The Chic Life

Chicken, Asparagus, + Udon Noodles

I racked my brain all afternoon trying to come up with something simple and tasty to make for dinner using chicken.

I've been working on making up recipes on my own, but hit the cookbooks for some inspirations today. I find that I have a hard time making things from cookbooks when I'm cooking from my pantry/food stash since I always seem to be missing something in the recipe ingredient list. I didn't find any recipes to use the exact ingredients I had, but I did find a good Robin Miller recipe to use as a base.

I had a craving for the salty taste of soy sauce, so I decided to do a noodle-stir-fry using ingredients we already had on hand. We used the asparagus leftover from yesterday and some udon noodles we had in the pantry. I was surprised when I read the label to see that these noodles are actually whole wheat! Woohoo! I love finding out something I already like is healthy for me. :)

I felt like I was juggling pans tonight with 3 going with quick-cooking items. The chicken took about 3-5 minutes per side. The noodles took about 3-4 minutes. The asparagus took about 3-4 minutes. I was trying to time them all so they were finished cooking when I needed them to be done to properly bring together.

I used the pasta water to de-glaze the pan and scrape up the brown bits from cooking the chicken.

Moving the noodles from the pot to the pan. Just like Giada. ;)

All mixed together.

Topped with crunchy sesame seeds...mmm! Hubby was completely infatuated with this recipe....probably because it was tasty and spicy as heck! Lay off the hot sauce if you don't want this to burn too much. You can always drizzle your noodles with a wee bit of plain vinegar if things get too hot for you. That's a trick I learned at PF Changs. The vinegar, surprisingly, doesn't change the flavor of the dish, too much...really not at all...it just cuts the heat.

Chicken, Asparagus, + Udon Noodle Stirfry

Adapted from Robin Miller's Thai Chicken + Noodles in Robin to the Rescue

Ingredients

3 ounces organic udon noodles

1 tbsp peanut oil, plus 1 tsp

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dry ginger

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced/cut somewhat thin

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp hot sauce (if you want it spicy)

1 cup asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp sesame seeds

salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and cook till one side is browned, about 3-5 minutes. Flip chicken and cook till browned on other side. Add garlic for last minute of cooking time.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Cook the asparagus for about 3-4 minutes till cooked to crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper

Meanwhile, cook udon noodles according to package instructions. Try to time chicken to finish cooking just before noodles. Once chicken is cooked, add about 1/4 cup pasta water, 1/8 cup soy sauce, sesame oil, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Add asparagus + noodles to pan (I like to move directly from the pot of pasta to the pan with chicken). Toss and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serve in low bowls. Top with sprinkle of sesame seeds. Enjoy!

SCBR Week 4/ Day 7 Food/Exercise Journal

9:30 am - Coffee + 10 Grain Apple Pie Hot Cereal - Full (7)

I woke up "early" today around 8:30 am but was slow moving. By 9:30 am I had taken the dog out and brewed coffee for hubby and me. I started drinking my coffee while making breakfast. I neeeeeded some coffee asap!

I decided to try something like those Apple Pie Oats, but with some Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal instead.

The grain cereal was good, but didn't taste nearly as much like Apple Pie as the oats earlier this week did. I still enjoyed them quite a bit and even hubby seemed to like them! I only used 1/2 the apple to cook, so I served the other half topped in the bowls.

Pre-cooking ingredients (for 2):

• 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp flax seed
• 1/2 apple, chopped

Post-cooking ingredients (for 2):

• 1 tbsp brown sugar, stirred in
• 4 tbsp 2% milk, stirred in
• dash cinnamon on top (challenge ingredient!)
• 1 tbsp chopped pecans, topped, per bowl

I piddled around this morning while we figured out what to do today. As I mentioned yesterday, my school celebrated Homecoming today, however, the weather was far from cooperative. It was cold, rainy, and just plain icky outside! With plans a bit up in the air, I was glad to at least have a nice, hot breakfast with some steamy coffee.

A little more coffee to help wake up.

1:30 pm - Zaxby's! - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Either I've had a lot more splurges than normal, or I actually eat more fast/junk food than I thought. Hubby wanted to get food at the Homecoming basketball game today, but I talked him into Zaxby's. There are some fast food places that I have no trouble avoiding and some that have a fond place in my heart. Zaxby's falls into the latter category. I checked the nutritional information before we left and it was about what I expected, so I tried especially hard to eat intuitively and to stay under "6" (first signs of feeling full) on the SCBR Hunger Continuum. This was a challenge because everything tasted so good, I just wanted to keep eating and eating. I was able to stop myself at a reasonable point though.

Above is the "after," which hubby happily helped finish. I ended up eating all 3 chicken fingers, about 1/2 the fries, 1/4 of the texas toast, 1/4 of the honey mustard sauce, and about 1 tbsp of ketchup. Since my portion was so small, the calorie count wasn't too ridiculous. The worst part was the complete lack of fruit/veggie servings for this meal. I probably should have brought some fruit to munch on, now that I think of it. Lunch tasted darn good, either way!

I had coca-cola for my drink, but hardly drank any. I just like a little sweetness.

We made it to the game a little late but just before it kicked off. Luckily, Michelle + Ben had saved us some seats. The game was pretty good and we won! Yay!

5:00 pm - Kale - Content (5)

After the game, we came straight home. I checked my email and got a hankering for a snack, so I finished off the rest of the marinated kale from yesterday...

...along with some water. See...I told you I'm not good at drinking water on the weekends! I really should have had more by now! Not only that, but thank goodness I had the kale for a snack. Today's eats were pretty low on fruit and veggies!

6:00 pm - Peppermint Tea - Content (5)

The weather outside was so cold and yucky.

I decided to take a moment to relax and curl up on the couch with some nice, hot, peppermint tea and some cookbooks to try to figure something out for dinner. I also caught a DVR'ed Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller for extra inspiration.

8:00 pm - Chicken, Noodle, and Asparagus Stirfry - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I did end up making a variation of a Robin Miller recipe. I tried to find it online, but it's not there, so I'll post my adapted version in a bit (separate post) since I made a few changes.

I had a wee bit of wine and some water with dinner.

I ended up having to take a PF Changs trick and put some white vinegar on my dinner to cut the heat. It was spicy but delicious. Hubby kept raving how good it was and literally couldn't stop eating. He tried to restrain himself from eating too much but didn't seem to have any trouble polishing off the rest of dinner. I was pleased to see him finally excited about dinner...though he usually enjoys dinner quite a bit, he hasn't had that "5-yr-old-boy-eating-ice-cream" look in awhile.  I bet he doesn't even know he ate whole wheat noodles...hehe. :)  According to the noodle package, they're made from 100% whole wheat flour!  They don't even taste like it!  They just taste good!

The recipe was a good one...definitely a keeper.

8:30 pm - Jen's Individual Chocolate Cake - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

My sweet tooth always comes out after dinner. I crave something, anything sweet. It's a battle every night to not consume something sweet. The other day, I reeeeeeally wanted to make a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but it was too late to make any, so I settled on nothing. My dessert stomach (the stomach reserved for all things sweet) was not happy. I started wondering if it was possible to make, perhaps, an individual oatmeal chocolate chip cookie? Could such a thing be possible? Well, it's not a cookie, but enter Jen's Individual Dark Chocolate Cake, which she so graciously shared on her blog, Maple N' Cornbread. Jen has featured her individual chocolate cake several times on her other blog, Glowing From Within.

Hubby and I were both wanting something sweet after dinner tonight, so I decided to give the recipe a go, even though I didn't have sour cream or yogurt.

In desperate need of something chocolate-y, I decided to try subbing some canola oil for the sour cream/yogurt. I think it totally messed it up. That, or I overcooked it.

My cake came out dry. *sad face* The flavor was delicious, though! I will have to give the recipe another go. Next time, I'll use the real ingredients and maybe try shortening the cooking time.

Dry or not, I still ate my half (hubby had the other half). It was sooo tasty (albeit dry) and totally satisfied my sweet tooth. Jen was sweet enough to run the calcs for me and this little baby is a mere 240 calories! Not too shabby, eh? I had to add extra calories into my daily count, though, since I used canola oil. Doh!

Hubby and I also had some milk with our chocolate goodness. We love milk with desserts! I made him pose as he was walking from the kitchen to the living room.

Calorie Summary

Calories Eaten: 1804

I didn't burn any calories since I didn't work out today. I totally went over again, but not too shabby considering 1 fast food meal and a decadent chocolate dessert! I think it's going to be awhile before I'm able to balance my foods and snacks calorie wise, but I'm getting there! :)

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Life, Lunch, SCBR, Snack

Look Ma! New Shoes!

February is almost over, which means I finally feel comfortable spending some of my shop-budget money for the month. I mean, I am perfectly comfortable blowing all the money as soon as the month starts, but I'm trying to pay better attention to my finances, so I decided to wait it out. I mentioned awhile back that there were quite a few things I want to get at the moment, but neglected to put 2 items on that list: new running shoes and a pair of dance shoes.

Well, I decided to get the dance shoes this past Friday, and I think I have a pretty good, logical reason for pushing this purchase to the front of my buy-list.

My knees starting bothering me earlier this past week...Thursday/Friday-ish. I brushed it off at first, but then found this article on runnersworld.com, a site my friend emailed me about. C seemed to be the closest answer to match, but who knows? I'm not a fan of trying to diagnose myself using web sites. The point is that I guess I'm just not as young as I used to be. I keep forgetting that I'm not in the shape I was when I was skating 6 times a week. I've been pushing it pretty hard last week and I guess all the walking/jogging was jarring my out-of-shape legs more than I knew. I realized that I really need to start taking better care of my body by resting when it's tired or uncomfortable and by giving it the proper equipment to protect it.

My instructor recommended getting some dance-style shoes saying they would be better for my feet and I would have an easier time dancing in class. I've heard other people say they're good for your knees, so it seemed like a no brainer to get them. I got in to work early Friday and was able to leave early to try to get these shoes before my Friday dance class. Now, I know that I said that I need to listen to my body and rest it, but...well, I'm stubborn. The Friday dance class is the only 1 of the week that I can make and I had been looking forward to it all day, so I was pretty determined to go. I figured I'd rest up the rest of the weekend, if needed, to make up. Anywho, I ended up spending about 1 hour on the road and in stop and go traffic to get to the shop, Lebo's, where they sell western and dance goods. I quickly found the shoes and picked up a wrap skirt to wear to skating next time I go (I had gone all that way, might as well have gotten that while I was there, no?). The traffic was way worse than I thought it would be and I pulled into the parking lot for class 2 minutes after the start-time.

I sat in the car for a minute wondering if I should go in. I absolutely hate going to things late and didn't want to be rude, but like I said, I was really determined to go. I decided, what the heck, I'm here, I may as well go, late or not. I got to the class as they were getting started, put on my new shoes and got to dancing.

The new shoes were quite weird looking (I didn't do much formal dancing as a kid/teen). They didn't have any sole in the middle. They seemed quick slick and without traction on the bottom. I was worried I was going to fall on my hiney during class and totally embarrass myself, but guess what? The shoes were awesome! A totally worthy investment! They didn't slip at all, and I didn't even notice the "weird" sole. They were actually much easier to dance in and made me feel more "professional"...haha. :) Speaking of professional, they started training peeps from my class to be instructors. I am toying with the idea of asking about it/signing up. I think it would be so fun to teach a class, but I'm not sure if my work schedule would let me commit due to the high-probability of traveling. Either way, I was totally glad I went to class...I had a great workout and a great time!

Semi-related reader question: When you were kids/teens, did anyone else ever want to dress like their idol when they did a sport? When I did ice-skating, I remember I got a necklace just like Michelle Kwan's and wore it religiously every day...just like her, of course. My mom's friend actually brought it back with her from China! I still have it somewhere.

In-closing...Remember to take care of yourselves. I'm not saying go have a shopping spree at a sporting goods store, but try to listen to your body and budget for the proper equipment. Your body will thank you for it. :) With this in mind, I think I'm going to have to use my next budget purchase on new running shoes. Mine are about 5 years old (though I have only worn them for walking, primarily)! I doubt they offer any sort of support, so I'm thinking new shoes would be much better for me and my walking/attempt at running.

PS My knees feel fine today! Must have been the shoes....haha...jk. Either way...Yay! Hopefully, I'll get a good workout tomorrow!

PSS It's supposed to snow here tomorrow...a lot (for us)! Let's hope it doesn't start too early...I'm supposed to have a most-awesome brunch with some friends and I really want to go!

Exercise

SCBR Week 4/ Day 6 Food/Exercise Journal

7:30 am - Coffee + AB Toast - Content (5)

I started today with a fave - FM Breakfast Blend with 2% milk and sugar.

I was a little oatmeal-ed out and didn't feel like going for my make-up bagel day, so I had some Great Harvest High 5 Fiber toasted with some Barney Butter almond butter.

It was really good! I love how the heat from the toast warms through the Almond butter...mmm!

12:00 pm - Soup + Kale + Water - Content (5)

I was planning to eat my leftover spicy chicken salad from yesterday and even brought extra bread in today, but whilst browsing the web, I remembered Lent had started! I couldn't eat meat today!

I went to my tried and true Home Economist, a local health-food oriented grocery store, and picked up some nice, hot veggie tortellini soup to combat the yucky cold, rainy day.

I also got the kale I regretted not getting yesterday. I talked a co-worker into getting some, too. He said he liked it, but I dunno.

I also pulled out the leftover taboulleh and got some water. I ate my lunch while watching Paula Deen cook some yummy-looking berry dishes.

Above is the "after." It turns out my body wasn't as hungry as I thought I was. I had another case of "big eyes." My parents used to tell me that all the time when I was a kid. They said that I always thought I could eat more than I could and tried to get me to start with smaller portions because I could always get more. I guess old habits die hard. I still try to work on this little tidbit they passed along to me.

I ate all the soup, half of the kale, and none of the tabbouleh. I'm saving the leftovers for this weekend.

Lunch was great and much more filling than I would have expected it to be. It's so great to finally start exploring vegetarian options for meals...I'd really like to eat more fruits and veggies anyways.

1:00 pm - Tea + Cookies - Content (5)

Awhile back, my dad gave me some iced gingerbread cookies and I decided to give them to a co-worker whom I knew loved them and because I didn't want to eat the entire bag myself. The co-worker didn't want all the cookies so they stayed in my office most of the day. Of course, I ended up eating a few - 3 to be exact.

I had some Green Tea with Lemon by Bigelow Tea, which was nice and mellow.

Here's a close-up of cookie #1. The cookie was way better than I expected. I thought it was going to be all hard + crunchy, but it was soft and lofty...almost cake-like. It was delicious. I had to go back for more.

I got 2 more. Yum!

3:00 pm - Cheese + Apple - Content (5)

I decided to have another snack - an apple, some more water (gotta get lots of liquids for my post-work workout), and some Babybel cheese.

Have you tried these little Babybel cheeses? They are soooo good! They are nice and light and smooth and delicious. I can't remember the first time I had one, but it may have been in France. I found them at the Home Economist today for $4 for a bag of 6. I felt totally jipped because I had only seen them for $6 at Harris Teeter. I bought them once or twice, but decided it was too much for cheese. I'm liking the $4 price tag much more.

4:45 pm - Clif Energy Banana Bread - Content (5)

After changing for my workout class, I threw one of those Clif Energy bars into my bag - the Banana Bread flavor.

I scarfed this down on my way from work to a local store to get myself a little something-something. I'll post about that tomorrow since it's already late and I'm not even on dinner yet! As for the bar, it really tasted like banana bread at first bite. The more I ate it, the more it tasted like a health bar, but it was still good and seemed to give me plenty of energy for my class later.

5:45 pm - Dance Workout - Energized and Awesome!

I had a nice hourlong work out of zumba and dancing. It was so much fun. It amazes me that I can't run for an hour, but I can dance for an hour. Go figure!

I asked my instructor how many calories we burn per class and she said she estimates she burns 600-700 when she's going full force. Yowsa! I can't quite move like her, so I'm estimating low at around 550. Still a good workout!

9:15 pm - Warm Quinoa with Shrimp and Asparagus - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We're digging deeper into our other budgets to pay for food through the end of the month. Hubby picked up shrimp, asparagus, garlic, a small onion, and some parsley today for dinner. Guess this will come out of our "Out to Eat" budget?

I've been looking forward to trying my quinoa that I picked up from a health-food store awhile back for the longest time. With us eating seafood (non-meat) for Lent and hubby having picked up asparagus with the shrimp, I decided to give this Whole Foods recipe a try: Warm Quinoa Salad with Shrimp and Asparagus.

I made a couple slight changes: I didn't have sundried tomatoes, so I subbed tomato paste - about 1 tbsp, I sauted the shrimp in a separate pan and put them over the asparagus and peas when those went in, and I ended up cooking my quinoa for about 5-10 minutes longer than suggested and had to add a wee bit more veggie broth. The end result was well-worth all the effort and it wasn't really that hard.

I served dinner with some whole grain buttered toast - a slice of High 5 Fiber for hubby and the nub of the Dakota for me. Can you tell which one is which?

Hubby waits while I photograph dinner.

And a beautiful dinner it was. I thought it came out great! This is definitely a keeper. Even hubby liked it and I thought he wouldn't because he doesn't like cousous. The quinoa reminded me a bit of couscous, but seemed more tender and not quite as dry.

We had some water and more 3 Buck Chuck with dinner.

Hubby had lots of seconds and I had a little bit. Dinner was so good!

11:00 pm - Baklava + Milk - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Hubby got me some baklava while he was at the store. One of my fave restaurants is in the same shopping center as the grocery store and he swung by to get me this treat. I will be enjoying the baklava with a wee bit of 2% milk.

As soon as I publish this post, I'm off to enjoy. I'm ashamed to admit to eating this so late, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? I need to work on getting my schedule in check so I'm not eating so late and not doing everything else, like blogging, so late. I've been doing pretty good so far this week, but I guess I lost track of time tonight. Whoopsie!

Calorie Summary + Personal Update

Calories Eaten: 2047
Calories Burned: 545
Net Calories: 1502

I'm a little over my goal, but I think I'm doing pretty good since I haven't even finished 1 week of calorie counting. I'm starting to get a better handle on how to balance my foods and snacks, but I know I have a lot to learn still, too.

As a side note, I wanted to talk to how my changes from SCBR seem to be affecting me. Earlier this week, I started noticing my jeans were fitting looser. Yay! I've also felt a bit more energized overall. Even today, when I went to my dance class, everything seemed a wee bit easier! It was such a great feeling! I love seeing the results of hard work and this has been 4 weeks now in the making...woohoo! I miss how I felt when I was an "athlete" (skating 6 times a week), so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.

Tomorrow is my school's homecoming, so I'm hoping to have some fun pics to share! :) I'm off to enjoy my baklava!

Almonds, Apples, Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Cookie, Dessert, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Pasta, SCBR, Shrimp, Snack, Soup, Tea, Kale, Asparagus, Quinoa, Peas

Next Week's Organic Delivery List (for 3/3/09)

Here's what we'll be getting in next week's delivery of organic produce from Absolute Organics:

• Green Peppers - local
• Green Leaf Lettuce - local
• Cremini Mushrooms - local - recipe emailed
• Collard Greens - recipes emailed
• Carrots with Tops - recipe emailed
• Avocados - recipe emailed
• Fuji Apples
• Bartlett Pears
• Valencia Oranges
• Kiwi
• Bananas

The cremini mushrooms scare me a bit because I don't really like mushrooms at all, but I also didn't check them off on my sign-up indicating that I didn't want any, so I knew I'd get some eventually.  Looks like next week is the week!  I'd like to learn to like mushrooms.  As with most foods I don't care for, I keep trying mushrooms every so often, hoping that I'll finally decide I like them.  So far, no luck.  I'll still put them in recipes that call for them, but I usually mince it up so tiny that I can't tell I'm eating mushroom, but I still get that great mushroom flavor.

I'm especially excited about the kiwis.  I don't think I've ever actually purchased kiwis just to eat, but I remember my mom eating them all the time.  I gave them a quick check in my The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth book.  Unfortunately, I read it over really early this morning before I had coffee, so I can't remember exactly, but I think the book said that kiwis have twice as much vitamin C than oranges!  Here's a good article with some nutritional info on kiwis (click).

I'm looking forward to another fresh & amazing delivery!

PS If you sign up with AO, tell them I sent you! :)

SCBR Week 4/ Day 5 Food/Exercise Journal

7:30 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

Whilst digging out a bag of coffee from my pantry, I re-discovered a sample of Fresh Market Caramel Macchiato flavored coffee, so I tossed it in the coffee machine to brew. It was quite tasty...I'll have to think about buying some next time I'm at FM.

9:15 am - Banana-Pumpkin Oats - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

For breakfast, I made a bowl of Banana-Pumpkin Oats so I could try to use up some more of the canned pumpkin leftover from Sunday's dinner. I will have to remember to buy a different brand of canned pumpkin next time...this TJ organic version wasn't nearly as bright orange and I think the vibrant color is one of my favorite parts of eating anything with canned pumpkin.

Pre-cooking:

• 1/3 cup 1-minute quick cooking Quaker oats
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tbsp canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Post-cooking:

• 1 tbsp 2% milk, stirred in
• 1 small, sliced banana, 1/2 stirred in, 1/2 on top
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds, on top

The oats were quite good. I liked how the pumpkin changed the overall flavor of the oatmeal, but it wasn't anything too drastic. Just something to make you wonder what tasted so good.

I also had a nice big cup of water to wash things down.

12:00 pm - Spicy Chicken Salad on High 5 Fiber + Tabbouleh - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I brought 2 pieces of the Great Harvest bread I got yesterday to work today and went to a local health-grocery store to pick up some stuff to go with it. I looked for one of my faves of theirs - the spicy chicken salad. I didn't see it behind the counter and decided to ask if they had some in the back, expecting a "no." Well...they had it! So I got a small container and brought that back along with some tabbouleh, yogurt, and a banana-oatmeal bar from the clearance rack.

Sans lids

I was a little disappointed with the tabbouleh. Last time, it was sooo flavorful! This time, I think it was missing some lemon juice. I didn't get that tang of citrus. I almost got some marinated kale at the grocery store. I had it in my hands and everything and I put it back for the tabbouleh. Guess I chose the wrong one today. Though, in truth, I did still enjoy the tabbouleh overall.

I ended up using only about 1/2 the spicy chicken salad, which made an excellent combo with that GH bread. Yum!

I had some more water with lunch.

Leftovers...I'll be enjoying these tomorrow!

2:15 pm - Yogi Tea Himalayan Apple Spice + Candy - Content (5)

Later on, I broke out one of the Yogi Tea samples I got in the mail - the Himalayan Apple Spice. It smelled just like apple cider and was pretty tasty. Not my fave of the yogi teas, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I ended up sharing the tea with a co-worker and fellow tea fan who wanted to sample it, so this picture shows what I actually had - about 1 cup's worth. Just enough!

Yogi tea quote of the day - "Act selfless, you will be infinite."

I also broke out my valentine from the valentine's day potluck awhile back. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of this for the potluck post! They were so cute! Sorry Nate!

Just a few to snack on.

3:45 pm - String Cheese + Carrots + Yogurt - Content (5)

Later in the day, I was feeling snacky and grabbed a Wallaby blueberry yogurt, string cheese, a little more water...

...and some baby carrots.

I love how the Wallabys are already mixed. Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts kinda gross me out, but I do eat them from time to time.

6:45 pm - TJ's Frozen BBQ Chicken Pizza - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We're still on the tail end of February's spent grocery budget, so we're trying not to buy anything new. We ended up baking up this frozen BBQ Chicken pizza from Trader Joe's for dinner. The pizza was much smaller than I thought it would be, but it was just the right size for me and hubby.

Hubby even noticed we had a bottle of 3-buck-Chuck in the apartment, so we broke that out and had a taste of the sauvignon blanc.

I only had a wee bit with some water.

The pizza was awesome! Probably the best frozen pizza I've ever had...no lie. We'll probably be picking a couple more of these up. I also liked how the ingredient list had whole wheat flour as one of (if not "the") first ingredient. I ended up halving one of the pieces shown above so I had about 1/3 of the pizza. Just looking at 1/3 of the pizza, you wouldn't think it was enough, but I tried really hard to listen to my body to see if it would tell me it was full and after my 1/3 of the pizza, it actually was!

7:30 pm - Walk with Hubby + Bailey - Refreshed

Hubby and I took Bailey for a quick walk after dinner. We just walked around the neighborhood and came home. We were gone for about 30 minutes and I did about 10 minutes of stretching afterwards. The walk wasn't vigorous, but it was still nice and refreshing.

9:00 pm - Apple + Chocolate Soy Milk - Content (5)

Just before starting this post, I decided another snack was in order. I sliced up a Pink Lady apple and poured a tiny cup of chocolate soy milk. The apple is mostly gone at the moment and the chocolate soy milk is about to be enjoyed. Once I publish this, I'm off to get cozy on the couch and watch a DVR'ed neat. Love that show! It makes me want to clear out my clutter.

Calorie Summary

Calories Eaten: 1571
Calories Burned: 82
Net Calories: 1489

(Calories I'm supposed to eat per Fitday.com goal: 1437)

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this! :)

Almonds, Apples, Bananas, Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Lunch, Oatmeal, Pizza, Pumpkin, Salad, SCBR, Snack, Soy Milk, Tea, Wine

Going Green

The more I learn about "going green," the more I want to "go green" myself.  In fact, the more I learn about going green, the more I realize that my dad has been doing green-type-things on his own before they were popular (at least I don't they've become popular till recently, but here's a good article with some historical information), so I've had some exposure to some great ideas already.  Ahh...my dad...the pioneer!  lol...jk

Though my memory is a bit fuzzy, I remember a few things from childhood he would do that are pretty green: planting & maintaining his own vegetable garden, keeping a compost pile, and juicing (though maybe the last one isn't truly "green" but is just something related?).   I wonder if he knew he was being "green" back then?  I see we're going to have to have a chat next time I'm home so I can better remember. I'd also like to talk to him about why he did those green things.

I found an interesting article whilst browsing the web today that I'd like to share: "Top 10 Tips to Go Green" (from sarasnow.com).  I'm inspired by this article and by Sara Snow to want to go more green.  In a Get Fresh with Sara Snow DVRed TV show I watched last night, Sara explained that going green doesn't mean you have to start over.  Rather, you can make small changes in your life to make it a little more green over time. 

As for us, we are on our way, making small changes to be more green : We already order that organic food delivery, and we have some of those energy efficient lights suggested in the article, so to continue, I think I'm going to do a new project, time allowing: Fabric Grocery Bags!  I'm going to try to sew some this weekend.  Yay for crafting!

Do you do anything to be green?

SCBR Week 4/ Day 4 Food/Exercise Journal

7:30 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

I woke up pretty easy this morning. I usually feel incredibly tired and like I didn't get enough sleep, which is part or maybe most of the reason I want to try to get on a regular sleeping schedule. I'm tired of feeling like that when I wake up in the AM.

Coffee this morning was good - Fresh Market Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk. So good first thing in the morning!

10:30 am - Elvis Oats - Content (5)

I don't know how I get so distracted right after I get to work, but I didn't end up making breakfast till almost lunch time! I also forgot to take a photo of my eats, too, because I got to talking to a co-worker about what all goes into the bowl. I am trying to get my co-workers hooked on healthy foods...heehee. Anywho, after giving a sample, I got called into a meeting and...well, I just ate the oats and forgot the photo, so here's the "after." There's a photo of my original "Elvis Oats" from exactly a week ago here (click).

Pre-cooking:

• 1/3 cup 1-minute quick cooking Quaker oats
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 tsp flax
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Post-cooking:

• 1 tbsp 2% milk, stirred in
• 1 small, sliced banana, 1/2 stirred in, 1/2 on top
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds, topped
• Spoonful of Barney Butter on the side
• Sprinkle cinnamon (this week's challenge ingredient!)

What's up with the Peanut Butter on the spoons?!: I don't know if you're new to food blogging, but I remember when I first saw the spoonfuls of Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Barney Butter, and all those other butters photographed by the spoonful on bowls of oatmeal. I wondered what the PB/AB was all about. At first, I figured it was just some trend that someone (probably Kath) started and everyone copied. Now, I'm learning that it's a smart way to add protein to your breakfast (though maybe everyone copied anyways?). You can get a good serving of whole grains by eating oatmeal for breakfast, but adding some protein makes it more of a complete meal and according to this article by Whole Foods, the protein helps to lower your glycemic index. The article is a great read and has some other good ideas for breakfast. Check it out if you have a moment! :)

I also had some water with breakfast...so refreshing!

12:15 pm - Pizza + Coke - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I had originally planned to have the leftovers that I was supposed to eat yesterday for lunch for today's lunch, but my company ended up bringing pizza in for everyone and who can resist pizza? Besides, since we're running out of money for this month's grocery budget, I find it hard to pass up a free meal.

I grabbed a slice of cheese and a slice of Buffalo Chicken (super spicy!).

For drinks, I found a co-worker to split a coca-cola classic with me. In general, I don't drink a lot of sodas (I've promised someone a post about how I weaned myself off of sodas, so look for that in a future post), but there are some things that I must have soda with. I must have coke with pizza, hamburgers, and fries. I usually must have sprite with Mexican. I don't know why...that's just how I roll.

See that orange staining the crust there? That's heat! And it's hot! And it's soooo good!

I tried really hard to eat as intuitively as possible with today's lunch (something I was supposed to start doing weeks ago for SCBR), which was really hard because I know that, in general, I usually eat 2 slices, so I usually just eat 2 slices without thinking about how full I am. Today, I worked really hard on listening to my body to see if I was full before the 2 pieces were eaten.

When I had about a 1/2 slice worth of pizza left, I decided to take a break. I set the pizza aside and drank some water and told myself that if I was still hungry in a few minutes that I would eat more, but there was no reason to eat it all right that moment. You know what? I realized that I really was full. This little exercise made me wonder how many times before I'd overeaten mindlessly. Hmm...interesting results for sure!

I set the pizza aside to either snack on later or take home to hubby. I also only had about 1/2 of the 1/2 of coke, which means I only drank about 1/4 cup. Even when I do drink soda, I don't really like too much of it. Those mini cokes are perfect for me although I still usually don't even finish those!

2:00 pm - Green Tea - Content (5)

Later on in the day, I made a quick Equal Exchange Organic Green Tea with some honey. So nice and light!

4:00 pm - Leftover Pizza Snack - Content (5)

I skipped lunch (as far as breaks go) and ate my pizza at my desk because my co-worker needed a report made as soon as possible. So, I took a late break to exchange a Clif Nectar bar I got on Monday that was expired. Eww! I found a few new bars I've never seen before to try out - the brand is Weil by Nature's Path and I got 3 flavors - Pistachi-Oh!, Goji Moji, and Chia Razz. Can't wait to try them out! I first noticed the dude on the packaging of the bar because I think he's the one featured in a Natural Health mag I almost bought at Barnes & Nobles a few weeks ago. I'll have to look for it again now...I still want it!

After my quick errand, I finished up the rest of that Buffalo Chicken pizza. It was so good, even cold, and I don't like cold pizza, in general.

5:15 pm - Goji Moji Bar - Content (5)

I stopped by Great Harvest Bread Company after work since I didn't get any bread yesterday, but I'm still sad I didn't get any Flax Oat Bran (and they only make it on Tuesday!) because I think that is my favorite.

I've been a long time fan of whole wheat bread, but I've grown to prefer Great Harvest because of the high quality of craftsmanship and especially the ingredients. Watching Get Fresh with Sara Snow has me wanting to go more and more green and is kinda freaking me out about all the chemicals and what-not that seem to be in conventional food products. GHBC doesn't use preservatives or artificial ingredients...yay!

Plus, look at all those great ingredients in there that give the bread such great texture - flax seed and millet. I like how they put some of the ingredients on top of the bread, too, so you know what you're getting.

On my way home from GHBC, I dove right in to my Goji Moji bar. A woman I used to work with drank a tea made with Goji berries and I always thought they looked interesting. They sell them in bulk at the health food stores, so I may check it out some time.

The bar was delicious and tasted like a Fig Newton bar but with a hint of citrus, more texture and sooo much better! I'll definitely be getting more of these. I hope the other flavors are as good as this one!

5:30 - 7:00 pm - Walking, Jogging, Strength Training, + Stretching - Tired but Good

As soon as I got home, I changed and took Bailey for a longer than normal walk. I tried to add intermittent bursts of jogging, but they didn't last long. Like I've said before, I'm not a fan of running, but just like with foods I don't like (think mushrooms) I'm willing to keep giving them a try in hopes of changing my mind. The funny thing about tonight's workout was that each time that I tried jogging again, it seemed both easier and harder at the same time. Hmm...hopefully it just starts to get easier. It seems I would be able to more efficiently burn calories if I could do so.

Once we got home, I did 15 minutes of the strength training exercises outlined in my SCBR book, including wall squats, which are like torture. Between those and the lunges, my muscles are feeling the burn. I had to skip the pushups due to my wrist...grr...hopefully that heals up soon.

After the strength moves, I did 15 minutes of stretching, which is probably my fave part of any work out. Love it!

7:45 pm - Leftover Soup + Buttered Toast - Content (5)

Check out the new flowers I got from Target! They make me smile. I love having flowers around, but I prefer fresh ones. I like to grab the big pretty bunches they have at Farmer's Markets, especially. When we finally get our house, I want to have a cutting garden so I can have fresh flowers around all the time. These faux ones will have to do for now.

I'd also like to grow my own vegetables and herbs like my parents did when I was growing up.

Another POV...I first saw these flowers at a Target display several weeks ago. I thought they were pretty and didn't think much of them. Afterwards, I couldn't get them out of my head. Every time I went to a new Target, I checked to see if they were there and they were always gone. *sad face* But, earlier this week, I finally found some and snatched them up. I think they look great with those seersucker place mats!

I fiiiinally had that leftover soup that I've planned to eat 2 times this week and skipped! It was really good. The beans must be extra filling because I only ate 1/2 the bowl, which was a 1 1/2 cup portion. I don't plan to portion out all my meals, but I think it's good to try it out once in awhile so you know what you're putting into your body. It helps with the calorie counting, too.

I also had more water...

...and some GHBC High 5 Fiber toasted with a wee bit of butter.

10:00 pm - Chocolate Soy Milk - Content (5)

I tried to have a pear post-dinner, but it tasted...weird. It was kind of firm and flavorless? I guess I've had them in the fridge for almost 1 1/2 weeks, so maybe they're too old to eat? I dunno. I did get to have a small cup of chocolate soy milk. This stuff is soooo good!

I recently saw a delicious-looking Vegan Chocolate Cake on Get Fresh with Sara Snow and would loooove to try it out! It actually uses chocolate soy milk as an ingredient!

Calorie Summary

Calories eaten: 1585
Calories burned: 402
Net Calories: 1183

Seems low, no? I think Ellie Krieger said, in SCBR, to not eat less than 1200 calories no matter what, but I'm close 1200. The pear would have put me over...I'm sad it didn't taste right because I really wanted to eat it!

Lesson Learned

Today, I learned that there's no need to overeat in "the moment." If I feel full or start to feel full, I'll try to set any extra food aside and snack on it later if I get hungry again. If I don't have any leftovers, I'll figure out a snack later.

Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Pizza, SCBR, Snack, Soup, Tea, Soy Milk

SCBR Week 4/ Day 3 Food/Exercise Journal

7:30 am - Coffee + Apple Pie Oatmeal - Content (5)

This morning, I brewed coffee and made breakfast for hubby. I had FM BB with sugar and 2% milk to drink.

I decided to take a moment to make stovetop oats, even though I knew it would put me leaving a bit later than I wanted. Last night, I thought it would be cool to make Apple Spice oatmeal so I could use up some of our apples and utilize this week's challenge ingredient - cinnamon!

I wanted to name the bowl Apple Spice Oats, but you know what....the mix tasted like apple pie...yes, seriously! I've been trying to convince myself all day to call it the original Apple Spice name I thought of, but I can't. It tastes too much like pie!

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (didn't want to make too much since I'm still trying to convince hubby to eat breakfast and he thinks he can't eat a lot)
• 1 cup water
• dash salt
• half Pink Lady apple, chopped

Post-cooking ingredients:

• stirred in 1 tbsp brown sugar
• stirred in 2 tbsp 2% milk
• stirred in dash cinnamon
• topped with walnuts and a slice of apple

12:30 pm - Sushi + Miso - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I actually brought some soup leftover from last night to work today, but ended up going out with 2 co-workers to a local Asian restaurant. I will eat the soup tomorrow.

I did end up having soup with lunch, but it was miso instead of leftovers. The soup had seaweed, tofu, and green onions - just the way I like it!

I got a sushi roll with shrimp tempura, crab, and avocado. It was very tasty and I ended up trading a piece of sushi for...

...a piece of my co-worker's mango chicken.

I also had some water with my lunch.

2:00 pm - Water - Content (5)

I had an appointment this afternoon, so I grabbed some water for the car ride.

4:30 pm - Clif Nectar Cherry Pomegranate - Content (5)

After the appointment, I dialed in to a conference call from home. Midway through the call, I realized I hadn't had my daily snack for SCBR, so I grabbed this Clif Nectar bar that I tucked into my purse pre-appointment in case I got hungry.

It was quite tasty and quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

After the call, hubby and I went to Great Harvest. I wanted to go after my appointment, but I ended up waiting almost 45 minutes after my appointment time and was already late for the conference call. I wanted to go immediately after the conference call, but hubby had to do a quick errand in the house. We went 10 minutes before closing and, as I expected but against my hopes, they were all sold out of King Cake and Flax Oat Bran so we didn't get anything and said we'd come back later in the week. *sad face* We next hit up Target for a quick trip, and then it was on to dinner. During our shopping trip, hubby talked me out of the frozen TJ's BBQ Chicken pizza that we were planning to eat and into eating out and it was all downhill, calorie-wise, from there. We are out of grocery money, but do have some "eating out" money left in our February budget.

6:30 pm - Mexican + Margarita - Stuffed (8)

We ended up getting Mexican for dinner. I've been super-strict on my diet before (earlier in life), so I don't want to restrict myself too much on food. A splurge here and there is ok in my book. We started off with chips and salsa.

We also got a Mexican-dinner must-have (for us at least) - cheese dip! I didn't bother counting my chips, but I estimate I had about 20. I think the chips did me in fullness-wise.

I was going to just have water with dinner, but ended up getting a margarita because they were on special, we had to order 2 drinks to use a coupon, and because it sounded good and I haven't had one in longer than I can remember. Calorie-wise, the margarita really did me in at an estimated 700 calories. I'm not sure I would have had the margarita knowing it was going to be so bad for me. I mean, it was good, but it wasn't that good!

I also had 1 chicken fajita on a corn tortilla, since Ellie Krieger recommended getting corn tortillas over flour ones. Apparently the corn tortillas are a source of whole grains or at least closer to whole grains?

I also had 2 small portions of refried beans and rice. Each portion was roughly 1/4 cup.

I thought I was eating intuitively most of the night, but I guess I really wasn't doing as well as I thought because I am so stuffed as I type this! I need to work on staying within 3 and 6 on the Hunger Continuum in SCBR.

7:40 pm - Walk with Bails + Hubby - A Little Better

I felt so full after dinner, I talked hubby into taking Bailey for a walk after dinner. I was actually hoping to take a walk after the conference call earlier but got distracted by the quick shopping trip we took. I still really wanted to do something active, so a walk it was.

We took the shorter route and were only gone about 20 minutes burning a measly 86 calories (as estimated by fitday.com). I also calculated about 52 calories burned from the shopping trip. Not sure if I'll keep adding the small household/errand type activities in, but a couple here and there seem reasonable.

Summary

Calories eaten: 2,681
Calories burned: 138
Net: 2,543

Yikes! I used to think my random food-splurges were ok, but looking at it from the calorie counting perspective, I'm starting to re-consider. I'm such a calorie-counting newbie! Is this normal/ok to have spikes like this in your calorie-count if you eat healthy in general? If I had planned better, I could have eaten fewer calories earlier in the day to try to help balance everything, but I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles some times? I don't want to limit myself from never having splurges, but I may have to re-consider how I approach them based on this new knowledge.

Lesson Learned

Today, I learned that you can plan out all you want, but following through is what counts. I need to work on balancing my splurges. In general, I like to try to eat out only once a day max, but I don't keep that in check as much as I'd like and am easily persuaded into going against plans. Need to work on that! I think it's good to be flexible, but I also think there is a balance. Hey, at least I got my post done early! Maybe I can watch a DVR'ed Get Fresh with Sara Snow?! Ta-ta!

Apples, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Oatmeal, Restaurant, Rice, SCBR, Shrimp, Snack, Soup, Walnuts, Crab

Free Kashi Frozen Entree Coupon

Head's up Kashi lovers!  Kashi is giving away a coupon for a free frozen entree.  Go to kashi.com to sign up for yours! :) *while supplies last*  I think the offer is good till March 15th.

I'm normally not a fan of frozen dinners, but if they want to let me try it for free, I'm willing to give it a go.  I've been wanting to try one anyways...heehee.

SCBR Week 4/ Day 2 Food/Exercise Journal

I got done with my blog posts pretty early last night, but ended up staying up late to watch the last of the Academy Awards. I ended up sleeping in a bit longer than intended and was running late most of the morning.

8:15 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

I started today with a much-needed mug of Fresh Market brew - 1/2 Breakfast Blend + 1/2 Hazelnut with 2% milk and sugar.

10:00 am - Starbucks + Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal - Content (5)

I was running too late to do Bagel Day Monday, so I decided to switch things up this week and have Starbucks Day Monday and I'll get my bagel on Friday. I had a grande hazelnut nonfat latte.

I got Starbucks because I needed to swing by the grocery store on the way to work and there was a Starbucks already inside.

At the store, I picked up:

• 2 new Clif Bars (Banana Nut Bread + Chocolate Brownie)
• 2 new Clif Nectars (Cherry Pomegranate + Dark Chocolate Walnut?)
• String Cheese
• A mini 2% milk
• Sponges

I got these groceries with my money since our joint budget was out and this was all for me to eat anyways.

For breakfast I made Pumpkin Spice Oats.

Pre-cooking:

• 1/3 cup 1-minute Quaker oats
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 tsp flax seed
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp TJ's organic canned pumpkin
• sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg

Post-cooking:

• 2% milk, stirred in
• Topped with walnuts

I don't like TJ's organic canned pumpkin as much as the regular stuff at the grocery store. It's a bit dark in color (not nearly the usual vibrant orange, though I wonder if the darker color is technically "better") and has a different flavor. I also think this bowl could have used a stir in of some brown sugar.

11:00 am - Green Tea + Water - Content (5)

We had a 4 hour long conference call today, so I grabbed some hot green tea 1/4 way through to warm up. I also added some honey.

I also had a big cup of water.

1:15 pm - String Cheese + Almonds - Content (5)

By 1:15 pm, I was getting antsy for some food. I grabbed a quick snack of almonds and string cheese, which held me through the meeting nicely. The meeting was scheduled to (and actually did) end at 2 pm.

2:15 pm - Subway + Sweet Tea - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I went with a co-worker from the meeting to Subway, which is really close to our office. They totally got me with their $5 lunch combo deal because I didn't need a drink or chips, but the thought of sweet tea was appealing once it was in my head.

I got the roasted chicken breast sub with spinach (I normally get lettuce, but this seemed better nutritionally), tomatoes, green peppers, pickles, banana peppers, salt + pepper, spices, oil + vinegar (a little) all on the 9 grain bread. I ate all of the sub but the last nub of bread.

My co-worker had to run some errands afterwards, so I took the opportunity to walk back to the office. It was a short walk, but it was nice to get some fresh air and burn a few calories in the process. The weather was chilly but the sun was shining and the sky was blue and so pretty.

3:15 pm - Cookie + Milk - Content (5)

I ended up trading in my chips for 2 cookies. I gave 1 cookie to a co-worker and saved the other one for when I was feeling hungry after lunch, which was about an hour later. The cookie was to make up for the one Friday that I wanted so badly and didn't eat and it was delicious!

I had the cookie with a wee bit of 2% milk - about 1/4 cup.

6:15 pm - Coffee Sample - Content (5)

After work, I swung by the Fresh Market to grab a couple groceries for dinner/the week. I love FM because they always have coffee out to sample and getting a coffee sample is always the first thing I do when I get to FM. Today they were sampling their Winter Blend, which I mixed with some sugar and cream. It was pretty good, but I still like their Breakfast Blend the most.

At the store, I picked up:

• Bananas
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 Wallaby yogurts

I went over budget with this purchase, but only by $5. It will have to come out of one of the other budgets we still have left.

8:30 pm - Bean + Veggie Soup with Buttered GH Toast - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I don't think I mentioned before, but I did some quick menu-planning to ensure we could make it through this last week of February on as little as possible, mostly using pantry ingredients. Tonight's dinner plan was veggie soup, which worked out well calorie-wise (more on that in a minute).

The soup called for some fresh veggies.

I also used some canned tomatoes and beans and some broccoli I chopped and froze over the weekend.

I made a big pot of soup loosely following an Ellie Krieger recipe but with the ingredients I had on hand.

Dinner was simple but tasty and served with some water...

...and the last of the GH Dakota bread toasted with a bit of butter.

The soup was topped with a sprinkling of parm and some fresh parsley. Yum!

I ended up doing something for the first time tonight - portioning. I may have done it before and forgotten, but I can't really remember a time when I portioned my food. I don't think it's a necessity to portion out all food, but it can be a helpful exercise when you're trying to be more mindful of what you're eating.

Tonight, I portioned exactly 1 1/2 cups of soup, the recommended portion, and worked on eating as intuitively as possible (something I didn't do as well as I should have during the week #2 I was supposed to follow it for SCBR). It was hard to listen to my body. I felt hungry and full at the same time, so I decided when I had eaten most of the food but 1/2 cup of soup to take a break from eating. I figured I could re-heat the soup later, if I wanted. It turns out that I must be full from all the eats today because I still haven't gone back for that leftover soup. It makes me wonder how many times I've actually overeaten before. Hmm....

Anywho, on a random note, I totally got suckered into watching the Millionaire Matchmaker show tonight. It was fascinating and a complete waste of time all at once...lol.

Calories Consumed (estimated): 1657
Calories Burned (estimated): 101
Net: 1556

Calorie Counting

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed comments with tips on calorie counting! I was eager to check out one of the solutions today and decided to try out fitday.com.I wanted to try one of the calorie counting sites out on my lunch break and by lunch time, most votes/comments were in favor of fitday.com.

Early Frustrations: At first, I was put off by fitday's food tracker. I started by wanting to add my coffee with milk and sugar, but I wasn't expecting to have to add 3 separate foods to do so. It seemed so cumbersome and silly to have to break things out at such a level and I wanted a faster solution.

Getting the Hang of It: I wasn't ready to give up on fitday just yet. I decided to just try the site out for at least one whole day before making any decisions about checking out other options. Today alone, I ended up adding 25 line items of food, mostly because of all the ingredients in the oatmeal and on the sub, but it wasn't so bad once I got used to the process. I saw an option for creating "custom foods" and may consider trying this option out for stuff I eat a lot like my morning cuppa joe.

Opening My Eyes: I have to say that my eyes were really opened to how calories added up. I consumed way more calories early in the day than I normally would have realized. I consumed a whopping (roughly) 450 calories between my Starbucks latte, sweet tea, and chocolate chip cookie. There were more calories in those 3 items than in my dinner! Just like with budgeting money, the little things really do add up. I've also opened up to the idea of calorie counting in general. I can't believe how much my mind has changed about calorie counting, food, and exercise by this "little" project of counting calories. I feel like I've been given the opportunity to view things from a totally different POV. For any one who's never counted calories before and is interested in health and nutrition, I highly recommend trying it out, even if it's only for 1 day. You will learn a lot!

Setting a Goal: Whilst browsing around fitday.com today, I noticed a section for setting goals. I've told people I started doing SCBR not to lose weight but to be healthier overall and to fit into my clothes better (I have a stack of pants that don't fit me, but I do think it's possible to slim down without actually losing weight since muscle weighs more than fat and all that good jazz). I didn't want to start a diet that would have me obsessing about my weight again. But, as I've been researching health and nutrition, I've noticed that for my height and weight, I am actually in the upper echelon of the healthy BMI for my size. I actually think I could stand to lose weight, but not too much, and I want to do it the healthy way - through proper eating and exercise. I'd like to get my BMI closer to the low-middle section of healthy BMIs, which means that I actually do need to lose some weight - about 10 pounds. I want to accomplish this by not only watching what I eat calorie wise, but by incorporating foods that will be good for me and by exercising.

I've been hesitant to post my personal size stats, but here goes:

My height: 5'4"
My current weight: 131
My goal weight: 120 (Why 120? I dunno...because I like even numbers, this # put me in the low-mid BMI range, and 10-ish pounds sounds like a reasonable goal. Losing 5 seemed too little and more than 10 seemed too aggressive.)
My goal weight date: 5/24/09

According to fitday.com, my current BMI is 22.49, my healthy BMI range is 18.5 - 25, and my goal BMI is 20.6. My "Calorie Restriction Per Day" is 428. According to the site, the "Calories You Can Eat" is 1,437. The number is definitely lower than what I normally eat, but I think I can have a healthy diet while still staying under the max...especially once I factor in exercise. :)

Also in the Works

A Deep Post: I'm currently working on a post about me and my story with food, diets, health, weight and all that fun stuff. It's a long one, but hopefully a good post. It's harder than I expected to recall the details of me and my relationship to weight and food from as far back as I can remember to now.

A Week/Month Without Processed Foods Challenge: I'm also considering another challenge idea - a week or a month or something like that of living without processed foods. Doesn't that sound like fun?! Ok, maybe not, but I think it would be pretty cool to try. :)

Wrist: PS My wrist is killing me today! I so should not have done those pushups yesterday. I'm going to take it easy on the wrist so no pushups and sadly, no knitting or crochet. :( I want to use it as little as possible for awhile. Guess this gives me more time to think about food! Yum!

Almonds, Bread, Breakfast, Broccoli, Carrots, Celery, Chicken, Coffee, Cookie, Dinner, Lunch, Oatmeal, Onions, Parmesan, Pumpkin, SCBR, Snack, Soup, Tea, Tomatoes

Hi Mommy!

I just got this photo hubby emailed from his iPhone, titled "Hi Mommy!"

 

Aww...I just love when hubby sends me photos during the day!  It's so nice to see Bailey's adorable, little face. :)

Calorie Counting Tip Request

A long time ago, I tried counting the calories I was consuming in a day.  It lasted only about half a day as I saw it as more of a bother than as something helpful.  It seemed like so much work, and I guess I didn't see the point in it.

Well, I've changed my mind...sort of.  I don't want to count calories forever, but I think it would be good to have an idea of how many calories I'm consuming day to day.  At this point in time, I have not now nor have I ever had even the slightest clue how many calories I've consumed in a day.  I couldn't even give a good estimate.  This isn't part of SCBR or anything, but just something I'd like to do for myself.

So, I'm planning on starting to count calories for awhile...just long enough that I can get the gist of it and start to estimate my meals and plan what I eat and snack on throughout the day more accordingly.

Does any one have any tips on calorie counting?  I'm already tracking what I eat, but is there a website that you can key in various foods and it will tell you how many calories are in that food?  I've seen a couple books at Barnes & Nobles that have calorie data, but if I can get that info for free online, that would seem to be the better option. 

Any tips around the whole calorie-counting process are appreciated! :)

Thanks!

Weekly Food Challenge (2/22 - 2/28) - Cinnamon!

Click here to learn more about the weekly food challenge and how you can play along. But, basically, you just make something during the challenge week with the weekly challenge food item and add your link to this post (leave a comment with your URL and I'll add it). See, simple!

This Week's Challenge Item (2/22 - 2/28) - Cinnamon:

I'm actually slightly allergic to cinnamon (I can eat it, I just shouldn't), but it was on the list, so here goes.  Perhaps now I have a good excuse to make cinnamon rolls?  Mmm... :)

According to Parker-Pope, from her article "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating", "May help control blood sugar and cholesterol. How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal."

According to Jonny Bowden in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, "Cinnamon also contains anti-inflammatory compounds that may be helpful in affecting the pain and stiffness of muscles, joints, and menstrual discomfort." Additionally, it is "really good for digestive function."

Recipe Ideas:

• Sprinkle over sliced apples
• Make your own granola or granola bars with cinnamon
• Cinnamon Sugar Fry Bread by Guy Fieri
• Panettone Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Syrup by Giada DeLaurentiis
• Cherry, Almond, and Cinnamon Granola by Ina Garten
• Apple Zeppole with Cinnamon Whipped Cream by Giada DeLaurentiis
• Fried Cinnamon Sticks by Paula Deen
• Cinnamon Rolls by Paula Deen
• Cinnamon Bun Babka by Tyler Florence
• Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls by Giada DeLaurentiis
• Italian Doughnuts by Giada DeLaurentiis (I've made this one and it's gooood!)
• Apricot and Nut Cookies with Amaretto Icing by Giada DeLaurentiis

How to Play:
Everyone is welcome to play, but unfortunately, there's no prize this week. :( I hope you'll still play along for fun, though!

• Cook/prepare something during the challenge week (2/22-2/28) with cinnamon
• Do a blog post about what you made
• Add the Challenge banner (the muffin photo - available here - click) to your blog post, optional
• Leave me a comment on this post to let me know you did your post so I can add you link to the list

Happy cooking!

The Players:

TBD - Leave me a comment with a link to your cinnamon-post and I'll add your link here.

Special thanks to everyone who played last week! :)

Food Challenge

Food Challenge

SCBR Week 4/ Day 1 Food/Exercise Journal

10:45 am - Coffee - Strong Feelings of Hunger (3)

Thanks to our late night at the bowling alley and hubby sweetly taking the dog out this AM, I slept in till 10:30am today. I am so over staying up late at night and sleeping in...I always feel terrible, but at least I got to sleep in, right?

Hubby had already brewed a pot of Fresh Market Breakfast Blend and made me a mug with the usual 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tbsp 2% milk. The coffee woke me up, but I felt drowsy all day. I had been hoping to go ice skating some time today, but ice skating and drowsiness don't exactly mix. My knee was still bugging me, so it probably worked out for the best.

12:00 pm - Multi-Grain Pancakes + Vanilla Syrup - Content (5)

I finally talked hubby into trying the multigrain pancake mix and vanilla bean vermont maple syrup that I got from sweet Kate in my coast to coast swap awhile back. I couldn't wait to dig into them, but hubby has been dragging his feet...probably scared of the "multigrain" since he didn't like the buckwheat pancakes.

I transferred the cooked pancakes to a baking sheet in the oven set to warm. This was important since it took forever to make these at no fault of the box mix. The fault was ours. When we got our new pot and pan set, we got rid of our nice, large non-stick pan. Now, we only have this 9 incher, which is waaaaay too tiny to make a batch of pancakes. We really need a big pan or a grill pan/griddle.

The highlight of the meal was the vanilla bean syrup! This was the start of our whole swap.

Check out those vanilla beans!

We made the smallest batch possible and it still made a ton!

I ended up having 3 pancakes (first round was the 2 pictured) with some 2% milk.  I like to serve my syrup on the side because I don't like my pancakes (or waffles or whatever) to get soggy.

A closer look.

I had a big glass of water after our late breakfast.

1:15 pm - Walk with Hubby + Bailey, Strength-Training, + Stretching - A Little Sore but Good

After giving some time for food to digest, hubby and I took Bails for a 45 minute walk through a local park. When we got back, I stuck to my Week 4 SCBR changes and did 15 minutes of the strength-training exercises listed in the book and 15 minutes of stretching. The push-ups I did killed my wrist! I don't know what's up with it, but it's been bugging me a lot lately and I haven't even been making jewelry!

2:30 pm - Water - Content (5)

After my work-out, I downed some more water to hydrate.

3:30 pm - Veggie Pasta - Full (7)

I've been wondering what to do with all the veggies around the house since they all seem to be on the verge of spoiling, so I chopped up my broccoli and stored a bit in the freezer and used the rest for a pasta dish. I was considering doing a veggie stir-fry, but hubby seemed less than interested in that option.

I made a veggie pasta dish based loosely off some ideas I saw on a DVR'ed Everyday Italian recipe. The sauce is made using tomato paste and pasta water, which gave the veggies and pasta a lovely red-ish tint.

I also tossed in some frozen peas and topped the dish off with some parm.

I considered using whole wheat pasta, but really wanted the texture of regular linguine, so I decided to get some whole grains from some Great Harvest Dakota toast with butter on the side.

I finished up the water from earlier with the meal.

4:00 pm - Green Tea - Full (7)

I had some Equal Exchange organic green tea post lunch with some honey.

5:00 pm - Hi-Chew Candy - Full (7)

Later, I had 3 pieces of Hi-Chew candy in grape. I first had this stuff at the Japanese pavilion at Epcot last year, but you can find it at most Asian markets. I don't eat a lot of candy, but I have been passing this on the shelf and considering grabbing some and today was the day.

6:30 pm - Kashi Crackers + Chocolate Soy Milk - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I realized late in the day whilst cuddling with Bailey on the couch watching a DVR'ed Get Fresh with Sara Snow that I hadn't had my daily snack, so I grabbed some Country Cheddar Kashi crackers and chocolate soy milk. I intended to have some pumpkin seeds, but I couldn't find any good sources for how long they were good till they went rancid, so I didn't want to take any chances and didn't eat more than about 2.

8:00 pm - Pumpkin + Chicken Pasta - Full (7)

For dinner, I used up some more pantry items to cook dinner, including some frozen chicken. Thank goodness because we are basically out of food money for the month and by basically, I mean we have $0 in the food budget, but some other money in other budgets that I'm hoping to not touch.

I made Rachael Ray's Pasta Pumpkin with Sausage except I used a chicken breast instead of sausage.

I defrosted one chicken breast and then sauteed it in salt and pepper. I let it rest after cooking and then sliced it into smaller pieces.

I used 1/2 a box of whole wheat rotini pasta, 1/2 an onion, 1 garlic clove and the full portions of liquids. The proportions were slightly off, but it turned out ok. I also used Herbes de Provence in the sauce since I didn't have sage.

I served dinner with a side salad of green leaf lettuce, celery, baby carrots, and sunflower seeds.

My portion topped with parm and parsley.

Even though the pasta was wheat, I served dinner with more GH Dakota buttered toast at the request of hubby. I only ate about 1/3 of my piece and hubby finished the rest with his seconds.

Our wine was mostly gone, but I subbed 1/2 cup of the wine requested in the recipe with water so we could have a taste with our meal. I like to drink wines with meals that have been cooked in the particular wine - the flavors balance nicely. We only had about 1/4 cup each, but it was worth it.

I also had some water.

I was craving something sweet after dinner, but didn't have time to make anything, so I went straight to blogging. I may have a cup of chocolate soy milk as my "dessert" later.

Bedtime Rituals

This week for SCBR, I'm supposed to work on setting a bedtime schedule. I've fought schedules for so long, but I'm ready for a change. I'm ready to try to work myself back into a schedule, so I'm going to try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This should be interesting...I'm hoping to be in my bed reading by 10 pm, which is in 15 minutes and I still have to do my challenge post...yikes!

Bread, Breakfast, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chicken, Coffee, Dinner, Garlic, Green Leaf Lettuce, Lunch, Onions, Parmesan, Pasta, Salad, SCBR, Sunflower Seeds, Tea, Pumpkin

SCBR - Week 4 Changes

I am going to have to work on working on my SCBR changes earlier in the week. Weeknights seem to be spent focusing on dinner, exercise, and blogging my day and I keep forgetting to work on the "Feeling Good" part. Doh!

I have not yet completed the "Feeling Good" party for Week 3.

Here's Week 4 Changes:

1. Drink enough water and cut back on sugary drinks
2. Add strengthening moves to your walking routine
3. Create a bedtime ritual for better sleep

#1 should be a piece of cake...I cut out these a long time ago (will have to do a post on that). #2 is fine, but I think a lot of my workouts have been more strengthening than a traditional walk - I'm interested to see Ellie's suggestions either way. I'm really looking forward to #3 - I need all the help I can get in this area!

SCBR

SCBR Week 3/Day 7 Food/Exercise Journal

8:00 am - Coffee + AB Toast - Content (5)

I woke up early this morning (early for me) and super-excited about my morning dance work out class. I really needed some coffee to start the day, so I brewed some Fresh Market Breakfast Blend and had that with 2 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp 2% milk. I only ended up drinking about half the coffee since I don't like a lot of liquids on my stomach before a workout. I also had a small OJ for energy and some Great Harvest Dakota bread toasted with Barney Butter.

9:00 am - DanceOut - Energized and Happy

I had a little more food on my stomach than I would have liked to have had, but it was better than nothing. I probably should have just eaten a health bar, but toast with AB sounded good. The workout was awesome and totally reminded me how much I like to kick the day off with a great work out. I felt awakened, refreshed, energized, and super happy.

I stayed a few minutes extra to do some stretching while the room cleared out.

I downed 3/4 of this water bottle's worth of water after my workout.

11:45 am - More AB Toast - Content (5)

I knew we were having a late lunch so since we're running low on food funds, I hit up the pantry for a quick snack. I ended up having another piece of GH Dakota toast with Barney Butter Almond Butter (AB). I think I could eat whole wheat bread every day and never get sick of it. It helped me survive college.

I also had some water...

...and some baby carrots.

2:30 pm - Apps + Snacks With Friends - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

A friend of mine was in town from school, so hubby and I met up with him and his girl. I started the afternoon with a tiny 1/2 pint Boddington's. My friend offered his beer and hand for the photo so you could see how small the beer really was.

For food, we just ordered three apps to share:

Potato Cakes

Jerk Chicken Nachos

Goat Cheese Fritters

I had a half potato cake, 1 goat cheese fritter with a slice of apple, and about 6 nachos (3 not photographed because they were round #2 and I forgot).

I guess we were still feeling snacky, so we headed over to one of my fave local bakeries since it was a couple stores down and we got some baked goods! I had my fave - their glazed donut.

We took the snacks to Caribou Coffee so we could continue our conversations and munch on the baked goods. I had a small Dulce de Leche Latte.

5:00 pm - Pear - Content (5)

I had a pear shortly after we got back to cut the icky coffee after taste.

8:00 pm - BumbleVee's Cabbage Soup - Content (5)

For dinner, I made BumbleVee's Cabbage Soup (click for recipe).

I had almost all of the ingredients in my pantry already.

I served the soup with (guess what!?) more Great Harvest Dakota bread toasted but with butter this time. This stuff is just that good!

I thought the soup was quite tasty, though I was a little heavy handed on the salt...oopsie! I didn't have creamed corn, so I just added a handful of frozen corn.

I just had some plain old water with dinner.

9:00 pm - Mini Luna Bar - Content (5)

I wanted something else to eat after dinner, but we were getting ready to meet some friends for bowling, so I had to grab something quick. I settled on this Chocolate nut Brownie mini Luna bar, which seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

The bar was pretty good, but I've been enjoying the Lara, Clif Nectar, and Kind bars much more lately. I think this one would have been better crumbled over a big bowl of oats.

After downing the Luna bar, we headed out to meet some friends for bowling. The place was packed! We had to wait about 30 minutes for our lanes and I didn't end up playing because my knee was bugging me a bit and I was feeling kinda tired (I know...wimp!).

The worst part was the place was so smoky, it smelled more like a bar than a bowling alley. My clothes and hair reek of smoke and it was so loud, my voice is going from just trying to talk to people during the night. It was still nice to get out and be social, though.

12:30 am - Bedtime Tea - Content (5)

Since my throat was feeling a bit sore, I brewed some Yogi Tea Bedtime tea and had it with some honey whilst putting together this blog post.

Yogi Tea quote - "Have wisdom in your actions and faith in your merits."

I can't believe how late it is! I'm off to get some shut-eye. G'night!

Bacon, Bread, Breakfast, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Coffee, Dinner, Lunch, Onions, SCBR, Snack, Soup, Tea

A Little Shopping + Non-Shopping

Hubby and I met up with a couple friends for late lunch snacks (food to appear later in my SCBR daily journal entry). The place where we ate was in a popular shopping center, so we looked around at a couple stores.

Stuff I bought:

• I got 2 more of the placemats like the ones I originally bought for hubby's V-day Breakfast in Bed so I'd have enough to entertain a party of 4. I love having lots of stuff to entertain with, though I don't currently have much. I should probably wait till we get a house, but I'm through with waiting, so I'll try to keep things low-key till we have one. Hubby is also not interested in having people over right now since our apartment is so small, but again, I'm through with waiting!
• I also got some liquid bandage stuff.

This is to cover the minor cut I got on my finger the other night. The stuff is pretty cool because you just brush it over your cut and it covers it in a clear finish. My fave part about this is that I can wash my hands without having an icky, soggy bandaid to deal with or replace. It does feel a little weird on my finger while I type, but better than the other option.

Stuff I want to buy:

• Work-out shorts and pants from Athleta.com
• Cardigans (like 2 or 3 from Gap and/or J Crew)
• Flats (from J Crew)
• Point and Shoot camera

I have a lot of stuff that I want to buy at the moment. I'd like to say that they are "needs", but I don't think they really are. "Old Diana" probably would have already purchased all this stuff, but having learned my lesson the hard way about credit cards, I am working on doing better with my money and only spending it when I actually have it to spend. I'm working on not buying the stuff I want till the end of a given month and seeing how much I actually have left to use, so we'll see what I end up getting.

The cool thing about budgeting monthly is that I can see what fits and doesn't fit within my budget. It's sort of like a puzzle except I have more pieces than I need, so I have to choose what pieces to put in the puzzle. Same with the money...I have to choose what things I like/need over other things and prioritize my purchases. The "choice" is the key and being careful is what's going to get hubby and me into a house!

Life

SCBR Week 3/Day 6 Food/Exercise Journal

7:45 am - Coffee + AB Toast - Content (5)

I finally got to use my new mug today! Aren't those hearts adorable? They make me smile. :)

This AM, I had a brew of 1/2 FM Jamaican Blue Mountain and 1/2 Hazelnut with 2 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp 2% milk.

For breakfast, I had a piece of Dakota toast with about 1 tbsp of Barney Butter. I intended to have 2 pieces, but was running late for work and was content with 1. I was pretty hungry by lunch time, so I'll have to remember to eat 2 next time if I want to go for a later lunch.

9:30 am - Yogi Pomegranate Green Tea - Content (5)

I also got to use my other new mug today with some Yogi Tea. My co-worker shared this Yogi Tea Green Tea Pomegranate, which was quite good and, I think, better than the Republic of Tea version.

Yogi Tea quote of the day #1: "The Mind is energy. Regulate it."

12:30 pm - Soup, Salad, Granola Bar Sample, and Food TV - Full (7)

I've been spending my lunch breaks in front of the break room TV watching Food TV. It seems to be the only time I watch it any more, even though I have a TON of DVR'ed shows that need to be watched.

I brought another salad today, but needed to pick up some salad dressing at the store, so I went out with a co-worker and we got soup to combat the uber-chilly weather today...very brisk!

I spoke with the lady at the store who makes their soups and she was saying it should be very healthy. She bakes chicken and then uses the baked meat to create the soup. The chicken is all-natural and the veggies are organic. I just think it tastes good and am glad to find some sort of homemade soup for purchase on the cheap ($1.99 per cup).

I ended up picking up Annie's Natural Green Goddess dressing and was so excited to try it on my salad. It may look familiar...it's the same thing I had yesterday. I made a salad for hubby yesterday and he didn't eat it, so I ate his today. As for the salad dressing...I didn't really like it. I think I was in the mood for more of a vinaigrette and this one is pretty creamy. Oh well!

My other co-worker asked me to pick up a granola bar if I saw one so I grabbed one I saw near the cash register. He gave me 1/4 of the bar to sample. I thought it was pretty good, but tasted kinda of "diet-y."

I checked the wrapper and realized it was made with Splenda...Eww! I hate sugar replacements. I totally understand that they work for other people, but I also know they do not work for me. Give me real sugar!

Anywho, I still thought this bar was pretty good, but will look for a non-sugar-substitute version next time.

I had a big cup of water with lunch. I was planning on working out after work, so I was trying to get lots of hydration, though I have heard that you're supposed to get hydration for a workout the day before you want to work out (in addition). Any one know if this is true?

1:30 pm - More Liquids - Tea and Water - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I've been looking at houses again now that the credit card is gone. I know we still have a long way to go to save up for a down payment and stuff, but I like to look. Hubby and I have actually been house-hunting for a couple years now, but I guess we weren't as serious before as we thought. Anywho, I've been brainstorming how to decorate our future-house. I know I can't realistically pick out furniture, etc not knowing the room dimensions, but I can start to think about color-schemes and stuff, right? I really don't know what color schemes to go with, but I thought it was funny all my stuff was matching today and wanted to share a photo of that. You think hubby will go for this look? haha...jk.

After lunch, I had another tea - Yogi Tea Lemon Ginger - with some honey. I think their Ginger tea is my fave (this one is pretty good, but I like the all-ginger tea the most).

Yogi Tea Quote of the Day #2: "Empty Yourself and Let the Universe Fill You."

I also had some more water - about 2 cups.

4:30 pm - Clif Nectar - Cherry Pomegranate Bar - Full (7)

Someone put these gigantic chocolate chunk cookies in the break room to share. They were taunting me all afternoon. I don't like to restrict myself from eating too much, since I think I eat fairly healthily in general, but I knew I would regret eating any piece of these cookies later since I was planning on a nice workout after work.

Instead, I grabbed a Clif Nectar bar in Cherry Pomegranate. This bar was fantastic!

I enjoyed every bite of this bar and was sad when it was gone. This Nectar bar wasn't as filling as others, but made for a great snack and had an awesome flavor and texture. I will definitely look for more of these!

6:00 pm - Jog, Walk, Repeat - A Little Tired, but Good

After work, I changed at the office so I could head straight to a work-out class. Unfortunately, I ran into some unexpected traffic and missed the class by just minutes! Grr...I didn't want to let anything stop my work out, especially since I need to get 2 more in for this week to meet my SCBR goal, so I decided to take Bailey out for a bit.

I tried something I haven't done in a long time...running/jogging. I hate it so much. I like to exercise...I hate to run. A good friend of mine in college once said, "You should only run if a scary man or a big dog is chasing you." I like to try to follow her advice, but I am seeing the positive effects of running on health, in general. I also noticed how worn out I was from skating earlier this week and would like to get in better shape, so a little jogging seems like a good idea.

I've done a little running/jogging before, but I never liked it. I totally forced myself to do it.

Bailey was a surprisingly good jogger. He and I went for way longer than I expected before he stopped to do his business. We power-walked for a bit, then jogged, then walked and repeated the whole way home. We were back before I knew it and it wasn't so terrible afterall. We were gone about 25 minutes total.

I stretched afterwards, per SCBR, and it felt great!

8:00 pm - Spaghetti with Chard and Parmesan + GHBC Buttered Toast - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I made a variation of a Giada dish for dinner - Spaghetti with Chard and Parmesan. The meal was simple and quite tasty. I hardly noticed the lack of meat!

Hubby and I each had a buttered piece of Great Harvest Dakota toast. I snapped this shot while bringing the bread into the living room on top of my Trader Joe's newsletter.

I had some water and Three-Buck-Chuck with dinner.

We ate on the coffee table (where we usually eat) and watched Body of Lies, which was pretty good.

9:30 pm - Godiva Chocolate - 2 Pieces - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

My first piece of Godiva chocolate was a dark chocolate truffle...

...my second was a milk-chocolate carmel-filled chocolate. So good!

The movie derailed my plans of getting stuff organized around the house, but it was nice to kick back and relax a bit.

I have a workout planned for the AM, so I need to get to bed! G'night!

Bread, Breakfast, Chard, Chocolate, Coffee, Dessert, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Parmesan, Pasta, Pine Nuts, SCBR, Snack, Tea, Tomatoes, Wine

Spaghetti With Chard and Parmesan

I've spent the last couple days trying to figure out what the heck to do with the green chard that I got in Monday's produce delivery. To be honest, I've never purchased chard to cook. I'm not sure I've ever eaten it, though I think chances are good that I have and didn't know it. My dad always tried to sneak healthy ingredients into my family's food when I was a kid (and still does now).

Anywho, I finally settled on a recipe I found on foodnetwork.com by Giada - Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino Cheese. I had to sub out a few ingredients based on what I already had in my kitchen. I decided to make Spaghetti With Chard and Parmesan. I thought I had wheat pasta on hand but only had regular and with the tight budget I have for the rest of February, I didn't feel like getting more.

I got to use a lot of pantry ingredients for the dish and two that I bought yesterday.

While I sliced the onions, I toasted the pine nuts (leftover from my Macaroni Grill dinner).

While the onions cooked, I cleaned and prepped the chard.

Apparently the "chard" I got in my delivery was "Green Chard." I guess this is different than "Swiss Chard"?

The chard barely fit in the pot...

...but it wilted down nicely.

I timed the pasta to finish cooking when the veggies did so I could move the pasta straight from the boiling water to the cooked veggies...just like Giada.

I decided to mix a wee bit of parm into the hot pasta. I like to use one forked utensil and one spooned utensil to toss the pasta.

Spoon into a bowl, top with parm and toasted pine nuts, and enjoy! I thought this dish was pretty darn tasty and a nice way to use up pantry ingredients. You could easily sub another leafy green for the chard - I bet spinach would be wonderful! Make sure you use a good cheese since there are so few ingredients.

Spaghetti With Chard and Parmesan
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis’s recipe

Ingredients

   * 1 tablespoon olive oil

   * 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

   * 1 bunches chard, trimmed and chopped

   * 3 garlic cloves, minced

   * 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices

   * 1/4 cup dry white wine

   * 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes

   * Salt and pepper

   * 8 ounces spaghetti

   * 1 tbsp, plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

   * 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the chard and saute until it wilts, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, wine, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the tomatoes begin to break down and the chard is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season the chard mixture, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti to the chard mixture (optionally add a little pasta water – about ¼ cup) and toss to combine. Add 1 tbsp parmesan cheese and toss to combine.

Transfer the pasta to serving bowls. Sprinkle the olives, cheese, and pine nuts and serve.

Chard, Dinner, Garlic, Onions, Pine Nuts, Recipe, Tomatoes, Wine, Parmesan

Grocery Shopping - 2/19/09

I've posted a couple random shots of my groceries before, but I thought it may be interesting to try to post more of my trips. 

Hubby and I are working on budgeting better so we can start to save for a house.  According to him, we had $37 for groceries for the rest of February, as of yesterday (and before these shopping trips)...yikes!  I've lived on less before, so we should be ok.

 

After work, my first stop was Great Harvest Bread Company, where I snagged this loaf of Dakota.  I'm hoping to incorporate this bread into lots of meals to help us make it through the month, especially since it's a good source of whole grains and seeds (at least I think it is?).

 

After GHBC, I hit up Trader Joe's to get some ingredients for a couple meals I'm semi-planning.  I got some red kidney beans, some garbanzo beans, the smallest/cheapest container of grated parmesan I could find (they are priced by weight and come in different sizes), and a bottle of 3-Buck-Chuck.  I suppose it seems foolish to get wine on a tight budget, but I'm planning a couple pasta meals using the wine, which would make it more affordable spread out over the various meals.

 

After Trader Joe's, I went home and then Hubby and I went out again to hit up Target.  He wanted to shop for a new shower curtain (guess I may have inspired him with the new one I got?), and I wanted to help him pick one out.  We were torn between a blue-greenish-stripey one and a black and white bold-striped one.  We couldn't decide, so we didn't get either and are going to think on it some more.

After Target, We went to Harris Teeter and got some bacon (for dinner and another meal I'm considering making) and some tater tots.  I quickly checked the label on the tater tots as we were walking over to the checkout and was pleased to see 0g trans fat.  They must have re-done their recipe because I could swear the last time I checked the label, there was more like 1.5g trans fat.  Good for them!

Please excuse the plastic bags in the photos...this was taken post dinner, and I had already put the bacon and tater tots up and was too tired to take them back out for the photo.

Guess I'd better get meal planning!

SCBR Week 3/Day 5 Food/Exercise Journal

I did really good finishing my blog posts early last night and made it to the bed by 10:30 pm. Hubby and I decided to trade back rubs for a bit to relax more. I got 5 minutes, then he got 5 minutes, then I got 5 more minutes, and he got 5 more minutes. By the time our back massages were over, it was 11 pm and I still wanted to read some of my book, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy, so I stayed up another 45 minutes reading. Oops! So much for getting to bed early!

7:30 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

I did ok getting up today and had coffee by 7:30 am - Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk.

9:30 am - Luna S'mores Oatmeal - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I haven't yet opened my can of pumpkin (am saving it for a dinner dish), but I wanted to do something different for breakfast this morning. I decided to try out a mini Luna bar over oats a la Kath (thanks girlie!).

Pre-cooking:

• 1/4 cup 1-minute quick cooking Quaker oatmeal
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp flax seed
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Post-cooking:

• 1 tbsp 2% milk, stirred in
• 1 mini S'Mores Luna bar, broken over top
• 1 tsp sliced almonds, on top
• 1 tbsp of Barney Butter, on the side

The mix was quite good and a nice change from the norm. It will be interesting to see what other things I can put over the oats.

I even gave one of my co-workers a taste. I'm hoping to spread the oatmeal love and get one of them hooked! heehee

12:15 pm - Spinach/Chicken Salad - Content (5)

When I cooked dinner last night, I cooked extra chicken to put over salads for lunch today. The chicken really helped make the salad filling, reinforcing the planning I did last night to help out today.

In the salad:

• About 2 cups of baby spinach
• About 1/2 cup chicken
• 6 baby carrots
• 1 tsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp pine nuts
• 1/2 tsp parmigiano reggiano

To dress it, I drizzled the salad with Drew's Rosemary Balsamic. I seriously need to try another dressing. I've been eying the Annie's Green Goddess at the grocery store lately and may give it a go.

I forgot to take a picture of the salad before eating, so the above is hubby's salad, which I shot after work. He didn't eat his salad, so I may have it tomorrow for lunch.

I had no trouble finishing this deliciousness off.

I also munched on some cauliflower and broccoli (raw). I forgot to take a picture of the before, so this is the after. I ate about half a container's worth.

I had a big cup of water with lunch, but didn't drink anything else (shame!). I need to work on consuming more liquids during the day.

1:30 pm - Kashi 7-Grain Crackers - Content (5)

For a post-lunch snack, I had a serving of Kashi crackers. I am counting them out for awhile and then will start to estimate.

3:30 pm - Cranberry + Walnut Bar - Content (5)

I had my last cranberry + walnut bar. *sad face* These were awesome snacks, so I'm excited about making more some time, but maybe I'll try a different recipe?

5:30 pm - Great Harvest Bread Sample - Content (5)

For those of you who have never been to Great Harvest Bread Company, they have an amazing tasting board available for all customers where you can have a sample of any and all breads they currently have available. I've been craving some GH bread since I ran out this past weekend and have been dying to make it to the store all week. Tonight, I got a sample of the cherry rye and it was uber soft and quite tasty with nice hints of chewy cherry here and there. Yum! I ended up purchasing a loaf Dakota bread with our joint and bought a cookie for hubby with my money.

7:30 pm - Breakfast for Dinner - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Hubby and I are trying to budget our money better, so we're going to be eating as cost-effectively as possible through the end of the month. Tonight, we had breakfast for dinner, featuring a jacked-up egg scramble.

In the bowl:

• 4 eggs
• dash Italian seasoning
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• dash garlic salt
• dash 2% milk

Mix up bowl ingredients and scramble away. I added some onion and spinach for more nutrition, then melted cheddar cheese at the end.

We also had some tater tots, bacon, toasted GH Dakota bread (with butter), and OJ to drink. Mmm...

Check out the egg scramble!

8:30 pm - Pink Lady Apple - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Post-dinner, I had a pink lady apple, but not before cutting my finger on the apple cutter that was upside down in the drawer...ouch!

Hubby and I split this...he had about 3 pieces and I ate the rest.

10:00 pm - Cookie + Milk - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I've been trying to get this blog post done, ignoring the rest of my dessert - a piece of the cookie I got for hubby that he saved for me. Aww...I am also having a little bit of milk.

Nothing better than cookies and milk!

I'm off to enjoy...toodles!

Apples, Bread, Breakfast, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chicken, Chocolate, Coffee, Dessert, Dinner, Eggs, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Pine Nuts, Snack, Spinach, Sunflower Seeds, Cookie, Bacon

My Credit Card Story

Since some readers indicated they'd be interested in hearing about my story with credit cards, I whipped this post up for you guys.  I hope you like! :)

Disclaimer: I’m far from a financial expert, so please take my story and advice with a grain of salt.  Everyone’s situation is different, and this is just my story.  If you can take anything away from it or it inspires you, then that’s awesome!

Brief Back-Story: I’ve spent the last year or so trying to pay off two business-related credit cards.  My biggest mistake in running up the balance (creating the debt) was buying things that I didn’t absolutely need to run my business.  Lesson Learned: If you have the money (cash) to buy things, that’s one thing, but if you’re buying on credit, you need be extra choosy and careful.

First Attempt: At first, I made half-hearted attempts to pay off my credit card.  I’d pay more than the minimum balance, but not a lot more.  I wasn’t ready to cut-back on my personal lifestyle (nothing too lavish, trust me) to put forth the effort needed to really work on my debt.  I was really enjoying my Starbucks every other day and my occasional shopping trips.  I also wasn’t ready to get a better grip on my business expenses.  I probably bought more things on credit that I couldn’t afford and didn’t really need.

Second Attempt: My second attempt was a roller coaster of changes:

Getting Serious: I think the biggest change that helped me pay off my credit card was the change I made mentally.  I took a different attitude towards the whole process and got more serious.  This time, I really, really, really wanted to get rid of these cursed credit cards.

Where’s My Money Going Anyways?: I decided that I needed to put as much of my money towards my credit card as possible.  The first thing I did was create an excel file to track where my money was currently going: Bills, Food In, Food Out, Clothes/Beauty, Gas, Misc.  I have to say, I was pretty surprised to learn where a lot of my money actually was going. 

Cutting Back on Personal Expenses: Once I figured where the money was going, I tried to figure out where I could start cutting back, so I could use the money I saved to pay off my debt.  Did I need to spend as much money eating out as I did?  Of course not, so I started trying to pack lunches.  Did I need a Starbucks every other day?  Nope, so I started brewing coffee at home in the morning and established Friday Starbucks Day, so I still got to enjoy a Starbucks latte now and again.  Did I need to be buying new clothes when I had this debt hanging over me?  Not so much, so I tried to stick to only getting what I absolutely needed.  I didn’t stop eating out 100% and I didn’t stop shopping 100%, but I did try to keep these areas of spending as low as possible.  I stopped buying little random things like magazines at the grocery store, because the little things really do add up quickly.  I tried to create budgets (and realistic ones, too) for each of my spending categories so I could estimate how much money I could put towards my debt.  Then I put any money I had leftover from the month (money paid – money spent) towards my debt, hoping the amount was close to what I budgeted.

Cutting Back on Business Expenses: A credit card is extra hard to pay off if you keep upping the balance, so I cut waaaaaaaaay back on my expenses to keep the balance as low as possible.  I learned how to buy only the essentials instead of the wants.

Which Has the Highest Interest Rate?: Next, I heard that I was supposed to figure out which credit card had the highest interest rate.  One of my cards had a 0% interest rate for a short, “introductory” period of time, and the time coming up quickly.  So I decided to pay the temporary-0% interest rate card off first, regardless of the interest-rate rule (since I was nearly certain that the interest would be added to my balance and calculated from the beginning of having the card making it not really 0% any more).  I paid the minimum on the other card and put the rest of my budgeted debt money to the one with the temporary-0% interest rate.  Once the temporary-0% interest rate card was paid off (which was before the 0% expired, thank goodness!), I attacked the second and last one.

Gather Additional Funds: I couldn’t think of any means to gather additional funds to use to pay of my debt faster (i.e. garage sale, etc), so I just used anything else that I could find.  If I did a craft show, I put all the money I made towards the debt (even though I’d want to do a little something to celebrate the show).  I put all my bonus towards the debt (instead of using any to celebrate since I usually like to get myself a little something for the year’s hard work).

Balancing Big Expenses: One of the challenging periods of me paying off my credit cards was when I had a big expense.  Last May, I had a pretty huge event occur – my wedding.  Thankfully, we had family helping pay for most of the expenses, but there were times we had to get creative.  For example, when I had my bachelorette party, I still wanted to do something fun, but both me and my girls were low on money.  I ended up using some frequent hotel points that I had saved up from some previous work-related traveling (a couple years beforehand) that I was able to use to get us a hotel room in Charleston, which saved us tons of money.  We decided to do one fancy dinner and then went pretty low-key for the other nights/meals so our adventure would be as affordable as possible.  We kept our expenses as low as possible, but we still had a blast!

Stay Positive: Paying off my credit card was no easy task.  The process was discouraging, to say the least, because there were days it felt like it was never going to go away and days when I felt like I was going nowhere fast.  I tried to stay as positive as possible and remind myself that I was really doing myself (and hubby) a favor by getting my finances in order.  I also realized that there were going to be months when I may not make the full payment that I originally budgeted for (think December) and allowed myself some leniency. 

Credit Cards & Finances Going Forward: I think having gone through this experience has really opened my eyes as far as how I approach money and credit cards.  I am working on saving up for things I’d like to buy instead of just impulse buying.  These days, I primarily use my debit card or cash for every day purchases.  The only times I use my credit card are when I’m purchasing something online, and I think the credit card is more secure or at least, better equipped to handle any potential fraudulent charges (not sure if this is true).  I’m looking forward to utilizing my money and credit more responsibly so that, hopefully, hubby and I can buy a house in the next year or two!

For more financial tips, check out Fabulously Broke in the City and for tips on ways to save, take a looksie at Saver Queen.

I Did It! I'm Free of my Cursed Credit Card!

As I mentioned before, I've spent the last year or so trying to pay down a credit card.  The process was pretty discouraging since the card was for business, and I occasionally had to purchase stuff with it, thereby slowing down the payoff time and preventing me from seeing a lot of movement in the lowering balance (it felt like I put all my money towards it and the balance never dropped...so frustrating!), but today, it's official:

The feeling is almost surreal...I've focused so much of my time and energy, and I've been so hard on myself for the last long year that to think that it's over is almost unreal.

Still, I am ecstatic!  I'm so happy and proud of myself for making it through this and I can't wait to do something really awesome to celebrate!  What to do, what to do...I don't know yet, but something good...this was really, really hard!  Shall I go shopping?  Out to eat?  I don't know!  Btw, if any one is interested in hearing what I did to pay off the card, drop me a comment, and I'll try to throw something together.

Maybe I'll get the point and shoot camera that I need?  The one I have is really so whacky.  Look what showed up today in my import:

 

My salad photo from yesterday that my camera claimed was no longer on my memory card...grr...I'm not sure how much more of this crazy camera I can take!  lol

Ok, I I'm off to brainstorm some sort of awesome celebration treat. :)

SCBR Week 3/Day 4 Food/Exercise Journal

I'm going to continue adding the Points by name and number on the Hunger Continuum in my Small Changes, Big Results (SCBR) book, so if the numbers on each meal look new, I just started doing them yesterday.

7:45 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

I did way better on the snoozing today...only went for about 30 minutes. I have been avoiding going back on a "schedule" for a long time now, but I'm considering getting back onto one so I can have an easier time going to bed and waking up.

What do you think? Are you on a schedule or no?

Anywho, I switched back to my fave breakfast coffee - Fresh Market Breakfast Blend...mmm....with sugar and 2% milk. The coffee definitely helped me stay alert for my long, rainy commute today.

7:45 am - Elvis Oats + Almonds - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I brought a ton of things to the office today: lots of tupperware, a banana, more cranberry/walnut bars, and my new mug from Pier 1. Can't wait to use that!

For my breakfast eats, I made a little something I call "Elvis Oats" with some sliced almonds.  *Updated to add - I called them "Elvis Oats" because they are similar to Elvis's favorite sandwich - peanut butter and bananas.  I believe some variations of his sammy include bacon as an ingredient, but there was no way any bacon was making its way into my bowl of oats!  lol *

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/3 cup 1-minute quick cooking Quaker oats
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp flax seed
• 1/2 tsp sugar (trying to lower sugar added)

Post-cooking:

• Stirred in about 1 tbsp 2% milk for extra creaminess
• Topped bowl with 1/2 sliced banana, sliced almonds, and...
• ...a spoonful of Barney Butter

Then, I stirred everything together! I like how stirring the bananas in helps warm them through. I have yet to try the "whipped banana oats" that I've heard so much about, but will one day.

12:30 pm - Grocery Store Sushi + Edamame - Content (5)

I went with some co-workers to a local grocery store and considered the salad bar (but then I had a salad yesterday and am planning one for lunch tomorrow and 3 lunch salads in a row is too much salad for me!) but ended up going with some sushi and edamame.

I love edamame and ate almost half the container!

I've never been too impressed with grocery store sushi and today's meal was no exception, but I always like to give things another chance because sometimes you change your mind.

I didn't get any soy sauce containers, so I just used a tupperware from this AM.

I ate about half the sushi.

I also had about 2 cups of water.

1:45 pm - Cranberry Walnut Bar - Content (5)

I had one of those cranberry + walnut bars I made Monday as a post-lunch snack and it was quite delish!

3:45 pm - Strawberry Chobani, 1/2 Banana, + Wheat Germ - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

We had a 3-hour long conference call this afternoon, so mid call, I grabbed a quick snack - Strawberry Chobani, which I stirred up to mix in the fruit on the bottom, topped with (the other) 1/2 sliced banana and a sprinkling of toasted wheat germ (about 2 tbsp). So tasty! I wonder if I could get one of my co-workers to try this? Hmm...

6:30 pm - Chicken Stir-Fry - Very Full (8)

I'm such a Type-A person, I really like to follow things to a 'T', like recipes. There aren't many things I feel comfortable winging it, but stir-fries are one of them. I love mixing up different meats, veggies, and sauces for various Asian-inspired dishes.

Tonight I made chicken stir fry with some of our various veggies: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and yellow onions, and some teriyaki sauce and soy sauce, with a little sherry, which I used to deglaze the pan. I thin-cut the chicken on a slight angle, too...I like the texture of the chicken better this way.

Check out my old-school rice cooker! This is a hand-me-down from my parents from when they upgraded theirs to a new, nicer model. The one they have now keeps their rice warm (which is pretty key for my mom since she's Asian and eats rice every day...seriously). This older model doesn't keep the rice warm, but it gets the job done.

I debated making brown rice or white rice, but I have to be in the right mood for one of the other. Tonight, I was craving plain-old white rice. I figured I had some whole grains with breakfast today, at least.

Hubby accidentally threw out our old soy sauce bottle not knowing that I bought a huge container that I was going to decant into the smaller one, so I had to pour a little soy sauce on the side and drizzle it onto my food from the little plate.

I had some water with my meal.

I was just about to start eating when I realized something was missing - sesame seeds!

Dinner was so good, I went back for a little more.

8:45 pm - Multi-Dessert - Full (7)

I decided to have an array of sweets for dessert:

A pear...

...some chocolate soy milk...

...and a single piece of Godiva chocolate...I think this is the one with the caramel center...yum!

I ate the pear while working on this post and the Godiva and chocolate soy milk are calling my name right now...I'm off to enjoy!

Almonds, Bananas, Breakfast, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chicken, Chocolate, Coffee, Dessert, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Oatmeal, Onions, SCBR, Snack

Today's Organic Produce Delivery - 2/17/09

We got our bi-weekly delivery of organic produce from Absolute Organics today (yay!), and here's what we got:

Green leaf lettuce (local)

Blueberries

Bananas

Sweet Potatoes (local)

Chard

Broccoli (local)

Yellow Onions (local)

Cauliflower

D'Anjou Pears

Pink Lady Apples

Time to get cooking!

Apples, Bananas, Blueberry, Green Leaf Lettuce, Onions, Pears, Sweet Potatoes, Chard, Broccoli, Cauliflower

SCBR Week 3/Day 3 Food/Exercise Journal

7:45 am - Coffee - First Signs of Hunger (4)

* You may see new names for how I felt after each meal/snack. I'm supposed to be following the Hunger Continuum from Ellie's book to denote how I feel along with the numbers on the scale. I'll have to take a photo so it makes more sense.

I snoozed for the longest time again today...grr...this is turning into a bad habit! I started the morning with a nice hot cup of Fresh Market Almond Amaretto with sugar and 2% milk.

Check out my yummy cranberry + walnut bars in the background...yum! I wrapped them up individually last night and am planning to take them with me to work this week.

9:30 am - Pumpernickel Bagel, Plain Cream Cheese, + More Coffee - Content (5)

Since I had yesterday off, I didn't get my usual Monday bagel, so I celebrated MB Day today instead. I got a pumpernickel with plain cream cheese and a small flavored coffee - Toasted Almond w/ cream + sugar.

11:00 am - Water - Content (5)

After my bagel and more coffee, I was pretty parched, so I grabbed some water. Just after getting my water, I watched one of my co-workers stick their empty water bottle in the fridge's water dispenser, which kinda freaked out the germiphobe in me...Eww! I brushed it off and drank the water anyways.

11:45 am - Salad - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

NO PICTURE!

I am extremely peeved with my camera right now. Over the last few months, I've noticed a trend where my camera (my Nikon) will "DELETE" my pictures from time to time. Twice now, I've finally downloaded my pictures months after the fact. For example, the pictures I took while Christmas tree shopping (back in December) only just a couple weeks ago showed up on my import. What?!

Most days, I'll go to import my pictures and I'll get none or some. After downloading the "some" or un-docking the camera to verify that the camera truly has "none", I'll click the preview button on the camera and the screen will say "Memory card contains no images." To this, I reply, "Yes, you do! Give me my pictures you stupid camera!"

I've figured out that it seems I can get my pictures back if I pop both the battery and memory card out and then put them back in. However, tonight I tried that little trick and the camera will simply not give me my pictures from lunch, nor my snack! Grr.

I've been telling hubby I need a new camera, but we just got this one last May, so I'd feel silly getting a new one already. We bought it in the Bahamas over our honeymoon since our camera was lost/stolen at our reception, so it's not like we can take it back to the store (easily).

I think I may have to break down and get a new camera. Does any one have any suggestions, please?  *updated 2/18/09 to add that I meant to say that I'm looking for something small, like another point and shoot, that I can keep in my purse.  I have a DSLR and would love to take it with me everywhere, but it's a little big. :) *

Anywho, as for lunch, I went to a local grocery store and hit up the salad bar.

Lunch eats:

• Mixed baby greens (about 2 cups)
• Baby Spinach (about 1/2 cup)
• Garbanzo beans
• Dried cranberries
• Sliced Red peppers
• A pickle
• A hard-boiled egg
• A sprinkling of bacon bits
• Sunflower seeds
• A sprinkling of sesame bits (I mis-read the bottle and thought they were going to be just sesame seeds, so I stopped pouring when I realized what was coming out)
• Cucumber slices
• Creamy balsamic dressing
• A 1/2 cup of macaroni salad

1:45 pm - Cranberry + Walnut Bar - Content (5)

Here's a picture from last night since my stupid camera deleted my photos (wah!).

I brought 2 of my EK bars I made yesterday to work today and managed to only eat one of them. They are so good and made a great snack...yum! I also had some pomegranate white tea with honey (no photo since it was deleted) and more water.

6:45 pm - Macaroni Grill - Full (7)

We rode the light rail to meet some friends for dinner, for the first time ever. The sky was so pretty during the whole ride over.

We went pretty late into the rush hour so the cars were pretty empty.

The light rail was definitely fast and convenient.

Once we found our friends at our stop, we headed straight for Macaroni Grill - one of our fave places to dine. I got water with my meal (I usually like to get a leaning bellini, but wasn't feeling it tonight) and kicked things off with what else but their delish bread with olive oil, fresh-cracked black pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Love that tangy BV!

When we go to Mac Grill, hubby and I almost always split 1 appetizer and 1 entree. We almost always get the spinach, shrimp, and artichoke dip...it's soo good...we can never resist.

My piece of app #1.

More bread...also dipped in the EVOO + BV mixture.

App #2.

Half garden salad.

Here's a shot of our entire entree. I could never eat this whole thing...look at all that food!

After we got some fresh-grated parm and fresh-cracked black pepper, I noticed something was missing...

...pinenuts! This dish wouldn't be the same without them...seriously. They make this meal! Luckily, we were able to get some.

Here's my portion - half the shrimp (3), some spinach, some pasta, and lots of pinenuts!

I ate almost everything on my plate leaving some mushrooms and pasta. It was soooo good!

8:45 pm - Kid's Soy Hot Cocoa - Full (7)

We were having such a good time with our friends, we decided to take our conversation to Starbucks. Since hubby and I worked in restaurants for a long time, we try to not take up waiter's sections too long. Not to mention, I think coffee shops have great environments for relaxing with good company and good conversation.

I got a kid's hot cocoa with soy milk, adult temp.

I got 2 new mugs while I was there...so excited! I've been eyeing these every time I see them at Starbucks and tonight they were on sale, so I grabbed up 2! Aren't the little hearts adorable?

9:30 pm - Pink Lady Apple - First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I've heard eating raw fruits and veggies after a heavy meal (or fast food) can help you digest the food. I don't know if it's true, but I always try to eat a handful of baby carrots or a piece of fruit after eating fast food or a heavy meal and maybe it's mental, but it always makes me feel better.

One last post and I'm off to bed.

Apples, Bagel, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Pasta, Restaurant, Salad, SCBR, Snack, Appetizer, Shrimp, Pine Nuts

TCL Is Now Searchable

I don't know about you, but I've had a hard time finding certain blog posts...yes, on my own blog!  So, I've added a Google Search Box in the right sidebar to help me and you find what we're looking for here on The Chic Life.  TCL is now searchable!  Yay!

Here's what the search box looks like:

Have a great day!

SCBR Week 3/Day 2 Food/Exercise Journal

11:00 am - Late AB + Chocolate Oatmeal + Coffee - Awake and Satisfied

I stayed up way too late last night working on my posts and ended up sleeping in quite late today. I didn't have breakfast until 11 am! These are the days that I wish I were on more of a regular schedule.

I got a new coffee at the Fresh Market yesterday - Almond Amaretto. This was my favorite for a long time awhile back, but I kinda got out of flavored coffees for breakfast. I seem to go through things in phases where I'll do something or eat something all the time till the phase has run its course. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed my new brew with sugar and 2% milk.

I was super excited about digging into my new Barney Butter so I made a batch of oatmeal for hubby and me. I even made the oats on the stovetop, which is a luxury I can't usually afford most weekdays, but it was one I could do today since I had today off!

In the pot:

• Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats
• Water
• Flax seed
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• sugar
• 2% milk, which I stirred in at the very end after the oats were completely cooked.

On top:

• Walnuts
• Sliced almonds
• Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
• Spoonful of Barney Butter

This deserves another look. Yum! I really liked the addition of the cocoa powder to this mix. It made it more chocolately.

12:30 pm - Figure Skating - Sore

Since I had today off and got so much accomplished yesterday, I was able to take some time today to do one of my favorite things in the world - ice skating. I spent the majority of my childhood practicing for hours and hours on this big piece of ice...well, not this exact piece, but you get the point. The ice (any skate-able piece of ice) can be a sort of home away from home for me.

Ice skating is also a workout that kicks my a$$ every time I do it...even more so now that I'm all "out-of-shape". It's been awhile since I've stepped foot on the ice, but I made sure to warm up beforehand. I used to spend almost 30 minutes warming up before a practice session and then another 30-60 on conditioning, off-ice-jumping, and stretching afterwards. I shortened things today since I had to get home for a 2 pm conference call. I ran in place to warm up my muscles, then jumped up and down a few times to get them more "springy", then did a couple axels on the ground, and I was ready to go.

On the ice, I did some forward and backward crossovers to warm up. I wish I remembered some footwork, because that could surely use some more work and help me regain my balance. I did a on to a couple of each of the single jumps (except axel): waltz, salchow, toe loop, loop, and lutz.

I also did a lot of spins, which used to be my fave part: scratch, back scratch, camel, camel/sit/back-sit, camel/sit/hold skate in right hand and stand up/back-sit, and I managed to squeeze in one camel/back-camel/grab blade + half beilman.

I'll have to put some videos up some time.

Anywho, after skating was over, I headed home whilst downing a mini bottle of water, dialed into the conference call a couple minutes late and stretched while listening to the meeting. I felt better after stretching, but something tells me I'm going to be super sore tomorrow!

2:45 pm - Salad, Mocktail, + Water - Satisfied

One thing I'd really like to start working on is making sure I'm meeting all of my portion recommendations (i.e. eat 4-5 servings of veggies a day, etc). I'm taking some advice from Kath and am focusing on veggies firstly, so I got a big carton of baby spinach from the store yesterday so I can try to eat more salads.

I used to hate salads as entrees (I've always liked them on the side). I always heard salads could be unhealthy if you put too much dressing, etc on top, and they never filled me up. I would just as soon have a sandwich. What I'm learning is that a salad can be filling if you put the right toppings on, and they can be better than sandwiches because they can offer more servings of vegetables. You could always put lots of veggies on top of a sandwich, but I think the key for me will be trying to balance eating the 2 of them (sandwiches + salads) equally, even if doing so only gives me variety in my meals.

The other reason I'm coming around on salads is because I think they can be great to help you use up leftovers and pantry items. What to do with the rest of the tomato leftover from last night's dinner? Chop into chunks and toss them in a salad. More baby carrots than you know what to do with? Cut them up and toss those in, too.

In today's salad:

• A ton of spinach - about 2 cups
• baby carrots
• tomato (leftover from last night's dinner)
• red onion
• leftover sweet potatoes (from last night's dinner)
• sunflower seeds
• leftover croutons
• leftover parmesan cheese
• drizzle of Drew's Rosemary Balsamic dressing

I also had a cup of water with a squeezed piece of lime...

...and a pomegranate mocktail. I think I like these things more and more as I continue to drink them.

6:45 pm - Homemade Granola Bars - Satisfied

I made some of Ellie's health bars earlier today and enjoyed 2 of them as my pre-dinner snack while I waited on hubby to come home for dinner. I figured these would be good to make since:

1. I had today off and wanted to do something I actually wanted to do (not something I had to do)

2. I'm supposed to work on eating snacks with my meals this week for SCBR.

Bar #1.

Bar #2.

Boy, were these good! It was everything I could do to not eat more so I wouldn't spoil dinner, but I reminded myself that I had something tasty planned.

8:30 pm - Chicken Piccata + Steamed Cabbage - Stuffed

Hubby came home from work early, so I got to eat earlier than I thought. Too bad I had that second bar, no?

For dinner, I made one of our all-time faves - Giada's Chicken Piccata.

I served the entree with some steamed cabbage (this week's challenge item).

The tangy taste of lemon juice and capers is a fave of my palette making this dish heaven to eat. Since I've made it so many times, I've been able to make this meal in 30 minutes. How's that for a 30-minute meal? lol

I had a small glass of water with dinner.

By end of the meal, I was totally stuffed. I ended up taking a small piece of chicken from hubby since the chicken I used was in cutlet size, but I honestly didn't need it and shouldn't have eaten it. Oh well, I'm definitely happily full.

9:15 pm - Pear - Satisfied

Since dinner was a bit on the heavy side, I went light on dessert and just had a sliced pear. The pear was so refreshing after the filling meal and made a perfect end to this day's eats.

I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight. I can't remember the last time I went to bed "early" (i.e. before 11pm), but I'm going to continue to try. G'night!

Almonds, Breakfast, Cabbage, Carrots, Chocolate, Cranberries, Dinner, Granola Bar, Lunch, Oatmeal, Pears, SCBR, Snack, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Walnuts

Ellie's Walnut + Dried Cherry Bars

I've been dying to try my own homemade granola bars since seeing a recipe in my Rachael Ray mag a couple years ago. I can't believe it's taken me this long to actually make a batch, but I'm happy I finally did. I found my RR magazine, but when I saw it called for already-made granola, I decided to make the Ellie Krieger granola bars I noted to make a few weeks ago since they used oats and other base ingredients.

Whisked dry ingredients.

Whisked wet ingredients.

Mix-ins - pre-stirring. I subbed cranberries for cherries and added some flax seed.

Pre-baking. Make sure you spread really flat because it won't settle (like brownies do) during the baking.

Post-baking. I topped my bars with seedless strawberry jam that I micowaved in a mug instead of heating stove-top.

After waiting a looong hour, I was ready to grab a bar. The recipe said to "let cool completely", but when I checked, the bars were still warm! I wasn't willing to wait, so I just cut them up anyways.

They were darn tasty a little warm!

I was originally going to skip the jam-topping, but I'm glad I didn't. It seems to add to the overall flavor quite nicely. The bars were more cake-y tasting than I expected, but they were delicious nonetheless. I also realized after the fact that I forgot to chop the cranberries, but the bars tasted ok as is. I think chopping the cranberries would distribute the flavors more evenly, so I'll chop them up next time since I'm big on trying to get a taste of each flavor in each bite.

I'd really like to try making some more granola bars and maybe even some granola some time soon. Does anyone have any recipe suggestions?

Ellie’s Dried Cranberry + Walnut Bars
Adapted from Ellie Krieger’s recipe

Ingredients

  * 1 cup 1-minute quick-cooking oats

   * 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

   * 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

   * 1/4 teaspoon salt

   * 1/2 cup honey

   * 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

   * 1/4 cup canola oil

   * 1 egg, beaten to mix

   * 1 egg white

  * 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

   * 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

  * 2 tbsp flax seed

   * Cooking spray

  * 1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam/jelly

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, and salt.

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, oil, egg and egg white until well combined. Stir in the oatmeal mixture until well combined. Add the dried cranberries, flax seed, and walnuts.

Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the mixture (as flat as possible) into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. As soon as the bars come out of the oven, put the jam/jelly in a mug in the microwave and heat till melted (about 30 seconds). Brush with the bars with the melted jam/jelly. Cool completely and cut into 12 bars, about 4 by1 1/2 inches each.

Healthfood/Granola Bar, Oatmeal, Snack, Walnuts, Cranberries

Weekly Food Challenge (2/15 - 2/21) - Cabbage!

Click here to learn more about the weekly food challenge and how you can play along. But, basically, you just make something during the challenge week with the weekly challenge food item and add your link to this post (leave a comment with your URL and I'll add it). See, simple!

This Week's Challenge Item (2/15 - 2/21) - Cabbage:
According to Parker-Pope, from her article "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating", "Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.  How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches."

According to Jonny Bowden in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, cabbage may keep prevent breast cancer, is "one of the lowest-calorie foods on the planet," and gives you an assortment of awesome vitamins and minerals.

Recipe Ideas:

• Cole Slaw (google for a ton of recipes)
• Steam it and drizzle with a wee bit of butter
• Add to a stir-fry
• Saute it (I like to use the recipe by Ina Garten here as a baseline)
• Corn and Red Cabbage Salad - Robin Miller
• Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and Red Cabbage - Danny Boome
• Cabbage and Straw - Rachael Ray
• Seared Tuna with Napa Cabbage and Carrot Salad with Fried Wontons Recipe - Emeril Lagasse
• Corned Beef and Cabbage - Alton Brown
• Stuffed Cabbage: Cavolo Ripieno - Mario Batali
• Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy Noodle Bowl Recipe - Rachael Ray
• Sage Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw - Ellie Krieger

How to Play:
Everyone is welcome to play, but unfortunately, there's no prize this week. :( I hope you'll still play along for fun, though!

• Cook/prepare something during the challenge week (2/15-2/21) with cabbage
• Do a blog post about what you made
• Add the Challenge banner (the muffin photo - available here - click) to your blog post, optional
• Leave me a comment on this post to let me know you did your post so I can add you link to the list

Happy cooking!

The Players:

TBD - Leave me a comment with a link to your pomegranate-post and I'll add your link here.

Food Challenge

SCBR Week 3/Day 1 Food/Exercise Journal

10:00 am - Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Coffee + OJ - Satisfied

Hubby tried to let me sleep in this morning, but I awoke to the sound of the yappy dog on the porch of the apartment below us. I did get to sleep in a little. Hubby and I made breakfast together, which was cute. Usually I cook, he cleans, so it's nice to do one or the other together.

For the liquids, I had FM Breakfast Blend coffee with milk and sugar, along with a tiny glass of OJ.

For breakfast, I had scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, 2 pieces of bacon, and a piece of Texas Toast. I wanted a piece of Great Harvest bread, but our loaf was molding. :( The funny thing about being more conscious of healthy eating is that you really do think more about what you're eating.

I've been trying to hit all my food groups with the meals/snacks I eat, and eating Texas Toast this morning felt like eating an empty serving that did nothing for me nutritionally. My dad has always tried to tell my sis and I that eating bleached white bread is like eating cardboard, and I will say that growing up eating a more hearty wheat bread, I have always been able to taste the difference. Now, I'm just looking at them from a different perspective.

11:30 am - Water - Satisfied

You'd think I'd have an easier time drinking all the water I need at home than at work, but I usually drink less on the weekends. Go figure! lol. I had a small glass late this morning.

12:00 pm - Pomegranate Mocktail - Satisfied

After the water, I decided to sip on a pomegranate mocktail while running my errands around the house.

3:00 pm - Bagel, Veggie Cream Cheese, + Water - Satisfied

In the afternoon, hubby and I had Perfect 10 Western Bagels with veggie cream cheese...

...and a small glass of water.

I wrapped things up with a small organic Pink Lady apple.

Bailey helped me finish the apple by nibbling on the core. He loves apples! Seriously, if I use one of those apple slicer gadgets, he'll come running into the room hoping I toss him a piece. He probably ate about 1 tsp worth of apple, the same amount he usually gets. We don't like to give him human food. Sorry Bails!

4:00 pm - Larabar - Satisfied

Before heading out to run errands around town, I grabbed a cherry pie Larabar (thanks Kath!) to snack on during the commute.

I didn't think it tasted like cherry pie at all, but I did enjoy it. I thought it tasted more like one of those fruit leathers with a bunch of crunchy nuts mixed in. I'd buy more of them for sure. The bar def helped me make it through my errands in good spirits.

6:30 pm - TJ Chicken Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries, + Coleslaw - Satisfied

I made sweet potato fries based on this Paula Dean recipe. The recipe was just ok, so I won't bother typing it up for here, but here's the link to the recipe on foodnetwork.com.

I also got a head of cabbage at the store earlier, so I made an attempt at coleslaw, which came out just so-so. I probably should have found a more exact recipe, but I just scanned a bunch on a google search and winged it.

We got these chicken patties at Trader Joe's last weekend.

Sliced tomatoes for extra veggie-power!

I toasted some challah rolls from TJ under the broiler and melted a slice of provolone on the underside of the tops.

Hubby hated this meal! He thought the chicken patties were just ok (I didn't love them either, but they were cheap & easy to make and pretty good for what they were, he hated the sweet potato fries, and he hated the cole slaw, too. He said the sweet potatoes were "weird" and that he doesn't like raw vegetables. Oi! He is killing me here with his unhealthy food habits!

I wouldn't mind if he didn't like something - it's not like I love every single food out there - but I think he really has something against "healthy" food and gets the idea he won't like something in his head before the food hits his tongue. He at least ate 2 or 3 of the fries and small bite of the coleslaw. As for me, I ate all my coleslaw and all my sweet potato fries, but only about 2/3 of the sandwich. I also had a small glass of water with my meal. Do you see the new glassware? :) I love plateware and glassware!

9:15 pm - Valentine's Day Cupcake + Milk - Satisfied

I had one of my leftover Valentine cupcakes and small glass of milk while watching tonight's Cold Case. Love that show!

I think this cupcake deserves another look. Yum!

Apples, Bagel, Breakfast, Carrots, Chicken, Cupcakes, Dessert, Dinner, Doggie, Eggs, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, SCBR, Snack, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cabbage

SCBR - Week 3 Changes

I feel like I'm doing a decent job keeping up with each week's changes, but I am not following it 100% (mostly because I forget to do something one day, etc.). I am pretty good with the healthy pantry requirement from the previous 2 weeks, and I've managed to work out (usually walking) at least 3 times a week. That wellness part gets me every time! I need to remember to do that part better.

Changes for Week 3:

1. Eat three small meals and one or two snacks daily.
2. Add stretching to your walking regimen.
3. Learn how to manage time according to your priorities.

I think I already do #1 fairly decently. Stretching used to be one of my favorite parts of an exercise...guess I didn't think you needed to do it for just walking, but it's probably helpful to do all the time, no? Ahh...the dreaded #3. I am always trying to work on this one, but it seems to elude me. Maybe Ellie will offer some great tips that will help me?

Week 3....here we go!

SCBR

Busy Day, Making Way

I have tomorrow off (except for 1 conference call), so I tried to get as many errands out of the way today as possible to, hopefully, make way for some crafting time.

Completed today:

• 2 loads of laundry (that's what I get for waiting so long to do it!)
• grocery shopping
• swap shopping (I got your goodies Kate!)
• cleaned out fridge (w/ hubby)
• cleaned out freezer (w/ hubby)
• picked up around bedroom
• picked up around living room
• brought out new glassware
• packed up old glassware
• target shopping (finished new bathroom decor shopping)
• signed up for Body + Soul subscription
• Read next chapter of Small Changes, Big Results

Here are some photos from my bathroom decor:

I got this shower curtain and liner a couple weeks ago, but didn't want to put them up without the matching bath rug (silly, no?).

Today, I bought a matching bath rug (let's see how long this white lasts) and some new curtain rings. I had the same plastic, cheap-o ones from college for the longest time. They were so hard to take on and off that I was done with the frustration and ready to invest in some new ones.

I didn't go all out, but these small changes should give the room a whole new look. I said I would wait till we had a house to get anything, but I can't wait any longer!

Check out the cute crochet detailing on the rug.

The new bathroom. Hard to get a good picture in here, but you get the idea.

And lookie what I finally found - Barney Butter! I got the crunchy kind. Kath told me awhile back you could only get this stuff at the Fresh Market, but since it was on the other side of town, I tried checking the grocery stores I usually frequented. Well, 6 stores later (including 1 Fresh Market in a different part of town!), I finally found the Barney Butter right where she said it would be. Can't wait to dig in!

Shopping

SCBR Week 2/Day 7 Food/Exercise Journal (With V-day Potluck Party)

I started off today in a bit of rush, trying to get some stuff pulled together for hubby while he slept in, so I rushed out of the house without food or coffee. It all worked out ok because I was able to smoothly pull off his breakfast in bed V-day treat, so the lack of caffeine was worth it.

10:30 am - V-day Breakfast + Coffee - Satisfied

After delivering hubby's breakfast, I was ready to get some caffeine and food. I had a cup of the usual - FM Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk.

I also made myself one of those pomegranate juice mocktails, which was quite tasty.

I went ahead and made myself the same thing hubby was having...I was curious to see how it tasted and it wasn't too much trouble to put together a second time. Here's the egg and Texas toast...

I also had 2 pieces of bacon and a donut. I really shouldn't have had the donut since I ate so much Thursday and had the pastry last night, but it's Valentine's...the weekend to indulge in all things sweet...at least that's what it is for me. :) Everything was quite tasty!

2:30 pm - Tea + Water- Satisfied

I was so busy doing hubby's treat and baking cupcakes that I totally lost track of time. I did go ahead and have some water...

...and some Yogi Tea - Berry detox.

Yogi quote of the day - "The power of love is infinite." How appropriate!?

3:30 pm - Dog Walk - Energized

I was hoping to do a more rigorous workout, but totally ran out of time today. Normally, I would shrug off working out complete, but ended up doing a quick walk with hubby. We went for about 30 minutes with Bailey, who loved every minute. I liked the walk, too...it was quite energizing and a nice break from all my errands.

4:30 pm - Soup, Toast, + Veggie Cream Cheese - Satisfied

I can't believe I let myself wait so long to eat something again. I really should have had a snack, but was so busy doing things that I totally forgot! I finally had some leftover veggie soup, which we defrosted from the freezer.

And, I whipped up a quick veggie cream cheese using veggies from the fridge (red onion, carrots, and celery), which we spread on toasted GHBC bread. Yum! I love how hearty their breads are - especially since they grind their own wheat.

I am going to have to work on not letting myself go for so long without any food, busy or no-busy!

I did have a bite of a cupcake (sans frosting), which hubby was taste-testing for me, and one of the cut-out hearts smeared with frosting.

6:30 pm - Valentine's Potluck Party - Satisfied

For dinner, we had plans to head over to Kath and Matt's place for a Valentine-themed potluck party.

Their place looked so cute with little hearts everywhere.

There were plenty of good eats, including Amanda's mushroom risotto and Nate's assortment of Trade Joe's goodness.

I kicked off the night with a pom-tini. It was so fruity and delicious...a great cocktail to start things off.

I had the ski wine charm with cute turquoise-y beads.

I nibbled here and there throughout the night and did my best to capture everything, though I I know I missed a few things. I had a few bites of veggies with various hummus-type dips.

Then a couple pieces of toasted bread with Kath's Smoked Salmon dip and Nate's Spinach Artichoke dip. I love dips and these two were fab!

Next, I moved on to Kath's salad, which featured mixed greens and all red/white ingredients - red pepper, strawberries, cranberries, and cheese. I drizzled my salad with some Annie's raspberry vinaigrette. The berries were so fresh and the salad combo was divine!

Next, a cracker with some fab Vermont white cheddar and some mushroom risotto. I normally don't like mushrooms, but I do like some mushroom dishes, and this risotto was one of them. I should have gotten a little more of both of these! They were good!

Then, it was on to pom-tini #2.

Then, salad and veggies #2. I ate some of the veggies before taking the picture. I also sampled 2 kashi crackers (honey sesame and 7 grain), which I didn't photograph.

And last but not least - dessert! I had a half piece of some white-chocolate cherry dessert bread (yum!) and one of my brownie cupcakes.

We had a blast at the potluck! It was so nice spending the night with friends instead of bothering with the fuss of long waits, etc on one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year. I can't wait for the March potluck!!

11:30 pm - Hearts + Frosting - Sweet-Tooth-Satisfied

When we got back from the party, I couldn't resist having 2 more of those mini hearts smeared with more yummy frosting.

I washed the sweets down with a tiny mug of milk - about 1/4 cup.

Not the best day of eating for me what with the huge gap of no food in the middle of the day and all the sweets, but I did pretty good getting lots of veggies at the pot luck at least. :)

Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Cupcakes, Dessert, Dinner, Eggs, Holiday, Lunch, Rice, Salad, SCBR, Tea

Valentine Party Cupcakes

After hubby's surprise earlier, I still had a lot of work to do today - it was cupcake time. I couldn't post this earlier because the cupcakes were for a potluck party (post next in line) and some of the guests and the hosts read the blog and I wanted the treats to be a surprise.

It's pretty late here, so I may just do this post a series of pictures, since I still have 2 others I need to do.

Unsweet chocolate squares.

Chopping the chocolate.

Melting the chocolate.

Melted chocolate. This is the base for the cupcakes and brownie square.

Homemade frosting.

Cutting out cupcake toppers.

Tiny brownie hearts.

Adorable cupcakes. I made these cupcakes using a recipe from Martha Stewart Living February. The sprinkles were my own little addition. Both hubby and I adore sprinkles!

A closer look at the sprinkly, brownie heart goodness. Yum! The cupcakes actually came out a little dry, but the frosting was divine and the brownie hearts were pretty moist.

The recipe made a ton of cupcakes - 24 to be exact. There were plenty of leftovers from the party, so I'm sure to have some happy co-workers on Monday.

Reader Question: Did you make anything special Valentine's treats this weekend?

Dessert, Holiday, Cupcakes

Hubby's Valentine's Breakfast in Bed

I woke up extra early this morning to put together a special surprise for hubby for Valentine's Day, since he already took me out to celebrate.

I snuck out of bed, moved a couple key items (tray, clothes to go out in, and magazine with recipe) to the living room area, and took the dog out. I was as quiet as possible, hoping hubby would continue to sleep in (like he usually does on the weekends).

After taking the dog out, I changed clothes quickly and ran to the grocery store, a local hardware store (they have cute kitchen stuff), and a local bakery. I got the groceries I needed for breakfast, 2 new seersucker placemats (on sale for $3 each, plus I had a $5 off coupon!) from the hardware store, and 2 sweet treats from the bakery. By the time I got back, I was thankful to see hubby was still asleep, and I got started on breakfast.

I took a cue from my February Martha Stewart Living magazine and decided to make the same egg, toast, and bacon breakfast I saw pictured in the mag for hubby.

I used Texas Toast as the base bread for the meal.

I went through a couple pieces trying to get the perfect heart shape for hubby's plate. I figured I could take one of the "messed up" ones.

The cutting was the tricky part - the rest was a cinch.

While the food cooked, I prepped his tray and made a breakfast drink based on this recipe from Ina using some of my weekly food challenge ingredient - pomegranate juice.

The first one I made using just pom juice and pelligrino, based on a review on the recipe online saying it didn't need sugar. Before serving, I gave the drink a quick taste test. I knew hubby wouldn't drink it the way it tasted, so I tried adding a splash of OJ. No dice...in fact, it kinda tasted worse with the OJ. I quickly made a simple syrup (just 1 part sugar, 1 part water melted/heated together in a small pot over medium low heat). I mixed together another drink with about half pom juice and half pelligrino along with about 1 tbsp of the simple syrup and this was much more up my hubby's alley. I added a little more simple syrup (hubby likes his sweets and it was Valentine's afterall) and garnished the drink with a piece of lime. :)

I set the plate the same way Martha did, but I added one of those sweet treats I got from the bakery - a cinnamon pretzel twist donut. It's one of hubby's faves. I also added a Valentine's-themed paper napkin, a small pink flower, and his breakfast mocktail.

Hubby looked so happy to see me waking him up with a tray full of goodies and his big goofy grin made my day.

Happy Valentine's everyone!

Egg in Toast Breakfast

Adapted from a recipe in Martha Stewart Living

1 slice Texas Toast

1 large egg

3 tsp butter

non-stick cooking spray

salt & pepper

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a heart in the center of a piece of Texas Toast. In pan, melt 1 1/2 tsp butter. Add the outer piece of Texas Toast to the pan and cook till light brown on one side. Melt another 1 1/2 tsp of butter in pan and flip bread. Spray the cookie cutter with non-stick spray and fit into the heart-shaped hole of the bread in the pan. Pour 1 egg into the cookie cutter, cover pan, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the heart-shaped center piece of the Texas Toast. When the egg is done cooking, remove cookie cutter with some tongs (don't touch, it's hot!) and serve bread/egg on a large plate. Sprinkle egg part with salt & pepper to taste. Add toasted heart-shaped bread to the plate to dip into the yolk.

Bread, Breakfast, Eggs, Food Challenge, Food Challenge, Holiday

SCBR Week 2/Day 6 Food/Exercise Journal

8:00 am - Bagel + Coffee - Awake and Satisfied

I started today more awake than normal and with my usual FM Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk.

I also had a Perfect 10 Western Bagel from the swap - I think I like this better with cream cheese. I used about 1 tbsp. I don't like a lot of cream cheese on my bagels (nor mayo on my sammies...something about a big bite of creamy goo turns my stomach, but a little is quite tasty).

What a great way to start a Friday?!

9:30 am - Starbucks Friday - More Awake and Satisfied

Today was my Starbucks Friday (my little way to spend less on coffee since I'm watching my expenses), so I got a Grande Hazelnut Nonfat Latte. I started drinking the nonfat lattes because I couldn't taste much difference in the milk and I figured if it tasted about the same, I may as well choose the healthier option.

12:30 pm - Soup + Crackers - Satisfied

For lunch, I picked up one of those $1.99 soups from a local grocery store. I got Tomato Vegetable and it was great with a hint of heat (as in spiciness).

I also picked up some Kashi 7 Grain crackers at the store and had 15 (one serving size). I'm normally not this anal with portions, but I'm trying to get a good handle on how much portions are/should be.

I had a big glass of water with lunch, but it was still pretty light and left me a wee bit hungry.

1:30 pm - Wallaby + Almonds + Crackers - Satisfied

Shortly after lunch, I was noticing that I was still pretty hungry, so I grabbed a yogurt from the fridge along with a small handfull of salted almonds. Wish I had some more wheat germ on hand!

I also had 5 more Kashi crackers to tide me through our big meeting today, which was scheduled to last 2 hours.

4:00 pm - More Crackers + Luna Tea Cake - Satisfied

After the meeting, I was still craving food, so I had 5 more Kashi crackers.

Since I was planning on going to my DanceOut class after work, I decided to add another snack to the mix and had a carbalicious, low-protein (at least compared to the other bars in my stash) Luna Tea Cake in Berry Pomegranate.

The bar was delicious! It reminded me a lot of a muffin or scone. It kinda tasted like a nutragrain bar, but without the jelly-like filling. The icing on top was a nice touch. I liked the chewy pieces of dried fruit, too, and the size was nice and small. I will definitely be getting more of these.

6:00 pm - Walking the Dog - Energized

After our meeting today, the whole office was gathering at a local restaurant for drinks. As much as I wanted to join in on the festivities, I really wanted to make my DanceOut class. I should have left straight from the office to go home, but I wanted to be social, so I headed over to hang out with every one. I had an interesting interaction with the bartender when I sat down at the bar with my co-workers. It went something like this:

Bartender: Hi, May I get you a drink?
Me: No thanks, I'm not drinking.
Bartender: Oh...would you like a glass of wine?
Me: No thanks.

Since when did "I'm not drinking" mean "I want wine"? lol. I thought that was pretty funny. Anywho, I stayed for about 30 minutes chit-chating and stayed too long. I missed class by a mere 5 or 10 minutes. I could have frantically changed and sped over, but I would have been late and I hate to be late for things. Not to mention I'd be stuck in the back of the class where I couldn't see what was going on.

Hubby and I made the best of it and took a long walk with Bailey - about 45 minutes. I have 1 more work-out I need to complete tomorrow to round out my week, so I'll have to come up with something good to make up for my slack-ass-ness tonight. lol.

7:45 pm - Panera Soup + Salad - Satisfied

As we walked home during our exercise, hubby talked me into going to Panera for dinner. I think he just wanted us to go there to delay the inevitable, which is me making sweet potato fries. Hubby says he doesn't like sweet potatoes, but he did admit to liking sweet potato casserole, so there's still a chance!

I got a sample of the French Onion soup at Panera and decided to get that for dinner.

I also had a small glass of ice water with dinner.

For my meal, I got the You Pick Two (I like variety in my eats) with the French Onion soup, which was quite good but a bit on the salty side.

I also got the Fuji Apple Chicken salad. Fuji apples used to be my fave till I fell in love with Gala.

I also got a piece of white baguette, which I shared with hubby. I've been trying to get myself to eat the wheat, but the white version here is so much better. The texture just isn't right to me in the whole wheat version. I think I'd like the whole wheat version if it were just a "roll" and not "baguette." With baguettes, I expect the hard crust and soft inside, which is hard to do with wheat, ya know?

I ended up eating most of the salad (left some for hubby) and half the soup (hubby didn't want the soup). Everything was good, but it was just too much food. Good thing hubby was there to help!

9:00 pm - Soy Hot Cocoa + Pecan Twist - Satisfied

Hubby likes to claim that I am the bad influence with the sweets, but I think it is him. He talked me into getting this pecan twist from Panera to take to Barnes & Noble where we could read magazines. We first stopped by Dick's Sporting Goods where I almost bought new sneakers and a pedometer, but hubby said I should wait. Since I'm trying to be responsible with my money, I think this is fair...but I'm probably going to buy them both sooner or later anyways. I haven't gotten new sneakers in about 4 or 5 years!

After Dick's, we made our way to Barnes & Noble where we perused magazines and hubby studied. I ate about 3/4 of this pecan twist, which was quite good, though I think it had cinnamon in it (I'm allergic, but not too badly).

I also got a soy hot cocoa. Love these things! I ordered a kid's but got a tall, so I couldn't quite finish it.

It was everything I could do to not buy all the magazines I liked tonight. I love books and I love magazines and I find it hard to resist either. Since I've been trying to de-clutter, though, I'm seeing a trend...well, two, really:

1. I have piles of old magazines that may or may contain useful information but are starting to take up too much space.
2. I have more magazines than I have time to read them. I need to work on finishing reading magazines before buying new ones, otherwise, they lose their original purpose.

I'd also like to work on clipping useful articles, photos, and recipes from magazines rather than keeping everything. Anywho, I still have to finish reading the magazines I already got last month, so I ended up only buying 1 new magazine, rather than the 3 or 4 I was eyeing. This isn't a big deal to most people reading right now, but it's a step in the right direction for me, and I'm proud. :)

Lots to do tomorrow:

• Make dessert for a Valentine's Potluck Party
• Special surprise for hubby
• Grocery shopping
• Cook what we were supposed to eat tonight for lunch tomorrow
• Exercise - something good - maybe skating or yoga?
• Attend V-day Potluck Party (fun times!)

Guess I better hit the sack and rest up! Gnight!

Apples, Bagel, Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Dessert, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, Lunch, Onions, Salad, SCBR, Snack, Soup

Next Week's Organic Delivery List

I am totally behind on emails and blog comments, but am catching up today.  This has been a kinda crazy week!

I'm happy to report that hubby seems to be going along with the organic delivery service as he hasn't mentioned wanting to cancel yet (yay!).  We got an email with next week's delivery list, and I can't believe I'm this excited about fruits and veggies, but I can't wait till the yummy produce is here!

To be delivered next week:

• Broccoli – local

• Sweet Potatoes – local
• Yellow Onions – local
• Green Leaf Lettuce – local
• Cauliflower
• Chard – local
• D’Anjou Pears
• Pink Lady Apples
• Blueberries
• Banana

We still have some fruits and veggies leftover from the last delivery, so we're going to have to make our way through some of those by next week so we don't have too much.  I'm not worried...I could always use the fruits to make a pie or crisp or crumble.  Yum!

Reader Question: What is your favorite veggie?

SCBR Week 2/Day 5 Food/Exercise Journal (With V-day Dinner)

8:15 am - Coffee + Perfect 10 Bagel - Satisfied + Awake

I had my fave breakfast coffee - Fresh Market breakfast blend with sugar and 2% milk...

...and I couldn't wait to dig into one of those Perfect 10 Western Bagels I got from my swap. These guys were really good - kinda soft, lightly toasted, and really "airy". They tasted great with about 1 tsp of butter - a great way to start the day!

10:00 am - Pomegranate White Tea - Satisfied

I couldn't wait to dig into one of the teas from the swap! This tea is soooo much better than the pomegranate green tea I have. A shame I can't buy this around here! The taste was fruity, light, and refreshing and brightened my morning at the office.

1:15 pm - Capellini Pomodoro + GHBC Bread - Satisfied

For lunch, I heated up some of that leftover capellini pomodoro from the other night. It heated up really nicely (especially with some extra parm-regg on top for that yummy, salty bite). I only wish I had some more fresh basil to top this puppy off.

I also had a slice of GHBC bread. I only wish we had a toaster in the office because it would have been so much better toasted with this lunch (IMO)! I also had some water with lunch and watched Food TV on HD on the break room TV - caught the last half of 30 Minute Meals and some of Barefoot Contessa. If I had just eaten a little later, I could have caught Healthy Appetite!

Wow, this is one carb-alicious day so far! It's all good...I love my carbs!

2:30 pm - Chocolate Tea - Satisfied

I also dug into the chocolate tea I got from my swap. I had no clue how this tea would taste, but it reminded me a lot of the Mate Vana I drink from Teavana....smooth and rich (rich for a tea of course). Very good!

3:00 pm - Tahitian Gold Mix - Satisfied

I started feeling snack-y after my tea, so I grabbed a quick handfull of some Tahitian Gold I had stashed away in my desk. The crunchy walnuts and sweet dried fruits really hit the spot.

8:30 pm - Early V-Day Dinner - Stuffed!

Hubby took me out tonight for an early Valentine's Day dinner to a local restaurant Villa Antonio. I didn't even know he was planning all this till he called me earlier today to brainstorm where I wanted to go.

We started the meal off with one of my favorite parts - the bread! In the silver dish was some olive oil and balsamic vinegar...yum! I had about 1 1/2 pieces over the night.

Hubby asked if the waiters were featuring any wines and after they showed us 3 options, hubby picked the Red Rock bottle of merlot.

Hubby decided to do the Restaurant Week special, which was over in January but extended in some locations. He got 3 courses for $30...a steal, no? For his first course, he got calamari.

I had 2 pieces of his calamari - the sauces paired very well with it.

I ordered off the menu and got a Caesar salad to start. They mixed it together table-side.

My salad - sans anchovies - yum! The lettuce was crisp, the dressing was creamy, and the croutons (which I think were made from the same bread served with the oil/vinegar) were crunchy. Great salad!

I'd like to say I had one glass of wine, but the waiters did that thing where they refill your glass throughout the night, so I'm not sure how many I had. I'm not a big drinker, and I drink slow, so I think I had about 1-2, but most likely 1 1/2.

After the app and salad, they brought out some mango sorbet, which they drizzled with champagne. Mmm...great palette cleanser!

The entrees came out covered in silver and the waiter uncovered both our dishes at the same time.

I had the veal saltimbocca.

Hubby had the rib-eye with a red wine sauce. Both came with potatoes and green beans and cherry tomatoes.

As you can see, I rather enjoyed mine.

But, the night wasn't over yet. No, far from it! Next, they brought out their dessert bar, which they rolled out on huge cart. You guys know dessert is my fave part of the meal!

Hubby got the tiramisu, which wrapped up the third course of his meal. He, of course, let me have a couple bites.

I had bananas foster - one of my fave desserts. The bananas were cooked in liquor and sugar, flambed, and served over ice cream with chocolate sauce in a pie-crust-like bowl. The candied syrup dripped over the "bowl", which only made it extra tasty. After the bananas were gone and the ice cream eaten or melted away, I broke off tiny bites from the edges of the bowl, and boy were they good! They were sweet and sticky, almost like peanut brittle (but without the peanutty taste). Given enough time, I think I could have eaten the whole thing, but even though I was already starting to feel overly full, I tried to stop myself from eating too-too much. Oh and see the thing sticking out of the bowl that looks like a treble clef (wow, I do remember something from all those piano lessons when I was a kid!) - that's edible, too!

We had a great time at dinner. If anyone lives in the area, they should definitely check this place out. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was cozy, and the service was impeccable. This place would make a great restaurant for a romantic date or even business dinner (or lunch). We'll definitely be back!

Bagel, Bananas, Bread, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Salad, SCBR, Snack, Tea, Tomatoes, Restaurant, Wine

Christmas in February

Ok, so there's no such thing as Christmas in February, but it felt like Christmas today when I got home and discovered 2 surprises - 1. A surprise from hubby and 2. A delivery that I knew was coming, but I didn't know when.

Hubby's Surprise

Hubby set up a little surprise for me, which I saw when I got home from work today (while hubby was out and about).

Inside was the camera bag/kit I've been wanting for my camera since Christmas. I even get a new battery with the bag, so I don't have to worry about missing any shots due to an uncharged battery. Plus, I now have a good way to protect my camera when we're traveling. Yippee! Thanks babe!

A Coast-to-Coast Swap

I also got a special delivery all the way from the other side of the country from most-awesome blogger Kate from Cooking with Kate.

The contents of the box, besides the vanilla bean syrup which inspired the whole thing, were a surprise, so I had a blast oohing and aahing over all the goodies I kept pulling out.

Inside the box:

Oatmeal & Cranberry Cookie Mix - all yummy-sounding ingredients!

The famous vanilla-bean syrup. Yum!

Whole-grain pancake mix - hope hubby doesn't see that "whole grain" part.

Chocolate Tea! Who ever heard of such a thing? I dunno, but I can't wait to try it!

Pomegranate white tea - another goodie that I'm sure to enjoy for a long time. Pom-flavored stuff is so good

And I even got an adorable card!

*UPDATE*

I totally forgot to add these Perfect 10 Western bagels last night because they were in the fridge when I started shooting photos. How could I forget these?!

Thank you soooo much Kate! I am gathering goodies for yours and hope to send it out asap! :)

Swaps & PIFs, Swaps & PIFs, Tea

SCBR Week 2/Day 4 Food/Exercise Journal

8:15 am - BB Coffee - Awake

Hubby and I woke up around 5:30 pm to a hacking sound, which turned out to be Bailey ready to spit up just a little...twice. Poor little guy! I wasn't mad, but I was sleeping really good he woke us...drats! I contemplated just staying awake, but I went back to bed for a little, till the alarm went off. Hubby made coffee this AM - the usual - FM Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk.

9:45 am - Banana, Walnut, + Brown Sugar Oatmeal - Satisfied

Packing for the day was easy since I already had breakfast packed from yesterday. I didn't eat it yesterday since I was trying to "fast." Today, I was ready to eat my yummy oatmeal concoction.

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/4 1-minute quick cooking quaker oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp flax seed
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Post-cooking:

• Stir in 1 tbsp of milk
• Stir in sliced banana
• Top with walnuts (about 2 tbsp)

Breakfast was soooo good!

I'm feeling much better today - a "hint of offness" is lingering still. I am shrugging off the "bad feelings." At this point, I don't think it's something that's going to progress into something worse, so I'll put it out of my mind as best I can hoping I'll forget and it will go away. I think I'm almost there anyways. :)

12:45 pm - Breakfast for Lunch - Satisfied

I actually packed leftover capellini pomodoro for lunch today, but when some co-workers invited me to join them for lunch, I took them up on the offer. It's good to be social, so I try to eat out with co-workers/friends at least once a week (hopefully, no more than twice).

My mind was set on the breakfast special (1/2 chicken salad sammy + soup of the day), but when 2 other co-workers started talking about breakfast, I started leaning that way. Torn between the two, I asked the waitress which she liked better and she said pancakes. I always leave tough decisions like this up to the waiters/waitresses, but only when I know I'll be equally (or mostly) happy with either option. It's sort of my way to "toss the coin."

I got the short stack, which came with 2 gigantic pancakes and 4 slices of bacon. Now, I know myself enough to know when I'm not going to finish something and when I'm probably not going to want the leftovers, so I gave a co-worker who was extra hungry about 1/3 of my pancakes and 2 slices of bacon. I got a small piece of his omelette in return. He actually tried to offer me twice as much omelette as pictured, but I knew I wouldn't finish it. Even after downsizing my plate, I still couldn't finish the last couple bites of my pancake. But, I did pretty good eating what I could.

I also had a regular cup of coffee with 2 packets of sugar and 2 of those mini-creamers.

2:30 pm - Green Tea - Satisfied

Over the afternoon, I worked on my liquid intake - lots of water and a nice, big, hot mug of green tea. This is Equal Exchange Organic Green Tea from my MIL.

4:00 pm - Pure Chocolate Brownie Bar - Satisfied

As the day started winding down, it was becoming apparent to me that I'd need a snack before leaving work. I dug through my health bar stash and selected the Pure Chocolate Brownie bar, since chocolate was sounding mighty tasty.

The Pure CB bar did not disappoint. The texture reminded me of a nutty brownie and really did taste almost brownie-like. At first, I won't lie, I tasted more date than chocolate. Well, it tasted like a slightly fruity fudge brownie. But, the more I ate it, the less I tasted the date. I enjoyed the not-too sweet taste and chewy, crunchy texture. I will definitely be getting more of these, if not a box.

6:00 pm - Bar Food - Heavy But Satisfied

One of our co-workers was in town all the way from NY, so a group of us went out after work for drinks. Everyone ordered beers and bar food apps. I had a glass of pinot grigio (which I forgot to photograph!) and a handful of apps: 1 slider, about 5 nacho chips with cheese and black beans, and a cheese stick with a little marinara sauce.

When a second round of apps came around, I couldn't help grabbing another cheese stick. I love these things!

The bar foods were a bit heavy on my tummy, but I like to indulge now and again.

8:30 pm - Pizza + Coke - Satisfied

Dinner was pretty unhealthy, too. Hubby wanted pizza to eat while watching the Duke/Carolina game. I had one slice of pepperoni...

...and a half slice of cheese...

...and a tiny glass of Coke - about 3/4 cup.

I intended to have some fruit after dinner, but never quite got around to it. Ah well, I'm ready for bed anyways. G'night!

Bananas, Breakfast, Coffee, Dinner, Healthfood/Granola Bar, SCBR, Snack, Tea, Walnuts, Pizza

Let's Talk: Credit Cards

I listen to the Bob and Sheri show almost every morning during my commute to work and I absolutely love them and their show.  They have the most interesting people call-in and it's fascinating to me (probably in the same way blogs and reality TV can be) to hear the various snippets of their lives.  Today, people called in with stories about when they told, or someone told them, "You're not going to like this, but..."

So, this morning, a woman calls in to say that she is about to tell her dad that she and her husband are $130,000 in debt (roughly 50K in mortgage or HELOC or something and 80K in credit cards)!  That's a LOT of debt!  Sheri asks the chick to give a brief laundry list of stuff she's purchased to cause so much debt and the woman responds that she and her hubby were bored last week, so they bought 2 brand new 4-wheelers.  Also, they got 2 brand new TV's recently (one a 52" to replace the 42" they already had), got new tires for both of their cars (because they didn't like the ones they had), and though I can't really remember anything else they bought off the top of my head, I believe they were having renovations done on their house.  I am both baffled and saddened at hearing this story.

As for me, I have been working extremely hard for the past year and half to pay off a credit card.  Actually, I've been working hard to pay off 2 credit cards and my iMac.  In the last year, I've busted my hiney, cutting out as much "fun" shopping as possible and watching my expenses so I can put as much money as possible towards this debt.  I'm happy to report that in the past year, I've managed to pay off 1 of those credit cards and should be paying off the other this month (yay!).  This past year has been one of the most frustrating, financially speaking, since I feel like I've been saving tons of money, but have no savings left to show for it.  All my hard work is going towards stuff that has already been purchased and though there has been little reward month-to-month to me for paying off something owed rather than saving up for something I want, I know I will feel an incredible sense of relief once this is all over.  I think the hardest part of this whole thing for me is that I so badly want a house (and have wanted for the last couple years), but am so busy paying off this credit card, I can't do anything to save money for a house.

I'm not sure that I can define an individual lesson learned from this experience, but I have definitely learned a lot that I hope to apply to my life going forward (some things I already knew, but it's one thing to know better and another to actually do) and I think, in general, the biggest help to me in these efforts has been a change in my attitude towards money:

• It's better to save for something you want, rather than buying it on credit and paying off later.
• You don't need to spend every cent you make.
• Little things add up quickly.  A Starbucks latte seems like an innocent treat, but a latte everyday can turn into $1000 a year!  This is why I have Bagel-Monday and Starbucks-Friday.
• If you feel like you're shopping smart, but money seems to be disappearing from your bank account, try noting every cent you spend (either write it down or track it in an Excel, etc) and you'll see where it is all going to.
• Eating in instead of eating out (for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks) can save you a lot of money (and is probably better for your health, too).
• When you get the urge to buy something new, think about what you already have and if you can make do without the new item.  Try to use what you already have...it will help keep clutter down, too.
• Instead of thinking about what you don't have, be thankful for what you do have.

I totally understand why my dad hates credit cards so much now.

For more financial advice (along with other goodies), check out Fabulously Broke in the City - the chick has some great advice!

Reader Question: Are you working on paying off debt?  What are you going to do to celebrate when it's gone?

SCBR Week 2/Day 3 Food/Exercise Journal

I managed to finish my blog post slightly earlier than normal last night, so I kicked hubby out of the bedroom (he was on the laptop at watching TV) so I could have some quiet time. I turned off the TV and grabbed my Body + Soul mag and read for about 20-30 minutes. I'm working on having no-TV-reading time before going to bed. When I was done reading, I turned off the lights and worked on my 5-minute breathing exercise (which I was supposed to do last week). I don't know if I did it for exactly 5 minutes because I wasn't really timing it, but I seemed to get to sleep ok so I guess it worked.

8:30 am - BB Coffee - Awake

I somehow managed to turn my alarm clock off after it went off, and I slept in till 8 am. I had my usual Breakfast Blend with sugar and 2% milk. I'm getting interested in getting a new flavor soon, so hopefully I'll have a chance to swing by the Fresh Market to pick a new one out.

I felt about the same as yesterday, so at least I'm not getting worse, right?

12:30 pm - Chix + Veggie Soup Plus Gatorade - Satisfied

I packed ingredients to make a brown sugar-banana-walnut oatmeal, but I've been talking to my co-worker about feeling bad lately and she suggested I try fasting. I'm not good at fasting. I don't do well being hungry, but not eating today was surprisingly easy. Perhaps something really is up with my stomach? I normally like to make sure I have lots of snacks around so I can eat when I get hungry, but today, I tried to keep myself eating as little as possible. The eats list will be a short one today.

Around lunch, I stepped out to get gas and some groceries and soup. At the gas station, I picked up a huge gatorade, which my co-worker said would be good to drink because of the electrolytes. I guess they're good when you're feeling under the weather? I normally like to research these types of things, but I figured gatorade was easy enough to drink. I ended up having about 3/4 of this bottle over the day.

I also had some chicken + veggie soup - same kind as yesterday. At $1.99, it's hard to beat.

1:30 pm - Echinacea Tea - Satisfied

I'm hoping this echinacea stuff will kick in soon and help me feel better. It tastes pretty good either way.

Yogi quote of the day - "Understanding is found through compassion."

6:30 pm - OG-Style Capellini Pomodoro + Toast - A Little Overfull

Instead of going straight home, I ran some errands that brought me near a local bakery that I don't usually frequent because their hours are so short (they close at 5pm weekdays). Since I was already passing the place, even though I should probably be eating healthful foods only, I picked up a couple treats for hubby and me. We are infatuated with their donuts and other baked goodies. I figured a snack would be good for my spirit and hubby also likes a sweet treat here and there. I got myself a chocolate glazed donut and a cherry danish for hubby.

I guess he was thinking of me, too, because I came home to some pretty flowers, which I immediately added to some water. Aren't they pretty?

I actually do think I could have fasted through dinner, but I really didn't want to, so I made something I thought would be easy to digest and something vegetarian. I made Olive Garden-style Capellini Pomodoro (click for recipe).

I also had a piece of Great Harvest Bread Company toast with some real butter (one slice is for me, one for hubby) and some water.

7:30 pm - Chocolate Glazed Donut - Satisfied

Shortly after dinner, I dove into my chocolate-glazed donut. It was so good! I normally like to just get the bakery's glazed donuts, but the place was pretty cleared out by the time I got there, so this was the very last donut they had. It may not be my "usual", but it certainly hit the spot. Yum! I wish I had another one! lol

8:45 pm - Pear - Satisfied

The pear I had last night made me feel a lot better, so I'm going to eat another one tonight. I went ahead and filled in that I would feel satisfied after eating it because I'm nearly 100% certain I will.

I'm off to enjoy my pear and try to get to bed early. G'night!

Basil, Bread, Coffee, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Pears, SCBR, Snack, Tea, Tomatoes

Capellini Pomodoro a la Olive Garden

Even though I was semi-fasting today, I knew I wanted to try to eat something for dinner. I hear meats are hard for the body to process, so I opted for something vegetarian. After seeing this post at Another One Bites the Crust, my vote was for capellini pomodoro, and since I was the only one voting, I picked up ingredients (hubby picked up basil for me) to cook it.

Having worked in an Italian restaurant, I used to see this dish quite a bit. CP isn't exactly the type of thing I would normally order in a restaurant. Whenever I eat out, I have a hard time selecting entrees from all the glorious food options, so I limit myself by trying to eat 1. things I don't think I could (or would ever want to) cook and 2. things that are specialties of the particular restaurant. CP has always seemed so easy, I've always shrugged off eating.

Aren't tomatoes cool-looking on the inside?

Anywho, even though I've always thought CP looked easy to cook, tonight was my first attempt at actually making it. Guess what? It really is easy and pretty affordable, too. It also uses a limited amount of ingredients, which can be nice after you've tried a Martha or Ina recipe.

Since the recipe has such few ingredients, def don't skip on the parm or basil. The dish will taste so much better with them. The basil adds a nice, fresh touch and the parm adds a salty bite that really finishes the flavors.

Capellini Pomodoro
Adapted from this supposed OG recipe on razzledazzlerecipes.com

My Notes: This recipe is actually different from the recipe posted on olivegarden.com here. I think I'd prefer the tomatoes cooked a bit like in this version, personally, but I haven't tried both to compare.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds plum tomatoes (about 8), seeded and diced
• 3/4 ounce fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
• 12 ounces dry capellini pasta
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring a large pot of cool water to a boil and salt water. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and add garlic in a large saute pan over medium. Cook until garlic turns white, about 60 seconds. Add pasta to the boiling water and stir to prevent pasta from sticking. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Heat through, stirring constantly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Tomatoes should not lose their shape. Remove from heat. Using slotted/toothed spoon, transfer cooked pasta to pan with tomatoes (try to get as little pasta water in pan as possible). Transfer hot, cooked pasta to large bowl. Toss pasta gently with tomato mixture, basil (except save some for garnish) and Parmesan cheese.

Garnish with a little extra chopped basil and parmesan cheese and serve.

Dinner, Garlic, Tomatoes, Recipe, Pasta, Basil

Honey and the Purse

Random title, but it sums things up niceley.

 

I fiiiiiinally remembered to pick up some honey when I went to the store today on my lunch break.  It will be so nice to be able to add honey to my teas at work now.  I read in my 150 Healthiest Foods book that there is a big difference between regular-ole honey and the natural, unprocessed stuff, but since I couldn't remember exactly what to look for, I just defaulted to my tried and true honey bear.  It's probably still better than granulated sugar, at least.  I figured the bear would get along just fine with my Happy Bunny.

 

Does any one else like the Happy Bunny?  I think they are hilarious!  The e-cards on this site are awesome.  I wish they had more than 10-ish options for card sayings, though.  I just sent one to a friend...haha.

 

I had a few minutes of down-time today, so I quickly sorted my purse.  Can you believe this pile of stuff was in 1 pocket of my purse?  Only 1!

 

I tossed a TON of useless receipts and kept a few other things, including some gift certificates I forgot I even had.  How sad?  I did keep a couple recepts that I'd like to check against my bank account.  I don't usually do that, but I hear it's a good habit since stores do make mistakes.  Not to mention there was the one time I found out some chick in FL wrote in a $1 tip for a coffee that I never gave.  B!

 

The one-pocket quick organizing break was so successful that I went through the rest of my purse, which (happily) was relatively neat.  As simple as this exercise was, I feel a lot better that my purse is uncluttered...like a breath of fresh air.  If only I could get my apartment done this quickly/easily.  

I am left wondering, though, how so many lip glosses got in my purse.  Hmm...

SCBR Week 2/Day 2 Food/Exercise Journal

7:30 am - BB/Hazelnut Coffee - Awake

I was feeling a lot better when I woke up today. I even only snoozed for 15 minutes unlike the long snoozes I had last week. To switch things up, I brewed my coffee today with half FM Breakfast Blend and half FM Hazelnut. I love mixing flavors together. This mix was pretty tasty. I added my usual 2 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp (still guestimates on measurements).

I also had 2 pieces of Great Harvest Bread Company bread with a little butter. I use real butter...I don't like margarine. From glancing over my new health books, it sounds like margarine isn't very good for you anyways, so I don't think I'm missing out on much.

11:00 am - Water + Almonds - Getting Hungry

At 11 am, I started getting hungry for lunch already, but I didn't bring any today, so I just had some water...

...and some salted almonds. They helped, but I didn't realize I was going to be trapped in the meeting till 1:45 pm. The worst part was that I had more snacks and even those new health bars, but I was holding out on eating them because I thought I'd get to lunch sooner.

Do you like my heater on in the background? I am always cold in the office! lol

1:45 pm - Chix Veggie Soup + Crackers - A Little Hungry

I finally escaped the office to pick up a quick lunch. I got a cup of Chicken Vegetable soup with some crackers (only ate 1 packet or crackers, though). The soup was really good and was made with shredded chicken, which I prefer over chunks of chicken any day. There's something about the texture.

I also got a small side of tabbouleh. Have you tried this stuff before? It's so good and a great cleanser.

It's contents vary from place to place, but tabbouleh usually has chopped herbs (parsley + mint), tomatoes, onions, etc. Tabbouleh also has a tangy taste to it, probably from lemon juice.

2:30 pm - Wallaby + Banana + Wheat Germ - Satisfied

I brought ingredients to make one of my new fave snacks - yogurt + fruit + toasted wheat germ.

I combined a blueberry Wallaby yogurt, sliced organic banana, and toasted wheat germ. This stuff is so good!

I enjoyed the snack, but started feeling "off" again towards the end of the day. What on earth is up here?

5:15 pm - Dog Walk - Energized

The funny thing about having been very athletic and fit before and trying to get back into it is that it's still a difficult thing to do, even though you know how much better you'll feel afterwards. It's been awhile since I've been on a regular work-out schedule, so I'm not in the habit like I used to be. I know better. I just have to will myself to do better.

I came home from work around 5 PM today (early!), but I still felt drained. I was looking forward to relaxing on the couch and watching some DVR'ed FoodTV that I seriously need to catch up on (I think I must have about 30 Everyday Italians & Barefoot Contessas in my recorded list). I reminded myself that I need to do, minimum, 3 30-minute walks this week for SCBR and that if I try to put it all off last minute, they may not get done at all. I wanted to do a yoga workout, but my wrist was bothering me last night and I slept in my wrist brace, so I brushed off that idea. The sun was still out and the weather was still warm at a cloudy 66 degrees F. I figured it would be good to get some fresh air - for me and Bails.

After all the logical reasoning I could come up with, I willed myself to change clothes and got myself out the door. Oh, did I mention that I also don't like walking alone because I'm paranoid of being attacked and considering our neighborhood is relatively safe, but near some not-so-safe neighborhoods, I don't think my paranoia is totally unwarranted. Did I mention that we've had 4 break-ins in the last couple weeks? Yea...scary stuff. Anywho, I talked myself out of that excuse too by pointing out that I was walking around rush hour and lots of people would be coming home, so if I walked through the neighborhood, in the daylight, when people were driving around (though the neighborhood is a wee bit more quite than I'd like) that I'd be relatively safe. I also took my cell phone with me...just in case.

Bails and I set out for a walk around the neighborhood and made it back in 30 minutes. Hubby likes to mosey more than I whenever we walk and lets the dog sniff around, but I kept Bailey pretty close to me the whole time, trying to get him to "heel." The pace of today's walk was much faster than normal and even felt like more of a work-out than normal. Either way, I was glad to get out and about for a bit and the exercise, albeit short, was a welcome addition to the day.

One workout down, two to go!

6:45 pm - Toast + Tomatoes + Pomegranate Juice - A Little Hungry

I will be so happy when hubby is through with his late-nights. I was so hungry trying to wait for him and decided that it was better to snack on something than to be hungry for a couple hours, so I had a piece of toast (again)...

...some grape tomatoes...

...and some pomegranate juice (straight-up...no cocktails tonight).

9:30 pm - Wonton Soup + Brown Rice + Tea - Satisfied

My stomach was (still!) feeling uneasy, so instead of cooking the food we have on hand, I sent hubby out for PF Changs wonton soup. I figured it would be easy to eat and pretty nourishing. Before he got back, I got my teapot started to heat up some water for tea. I made some Yogi Tea Echinacea Immune Support.

Yogi quote of the day - "Open up to infinity and you become infinity."

I put a little soup in a bowl since I was unsure how I'd react to eating it. This was Round 1.

Soup Round 2.

I also had some brown rice, which I drizzled with soy sauce after taking this photo.

I also had a fortune cookie, which read, "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change."

Dinner went down pretty well. Not sure what's going on, though. It almost feels like a low, monotone motion-sickness or something. So bizzaro!

10:00 pm - Pear - Satisfied

I'd like to eat more fruits & veggies, so I'm hoping to have more fruit for dessert...especially since we're getting all the organic fruits & veggies delivered. Tonight, I had one of the pears we had delivered last Tuesday. It was crisp and clean tasting and seems to be helping my stomach, which is good.

I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight. I'm off to read and hopefully sleep soon!

Almonds, Bananas, Bread, Breakfast, Dinner, Doggie, Doggie, Lunch, Pears, Rice, SCBR, Snack, Soup, Tea, Tomatoes, Yogurt

Re-Stocking the Bars

No, I'm not getting liquor for our bar...that would be hard since we don't have a "bar." 

I went a little crazy yesterday buying up health food/snack-y bars yesterday at Trader Joe's, since I ate all the ones I got awhile back.  Is it just me or are the bars incredibly cheaper at TJ's?  I swear I calculated the prices for Kind bars on their web site and even in bulk, they are still more expensive online!  What's up with that?  Some are cheaper on Amazon, but I wonder if they still will be after shipping.  Guess I need to do some more math?

What I bought:

• KIND - Cranberry & Almond
• KIND - Almond, Walnut, & Macadamia
• thinkThin - Chocolate Fudge
• PURE - Chocolate Brownie
• Larabar - Cherry Pie

Reader Question: Where do you buy your health food-type bars?  Do you buy individual or in bulk?

Weekly Food Challenge (2/8 - 2/14) - Pomegranate Juice!

Click here to learn more about the weekly food challenge and how you can play along. But, basically, you just make something during the challenge week with the weekly challenge food item and add your link to this post (leave a comment with your URL and I'll add it). See, simple!

This Week's Challenge Item (2/8 - 2/14) - Pomegranate Juice:
According to Parker-Pope, from her article "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating", "Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants. How to eat: Just drink it."

My 150 Healthiest Foods book is on my co-workers desk at the office, so I can't look up to see if it's in there, but according to Eat This!, helps fight various cancers, may prevent/slow Alzheimer's Disease, and could even be beneficial for your teeth, among other things!

Recipe Ideas:

• Follow Parker-Pope's advice and just drink it.
• Put it in smoothies
• Put it in a liquor drink
• Roasted Turkey with Pomegranate Sauce and Wild Rice and Goat Cheese Stuffing Recipe - Bobby Flay
• Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail - Ellie Krieger
• Pomegranate Cosmos Recipe - Ina Garten
• Spinach Salad with Dried Cranberries, Walnuts, and Pomegranate Vinaigrette - Robin Miller
• Red Wine Sangria - Bobby Flay
• Virgin Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis - Giada DeLaurentiis
• Eton Mess - Nigella Lawson
• Pomegranate-Glazed Turkey with Roasted Fennel - EatingWell.com

Looks like it's a great week for cocktails!

How to Play:
Everyone is welcome to play, but unfortunately, there's no prize this week. :( I hope you'll still play along for fun, though!

• Cook/prepare something during the challenge week (2/8-2/14) with pomegranate juice
• Do a blog post about what you made
• Add the Challenge banner (the muffin photo - available here - click) to your blog post, optional
• Leave me a comment on this post to let me know you did your post so I can add you link to the list

Happy cooking!

The Players:

TBD - Leave me a comment with a link to your pomegranate-post and I'll add your link here.

Food Challenge

Food Challenge, Food Challenge

SCBR Week 2/Day 1 Food/Exercise Journal

10:00 am - Coffee + Berry Muffins - Satisfied

Hubby took care of the dog this AM and let me sleep in till about 9:45 am today. I really needed to catch up, so the extra sleep was more than welcome. Thanks babe! By the time I got up, hubby had already made coffee and was pouring muffin batter for breakfast. I had my usual AM FM Breakfast Blend + 2 tsp sugar + 2 tbsp 2% milk.

I also had 2 muffins - these are from the Martha White Wildberry mix. We like to keep these on hand because they only require milk, so you can eat in a pinch.

12:30 pm - Spinach Salad + Smart Water - Satisfied

Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for lunch. I met up with Kath, Michelle, and Amanda for a girls' lunch outing. We grabbed food from Dean & Deluca and ate outside to enjoy the 70(ish) degrees F weather. It was wonderful!

I couldn't find anywhere to get tap water (sneaky, sneaky, D&D!), so I tried out one of those Smart Waters I've been seeing everywhere.

I also had a Chicken-Spinach salad. In the box: spinach, grilled chicken, 1 hard-boiled egg, croutons, sundried tomatoes, bacon, and a feta-vinaigrette. The salad was awesome, but I wish I had gotten their balsamic vinaigrette dressing...this one was kinda tasteless while their BV is delish!

I did my best, but I couldn't quite finish it. I tried to eat all the meat out of it, though.

After lunch, we headed to see the movie He's Just Not That Into You. The movie was even better than I thought it would be! I was thinking that I didn't need to see it since I'm married and don't need to worry about dating games, but the movie was very entertaining and I'm so glad I saw it. I even got a few jelly beans from Kath and some sour patch kids from Michelle. Yum! Thanks girls for the fun lunch outing!

Next on my movie-list: Confessions of a Shopaholic.

4:30 pm - Mini Vanilla Scone - Satisfied

Even though I only ordered one of those mini vanilla scones at S-bucks last night, the chick gave me two (only charged for one). I was so stuffed last night, I couldn't eat the second one, so I had it today. It tasted really good - especially since it was on its second day.

5:30 pm - Spinach Pizza + Shortbread Samples - Satisfied

Later in the day, Hubby and I went to Trader Joe's to get some food for dinner. We got a sample of some of their frozen spinach pizza (so good!) and some shortbread. The pizza sample prompted us to get a box of the BBQ Chicken, which will probably resurface later this week.

6:30 pm - Saltines + Ginger Tea - A Little Uneasy

Sometime after getting home from TJ's, I started feeling bad. My stomach was starting to feel uneasy and my head was hurting. I had some saltines and some Yogi Tea in Ginger. It helped a little, but I still feel bad as I type.

Yogi Tea quote of the day - "Recognize that the other person is you."

7:45 pm - Chinese Take Out - Still a Little Uneasy, but Satisfied

By the evening, I wasn't feeling much better and definitely did not feel like cooking what we got at TJ's. I sent hubby out for one of my sick-y day comfort foods - chinese. I got some egg drop soup...

...and some bland Moo Goo Gai Pan drizzled with a wee bit of soy sauce.

I also had another upset-stomach-go-to: Ginger Ale. I had about half of this can.

Something must really be up because I couldn't even finish the portion I set out, which is what I normally eat. Yuck! I hate feeling like this!

9:45 pm - Banana - A Little Better and Satisfied

I decided to try one last stomach-settling trick that my mom always directs me to eat in such situations - bananas. Well, I only had 1 to be specific. I do feel a little better, but now all I want is a good night's sleep.

One last post to do - the weekly food challenge. Almost bed time!

Bananas, Breakfast, Chicken, Dinner, Lunch, Rice, SCBR, Snack, Tea, Tomatoes, Salad, Spinach