Homemade Granola

Hey Guys!  I can't believe how fast the week is flying!  I hope you are doing well!
I really enjoyed the discussion you guys had on my last post.  I think it depends on our blogging styles, but most of us seem to enjoy life and even embrace the imperfect. If you want to read a really inspiring post, Amanda did a really great one on Tuesday.

Today was spent doing my work thang and not much else!  I got in a random salad for lunch:


I had a random clean-the-fridge combo of spinach, broccoli slaw, apples, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, hardboiled egg, black olives and mustard. Perfectly crazy and perfectly satisfying!

When I got home from work, I knew I wanted to make some homemade granola. This could be a potentially dangerous experiment because I can't ever control myself around granola, but I would rather eat my own less junky one than one from the store. Here is my take on granola:


Mango Chia Pumpkin Spice Granola:
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's dried berry mix
- 2 Tbsp Maple Agave Syrup
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 cup natural mango juice (I used Naked juice)
- Shake of pumpkin spice
- Dash of unsweetened cocoa

Mix all the wet and dry ingredients, spread on a prepared cookie sheet (I used wax paper and a little spray) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I'll have to let you know how it is when I try it but it smelled like heaven!

I'm making this another quickie because it's 9:10 PM and I'm still trying to digest my dinner so that I can get to the gym for some cardio and to torture another body part or two with weights. Please don't ask me to explain, I have no logic and I'm not sure what I'll be doing when I get home all hyper and stuff- guess I'll figure that part out later!

Question for you: Do you like granola? What are the foods that challenge your portion control skills?

Mine are granola, CHOCOLATE, any kind of good cereal, and burritos. True story- once I start eating a giant burrito, I can't stop!

Fitting It All In

Hey Lovelies!  I hope you are doing well- we made it past Monday, always a good thing in my mind!  Thanks for your sugary sweet comments- I really appreciate them and like I say before- HOURS of makeup ya'll!  The rest of the time I have my hair sticking up in a bun and I'm wearing boring work clothes or yoga pants.  Love me some yoga pants :)

So last time I left you, I was going to a baseball game at AT&T Park in San Francisco.  I'm not a huge sports fan and it's taken me all of 26 years to appreciate one sport (hubby brainwashed me), but the stadium is one of the best (and prettiest) in the world, so I love going!

Believe it or not, I didn't eat anything there because I was -ahem- still thirsty from the wedding we attended the night before.  If you do go, the stadium is world famous for their garlic fries- you won't be disappointed.

Fitting It All In
Ah- so the topic of my post. Today was spent commuting for two hours, working, walking to my house, working out, and then school. Phew!  I left at 8:00 and I came home at 10:00 PM!  Today I fit all of my dinner into this bag:

Not my proudest moment, but not the worst.  I used the rest of my pinenuts and made a homemade trailmix of almonds, high fiber cereal, kumquats, dried berries, and a new natural granola bar from Powerbar.  As per usual, I picked around and only picked out the stuff I like, which can get annoying when I share trailmix, but I don't get annoyed at myself!  I'm a little overbooked and I usually like it, but these days, I'm juggling my super intense job, working on my thesis (eek!), regular workouts, and life!  Just like when I was planning my wedding, I get a little frazzled and try to do everything at the same time, so perfection is far from my vocab and I think it's good for me!

My workout in between work and school was pretty dope!  I did legs, elliptical and bis, and increased in my bicep curl weights, so I made sure to grunt extra loud when I lifted!  I came to class a little less glam, but felt ten times better!


Questions for you: What do you think about perfection?  Do you omit the less than perfect details about yourself in your blog?

I'll be back with regular food posts soon that don't come in a baggie!

Wedding Wrap Up

Hi Guys!
It's been a crazy couple of days and one of my high school friends got married this weekend.  The venue was a unique loft space in San Francisco and the decor, dancing (feet say ouch) and drinks (thank you for reminding me, morning dehydration) were fabulous. As always, I like to ask people if they can be on the ole blog for the entire world to see and since the bride and groom were busy schmoozing, dancing, and not eating, I have kept their privacy. Cool?  However, I'm an open book (blog) and I only spray tan, primp, flat iron, curl, and wedge myself into 4 inch heels once in a blue moon- so here we go!

Ceremony- this is a fabulous take on the traditional Jewish Chuppah or wedding canopy:

After the ceremony we were brought into the main reception area.  I loved all the uplighting and crystals!

We were rolling at table 10:

The bride and groom came in and started with their first dance- so cute!

Speaking of cute- my date for the night-

We goofed around and took pictures- nope, I don't play piano but look like I do

The cake was absolutely fabulous and came in the shape of an ice sculpture with a small layer on top of real cake.  Ignore the goofball in front of it:

It was a lovely night and we danced the night away!

This one looks like prom- class of 2010!  It felt great to be a guest and not the bride this time! I love OTHER people's weddings!

Today we are going to a San Francisco Giants game and now that I'm up and had some food, I'm off to chug some water, put on some sunscreen, and head out to the game!

I miss you all and hope you are having a great weekend!
XOXO

Too Fruity

Hey Guys!  I hope you are doing well!  I'm wrapping up what I declared as Salad Week up in here because Sabrina is having an I LOVE Salad Challenge.  Have you missed my earlier posts?  Here they are in backwards order:
Bay Area Style Salad
Tabouli Salad With a Twist
Easy Asian-Inspired Salad
Roasted Veggie Salad

Today I present you with my Too Fruity Salad (major Seinfeld reference going on):

Want to know how I got to this?  I went hog wild at the grocery store because organic strawberries were on sale.  I also snagged some apples and our orange tree produced two oranges in one week!  Score!  The only problem is that I'm the only one in the house who voluntarily eats fruit on its own.  I'm capable of a lot of things, but not of eating roughly 8,456,456 pounds of fruit all on my own, so the Too Fruity Salad was born!
Ingredients:

• Spicy delicious arugula
• Spinach
• Broccoli slaw
• Sliced apple
• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced orange

When I ate it for lunch today, I felt smug getting in over half of my daily serving of fruits and veggies in one meal.  I rarely feel smug.

Just because I'm delirious and love you guys, I am throwing in an extra salad- the fruit salad.  It's often overlooked but who can resist fruit salad?

All chopped in bite size pieces and doused with lemon juice so that the fruit doesn't turn brown- double points in my book.  Who knows, maybe even my hubby will go for it? 

I have been loving all the variety and although I eat salads at least once a day (I truly DO love salad) it has been fun to actually think about what it is I'm chowing down on since I tell you guys!
Let's get this weekend started- tell me your plans! Hubby and I are getting all gussied up and going to a formal wedding in the city.  It should be legendary!

My Bay Area Style Salad

When I tell people I am from the San Francisco Bay Area, they make Berkeley jokes (my husband included) and I think the salad I made is quite representative of the perception of the Bay.  We eat sprouts and veggies and there is no California style without an avocado in it.  We like our greens and herbs and I'm no exception.
Here is my salad step by step:
Spicy delicious bed of organic arugula

Sprouts layered on top

Chopped shrooms (perhaps a salute to the good ole days of San Francisco's past), cucumbers, and avocado

California almonds, dried cranberries, raspberries, and pomegranate arils

I love this combination together and hope you'll give it a try!

Are there any distinct foods that describe where you live?  San Francisco definitely has Ghirardelhi chocolate, sourdough, and a crunchy, hippy personality that rocks my socks off!

Tabouli With a Twist

Hope you are all having a great week.  Mine has been muy interesante, but I'm a positive girl, so let's rock this joint with Salad #3 of the week! 
I'm a huge fan of Mediterranean foods and tabouli is a huge favorite of mine!  I use a really easy recipe based on this one from Food Network!

Here is where I ended up with my tabouli recipe:

• 1/2 cup organic quinoa
  
• 1 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 2 cucumbers, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1 teaspoons sea salt and pepper to taste

You'll see that I used quinoa, green onion in place of yellow onion, less olive oil, and a ton of lemon juice.  I also chopped everything up really chunky because my favorite part of the dish is the veggie goodness! 
Here is what the final product looked like:

 I made it on Sunday and the flavors came together wonderfully when I served it up for dinner tonight:

I served the tabouli on a bed of arugula (love the spicy taste) and served it along with a couple of fresh tomatoes, hummus, and peas for dipping.  I wish I had some fresh pita for dipping, but a girl can't have anything!

How about you girls/guys?  Do you like Mediterranean foods?  I love it!  It seems like a lot of the foods I grew up with have a lot of influence and I am a fan of anything covered in hummus :)

P.S. I still can't believe I made such a blog blooper earlier!  Ya'll need to call me out when I don't make sense :)

Easy Asian-Inspired salad

**Edited** My salad must have eaten a part of my post.  I don't know what happened, so I have edited to add the recipe!
Welcome back to day 2 of my salad week! Today I am sharing a restaurant favorite but something that can easily be made at home in under five minutes- I don't have a name for it, but it has the influences of all of my favorite Asian cuisines.

Another thing to note about my presentation is that I bring my lunch 99% of the time and Tupperware rarely makes food look exciting but it gets the job done!

Asian-Inspired Salad:
*1 cup spinach
*mung bean sprouts (water filled and fibertastic)
*fresh peas
*1 chopped orange
*3-4 chopped mushrooms
*black and white sesame seeds
*fresh chopped mint and pickled ginger  to garnish

A few modifications can include adding some shrimp or grilled chicken as well as finely chopped green onion, omitted because of the stink factor.
I love the sweetness and flavor the oranges give once I dig in, but a spicy peanut dressing works perfectly with this salad!
Hope you enjoy!

What are your favorite Asian-inspired flavors?  I love ginger, sesame oil, and anything with seaweed!

Roasted Veggie Salad

Remember when I mentioned Rhodey Girl Tests's I Love Salad Challenge?  Well I LOVE salad!  This week I'm going to be featuring five of my favorite salads and I'm pretty excited.  One of my problems with the perception of healthy eating is that salads and all health foods are boring.  It's not true at all!  I think we can add more veggies (and fruits) to our diets and get the benefits not only in our stronger bods, but in our taste buds too!

Salad #1: My Favorite Roasted Veggie Salad
As we leave Winter, I will be eating more raw fruits and veggies, but I can't leave behind my favorite roasted veggies- sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus.  This salad has all three:

Directions:
Roast your favorite veggies of choice seasoned in salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Once they are ready, cut them up and top 2 cups of fresh spinach with the roasted veggies.
My salad includes 1/2 of a medium sweet potato, 1 cup of sprouts, and 4 roasted asparagus spears.  I'm not a huge fan of dressing with this salad because the roasted veggies add enough flavor, but I bet a simple oil and vinegar would be fabulous!

What's your favorite roasted veggie? Those above as well as eggplant, butternut squash, kabocha squash, mushrooms, and red peppers.

How About a Bike Ride?

Hi All!  Did you think I disappeared?  I'm baaaack!  I had to take some time off for the weekend to get myself pumped for next week and life outside of work has been pretty darn good if I say so myself!
This morning I started out with a recent tradition- Sunday French Toast and Lattes.  I make French toast for the hubby while he makes me a latte.  See?  Marriage does have its perks!
This morning I put a twist on the usual by making Mango Vanilla French Toast:

 Ingredients:

• 3 slices wheat bread
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• Trader Joe's Bourbon Vanilla
• 1/8 cup mango juice (just a splash)
• Fresh fruit/syrup/topping of choice

Dip the bread in the mixture of egg, milk, vanilla, and mango juice and then prepare as usual (I use spray oil on a hot pan and brown for 1-2 minutes per side).
While hubby enjoyed his toast, I took my Protein Pancake outside and dragged hubby with me to eat in the sunshine.

After we fueled up, we decided a bike ride would be a great idea for a sunny day.  We left at 12:30 and our ride turned into 20 miles and 4 hours long.  We found some new hilly trails and stopped to take a few pictures (Safety first!  I love my helmet!):

I'm going to scoot off to enjoy the rest of my sunshine!  I'll be back later on Monday!
Coming up this week on One Healthy Apple:

• A highlight of Ethiopian Food
•  5 Days of Salad for Sabrina's I Love Salad Challenge

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Guest Post Announcement!

I'm so excited to share my guest post over at Namaste Mari.  This girl rocks and I'm so honored to be featured on this bloggie powerhouse girl's site that I'm bursting at my almond butter, apple, chocolate covered seams!

Come on over and check it out here!

I'll be back with regular posting manana!

Breakfast for Lunch!

Hi Guys!  I went MIA on you yesterday, but stuff happens, ya know?  Nothing too exciting happened, just work- but that's why I get paid!  I'm hitting you really quick with my lunch.
Today I had eggs for breakfast- which never happens because I like my mornings filled with carbs and fats- protein just gets in the way.  When it was lunch time, I wasn't in the mood for salad for once and broke into my breakfast for lunch stash instead:

We've got TJ's organic fat free cottage cheese, Kashi Honey Almond Flax Clusters (hope I got the name right), cashews, and a Tbsp of Peanut Butter.  OMG- protein, fiber, carbs, and heaven all in one! 

Oh- and I have to show you- we saw Bambi this morning on the way to work in our neighborhood. Can you see him running across the street?  I am aware that deer is the proper name, but whenever I see one, I get too excited.  We don't live in the country or anything, but we are near a golf course and I guess this little guys was taking a morning jaunt.  There was a bigger one with him, but I couldn't snap the picture fast enough! 

Cake Safety in Numbers
Yesterday was birthday cake day at work. You know the drill- once a month the group of individuals you avoid in the halls at work gets together to sing an off-key tune to the poor soul who is another year older.  I don't mind it so much when it's MY birthday, but the crazy amount of lunches, constant candy factory in the kitchen, and monthly mediocre cake days are not the best balance for a healthy girl like me.  The interesting thing was I have never had to justify how I didn't want cake so many times in my life when I was perfectly fine, just concentrating on trying to make conversation less awkward.  I guess large groups of people makes eating treats more fun, huh?  There is also an acceptance that comes along with it as well and maybe makes others feel less guilty.  I love cake- it's my favorite food- but not at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday, especially if it's not special and not my birthday!
What do you think?  Do you give in to make others happy when in a crowd?  I do- but only if it's covered in gourmet chocolate ganache! Otherwise I would spend my days with mediocre pizza and chocolate-less cake. sick.

What exactly will YOU be doing at the gym?

Hey friends!  Thank you so much for the fashion votes.  I think my fuchsia shoes are in.  The bonus is that they are pretty tall, which means I'll tower over the world at something over 5'4".  Score!  I almost regretted posting the picture thinking I would get some negative comments, but your sweet faces didn't let that happen!

DOMS
Moving on!   Today when my hubby picked me up from my train ride, he thought that he had arrived too early and that I would be coming on the next train.  He saw the first crowd of people step out of the station (those who have the sharpest elbows), next came the second wave of passengers, walking at a moderate pace and scooting out towards their respective cars.  Finally, came the stragglers, including senior citizens, those too busy playing with their cell phones, and the other gentle souls who couldn't elbow their way out of the train.  Guess who came hobbling out next?  ME!  I'm usually a fast walker and appear somewhere between the first and second wave of commuters, so when hubby saw me standing on the escalator and cruising down, he laughed.
Remember when I said I lifted shoulders, abs, and legs on Sunday? Guess what hurt today the second I hopped out of my bed?  My shoulders, abs, and legs!   It hurts to walk up and down stairs and forget getting up and down from my chair at work!  Lifting my arms over my head?  No thanks!  Oh, and please don't make me laugh because it hurts! We were on our way to the gym tonight and after a few laughs, he asked, 'What exactly will you be doing at the gym?!?'
Ah- well this brings me to my long-winded point.  Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is perfectly normal.  From time to time, it means that I didn't cruise through a workout and worked hard, so I'm a little sore the next day.  Most of the soreness described above is just more of my drama, so I felt a little movement would be best to get the blood flowing and make the soreness go away.  My movement consisted of 30 minutes on the regular bike and 15 minutes on the recumbent bike.  Nope, I did not go crazy and sweat up a storm, but the movement and the stretching after did wonders for my tin man legs!
Any other time, I would have gone home and not done anything, but as I have learned, working out is not about all or nothing.  It's about pushing yourself, but also taking care of your body.  These are all great lessons to keep in mind as I pay my annual membership fee tonight for another year of fitness lovin' for my body.

Dinner
So you thought I would leave you with no food tonight?  No way!  I had my own personal salad bar salad:

I raided my fridge for spinach, cherry tomatoes, 2 mini egg quiches, marinated tempeh, multi-grain salad with Papa Namaste's sauce for dressing!  I dressed it with sweet chili sauce and it was spicy, tasty goodness!

Have you learned any lessons from working out? Mine are: 
1. You don't know you can't do it until you tried and proved it.  Most likely you CAN do it- so give the new class, machine, interval workout a try!
2. A rest day or two are worth it.  You'll be back with more energy next time!
3. If you can comfortably read a novel or talk with a friend on your cell phone (seen it), try taking it up a notch because you can probably work a little harder
4. Something is better than nothing.  If it sucks after 10 minutes, go home!
Tell me your tips!

Cooking Up A Storm

Weekends go by way too quickly, but I guess it's part of being an adult, right?  I'll catch you up with some fun eats and cooking that went down this weekend.  Ready, set, go!!!

On Saturday night, my in-laws came over to help with our house and I cooked up a quick lunch.  I am usually so nervous when it comes to entertaining because I want everything to be perfect, but I have learned that nobody cares as long as there is something edible on the table.  I had a lot of help from the other man in my life, Trader Joe.  Here is my eclectic spread:

Going clock-wise from the top white bowl:
-Spinach salad with shrimp, cilantro, broccoli slaw, almonds, and citrus dressing
-Roasted broccoli and artichoke hearts coated in parm cheese
-Whole wheat pizza with chicken sausage, mozzarella, and mushrooms
-Pita chips
-Gouda cheese, cherry tomatoes, and laughing cow cheese
-My spring rolls and spicy peanut sauce

There was really no theme, but I coordinated the pizza with the roasted veggies and the spring rolls with the salad.  Let's just call it fusion!  After dinner, hubby and I went to a bar to watch the Pay Per View fights.  It was a good time and we had our own private room in the bar (OK, it was the game room, but no juice monkeys joined us in there).  Sweet!  It was Klassy:

Food Prep
Other cooking that went down was my weekly prep for the excitement that school and work bring.   I made a list based on what I bought and what we had in the fridge, so here are some staples that will be in my tummy as well as my husband's this week:

Hubby: Teriyaki marinated organic chicken with sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts.

Me: Brussels sprouts with Trader Joe's mixed grains blend (orzo, barley, cous cous, and several other grains cooked in veggie broth and citrus zest), teriyaki marinated and baked tempeh.

Hubby: Mixed grains, chicken, stirfry veggies

Both of us: Breakfast mini egg quiches- broccoli, artichoke hearts, spinach, egg whites, one egg

Up for grabs: Mixed grain and veggie salad with carrots, green onion, corn, cilantro, parsley, cracked red pepper, chili powder, salt.
I made quite the mess in the kitchen!

I used to hate eating leftovers, but now I'm thankful to have some healthy staples waiting for me when I get home.  This stash will last us through Wednesday or Thursday and then I'll replenish the supply and wing it for the end of the week!  This way I have plenty of options and a little creativity in case I didn't want to eat salad on Wednesday, but wanted it like crazy on Thursday.  I like to be flexible.

Workout
Today was a fun workout at the gym.  By fun, I mean I sweated like a beast and felt better when I left! 
It seems like HIIT is the 'new black' in the blog world, so I made up my own interval workout.  I went 30 minutes and alternated between 5.5 and 7.0 for 1, 2, and 3 minutes.  I commend the lovely girls who build tables of their workouts, but you can easily figure it out by now.  It was intense and I was breathing HARD by the end.  I'm always amazed at how much I can push myself!
I also lifted shoulders, legs, and abs.  I hate doing legs and abs but still do them because it's good for me.  There, I said it!


Random
This has been a long enough post for you, right?  I sometimes forget my other hobbies on the ole blog, like shopping!  I have a wedding to go to in 2 weeks and I procrastinated but found the perfect dress today:

Black is my favorite color to wear and this also means I have about 1,000,234,004,987 black dresses in my closest already, but this has POCKETS and mini flower pick-ups.  SOLD!  Don't worry, I noted the lame cell phone picture, barefoot, and a silly pink dress in the background, but I need your advice on shoes! 

What shoes should I wear? Silver strappy or fuscia with bows on the top?

Besides food, cooking, working out- what are your hobbies? I used to be a crazy fashion monster and stalked all the fashion news.  I also love going to museums, reading, movies, and I am crazy about languages.  I know 3 languages pretty decently but hope to learn Italian or Portuguese one day.

Taking the (Freak) Show on the Road

Can we do the Friday dance yet?  If you are on the East Coast and reading this, I think so!  It's even too late for me and almost Friday!
On Thursday I packed all three meals to go with me since I had work and school back to back with no break to stop in between.  It's OK, I like an intense life.  Here is what I planned for myself the night before:

I made a wrap like so:

• Whole wheat wrap, gouda cheese slice, baked eggplant, sprouts, hot mustard, and organic chicken is somewhere under there

When I woke up, it was go, go, go!  My overnight Oats in a Jar were eaten in a car!

Don't worry, I wasn't driving while I ate my blueberry, strawberry, hemp protein overnight OIAJ...soooo good!

I flopped my lunch with my dinner and had a wrap at my desk:

Then dinner didn't happen.  I was supposed to have a salad but I wasn't in the mood for salad.  I had a smoothie and then a wrap when I get home.  I love being prepared, but I live life on the wild side and can't be bothered to eat something if I don't want it!

Gym Fail:
I tell you guys most of the time when I make it to the gym (I've gone every day since Sunday, go ME!) but I should sometimes tell you when I don't, like today!  I packed my clothes and shoes and drove over right after class at 9:45 tonight.  I don't sleep at night, so I thought I could stay up anyways and tire myself out.  As I got to the gym, I pulled my stuff out and found that I only packed one sock.  Oops!  Major fail.  I took it as a sign to come home and go to bed instead!


Any funny gym stories for me?

Papa Namaste's Pasta

It's no secret by now that blog friends can be flippin' awesome and coach us through exercise routines, baking, and provide a sense of sanity in a crazy world. My East Coast sister Mari coached me through what to make for dinner and when I got home from the gym, my mind was made up- Papa Namaste's Pasta!

I have to back up here and say that I am incapable of following a recipe. It's my equivalent of running a marathon.  Just ask my husband about the green cookies I once made. This pasta sauce and lack of pasta had a few mansana tweaks to it and it was good. Oh- and the pasta went missing because it was getting late and my post workout hunger could not wait!

I blended one cup of spinach with 1 tsp of sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, pepper, some water to thin, and a drizzle of spicy peanut sauce I had leftover. I swear it worked- I had the Thai version of the sauce.
Meanwhile, I sauteed some zucchini 'pasta' with mushrooms and eggplant and dinner was served in under 5 minutes! Thanks again Mari for the recipe!

I kept my dinner theme Namaste style by beefing up dessert (can you still say beefing of you don't eat beef??) with some plain yogurt, hemp protein, frozen pomegranate seeds, and carob chips. It was good and killed the chocolate monster!  I don't know where that picture went, so imagine an ice cream sundae.
That's all I've got! Time for a crazy thursday with work and school till 10!

Question: How do your blog friends impact your life?  See above for my answer!

I Like Fruit With My Veggies

Hi Guys!  I was going to come at you with some crazy deep thoughts (I'll save it for another day) but instead I've got a salad for you.  It's almost summer and I'm getting excited about all the fruit!  As a side note, my hubby does not like fruit unless it's already cut up for him (a rare, fat chance) or if it's been pulverized in his smoothie with protein powder (more likely). 
I love fruit for real and summer makes it taste more delicious- now if only I could do something about getting a full three months off of work like I did when I was a kid.
When my parents picked us up from the airport the other night, they brought us some fruit to eat.  I monopolized the strawberries and hubby promised to eat a few grapes.  The lovely strawberries inspired my lunch:
Strawberry Spinach Salad:

• Spinach base
• Sprouts
• Strawberries
• Cucumbers
• Almonds
• Trader Joe's Fat Free Feta Cheese
• Chicken tenders

It's summery, light, and full of fruit and veggies.  The only thing that would make this meal better is if I could find a way to add chocolate to a salad.  Challenge accepted.

Question for you: Can you eat fruit in your salad?  Or is it too bizarre?

Rounding Up

Hey Guys!  Thanks for the cleaning tips.  It has given my hubby hope that our house won't look like a frat house from time to time.  No promises.

I'm home after work and a great workout.  Today I forgot my beloved iPod and instead of singing to myself (believe me, there are enough freaks in my gym between the plastic surgery display and the woman who walks around with a portable DVD player), I decided to just keep moving so I wouldn't get bored!

• 12 minute stairmill intervals
• 10 minute elliptical intervals
• 11 minute treadmill run
• Back
• Lat pulls
• Seated Rows
• Compound Rows
• Some machine I can't describe

• Biceps
• 2 kinds of curls and cables

I realize that's 33 minutes of cardio and not a magic number like 30 or 35, but I did it to rattle some nerves along with my own.  Do you have to round up your minutes to get to some round number?

Food
I've been fueling myself all day long and feel pretty good about my lunch and snack today. 
Lunch:

We've got half of a Trader Joe's Lavash wrap filled with mixed greens, tempeh, marinara sauce and some fat free feta.  It was gooood!  I chickened out on the clementine but killed the plum.  Though it doesn't look like it, the wrap was small (I eat on a salad plate unless I note otherwise) and I ended up eating the other half of the wrap in about 2 hours because I was huuuuungry!  Sometimes mini meals work and sometimes they don't!  I kinda feel like if I ate mini meals, I would have to eat about 8 times a day, no joke!

Snack:

 I had a 1 cup serving of Trader Joe's 0% Greek Yogurt with 1/3 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch and a little peanut butter.  It was goooood!
Questions for you: What's your eating style?  Do you graze?  Do you have 3 square meals and call it a day? I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and usually have an afternoon snack at 4 since I don't eat dinner until at least 8.
I've got a fun lunch post in my head for you tomorrow, so come back and say hi!