Changing my tune

Merry Christmas for those who celebrate it!! I went to a spinning class yesterday and the instructor was blasting Christmas music (which btw is surprisingly motivating because it’s so dramatic and happy) and he said: “At the end of the class, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, please don’t complain to the front desk about me singing Merry Christmas for half a class. It’s a federal holiday (in the US), so… Merry Federal Holiday!” Haha, the guy is hilarious. Speaking of working out, before the spin class I did abs for 10 minutes and then ran a little over 2 miles on the treadmill after the class. I wanted to sweat, and sweat I did

Other accomplishments for the day included walking past all the candy and chocolates in the office and pretending it’s the most disgusting thing in the world. It was not easy, but I hated the defeatist tone of my previous post (it was how I truly felt though) so I decided that I was in control of me and changed it around (at least for one day. Hey, every little bit counts! )

Now let’s see what I did eat during the day…

BREAKFAST

1 FFL english muffin with Barney Butter and banana

Meh, the lighting in my condo sucks!

Pic adjusted in iPhoto – still crappy, in a different way…

LUNCH

Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese + smokehouse almonds

I think goat cheese makes every salad fancy!

SNACKS

Both snacks today were unpictured. Mid-day I had a persimmon (found them at TJ’s!) and in the afternoon a mini pack of sea-salt somersaults. Both were delicious and enjoyed while working.

DINNER

I was planning on making Ellie Krieger’s crab cakes for dinner last night since Thursday is Christmas Eve and I’ll be enjoying lots of other yummies. Unfortunately Adam was unable to get crab meat (the Whole Foods he went to was closed!) and I was stuck with improvising a decent dinner at a moment’s notice with whatever we had at home. In the spirit of CEiMB, I chose another Ellie recipe to base dinner on – chicken cacciatore (recipe can be found here).

We had no peppers, I omitted the onions, and added olives. The olives were the best part! I thought this dish was not bad but not good either. It had a lot going on, yet was not exciting. I am not looking forward to leftovers Served with some leftover quinoa and wheat berries…

Dessert – hazelnut stuffed date

DRINKS

After dinner, Adam and I rushed to meet our friends at the Road House in Brookline. I decided I wanted a fancier beer to start and Adam recommended that I get the Pretty Things Jack D’Or saison.

I think saisons are generally creamier (almost like a wheat beer but with a stronger flavor). This was a nice beer, but nothing special. It does seem to get good reviews from real critics, so maybe I just don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m no beer expert

Nachos were ordered for the table. I didn’t have any but had to snap a photo because of how giant this thing was. It had pretty much everything but the kitchen sink!

I stole a rib from a friend. Yum – the sauce was almost fruity. Delicious!!

And then the dessert craving hit hard. I haven’t had any chocolate up until that point and was starting the get the shakes. Haha. Yes, I’m an addict. The carribean cocoa – malibu coconut rum, Chambrod, Baileys and cocoa topped with Kahlua whipped cream, sounded like the perfect dessert and drink in one.

And it was! Mmm, chocolate + raspberry + alcohol. Yes, yes, yes! That’s the kind of indulging I’m into

What a fun night with friends! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everybody! I’m off to work for a few hours, then hit the gym and head over to my in-laws. My next post should be a recap of Christmas festivities. I’m dying to know what Adam got me!