salad « Healthy and Sane

Entries Tagged as 'salad'

Orange takes over

March 8th, 2010 · 17 Comments · breakfast, pumpkin, salad, sausage, snacks

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post. I knew there was no reason for me to beat myself up over what happened, especially since I made the best choices based on all the information that was available to me at the time, but I’m not going to lie – finding out that Saturday accidently was such an indulgent day ruined my 11 mile run on Sunday morning. My head just wasn’t in it. The best thing I could have done was to forget it and move on, but somehow I just wanted to give up on everything. I did have my friend Molly to keep me company on my run. I asked to walk pretty much every other minute (or so it seemed). If you are a runner, you know that voice in your head that tries to tell you to stop because it would be just so much easier? The voice you usually ignore? I let that voice get the best of me. Molly was such a great sport, though, and indulged my wishes. Together we finished a little over 9.5 miles but I’m not sure how much of it we actually ran – maybe 7-8? I know it’s still something to be proud of and I’ve moved on for real this time. Lesson learned.

Oh and btw, you all were right. I was not hungry at all today due to a very indulgent weekend (yesterday kind of became indulgent again) so I still nourished my body but consumed less calories than usual. I guess it does balance out. Wanna see what I ate today?

BREAKFAST

TJ’s organic fiber blueberry muffin + coffee

[265 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACK

2 clementines and a sample packet of somersaults – still love them!!

[140 calories]

LUNCH

As usual on Mondays, I get to come home for lunch. I made a small detour through TJ’s to stock up on veggies. The star ingredient was Gena’s carrot miso dressing (found through Soap & Chocolate).

The dressing came together quickly since I had all the ingredients on hand and the vitamix is a beast. It was almost “whipped.” Since I couldn’t just eat it with a spoon, I decided to make a salad. Might as well, right?

Mixed greens, steamed broccoli, shredded carrots, chopped cucumber, shrimp + miso carrot dressing

Here are all the greens + shrimp!

To be honest, something was missing there and the whipped texture of the dressing was actually a bit strange. I was imagining it would taste like the dressing you get on house salads at Japanese restaurants but that wasn’t the case. Also, I may have overdone it on the ginger or maybe it was missing salt? After a few bites of the salad I went to the fridge for water and noticed a jar of spicy Italian pepper rings. For some reason those sounded appealing and they really saved this meal for me. My mouth was on fire… in a good way!

Dessert: caramel oikos. Oh yeah, that’s the stuff!

[All together - 280 calories. I was actually shocked to find how low that was!]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

[180 calories]

WORKOUT – Monday’s usual – Rack it Up. I just love that burn!!

DINNER

Ever since trying Shannon’s savory pumpkin bread pudding, it’s been on my list of must make meals. I knew Adam would love it. I mean this screams “man meal”, since bread, sausage, cheese and sour cream are the main ingredients. This dish even made it to my top 9 homemade meals in 2009 - it was that good. Tonight Adam finally had a chance to taste Shannon’s masterpiece – made by moi this time.

The verdict? He LOVED it! I know my husband so well. I thought Shannon’s execution was a bit better but I still enjoyed it.

[450 calories]

This was one hearty dinner, let me tell you. I am STUFFED hours later!! No desire for dessert or anything. I think one of the key “tricks” for avoiding over snacking is to have super filling meals. This was the perfect example of it. Could be a little heavier in the veggie department but I sure took care of that during lunch.

Total calories consumed: 1316. I can’t believe how crazy full I am for such a small amount of calories. I guess I’m like a camel – I stored this weekends’ eats for later.

Looking at this post, apparently I ate a lot of orange foods. So just for fun – what’s your favorite orange food? Any favorite way to consume it?

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Breaking in the kitchen

February 28th, 2010 · 22 Comments · Ellie Krieger, The Best Light Recipe cookbook, dessert, pasta, salad

Thank you all for being patient with me over the past few days. I really needed to take a little time off to organize the new kitchen and enjoy all the fun activities we had planned for the weekend. I took so many pictures and have so much to share with you. I decided to start with my very first (real) meal in the new kitchen. I think it was a great success!

I really wanted my first meal to be elaborate. I wanted to spend hours in the kitchen- chopping, mixing, stirring, baking. When my parents in law mentioned they wanted to come visit us this Sunday to see our new kitchen, Adam and I agreed it would be a great idea to cook for them. I browsed through cookbooks to find that “perfect” recipe. Oh, how I missed this!

Since dinner was going to take a while to prepare, I knew I wanted dessert to be quick and easy. Ellie Krieger’s almond/cherry chocolate clusters is definitely one of my go-to desserts. The recipe has only 3 ingredients and comes together incredibly fast. The best part – it’s SO delicious. How can it not be – it’s almonds, cherries and chocolate!!

Yes, we started our dinner with dessert. That’s my kind of meal!

While I was making the sauce for the lasagna (oops, did I spoil the surprise? ), Adam decided to open the champagne my PILs brought.

Real champagne this time.

Cheers!

The bubbles are so pretty

After hours in the kitchen, dinner was finally ready. I loved that I was able to stay in the kitchen the entire time, yet could 100% participate in all the conversation. The new kitchen is definitely perfect for entertaining!

I used this recipe from The Best Light Recipe cookbook for meat & cheese lasagna. I really trust this cookbook – every single thing I’ve made from it was absolutely perfect (read: tastes like the real thing).

I added some mushrooms to the sauce (when adding the tomatoes) and baby spinach (a few minutes before taking it off the stove and adding the basil) for added nutrients and because I like both (and happened to have them on hand). I think even more veggies would be great – they would bulk up the lasagna and add new flavors and textures.

Some whole wheat toasts, drizzled with EVOO and rubbed with garlic made for easy “garlic bread.”

My plate:

The lasagna was SO good! Seriously, this book never disappoints. My father in law considers himself a lasagna connoisseur and he said this was definitely up there with the best lasagna he’s had. Everyone was shocked that this was a “light recipe.” It was so cheesy and hearty!

On the side, I also served everyone with some escarole with pine nuts (another Ellie Krieger’s recipe). This was great as well. Really flavorful and complemented the creamy lasagna perfectly.

This was a fabulous meal if I do say so myself. I can’t wait for more delicious and healthy eats coming out of our new kitchen!

What would be the first meal you’d make in a new kitchen?

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The big reveal

February 24th, 2010 · 47 Comments · breakfast, dessert, oats, pizza, salad

First of all, thank you guys for your congratulations on my recent promotion. You are so sweet! Second of all……. the kitchen is done, the kitchen is done!!!!!! Man, I was starting to lose it but it is all worth it at the end.

Let’s remind ourselves what the kitchen looked like before:

That hole on the left wall is the opening to the living room.

Oh yeah, 1980’s all the way!

And now the after pics.

Can you see how open it is now to the living room?

It’s looking a little bare right now. I can’t wait to put all of our stuff back in and make it really ours. For now, it just feels like we are in someone else’s (nicer looking) house. We couldn’t be happier!!

What do you think? How did we do?

I broke out the new stove by making a… wait for it…. frozen pizza! Hehe, we had no groceries and I actually wasn’t sure that the kitchen was going to be done today. It’s been going to be done “today” for over a week now.

TJ’s wild mushroom black truffle flatbread – my favorite!

I had 1/2 of this. Good thing I’m a good wife because I easily could have eaten the whole thing but I left the rest for Adam.

Adam was a good husband too. He brought me cookies that I “urgently” requested. Sometimes a girl just needs cookies.

I’m just a model of health here today, aren’t I? I figured it was better to satisfy my craving than eat everything else in the house.

The rest of today’s eats…

2 mini cinnamon buns from Holey Donuts

Instant blueberry oats, 1/2 banana, Barney Butter and cherry preserves

Very sweet but oh so good.

Mixed greens, grilled chicken, dried figs, cucumbers, pears and goat cheese

The pear slices were by far the best part of the salad!

Clif Mojo mountain mix bar

Smartfood popcorn clusters

Too much sugar, not enough fruits and veggies. Oh well. Everyday can’t be perfect, right?

We’re taking my parents out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate my promotion and the new kitchen, so my next post will be a dinner recap (I have a pizza lunch tomorrow at work – not exactly exciting stuff).

The kitchen is done!!!!!! Sorry, I just had to say it one more time. Weeeeeeee

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Dinner parties are where it’s at

February 18th, 2010 · 29 Comments · breakfast, dessert, eggplant, entertaining, restaurant reviews, salad, snacks

When we were kids, meals were always prepared by the parents (most likely by mom). They were simple and satisfying, except for maybe that occasional vegetable you really would rather leave on the plate For birthday parties and other celebrations, in my house my parents always prepared a giant feast (we actually had 2 large parties – one with all the kids, and a second one with all the adults – man, that’s a lot of prep!). If you are an American, the birthday parties were likely held at somewhere fun like Chuck E. Cheese. I never experienced such a thing.

In middle school, my family moved to Israel and the idea of take-out was introduced into my life. This was further solidified when we moved to the US, and most gatherings with friends were now at the local Dunkin Donuts or at someone’s house with a giant plastic container full of Chinese food. College was pretty similar, except alcohol was introduced into the mix – in large quantities at that.

Over the past few months, Adam and I hosted and attended a few dinner parties. There was no greasy, cheap food, no binge drinking – just a home-cooked meal with nice wine and a great conversation. Last night, on the way back home from such a dinner party, it hit me – this is what you do in your late 20’s (and probably well into your 30’s or until kids start ruining all your fancy plans)! I have to say – I’m really liking this new stage of my life, and I can’t wait to host more dinner parties at our own house soon!!

Before I get into the dinner party details, let’s quickly review the rest of the day’s eats – they were really good!

BREAKFAST

2 Vermont spelt toasts with low fat cottage cheese, Zoe’s granola and almond slices + 1 orange

Toast close-up – great combo!

Juicy orange…

MID-MORNING SNACK

1T peanut butter + 1/2 apple

LUNCH DATE

The fun lunch date I mentioned last night was with the lovely Shannon of Tri 2 Cook. She joined me for a sweaty spin class and then we went to b.good. My salad from Friday finally convinced her to give b.good a go! I stopped myself from ordering the same thing and got the sesame ginger chicken salad this time – mesclun, carrots, jicama, edamame, sesame seeds, sesame sticks, orange-soy dressing

The lighting there is horrible but hopefully you can see all the goodies in there… chicken + sesame sticks

jicama, carrots, edamame…

I really liked this salad as well. Shannon liked her b.good burger.

For dessert I stopped by Paradise Bakery and got myself a choc chip cookie. I <3 them!

The salad + cookie combo held me over for 7 hours!! And now we get to the part where I tell you all about the dinner party Adam and I attended last night.

DINNER

So as you all know, we currently don’t have a kitchen to cook in. Somehow we were talking about that and Turkish food, and my co-worker Egemen offered to cook dinner for Adam and me one day. Hey, you don’t have to ask me twice! I’ve never had homemade Turkish food so this was quite a treat.

Egemen did a really great job setting up for dinner. There were lots of candles and some simple apps to munch on while he was finishing up dinner. Very cozy. His friends Margaret and Amanda joined us for the meal as well. We all loved the juicy strawberries and the cheese sampler.

I had a few glasses of wine with dinner. Here is my first pour.

And now for the real treat – slow braised lamb + hunkar begendi (eggplant cream)

Egemen really went all out! The lamb took 2 days to marinate + 3 hours to cook. It was really melting in your mouth – so tender! The hunkar begendi was the most unique eggplant dish I’ve had. It is a combo of roasted eggplant meat, flour, butter and mozzarella. SO good. You could really taste the smokiness of the eggplant. Now I miss my mom’s.

Dessert was another traditional Turkish dish – walnut and cinnamon stuffed figs (sorry, I don’t know the exact name) with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge

This was very sweet and very cinnamony – a small portion was perfect to end the meal on a sweet note. Delicious! Thanks Egemen for hosting us – we’ll need to return the favor by cooking for you and the girls next time.

Do you like dinner parties?

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Sweet Valentine’s day

February 14th, 2010 · 7 Comments · breakfast, dessert, product reviews, salad

I’ve had the best Valentine’s Day weekend this year, and it’s not even over!!! Adam is taking me out tonight to a (supposedly) very romantic French restaurant, Chez Henri, but in all honestly I already feel like this weekend could not be more perfect! It involved some really great workouts (an 8 miler yesterday with my favorite running partners – my sister and Molly, and a kick-ass boot camp class today with my sister and her boyfriend), a date with a friend I haven’t seen in over a year (hi, Kathy – hope you found the blog!) and quality time with my family (mom, awesome dinner last night.. mmm gorka) and Adam’s parents. Speaking of Adam’s parents, they are too cute for words. They insisted on dropping by today to hand deliver a little Valentine’s day gift for me us.

These are Black Dinah Chocolatiers truffles

The company firmly believes in sustainable agriculture – all chocolate used to make the truffles is organic and fair-trade. The fillings are inspired by local (Maine) ingredients. My parents in law (who have a house in Maine) were telling us that the owner goes to the farmers market every week and incorporates all the fruit, nuts and flowers purchased there into her chocolate treats. I am SO all about this kind of business. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jim and Jane! I promise to savor every bite (and maybe share a few with Adam if he’s lucky ). Just thinking about these little gems puts a big smile on my face!

I had 2 right away…

The milk heart truffle supposedly had pistachios and hints of rose. I couldn’t tell. Nonetheless, both truffles were so fudgy inside and perfectly fresh. Absolutely incredible!!! Kate, the Black Dinah Chocolatier, was also recently featured in the Martha Stewart magazine. Have any of you seen that article? Pretty cool.

All right, all right – I’m pretty sure I can go on forever about chocolate, small businesses (and how I love them!) and sustainable agriculture, but I have a few other eats to share with you that were consumed earlier in the day.

First there was the coffee date at Starbucks with my friend Kathy and her husband Pat. It was SO good to see them. You know those friends that you may not see for months or even years, and then just pick up from where you left off and everything is just so easy? Kathy and I clicked from the first time we met our freshman year in college and I’m so sad she lives hours away. Kathy, we need to meet up somewhere in the middle soon. I want a girl-date with you!! Breakfast included a tall coffee with milk and 1 packet of sugar…

+ an eggwhite, spinach, sundried tomato and feta wrap

The egg white wrap was actually pretty good! There wasn’t much spinach or sun-dried tomato but the egg whites were nice and fluffy and I really liked the actual wrap. At 280 calories, this is a great healthy breakfast option if you’re on the go.

After our breakfast date, we picked up my sister and her boyfriend and headed to the gym for a boot camp class. Inna’s boyfriend, Derek, actually requested that we go. Hey, I wasn’t going to object! The boot camp class was crazy. The instructor decided to do something different today. Have you ever heard of 10 by 10/ 100 workout? You basically have 10 sets of 10 exercises with 10 reps of each. That’s 100 reps per exercise. We did 2 of those blocks (so 20 exercises * 100 reps = 2000 reps – whoa!). It moves FAST. My heart was pumping like crazy just because there was no break at all, until you were done with all 10 sets. Holey moley. All three of us loved it! Yup, we are masochists.

I came home to make a small lunch. I kind of had a feeling my parents in law had some dessert in store for us.

Mixed greens, fresh broccoli, shredded carrots, TJ’s savory organic baked tofu, goat cheese, artichoke antipasto, and Jenna’s spicy sesame noodle sauce

The artichoke antipasto was definitely the star ingredient. The baked tofu is pretty awesome as well.

My PILs also brought us some homemade food that does not require a microwave. Sweet!

Cold cuts calzone - whole wheat dough, reduced fat cheddar, natural meats

Pasta salad - whole wheat organic pasta, olives, grape tomatoes, asparagus, radicchio, fresh spinach and peppers in EVOO + light mayo

I nibbled on these to tie me over until dinner. Speaking of which, it’s time to get prettified See you guys tomorrow with a restaurant review. I also owe you 2 other posts (yesterday’s foods – ALL blog worthy) + Friday night’s dinner. So much food, so little time. Hope you’re all having a fantastic weekend!!