Smoothies | Healthy and Sane

Wednesday recap – the power of a good dress

July 14th, 2010

It’s 11pm and I just got home from work (my “commute” is 5 minutes so you do the math). And yet I’m blogging. I have the need to share my progress with staying sane (and somewhat healthy) despite the craziness that is my life. Random thoughts of the day:

- A good dress is powerful. I was tired, stressed yet I felt fantastic. That’s because I knew I looked good. No, I did not instantly drop those damn 15lbs but the wrap dress I had on today hugged me in all the right places and was very forgiving in others. I felt FIERCE. So fierce that when I encountered a very abrasive co-worker, I gave him the verbal equivalent of a middle finger and moved on. Three years ago (or even last week on a bad day) I would have probably cried in the bathroom (or at least wanted to). Today the dress gave me the power that I needed. Go dress! But since this is a food blog, let’s see what else I got going…

- b.good mango smoothie, blended with Amazing Grass chocolate powder, extra ice, milk and some gums makes for a kickass breakfast. I was impressed.

- Sometimes a brownie makes it all better. Today’s fudgy brownie from Whole Foods was not on my “planned” list but it was my one and only dessert. I don’t regret a single bite.

- Sushi bento boxes from Haru make one amazing dinner. I almost didn’t mind that I was eating it at my desk at 10pm instead of being at home with the hubs (not true actually but it was good). I hope I can expense that baby.

- No gym today. Nearly 14 hours of work and yet I feel like I got nothing done. I think my new goal is to hit it every other day. Those reports don’t write themselves and financial statements cannot be analyzed while kicking butt in bootcamp. I AM making it happen tomorrow though. Promise.

Today’s eats….. (oh and last thought of the day - I hate my tripod!!… you’ll see why)

Ok, I have a 7am conference call tomorrow so I’m off to get my beauty sleep. It never stops, folks. Seriously. See you with a Thursday recap tomorrow night. I’m kind of liking this format for super busy nights. You?

The rules have changed – a brownie recipe needed

May 18th, 2010

Morning (or whenever you are reading it )!

So remember the bake-off I mentioned a few posts ago? I emailed the organizer yesterday and she clarified the rules to me – this is a brownie contest! Dang, and I thought a had a winning recipe all planned out. Brownies happened to be one of my favorite desserts of all time, so I’m super excited for the tasting portion of the contest, but I’ve never actually baked a brownie I thought was outstanding. My last attempt at rocky road brownies was a good try. I liked the topping (and think it may be a great contestant!) but the brownie was really dry. I asked you for your favorite brownie recipe in that post (and Jen came to the rescue – I plan on testing it soon, Jen!) but I’m asking again. Do you have a favorite brownie recipe? It can be a basic brownie (I’ll add my own topping) or a great brownie “combo.” Thanks again!! I love that I have you all here as my resources.

Yesterday’s eats – it’s was Meatless Monday, fyi.

BREAKFAST

A green smoothie: almond milk, water, frozen banana, frozen strawberries, frozen spinach, ground peanuts (from a failed attempt at making pb) + Amazing Grass Kidz Superfood packet

Oh yes, let’s not forget the Bran Buds I received as a sample from the company. They added a nice crunch to the smoothie, which I ate with a spoon. Adam and I agreed we’d buy this cereal – it was really yummy

LUNCH

My favorite sandwich combo of all time – seriously! I brought it to work with me and couldn’t resist but eat half before my lunchtime workout.

Grilled peppers, zucchini and eggplant, fresh tomato, goat cheese and Stonewall Kitchen sundried tomato pesto on a TJ’s scooped out ciabatta roll

Just thinking about this sandwich again makes me happy. I can never resits this combo!!

WORKOUT

Power yoga at my gym. The girl’s voice wasn’t as soothing as my favorite instructor’s on Thursdays but the practice was good at the end. Once we started flowing I forgot about all this other nonsense like how I wish the girl didn’t sound so “valley.”

DINNER

I really tried being vegan for the day but couldn’t resist the urge to add the goat cheese to my lunchtime sandwich. For dinner the cheese jumped in once again but we couldn’t really taste it at the end, so it’s going to be 100% vegan next time. So what did we have, you ask?

Avocado and pinto black bean enchiladas from Eat, Drink & be Vegan

I made a few tiny modifications to the recipe – if you can get a hold of it and want to recreate my version exactly, here they are. I used only 8 corn tortillas (to save cals – 2/prs is plenty), black beans instead of pinto (Adam is obsessed with black beans!), almond slices instead of cashews (all we had), no onions, 1 jar of TJ’s enchilada sauce, 1/4-1/2 cup of Stonewall kitchen peach mango hot sauce and a sprinkle of TJ’s light Mexican cheese. I think that’s it

I served it with a Russian inspired salad – fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, S&P + nonfat yogurt (Russians would traditionally use sour cream) – it was perfectly cool to balance out the spiciness of the enchiladas!

Let’s peak inside the enchiladas…

They were “meaty”, creamy, spicy, super flavorful. Adam already requested that we make these again. Yay the vegan book is coming in handy!

Dessert (definitely not vegan!) – break-up bars

Yeah, go ahead and double that – so much for portion control.

Other snacks throughout the day included edamame hummus with baby carrots, a packet of somersaults, pickles, toast with hummus. I was definitely snacky!

We are having our outdoor furniture delivered today. Our first farmers market is also opening today. Lots of excitement for one day. What are you looking forward to today?

Paranoia is unproductive

May 11th, 2010

I came home last night, deep in emotions and ready to type up a post… and then I decided to allow myself a bit of distance from the situation. I needed time to process my irrational fear (?) and unproductive reaction (paranoia?), so what you’re reading today is written by me after a decent night of sleep. It helped.

Before I dive in, let me start by mentioning that I had a super fabulous dinner last night at Bin26.

My lovely dates: Meghan and Kirsten

I love these girls! I ran with both of them before and there is something about a bond you build while you run, especially long distance. You pick each other up and motivate each other to keep going. I wish we had a chance to hang out more. I think we’ll try to make it happen after last night (and apparently our husbands/boyfriends have a lot in common too – think: Top Gear).

Bin26 is a gorgeous wine bar in Beacon Hill. I loved the clean + modern atmosphere with wine bottles decorating the space…. in expected:

… and unexpected ways (that’s a ceiling in the bathroom!!)

I started with a 250ml glass of Grosjean Freres Premetta Pinor Noir upon Kirsten’s suggestion. She knows wines and said this was one of her favorites. This was the best wine I’ve ever had in my life!!! It was fruity and smooth yet complex but not too sweet. I am really horrible at describing wines but I am telling you that this beats $100+ bottles I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.

After a lot of indecisiveness, we finally decided to split a plate of cheeses and zucchini carpaccio. Fresh sourdough bread with EVOO came out as well. Perfect!

Selection of 4: Grana Padano, Pecorino Toscano, Taleggio di Malga, Gorgonzola Naturale

I am not a fan of gorgonzola (or any other blue cheese for that matter) but the other 3 were fantastic. I loved their diversity… cheese + wine is a fantastic combo!

Zucchini carpacio – zucchini ribbons drizzled with lemon vinaigrette + pine nuts

This was so incredibly fresh and flavorful. I really have to recreate this at home! What a perfect summer appetizer.

So we shared these 2 plates and then I decided to order an entree as my meal.

Cocoa tagliatelle with porcini mushroom ragout scented with nepitella

Sounds fancy, no? It was delicious. Very mushroomy though so it’s not for the faint of heart. I love mushrooms so I polished this off no problem

When the waitress offered a dessert menu, I didn’t hesitate. Yes, please. I’ll have the chocolate layer cake served with semifreddo

I was stoked to see cherries but the cake was not my favorite. It was soaked in some kind of liquor, which I suppose is appropriate for a wine bar but I didn’t care for it. Guess what? I still ate every bite.

On my way home, this is where it hit me – I was stuffed, uncomfortably so. This is also where my paranoia about what and how much I eat sunk in. Meghan only had the shared apps and Kirsten ordered a tiny tapa as her meal + a small biscotti that nearly broke her tooth so she only had a bite of it. These girls are thin and I am not. Yes, I’m healthy. I made a lot of progress recently in the self-acceptance department but nights like this give me perspective on my actions. I ordered last night like I would on any other night out. I treat nights like this as treats and of course accept larger portions than usual since of course I wouldn’t have an appetizer, entree, dessert + wine on a typical Monday night at home. But is that the right thing to do? Am I just fattening myself up slowly and giving myself a green light to do so in the spirit of “self acceptance”?

This is my “analysis” after a night of sleep. You can only imagine the less productive thoughts running through my head on my walk home. Of course I shouldn’t compare myself to others. I shouldn’t even presume I know the circumstances of other people. I think Meghan had plans for dinner with her husband later than night (makes sense why she’d eat lightly before that). Maybe the girls had giant lunches, maybe finances played a role in their decisions. The point is that I shouldn’t care. But I twisted it up and made myself feel bad. I felt paranoid about my own less than stellar choices and should have viewed them in vacuum without throwing what other people ate into the mix. Ok I think I’m done. I really did have an amazing time catching up with the girls. I just hate how unproductive thoughts creep in sometimes and ruin a perfectly fun night.

Other eats…

BREAKFAST

Green monster – silken tofu, almond milk, banana, frozen mixed berries + frozen spinach, topped with Zoe’s granola

This was the best smoothie I’ve ever made. I attribute it to lots of berries.

LUNCH

Everything but the kitchen sink salad – kale massaged with lemon juice and 1t basil EVOO, carrots, grape tomatoes, pickles, boiled egg, walnuts + feta