Lilveggiepatch » oatmeal

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!

Briefly Noted

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:27:03 +0000

In favor of extra sleep, I postponed the two miles I was supposed to run yesterday and ran them this morning instead. This was the first real run since Thursday- I’m not counting that one mile blip on Sunday- and I expected the days off to give my knees (and mind) some time to rest. Unfortunately… after a mile, my right knee started hurting and hurt for the rest of the day. No amount of icing or Aleve seems to be making it better. So, in the next week and a half, I’ll be taking it easy, trying to cross-train to keep up my endurance, and come race day (March 21), we’ll see where I am. If I can’t run the half-marathon, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Sound good?

Not too much has happened these past two days, but I did receive a lovely package in the mail from the lovely Amie! These mini Larabars are the perfect snack-size…

… and made a great addition to my breakfast this morning, which I had to eat at my desk due to an 8 AM dentist appointment.

I mixed 1/2 cup oats with 1/2 cup water in the microwave, then added a sliced banana, 1/2 packet of Justin’s PB, and a Coconut Cream Pie mini Larabar.

This was one of the best combinations I’ve had in a long time! It’s funny, because in the past I don’t remember liking this flavor of Larabar too much. I might have to buy a big one just to crumble into my breakfast!

Amie also sent me a bunch of tea, which is going to come in really handy at work. It may be getting warm outside, but my office is freezing!

After work I met Ada for dinner at Peacefood Cafe; we’ve been trying to make plans for over a month now, and it was so nice to finally get together again! I ordered the pumpkin sandwich mashed and seasoned with a little sea salt, ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, topped with caramelized onions, ground walnuts, vegan goat cheese and seasonal greens (which I’ve ordered before and could probably eat every week without getting bored of it). We were talking so much that it probably took about 45 minutes to eat!

We split two desserts. The choices were endless and incredibly difficult to settle on, but we both enjoyed our selections.

The coconut cake (or “Funny Bone”) was moist and light…

… and the magic cookie tasted like a magic bar (/ 7-layer bar/ hello dolly) but was also made with shredded carrots. Mmm!

Regular posting will continue tomorrow. I had high hopes of staying up late to work, but I can barely keep my head up! All I want to do is sleep… 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.

Down the Rabbit Hole

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:24:00 +0000

*For those of you who asked, my houndstooth tights are Betsey Johnson, masked by T.J. Maxx prices. There’s a new(ish) store on the Upper West Side, and I’ve gotten great deals on stockings and workout clothes there.

MORNING! How are you? I was so happy to wake up to a Saturday (at 10:30, no less!)… this week has been endless.

I was up early yesterday to walk the pup; I was pretty hungry, so my breakfast had a lil’ bit of everything.

1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill 5 Grain hot cereal, cooked in 2/3 cup water then drained
1 banana
1 prune
1 dried apricot
1/2 dried peach
cottage cheese
1 scoop Teddy’s Super Chunky peanut butter
agave

Before lunch I snacked on the usual suspects…

… and had a feast of leftovers for the main event: Mushroom Wild Rice Soup; steamed kale, roasted tomatoes, broccoli rabe & carrots with tamari peanut dressing; and fresh mango.

Later in the afternoon I had a Cranberry Nut Forze bar. Last one

We had late-night movie plans, so I made a quick dinner: sweet potato with SmartBeat, cinnamon & agave and leftover Chopped Miso Salad. Amazingly I don’t mind eating this salad three days in a row!

After dinner we piled into the car and drove to Brooklyn to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX. As we pulled in, we saw a van outside hosting a blood drive, so I went in and gave blood for the first time. I was a little worried my iron levels wouldn’t be high enough and would disqualify me, but I passed the finger prick test and was able to give! It took about 10 minutes to do, but the lounge chairs were really comfortable and the nurses on duty were hilarious and a riot to talk to. In a few weeks I’ll get a card in the mail (and a free movie ticket) telling me my blood type, which I’ve always been curious to know! Do you know your blood type?

I needed to re-stock my sugar supply after the drawing, which justified this (and a couple pretzel bites):

I was worried that I would be lightheaded and fall asleep during the movie (which I’m known to do on normal days) but I stayed awake and really enjoyed it! I was excited to recognize Alice as the actress who plays Sophie on In Treatment, an HBO show Ari and I really like. I won’t give anything away, but as you can expect it’s really beautiful to watch- and I don’t just mean Johnny Depp . I did feel a little woozy when it was over, but as soon as we got home I hopped into bed and slept for 9.5 glorious hours. I love the weekend.

Click here to find the winners of the Maranatha Giveaway!

Have a great day

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

Peek In The Drawer

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:28:57 +0000

Evening! Had another tough awakening this morning… I overslept and only had time to run a mile on the treadmill. Better than nothing though, right? It stopped raining so hopefully that’ll make it a little easier to get up and run six miles before work tomorrow, although it’s also supposed to snow. Winter, it’s time to go!

Breakfast was a little different than usual this morning.

1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
pumpkin
1/2 banana
cottage cheese
1 T Mararnatha No Stir Smooth Peanut Butter
Cinnamon
Stevia

This held me over pretty well (no loud tummy growling) without leaving me feeling stuffed, which usually happens.

In my lunchbag I packed an apple, orange, peach yogurt, and salad with spinach, beets tomatoes, beets, dried cranberries, feta, tempeh, Goddess + Vidalia Onion dressings.

Somehow I found myself at the office candy bowl and pulled out a Caramel Apple lollypop. Remember these?

Danielle made lemon poppyseed muffins last night and brought one in for me. Oddly enough I was just thinking of making these myself!

In case I ever run out of snacks at work, all I have to do is open up my desk drawer! I keep nutrition bars, packets of nut butter, and whatever samples I have lying around. I also keep silverware so I don’t have to keep throwing away plastic utensils, health items like Band-Aids, ibuprofen, Wet Ones, Diva Drops (I think that’s what they’re called… these changed my life! I can finally wear high heels comfortably), and a shot of Red Bull (in case I need an emergency boost). What do you keep in your desk or purse? Do you carry emergency snacks?

I’ve successfully gone without doing a major grocery shop this week, and I’ll probably be able to make it until Sunday! I had a smorgasboard dinner; an open faced sandwich with tempeh bacon, cheddar & asiago cheese, Ten Minute Vegetable Soup, and sauerkraut.

For dessert, I had a bowl of The Lite Choice’s Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge soft serve that I had in the freezer. I was shocked how soft it was! All I did was let it thaw for about 10 minutes before eating.

Back to Wall Street! Check in tomorrow for a giveaway! It’s good one

Central Park Running

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:21:09 +0000

Morning, friends! Is it just me or did the weekend seem to be the perfect length? Of course I could always do with an extra day off or two, but it didn’t seem too short at all. Sorry about the lack of post last night; Ari and I really needed to catch up on Heroes. Does anyone else watch it? It satisfies both my need for superheroes and a weekly show!

Yesterday I woke up at 8 feeling fully rested. While I love sleeping in, I also like to be awake relatively early on weekend mornings without feeling a sense of pressure to do anything. Relaxation is such a gift! I did some things around the house for a little (including watching a little of Excess Baggage on TV… when it came out in the 90s, I had no idea who Benicio del Toro was!), then made breakfast. A reader recently submitted on Ask Me Anything:

Lilveggiepatch is my favorite food blog. Hands down. I love your breakfast concoctions! What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? What seems to be the most satiable for a hard days work (I’m a college student stuck in a rut!) Thanks =)

First of all, thanks for the compliment! A little flattery is nice every once in a while In terms of breakfasts with staying powder, I find oatmeal to be the most satisfying. A good balance of grains, fruit, protein and fat is a safe bet when trying to find something to hold you over, and recently this has been my #1 combo:

1/2 cup oats cooked with 1/2 cup water
1 banana
1/2- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 T peanut butter
lemon curd
pumpkin butter
cinnamon
stevia

I used to only use 1/2 a banana, but using a whole one keeps me full so much longer. Plus, it helps me meet my daily fruit & vegetable requirement! (Not that that’s usually a problem….)

This breakfast held me through an 8 mile run with Danielle in Central Park yesterday morning. It may not look like it here, but I can tell Spring is just around the corner! I can’t wait to stroll outside, drink iced coffee, have picnics…

I haven’t really run in that park except during races, but I loved being out there with so many other runners on a beautiful Sunday morning! It’s also a LOT easier (and more fun) to run with a buddy. Central Park is great for hill training, something I really haven’t focused on at all but definitely should. The 15K I ran in December had practically vertical inclines, and the half-marathon is going to be in Central Park as well. So, time to get better about that! Our knees were both aching a bit- my right knee started hurting around mile 4- so we took a couple walking breaks to soothe them. Danielle went home around mile 5.5 (she’d already run 1 mile to meet me) and I continued on, running myself right to Starbucks to use the bathroom.

I ended up running 8.17 miles in 1:23:23. I tried to get the splits for this, but for some reason my computer (Mac OS 10.5.8) won’t accept the Garmin disc. Has anyone else had trouble with this?

Risking my cool cred I stretched on the subway ride home, displaying impressive feats of balance I made myself a quick lunch when I got home:

In the mix:

baby spinach
1/2 avocado
dulse
2 slices tempeh bacon
hemp seeds
Everything-flavored pretzel thins <— so addicting!
macadamia nut oil/rice wine vinegar dressing

I iced my knees in bed for a while and took a little Aleve. After long runs I occasionally get what I think is Runner’s Knee; it doesn’t happen all of the time (didn’t happen during either of my last two 7 milers), but it usually goes away after a day or two. Right now it feels fine!

A couple hours later I had a snack to get me through a little work and hold me until dinner: Fage 0% yogurt with 1 orange, chia gel (1 tsp chia seeds soaked in water), and Cocoa Spice Kaia Sunflower Seeds. Good combination!

We hadn’t had sushi for a while, so Ari and I went to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. We had green tea and shared some hot sake…

… had bowls of miso soup…

….and ordered the Sushi & Sashimi combination for two.

It was a lot of food. We didn’t finish it all, so I’m bringing the leftovers to work for lunch today. Sushi isn’t great the second day, but we’ll see! When we got home, we each had a Peanut Butter Bar from The Lite Choice. I scraped mine off the stick and covered it with cocoa powder and stevia. Yummy!

Off I go to start the week. Have a great Monday!

Answers!

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:34:33 +0000

Evening and happy weekend! Even though it was technically a short week, it feels like last Friday was ages ago. Today was a pretty good day: busy–>productive–> relaxing. Couldn’t really ask for more!

This morning was take number two of 7 miles on the treadmill. And… I did it! I was a little groggy when I woke up at 5:30, but I got myself up and dressed. On the way out the door, I grabbed a chocolate Clif Shot Rock (sent from the company) to get me through my workout.

It was pretty good! Initially it had a little of that “protein-y” taste, but after a couple chews it started to taste more like a brownie bite or a Milk Dud. I like that they’re not sticky; they’d be great for stuffing into the tiny pocket of my shorts for a quick energy boost during a long run. Click here for more info.

The run itself went much better than I’d thought, and I owe that all to my choice of entertainment! The Upwelling has been listening to Graphic Audio on the road (basically a graphic novel with sound effects), and Ari gave me chapter 1 (about 70 minutes) of Batman. Although I read comic books and graphic novels, I expected to find this version of it kind of hokey. I actually got really into it! My heart rate monitor wasn’t working the whole time, but my splits looked like this:

Mile 1 (warm-up): 5.8 mph@ 1% incline

Miles 2-6: 1600@6.9 mph, 800@ 6.2 mph (repeated) @ 1% incline

Mile 6-6.5: 5.8 mph@ 1% incline

Mile 6.5-7.0: 5.2-3.5 mp @ 1% incline

Total time: about 65 minutes

I made sure to get a good stretch in, and even now I don’t feel sore at all and my knees haven’t given me any trouble. Big success!

When I got back I was pretty thirsty, so I combined a mixture of Clif Shot Electrolyte & Ester-C.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have suffered from pretty low energy for the past 6 years or so, and one of the ways that helps me manage it is to take iron supplements. Ester-C helps absorb the iron. It does come in a capsule form, but I bought the powder by mistake… and it tastes awful. I usually mix it with orange or POM juice, which are both sweet enough to mask the taste. (I have about 1/3 of a serving every morning). Unfortunately I must not have used enough Shot powder this morning, because it still tasted awful. Better luck next time!

After I showered and got ready for work, I climbed back in bed with a big bowl of oatmeal and relaxed for a few minutes.

In the mix:

1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
1 banana
pumpkin
1 dried peach half
1 dried prune
1 scoop Maranatha creamy almond butter
cinnamon
stevia

It held me over pretty well for a while, but I started to really feel the effects of those 7 miles at work! I had an apple and a mini Chocolate Chip Clif bar.

For lunch, I had a big salad with leftover buffalo salmon, tomatoes, and goddess dressing. It was actually too big for me to finish! (A rare sentence from LVP.) I did eat the vanilla yogurt, but I waited until I got back to my desk.

And last but not least… an orange. The people who work next to me must think I do nothing but snack, but no one’s said anything yet!

I was really looking forward to laying low tonight, which is just what I did.

I watched The Hurt Locker and Milk while eating dinner and sipping wine… I found a fabulous batch of pasta in the fridge that my parents had made earlier this week: pesto with potatoes, green beens, and sundried tomatoes.

Aren’t their new dishes pretty?

I added grated Manchego and a can of Trader Joe’s crab meat. Definitely didn’t need to take my Omega-3 supplement today! (I usually take two capsules, or one if I know I’ll be eating fish or seafood.)

For dessert, I had Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream with hot fudge and coconut. There was a second container in the freezer, so I went back for a little more, too!

Before I get into bed, I thought I would answer some of your Ask Me Anything (or “As,” as I miss-typed) questions! I’m going to keep the form open indefinitely and will answer questions as time permits. So feel free to ask away!

have you always been slender? i’m just wondering because i used to tip the scale at 150lbs but lost 40lbs and have been maintaining for 9 years (i’m 23 now).

Luckily I was graced with a pretty fast metabolism while I was growing up, and got away with eating whatever I wanted without really doing much exercise. It’s slowed down significantly in the past few years, so to maintain my weight and keep eating the foods I like, I do have to put some effort into it.

hi! I’ve been reading your blog a long time:) I am a huge fan of your foodie and blog I have random question..I am living in NY too. and I don’t know where to get haircut??? (i know its totally random…sorryyy) but I always thought your hair looks so good! could you give me suggestion? that salon that you are going??

Not a silly question at all! I went to Hoshi Coupe for years; it’s a Japanese salon that’s relatively inexpensive, and you can get a pretty stylish cut for a good price. My favorite stylist moved back to Tokyo a few years ago so I was floundering around for a while, then got a life-changing cut in May at 526, a salon that houses Bumble and Bumble. I get it cut there every time I go back to Minnesota! A friend recommended Bumble and Bumble in New York, and since I was so pleased with the experience in St. Paul that I tried it out here and loved it. It’s affordable, the stylist listened to what I wanted… and you get free lattes while you get groomed! If you’re interested, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you more details.

do you estimate/count calories in your head at all? do you know about how many you eat everyday?

No, I really don’t. There was about a month in high school when I joined SELF magazine’s online diet club (in a moment of adolescent insecurity) and tried to track my daily intake, but it was too time consuming and I didn’t feel like making the effort for something that was just causing me more anxiety. I’ve gotten to the point where I understand what my body needs, and although sometimes I have a hard time differentiating between boredom noshing and genuine hunger, I don’t worry about it too much. I do know that it takes a lot of food to keep me full, which is why I like to eat some foods according to their volume (big salads) and staying power (oatmeal).

favorite show?

This is a tough one! I rarely have time to watch things in real-time, so I often stream shows online or order them from Netflix. My favorite shows growing up were My So-Called Life and 7th Heaven; now I love Californication, Dexter, Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Big Love, Mad Men… the list goes on, but I’m not caught up with any of them!

do you know how many oz are in a cup of yogurt?

It depends on the container, but 6 oz is pretty standard.

More to come! In the mean time, Averie is giving away coconut peanut butter! Does that sound good or does that sound good?

Do you count calories? Have you ever? Why or why not?

How To Boil An Egg

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:04:46 +0000

Evening! Hope you’ve all greatly enjoyed your Mondays. Mine wasn’t too shabby: got some housework done, some workwork done, and am even enjoying a few minutes of Marley & Me.

I woke up at 8:30 this morning feeling refreshed and rested, ready to get the day started. I waited a little to eat breakfast, then made the new classic combo:

1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
1/2 banana
pumpkin
pumpkin butter
lemon curd
chunky peanut butter
cinnamon
stevia

Mmm! I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of this one.

After breakfast I took myself to a nearby coffee shop; I sipped on a skim dirty chai (chai latte with espresso) for a couple hours while I read. The chai was a little too sweet; they made it from powder instead of the liquid mix and it just didn’t taste right. Only Luke can make them the way I like ‘em.

I went home to make lunch, and decided I wanted a hard-boiled egg. This is pretty rare for me: I’m very picky about my eggs, and if the insides are green- or worse, gray- I won’t eat them. But the main reason I don’t boil eggs very often is that I can never remember how. Embarrassing, I know… a girl who cooks all the time and doesn’t even know how to boil an egg! Today, I conquered the elusive hard-boiled egg. On the off-chance that someone else out there doesn’t know how to do this seemingly simple thing, I’ll walk you through it!

How To Hard-Boil An Egg

Step 1. Place your egg(s) in a small pot and cover with cold water. The water should reach about an inch higher than the egg.

Step 2. Bring water to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it starts boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook about 8 minutes.

Step 3. Drain water and rinse eggs with cold water to cool them off and stop them from cooking.

Step 4. Peel! The longer you wait to peel the shell, the harder it is. There’s nothing more tedious than picking off millions of pieces of shell!

Voila! Perfectly cooked eggs

One egg went right into my salad, the other will be saved for later in the week.

In the mix:

mixed greens
cooked white asparagus
1 tomato
1 hard-boiled egg
pumpkin seeds
goji berries, soaked
feta
chili flakes
dressing: agave, dijon mustard, olive oil, rice wine vinegar
yes, that’s cinnamon you see! It was an accident, but a tasty one at that!

After lunch I took went to the grocery store and got everything on my list.

Ever since I started meal planning, I’m so much more efficient when I shop. I spend less money, and spend less time wandering aimlessly through the aisles. Plus, when I get home I know exactly what I have to do to get dinner on the table!

Before you shop for groceries, clothes, household items, etc., do you make a list? Do you stick to it?

I was a hungry beast while I worked, and snacked on a Chocolate Peanut Butter Forze Bar and a navel orange.

Around 5 I started to get a little stir-crazy so I brought my work to the gym and pedaled away on the bike for 30 minutes, climbed stairs for 10, worked my arms and abs. (I wore my heart-rate monitor but it wasn’t working so I don’t have the stats today, sorry!)

Dinner was a no-brainer: Coconut Barley Pilaf with Shrimp, steamed green beans, and a small sweet potato with Smart Beat, cinnamon and agave.

For dessert I had the last of the Mint Galactica ice cream with a square of melted dark chocolate and 1/2 banana.

I also couldn’t resist one of Gina’s macaroons… they’re too good to go uneaten

Back to Marley & Me I go.. Ari’s away for the week so I’m going to go try to make my way through some of the Netflix picks he isn’t so keen on. Have a great night!

Visit From A Fairy

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:15:21 +0000

The macaroon fairy, that is! More on that to come…

This morning I had the best of intentions: my alarm went off at 5:30, and I had my clothes all laid out with my bag packed and ready to go… but I slept horribly last night and I just couldn’t push myself through the fatigue. An hour and a half more sleep proved much more beneficial to my body today, although I’m still exhausted right now!

As promised, I made my new favorite bowl of oatmeal.

1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
cinnamon
stevia
pumpkin butter
lemon curd
pumpkin
chunky peanut butter

For some reason my breakfasts haven’t been holding me over too well recently… I would guess it’s because I’ve been working out a lot, but I feel like in the past when I’ve boosted my mileage I was usually able to wait a little longer than two hours after eating! In addition, even though the races I trained for were for shorter distances than the half I’m training for now, I was running almost every day and ended up logging more miles than I am currently. So, it’s a conundrum!

In any event, I brought an apple and orange to work.

My mom met me for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien.

We split a bowl of vegan spinach soup to start…

I ordered the Smoked Salmon Salad with arugula, roasted beets, vegetables, goat cheese dressing and bread (I ate half of a slice of baguette, lightly buttered).

I’m so lucky to live in the same place as my parents. These mid-week visits are so lovely!

Later in the afternoon, I snacked on a Cranberry Nut Forze bar.

This reminded me of a combination Kashi Trail Mix Bar and Rice Krispie Treat. It was pretty sweet, but I liked it. Now that I’ve tried all four flavors, I’m ready to give you my bottom line. I like that these bars taste like treats, but don’t have the kinds of chemicals and additives that their counterparts do (like, say, a real Rice Krispie Treat or an Oreo granola bar). I also like that they aren’t a caloric commitment; at 150 calories, this bar is more of an appropriate snack than a 300+ calories energy bar when I need a little boost in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. Would I buy these? Probably, especially now that I know they’re sold at The Vitamin Shoppe, where I have a rewards card!

After work, I met Lisa for dinner at Blockheads. I think this is our new spot!

I started with a Modelo, but I was so enamored with Lisa’s “Red Nose Bull” (a Corona upturned in a frozen margarita) that I forgot to snap a photo. But it sure was cool and refreshing! I ordered the same dinner as last time: a mini Vegetable Burrito (and by “mini” I mean the size of my forearm) with brown rice, black beans, sautéed vegetables and salsa in a whole wheat wrap with tofu sour cream.

Eating out twice in one humpday? Unheard of!

I went home to the best dessert, courtesy of The Macaroon Fairy, Miss Gina.

I’ve dreamed of Gina’s raw macaroons for so long, and these were even better than I could have imagined.

She sent two kinds: plain ‘roon (although it was far from it!) and super’oon (cacao nibs, maca, goji berries. I can’t pick a favorite. Luckily I have a few more left to ponder! I gave a couple to Danielle at work, who also gave them two enthusiastic thumbs up. Gina, you’re a genius! Thank you so much

Tomorrow morning I will get up at 5:45 to log my 6 miles; I’m going to a special event tomorrow night so there won’t be any other time to do it. My iPod is loaded with fresh ‘tunes, so I can do it!

Have a great night