Mon's Appetit

I've Moved!!

2011-09-12T21:59:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I've moved to a new host so that my blog can grow. Visit me at
http://monicacuevas.com/

Yum-O!

2008-07-22T20:04:00.006-05:00

Happy Humpday! (I realize it's almost Thursday but I began this post this morning).I really wish my posts weren't so random and sporadic. I haven't had the greatest time management lately and I've also been having camera issues. Hopefully soon I can return to posting my daily meals on a regular basis! This morning I met with my trainer at 8 for a leg-focused workout. Monday was arm-focused so today was my lower body's turn to work for an hour. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I'm sure I'll be feeling my legs later! It's been 8 weeks since I started training with him and I have noticed such a huge difference in my strength. Before I left I had a few extra minutes so I sipped on half a cup of coffee and a slice of Veganomicon's Lower-fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. I made this fantastic loaf yesterday and I couldn't wait to try it. I added way more mini chips than I needed, but it's okay because you can never have too much chocolate!

My post-workout breakfast was a protein packed Blueberry Peach Banana smoothie. I have been addicted to these lately. When I make these as a meal, as opposed to a snack, I use a cup of 1% milk, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen peaches, and 1 scoop of Kashi Go Lean! vanilla protein powder. Sometimes I'll add ice to give it more volume. The combo of the milk + protein seems to fill me up for hours. Today however, I was hungry within 2 hours.

For lunch I made one of my favorite fun dishes- Quinoa & Bean Pilaf. I like to mix it up, so each time I make it is new. Last night I used Inca Red Quinoa, which I cooked in vegetable stock. To the cooked quinoa I added a chopped yellow bell pepper, half a zucchini, scallions, tomatoes, cannelli beans, cashews, and feta cheese. I tossed the colorful salad with Seeds of Change Organic Greek Feta dressing. I had this for dinner last night, but it was even better today.

Work was pretty steady all day so it went by fast. After Friday, I'll only have 1 week left there. It's bittersweet but I can't wait to begin my new job!! I tried a new bar this afternoon, a Fiber One Oats & Apple Streusel.

I've had the oats & chocolate flavor before, but I was excited to try this one. This flavor was fine but I like the chocolate better. Overall I still prefer <3>

I have been starving all day for some reason. My meals have not satisfied me today! I got started on dinner pretty early. I chose to make Mango Jalapeno Shrimp from the current issues of Everyday with Rachel Ray. It came out great as a light and refreshing summer night dinner. I had mine taco style with 2 corn tortillas and a little avocado. Yum-o!

Since I had dinner pretty early I'll probably need a snack or dessert later on!

My, my, how can I resist you?

2008-07-21T09:37:00.005-05:00

My head has been filled with ABBA lyrics for the last 36 hours. Why? Well, I saw Mamma Mia! (the movie) this weekend with some girlfriends and we loved it. It's a fun, silly movie that had us dancing and singing our way out of the theater. The funny thing is I've never been a huge ABBA fan, but now I am ;)

Yesterday was a long day. I got up at 5:30 and didn't go to bed until 12:30. We took a road trip to Madison, WI for my cousin's baptism. The drive is about 3.5-4 hours each way so I am sick of sitting! My legs need a big stretch. But it was fun seeing family and celebrating little Daniel Alexander's baptism. And the food was amazing. My aunt is an amazing cook! She made delicious Mexican dishes and I wish I would have taken pictures of the food. I had 3 corn tortillas stuffed with different things. One with shredded chicken in a tomato salsa broth, 1 potato-chorizo, and a rajas one. Rajas is a mixure of poblano peppers, corn, zucchini, mexican sour cream, and cheese. It so delicious and definitely my favorite dish at the table. I also had black beans and rice.

Daniel Alexander

Cousin Aly, Sister Renata, Cousin Bianca, and Me

I slept in today to recover from the lack of sleep. I panicked a bit this morning when I walked into the kitchen. No oats, no cereal, limited fruit choices...I seriously considered going to the grocery store right away, but then I thought of something I could make...toast with peanut butter and bananas and juicy strawberries!

Despite my lack of breakfast options, I think I did pretty well in coming up with a nutritious, yummy breakfast. I used 2 full tablespoons of pb, usually I only use 1, but I need this breakfast to hold me through a workout and late lunch. The bread is Trader Joe's Sprouted Multigrain, made with organic high protein sprouted wheat berries, rye flakes, and flax seeds. Two slices provide 180 cals, 1 g fat, 4 g fiber, and 10 g protein.

Pb + Bread = 18 g protein. Usually, I'm not concerned with my protein intake. I, like the majority of Americans, get more than enough protein in my daily meals. That said, I love whole grains, fruit and veggies more than protein. My trainer thinks that I will get better results by increasing my protein intake. He gave me a meal guide that I'm going to try it out for awhile and see how I feel.

Today is my only day off from work this week. Plans for today include a cardio and strength training workout, planning meals for the week and buying groceries! Hope everyone is having a great start to the week.

Big News!

2008-07-17T10:02:00.007-05:00

Good Morning! It's been a relaxing Thursday morning for me. I work at 11 but I decided to take this morning off from exercising. I'm feeling pretty sore from earlier workouts this week. I am hoping to make it to yoga after work and then run, but it all depends on my evening plans. My mom and sister are going to the mall- she's having her high school senior pictures taken tomorrow- and I might tag along. I don't have much desire to go, but it's always nice to shop with moms ;)

For breakfast I had coffee and swiss oats. I made this by soaking the oats overnight with soy milk, cinnamon, dried cherries, and pecans. In the morning I mix it with low fat plain yogurt and banana slices. This is such a great breakfast during the summer. It's filling, yet cool and light.

For lunch I packed leftovers from Monday night's Caramelized Tofu with brown rice, pecans and broccoli. I can't wait to dig-in!

My snacks throughout the day include: baby carrots, plain yogurt, 2 pluots (plum-apricot hybrid), and a banana cookie lara bar. I'm not sure if I'll eat all of the snacks but I want to be prepared if hunger strikes, especially if I go to the mall.

BIG NEWS!

I was offered a full-time job working as a weightloss consultant at a local clinic!!!!! I won't know full details until my training starts August 4th, but after meeting with the director I can say I am excited! This company seems to have a great philosophy on food and weightloss, taking a lifestyle approach to health and wellness as opposed to a quick-fix diet. When I know more, I'll share details with you all! I cannot wait to start!

This has been a very hot and humid week here in Minnesota. Today is no exception. We're expecting storms today and I would guess sooner than later since the sky is already dark. I guess it's a good day to be working inside a coffee shop! Have a wonderful Thursday!

Refreshed

2008-07-10T22:07:00.009-05:00

Hi y'all! I can't believe how fast time flies these days. It's already a new week. Wow. I had a fun-filled, busy weekend spent with friends. We celebrated a birthday of Friday night by having a few cocktails, playing charades, and birthday cake of course! I spent most of Saturday working, and Sunday morning as well. The weekend highlight was yesterday when we went out on my friend's boat. It was a very windy day, but the sun was strong and we had a lot of fun. Chris and one of my friends even convinced me to go tubing. My arms are sore today but it was worth it!

Last night I was in bed by 9! The weekend wore me out so it was great to wake up feeling refreshed and well-rested. Lately, I've been liking to bake right away in the morning. So while I sipped on coffee I whipped up a batch of carrot, apple, and pecan multigrain muffins. These fiber rich muffins were on the back of Hodgson Mill's Multigrain Hot Cereal. I made a couple of changes to the recipe so I posted it on my recipe page.

I wasn't feeling a big breakfast so I had one of these and it was great. The muffins are moist, not too dense, and have the perfect amount of sweetness for me. I also had half of a grapefruit. It's been awhile since I've had one but I just love its refreshing quality.

To continue the refreshing trend I went to a yoga class this morning. My body was a craving a deep stretch. I have missed it so much the last couple of weeks. I hope I can continue to practice yoga at least once or twice a week, but sometimes my schedule just doesn't allow it. The instructor for this particular class likes to hand out cards that have sayings on them to focus on during class. I love this. Today mine said "Every thought I think is creating my future." This is so true and made me think about how important positive thinking is. The class definitely refreshed my mind and body.

I miss blogging my meals everyday so I've decided that when I have the time to do it, I'm going to be posting them again. I'm hoping that posting my meals again will motivate me to have more creative meals. The last few weeks have not been the most exciting food-wise. Of course, I've baked lots of goodies, but cooking? Not so much.

For dinner I made the Caramelized Tofu from 101 Cookbooks. I cannot rave enough about Heidi's recipes. Every single recipe I have tried from this website is amazing. The first time I ever tried cooking tofu at home was with this recipe. It came out great and my whole family enjoyed it. I prefer my tofu with crispy edges. My trick with tofu is pressing it for as long as possible (usually about 1 hr) and then slicing it in half depth-wise. Then I slice each thin block into thin strips. I just find that this method is easiest for crisping the tofu up and flipping it in the pan.

Tonight we enjoyed it with broccoli and brown rice. I also like to add crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. Yum!

Oh! I made another batch of the Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumb bars last week. Only this time I used blackberry jam instead of strawberry. This version was just as deliciously addicting as the first. The bars were a hit and my only caution is that you cannot just eat one. Well, maybe you can if you have a strong willpower against desserts. I certainly don't!! I meant to take a picture of these pretty bars but they didn't last long enough!

Two Amazing Recipes

2008-07-09T07:49:00.006-05:00

I mentioned before that I have been baking a lot these last few weeks. Lots of events and gatherings mean I have a chance to bake yummy treats! Most of the baking I've done is not low in fat or calories. But if you are going to indulge, these goodies are worth it!

Whenever I get the urge to bake, I look into my recipe binder for inspiration. My recipe binder is nothing more than a plastic 3-ring binder filled with magazine pages, printed out recipes, and scraps of paper with recipes scribbled out. Basically, I find a recipe that looks good and put it into the binder. Lately, I've had the urge to bake every morning so I've been needing to find new recipes to add to my recipe binder. Baking Bites and Cookie Madness are two of my favorite sites to look for yummy treats. A few weeks ago I came across Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars from Baking Bites. I have been dying to try these babies out and I finally got my chance!

I made these bars on Monday morning and by yesterday afternoon they were completely gone. We had family in town- but not that many! We are just a sweet-toothed family ;) These bars are so so so good, they melt in your mouth. They are buttery, yet light. I was a little bit nervous at first because I've never made shortbread. I've never been a fan of the whole cutting the butter into the flour- it takes too long and I don't have the patience. However, the recipe is so simple and comes together pretty quickly. The most time consuming part is finely chopping the pecans. Other than that, the bars take no time at all.

I am already planning on making more for my mom's friends this week. I might experiment with a different flavor of preserves, so I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

Another yummy treat I made this weekend was inspired by July's issue of Cooking Light. My aunt was flipping through the magazine and begged me to make Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Marshmallow Cream Filling. I was slightly disappointed that she picked these out. They looked great, but I wanted to make something else. Well, I am so glad I listened to her request because these sandwich cookies turned out better than expected. I changed the recipe a little. Also, I didn't feel like making the marshmallow filling, I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows, so I made a cream cheese center. The adapted recipe for my sandwich cookies can be found here.

I tried a bite of one sandwich cookie and ended up eating the whole thing. It was too hard to put it down. The good news is that I packed up the cookies and sent them off with my aunt and cousins. I am glad I don't have those temptations around anymore!

Some of the other treats I made this weekend:

Food Network's Smore Brownies

Chewy Blondie Bites

Stay tuned for more recipe reviews!

Side note: The aunt that was visiting us with her family is a huge foodie. I actually think I inherited my love of baking from her. We have a lot in common because we are both the first-born. We both love cooking, baking, and anything food-related. She is a fantastic cook. When she lived in Mexico City, she had a catering business and specialized in cakes. In fact, she made cakes for most of her siblings weddings. I remember going to visit her when I was little and she would give us leftover icing to decorate parchment paper while she decorated the cakes. I'm close with all of my aunts, but I definitely have a special bond with Carmina.

I'm Back!

2008-07-07T10:14:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!!! I'm back from a little blogging hiatus. It was an unintentional break, I just got too busy to blog! Now that the holiday weekend is over I can focus on blogging again. I've missed blogging, but I have been reading all of your blogs so I haven't been totally absent ;)

Here are a few pictures to paint a picture of what I've been up to the last few weeks.

Abbey & Justin's Wedding- 6.27.08

Twins Game

Dog-sitting little Nemo (Brody's brother) while his parents were on their honeymoon.

Enjoying the great weather by dining al fresco at Salut Bar Americain on Grand Ave.

I've also been job searching, working at the coffee shop, and getting back into running (I took a break after the half marathon). I also did a lot of baking the last few weeks. My sister and her friends went up North for a couple of days to a cabin. I made s'more brownies, chewy chunky blondies, and blondie bites for her to take. For the Fourth I made Paula Deen's blueberry cream cheese tarts. I had a ton of overripe bananas so I made banana-wheat germ muffins AND banana-date-walnut-bran muffins. I will be blogging about these goodies in the next week. And finally, my family is in town so I made Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble bars this morning. I have yet to try them so I will blog more on these yummy looking bars later.

My eating hasn't been very healthy the last few weeks. It's okay to indulge in moderation but I have been indulging too much. I'm not going to do anything extreme about it, but I am going to try and eat clean and exercise daily these next few weeks. My birthday is in 3 weeks and I want to be feeling my best!

I've also decided not to post every single one of my meals. I'll still post every day, but I'm going to post *new* meals, recipe ideas, etc. I think this will keep things fun and interesting! Whew, it feels good to be blogging again :)

Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon

2008-06-23T08:53:00.006-05:00

I cannot believe I ran my first ever half marathon. It seems like just the other day that I decided to sign up, but June 21st came before I knew it.

On the ride up to Duluth on Friday afternoon, I was nervous. To calm my nerves I tried to listen to music and visualize my race. Once we got there we headed straight to the convention center to pick up my race packet. The convention center was packed with runners and families. The energy of the people was contagious and I started to get more excited and anxious for the next day. After I received my packet, we had dinner at Olive Garden. By then my nerves were back and I felt sick to my stomach. I had a plate of salad, 2 breadsticks, and a few bites of my pasta. I couldn't eat. My dad told me I needed to eat more but I just felt sick. After dinner my dad wanted ice cream but I only had a few bites of his.

We finally got to Chris' apartment around 10 and I tried to calm my nerves by setting out my clothes for the next day. I wasn't able to sleep very much- I tossed and turned for an hour before dosing off. I woke up every few hours until my alarm went off at 4 am. I got up, got dressed, shaved my legs, and forcefully ate my peanut butter and chocolate chip clif bar. My dad drove me to the bus stop at 5, where we waited in line for half an hour. The weather was cool, but not as cold as I had originally thought. My nerves were on full force (see picture below). Once on the bus, I started talking with a group of older women and I felt a little bit better.

Waiting for the race to start felt like a long time, but finally the line began to move forward. I slowly jogged toward the starting line and crossed it about 5 minutes after the start. The first half of the race felt great. I started out a nice, easy pace (10-11 min miles). The views were amazing. We ran along the scenic highway with breathtaking views of Lake Superior and downtown. Only slowed down twice during the water stations. I saw my parents, Chris, and Brody at mile 6. It felt great to see them because I knew I was almost halfway there!

Around mile 6.5, I started to get tired. I started thinking- 6.6 more miles? I don't think I can do it. I kept pushing but around mile 7 I finally took a walking break. My knees were starting to hurt, I was thirsty, and in a mental block of negativity. I continued to walk/jog until mile 9. There was a big sign that read "Good job runners! Only 4.1 miles to go!" At this point I thought to myself, You can do it! This is an easy 4 mile run. You've got it! I pushed myself to keep running. It wasn't easy but all of a sudden I was at the 3 mile mark, then 2, and then 1 mile to go! The last mile was by far the toughest. My body was aching, I was thirsty and hot, and my legs were weak. I kept turning corners, expecting to see the finish line only to find I had to make another turn. Just as I thought I couldn't go on, I saw the finish line. I gathered all of my strength and crossed the finish line in 2:21.

I have to say that the spectators were amazing. The entire 13.1 mile course was filled with people cheering and encouraging the runners. The energy at the finish line was incredible! I am so happy that I was able to accomplish this goal. A year ago, I would have never thought I would be a runner. I hated running. Now I'm proud to say I am a runner. My next race is August 24th, when I will be running the Woodbury Days Half Marathon. I hope to complete a full marathon in the near future as well!

Thanks so much again for all of your support and kind comments. It was extremely motivating to think of all of the support I had!

Here are a couple of pictures from the race.

Waiting in line to board the bus that brings you to the starting line.

Feeling good at mile 6.

I think this is somewhere around mile 10 or 11.

Getting kisses from Brody

I finished!!!

15.5 Hours...

2008-06-20T14:54:00.003-05:00

I want to thank all of you for your sweet, supportive comments and good luck wishes. I am beyond nervous, yet excited to participate in tomorrow's half marathon! My aunt called me earlier to give me advice and calm my nerves. She has ran many marathons before, and was the one who inspired me to start running. It was incredibly sweet and she managed to calm me down a little. My parents are due home any moment and then we'll be on our way to Duluth. The forecasted weather at 6:30 am is a cool 50 degrees which will be just perfect running conditions. I'll be sure to take as many pictures as I can while I'm there and have a full report. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Less than 48 hours!!

2008-06-19T17:19:00.006-05:00

Okay sorry for the super late post. I was having issues with blogger so I gave up trying to post earlier today!

Remember how on Tuesday my morning was filled with cherries? Well today was filled with blueberries. Keep reading for details...

I bet you'll never guess what I had for breakfast today...Swiss Oats! This time I did switch it up a little to keep things interesting! Last night I soaked the oats with soy milk, cinnamon, walnuts, and DATES. Then this morning, I added blueberry soy yogurt and fresh blueberries.

Blueberry heaven in a blue bowl :)

The weather was gorgeous again, so I knew I had to get out of the house if I wanted to get any studying done. I sipped on an iced cold-pressed coffee with soy while I worked on Nutrition homework at Sati. I wanted a light lunch before meeting with my trainer so I had a small spinach salad with strawberries, slivered almonds and little bit of balsamic vinaigrette. I also had my very first Clif bar- Blueberry Crisp. It was really really good. I ate the whole thing as part of my lunch, but I can see how I would only eat half of it as a snack.

Training went well, we worked all upper body and core today. I ran for about 20 minutes afterwards to loosen my legs. That's it- no more working out until my race on Saturday which is in, um, less than 48 hours!!!!!! I cannot believe it is almost here. Anyways I had a Very Berry Blast smoothie from Life Cafe that included strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, orange juice, and whey protein. I like the dairy based ones better, but they make my stomach hurt so I'm trying to avoid them.

For dinner my mom made ceviche. Whenever I eat ceviche I'm reminded of beach vacations in Mexico. This popular latin dish is a perfect, light, fresh meal for hot summer nights. I ate this with Honey Flaxseed crackers from Trader Joe's.

Dessert was a cool and creamy scoop of mango sorbet and vanilla soy ice cream.

Have a great evening :)

Long Hump Day!

2008-06-18T19:47:00.004-05:00

It's been a long hump day- at least the weekend is almost here! I got up at the crack of dawn for work. Despite having to wake up early, I actually prefer working in the morning. It's a fast shift and I like seeing the "world" wake up. I was hungry right away, but I held off eating breakfast until 7:30ish. If I eat breakfast at 5:30, I'm hungry for lunch at like 10! I sipped on coffee with soy for the first few hours though so that helped my hunger.

Breakfast was a repeat of yesterday's swiss oats. I love this breakfast! I prepared it last night by combining a serving of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of soymilk, dried cranberries, and walnuts in a bowl. I covered it and set it in the fridge overnight. The cinnamon definitely intensified overnight so it's a good thing I love it. I added berry flavored soy yogurt and sliced bananas to the mix right before I ate it. Once again, this breakfast did not fail and filled me up nicely!

I was done with work at 11 and stopped at the grocery store on my way home to pick up milkfor my mom and some other items for myself. By the time I came home, it was almost noon. I knew I needed to eat something before my workout even though I had no appetite. One of the things I bought at the store was an Amy's Tofu and Spinach wrap. Once I remembered this, I was excited to eat it. Yum! I love Amy's products! I highly recommend this brand for quick meals.

I met with my trainer at 1 and did an hour long of leg and core strength. He usually stretches me out afterwards for a few minutes, but today was extra long to make sure my legs are loose for Saturday! I came home and read The Memory Keeper's Daughter for a little while. I wasn't hungry at all after my workout, I actually felt sick so I didn't eat anything. It's bad, I know, my body needs fuel to recover, but today I just didn't feel right. I finally got hungry around 4ish. I don't really know what to call this, so I'll say my "third mini meal" of the day. It was the last of my Chickpea-Quinoa-Cashew pilaf with grilled veggies. I'm so sad it's gone now, guess I'll have to make some more.

My friend (who's getting married in 10 days!!!) and I went for a 2 mile run around the lake. It was nice to catch up before the wedding.

I'll be back with a dinner update!

Cherry filled Morning, Veggie filled Evening

2008-06-17T22:11:00.006-05:00

The first half of my day was filled with cherries. The swiss oats I had for breakfast contained black cherry yogurt. And my lunch was very similar to breakfast. I asked myself what it was that I was craving and this is what I came up with. A bowl of fresh cherries, black cherry soy yogurt, and Kashi Mountain Medley granola (contains dried cherries!).

This light, cool lunch was just what I was craving in the hot sun. I had to reschedule my training session for tomorrow because of car problems. So I sat outside for 3.5 hours so I could finish the book I was reading. The book I finished, Baby Proof, took me a few months to get through because the first half was kind of boring. Well, the second half picked up and I couldn't set the book down. Now my back and arms are a light shade of red!

I came in and showered to get ready for work. I started to get hungry around 4, so I made a big salad with grilled veggies to hold me over until dinner.

My sister and I got to work together tonight, so it was fun. Earlier today I made a big batch of quinoa, cooked in vegetable broth, and mixed in grilled veggies, chickpeas, and raw cashews. Since the grilled veggies had a lot of flavor from the marinade, I skipped a dressing. I packed 2 servings for my sister and I to have for dinner.

This dinner was perfect! Sitting in the fridge all day let all of the flavors blend together. I love one bowl meals because they are so satisfying to me with all of the different textures.

I made a little "apple pie" for dessert while still at work. I love the apples we use for our caramel apple crepes. The apples are cooked with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, lemon juice, apple cider, and a little bit of flour. They are so delicious and comforting. I especially like to have this dessert during the cold winter nights. Tonight I filled a little cup with the cooked apples, added a little caramel and warmed it up in the microwave. Then I topped the apples with crushed graham crackers.

I'm about to turn the lights off and go to bed since I have to be up at 5 tomorrow. I am working the opening shift so the good news is I'll be done by 11 am. Night!

Pretty in Pink

2008-06-17T10:22:00.005-05:00

As soon as I woke up this morning I went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I combined a serving of oats with 1/2 cup soy milk, walnuts, dried cranberries, and cinnamon, covered the bowl, and set it in the fridge. I had 1/3 of a huge banana before my run. My run felt great, I hope I feel this good on Saturday! I was dreaming of breakfast while running, so I didn't waste time! When I was ready to eat, I mixed half of a 6oz container of black cherry soy yogurt and 1/3 of a sliced banana into the chilled oats mixture.

My oat mixture turned into a pretty pink color with the addition of the cherry yogurt. I ate the pink mixture in a pink bowl while I sat outside on our deck. This is my new favorite summer breakfast! I'm already craving tomorrow morning's breakfast which will be a repeat of today's!

I'm sipping on iced coffee as I type. It's hard for me to give up coffee, not because of the caffeine, but because I love the taste! I'll take it any way I can, whether it be hot, iced, or cold-pressed.

It's a stunning day- I'm so thankful I don't have to work until tonight. I plan to read and lay around in the sun for a few hours before heading to the gym to meet with my trainer. I have to go straight to work from the gym so I'll need to prepare snacks and dinner for tonight before I leave. Since I had a later breakfast today, I'm thinking lunch will be something light. Maybe a smoothie? Have a wonderful day :)

Loooong Weekend

2008-06-16T21:41:00.006-05:00

What a crazy, busy weekend! I feel like I have been away for a month! Everyday this weekend was filled with some sort of celebration.

Friday morning I was up bright and early to help my parents with an event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but they are in charge of the Silestone market in the Midwest. On Friday they had Candice Olson, from Divine Design, come to their showroom to give a presentation to designers. (Candice is the spokeswoman for Silestone.) Then it was off to the Mall of America where she signed autographs for the public. Basically,it was a big publicity event for Silestone. Friday was also my brother's 21st birthday! Since my parents were having a company dinner, Chris and I went out to dinner with Billy and his girlfriend, Ashley. We went to Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Minneapolis.

Here's the birthday boy with his first legal beer.

I had amazing grilled mahi tacos. They were served with coleslaw and a spicy pineapple salsa, with a side of guacamole, beans, and rice. I was stuffed after one taco, but ate 2. I also had a beer.

Chris wanted his chicken fried chicken to be on the blog ;)

I was the sober cab for the night so I stopped drinking after dinner. We headed back towards the Grand Ave. area of St. Paul, where we met up with my brother's friends at Billy's Bar and Grill. I stayed close by the entire night to make sure he didn't get dehydrated or out of control! It was a very long night and I was beyond tired, but my brother had a blast and that's all that matters!

I went to bed at 3 am on Friday, er Saturday morning, and had to be up at 7 am! I finished frosting/decorating the cake for the Silestone showroom's open house and then headed to work for a 7 hour shift. Tired is an understatement for how I felt that night. My brother had friends over for a big Mexican feast. My mom made a delicious assortment of Mexican dishes. I really wish I would have gotten a picture but I was so tired/lazy. For dessert we had the best chocolate cake ever. I usually don't care for cake because I find it bland and dry. I prefer cookies or ice cream. Well, this cake made me love chocolate cake. I used the recipe for Classic Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache frosting from Baking Bites. Everyone raved about it. It was so moist and packed with rich chocolate flavor. This is my new "go-to" chocolate cake. If you are a chocolate fan, you must try this cake! (I am super sad because I thought I took a picture of it but I can't find it.)

Sunday I worked a 7 hour shift at the coffee shop again. The afternoon was incredibly slow so that made the day drag on. After work I went over to Chris' house and had dinner with his family. His mom talked me into having 2 glasses of wine. Yeah, it took a lot of convincing ;) It was a nice, relaxing way to end the busy weekend.

My eating was all over the place this weekend. It usually was off to a good start and then went downhill. I blame being tired and unprepared for my poor eating habits this weekend. My stomach is pretty upset with me for filling it with more junk than usual. I'm obviously off of the cleanse and I feel disappointed in myself. My body felt so great the last few weeks.

Today I got back on track for the most part. I started the day off with a hearty bowl of oatmeal made with bananas, strawberries, sliced almonds, and a little coconut. I worked all day again but this time I packed quinoa-chickpea pilaf for lunch. This was super filling and I didn't need a snack until almost 5. I had a big pear and a cherry chocolate Kashi granola bar. When my parents came home from work we went for a walk around the lake. It was such a beautiful evening, although a little on the cool side. I wasn't too hungry for dinner because I picked on this while my mom prepared dinner:

This grilled veggie platter was leftover from this weekend's events. The vegetables are lightly grilled so they still have a nice crunch to them. You will definitely being seeing a lot of these grilled veggies this week! My dinner plate included grilled veggies and brown rice with a little bit of crusty french bread. Although I was full after dinner, I gave in and had the last small piece of chocolate birthday cake.

I'm excited to be able to sleep in a little tomorrow morning! My plan is to run an easy 4 miles before breakfast. This is my last real run for the week- the rest of the week I'll just be running 2 miles to keep my legs loose. The half marathon is in 5 days!!!!!! See y'all in the morning!

Another Busy Day!

2008-06-12T22:23:00.004-05:00

I am exhausted and ready for bed!

I spent the majority of the day running errands for the event and assembling marketing bags. While at the grocery store this morning, I bought a new item for lunch- Matthew's Veggie Vegan Burrito. This burrito contains black beans, wild rice, carrots and spices in a cilantro tortilla. I really liked it but I didn't really get to enjoy it. I had bites of it in between stuffing bags. I'll have to keep a few of these in the freezer for quick lunches/dinners. There was still a lot to do but I had to meet with my trainer, John, at three. I ate half of an apple pie lara bar, mmm...so good, my favorite flavor! After weight training, I ran a comfortable 6 miles. The weather outside was hot and humid and apparently so was the gym. I felt very gross afterwards so I took a cool shower in the locker room. The other half of the lara bar was eaten along with a smoothie from my gym's cafe- banana, pb and soy milk.

I came home to bake more cookies and another cake. Unfortunately the cake from this morning didn't turn out. The cake tasted bland, it was dense, and undercooked. This one turned out beautifully though! I'll post a pic once it's decorated too.

My appetite has been odd today. I haven't felt truly hungry, rather, I just ate to fuel my body. The last few days I've also been feeling sick right after I eat. Around 9 I made a salad for a light dinner.

This salad had mixed lettuce, spinach, carrots, shredded cabbage, cauliflower, red bell pepper, cucumbers, beans, and brown rice with italian dressing. About 10 minutes after I ate, I felt sick to my stomach. So weird.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post the next few days. I have a crazy busy schedule starting tomorrow at 7 am! I'll make sure to have recaps though. Have a great weekend!!

Double Oops!

2008-06-12T09:35:00.003-05:00

Sorry I wasn't able to post last night. When I got done with work at 9, Chris and I met my parents at the restaurant next door. I had already eaten a light dinner, but I munched on some yummy grilled pita bread with various hummus type dips. I may have had a glass of Pinot Noir too. Oops! Anyways, I got home late and just wanted to go to bed.

Yesterday was busy- I spent a good chunk of the afternoon baking dozens of cookies for the event on Saturday. I chose to bake Chocolate Chip Cookies and White Chocolate Pistachio Chunkies because I think they will hold up for a few days. I still have more to bake, including a gigantic sheet cake and more cookies. I'll take pictures of the final products and post recipes in the days to come.

This morning I woke up starving. I didn't feel like waiting for oats to cook so I made a big bowl of cereal. I'm really loving the peanut butter panda puffs. I had 1 cup of the puffs, 1/2 cup heart to heart, 1/2 banana, and blueberries with vanilla almond milk.

This huge bowl of cereal was perfect. It left me feeling full, but not stuffed and weighed down.

I made the marble cake this morning and now it's cooling in the pan. I had to double the recipe to fit the 18 in x 12 in sheet pan. As I was putting the ingredients away, I glanced at the salt, baking soda and powder. I FORGOT TO ADD THEM!! Oops again! Ah, too late! The cake was already in the oven. It doesn't look too bad so I hope it still tastes alright.

I didn't run yesterday so I'm going to do that right now. Then I have to go to the office to help stuff goodie bags, pick up flowers, etc. Meeting with the trainer at 3, and then I'll probably have some more baking to do! Happy Thursday!

Buckwheat waffles and Cantaloupe Juice

2008-06-11T09:30:00.003-05:00

I started my day with 2 buckwheat waffles with bananas and ground walnuts, drizzled with agave nectar. This breakfast was amazing. I licked the plate clean to make sure I got every last bite ;)

The wildberry buckwheat waffles are gluten-free from LifeStream. They were very good, but I miss the fiber from whole wheat waffles. These waffles only have 1 g of fiber. That's one thing I've found about gluten-free foods. They don't have a lot of fiber in them. I guess if you eat plenty of other whole foods you don't need to worry about it.

Last night, my mom made juice from an overripe cantaloupe. You just blend the cantaloupe (seeds included!), add a little water to reach desired consistency, and add sugar if desired. It's a wonderfully refreshing drink in the summertime.

I'm going to get started on preparing dinner for tonight so that I don't have to rush to put some together before work. Then I have to go to the tailor and my parent's office. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post in between, otherwise I'll be back tonight. Have a great day!!

Super Charged Cookies & Spicy Dinner

2008-06-10T20:34:00.006-05:00

Something I love about June in Minnesota is that the sun is just beginning to set at 9 pm. It throws me off schedule because I never realize how late it is. The late sunset tricks my mind! But I love it.

I decided to bake more Super Charge Me! cookies after lunch. It seems my family liked my no added sugar, gluten-free modified version. They are all gone and I ate maybe 2! The batch I made today is even better. Note, these are not gluten-free (used spelt flour), and they do contain added sugar (maple syrup and molasses).

Modifications:

-Dates instead of raisins

-Orange Zest

-Mini semisweet choc chips

-Molasses instead of oil

I calculated each nutrient packed cookie at about 150 calories. Instead of a dessert type cookie, I like to think of these cookies as snacks.

My workout felt extra tough today. I felt stronger today lifting weights, but I also felt out of breath more often than usual. I was ready to go home after an hour long strength session, but I forced myself to run for half an hour. I have to keep reminding myself that I have 1.5 more weeks to push myself running-wise. After my race I can choose to take a break!

Post workout Super Charge Me! cookie and an orange. The orange zest in the cookie left me craving a fresh juicy orange. Sadly, this orange was rather dry and bland.

My friend (and fellow bridesmaid) came to pick me up at 7 to get our dresses altered for the wedding. I realized I needed to eat beforehand, or I would feel sick. I needed something super quick though. I forgot I had another serving of Trader Joe's Lentil Rice Biryani in the fridge. I heated it up and added extra brown rice for more volume. I really like this. I think when I reviewed it last week, I said I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. Actually, I think I will buy this again to have on hand for a quick meal. It's quite spicy though. I love spicy food, but beware this is hot!

Unfortunately the tailor closes at 6. My friend was rather disappointed since she works downtown Minneapolis and doesn't even get home until after 6. I'm going to go in tomorrow morning and talk to the lady. We're getting nervous since the wedding is only 2.5 weeks away!

I'm off to relax and start unwinding for the night. Looks like tomorrow will be another busy day. I have to help my parents out at their office after the tailor. They are having an event this weekend, and need help with some errands and planning related things. Then I have to work tomorrow night at Sati. Somewhere in there I have to fit in a long run as well.

Overstuffed!

2008-06-10T13:12:00.003-05:00

I feel like I accomplished a ton of things before lunch. I donated clothes, returned a few items, inquired about a possible job, worked on my resume, bought a new cookbook, and finally made lunch. Whew!

My brother gave me a gift card to Barnes & Nobles for Christmas. I was so excited when I got it but surprisingly I hadn't used it. Borders is closer to my house so I usually stop there. Anyways, it was a tough choice to pick out just one book. But thanks to my generous little brother, I bought Veganomicon. I can't wait to try some of the recipes! Any suggestions as to which ones I should try first??

I was starving by the time I got home so I threw together a quick lunch. Lunch consisted of a salad and taco.

For the salad I had spinach, mixed greens, carrots, red cabbage, and quinoa bean pilaf tossed with extra lemon herb vinaigrette. Thank goodness, the quinoa bean pilaf made a ton of leftovers. After this lunch, I have about one more serving left!

On the side, Dr. Praeger's tex mex veggie burger taco with chipotle salsa.

I think I went overboard with my lunch. I am completely stuffed and have to meet with my trainer in an hour and a half!

Hot Breakfast, Iced Water

2008-06-10T08:25:00.004-05:00

The sun is shining this morning, which always puts me in a great mood. Unfortunately, the sunshine isn't going to last all day so I better take advantage of it now.

I woke up early enough today that it was still a cool 58 degrees. Plus, with the AC on I wanted a hot breakfast. I made oatbran with half a banana, cinnamon, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. After it cooked, I added 2 chopped dates, sliced almonds, and a little bit of coconut. Great breakfast, I'm stuffed!

As soon as I was done eating I needed iced water to cool me down. On the agenda today is a busy day of running a few errands, studying, meeting my trainer at 3, running, and getting my bridesmaid dress altered! It's a good thing I was up earlier than usual to fit everything in! Have a lovely day!

More Leftovers

2008-06-09T21:28:00.003-05:00

Dinner tonight was more leftovers! I had no problem eating these leftovers because it is one of my favorite meals. I reheated last night's broccoli cashew teriyaki tofu stir-fry and served it over brown rice. It was just as good as last night!

I am in the mood for some of TJ's Mango-Vanilla soy ice cream. I'm pretty satisfied from dinner, so I'm trying not to give in to temptation! Instead I'll make some tea to warm up. My mom turned the AC on and I'm freezing! I think tonight will be in a early night. I'm in the mood to curl up in bed with a good book. Have a good night!

Look at the cool pink sky we had tonight.

Where'd the day go?

2008-06-09T17:39:00.005-05:00

Hey guys, sorry for the late post! I can't believe it's almost dinner time. I tried to post this morning before work, but I ran out of time. I woke up this morning to glorious sunshine and comfortable 61 degrees. Perfect running weather if you ask me. I had half of a banana before my run. Lately, I've had trouble getting into a good running pace. It's been frustrating since my race is less than 2 weeks away. Today I felt great, which made me very happy. I would've kept running but I had to come home and get ready for work.

I was too warm for a hot breakfast, so I decided on cold oatmeal. Before jumping in the shower, I combined half a cup of oats, cinnamon, half a cup of soy milk, and the other half of my banana, and stuck it in the fridge. When I was done getting ready (about 30 mins later), I took the mixture out of the fridge and topped it with blueberries, raspberries, sliced almonds, and little more soy. This combination turned out delicious!

I packed leftover quinoa bean pilaf, raw cauliflower and baby carrots, and a peach for work. (I'm sorry for the horrible picture, I was in a rush!) The quinoa was even better served cold because the lemon herb vinaigrette was more pronounced.

I had the peach as a snack about half an hour ago because the pilaf is super filling! Does anyone have tips for cutting a peach? Lately my peaches won't separate from the pit so I end up with a mushy mess. While at work, I had an iced decaf soy latte.

I don't know how well this cleanse is going to work now that I'm working at Sati again. As assistant manager, I have to help make decisions about new recipes. That means I taste test crepes and drinks. I just have small samples, so I think it will all work out as long as I stay on track outside of work!

Weekend Highlights

2008-06-08T20:41:00.005-05:00

Hey y'all. Sorry I didn't have time to post at all this weekend. I was out of the house a lot and I worked most of the day today. I'm tired and plan on getting up early tomorrow for a long run so I'm just going to post highlights.

Quick update on the cleanse: I have to admit I went a little of the cleanse at times this weekend. However, my stomach has been bothering me again so it has convinced me to get back on track with cleanse friendly food. I really did feel great this week, when I stuck to the cleanse guidelines.

Weekend Highlights

Saturday breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart, Peanut butter Panda Puffs, banana, and blueberries with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Delicious!

I set out to run 9 miles yesterday in the late morning. It was uncomfortably hot and humid so I only did 4.5. I think I'm going to have to wake up early to get my long runs done now that it's getting so hot! Whenever I run outdoors, I crave smoothies. I dreamed up a tropical concoction yesterday, quite fitting with the tropics-like humidity we were experiencing. This post work-out smoothie was made with strawberry banana soy yogurt, frozen mango chunks and lite coconut milk. Perfect way to cool down from the steamy heat.

Tonight for dinner I made one of my favorite recipes from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, Broccoli Cashew Teriyaki Tofu Stir-fry, served over brown rice. The tofu was extra crispy today, just the way I like it.

Friday afternoon, I baked a batch of Super-Charge Me! cookies from ED&BV, with modifications. I used gluten-free pancake and waffle mix in place of the spelt flour, apple sauce instead of oil, and agave nectar instead of maple syrup. These wholesome treats taste are packed with rolled oats, unsweetened coconut, raisins, carob chips, almond butter. They are a bit on the dry side and not very sweet- but they satisfy my cookie craving.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is starting the new week well rested!

New Recipe + New Obsession

2008-06-06T14:39:00.003-05:00

I thought about making a quick salad for lunch- but that's boring. I came up with a quick and easy recipe for Quinoa Bean Pilaf. I tossed the cooked quinoa with beans and veggies, in a lemony herb dressing.

Although this was good, I think it will taste even better later once all of the flavors have marinated in the fridge. I can't wait for leftovers! I decided to have dessert after my lunch because of the strong dressing flavor in my mouth. My new obsession is mango-vanilla soy ice cream from Trader Joe's. Holy yum-o!! Yes, it has added sugar, but I didn't have soy yogurt today so it evens out. Plus, it keeps me motivated ;)

I actually went back for more after I finished this. Now I'm torn between continuing to study or going to the gym. My body says run, my head says study, my eyes say nap. Sadly, caffeine could easily give me motivation for the first two things. The lack of caffeine is hard. Today is the first day I don't have a withdrawal headache, yet I don't feel quite alert. Feeling lethargic is a result of caffeine withdrawal, but I hope it goes away soon!

Italian Dressing Recipe

2008-06-06T10:57:00.002-05:00

Some of you have asked for the homemade Italian dressing. I posted the recipe here. Enjoy!

Wishin' for Sunshine

2008-06-06T09:39:00.006-05:00

Two tomato plants, sweet basil, and a pretty flower.

I am so fed up with this gross weather! Today marks day 5 without sunshine, and looking at the forecast, it's not going to get any better. We have had such a long winter/spring this year. May was the 4th month in a row cooler than average. I love hot weather so you can see why I always dream about moving somewhere else! Besides, this weather makes me sleepy so I don't get as much done during the day.

Unlike most of you who have switched to warm weather breakfasts, I'm sticking to my oats. I had my current favorite combination: apple, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. There is so much texture in this combo, I think it's why I like it so much.

For dinner last night, I threw together a quick pasta dish using brown rice spaghetti. I combined the pasta with leftover grilled vegetable from a couple of nights ago and little bit of all natural tomato basil sauce. This was really good, but a bit sticky from the starch. I made two servings, and had about half of this pot. I also had a little bit of salad.

As far as the cleanse goes, I've been feeling great. After I eat, I get the full feeling, but my stomach isn't bloated or uncomfortable. To be honest, no gluten is very hard! So many things contain gluten. This cleanse is opening my eyes to be grateful that I don't have a gluten sensitivity. I've also been craving dessert after dinner, so I might try to find a recipe for a cookie that is gluten-free, vegan, and use agave nectar as the sweetener.

Rollin Thunder

2008-06-05T16:36:00.004-05:00

A thunderstorm's a brewin! The sky is a very dark shade of grey and I can hear the distant roll of thunder. I love summer thunderstorms! It's a good thing I got my run in this morning.

My post-run snack was another smoothie. Today's smoothie was made with vanilla soy yogurt, frozen mango chunks, and a few frozen misc fruits (1/4 banana, 1/3 orange, berries). I ate it with a spoon so that it would last longer.

An hour and half later I made a gigantic salad! This salad really did have every color of vegetables imaginable.

Green: 5 lettuce mix

Red: roma tomato

Orange: carrots, sweet potato

White: cauliflower

Purple: cabbage

Black: black beans

Alright, I guess I'm missing yellow and brown ;) I used Homemade Italian dressing.

I'm starting to get hungry for a snack, but I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for. I'm sipping orange spice rooibos tea while I decide.

**Edit: I decided I needed carbs for a snack so I made oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins. I should've made half a serving though, because I wasn't hungry for dinner 3.5 hours later!

Banana Cream Pancakes

2008-06-05T09:50:00.003-05:00

Who knew being on a cleanse could taste so delicious! I am having fun looking up recipes that fit into the no added sugar, vegan, gluten-free category. I wanted a change from oats so I took out my trusty copy of Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. The first recipe I saw was Banana Cream Pancakes. I checked the ingredient list, and surprise, it fits! These pancakes are made with spelt flour, light coconut milk, and pureed bananas to make an incredibly creamy, light pancake. I halved the recipe and made 3 huge pancakes. However, I only ate two. I topped these delicious pancakes with agave nectar (allowed on the cleanse) and unsweetened coconut and had some raspberries on the side. The raspberries are amazing right now!

The third pancake is looking a little lonely...I might end up eating it. Have a happy Thursday!

**EDIT: Well, in my excitement I forgot that although spelt is wheat-free, it is NOT gluten-free. So my breakfast wasn't gluten-free after all :(

Success

2008-06-04T21:25:00.005-05:00

I had a busy afternoon today! I met with my trainer at 2 and had an hour long, hard workout. Let's just say he likes to see me work. Since the weather has been crappy, I decided to run indoors on the treadmill afterwards. The first ten minutes were painful but then my legs loosened up. I didn't want to overdo it so I only ran 3.5 miles. In between strength training and running, I had half of the JOCOLAT bar. Yum! I think I may like this bar more than the Clif nectar cacao one. I didn't even think to take a picture, because I ate it so quickly! After my run I had the other half.

I was pretty hungry when I got home so I needed something quick. I tried the lentil rice biryani from Trader Joe's. You just heat it up in the pouch for 90 seconds and let it sit for another 60.

A serving is half of the pouch. The biryani is a mixture of rice, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, and spices. It was actually kind of spicy. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this again, but it wasn't bad. It actually fits into my cleanse so I was happy about that. I obviously want to eat a fresh as possible, but I need to be realistic and have back-ups.

My mom and I spent over an hour at the grocery store. We were that low in food at my house. We bought a ton of produce and other items, but these are the specific foods I bought for my cleanse. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk, buckwheat waffles, and soy yogurt. I know the yogurt has added sugar, but I cannot find plain soy yogurt at my local grocery stores. It is nearly impossible to find products without any added sugar. Like I said above, I need to be realistic and have "go-to" items. As long as I limit my overall intake of added sugar, I'm not going to worry about a little bit of added sugar. I figure I'm already doing my body favor by avoiding gluten, dairy, animal products, alcohol, and caffeine.

I've been craving sweet potatoes and black beans lately, so for dinner tonight I had sweet potato and black bean tostadas. For the sweet potato/black bean mixture, I used the same recipe as before. The only difference is that I added a little cumin to the mix this time. Instead of tacos, I had tostadas because the corn tortillas got too crispy to fold. I prefer the tacos, but this was still a delicious meal. I spread the tortillas with a layer of chipotle salsa. My mouth was on fire, but in a good way! My side salad was very colorful: green (romaine & spinach), red (tomatoes), purple (cabbage), orange (carrots).

I'm happy to report that day one was a success :)

Trader Joe's

2008-06-04T13:06:00.006-05:00

I went to Trader Joe's this morning for a lot of "specialty" items. When my mom gets off work, we're going to the grocery store for everything else. I thought it might be helpful for all those planning to do or interested in the cleanse, to see what I bought.

Produce: Asian stir fry vegetables, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, lemons, asparagus, bell peppers, raspberries, blueberries, and extra firm tofu.

Pantry: brown rice pasta (spaghetti & fusilli), lentil rice biryani, black beans, refried pinto beans, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, roasted red peppers, vegan black bean soup, vegan split pea soup, light coconut milk, canned tomatoes, and ground cumin.

Misc: peanut butter panda puffs (gluten free), gluten free waffle & pancake mix, raw almonds, raw cashews, walnuts, orange spice rooibos tea, unsweetened soy milk, agave nectar, black bean & corn enchiladas (gluten & dairy free), and mango-vanilla soy ice cream.

I love having a stocked kitchen. It makes me excited to cook!

I'm meeting my trainer at 2 so I had a light snack to fuel my workout. A smoothie made with blueberry soy yogurt, banana, and a few mixed berries. It was the perfect consistency today, no chunks!

Day One!

2008-06-04T09:30:00.004-05:00

So it's officially the first day of the cleanse. I'm excited to start this challenge but I need to run to the grocery store because we don't have anything at home! To succeed in this cleanse, I'm going to have to be super prepared and have my meals planned.

For breakfast I had oatmeal with half a banana, peanut butter, and 2 chopped dates. It was extra peanut buttery today, but I don't mind. I also had ginger tea on the side.

Plans for today are grocery store, workout, and study. Have a great day!

Still Recovering..

2008-06-03T23:32:00.004-05:00

Well it's almost midnight, and I'm wide awake. The whole morning/afternoon I had an intense headache and could barely keep my eyes open. I got home from work and fell asleep until 6:30! My body must have needed rest because I felt a hundred times better once I woke up. I'm hoping things get back to normal tomorrow and I feel 100% better.

Since I was feeling "off" this morning, I just grabbed a pear and a pumpkin spice granola bar for lunch. Work was very busy so I didn't get a chance to eat until 1:30.

I felt like a zombie the last few hours of work so I skipped my planned workout and headed home. I don't think I could have ran anyways with my throbbing head. I made a quick sandwich on a hemp bagel with hummus and veggies, ate it and fell asleep.

I'm pretty sure I could have slept through the entire night had my mom not woken me up. I'm glad she did though! For dinner, my mom was making burgers for everyone so I grilled a veggie burger for myself.

We had two leftover veggie kabobs from Trader Joe's that we had forgotten about in the fridge. They were about to turn bad so I made a quick veggie stir fry. I cut up the veggies and marinated them with fresh ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. After a few minutes, I threw everything on the stove and within minutes had a delicious, gingery side dish.

I topped my veggie burger with chipotle salsa, mustard, and mixed greens. The stir fried veggies were my favorite part of the meal.

After dinner, my dad wanted cookies so I followed Becca's lead and made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies using Dreena Burton's recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. They turned out great and I had two for dessert. (No pic, it didn't turn out well.)

One of the reasons I was feeling so crummy today was that I haven't had any caffeine the last two days. Like Becca, I bought Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston and am doing the recommended cleanse. I started to wean off of things yesterday (Monday) but I plan to officially start tomorrow. I'm in desperate need of groceries, which is why I haven't been able to start sooner. My reason for doing the cleanse is simple: I want to be more consciously aware of what I put into my body to feel my best. Reading the book, opened my eyes and I really agreed with what Kathy was saying.

This Jump-Start Cleanse will eliminate sources of toxins and allergens, giving the digestive system a break from working overtime to process the substances that inhibit optimum performance the most. Again, increased energy, better digestion, and relief from various aches and pains (including headaches, muscle aches, and joint pain) are just a few of the known benefits. As with each of the practices in this book, this cleanse, which you might think of as something you do for your physical body, has its emotional and spiritual components as well. As you eliminate sugar, for instance, you might experience the feelings you were unconsciously trying to escape by indulging in desserts. Since you no longer have the distraction of the whole cycle of craving a sweet—trying to resist eating it, indulging anyway, and then feeling guilty about it—you are left simply with that feeling you had been trying to avoid. Which might be uncomfortable, yes, but as discussed earlier, awareness is good. Being in touch with our feelings, even if they aren't "pleasant," is key to our ultimate well-being.

And on a spiritual level, when I first did a cleanse, I couldn't believe how difficult it was for me to give up the foods I had become attached to, even knowing that the cleanse would only last a couple of weeks. It became clear how enslaved I was by my habits inasmuch as my mood was ruled by my ability to eat the goodies that I loved and I was used to. I realized that if I was to be on a serious spiritual path, I had to look at all my attachments, including food habituations. If I was to continue growing and evolving, I had to be able to see where I was not free. The cleanse helped me to identify some glitches where I was not able to choose out of freedom rather than habit, and so I was able to focus more effort on becoming more conscious. - Quantum Wellness

I had actually thought about these things before reading the book and hearing about Oprah's cleanse. Right now just seems like a perfect opportunity to do it. I'm not sure how long I will keep this up. The initial cleanse is 21 days, but depending on how I feel, I might choose to completely eliminate certain things from my diet. Well see when the time comes.

For the following 21 days I will refrain from:

Sugar ( added sugars)
Animal Products
Alcohol
Caffeine
Gluten

I'm sure this will be a challenge, but I feel confident that I can do it. Wish me luck!!

Sweet Oatmeal

2008-06-03T09:33:00.002-05:00

I had every intention of bloggling yesterday, but by the time I had a moment to sit down, it was past 10, and I was exhausted. As I said below, I'm still catching up on the lack of sleep from this weekend! Rather than recap yesterday's meals, I'm just going to start fresh with today's. It's a dreary day here so when I woke up I wanted a comforting bowl of oats. I made my oats today with vanilla almond milk, half of a very ripe banana, cinnamon, and almond butter.

The oats were great, but a bit too sweet for my liking. I'm running low on groceries so I tried a new kind of Almond milk. I bought single servings of Pacific Natural Foods, Low fat Vanilla Almond Milk awhile ago so I used one of them for my oats. I tasted the milk on its own and I really liked it. But combined with very ripe banana, it made my oats super sweet. Next time, I'll only use half of a container I think.

I have to work today for a few hours. I'm going to be assistant managing the coffee & crepe shop where I used to work! This is only a meantime job, while I figure out what I am going to do. I need money though so this works out perfectly. The owners are very sweet and accommodating and I love everyone that works there. I need to pack a lunch and get ready for work. I hope everyone is enjoying much better weather than we are. I keep waiting for summer to come, but instead we have had a lot of rain lately!

Chicago

2008-06-03T08:56:00.005-05:00

Hey all! Chicago was amazing! It was so much fun to spend 3 days with my closest friends in such a great city. We had all been there before, so we didn't do much sightseeing. Instead, we shopped, walked, ate, dressed up, drank fancy drinks, and shared many many laughs. I am still recovering from the little sleep I got this weekend!!

We got into Chicago around noon on Friday, took the train downtown where we met up with our friend Meghan who had flown out the day before. Her dad works in Chicago, so he graciously let us stay in his apartment. We had a late lunch and then headed down to the move theater for SATC! Meghan had already bought our tickets, but we still had to wait in line for over an hour just to get into the theater. The movie was amazing, I loved every minute of it. By the time, the movie was over, it was dinner time. We went to Dick's Last Resort, a chain of restaurants that specialize in rude service. The server also makes hats for everyone that say inappropriate things about you. For example, the bride-to-be's hat said: Getting married cause I'm knocked up. The food wasn't that great, but the atmosphere was fun and we had a lot of laughs. After dinner we went back to the apartment to change and freshen up and went back out for drinks.

Saturday morning, four of us woke up early and hit the apartment gym for some cardio. Once everyone was showered and ready to go it was lunch time, so we decided to have some famous deep dish Chicago pizza at Pizano's. We ordered Mark's Special: tomatoes, garlic and basil. Oh my gosh, this pizza was delicious. I could taste the pool of oil and grease in my mouth. I was stuffed after one slice. But went back for a little more ;) After lunch we walked off the food (ha I wish!) by going to Millennium Park, and shopping along Michigan Ave. We didn't get back to the apartment until 6:30! We made cocktails and got ready for dinner. We had dinner reservations at 7:45 at the Italian Village. It was a cute and romantic restaurant, with very good food. I ordered the Caprese salad because that's what I was craving, but I had bites of everyone else's food. And then I ate most of a chocolate mousse type dessert. After dinner, we went back to the apartment for some more fun before going to Wrigleyville. We went to Barley Corn, where the line was a block long. However, the 7 of us got in right away since we were a bachelorette party. It was an extremely fun night. We danced the night away, until the lights came on at 3 am. We all drank too much. I even took shots, something that I haven't done in years! Oh well, the next morning I remembered why I prefer to only have 1 or 2 drinks.

Sunday was spent recovering, cleaning up the apartment and packing. We headed to the airport around 2, all sad to be coming home. Overall, a great weekend that I will always remember!

Chicago Here We Come!

2008-05-29T22:18:00.003-05:00

Hey guys! I just wanted to say a quick hello- I was running around nonstop today and now it's almost 10:30 pm and I didn't get to everything on my list. I had a couple of unplanned things to do in the middle of my day, including grocery shopping and picking up a stranded friend at the airport. Unfortunately the gym and studying were at the bottom so I wasn't able to do either. I feel pretty guilty and thought about taking a late night trip to the gym, but I'm tired and I don't want to be too exhausted for my trip. The apartment we are staying at has a gym so I packed my workout gear. Hopefully I get a chance to run along Lake Michigan. Anyway, I'm getting picked up just before 8 tomorrow morning, so it will be an early wake up call. I'll be back Sunday night with a recap of my weekend in Chicago! Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Banana & Walnuts

2008-05-29T09:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Thursday! Not much to report here except that I had a delicious breakfast this morning. I wanted something different so cottage cheese pancakes it was.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Banana & Walnuts

1/2 cup oat bran

1/2c low fat cottage cheese

1/8 cup unsweetened, vanilla almond milk

1/8 cup egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1 small banana

1 tbsp walnuts, ground

1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup

I mixed together the oat bran, cottage cheese, almond milk, egg whites, vanilla, and half of the banana. I didn't use a blender for this. Last time I made my single serving, it was a pain to get the batter out of the blender. We have a huge blender, so the small amount of batter gets lost in the blades. I just made sure to mash everything really well. I had a problem with the pancakes sticking. I don't know why this happened because I used a nonstick pan AND nonstick spray. The pancakes didn't look pretty, but they tasted delicious. Only four are pictured above. One of the completely fell apart so I ate it while the others cooked. I topped the pancakes with the other half of the banana, sliced, ground walnuts, and maple syrup. Not only was the breakfast delicious, but I am stuffed! That's a good thing because I need this breakfast to hold me over for awhile.

My flight leaves early tomorrow morning so today is the last day I can get everything done. I need to go to Target, Barnes & Nobles, study, workout, pack, hang out with the boy, and lots of other little things. It's going to be a busy day!

Back on Track

2008-05-28T20:04:00.003-05:00

What a gorgeous day we had here in the Twin Cities.

The morning started out not so nice, hence my morning bowl of hot oatmeal. But by mid-morning the sky opened up and not a cloud was to be seen. Even though I had scheduled a strength training session at my gym, I wanted to go on a short run. My workout was scheduled over the lunch hour so I knew I needed something to hold me over. Before my run I had half of an Apple Pie Lara Bar. I LOVED this flavor. The only other ones I have tried are Cashew Cookie and Cherry Pie. I think Apple Pie might be my favorite so far...

The run was pretty quick, about 20 minutes, as I didn't want to fatigue my muscles. I felt good to be running again. I think it was a good idea for me to take a mini break from running because I was starting to feel burned out with all the training I've been doing. I thought about canceling my weight training session because the day was so beautiful. I'm glad I did go because I got an intense strength workout. My trainer said he was impressed by my ability considering I don't lift often. I can thank running for building my endurance. I had a slight disappointment at the end of the session. I've gained five pounds since the beginning of March. My body fat has decreased so I know it's muscle, but I still don't like seeing that number increase. I decided to sign up for more sessions with him. Not only will it help me build muscle and become more comfortable with weight training, but it will benefit my running as well. After filling out a bunch of paperwork I left and had the other half of the lara bar. The half from before my run fueled me for 2.5 hours. I wasn't even that hungry for lunch.

I enjoyed a salad and my leftover pizza while sitting outside in the sunshine. My salad consisted of spring mix, broccoli slaw, and tomato. I splashed fig infused white balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper, and tiny drizzle of olive oil on the salad. It was light and fresh tasting.

I reheated the pizza in the oven for a few minutes. It crisped up nicely and was just as delicious as yesterday. The crust is delicious! Chewy and perfect. My only complaint is that I didn't have more slices leftover!

I sat outside with a magazine for about an hour. I was really loving it, when Abbey called me to see if I wanted to go on a run with her. Since my run this morning was only two miles, I agreed. We did a lap around my lake, about 2 miles. Due to our talking it flew by! After the run, I sat outside a little bit longer before taking a much needed shower. Even though I was only outside for 2.5 hours in the late afternoon sun, my skin feels tight and is a little red. Just goes to show how strong the sun is, even in Minnesota!

I was feeling very hungry after my shower so I had about half a cup of plain, low fat yogurt with fresh pineapple at about 6 pm. I thought this would hold me until dinner but I was wrong! I checked my calorie count and realized I was pretty low, especially considering I worked out for almost 2 hours today.

Around 7:30, I couldn't wait any longer. I needed something quick. I didn't feel like cooking either so I pulled a frozen meal out of the freezer. Trader Joe's Garden Vegetable Lasagne made with organic vegetables and organic wheat flour. This has been in my freezer for awhile because I prefer to eat fresh food as much as possible. However, I was hungry, needed something fast and this sounded good. It's actually a satisfying portion for 290 calories, but I didn't see too many veggies in it and it was a bit bland. I probably wouldn't buy it again, but it was fine as a frozen meal. I also had a slice of hemp bread with a little bit of Earth balance spread.

I almost ate another slice of toast with jam for dessert. But then I remembered we had these in the freezer. Skinny Cow's Skinny Pops- vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate. This was pretty good for 80 calories, but it left a weird "diet food" aftertaste.

I wish I could have waited for my parents to have dinner. My mom made pasta and she knows how to make amazing pasta dishes. My mom's dinner would have been much more flavorful and nutritious. On the other hand, if I would have waited for them, I would have been crabby and most likely overeaten.

It feels great to be back on track with eating and exercising today. Now, it's time to relax with ginger tea and maybe get some studying done.

Playing Catch-Up

2008-05-28T09:44:00.006-05:00

I was out of the house all day yesterday and by the time I got home, I was too exhausted to post. I haven't exercised since Saturday and I know that is why I have been so tired the last few days. It's so true what they say about exercising giving you energy. Fortunately, I have a long workout planned this afternoon.

I forgot to take a picture of me and my cousin while she was visiting, so here's an old one. This is one of my favorite pictures of Sofia and I. This was taken last November in Florence, Italy.

Yesterday

I've been wanting to try swiss oats but I always forget to soak the oats overnight. Well on Monday I finally remembered to soak my oats overnight. I soaked a serving of oats with 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk, cinnamon, and raisins. I was looking forward to swiss oats in the morning but when I woke up, it was cold and all I wanted was a warm bowl of oats. I added 1/2 cup of water and half a sliced banana to the soaked oats, microwaved it for two minutes, and stirred in almond butter. I didn't get to enjoy swiss oats, but this was a tasty alternative. The soaked oats made the oatmeal super creamy.

After breakfast, I drove my cousin to the Mexican Consulate so she could get her passport renewed. (She was born in Mexico City). She is distantly related to the head consul through her dad's side so we were able to visit with him and speed up the process. By the time we got done it was well into lunch time.

My cousin and I both have a love for Italy since we both studied there during college. I knew the perfect place for lunch was Punch Pizza. This is one of the few pizzerias outside of Naples that is certified authentic neapolitan pizza. I love this place. The pizza is phenomenal. I never know which pizza to get because everything on the menu is great. I finally decided on a pizza bianco (no crushed tomatoes). The Cortina has mushrooms, garlic, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes, and gorgonzola. The pizza is then drizzled with olive oil. I ate 4 of the 6 slices of pizza. The crust is very thin so it's really not that much ;) I took a picture of my leftovers once I was home. I can't wait to eat the remaining slices for lunch. I really wish I could have taken one at the restaurant but I forgot in my excitement to eat. Also, while we waited for our pizza we split a half order of foccacia. Hot bread sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary, dipped in olive oil. Heaven.

Needless to say, I was stuffed after our meal but we went to the mall so I was able to walk around a bit. Then it was time to say goodbye to Sofia, so sad. On the way home, my friend called and asked if I wanted to meet at Caribou Coffee. She's the one getting married a month from yesterday, so she's getting stressed with final details and having nightmares about the flowers not showing up. I stopped at home to change into warmer clothes (it was only 50 yesterday and no sun!). I had half an hour before meeting her so I made her a batch of "You Got Peanut butter in my Chocolate Cookies". The cookies are really quick and I knew she would love them. I made them smaller this time and came up with 20 cookies. Of course I had to try a few freshly baked ones. Thank goodness all the cookies are out of the house now. (I gave Sof the chocolate chip and chocolate pb cookies I baked on Monday to bring home to her family.) I planned on getting hot tea at Caribou but the girl at the register talked me into trying one of their new teas blended with real fruit. It sounded refreshing and I knew I was low in my fruit intake so I tried the White Tea & Peach. It was really refreshing and I felt good knowing it was real fruit. Abbey and I had a nice hour long chat.

For dinner I had the leftover chicken sausage from Monday's lunch on a Rudi's organic roll, and salad with tomatoes and feta.

Today

It's another chilly morning so breakfast was banana walnut oats, drizzled with a little maple syrup. Along with coffee, breakfast hit the spot.

I have two days of normalcy before a crazy weekend getaway in Chicago. We leave Friday morning but I have a lot of things to get done before then. Have a great day!

Vegan Cookies & Pizza

2008-05-26T21:55:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I got a craving to bake. Weird, huh? ;) Our cookie jar was empty, which is somewhat rare in my house. To refill it, I baked two different types of vegan cookies. Both recipes were courtesy Dreena Burton. She is one talented lady.

Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies.

"You Got Peanut Butter in my Chocolate Cookies"

Both cookies are outstanding. The chocolate chip ones are delicious. I had Chris try one without telling him they were vegan. I'm a sneaky girl. But he liked them! And oh the chocolate pb cookies! My mouth is watering just thinking about them. I mean, how can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter? My mom loved them and said she would have never thought they were vegan. I nibbled on a few of these cookies throughout the afternoon.

Dinner was two small slices of veggie pizza and baby carrots. I had chipotle salsa on the side for dipping.

I'm sipping on ginger tea which helps digestion and calms my stomach. My cousin and I have to be up pretty early tomorrow. She needs to get her passport renewed and afterwards we are going to lunch and MOA (again!) before I have to say goodbye and drop her off at the airport. Depending on how rushed I am in the morning, I might not have time to post until the evening. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I haven't had any formal exercise since Saturday- my irritableness today is a sign that I need to release my energy. I've also been grazing on food a lot this weekend since I've been home all day long.

This coming week will be a short one for me. It's already Monday night and I'm flying to Chicago on Friday morning. I have lots to accomplish in 3 days!

P.S. I'm loving the John & Kate Plus 8 marathon.

Good Eats

2008-05-26T11:16:00.006-05:00

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA the lest few days. I've been enjoying spending time with my family and friends. Saturday night, my mom grilled chicken, steak, and veggies for dinner. Then my cousin and I met my friends for chips, salsa, and margaritas at a local Mexican restaurant. Yesterday, the weather wasn't the greatest so we painted my room a pale blue color. I'm going for a chocolate brown and french blue theme in my room.

On to the food... today has been a good eats day.

Breakfast today was amazing. I wanted to make something special, and yesterday as I was browsing Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, the Raspberry Chocolate Scones caught my eye. I've never made scones but I decided to give it a try. Dreena's recipe was the inspiration but I made a few modifications to use ingredients I had. I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I left those out. While Dreena's are vegan, these are not vegan- I had to use regular yogurt because I didn't have soy yogurt. I decided to use coconut creme flavored yogurt. I loved the subtle coconut flavor and creaminess this yogurt added. I also used a mix of frozen blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. My batter was very sticky, so instead of shaping the dough into a circle and cutting wedges, I dropped the batter onto the baking sheet.

Fresh out of the oven

These are delicious and buttery tasting. I served the scones with Warm Berry Sauce, again a modified version of ED&BV's warm raspberry sauce. I calculated each scone at about 275 calories.

The recipe made six scones. They are all gone now. They are that good.

The sky thickened with clouds after breakfast so my cousin and I decided to head Woodbury Lakes, an outdoor mall, that's 5 minutes away from my house. I needed to return a few things and we had fun browsing the stores. I'm pleased to report I didn't purchase anything at the mall. However, we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home and purchased a few goodies. My cousin had never been to a TJ's so she enjoyed browsing the aisles. We decided to buy something fun to make for lunch.

Our lunch choice was a first for me, chicken sausage. I never eat sausage or hot dogs because I don't like them. I've been wanting to try chicken sausage for awhile now so we bought chicken sausages with spinach, fontina cheese, and roasted garlic. We also bought veggie kabobs.

On the grill:

My plate: chicken sausage on a whole wheat hot dog bun with mustard and chipotle salsa, grilled veggies, and brown rice.

Lunch was delicious. I loved the flavor of the chicken sausage and felt very satisfied with this meal.

I hope everyone experienced better weather than we did today! I'll be back with a dinner and baking adventure post later tonight.

Off to a Great Start!

2008-05-24T11:21:00.003-05:00

I'm going to apologize if my posts seems a bit sporadic this weekend. I plan on taking full advantage of the nice weather by being outdoors as much as possible. In fact, I'm blogging from my sunny deck right now. Yesterday I wore a sun dress and realized my legs were looking quite pale, so hopefully I get a little color this weekend. Of course, I'll be protected with sunscreen!

Yesterday, I had a lot of fun hanging out with my best friend. Since she is traveling for business this weekend, she had the day off from work yesterday. It was so nice to spend a relaxing day going out to lunch and shopping. Now that we are all graduated and working girls, it's hard to see each other as often as we'd like. (Next weekend will be a blast because we are all going to Chicago for a bachelorette party! ) Anyways, we just picked up sandwiches for lunch, ran a few errands around Woodbury and then headed to the mall. I picked up 2 pairs of sandals that were on sale from Express and a cute dress from Banana Republic that was nowhere near on sale. I had intended on trying it on just for fun. But it was so cute, so I splurged. I'll post a picture of the dress later.

After dropping my friend off at the airport, I had a relaxing evening at home. My dad and sister are in Denver for the weekend, and my mom was picking my brother up from school so Brody and I had the house to ourselves. I caught up on the season finale of Grey's and then made myself a quick dinner. I didn't feel like cooking anything fancy so I made a salad and a quesadilla. For the quesadilla, I just used 2 small corn tortillas, soy cheese, and salsa. After dinner, Chris came over and we watched a movie with my mom and brother once they were home.

This morning I woke up feeling pretty hungry so I had a light, yet calorie dense breakfast, since I knew I wanted to run before it got too warm. I had a granola-yogurt parfait. I used my last container of honey greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of my homemade granola, 1/4 cup of pb granola, and fresh strawberry slices.

This is exactly what I was craving and hit the spot. Breakfast was about 320 calories.

About an hour later, I went for a run. I did a little over 5 miles. About half a mile away from home, I spotted a deer in the woods. She looked at me with big fearful eyes. I slowed down because I didn't want to scare her but she ran into the woods. I looked back and understood. A tiny little baby bambi walked out of the woods. The baby was tiny and so cute. It was a nice reward at the end of my run.

I'm sorry if there are a lot of typos in this post. The glare of the sun makes it really hard to see my computer screen! I'm about to take a shower and pick my cousin up at the airport. Not sure what the rest of the day's plans are. Have a lovely day!

Tag, I'm it!

2008-05-23T17:16:00.003-05:00

I was tagged by Kate and Lindsay to post 5 fun facts about myself. How fun! Thanks girls :)

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here are my 5 fun facts:

1. I am fluent in Spanish. My parents were both born and raised in Mexico City so I grew up speaking both Spanish and English. I am also conversational in French and Italian.

2. I was born in Houston, Texas on July 27, 1985. I was the first person in my entire extended family to be born in the United States. In fact, around the time I was born, my dad bought a copy of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA.

3. I studied in Rome for a semester during my sophomore year in college and in London during my junior year. I love Europe and want to live there for awhile in the future.

4. I am obsessed with traveling. I have been to England, Italy, France, Germany, the Bahamas, Mexico, and all over the U.S. (I always buy a shot glass in each city I visit, and my friends and family give them to me as souvenirs when they travel.)

5. This one is random but when I was in elementary school I wanted to be an actress. In 4th grade I played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I had to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in front of the whole school.

Alright so I'm going to tag:

Linds from Chocolate, Coffee, Kitchen

Ashley from Healthy Ashley

Jenn from Eating Bender

Jill from Jumping Jill

Em from Gliding Calm

I tried to choose those who haven't been tagged yet but I'm sorry if you've been tagged before!

Back to Oats

2008-05-23T08:32:00.005-05:00

Happy Friday!

This morning, I woke up wanting a warm bowl of oats. It's actually pretty warm outside, but I've just been craving a regular bowl of oatmeal. I chose to make steel cut oats because I wasn't very hungry yet and it's been awhile since I've had them. In a saucepan, I brought a cup of water to a boil, added 1/4 cup of oats and stirred. After 10 minutes, I added a chopped apple, cinnamon, and a tablespoon of raisins. After 5 more minutes, the liquid was almost gone but I knew my oats weren't quite done so I added 1/4 c water + 1/4 c soy milk. I turned the heat down and let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes. I love adding walnuts to the apple-raisin combo, but today I added a twist. I ground a tablespoon of walnuts with a teaspoon of raw sugar to make a walnut meal. I sprinkled this on top of the oatmeal. I missed the crunch the walnut pieces add, but I liked that I could taste the walnuts throughout the entire bowl. By the way, does anyone know if walnut butter is carried in stores?

Breakfast: 320 cals, 10g fat, 8g fiber, 11g protein

I wanted to workout right away this morning, but my whole body is feeling sore from yesterday. I'll have to fit it in later tonight. I'm running a few errands that will include a coffee stop, going out to lunch and to MOA (Mall of America) with my friend before dropping her off at the airport at 4. I really hope I don't get stuck in rush hour on the way back.

For all of those working, I hope the day goes quickly so you can enjoy the start to the long weekend. For those traveling, be safe. And I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day weekend!

On a side note, I'm watching Alanis Morissette sing Ironic on the Today Show. I know I'm not that old, but this song brings me back to my younger years. She sounds/looks great thought!

Thursday Wrap-Up

2008-05-22T22:15:00.005-05:00

Today ended up being a lot busier than expected, hence the late post! As soon as I posted breakfast, my appetite came back. I was pretty hungry so I ate the other half of my banana from breakfast.

Before heading to yoga, I stopped at the outdoor mall to get a present for an upcoming bachelorette party. Since I was still hungry, I bought an iced, skim latte from Starbucks.

Yoga was great. I love this particular class at my gym because it's Vinyasa Style Yoga. For those who may not know, vinyasa style yoga is flowing class with breath synchronized movement. It's faster paced than the other fitness yoga class that's offered at my gym. My upper body always gets a fantastic workout during this 75 minute class. After class, I stopped to talk to one of the personal trainers. I didn't leave the gym until 1:45 so I was starving. Luckily, Chris called and hadn't eaten so we went to Chipotle. I had the vegetarian burrito bowl with rice, black beans, corn, medium salsa, guacamole, and lettuce. Usually, I only eat half of my bowl. I ate the whole bowl today since I was starving. We ate outside since it was so beautiful.

Chris and I came back to my house and hung out for awhile. I gave him the Pistachio & White Chocolate Chunkies I baked for him yesterday. We each had 2. Sigh, my odd appetite has left me irritable, sluggish, and craving junk food. After vegging out for awhile, I wasn't feeling very motivated to run. I've been tired all day but I knew I had to run since I took yesterday off. I "forced" myself to run by dropping a car off for my sister at work. I had no choice but to run home. The distance is a little bit under 5 miles. Once I settled into running I felt good. It's the starting that's the hardest part.

My appetite was gone after running. I was planning to make a smoothie to refuel, but my mom came home and started making dinner so I felt bad. Dinner was okay. My mom has been very busy with work so she's been coming home late and feeling uninspired to cook. Usually, I make dinner if I know she is running late. However, cooking didn't sound appealing tonight since I had no appetite. My mom threw together a chicken, peapod, and bean sprout stir fry. We also had the usual salad and mashed potatoes.

I recorded Grey's Anatomy and wanted to watch it but I am pretty tired so I don't think I'm going to make it through the entire 2 hour season finale. Maybe I'll just watch a little bit... Goodnight!

Granola Oatmeal

2008-05-22T08:23:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! We are one day closer to the long weekend. Yesterday, I found out my cousin, who I'm very close to, is flying into the cities on Saturday. She is staying until Tuesday night. I am so excited to see her. It's going to be a fun girl's weekend since my dad and sister are flying to Denver for a soccer tourney. It'll be just my mom, cousin, and I.

My appetite isn't quite back this morning. I did wake up hungry due to my small dinner last night, but I didn't feel like eating. This never happens! I obviously needed to eat something so I made a small bowl of oats & granola. I've been craving granola the last few days but we don't have any in the house. I bought thick cut rolled oats at the store so I decided to try homemade granola. My Vanilla Almond Coconut Oatmeal was based on a few recipes I found.

Vanilla Almond Coconut Granola Oats

1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 banana
cinnamon
fresh strawberries
1/4 cup Vanilla Almond Coconut Granola

I cooked the oats with the almond milk, cinnamon, and banana on the stove top. (FYI, thick cut oats take longer to cook so it's best to cook them on the stove. I used the microwave and it exploded so I switched to the stove top method.) Sliced strawberries, granola, and a little extra coconut garnished the top.

I loved the combination of textures: creamy banana oatmeal, cool strawberries, and crunchy yet chewy granola. I think after this my appetite is starting to return!

Have a great morning! I'll be working on my class and then be back for a late lunch post after yoga.

Very Odd

2008-05-21T21:37:00.004-05:00

My appetite was off today. Very odd. The salad at lunch left me feeling full until 9 pm. I did have a mid afternoon treat but I wasn't even hungry for dinner. I forced myself to eat something light.

I had a light salad made of baby spinach, strawberries, shredded parmesan, and fig infused balsamic vinaigrette. I added some brown rice for a little more nutrition.

This afternoon I worked on a new page for my recipes. It's still a work in progress but hopefully it will be easier to find recipes! I also made one of the most amazing cookie recipes ever. I tried one this afternoon (my mid afternoon treat) and oh my gosh are the outstanding. You can read more about the Pistachio & White Chocolate Chunkies here.

Sorry for the boring food today, hopefully my appetite returns tomorrow!

Fresh Veggies

2008-05-21T14:05:00.004-05:00

Hey guys. This post is going to be quick because I need to get back to studying. I'm on a good track right now and halfway through the lesson.

I sipped on an iced coffee this morning while studying. Around 12:30 I went to the local grocery store's salad bar for lunch. My salad had spring mix, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, shredded carrots, green peppers, chickpea-green pea mix, artichokes and greek vinaigrette.

I felt really full after only a few bites. Weird. I still finished the salad and the roll, but it took me awhile. It felt good to eat a big fresh salad. I haven't had fresh veggies in a few days!

The sky is a stunning shade of blue. I would love to be studying outside right now, but unfortunately the temperature hasn't reached 68 yet so it's a tad chilly. The weather is supposed to be nearing 80 this weekend so I'm not worried.

I'm either going to a strength class at the gym or running outside. I'll have to see what I'm in the mood for when 4 o'clock rolls around.

Have a good afternoon!

Creamy Banana Goodness

2008-05-21T09:12:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's another beautiful day out there. I am loving this string of sunshine.

I wanted something light for breakfast but we're out of granola, and I didn't feel like making a smoothie. I made a variation of yesterday's honey yogurt oats. Today I used multigrain cereal cooked in water with cinnamon, vanilla, and half a banana. Afterwards I stirred in the other half of the greek honey yogurt container. I felt like eating the whole banana today so I sliced the remaining half on top of the hot cereal and drizzled with agave nectar.

Breakfast: 351 cals, 4g fat, 10g fiber, 16g protein

I've realized my kitchen countertops reflect too much light in the natural sunshine. My breakfast pictures never look as good as the ones at night.

Yesterday

I love working out earlier in the day because it makes me feel energized and leaves the rest of the day free. However, I do find that when I workout in the morning, I'm hungrier all day! That's how I felt yesterday. My protein & fiber packed lunch should have left me full for a few hours. But while I studied I was starving. I tried to ignore the hunger by drinking coffee but it persisted. I had an apple in my purse but I was trying to avoid it because it didn't look very appetizing. I finally gave in and ate it. It did nothing for my hunger. I got home around 6:30 and decided to have any early dinner. I heated up some of last night's leftover Cocoa-Coconut Chili and served it on top of a baked sweet potato with a little greek yogurt.

I think I liked the chili served this way even better. 315 cals, 3g fat, 12g fiber, 12g protein

Confession: A few hours after dinner, I ate one too many cookies and dark chocolate m&ms. Had this been a portioned, thought out indulgence, I would have no problem. But it wasn't. I feel disappointed in myself for eating these treats spontaneously and "out of control". I guess it was just one of those days...

Windy City

2008-05-20T14:29:00.004-05:00

My run went alright this morning. I did about 4.7 miles in 45 minutes. For the majority of the time I was running, I battled strong winds. I guess I didn't realize how windy it was before I left for my run. Chicago may be the Windy City, but the Twin Cities give it a run for its money. Half of the time I felt like I wasn't moving forward. It was frustrating because the wind raised my heart rate too fast. Oh well, you can't control the weather.

I wasn't too hungry for lunch when I got home but I opted to eat before I showered. I loved the sandwich I made last Friday so much that I made another one for lunch today. Hummus, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, and chipotle sauce on a toasted hemp bagel. Mmm, I love these bagels.

I was going to have something else, but I felt satisfied and jumped in the shower instead.

Lunch: 340 cals, 12g fat, 15g fiber, 45g protein

This morning before my run, I baked a fun treat. When Tina, from Carrots & Cake, posted her Coconut-Date Cookies to Die For, I knew I wanted to try them. Seeing them on Kath's blog yesterday, reminded me about them so this morning I made Coconut-Date Balls. I followed Kath's lead and used raisins because I didn't have any dates. I made them into balls after they baked because I didn't grease the cookie sheet and they stuck pretty badly. I was able to scrape them off, but they looked deformed so I just shaped them into balls. They are more fun to eat this way!

I made 23 balls and figured each ball to be about 30 calories. These are sticky, but good! I'm excited to try them with dates next time. I had 2 of these after my shower!

Now I'm off to study at the coffee shop. I'm craving an iced coffee so I'm sure I will have 1 (or 2!) of those and a snack while I study.

Honey Yogurt Oats

2008-05-20T09:28:00.005-05:00

My inspitation for breakfast today was a container of Greek Honey Yogurt. I usually don't buy flavored yogurt, but I've been wanting to try this flavor. Initially I thought of a yogurt-granola parfait, but I'm out of granola. Then I thought muesli, but I didn't want to wait for the mixture to soak. Finally, I decided to incorporate it into my oats.

I cooked the oats in water and added banana slices, cinnamon, and vanilla. Once the oats were cooked, I transfered them to a bowl and added half of the container of yogurt, fresh strawberries, and almond slices. The yogurt made the oats super creamy and not as hot. The honey lent a slight sweetness, but not too much. It was a wonderful change for oatmeal, especially in the warmer weather.

Honey Yogurt Oats: 338 cals, 8g fat, 10g fiber, 16g protein

It looks like today will be a nice day. It's only going to get up to the mid 60s, but the sun is shining so that's okay with me. I'm planning on running outside once my breakfast digests. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Chilly Day = Comfort Food

2008-05-19T20:50:00.004-05:00

I meant to post lunch earlier today but I left my computer at home all afternoon. I knew that if I brought it along to the coffee shop, I'd be tempted to check blogs, facebook, email, etc. instead of studying. My original plan was to pack a lunch and eat it while I studied. However, I lost track of time catching up on blogs this morning and I started to get hungry around noon due to a smaller breakfast than normal.

Since I was hungry, I ate lunch before leaving. I was in the mood for soup due to the chilly weather so I had a can (1.5 servings) of Trader Joe's Vegan Split Pea soup. The soup's sickly green color does not do it justice. It is quite tasty and very, very filling. On the side I had a serving of Kashi crackers.

Excuse the ugly plastic container, I had already packed the soup up and didn't want to dirty another dish. Lunch total: 280 cals, 3g fat, 7g fiber, 14g protein

I had a productive afternoon reading about lipids and cardiovascular disease. While studying I had a coffee and a huge apple. I weighed this apple on my food scale and it came in at a whopping 130 cals! Snack: 130 cals, 9g fiber, 1g protein

After studying, I went across the street to the gym. I ran for about 5 minutes and realized I should do more cross-training so I hopped on a stationary bike. I was reminded again how much I dislike stationary bikes. The reason I don't cross-train more often is that I just don't like the other machines. I get bored too easily and nothing gives me as great a workout as running. At least, I was able to watch a rather entertaining Dr. Phil. I did 25 minutes of biking and then I went to a strength training class. It's been awhile since I've done any strength training so I'm sure I will be sore tomorrow. My post workout snack was a Clif Nectar bar, 160 cals, 6g fat, 6g fiber, 3g protein.

It was a chilly, rainy afternoon/evening so I decided to make something warm and comforting, ED&BV's Cocoa-Coconut Chili. Another delicious, winning recipe. I'm so excited for the leftovers!

Chili + French roll totals: 490 cals, 7g fat, 13g fiber, 21g protein

Daily total: 1388 cals, 27g fat, 46g fiber, 50g protein

Strawberry-Banana Multigrain Cereal

2008-05-19T10:19:00.002-05:00

I've missed my usual hot breakfast the last few days, so this morning I made a warm bowl of multigrain cereal. I cooked the cereal on the stove with almond milk and cinnamon. Instead of mixing the banana in as usual, I added the slices on top along with fresh strawberries and almonds. This was a great breakfast, but I should have added a little maple syrup or brown sugar to sweeten it up a tad.

Breakfast totals: 319 cals, 11g fat, 12g fiber, 12g protein

My plan for today is to work on my nutrition class at a coffee shop. I need to get out of the house to study, otherwise I get distracted very easily. I'm planning an afternoon workout. The weather isn't as nice as I had hoped so instead of an outside run, I might do a little cardio at the gym and a strength class. I also need to figure out what I am making for dinner tonight and get groceries for that. Better get moving!

Duluth Recap

2008-05-19T09:23:00.004-05:00

Duluth was a fun, relaxing weekend. It's always nice to spend quality alone time with Chris since we don't get to see each other very often during the school year. Chris is home for the summer now, but I'll be returning to Duluth in a little over a month to run the half marathon!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any more food pictures for the rest of the weekend. I forgot my camera at Chris' house on Saturday and my food wasn't that interesting on Sunday. I was bummed I forgot my camera on Saturday because we went to brunch at this cool, hip place called Burrito Union. Think Chipotle, but a cooler atmosphere. I never crave eggs, but for some reason I was having a craving so I ordered off their breakfast menu. The Union Bowl had eggs, cheese, black beans, potatoes, grilled veggies, roasted salsa, and tortilla chips. It was fantastic and I ate the entire thing. It wasn't a huge portion, but I definitely ate more than I needed to. The day was very windy and rained off and on so we stayed indoors for the majority of the afternoon and watched movies/napped. Around 5, I had a splitting headache and got crabby...and so realized I needed coffee. (Yes, I know it's bad but I get caffeine headaches if I've gone the whole day without coffee). So I went to a nearby grocery store that has a coffee shop to get coffee and instantly felt better. While there, I picked up a few apples because I hadn't had any fruit all day.

Dinner was at Fitger's Brewery and Grille, another great place to eat. The owners of Fitger's are the same as Burrito Union so it had the same fun atmosphere. Chris and I decided to share their beer sampler. The sampler included 7 different types of beer. I don't know much about beer, but I now know that I hate IPA. It is so bitter and just plain yuck. I also didn't care for their Oatmeal Stout or the english style bitter. Basically, I only drank the Lighthouse Golden and Apricot Wheat. The Apricot Wheat was a delicious, fruity beer. I like those. Foodwise, it was hard to decide what to order because everything sounded delicious. I finally ordered the Meatless Harvest Moon Wild Rice Burger with mushrooms, swiss cheese, and chipotle pepper sauce. It was bigger than Chris' bacon cheeseburger! I only ate half but finished off the serving of fries. The fries were so good. I didn't feel as guilty eating them because the menu states that Fitger's uses only trans fat free oils. I really wanted dessert but I was stuffed so I decided to hold off.

After dinner, we went to see What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. It's hilarious and a lot of fun. When the movie was over, I wasn't so stuffed anymore, so we went to Coldstone. I had my favorite ice cream combination in the world: Oatmeal Cookie Batter with graham cracker crumbs and mini chocolate chips. YUM! I was in heaven. By the time we got back to Chris' we were both overstuffed and in a food coma so I went to bed pretty early.

Lake Superior

Sunday morning, I helped Chris pack up his car and we were on the road by noon. I got home around 2:30ish, unpacked, baked cookies, went to church with my family, and had a long workout with my best friend. Overall, it was a nice getaway weekend. I overindulged more than I would have liked, but I could have done a lot worse. I'm looking forward to getting back on track with fresh, clean eating.

Greetings from Duluth!

2008-05-17T09:44:00.003-05:00

Hi all! I have been having a great weekend so far and even got to sleep in this morning.

Here's a recap of yesterday:

I did a short 2.25 mile run yesterday. I had been planning on running double that, but after my long run on Thursday night my legs were tired. I decided not to fight it and cleaned the inside of my car instead. By the time I was finished cleaning, packing and showered it was after 12. At this point I was really hungry since my breakfast was so small this morning.

Lunch was really really good. The other day at Whole Foods, I picked up a bag of healthy hemp sprouted bagels. Seeing as how much I like the bread, I've been dying to try the bagels. I toasted the bagel and spread it with hummus, chipotle sauce, spinach, and alfalfa sprouts. I also had baby carrots on the side. I LOVED this sandwich. The nuttiness and chew of the bagel combined with the creamy hummus and crunchy veggies paired very nicely.

Lunch total: 375 cals, 12g fat, 16g fiber, 46g protein

On my way out of town, I stopped at Sati Coffee for driving fuel. A large iced cold pressed coffee latte.I love cold pressed coffee, it's so good! I actually had 1.5x this because while I was talking to my friend who works there, I drank half. He refilled my cup for the drive.

Iced skim latte (1.5x): 220 cals, 1g fat, 20g protein

I got into Duluth at about 4pm. The 2 and a 1/2 hour drive was smooth and quick. The weather was nice enough for me to have the sunroof open the whole time. To me, one of the most stunning visuals is driving into Duluth. Driving up from the South, you come to the top of the hill, and see the huge harbor down below. Lake Superior is huge. It looks like the sea at some points because you can't see land on the other side.

For dinner, I had another sandwich, this time from Erberts & Gerberts. Turkey, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, and lettuce on a wheat sub. I was really hungry so on the car ride back to Chris' house I ate half the big of chips. For this reason I only ate half of my sub and saved the rest for later. I was proud of myself because the old me would have eaten it anyway, but the new me is more in tune with hunger and satiety cues.

Dinner totals (whole sandwich & chips): 613 cals, 15.5g fat, 8g fiber, 24 g protein

We met up with Chris' roommates and friends down by the waterfront at Old Chicago. I was in the mood for a Margarita but instead I chose the only beer I like: Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss. This beer isn't a light beer so it's really filling. But over the course of 5 hours I had two. They ordered a third one for me but I couldn't drink it so I told Chris to finish it off for me. When we got back to his house, I ate the other half of my sandwich.

Friday total (minus beer): 1468 cals, 37g fat, 31g fiber, 102 g protein

It was a very fun night but this morning I feel dehydrated and my head hurts. I'm already on my second big glass of ice cold water. Chris is still sleeping so we'll see what he wants to do today. I would love to walk around the waterfront and check out the race course for the half marathon I'll be running next month. Unfortunately the forecast calls for scattered clouds and a chance of rain with a high of 65.

Have a wonderful day!

Strawberry Granola Soup

2008-05-16T08:20:00.005-05:00

It felt so nice to get up this morning and not have to rush to get ready and eat breakfast. I'm planing on working out soon, but this morning when I woke up I was really hungry for some reason. So I made a light but filling breakfast.

Fresh strawberries, pb granola, plain yogurt, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

It tasted pretty good, but maybe next time I won't add the milk. It made the breakfast soupy and I think I prefer it to be thicker. The strawberries were deliciously ripe and sweet. I ate a couple of slices as I was making breakfast.

Breakfast Totals: 260 cals, 9g fat, 6g fiber, 12g protein

After my workout, I have a few errands to run before driving up to Duluth. I'm hoping to leave right after lunch. I don't know what my eating will be like these next few days but hopefully I can stay on track. I'll be posting this weekend but it might be at random times!

Today's weather: Twin Cities = 78, Duluth= 65 :(

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!!

Relaxing End to a Busy Day

2008-05-15T20:34:00.003-05:00

My quick run before yoga turned into a long 7.75 mile run. The weather was gorgeous and my legs kept going. Needless to say, I didn't make it to yoga. My legs are tired and I am exhausted so tonight's post is going to be quick. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Morning snack after the car dealership was an iced nonfat latte. 110 cals, 1g fat, 10g protein

Lunch: Just as I was taking the first bite of the salad I brought from home, two of the guys at the office asked if they could take me out to lunch on my last day. I couldn't resist their sweet offer so I went with them to a nearby deli. I has a really really good, fresh sandwich. The sandwich consisted of a soft wheat sub, lots of turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapenos, green peppers, onions, banana peppers, and mustard. It reminded me of a Subway sandwich but a million times better. Estimate 450 cals, 14g fat, 4g fiber, 39g protein

Afternoon Snack: Honey Wheat Braided Pretzel Twists, 220 cals, 2g fat, 2g fiber, 4g protein

Dinner: I decided not to wait for my parents to have dinner. I was too hungry after showering so I went ahead and had the salad I had originally packed for lunch. Canned tuna mixed with spring mix, broccoli slaw, tomatoes, and italian dressing. I also had a piece of french bread (not pictured, and half a glass of red wine. 546 calories, 12g fat, 7g fiber, 53 g protein

Daily Totals: 1719 cals, 38g fat, 22g fiber, 115g protein

(Way too much protein thanks to turkey at lunch, and tuna at dinner)

I'm finishing off my wine as I watch Grey's Anatomy. I'm thinking it's going to be an early to bed night. My eyes are already closing!

Feels like Friday

2008-05-15T12:36:00.004-05:00

I’m writing this draft in Word because I am sitting at the car dealership waiting for my car to get an oil change and brake inspection. I thought they would have wireless internet, but they don’t! Ah it least it’s quick.

Since I had extra time to get ready this morning I made oats on the stove. Seeing apples in Lindsey’s oatmeal the other day made me crave apple oatmeal. I started by chopping up an apple and simmering it in water with cinnamon and a tsp of maple syrup. Once the apples were soft, I added another cup of water and brought it up to a boil. I then added the oats, raisins, and more cinnamon. I finished up the oats with a splash of soy milk and crushed walnuts.

Breakfast Totals: 393 cals, 10g fat, 9g fiber, 9g protein

Yesterday’s Recap

Last night was another busy weeknight. Thanks goodness to day is like Friday for me. On my way home from work I stopped at Target to pick up some things I needed. I need to be banned from that store. I always end up getting things I don’t need and end up spending way too much. I bought a cute summer dress, 2 pairs of workout capris, adorable ice cream bowls, a new dog collar for Brody, and a razor. The only thing I actually needed was the razor.

I didn’t want to be starving for dinner so I ate an orange and a couple of baby carrots when I got home. I don’t know about y’all but baby carrots make me hungrier. We went out to dinner at Bonfire to celebrate a family friend’s birthday. Bonfire is one of my favorite restaurants because it is one of the few non-chain restaurants in Woodbury. There food is always delicious, and while a few of the salads are big, their portions are appropriately sized.

I started off with a cup of their famous (Best in the Twin Cities) Tortilla soup. I don’t know why I get this soup. I’ve had it before I really don’t like it. It has too much meat in it. I had a few bites and gave the rest to my mom. We ordered 2 pizzas- Apple & Brie and Margherita. I had two slices of each pizza. The crust is really thin so the slices aren’t very big. It was a perfect portion. The birthday boy got a free mini cake so I had a little piece of that as well.

I’m not going to post the pictures because they didn’t turn out very well.

It’s my last day of working with my parents so I’ll be training the new receptionist all day. I might not be able to post again until tonight. This afternoon I am doing a double workout. I have an outdoor run planned in this beautiful weather, and a warm yoga class at 7:15. I should be able to fit it all in because I think I’ll be able to leave work early.

Tomorrow I’m driving up to Duluth to visit Chris. He has his last final tomorrow morning so we’ll be celebrating the end of the school year. I hope the weather is nice up in Duluth, it’s supposed to be warm and sunny down here.

Hope everyone is having as beautiful weather as we are! :o)

A trip down memory lane

2008-05-14T13:46:00.006-05:00

Hey guys. Sorry for the late post. I didn't have a whole lot to report this morning so I waited to post both my breakfast and lunch at once.

Breakfast

I was still full from my delicious dinner last night so I wanted something light for breakfast. It was pretty mild out this morning so I had a smoothie. It was berry good! Sorry I couldn't resist ;0)

Berry Good Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened, vanilla almond milk
1/2 banana
3/4 cup frozen mixed berries
1 scoop Kashi GoLean! Vanilla protein powder

Breakfast totals: 290 calories, 4g fat, 17g fiber,14 g protein

Although this breakfast was a lot less calories than normal, it did a good job of holding my hunger for about 4.5 hours. I got pretty hungry around 11, but I just had a big glass of ice cold water.

Lunch

I didn't bring a lunch today because I had a few errands to run around Grand Ave. during lunch. Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped at Whole Foods for a salad. Amazingly, I came out of WF with just the salad and a new item to try. I wanted to buy a lot more things, but I knew the groceries were going to be sitting in the warm car all afternoon so I refrained. I ate this salad in my car so I could take advantage of the great weather with the sunroof open and windows down.

Salad Ingredients:

Lettuce Mix
Shredded red & green cabbage
Raw cauliflower
Roasted artichokes
Grilled portabella, corn, and spinach salad
Marinated mushrooms
Curry chicken and chickpea couscous

The highlight of this salad was the curry couscous. It was so delicious, I wish I would have gotten more! I'm going to have to recreate this at home. The roasted artichokes and marinated mushrooms were really really good as well. Usually, I really like grilled portabellas, but something about the texture of these made me want to gag. I hate wasting food but I couldn't eat them. I ate everything else though.

Close up of the plump marinated mushroom.

After my lovely lunch I went to UST to buy a graduation present for my former roomie. She's an accounting major so her degree took an extra year. I forgot just how much parking sucks. After looking for a good 10 minutes for a parking spot on the street I didn't find one so I took a risk and parked in the lot. If I remember correctly, you don't need a parking permit during finals week. I hadn't been on campus since last year at graduation. It felt so weird to be walking across the quad.

I browsed through the bookstore before buying an alumni sweatshirt for my friend and a cute baseball cap for myself. I wanted to buy a couple of t-shirts, but I'm trying to be more mindful of my spending.

Speaking of being mindful with money, I stopped at my favorite coffee shop and bought an iced coffee with a splash of soy and a bran muffin. I am so addicted to these. It's a good thing I don't live close by anymore.

These muffins are fat free and low calorie. But low cal is a subjective thing so I have no idea what to estimate. Two years ago when the coffee shop first opened, they were advertised as 150 calories. Well they have for sure grown in size. I asked the girl at the counter if she had nutrition information and all she had was the ingredients list. I should have asked to see it but I felt bad because she was alone and there were people in line behind me. I know they are freshly made there...but if they are fat free and low calorie, it makes me wonder what the heck are in these. They are so good, but maybe too good to be true?

This afternoon I felt like I was in college again- running around campus, grabbing a salad at Whole Foods, and picking up a coffee and muffin at Coffee Bene. It was a nice trip down memory lane. Sometimes I really miss the life of a college student, minus the stress.

It has taken me 2 hours to finish this post. Insane amount of phone calls are to blame!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos

2008-05-13T20:35:00.007-05:00

Wow, dinner tonight was delicious for being thrown together so quickly. I am completely stuffed but it was so good, I had to go back for more!

But before I get to it...

Afternoon snack + Workout

I had a chocolate chip z bar as my afternoon snack. I was feeling pretty hungry so I wasn't sure this would hold my hunger. But it did. Snack total was 130 calories, 4g fat, 3g fiber, 3g protein.

After being stuck in traffic for over an hour I was so close to driving home instead of going to the gym. The idea of catching up on my tv shows and relaxing on the couch was very appealing. However, I'm glad I made myself to go to the gym. I did a shorter, more intense run today. It was about 4 miles total. I did something today that I haven't done in almost year. I ran without my HRM. I forgot it at home. I kinda freaked out because I am so used to monitoring my heart rate during my runs. But I think by now I know how my zones feel so I felt pretty confident during my run. I need to learn to trust myself more.

I wasn't able to make it to yoga tonight but I'm okay with that because my arms/shoulders/upper back are extremely sore. You should have seen me changing into my workout clothes, it was painful!

Dinner tonight was so good. I had been craving sweet potatoes and black beans this afternoon so I knew that's what I wanted for dinner. My usual fix is a baked sweet potato topped with black beans or chili. I wanted to try something different tonight so I made sweet potato and black bean tacos.

I started off by peeling and cutting a big sweet potato into cubes. I threw them in the microwave for about 5 minutes to speed up the cooking process. In a skillet, I sautéed garlic in olive oil for a minute. Then I added the par-cooked sweet potatoes and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and red pepper. Once the potatoes were crusty, I added the black beans and cooked just until everything was heated through.

In a separate skillet, I warmed up a couple of corn tortillas. I like my corn tortillas to be crispy, but still foldable. To assemble: top the tortillas with the potato/bean mixture and salsa. And viola! Sweet potato and black bean tacos.

These were so so good! I started with two on my plate, but I had to go back for a third. As Rachel Ray would say, yum-o!

It is hard to say what the exact calorie count is for this meal because I didn't measure any of the ingredients. From experience, I'm guessing that my 3 tacos had about 1 cup of sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup of black beans,(plus a few tablespoons of salsa and tsp of oil). Based on this rough estimate, dinner totals were about 500 calories, 4g fat, 13g fiber, 12g protein.

Daily Total: 1421 calories, 38g fat, 41g fiber, 60g protein.

Calorie Counting

2008-05-13T16:15:00.004-05:00

I'm starting to include calorie/fat/fiber/protein counts with the food because a) I need to do it for my nutrition class; and b) I am trying to lose a few pounds for my friend's wedding next month. I feel pretty comfortable with my eating habits to know how much I need to eat on a regular basis to maintain my weight. I naturally keep a rough estimate in my head due to years of calorie counting. I don't think I will ever be able to completely stop because I know the calorie content for everything! So even if I don't want to count, I automatically do it. But in order for me to lose weight, I have to make sure I create a calorie deficiency. Nothing too extreme, I'm not looking to lose a lot of weight, just 5 pounds or so.

I'm not going to let this become obsessive like in the past. I want to lose weight, but at the same time I am training for a half marathon so I need to make sure I am eating enough to keep my body fueled. I will probably keep my intake at around 1500 calories..but if I truly feel hungry, I will eat more. Also, I tend to round up because I would rather overestimate than underestimate. So bare with me.

I'm Spoiled

2008-05-13T14:53:00.006-05:00

My mom is the greatest. She made my lunch last night. She makes lunch for herself, my dad and sister every night but I usually prefer to make my own. What she was making last night looked good, so she offered to make one for me as well. Yes, I am spoiled.

Smoked salmon, cream cheese, and spinach sandwich on hemp bread.

I didn't bring a plate with me today so I had to use the baggie as a plate.

I also had leftover salad from last night: spinach, shredded carrots, and few pieces of pear. I made a simple dressing this weekend using a fig infused white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. It has a really nice light, fresh, slightly sweet flavor.

Last Friday I posted about my love for Fit & Fresh salad containers. Em, from Gliding Calm, asked if I could take a picture of the lid. So here you go!

A shot of the whole thing

View from top, when you turn the dial the dressing spills out.

Underside of the lid

I highly recommend this investment if you eat a lot of salads!

I'm feeling pretty sluggish this afternoon. It's raining so the weather isn't exactly lifting my mood. I have no desire to run this afternoon, but with the Half coming up in a couple of weeks, I can't afford to take too many days off. Hopefully my snack will energize me and get me through the workout.

*EDIT: I completely forgot to add that I had half of a grapefruit for a midmorning snack. Lunch and snack combined came out to about 492 calories, 16g fat, 15g fiber, and 31g protein. Whoa, the hemp bread adds 10g of fiber and 14g of protein alone!

Productive Morning

2008-05-13T10:19:00.005-05:00

I'm already feeling like today is a productive day. I was up early and refreshed thanks to last night's yoga and early bed time. And as soon as I got to the office this morning, I got to work on my nutrition lesson and finally finished the second lesson. Especially since I won't have a job as of next week, I hope to finish the course up within the next month. I think it's possible as long as I focus on getting it done.

This morning I had my usual cuppa joe (x 2)...

This morning I had a little bit of extra time so I made the multigrain cereal again, but this time I cooked it on the stove and only used 1/3 cup portion. Today's combo was made with 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, 2/3 cup of water, 1/2 of a banana and cinnamon.

I couldn't decided what else I wanted to add. I ended up topping it with sliced almonds, coconut and "vanilla icing" (plain yogurt + vanilla extract).

As always, it was delicious and filled me right up. Breakfast totals: 362 cal, 12g fat, 13g fiber, 14g protein.

I am definitely feeling the yoga burn today in my upper back. I'm hoping to make it to another class tonight, an intermediate yoga flow in a heated studio.

See you all for lunch!

Feelin' Fresh

2008-05-12T21:20:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the late dinner post, I had a busy evening and got caught up watching tv. Monday nights are my new favorite t.v. night. There are 4 shows I like! I rarely get a chance to watch them all. Usually, I just watch Medium with my parents and tivo the rest to watch throughout the week. I really want to watch some of the other shows now...but I should get to bed.

My snack today was a Cherry Pie Lara bar. Really, really bad picture.

This flavor was good, but not as good as the Cashew Cookie. It was kinda of tart and really sticky! It did wonders on my hunger because I ate it at 4:30 and didn't eat dinner until 8:30. This little bar fueled me through a short run and sweaty yoga session. I wasn't even that hungry for dinner.

As soon as I got home I ran into my room and changed into my workout clothes. I didn't want to get too comfortable and not workout.

I had made up my mind that I was finally going to try the new yoga studio by my house. YogaFresh offers a free week pass to new students. I'm not meeting with my running group this week because we are in between sessions so this is the perfect week to take advantage of the free classes.

I had about half an hour to kill before class and I knew if I stayed at home I would get lazy. Since the yoga studio is next to a lake, I warmed up by running around it. Even though, I live pretty close by, I had never been around this lake. It took me about 16 minutes to get around it. According to Map My Run, it's about 1.65 miles around.

Yoga was AWESOME. Tonight's class was called Yoga Sculpt. The instructor incorporated resistance bands into some of the poses for a stronger upper body workout. The studio was heated to a balmy 90 degrees. It got super hot in there, by the end of class my clothes were soaking wet (gross, I know). But I loved it and felt so great afterwards.

I am so happy I finally gave this studio a try. The instructor was great and walked around class adjusting our positions to make sure we were doing it right. Some people might not like this, but I actually like the instructor correcting my posture. I want to be sure I am doing the poses the right way. This was my first experience at a real yoga studio. I've been practicing yoga on and off since high school, but usually I take classes at my gym or do DVDs at home. I loved the atmosphere and coziness of this studio. I will definitely be taking advantage of the free week.

I jumped in the shower as soon as I got home since I was so sweaty. I wanted to be fresh and clean while enjoying my dinner.

My mom made a spinach, carrot and feta salad, brown rice, and a Mexican dish called Picadillo. Basically, it's lean ground beef with potatoes, green peppers, onions, beans, and some spices. I don't care for red meat but this is one of the only beef dishes I can eat because of all the flavors in it. I like the big potato chunks the best.

Instead of watching tv, I think I'm going to read in bed before falling asleep. It's much more relaxing and I have lots of good books waiting to be read! Night everyone!

Better Start Looking!

2008-05-12T13:32:00.004-05:00

My breakfast kept me full for over 4 hours! Since my stomach was content and I was busy, time passed quickly this morning. I glanced up and noticed it was almost 1! I wasn't hungry but I decided it would be smart to eat since it had been 4 hours.

I made a great sandwich last night to bring for lunch. I used healthy hemp bread to make a delicious roasted red pepper and veggie sandwich. This sandwich was especially good because I could taste a thick layer of hummus. I think it helped that I only added a little bit of baby spinach and broccoli slaw. I tend to over stuff sandwiches/wraps/tacos so sometimes the hummus gets lost with everything else. Not today.

I had some baby carrots and half of a grapefruit along the side to round out my lunch.

As a kid, I would always eat grapefruit the traditional way. Cut in half and sprinkled with sugar. I grew up in Texas so we always had plenty of Ruby Reds. Only recently have I gotten back into grapefruit. I love it now and can't get enough. I think I actually prefer it over oranges and other citrus. My favorite way to eat it is like an orange.

Big News

The office found a new receptionist! My last day is Thursday. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I am excited because that means my days will be free to work on my nutrition class, bake, read, exercise when I want, etc. But on the other hand, no job equals no income. I know I can still help my parents out at the sales office, but I need to find something else. It's hard because I want to start school full-time in the fall, so I don't want a full-time job. But all of the part-time, summer jobs are either in the food industry or retail. Eh, I wish I could find something in the nutrition field, but so far everything I've found requires a R.D. status. Guess I better start looking for a new job...

New Breakfast Find!

2008-05-12T09:08:00.006-05:00

Happy Monday to all!

This morning I tried a new product from Hodgson Mill: Multigrain Hot Cereal with Flaxseed and Soy. This cereal has a mixture of whole grains that include oats, cracked whole wheat, soy, unprocessed wheat bran, untoasted wheat germ, and milled flax seed.

For my portion, I used 1/2 cup of the cereal cooked in 1 cup of water plus 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk. (The serving size is 1/3 cup for 160 calories. My 1/2 cup portion was about 240 calories.) To the multigrain cereal I added cinnamon, half a banana, brown sugar, and walnuts.

I was running behind schedule this morning (darn Mondays) so I had to eat breakfast at work. I hate doing this because I feel rushed and don't enjoy my meal as much. I have to sneak in bites between phone calls. Also, the lighting at my desk sucks, so my food does not photograph well. Regardless of how it looks, it was really nice change from oatmeal. I liked the chewiness and texture of all the different grains. This would be awesome on a cold, blustery winter morning.

Need more proof that Brody is spoiled?

He had a busy Sunday that included playing in the yard, sniffing the bushes, and chasing birds. That's quite tiring for a little pup like him ;)

Strawberry Shortcake

2008-05-11T14:23:00.005-05:00

This is my mom's all time favorite cake. It is the cake she always requests I make. It being Mother's Day, I knew I had to make it for her.

What I love most about the cake, is that it's very simple and quick to make. I also love the lightness of the cake combined with the sweet strawberries and cool whip. It's a light dessert that is perfect for the warmer months.

This recipe makes a beautiful 8 inch cake.

Strawberry Shortcake

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine salt

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) melted butter

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 pint strawberries, sliced

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

cool whip or whip cream

Preheat oven to 375*.

Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake pan.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Gently add the melted butter, egg, milk and vanilla.

Beat ingredients together until the batter is smooth

Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes.

While the cake is baking, add the sliced strawberries to a bowl.

Combine with sugar and vanilla.

Set the bowl aside to let the strawberries release their juices.

Once the cake is completely cooled, cut it in half horizontally.

Spread half of the strawberries on the bottom layer of cake.

Layer cool whip or whip cream on top of the strawberries.

Add the rest of the strawberries on top.

Top with the other piece of cake.

Garnish with additional strawberries and whip cream if desired.

Saturday Recap & Mother's Day Brunch

2008-05-11T13:22:00.009-05:00

I apologize for not posting last night, but it was such a hectic day. I left my house at 11:30 in the morning and didn't get back home until 2 am. This morning I was up around 9:30, but I'm starting to feel tiredness creeping on.

Saturday Recap

Despite my late breakfast, I was starving on the way to my cousin's graduation. Thankfully, I always try to carry emergency snacks in my purse so I had a Clif Nectar cacao bar.

It's made from organic dates, organic walnuts, organic unsweetened chocolate, organic cocoa, and organic vanilla. These are SO good! I loved it. If you like dark chocolate, then you will love this bar. It did a great job of getting rid of my hunger and holding it for a few hours.

The ceremony was quick, only lasting about an hour and a half. It's a great accomplishment for anyone who graduates from college, but it is especially exciting for my cousin because he is from Mexico City. To come to another country and study at a university level, especially when English is not your native language, is an inspiring achievement.

After the ceremony we went to a "Mexican" restaurant for dinner. I was really hungry again by this point so I ate too many chips and salsa :( The worst part about it, is that the chips weren't even good. I definitely think they were store bought. We order pitchers of Sangria for the table. This Sangria was really good. I hate when you order Sangria and it is super sweet and you can't even taste the wine. You could actually taste the wine in this.

Red wine Sangria

I ordered the cilantro lime grilled fish tacos (mahi-mahi) with black beans, salsa, lettuce, and secret sauce in corn tortillas. They weren't bad but I wish I had asked what the secret sauce was before ordering because it was made out of sour cream. It was almost impossible to take it off so I just popped some enzyme pills. I also had a few bites of my parent's mint chip ice cream to "cleanse" my palate.

Around 8:30, I finally made it to my friend's birthday party for a few drinks and games. I wasn't in the mood to drink, so after one cocktail I stuck with water for the rest of the night. I had a piece of birthday cake too. We had many laughs playing card games and charades. I got home pretty late but it was great to see all my close friends.

Birthday girl

Mother's Day Brunch

My aunt and uncle live in Madison, Wisconsin which is about 4 hours away. So last night after the graduation they back to our house for the night. This morning my dad made brunch for everyone. I didn't want eggs with ham, so I attempted to make an egg white omelette with spinach, salsa, and soy cheese. Well my omelette stuck, so it turned into scrambled egg whites. Since I had already added the salsa, the eggs looked pink. Honestly, I was disgusted by the way it looked. I almost didn't eat it but I didn't want to be wasteful. It was hard to get past the looks, but it tasted alright. On my plate I also had whole grain toast, black beans, and fresh pineapple.

Last but not least, I made a Strawberry Shortcake this morning. This is my mom's favorite cake so I knew I had to make it for her today. This cake was devoured by the eight of us! I'll post the recipe in a separate post.

Strawberry Shortcake

I'm spending time with my mom this afternoon. We don't have much planned except for a long walk with Brody. I need to get an outdoor run in today but it's really windy outside so I might have to save it for tomorrow or run on the treadmill.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Mother's Day and enjoying time with their moms!

Busy Day Ahead

2008-05-10T11:04:00.005-05:00

Good morning! I'm in a hurry but I wanted to quickly post this!

This morning, I was wide awake at 6:15 so I got up and went to the gym right away. I didn't feel very hungry so I didn't have a pre-workout snack. Big mistake. In the middle of my run I was starving. Luckily the hunger went away as I continued. I ran for about an hour and felt pretty strong. It felt good to be done with my workout by 8 am on a Saturday morning. My Saturdays have been busy lately so if I don't work out right away, I lose the opportunity. Today, is no different. It's one of my best friend's birthday today. She is also getting married next month and is really stressed out with final details and preparation. For her birthday, I wanted to do something special so I booked her a Caribbean Therapy Body Treatment at a local spa.

I told her I would be picking her up at 8:15, so after the gym I went to Caribou to pick up a White Hot Cocoa for the birthday girl, and skim latte for me.

Did you know that most fitness experts agree that a skim latte is the perfect after workout snack? It has the right amount of protein and carbs your body needs to recover after a workout. (If your prefer a soy latte, it should be paired with a piece of fruit for the same benefits.)

After dropping her off at the spa, I came home to shower and get ready for the day. I started getting really hungry but I didn't have time to make breakfast before having to pick her up again.

When I finally got home again, I was famished so I made a quick breakfast. Blueberry waffles topped with almond butter, agave nectar, bananas, and blackberries. Really yummy!

I have to run! Super busy day. We are headed up north to St. Cloud for my cousin's graduation from college. We are having dinner after the ceremony and then headed back here. As soon as I get home, I have to run out the door again for Abbey's birthday get together. Should be a crazy busy, but fun day!

Enjoy your weekend :)

Fit & Fresh

2008-05-09T14:37:00.008-05:00

I had a nice fit & fresh salad for lunch today.

Spring mix greens, broccoli slaw, tomatoes and a little bit of leftover chicken tossed together in homemade Italian dressing with Kashi crackers. Today's lunch was much more satisfying than yesterday's big lunch. I feel so much better eating fresh, light food. I hate feeling weighed down after I eat.

Can I just say how much I LOVE my fit and fresh salad shaker container that I got from Target. It has a separate container for the dressing on the lid. You just turn the dial and the dressing pours out onto the salad. This has made life SO much easier for me. I hate soggy lettuce so I before I had this, I had to find little containers to put my dressing in. Also, the ice pack means I don't need to refrigerate it. Very cool stuff. I kind of...Okay I really want some of their other containers!

Work Out

I am running with the group tonight at 5:30, but I want to try and get some strength training done beforehand. I've been lacking on strength work lately and I really need to start consistently doing it. I have no upper body strength. I like going to strength classes because they are fun and creative. When I do weights by myself I don't feel as if I'm getting as good of a workout. The classes don't really work with my current schedule though. They offer early morning classes on Wed & Fridays so I might try them out next week. But for today, I'm on my own!

Friday Night Plans

Tonight I think I am going to a movie with my friends to see What Happens in Vegas. Hopefully we make it to the 8 o'clock showing otherwise I may not make it through the 10 o'clock one. I'll try to post before the movie, but chances are it will be after.

Hearty Oats

2008-05-09T10:04:00.006-05:00

It was quite chilly this morning so a bowl of warm oats sounded appealing. I couldn't decide between oat bran or rolled oats so I had both (1/4 cup of each). Prior to cooking, I added a tablespoon of raisins and half of a chopped apple. The ripe bananas are all gone, so now all we have is yellowish green bananas (ewww). Once cooked, I added cinnamon and almond butter.

Since I used unsweetened soy milk the oats weren't as sweet as when I use the almond milk. I could have used some brown sugar but I didn't mind the oats as they were. I liked that the addition of the oat bran made this breakfast extra hearty and filling.

With my necessary mug of coffee...

The cookies are a hit so far. They are on my desk and smell amazing. The good news is that since I already tried them, they aren't tempting to me. I keep getting lots of compliments and people keep coming back for seconds and thirds. I should have made more because they are almost gone! Maybe I was too harsh on the cookies last night...

Happy Friday :)

Still a Very Tired Girl

2008-05-08T22:43:00.007-05:00

Ah, another busy afternoon that flew by!

Recap:

I had planned a healthy, fresh lunch consisting of a hummus sandwich and pear. Instead, I went out to lunch with my coworkers to celebrate one of their birthdays. Vietnamese food isn't my favorite but I felt bad turning down the invite so I went along.

We ended up ordering a bunch of food for the table to share. I don't really know the names of the dishes but there was a little of everything: egg rolls, spring rolls, egg drop soup, beef lo mein, garlic beef, spicy chicken, sesame shrimp, sweet and sour chicken and pork, and some other similar things. Although a lot of the dishes contained meat, for the most part they were served with fresh vegetables. I filled my plate with as many vegetables as possible but I did have samples of most dishes except for the pork. The spicy chicken was really good. I usually don't like egg rolls but this place is known for theirs so I tried one. It was good as far as egg rolls go. Overall, not the healthiest lunch but I think I handled myself fairly well. I'm glad I went because they are a fun group of people. Most of them are in their 20s so it's a young, energetic office. I'm actually going to miss working there once they hire a new receptionist.

Lunch left me full for hours, but around 4:30 I was feeling like I needed an energy burst so I had the other half of the Lara bar from earlier in the week.

I really liked this bar. I need to pick up more at the store.

I skipped the gym this afternoon. I felt guilty but I had no energy to go there after work. I have no idea why I was so tired today. When I got home I was hungry again so I ate a pear.

Then, I decided to bake chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies to bring into work tomorrow.

Combined with the bowl licking and sampling the freshly baked cookies, I had no appetite for dinner. I knew I needed to eat something other than cookies so I just had a small salad. My mom made this delicious salad by slicing strawberries and tossing them with spinach and a pear champagne dressing from Trader Joe's.

Time for bed, tomorrow is Friday so I'm not complaining. Hopefully tomorrow, I will have more interesting things to report. Night ya'll.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

2008-05-08T19:48:00.005-05:00

Confession: I am addicted to cookies. Like really, really addicted. I love to bake them, eat them, drool over pictures/recipes and fantasize about making them. I check Baking Bites and Cookie Madness on a daily basis to feed my addiction. The other day, I came across this recipe. Bobby Flay is amazing, so I had been looking forward to trying this recipe ever since.

As much as I love baking, I like having a reason to bake so that I can share the final product with others. So when the baking bug hit, I decided to bake cookies to bring into work tomorrow.

I followed the recipe exactly but added chocolate chip and peanut butter chips to the batter. I also didn't want to make gigantic cookies, so I used a regular cookie scoop.

As I finished mixing the dough I realized this was going to make a cake-like cookie. Tasting the dough confirmed this. I don't know about you, but cakey cookies are not my thing. I like my cookies to be chewy and dense. Um hello, but do Bobby Flay's cookies look thick and cakey?

Here are my cakey cookies.

I was disappointed with the resulting cookie. I was honestly expecting an outstanding cookie. The kind of cookie you can't get enough of. Don't get me wrong, the cookies are good, but nothing special.

Tired Girl

2008-05-08T10:19:00.005-05:00

Sorry for not posting last night, it was a busy afternoon. I was super tired last night, and as the title suggests, I still am.

Yesterday

After Chris picked me up from work, we went to get his hair cut. He was hungry afterwards so we went to Taco Bell. Unfortunately, my healthy eating habits have not rubbed off on him. His diet consists of anything fast food and fried. Slowly but surely I will change him :) By the way, he reads this blog now and think it's amusing that people do this. He kept asking me all afternoon whether I was going to photograph this and that. Sadly, my camera battery died so I wasn't able to take pictures.

Anyways I was craving frozen yogurt so we went to Marble Slab and had a cup of their nonfat frozen vanilla yogurt with crushed heath bar. Some weeks I really need to indulge, you know what I mean? Oh, I had a few enzyme pills to help digest the frozen yogurt. These aren't a complete cure, but they do help.

Workout

I ran with the group indoors because we were doing time trials. For the time trail, we run for 30 minutes straight at AT (anaerobic threshold). We do this every 6 weeks to see how much we've improved. The first 12 weeks, I improved SO much. I ran the Twin Cities 5K in October in 27 minutes. But for some reason, these last 12 weeks I've stayed pretty consistent. I only improved slightly. I was disappointed with my time trial because I feel like my hard work hasn't paid off. After thinking about it, I felt strong during my run and could've kept going so I think I didn't push myself hard enough. Honestly, I think I started out too slow- I didn't want to fatigue too quickly. There's always next time...

Dinner last night was tofu teriyaki stir fry. Since my camera batter died I couldn't take a picture, but I'm having leftovers for dinner tonight so you'll be able to see it then. Chris came over and we were going to watch a movie but I was exhausted so I kept falling asleep. Poor kid, I always fall asleep during movies.

This Morning

I could not get out of bed this morning. I had to drive separately this morning since my mom had to be at work earlier than usual, so I was able to sleep in and take my time getting ready.

As soon as I got out of bed I went upstairs for a big mug of coffee.

I didn't want something heavy so I remembered my love, PB Granola.

Peanut butter Granola Parfait.

1/2 c plain, lowfat yogurt + 1/2 c pb granola + banana + blackberries

When I finally made it out of the house, I stopped at Starbucks on my way into work for a Grande dark roast. (I really need extra caffeine today.) They had samples of a raspberry scone so of course I grabbed one.

Today is one of those days when you feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. There's a lot of things I need to get done today like finish my nutrition lesson ASAP. My nutrition course is an independent learning class. Basically I have until November to finish a semester's worth of lessons. I received the material in the middle of February so 8 months seems long enough, right? Well it is, but unfortunately I'm not as far along as I was hoping to be. I think I need to "schedule in" my study time so I can finish a lesson each week.

Alright, it's crunch time. Lots to do!

An Okay Lunch

2008-05-07T13:12:00.007-05:00

Cranberry-Walnut Salad

Eh, lunch wasn't very satisfying. Since I was out late last night, I threw together a quick salad this morning- baby spring mix, walnuts, and dried cranberries. I usually really like this combination but today it wasn't really doing it for me. Normally, I add feta but since I'm trying to avoid dairy I left it out. Maybe the lack of feta had something to do with it. I tossed the salad with balsamic vinegar and a little homemade italian dressing.

I had some fresh strawberries and blackberries with the salad. These were the highlight of my lunch.

Even though I used a full ounce of walnuts, I'm still hungry. The salad wasn't very big. I think I'm going to need an afternoon treat.

Chris is on his way down from Duluth so he is picking me up at work within the next hour and a half or so. I'm not sure what the plan is but I'm SO excited to see him since it's been over 3 weeks!

Enjoy your afternoon :)

Return of the bananas

2008-05-07T09:05:00.004-05:00

My bananas were finally ripe enough to use this morning! Oh how I've missed banana oatmeal. My oats today had an entire small banana, cinnamon, wheat germ, and coconut. Whenever I add coconut to my oats, I feel like I'm having a decadent breakfast. They just make everything taste so much better!

I mixed everything together so that I would get pieces of coconut in each bite. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing my oatmeal tasted today. Isn't it weird that even though I make my oatmeal pretty much the same way everyday, somedays it just seems to taste better? Weird, but true.

I'm feeling a little more tired than usual this morning thanks to my late night. It felt funny to be out on a weeknight. I felt like I was in college again, except minus the heavy drinking. I did have one cranberry vodka cocktail, but thankfully it wasn't very strong.

The birthday girl, me, and my best friend

Lame Post

2008-05-06T17:38:00.007-05:00

Warning: The post you are about to read contains no pictures.

I combined my lunch and dinner post because I don't have any pictures. I forgot my camera at my desk during lunch so I wasn't able to take any pictures. I didn't take pictures of my dinner because it was leftovers and not very exciting but I'll try to recreate both meals for you.

My sister and I decided to have sister bonding time and went to Jake's City Grille for lunch. Since the weather was warm we sat outside on their patio. It felt like summer, but only for a short while. It took us awhile to order because everything looked great. I finally decided on the Herbed Cream Cheese and Roasted veggie sandwich on toasted ciabatta bread. Ren ordered the Margherita pizza. My sandwich was delicious, it had grilles portabellas, red peppers, cucumbers, tomato, and spinach. I LOVE ciabatta bread. I only ate half because it was reallybig and filling. I asked for the herbed cream cheese to be left off. I had a few fries as well. As we were eating lunch, the clouds kept getting darker and the wind picked up. We lucked out because as soon as we went across the street to Starbucks, it started pouring. At Starbucks, I had a tall coffee and Ren and I split a fabulous piece of dark chocolate cake. Chocolate heaven. We were stuffed afterwards, but the splurge was worth it.

Since it was raining when I got home from work, I caught up on some of my favorite shows. I watched Grey's from last week, it was so good! I also watched The Hills. Yes, I know it's not "real" but I'm hooked ;)

Lunch kept me full for so long that I didn't even need a snack this afternoon. I did snack on a couple of baby carrots while dinner was ready. Dinner was just leftovers from last night's corn and bean tortilla lasagna and some grilled yellow squash. Once again, the lasagna did not disappoint. And of course, I had a glass of red wine.

My friend asked me if I would accompany her to a friend's birthday thing at a bar tonight. I was hesitant at first because it's in St. Paul and I don't want to be tired tomorrow. But my mom said "you're young and should go have fun", so I took that as a hint that I need to get out more often. It's not that I don't like going out, I just like my sleep and relaxation ;) My friend promised me we would be home by 10:30 and that she'd buy me a drink so I have no excuse!

Alright, I have to go figure out what to wear. Too bad my sweats aren't cute! Have a good night ya'll! I promise tomorrow's posts will be more exciting and filled with pictures!

Apple, Raisin, and Walnut Oats

2008-05-06T08:42:00.008-05:00

Good morning everyone!

I'm in a great mood again, I think it has to do with the sunny weather. It makes me feel so much better. I hate waking up to a cloudy dreary day, it makes me want to stay in bed. Thunderstorms are supposed to roll in sometime this afternoon so I better enjoy the sun while I can.

I had the same breakfast as yesterday since I had half of an apple leftover. I really like the textures in this combination. You get the chewiness from the oats and raisins, softness from the apple chunks, and crunchiness from the walnuts.

I ate this in the car which is why it's in an ugly plastic container.

Today it's going to hit 80 for the first time this year. Woohoo!

Have a wonderful day! And to all who gave final exams/projects/papers due this week, GOOD LUCK!

Bean & Corn Tortilla Lasagna with Avocado

2008-05-05T20:32:00.007-05:00

Wow, another winning recipe from EDBV. I have yet to try a recipe I did not like from Dreena. She is an amazing cook who knows what people like. This lasagna was no exception.

But before we get to dinner, I tried a new product this afternoon...

After work, I ran a couple of errands with my mom. It took longer than expected and we didn't get home until almost 7. On the way home I was starving. I was torn as to what to do because I knew I would be having dinner soon but I knew I needed something to hold me over. I remembered I had a Cashew Cookie Lara Bar in my purse. This was my first experience with a Lara Bar and I really liked it. Chewy and dense. The ingredients in this particular flavor are just cashews and dates, nothing else. I wanted to eat the whole thing but I didn't want to ruin my appetite so I only ate half.

This bar was great because I didn't get hungry again until dinner was ready. I'll definitely be buying more of these and trying new flavors.

Now, on to dinner!

As soon as I came home I ran into the kitchen and began prepping for the meal. I had been looking forward to this recipe all day to satisfy my craving for Mexican food. A big plus is that this lasagna can be assembled quickly and bakes in about 30 minutes.

The recipe calls for tomato sauce, onions and spices, but I used a jar of roasted tomato salsa from Trader Joe's. I mixed the salsa with chipotle sauce, garlic and black beans. In a shallow glass pan, I alternated layers of the salsa-black bean mixture with corn tortillas, avocado, corn, and lime juice. I finished with the other half of the salsa mixture and sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top. I decided real cheese would be the best to use since my mom and sister would be eating this lasagna. I didn't eat any of the cheese on my piece though. I covered the pan with aluminum foil and put it in a 400* oven. After 20 minutes, I uncovered the lasagna and let the cheese melt for another 7 minutes.

While the lasagna was baking, I had a glass of wine, an Argentinean Malbec. My friend Meghan gave me this HUGE wine glass for Christmas. I love wine, in case you haven't noticed ;)

We made a quick spring mix and tomato salad tossed with homemade Italian dressing.

The lasagna came out of the oven after about 25 minutes.

We cut this lasagna into 6 huge squares. I used a bigger pan than the recipe called for so the slices weren't too thick, yet my serving was really filling. I almost couldn't finish it...but it was delicious so I did. Oh I should mention, I scraped the cheese off my serving so I wouldn't have a stomachache tonight.

I was looking forward to dessert all day but my stomach is really full. My mind wants dessert but tonight I'm listening to my stomach, and it's full so no dessert for this girl. There's always tomorrow.

Simple Lunch

2008-05-05T14:25:00.006-05:00

I wasn't very excited for lunch today since I packed a simple, plain old sandwich and a piece of fruit. Kind of reminded me of a brown bag school lunch. Not the most exciting.

I don't usually pack sandwiches for lunch because I prefer warm sandwiches. Also, I have a soggy-bread phobia. I always worry I will end up with soggy sandwich bread by the time lunch rolls around.

Last night the idea of a sandwich for lunch sounded really good so I decided to conquer my fear and make one ;) I spread some avocado on one of the bread slices, and spicy mustard on the other. Then I added 2 slices of turkey, alfafa sprouts, and spinach.

And the verdict... yum! The bread wasn't soggy at all, just perfectly soft. I love adding avocado to my sandwiches, it makes for a much more interesting turkey sandwich. I was actually full from the sandwich alone, but I decided to have the orange when my sweet tooth kicked in.

Turkey + avocado + alfafa sprouts + spinach on multigrain bread and a juicy orange to finish.

I'm not sure what the plan for dinner is. I want to try the dish out of Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan but I'll see what my mom and sister feel like. My dad is traveling for work so we have more freedom to eat whatever we want since he isn't as adventurous. Maybe I will try the vegan cheeze sauce but I don't know where I would find nutritional yeast...hmm, I guess dinner will be a surprise for all!

By the way, we are having another fabulous weather day. I can't wait to get outside and strech my legs after work.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

2008-05-05T08:59:00.005-05:00

I woke up feeling energized this morning. The sun is shining and I feel refreshed, so the week is off to a good start. Hopefully everyone's week is off to a good start too!

I wasn't very hungry this morning so I waited to eat breakfast at work. What better way than to start the week with a bowl of oatmeal. I made my oats with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, raisins, apples, wheat germ, and a few crushed walnuts.

I love this combination, it's a nice switch from the creamier banana-almond butter oats.

My goal for this week is to eat super clean so that I can continue to feel better. I'm going to have to be strict about no dairy at all. Sometimes I let a little cheese or milk slip in here or there, but my body feels so much better when it's completely avoided. So for this reason I am making great effort to avoid it. I don't love cheese but I do like it in certain dishes...I've been wanting to try a vegan cheese but honestly I'm a little scared. I'd appreciate any suggestions!

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, tonight I'm making a mexican dish out of Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. The recipe calls for vegan cheese...help me ;)!

Pure Bliss

2008-05-04T16:46:00.002-05:00

Earlier this afternoon I had an amazing hour and a half run. I discovered new parts of Woodbury that in my 12 years of living here, I had never seen. Woodbury has a lot of connecting trails so it's nice for long runs. The trail I was on today went through a nature reserve so I got to see some wildlife. I felt such tranquility just living in the moment and listening to the water running down the creek and the birds chirping. It was perfecting running weather too. Sunny, slight breeze and mid 60s. I felt really strong during my run so I feel better about the upcoming half-marathon.

When I got home I was really thirsty and craving a smoothie. This smoothie was so refreshing, it hit the spot.

plain yogurt + vanilla almond milk + frozen peaches + frozen strawberries

I'm also really happy because I found out my boyfriend is coming home next weekend. He is still in school and goes to University of MN Duluth. It's about 2 1/2 hours away so we only get to see each other every 3 weeks or so. Next weekend we are having a bbq for my friend's birthday. I'm already excited for next weekend!! :)

Sunny Sunday

2008-05-04T12:01:00.010-05:00

I hope everyone has been having a great weekend. My weekend was going pretty well until last night. Weather-wise we have been having nice spring weather. It's been sunny but chilly in the 50's. As long as it's not raining or snowing, I won't complain! Monica-wise the weekend hasn't been so great thanks to stomach flu. Last night, I spent half of the night in the bathroom, feeling like I was going to die. This morning I am feeling better. I was able to stomach a bowl of oatbran with cranberries and half of a banana. I was a little nervous that it might be too heavy but it was what I was craving. I am hoping I continue to feel better because I have a long run scheduled this afternoon.

Recap of the weekend:

Friday night, I went to dinner with my best friend to catch up. I ordered a glass of wine and the Margherita Pizza. It had a lot of cheese on it but I still ate half of it because it tasted so good. After dinner we saw Made of Honor. I thought the movie was funny and cute. A typical chick-flick, but hey I'm a chick so of course I liked it! I came home straight to bed since it was already after midnight.

Saturday morning I had another bridal shower. This time it was a brunch. The food was great but way too heavy for my stomach. Egg and cheese casserole, Praline French toast (Paula Deen's recipe so you know it's loaded with butter and heavy cream), and fresh fruit. The french toast was amazing BUT this confirms my sensitivity to butter. I had the worst stomach pains after eating. This may have been the source of last night's sickness.

The rest of Saturday, I did some shopping. My boyfriend gave me a gift card for Best Buy as part of my Christmas gift so I finally decided to use it. I bought Breakfast at Tiffany's and 27 Dresses.

Then I went to Border's and bought 2 books. I was planning on buying a birthday present for my friend, but instead bought Eat, Pray, Love and How to Pick a Peach for myself. Oops, bookstores are my weakness ;)

I also stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home.

I got:

Brown sugar
Walnuts
Dried Cranberries
Fire-roasted tomato salsa
Organic pea soup & vegetarian chili (for quick lunches)
Earth Balance (for butter-free baking)
Chocolate Chip Z bars
New bars to try: Lara Bar, Clif Nectar, Luna Teacakes

Last night, I stayed-in with the family since I wasn't feeling that great. I was going to watch a movie with my mom but she was doing laundry so I decided to spring clean my closet and get rid of unnecessary clothing. I also "unpacked" warmer weather clothes. My closet is more organized and looks much better now. However, I had to take over half of my brother's closet since I can't put away my winter stuff yet. He won't be home until mid-summer anyway so I figure by then the winter stuff will be packed away.

This morning, I've been catching up on blogs and enjoying the birds chirping. The day is too nice to be spent indoors. I'm anxious for my run.

Brody has been enjoying the sunny morning as well.

Spiced Pear Bran Muffins

2008-05-02T11:56:00.004-05:00

What do you do with an abundance of overripe pears? In the past, I've made a tasty pear crumble. But I wanted to try incorporating pears into a baked good. Apples work in muffins, so why not pears?

I'm happy to report that I succeeded at making a moist and nutritious muffin that is great for breakfast or snacks. These muffins are lowfat, high in fiber and packed with chunks of pears.

Spiced Pear Bran Muffins

3/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c oat bran
3/4 c wheat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c plain, lowfat yogurt
1/3 c + 1 tbsp egg whites
2 tbsp oil (I use walnut oil)
1 tsp vanilla
3 medium sized ripe pears

In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and set aside. Chop the pears into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Add brown sugar, applesauce, yogurt, egg whites, oil, and vanilla. Carefully mix together. Add the flour/bran mixture to the pear mixture. Fold the ingredients together until well combined.

Pour into 12 greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

These muffins are very moist, so they are best consumed within a few days. Great for breakfast or as a snack.

Each muffin has about 150 calories, 3.6g fat, 5g fiber, and 4g protein.

*I wanted to avoid the added sugar and oil, but I decided both of those ingredients were needed.

Spring Breakfast

2008-05-01T10:25:00.008-05:00

May = Spring in my mind. April is too much of a rollercoaster weather month. But May, is usually more pleasant. I've been daydreaming about wearing sundresses and open-toed shoes that show off my painted toenails, and feeling the warm sun on my face...

This morning we started off in a good direction with May sunshine.

Since my breakfast yesterday was such a nice change, I decided to have it again. Plus, a cold yogurt parfait seemed more appealing than a hot bowl of oats. Hmm...It's not even that warm out but my body is already thinking oatmeal is too heavy.

1/2 c plain yogurt + 1/2 c pb granola + sliced banana = yumminess

Mixed together with my hot cup of coffee

Unfortunately, today I only had half a serving of yogurt so I'm already starting to get hungry again. It's been three hours since breakfast so I might need a snack to hold me over until lunch.

Happy First Day of May!

Carrot Cake 2 Ways

2008-04-30T22:09:00.009-05:00

Carrot Cake

I told you I would be having more cake tonight. My dad's all time favorite cake is carrot cake. So that's what I usually make for him on his birthday. We have a family recipe that was my grandmother's. Her recipe yields a deliciously moist and decadent cake.

Carmina's Carrot Cake

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups shredded carrots
1 1/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the nuts. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

As you can tell, this recipe isn't lowfat! It's prefectly fine to have once in awhile, as I believe all things in moderation. However, my mom requested I make a healthier cake for my dad. So using my grandmother's recipe as a starting point I came up with the following recipe.

Mon's Carrot Coconut Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3 flax-eggs*
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, applesauce, vanilla, carrots, and coconut. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the walnuts. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*Notes:
-For the flax eggs: combine 1 tbsp flaxseed meal with 3 tbsp warm water for each "egg". To substitute for 3 eggs, I used 3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 9 tbsp warm water. Let the mixture thicken for a few minutes.
-I used a 9" round cake pan and it came out pretty thin. I recommend using a smaller pan, for a thicker cake.

Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package reduced fat cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
few tablespoons of milk (depends on desired conisistency)
1 tsp vanilla
zest of one orange
coconut to decorate

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the orange zest. Frost the cake and decorate with coconut if desired.

*This frosting is sweet, but not overly sweet. You may want to experiment with the proportions of sugar/creamcheese to suit your taste.

The finished cake

My cake turned out dense, moist and delicious as well. It's full of texture from the walnuts, carrots, and coconut. I have to say the frosting is the best part!

My dad was happy he blew out all of the candles! He kind of cheated though because there definitely was not 50 candles on his cake!

Big Mistake

2008-04-30T16:45:00.004-05:00

Cake #1: Marble Cake

I had too much cake and now I am supposed to run a couple of miles. With cake in my stomach. Big mistake. At least it tasted good.

Where did April go?

2008-04-30T13:23:00.006-05:00

Whoa this month has flown by. In general, I feel like this last year has disappeared right before my eyes. Nonetheless, I'm happy it's the last day of April because maybe now we'll have nicer weather. I'll gladly be done with rain/snow/cold.

This morning I changed up my usual oatmeal breakfast. I woke up still full from last night's dinner so I didn't want anything too heavy. I decided on a yogurt granola parfait. Basically, I layered a cup of lowfat plain yogurt, 1/2 cup peanut butter granola, and a sliced banana in a bowl. This breakfast had about the same amount of calories as my usual oats, about 400, but since it doesn't have as much volume I thought I would need a mid-morning snack. Suprisingly, the granola-yogurt combo kept me full until I had my lunch at 1. It must have been the right ratio of carbs-protein-fat. Love it when that happens!

I bought a veggie-hummus wrap for lunch. It was pretty good but I wish it had more hummus, I couldn't really taste it.

I also had a large cold press coffee with a splash of milk.

I brought an apple but I'm satisfied right now so I'll probably have that as a snack this afternoon IF I need it. But I might not because...

Today is my dad's 50th birthday! (Happy Birthday Dad!) So that means, this afternoon is going to be filled with lots of cake. We are having marble cake here at the office, and then carrot cake at home. I never turn down cake ;)

*EDIT* I did have the apple at around 4 because I was getting hungry and I thought it would prevent me from overeating cake...it didn't work.

Tasty Chickpea, Asparagus and Orzo

2008-04-30T08:40:00.007-05:00

Dinner last night was heaven.

I made Heidi Swanson's Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice Recipe.

Heidi is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I'm seriously going to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a copy of Super Natural Cooking.

I followed her recipe exactly except I used whole wheat orzo instead of brown rice. (I didn't have any cooked brown rice, so I chose orzo to make it a quick meal.) I also used a little less oil then called for. Oh and I threw in mushrooms that were about to go bad; and I added pine nuts, rather than almonds. The result? Outstanding.

The chickpeas getting nice and crusty in olive oil and sea salt

With the asparagus, mushrooms and orzo.

With the tahini dressing

This recipe is perfect for a weeknight, as it came together really quickly. It is supposed to make 4-6 servings. Ha. If your family is any thing like mine, it will only make four. It is however, SUPER filling. I was almost too full after I ate my bowl...but it was so good I licked the bowl clean.

FYI, my dad was wary at first. He doesn't like asparagus, (or broccoli/cauliflower/peas) so I carefully served his portion without any. He LOVED it. Mission accomplished :) It makes me feel so good to make these delicious dishes that are super healthy and tasty for my family.

Fresh Lunch and A New Find

2008-04-29T13:28:00.006-05:00

Today is going by kind of slow. The phone rings nonstop. This temporary job reinforces how much I dislike corporate office jobs. I cannot be sitting around all day. My body needs activity.

I got hungry, more likely bored, around noon so I had an orange. I always forget how much I like citrus fruit. They aren't ever my first choice, mainly because they tend to be messy to eat and therefore not the easiest to eat outside the kitchen. But I'm glad I threw one in my purse this morning.

Fortunately, I had a chance to "escape" for lunch. I was planning on a mediterranean veggie sandwich/black bean soup combo from Panera, but I realized I was craving a big, fresh salad. I haven't had a salad in the last couple of days so I went to Byerly's salad bar again.

Green base: romaine and baby spring mix
Shredded carrots
Cucumbers
Green Peppers
Cauliflower & Broccoli
Grape Tomatoes
Black & Kidney beans
Cashews (these made the salad)
Red Wine Vinegar + Olive Oil

This salad satisfied my craving. When I mixed the salad up, all of the good stuff went to the bottom of the container. I definitely enjoyed the bottom of the salad more ;)

Most of the time, my drink of choice is water. Coffee, unsweetened tea, and wine are really the only other things I drink on a regular basis. Sometimes, though, I want to drink something else. Most of the bottled beverage choices are too sweet, loaded with junk, or taste too artificial. But today I tried Honest Ade Cranberry Lemonade.

This stuff really tastes like freshly squeezed lemonade with just the right amount of sweetness. The whole bottle was 100 calories, so not bad at all for an all-natural bottled beverage. I'll have to remember this in the summer!

Just a few more hours left today. I'm already excited for dinner tonight. I'm trying out a recipe that looks amazing. Hint: I found it on 101 Cookbooks.

Sunny Day at Last!

2008-04-29T08:43:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! I'm in a cheery mood this morning because the sun is shining :-)

My parents made it safely home after a wonderful birthday celebration week in Acapulco. Although from their stories, I can't say it was a relaxing vacation. They brought home yummy Mexican treats that I'm excited to have. Oh! And aside from scrubbing the kitchen countertops this morning, I think my mom found the house looking clean. Whew!

To warm me up on another chilly morning, I made the usual bowl of oats. Today's oats were made with soymilk, cinnamon, banana, raisins, wheat germ, and almond slices. Another great combination of flavors and textures. I LOVE the chewiness of raisins in oatmeal.

I'm not sure what lunch will be like today. I was too exhausted last night to pack a lunch so I grabbed a couple of snacky things this morning. I'm thinking Panera might be a good choice...

By the way- I am feeling the burn from the toning exercises I did yesterday. I underestimated that dvd!

Too Much of a Good Thing

2008-04-28T20:30:00.008-05:00

My parents are getting home tonight so that means my sister and I have been trying to clean/ straighten up the house. My mom is a neat freak so when she's gone, things tend to get not as neat. In order not to make a bigger mess, dinner was leftovers again.

Honey Mustard Chicken on a whole grain bun with

grilled zucchini and red cabbage on the side.

Then came the craving for something sweet. Yesterday I made a batch of my signature cookie- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Melties. These are so good they practically melt in your mouth. So I had one...and then another, and another and well you get the point. I took a picture of the first one, but it didn't turn out. I can't handle myself around these cookies so I need to be done baking for awhile!

Afternoon

I had a Clif Z bar, Honey Graham flavor at work and half of a grapefruit as a pre-workout snack. The grapefruit tasted extra good, it was juicy and hit the spot.

I went for a 2.5 mile run around the lake in front of my house. It was cold (39 degrees!) but besides the wind, it was actually nice running weather. Back home, I did some toning exercises using a balance ball and a resistance band. I tried the DVD that came with the balance ball and band. It has three 20 minute segments: Lower Body, Upper Body, and Core. It was pretty decent for a lighter workout and gave me some new ideas.

My parents are due home within the next hour, I better finish up!

Mexican Chopped Salad Leftovers and Mixed Berry Yogurt

2008-04-28T12:44:00.005-05:00

My morning oats kept me full for almost 5 hours! I debated having my yogurt about two hours ago but decided I really wasn't hungry.

For lunch I had leftovers from last night's Mexican Chopped Salad. It tasted extra delicious today. I'm not sure if this is because I have an appetite today or if the flavors were more intense. I also warmed it up so that might have increased the flavor too. Along with the salad, I had a serving of Kashi crackers and homemade mixed berry yogurt.

Okay, in reality the yogurt is semi-homemade. What I did was mix plain lowfat yogurt with frozen berries. My reason for doing this is simple- I don't really like eating store-bought fruit yogurt. My family doesn't like to eat artificial sugars so we buy the real sugar sweetened yogurts. This is fine, but personally it's too sweet and caloric for my liking. While I don't really like plain yogurt, I find that if I mix fresh or frozen fruit with it, I get the best of both worlds. I usually prepare the yogurt the night before so by the time I eat it the next day, the fruit isn't frozen any more. Of course, fresh fruit tastes better but unfortunately fresh berries still cost a fortune at this time of year in Minnesota.

Coconut-Banana-Almond Butter Oats

2008-04-28T08:58:00.006-05:00

This morning I made my favorite oats with banana, cinnamon, wheat germ, and almond butter but added a little extra something on top...

Coconut!

This is such a delicious combination. Yum Yum Yum. A delicious way to start the week.

Sorry for the short post but I have to get to work. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Lazy Sunday

2008-04-27T20:08:00.006-05:00

Today was one of the most unproductive days I have had in awhile. I guess my body needed a rest because I fell asleep for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon! I haven't taken a nap in so long! I have to admit that it felt great. Oh and good news, the sun was out today although it was still quite chilly. At least, no snow!

This morning I was up early with Brody. I made some coffee first thing and had a bran muffin that I baked yesterday. It was kind of dry but the parts with banana chunks were good. (I will post the recipe and full review later.) I sat in bed watching the Food Network (have I mention I am obsessed?) and drinking coffee. It was a wonderful leisurely way to relax since I was home alone.

A few hours later I got hungry for real breakfast. I was going to make a bowl of oatmeal but the bag of oat bran caught my eye. S to change things up, I made a bowl of bran instead. On the stovetop, I boiled a cup of almond milk with a cinnamon stick. I added 1/3c oat bran, 1/4 c pumpkin, 1/2 banana, 1 tablespoon raisins and more cinnamon! Usually, when I make any type of hot cereal, I don't add any sugar because I find that the fruits/nuts/milk that I add are sweet enough. However, any time I add pumpkin, I find that it does need extra sweetening. I ended up adding about a tablespoon of brown sugar. Half mixed in, and half sprinkled on top which caramelized into deliciousness. I wish I had a picture of this beautiful orangey bowl of bran, but I was sans camera since my sister borrowed it for prom.

After breakfast, I sat down to read the chapter on carbohydrates in my text book. I'm such a nerd, I LOVE reading about nutrition. There was an "Expert Opinion" section on the benefits of a high-carbohydrate diet. I thought it was interesting so I wanted to share this passage:

"The great civilizations of the world developed and flourished consuming high-carbohydrate diets. The classic examples are the Chinese civilization, based on rice; the Egyptian and Babylonian cultures, which consumed wheat; and, in the Americas, the Maya, Inca, and Aztec peoples, whose staples were corn and beans. Except for the affluent countries of the Western world, the majority of the world's population continues to consume a high-carbohydrate diet derived from cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits....Ecologically, a high-carbohydrate diet makes better use of the world's resources. Cereal crops and legumes require about one-fifth of the resources needed to yield the same energy that beef would require. Thus, the available resources of the world would not be sufficient to produce the high animal fat diet of North America for everyone." - Dr. William E. Connor

It's a good thing I love my carbs!

After studying, I thought about running, but I didn't feel like I was energized enough for my long 90 minute run. So what did I do? Watched Giada's Weekend Getaway and A Cook's Tour. Another show came on afterwards and that's when I fell asleep for 2 and a half hours!!! It was 5:30 when I woke up!

Despite not eating lunch, I had no appetite. I've also felt dehydrated all day long. I keep drinking huge glasses of water but my thirst isn't satisfied.

Like I said, I wasn't hungry but my sister was so I got to work on dinner, a mexican chopped salad. This salad was very easy to make. I brushed honey mustard on top of a few chicken breasts and baked them in the oven a little under an hour. While the chicken was baking, I chopped the ingredients for the salad:

Tomatoes
Onion
Green Peppers
Avocado
Corn
Apple
Cilantro

Once the chicken was done, I chopped that up and added it to the bowl. For a dressing, I tossed the ingredients with lime juice, chipotle pepper juice, a little bit of EVOO, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

Served on top of a bed of lettuce with chili-lime chedder cheese quesadillas.

The salad tasted fresh and a great combination of flavors. I wish I would have actually had an appetite so I could have enjoyed the meal more. I'm having leftovers for lunch so I'll be able to enjoy it then!

I am trying not to feel too guilty about not exercising today. I feel like such a couch potato today. Ahh tomorrow I can get back on track and start a fresh week, right?

Saturday Wrap-Up

2008-04-27T09:07:00.010-05:00

This is what I woke up to Saturday morning.

Snow and a freezing 31 degrees.

This was not welcome for a few reasons. First off, it is the end of April and supposed to be SPRING. This feels more like March! Secondly, Saturday was my sister's junior prom. Snow isn't really what she had in mind when she picked out her dress. Oh the joys of living in Minnesota.

We were up quite early on Saturday because my sister had a hair appointment, Brody had a grooming appointment, and I went to the gym/bank/grocery store. I had a Kashi Peanut Granola bar before my workout and small latte afterwards.

While my sister was having her hair done, I got to work making a yummy filling breakfast. I needed to make a nutritious breakfast for her because she needed the energy for the long day. I chose to make Oatmeal Brulee. I saw this on Kath's blog the other day and it looked so good, that I just had to try it.

I followed her method except I added raisins instead of walnuts. It came out delicious, served with a drizzle of agave nectar. Renata loved it as well.

We had a busy afternoon filled with picture taking, fashion tape, makeup touch-ups, and beautiful dresses. My parents were sad that they missed her junior prom, but I emailed them pictures so they could "see" her on the big day. Here's one of the pictures of the cute couple.

By the time Renata was in the limo, on her way to dinner it was 5 pm. I was starving so I went to dinner with two of my good friends. We chose Bonfire, one of the only non-chain restaurants in the neighborhood. I have never been disappointed with what I order here, and last night was no exception. I started off with a glass of Pinot Grigio and some tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa. For dinner, I had a spaghetti with fire roasted shrimp, tomatoes, feta, and basil. I could tell it was drenched in butter, but I don't eat butter very often so it was fine. My friend was craving dessert and I never turn down dessert! The three of us split an amazing warm, deep dish chocolate chip cookie with vanilla bean ice cream and fudge.

All in all, it was a long saturday, but lots of fun.

Black Bean Chili topped Sweet Potato

2008-04-25T13:41:00.009-05:00

When I'm in the mood for something comforting and filling, this is my go-to meal.

I bake a sweet potato in the microwave, split it open, add a cup of chili and finish it off with a dollop of plain greek yogurt. This meal is not only super satisfying, but full of fiber and protein. This should keep me full through my run in a few hours.

If I don't have homemade chili in my fridge, I use a store bought vegetarian chili. I usually use Trader Joe's but today I tried a new one : Health Valley's Spicy Vegetarian Black Bean Chili. My only complaint is that it's really not spicy! It has a slight kick, but not spicy enough for me.

Morning Snack

This morning I had another one of my favorite comfort foods, a bowl of oatmeal, as a snack. A serving of oats made with water, half of a pear, cinnamon and a few sliced almonds.

What are some of your favorite comfort foods?

The BEST smoothie ever.

2008-04-25T08:36:00.005-05:00

This morning I made a smoothie for my sister to take on her way to school. Since I had all of the ingredients out, I decided to make one for myself as well.

Vanilla Peach Smoothie

1 cup Almond Milk
1/2 banana
handful of frozen peaches (about 1 cup)
1 scoop Kashi Vanilla GoLean!

Wow. This combination was deliciousy creamy and sweet. I generally don't like to add protein powder to my shakes because I don't like the powdery taste. This must have been the right ratio of protein to milk and fruit because it didn't have that grainy protein taste.

Happy Friday everyone!

*Mon's Appetit*

I've Moved!!

Yum-O!

My, my, how can I resist you?

Big News!

Refreshed

Two Amazing Recipes

I'm Back!

Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon

15.5 Hours...

Less than 48 hours!!

Long Hump Day!

Cherry filled Morning, Veggie filled Evening

Pretty in Pink

Loooong Weekend

Another Busy Day!

Double Oops!

Buckwheat waffles and Cantaloupe Juice

Super Charged Cookies & Spicy Dinner

Overstuffed!

Hot Breakfast, Iced Water

More Leftovers

Where'd the day go?

Weekend Highlights

New Recipe + New Obsession

Italian Dressing Recipe

Wishin' for Sunshine

Rollin Thunder

Banana Cream Pancakes

Success

Trader Joe's

Day One!

Still Recovering..

Sweet Oatmeal

Chicago

Chicago Here We Come!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Banana & Walnuts

Back on Track

Playing Catch-Up

Vegan Cookies & Pizza

Good Eats

Off to a Great Start!

Tag, I'm it!

Back to Oats

Thursday Wrap-Up

Granola Oatmeal

Very Odd

Fresh Veggies

Creamy Banana Goodness

Windy City

Honey Yogurt Oats

Chilly Day = Comfort Food

Strawberry-Banana Multigrain Cereal

Duluth Recap

Greetings from Duluth!

Strawberry Granola Soup

Relaxing End to a Busy Day

Feels like Friday

A trip down memory lane

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos

Calorie Counting

I'm Spoiled

Productive Morning

Feelin' Fresh

Better Start Looking!

New Breakfast Find!

Strawberry Shortcake

Saturday Recap & Mother's Day Brunch

Busy Day Ahead

Fit & Fresh

Hearty Oats

Still a Very Tired Girl

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Tired Girl

An Okay Lunch

Return of the bananas

Lame Post

Apple, Raisin, and Walnut Oats

Bean & Corn Tortilla Lasagna with Avocado

Simple Lunch

Mon's Appetit