Lilveggiepatch » chocolate

The Snooze Game

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:10:53 +0000

Even though I went to bed on the early side last night, I could not get up this morning. I had a lot of reading to do for work so I had planned to get up around 5:30 and read on the bike at the gym, but when my alarm went off, my eyes felt like they were glued shut. I snoozed until 6, and continued to delay getting out of bed until 7:40, at which point I really had to move in hyperspeed in order to get to work on time. Needless to say, only the bangs were blow-dried, and I sported a ballerina-style topknot all day. Pretty hot.

Breakfast (inhaled in under five minutes) was a bowl of pumpkinyogurtPB&J oatmeal… there are oats under there, I promise.

1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
0% Fage Greek yogurt
pumpkin
Maranatha no-stir creamy peanut butter
raspberry jam
cinnamon

Luckily I’d gotten my lunch and snacks ready the night before:

apple
orange
baby carrots (two days’ worth)
big salad with spinach, small Gala apple, celery, grape tomatoes, tempeh bacon, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, tamari peanut dressing

I had lunch with three lovely ladies (including a surprise visit from my friend Ilena!)… we spent our meal dishing over our favorite 101 Cookbooks recipes and how great life will be when we can collect social security and reap the benefits of life among the elderly.

Danielle was nice enough to share some of her Ritter Sport milk chocolate w/ Cornflakes… it had a nice snapcracklepop! feel to it.

When I got home, I was greeted with a HUGE package from Miss Blue Eyed Heart: the prize from her blogiversary giveaway.

I couldn’t believe all of the great things in the box: cozy socks, a journal, a candle, crossword puzzles, White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter (!) nutrition bars, chocolate, pretzels, and more! Thanks so much, Miss Blue.

She sent a gorgeous pair of earrings that would have gone perfectly with my outfit today… I haven’t quite acquired her ear photography skills, but I’m working on it

I was pretty hungry, so I dug into a bag of steamed broccoli while I played with Charley…

… and some crudités and cheese…

… and raw carrots with sea salt when my mom got home. I certainly can’t be criticized for not eating enough veggies! (My tum is feeling that fiber, though…)

My mom picked up a great dinner at Citarella: Crab cakes (these have been my favorite for years), pasta salad and green beans.

My dad picked up two equally delicious desserts at Silver Moon Bakery, which we split three ways: a pear tart and chocolate-hazelnut bombe. Mmm.

Now I’m off to go do some work in the tub. Warm water + candles makes it so much more bearable! A bath will also be good for my knee; it’s better than yesterday, usually the worst after I’ve been sitting for a while. I see some yoga in my future this weekend, which will be perfect because the weather is supposed to be quite shoddy.

Have a great night!

Call me Lil’ Veg-Out

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:36:33 +0000

Thanks so much for your words of encouragement about the running situation… as of now, I’m still planning to run the half-marathon on the 21st, but I’m going to take it one day at a time.

This morning I had some things to do before work so I woke up at 5, headed to the gym for 30 minutes on the elliptical, and came home to git ‘er done. I had a delicious breakfast cookie waiting for me when I got home; I made a similar mixture last week and it was so good that I had to try it again!

1/3 cup oats
1/2 mashed banana
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
splash skim milk
1 tbsp chocolate PB2
1 tsp chia seeds
toppings: goji berries, Greek yogurt, pumpkin, dried fig, agave

I brought an orange and apple to work… I’m always paranoid about my apples being too noisy, so today I sliced it beforehand. Did the trick!

I also had a slice of Gluten Free Bran bread… I love more each time I have some! This recipe is a keeper.

My lunch salad did a good job of cleaning out the fridge…

In the mix:

mixed greens
steamed broccoli
celery
grape tomatoes
goji berries
dried cranberries
TJ’s Vegetable Marsala burger (I missed these!)
Goddess dressing (mixed in at work)

Danielle had bought a package of Lemon Poppyseed Heart Thrive bars and wasn’t a fan, so she gave me the remaining bar. I love these! They were great snacks when I was in Russia, and just as good today.

Dinner required little planning, but worked out perfectly.

I made SELF’s Creamy Lemon Shrimp, halving the recipe and making a few substitutions:

Greek yogurt in place of plain yogurt/ sour cream
celery in place of chives
agave in place of sugar
spinach in place of arugula

It may not look so pretty, but I really enjoyed this! It was healthy, voluminous, and filled me right up.

I packed half for lunch tomorrow; I love when I don’t have to think about what to prepare for the next day.

Dessert was Banana Soft Serve with a melted square of Bakers chocolate.

A superoon may have also sneaked its way in

Off to watch Gossip Girl! It’s a lovely, lazy night. Have a great one.

Cheerleaders

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:05:18 +0000

You guys are officially the best cheerleaders a girl could have. Thank you so much for all of the advice and words of encouragement about my sore knee. One of the things I love about being a food/health+fitness blogger is meeting other like-minded people who have been in similar situations. You’re a wealth of information! I’d like to share some of your comments:

Ada says: Try icing it and definitely see a sports doctor if it doesn’t improve within the next few days since he or she can give you exercises to strengthen it.

Heather says: Pain – I am lucky that I don’t have any long-term injuries, but I think like you said there’s discomfort and pain. I think it’s important not to run through pain and make something worse or do some permanent damage. I ran my second half with hip … discomfort I guess. I ran it because the feeling was not any worse than it was when walking. Probably dumb, but I am okay now. Follow Ada’s advice and rest it for a few days and then see. Three weeks is plenty of time to get all better & strong.

Anna says: Don’t push it!!! It’s not worth risking permanent damage to your knees (and never running again) just for one race. Could you see a doctor about it?

Tinabear says: 1.) how is your form? there should be a distinction between running (smooth strides, fully lifting your feet, landing each step and pushing off with the ball of your foot rather than the middle or heel)and the point where you’re trying to get mileage in. Form is a HUGE part of staying injury free, and if you get to the point where you’re shuffling or dragging to try and get through, STOP.

2.) stay steady: this ties in with #1. i know you’re running from a set plan, but from my experience it’s much better to increase gradually, with fairly consistent mileage. it works SO much better to run 3 miles every day, then maybe 4 or 5 for a long day, than running 2 miles avg. and 6 or 7 for a long day. after a few weeks you should be stronger and able to increase to 4 miles on average, with a 6 or 7 long run. You should be able to run SMOOTHLY during the entire run- when you’re form starts to break, you should slow down, and if that doesn’t work, try to make your shorter runs a little faster to build up endurance.

3.) check the soles of your shoes: if there’s excessive wear on the sides, heel, or anywhere other than where the ball of your foot would rest, then you need to A.) go to a running shoe store and see if they have any advice (some shoes are better for different running types, ex. a stability based shoe for those who overpronate)
B.) work to fix your form- it might be something as simple as lengthening your stride.

4.) Find a physical therapist/someone specifically for running rather than a normal doctor: every single time i’ve met with a normal doctor they’ve either given me textbook advice (stuff you could google) or they’ve given be bad advice (one doctor lengthened a simple injury, another suggested that i give up running for longer than a month, when all i needed was some tape)

5.) AVOID TREADMILLS- these kill form, and the only times i’ve ever been injured it was because of running on treadmills or increasing mileage too quickly.

I kind of hate how much people emphasize distance running as “just getting through” with a large amount of mileage. It’s so much better to gradually build up mileage, racing at distances that suit your current level of running comfort. The point of racing used to be pushing yourself to go faster, not longer…

Melissa says: i had knee pain start only a week before my 1/2 marathon at the end of january and didn’t know what to do. i basically stayed off of it that entire week and took the race at a more leisure pace and if my knee hurt, i would stop. pushing past pain like that is never good and can only lead to longer and even worse problems in the future. i suggest taking some time off, making sure to ice, massage and ice massage (freeze water in dixie cups and use them to massage your knee) and not do any sort of knee bearing exercises. sounds hard and sucks, but it does pay off. i haven’t been running much since my injury and a month later it’s feeling great!

The list goes on. I encourage you to go back and read through the comments if you’re having similar issues with your knees, or just need a little extra support if you’re on the fence and trying to decide whether or not to push it. I know what I need to do: stretch, ice, rest, strength train. Seriously, I don’t know how I got out of the habit of doing this last one, especially after all of the hours I logged at the physical therapist’s! There are many exercises (including the Clam Shells that Leslie highlighted) that I can do while lying in bed, so I WILL DO THEM.

Thanks again… you really are the best

Yesterday I found a new brand of pumpkin in the store. It tastes just like Libby’s, but is slightly cheaper at $2.19/28 oz. I do like a good bargain!

This morning I made a big, belly-busting batch of oatmeal.

For work, I packed an orange, apple, strawberry yogurt, and leftover stew.

I also had a Thai Peanut Primal Strip…

… and an Apple Clif C bar.

I like that these are easy to break apart, under 150 calories, and only $.99 at Whole Foods like other Clif/Luna products. I do wish the sea salt flavor was present, or that the apple had a little tartness.

After work, I met my parents for dinner at Lime Leaf, a Thai/continental restaurant on the Upper West Side. Right after we ordered, we were brought out these little rice puff crackers with peanut sauce.

We split two appetizers: Tofu + Veggie Curry Puffs…

…and (spicy) Mushroom Ravioli.

For my entrée, I ordered Green Coconut Curry with tofu, vegetables, pineapple, basil and chili.

I ate half with jasmine rice, packed the rest up for lunch, and had a few bites of my dad’s Tofu Pad Thai.

After dinner, we walked next door for dessert at The Lite Choice. I used my punchcard from the tour to get us free cups! We each had almond butter; my dad and I both added chocolate chips.

When I got home, Ari and I tried to watch Willow, but I fell right asleep because I’d been up since 5. I was supposed to run 2 miles this morning but I decided to sleep and either go tonight when I get home or tomorrow morning instead, depending on how my knee is feeling.

I think we’re going to venture out to get bagels before work… I’ve been having such a craving for good lox and cream cheese! Have a great day

It’s Never Too Late

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:29:28 +0000

Morning and happy weekend! I hope you’re out sledding or playing in the snow. It seems like this storm swept all across the country! We’ve been up but have yet to go outside; it’s a cleaning day at LVP headquarters. The closet was a good start, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Most of the clutter comes from magazine and newspaper clippings for recipes and workouts. Recently I’ve started going through old magazines and making meals I thought looked great when I first saw them years ago, so now I can finally throw a few things out. What piles up fastest in your household?

Somehow my breakfast photo was deleted from the camera, but I had a bowl of Kashi GoLean, Kaia’s Cocoa Bliss Buckwheat Granola, warmed frozen berries and skim milk.

It was tough for everyone in the office to get to work; a lot of people who have long commutes didn’t even make it in at all! The roads were really bad. I snacked on the usual suspects (orange + apple):

For lunch I had a spinach salad with beets, tempeh, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes and a mix of Raspberry and Vidalia Onion viniagrettes; I also had a cup of lemon yogurt.

We ended up closing the office around 3, which was a nice surprise for everyone. Before I left, I snacked on a Teriyaki Primal Strip.

Ari was close by, so we met up and went to see The Crazies. I was shocked Ari wanted to see this; he HATES scary movies, and the only way I can even get him to watch a thriller is by telling him it’s a “drama”! (Probably shouldn’t give away that secret…) The movie was pretty bad… we both gave it a 4/10. It’s a remake of a 1973 horror movie and we were expecting it to be “good camp,” but… there really wasn’t anything redeeming about it (except the very fact of going to see a movie, which has become quite rare).

In the theater I snacked on a Raspberry Clif C bar (photo taken on the floor, sorry for the poor quality); it was good, but I liked the blueberry flavor better.

After the movie, we headed to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse for a belated birthday celebration (Ari’s birthday was in November). I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the boy loves his steak. One day I’m going to learn how to cook it (without having to taste it first) and win the girlfriend-of-the-year award.

We started with warm bread…

…and a Jack on the Rocks for me, Jameson for Ari.

I ordered grilled salmon with roasted vegetables, hold-the-butter. This was a pretty large portion, so I boxed up the rest to take home.

Ari ordered a NY Strip Steak, which arrived to our table sizzling.

We split a side of sautéed mushrooms (leaving the half inch of butter behind).

When we got home I made us each peanut butter cups, which we ate in bed while watching Bill Maher. Ari wanted milk chocolate and peanut butter; I made mine with dark chocolate and chocolate hazelnut butter. Mmm!

It’s never too late to celebrate a birthday!

P.S. It’s also never too late to enter BlueEyedHeart’s one year giveaway!

Better luck tomorrow…

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:07:54 +0000

I’ve joined the rest… ask me anything! It’s easy to do and completely anonymous.

Guess who went to bed at 9:30 last night? Yep! But apparently that wasn’t enough sleep for me, because when I woke up this morning to run my 7 miler, I just couldn’t get out of bed. I ended up sleeping until 7AM! I’ll admit that my fear of running such a long distance on the treadmill made it easier to pull the covers over my head and go back to bed! But tomorrow… tomorrow I will get my run in.

Breakfast was an old favorite: a yogurt mess with 0% Fage, a crumbled Blue Bran Vitamuffin, banana, chunky peanut butter and honey. Never gets old!

At work I snacked on an apple and orange…

…and had a bit of an unconventional brown-bag lunch: shirataki noodles with a Gardein Tuscan Breast, Black Cherry nonfat yogurt, and mixed greens with tomato and raspberry vinaigrette.

I heated the noodles and the “chicken,” and mashed a laughing cow wedge on top. Hello fake chicken parm!

Danielle is pretty tolerant of my interesting food choices.

My snack drawer was running pretty low (I’ll give you a tour once I’ve re-stocked) so I had to dig into my last “bällchen” from that I got in Germany eight months ago. It nearly cracked my tooth!

I debated whether or not to go to the gym after work, but I decided to try again in the morning and conquer my fear of the closet instead. Please don’t judge me… observe Ari’s tidy area, with clothes on hangers that neatly keep to themselves.

Now on to my space…

This isn’t even supposed to be my shelf!

Doesn’t your food processor live at the foot of the bed?

Yes, some people would call this “hoarding,” but there isn’t any other place to put this stuff!

I’m really not a slob by nature, and having clutter around really stresses me out. Things are hard to find, clothes are wrinkled, and there just isn’t as much space as there could be! So, in honor of The Happiness Project and my promise to Ari, I cleaned the closet.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a start! I even cleared Ari’s shelf out again.

Satisfied with my hour of domesticity, I decided to make myself a nice dinner. While I was preparing my meal, I snacked on some baby carrots to hold myself over until it was ready.

I made Gourmet’s Buffalo Salmon with Sautéed Watercress, substituting almonds for pine nuts. I also had a slice of toast.

Tempted to save time and money, I almost used a frozen salmon patty from the freezer, but I ended up stopping at the store for a fresh filet. Boy, am I glad I did! It was tender and felt special and indulgent, even though I made it for myself at home. There’s nothing wrong with making yourself a nice dinner every once in a while! I tried out my new fancy spatula; when you squeeze the handle it opens like tongs so you can grab things easily without making a mess. Thanks again, Mom & Dad!

I enjoyed a dessert plate while watching Grey’s Anatomy for the first time on TV; I usually have to watch it on the computer weeks later! The plate had a medjool, apricot, prune, fig, 85% dark chocolate and chocolate almond butter. Holy yum, this is going to make for one fabulous batch of oats in a jar!

I’m off to get ready for bed… wishing and hoping I’ll get up in time to run tomorrow! I can do this…

Does your stress level lower over the weekend? Are extracurricular chores just as difficult for you?

Don’t forget to ask me anything!

The Dessert Plate and One Year Ago Today!

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:25:46 +0000

Right now I’m in bed, under the covers and watching Spanglish… and I have nothing to do tonight! Life is good

I loved my oatmeal combination so much yesterday that I made the same thing today (minus the jar)! Oatmeal with cinnamon, stevia, pumpkin, pumpkin butter, lemon curd and chunky peanut butter. Sorry to bore you, but this may make a reappearance tomorrow, too!

I was too tired to make lunch last night, so I got up a little earlier to pack it today: carrots, orange, blueberry Chobani and a big salad.

In the salad bowl:

spinach
small Granny Smith apple
1/3 block tofu
grape tomatoes
walnuts
dried cranberries
feta
Herbs de Province salad dressing borrowed from Danielle… someone pilfered the bottle I keep in the fridge at the office!

Around 3:30 I dug into the snack drawer for something to chew on (I really need to get some gum!) and came out with a Caramel Chocolate Forze bar.

While there wasn’t a whole lot of “caramel” flavor here, it was still yummy! It tastes like a sweet, chocolatey cookie. It’s probably ranked #3 right now out of the flavors I’ve tried (Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Decadence are tied), but I still have on more to try.

I was zonked when I left work at 5:30 but I had two miles to run (according to my half-marathon training schedule) so I headed to the gym after work. My heart rate monitor took thirty minutes to start working… I am so close to getting a Garmin.

Mile 1-1.25: 5.8 mph

Mile 1.25-1.95: 6.5 mph

Mile 1.95-2.0: 5.8 mph

Total distance: 2.0 miles

Total distance: 20:00

Average heart rate: 165

Maximum heart rate: 189

Calories burned: 213

This was supposed to be an “easy run” at a 10:54 pace, but… on a treadmill, that felt like an eternity, and I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible! So I got a little impatient, but I think I paced myself pretty well and would have been able to carry on a conversation throughout. So, I think that’s my new definition of an “easy run”! What is an “easy workout” for you?

Dinner was quick and easy: leftover fettuccine with mushrooms- to which I added a slice of tempeh bacon to make “vegetarian carbonara”- and steamed cauliflower with Emeril’s Original Essence, à la Miss K.

Then I had a long-lost favorite: a dessert plate! My lovely Jess reminded me that it’s been a while since I had one, so I re-stocked my dried fruit stash. This plate had two Medjool dates, a dried peach half, dried apricot, dried fig, prune, almond butter, and Peppermint Chocolove. Have you ever made a dessert plate? How do you make it?

Spanglish is a-callin’… I really like it!

And in honor of Groundhog Day, one year ago today: February 2, 2009!

Hi all. I have not been the busiest of bees since last I wrote… which means I’m sort of in “cruch time” mode and this is going to be a bit of a quickie.

I tried my last True Delights flavor today: Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry.

Ingredients

WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, DRIED SWEETENED CRANBERRIES (SUGAR, CRANBERRIES), CORN SYRUP, CRISP RICE (RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, MALT EXTRACT, SALT), INFUSED DRIED CHERRIES (RED TART CHERRIES, SUGAR, RED TART CHERRY JUICE), CASHEWS, BROWN SUGAR, HONEY, OLIGOFRUCTOSE, SUNFLOWER OIL, INVERT SUGAR, GLYCERIN, COCONUT OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF FRUCTOSE, SEA SALT, SORBITOL, SUGAR, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, VANILLA EXTRACT, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL MIXED TOCOPHEROLS (ANTIOXIDANT), WHEY, SODIUM CASEINATE.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 140

Total Fat: 3.5g, Saturated Fat 1g

Carbohydrates: 24g, 3g Fiber

Protein: 2g

This bar was very sweet. A little salt would improve the flavor a lot, but then again I like my trail mix (this tastes very trail mix-y to me) to be both sweet and salty. It’s not as much of a pleasure to chew as the other two flavors were. Overall, the bar is still good, but I probably wouldn’t buy it myself.

Other Quaker True Delights bars I have reviewed:

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond

Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut

I’ve been having a bit of a love affair with Veganomicon recently. Tonight, I made my own version of Terry & Isa’s Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe With Rotelle.

Take some tempeh and cook it up with some spices…

Add a little braised spinach…

Toss it with pasta and voila! Delicious and healthful meal.

I don’t have time right now to type out the recipe, but if you’d like it, let me know and I’ll put it up as soon as I can.

For my “pre-dessert,” I took Sarah’s advice and had some frozen grapes. Amazing! It was like the perfect tart and sweet ice cream, but as finger food. How have I been living without this for so long? I just packed up the rest of the box and froze them, too. Yummy!

I’ll probably have a little chocolatey something while I study a little later. And maybe some tea. With caffeine. This Patch is T-I-R-E-D.

I just started listening to a new audiobook that my dad gave me for Christmas. It’s a book called I See You Everywhere, by one of our favorite authors, Julia Glass. What do you listen to in the car?

Night night!

February 2nd, 2009 | Tags: dinner, fruit, granola, grapes, pasta, product review, snack, spinach, tempeh, vegan | Category: Uncategorized | Edit this post

Guess Who I Found?

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:21:29 +0000

This guy came home today!

But first…

This morning I woke up at 5, a good hour and a half before the sun came up. No matter! I was actually surprisingly alert after 5.5 hours of sleep; I packed up my work, laced my sneakers and headed over to the gym. I planned on just zoning out on the bike and getting a good chunk of reading in, but the bike turned off after 20 minutes so I moved to the stairmaster. It’s a little harder to read when you’re trying not to fall off a five-foot tall machine! I climbed for 15 minutes, then headed home to work some more, shower, and get ready for work. Days are a lot longer when you get up early!

Quick side note: I used to post my exercise statistics after a workout (with time, calories, etc.) but I didn’t know if that was “useful” or not… I’ve gotten a few e-mails recently requesting them, so please let me know if you’d like me to post them!

Breakfast was another darn fine jar of oats.

1/2 cup oatmeal cooked in 1/2 cup water
canned pumpkin
pumpkin butter
1 tbsp chunky peanut butter
l tsp lemon curd
stevia
cinnamon

I left for work an hour early to get some things done at the office. Because I’d been up so long I ate all three of my snacks before lunch: apple, orange, and Haribo gummies (how’d those get in there?!). When you’ve been up since 5, eating candy at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t sound so crazy.

For lunch I had a Pomegranate Chobani and a big salad.

In the mix:

I ate at my desk and worked through lunch… busy busy day! Around 3:30, I snacked on a Chocolate Peanut Butter Forze Bar. I know this is Melissa‘s favorite flavor!

This bar reminded me of a combination Chewy granola bar, Oreo granola bar (remember those? I used to bring them to day camp in my lunch box), and Reese’s crisp. In other words: I can’t believe it’s not loaded with chemicals!

Ari got home while I was at work, and we set up a last-minute dinner date at David Burke Townhouse for Restaurant Week.

We started with warm rolls and fancy butter that was carved into a tree.

I started with the Pretzel Crusted Crab Cake and Sweet Chili Prawn with orange confitand poppy seed honey. Sweet lordy, this was one of the best crab cakes I’ve ever had, and I’ve tasted my fair share of crab cakes. 8/10

Ari, mushroom fiend that he is, got frothy mushroom soup. This was good, but a little bland… no salt on the tables. 6/10

For my entrée, I took the Scottish Salmon with braised Napa cabbage, charred tomato and curried apple slaw. The salmon was very tender and I liked all of the different textures, but again, was a little bland. 6/10

Ari ordered the Mustard-Crusted Tuna with mushrooms and chicken consommé. I didn’t taste this because of the chicken, but Ari gave it an 8.267/10.

Dessert was an easy choice for both of us: we both chose the Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with peanut butter mousse, roasted banana ice cream, caramelized peanuts and marshmallow. 8/10!

It was a lovely evening with delicious food and fabulous company. We decided to save money and have wine at home instead, so we’re sipping a little white and watching Gone Baby Gone in bed. I’m hoping to be asleep by 11… I’m a grandpa even on date nights!

Sacred Chow

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:27:14 +0000

What a good day. I slept in, saw friends, ate well… what could be better? More hours in the day, but alas.

This morning I woke up a little hazy from last night’s escapades, but made do with a strong pot of coffee and a good breakfast. I ate in parts: Peach Chobani Greek yogurt, sweet potato cranberry coconut muffin, Honeybell orange.

After taking my sweet time getting ready and lazing around, I met Caitlin for lunch at Sacred Chow, an organic vegan (and Kosher) cafe downton.

We both got the Souper Hero Combo (soup + 1/2 sandwich); I got a bowl of Sweet Potato and Cassava Soup with dill and Orange Blackstrap Seitan (orange-molasses seitan w/ red-hot onions and Thai ginger bbq sauce on a whole wheat baguette).

This was so good. My babysitter used to use cassava in her soups and I forgot how much I love it! The sandwich was quite hearty as well, and left my mouth burning (in a good way!).

We also hit up the In God We Trust sample sale, where I fell in love with this beret. I’ve never been a “beret person”, but this was too cute to pass up!

Caitlin and I parted ways, and I met my friend Levi to see the new Mel Gibson movie, Edge of Darkness. I really liked it! It reminded me a lot of Michael Clayton, with more blood. We snacked on gummies in the theater.

I had big plans to do some work while using the bike at the gym, but it was 7:15 by the time I got home and I was just ready to wind down the day. No biggie, but I really need to start being smarter about cross and strength training… I feel like I’ve taken a sort of lackadaisical approach to this half-marathon I’m supposedly training for. I have a 7 mile run scheduled for tomorrow but my knee still hurts from Thursday’s… if it gives me trouble in the morning, I’m just going to run myself over to the gym and get on that bike instead.

So, in place of gym tales, I present you with a tasty treat:

Sweet Potato Falafel Salad

I’ve been thinking of ways to recreated One Lucky Duck’s Falafel Salad at home without a dehydrator or pricey ingredients. I’d planned on making a sweet potato version of baked falafel with chickpeas, but lo and behold: no chickpeas in the pantry! I made do with black beans instead, and it turned out mighty fine if I do say so myself.

Sweet Potato “Falafel”

Inspired by this recipe

1 handful parsley or cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 sweet potato baked or microwaved until fully cooked, mashed
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup cooked black beans
1/2 tsp ground coriander
salt
garnishes: paprika, sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375. Mix first 6 ingredients together, gently mashing beans with a fork. Season with salt, to taste.

Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Form balls out of 1 tbsp worth of sweet potato mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds and paprika. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once.

Makes about 12 balls.

Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup sesame tahini
1/2 cup water
juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp agave nectar
salt to taste

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Lick spoon.

Raw “Tabouli”

1 red bell pepper
1/3 head of cauliflower (about 2 handfuls)
1 handful parsley/cilantro

Pulse cauliflower in food processor until finely chopped. Pulse in red pepper. Pulse in parsley until the mixture resembles confetti.

Not a bad alternative, I’d say! My version is on the left… and doesn’t cost $17.

For dessert, I made strawberry banana soft serve with chocolate chips. However, I got a little impatient and didn’t wait for the fruit to fully freeze; it ended up being more of a smoothie!

It’s 10:30, but I really want to get some work done before I go to bed, so I’m going to shower, make the bed, and read 100 pages or so. Big plans for a Saturday night at home!

15 Again

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:28:39 +0000

Ari was interviewed on Fret 12! Check out his videos

Good morning! Sorry about my little disappearing act, but I had a late night and just wanted to hit the sheets! I hope you had a nice day.

A couple days ago I went on a mini grocery shop to pick up a few things to hold me over until I had time to do a bigger shop. While in the dairy aisle, I stumbled upon this Olympus Greek Yogurt.

It was pretty expensive ($2/ 6 oz), but I’d never seen it before so I gave it a try. It was thick and very creamy, but I don’t think I’ll be buying this on a regular basis. The Chobani yogurts were on sale for $.99, so I stocked up on those instead.

I mixed the Olympus with a banana, Trader Joe’s mini blueberry bran muffin, cinnamon and honey.

At work, I snacked on an orange. I’m pretty sure I will turn into a navel orange one of these days; I eat so many!

Danielle and I had planned all week on going to Chop’t, a fun salad place that stands out amongst the more basic, boring salad bars in our work neighborhood. We couldn’t remember quite where it was, though, and spent a good twenty minutes walking around in circles trying to find it!

It seemed like half the city must have had the same idea; the line was at least 30 people long. It went quickly, though, because so many people work, assembly-line style, to get people in and out as fast as possible.

I ordered the Vegetarian Powerhouse Salad (any salad can be made into a wrap), and added gouda cheese.

Each salad comes with a strip of whole wheat pita. I dressed my salad with Rocket Fuel: a spicy, oil-free dressing that kind of reminded me of cocktail sauce.

These salads were huge! Definite two-pounders… but we finished them!

Have you been to Chop’t or a similar salad bar? What did you think of it?

Danielle brought me two of Anne‘s Sweet Potato Cranberry Coconut Muffins. Even though I was pretty satiated from lunch, I had to try one!

Delicious! They’re moist without being greasy, and have the perfect consistency: smooth and chunky. I think I’ll be making these myself one of these days!

After work I went home to do a little cleaning to make the house presentable for my little red-headed friend. Lunch held me over really well… until it didn’t. Hunger hit me full-force, but not wanting to spoil my appetite, I just had a couple clementines.

Kalle and I went to Locale for dinner. It was delicious as usual, but the service was so strange! Our waiter literally came over upwards of 20 times, giving us about a minute in between each visit to ask if we were ready to order. As a former member of the service industry I know it’s tempting to try to move a table along, but this was excessive and downright rude. Grr! But… we didn’t let it spoil our fun.

We started with Mario Maschio Cabernet Sauvignon…

… enjoyed foccaccia with olive oil…

… and I was so close to branching out and ordering a different dish, but in the end I had to go with the linguine with seafood. I love it! It was really salty this time, for some reason, though.

We shared an order of warm chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream and berry coulis for dessert.

After we left the restaurant, we went back to the apartment and pretended we were 15 again. The hour got late, more wine was had, and after Kalle left I went back to the fridge and had a little party with the leftover pasta I didn’t finish at dinner. And may have made myself a Reese’s cup or two. What’s life without a night or two like this? Nobody can be perfect all the time.

Well, I have a full day ahead of me so I’m going to sign off. Have a great day!

Six at 6

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:08:17 +0000

Thanks for all of your movie suggestions! Here’s what’s on the running list:

Lars and the Real Girl
Up In The Air
The Soloist
Away We Go (I just saw this… loved it!)
The September Issue
In The Loop
Inglourious Basterds

I watch a lot of movies, so keep those suggestions coming!

Whew, this day has been long! Still going strong, though

I knew I was going to have to work from home after leaving the office at the end of the day, so I woke up at 5:45 to get my 6 mile training run in. Somehow, even though I’d laid out all of my clothes the night before, I didn’t end up leaving the house until 6:15! This was partly because my heart rate monitor wasn’t working and I was waiting for it to kick in… I think this weekend I will cave and finally pick up a Garmin. Coincidentally, my former boss just e-mailed me to tell me he’s fallen in love with the Garmin he got for the holidays!

Before I headed out, I fueled up with a mini Clif bar.

I haven’t wanted to run early in the morning because I was concerned about safety; it’s dark when I wake up and my route takes me through the park. This morning I stayed in populated areas, wore my neon reflective running jacket, and strapped on my RoadID. By the time I was halfway through my run the sun had risen and it was starting to snow! There is something immensely satisfying and calming in being out and about while people are just waking up and starting their day.

During the last few blocks I started getting pain in my right knee (what I think I can now safely refer to as “Runner’s Knee”… probably no meniscus damage) so I had to take a few walking breaks. I ended up running through most of the pain, though, so I wouldn’t be late to work! It felt great to have 6 miles under my belt before the day even started, and not have to crank it out on the treadmill later on.

I didn’t have a whole lot of time to eat breakfast, but I managed to have a nice, filling bowl of oatmeal.

1/2 cup oats cooked with 1/2 cup water
1 tsp chia seeds
Gala apple, microwaved with cinnamon for 90 seconds
1 tbsp almond butter
stevia

The snow was really coming down while I walked to work.

Snacked on an orange at work…

My mom met me for lunch at the Atrium, a Greek cafe in the Onassis Towers in Midtown.

I was ravenous when we sat down, and ordered just what I was craving: spanikopita (spinach and phylo pie) with Greek salad.

No scrap was left behind!

I was still hungry when I got back to the office… must have been that run! I tore into the Forze bars I won from a contest Melissa hosted…

My sweet tooth demanded Chocolate Decadence.

I really liked this! It tastes just like candy… must be a new trend in energy bars! The texture reminded me of a delicious European cookie, crunchy and sweet. It had an almost Nutella-like taste… must be the roasted almonds used in the bar! Can’t wait to try the other flavors.

I stayed at work a little late to maximize what I did in the office so I would have less to do at home. An apple held me over until I got home, although honestly, I was still really hungry after that bar! I don’t know what’s going on with my appetite…

I was excited to use my new toy to make dinner.

Finally got a spiralizer! I’ve actually had this for a couple weeks, but haven’t had time to give it a test run. I had a little trouble with it at first (which may or may not have resulted in a slew of profane mutterings), but finally my zucchini was given new life.

I should have just made a really simple sauce for this, but since I’ll be out for dinner tomorrow I wanted to use up the leftovers in the fridge. And when I say “leftovers,” I mean all of the leftovers. Oh lordy.

Yep, that would be grape tomatoes, broccoli, teriyaki-glazed tofu, mushrooms and broccoli pesto. And if that wasn’t enough?

I dipped it in crab soup! This was a definite “What was she thinking?!” moment. It’s never a good sign when you already have a fiber belly from nibbling on veggies before you even begin your dinner. Oofdah. But, after I gave myself some time to spend some horizontal time on the couch, I was ready to devour a homemade peanut butter cup. It was so good that I almost made another one, but I was all out of the dark chocolate I like so I just had an orange.

Back to work I go… it’s going to be a late night, and an early morning. I’m very behind in the Reader… I guess I’ll just have to catch up with ya over the weekend.

Have a great night! Bonne nuit