Weekend in Pictures

Oh weekends.  I can't say enough good things about weekends.  When other people are slow at work during the summer, I am in my busy season and can't wait for the beautiful time of 5:00 PM on Friday.  This weekend was just as great as all the rest and sitting here on Sunday, it's just not long enough!

We ate a lot of delicious food and spent a lot of time with family.  I knew it would be a great weekend when this was the view I saw on Friday night while walking the fluffy one.

We got to see this (not so) little guy and his parents and somebody had an Angry Birds marathon together.

We digested our dinner by going out on a bike ride/walk for the little ones and made it up to see a beautiful view.

Spent time enjoying each other's company on the couch (check out the angry birds toys)!

Oh- and there was dessert- my reason for life.  We ate my mom's new creation- a raspberry cheese tart made with cottage cheese. Amazing.

We also enjoyed some homemade chocolate covered strawberry kabobs made by my sister-in-law.

Oh, and today?  Husband brought me this beautiful dessert and it will be demolished later tonight.

A Little Bit of Summer

While summer is technically here, I have only really seen a few days of it in California. It was rainy and barely broke 60 degrees yesterday. I am seriously considering asking for my sunshine tax money back.


Despite the crap-poo weather, it still hasn't stopped me from enjoying these popsicles from the Mecca- Trader Joe's. The raspberry, lemon and strawberry flavors are so real and fruity it's almost like eating the fruit, or maybe having a tropical drink. They have even distracted me from my love of fro yo and that is a big deal.

While I wait for summer I'm just going to pretend with these evening treats.

Popsicles, ice cream or frozen yogurt?

Double Chocolate Muffin-Cupcakes

The fabulous thing about not following a recipe or attempting to wing it when baking (mostly because you hate authority) is that you get to make up the title of the baked good yourself.  Pretty cool, huh?

My double chocolate muffin-cupcakes are not sweet enough to be cupcakes but a little too sweet to be a muffin.  I'm still considering making some frosting for these guys but they are relatively healthy now so I might only frost half.  And just eat the rest of the frosting some other time.

Ingredients:
*Please note this was my first time experimenting with a chocolate muffin/cupcake so the measurements below can be altered based on your preference

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 small package of apple sauce (6 oz or so)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup vanilla greek yogurt
• 1/2 milk of choice
• Chocolate chips (to taste)

Instructions
-Mix ingredients 1-5 (dry) together and mix ingredients 6-8 (wet) together in separate bowls
-Add wet ingredient to dry and stir, adding more milk if the mixture is too dry
-Fold in chocolate chips
-Place in muffin tins and bake in a pre-heated oven for 22 minutes

Voila!

High Maintenance Sundae

In the last 5+ years of our relationship, I have been lucky enough to witness my husband's awesome relationship with food.  I mean this in all seriousness- he truly loves food and savors it. He never acts like a girl or something after he eats it.  Food is food and delicious. He gets over it and often sweats out most of it with a hard workout anyways.

In celebration of this attitude and love of chocolate, I've always loved making desserts for him since the boy can put them away.  I also really like feeding people.  We have moved past the break and bake cookies and onto high maintenance sundaes.

I had warm brownies (Trader Joe's Guiltless brownies) straight out of the oven and this monster was born.

• 1 layer of warm brownie
• 1 scoop of ice cream of choice (So Delicious dark chocolate for us)
• Trader Joe's salted Caramel
• repeat as desired

 This dessert is definitely not for the weak but I promise it will not let you down.

Your dream sundae: What's in it?  Mine has real chocolate syrup and a cherry on top.

Cheap Thrills

Totally not what you think- I'm talking about an easy snack that can cure a sweet tooth.

I didn't buy any Girl Scout cookies since I like to control the amount of sugar that voluntarily gets into my house.  If you know me, then you understand.  What I do love is thin mint cookies.  I replicated the taste at home this weekend.

The grand recipe:
Take 1 container of Trader Joe's French Vanilla Mint Yogurt

Plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

(picture source)

And you get thin mint cookie yogurt for about 140 calories and $1.00.  I'm freezing it next time :)

Please excuse the rain and dog gear.  It was late and I was hungry.

I'm trying to straighten out the comments issue- they all got eaten, so please bear with me.

I'm Not Perfect: The Hummus Course

The Hummus Course
Not that I have you guys fooled, but I think we can all agree the healthy living blog community likes to keep things beautifully edited and styled- from food pictures to meal posts.  I like to keep things positive because I love the uplifting community and the motivation I get from interacting with you guys.  However, I think sometimes we perpetuate a life of perfection.  It's 9:30 PM and I just settled in after my workout, bringing stuff in from the car, cooking buckwheat for tomorrow (you're welcome, hubby), and packing lunches.

In case you ever had a fleeting thought that I have my stuff together, I present you with my typical weeknight culinary delight- the hummus course.  I really, really like having this and eat something more filling along with it.  The sharp objects in the background are optional.

Instructions:
1. Fill bowl with veggies
2. Dip in hummus
3. Refill bowl and repeat
4. Find a nice snack to eat after, like millet toast with almond butter and coconut butter

I did make something last night that was true perfection.  We all know Gena's banana soft serve, yes?  Since I'm not eating chocolate or other fun stuff like ice cream, I made my own soft serve and added some raspberries and it was fabulous. I ate it out of order in food combining rules, but it was perfect according to my rules.

Adapted Soft Serve:
Adapted from Choosing Raw

*1 frozen banana
*1 cup of frozen raspberries
*little bit almond milk.
*Blend, blend, blend!
*Optional: coconut butter topping

 

 I loved this and I'm definitely going to be making this more often.

Question for you: Tell me your quick 5 minute go-to meal. Go!

Always Eat Dessert First

Tonight was a rare night without late school or work plans and I used it to my advantage. I went to the gym for a quick and intense workout and then I came home to hang out with a friend who will be moving from beautiful California to North Carolina. It kinda sucks when your friend of nearly 18 years moves away!


I warn you that some horrible photography follows, but this is nothing new! I munched on some cashews and had a few pita chips and hummus to save my appetite for dessert:








Since we didn't have much time, I took her to get some frozen yogurt. It was her first time there, and as I promised, it changed her life. Here is a picture of mine in some bad lighting:






We spent the evening looking at our professional wedding pictures and remembering the day- kinda fun for a newlywed, because really, most people don't care once the wedding is over!


For a little fun, this is what we looked like when we were kids (yep, that's ME on the right):





And this is what we looked like a month ago:




After we looked at pictures, I was still hungry, so I toasted up a sandwich thin with some sweet chili sauce and a couple of slices or roasted turkey- easy and quick!


Quick Question: Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends?

I do- I have known most of my friends for at least 12 years!

Happy almost-Friday!

Best Meal of the Day

Today was one of those whirlwind days at work. I got into the office at 8:30, not feeling hungry for breakfast so I decided to wait it out...well, work got so crazy busy that I didn't get to eat until 2 except for some whole wheat saltines that I was able to find. I didn't take a picture of any of my meals, but they included a bowl of cereal with yogurt and a banana and then another one 3 hours apart- sometimes a girl just has to eat and quick!


My best meal of the night is dinner! Here is a whole wheat wrap baked up in the oven with:

• Pumpkin puree
• Goat cheese
• salt & pepper
• Sweet chili sauce

I also enjoyed the remainder of a sauvignon blanc we opened on my birthday party. I'm honestly feeling it and about to go to bed to watch some TV and cuddle. I have managed to make it through this snack plate:

-2 TJ's dark chocolate-covered mini grahams, chocolate meringues, and an almond dipper. We have a LOT of dessert left from my party- can't let it go bad, right?





My fiance is a huge chocolate chip cookie monster and he bought some break and bake cookies tonight from the store and made puppy eyes at me until I made them. I wanted to share these gigantic things with you- they look massive! He will be enjoying these for breakfast tomorrow- ah the joys of being a young male!





Have a great day! One day down, 4 more to go!

I'm Back and Kickin'

Thank you for all of your sweet comments and suggestions for cold remedies! I also enjoyed the volume of comments and appreciate each and every one of them. My readers rock!

I'm feeling much better and my appetite has partially come back so I'm hoping my eats will be a lot more interesting moving forward and I'll try to keep the cereal intake down because that can get very boring.

Here are some of my meal highlights over the last couple of days. While I had the best intentions to do a post last night, I came home at 10:00 p.m. and here it is 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night. I guess school kinda gets in the way! Anyways, enough about me, here is the food:


Wednesday's Lunch:
Carrots, an apple, and my Turkey Lentil Meatloaf






Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning Snack:
Hershey's Kissables




Thursday's Breakfast:
Special K (bleh!) and Kashi Go Lean Crunch (yum!)





Thursday's AM Snack:
Beloved Granny Smith Apple






Thursday's Dinner:
Flat Out Wrap with Goat Cheese, Turkey Slices, and a sprinkle of Mozzarella fresh out of the broiler, pita chips and hummus while I was waiting for the 5 minute wrap







Thursday's Dessert:
Pumpkin puree mixed with Vanilla Yogurt, Cinnamon, Cocoa Powder and a Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar





I have an interview sent to me by the lovely Danielle of A Year of Healthy Eating and the questions will be up tomorrow. See you tomorrow- it's almost Friday!

Valentine's Day All Over Again

It's official- we are both sick. This means a lot of things, but it also means that I go on an erratic vitamin search and my sense of taste is strangely off. It also means that I get a little high on some Tylenol cold in an effort to not fall asleep at my desk. I am a little sensitive to medicine and I get the feeling that my head is floating a foot or so above my head. I also have the impulse to pretend like I'm sober throughout the day.


I started my day with a stop at Walgreens to get some Vitamin C. I think one is supposed to take it before getting sick, but I double up in hopes that it will help. I found these gummy vitamins with Echinacea and snapped them up. The vitamins are topped with my next dose of Tylenol Cold- how is that for food styling? I also had the same banana oats as yesterday along with my drugs.





Lunch today was provided by my boss. We were all on conference calls and she decided to order in some pizza so we could get our grub on. Nice, right? I broke down at noon and grabbed a piece of mushroom and cheese pizza...and took a few bites and remembered to snap a photo. Then when I grabbed the second piece, I did the same thing and it was not worth another failed photo attempt, so use your imagination. I did the girl pizza blot with several napkins but the melty cheese was goooood.





At 5:00 I had my dinner- 1/2 cup cheerios and 3/4 cup Special K with a sliced banana and 1/2 cup light soy milk. It kinda tasted like it sounds and since everything is starting to taste like plastic, this basically filled me up.





I also had a few almonds a little before leaving- of course spicy works as dinner dessert:





When I came home, I got the sweetest surprise. Future hubby was at the store buying Dayquil and he bought me some vitamins- this is seriously the sweetest thing he has done besides asking me to marry him. AND...they are chocolate!





I got home at 9:30 and my stomach was growling again. I had a sliced green apple with a tortilla filled with 1 Tbsp almond butter...except for I ended up opening the tortilla, scooping out the AB, taking a bite, and throwing the rest away.





The tortilla tasted like nothing, so I had this instead:





We are watching some bad reality TV in bed right now and I'm calling it a night. I think they say "starve a fever, feed a cold" so I have done that today at around 1500 cals.
Tomorrow is Friday!! Happy Dance!

Spinach Week and Other Ramblings

This weekend I was not in the mood to hit up all the stores we usually visit for our groceries, so Costco it was. In addition to 5 pounds of carrots, onions, apples, a ginormous bag of Stacy's Pita Chips, we got 2.5 pounds of spinach. This is a LOT of spinach folks! Not one to be afraid of a challenge, I declared that I would finish this spinach before it went bad whether I wanted to or not. I figured out that the best way to get this to a manageable task is to wilt it. I have been wilting spinach like crazy. Here is tonight's dinner:

Spinach with celery sticks, spicy hummus and spicy mustard:





And to divert myself from more of those Costco cookies, a Cajun-style tortilla with 1 tbsp almond butter and a granny smith apple:




I also had some green tea with a Pumpkin Pie Kashi bar:





Workouts!

I've been going to the gym since Saturday and I have been getting back into running as well as other cardio and stretching to keep myself from getting sore. Tonight I went to the gym for 25 minutes elliptical intervals and a slow 1-mile run on the dreadmill. Now I get to squirm for my 2-day break as I have grad school on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm simply not a morning person with my loooonnnnng commute, so I take these as my rest days- being awake and alert from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. is workout enough, but I still would rather move around.


Other Eats

I have been eating over the last few days (and boy have I!), but things got a little busy. I'm going to go catch up and comment on some lovely blogs. Here is a small re-cap of what I have been cooking with and consuming:


Rice paper for spring rolls:




Spring rolls:




Wraps filled with tofu and spinach...lots of spinach:




Costco cookies:

A Delicious Mix-up

Dinner Mix
I spent much of today mixing it up. Remember when last night I posted about the tofu sandwich I was so excited to eat? Well I also made a sandwich for future hubby and placed them right next to each other. I was positive I grabbed the right one, but to my surprise, I was greeted with a lovely turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. Of course, I ate it right up and decided to have the tofu sandwich for dinner just now. Here it is with 3 humongous carrots. I also added a little yogurt dressing but it was too shy to take pictures.



Workout
Before I could grub, I tested out my new shoes with a workout that I like to call "5 More Minutes." There is no science to this, I just argue with myself the whole time convincing myself that I will be done in 5 more minutes, resulting in more time than I would have normally done.

Tonight's 5 More Minutes Stats:
-5 minutes jog
-10 minutes on bike hills
-10 minutes elliptical intervals
-2 Triceps exercising
-2 abs exercises
-Stretching

I wasn't wearing a HR monitor, but I came out sweaty and tired, so it did the job.


What do you do when you don't want to keep going at the gym?


Future Husband Mixing it Up
Ok, the theme is probably getting out of hand, but I am feeling sassy, so I'm going to keep going! I wanted to share with you how guys re-fuel post workout. This smoothie is not for the weak!

Ingredients:

• Frozen mixed fruit (peaches, blackberries, strawberries)
• 1/2 banana
• Yogurt
• Odwalla green juice
• Orange juice
• 1.5 scoops of whey protein (170 cals per scoop!)

Of course you don't measure, because that would be silly



And you would never, ever take the time to find the lid



Finished product:



I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm wrapping things up with a shower and some TV before I hit the sack. I am on my beloved couch and I ate a Costco cookie. Nothing like a cookie to bring your dinner cals up, right?

Have a great night!