My original plan was to finally make this week’s CEiMB recipe for panzanella with chicken sausage which was featured by Pantry Revisited (recipe here)… but something told me that didn’t qualify. In fact, Adam told me if I hesitated to answer whether this was a man meal or not, that meant that it wasn’t. I guess that’s true. I also purchased some fresh corn on the cob at the farmers market on Friday. Corn is best in the very first few days after being picked so that had to be featured for dinner. After a quick brainstorming session we had dinner which qualified as a man meal but also satisfied this girl. I love my man meals just a little fancier.

Italian style chicken sausage on a whole wheat bun with tomato/cucumber/basil “relish” (based on Ellie’s panzanella salad)

Lemon-garlic glazed corn on the cob (recipe here)

This meal really came together. The salad added lots of freshness and the corn recipe was definitely a winner. I’ve never cooked corn on the cob on the skillet but now I’m a believer. It basically steamed with butter/EVOO/garlic + lemon mixture (I used a little less than the recipe called for) which infused it during the cooking process, and then it was finished with the reduced sauce. Lovely. Adam said this was the best corn on the cob he’s had at home (the one from Toro taking first place so far – I am going to attempt recreating that next time).

Working backwards… lunch

Hummus/smoked gouda/capers/ tomato and spicy mustard panini

This wasn’t just any old hummus – I made EDBV white bean hummus with thyme and fresh basil last Sunday (recipe here) and have been enjoying it in a variety of ways. This is a really fantastic dip – there is so much depth of flavor with dijon mustard, garlic, red wine vinegar and all the fresh herbs. I was in love from the first spoonful. I highly recommend it (don’t worry, it’s not too “herby”).

This panini was another great lunch. The combination of a very flavorful hummus with the creamy cheese, a little pickled flavor from the capers and the freshness of tomatoes was absolutely amazing. The hot mustard gave a kick right at the end. Yum!

A few hours later I made this instant blueberry oatmeal snack. I am actually not a fan of this particular oatmeal flavoring but topped with Barney Butter and fresh blueberries, this was quite satisfying. I got these blueberries at the farmers market on Friday – they are SO sweet. I’m so happy I got 2 containers because every time I pack some, a few jump into my mouth (and I have no problem with that at all. lol)

I also had one breakfast cookie before bootcamp in the morning (for visual, see previous post), an iced coffee with soy milk mid-day and at night- an apple, a serving of dry roasted almonds and some fudge when my sweet tooth hit (sorry, no picture – it was quite ugly so I didn’t bother). As previously mentioned, 3-2-1 is going really well. I feel stronger, lighter and overall a lot healthier. That’s a lot to accomplish in a week.

I’m off to work……story of my life.

So we’re going back in time a bit. This post is about Friday’s eats. They were too good and I couldn’t just let them slide.

BREAKFAST

Green monster with skim milk, water, 1/2 frozen banana, organic frozen strawberries, frozen spinach and almond butter + 1/4t xantham gum and 1/8t guar gum

All blended…

… and ready to go!

I love almond butter in smoothies. You can’t taste it but it gives smoothies real staying power!

LUNCH

Mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower + spinach artichoke dip

+ a juicy orange. I can’t get enough of oranges these days!!!

SNACKS

So Friday was the most gorgeous day in Boston. It was amazing, almost summer-like. After the craziest rains (which are back again ) this weather was such a treat. I left work a bit early to celebrate. I bought Eat, Pray, Love on the way home and enjoyed a few hours with the book, some green tea and a clif mojo mountain trek mix.

The book has been on my “to-read” list for ages and last Friday I needed to read it. It goes really well with my “what do you really want” line of thinking. The heroine finds herself thinking the same thing and spends 4 months in Italy just eating… then she spends months meditating in India (I’m not there yet in the book but I’m looking forward to it ).

Eventually I started snacking again… 2 pea pesto crostini

… and THREE chocolate almond cherry clusters

So the chocolate almond clusters are delicious but there is usually another reason for overeating if you truly listen to yourself. I realized that in fact I was hungry. Of course I couldn’t peel myself off the chocolate container! So I made an early dinner…

DINNER #1

Chipotle chicken sausage, roasted red pepper, laughing cow cheese, pesto + cucumbers on ww Tuscan pane

After taking 2 bites and determining that the sandwich was delicious, I also determined that I no longer was hungry. Doh! So I left the sandwich for Adam who happily consumed it. A few hours later…

DINNER #2

2 mini toasts (ends from the above sandwich slices) with Samira’s baba ganoush + some soul food

This Friday was the first day of true intuitive eating. I did overdo it on the chocolates but I caught myself and readjusted accordingly. I am excited about “getting it” again. It WILL get easier.

For those that started this intuitive eating journey with me, how did you do this past week? Anything you’d like to share with us here?

For those that are already eating intuitively, do you ever eat 3 chocolate truffles and if you do, how do you feel about those instances?

Time to go to work. It’s gross out, I just want to stay in and cuddle up on the couch with some Food Network.

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?

THE RUN

This morning at the last minute, Molly and I decided to go for a quick run. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive about how it was all going to go down. I pretty much run once a week now, and it shows… my stamina has really decreased. It was a beautiful day and we decided to just start running and see where that goes… it could even end up with just being a coffee date if the run wasn’t really happening. I met Molly about 1.5 miles into my run and I was already feeling it. I told her how silly it was for me to assume that I could just do 7-8 miles, just like that. I no longer run like I did while training for the half marathon, so I shouldn’t expect to be able to run decent distances just because I the number sounded good to me that day. So off we went, and somehow we both really got into it. Every time we had a chance to turn around, we just kept going! I’m going to fast forward to the end, I ran 9.5 miles today, averaging 9:48 minute miles (with the last 1.5 at an 8 minute mile pace… I was flying)!!!!! In fact, I could even keep going, I just decided it was time to get home. Oh, I also drank 18 oz of water, while running. I’m very proud of this too. This run was just amazing for my self confidence, on every level. I was seriously on cloud nine for the rest of the day and felt like a rock star!! Molly, you rock… and I kind of rock too

PRE-RUN SNACK/BREAKFAST

The usual: ww toast with Barney Butter + 1/2 banana

LUNCH

Lunch was crazy awesome… see it says so on my recipe so it must be true! Wow, I’m a dork… moving on!

I followed Meghann’s recipe for chickpea parmesan burgers, plopped it on a FFL english muffin and voila – an incredible (and filling!) lunch! Some carrot sticks on the side were the perfect sub for fries.

This recipe was super easy, and was seriously amazing. You have to make it asap!!!

And then it was time to enjoy this gorgeous day with my husband…..

I enjoyed a bite of this chocolate sample from Hotel Chocolat

And a delicious pumpkin spice chai with skim milk (no sweetener) from Tealuxe (my favorite tea spot!). Look at the frothy milk… mmm

Having my camera with me at all times comes in handy. This is our street… isn’t it cute?

A juicy apple tied me over until dinner…

DINNER

Shannon brought this amazing roasted red pepper dip to our housewarming party that was camera shy. The dip is slightly spicy and tangy (Shannon added some light cream cheese to cut the spice down) and is absolutely amazing scooped up with crackers, in sandwiches as a spread, and over pasta like in tonight’s dinner (the recipe for the dip can be found here).

Happy husband (candid shot)… I hope you don’t mind, Adam!

My portion: 2 oz whole wheat pasta with 1 chicken sausage, grape tomatoes, baby spinach and roasted red pepper sauce. This was so satisfying, perfectly balanced and absolutely delicious!

PS – This was yesterday’s lunch: 2 ww slider rolls with leftover grilled fish, roasted red pepper sauce and laughing cow cheese. Amazing!!

This sauce is so versatile. I highly recommend it! Thanks, Shannon, for bringing it over. Adam and I are in love with it

I’m off to a few bars to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Happy birthday, Emily!!!

How is your weekend going?