It’s moving day!
I was up at 5:00am this morning so that I could sneak in a leg workout before I finish packing frantically stuffing the last few items into boxes. I filled six huge bags of trash yesterday, and four of them contained hard-to-part-with essentials.
these were the ones that didn't go in the trash!
Magazines! 
I have a pretty serious magazine addiction. They pile up in my room and I just keep stacking them in different places. It’s especially hard for me to get rid of issues of Oxygen and Cooking Light; they’re my bibles for everything fitness and cooking.
Anywhooo, the movers are coming soon and I still need to shower, but I want to talk quickly about something that happened Sunday that was pretty big deal.
Last week I told you about three foods I want to bring back into my life. Well, yesterday I started tackling that list.
I can’t remember the last time I had full fat ice cream! Frozen yogurt? Of course. Coconut milk ice cream? Almost every day. Arctic Zero? Always stocked in the fridge. However, when I started my new meal plan a few weeks ago, Tara suggested that I treat myself to real ice cream once each week instead of eating fake fluff every day. I thought it was a brilliant idea.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Pinkberry and Edy’s Slow Churned, but let’s not kid ourselves: nothing beats the real thing. 
So, after spending most of the day packing, Alec, Stephen and I walked to Pitango, a locally-sourced gelato shop.
We stood at the counter sampling flavors for nearly 10 minutes. I tried hazelnut, pistachio, chocolate noir, almond and crema before deciding on cardamom and vanilla.
God bless patient ice-cream scoopers.
Both flavors were smooth, creamy and prefectly sweet. I’d never tried cardamom ice cream, and became an instant fan; it tasted like spiced chai tea!
I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t a bit apprehensive about bringing real ice cream back into my life. Ice cream—and I’m talking the kind from a shop that doesn’t display nutrition information—has been a “no-no” food for a long time. My old logic was this: too much sugar + too much fat +no nutritional benefits = no reason for eating, especially when lighter versions are available.
However that logic was depriving me of something I enjoyed. Something I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. And that deprivation led me to consume a myriad of foods that were worse for my body than real ice cream (hello sugar-free pudding and fat free Cool Whip!) made from nothing more than milk, cream and sugar.
The portion was perfect—-just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth, but not too much to make me uncomfortable. 
After finishing our ice cream, we ducked into Whole Foods and stole a few soup samples (who says you can’t have savory after sweet?), and headed home to watch Mad Men.
Halfway through the show, I realized that I was hungry again, so I made a batch of egg white clouds to munch on. Since making an Egg in Cloud a few weeks ago, I haven’t been able to get enough of these babies!
they may look funky, but they're crispy, crunchy and oh-so addicting
Egg white clouds are a fun, healthy snack you can make in minutes. Just beat as many egg whites as you want until stiff peaks form (I usually use three or four), add a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, and bake for 5-7 minutes at 450.
I also munched on a small piece of pumpkin spice chocolate chip bread, which was sent to me by Alley!
So Sunday may not have been the cleanest eating day, but I’m hopping back on board with healthy food today! I sure did enjoy my weekend treats!
That delicious pumpkin spice chocolate chip bread (SO good!) is a perfect segue to discuss Foodie Pen Pals!
My Foodie Pen Pal for the month of April pulled out the stops! Alley, from At Home with Alley, treated me to an incredible package filled with homebaked treats.
She also included the SWEETEST note. <3
Not only does Alley have a HUGE heart, but this girl sure knows her way around the kitchen! Inside my package I also found buckeyes (chocolate-covered peanut butter balls <–omg!), caramel popcorn dark chocolate trail snack mix (made with mini popcorn!), white chocolate caramillicans, chocolate-raspberry hot chocolate, a chocolate bunny, and recipe cards for everything included.
Everything was delicious! THANK YOU, ALLEY!
If you’re interested in becoming a Foodie Pen Pal, check out the details here. Lindsay has put together an amazing program that now has 600+ participants. You don’t have to be a blogger to enter!
Okay, time to wrap this up! The movers will be here any minute. Guess what that means? No shower for this girl!
But really, who smells good on moving day?
Are you a magazine junkie like me? Which magazines do you subscribe to/buy on a regular basis?
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Have you ever tried any “strange” flavors like cardamom?
I’m a big believer that vanilla is NOT boring! But it’s best when studded with peanut butter cups.
