particularly about benchmark workouts aka “the girls”. CrossFit benchmark workouts, which are timed & are meant to track your progress, are named after girls. As you all know, I do CrossFit with a group of amazing people once a week. The rest of the week I make it a point to do at least one more CrossFit workout at home (that’s one of the wonderful things about CrossFit, you can modify the workouts & do them at home).

Most of the time our coach gives us a workout to do at home but every now & again I check the CrossFit page, pick out a WOD (workout of the day), & do it on my own. A few days ago I did the Betty at my condo’s gym:

CrossFit Betty

12 Push Press

20 Box Jumps

5 Rounds Total

Push presses are easy if you have access to the equipment. Simply pick a weight you can lift over your head that is challenging but doable — these should be hard (I went with 45lbs). Pick your weight & get the bar ready for the workout, then move on to set up a box jump station.

If you don’t have a box, that’s no problem, stack stepping steps or us a steady bench. My gym has stacking steps so I stacked 8 of them on top of each other & I had a “box jump” station. Now I was ready for the Betty.

Form is the number one priority when doing CrossFit so make sure you keep good form throughout. How do you do that? For the push press, make sure you bend your knees slightly to push the bar up & project your back. Don’t arch your back when you’re push the weight up, posture is key. For the box jumps simply keep your legs together & jump up onto the “box”, then jump the same way down.

Set your timer (iPhone works great) & go at it — hard! 12 push presses, 20 box jumps, repeat for 5 rounds. You’ll finish the workout in less than 15 minutes, you’ll be sweaty & get a great workout, trust me! Keep track of your weight & your time & give the Betty a try a few months down the road to track your progress.

And there you have it, you’ve now met Betty. She’s a fiesty one but you’ll like her, promise. Plus, if you treat her well she’ll be good to you — you will see results. Let me know if you try the Betty, I would love to hear all about it!

Have you tried CrossFit yet? If so, who’s your favorite “girl”?

Disclaimer: I’m not a certified CrossFit trainer, just someone who really enjoys it. Please be careful when you try these exercises at home.

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Round-Up of Recent Travel Articles.

May 11, 2012 by Katie

First of all….have you entered the giveaway for Love Grown Foods Granola yet? You definitely should!

I may have told you all a while back that I also write for Go Green Travel Green. I realized this week that I haven’t been great about sharing my posts with you all–because we’re so passionate about travel, we assume that many of you are too!

So, here a few of my recent posts:

- Best Farmers’ Markets in the United States — What do you love about your local farmers market?

- Jobs with Travel Perks and Discounts – If you love to travel, there are great jobs out there that offer steller travel discounts.

- 7 Tips for Taking Great Travel Photos – I had a little help from my husband on this one. I love taking photos–but he’s definitely the pro in our family.

- Why use a travel agent? - I definitely consider myself a do-it-yourself traveler, but there are time that I find travel agents invaluable. These are a few reasons why.

We know many of you write various places on the web–be sure to leave links in the comments, we’d love to check out your posts!

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Barre54.

May 10, 2012 by Carolina

Have I ever told you I used to take ballet back in the day? There was a time in my life where I would lace up ballet flats, wear pink tights & spend time at the bar practicing 1st, 2nd, 3rd positions…plies…shanay turns…I loved it! So much so that when I went to Florida State for college I enrolled in several ballet classes; time at the ballet bar for me has always been so enjoyable.

Madame Miriam, my ballet teacher in high school, used to say “fundamentals are the building blocks of life” — Madame Miriam was right! Barre54, a charming fitness studio in Winter Park, made me reminisce about Madame Miriam, her wise words, & my time in ballet class. I think we can all agree: ballerinas are fit. From their arms to their legs, ballerinas are pure muscle because the fundamentals of ballet are hard work — hard work that is good for you! So with this in mind Victoria & I were lucky enough to buy a Groupon to experience all that Barre54 has to offer.

I will admit, I was both excited & terrified to go. Excited because I love ballet & met Heather, an instructor at Barre54, at our last Central Florida Lady Bloggers meet up. Terrified because I haven’t hit the barre in a long, long time. Luckily, as soon as I met the instructor, I was at ease.

Sara was our instructor; she walked us through a full body working ousing the barre for traditional ballet techniques as well as yoga stretches, pilates moves & even weights — all this in 54 minutes (hence the name Barre54). As soon as we walked into the studio Sarah made us feel welcomed, she was awesome! For starters, the music we worked out to was awesome. Sara timed our moves perfectly as we began with small weights (2lbs per Sara’s suggestion which I was glad for because 2lbs can be very heavy after muscle exhaustion!), moved on to core work, hit the barre, & finished with abs & yoga stretches. We finished the class getting a great workout, hitting muscles we didn’t even know we had — I loved it!

Needless to say I’m very excited to take full advantage of the Groupon (5 classes for $45 — a steal!) & hit the barre, go back to fundamentals. If you’re looking for a great full body workout like nothing you’ve experienced before I highly recommend you try barre. If you’re in Central Florida check out Barre54 or check out a free barre class at Lululemon next Saturday, 5/19 at 8:30am offered by Barre54. I promise you’ll love it!

Have you ever tried a barre class?

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PS. Don’t forget to enter our giveaway for delicious Love Grown Foods Granola — you won’t be disappointed!

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Spread the Love Parfait…& a Giveaway!

May 9, 2012 by Carolina

I love granola, I mean, who doesn’t? It’s crunchy, it’s sweet, it’s nutritious; you really can’t go wrong! The wonderful people at Love Grown Foods discovered my granola obsession & sent me a box full of delicious granola treats — they know the way to my heart. I’ve been eating granola non-stop because I’ll confess, Love Grown Granola is addicting. Not only is it addicting, it’s gluten free! My favorite way to enjoy this delicious granola has become yogurt parfaits, the one below rocks my socks off every single time. Make this, make this now! Trust me.

Ingredients (makes 1 delicious parfait)

6 ounces your favorite greek yogurt (my current fave is honey fig)

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

1/4 cup Simply Oats Love Grown granola

Honey, to taste (optional; agave nectar works well too!)

Spoon half of yogurt in bottom of your glass then top with half of the berries & Simply Oats Love Grown Granola & repeat. Drizzle a little honey on top & enjoy!

If you don’t have Love Grown Granola, or have never experienced its goodness, you’re in luck cause we’re going to give some away to you! We want to share the awesome box of goodies we got from Love Grown Foods with you; we want to share the love! Here’s what you’ll get:

Several samples of Simply Oats, Raisin Almond Crunch & Sweet Cranberry Pecan Love Grown Granola
4 coupons for 4 free bags of your favorite Love Grown Granola. If you live somewhere you can’t get Love Grown no worries, we’ll send you the actual bags!
4 $1 off coupons so you can give your friends, Love Grown is too good to keep to yourself!
Love Grown stickers/decals telling you how awesome you are (we love these!)

You have several ways to enter:

Leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite granola flavor or recipe
Follow us on Twitter & tweet about this giveaway, then leave a comment here to let us know. Make sure to include a link to this post & our Twitter handle (@peasinablog) so we can retweet you!
Like our page on Facebook & comment here to let us know

You have until this Tuesday, 5/15 to enter; we will be randomly selecting a winner from the comments on Wednesday, 5/16. Good luck!

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Egg Salad Boats.

May 8, 2012 by Carolina

One of my best friends is pregnant right now (Hi Marcy!) & I swear I’m having sympathy cravings, ha! My body’s been craving a lot of things I don’t typically crave lately, like egg salad for example.

I don’t eat eggs often but I do enjoy them when I do eat them, especially when made into egg salad. I was at home yesterday & desperately wanted an egg salad sandwich but didn’t have any bread at the house so I decided to make egg salad boats instead: crunchy, delicious & with less carbs!

Ingredients (Makes 4 boats)

3 large eggs, boiled

1/2 cup celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

1 tablespoon vegenaise (or mayonaise)

1/2 tablespoon coarse mustard (grainy)

Salt & pepper, to taste

4 large endive leaves

Paprika, to taste (optional)

I’m convinced the key to a great egg salad is how you boil the eggs. Just like poached eggs, boiled eggs have a technique all of their own. Here’s how to boil perfect eggs for egg salad. In a pot, place the eggs & cover with cold water until they’re submerged about 1/2 inch or so & bring to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat, cover the pot & let the eggs sit for 7 – 8 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water & place in an ice water bath for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking. Peel your perfectly hard boiled eggs to place in a mixing bowl.

Add celery, chives, vegenaise (mayo works well too), mustard, salt & pepper & mash all ingredients together with a fork. I like my egg salad with texture so I don’t mash them for long, just enough to fully mix ingredients together.

Place endive leaves on a serving plate & top with a generous amount of egg salad. Sprinkle paprika on top of the egg salad boats for a little color & smokey flavor. Buen provecho!

These are great to enjoy as a meal, a side or as finger food for a party. I guarantee you’ll love these!

Are you an egg salad fan?

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Vegetarian Cinco de Mayo Recipes.

May 4, 2012 by Katie

What are you doing for Cinco de Mayo tomorrow? We love Mexican-inspired recipes around here, so we’re excited to whip up some of our favorites.

If you haven’t planned your menu yet, here are some of our favorite recipes from Peas in a Blog that would be perfect for any Cinco de Mayo celebration!