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Filtering by Tag: salad

kashi coupon winners!

Andrea

Good evening!  I have a couple of winners of the Kashi TLC Cereal Bars contest!  My hubb picked two random numbers for me between 1 and 22 (the number of comments on the post).  The lucky numbers are 6 and 13, making Carolinebee and Becca A. the winners!!!  Congrats ladies!  Email me your addresses and I'll get the coupons in the mail to you ASAP. So how did everybody adjust to the first day back to work?  It was a pretty long day for me, mentally and in reality.  I get to work at 8:30 am and today didn't get out until 7:15pm without leaving the office for lunch or errands.  I hate being stuck inside for almost 11 hours!!!  To be honest, the last hour was spent reading blogs as I was just waiting for my hubb to finish up in his office so that we could ride home together.  But still, it was a long day.   We did manage to go out for a run once we got home and changed, which I'm very happy about.  The weather is supposed to turn nasty here for the next couple of days with lots of rain and ice, so the chances of getting out for a road run tomorrow or Wednesday are pretty slim.  We just did 2-1/2 miles tonight, but I picked up my pace to keep up with my hubb so got a good workout in.  He probably slowed down a little for me too...shhh.  :) My eats today were tasty, but probably a bit boring for you... Breakfast: A bowl of oats!  Mornings that include oats are my favorites...unless they include pancakes.  :) 090105-b1 This delicious bowl contained:
  • 1/2 cup Irish oats, 1 cup water, pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp vanilla, sprinkle of cinnamon
  • 1 very ripe mashed banana
  • 1 tsp ground flax seeds
  • 1 tbsp almond butter
Breakfast was earlier than normal because I had a dentist appointment before work, so I knew that I needed something hardy to hold me over 'till my normal lunch time.  This bowl of oats almost did the trick, keeping me satisfied for 4 hours.  I had a small handful of mixed nuts to hold me over the last hour. Lunch:  Leftover Mexican Meatball Soup and roasted veggies. 090105-l1 I thawed out a loaf of Pumpkin Cranberry Bread that I made last month to take to our friends this weekend in appreciation of them having us over for dinner, but forgot it in our rush out the door.  So, instead, I sliced it up and brought some in for my co-workers. 090105-s1 Snacks:  One slice of Pumpkin Cranberry Bread with 1 tbsp almond butter and two clementines. 090105-s2 And I may have had a couple of dark chocolate covered potato chips...but I don't have any pictures to prove it.  :)   I just love coming home to leftovers!  I know you all are probably getting tired of seeing this soup on the blog, but I am definitely not getting tired of eating it.  Its just so delicious!  And it was especially helpful tonight to have dinner ready to go for us with minimal prep since we didn't get home from our run and stretch until about 8:30. Dinner:  Another bowl of Mexican Meatball Soup and a lovely salad. 090105-d2 My salad consisted of:
  • spinach
  • broccoli
  • red bell pepper
  • celery
  • 1-1/2 clementines
  • cranberry ketchup [this stuff is great on everything!!! email me if you want the recipe]
090105-d3 And for dessert:  three Nairns Stem Ginger Wheat-Free Biscuits.  I LOVE these cookies/biscuits.  I'm pretty sad that my Whole Foods stopped stocking them on the shelves, but I dug around in my pantry and found one last little package.  2 cookies have just 80 calories, they are perfectly crunchy and have just enough gingery flavor.  The Roughcut Oatcakes are really tasty too... 090105-d4 Alrighty, shower and bed time for this little lady.  After my long run Saturday, intense yoga yesterday and speedy run tonight, this foodie's body is t.i.r.e.d.  Have a great night and day tomorrow!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, product review
tags kashi, nairns, oats, pumpkin cranberry bread, salad, soup

applesauce pancakes

Andrea

Happy Saturday everybody!  I hope you're all enjoying a relaxing weekend recovering after all the holiday festivities.  We got all of our Christmas decorations put away and did chores around the house this afternoon, I'm finally feeling like life is returning to normal.  I like having a routine!  :) This morning I woke up craving one of my favorite breakfasts, Applesauce Pancakes.  They are a much healthier version of the traditional pancake, but they take a little more effort to make so they seldom make an appearance on our table.  Not that they are difficult, just more difficult than opening up a box of Dr. Oetker's Organic Pancake Mix and adding egg and milk... Breakfast:  3 Applesauce Pancakes topped with 1-1/2 clementines and cranberry ketchup and 1/2 a pink lady apple (I found them at Whole Foods!) 090103-b1 090103-b2 Here's the recipe...the original came out of a cookbook from the hubb's nana, but I've modified it so much over the last few years that I think I can call this one mine now. Applesauce Pancakes makes about 1 dozen "silver dollar" pancakes Ingredients:
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp turbinado sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • 1-1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 tsp orange zest, grated
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten
  • 2 egg whites
Method:
  1. Sift together dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.
  2. Blend applesauce, orange zest, vanilla and egg yolks in separate bowl, then add to dry mix.
  3. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, then fold into batter.
  4. Ladle batter onto a lightly oiled hot griddle, to desired pancake size.
  5. Cook until small bubbles form throughout, then turn to brown the other side.
  "stiff" egg whites going into batter "stiff" egg whites going into batter Breakfast was really late today because the hubb and I slept in.  :)  This afternoon we went for our 4-mile training run...it was AWESOME!!!  I was so worried because our running has been so sporadic with prepping for the holidays then being out of town for a week...we'd really gotten off of our training schedule.  I mapped out a 4-mile loop for us that took us through our neighborhood, past the university, down Main Street and back to our house so it was nice and interesting for most of the way. Oh how I missed the variety of my familiar C'ville runs!!!  And, I am SO PROUD of my hubb!  He set a Personal Distance Record for himself today!!!  Yay Hubb!!!  :) Tonight we are going over to some friends' house for an early dinner, and since my breakfast was so late I decided on a light lunch after my run. Lunch:  Salad with romaine, spinach, red bell pepp, broccoli, roasted garlic hummus, 1/2 tsp of grapeseed oil and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar. 090103-l1 And a Clif chocolate chip ZBar...cause I felt like a little "dessert".  :) 090103-l2 Alrighty bloggies, I'm off for some good food and good company.  I hope you all have a fantastic evening!  :)
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags Clif, applesauce, hummus, pancakes, salad

back to the grind for just one day

Andrea

Can every work week be just one day long?  It was strange to get up this morning at 6am after two weeks of sleeping until 8am, but I managed.  Did anyone else have to work today?  I felt like I was the only one, even my one co-worker called in sick.  My boss was nice enough to tell me to go home at 4pm (we normally leave the office at 6pm), so I was able to run a few errands before picking up my hubb and heading home.  One of my errands involved an exciting new purchase which I am sure I will post about this weekend so you'll just have to wait...  :) Breakfast:  3/4 cup Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch cereal from Nature's Path with 3/4 cup Hemp Milk and 1/2 a banana sliced.  On the side, the other 1/2 banana with 1 tbsp almond butter. 081231-s1 I'm ready to use up this cereal.  Its good, but it has more calories per serving than I typically look for in a cereal and doesn't keep me full for very long.  I'm getting close...  The hemp milk is really good.  It is thinner than soymilk, and has a slightly sweeter flavor.  I still think that I prefer soymilk but the hemp is nice to keep around because it doesn't have to be refrigerated before opening.  Its my back-up milk. 090102-b11 Lunch:  Leftover black-eyed peas on brown rice and the last of the roasted veggies. 090102-l1 Mmmm.  Warm and satisfying.  Have I mentioned that my office is freezing?  Actually, we blast the heat, but I sit right by the really old and poorly-insulated windows that let every 35* draft in.  So one side of me sits in a sauna all day while the other side of me turns into an ice cube.  Its miserable, but my boss is working on getting the windows replaced so I'm trying to be a good sport.  There are some days when I never take off my wool winter coat and scarf all day long... Snacks:  I spread 2 clementines and a peanut butter cookie Larabar throughout the day.  I also had 3 brazil nuts and 2 mugs of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea (to try and thaw myself out). 090102-s2 Oh. My. Goodness.  Now I know why you all have been raving about the PB Cookie Larabars!!!  I couldn't find this particular flavor for the longest time, but while searching for some gifts the week before Christmas I happened to run into a store I don't visit often and found this beauty on their shelf.  It was amazing!!!  The only ingredients?  Dates and peanuts.  I'm in love.  I had every intention of eating just 1/2 the bar but couldn't stop once I started.  These could be really dangerous...luckily they are good for me! 090102-s1 Dinner:  Another bowl of black-eyed peas on brown rice.  Shockingly I haven't tired of these yet! Don't be surprised if you see a repeat tomorrow, but after that I'm freezing the remainder.  They'll make a great lunch in a couple of weeks. 090102-d21 I also made a big salad with romaine, spinach, cucumber, yellow bell pepp, green olives and feta cheese.  I added a glob of roasted garlic hummus on the side because it sounded tasty, and drizzled the salad with 1/2 tsp grapeseed oil and 1 tsp moscatel wine vinegar. 090102-d1 Dessert:  Our dear friend Kelly, whose husband Steve was the guest of honor at the New Years Eve Surprise Birthday Party we unfortunately had to miss, brought us a plate of leftover birthday cake today!  My biggest weakness in the whole culinary world is cake.  I LOVE CAKE.  Who doesn't?  Cake tops cookies, pies, brownies and ice cream on my list of favorite sweets.   090102-d3 I started off with just the 3 bites you see missing in the photo above.  I promptly put the plastic wrap back on the cake, slid it to the back of the kitchen counter and turned off the kitchen light as I went to the living room to join my hubb for some Friday night t.v. watchin'.  I thought I was safe.  Then, the hubb disappears to the kitchen and comes back with the plate of cake and a fork.  I was powerless to stop him from handing me the fork after every third bite of his.  I just can't help it.  We did scrape off most of the icing because it was too thick and sweet, so I feel slightly better about the whole thing.  But now I have mega motivation to get out the door tomorrow for a run.  :P Exercise:  Before dinner tonight I pulled out my favorite yoga DVD for 30 minutes of intense stretching.  I wouldn't call it a power yoga session because I wasn't sweating, but I was definitely working my whole body and feel so much better now for it.  It had been two weeks since my last yoga practice and I was really feeling the need to get back into it.  Afterwards I did 10 minutes of ab work in various positions.   Tomorrow is a long run day and I feel stretched and ready to go.  I'm nervous because my longest run in the last 3 weeks was 2-1/2 miles while in Florida.  Eek!  I didn't realize it had been that long since our 3-1/4 mile run.  Now I'm really nervous.  We were supposed to run a 5k on New Years Day but weren't up for it after all the traveling and dog sickness etc.  I think I'm going to plan on a 4 mile run tomorrow, a 4-1/2 mile run mid-week, along with a couple more shorter runs and then hopefully be back on track for the 5 mile run scheduled for next weekend.  Scary! Alrighty, I have a date with my hubb and a movie.  Anybody have any exciting plans for this weekend or are you all just recovering from the holidays like we are?
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags beans, larabar, salad, veggies

on the right foot...

Andrea

I started the first day of 2009 right...with a bowl of oats.  I've missed my oats these past few weeks as I've been cleaning out the fridge, freezer and pantry. Breakfast:  1 cup prepared rolled oats, a splash of hemp milk, a dash of vanilla, a small handful of raisins and 1/2 an apple sprinkled with cinnamon and turbinado sugar.  On the side a piece of whole wheat bread smeared with 1 tbsp almond butter and a drizzle of cranberry "ketchup". 090101-b1 The hubb and I lazed around the house most of today, it was lovely.  I caught up on some blogs, but not nearly as many as I need to!  Maybe tonight I can finish up...  Before going out for some errands today I made a quick lunch to keep me from stopping for something I would regret. Lunch:  A big ol' salad with romaine, spinach, yellow bell pepp, cucumber, dried cranberries, some crumbled feta cheese and light ranch dressing.  090101-l1 On the side, a Stoneyfield Farm yogurt.  I can't wait for my Oikos to return to the shelves!!!  I did pick up some Fage yesterday but want to finish up the last couple Stoneyfields I already had in the fridge before they go bad. 090101-l2 Snack:  One of our errands today included a stop at Target.  I was feeling light-headed and a little nauseous so I picked up a Luna Peanut Butter Cookie bar.  It tasted ok, but did help me feel much better. Has anyone else ever heard that eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day will bring good luck in the upcoming year?  I can't remember when or where I heard this, but yesterday as I was making our grocery list I thought that black-eyed peas sounded like a fantastic idea.  Who can't use a little extra luck in the new year?!? Dinner:  Black-Eyed Peas on brown rice, maple roasted beets, carrots and brussels sprouts and oil-free cornmeal muffins.  Say goodbye to my lovely tree...I think this post will be its last appearance.  :( 090101-d7 I soaked about 1 pound of dried black-eyed peas in water for about 4 hours this afternoon.  After rinsing the peas, I returned them to a large stock pot and covered them with 8 cups of chicken stock (about 1" of stock over the peas). I added
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 ham steaks, chopped
  • salt + pepper
brought to a boil, and let simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point, to my surprise, the peas were done! I wasn't ready for them yet so just kept them on low heat on the stove.  If you don't have the hours to soak ahead of time, you could skip the soaking step and just cook the peas on the stovetop for 2 hours. 090101-d4 090101-d8 For the roasted veggies, I chopped
  • 1 large carrot
  • 3 small beets
  • about a dozen brussels sprouts
and drizzled them with about 1 tbsp of olive oil.  They went into the oven on 400* for 30 minutes.  I pulled them out and drizzled maple syrup across the veggies, tossed them, and stuck them back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. 090101-d5 They weren't quite as maple-glazed as I would have liked for them to be...I'll add more syrup next time. The Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins are a recipe I adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall.  I was looking for a quick corn muffin recipe because corn bread and black-eyed peas belong together.  This one did not disappoint, I loved it! 090101-d1 090101-d2 The muffins don't crumble like traditional cornbread, but they are wonderfully flavored and very moist. I will definitely be making them again! 090101-d3 I enjoyed my muffin with a bit of Earth Balance spread. 090101-d6 Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins [adapted from Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall] makes 8 muffins Ingredients:
  • 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tbsp turbinado sugar
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
Method:
  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350*.  Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornmeal, turbinado sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make a well in the center.
  3. In another medium bowl, whisk the agave nectar, buttermilk and eggs together.  Pour into well and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined.
  4. Spoon the batter evenly into 8 of the muffin cups.  Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes, run a knife around the inside of the cups to release the muffins and remove them from cups.
Now I'm off to finish straightening up our house, put away Christmas and get ready for work tomorrow. Blech.  I can't believe I have to work tomorrow!  I really can't complain because I've had most of the last two weeks off, but its difficult to get motivated to go in for just one day before the weekend...   I hope you all have a lovely evening!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags black-eyed peas, cornbread, oats, roasted veggies, salad

slower than slow?

Andrea

Hello bloggies!  Yay for tomorrow being Friday!  :) Questions for you all: Are you having trouble with my blog being slow to upload?  If it is too slow and annoying, I was thinking of having my blog only show the first bit of each post on the front page, which means you'd have to click "continue reading" at the bottom of the post to see the whole thing. Would that be annoying for you?  I want to make sure you all are happy and excited to read so any feedback you can give is greatly appreciated! This morning the hubb and I got up for another lovely morning run.  I just love getting up and running in the morning, especially since it has been slightly warmer lately.  The temperature has been around 40* when we wake up which is totally bearable, and running first thing gets me so energized for the day!  We did a 2-mile ultra hilly route that I love because even though its short, I feel like I still get a killer workout in.  The Charlottesville 10-Miler is one of the hilliest races in the country, so we have to be prepared for it! On to eats... Breakfast:  1 cup of Kashi Heart 2 Heart, 1 sliced banana, 1 cup of Silk plain soy milk and some dribbles of cranberry ketchup...YUM!  I love tart fruit in my cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, bread, so it just made sense to add the CK to my bowl of cereal this morning.  I loved it!  It looks kinda scary though... 081218-b1 Morning Snack:  My breakfast was yummy, but it definitely didn't stick with me as long as oats or an ezekiel muffin do...probably because I don't put nut butter in my cereal.  So at about 10:30 I broke into my Clif Mojo Mountain Mix bar and ate 1/2.  This was my first time trying this flavor and it was really good, but I still prefer the Peanut Butter Pretzel flavor. 081218-s2 Lunch:  I continued my CK love with a giant spinach salad topped with alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, black beans, broccoli slaw and glops of cranberry ketchup for dressing. Again, YUM!  Erin's right, it really is good on everything! 081218-l1 Afternoon Snack:  The other 1/2 of my Clif Mojo and a glorious navel orange...it got me so excited to go to Florida!  I want to come home with bags full of citrus!  :-)  After I ate my orange I realized how good the cranberry ketchup would be drizzled on it...next time! 081218-s1 Evening Snack:   Before dinner, while wrapping presents, I finished off a box of Annie's Honey Bunnies.  They were gone so fast I didn't even have time for a picture...apparently I was starving. Dinner:  Leftovers!  Perfect for this busy night.  Veggie tofu korma with broccoli on the side.  The korma was even better the second time around!  And, a glass of Charles Shaw Coastal Syrah...so so good for only $4.99!!!  I love Trader Joes!!! 081218-d15 I have some more Christmas prep to finish...I can't believe how I've waited 'till the last minute this year!  Not next year, I'm already planning our gifts for Xmas 2009.  I loved hearing about what you all are making for Christmas presents this year!  Its totally inspiring...I had planned to make a lot more gifts but time just got away from me.  I have done a little knitting, a little baking, and the hubb and I made a couple of photo albums.  Maybe next year we'll have an "all hand-made" or "all local" theme...that would be fun! Have a great night!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags Clif, cranberry, salad

butternut squash potage

Andrea

Good evening!  As promised...a semi-quick post. Breakfast:  Two Kashi Go Lean blueberry waffles with 1 tbsp almond butter and a sliced banana, all sandwiched together.  Yum.  :) 081215-b2 081215-b1 Morning Snack:  Dark chocolate covered strawberry!!!  They were delivered to us this morning from a dear friend in North Carolina.  Of course I dug right in while my lunch was heating! 081215-s2 081215-s1 Lunch:  Spinach salad and TJ's Veggie Lentil Soup.  My salad consisted of spinach, hearts of palm, orange bell pepper, alfalfa sprouts, dried cranberries and light ranch dressing (I know you've seen a lot of the light ranch lately...I'm trying to use up the bottle!). 081215-l1 081215-l2 Afternoon Snack:  Peppermint Eggnog Scone and a cup of Sugar Cookie Sleighride. This is the last of the scones, I sent the others to the office with Brian.  They were way too tempting (as evidenced by my last few posts...)!!! 081215-s31 Dinner:  Butternut Squash Potage (recipe follows) and a spinach salad with yellow bell pepper, black beans, fresh currants and light ranch. 081215-d4 081215-d6 081215-d5 This soup is so easy and perfectly creamy, without any cream!   I made a variation a few weeks ago here.  I've been thinking about using the potage method to make a butternut squash soup for awhile now, and am so glad I did!  I have an old favorite squash soup recipe that uses 1 cup of cream, and I couldn't even tell that the recipe I made tonight didn't have any cream!  Healthy and yummy...perfect. Butternut Squash Potage makes 4 servings calories: 267  fat: 3.2g  sat fat: 1.9g  carbs: 54.8g  fiber: 5.9g  protein 8.5g Ingredients:
  • one small butternut squash (1-1.5 pounds), peeled and diced into 1" pieces
  • one medium-large onion, diced
  • 4 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and diced into 1" pieces
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 5 cups chicken or veggie broth (I use Better Than Bouillon no chicken base...love it!)
  • salt + pepper
Steps:
  1. Melt butter in large saucepan on medium heat.  Add chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add diced potato, squash and broth.  Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until potatoes and squash are soft.
  3. Strain veggies from soup and reserve broth.  Puree the veggies in a food processor or blender using some of the reserved broth as needed.
  4. Add all broth and pureed veggies back to saucepan and heat through.  Season to taste.
081215-d1 I love the Better Than Bouillon line.  We keep the no-chicken base in our fridge at all times...its so much better than having cans and boxes taking up room in our teeny pantry! 081215-d2 Alrighty...I'm off to continue with Christmas holiday/travel/baking/gift prep.  Have a fabulous evening and Tuesday!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, soup
tags kashi, salad, scone, soup, squash

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

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

homemade pizza and groceries

Andrea

Good evening!  I hope everybody had a wonderful Saturday, despite any dreary weather you may have had (like me!).  After my BSI submission I cleaned up the house a bit, lounged around a bit, blogged a bit and made a grocery list. For lunch I had leftovers: 1-1/2 cups green potage and 2 slices of oatmeal bread, one with roasted garlic hummus. 081115-l1 Turns out the garlic hummus and oatmeal bread weren't that great of a combination...I only ate about 1/2 of that slice. Before grocery shopping I had a Clif Nectar bar so that I wouldn't eat or buy everything in sight. Product Review: Clif Nectar lemon vanilla cashew flavor 081115-s2 This is my all-time favorite Clif Nectar flavor, and I'm so glad that my Whole Foods still carries it. I also really love the cranberry apricot and cherry pomegranate but they've discontinued them at my store...SO SAD!!!  :(  This flavor is wonderfully sweet from the vanilla but still has a nice tartness from the lemon, and there are big chunks of cashews.  Yum. The bar held me over through our various errands and grocery shopping, and kept me from ordering anything when we drove through Taco Bell so Brian could snack on a bean burrito. Here is a sampling of the grocery store loot this evening: First, the regular items. groceries-1
  • bananas
  • brussels sprouts
  • sweet potato
  • broccoli sprouts
  • mushrooms
  • cauliflower
  • broccoli
  • raspberries (!)
  • z-bars (!!)
  • Clif Nectar Cocao (this should be on the newbie list, never tried this flavor before)
  • tofu
  • Silk plain soymilk
  • Oikos (!) (would love to try Chobani, but my store doesn't carry it!!!)
  • vino
  • honey
  • Amy's soups
  • Kashi cheddar crackers
  • whole wheat pitas
More regular items. groceries-2
  • rolled oats
  • part skim mozzerella
  • Wallaby yogurts (Brian's favorite...so good!  they have great flavors and are super-creamy)
  • red bell peppers
  • pomegranates (2 of these!  2 for $5!)
  • feta cheese
  • frozen edamame
  • coffee
Regular items not pictured:
  • cucumbers
  • tortilla chips
  • more vino
  • lunch meat / cheese for Brian
  • arugula lettuce mix
  • scallions
  • onions
  • cream cheese for Brian's bagels
Newbies!!! groceries-3
  • Clif bars!!!  (the Whole Foods Whole Deal has tons of coupons, lots of taste-testing this week!)
  • new hummus - roasted red pepper
  • PB&Co dark chocolate dreams (!)
  • turbinado raw sugar
  • Smart Deli veggie pepperoni slices (for our pizza tonight)
So excited about my newbies!!!  Especially the PB&Co, I didn't realize my Whole Foods even carried it!  And, I discovered that they carry the MaraNatha almond butter, but I'm not in need right now so I will try it next time I'm all out. We also stopped at Bodo's to get Brian a supply of everything bagels for the next couple of weeks, groceries-41 and the Organic Butcher to get chicken breasts and some bacon.  I love the Organic Butcher, most of the meat that he carries is local and it feels great to support a local business as well as local farmers.  We actually reserved our local, organic turkey for Thanksgiving tonight!  :) By the time we got home I was STARVING!  Brian and I put together a wonderful homemade pizza with fresh pizza dough from a local pasta shop.  Sadly they were all out of whole wheat, but we were in SUCH a pizza mood that I couldn't say no to white flour. 081115-d1 We made up for it with part skim mozzarella, veggie pepperoni slices and lots of veggies. 081115-d2 I had about 1/4 of the 12" pizza, and paired it with a salad and small glass of red wine. 081115-d3 081115-d5 081115-d4 My salad consisted of:
  • arugula salad mix
  • cucumber
  • red bell pepper
  • 1 tbsp feta crumbles
  • 1/4 cup red raspberries
  • 1 tbsp sliced almonds
  • 1/2 tsp grape seed oil
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar
This Syrah is a new bottle we found at Whole Foods, just $9, and is pretty good! 081115-d6 I'm off to watch SNL...have a great night!
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categories dinner, lunch, product review
tags Clif, pizza, salad

brrrrrrr.....

Andrea

Good morning!  Brian and I started the morning out right with a mid-week training run.  I'm pretty proud of us, we got up at 6am and were on the road by 6:15.  It was only 25* outside!!!!!!!!!!!  Absolutely frigid at first, but we got used to it quickly after we started our run.  We did a 1/2 mile warm-up, 1 mile run at an easy 10-minute pace, and 1/2 mile cool-down.  It was only a 28 minute workout but it felt great to get up so early and I was completely awake and refreshed by the time we got home. For breakfast I made a bowl of oats using 1 cup prepared rolled oats, splash of vanilla soymilk, spoonful of flax seeds, 1 medium banana and a couple of spoonfuls of pom seeds.  Yum!  This meal was so satisfying and tasty that it actually evoked the food dance out of me...that only happens with really good food.  :) 081111-b1 I'm prepared for another busy day at the office with a filling lunch.  I made a lima bean + corn salad that I found in a Self magazine a couple of months ago.  I was unsure of it at first but its actually really good and completely filling...I've made it several times since. 081111-l1 Ingredients:
  • 1.5 cups frozen lima beans, thawed in microwave
  • .75 cup frozen corn, thawed in microwave
  • .5 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • .5 cup chopped cucumber
  • 1.5 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
Once veggies are thawed and at roughly room temperature mix them all together.  Whisk the olive oil, balsamic and mustard together and toss with veggies. On the side I packed a pink lady apple.  :) 081111-l2 And for a snack I packed a Larabar, cherry pie flavor. 081111-s1 Ok, time to get tons of work done! It may be a late dinner post tonight....  I'm hoping to finish work by 8:00 so that I can go to CLAW, the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers.  There's a match tonight and it is so much fun to watch!  Plus, my friend Krisin aka TinkerHell is one of the defending champions...  :)  You should check out their blog if you have time...very entertaining!
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags oats, salad, training