Author: Lauren @ ihadabiglunch

Caprese Salad Salad (recipe)

Why the double salad, you ask? Because I was worried that people would read the title and expect your typical caprese salad, made up primarily of huge chunks of mozzarella on top of sliced tomato and slathered in balsamic. This is not that salad – but it is so much more.

The foundation is arugula, which, up until this point I hadn’t seen a need for. But I can’t stress enough how important arugula is to keep the integrity of this salad. It has a bite, taking this green meal to the next level when combined with the flavors of balsamic glaze, herbs, fresh mozzarella and tomato. It’s everything you’d ever want in a summer salad and more. Plus you just need to make one shopping trip to Trader Joe’s – they have all the ingredients and make it super simple to throw together. Caprese Salad Salad

Ingredients

1 package cherry tomatoes
1 package arugula (mine was 7 oz)
1 package Trader Joe’s mozzarella balls packed in olive oil and herbs
1 bottle Trader Joe’s balsamic glaze

Directions

Combine all ingredients except the glaze and oil from the mozzarella. After your salad is assembled, whisk equal parts oil from the mozzarella container and balsamic glaze and drizzle over the salad.

It’s as simple as that – Enjoy!

Questions:

Do you like arugula?
What’s your favorite product from Trader Joe’s?

Every lesson I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned from Dove chocolate

Ok, slight overstatement, but those Dove squares just get me. Whoever in their PR department decided to write little messages on the wrappers really knew what they were doing.

I was going to write a post on my general lack of self-control when it comes to those little geometric pieces of temptation but instead, I decided to flip the switch and view it in a positive light. So what if I’ve eaten almost an entire bag in the past five days? That’s five days’ worth of confidence-building, life-inspiring, day-changing advice, right? Right!

I kept the wrappers lying around the apartment all week and, after a fun scavenger hunt last night, collected all the best tokens of wisdom I could find, ones that really spoke to me and had an impact on my day-to-day life. So without further ado, the lessons I’ve learned from Dove.

“Stretch your body, stretch your mind”

This one should come as no surprise that it stuck out to me. I think it’s so important to stretch, whether that be stretch physically (which, ironically, is what I’m the worst at), mentally or spiritually. I love to hear other people’s life views and opinions, learn about other cultures and debate over current events and politics. I can’t imagine a life more boring than deciding what you believe and then never being open to hearing other opinions. It’s so good for the brain to “stretch” past its everyday thinking and really branch out to hear and understand the differences in the world.

“Seek out small pleasures” and “Enjoy the small things in life”

I’ve noticed that a lot of people are quick to notice the bad things and skip over the good, especially when it comes to little things. I’d be lying if I said I don’t fall into the same trap, but I’m usually good about stopping to smell the roses, if you catch my drift. I’m known to stop in the middle of a walk to notice a beautiful painting in a store window or cut my run short to sit on the beach and stare out at the lake. You just HAVE to. The world is so miraculous and enough bad things happen on a daily basis that, if you don’t take notice of the good things or make room for small pleasures, you’ll just become one giant stress ball waiting to explode. No Bueno.

“Create a happy place”

I’m definitely guilty of always looking to my surroundings to make me happy. “If I could just not sit at a desk all day I’d be happy,” “If our apartment was cleaner I’d be happy,” “If I had enough money to take more roadtrips I’d be happy.” But maybe happiness will come when I make every moment a “happy place.” It goes back to perspective, which I’ve talked about so many times. Also, I think it’s so important to come up with a ritual that puts you in a happy place. Whether it be a bubble bath or on a yoga mat reading a trashy magazine or in a local coffee shop sipping on a latte, we all need a ritual that centers us. Happy places are out there, just waiting for us to create them.

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful”

This is interesting. The minute I opened this one I laughed because I thought, “Wow, perfect excuse to eat tons of chocolate!” Why is it that my mind always goes to binging on food when I think of rewards, celebrations, “good things”, etc.? Binging on chocolate takes a good thing and turns it bad, because let’s be honest, who feels amazing after scarfing down 35 pieces of chocolate in ten minutes? Too much of a good thing means more than just eating good food – for me it means taking more walks after dinner, staying up an extra hour to see a new episode of Chopped, running an extra mile because I feel a rush of energy at the end of my planned distance, etc.

“Smile”

It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Now listen to some fun music and have a great Friday – the weekend is only hours away!

Questions:

What’s your favorite type of Dove chocolate? I love regular milk chocolate, dark chocolate caramel and dark chocolate sea salt
What’s your favorite cliche lesson you’ve learned? Please don’t say “Dance like nobody’s watching” – this isn’t your 13-year-old dream board… 😉

The 500 (workout)

To cast all your worries aside, no I haven’t dropped down some bottomless sand pit or traveled to a foreign land where there’s no internet connection. Sadly my only excuse for the lack of blogging this week is the “busy epidemic” but instead of complaining I figured I’ll just share a new workout with you!

I created it last night and it really kicked my butt. If you don’t know a certain exercise, that’s nothing a quick Google search can’t fix! Just remember, for reverse crunches, you can either do these with straight legs (more difficult) or with your knees at your chest. I do it with straight legs because it’s an exercise that really challenges your core, something I personally need to work on.

Work it out! Enjoy!

scenes from the weekend

Hi folks! I can’t wait to read about all your weekends. Mine was filled with tons of activity, sunshine, furniture shopping and, of course food. Is anyone else blown away that it’s June? March, April and May flew by but I’m hoping that June will slow its roll so we can enjoy the nice weather that we all deserve so much.

As you saw yesterday, Zain and I started out the weekend by biking to the farmers market early Saturday morning. We didn’t buy anything but it was just nice to walk around and see the options for the future. Next time I’ll be sure to go around lunch time – there were tons of awesome food options! Tacos, fancy grilled cheese, crepes…I was pretty mad I had just eaten breakfast haha. I never like to miss out on food like that.

Breakfast before the market was peanut butter and bananas on a sandwich thin + coffee

Zain finally learned what it takes to date a blogger so he likes to take “spontaneous” pictures of our adventures.

I also noticed that everyone at the farmers market was in athletic gear. These are my people.

After the market I met up my friend Megan for a bootcamp class. It was the last class in my two week pass at Yoga Loft and I really can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss it. Once I have to stop paying all those beginning fees and additional costs of moving I’ll for sure get a 10-pass there to use over the span of a few weeks. That place kicked my butt and I loved every second of it.

The rest of the day was spent furniture shopping. Zain is all about the deals so we ended up biking + walking about five miles or so to a furniture outlet in the middle of nowhere. We felt like we were on a pilgrimage across the Sahara (it was 95 on Saturday) so when we saw 7-Eleven and were sure it wasn’t a mirage, we picked up some Slurpees.

Saturday night I hung out on Megan’s roof watching the sunset and drinking wine, so it was basically the perfect day.

Sunday was spent church-going, grocery shopping and Blackhawks-watching. The weekend was full and fabulous – but don’t think I’d leave you without showing you all the food I ate!

For some random reason I was all about the salads this weekend:

Mixed greens with hard boiled egg, tomato, blue cheese, avocado and balsamic vinaigrette.

Arugula with mozzarella and baby tomatoes (dressed with the oil that the mozzarella was soaking in plus TJ’s balsamic glaze)

But don’t think I just ate salads all weekend – that would just be nonsense.

Mahi mahi with herbes de provence and lemon, breadcrumb and herbes de provence-stuffed tomatoes and roasted brussel sprouts

Spinach-egg white breakfast wrap from Starbucks (plus it looks like the barista was cursing me out haha)

Veggie burger topped with cheddar, bbq sauce and onion straws

It was a blast of a weekend – I even started off Monday right with a 6:00am 4 mile run. Now that summer is here morning runs are going to be a lot more common. Everything is on the up and up!

Happy Monday!

Questions:

What was the best thing you ate this weekend?
What’s your favorite homemade salad combo? I need some new inspiration!
Did you try anything new this weekend?

confessions of a farmers market junkie

Have a great Sunday!

things i love friday: kiddie pools and tacos galore

Aaaaand just like that, it’s Friday again. Don’t you love short workweeks?

Even though it was a short week I still ran into a million things I loved and knew I had to share today with everyone, so without further ado, a few things I love this Friday.

Farmers Markets

Well it’s officially farmers market season and I couldn’t be happier. I love strolling past the dozens of farmers’ stands and checking out the homegrown produce and unique products. From crepe stands to flower stops and some of the freshest fruits and veggies you’ll see in your life, there are few things better than throwing on a casual maxi dress, grabbing all the cash you can find in your house, and walking the sunny streets of a farmers market. I plan on going to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park tomorrow morning, so stay tuned.

2% Greek Yogurt

Why have you all been holding out on me?? The difference between 2% and 0% greek yogurt is like night and day. It was so rich and creamy, it felt almost indulgent. I’ll never buy 0% again – ain’t nobody got time to be afraid of a little fat!

Speaking of that, have you ever put mango in your greek yogurt? Life-changing, I tell you.

Tacos

It must be the warm weather but I’ve had fish tacos three times this week – can’t stop, won’t stop. I’m still on the hunt for the best fish tacos in Chicago – as of now the honor goes to Benchmark in Old Town but I have two places on my must-go list: Antique Taco and Big Star. I guess it’s my taco bucket list 🙂

At-home workouts

When I move to Lincoln Park in a few weeks I plan on signing up for a gym in the area, but until then I’m still using up my Yoga Loft 2-week pass and doing home workouts. If you’re looking for a fast and effective workout that you can do in your living room blasting Kesha, look no further than the Total Body Workout by Body By Jake on Hulu. Because honestly, what’s better than free?

@HiddenCash

Have your heard about this? A millionaire is leaving cash taped all over spots in California, from fire hydrants to park benches. He’s tweeting clues from @HiddenCash and hoping people will “pay it forward”. How heartwarming is that? I love little moments of humanity like that – everyone’s coming together and helping each other find the hidden cash, and then either taking their friends out for dinner/drinks or donating to their favorite charity. It’s such a cool idea and brings a little excitement and unity to the world! Fingers crossed he stops by the Windy City 🙂

Movies and Music in the Park

I promise that one day I’ll stop talking about how great Chicago is in the summer. Today is not that day. Starting next week the city puts on free events multiple times a week such as concerts in the park and outdoor movies. For all the time I’m planning on spending on the grass it’s probably a good idea to invest in some outdoor furniture. How about this?

Is that perfect or is it perfect?

Have a great weekend! Check back tomorrow for a fresh new summer recipe!

Questions:

What are your favorite outdoor activities in the summer?
What’s your favorite kind of taco?
What are your plans this weekend?

Memorial Day 2014: Girls Weekend in Lake Geneva

Good morning guys! Anyone else crazy confused about what day it is? I’m sure most people have gotten over the novelty of the holiday weekend but man it was so good that I just can’t move past it! How could I complain, though, about a fast-moving week? I’m basically in the express lane to the weekend!

It’s rainy and humid here in Chicago on this foggy morning but it seems like summer is finally here to stay. I’m going to take what I can get and not mention how sad I am that we skipped spring, one of my favorite seasons growing up. Considering it was snowing in the suburbs just weeks ago, however, I should really count my blessings that June seems to be right on schedule.

Okay enough with the chit-chat. I have to tell you about my trip!

First things first, if you’re in the Midwest and need an escape, look no further than the beautiful Lake Geneva. I’m not sure if it was the weather, the quaint little shops, our animated hotel Concierge named Chad, or the excitement of all being together, but my friends and I had an absolutely incredible trip.

I woke up early Saturday morning to get a quick run in before my friend Jordan picked me up for the trip. Sidenote: I love the suburb where I’m from. I always make fun of the suburbs of Chicago and how happy I am that I now live in the city, but there’s something so comforting about being able to go home. It’s safe, slow, and has beautiful running routes.

I could just keep running for days…

Anyway, after a quick run to Trader Joe’s to pick up beach snacks we were on our way! I was particularly excited because it was the perfect excuse to use my new picnic basket. There’s a smidgen of 50s housewife in my blood so this made me way too happy.

Snacks included Trader Joe’s greek yogurt kale and spinach dip (it really is as amazing as it sounds) alongside carrots, chopped celery, and whole wheat pita crackers. Oh and homemade “sangria” – white wine, Fresca, and frozen berries. Don’t knock it til you try it!

Best news of the weekend: I didn’t burn! Besides a little redness on my chest I didn’t leave Lake Geneva a hobbling lobster like I usually do. Point, Lauren.

Because I know you’re curious, we definitely ate our way through the city. Between the best ice cream in the country from Kilwin’s (toasted coconut with chocolate shavings) to the slow roasted, pulled chicken sandwich from a lakeside joint called Popeye’s, it’s safe to say I left Lake Geneva stuffed and satisfied. Oh and did I mention they have the cutest Starbucks I’ve ever seen? It was adorable!

I was almost too embarrassed to put the following picture up, but, CRAB CAKES and garlic dressing. Does it get any better than that?

Oh and just so you don’t think I went to Lake Geneva alone… 🙂

I can’t tell you how great it was to have a girls weekend with my friends. It’s been a year since we graduated and even though it seems like our lives are going in all different directions, we’ve done a pretty good job of staying friends. These girls mean the world to me and I’m so lucky that we all lived on the same dorm floor freshman year. I remember leaving for my first year of school and my mom telling me how important it would be to make girlfriends in college. I always had a few girlfriends but mostly guy friends in high school thanks to having a serious boyfriend at the time. I didn’t know if I would make new friends, let alone a group like this. But it happened and now I have friends for life thanks to these lovely women. I really can’t express enough how great it is to have a loving, supportive group of friends like this and it was wonderful to take a three day vacation with them. Oh and did I mention we got friendship bracelets? 23 going on 12 🙂

Questions:

I know I’m late to the party but tell me about your weekend!
Are you still close with your friends from college?

Friday thoughts: it’s SUMMER!

You guys you guys you guys you guuuuuyyyss!!! It’s Memorial Day Weekend! It’s summer! It’s vacation time! It’s beach time! Can you tell I’m excited?

I’ll be heading up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with five of my college friends for a girls weekend. I haven’t been this excited in months – it’s gonna be a weekend full of this:

Oh and don’t forget this:

Million Dollar Arm

Go see it. I cried. Not teared up and wiped them away before people were any the wiser. BAWLED. It was so inspirational and moving. Classic Disney.

I’m doing so well on my New Year’s Resolutions!

Between all the during-the-week concerts I’ve been going to and the meat I’ve been eating, I’m kicking butt at my resolutions. I’m not even going to focus on where I’ve fallen short, because of course I’m a human being so that’s where my mind just went. STOP IT, Lauren. Be proud! 🙂

And yes, Aziz was hilarious! He had so many funny thoughts on modern romance in the digital age. I highly recommend going to see him if he comes to your area!

Jamie Lynn Spears

When I heard that Jamie Lynn Spears was releasing a Country album I rolled my eyes so far back I thought for sure they wouldn’t come back. It seems like anyone and their mother can be a singer these days. But wow…as much as I’ll always love Britney as a performer I think we picked the wrong Spears to let sing. This girl is GOOD! And I love her as a Country singer…her voice is perfect for it and it shows that she isn’t doing it just for the fame that you get when you become a Pop singer in Hollywood. Check her out, skeptics!

Hot Pink

I’m pretty sure this is the only color I’m going to wear all summer.

Oh yeah…about that juice cleanse

I lasted 12 hours and then I got Chipotle. Can we not talk about it?

Recipe I’m dying to make

I’m not sure why but this recipe is calling to me.

Questions:

Any Memorial Day Weekend Plans?
What’s a recipe that caught your eye this week?
Any new running songs I should add to my playlist?

WIAW: turkey burgers and MEGA m&ms

Ahhh what a beautiful morning. I set my alarm for 6am instead of 7am thinking it would give me a nice sense of peace and calm in the morning and boy was I right. The sun is already up (have I mentioned how much I love summer?), coffee is brewing, and I have plennnnnty of time to get you a quality post (something that’s been lacking the past few days).

As I went to bed last night, storms surrounded the apartment and lightning was flashing back and forth all around the skyline. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in awhile. Isn’t it funny how cozy storms are when you’re inside and all set for the night? But the minute rain strikes during the day I curse the gods. Perspective is a funny thing, isn’t it?

Since I haven’t shared my eats lately I’m going to share a few different meals for my WIAW. I’ve just been making so many yummy things that it would be a shame not to share with my favorite bloggers 🙂

Breakfasts

I really think Pooh is onto something. I knew he was my childhood hero for a reason 🙂 Yesterday’s breakfast was a Mexican breakfast burrito complete with two eggs, cheddar cheese, black beans and salsa, all stuffed into a La Tortilla Factory tortilla. So much protein in such a compact breakfast…that gets me excited.

And since I didn’t share pictures from this past weekend I have to show you the brunch I made for Zain and me on Sunday. Eggs, hash browns, and homemade pancakes. I woke up bright and early (10am lol) Sunday morning, biked to Trader Joe’s, got the supplies (and the flowers) and made a nice meal just because. It put me in an amazing mood all day just to have spent some time cooking.

Lunches

Am I the only one who almost always forgets to snap a picture of my lunch? I’m so good about breakfast, dinner and snacks, but whenever lunch rolls around I’m just like GET IN MA BELLY. This lunch is an exception, though, because it’s a $15 DOLLAR SALAD. It pains me to buy it but sometimes I just crave it. It’s the signature chopped salad from Freshii and includes basically everything but the kitchen sink: field greens, edamame, sunflower seeds, goat cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries, avocado, broccoli, egg whites, salmon and balsamic vinaigrette. Eating this salad is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest, in my opinion. So rewarding.

My favorite lunch this weekend came in the form of what else but a TUNA MELT 🙂 Very few foods get me as happy as a big, gooey tuna melt. Zain and I biked to visit our new apartment in Lincoln Park and found this little diner right next to our new place and decided to stop in. It’s already been decided that this will be our new place after church on Sundays.

And equally as exciting, look what’s next door…

Guys…I’m so excited for how many cool food places there are by our new place! Molly’s Cupcakes is just one of the many options including a Hawaiian fast food place, an empanada cafe, and a Korean BBQ place. My WIAW’s are gonna get so exciting so stay tuned!

Snacks

I’ve made some great snack discoveries lately (most not so healthy so bear with me). I realize that it looks like I’ve basically been diving head first into the sugar pool all week but I promise I’ve spread it out (not that any of you all judge anyway, you beautiful bloggy saints. You just get me).

Did you know that m&ms come in MEGA size now? Just what I needed….my favorite candy in mega size. Sigh. Thank god one pieces are back in style because food is just getting way too good.

I also made my world-famous chocolate chip cookies for a viewing party of The Bachelorette we went to on Monday (check out the recipe in my Food section, you won’t be sorry!)

Dinners

Someone was grillling at the Bachelorette viewing party on Monday. One thing led to another and I tried a turkey burger for the first time. Where have these been all my life?! I must have sounded like a crazy person going around the room asking WHO BOUGHT THESE and WHERE CAN I FIND THEM? (Especially considering I only knew three people there. Oh well I’m proud to be “turkey burger girl” if that’s what came out of it). Of course I was too busy scarfing it down to take a picture but I found one online – they’re from Whole Foods!

So many amazing grilling opportunities this summer.

Dinner last night came after a fun run along the lake right before the storm hit. It was really cool watching the sky turn gray and even made me run a little faster praying to sweet baby Jesus that I didn’t ruin my iPhone. (Excuse the selfie but I just got these new Lululemon shorts and had to make sure you approve).

Should I move to Jersey?

Oh right you want to see dinner pics, not my face.

Dinner post-run was baked chicken Parmesan with a side of green beans. I doubled up on the green beans post-picture – I’ve been back to loving veggies lately so I get as many as possible.

Well if you made it all the way to the bottom of this post, you are truly a gem. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Chicago is currently being consumed by fog so it should be an interesting walk to work. Happy Wednesday!

Questions

Do you watch The Bachelorette? Who’s your pick? I LOVE the farmer!
Have you ever had a turkey burger? What do you think?
Do you live next to any cool food places that tempt you all day every day?
What did you have for dinner last night? Inspire me!

why did you start a blog?

Hey guys – I’m slammed at work so you’ll have to forgive me for this short post. But I did have a quick thought cross my mind so this seems like just as good as any time to get to know you all a little better. So on this sunny Tuesday morning I’m curious….

Why did you start a blog?
What was the first blog you read that got you hooked?
Why do you think you continue to blog, even during days/weeks/months when you don’t feel like you have enough to write about?

Talk to me! 🙂

i had a big lunch

Because dreaming about food and fitness was no longer enough

Author: Lauren @ ihadabiglunch

Caprese Salad Salad (recipe)

Every lesson I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned from Dove chocolate

The 500 (workout)

scenes from the weekend

confessions of a farmers market junkie

things i love friday: kiddie pools and tacos galore

Memorial Day 2014: Girls Weekend in Lake Geneva

Friday thoughts: it’s SUMMER!

WIAW: turkey burgers and MEGA m&ms

why did you start a blog?