Obviously my career is pretty demanding and blogging is a time consuming hobby. The last few weeks I tried my hardest to keep up with both. I took charge of my diet and my exercise routine – I made both an important part of my life without underestimating the amount of time and dedication these require and the limitations I had to work with. I still took pictures of most of my food and I didn’t want to disappear from here, so I posted daily highlights in the hopes that once things slowed down, you’d still be here. I’m glad you stayed (I know I lost some readers, but that’s ok. Quality vs. quantity, right? ). I handed in my work, I left for 4 days to Maine, and I was ready to do all of this all over again. But something was missing; something didn’t feel quite right. Work was going to get busy again – was this really the right way forward? On the car ride home, I was reading this magazine article about relieving stress every day. About ways to bring “vacation” to your every day life, not just on a pre-planned getaway. Ha!

This is a tough one for many of us. There seems to be not enough hours in the day for work and play. How do you balance the two? This is a complex subject (maybe material for another post?) but let me share my take away after a few hours of brainstorming. I need to work (duh), I need to find time to workout (to keep myself sane!) and the rest I’ll just have to be a little more flexible with. My passions remain unchanged. I love eating and cooking; I love learning, talking and writing about sustainable food; I love supporting the industry (that means voting with my money at farmers markets, grocery stores and restaurants) and this blog is my platform for sharing these passions. BUT, there is not enough time to do all of these every day, the way I want them done. At times I’ve been feeling like I set myself up for failure with a mile-long to-do list. What if I just chose one of these to concentrate on every day? What if I lived my life a little more intuitively? So we finally get to the punch line here. I will no longer blog on a daily basis. I will continue to blog but it will not be in the same format. My goal is to have more “themed” posts vs. journal style ones. You will see highlights of my meals but not necessarily in the order I ate them. I hope that this will provide for better quality content (again, quality vs. quantity – that’s my moto) and give me the opportunity to get creative here in a different way. My goal is for this blog to continue being inspiring, informative and most importantly delicious. Don’t worry, I won’t hold out the juicy details of my life from you. Ha, here I go again, cracking myself up. The “juiciest” thing that happened today was…..um, I’ve got nothing.

I will leave you here with my favorite meal from today (yes, I still cook even when I don’t plan on taking pictures of every single bite!) – Ellie Krieger’s chicken with warm tomato-corn salad (recipe here). It was last week’s CEiMB recipe and it was amazing. I left out the scallions and cilantro but added some cayenne pepper which really added a nice warm spiciness to the dish (it wasn’t super hot, just warmed your throat a bit and brought all the ingredients together). Adam and I were practically licking the pan clean (it took a lot of will power not to split the 4 servings between the 2 of us and just call it dinner). I highly recommend it while sweet corn is in season!

So I hope this little change is cool with all of you. I feel good about it. I already have some ideas I hope to execute on soon.

And now a question for you – what would you want to see more of on Healthy and Sane. Why do you keep coming back here? Also if you have a blog, how do you balance work and blogging? Do you ever feel like some parts of your life suffer because you try to do everything at once?

Funny enough, I was on the receiving end of a random act of kindness that same day when I got a package in the mail from one of my readers, Carly of So I Married a Chef. It included all sorts of amazing baked goods (see bottom of this post for pictures) and the best note!!

Carly probably didn’t even realize how touching this note was. I think with weather getting nicer, people are spending more time outdoors and less time reading blogs. I know it’s not personal but it’s still hard not to evaluate your “performance” given a drop in readership and comments. Her note reminded me of why I blog. Maybe some of you read because you like my meals, some of you feel like you are following a friend’s daily life and some of you feel inspired in other ways. I can’t believe that *I* can inspire and even help with self-acceptance. Seriously, Carly, you made my day. Heck, week/month. It’s been nearly a week and I’m still touched by this note. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! More on Carly’s treats below (yes, it is a food blog. I remember ).

Speaking of food, let’s check out today’s eats.

BREAKFAST

I’ve been waking up every morning this week craving nothing but Barney Butter. So today I doubled up on my serving.

FFL english muffin, 2 tablespoons of Barney Butter and fresh strawberries + coffee

I love this breakfast. FFL english muffins are so hearty and are a perfect vehicle for BB

MID-MORNING SNACK

Don’t worry, I washed it.

WORKOUT

Still going strong on the workouts front. Today was abs + bootcamp day. We had a substitute instructor who wasn’t great but it was still certainly better than nothing. I just hated doing 3 sets of everything. I like variety in my life and my workouts.

LUNCH

So we have a bunch of b.good leftovers at home. This morning I opened the fridge and wasn’t too excited about the possibility of eating the stuff for days. And then lunch time came and my taste buds quickly reminded me of my I love it so much!

Cousin Oliver slider, which I added chipotle cream to (SOOOOO good; I’m obsessed with that stuff)

Sweet potato fries

… and some southwestern chicken salad

I’ve said before that I could eat this stuff every day, and I think I am getting the chance to prove it. This was a fabulous lunch!!

DINNER

The stars: garlic scapes and beet greens

I’ve never heard of garlic scapes until this year and now I’m seeing them all over the blogworld. Have you ever had them? They are the shoots that grow out of garlic bulbs and they taste super galicky. I LOVE garlic so I bought just one of these guys at the farmers market for a little taste.

I took inspiration from this recipe of garlic scape and beet greens bruschetta, and sauteed both (removing the stems) in 2t of EVOO. I also added 1/2 a can of diced tomatoes and S&P to taste. This whole process took less than 5 minutes and the kitchen smelled heavenly. I LOVE the smell of garlic and EVOO!!

Next I topped 2 slices of Iggy’s whole wheat sourdough bread with 1 laughing cow wedge, the greens/scape/tomato mixture and junks of grilled chicken I picked off the b.good southwestern salad we had left.

Voila, dinner was served!

It was so comforting! Adam had a few bites and said it was restaurant quality. I was pretty proud of my little creation, especially since it came together in less than 10 minutes (which is good since I worked late tonight and was starving!).

For dessert, I finally reached into my stash of Carly’s confections.

I wanted to take a little bite of every one but instead settled on the smallest bar which happened to be the butterscotch & toffee blondie.

Wow. That’s kind of all I have. It was decadent and buttery and was even made with wholesome ingredients. Carly sells her baked goods at the Geauga farmers market in Ohio so if you live in the area, I highly recommend that you stop by there and stock up. I haven’t showed you the closeups of rest of the goods yet so be prepared to drool as I eat my way through them. They look absolutely incredible. Thank you, Carly, again! I feel so lucky!!

Unfortunately late nights at the office leave little time for play. I’m off to bed!

When was the last time you performed a random act of kindness? Also, have you ever received a special gift from a fellow blogger? I love how the food blog-world is such a close-knit community. It’s the best!

A few weeks ago I was reading a cooking magazine and saw an ad for single serving almond boxes. Hello, these have my name all over them!! I bought one of each color (so I can have one in every purse).

How cute are these guys?!!

Then yesterday, I received my spring eco sample pack from Eco Luxe Life and realized I never shared this site with you. I love the concept behind it. I purchased a yearly membership early in the year and now receive quarterly eco-friendly samples of cosmetics and household products. Since I’m constantly on the look-out for new environmentally friendly products, I find that it’s a great way to discover them. The company asks for feedback on all products in the packages and also sells them in full size if you want to stock up. Isn’t it a neat idea? Here is what I received this spring:

I can’t wait to try the organic shampoo and conditioner but let’s see if I can actually use this fancy Moroccan rose water.

Mints, laundry detergent and bug spray will definitely be used soon.

Have you come across any new cool products? Do share!

Yesterday was supposed to be my day of tackling my to-do list. I was getting crazy stressed out about everything and Adam made me realize that it’s time to trim down that list and work on not adding anything new to it. Yeah, that’s going to be a toughy.

I printed out a list and got to work. Making waffles was first on the list!

BREAKFAST

Multigrain waffles with Barney Butter, fresh peaches, yogurt and maple syrup

For the waffles, I used this recipe from 101 cookbooks. I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for rye but otherwise followed it to the T. I came out with 4 thin waffles (see 3 of them above) and 15 “normal” sized ones. These were the best waffles I’ve ever made!!! The “secret ingredient” was butter. Definitely an indulgent breakfast to start the weekend on the right foot.

WORKOUT

I plan on going on a long run as soon as I finish typing this post, so I kept Saturday’s workout to a simple pilates class. It was great for core work and minimally taxes my legs. Hopefully I can bang out some miles today!

LUNCH

We had some mashed potatoes left in the fridge from Mother’s Day dinner at my parents’ so I put them to use in a samosa  quesdailla (recipe here, found through Musings from the Fishbowl). Enjoyed out on our patio. I love sunshine

I added a good amount of garam masala to the mashed potatoes for a more pronounced Indian flavor and couldn’t resist a few gorgeous tomato slices for some freshness. Such a yummy lunch!

Yes, I went a little crazy with the pictures.

Kale massaged with lemon juice and basil EVOO + fresh tomatoes complemented the creamy quesadillas perfectly. I have a slight obsession with massaged kale, I think.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

Some blue baby carrots, a boiled egg + edamame “hummus”

Oops, I was on custom (morning) white balance mode on my camera, shooting in the afternoon light. The blue lighting makes it a bit more mysterious looking, no? Ok maybe not, but hard boiled eggs + hummus is heaven. That I can promise you.

DINNER

No wonder I didn’t get THAT much done. There was quite a bit of cooking going on. I can’t resist sometimes!

For dinner, I marinaded some chicken following this Ellie Krieger recipe (missed it a few weeks ago for CEiMB) and Adam grilled it for us.

The marinade was great – super fresh and flavorful – perfect for a light summer meal!

I also attempted to grill some fresh artichokes but they came out tasting like cardboard. I steamed them for 15 minutes, then plopped them on the grill. Have you ever grilled artichokes? Any tips? I really want to try it again!!

Since our designated veg was a giant failure, I threw together a super quick salad – mixed greens, arugula, pea shots, feta, tomatoes + walnuts, in lemon juice and basil EVOO

Near East parmesan couscous was our delicious starch for the night. The company sent me 2 boxes to sample and we really loved it! The couscous came out a bit sticky which was really fun. I wonder if I can roll the leftovers into balls and do something with them. Mmm, I bet that would be pretty awesome. On the other hand, on its own the couscous was super flavorful, so maybe there is no need to mess with perfection.

Dinner was fresh and lovely. Adam and I shared a cherries, chocolate and peanut butter granola bar for dessert (recipe can be found here).

Since my white balance was all screwed up, this picture looks terrible but the bars were phenomenal. Mine have more sugar than Lauren’s (I used chocolate pb, 1/2 cherries/1/2 raisins, regular choc chips and rice crispy cereal – since that’s what I had on hand) but I’m okay with that – this way I can eat them for dessert and they’ll also provide me with plenty of (quick) energy before a workout. I’ll try taking some better pictures another day because these seriously were amazing!!

All right, are you tired yet? This post ended up being way too long and my mile-long to-do list is waiting for me. Wish me luck on my run. That’s next!

]]> http://healthyandsane.com/2010/05/cool-stuff/feed/ 8 http://healthyandsane.com/2010/04/parties-grills-and-cake/ http://healthyandsane.com/2010/04/parties-grills-and-cake/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:55:25 +0000 Elina http://healthyandsane.com/?p=9949 I’m trying something new these days – instead of giving into my mile-long to-do list, I’m trying to go with the flow and enjoy the days as they come. One may call this procrastinating, but I decided that this in fact is a healthy approach because none of the things on the list are urgent and there is no way to treat them as such. They will get done eventually and in the meantime, I may actually enjoy my weekends. Imagine that.

This weekend was sure action packed. Adam and I attended my friend Molly’s good-bye party on Friday night (she’s opening a frozen yogurt shop in Northampton, MA). It was bitter-sweet. I’m super excited for her but I’m so sad she’s leaving. I could go on and on about what a large part of my life Molly has played in the past year, but I’ll just leave it at wishing her lots of luck. She knows how I feel. And Molly, I can’t wait to come visit!! Seriously, how many of us would dream of doing something like that?!!

Saturday was Josh’s birthday party (ha, I think it’s funny that more and more of my friends now have links to their names – blogs, sites, etc.). We first met Josh and Melissa at Josh’s beer tweetup, then again for dinner at American Craft. We learned that Josh loves bbq and poker so naturally Adam was game for attending his birthday party.

At the party, we enjoyed some snacks…

cheddar and bass beer bread…

Sweet potato (baked) fries

… and of course beer

And bbq. This was the best bbq spread I’ve had in my life. I opted for the vegetarian option and it did not disappoint (both Josh and Melissa are vegetarians so they know that veggie burgers are not the only thing you can make on the grill).

Salad of mixed greens, walnuts, cranberries and feta + grilled sourdough bread (with a drizzle of EVOO) with feta, grilled peppers, zucchini and yellow sqush. OMG – this meal was mind-blowing. I cannot wait to recreate it!!!!!!

Side note: we bought a grill on Sunday!!!! Our first one – what’s your favorite grill recipe? I want to put this baby to use!

Back to the party. I brought my vegan cookies and everyone loved them. This guy was double fisting both kinds while mmmm-ing. That’s a good review in my book

There was also some rock-band action. I did not partake but Adam rocked out on a guitar.

And of course there was birthday cake. Actually two! Black forest cake:

Double chocolate

I had a few bites of this guy. Wowza, that’s a lot of frosting!

Sweeter than the cake were the FOUR cookbooks Melissa gave me. She’s built up quite the cookbook collection and is actually running out of space in her living room. I made out like a bandit, that’s for sure. Thanks, Melissa, I’m SO excited to put these to use!!!

Sunday was a lot more chill yet somehow I still had no time to blog. Let’s run through the days eats quickly, ok?

BREAKFAST

+ banana walnut muffin & coffee (to-go)

LUNCH

Teriyaki chicken wings + carrots and turnip (baked) fries

Adam has been craving wings for weeks so I told him I’d make him some. No need to feast on the fried version when you can satisfy the craving at home. I made a homemade teriyaki sauce that tasted awful so I dug deep into our fridge and grabbed bottled teriyaki sauce instead. Hey, I tried! I marinaded the wings for 4 hours in 1 cup of bottled teriyaki sauce + 1/4 cup of water (the sauce is soooo salty, I wanted to dilute it. I bet you can use an even higher water/sauce ratio). Then I broiled these babies for 5 minutes on each side, while reducing the marinade down on the stop-top. Note: if you want to baste the marinade onto the chicken, make sure to reheat it so that you kill all the raw-chicken bacteria. Then I covered the wings in sauce and baked them at 375* for 30 minutes (25 mins covered, 5 uncovered), basting them with the marinade after 10, 20 and 25 minutes. Time consuming but that’s how you get this sticky glaze. Adam was in heaven. Mission accomplished!

In my second oven, I baked a pound of carrots and a pound of turnips with 2 tsp of coconut oil and S&P – baked at 450* for maybe 30 minutes. Between me, Adam and his dad, we consumed TWO pounds of veggies. I think Adam did most of the heavy lifting (I ate 4 wings as well).

A super-charge me cookie for dessert

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

Mango + walnuts – who took this awful photo?

DINNER

Thai green curry mussels (recipe can be found here – I added spinach to the sauce and raw tomatoes to finish)

The sauce was too mild. I added extra green curry paste, salt and pepper to the leftovers. Hopefully that does the trick!

Dessert: Barney Butter stuffed banana

… and a little later: a serving of TJ’s nutty american trek mix <3

Let’s quickly talk about activity. I’ve been trying to implement the 20-minute rule but didn’t make exercise a priority this weekend (I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather). Saturday morning before the party I got Adam to go for a walk with me. We walked for quite a bit and ended up stopping for a slice of heaven.

Ernesto’s portobello mushroom + garlic slice (yes, this is one slice – 1/4 of large pizza – Adam and I split it) – it was amazing!

Needless to say, after this I had no chance in hell of convincing Adam to turn the walk into a run. Better luck next time! Sunday I didn’t even get 20 minutes in. Time totally got away from me. I feel strongly about the fact that you always have 20 minutes for at least a walk. I need to make sure to make it happen. No excuses!!

How was your weekend? Do you use the extra time to check things off your to-do list or is it all about fun?

This is when my new rule (and the fact that my husband was in fact at the gym that very moment) came in handy. I planned on going for a run (if thousands can run 26.2 miles on this day, surely I could do a few miles, no?) but I told myself that just going out there and walking for 20 minutes will be enough, if that’s all I feel like (redefining success). I changed into my running gear, grabbed my ipod loaded with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and took off.

About a minute later my garmin died. Normally this would freak me out and I’d treat it as a sign that a run was not in the cards, but all of a sudden the sun came out and it was gorgeous out. I checked the clock on my ipod and just started running. It was an easy jog, I ran while listening to my book and I swear I could keep running forever. It was amazing!! I think I can partly contribute this to the book “on-tape” because my mind was occupied the entire time (and it wasn’t occupied with ways to convince myself to stop). I finally stopped because I got really close to home and wanted to do a short cooldown walk – 46 minutes my ipod said. I’m guessing I just banged out 5 miles. Sweet! I felt like a million bucks. From now on – 20 minutes, that’s all I’m committing too. I’m sure some days that’s all it will be, but on others I may just surprise myself with a 5-miler. Now I can’t wait to go for another run!!!

BREAKFAST

TJ’s European style nonfat yogurt, 1/2 mango, All-bran flakes, apple butter + coffee

The mangos were not sweet enough and the whole mixture was pretty sour so I added a serving of TJ’s nutty american trek mix. The chocolate chunks transformed this breakfast into a new level of deliciousness.

MID-MORNING SNACK

LUNCH

This lunch was such a treat because both Adam and I got to eat a freshly cooked meal at home during lunch. It didn’t take long at all! I followed Cara’s recipe for sizzling haloumi with roasted asparagus and tomatoes but Whole Foods was out of the haloumi (which was supposed to be on sale) so I subbed some fresh tilapia for it instead.

I stir fried the fish in a sprayed skillet + 1T of EVOO, cooking it for maybe 3 minutes (if that) on each side. Wow, this was beyond fantastic!!! It was bursting with flavor. The delicate fish drizzled with the EVOO/lemon/caper sauce was so beautiful paired with the young roasted asparagus and the roasted tomatoes that popped in your mouth.

Both Adam and I were floored at how delicious and fresh tasting this was. Very spring-y. It’s going on our favorites list!!

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

A little brownie with walnuts from our secretary (my treat for the day)

Chocolate peanut butter granola for a pre-run snack

DINNER

During my lunch break, I also plopped all the taco soup ingredients into our crock pot. I love that the chicken breasts go in whole so there is no prep work. This literally took less than 5 minutes to “make” and dinner was waiting for me after my run. Adam already sampled it and “warned” me that it was amazing. 2 for 2 today?

I topped my taco soup with a bit of lite mexican cheese and a dollop of nofat yogurt + 1/2 tortilla wrap toasted and cut into pieces. After mixing the yogurt and cheese in, the soup got super creamy and man was it flavorful! A nutritious and delicious dinner in less than 5 minutes of prep? Sign me up. We’ll be making this again

I got used to having dessert after dinner but I’m trying to stick to one treat a day and see how that goes. Since I already had a brownie mid-afternoon, I chugged a bunch of water after dinner and it totally did the trick. Some tv, cuddled up with the hubs on the couch, also took my mind off snacking.

Are you a morning, afternoon, or a night exerciser? Is it hard for you to get out there if you’re thrown off your regular schedule? What are you tricks?

I’m up bright and early on this chilly Sunday morning. I started an 8-week photography class this past Wednesday and our first assignment is to buy a disposable camera and take 36 pictures with it… on film. Who does that anymore, right? lol The point is to force us to think about composition, balance, etc. without worrying about the technology part; and also to provide some distance between when the picture is snapped and when you get to look at it. A fresh set of eyes is good in many aspects of our lives

So I will be braving the elements today because that’s the only time I’ll be able to catch daylight before this Wednesday. I may combine this experiment with some exercise while I’m at it. We’ll see

In other exciting news – I roasted my first whole chicken last night!!! This past week was eat-out heavy and last night marked the first night of dinners in. I’m hoping we can make it for at least a week The best part was that we were spending some time in with a few old college friends. We haven’t seen them since our wedding and it was such a treat having them in town. So yeah, I am trying to come up with a go-to recipe repertoire for entertaining. For now I have two – goat cheese, pecan and date stuffed pork tenderloin (delicious but I’ve done it a million times already) and sweet-spicy glazed salmon (Pete and Erin hate fish so no go on this one). I heard that roasting a chicken is super easy so I thought it would be fun to give it a go. How does this look?

For my first roasted chicken ever, I consulted the Food Network – more specifically Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for the perfect roast chicken. Perfect chicken? That sounds pretty good to me!

I stuffed the chicken with lemon halves, garlic halves (as per Ina’s recipe) + thyme and rosemary sprigs. For the veggies I cut up a pound of parsnips and almost a whole bag of baby carrots (all we had, I forgot to buy extra carrots by mistake) which I tossed with 1T of EVOO and S&P. Under the chicken they went. Oh I brushed the outside of the chicken with 1T of EVOO too Ok, now they went into the oven…. and 30 minutes later, a pound of small red potatoes cut in half and tossed with 1T of EVOO, S&P also joined the party. All together, an hour and a half later – we had dinner!! [Don't forget to let it rest for 20 minutes!]

My carving skills left a lot to be desired, but we still had plenty of food.

Proud roasted chicken mama

Let’s EAT! … and drink. I had 2 small glasses from this bottle. Not bad.

… and of course some chicken and LOTS of veggies! The chicken was nice and moist but the veggies stole the show for me. The parsnips and the carrots, especially. They caramelized and soaked up all the chicken juices. They tasted like melt-in-your mouth candy – SO amazing. We all loved them.

Mmm, veggies. My only regret is not doubling the amount of parsnips. I bought 2 lbs but then chickened out (hehe, no pun intended) that it would be an overload.

Yum, yum, yum. A little dessert after dinner was the perfect way to end the meal (more details on the dessert to come in the next post).

Happy Sunday! I’m off to get ready for my in-laws’ arrival. More entertaining. Love it!

Have you ever roasted a chicken before? Any tricks of the trade you’d like to share here? I liked this recipe a lot but I think next time I’m going to try rubbing the chicken with herbs under the skin.

This recipe was part of the “Expect the Unexpected” episode on Healthy Appetite, which featured classic recipes with a twist. The grapes were the unexpected ingredient, which to me sounded like the perfect sweet balance to the savory grilled chicken. If you’ve never had grilled/roasted grapes with meat, you must try this combo! They are especially nice with pork and as I found out this week, also go amazingly well with chicken. The grapes caramelize and pop in your mouth. Delicious!

Since we already have dinner plans this Thursday (restaurant week continues), I planned on making these skewers this Tuesday. To be honest I didn’t really read the recipe before hand, but I knew chicken and grapes were involved so I made sure to buy those after work. Then I got to my kitchen and realized that the chicken needed to be marinaded. Duh, Elina, that’s in the recipe name! I was afraid just 20 minutes would not be enough to impart the lemony/garlicky flavor of the marinade but I had no choice. I was hungry and 20 minutes was the most I could wait. I crossed my fingers.

The second problem was the side. I was just going to wing it with some steamed veggie. And then I realized – I am hosting the recipe this week. Common, Elina, you can do a little better than that!

So I did do a little better than that. No, A LOT better than that. I rolled and grilled a little piece of pizza dough that’s been sitting in the fridge begging to be made into something (the flatbreads were sprinkled with zaatar), made a lovely veggie salad (mixed greens, arugula, cucumbers, tomatoes, a drizzle of lemon juice) that was bursting with freshness, and served it with a side of smarter tartar that also just happened to be leftover from my last Ellie meal and complimented this Mediterranean feast perfectly! Man, this was goooood!

Adam proclaimed that this was the best thing I’ve ever made!! I think he says that a lot but he couldn’t remember something he enjoyed quite this much in a while. Honestly, I think the flatbread stole his heart but the chicken was also super juicy and flavorful (20 minutes of marinading was plenty. phew!) and the fresh veggies and sweet grapes just all went so well together. I was proud, very proud, since I pulled this out of nowhere.

What unexpected pairing did you enjoy recently?

PS- the leftovers were awesome stuffed in a ww pita

[This ended up being a long recap - follow along at your own discretion ]

I woke up an hour and a half before my planned run and had my usual toast with Barney Butter and banana (you’ve seen it a million times, click here for a visual if you need it ). I was a bit nervous, but decided to just take it really easy. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Ok, no exactly… but it may make for a more pleasurable run. After a 1/2 mile warm-up walk (until my Garmin found the satellites) I got to it. I roughly planned out my route to make a 9 mile loop. I like running to a “destination” so there is something to look forward to. Also, this prevents me from deciding to cut the run short because I’m already so close to home. Today’s “destination” was the Jamaica Pond (in Jamaica Plain). I’ve done this run so many times and it never gets old. There are always so many runners and power walkers by the pond, no matter the weather, and I feel proud to be part of this little community.

So I took off, every time I looked down my Garmin said I was doing an 8:30-8:40 pace. I couldn’t believe it – it felt so easy! I know that usually when Molly and I run we talk the entire time. It makes the time really fly by, and we catch up on everything that’s happened in the past week. When we ran the half, we ran side by side, but didn’t talk, and our pace indeed was the pace I was running at today. I wasn’t complaining, that’s for sure! Around mile 3, I really wanted to stop and walk. Originally my plan was to run straight through – no stopping, but right around that mile 3 marker that seemed like a silly plan. So what if I stopped for just a minute? Would it really make that much of a difference? I bargained with myself and decided to take a walking break at the half-way point. Man, that’s a whole 1.5 miles away!! No, no – that’s negative thinking, I could do this!

Minutes after deciding to allow myself that walking break, I realized that I was running uphill. The second I hit flat ground, a walking break seemed like a silly idea. Now I really wanted to make it a full 9 miles without stopping, and this time I really did know I could do it. I ran around the pond twice, it’s fairly flat there and very beautiful. After the second loop, I was at 5.6 miles – the perfect time to run back home. I was smiling ear to ear at this point. OMG, I’m going to rock this run!!

By the way, I forgot to mention that this run was basically the exact same route that the BAA half follows (except I turned around 2 miles earlier). Around 7 miles or so, I was starting to slow down. My legs were starting to hurt a little. I was at the exact location that I started to really feel it during my half (it was mile 9 then). I distinctly remember Molly asking me if I wanted to walk for a minute or slow down… and I remember saying “I don’t know…” and kept running. I wanted to be stronger than that on THIS run. I pictured the point at which I thought I saw a 13 mile market (it was a 12-mile marker in fact). I wanted to get there, and I wanted to keep going. Remember, I was going to rock this run!! So I kept running and drinking water. I brought some orange slices with me for fuel, but I didn’t want them. I knew I could finish without them. I slowed down a bunch just to make sure I finished the run strong. Finishing the distance was my main goal. I didn’t care about speed. At the end, I was happy with both. I finished 9 miles in 1:22 hours – 9:08 minute average pace. I did it!!!!!! [Insert happy dance here ]

After a good stretch and a shower, I met up with Coco for a celebratory brunch. I’m going to do a recap of that in a separate post because you are probably tired from reading. Here are the rest of the day’s eats.

Organic fuji apple

Grilled chicken, avocado and cheese panini + baby carrots and grape tomatoes

I ended up dumping a bunch of salsa over the sandwich. That was an awesome addition to the panini!

TJ’s nonfat european style yogurt, chia seeds, pear slices + Zoe’s granola

A Black Dinah Chocolatiers truffle

It was the perfect Sunday!

Do you have any tips for completing long workouts?

BREAKFAST

2 Nature’s Path organic waffles with Barney Butter, 1/2 banana and pom seeds + coffee

I LOVE fresh Barney Butter – this was straight from a brand new jar. So creamy! I can use less of it too because it spreads so much better. Perfection!

[399 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACK

2 AK MAKs with hummus and 1 sliced egg

[181 calories]

If you haven’t tried the hummus + egg combo, you should do so asap. The flavors work really well together – lots of creaminess + the high protein content (11g!!) makes this a filling snack without overstuffing you. Perfect as pre-yoga fuel

LUNCH

Mixed greens, 1/2 orange, grilled chicken, 4 dried figs, snap peas, pom seeds and goat cheese

I just kept on adding ingredients to this salad and it was beyond satisfying. This blog definitely made me realize how delicious fruit is in salads. The pom seeds add a nice fresh burst of flavor to every bite as well.

[370 calories]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

TJ’S instant blueberry oats with Barney Butter packet and 1/2 orange

This is another snack that I pull out mid-afternoon sometimes if I know I’ll need to work late and I don’t want to think about food for a while. It’s more caloric that I typically like my snacks to be but it does keep the hunger at bay for hours.

[295 calories]

I ate this at 3:30 and didn’t even think about dinner until 8pm (I think part of it was being busy though). TJ’s blueberry instant oatmeal is kind of gross btw. I like the texture of instant oats but not the blueberry flavor. I’ll try a different variety when my box runs out or just plain instant packets. I still add mix-ins so this may be the way to go.

DINNER

Tuna wrap: 1 can of albacore tuna, capers, nonfat yogurt and dijon mustard + spinach and sauerkraut in TJ’s tortilla with whole wheat

It was a little salty but got the job done

[357 calories]

DESSERT!

2 Ozioli’s pizzette cookies…

+ Erin Baker’s organic brownie bite

[all together = 200 calories]

The dinner dessert was unplanned and was above my planned calorie range which I really wanted to stay within. Although I was feeling a bit guilty for going over, I was proud of myself for only eating 200 calories’ worth of sweets (when in reality I wanted to eat my entire cupboard’s worth of stuff… or hit up Paradise Bakery for their giant cookies!). At the end, I think the sweets provided for much needed sugar to keep going. I actually weighted myself in the morning the next day and was pleasantly surprised. Maybe my body knows better than I do about its needs. Imagine that…

Total calories consumed: 1831

I’m going to attend a food photography seminar today. I am beyond excited!!!!!!!! (<– that shows excitement, no?). I’ll be sure to take lots of photos and share my notes on the whole experience. And I promise to not disappear again for a while. Have a great weekend!

As mentioned in last week’s post, I bid for and won a few baked goods in the bake sale for Haiti. One of the scrumptious cookies I was lucky enough to win were Heather’s peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies . I knew they were arriving today and I could not wait for them! I even had an extra kickass workout during lunch, just so I could enjoy a cookie or 2, guilt free. It’s all about planning, people!

The cookies arrived at my office around 4:30. What I failed to plan for is how delicious they would be and how hard it would be for me to stop munching on them. Me, alone in a cube with TWO containers of cookies… dangerous!! Most of them were broken in the first box I opened so I ate a bunch of broken pieces. Who knows how many cookies that added up to. I know it was a lot. I caught myself in the act at some point, continuing to sneak yet another little piece and quickly brought the rest of the container over the our secretary’s desk. I got a few compliments later on: “Outstanding!” was one of my favorites. Short and sweet (err, pun not intended). Thanks, Heather, for donating your baking skills, time and cookie ingredients. Without a kitchen, I’ve been missing homemade goodies and these were delicious. Super crunchy and VERY addictive!!

Look, this one wants to get out of the container… Where are you going, little guy? You want me to eat you? Mwahaha… ok, now I’m being weird.

So I ate a bunch of broken cookie pieces and called them dinner. My hunger never came back and I assure you I ate plenty of calories today. Hopefully the rest of my eats balanced the cookies out a bit. Let’s see how I did…

BREAKFAST

Barney Butter and raspberry jelly + banana sammie on Vermont spelt bread

I was still hungry after this so I grabbed a juicy gala apple. Much better!

[All together = 435 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACKS

Man, was I snacky this morning. I wonder if it’s because I didn’t have any coffee in the morning (we were out of milk)?

Chocolate covered edamame

[100 calories]

[70 calories]

Lindt cinnamon truffle

[75 calories]

Good thing my workout took care of it all (as in cleansed me and rebalanced me… I’m not referring to the calories burnt – that’s now how I do it )

WORKOUT

I started with an awesome spin class. Actually today’s class was a stage 5 cycling class… from the fitcorp website: A focused and challenging indoor cycling workout that incorporates the same training and techniques found when riding outdoors. Each workout is appropriate for both the beginner and elite athlete to build solid, all-around fitness. This class is particularly beneficial for those who like to ride outdoors, are preparing for a long ride, charity event (PMC, MS, etc.) or competition.

The class is taught by a cycling coach. He’s pretty hardcore. I asked him to look at my bike set-up today and he pulled out a ruler or something else fancy looking. I LOVED today’s class!

After a 40+ minute sweaty “cycling” class, I went on the treadmill. Not sure where I got my energy from but as soon as I jumped on, something took over me. I planned to do 2 miles (since I missed my 3-miler yesterday, I want to make it up in chunks this week) and I ROCKED those 2 miles! At some point I was running at 7.2 mph, incline 1 or 2. I’m coming back, baby!! I also walked for 1/2 mile and stretched for 10 minutes. Today’s workout was fa-bu-lous.

LUNCH

Another jumbo salad: mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, grilled chicken, pom seeds and goat cheese + 1T Annie’s balsamic vinaigrette. This dressing really grew on me. I wasn’t a fan at first.

[253 calories]

The cookies were the rest of my eats. Oh and there is this garlic pickle I’m currently munching on while typing this post. I think there is crack in those pickles because I get the shakes when I run out. I eat one nearly every day. Sodium, shmodium…

KITCHEN CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Do you think my contractor is telling me something?

I think they don’t want me in the kitchen. Got it, guys!

We have new floors!!!

Pretty, no?

I’m off to enjoy some more cookies watch the Biggest Loser.

What was the most delicious thing YOU ate today?