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Filtering by Category: breakfast

saturday mornings...

Andrea

...are my favorite.  If I were to rank the Saturday mornings in my everyday life, today's would be near the top of the list.  It had all the components I crave:
  • a restful night's sleep
  • an early morning workout
  • a trip to the grocery store for beautiful produce
  • cooking in the kitchen with my hubb
  • a beautiful, delicious pancake breakfast
  • a smooth cup of coffee in my favorite NOLA mug
  • good tunes on the stereo
I'll start with my training run.  The hubb and I finished week #7 of our C'ville 10-Miler Training Program this morning! WooHoo!  We went to the track to meet up with the group at 8am.  We were a little late, so I'm not sure what distance groups 2-5 ran, but group 1 (yay group 1!!!) is up to 3 miles!!!  We rock.  :)  And, they finally had us out on the road instead of the track!  Hubb and I have been running on the road since the beginning, so we were revved up and ready to go.  We actually added an extra 1/4 mile to the route because we were feeling so good!  So, total run for this morning was 3-1/4 miles, with an additional 1/4 mile cool-down.  YAY!!!  I love the 3-mile mark because I feel like I'm actually being productive with my workout by getting a solid 30 minutes of running in.  It felt AWESOME.  And there are hills too, good hills that have you feeling worn out when you get to the top but then you get to recover with a nice downhill.  I LOVE IT! I get bored when I go to Florida and run because its so flat, but I am looking forward to the warmer weather when we head home for Christmas!!!  It was 26* this morning when we were out running!!! After our great workout, the hubb and I stopped at Foods of All Nations to pick up a few things for breakfast...we were out of coffee, fruit and eggs!  We'll do a bigger trip to Whole Foods later, but I was pleasantly surprised by the produce prices compared to WF so went ahead and got our fruit for the week.  I ate a banana on the way home. 081213-groceries-1 Lots of citrus, honeycrisp apples and CURRANTS!!!!  I l.o.v.e. currants. 081213-groceries-21 I look forward to this time of year because it means I get to have one of my all-time FAVORITE breakfasts... Fresh Red Currant Pancakes!  I hope you all like pictures of pancakes, because you're about to get a lot of them...I just can't help myself.  And I have to give credit to my hubb for a lot of these pictures...he's catching the food photography bug too!  :) 081213-b2 081213-b30813-b3 081213-b4 081213-b5 081213-b6 081213-b7 081213-b8 081213-b9 Happy Saturday!
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categories breakfast
tags currants, pancakes, running

holiday bootie buster challenge

Andrea

I'M SO GLAD ITS FRIDAY!!!!!!!  Is it just me or was this the longest week ever?!?  So I just discovered Run To The Finish's Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge and am super-excited to participate! I'm a few days late, but luckily I have a blog so I've got a good record of my exercise so far this week (although it doesn't amount to much yet...).  Here's my count so far...
  • 12.10.2008: run 2.7 miles = 2.7 points
  • 12.10.2008: abs for 15 minutes = .5 points
  • 12:11.2008: yoga for 50 minutes = 1.7 points
Total HBBC Points = 4.9  Its a bit of a slow start, but I'm hoping this challenge is just what I need to kick my exercise up a notch! This morning the hubb and I continued our new Friday morning breakfast tradition, meeting our friend Amy at our favorite breakfast spot, The Bluegrass Grill.  This morning I felt like something salty instead of sweet, so I decided to go with a veggie omelet. Breakfast:  Veggie Egg White Omelet with green pepper, green onion, tomatoes and black olives (no cheese), topped with salsa.  Hashbrowns and the AMAZING honey wheat bisucuit on the side.  I only ate 1/2 the potatoes and 1/2 the biscuit with a packet of strawberry jam on top.  And a cup of coffee, of course! 081212-b1 Lunch:  Leftover Butternut Squash, Kale + White Bean Soup and a handful of Kashi crackers. 081212-l2 081212-l1 Snack:  A banana and 1/4 cup of Melissa's Trail Mix, plus a chocolate covered pretzel...I just couldn't leave him out!  :) 081212-s1 Dinner tonight was quick and easy.  Grocery day is tomorrow which means we are LOW on produce...as in we don't have any.  We briefly thought about take-out but then I remembered that I picked up some pre-made ravioli at Trader Joe's on Tuesday...perfect dinner in a pinch!  I also found some frozen spinach in the freezer...I've never cooked frozen spinach on its own, just put it in sauces etc, so this was a new experience.  I just steamed it for 8 minutes, then sauteed some garlic in Earth Balance and added the spinach to the pot.  It was just...ok. Dinner:  TJ's Portobello Mushroom Ravioli with TJ's Vodka Sauce and steamed spinach on the side.  Also, a GIANT glass of TJ's Shiraz...it was a TJ's kind of night! 081212-d2 081212-d1 I told ya...BIG glass of wine.  It was a frustrating day at work, what can I say?!? Dessert:  I made a sweet snack bowl with Annie's Honey Bunnies, TJ's pumpkin spice granola and 3 gingersnaps.  It was a little dry (obviously) so I added a few spoonfuls of unsweetened applesauce after I snapped the pic. 081212-d3 Tomorrow ends Training Week #7 with a 3 mile run!!!  I can't believe we've already finished 7 weeks!!!  Crazy.  I think the weather will be decent so the hubb and I are planning to meet the group at the UVA track. However, if group one is still run/walking on the track we're going out on the road on our own for several reasons.  #1) We are planning to run the full 3 miles after our fabulous 2.7 mile run Wednesday.  #2) Running 3 miles on the track sounds like the most boring thing EVER, except for maybe running 3 miles on a treadmill...!   What are your weekend plans?  I'm hoping to finish my Christmas shopping/making!!!
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categories Uncategorized, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags kashi, soup, trader joe's, trail mix, vino

rainy day = comfort food

Andrea

What a dreary day we've had.  I tried to stay inside as much as possible but had to run a couple of errands at lunch time...yuck.  I did come home to a fabulous surprise in my mailbox though...my BSI Prize Trail Mix from Melissa!!! 081211-trail-mix 081211-trail-mix-2 Melissa had the great idea of giving the winner of BSI: Sweet Potatoes a custom-made trail mix...she sent me a list of mixin's to choose from and this is what I decided on:
  • PB-filled pretzels
  • chocolate-covered pretzels
  • almonds
  • cashews
  • caramel bits
  • yogurt-covered raisins
  • dried cranberries
  • chocolate-covered banana chips
  • dried raspberries
  • raisins
It is soooooooooo good!  Thanks Melissa!!!  :)  I had a big handful as soon as I opened the box!!! I had high hopes for another wonderful run this evening but just didn't feel like going out in the nasty weather.  So instead I pulled out my favorite power yoga dvd...not the same as going to class but I went with it.  50 minutes later I was a bendy, stretchy, happy girl...I do love my yoga.  :) Backtrack a little to my day's eats...another post full of comfort food.  What is it about winter-time and the need for warm, filling meals...do all of you lucky Floridians with your 80* winters have the same cravings? I am so-in-love with the TJ's Pumpkin Spice Granola...I was craving it as soon as I got up this morning and thought it was a perfect opportunity to test out the new Siggi's yogurt that Whole Foods gave me as a consolation prize for eliminating my Oikos from their shelves. Breakfast:  One 6oz container of Siggi's Icelandic Skyr, plain, with 1/2 cup TJ's Pumpkin Spice Granola and one sliced banana. 081211-b1 081211-b2 081211-b3 I must say...I am VERY impressed with the Siggi's.  It is very thick but oh so creamy...Julz was right when she commented on my post awhile back that Skyr is like Greek yogurt on steroids!  I LOVED it...too bad it is WAY out of my price range.  $2.69 for 6oz?!?!?!?  I don't think so. Morning Snack:  3 ginger snaps while knitting...is there anything better on a rainy, cold day?!?  I went home around noon to let the pups out and realized that my lunch was actually at work (I didn't anticipate being able to leave the office today).  So, I decided to actually take my full lunch hour and just hang out on the couch for 30 minutes and work on a Christmas present...I was happy and so were the pups.  :) 081211-s2 Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Veggie Soup and a handful of Kashi crackers (I actually took these photos this morning before going to work...poured the soup out of its gladware into the nice bowl, then back into the gladware after the picture.  Yes, I'm becoming that obsessed with my food photography...). 081211-l1 081211-l21 Afternoon Snack:  Another glorious pear. 081211-s1 Dinner:  Homemade Veggie Pizza!  Woohoo!  We loaded a TJ's whole wheat pizza crust with:
  • TJ's pizza sauce
  • fresh spinach
  • onion
  • yellow bell pepper
  • broccoli
  • black olives
  • 1/3 cup part-skim mozzarella on my 1/2, LOTS of cheese on the hubb's 1/2
081211-d1 081211-d2 081211-d3 Mmmmmm...yum.  The crust needed a little longer in the oven, we typically bake it for 5-7 minutes before topping it but the TJ's instructions didn't say to do that so we stuck it in the oven raw with toppings.  It was still a little doughy, but yummy all the same.  :)  I had another piece 1/2 the size of the piece above...which would mean about 3 of 8 slices of a 12" pizza. Dessert:  A small cup of eggnog with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top...my holiday guilty pleasure! 081211-d5 I hope you all have a glorious night and Happy Friday!!!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, product review
tags granola, pizza, skyr, soup, trail mix

quiche + chicken veggie soup + veggie broth oh my!!!

Andrea

Good evening!  I hope you all have had a fabulous day!  Mine was good...I played lots of catch-up in the office after being out all day yesterday.  After work my hubb and I went for a fabulous run...YAY!!!  I was worried after my not-so-great run on Saturday when we didn't run the full 2.5 miles that were scheduled in our training.  We decided that tonight we would try to make up for it, especially since we hadn't been able to do anything the last two days with my overworking. I mapped out a 2.7 mile stretch for us close to our house that involves a looooong hill at the 1/2 mile mark all the way to the 1-1/4 mile mark and again at the 2-1/2 mile mark.    I just discovered the elevation tool on mapmyrun.com...look at that hill!!! 081210-map We made it though!  My hubb was great, he probably could have gone a lot further.  I was a very satisfied level of tired at the end....not feeling good enough for another mile but not completely dead either.  I'm so pleased!!!  :) I have some eats to tell you about, along with some recipes to share as promised.  I hope you can hang in there for one more long post from me... Breakfast:  3/4 cup Stoneyfield fat free french vanilla yogurt with one sliced banana and 1/4 cup of TJ's Spiced Pumpkin Granola. 081210-b1 Now I know what you've all been raving about!  The granola is AWESOME!  :) Lunch:  I pulled some black bean soup out of the freezer and added a dollop of sour cream to it along with an 8" sprouted wheat tortilla. 081210-l2 My office desk doesn't make nearly as nice of a background as my dining table at home... Snack:  I ate about 3 bites of this gala apple before tossing it because it was COMPLETELY devoid of flavor.  We finally finished all 13 pounds of hand-picked pink ladies...sigh.  :( 081210-s1 So instead I ate the other 1/2 of the Clif Builder's Bar I snacked on the other night. 081210-s2 Dinner:  Butternut Squash and Kale soup, modified from Kath's original recipe, along with a piece of my homemade whole wheat bread.  My soup had
  • 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 32oz box of creamy carrot soup
  • 1 cup of diced ham
  • 1 15oz can of white kidney beans
  • 6 cups of fresh chopped kale
  • salt + pepper to taste
081210-d1 081210-d2 081210-d3 The soup was really good, but a little thick for our tastes.  I actually had a different soup plan for the butternut squash, but when I realized that I had kale wilting in my fridge it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out Kath's recipe.  I do think I'll try my original plan next week...the hubb and I discussed it tonight and I think its going to be good! Recipe Recap:  As promised, here are the recipes for the amazing dinners my Hubb made Sunday and Monday nights.  They are both pretty simple, but full of so much home-cooked comfort food yumminess...! 081207-d71 Chicken Vegetable Soup with Homemade Veggie Broth Ingredients:
  • one gallon-size ziplock of frozen veggie parts*
  • 2 frozen cheese rinds**
  • 8 cups commercial veggie broth ONLY if you don't want to make your own
  • 2/3 pound of ground chicken, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 4 medium russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup frozen lima beans
  • 1 cup frozen okra
  • 2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes
  • salt + pepper to taste
* We put all raw veggie "waste" into a gallon-size ziplock bag we keep in the freezer.  "Waste" includes the ends of onions, asparagus, carrots, green beans, etc., basically anything that won't break down quiclkly (don't throw potato, squash, mushrooms etc. in there...you need to be able to strain everything out after simmering for awhile) * We keep the rinds of any hard cheese we use in a small ziplock in the freezer to use for soups etc.  Parmesan, parano and gouda are our most common. Steps (starting with veggie broth):
  1. Put all frozen veggie parts and 2 cheese rinds into large saucepan or stock pot.  Fill pot with water until veggies are covered.
  2. Bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer uncovered for one hour.  If you simmer longer you will have more intense flavor, less time will yield a milder taste.
  3. Strain liquid through a fine colander or china cap (pictured below), collecting the broth in a bowl.
  4. Put your broth back in the soup pot, add the tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and potatoes and bring all to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered until the potatoes are starting to soften.
  5. Once the potatoes are slightly soft, but still about 10 minutes from being soft enough to bite easily, add the frozen veggies and the chicken.  
  6. When the potatoes are soft and the frozen veggies are heated through you soup is ready!
081207-d1 081207-d2 081207-d3 081207-d4 081207-d81 I LOVE my hubb's homemade soups....they are so incredible.  We typically make the version above completely veggie and add in some barley or israeli cous-cous, but we had leftover ground chicken after making the potstickers a few nights before so decided to throw it in.  That's the beautiful thing about these soups...anything and everything can go in!  And I also love that the homemade broths provide a way for us to use our veggie waste when the compost bin is out of commission during the winter. Monday night's dinner was another favorite of ours...QUICHE!  We always try to keep a frozen pie crust in the freezer so that if we have veggies that need to be used up we can throw together a quiche.  Its a quick, easy, nutritious dinner (as long as you are smart about the crust...!) and so good on a cold night.  I like to add in more egg whites and reduce some of the yolks, but we had exactly 5 eggs so had to use them completely (don't worry, egg yolks never go to waste around here...our dogs love them!) 081208-d1 Ham + Veggie Quiche Ingredients:
  • one frozen whole wheat pie crust
  • 1 head of broccoli, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 pound cooked ham, chopped
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 5 eggs
Steps:
  1. Pull pie crust from freezer and allow to thaw for 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400*.
  2. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust, cover with foil, add pie weights (or dry beans) and bake for 10 minutes.
  3. Whisk eggs and add salt and pepper.  Set aside.
  4. Put fillings into crust.  Pour egg on top.  Add more egg if needed, the crust should be about 2/3's full.
  5. Bake @ 400* for 60 minutes on the BOTTOM rack of oven.
081208-d21 081209-d21 Whew!  Another long post complete.  Thanks again for hanging in there...I hope to get some feedback on these recipes as you all try them!  I'm off to bed...
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, recipes
tags Clif, black beans, quiche, soup, yogurt

trader joe's and daily eats recap

Andrea

Hello!!!  So so so sorry I've been m.i.a. the last couple of days...  Monday night I was at work late trying to prepare for my project meeting in Raleigh on Tuesday, and Tuesday I drove 4 hours each way to Raleigh and back so was completely exhausted by the time I got home at 9pm.  I have LOTS of catch-up to do, but before I get into my eats I wanted to report about My First Trader Joe's Experience!!! I stopped at a brand new store in Richmond on my way home from Raleigh.  I'm excited because this store is right next to a huge shopping area that we visit every now and then only about 50 minutes from our house, so I think we'll be able to make Trader Joe's stops every couple of months at least!  The store was a lot smaller than I expected, and I didn't realize that they carry mostly Trader Joe's brand, which explains the smaller store. You all gave me such GREAT suggestions and I was able to get most of them!  I didn't get any frozen stuff because I had a bit of a drive ahead of me and knew it would probably thaw, but I did stock up on wine and non-perishables, and a couple of cold things 'cause I bought a TJ's cold bag!  Here's my loot... tj-1
  • brown rice pasta
  • canned beans
  • canned soup (organic split pea, veggie chili and lentil veggie)
  • cranberry apple butter
  • pumpking butter (!!!)
  • edamame hummus (!!!)
  • fat free balsamic dressing
  • multigrain tortilla chips
  • dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
  • soyaki sauce
  • sweet chile sauce
  • twigs, flakes and clusters cereal
  • pomegranate and blueberry flakes and clusters cereal (!!!)
  • soy sauce
  • crunchy peanut butter
  • harvest grains mix
  • pumpkin spice granola (!!!)
  • korma simmer sauce
  • masala simmer sauce
tj-21 Not pictured:
  • pizza sauce
  • vodka sauce
  • active dry yeast
  • cranberries
  • hearts of palm
  • vino!!!
I'm so excited to try out all of these new products!  Especially since I've been reading about most of them on your blogs for months now!  I broke into the dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's on my way home from Richmond...oh. my. goodness.  Those beauties are little pieces of heaven in cookie form.  I don't have a picture since I was driving and it was dark, but I'm sure I'll be featuring them in the next week!  :) Now to back track a little, all the way to Sunday night.  My hubb was kind enough to make an AWESOME meal while I was working on my BSI: GINGER round-up post. Sunday Dinner:  Homemade Chicken Veggie Soup with Homemade Veggie Broth...YUM!!!  I'll post the recipe in a separate post later today, this post will get way too long if I include all my recipes too!  I also made whole wheat bread for the very first time without a bread machine!!!  I'm quite proud because the loaves turned out beautifully. 081207-d7 081207-d8 081207-d6 I made two loaves, so I sliced one and put it in the freezer for later. 081207-d9 Sunday Dessert:  Becca's award-winning Ancho Ginger Applesauce!  :) 081207-d10 Snacks:  I of course snacked on some of the baked goods I made throughout the day. I think I wound up eating two of VeggieGirl's Pear Pistachio Ginger Blondies and one of Jessica's Chocolate Gingerbread Bars.  No pics...sorry!  I need to get better about my baked good / snack consumption...I've been going a little overboard.  :( Monday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin w/ 1 tbsp almond butter and sliced banana, the rest of the banana on the side. 081208-b1 Monday Lunch:  1/2 a leftover enchi-rito and a spinach salad with yellow bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing. 081208-l2 081208-l1 Snacks Monday:  My lunch calories were a little light (surprising I know, but the enchirito really isn't bad for you!) so I was hungry for this beautiful pear a couple of hours later.  I also grabbed one of the chocolate gingerbread bars that I brought into the office to share with my co-workers. 081208-s1 081208-s3 And because I was in the office until about 8:30, I ate 1/2 of this Clif Builder's Bar at 6:30 to keep myself from eating more choco. gingerbread bars... (iphone pic, sorry!) 081208-s2 Monday Dinner:  My hubb came to the rescue again with a fabulous quiche!!! I'll post this recipe later too...it was SO YUMMY!  And I was starving by the time I got home so I had 1/4 of it, along with a glass of chardonnay (no pic...). 081208-d2 And for dessert a molasses clove cookie (see what I mean about the sweets!?!?!?) 081208-d3 We're almost there!!!  Thanks for hangin' in there for this LONG post!  :) Tuesday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin with 2 tbsp PB...I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get hungry on my drive and be tempted by a Starbucks baked goodie!  Also, a banana.   081209-b1 I managed to get PB all over myself while driving.  It was dark and I had no idea until the sun came up...pathetic.  :P Tuesday Morning Snack:  I stopped at Starbucks for a grande non-fat chai latte about halfway through my morning drive. 081209-s1 Tuesday Lunch:  We all went out to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant where I ordered grilled tofu on lemongrass vermicelli noodles.  It was AMAZING but I have no pictures because it was definitely not appropriate to pull out my iphone with the entire team of architects and engineers present.  It was sooooo good though... Tuesday Afternoon Snack:  My hubb was so sweet and made me a very special trail mix to snack on during my long drive...he even took the pictures for me so that the note stayed a surprise.  He's the best!!!  :)  I had a handful of the mix on my way home. 081209-s2 Tuesday Evening Snack:  One glorious dark chocolate covered joe joe... 081209-s3 Tuesday Dinner:  Leftover quiche and a spinach salad with hearts of palm, red bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing.  And a much-needed glass of cabernet after my long day. 081209-d1 081209-d2 Whew!!!  Thanks for sticking with me!  I'll be back later tonight to post today's eats and the two dinner recipes I promised.  I feel so out of the blog loop because I haven't read any since Sunday!!!  I hope to get caught up tonight...  Have a great day!  :)
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categories baking, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags bread, ezekiel muffin, quiche, salad, soup, trader joe's

trader joe's request!!

Andrea

I hope everybody is having a fabulous Sunday!!!  I've been having fun in my kitchen whipping up a few of the BSI entries submitted to me this week!  Don't forget to send me your recipe by 8pm tonight, and even if I didn't get a chance to actually make it you are of course still in the running to win!!! Before I forget, last night I had a little snack while watching Sex + The City reruns... 081206-s1 An unsweetened apple sauce cup with Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams on top.  Not pictured are the two additional handfuls of bunnies I had after this...I had such a sweet tooth yesterday!!! Breakfast:  Bowl of cereal, boring I know but it was just what I wanted. I combined 1/2 cup Kashi H2H, 1/2 cup Nature's Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch, 1 cup Silk plain soymilk and 1 sliced banana. 081207-b12 Workout:  Vinyasa Yoga at Studio 206.  Mmmmmmmm.  :) Lunch:  Leftover Healthified Enchi-rito and a HUGE pear...yum! 081207-l1 I'll be back later to post the BSI:GINGER results!!! (probably after 10pm est...) IMPORTANT ::: Trader Joe's Request On Tuesday I have to drive to Raleigh for a project meeting.  Because we don't have Trader Joe's in Charlottesville, I am planning on stopping at TJ's in either Raleigh or Richmond on the way home.  This will be my FIRST TJ'S EXPERIENCE EVER!!!  I would love some advice from all of you lucky readers who get to shop at TJ's weekly...What should I get?!?  I want to try out some of your favorite TJ's items, so please tell me the items you buy at TJ's that you can't live without!  Thank you!!!  :)
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categories breakfast, lunch, product review
tags cereal, trader joe's, yoga

training + groceries + egg drop soup

Andrea

Hello my fellow bloggies!  Have you all had a good Saturday?  Mine started out gloriously...the hubb and I slept in 'till 10:30!!!  I cannot even remember the last time we slept that late!  My alarm went off at 7:30 to meet the training group for a run, but when I rolled over to check the temperature and saw that it was only 16* outside I rolled right back over and fell back to sleep!   We did get up and go for a run once it reached a balmy 25* at 11am.  Brrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!  Today was supposed to be 2.5 miles and I mapped out a nice, although hilly, run for us around campus and some surrounding shopping areas.  When we first started I felt really choppy, like I couldn't get into the groove.  Things finally evened out and felt good after about 1/3 mile and stayed that way until about 1-1/2 miles, but then I got two horrible cramps, one under my ribs and one behind my hip bone.  Wierd, huh?  I had to stop to walk it off and decided to just walk the rest of the way back, so I only got about 1-3/4 miles in.  I was so bummed.  Especially after having such good runs this week.  I know sometimes you just have "off" days that can't be predicted or explained.  I remember even when I was having great 8-mile long runs I would have an "easy" 3-mile run a couple days later that I could barely finish.  What do you other runners do out there when you get a cramp mid-run? Breakfast:  I had 1/2 a banana about 30 minutes before my run, then had two Kashi Go Lean blueberry waffles afterwards. One was topped with 1 tbsp almond butter and the other with 1 tbsp apple butter, both with sliced pink lady apple. 081206-b1 Lunch:  Well, breakfast was kinda lunch since I slept so late, so my schedule was off all day.  I did make the horrible mistake of going grocery shopping while hungry, which resulted in several snacks that you will see shortly. I had the worst Whole Foods shopping experience today.  I'm still bummed out about it.  I've mentioned that we have a tiny store that doesn't carry a great selection of bars etc, but they are building a new store so I've just been hanging in there 'till its finished.  Over the couple of years that the hubb and I have been shopping at this Whole Foods they've taken away several products that I love dearly to make room for new or different products.  Some examples of products I love that I can no longer get at my store are:
  • Clif Nectar Cherry Pomegranate flavor
  • Clif Nectar Cranberry Apricot flavor
  • Newman's Own Salt + Pepper Pretzels
  • Nairn gluten-free Ginger Crackers
  • Nairn gluten-free Oat Crackers
And there are countless other things that other Whole Foods stores carry that mine does not.  Especially infuriating are the items that have coupons in the Whole Deal catalogs they pass out that I can't even get at my store.  So today, I had made a list that of course included Stoneyfield Oikos yogurt on it, but when I got to the yogurt aisle there was NO OIKOS!!!  I thought they must be out, until I noticed that the product's spot on the shelf was filled with something new and that there was no longer a tag for the OIKOS!!!  Incredulous, I asked the first WF employee I could find "what happened to the Oikos?!?!?!?!?!?" and he said "Oh, we started carrying this other product instead".  WHAT?!?!?!?!  I know I gave him the same look that my hubb gave me when I told him I had messed with his No-Bakes.  WHY would they stop carrying OIKOS?!?!?!?!  Its only the BEST YOGURT EVER!!!  I was seriously depressed for the rest of the trip.  It didn't help that my next item on the list was wonton wraps, which live on the dairy aisle just down from the Oikos.  When I got to their usual spot on the shelf there were none to be had.  I asked the same employee about wonton wraps and he said "yeah, I think that was another product that got bumped".  Ridiculous.  Not a wonton wrap to be seen in the entire store.   So, our grocery shopping trip today included three separate stores, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter (for oikos and wonton wraps) and Rebecca's Natural Foods (for dried pears, which are nearly impossible to find!!!).  Here's the loot: groceries-1 groceries-2 groceries-3 Yeah, this was a pricey trip.  Mainly because I had to stock up on some baking ingredients for the holidays and some specialty ingredients for BSI recipes I wanted to try out.  I don't have the energy to list all of the items so pictures will have to speak for themselves...  And I do have to give the nice employees at my Whole Foods credit.  When I went to Customer Service to fill out a form to get my Oikos back (yes, I did that), they offered to let me take a container of the new product that had replaced it to sample for free.  I thought that was mighty nice of them... groceries-4 I am intrigued...has anybody ever heard of  "icelandic style skyr" before?  This product had some amazing flavors, but I wanted to get the plain so I could do a true comparison to the Oikos I'm used to.  However, the Siggi's is a whopping $2.69 per 6 oz container, so even if I love it I won't be buying it.  I had a hard enough time paying $1.99 for Oikos, so $2.69 is out of the question! Oh, and this is what happens when you go to the grocery store(s) hungry: groceries-5 You buy ginger snaps from Whole Foods, apple chips from Harris Teeter and molasses clove cookies from Rebecca's.  All were amazing and satisfied the hubb's and my hunger in the car on the way home... Dinner:  I can only talk about part of the meal because the other part was a finalist in the BSI:Ginger contest this week.  I'm trying out several of the recipes being submitted so get them in ASAP so that I can try as many as possible!  :)  Tonight I made the best Egg Drop Soup ever.  I found this recipe so long ago that I can't even remember where I got it.  But trust me, it is SO GOOD.  If you like egg drop soup then you MUST try this recipe... Egg Drop Soup serves 2  Ingredients:
  • 4 cups chicken or veggie broth, divided
  • 3 quarter-size chunks of fresh ginger or 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh scallions
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
Steps:
  1. Reserve 3/4 cup of the broth, and pour the rest into a medium-size saucepan.  Stir in the salt, ginger and scallions and bring to a rolling boil.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and the cornstarch until smooth.  Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk together using a fork.  Drizzle the egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture.  Egg should cook immediately.   
  4. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually into the soup is the desired consistency.
  5. If fresh ginger was used, remove the chunks before serving.
081206-d7 081206-d8 It is so easy, so fast and soooooo yummy!  I'll have more pictures tomorrow night showing my whole dinner. I also had a glass of vino. 081206-d1 Ok, its time for bed.  Don't forget to get your BSI recipe in!!!
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categories breakfast, dinner, product review
tags BSI, egg, kashi, soup, wine

bluegrass grill + tofu two ways

Andrea

Brian and I park about 1/3 of a mile from our offices every morning.  The walk to work is short and pleasant, but forces us to pass our favorite C'ville breakfast spot, The Bluegrass Grill.  The restaurant serves down-home breakfasts and is famous for their house-made baked goods, especially the honey wheat biscuits.  I dream about their biscuits.  Its impossible to get a table on the weekends without waiting an hour, so we don't get to go very often, but every morning as we walk by we say "we need to get up early one day and go before work".  After 6 months of talking about it, today was finally "one day".  We invited our good friend Amy to join us so it was the perfect start to a Friday morning, good food + good company. Breakfast:  Short stack of Honey Wheat Pancakes with fresh strawberries, real maple syrup and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  It was AMAZING.  I ate almost the whole plate.  :)  Surprisingly these puppies stuck with me from 8am until 1:30pm!!!  I thought for sure that I would be starving by 10. 081205-b1 Lunch:  Because I knew I'd be having a large, not-so-healthy breakfast I decided to keep lunch simple and satisfying.  I had a baked sweet potato in the fridge so tossed it in a bowl with 1/2 cup edamame and sea salt sprinkled on top.  Perfect. 081205-l1 And two more of the Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from my co-worker... 081204-l41 Snack:  Nothing!  My lunch was so late that I didn't need one. Dinner:  Miso soup and pan-glazed tofu.   I wanted to use some of this guy in the spirit of this week's BSI... 081205-d1 I used my favorite recipe from Moosewood for Miso Soup with Tofu and Shitake Mushroom Broth. 081205-d3 And pan-glazed my tofu using this method, but with the following glaze.
  • 1/4 cup water (usually this would be veggie broth, but i'm out)
  • 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
081205-d4 081205-d5 081205-d6 And a lovely glass of cabernet. 081205-d2 Dessert: 1/2 cup fat free french vanilla Stoneyfield yogurt, 1 small pink lady apple and a handful of Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams. 081205-d7 Does anybody have any big weekend plans?  I am going to be a knitting machine...my goal is to start and finish a scarf this weekend that will be a Christmas gift.  I went to the yarn shop today during lunch to pick up a blend that I'm really excited about!  I finished a scarf last night that is also a Christmas gift, but I can't show it because I don't want to ruin the surprise for the recipient!  :) Have a great night! PS:  Kelly over at groundedfitness is giving away a danskin vest...check out her blog to see how you can win it!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, retaurants
tags edamame, ginger, miso, sweet potato, tofu, vino, wine, yogurt

enchi-ritos!

Andrea

Good Evening!  First of all, another exciting announcement.  Don't know if any of you read Design*Sponge, (if you don't, you should check it out!!!), but they've released their 2008 Gift Guides!!!  I've been waiting for this for about a month now, and just checked in today.  I'm super-excited because they find the coolest stuff...!!!  If you're not familiar with the site, make sure to check out all of their guides...the City Guides are especially useful when searching for fabulous design while traveling, which the hubby and I typically are. We're design dorks.  :) On to food... Breakfast:  I found a use for my No-Bakes!!!  Last night I decided to stick them in the fridge to see if they would firm up...they didn't.  So instead of eating a cold cookie as I was hoping, I crumbled (or more accurately pulled and pinched) one "cookie" into my oats bowl.  YUM!!!!!!!!  This was a standard bowl with 1 cup prepared rolled oats, one mashed banana, 1 tsp ground flax seeds and a failed No-Bake.  The "cookie" melted into the oats and added the perfect amount of chocolate-y peanut-y goodness.  Now granted, I could have had the same affect by adding a regular spoonful of PB and a sprinkling of cocoa but I felt much better knowing that I had not wasted at least one cookie.  At 120 calories it wasn't a horrible add-in, but it didn't stick with me as well as my standard tbsp of almond butter does. 081204-b1 081204-b2 Lunch: A little boring today, but still really tasty.  I never got around to making my lentil salad as planned, so lunch groceries are getting a little low...  I made a spinach salad with the last of my mashed chickpeas, some orange bell pepper, frozen corn, frozen broccoli shrapnel and light ranch dressing.  All mashed together it was divine!!! 081204-l2 And an Amy's Low Fat Black Bean Veggie soup. 081204-l3 081204-l1 It was a very filling + satisfying lunch.  For dessert I had two of these beauties: 081204-l4 Mini Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies from my co-worker's wife.  They were sooooooo good.  :) Snack:  My lunch + dessert really filled me up today, so I managed to hold off 'till 4:30 to eat my Pink Lady apple.  I skipped the ZBar all together... 081204-s1 Dinner:  Chicken Black Bean Enchi-ritos!  This is a recipe that I found on foodnetwork.com awhile ago and have modified quite a bit since then.  I made my hubb my classic comfort food version and  made myself an even further modified version.  So modified that it can't even really be called the same thing, so I think I'll post both recipes... Chicken Black Bean Enchiritos 081204-d61 Hehe...can you tell which side is mine and which side is the hubb's? Brian's Enchirito Filling Ingredients:
  • 3 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup light sour cream
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1/2 cup enchilada sauce (more for topping)
  • 1 cup shredded monterrey jack/cheddar cheese (more for topping)
  • 2 small chicken breasts, baked and shredded
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup black beans (canned)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • salt + pepper
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Steps:
  1. In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and the sour cream.  Stir in the salsa , enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the shredded chicken, corn, black beans, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and scallions.
  3. Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
081204-d11 Andrea's Enchirito Filling Ingredients:
  • 1 chicken breast, baked and shredded
  • 3/4 cup black beans
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • sprinkle of shredded cheese (plus a little for topping)
  • enchilada sauce for topping
Steps:
  1. In a medium bowl mix the chicken, corn, black beans, corn, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne.
  2. Add the salsa, bell pepper and scallions.
  3. Last, stir in the spinach leaves.
081204-d21 My hubb found these tortillas in the freezer section at Whole Foods awhile ago and knew I would like them. 081214-d31 The enchiritos can be made in any kind of tortilla...I think they'd be really good in the 6" corn tortillas too.  These are burrito size, so the mixtures above resulted in 5 total burritos. 2 of Brian's... 081204-d41 2 of mine... 081204-d51 And one that mixed the two fillings. Assembly:
  1. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of large, glass baking dish.  
  2. Place filling in tortillas, roll up and place seam-side down in pan.
  3. Cover enchiritos with enchilada sauce and cheese.
  4. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly.
081204-d7 081204-d81 Both of these recipes are soooooooooo good.  Brian's is definitely better, that cheesy mixture is amazing.  But, I was really happy with my version too.   I had one enchirito topped with salsa, and steamed broccoli on the side.  It was a very filling, satisfying meal. 081204-d111 081204-d12 Whew!  That was a long post!  I hope everybody had a fabulous day...I'm off to bed to read.  Goodnight!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags oats, recipes, salad

leftovers and no-bakes!

Andrea

Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe Thanksgiving was already one week ago?!?  Crazy.  I hope you have all had a fabulous day.  Thank you all for the great comments today and for being so supportive of my blog and decision to try one post a day...I think it will be better to keep the food diary consolidated into a summary each night.  I'll give it a trial period and see how it goes!  :)  I'm sorry I haven't been responding to comments...I need to play catch-up!!! My day was pretty busy, but not as busy as it really needed to be.  I've got a big meeting on Tuesday in Raleigh for my project, and just 2 weeks until a big big big deadline.  I'm not feeling the pressure yet which scares me...I'm afraid its going to mean some REALLY late nights at the end of this two weeks.  :(  I did have a fabulous run after work though! Brian and I went to UVA campus for a lovely 2 mile run.  It felt SO GOOD!!!  Brian's legs are much longer than mine so he gets ahead of me but is sweet enough to slow down and let me catch up.  We don't talk much, which I'm actually starting to like because it gives me time to get lost in my own thoughts.  I'm just so excited that running is becoming enjoyable for me again and that so far I seem to be steering clear of injury!  WooHoo!  I can't wait to keep increasing my mileage and run the New Year's Day 5k, it'll be here before I know it! On to food... Breakfast: Slice of Maple Banana Cornbread (still moist after 4 days!!!) with 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 cup of vanilla Oikos and my persimmon. 081203-b1 081203-b2 081203-b3 This was my first persimmon, and I was surprised at how sweet/mild the flavor was. I was expecting it to be much more tart. The flesh is very similar to a mango, and the skin (in my opinion) is inedible. I enjoyed it, but wound up picking it out of the yogurt to eat on its own. The yogurt overpowered the mild taste of the fruit. Lunch: I made a quick lima bean and corn salad (inspired from a Self recipe this summer...) and tossed it on a bed of spinach.
  • 3/4 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
This was such a yummy combo, the dressing from the salad coated the spinach leaves perfectly. 081203-l1 081203-l2 Snack:  Pink Lady Apple (of course!) and the other 1/2 of my Cinnamon Roll Larabar. 081203-s2 Dinner:  Leftover Healthified Baked Ziti and a spinach salad.  Look at that monster piece Brian cut me!  Its actually only 1.5 servings, and I managed to eat most of it...! 081203-d1 My salad tonight had fresh spinach, hearts of palm, red bell pepper, celery, almonds and light ranch dressing.  Yum! 081203-d2 Dessert:  I made cookies!!!  I've been in such a baking mood lately...  This is another of Brian's favorite recipes from his grandmother.  I did make a few modifications...I just can't help myself!!!  These cookies are so great and simple because they require NO BAKING!!!  They are completely similar to Gina's breakfast cookies but not quite as healthy...  I thought about adding banana to these but I just don't know that they would hold up well enough to actually be little bite-size cookies.  Plus, I didn't want to derail Brian too much...  :)  Anyway, they are still hardening (but seem to be taking awhile...hopefully my modifications didn't screw them up!!!) so I will snap some pictures tonight and post the recipe tomorrow if they turn out ok.  And if not, I'll post Brian's grandmothers original recipe because I KNOW they are delicious!!! Here they are hardening... 081203-d3 Oh little chocolate-y, peanut butter-y, oatmeal-y bites of goodness I could eat all of you!!!! What is your favorite family recipe?
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags cookies, larabar, oikos, salad

blogiversary!

Andrea

Good morning!  Man, yesterday was a whirlwind!!!  I had so many fun things to blog about that I completely forgot to mention my evening run, or the fact that yesterday was my one-month blogiversary!  I can't believe its been a whole month since I signed up for Bella Eats one Friday afternoon...completely on a whim.  It has been an amazing experience for me so far, and I can't wait to see how the blog grows and changes over time.  Thank you all for being so supportive and fun to get to know, I appreciate each and every one of you and encourage you all to speak up if you have any comments or suggestions! Not only has the blog been creatively and emotionally fulfilling for me, but it has also done wonders for me physically!  I feel like I have been able to apply all of the great tips and techniques that I've been learning from other food bloggers out there, and can honestly say that my body feels and looks better than it did one month ago!  I can say this because today I am wearing a pair of dress pants to work that I haven't been able to wear in 6+ months...and they fit perfectly!  Woohoo!!!  :)  I am excited to see my body continue to grow stronger and leaner, especially as I continue to increase my running mileage and gain even more flexibility through my yoga classes. On to food... Breakfast:  One of my favorite combos...Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with 1 tbsp almond butter and 1/2 chopped apple.  The rest of the apple on the side. 081202-b1 081202-b2 Lunch:  Leftover smoked turkey soup, mashed chickpeas with cucumber and yellow bell pepper. 081202-l1 Snack:  Pink Lady Apple.  I've eaten one of these every day for I think 4 weeks now and haven't tired of them yet...so good!  :) 081202-s1 What food do you eat on a near-daily basis that you never get tired of?
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags ezekiel muffin, soup

iateapie!!!

Andrea

Good morning (err...afternoon?!?) all!!!  I have an exciting announcement to make...Tanya over at iateapie.net has featured me on her site to share my Healthy Foodie Favorite Products of 2008! I am so very excited and flattered that Tanya contacted me, and have discovered that her site is a fabulous resource of product reviews.  You all should hop over there to check out her reviews of all low fat, low carb, reduced sugar, whole grain, natural, organic or high protein products that she can get her hands on!  Thank you Tanya!!!  :) So, last night I caved to my craving for eggnog.  It is definitely my holiday must-have treat, but luckily, after a glass (or 3 or 6) during the first week of December I am GOOD for the rest of the year. Eggnog is one of those things that I can only handle a very small amount of, thankfully since it is certainly not light in the calorie/fat area...! 081130-s2 Breakfast:  Bowl of oats...yay!  So much more filling and satisfying than yesterday's (non-breakfast) cookie.  This standard bowl featured
  • 1 cup prepared rolled oats
  • 1 mashed banana
  • 1 tbsp almond butter
  • sprinkling of pom seeds
081201-b1 I enjoyed my long weekend immensely, but I am excited to be back into my regular routine and healthy eats. Lunch:  I've felt like my lunches have been lacking in the protein department lately, so I decided to mash up some chickpeas this morning with a little extra virgin OO, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. 081201-l1 I spread about 1/4 of the mashed chickpeas into a whole wheat pita, and filled it up with leftover roasted veggies.  On the side, the last of the roasted veggies and mashed sweet potatoes.  I just finished lunch, and am really full after just 1/2 the pita and all of the extra veggies/sweet potatoes. We'll see if I'm hungry for the other 1/2 a bit later... 081201-l2 Snack:  My trusty Pink Lady apple.  And maybe a piece of maple banana corn bread too...  I brought about 1/2 the loaf into the office for my co-workers and it has been a BIG HIT so far, so we'll see if there is any left for me this afternoon... 081201-s1 I hope you all have a fabulous afternoon!
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categories Uncategorized, breakfast, dinner, product review
tags oats, veggies

oh the weather outside is frightful...

Andrea

What a dreary, rainy day we had. Yuck. I made the best of it with a fabulous Vinyasa Yoga class, a little baking, some Christmas decorating and an awesome turkey noodle soup made by my dear hubby. All in all, it was a great way to end a lovely four day weekend. Breakfast: A cookie! (I know, slap my hand!!!) along with a banana and almond butter. 081130-b1 I had a quick snack before yoga because I was STARVING. Apparently cookies for breakfast aren't the most filling of choices. Lesson learned. Snack: Blueberry Clif ZBar. 081130-s1 Yoga was amazing as always, my muscles and joints felt all squishy afterwards.  Love it! Lunch:  Leftover roasted veggies, a handful of Kashi crackers and about 1 oz of aged gouda. 081130-l1 I caught up on some blogs, then decided it was time to finally make the maple banana cornbread recipe from Sweet and Natural.  I've been dying to try this!!! 081130-bread-3 081130-bread-4 081130-bread-2 Soooooooo good!  I had two slices for my afternoon "snack" while decorating our Christmas tree.  Both hubby and I were very impressed.  I think I overcooked it a bit, it didn't seem done at 30 minutes so I left it in for an extra 5 and it turned out a bit drier than I expected.  Totally my fault for not trusting the recipe.  :( But still so yummy...I can't wait to share it with the co-workers! Dinner:  Brian made turkey noodle soup with fresh stock made from our smoked Thanksgiving turkey carcass.  I can't even describe how good it was.  The stock was perfectly smokey, and he added the leftover turkey meat, celery, onion, carrot, potato, fresh sage and my favorite brown rice curly-cue pasta.  YUMMMMMM!!!!!!  I had this bowl, plus another about 1/2 its size.  And a small glass of wine. 081130-d1 081130-d2 After dinner we finished decorating the Christmas tree.  I <3 <3 <3 our tree.  A few years ago we decided to stop cutting down live trees 'cause we felt bad, and thought it was time to find ourselves a good artificial tree.  We thought "hey, if its fake...lets make it REALLY fake" and decided on a fabulous silver tree.  Very retro, and I adore it.  :) We have mostly white and silver ornaments (which we had long before the silver tree...just coincidence). 081130-xmas-1 081130-xmas-2 But we also have the obligatory ornaments that you collect from childhood.  You can learn a lot about young Andrea from these ornaments... 081130-xmas-3 Like...I played soccer.  I loved Winnie the Pooh.  I wanted to be a magician.  I played the saxophone.  I liked penguins.  I am a Florida Gator.  You get the idea... All Finished! 081130-xmas-4 And look, my hubby sneaked something under the tree!  Presents for moi!!!  :) 081130-xmas-5 Anyway, sorry for getting a bit off-subject.  But it does help to explain my current mood and why I am now craving an after-dinner snack of eggnog... What is your holiday must-have treat??? 
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categories baking, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags bread, soup, veggies, yoga

training week #5 + groceries

Andrea

Happy Saturday!  I hope that everybody is enjoying their post-Thanksgiving weekend with family, friends, relaxation etc.   Brian and I started the morning right with a run with the 10-Miler training group.  We ran 2 full miles on the track (boring!!!) but it went really well and felt great.  This morning was especially important for me because I was trying out a loaner pair of shoes that my running coach gave me out of his shop to see if they would help to correct the foot pain I've been experiencing.  Verdict is....success!!!  I ran the full 2 miles pain-free.  YAY!!!!  He says that I have a very unusual foot and that this is their least-selling shoe because it combines the soft, cushioned sole with added support for pronation.  They are still Brooks, which I've been running in off and on for about 9 months, just a different style.  I love them so far...aren't they pretty?!?!?  Not that that is the point... shoesies Breakfast:  I had 1/2 a banana before my run, then came home for a bowl of oats.  This yummy bowl contained
  • 1 cup prepared rolled oats
  • 1 apple sprinkled with 1 tsp turbinado sugar and a dash of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 tsp ground flax seeds
  • sprinkling of pom seeds
081129-b1 I spent some time catching up on blogs this morning, then made our grocery list for the week.  I took a thorough inventory of the fridge, pantry and freezer and was able to keep the trip pretty light.  But first, we stopped at the running shop so I could buy my shoes.  I also picked up a wind/rain breaker from the sale rack and a pair of gloves.  Anything to keep me motivated to run through the winter... shoesies-3 Its not really day-glow pink...more of a bright raspberry.  I figure I won't be missed when running on the road!  Brian also got a new pair of shoes, and since we spent so much money (eek!!!) I got a free t-shirt (yeah!). shoesies-2 After that spending spree we stopped at Hot Cakes for lunch.  They have an awesome selection of salads, sandwiches, soups, quiches, lasagnas etc.  I selected the Salad Sampler which had
  • Spicy Lentil Salad (sooooooooooo good, has me craving lentils now)
  • Tomato/Onion/Feta Salad
  • Roasted Cauliflower w/ Dried Cherries and Capers (such an unusual combo but really tasty!)
I skipped the piece of bread that came with it. 081129-l1 Next was Whole Foods.  I was shooting for $50, but was thrown off after my amazing lentil salad from lunch (I just had to buy bulk lentils to try and replicate it), a sale on Amy's soups (who can resist?) and a persimmon!  So the total wound up at $63, which is still good for us considering we typically spend at least twice that (scary...I know).  I paid for detergent and dish soap separately to help us to get an idea of our actual food cost for December.  We're trying to cut our grocery shopping in 1/2...   Here's our loot: groceries-12
  • brown rice pasta
  • corn meal
  • walnuts (BSI!!!)
  • dried lentils
  • bars!!!  (we're taking full advantage of the coupons in the Whole Deal and stocking up every week)
  • canned beans
  • enchilada sauce
  • Amy's Soups (in hearty bean flavors for added protein for me)
  • organic Stonyfield French Vanilla yogurt (no Oikos for me this week...)
  • eggs
groceries-32
  • bell peppers
  • carrots
  • spinach
  • potatoes
  • bananas
  • sweet potatoes
  • persimmon
I also picked up these flavors of Clif Nectar bars yesterday when we were shopping at our local sporting goods store...they don't carry these at our Whole Foods so I had to get a few. groceries-22 After getting home, unloading and photographing groceries I was ready for a snack.  I decided to try out the infamous PB-filled medjool date for the first time. 081129-s1 FANTASTIC!!!  Now I know what you all have been raving about!!!  I also had a couple of tortilla chips with some salsa that Brian was munching on... Now we are going to spend the evening decorating our Christmas tree while I bake up a few treats in the kitchen!!!  I should have a BSI post tonight or tomorrow morning, and I'm going to try another of Sweet + Natural's recipes!  Woohoo!!!
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categories breakfast, lunch, product review
tags Clif, gear, oats, running

turkey day review

Andrea

I hope everybody had a simply fabulous Thanksgiving!  Ours was full of amazing company, fantastic food, lots of wine and tons of laughter.  We had a fabulous time hosting and are so grateful for our wonderful friends who helped us to have an amazing day.   I started the morning with a 3-1/2 mile run/walk with Lucy to try and get the energy out of her in preparation for our company.  She has a tendency to get pretty hyper when we have people over, so I wanted her to be as mellow as possible.  We ran about 1-3/4 miles of the total distance, which was great for both of us.  I haven't run much with her, especially since her surgeries this summer, so it took awhile to get our pace right but then she was a champ. When we got back I had a big bowl of cereal with 1/2 cup Kashi H2H, 1/2 cup Back to Nature Maple Nut Medley, 1 banana, sprinkle of pom seeds and 1 cup Silk soymilk. 081127-b1 Then, I jumped in to help Brian prep our big T-Day dinner!  In this case, I feel that pictures are definitely worth more than words, so here's a recap of our day... Morning Preparation dinner rolls b22 b31 b41 nana's apple crisp (recipe coming soon!) a33 a62 veggies to roast v11 country bread and sage dressing s31 s21 s41 turkey!!! t21 t31 Our guests arrived while the turkey was smoking and the veggies were roasting. We worked on munchies for a couple of hours... Munchies white sangria with mango and star fruit m22 cheese, fig spread, crackers, olives, etc. m11 And finally, the feast!!! feast11 feast21 feast31 Our guests with Brian... feast41 Our guests with me... feast51 Such an amazing day we had!!!  I haven't had a chance to read all of your Thanksgiving posts...but I can't wait!  I'm hoping to play catch-up tonight and this weekend.   Ok, quick recap of today's eats. Breakfast:  We got up this morning to shop, luckily the stores we wanted to go to didn't open 'till 8am anyway so we were able to sleep 'till 7:30.  I grabbed 1/2 a Clif Mojo PB Pretzel bar and a banana to chow on in the car (sorry...no pics).  After shopping for a few hours and finding some incredible deals, we went to Bodo's Bagels for a real breakfast.  I had eggbeaters, muenster and tomato on a whole wheat everything bagel. 081128-b21 I also went to the running shop this morning to report my test runs to my coach.  I'm still having some foot and knee pain with the inserts we put in my shoes so he actually gave me a pair of shoes out of the store to try out with the training group tomorrow, no charge!!!  He says if they work I can come back in and pay for them tomorrow, and if they don't we will try something different.  How great is that?!?!?  Late lunch/dinner:  Leftovers!!!  I decided I'm not counting my calories for yesterday or today, its just too hard and I'll get back on track tomorrow.  No biggie.  We munched on some cheese and crackers and fig spread while our t-day eats heated in the oven.  Not all of this though, don't worry!!!  :) 081128-l11 081128-l21 My leftovers plate. 081128-l61 One of my lovely dinner rolls. 081128-l51 And a winterbock from Star Hill, a local brewery. 081128-l41 Turns out I wasn't as hungry as I thought. Here's what was left when I was totally stuffed. 081128-l71 But an hour later I was ready for apple crisp... a101 Whew!!! That was quite the recap. I hope that everybody has a lovely Friday night...we are laying low and recovering from yesterday's festivities. Stay tuned for Nana's Apple Crisp recipe!
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categories baking, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags thanksgiving

1 day to go...

Andrea

Its the day before Thanksgiving!!!!!  Are you all as excited as I am?!?!  With only one work day between me and some amazing smoked turkey, I think its time for a bit of reflection about what we have to be thankful for... Its a bit of a long story, but I promise to get to a point. Last night I had a great chat with my momma.  We’re going to be apart for Thanksgiving this year, which is hard for both of us, so we were chatting about plans, menus, family etc.  I was telling her about the blogging community and how impressed I am with all of you that are participating in the Thanksgiving Challenge.  My mom and stepdad are big foodies, so they completely understand big grocery bills and mine and Brian’s unwillingness to compromise on the kinds of food that we eat.  We don’t want to compromise, but we still feel guilty about how much money we spend.  This year, my parents decided to help somebody less fortunate than all of us to have a happy Thanksgiving. My grandfather is living in a nursing facility near my parents’ home.  My mom is so grateful to the nursing staff for everything they have done for him, and she and my stepdad decided that this year they wanted to do something to give back.  She talked to the director to find out if there was anybody working at the center that was having a hard time and could maybe use a bit of help this year.  The director called her back with the name of an 18 year old woman working in the kitchen at the center for $7.50/hour.  The woman’s mother recently had a stroke and was unable to work, and her father had recently lost his job in this economic downturn.  At 18 years old, making $7.50/hour, this young woman is the only provider for she, her mother and her father.  My mom went to Publix and got a gift certificate large enough to cover everything the young woman would need to provide Thanksgiving dinner to her family.  When the director presented the young woman with the gift, she burst into tears and said “Now we can have a Thanksgiving.  The only food we have in the house is peanut butter”. After hearing this story I was reminded again of how generous and thoughtful my mother is and how lucky I am to have her as an influence in my life.  It really got me thinking about how we can make small sacrifices in our own lives and make a huge difference in someone else’s.  For me, the ultimate show of thanks is to be able to help someone less fortunate than yourself.  Brian and I are scheming about ways to do just that in December, so stay tuned... On to training: During my lunch hour yesterday I went to the running shop to talk to my 10-miler training program coach.  He is amazing, and took about 45 minutes out of his very busy day to talk with me about the issues I am having with my left foot and right knee.  He examined my shoes, took the insoles out of the shoes and examined them, examined the calluses on my feet (ew!) and had me test out several pairs of new shoes.  Because my current shoes only have about 150 miles on them and are still in good shape, he decided to have me try some inserts in them to help determine whether or not I needed more or less support in my shoe.  He wanted me to go for a test run and come back to the shop on Friday to report in.  So, after work Brian and I drove over to UVA campus to go for a run.  I love running around campus, its so pretty and well-lit and active, and the terrain is perfect.  We did almost 2 miles, and it felt fantastic!!!  My foot did hurt a bit and I made a bunch of mental notes to talk to my coach about, but other than the foot everything was great.  It was one of those fabulous runs where everything seems to click and you feel smooth and strong and like you could keep going for miles.  I loved it.   On to food: Dinner:  Brian made veggie chili!!!  Oh how I love chili. 081125-d11 He used:
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 5 carrots
  • 5 celery stalks
  • 1 onion
  • 1 can cannellini beans
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
And his special chili seasoning (we make it all at once, and use about 1/2 per pot of chili.  the rest is stored in an airtight container in our spice cabinet).
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
We served it over brown rice curly-cue pasta.  There are many things in life that make me happy, and curly-cue pasta is definitely one of them. 081125-d2 Dessert:  One beautiful medjool date.  Yum. 081125-d3 Breakfast Today:  Oikos vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries.  This was my first time trying the vanilla, I like that its not too sweet.  Honey is still my fave though.  I also had a slice of pumpkin cranberry bread with almond butter. 081126-b1 Lunch Today:  Trying to make room in the fridge, although this didn’t help too much.  I made a salad with broccoli slaw, cucumber, orange bell pepper and the last of my roasted red pepper hummus, about 4 tbsp.  I’m also going to heat up some Amy’s Vegetable Soup...I was bummed I didn’t have any bean soups for some protein.  :( 081126-l1 081126-l2 Snack Today:  Another piece of pumpkin cranberry bread with almond butter.  I’m pleased to announce that this bread is still wonderfully moist and yummy 4 days later! 081126-s1 Turkey Day Peek!!! I braved Whole Foods yesterday on my lunch hour (or lunch 2.5 hours as it wound up being...) to pick up the fresh ingredients we need for our meal.  On the menu...Roasted Veggies!!!  I love roasted veggies, can't get enough of them.  This is always the dish that Brian and I offer to make at holidays because it ensures that there will be plenty of veggies on our plates.  This year we will have
  • beets
  • brussels sprouts
  • carrots
  • onions
  • asparagus
  • broccoli
  • parsnips
  • grape tomatoes
turkey-day-veggies I can't wait.  What are you all making for Thanksgiving this year? Happy Wednesday!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags chili, dates, oikos, recipes, thanksgiving

2 days to go...

Andrea

Good Morning!  Another busy day ahead...I panicked yesterday when I realized that when I get back from Thanksgiving "break" (I have both Thursday and Friday off...woohoo!) it would be December 1st!  My goodness, where did November go?!?  I have a big coordination meeting for my biggest project in the office on December 9th, which doesn't leave me much time to accomplish the thousands of things that need to get done.  So, I'm trying to cram as much in as I can before leaving Wednesday evening... I'm using my lunch break today to run errands, first to the running shop for new shoes (!!!), then to the vet to get dog food, and finally to Whole Foods to try and beat the after-work Thanksgiving shopping crowd. On to food... Breakfast: Bowl of Oats!  So good, this morning I mixed 1 cup prepared rolled oats, 1 banana all mushed up, 1 tbsp ground flax seeds, 1 tbsp almond butter and 1/4 cup pom seeds.  This was the first time for me to add nut butter to my oats and my goodness, I have been missing out!!!  It was a little higher in calories than I like for breakfast, but I ate about an hour earlier than normal and I'm still totally full three hours later...yay!   081125-b1 Lunch:  Another whole wheat pita stuffed with 2 tbsp roasted red pepper hummus, broccoli slaw and cucumber slices, along with my leftover tomato saffron soup. 081125-l1 081125-l2 Snack:  Since lunch is a little light in the protein area I decided on a honey Oikos with a pink lady. 081125-s1 I hope everybody has a fabulous day!  Wish me luck with my foot/shoes...hopefully I'll have new shoes to try out on my run tonight and a pain-free foot!  :)
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags oats, oikos, pita

quickity quick recap

Andrea

I'm so sad that I missed my morning Blog post!  :(  My day started with a faulty alarm which resulted in me getting up 45 minutes later than I was supposed to.  Brian had custody of the camera (and thus the memory card) for a site visit this morning so I wasn't able to download my pics until afternoon, and by then I was completely swamped at work.  So, my apologies.  I'll give a quick recap because, again, I have lots of T-Day prep to do tonight! Breakfast: Oikos plain yogurt with fresh raspberries, slice of pumpkin cranberry bread with almond butter. Look familiar?!?! 081124-b1 081124-b21 Lunch: Whole wheat pita stuffed with 2 tbsp roasted red pepper hummus, broccoli slaw and cucumber slices, and an Amy's Lentil Soup. 081124-l1 Snacks:  Pink Lady apple and 1/2 a Clif Mojo PB Pretzel bar. 081106-s11 081118-s13 081124-s2 Dinner: Baked sweet potato with edamame, corn and broccoli (and 1/2 tbsp earth balance buttery spread). 081124-d1 Exercise:  There was none.  Today was a run day but I didn't have a chance to go to the running shop on my lunch break and I really didn't want to risk hurting my foot anymore.  Tomorrow the running shop is my priority and hopefully I will be on the road tomorrow night!  So, running around like a crazy woman doing chores and helping B with projects for a few hours will have to count... Turkey Day Peek!!! Last year Brian found this amazing stuffing recipe on FoodNetwork.com, Country Bread and Sage Dressing. It was so incredible, I wish I had pictures but amazingly enough I don't.  Luckily, we've decided to recreate the magic and serve it at T-Day 2008...so, stay tuned!  My favorite part is that it has hot Italian sausage in it, which adds a wonderful spicy flavor.  We are using our favorite sausage ever from Babes in the Wood, which I've written about before so I won't bore you again with their cool sustainable and humane methods.   Ok, sorry that was short and not nearly as exciting as last night's peek... Have a great night!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags hummus, oikos, sweet potato, thanksgiving

pumpkin cranberry bread - BSI!!!

Andrea

First of all, thank you all for being so supportive!  You are all so great, I really appreciate your kind thoughts and suggestions for ways to work with phyllo dough!  I meant to post a question asking if anyone had any suggestions, but I was so tired last night when I posted that I completely forgot.  Thanks for offering some up anyway!  :)  I guess I no longer see it as a complete disaster because I still like the original concept, I just need to execute it in a better way.  The flavors were great together, so I'm not ready to give up on it yet!  Now, just to be clear, I didn't rush on to do a second BSI just because my first failed.  I would have just submitted the first but I've been wanting to try and "healthify" a classic favorite of mine and Brian's for awhile now and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Thank you Lindsay for choosing pumpkin!!! I give you... Pumpkin Cranberry Bread!!! bsib-11 This has been a favorite in our household for a few years now.  As soon as the leaves start to change and the air cools down I am ready for this bread.  It has become a classic fall recipe for me and, until last night, has been listed under my "dessert" recipe folder rather than "breakfast" or "bread" because of its high sugar and fat content.  I've been inspired by the recipes on sweet + natural, and have really wanted to try and "healthify" this classic favorite of mine for awhile now. I replaced all of the sugar in the original recipe with a combination of Fruit Sweet and applesauce.  Fruit Sweet (FS) is an all-natural sweetener made from concentrated pear and pineapple juices.  The ratio I use (recommended by the company, Wax Orchards) is to substitute 2/3 FS for the amount of sugar in the recipe.  They recommend to reduce all other liquids by 1/3 the amount of FS used.  bsib-5 I removed all added fat from the recipe, turning 4 eggs into 4 egg whites and completely eliminating the vegetable oil required, figuring the added liquid from the FS and the applesauce would keep the bread moist enough.  I also replaced the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour (WWWF). The result?  I think these numbers speak for themselves... Original (per one slice of bread) calories: 253  total fat: 5.6g  sat fat: .6g  carbs: 48.5g  fiber: 1.6g  sugar: 30.9g  protein: 3.8g "Healthified" (per one slice of bread) calories: 116  total fat: .4g  sat fat: 0g  carbs: 25.7g  fiber: 3.5g  sugar: 10.1g  protein: 3.6g bsib-9 Pumpkin Cranberry Bread NOTE:  this recipe is for 2 loaves of bread Ingredients:
  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1-1/4 cups Fruit Sweet
  • 4 egg whites
  • 4 cups WWWF (I think this should be reduced to 3-3.5 cups, the dough was a bit too dry)
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
Steps:
  1. Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease two standard-size loaf pans.
  2. Blend together the pumpkin, applesauce, Fruit Sweet and egg whites.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and spices.
  4. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together until blended.  Do not overmix!
  5. Chop cranberries and fold them into the dough.
  6. Pour dough into loaf pans and bake at 350* for 45-50 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before releasing.  Cool on rack out of pans for 20 minutes before slicing.
bsib-1 bsib-2 bsib-3 bsib-6 bsib-8 bsib-10 I am beyond pleased with the result.  The bread is sooooo good, and so much better for you than the original!!!  Its not too sweet, and the cranberries add a wonderful tartness.  Brian also loved the flavor, but we both felt like the bread is a bit too dense.  The flour amount in the recipe is pretty high, so I think I will try reducing it to 3-3.5 cups next time I make it.  Does anybody know if whole wheat pastry flour might be fluffier than WWWF? For breakfast this morning I had two pieces of my new bread smeared with almond butter.  Yummy combo! 081123-b2 Paired with a cup of plain Oikos topped with fresh raspberries and sliced almonds. 081123-b3 081123-b1 And now I am off to yoga!  I'm sorry I haven't commented on blogs in the last day or so...I promise I've been reading!!!  Its been a whirlwind of activity around here getting ready for our Turkey Day guests, so I've been struggling just to get my posts uploaded.  I'm hoping to have some catch-up time tonight! Enjoy your Sunday!!!  I can't wait to see all of the BSI entries tonight!  :)
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categories baking, breakfast
tags BSI, bread, cranberry, pumpkin

training week #4 and quick recap

Andrea

Ok, sorry this will be quick.  I think I have a BSI disaster happening in my oven right now and Brian is pacing the house ready for our Saturday night dinner and grocery shopping date. Training: B and I skipped the group run this morning because it was only 23* when my alarm went of at 7:30. Instead we slept in a little (lovely!) and had a leisurely breakfast, nap and snack before finally going for our run at 1:30.  It was a balmy 35* by then...at least the sun was shining brightly.  We did 1/4 mile warm-up, 1-3/4 mile run and 1/4 mile cool-down.  My legs felt great and I wasn't too winded despite the fact that the route we took was hillier than what we've been running.  However, my tendonitis in my left foot started to flare again.  :(  And, because my foot hurt I could feel myself compensating for it and by the end of the run my right knee was sore.  Bad news.  So, I'm going to the running shop on Monday to chat with my coach and probably get a new pair of shoes.  I'm determined to nip this from the beginning so that I don't screw up my training again. Food: After our run I made a lovely breakfast for Brian and I of Apple Cinnamon Oats w/ Dried Cherries.  Yum! Never tried this combo before and I was quite pleased with it, as was Brian. 081122-b2 081122-b3 One serving contained
  • 1 cup prepared rolled oats
  • 1/2 chopped apple sprinkled with cinnamon
  • 2 heaping tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 tsp turbinado sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
After breakfast I blogged for awhile, then took a lovely 90 minute nap after I walked in the bedroom and saw this... 081122-nap Just too comfy to resist!!!  You can barely see Lucy because she's so dark...look behind Brian's back... After our nap I had a Z-bar before our run... 081122-s1 Then came home and heated up some leftover veggie stir fry and jasmine rice for lunch. 081122-l1 With a Wallaby non-fat mango lime yogurt on the side. 081122-l2 These yogurts have more sugar in them than I like, but they have great flavors.  And, I'm out of Oikos.  :( And now I am waiting for my BSI disaster to come out of the oven.   No high hopes for a win this week, folks!  I'll post about it after our dinner and grocery date... Cheers!
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags apples, oats, running