Last night, Ari decided he wanted a bowl of oatmeal! This is actually pretty shocking, because he’s not a huge fan of my breakfast creations (although he’s eaten Jim [...]]]> Happy Christmas Eve eve!  I still can’t believe it’s already here.  I won’t be blogging tomorrow, so please have a very merry holiday

Last night, Ari decided he wanted a bowl of oatmeal! This is actually pretty shocking, because he’s not a huge fan of my breakfast creations (although he’s eaten Jim once once or twice), favoring bagels or bacon-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches instead. To each his own! Anyway, I wanted him to like his snack, so I mixed a scoop  each of pumpkin butter and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.   This combination got the thumbs up!

He then opened a can of pickled jalepeño peppers.  That’s my man!

This morning I made myself one of the best bowls of oats.  Seriously!

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• pineapple
• dried cherries
• plain nonfat yogurt
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• agave nectar

This breakfast was tropical and festive, and reminded me of a piña colada in a bowl.  We used to go to Guadeloupe this time of year, and it reminded me of traditionally cold months spent in a warmer climate!

As I’ve mentioned, there really weren’t too many people in the office today… mostly other assistants who are holding down the fort while their supervisors are away.  I took advantage of the downtime to sort out some glitches with IT; the highlight of my day was actually when the computer technician and I spoke for almost half an hour about our favorite things to eat and cook!  All of that talk made me hungry, and after some embarrassingly tummy growls I finally went to the office kitchen to retrieve my snack: plain yogurt with pumpkin butter, almond butter and cinnamon.

I split my lunch hour into two parts to get the most out of it.  My hair is in that in-between stage where I can definitely wait another month or two to get it cut, but my bangs were starting to resemble a curtain. I’m going to a wedding next week, and thought it would be nicer for everyone if I cleaned myself up a bit.  So 20 minutes and $15 later, my bangs were neat and tidy!  I know some of you have master skills and can trim them yourselves; if you’d like to do a tutorial on this for us lesser folk, I would greatly appreciate it.

When I got back from the salon, I gobbled down my lunch while manning the phone.  I’m trying to eat up the (scant) ingredients in my fridge, so I made a salad with romaine, raw red cabbage, and two types of WF tofu (“balsamic baked” and “Sal’s special”).

Then I journeyed back outside to Westerly Natural Market for a juice run with a coworker.  He treated me to his favorite green juice, green lemonade (not 100% positive about the ingredients, but I think it was made with romaine, kale, apple, lemon and ginger).  It was so refreshing, and great to know there’s a good health food store within walking distance!  This could, of course, be dangerous for my wallet…

Someone came by my office at 4 saying we were all desperately in need of a sugar high and brought us each iced sugar cookies. These aren’t normally my style, but oh my lordy, they were good! It literally tasted like eating sweet butter.  Trust me, that’s better than it sounds.

I’d planned on going to a spin class at 5:45, but after almost 8 hours of not much action at work, we had a borderline crisis at 4:30.  So, no spin.  I was exhausted by the time I finally left the office and didn’t feel like going to the gym for any kind of exercise, so I just went home to relax.

Ari and I had nearly matching dinners: Whole Foods minestrone soup and a slice of Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread with a Morningstar Farms Pizza Burger and melted cheddar. Ari was a bit of a pansy and wasn’t feeling the veggie burger love.  He did, however, ask for “hippie juice” when I offered (what I refer to Bragg’s as).  Baby steps.

We watched The Brave One while we ate dinner.  Has anyone seen it? I think it deserves a 6.5/10.  Not bad, but not great either.   I had the last of the pineapple (recycled photo) for dessert, which was still incredibly sweet and juicy.

My food has been pretty boring for the last week or so (excepting the amazing dinners out), but hopefully I’ll have a little time on my hands to whip some fun things up.  I have to work tomorrow (although we close at 3 PM) and Monday, but I’m off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I can’t wait!

And, if you celebrate…

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS!  Safe journeys to anyone traveling.

(And don’t forget to send me your FAQs )

My boss has a subscription to Harry and David’s Fruit of the Month club, and [...]]]> Happy Tuesday, chickadees! I hope you’ve had a fabulous day.  My day was nice and easy.  I’ve come to really appreciate the short hours I have when I get home, though! I try to stretch them to their fullest.

My boss has a subscription to Harry and David’s Fruit of the Month club, and this December she received a pineapple!  She didn’t want it and was worried it would rot if she left it in the kitchen, so I got it! Lucky me.  I LOVE pineapple, but never buy it for myself.

I woke up this morning not really knowing what I wanted, so I looked in the pantry and came out with a packet of Tera’s Whey Bourban Vanilla protein powder.

I mixed half a packet in with some plain yogurt, then topped the mixture with granola, pineapple and a drizzle of almond butter.

I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out what time I need to leave to get to work and still be a few minutes early, so I leave myself with enough time to relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast.  No one else is up in the house at this time, and it’s nice to have a little time to myself.

At work, I snacked on a pretzel, crunchiness be damned.

I started to get hungry at 12, but knew I would be starving if I ate all of my lunch that early.  So I just ate my side of molasses-roasted Brussels sprouts, and saved the rest for later.

When I was ready to eat the rest about an hour later, I had a salad with romaine, Whole Foods’ tempeh with roasted peppers, and tabouleh from Hummus Place.

…and more pineapple.  Such a treat!

I started to get hungry again around 4, so I snacked on a mini Chocolate Brownie Clif bar.

At the urging of both of my parents, I packed my gym bag last night and brought it to work with me.  At 5:00, I was not only ready to work out but excited to do so! It felt so good to work up a sweat after sitting still for 8 hours.  As soon as I changed clothes, I hopped on the treadmill and ran 3 miles.

Mile 1: warm-up at 5.8 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 2: intervals at speeds between 6.1 and 7.0 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 3: intervals at speeds between 5.8 and 6.3 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 3.0-3.3: walking at 4.0 mph, 3.5% incline

I’m going to have to get used to running on the treadmill as long as the ground is icy outside.  I love the snow, but I have to admit: I’m a little jealous of our Floridian friends who can run outside through the year!  It was a little harder for me to stay focused today because I haven’t been able to find my iPod since my last long run before the 15K (when I borrowed Ari’s).  If I don’t find it soon, I think I’m going to have to use one of my paychecks to buy a new one… I don’t listen to it while walking around anymore (although I used to be plugged into my headphones all the time outside of the house!), but music is crucial when I exercise.  We’ll see.

When I got home from the gym, I was so hungry I thought I would eat my own hand.  Luckily, I’d been thinking about dinner all day so it took no time to imagine and prepare!  I just heated up leftover seafood linguine and last night’s branzino, seasoned my dish with chili flakes, and I was ready to go.

For dessert, I had one of each of my homemade holiday treats (which my coworkers loved, by the way): pumpkin molasses cookie, sugar cookie (dusted with cinnamon sugar), Hershey kiss-stuffed chocolate cookie, Aztec chocolate bark.

Now I’m in bed, sipping a mug of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea, watching the end of Saving Silverman.  Sleep is imminent!

Melissa awarded me with this Beautiful Blogger award.

As the rules dictate, here are 7 random facts about me!

1. I really like the show Golden Girls, but I can never decide who my favorite is! I think it’s Rose (Betty White), but they all play off each other so well.

2. I can’t wink or snap my fingers.  (I may have mentioned this one before!)

3. I really want a pug or a French bulldog.  Ari also wants me to write down that I am not allowed to have one.

4. I’ve seen the movie Reality Bites more than 20 times.

5.  I hate being on speakerphone. HATE. DO NOT EVEN TRY,

6. If you watch A Positive Rage, the documentary about the Hold Steady, you will see me front row center in the audience at the show at First Avenue in Minneapolis!

7. The first rated R movie I ever saw was Greedy, with Michael J. Fox.

That’s it! Pretty random. Thanks for the award, Melissa.  Everyone else: feel free to list your on 7 facts! I love reading them

Night!

Last night while I was [...]]]> Good evening, duckies! How are you this fine Monday?  I’m feeling pretty darn fine myself, sipping tea in the comfort of my kitchen after a great day at work, a fabulous din with MVP (Mama), and a quick flash of friendly faces at home.  What made you happy today?

Last night while I was working in the kitchen, I thankfully had the foresight to whip up enough oatmeal to last me the week.  I had enough time to make steel-cut oats; it really only takes 25 minutes total, and it’s definitely worth the extra effort.

This morning I reheated a portion and topped it with warmed frozen berries, ground flax, agave and almonds. For some reason I prefer whole nuts to nut butters when I eat steel-cut oatmeal… it must be something about the nutty texture of the grains.

I said it a week ago and it still rings embarrassingly true: we need to go grocery shopping.  However, while we don’t have a lot of fresh produce, we do have ingredients that, with a little creativity, can make up a pretty good meal.

When I was living in France, I noticed that a lot of people had lentil salads for lunch or to supplement their dinners.  Lentils are high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Lunch-Break Protein Salad

• 3/4 cup canned lentils
• 1/3 cup frozen edamame, thawed
• 1 tbsp crumbled feta
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• crushed walnuts

Gently stir ingredients together.  Serves 1.

This lentil-edamame salad was all made with ingredients that had been sitting in my fridge, pantry or freezer for at least a month.  I should shop here more often!  I also brought carrots, hummus, and a honey-flavored Oikos Greek yogurt with me.

Today was my first day at work on my own, without being trained or supervised.  It was a little overwhelming, but a lot of fun.  There’s a lot of information being thrown at me, but I’m taking lots of notes, asking questions, and doing my best.

New York has a lot of hidden gems, many of which are public parks like this one.  Surrounded by office building, they have waterfalls that drown out traffic and city noise, open plazas and cafe tables for socializing, and trees to bring a little zen into your day.  I spent my lunch in on of these parks today to clear my mind and recharge.

When I got back to the office, I quickly realized one of the keys to a successful work day: a strong cup of coffee between 2:30 and 3.  I already have pretty low energy (which I’ve discussed here several times), and this little jolt of java really helped keep me going. Whatever it takes!

Throughout the day I also snacked on a Raisin Spice Heart Thrive Cake…

… and before I knew it, it was 5:45 and time to go home!  On my way out the door, I opened up a can of coconut water to hold myself through dinner.

I met my mom for dinner at our usual Japanese restaurant.

We toasted the future with hot sake…

… and shared some steamed shrimp shumai.

Anticipating lunch tomorrow, I ordered a bowl of tofu nabe (broth with vegetables, tofu, and seasoning).  I ate most of the vegetables but packed up a lot of the broth, which I will beef up and bring to work tomorrow.

When I got home, I cozied up with a mug of Gingerbread Spice tea and a sugar cookie my mom brought all the way back from Santa Fe!  The cookie did not last long

My knee is still hurting from the 15K yesterday, but the official times were finally listed! I came in at 1:33:26.  Not any kind of rank, but I’m still just proud I finished

It’s past my bedtime.  Goodnight!

(I was actually looking for the Spice Girls version of this song, but maybe you’ll respect me a little more this way.)

I’m so sorry for disappearing for so long.  My schedule has been pretty strange recently, and these are the first minutes I’ve had to myself in days!  I’ve missed you

Wednesday [...]]]> [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiUqfxFttM]

(I was actually looking for the Spice Girls version of this song, but maybe you’ll respect me a little more this way.)

I’m so sorry for disappearing for so long.  My schedule has been pretty strange recently, and these are the first minutes I’ve had to myself in days!  I’ve missed you

Wednesday night, after my dessert plate and toothbrush, I was up late finishing my book and got hungry again.  I had some dried fruit (cherries, apricots, prune) and almonds:

After another fitful night of sleep, I woke up and went with Ari to the deli for breakfast.  I wasn’t really in breakfast mode yet, so I just got a tower of fruit salad.

Ari went the bagel way.

A little later, I dragged myself out the door for a run.  I really wasn’t in the mood: my body was heavy, my feet felt clunky, and my brain just wasn’t there.  I ended up turning around and only running about 1 mile.

When I got back, I had a big bowl of Puffins with crushed walnuts and almond milk:

When I got into the city, I went to the Whole Foods salad bar for lunch, which I haven’t treated myself to in a long time.

• mixed greens
• jicama mango salad
• broccoli
• baked tofu
• minted tomatoes
• seaweed salad
• mandarin orange tofu salad

It was a winning combination.  There were five or six items in the bar that contained mint, which is an herb I rarely use.  I really should! It’s so summery, and adds a festive feel to food and drinks (read: mojitos!). I’ll work on this.

I finally had one of the Monster Cookies that Sarah has been raving about all this time.  It’s sort of like a Super-Charge Me Cookie: peanut butter, dark chocolate, coconut… mmm.  It was supposed to be a “Get excited for your work week!” cookie, and it worked pretty well.

During work, I snacked on an Iced Oatmeal Raisin Luna bar:

Ramon made me one of the night’s special salads for dinner: mixed greens with avocado, apple, tomatoes, walnuts, and goat cheese, mixed with a light lemon vinaigrette.  Seriously yummy.

Work was bad.  Luckily I work with a lot of really great people, but the customers were just… weird.  There were several “altercations” at the restaurant and near tears (not mine), but my friend Howard made up for it by bringing by some pastries from  Black Hound Bakery .  Mine was a fruit tart  filled with lemon custard and topped with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  I was planning on digging into it on the cab ride home (which I justified by staying an extra 20 minutes at work to make the fare), but the car ended up getting stuck in traffic for 30 minutes and then BREAKING DOWN, and by the time I’d taken cab #2 home, I was too stressed out about having spent $30 on transportation that I wasn’t really in the mood.  Next time I’ll just take the subway.  Life happens.

My camera went missing (and my heart skipped a beat or two) so I used my computer to take this beautiful morning PJs photo.  I had an Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter and 1/2 banana:

In another attempt to rally myself for the long day ahead, I cut myself about 1/6 of Howard’s fruit tart for breakfast dessert.

After breakfast, I got all packed up for work and ready for the gym.  However, I ended up running some errands with Ari and only made it to the gym to shower.  This seems to be happening more and more frequently, but… life happens.

Ari and raced against the ticking parking meter and scarfed down lunch at Benny’s Burritos. I ordered the fish tacos, which came two tacos, lettuce, guacamole, and a side of rice and beans.  I knew they wouldn’t be quite as good as the fish tacos at Bonita, but I was curious.

The photo was taken on Ari’s phone… sorry for the blurriness!

I ate some of one taco (and all of the fish) and scooped out the insides of the other, ate half the guac, and half the rice and beans.  All in under 10 minutes. Oof! They were good, but next time I think I’ll get a burrito from the place with “burrito” in their name.

The undocumented: iced coffee, mozzerrella &  tomato slices with balsamic, probably 20 orange wedges from the bar tray…

Ari picked me up from work and we hotfooted it to 16 Handles, which was closing in five minutes. I got a mixture of Pomegranate tart, Margarita tart, Peanut Butter and Cheesecake, topped with strawberries, chocolate chips, and one chocolate-covered pretzel.

It must have been just what the doctor ordered, because all it took was that fro-yo and one episode of In Treatment to send me off to Dreamland. Woohoo!  And it gets better: as I’ve been typing this, I found out that I do NOT have to work a double shift today… it’s pretty slow, so I’m only going in at 4 for the night shift.  Good things happen, too, sometimes.

Have a great day!

Late July Organic Snacks is a family owned and operated company that cares deeply about family [...]]]> About a week or so ago, Jessica over at Late July was kind enough to offer to send me some of their new Mini Organic Whole Grain Sandwich cookies.  Here’s some information on the company from their website:

Late July Organic Snacks is a family owned and operated company that cares deeply about family and the integrity of our products. Not only are all our products certified USDA organic and proudly wear the organic seal, but on any given day you can find three generations at work including six-year-old Stephen and two-year-old Benjamin. We all hope you enjoy our snacks!

The cookies come in two flavors: Milk Chocolate Between Endangered Animal Vanilla Cookies and White Chocolate Between Endangered Animal Chocolate Cookies.  Late July donates 10% of the profits to the Jane Goodall Institute.  (Little known fact: when I was in 9th grade, I wanted to become a primatologist just like Jane Goodall!)

Before sending the cookies,  Jessica warned me, “… once I open a box, I seem to eat the whole thing before I even realize it!”  I wanted to do these cookies justice, so I enlisted a panel of reviewers: Ari, Ari’s brother, and Jenny (modeling below).

Nutrition information (chocolate cookies on left, vanilla on right):

My review- Pros: I love that these are not only organic, but donate a chunk of the proceeds to a fund (one that I respect) to help animals.  They are also DELICIOUS.  Unlike bigger cookies, their small size means you get to eat 10 / serving! As I’ve said before, it’s hard for me to turn an Oreo down, so these are a substitute I can feel good about.  They’re also pretty adorable… each cookie has the imprint of an animal on it!

Cons: Jessica was right these are hard to put down. Initially, they taste a little bland, but as you keep chewing the flavor comes out.

Jenny’s review: Chocolate cookie/white chocolate cream: They don’t taste “all sugared up” and thus bland, like other cookies.  I thought I would be getting into an Oreo- and I don’t like Oreos- but it was pretty good!

Vanilla cookie/ milk chocolate cream: A little more bland than the first one…. actually, I prefer this one to the other.  You have to chew it to the everlovin’ to get the real taste of it.

Ari’s review: These aren’t good enough for the amount of calories that are in them.

Ari’s bro’s review: I do not like these.

A couple weeks of ago I spotted these Full Bars at my local Duane Reade pharmacy.  I’m always looking for portable snacks to keep me satiated during work, so I picked one up the Caramel Apple Crisp flavor.

Here’s what their website says: “Each FullBar has just 180 calories or less, which is fewer calories than in a cup of most canned applesauce.

Here’s how it works. Simply eat FullBar with an 8-ounce glass of water 30 minutes before your 2 biggest meals of the day. The upper part of your stomach is stretched out and tells your brain: “Stop! I’m full!” That’s because FullBar uses the same principles as weight-loss surgery. By meal time, you’ll eat less and your hunger will be completely satisfied.”

I didn’t follow the directions when I was at work (eating the bar with a glass of water, 30 minutes before a meal) and instead just munched on it throughout my shift.

It’s about the size of a Kashi GoLean Crunch bar:

Pros: The flavor reminded me a lot of Apple Jacks, which I wasn’t allowed to eat when I was little.  I ate it in pieces, with water, and it kept me full from 7 PM until 10 PM, so I guess it did the trick.

Cons: My first bite did not impress me.  These are very soft, with an almost Sugar Smacks-like consistency; I tend to prefer a heartier bar that I can sink my teeth into.  At $2.49/bar, this is also very expensive.  Granted, bars tend to be a lot more expensive at the drugstore than Whole Foods (which is where I’ve found the best prices so far, in both Minnesota and New York), but I haven’t seen these sold anywhere else.

When the bartender at work tasted this, he said it reminded him of something they make in Bangladesh, where he’s from.  Another waiter simply let out a big “Mmmm!”

Would I buy this again? No. I would eat it if it was in my bar stash, but it’s too expensive and not tasty enough to warrant shelling out the cost of a subway ride.

Last night, Ari and I had the pleasure of joining fellow bloggers (out of order, sorry!) Heather, Caroline, Liz, Olga, Danielle, Katharine, Amelia, Dierdre, Diana and Marina, for dinner at [...]]]> Good evening and happy Saturday night!  The last two days have been a constant go, go, go! , so please excuse the posting delay.

Last night, Ari and I had the pleasure of joining fellow bloggers (out of order, sorry!) Heather, Caroline, Liz, Olga, Danielle, Katharine, Amelia, Dierdre, Diana and Marina, for dinner at Candle 79.

While we were chatting about food and foodies, the restaurant staff brought out an amuse bouche: curried lentil dip with onions on a homemade tortilla.  Great start to a great night!

Ari and I split the Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Cake made with seasonal vegetables, red pepper-coconut curry, apricot-date chutney, and toasted almonds.

We also ordered the Wild Mushroom-saffron Ravioli with cashew ricotta, roasted tomato-truffle sauce, sautéed broccoli raab, and crispy capers.

The Chickpea Cake was my favorite, while Ari preferred the ravioli.  Worked out perfectly!

I also stole one of Liz‘s quinoa-flax crisps, which reminded me a lot of Dr. Kracker’s.

It was such a pleasure to meet some of the ladies I’ve come to “know” so well.  Hope to see you again soon! Thanks again to Heather for organizing a fabulous evening.

After dinner, Ari and I headed down to The Living Room to see Ari’s friend John‘s band play.  On the way there, we noticed a lot of people stopping in the middle of the street, staring at the sky and taking photos.  We were afraid there was some kind of apocalyptic happening going on, but instead we just saw these crazy clouds.

After the show, we went to a really cool bar for the after-party that was, back in the day, an authentic speak-easy. Pretty cool!

Then we headed to Brooklyn for the Swine Flu party.  Unfortunately, a lot of people ended up not being able to make it, so it was a pretty small gathering.  It was still fun, though, and the decor was awesome!

Cheese and raspberries were gobbled…

Notice the N1H1 cookies! Genius, right? So genius that I had to eat two

While Ari was in a deli picking up beer, I ended up finding some good bargains.  Cheap Chobani, 1 lb of fruit salad for $1.99, and the best: about 20 medjool dates for $2.99!  I’m such a dork, but I was really excited about that.

This morning I had a strawberry Chobani yogurt, fruit salad, and a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and cinnamon.

I don’t remember ever having flavored Chobani before.  I was a little skeptical about a fruit-on-the-bottom-style Greek yogurt, but I ended up really digging it! If I can ever afford it again, I’ll be picking up the other flavors.

After breakfast, we drove to Connecticut for a surprise birthday/graduation party.  We stopped to pick up Ari’s parents at their friends’ house, and were greeted by a variety of Food Should Taste Good crackers and Sabra hummus.   I was very happy.

The lady of the house whipped us up a delicious mushroom pizza.

I had a small slice.

After our “snack,” we got back in the car to to go the party.  After arriving and saying our hellos, we made our way to the bar tent. There were coolers of red and white sangria:

Ari tapped the keg.

Over the course of the day, I had a cup of white sangria:

And a cup of red sangria.

I’m not usually a sangria person, but I wasn’t in the mood for beer.  It was actually pretty refreshing!

They were serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and lobster.  Guess what I got?!

Each mesh baggie was filled with steamed lobster, corn-on-the-cob, mussels, clams, and potatoes.

I made a huge mess, but it was amazing.

The birthday boy just graduated from dental school, so there was a red velvet “braces” cake:

There were also cute little graduation and birthday cupcakes.

The hat was too cute to pass up, so I had a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting.  (Ari was pretty enamored with the newborn baby.)

Ilana was also taken with Baby.

Beth & Abe had a blast.

The party was really fun, and it was so nice to get out of the city for the day.  Don’t get me wrong: I love New York and I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I need a mental health break from it from time to time.

We ate around 4, so my stomach felt a little off all day.  I didn’t know if I should eat dinner, snack, or what! The perfect solution seemed to be fat free peanut butter frozen yogurt. Funny how that logic works, hmm?

All in all, it’s been a pretty great weekend. (Bonus question: how many times do I use “pretty” in this post? ) I have to be at work in less than 9 hours so I’m going to say goodnight and good luck!

Catch up with ya later, gators.

Ari and I went to Panera for lunch to soak up their WiFi.  I got my usual (can you believe I’d never even [...]]]> Good evening! I hope your Mondays passed smoothly.  Mine was significantly better than yesterday… thanks again for being so nice about my bad day.  No one likes to work though, right?

Ari and I went to Panera for lunch to soak up their WiFi.  I got my usual (can you believe I’d never even been to a Panera a couple weeks ago? Now I’m a pro!) and “picked two” :

Vegetable soup:

1/2 Mediterranean Veggie sandwich:

And I did not make that mess, by the way… the soup sloshed over the side when it was put onto the tray!

We were there for a while and I got hungry again, so I snacked on half of a Chocolate Chip Clif.

When we got back home (after getting caught in the rain for the 15th day in a row), I had a big bowl of cherries.

I was on my own for dinner tonight, so I made a huge salad:

• romaine
• 1/2 daikon
• leftover GC tofu
• Gena‘s guacamole
• red pepper hummus
• lime juice

Very filling! But I always have room for dessert   I’ve had these Late July sandwich cookies for a while now, and after admiring them on Sarah‘s blog for months, I figured it was time to eat them.

So. good.  I used to have Oreos + milk every day when I got home from school… those were the days!

Now, I know this song is about something else, but I do have “a list of things” that need to get done! So I’ll leave you with this 1997 Grammy nominee, and I’ll get back to work

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uYsP6N4Dbo]

Please consider purchasing Jenna‘s Easy Weeknight Dinner e-cookbook. Not only will you get some fabulous recipe ideas, but you’ll support her Team in Training effort to help fight blood cancer.

Hey hey hey and happy Fri-dizzle!  Hope your weekend is shaping up nicely.  I’m headed to Maryland for the weekend… not sure what the blogging/internet situation will be, but as always, you will never be far from my mind.

Last night I stayed up [...]]]> *For some reason this didn’t post last night… sorry about that!

Hey hey hey and happy Fri-dizzle!  Hope your weekend is shaping up nicely.  I’m headed to Maryland for the weekend… not sure what the blogging/internet situation will be, but as always, you will never be far from my mind.

Last night I stayed up pretty late reading, so I got a little hungry and ate an apple.

Jim made a reappearance this morning at breakfast… I think he was channeling Jack the Pumpkin King.

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tsp skim milk
• 1 tsp PB
• 1 tsp black raspberry jelly
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• face: orange smile, dried apricot eyes, pecan nose

I had a doctor’s appointment and they kept me waiting for a while, so I whipped out some trail mix and ate it in the waiting room.  A good girl is always prepared!

I got hit with a horrible wave of exhaustion after my appointment; I picked up a hazelnut iced coffee with skim and sugar and it helped a little.

The internet was a little ornery this morning so I couldn’t check to see what Day 3 of Gina‘s Summer Shape-Up was, but I remembered that it was some kind of cardio interval training so I hopped on the elliptical and alternated between levels 10 and 15, in 1-minute intervals, for 30 minutes with a 5 minute cooldown.  I also did one ab machine. Thankfully, my heart rate monitor decided to work today:

Total time: 39:22 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 176 (88%)

Average heart rate: 151 (76%)

Calories burned: 357

I snacked on an apple on the way out of the gym:

It was already 3:30 by the time I got home. While I was pounding away on the elliptical (and trying not to fall asleep on the subway), I came up with a serious crack wrap remix:

I smeared some Hummus Palace hummus on a one half of a whole wheat HP pita, and topped it with some extra sharp NY cheddar.

I smooshed the top of the pita on and heated both sides until they started to brown.

Then I pried open the sandwich, and plopped a pre-toasted Amy’s California Veggie Burger between the layers.

Holy Yum. Look at that ooze!  I enjoyed it with some leftover spicy mint pesto and hot sauce.

For dessert, I had two Fig Newtons and a three-hour nap.

My mom treated me to a nice Thai dinner at Sura.  The price is unbelievable and the food is delicious! For $12, we shared an appetizer trio: coconut shrimp, “Virgin” Thai summer roll, and seaweed-crusted tofu.

We also split the Almond-Crusted Trout with Rice-Noodle and Papaya salad.

All that was only $24! New York is expensive, but it’s definitely possible to find delicious and beautifully-prepared food that won’t break the bank.

When I got home, I had a mango with Fage 0%.  When I was younger I used to get a rash all over my face every time I ate mango! (I always did it anyway ).

I also wanted some chocolate, so I broke out the bar my friend Carlye brought me back from Russia, oh, six months ago! (Remember the FOR MEN chocolate?!)

It got a little melty on the drive home from Minnesota, but it still tasted like pure Ruskie heaven.

Well, almost time to go and I have to make sure I didn’t forget anything.  I always forget something big, like my glasses, and end up sleeping in my contacts for days on end!

Have a great weekend