On Saturday, we were invited to our friends’ Kevin and Trisha’s house for a beer vs. wine pairing party. The idea was to bring a dish that pairs well with one or the other and have some fun! Almost immediately I thought of bringing something spicy to pair with a Riesling, and then a moment of brilliance hit me – mini banh mi sliders. Oh yes I did!

Of course it’s me and I can’t just make a favorite recipe and call it good. And well, dessert needed to happen as well (just in case we didn’t have enough). I made some meyer lemon curd a few days prior so the idea of white wine cupcakes with meyer lemon curd filling and marshmallow wine frosting was born. Sounds fitting for a beer vs. wine party, no?

I started with the white wine cupcake recipe base (using half all purpose and half white whole wheat flour – they were perfectly tender, no whole wheatiness in sight. Yes, that’s a word!)

Then scooped a bit of the cupcake insides (which I saved for a little snack later ) and filled the cavities with the meyer lemon curd (don’t overfill them with the curd or they’ll be too intense).

Lastly came the frosting part. I used 1/2 of this recipe for the marshmallow frosting – it wouldn’t harden so I added extra cream of tartar until it came to the right consistency) and it really tasted like marshmallows. I was so excited I forgot to add a bit of wine to it. Oh well, still amazingly delicious! [Adam said it was one of the best desserts I’ve ever made!!]

The recipe made 18 cupcakes. 18 addictively delicious cupcakes. Good thing I had some friends to share it with!!

So now on to the party. We had some super talented cooks, that’s for sure. Andrew impressed us all with his salmon tartar cornets with sweet red onion crème fraiche (recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook!!)

Unfortunately, while I was totally drooling over this, I couldn’t taste the final product given the ahem, red onions. I am certain it’s the most amazing appetizer though (I mean, common – it’s Thomas Keller’s recipe!!) so I plan on tackling it one day. How impressed are you with Andrew? He even made the little cones from scratch!

For his pairing, he chose the pale ale by the Victory brewery since he just passed his PHD exam. I liked all the pairings from this dinner so I’m going to direct you to Kevin’s post for more comprehensive beer reviews since he knows a lot more about beer than I do. All I can say is that it went down easy!

Next up – my banh mi sliders!! I used grass fed beef instead of turkey, but otherwise followed the recipe to the T. It’s really the best!! I love how the meatballs have a bit of heat, which is enhanced by the spicy mayo and sliced jalapenos and then cooled off by the pickled carrots and daikon radish. Man, I loved these little guys!!

This sweet Riesling was a really good pairing for this spicy dish.

Happy customers

More finger food! Mac & cheese mini cakes to be exact! I believe Melissa used the Wine & Food magazine recipe but don’t quote me on this. These little cakes were perfectly portable, cheesy and indulgent.

… and paired really well with this crisp prosecco. Seriously, best party idea ever!!

Onto some Mexican cilantro chicken with all the fixins (cheese, salsa, tortillas), paired with the Hennepin Belgian style saison.

The chicken had so much flavor and I just love the body of saisons – kind of like wheat beer but with so much more character. Yummmmm.

Our stomachs were getting quite full but there was just one more savory course. Pizza!!

Prosciutto, mozzarella

and balsamic caramelized onion and goat cheese

Paired with a surprisingly light Syrah. Can’t go wrong with pizza + wine!

At this point all of us really needed an eating break so we moved to the living room for some couch (and more drinking) time.

Eventually these molten chocolate cakes (from the Flour bakery cookbook) baked and well, you can’t let perfectly molten chocolate deliciousness wait for you! Now can you? (don’t answer that!)

Paired with this aged Mikkeller Belgian strong ale (brewed with chocolate!).

Heaven!

My cupcakes were a bonus dessert and we all enjoyed them at our leisure.

Someone kept hoping to sneak a bite but we were a bit quicker

What do you prefer – beer or wine? What’s the coolest “theme party” you’ve ever been to? I’m totally stealing this idea and plan on hosting one of my own this summer!

The book starts with an outline of Dr. Axe’s diet, defining “real food” and “fake food.” I didn’t really care for the tone of it – it seemed a little gimmicky with claims like “refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans!” (yeah, ok!) which in my opinion actually undermined some of the good messages like avoiding hydrogenated oils and artificial sweeteners and focusing on hormone/antibiotic free, organic meats and eggs vs. their conventional counterparts. Some of the suggestions also lacked sufficient rationale. For example, the diet allows for small portions of grains but they must be unprocessed and glutten-free. I didn’t understand why glutten-free (for people that do not have glutten allergies) was recommended and further why some recipes in the cookbook portion called for glutten-free pancake mix. Is that unprocessed? Again, why is it better than whole wheat flour?

The book and I generally didn’t get off on the right foot but I was mostly interested in the cookbook portion and that’s what I set out to review. Majority of the recipes included nice looking photos, which I always appreciate (although a few of them did not match the description entirely… a bit sloppy). I also liked the little shortcut signs for meals that are quick, pre/post workout, low on energy, kid-friendly, etc.

Most of the recipes appeared pretty simple and straight forward and many of them sounded (and looked) delicious. Perhaps because of the intro section, for the most part I felt like this was a diet book (first) with supplemental recipes (second), rather than a cookbook with certain nutritional guidelines. The one clear miss in the cookbook section was the fact that there were no serving sizes noted. In some cases it’s obvious, but for things like shakes, for example – I had no idea whether I was going to get a whole pitcher or just one glass.

Recipe review time!

Chicken Bryan

This called for 4 tablespoons of oil and 1/2 cup of butter for 2lbs of chicken. I’m all for not being scared of healthy fats but that confused me and I just couldn’t do it. The end result with significantly less fat, was still pretty delicious. I found the bitterness of the lemon rind a bit too strong on day 1, but it actually mellowed out in a few days in the fridge so the leftovers tasted better.

Egg Tahini Salad

A bit of a misnomer because it was actually a salad with eggs… not an egg salad. Am I too anal? Again it was a bit annoying that serving sizes were not included but I made a portion and while I had to thin the dressing out with some water, it was quite flavorful and I enjoyed it (the addition of tomatoes was my own and I thought it was brilliant! )

Next up I made the kale shake which I thought was vile. There is no picture here because after 2 sips (I forced a second one just to make sure I wasn’t crazy), the whole thing went down the drain. I usually force myself to eat whatever I make because I hate wasting food but this one was no go. The ingredients list included kale, cayenne peppers and bananas – this was either going to be genius or well, a disaster. You know what I thought of it by now

I’m happy to say it was smooth sailing from here. The rest of the recipes I tried were super flavorful, easy and very satisfying.

I made the raw marinara sauce with ground grass-fed beef (which I pan fried before mixing with the rest of the sauce) and served it over whole wheat gnocchi. The base of the sauce is sun-dried tomatoes which packed so much flavor. Loved this!!

The rest of the ground beef went into the making of the bison burgers. I know beef isn’t bison but I thought the spices that went into the patties were delicious – I’m sure they’d work great with bison! (Note: the roasted butternut squash and cream cheese additions were my own).

Next up, I made the blueberry bliss snack bars. I don’t know how many the recipes was supposed to make – I shaped them into 2 and had a fun little photo shoot.

These were sweet yet wholesome. I chopped my almonds coarsely and enjoyed their crunch. I also think that making bars into rounds makes them feel like cookies and extra special. I sure felt special eating these

The last recipe I tried was of the avocado mango salsa. It wasn’t much different from other avocado mango salsas I’ve tried but I was happy to have this sweet/sour combo again. It paired beautifully with grilled shrimp with I served over red quinoa.

At the end of it all, I think Dr. Axe got some of my trust back. We had a rocky start (and that kale shake is seriously disgusting!) but all these eats were clean, fresh and delivered strong flavors. I bookmarked a lot of the recipes for a potential review and definitely still plan on trying them out!

Would you like to try the recipes yourself? I have one free copy to giveaway!

Here are the rules; there are 6 ways to enter.

1) Leave a comment on this post – tell me what your favorite cookbook is and why.

2+3) Follow me on Twitter (please tell me in the comments what your twitter name is so I can confirm). For an additional entry, you can also tweet about this giveaway (my twitter name must be included to qualify – that’s @elinacooks fyi)

4) Like Healthy and Sane on Facebook.

5) Add Healthy and Sane to your blogroll.

6) Link to this post on your blog, if you have one. If you don’t, let someone else know about this giveaway and tell me so in the comments section after they’ve entered the giveaway.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. The giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry) and will end on December 11. I will randomly choose a winner using random.org and announce him/her on Sunday. Good luck!

I’ve been thinking recently about how my snacks got pretty boring lately. I often just grab a fruit to-go:

Sometimes I add something else for satiety…

Sometimes it’s fruit and nuts in dried form (a.k.a trailmix)

…sometimes it’s just nuts:

And then there are various bars that are oh so convenient:

Once in a while I get a little more creative and I LOVE snacks like that…

Baby carrots + almond butter

1/2 Food for Life english muffin with Barney Butter and 1/2 banana (one of my favorite snacks!!)

Ww toast with hummus and 1/4 avocado

Baguette with baba ganoush and tomatoes

Crackers with edamame hummus

Baby carrots with hummus and 1 hard-boiled egg

I need to revamp my snacks. What are your favorites?

Onto yesterday’s eats…

BREAKFAST

German fitness bread with cream cheese, kiwi, strawberries and pecans

Close up shot:

This was so hearty and satisfying. The fresh fruit was so sweet and paired nicely with the tangy cream cheese and earthy bread. Yum!

LUNCH

I decided to treat myself to a lunch at the farmers market yesterday. I think I’m going to start doing that once a week. It just felt so special… plus I’m supporting local farmers, right?

The Prudential Center farmers market (open Thursdays 11:00-17:00)

The swiss bakers table caught my eye

They had 2 kinds of sandwiches and the guy talked me into the lettuce, tomato, pickle & turkey (and mayo apparently) sandwich. He was 99% sure that the turkey was organic since supposedly the owners pride themselves on all ingredients being organic.

This guy came on a PretzelBaguette – oh my!

So I went on their website after getting back to my desk and I see nothing about the use of organic ingredients. I’m pretty sure this was NOT organic turkey but I still ate it. Not eating it would not make a statement other than a hungry Elina. The bread was the most amazing thing – a soft pretzel in a baguette shape. Fantastic. I’m going to choose the vegetarian option next time or just buy the PretzelBaguette and assemble my own sandwich. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this lunch!

SNACKS

1 banana, 1/2 apple pie larabar, 1 orange (after workout) <– see, boring!!

WORKOUTS

Pilates reformer class in the am. I’m still on the fence. I LOVE the studio (it’s Boston Body btw) but I think I need some heavy lifting/bootcamp classes in my life to feel complete. And since these classes aren’t cheap (I got a discounted deal for just a few sessions before), they would have to replace my gym membership and everything else. So we’ll see. I have a 30-days unlimited mat membership that I have yet to activate and I think it may be more my speed. Plus it’s a lot cheaper so if I absolutely love it, then it’s more likely to become part of my routine. I’ll keep you guys posted, of course.

After work, I also went to the gym for some cardio. I NEEDED it. Even that’s an understatement. I didn’t have my running shoes (only old sneakers) so I didn’t want to run (much) so I thought I’d try Janetha’s slow paced treadmill workout (with increasing inclines). Yeah, I thought it was going to be all walking but… I don’t know about you but I can’t walk at 5.0. I got to 4.6 but even that got a little too much at 8-9 incline. I basically stuck between 4.4 and 4.5 mph and used Janetha’s incline recommendations. After about 17 minutes I decided that running actually wouldn’t be so bad. I finished the 30 minutes at 6.6-6.7 mph at 1.0 incline. That felt good. I need to bring running shoes to the gym next time. It felt weird running in those babies. After the treadmill, I did like 3 minutes on this weird stepmaster type thing (you move the legs sideways) but it was sooooo boring I couldn’t handle it. I grabbed a jump rope and did that for maybe 30 seconds and then an elliptical with a tv freed up. Sweeeeet. So I did 17 minutes on that, again using Janetha’s “moves” – elliptical HIIT. I was sweaty and happy by the end. After a little stretching and it was time to get moving.

DINNER

My grandmas from Israel are in town so I rushed to my parents’ house after my workout (and a shower of course!). We ate dinner there.

Short-rib + polenta prepared by my dad. It was really good.

+ a little plate of hummus, tomatoes and pickled radish

I went back for more hummus (on 1/2 toast) and more pickled radish after this. Yum! And had a glass of Pinot Noir that my dad got me for my birthday. It was the same wine I had last time at Bin26 and declared it was my favorite wine of all time. It was still good last night. Not sure if I can give it the same mark though. Maybe I need to taste it one more time, just to be sure.

And that’s how you do it. Sorry for the crazy long post. I guess I was in a chatty mood.

Don’t forget to enter the RPS giveaway. I’ll declare the winner in my next post.

So we are back to semi-regular food journal blogging. After a weekend away, I jumped back on the cooking wagon right away. That’s the best way to ensure that I’m eating nutritious foods. Here are the highlights:

I dug deep into my freezer and found an old box of Holy Donuts, which made an appearance in Monday morning breakfast.

I don’t know what kind this was. It was a bit stale but still filled me up.

I added something new to my green smoothie – sprouts. They made the smoothie taste a bit “healthier” but the almond milk + banana + peanuts still added a good amount of sweetness. Not bad. Not bad.

Lunch was a grilled veggie + Samira’s Homemade jalapeno hummus + Foxboro Cheese fromage blanc wrap. Yummy. No picture.

Dinner was AMAZING! Adam mentioned he was craving Chinese food over the weekend. Before I even had a chance to say: “I’ll make some” he added: I want it to be authentic and greasy. No can do on the greasy part. Sorry. I still made a Chinese dish for our Meatless Monday dinner and it was authentic tasting.

Pineapple tofu stir-fry (recipe from Eating Well can be found here)

The sauce was sticky, sweet, sour and a little spicy (I added chile-garlic sauce). This was seriously perfection. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe.

TUESDAY…

started on the right foot. With brunch! Well actually breakfast since it was 8am but it tasted like brunch.

Grilled eggplant, tomato and bacon egg & cheese

+ a bloody mary (virgin don’t worry, I don’t drink before work )!!!

I picked this McClure’s bloody mary mix up in Brooklyn before we left and I’m so happy I did. This mix is spicy and super pickly (not a word, but you get it, right?) – just how I like ‘em! I actually had another glass after dinner. This time I used about 1/2 mix and 1/2 water and it was a little less “I’m drinking tomatoey pickle water”… even though honestly I totally could. Yes, I am obsessed with everything-pickle. I may just make a quick one right now to take to work.

Conclusion: if you see this mix, buy a case!

LUNCH

Leftover pineapple tofu stir-fry in a wrap + carrots. Yep, still amazing.

DINNER

I picked up some grass fed beef at the farmers market the other day and decided to make Lauren’s beef, potato and root vegetable stew for dinner last night (recipe can be found here).

Yes, I know it’s basically summer but I don’t care. This was made in my crockpot (I just threw everything in after browning the meat) and was delicious. I did add a whole bunch of hot sauce, extra salt and pepper and garlic powder to flavor the broth a bit more. After about 6 hours in the crockpot, the meat was tender and the broth thickened up around the veggies.

Summer or not, I still enjoyed this inside our air-conditioned condo.

In other news: I tried a pecan pie larabar yesterday and thought it was incredible. Have you tried it yet? You should.

Oh and of course I promised a giveaway. This one is mostly to Boston readers. Remember the Healthworks event I attended at Alibi? Remember that crazy awesome swag-bag? One of the things included was a free cut + color from a new hair salon on Newbury Street – Rock Paper Scissors. I’ve tried enough salons to know that I can’t cheat at my girl Amanda at Jerel 119 but maybe you’re up for a free hair-do? Sues and Colleen really loved the experience there and have some pretty awesome cuts to show off.

So here are the giveaway rules:

1) Leave a comment if you are interested in entering the giveaway.

2) For an extra entry, blog or tweet about this giveaway (and come back here and let me know you’ve done so). If you don’t have a blog or a twitter account, tell a friend about this giveaway and after they enter, come back and tell me you’ve referred them here.

I’m going to have this open for a few days. If you win, please take some before and after pics and share them with us. Cool?

The rest of you are welcome to comment on anything else in this post. I think there is some good material here, no?

All right, it’s time for me to make my bloody mary and run to work. Happy hump day!

We got an ice cream machine from my parents-in-law this past Christmas. Around the same time we started our kitchen remodel, but that didn’t stop me from making my own frozen yogurt. It was a good first try. Pretty yummy but the recipe definitely required some tweaking. That was my first and last attempt at making a frozen concoction… until today!

I actually finally dug a whole in our freezer big enough to fit the ice cream bowl into a few days ago, but receiving The Oprah Magazine Cookbook from my parents-in-law for my birthday (thank you!) and locking eyes with the sour cream ice cream recipe sealed the deal for me. I had to go buy ice cream ingredients. Stat. [Recipe can also be found here, I used low fat sour cream and a little less than 1 cup of sugar.]

Introducing my new love

Mix all the ice cream ingredients and pour into this genius machine. Let it run for ~30 minutes.

I think someone wanted ice cream even more than I did

Try not to eat it all right away. It really should spend at least 4 hours in the freezer to reach the perfect (hard) consistency.

I lasted 1 hour. So what if it was a little softer.

My first REAL ice cream

Can you see how creamy it is?

OMG – amazing. Incredibly smooth and slightly tangy. Maybe it’s the sour cream that put it over the top for me, since you know, sour cream probably runs through my veins (being a “Russian” and all), but Adam thought it was pretty phenomenal as well. I am doing everything I can to keep myself away from the kitchen (read: freezer). This could be trouble!

If you don’t have an ice cream machine (although you should really start making space or saving for one – whatever reason has stopped you from buying it), no worries. I got a whole lot of other deliciousness to share with you. Let’s begin with…

BREAKFAST

I love leisurely mornings – they allow me to start the day with fresh baked muffins, like these zucchini spelt muffins from eat, drink & be vegan cookbook

The recipe made 4 larger muffins and 8 smaller ones. I also added about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter. For those of you who count calories – the larger one is ~255 calories, the smaller one is ~170 cals (just counted it so that I wouldn’t be going overboard on calories without even realizing it). I enjoyed one larger one with some local organic strawberries and coffee.

And then I went a little crazy with picture taking (it’s kind of the theme of today’s post actually – too much time on my hands? )

Hello, strawbs!

So pretty.

And so moist and delicious!!!! Dreena is right – don’t let the healthy sounding name discourage you – these are such a treat for your taste buds. Also Adam approved.

LUNCH

The rest of the morning flew by so I just thew together a random Mediterranean-inspired spread.

Fresh cucumber slices, Foxboro Co fromage blanc, jalapeno stuffed olives, Samira’s baba ganoush, Sofra beet tzatziki, edamame “hummus,” grilled peppers and zucchini and When Pigs Fly olive bread. Phew!

Adam and I shared this platter.

It was a fun lunch with lots of flavors and textures.

And yes, I went crazy taking pictures again.

Earlier this week I received from the company a sample of Lipton Pure Leaf ice tea for my review. I thought these would be perfect to accompany a summery-ish lunch.

The Pure Leaf ice tea is sweetened with stevia and has zero calories. I received 2 flavors: lemon and raspberry. Unfortunately I did not enjoy either one of these. They were extremely sweet and very “fake” tasting. Thumbs down from this blogger. Adam still polished them off but said he prefers diet Snapple. I’ll stick to water.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

Luna Protein chocolate cherry almond bar (I received in the Healthworks swag bag)

It tasted like a candy bar. I liked it. The ingredients list appears to be all natural too. Excellent

A while later – 1/2 fitness bread with light cream cheese, lox and grape tomatoes

+ an orange (unpictured)

DINNER

Although I really wanted ice cream for dinner, I behaved like an adult and made a real dinner – Ellie Krieger’s steak tacos with cucumber-avocado salsa to be exact (recipe can be found here)

Dinner came together in minutes and was extremely flavorful. These tasted pretty authentic to me. No cheese or sour cream needed – just lots of fresh flavors (mmm, lime + avocado).

So much good eats! I wish everyday could be this healthy and delicious.

Have you ever made your own ice cream? What’s your favorite kind? I think we’re going to do a chocolate/m&m combo next (Adam’s childhood favorite) and then junk-free oreo cookie ice cream. I love that I can use all organic high quality ingredients and that the mix-in possibilities are endless.

* Only a few days left to enter the cookware giveaway!*

Yesterday was another busy day as I was trying to tackle the rest of my to-do list, complete a longer run, and prep for a casual bbq. Adam was a HUGE help. I gave him a grocery list with like 50 items on it (some kind of obscure) and he bought everything but one (which I was fine without at the end of the day). Awesome! I love grocery shopping but sometimes a little help in that dept helps!

My long run was kind of bluh. It was HOT out by the time I got out (almost at noon) and I took lots of water breaks and gave up kind of early. I think I covered 8 miles (maybe a bit more) but maybe ran 6.5 of them and not all in a row. Oh well, hopefully there will be better runs this week!

My breakfast/pre-workout meal:

FFL english muffin with BB, strawberry rhubarb jam and 1/2 banana + coffee

Sorry for the terrible photo. I wasn’t even going to take a picture because you’ve seen it a million times, but then I took a quick one just in case. haha

I ended up kind of grazing for the rest of the day, so let’s call the eats below snacks, lunch and dinner.

Shrimp, mango & avocado ceviche in mini fillo shells. I think I’m going to submit this recipe to the phyllo contest. It turned out delicious after a few tweaks.

I munched on an orange and some cottage cheese while prepping these babies (unpictured).

Then the boys brought over some chips and salsa to munch on during the Celtics game. OMG, this black bean is like crack. So spicy and flavorful. I wanted to eat a whole jar with a spoon and call it dinner.

Let’s see the label a little closer. You guys need to find it asap!! I added it to my grocery list right away.

I did eat an actual meal eventually – Applegate Farms grass-fed organic hot dog & sauerkraut + grilled veggies

Did I mention how much I love grilled veggies? I think I did.

Dessert: bake-off test recipe #1 – break-up bars (recipe here)

I tried these  bars for the first time at the cookie swap party in January and they were definitely a favorite. I omitted the toffee (couldn’t find it + they are rich enough without it) but otherwise followed the recipe closely.

I’ve never baked with so much butter (more than a whole box was used for this batch) but man – these truly are incredible!! They took a while to set (I suggest throwing them in the freezer as the last step) but the wait was well worth it. So rich and decadent. I cut them into 64 little two-bite pieces and I think they can be enjoyed in such moderation guilt free (I had one of the bars pictured).

Shortbread + caramel + fudge = sounds like a winning recipe to me!!! I’ll keep on testing though, just in case

My birthday is this Saturday so I’m calling this my birthday week. I’m actually excited for it. See you later!

I was feeling a little anxious at work. It was about 3pm on Friday and I just wanted to go home. Instantly my body reacted by “craving” cookies (how is that a normal response to such situations I still don’t know). I also was really tempted to skip my after work workout because I knew I still needed to unpack and it was bothering me. Just the thought of skipping my workout brought so much guilt that the cookie cravings intensified even further. I haven’t had a good sweaty workout in over a week and I needed it… yet I was trying to sabotage myself. In my heart and mind I knew I was being irrational, so I started thinking about some Fit from Within tips that would put me in the right mindset.

Take the responsibility, not the blame

I had too much sugar the day before and really wanted to eat cleaner today, but I wanted cookies. I was feeling guilty just about this desire before I even “acted on it.” So I changed my attitude. Blame is demeaning, responsibility is empowering. Instead of blaming myself about my food choices the day before (something I cannot change), I chose to do something about my choices today! Instead of prohibiting myself from buying cookies (punishment), I chose to think about how I can have something much smaller that will not weigh me down and will allow for a great workout I really needed (a much better mentality).

This made all the difference. I didn’t really want the cookies anyway. I just needed a quick escape from work. This 100 calorie dark chocolate bar was sweet and chocolaty – exactly what I wanted without all the calories, fat and guilt from Paradise Bakery cookies.

Alter your definition of success

I had ambitious plans for my workout – it’s been so long, I wanted to make it count. Instead of setting high expectations for myself that just made me want to quit before I even started, I allowed myself to be proud of just going to the gym. It’s not easy for me to go after work. If I can’t make it there during lunch, the probability of me going really diminishes… especially on a Friday. I ended up having an amazing workout after all – I ran 3 miles hard, followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical + some stretching. I felt radiant for the rest of the night. Success!

PS- the gym brought even more inspiration. From the locker room board:

All right, so here are the rest of yesterday’s eats…

BREAKFAST

Ww tortilla, Barney Butter, oikos, 1/2 banana, Zoe’s granola & dried bing cherries + coffee

Breakfast pizza!

LUNCH

2 zucchini roll-ups

+ a fantastic salad!!

Arugula, grilled zucchini, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cannelini beans, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese – dressed in lemon juice and balsamic vinegar

All together, with water

This lunch made me so happy – so many flavors and textures. I just love grilled veggies with goat cheese and seeds. Mmmm

SNACKS

DINNER

If we stay in on Friday night, I always try to make something a little more special for Adam, aka a “man meal.” These smothered steak burgers from Cooking Light fit the bill.

I followed the recipe to the T, except omitted the shallots. The mushroom mixture was definitely the highlight. The burgers turned out quite juicy as well. I served mine on a Food for Life bun – so hearty. Mid-way I also added a pickle and some ketchup.

Delicious dinner. I already have plans for the leftovers too

What’s your definition of success?

- Because he’s a fun guy! (funghi – get it?)

This joke is brought to you by my husband. He came up with this brilliancy while I was cooking up mushrooms/funghi for dinner and saying how much I love them. He plans on going on tour with this one as his opening joke. I was laughing hysterically, mostly at how silly my husband is. lol

So now that we got some silliness out of the way, I need to share with you that over the last few days, I’ve gotten back to some bad old habits. After dinner I’ve been craving cookies, but since we don’t have any, I’ve been trying to fill the void with just random stuff in the house – even though this was putting me above my calorie allowance. What’s the point of carefully counting all day if at the end I just blow it for no reason?! The magic of calorie counting seized to work and I need to do something about it. It’s time to bring back a daily treat! This will screw up my pretty numbers, but I don’t care. It’s about finding the right balance, and I’m determined to get there. Let’s see if it helps. Of course I’ll keep you guys posted!

[Still laughing about the joke above...]

BREAKFAST

Banana oats (1/2 cup dry) topped with Barney Butter, banana slices (the other half of the banana) and dried cherries

Man, I hate the lighting in my house!! This picture looks so sad. Do you think a fancy SLR would help the situation??

LUNCH

UFood UBistro salad with chicken – organic mixed greens, tomatoes, feta, walnuts, cranberries, chicken + blueberry-pomegranate vinaigrette

Not bad for a healthy lunch on the go. I was actually going to get their falafel wrap that sounded amazing (and I’ve been on a falafel kick since trying Oleana’s spinach falafel) but at 730 calories, I said no thanks!

SNACKS

Plain oikos, grapes + Nature’s Path pumpkin flax plus granola

So delicious, healthy + filling!

A little wrinkly apple in the work library…

DINNER

The kitchen remodel is officially starting on Monday, so last night I made Adam one of his “man meals” before he takes matters into his own hands and goes out to buy something like that. I made his absolute favorite – a steak and cheese sub, but on my own terms – healthy and natural.

We used a lean cut of grass fed beef, mushrooms, organic baguette (unfortunately getting whole wheat was a definitely no-go with Adam) + American cheese. Everything was bought at WF – nice and fresh!

The baguette was actually warm when we picked it up. Just look at this gorgeous crust!! This dinner was amazing – super flavorful without the grease you get at sub shops.  (I cooked the meat and the mushrooms on the skillet with a non-stick spray, then added them to a baguette, topped with cheese and broiled the open-faced sandwich in the toaster oven).

After dinner I ate 2 clementines, some pecans from their bag, a spoonful of Barney Butter (straight from the container) and then decided to stop the madness and made a few cookies (from this cookie dough).

x 2

I was definitely boredom eating and even gave myself a bit of a stomachache. Let’s hope a yummy cookie earlier in the day will make for a more satisfying evening – sans random snacking!

What are your post dinner rituals?

I typically eat breakfast before work, then a snack around 11, workout at noon, lunch after that, mid-afternoon snack and dinner later at night. On Mondays, it’s all out of whack. My mid-morning snack usually gets eliminated as I patiently wait for lunch (if I bring it to work, I often dig in around 11:30) and then dinner is super early so I can digest before class. Today I went home for lunch to assemble a crock pot dinner, so it was ready for me at 5:20 when I got home. I hope it digests quickly – I got some sweating to do soon

BREAKFAST

A maple cranberry goat cheese filled muffin (say that 10 times fast ), 1/2 cup of 4% cottage cheese and a sweet ripe persimmon + coffee

[408 calories]

LUNCH

TJ’s whole grain flax seed wrap with Laughing Cow wedge, 2 turkey slices and red grapes + fresh cauliflower, baby carrots and a few extra grapes

[271 calories]

Wrap close-up… I love this combo! Sweet + savory = delish

Today’s photo-set up…

Hardcore, I know!

SNACKS

A handful of raisins from this little box

[~42 calories]

Hershey’s chocolate snacksters (from a very old stash – still good though )

[100 calories, duh]

DINNER

Star ingredient: grass fed beef chuck stew meat

I did a little research for crock pot recipes and found this one from Cooking Light for beef daube provencal. This recipe was featured on their “All Time Best Recipes.” Sounded promising There was quite a bit of prep-work but then I could leave for work and it cooked itself. Perfect!

The beef was super tender. I liked this… I don’t know about the best recipe ever, but both Adam and I enjoyed it

Dessert – 3 squares of the dark chocolate bar filled pear caramel (from my xmas stocking )

+ a little pack of roasted almonds (I think you’ve seen enough pics of them, right? )

[dinner = ~600 calories, all together]

Total calories consumed today: ~ 1500

Time to kick some butt!!!! What’s your favorite crock pot recipe? Hook me up, peeps!

The post today is a little bit more “serious.” Naturally with the year nearly ending I’ve been doing lots of reflecting. Yes, I’ve grown a lot over the year, but I’m not finished yet. The holiday season set me back once again (I talked about it here, did better the next day, and went back to my old bad habits the day after that). I just haven’t been very happy with myself lately and I know the reason is too many mindless bites (that I cannot seem to avoid no matter how hard I try or how motivated I am!) which often lead to sub-par workouts (or none at all if I’m too full – today was exhibit A of such behavior). So for one millionth time this season I mentioned it to my husband. He can tell I haven’t been myself/100% happy, even if I try to hide it. It’s hard because usually there isn’t much he can say to “make it better,” but for some reason today his suggestion worked (at least in theory). So here it is… I didn’t want to do this, but I’m desperate and I think this will do the trick – I’m temporarily going back to calorie counting. I know I can eat intuitively and maintain my weight, but for some reason I’ve gotten way off track and can’t bring myself back to only eating intuitively (and not stuffing my face with chocolate and random snacks). Calorie counting will be a bit of a shock to my system, a shock that I think I very much need. It won’t be about severe restriction, although I will cut down a bit since those 6+ holiday pounds I’ve gained must go! I will try this for the month of January, and see if this is enough to get the old Elina back.

Now let’s see what today’s eats looked like…

BREAKFAST

1 FFL english muffin with Barney Butter and 1/2 banana + coffee

I woke up starving but for some reason this breakfast really filled me up. I was actually sick for hours after eating it as if I went overboard at an unlimited food buffet. Not sure what’s up with that but it was not a good time

“SNACKS”

1 real snack – this orange was beyond sweet and juicy. Yum!

And then the junk food raid began… (there is a limitless supply of cookies and chocolates in my office so when I get a craving, it’s way too easy to satisfy it!)

I will say these were very yummy

LUNCH

I ended up having lunch at home, which is always fun. Did I ever show you guys where I often take pictures when I’m home? Yep, that’s our back yard. The lighting in our condo is terrible so when it’s light out (and I decide to brave the cold), I go outside and snap a photo there. Pretty scenic, no?

Brie + green apple and dijon mustard panini + salad with mixed greens, remaining apple and Annie’s goddess dressing

Mmm, melty brie…

Dessert – an almond stuffed date

DINNER

Dinner was definitely a “man meal.” We were able to get some grass fed beef at WF on Sunday, so Adam requested that I cook some sirloin tips for dinner and make fries. Here is what we got…

Grass fed sirloin tips, marinaded in EVOO, balsamic vinegar, garlic and brown sugar (used an Ellie Krieger recipe) for a few hours and grilled for about 10 minutes.

For the fries, I following this recipe for garlic fries from Cooking Light, using fresh thyme instead of parsley (Adam doesn’t like parsley). The fries were beyond amazing! I wish we had more than 1 potato so I could have had more than just a few of these.

Of course veggies are a must. I deviated from my tried and true recipe for parmesan brussels sprouts (from 101 cookbooks) and tried the roasting method by following this recipe from Cooking Light (originally found through A Better Bag of Groceries). Looking good my little babies…

Unfortunately this recipe cannot even compare to our beloved parmesan brussels sprouts, even after I added some shredded parmesan. I think cutting them in half really helps with the texture + brussels sprouts on the stove top take way less time. Heidi’s version definitely wins!

My plate (I only had a few fries so Adam could have them but we had a baked potato in the fridge so I had some of it instead):

Oh yes, while cooking dinner I snacked on some (unpictured) somersaults, fresh cauliflower and roasted almonds which definitely spoiled my appetite! I had maybe 3/4 of the steak…

4 fries + maybe 2 bites of the baked potato

and about 3/4 of the brussels sprouts

What I really wanted was Adam’s fries. SO good!!!!!!!!

The decision to resume counting calories was made after dinner because I was upset with myself for overeating right before it (this has been happening a lot lately). I hope you guys support me in my journey back to what I know has worked in the past and hopefully will work again. My first day should be interesting