roasted beet, goat cheese, and walnut salad with a classic vinagrette

Heyoo! I finished my two finals today and I AM SO STOKED FOR SPRING BREAK. Although I will be studying for the MCAT for (hopefully) several hours a day, I am still excited to go back home to Texasssss. While I do love Northern California, there truly is no place like Austin. The people are weird. The food is both cutting edge and down n’ dirty tasty. The city is intertwined with natural springs, lakes, mountains, and creeks. The shopping is bomb. And, for me, every nook and cranny of the city is associated with a memory, most good and some bad – but all a part of me .

Anywho. Breakfast was at 7:30 am before my 8 am final. I had a belgian waffle  (duh) with freshly made cake batter cashew butter and it rocked my world. It may not have been the wisest idea to devote those extra 10 minutes to making fresh cashew butter instead of last minute studying – but it was worth it.

Cake Batter Cashew Butter Recipe

• 1 cup roasted cashews
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (I used half regular, half sweetened )
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• a couple drops stevia extract
• dash salt, to taste (esp. if the cashews weren’t salted)

For whatever reason, tests make me hungry. Maybe its the stress. Or maybe its the brain burning through all the glucose. Whatever it is, I couldn’t wait past 11:30am to get some grub into my belly. Lunch was an experiment that ended up going so right. I totally winged it, which often ends up being incredibly lackluster or a super-fail. It involved frying things in coconut oil. I am too lazy to upload the photos right now, so lets pretend I had this gorgeous ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVE salad – which I actually had three times earlier this week because it is that good.

roasted beet, goat cheese, and walnut salad with a citrus balsamic vinaigrette

Recipe: Serves 1

inspired by alexandra cooks

for the dressing

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic
• 1 tbsp or half a Cutie’s juice
• 1 small shallot or 2 tbsp, chopped
• fresh ground pepper + dash salt

for the salad

• 4 cups baby greens
• 1 roasted beet, cubed
• 1/4 cup cucumber, chopped
• 1 oz goat cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts (black if possible)

directions -

Ahead of time, rinse and roast 1 (or more!!) beets in the oven at 425 degrees for an hour, or until easily pierced. Place/store in the fridge to cool.

Chop the shallots and place in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and press the shallots into the oil with a spoon. Add the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and a few grinds of freshly ground pepper and stir.

Toss the greens, cuc, and beets with the dressing. Top with goat cheese and walnuts. Enjoy!!

Then I had my second final, GI physiology and that was fineeee. Some of the questions were epic.

“According to the professor, what is the best way to defecate?”

Answer = SQUATTING. Without a doubt. It aligns your sigmoid colon into a linear pathway for maximal evacuation with minimal effort.

“According to the professor in lecture, why should one never resisnt the urge to go use the bathroom?”

Answer = Because every time your contract your external anal sphincter to make the urge go away, you send it right back up there and the colon automatically reabsorbs more water from the feces, thus increasing the likelihood that you will get the dreaded const.

After that fun little exam, I passed out for a while and then went to the gym. I created a BEAST interval workout for you freaks out there that want to try it.

Beast Interval Workout

12 box jumps, as high as you are able

12 clean n’ jerks with 50 lb barbell

(watch it here, I was doing it in one fluid motion and didnt split my legs like she does in the video)

500 meter row

repeat 4x as hard and fast as you can

It is under 20 minutes but if you give it your all – it burnsogood. Have a fun friday night everyone!