So I’ll just throw it out there and say that I’ve had canker sores before… and no it’s not herpes. They’re sores inside the mouth that are typically caused by stress or tissue injury and aren’t contagious! Anyone who’s suffered through one can tell you that they hurt really badly. Certain foods – including citrus or acidic foods can trigger a canker sore or make the problem worse. In some cases canker sores are caused by an underlying health condition, such as an impaired immune system; nutritional problems, such as vitamin B-12, zinc, folic acid,, or iron deficiency; and gastrointestinal tract disease, such as Celiac disease and Crohn’s disease.

Last fall I had a series of canker sores – at one point I had 5 in one month!!! It was awful. I was in pain and couldn’t help but spend the majority of my time putting Orajel on the sores (which does nothing but make your mouth numb) and searching everywhere to find out what was causing them and how I could prevent them. Most of the typical suggestions I had heard and tried before (Lysine, B-12, licorice root) Randomly, on some forum a person suggested to use natural tooth paste because most commercial toothpastes have a chemical, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, that can increase the occurrence of sores inside the mouth for some people. WHAT- my toothpaste may be to blame? I didn’t want to believe that this could be the case, but I was also willing to try anything so I went out and bought this:

Tom’s SLS-Free antiplaque plus whitening

With the absence of SLS the toothpaste doesn’t foam as much as normal toothpastes, but once I got used to that I started liking this toothpaste much more than my tube of Crest. Thanks to Tom I’ve been canker sore free since November 2010!!!! I’m no dentist and I’m not saying that using SLS free toothpaste will prevent canker sores for everyone, but it surely has worked for me. And, I can definitely say that I’ll never go back to using commercial toothpastes again.

I hope this post will help at least one person who suffers from canker sores. And even if you don’t have a problem with canker sores I’d highly recommend Tom’s toothpaste – it’s my favorite product of 2010!

I’m off to run 7 miles, eat breakfast, and perhaps go shopping. Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

- Brittany

It was more of a core strengthening/ yoga stretching kind of morning. Followed by this gem:

Pumpkin pie in a glass.

I knew I would be helping a co-worker prepare for a Baby Shower during lunch so I packed a frozen meal to eat at my desk. (-1 for the March Madness Challenge)

The ingredient list is short, it only has 260 calories, and the veggies are quite tasty. However, vegetable lasagna is something you could easily make at home and freeze for a fraction of the cost.

Overall this meal is pretty tasty for a frozen dish, but I still like the Mayan Harvest Bake more.

Isaac and I made it to the gym after work. I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy so I walked on the treadmill and did a little stair climbing while reading The Help. The time went by so quickly. Good books tend to do this to me. I think I read 4 out of 7 Harry Potter books on the treadmill or the elliptical.

We came home. Isaac had pizza and I whipped up a quick dinner – an omelet.

Although, it wasn’t just any omelet. This guy had 2 local eggs (given to us from one of Isaac’s students), spinach, sauteed onions, red pepper, mushrooms, nutritional yeast (for some cheesiness) and hummus.

Topped with salsa.

I also ate the last of my homemade yogurt. I need to make more already.

I have something interesting to share with you guys soon – it’s not going to be your typical EBF post but I have to post it. I’d feel bad if I didn’t share the news and others were having a similar problem.

Lastly, it’s almost the weekend – who’s excited?!?

-Brittany

The sign makes me smile. Every time I drive past the place I think about how darn cute the sign is.

The inside decor is quaint and cute as well – as you’d expect from a European Market. Alas, there’s much more space here than any of the European Markets I’ve visited in Europe. It’s a fact, everything is bigger in America. We may take pride in that, but it’s not always a good thing, people! In this case, the extra seating and walking room in Olio was nice – especially for meeting and greeting.

They had a nice selection of prepared foods, as well as, imported dry goods, beer and wine.

And there were plenty of cheeses for all you cheese-heads!!

I snacked on a few items that were ordered by a couple sharing bloggers. Isaac and I split a slice of (Veggie) Grazing Goat Pizza, which included fresh Chevre, roasted red peppers, garlic hummus, and fresh basil. I loved that hummus was a topping as I’ve been a fan of hummus on pizza ever since trying Mae’s Pizza Cheese Sauce. You can’t really go wrong with fresh goat cheese. And, the crust was thin, yet flavorful. Both Isaac and I really enjoyed our taste!

We also tried the lemon olive oil with white bean and tomato bruschetta, and a bite or two from ‘the Parma’ – an antipasto plate with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, dolce gorgonzola, assorted olives & grilled breads, drizzled with balsamic.

Seriously everything we tasted we kept saying, “Wow, this is so good!” Then the grand finale arrived, my actual order, the veggie delight sandwich served as a wrap. Garlic hummus, basil, roasted eggplant, red peppers, roasted tomatoes, artichoke hearts and greens were stuffed into a thin grilled wrap.

This wrap was the highlight of the evening for me, food wise. I love each component on its own, but when combined in this slightly warmed wrap the deliciousness was only magnified. When I return, which I’m hoping will be very soon, I’m not sure I could bring myself to order any of the other vegetarian sandwiches because this one was so good.

I had an awesome time meeting other local food bloggers and finally putting a face to blog names/online photos/charactertures, but I ended up having to leave early as last night was also the first meeting of a book club that I recently became part of.

I left Isaac with all the foodies and headed over to the house we were meeting at with some Brownie Point edgies to share.

I’d never done a book club before – besides online, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it was really fun. I’m thoroughly enjoying the book we are reading so it was nice to talk it out with others. It was also nice to hang out with some ladies my age – living in Richmond without any of my girlfriends around has been quite a challenge. Now that I’m joining some new groups – the boot camp group and this book club, I’m feeling as though I have more friends here and that’s definitely a nice feeling.

Last but not least, Fridge Finds Wednesday:

My salad from lunch that included every vegetable in the crisper drawer!!

Enjoy your Wednesday my friends.

- Brittany

Oatmeal/oatbran combination oats with slices of a ripe banana, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and vanilla bean. Topped with banana slices, pieces of coconut roasted almonds, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Deliciousness.

The coconut roasted almonds were a fun find at Ellwoods in the bulk bin aisle, my favorite section of all health food stores. I’d never seen them before, but as I was getting a bag of raw almonds they caught my eye. I bought a small portion and now I’m wishing I had more….

I waited way too long to leave my desk and was starving by the time I got home for lunch.

i whipped up this salad in a jiffy. A pile of veggies topped with a left over spelt burger, raw slaw, and a blob of hummus.

I also had 1/2 of a Jazz apple with cinnamon, maca, and a spoonful of pb on the side.

Following my March Madness goals I ate this lovely lunch distraction free- so long as you don’t count begging dogs a distraction.

I pack this yummy, chia seed filled bar for a snack back at the office.

Twas enjoyed.

After an easy workout at the gym I came home and enjoyed dinner of baked yellowfin tuna. Isaac prepared the tuna by rubbing on a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and an herb rub (Napa Valley Meritage with sea salt) I got in the swag bag at Foodbuzz.

The fish was served with a 1/2 of a sweet tater topped with earth balance, cinnamon and sea salt.

I’m excited for tomorrow as I have two social events to attend – an Eatingrichmond blogger meetup and the first meeting of a new book club I am joining!! I’m pumped to have something to do in the evening other than go to the gym and eat dinner. It stinks two fun things are scheduled on the same night – it’s going to be a busy, but fun evening!

- Brittany

Want to learn more about eating local? Check out my guest post over at EatingBender.

Olive had a friend staying over for the weekend – meet Sabra, Isaac’s family’s dog. They’re a riot together – Olive’s still a pup so she pesters Sabra to play all day long. Sabra’s an old woman and just wants to sleep.

After waking at 7AM I decided to be productive and headed to the gym and grocery store. I was going to eat breakfast when I got home, but once my feet hit the floor I realized I was hungry so I had a toasted Sandwich Round with homemade apple butter. I ate that up and then headed out the door. 40 minutes on the stationary bike while reading The Help, shopping at Ellwoods and Kroger, and a little core conditioning were all done before 10AM! I had a few samples at Ellwoods and grabbed a coffee with soy milk. These tasty treats kept me full until well after 12 when I finally decided to whip up a little lunch.

An apple with cinnamon and maca powder.

And a bowl of homemade (by me!?!) yogurt topped with sliced bananas, Zaydie’s cranberry walnut granola, and a drizzle of honey.

Inspired by Andrea, I took on the challenge of using my food dehydrator to make my own yogurt. 1 tbsp. of Greek yogurt, 3 1/2 cups of milk, and 5 hours of incubation gave me a mason jar full of delicious yogurt.

It came out a bit runny so I strained it through some cheese cloth and it turned out thick and tasty. Quite successful for my first attempt! I’m already excited to make another batch. More photos next time – promise! In the meantime, if you’re interested in making your own yogurt, you should check out this website – it explains how to make regular, Greek, soy, and raw yogurt with or without a dehydrator!!

Later in the afternoon I attended a screen printing party.

The boot-camp group that I’m part is running the local 10k this month so we made t-shirts to wear!

How cute is that!

And what’s a party without some munchies?

I enjoyed some veggies, grapes, and a couple crackers while chatting it up with the ladies.

Pink camo overload!!!

After the party I hurried home so that Isaac and I could enjoy the last hour of sunshine by taking a nice little walk. We worked up quite an appetite…. which worked out perfectly because I had a delicious dinner planned.

Roasted broccoli, spelt burgers, and raw slaw.

I used Angela’s In A Jiffy Spelt Veggie Burgers recipe, but made a few changes worth noting.

Spelt Veggie Burger

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked chick peas
• 2 baby carrots
• 1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped up into large pieces
• 1/2 Red pepper, chopped into large pieces
• 2 rings jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 t fresh oregano
• 1/2 t dried basil
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/4 t fine grain sea salt
• tiny dash of cayenne
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 T chia seeds
• 3/4 cup spelt flour (or flour of your choice)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Place all ingredients except the seeds and flour into a food processor. Process until mixture is blended well, stopping to scrape sides if necessary. Remove mixture and place into a large bowl. Add seeds and stir well. Add the spelt flour (or flour of your choice) in 1/4 cup increments, stirring well until blended. Shape patties and bake on a baking stone (or lightly greased cookie sheet) for 15 minutes at 375F, flip and bake for another 10 minutes. My batch made 6 regular sized patties and one small patty and they were FABULOUS.

And the raw slaw, inspired by Ellwoods, was also delicious!

Raw Slaw

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cabbage, chopped
• 1/4 of a large red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I used Braggs)
• 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1 tbsp. poppy seeds

Directions: Mix cabbage and red onion in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl whisk the dressing ingredients and pour it over the salad. Mix well and serve.

I’m off to soak up the last few hours of the weekend. Hope you had a good one!!

- Brittany