Monsterlicious

Happy Friday from Houston! My day started off on my favorite note: with a trip to the MAC. But before I talk about my time at the gym, let's start with breakfast.

I (begrudgingly) woke up around 8:00 this morning, headed down to the kitchen and whipped up a batch of scrambled egg whites and spinach, eaten alongside a few helpings of green grapes. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it gets the job done.

Workout

Soon after finishing that breakfast, I changed into my cycling shorts, brushed my teeth, and headed up the road to my home away from home: the MAC. One of my favorite spin classes takes place on Friday mornings, so I was more than glad to be in town for that. This class did not disappoint, and it went as follows:

• One long hill
• One long flat (with sprints)
• One medium-length hill
• One medium length flat (with sprints)
• One short hill
• Tabata (20 sec sprint, 10 sec rest)
• Four-minute hill (increasing resistance every 30 seconds)
• Three-minute at 100+ RPM

Tabata is always so tough for me, but I always feel so accomplished once I finish. Overall, it was a great 70-minute spin class, and it made me sufficiently hungry for lunch. Which brings me to..

Lunch

Trailer food is the norm in Austin, especially near where I live, but it is quickly becoming the norm in Houston, too. I learned about this food truck, Monsterlicious, that specialized in gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Dylan and I tried to go back in May when we were both home in Houston, but it was, of course, closed for maintenance that day. I was extremely bummed out, because what could possibly be better than a gourmet version of the lunch that followed me from Pre-K all the way to senior year?

A few weeks ago, my mom told me that there was a feature done on Monsterlicious on the evening news, and that she really wanted to try it out. So, we made lunch plans for this Friday and made our way over to the Contemporary Art Museum in Montrose, which is where it is stationed today. I was so excited to try this place, and I immediately started filling out my order. As you can see, I went with the classic sandwich on grilled wheat bread, almond butter, sliced strawberries, and sliced bananas, and I chose to have my sandwich sliced diagonally. I went back and forth on whether or not to try the blueberry jam, but I am generally not a huge jam or jelly fan, so I opted for the sliced bananas in its place. Next time, however, I am definitely going to give it a try.

After my mom and I placed our orders, we went and sat down by a fountain while we waited for them to call our name. We dug in immediately, and I was so, so satisfied. They were very generous with the nut butter, the strawberries and bananas were sliced to perfection, and deciding to have it grilled was definitely a good decision, as I think it made all the difference in the world. I did not opt to add anything sweet or spicy, but I imagine the honey would have been a wonderful addition. And here's the great news: (almost) anyone can enjoy this place, as any sandwich can be made gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan. That fact alone earns it five stars!

I finished my sandwich in about three minutes, and we both could not stop singing its praises. The location changes every day, so be sure to check the website, and its Twitter account, so you know where it is to stationed that day. It was a beautiful day for a gourmet PB&J, and I had some pretty excellent company to boot.