Busted!

This evening was one of my last two classes for this quarter.  I don't know why, but this quarter has been more difficult than the last 4 quarters when I was planning my wedding.  Maybe I didn't have enough to keep me busy?  No se.

Tonight was a typical night of not being prepared to get through class.  I ate my protein cookie in class tonight:

This is not like Gina's creations, but it did the trick for the time being.  I also enjoyed a persimmon and a hard boiled egg earlier.  Three hours later, I was ready to chew my arm off.  I hovered in front of the microwave while my broccoli steamed up and took this dainty little picture of it:

Hubby decided to catch my true essense in my demolition of the innocent veggies on the plate:

Noticed the stuffed chipmunk cheeks full of cruciferous veggies.  He also captured what my plate really looks like when I'm going through battle:

I was lucky enough to be left in peace to eat my forth meal dessert:

There was a spoon, 6 dates, and almond butter involved.  Use your imagination
Are you a neat eater?  Or do you make a mess like I do?  I obviously like making a mess- it's way more fun!

All Business

It's Sunday night and I actually have something to show for it!  I started out with 4 papers, 2 PowerPoint Presentations, and a partridge in a pear tree on my To Do list for my MBA program.  I'm down to only one of each left on my list, so I'm feeling surprisingly productive and accomplished.  I was all academic all weekend long, so I'm all about synergy, workplace diversity, and the four frames of management.  Do you follow me? 

Now let's get down to bus-nast:

There were more Espresso Brownies made from my last post and they were quickly consumed.  I went from no interest to having full shareholder investment in them.  They served as the perfect breakfast dessert, plus they were mini, so the calories didn't count.
Real breakfast included my apple crisp adapted from Mama Pea but highly de-veganized with the addition of plain yogurt:

While I sat on my arse and synergized with the couch while writing about global workforce diversity, I sent hubby on a shopping trip.  He came back with the essentials:

• Trader Joe's Whole Grain English Muffins
• Pound Plus of dark chocolate 
• Milton's multi-grain bread
• Dry roasted unsalted almonds

He also went to Costco and came back with one of his essentials:

It's crab season and this little friend with his irresistible price tag begged to come home.  (Sorry vegans and vegetarians if you are reading).  I have no interest in crab, so it's all for him to enjoy!
Other essentials included more fruit and veggies:

The pineapple and a couple of the apples have already been pulverized into juice form, but the rest of the apples and persimmons have been monopolized by me!
I was also able to make some panko breaded chicken and roasted up a bunch of veggies.  Can you guess what they were?  Hint: the house smells like sweat socks and I'm deliriously happy!

In other news, I have gotten 2 workouts this weekend, serving as perfect study breaks.  I got in some runs and I'm still sticking with the leg workouts even though I have been extremely sore for the last week.  Diminishing returns, people.  I am hoping that I get more used to it as I stick with it.  I faced my nemesis today:

Last week I waddled like a duck because of it.   Let's hope it's better this week! 
I'm home now and getting ready for bed.  I evaluated my resources and I already have my breakfast cookie a la Fitnessista ready for manana:

Everything tastes better in star form!
Hope you had a great weekend and are ready for another week of excitement!  This is my last week of the quarter until Winter vacation!  Woot woot!

Free Food Always Tastes Better

Happy Friday ya'll!  We made it.  Why do I say that every single week?  I think the weeks feel like a journey to the weekend- a long, twisted journey in fact!

I came in to an email that said we had leftovers from a client meeting- majuh score!  I love food, and I love free food even more!  I ran to the kitchen when it was time for lunch and fixed this beast of a lunch:

Chicken and veggie kabob with mixed greens.  It was really good, especially the grilled tomatoes and portabello mushrooms.  I would have normally gone with the veggie kabob, but I was craving meat and went with it!
My afternoon snack consisted of Stoneyfield lowfat blueberry yogurt with a sprinkle of my trailmix for crunch:

I also had to have some dry trailmix for crunching and staying power:

I inherited all of this yogurt from hubby.  When I tried to brainwash him by showing him Food Inc. we decided to purchase this yogurt.  Big mistake- the texture and taste is much different than his old fave, Yoplait, so we compromised.  We will continue to buy organic milk, eggs, and meat, and he gets his hormone-filled yogurt.  There can be worse things!  I found the yogurt just OK.  Luckily there are only 6 or 7 containers left and I'll find plenty of ways to wolf them down!
When I got home, I had one thing on my mind:

I baked it, then reconsidered it since it was almost time for the gym.  Gym time included 2.8 miles on the 'mill, pushups, dips, lunges, back-kick things, and stretching with lots of balance yoga poses and downward dogs.


Before the gym, I also baked Espresso Pecan Brownies:

There is no recipe to this, but I made the following modifications to a standard brownie box mix:

• Brew a strong 1/4 cup of coffee or use instant coffee grounds
• Use 1/3 of the package and bake in a small pan
  
• Sub in 1 eggwhite for a whole egg
• Use applesauce as the oil substitiute
• Pile on the pecans while it's baking

I made just enough for hubby to have a few servings.  I lose interest in anything I bake, but I did love the coffee smell and I'm sure I'll have some to celebrate the start of the weekend!  Also, Friday night is the first night of Chanukah!

In honor of the holiday, my company has an electric menorah lit right next to the Christmas tree.  We are very PC, no?  I appreciate the sentiment, although it has been lit for the last two weeks and the holiday starts on Friday.  It's the effort that counts!
What do you have going on this weekend?

Where Did the Week Go?

This week started out like any week with my Monday morning whining and profanities.  It got a little better and a little worse as the week moved on- it was an emotional roller coaster really.  But now I'm back and kicking!  Plus it's Second-Best-Day of the week!  I've been chasing my tail this week, so please try to sit through my very random post.

Did I mention that we started out our week with weather reports of SNOW?  This may not sound like a big deal to you but here in the SF Bay Area we do not do snow.  More importantly, I do not do snow.  Yes, I am from the land formerly known as the Soviet Union, where it snows like crazy, but this chickie does not condone any snow activity or precipitation in general- both make me melt.

Please note the snow-covered Prius in front of our car on our commute.  Insanity!

In my uber-busy week, there have been very little food highlights, but I did try a new snack at work:

This is a whole wheat waffle with goat cheese and strawberry jam.  Believe it or not, this was all free food from my work fridge and freezer.  Not bad, right?

I did supply some of my own food this week- most notably ketchup with a side of butternut squash and brussels sprouts:

I have no idea what that white light is in the center, but I'm convinced it's a ghost.  Other eats this week have included dates, almond butter, chocolate (which lost its healing powers) and lots of coffee!
Hubby, my esteemed co-blogging colleague wanted me to show you his lunch and dinner from Tuesday:

Both included organic chicken roasted in maple BBQ sauce- a big hit!  He also gets bonus lunchroom smelly points for the sprouts- a prize that I now share with him.  It's like being the kid with the smelly lunch in school- any good cafeteria stories for me?

I remember bringing my lunch when I was in Kindergarten and first grade and my mom used to make me a sandwich with this Russian chicken patty with lots of garlic.  It tasted fabulous, but when we went to our cubbies to take our food out, the aroma of garlic came from my ethnic little lunchbox.  It was still awesome and I didn't care what people thought!  I still don't care when people think my food is strange!

Hope you are having a great day and a great week!

Borderline Productive

Thank you all for your kind comments about Post 150!  It was so much fun to have a guest post and I would love to include more guest posts.  If any of you are interested, please let me know!

Today's been a nice day- borderline productive for me, so that's a plus in my book!  I woke up and slowly got out of bed since I had the genius idea to agree to do legs with hubby last night.  I must explain that while I carry 90% of my weight in my butt lower body, I have absolutely no lower body strength- none at all.  I warmed up with a mile on the dreadmill, did lower body exercises alternating with upper body and then cooled down with 10 minutes on the elliptical.  I already wanted to die last night and today I've been aching all day long.  Lesson learned- don't skip a whole body group when working out!

I started by making a smoothie in a bowl!  I'm the last blogger to make it, but here it is:

• Mixed berries
• Frozen banana
• Mixed frozen tropical fruit mix
• Scoop of ground flax
• Scoop of Cyto Slim protein powder
• Topped with Trader Joe's blueberry granola

Though I was instantly called a food deviant for eating this, I pressed on but could only handle scooping out the granola before I froze and had to stop!  I traded this for a banana with peanut butter and was very satisfied! 
We went to Costco and I stocked up on the essentials:

• Sugar snap peas
• Organic mixed greens
• Goat cheese
• Hummus
• Butternut squash
• Granny Smith apples
• Pitted dates
• Brussels sprouts
• Wild smoked salmon
• Yoplait yogurt for Mr. Apple
• Jarlsberg lite cheese
  

As I looked around I smugly commented that our cart had the healthiest combination of food in it.  I'm not sure how much of this was NOT for me, but I share.  I'm pretty excited for all of our food and now that I've roasted the brussles sprouts our house smells like sweat socks- back to normal!
We also went to Whole Foods and I walked around with my eyes glazed over but only stuck to the basics.  I do a lot better when shopping while not hungry.
I'm still working on my never-ending pile of homework and making very slow progress.  There are apple slices involved to help motivate me

There is also Ultimate Fighter to help cheer me on.  Kimbo Slice will be fighting tonight.  I don't care if you aren't into fighting- this guy is cool to watch if only for his hair.  Google him- you'll thank me later!
Oh- and look at the wheat grass I saw sold in the organic section of my grocery store. I was tempted to buy it, but held back.  Maybe next time!

I'm clearly rambling, so I'll stop here!  I hope you have a great weekend!  See you tomorrow for a bike ride recap and probably some food!

Guest Post- Hubby's Debut!

Greetings to One Healthy Apple’s loyal readers!
Referred simply as “huz” or “hubby” many of you may have been wondering who that mystical intern on One Healthy Apple is. Well, I turn out to be one lucky SOB that has the best wife ever (a BWE?) who is my best friend as well as my favorite chef. Seriously, her cooking is AMAZING! I get to enjoy eating the most awesome meals that many only dream of from seeing blog pictures. This is how I often find my wife working on her future blog entries:

 As a result of BWE’s hobby, I am the only member of “I am the guy who always brings in a fresh and healthy meal for lunch to the office made by his wife with love” club at work. By the way, I work in Berkeley. If you have any preconceived stereotypes about Berkeley, they are probably true.

Guess which car is mine. If you guessed it’s the only one that’s not a hybrid, you are correct.

Anyway, as much as I love BWE’s hobby, which is really more of a gift, I’ve got several hobbies of my own (with some mentioned in prior posts). Here is the list of my hobbies:
1. Going to the gym
2. Submission wrestling (which I recommend for those looking for a cardio challenge)
3. Gardening
4. Bicycling and hiking (anything recreational really)
5. Watching and criticizing movies
6. Making and drinking coffee (a habit I picked up from my wife, well, the drinking part)
7. Washing dishes after One Healthy Apple has finished her culinary masterpiece for the day

Cool points for everyone that is into these things! Going to the gym has been my longest hobby, ongoing 10 years of lifting weights (my mom bought me a 24-Fitness Membership when I graduated high school). I guess this makes me old. There is so much knowledge I would like to share about working out that it should be a separate post. To think about it, each one of these hobbies deserves a separate blog entry (hmm… stay tuned for post 300?). Well, maybe the last one can be part of this post! I really like washing dishes because it means that I just finished another unforgettable creation by One Healthy Apple.

Since I have to butt in- No, hubby was not bribed into the content of this post (although that's a good idea now that I think of it).  You can probably tell by the little jabs he makes!  I think I've also just lost my job as a blogger given the agenda above!

Post 149!

Happy Second Best Day of the Week!  I'm ready for this week to come to a close.  I have some fun plans this weekend, as well as some homework to get to.

Since I've been lazy on my blog duties, I'll share a couple of meal highlights because we all know I've been eating.  I haven't gone grocery shopping this week, so meals have been interesting, just ask the hubby! 
This morning was a pleasant surprise when I discovered that I was almost out out of almond butter.  I enjoyed it in my favorite classy restaurant, Chez Car on the way to work:

 

I put some frozen fruit in my oatbran and it made way too much.  I have overflow oatbran ready for me tomorrow too!  Sorry about the nasty nails.  I took my acrylic nails off because they were getting in the way of my iPhone (priorities, people!) and now I'm at that ugly growth stage.

On Wednesday I had this super salad at work:

Lots of ginger, spinach, kale, mushrooms, tofu, kim chee, one falafel ball, and I think black beans.  I don't do well in buffet situations!
Today's lunch was simple but good!

Two hardboiled eggs, salt, pepper, and goat cheese for my apple.  I ate with my hands and it was very filling.  I also had a handful of mixed nuts for my lunch dessert.

Why FAT is Phat!
If you would have asked me to eat this a couple of years ago, I would have laughed in your face.  I was still getting over the genius low fat diet of the 90's and I avoided fat at all costs.  Who came up with that diet?  It was OK to eat white flour bagels with fat free cream cheese and have gummy bears for dessert, yet almonds were off limits.  Just like the Atkins Diet, a lot of fads start with great marketing and prey on consumers looking for a quick fix.  The low fat diet loaded our bodies with additional sugar, chemicals, and even more calories, yet it took a while for people (including me) to realize the disadvantages of cutting out any single dietary group or nutrient. 
These days I eat my fats in the form of raw or roasted almonds, fatty fish like salmon, olive oil, and avocado.  I still don't eat butter because I think it's gross (So sorry, Jessica) and I can't handle much full-fat cow's dairy because it makes me sick.  Most of the blogging community is fully committed to nut butters of every kind as well as some of the other healthy fats and I think that's awesome!  If you aren't adding fats into your diet, here are some of my favorite benefits of dietary fat:

• Fats keep you full since fats digests slower than carbs
• Fats can protect your heart
  
• Fats make all your lady functions work!
• Fats help maintain your weight
  

I don't have references for these facts, but I have read them over and over again in all the magazines, so they must be true!  Of course, like everything else- portion control is key.
Did you fall into the stupid 90's Fat Free Craze?  How long did it take you to fall out of it?


In other news, I'm on post 149.  I rambled on, but on to bigger and better things!  Tomorrow will be POST 150 and that means showtime for hubby!  I hope you're ready for this- it's gonna be HUGE (TWSS)!