Anyways, the marathon was the highlight of my week so far but the rest of the week as always revolved around food.  Since I do a lot of recipe testing for my express lunch time lessons, I wanted to share one of my favorite quick and cheap recipes that’s perfect for lunch or a casual dinner – an egg salad BLT. This recipe was originally featured in Best of Cooking Light and it was love at first bite. I adore how light yet creamy the egg salad is, and the addition of lemon zest really brightens it up. Also, I’ve used nonfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream on many occasions and it works wonderfully.

Side note: Martha Stewart’s method for hard-boiled eggs creates perfect eggs every time.

The best part? The contrast between creamy eggs, juicy tomatoes and crispy, salty, smoky bacon. Oh yes!

What are your favorite quick and cheap recipes? Please share with all of us in the comments!

I wonder how many people really wake up on January 1 and find themselves with a list of resolutions that require immediate action. Do they have a clear plan? Are they overwhelmed? Do they have a good support system to help them? I hope so!

I’m the kind of person that attacks goals with intensity. I research, I plan, I write out mile-long to-do lists and schedules and then I go at it. This is how I’m approaching my new business (I promise to share the details with you – very soon!) and it’s been exhilarating (so exhilarating in fact that I am having trouble falling asleep thinking of a million different things I could offer and cute little touches that would make me unique). The best part? I get to eat my “research.” [Ok some of it, unfortunately my extensive research in the logo design process has been inedible, and more expensive than originally anticipated. If only I could pay designers in cookies… or mussels. Ha!]

Coconut and basil steamed mussels is a Cooking Light recipe I’ve had bookmarked since June 2009. Mussels are such a fun protein to make and healthy to boot! It’s high in protein, low in fat and calories and when made right – so juicy, plump and delicious. I also love how these little guys absorb whatever broth you cook them in. They turn into little sponges of flavor. Yum!!

I doubled the amount of mussels the recipe called for (they normally come in 2lb bags – why not cook the whole thing?) and added a few good handfuls of fresh baby spinach (together with the basil) for good measure. Adding baby spinach to pretty much everything is one of my favorite ways to sneak extra veggies in! The spinach soaked up some of the yummy broth as well. Awesome!

This broth was creamy and slightly spicy and had a bit of Thai flare. We loved it with big hunks of bread to soak up more broth. A quick, restaurant-worthy, healthy meal right at home!

Those white dots, by the way, are salt. I guess I got really up close and personal with the mussels

Do you feel the effects of the new year? Are you overwhelmed, excited or just indifferent?

Now onto more relevant things…

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you host this year or traveled to see family or friends? Did you make anything delicious? I stuck to my plan and made an apple pie and roasted brussels sprouts with pomegranates and vanilla-pecan butter. I popped the pie out of the oven right before heading on a drive to my sister-in-law’s for dinner… the hot pie smelled SO incredible the whole way there. I looked pretty ridiculous sitting there with oven mitts and hugging a pie but I’d do it all over again just for the smell.

The pie recipe came from the Joy of Cookingcookbook – I made the flaky pie dough recipe using 100% butter (shortening freaks me out) and “Apple Pie II” recipe to be able to do a lattice top. I just think it looks prettier and it gives the apples a chance to steam through the holes. Oh and since I made this pie last week as well I learned that I didn’t like their recommendation of refrigerating the strips first. They became too hard to maneuver. Just cut them up right before topping the pie. Worked for me!

Looks better than my first pie, right? I’m happy to say I’m pretty comfortable making a pie now… and just like the recipe said – the dough was nice and flaky. Very exciting! The recipe happens to pre-cook the apples as well so you can make the dough and apples the day before and then assemble and bake the whole thing the day of your party. Nice and easy!

Bobby Flay’s brussels sprouts recipe was also a hit with everyone, including brussels sprouts haters. Yay! Although Adam and I preferred the more savory version with capers and anchovies.

Ok, ok, so this post actually has a point (more Thanksgiving pictures of all the fair and puppies and kids will go up today on the Healthy and Sane Facebook page, so check it out if you want more!). I wanted to share a quick and cheap recipe with you that may utilize ingredients you already have at home. Maybe you’re too tired to cook anything elaborate after last week’s feast. Maybe you just got home from your travels and haven’t gone grocery shopping yet…or maybe – like me- you try to avoid all stores at all cost during this holiday weekend so now that your Thanksgiving leftovers are gone, your fridge is looking a little bare. This recipe from Cooking Light for loaded potato soup is for you then! It’s creamy, hearty, healthy; it comes together in a cinch… and it’s delicious. Very delicious!

I made this soup a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be a quick dinner. I had no plans of blogging about it… until I had the first sip. I knew it was a winner and I just had to share. The potatoes are “baked” in the microwave while the bacon is fried. I of course omitted the onions but instead of adding oil, I left a little bacon grease in the pan before adding the broth, milk and the rest of the ingredients. I think this is what gave it that extra smoky flavor that provided a lot of depth to an otherwise simple dish. Seriously, make this soup this winter. I promise you’ll love it!

What other healthy, quick, cheap and delicious recipes would you recommend? I’d like to make it a regular feature on Healthy and Sane.

- Become truly Healthy and Sane (have we seen this one before?) – yes it’s an ongoing goal and will be my goal until this statement truly represents who I am. I’ve made a lot of progress with intuitive eating in 2009 and I think this will help me in 2010. I’ve learned that I can maintain my weight without calorie counting, if I just listen to my body, so that’s what I plan on bringing back later in 2010 and mastering ! [I am still taking on calorie counting to jump start my weight loss for the year.]

- Run two half-marathons (and finish them!) – I never thought I’d need to say this last part but I’ve been humbled by my last half-marathon. I am not giving up. I’ve learned very valuable lessons and this year will be my year. Why 2? Because I can’t wait to run another one again, so I already signed up for the Run to Remember on May 30, 2010… and then I need to finish the BAA half in October 2010. Watch out, I’m going to kill it!

- Read more books. With work, working out, blogging, blog reading, cooking, eating out, shopping, etc. reading has moved waaay down the list of things to do. I’m going to be mindful of this and would like to read at least 12 books in 2010 (cookbooks don’t count ). I hope I can’t do this!

- Stay on top of general news and industry news. I am going to be taking more responsibility at work this year, so I need to get sharper. I’ll try to read the news for at least 30 minutes in the morning, while finishing my breakfast coffee

- Finish the year debt free. Adam and I are really good with money. We used to pay our credit card balances in full every month and never purchase anything unless we know we can afford it. We also got used to going out and not really worry about money because our savings account has served as a comfortable cushion. Well in 2009 we bought a condo and are now starting a major kitchen remodel. These 2 things are not only wiping out our savings accounts, but we are also borrowing more money from my parents. I hope that by the end of the year, with savings, we’ll be able to repay my parents in full. This will take effort but I think this this makes it the perfect New Year’s resolution. Don’t worry, you’ll still see meals out and restaurant reviews. We can’t lock ourselves in the house for too long

- Put more effort into my outfits. When I like what I’m wearing, my hair is blown out and I feel put-together, it makes the whole day so much better (even work seems more fun)! I’m going to try preparing my outfits the day before to avoid just grabbing random stuff and feeling frumpy.

- Improve my cooking skills. I’d like to take some cooking classes during 2010 and maybe build confidence for creating some of my own recipes.

- Continue improving this blog. I clearly spend a lot of time writing this blog, so why not make it the best it can be? Constructive feedback is always welcome.

Now let’s see what I ate today…

BREAKFAST

Holey Donuts jumbo cinnamon bun (I wanted simple carbs yet a good amount of calories before my morning boot camp class)

[366 calories with coffee]

LUNCH

TJ’s whole grain flaxseed wrap with tzatziki, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes and roasted brussels sprouts

Mmm, what a lunch! Hearty, healthy, delicious!

[316 calories]

SNACKS

1/2 pear + 1/2 persimmon

[74 calories]

TJ’s roasted almonds pack

[220 calories]

TJ’s whole wheat Tuscan pane with Samira’s homemade baba ganoush and avocado with lime juice

I will take this snack over dessert most days (and I did today). Yup, that good!

DINNER

Dinner was another fabulous home cooked indulgent tasting meal. I followed this recipe for straw and hay alfredo with roasted asparagus, using 100% whole wheat spaghetti instead of half and half.

The alfredo sauce was really delicious (cheesy and creamy!) and the whole pasta had a great nutty bite to it. It was a good portion that tasted much more caloric than it really was. I think it would be even more fantastic with some fresh pasta.

A 5 oz of Vitiano 2007 cabernet/merlot/sangiovese blend completed this Saturday night dinner perfectly (the wine was nothing special but it had a very relaxing affect ).

[~405 calories, incl. wine]

Total calories consumed today: ~1510 I feel super satisfied! I wish every day was this easy.

I’m off to relax with my hubby. Did you make New Year’s resolutions for 2010? They seem to be quite popular in the blog world. I’m clearly a fan

• Candied walnut, pear and goat cheese salad
• Scallop piccata over whole wheat spaghetti and spinach
• Almond, cherry and chocolate clusters

The salad was based on this recipe from Cooking Light. I used the recipe to make the candied walnuts and the dressing (using 2/3 of the oil) and then just mixed them organic greens, sliced pears and goat cheese. The goat cheese was a great addition. I think everything goes better with goat cheese with nearly no exceptions!

My dad enjoyed the candied walnuts the most. I made some extra so you’ll see them in future posts over yogurt, salads and oats.

The entree was another Cooking Light recipe (see it here). I had really high expectations for this one. The picture in the magazine just looks absolutely mouth watering. I bought some baby scallops ($10 cheaper/lb than the large sea scallops!) and they just wouldn’t brown. They kept on releasing water, which I was draining out over and over, and were making me nervous. At the end I pulled them out of the pan (over cooked scallops taste like rubber!) and proceeded with the recipe. The final result was pretty yummy (I cut the butter by 1/2 and you could still really taste it!) but not mind-blowingly amazing.

Dad and I both enjoyed it

I was pretty satisfied with dinner by this point, so my little almond cherry cluster was consumed about an hour later. This one was a hit with dad too! I’m making more next week for company. These guys are really great!!

***

There were a few other eats earlier in the day that are worth mentioning:

This sandwich with dark meat turkey, cranberry sauce and laughing cow cheese on TJ’s whole wheat Tuscan bread was amazing! I seriously could not stop talking about it for hours! The soft yet chewy bread was definitely an important factor in this.

Adam had a Chipotle craving so we went in. I was really hungry but also really wanted some leftover hot and sour soup we had at home. Apparently Chipotle now lets you purchase just one taco if you want it. It was perfect to tie me over until we got home! Chicken taco with hot sauce, tiny bit of sour cream and cheese + lettuce

Chipotle uses all natural and mostly organic ingredients, including meats and dairy, so it’s one of the only fast food chains I actually like.

Who’s not ready for this long weekend to end?!

Now, before I get into today’s eats, let’s cover a few things I wanted to mention….

1) I joined Annabel’s This Ain’t No Freshman 15, this is the Final 10 Challenge. I’d like to lose more than 10 lbs but honestly I’ve been trying to stay away from the scale. I know when I’m being good (I see results in my body, not just on the scale) and I know very well when I’m being bad. I would really really love to lose 10 lbs by August 1st, but instead of concentrating on the number I chose a different goal – I decided to stop my mindless eating and bingeing as part of the challenge. I just think if I get rid of this nasty habit, everything else will just really fall into place. I truly love exercise and I love healthy eating (in general) so the weight eventually would have to come off. Well, I’m sorry to report I already fell off the wagon! That means I’ll have to donate $50 to a charity of my choice (because I didn’t meet my goal) but that does not mean that I’m going to give up on it! I will continue with the challenge and report back here. I am motivated to stop this horrendous cycle!

2) Reading about Heather’s Cleaner Life Challenge also inspired me today. At first I was like: “Oh I could never go for 30 days without sugar and white flour without blowing my brains out!” but then I thought about it. I mean, really thought about it… and I think I want to try! I am going to NYC this weekend and I plan on enjoying it to its fullest, so the challenge will begin on Monday, June 15 (hey I kind of like this round number ) and will go on for 30 days. Here are my rules – they are much looser than Heather’s but it’s still going to be a challenge for me. Baby steps.

• No tofu, less soy in general
• Organic dairy after I run out of the stuff we already have at home (I just stocked up on chobani – which is not organic!).
• Organic meat to the extent possible. *Organic meat is crazy expensive and my husband likes meat most nights with dinner (and I cook for both of us the same thing). Once I run out of the stuff we already have, I will try to find a way to eat organic meat.
• No artificial sweetener, except for gum. I already cut out artificial sweetener out of my diet (except for a very rare diet coke here and there) but I really like chewing gum and unfortunately it contains artificial sweeteners. I don’t think this small amount will kill me.
• No white sugar!!!!!!!! Ok this is by FAR the hardest part of the challenge! I will allow myself up to 1 Holey Donut a day. I just put a purchase in that will arrive next Tuesday. I was really looking forward to them and I know I will go crazy if they are in my freezer, mocking me. I think having a treat waiting for me at home will also help with avoiding other treats with white sugar in the ingredients list. Let’s hope
• No white flour (second hardest challenge) – again 1 Holey Donut a day is the exception.
• No white rice or white pasta
• When purchasing produce, consult the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. If it’s in the top 20, only buy if it’s organic. Otherwise, try to buy organic whenever possible. If it’s not organic, it should be at least local.
• Avoid highly processed foods.
• Continue to replace conventional cleaning products with environment friendly counterparts
• Replace current body products (lotions, washes, etc.) with 100% natural products, with the exception of my prescription acne medication

Oh and I should mention there are a few very special occasions happening over the next 30 days, including my first year wedding anniversary (!!!), my dad’s birthday, the 4th of July, and potentially a special dinner with my parents. On those days/meals, I will allow myself to fully enjoy myself and that will inevitably lead to some white sugar consumption. Yep, I’m a junkie but I’ve been waiting for nearly a year to eat the top of our wedding cake, and I will not wait 1 extra day to do it!

I think that will do it for this challenge Does anyone want to join my less hardcore challenge? Thanks, Heather, again for inspiring me!

3) I’m hosting a potluck dinner for bloggers and readers on June 21st. Does anyone want to join us? Comment here or shoot me an email if you’re in the Boston area and are available. It’s going to be a small crowd so far, but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun

Ok, now that we’re done with “business” let’s take a look at today’s food, shall we?

BREAKFAST

I started the morning on the right foot with this green monster. This was the best batch so far… I’m getting good at this

[316 calories]

Looks like every other monster, but this guy had 1 frozen banana, 1/4 avocado, 2T ground flaxseed, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 scoop of vanilla Whey Protein (key!!), a bunch of ice and a bunch of baby spinach (maybe 3 cups?). It was so creamy and delicious. It was definitely the Whey Protein. I think it may have junk ingredients, though. It’s really old so I just decided to use some up because I wanted this breakfast to last me through the morning without other solid foods. It did! It will likely not qualify for the Cleaner Life challenge though.

LUNCH

Oh my – this was such a delicious sandwich. I bought some fresh mozzarella at the farmers market the other day (it was made that morning! SO cool!!) and used up the leftovers in this yummy sammie with prosciutto and balsamic vinegar on TJ’s sourdough bread. I also packed up an organic fuji apple, which I ended up eating as an afternoon snack.

[384 calories]

SNACKS

[189 calories]

[100 calories]

DINNER

Dinner was the perfect way to end the day! I made pasta with zucchini and toasted almonds using this recipe from Cooking Light. This was from Cooking Light’s 20-minute meals section, which I’ve loved in the past and this meal once again blew me away. Fresh pasta with zucchini, grape tomatoes, garlic, cheese and almonds… I mean how could I NOT love it? Adam bought his pasta and it wasn’t whole wheat, but boy was it delicious! Once in a while regular pasta is ok, I think. I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow when I get to eat the rest of the leftovers

[~325 calories - I used 2.5 tsp less of EVOO than Cooking Light]

Total calories for the day: 1344

No exercise today – I worked for 11 hours straight instead. I feel good, though, because with my recent love/hate relationship with food, it’s good to be in love again Happy humpday! Did you enter my Holey Donuts giveaway yet?

I’ve been totally obsessed with the thought of this since watching the movie on Thursday (on the train to NY).  I’m very excited and scared at the same time.  My friend Katie is running a 10K race in 5 weeks, so I think I’m going to join her! This is a bit rushed. The plan was to start running outside when the weather gets better, then schedule a 5K and eventually do a 10K.  But I know that I can finish a 10K (I’ve run up to 9 miles on the treadmill) so I think I should just dive right in and go for it. I even set up a little training schedule for myself, and will be running about 5 times a week (instead of the 2-3 I’ve been doing). You can check it out here if you’d like I also want to join some running groups. That will come when the weather gets a little nicer

Oh, but I’m still not sure how to incorporate strength training into the routine.  My training in the past has been more boot camp like (so lots of cardio spurts in between lifting).  I don’t know if that will put too much pressure on my running legs.  Should I switch to pure lifting?  I feel like this is a whole new world I’m not familiar with.  Do you runners do hardcore bootcamp classes on top of your running? I’m totally confused For the last 2 days, I’ve just done the Shred dvd. I’ll figure it out as I go I guess. Any comments on the subject are MUCH appreciated!

I followed my schedule for the last 2 days. On Saturday, I did Shred level 2 and then 55 minutes of cross trainings (25 minute run, 15 min stationary bike, 15 min elliptical).  Workout stats:

• Duration: 1:20 (+stretching)
• Calories burnt: 746 (40% fat)
• Ave HR: 153 (79%); Max HR: 169 (87%)

And today, I started with a 0.15 mile walk on the treadmill to warm up, then ran for 5 miles at 6.2-7.0 mph, and walked at 4.3 mph until 55 minutes were up (I was watching Sopranos and wanted to finish the episode). Then I came back home and did level 2 of Shred. I took it easy on the cardio intervals as my legs were feeling quite weak after the run.  Workout stats:

• Duration: 1:20 (+stretching)
• Calories burnt: 688 (50% fat) – interesting that the run burnt less than cross training…
• Ave HR: 146 (75%); Max HR:166 (86%)

FOOD

Saturday…

I didn’t count calories but I tried to make healthy choices.  I feel like I did pretty well despite having many meals out!

It was beautiful in Boston so we went to Harvard Square to walk around.  My husband wanted pizza from Oggi (their pizza is fantastic!) but I went with a poached pear salad – poached pear stuffed with goat cheese, baby spinach, candied walnuts & cabernet savignon vinaigrette.  I added grilled chicken to it for some extra protein. The chicken was nice and the pear with goat cheese was great, but I didn’t much care for the dressing so I left most of the spinach undressed (and I find that spinach needs a strong dressing since otherwise it just tastes like grass) and the candied walnuts were basically nonexistent.  I think I found 2 walnut crumbs in there. Yeah, I’m not going to lie… I was definitely jealous of Adam’s delicious looking pizza (ok I had 2 bites )

And the best part of Harvard Square is BerryLine – the best frozen yogurt place EVER! You know me guys, if there isn’t chocolate in it, I’m not typically impressed, but I swear they put crack in it.  It tastes SO creamy and fattening but has no fat! I went with the coconut flavor today. And their toppings are super fresh.  I always get the mango + pecan combo.  Next time I’ll branch out Oh and I got a pint to go so you’ll be seeing it a few more times this week

Me met up with our friends Kyle and Tiffany for some Saturday night drinks at Boston Beer Works in Kenmore Square.  They brew the beers right on premises and the place is very cool.  The blueberry beer (with real blueberries!) is awesome.  My other favorite is the watermelon beer (comes with a huge fresh watermelon wedge) but they only brew it in the summer.  I started with the blueberry beer…

And then got a sampler of the Bambino, blueberry, Patriots pilsner and Belgian amber (4oz each).

I hated the Patriot pilsner (actually most of us at the table thought it was strange tasting), the Bambino was nice and light so I enjoyed it and the Belgian amber was sold to me as being kind of close to a wheat beer which it wasn’t – definitely very much like an amber beer (it was nice but I wasn’t it the mood for it, so I probably only had 1/2).  The blueberry was my favorite of the bunch

Oh and do you see those cheese fries in the background?  Tiffany ordered them but we all ended up kind of picking at them throughout the night.  They were SO good!  I tried to behave but my hand reached for the plate a few times.  Oh well

We had so much fun! I love Saturday nights

Sunday…

I started the morning with an unconventional breakfast for me – a smoothie. I saw Ellie Krieger make this peach pie smoothie on a show a little while ago and thought I’d give it a try one day.  I had all the ingredients on hand, we were kind of in a rush (perfect – smoothies are super portable!) so I gave this baby a go.

Half way through, I knew this wasn’t going to fill me up, so I made a toast with Barney Butter.  I can’t live without the stuff.  Seriously, I’m addicted.  I actually went to Whole Foods today and wrote a note to them asking them to start carrying it.  I’m not joking!

Oh and the smoothie was quite nice, but it didn’t fill me up.  I was hungry after this breakfast earlier than usual and that’s even with the BB toast!

[Breakfast calories: 426]

What do we do every single Sunday? Go to open houses.  Another bust today I did grab this cookie at one of them.  It was from a bakery and I had a feeling it was going to be amazing… and it was! Thank god I had it after we left that condo, because I would have totally grabbed another one if I knew just how amazing these would be.

The salad was awesome but I knew I had to finish lunch on a sweet note.  The So Delicious coconut mini sandwich was killer (in a good way )! I think I’m becoming coconut obsessed! This was creamy and super satisfying… and for only 100 calories!

[lunch calories, including dessert: 354]

[110 calories]

The rest of the frozen peaches came alive in this pork chops with bourbon-peach sauce recipe from Cooking Light. I used pork tenderloin instead of pork chops for a leaner entree.  Pork tenderloin is one of our favorites meats!  It’s just so tender and lean.  And for those of you who don’t like pork (I typically don’t!) – it does not taste porky at all! Give it a try, if you haven’t already. Oh and this recipe is great.  Pork + fruit is a match made in heaven.  I’ve made it before and loved it, and this time it didn’t disappoint I had a tiny bit of whole wheat couscous on the side…

More BerryLine! I had 4 oz with blackberries and pecans.  I just couldn’t stay away…

[~470 calories, including dessert]

I also had 3 Girl Scout peanut butter patties (unpictured – 225 calories) and sample a chicken dish at Trader Joe’s.

And that should do it! I sure had a lot of food this weekend!

Let me know your thoughts on running + strength training please!

FOOD

The day’s eats were kind of uneventful.  I did eat very healthy so I’m very VERY happy about that.  No best meal of the day… they were all kind of just average.  Delicious but not amazing.

I woke up at 5-something and grabbed some grapes…

Actual breakfast when I got to work …  Yum!

Pre-workout snack: carrots with hummus + 1/2 of the bar below (finished it with lunch).

I finally found the new Kashi bars!  If I remember correctly, I think I jumped up and down when I saw them … I got all 3 kinds.  Seriously, this was the highlight of my grocery shopping   What did I think of this bar?  I thought the granola part was dry and bland tasting but the fudge part was kick-ass! :mrgreen:  I have a whole box of them, so we’ll see if I get addicted by the time I’m out…

Lunch + afternoon snack… self explanatory, right?  I dressed the salad in 1 tablespoon of Annie’s woodstock dressing.  This stuff is pretty good.  My dressing love is still Annie’s goddess dressing (the original).

Dinner was a little dissapointing.  I tried making the seared scallops with warm tuscan beans from the latest issue of Cooking Light.  It was in their 20-minute meals section and those have not dissapointed to date.  Well, this one was kind of bland.  I added a good amount of lemon juice to the final product after tasting it, and it helped a lot.  The garlic toast was also a nice way to soak up all the broth and juices.  This wasn’t bad… I just wasn’t in love and I won’t make it again.  I want to be wowed by my food.

And for dessert I made some cappuccino no-pudge brownies.  I wanted something warm and familiar.  Love these!

Total calories for the day: 1544

WORKOUT

Despite my lack of sleep, I was very much excited about working out.  I took an abs + express power conditioning classses, then jump roped for 3 minutes and did another 22 minutes on the elliptical.  The gym was about 90 degrees so I felt like I was back in Singapore   Workout stats…

• Duration: 1:15
• Calories burnt: 596 (45% fat)
• Ave HR: 143; Max HR: 221

So can you tell my HRM is being totally weird?  I doubt my heart rate actually got to 221.  I know it was like a sauna in there, but still… Anyone had the same problem and knows how to fix it?

K, I’m signing off.  Don’t forget to check out my recap of our first day in Singapore.

BREAKFAST

I had a beautiful breakfast today… just look at it!  It has (almost) all of my favorite stuff.  TJ’s nutty american trek mix is my crack of choice!  Today’s bowl had about 3/4 c yogurt, 1/2 large banana, some pomegranate seeds, a serving of the best trailmix ever and some Kashi Go lean cereal.  Perfect!

Very soon after polishing this off, I grabbed a cup of coffee with a half&half pod and a teaspoon of agave nectar.  I realized that I really hate office coffee!  I need to come up with a better plan because it’s just bitter and nasty… it does have caffeine though, so I keep going back for more

PRE-WORKOUT SNACK

I knew that today was going to be another busy day at work, but I also knew that I just don’t feel well when I don’t work out (especially since I didn’t work out yesterday and if for some reason I ended up skipping today, that would make it 2 days in a row… unacceptable!).  So I made sure to sign up for a spinning class during lunch.  And for some pre-workout energy, I snacked on a juicy pear.  Yum! (Btw, that book is there just to make a pretty background… I wasn’t reading it during work, hehe)

WORKOUT

Today’s spinning class was tough!  I was still sore from the dvd workout on Saturday and I was tired because I only got like 5 hours of sleep so I seriously thought I was going to die the entire time.  At some point, while wishing that someone would just end my misery for me right there, I had a thought: “Next time you want to eat something unhealthy for no reason whatsoever, remember how hard you have to work to undo it!”  Yeah, I will be sure to remember those wise “words” next time!  I thought I was dragging, but after class the guy next to me told me that I was so fast that 10 minutes into it he decided he couldn’t keep up with me.  So sweet!  Thanks random spin guy!

LUNCH

Lunch was quite simple: leftover chicken from last night over some fresh organic lettuce, some grape tomatoes, 1/4 avocado, dressed in 1T of Annie’s goddess dressing.  I thought it was going to be boring, but it was surprisingly satisfying.  Of course, I would probably eat just about anything covered in goddess dressing.  That stuff is good!

And for “dessert”, I had a dark chocolate adora disk.

AFTERNOON SNACK

Bringing yummy snacks to work sometimes gets me in trouble.  At some point I remembered what I had planned and could not get it out of my mind.  So I had to give in and have it a little earlier than originally planned.  It’s ok, it actually kept me full for hours until dinner.  I had another one of my pumpkin chocolate and peanut butter chip muffins (edited to add: it appears that the page for the original recipe is missing; I’ve updated this link with my new version of these muffins) + some tea:

So indulgent!  I was proud that I could be so satisfied with a treat that I made myself.  If I got this muffin (who are we kidding, little cake) in a restaurant, I would love it, but this came from from my own kitchen.  Very cool!

DINNER

I planned dinners for Mon-Wed this week since we’re spending Thanksgiving at my sister in law’s and there probably will be leftovers for Friday.  Tonight’s dinner was one the fastest to make and since by the time I got home from work it was already nearly 7:30pm I wanted to make something fast.  On the way home, I stopped by Trader Joe’s to buy pepitas!  I hope I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what they are, because my husband and I spent quite some time in a super market yesterday, searching for these babies.  I knew they were Mexican seeds (like pumpkin seeds) but they were nowhere to be found.  Fortunately, Trader Joe’s had a few varieties of them… who knew they were so popular?  I love TJ’s!

So dinner was salmon with pepita-lime butter based on this recipe from Eating Well.  I seem to be going through stages where I pick a magazine (or a cookbook) and make a bunch of stuff from there for almost every meal.  Don’t worry, I will be making stuff that’s not just from Eating Well, but this dish was delicious (and so were last night’s roasted root veggies) so they’re doing something right in their test kitchens!

I also made some boil-in-a-bag brown rice and microwaved some peas.  Yes, it was a quickie dinner so I had to make shortcuts!  I had a serving of the salmon, 1/2 cup of brown rice (drizzled with lime juice) and about 1/4 cup of peas.  Here is my plate.  The salmon was amazing!!!

And of course I had to finish the meal with some dessert, so I had 1/2 serving of Trader Joe’s chocolate covered edamames.  I was trying really hard to stick to only 1 treat a day with added sugar (which today would be the pumpkin muffin), but apparently I’m weak

These were delicious as always!  Another thing I have to pre-portion into baggies immediately after coming home from TJ’s, because otherwise I eat the whole package.  Crack #2…

Total calories for the day: 1654

GIVEAWAY

Go to Ground Fitness to enter the Quaker Oatmeal giveaway!  It’s free healthy food and you can also check out Kelly’s awesome blog!

Ok, that wasn’t that quick…

LUNCH

While looking through my recipe books (and online) I got hungry. I planned on making brussels sprouts and some chicken. I used this recipe for the chicken and this recipe for the brussels sprouts. Both came out really great!

I skipped the peach chutney suggested in the chicken recipe (didn’t even notice that we needed it when I skimmed through the recipe for our grocery list) and we didn’t miss it. The chicken breasts only took about 1/2 of the panko/peanut mixture, so each serving came out to a bit less calories than is specified on the bottom of the recipe (works for me!). It was crunchy and delicious! We have some leftovers, which may or may not end up on top of my salad today

The brussels sprouts were a huge success too. My husband said he was “ok” with brussels sprouts but he absolutely loved these ones. Heidi (from 1o1 cookbooks) says this recipe turns brussels sprout haters into lovers and I can see why! The parmesan cheese finishing is key. It really makes them extra special for a minimal amount of calories.

So here are a few pictures of lunch:

Brussels sprout branch… so cool looking!

Btw, I cooked all the sprouts off this branch with 1/2 the oil & cheese in the recipe, so this came out to 2 servings.

And my plate:

Close up of the yummy parmesan sprouts:

While I was preparing this lunch I munched on some baby carrots.

Oh and of course there was dessert

This was a really great treat and really filled me up. The piece of chocolate is quite big for just 100 calories. The quality was also very good and there was a fun fact in the back: 1 piece of this chocolate, as pictured, has more anti-oxidants than 1/2 cup of blueberries or blackberries… I think this means I should consume more of it

Another weird thing that happened with this chocolate… there were only 4 pieces in the package when there should have been 5! I was quite upset about this because clearly some thief in the store dug into the box without my knowledge. If this wasn’t as delicious I wouldn’t be as mad, but now I’ll just have to go back for more sooner. Well I hope the little thief enjoyed one of these babies as much as I did. Shame on you though!

And then we were off to the grocery store for dinner ingredients…

DINNER

On dinner menu for the night:

- beef meatball sliders
- cornmeal crusted roasted vegetable tart
- make your own salad
- raspberry brownies
- pomegranate martinis and wine

It was quite the project cooking all of this in our small-ish kitchen with just 1 oven. But actually I was able to manage my time very well. Cooking for company can get a bit stressful but last night turned out well. I guess I got lucky! Here are a few pics of the process…

Beef meatballs waiting for the oven to free up…

I followed the recipe to the T, except cutting it by 1/3 (we made 20 meatballs instead of 30). They were sooo good! I think the best part of dinner!!

The vegetable tart was also competing for oven space. Here are a few pics of the process…

Raw veggies cuts up (the recipe didn’t call for mushrooms but we all love mushrooms so I threw them in):

Tart crust weighted down by rice (the shadow looks like a bunny… hehe):

Tart crust baked:

Roasted veggies, cooling:

Me ass
embling the tart (while the meatballs are baking):

And here it is before topping it with cheese:

With cheese, pre-baking:

And this is the salad “bar”. I figured since different people like different toppings and dressings, I’ll just put a few options on the table and each person can make their own. It worked quite well! The salad ingredients included organic mixed greens, grape tomatoes, sliced cucumber, dried cranberries, roasted sunflower seeds, goat cheese(!) and Annie’s goddess dressings (regular and green goddess).

Onto actual dinner… We bought mini whole wheat pitas to make “meatball sliders.” It was my husband’s genius idea! Again we left it to our guests to assemble them. Here is my first slider:

I also had another meatball “straight up.” Oh and I was drinking some red wine with dinner. I think I had about 6oz throughout the night. My mom and husband were drinking the pomegranate martinis. I had a sip and it was super good. I will definitely have one (or more) of these when I’m not counting calories!

While we were eating the meatballs the tart was baking in the oven. Here it is finally ready! It did look very nice. That’s what I mean when I say it’s too fancy for just me and my husband.

I had 1/8 of the tart (1 serving) + some salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, goat cheese with 1/2 T of goddess dressing):

Here is the feedback on the tart my husband and guests… it needed more cheese and the crust was a bit too dry. I think this is a pretty good base for a recipe but it definitely needs some tweaking. Some of the recommendations included layering either cheese or sauce between the crust and the first layer of veggies (the crust crumbled a bit so something to moisten it would help… I need to find something other than butter to moisten it ). Some of the reviews on the website mentioned that more cheese was used, but in the spirit of keeping things healthy I wanted to try it out for myself first with the suggested amount of cheese. I agree, more cheese would have been better (but when is it ever not the case?!). Overall I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t a huge success since it was the star of the show. But I think in general people enjoyed it and I’m glad I finally tried this recipe (it was on my to-make list for a while!).

Onto dessert…

I made the raspberry brownies before and these are my husband’s favorite! He claims he’s not a dessert person but he actually ate most of them last time around and requested that I make them again. I put this together over the last few days (it’s easy you just need time to let things cool/freeze). Here are a few pics of the process.

No pudge original brownie mix with 5.5 oz of dannon nonfat yogurt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, all mixed in the bowl (oh yeah, licking the bowl is the best part!)

Mixture going into the pan:

Brownies baked, ready to cool:

I let them cool like that in the pan for a few hours then covered them with tin foil and left them in the pantry for a day and a half until I was ready to finish this. A day and a half later I left the sherbert on the counter to soften a bit, then topped the brownies with a healthy layer of it, and covered with sprinkles as such:

Final product after being frozen for a day:

And my piece last night for dessert It came out better than last time. I loved it (and my husband and guests did too) !!! This is a fat free dessert but it definitely doesn’t taste fat free.

After the stressful task of going over my wedding album layout (I get so weirdly stressed out… I just want it to be perfect!) I got hungry again (I guess it’s been a few hours since dinner) so I grabbed a serving of my favorite trail mix:

I wanted more food (or more chocolate to be exact!) but I fought the urge and just made some peppermint tea. I actually ended up only having a few sips of it before going to bed. I probably should have skipped on the trail mix too, but I thought I was going to stay up longer and really was hungry. It could have been worse!

Here is the total for the day…

NYC STREAKING CHALLENGE:

Calories (1200-1650) – 1723 – ok, since I allowed myself 1 day with extra 100 calories.
Fitness – rest day
Water – DONE- I think I had at least 10 cups
F/Vs – DONE- banana, baby carrots, brussels sprouts, mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms

I’ll start a new post with today’s breakfast and other eats since this one has been probably too long already Enjoy the rest of your weekend! ]]> http://blog.healthyandsane.com/2008/11/busy-day-cooking-for-company/feed/ 10