I love leisurely Sunday mornings. Today I was craving a special breakfast that involved NUTELLA. I am certain this would not be BFL approved. It was, however, Elina approved.

Whole wheat wrap with 1/2 banana and nutella

Gooey… mmm (I ate 3/4ths of this because it was too good not to share with Adam).

Oikos + 1/2 pear

Yum! This delicious breakfast fueled me for some yard work. Ok, more like patio work. We had some serious brick work on our hands. Hi, Adam!

That’s quite the pose.. I know you’re digging the outfit too.

What am I doing here?

Ok, seriously – who’s taking these pictures?

We did need to eat at some point.

LUNCH

I threw together every veggie we had in the fridge, sauteeing some spinach, mushrooms and chickpeas first.

Sauteed baby spinach, mushrooms and chickpeas, fresh bean sprouts, carrots and avocado

+ 2 cookie dough balls for dessert (this pic x2)

My sister-in-law also stopped by with the kids. They’re growing up so fast!

Oh yes, back to the yard work….

How do you like our new steps?

We worked for hours and hours but it looks awesome now! I’ll take some pictures once we’re done with the entire space. The next project will involve planting some flowers.

SNACK TIME

Ww Tuscan Pane with baba ganoush. I can’t get enough of the stuff!

And as much as I wanted to just veg on the couch, it was then time to make dinner. I had big plans!

DINNER

I’ve been planning on making Adrienne’s turkey meatball banh mi sandwich for nearly 3 months. I mean she said this was the best sandwich she’s ever had. How could I not want to make it? This weekend it had to happen. I’ve waited long enough and I knew I’d get some brownie points from the hubs for this one.

I followed the recipe carefully but omitted the onions and scallions, and used 1.5T of dark soy sauce + some lime juice instead of fish sauce (I thought we had it but I couldn’t find it). I also kept my portion a bit smaller (smaller baguette piece, way less spicyt mayo, 4 meatballs out of 30).

This was FANTASTIC!!! So many layers of spicy – our mouths were on fire but we were smiling while chugging water. It was actually quite simple to make but I was so proud. I can’t believe I made something so complex tasting and delicious. It’s going on our “favorites” list for sure!

Great dinner, major progress on our patio. I’d say this was one successful day. How was your weekend?

Oh – I also wanted to mention that since I’ll be away in Aruba this Friday-Tuesday, if anyone would like to write a guest post, I’d be happy to post it during this time (or any time if you can’t meet this short-ish deadline). Let me know!

[Edited to add: Just as an FYI, I had some chocolate covered edamame + roasted almonds a little while after dinner since I got hungry again.]

DINNER

This week’s CEiMB’s recipe was chosen by Grandma’s Kitchen. I rarely make soups so I was actually excited to be “forced” to make Ellie’s lemon chicken soup with orzo (recipe is on page 86 of The Food You Crave and has been retyped here). The idea of a lemony soup sounded so fresh and appealing to me. Adam wasn’t too psyched but once in a while he has to eat things for the love of the blog (plus I know what he’ll really hate and I wouldn’t serve that to him)

So chicken + lemon sounded delicious but onions and celery did not. For some reason most soups call for carrots, onions and celery as the only veggies. Given my hatred for the 2 latter veggies, I was determined to replace them with veggies I do like… but what would work in chicken soup? My twitter friends helped me out with this dilemma (follow me on twitter if you don’t already!). I decided to add a pepper, some frozen corn and baby spinach. I also realized I had some leftover cooked wild rice so I nixed the orzo for the rice. Since I wasn’t cooking the orzo in the soup (and my rice wouldn’t absorb much of the liquid), I also cut the amount of chicken broth to 4 cups in total. I guess at the end, my soup did not resemble that of Ellie’s much… although I did still use chicken + lemon.

Here are all the goodies!

The soup was lacking in flavor a bit so I added extra lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper to add depth and a bit of spice. Much better! I really liked how the egg made the soup a bit creamier. I’ll use that trick in my next soup adventure! What’s your favorite kind of soup?

[Rewind]

BREAKFAST

TJ’s european style yogurt, chia seeds, mango, muesli + TJ’s nutty American trek mix

My favorite trail mix is back at TJ’s!!!!! It’s been gone for probably a year (I thought it was discontinued) so I almost squealed with excitement when I saw it at TJ’s a few days ago. I bought 2 packages – just in case.

Best yogurt bowl I’ve had in ages. Amazing!!

LUNCH

The yummy eats continued with an amazing sandwich. TJ’s ww Tuscan pane with pesto, turkey, mozzarella and tomato. All ooey, gooey…mmm

Steamed brussels sprouts + a pickle for some added veggie love

And an impulse V8 juice I spotted at the back of the fridge. I love this juice but need to get used to the low sodium kind.

SNACKS

Mid-afternoon I snacked on a Zbar (brownie flavor) and an orange and after dinner this guy was very much enjoyed…

Whole wheat Tuscan pane with roasted garlic hummus and avocado

Definitely lots of deliciousness all around.

I skipped my workout for the day because my mid-morning meeting ran into lunch and I missed my spin class. I had no motivation to do my own thing so it turned into a rest day. I used the extra time at night to research Haiti relief programs and chose to donate 100% of my February blog earnings to the National Nurses United. Every dollar donated is used to send volunteer nurses to Haiti.

Happy Thursday… and please wish my mom a happy birthday in the comments. I know she’ll feel the love.

[Back tomorrow with a restaurant review]

Adam and I already donated to several relief programs. The most delicious donation came through the Bake Sale for Haiti. Last week I received some yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that I bid on and won. Today I got another package with brownies prepared by Stan (he has no blog but generously donated his time and baking skills for a good cause). Thank you, Stan – the brownies are really fabulous!! I am expecting some granola bars in the mail tomorrow as well. Donations can be so delicious!

So yes, I feel like my small family of 2 has done just a little to help a good cause, but I want to do a bit more. I’ve decided to donate 100% of this month’s blog proceeds to a Haiti relief program (I will do more research over the coming weeks and will mention the exact program the money will be donated to). So now is your turn to help! Click away on my blog, press the refresh button a few times, spread the word about this so others can come here and get a few clicks in. Any page views from February 1 through February 28 will count. The more impressions I get, the more I can donate to a Haiti relief program at the end of the month. It will cost you nothing! Thanks, guys!

Now onto today’s eats…

BREAKFAST

Yesterday’s breakfast pizza really hit the spot. I decided to give it another go with different toppings this time. Today’s breakfast pizza was topped with Barney Butter, nonfat yogurt, pear slices, Zoe’s granola and pecans

It got a little too crispy, but still SO good! We may have a new breakfast favorite around these parts

[393 calories, with coffee]

MID-MORNING SNACK

Barney Butter stuffed banana… not really a looker this time, but definitely a delicious pre-run fuel!

[127 calories]

WORKOUT

On my training schedule today was “4 miles fast.” My ankle felt fine again so I decided to make it happen. I was a bit nervous on my way to the gym. Why do I get nervous before my runs? Such a strange feeling! I guess I don’t want to disappoint myself. I started with a 15 minutes abs class and then got on the treadmill. I wanted to average a 7.0 mph pace. I warmed up at 6.5, then went to 6.8, 7.0, 7.2, then down to 6.8, and up to 6.9, 7.0 and 7.1 (alternating inclines from 0 to 0.5 to 1.0) and then down again to 7.0. 6.9, 6.8, 6.7, 6.5. It was a really hard run!! I wanted to give up so many times. My head was doing most of the psyching out and I just kept on mentally picturing finishing strong and how proud I’d feel after I’m done. I knew I was in a good enough shape to handle 4 miles. And oh yes, I felt proud upon finishing!! I definitely did not average 7.0 but the inclines made the run harder than if I stayed flat at 7.0 the entire time. I love workouts like these!! Tomorrow on the schedule – yoga at lunch, an interval run after work. Should be interesting…

LUNCH

V8 tomato soup + TJ’s Reduced Guilt fillet of sole with butter beans & spinach

Now this was definitely the ugliest lunch of all lunches. I took close-up shots but I’ll spare you. Not pretty. The filet of sole was also SO bland. That’s what majority of Americans (and apparently TJ’s chefs) feel healthy food tastes like. Very disappointing. You and me know that healthy food can be flavorful and craveable!! The soup was pretty yummy; I also had 2 AK MAK crackers with it and this portion of lunch was definitely better than the fish.

As I was finishing the above pictured eats, my brownie package arrived. I couldn’t be happier!! I dug right in and shared a bunch with some co-workers. We were all happy campers. The brownies were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside – lots of choc chips inside as well. So so yummy. It was hard for me not to keep digging into the box. I did ok there for a while.

[all together = 464 calories... I assumed 160/brownie]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

3T hummus + baby carrots

[93 calories]

DINNER

Star ingredient of dinner:

It’s a mixture of artichokes, olive oil and garlic. I’m in love! Dinner’s panini had a few spoonfuls of the artichoke antipasto, turkey, laughing cow cheese and dijon mustard on TJ’s ww Tuscan pane

+ a garlic sour pickle for good measure Pickles are vegetables, right?

[345 calories]

And then I opened the box of brownies to show to Adam….. and ended up eating another THREE!!! Not my proudest moment.

[estimate: 480 calories]

I put one in my lunch bag for tomorrow and the rest went in the freezer.

Total calories consumed: ~1930. I wish it was lower, but I’m probably around break-even for the day with my calorie burn at the gym so I’m not beating myself up over it either. The brownies were goooooood

Have you made any charitable donations lately?

So here is the deal – I’m stress eating veggies right now. I guess it could be worse!

Adam and I just got back from a really awesome dinner (guess what kind? haha) and a few moments after plopping myself on the couch, I went back for the leftovers. So good! I’ll post about dinner separately. The pictures came out too good to be buried in this monster of a post you’re about to read (hopefully, lol).

So let’s go back to my reason for stress eating… prior to dinner we went to a tile store to pick out the back splash for our kitchen. We actually knew exactly what we wanted to see (saw pictures online, fell in love with them, basically planned the rest of our kitchen around them) and wanted to see the tiles in real life before forking over the big bucks. Here is what we came to see (the tile on the left)…

The 3 little squares on the wood (which is a model cabinet door of our kitchen) are the countertop colors we were trying to pick out. We loved the different colors all combined together in a tile mosaic, but I thought the brown in the tiles looked too cold compared to the warm cherry wood cabinets. Starting over…

Tiles, tiles, everywhere!

Which one would you choose?

We finally picked the tile in the middle (the monochromatic look actually looked super sleek!) but it looked light blue in the store and looks lifeless in my pics! What we actually thought we picked out looked more like this (but a little lighter)…

Blue-ish gray, right? Well in real life it looked super blue (too blue!!). I’m freaked out. Did my camera capture the wrong light or is the lighting in that store completely distorted? The tile we picked out was called “gray” but it looked blue-ish in the showroom. Will it actually look like boring gray in our house? Ok so basically that’s why I’m freaking out and eating veggies. Yeah, you don’t want to be in my head sometimes!

KITCHEN REMODEL UPDATE PICS

There was more improvement on the kitchen than just me confusing the hell of myself and Adam trying not to get too frustrated with my indecisiveness. We now have recessed lights!!

And the light switches have been relocated. Awesomeness!

We also have our electricity back! Oh the simple things in life…

FOOD

Aside from reading a little more about dSLRs…

Yes, I am a digital SLR dummy! … I’ve also been eating. I’ve been eating some handmade chocolate truffles…

Chocolate coconut macaroons (ok, actually one macarooN)..

… and (whoa) real food too! Note: this is food from the last 2 days.

BREAKFAST

Yesterday: yogurt with oats, banana slices, pomegranate seeds and pecans + coffee

This morning: Au Bon Pain whole grain bagel with sundried tomato cream cheese and tomato + coffee

I haven’t had a bagel in ages. This tasted like heaven!

LUNCH

Yesterday: Niman Ranch ham, cucumbers and hummus on TJ’s whole wheat Tuscan Pane + baby carrots

This sandwich was the bomb! Cucumbers and hummus are amazing together. I can picture little tea sandwiches on soft bread with just cucs and hummus. Mmm…

Today’s lunch: 

I put this together with food that was rescued from our backyard after our fridge was working again (Adam took all the food outside in the cold last night since it was colder there than in our apt). Not sure if I was brave or stupid to do this. Still tasted great!

brown rice + pinto beans + Niman Ranch ham

and grape tomatoes + cucumbers in nonfat yogurt, S&P (this is a Russian classic, typically made with sour cream. The yogurt works great too!)

SNACKS

Can you say food porn? 1/2 banana with Barney Butter

Clif zbar chocolate brownie

It was actually REALLY good! A little small though, so I’m calling it a snack instead of dinner.

DINNER

Horrible pictures – delicious food! This is a few bites I got at Samurai last night.

Ika sansai: squid salad with mango, mountain string beans and vinegar

This was so incredibly flavorful! The squid was marinated with lots of ginger and lemon. I actually couldn’t taste the mango but seriously – the squid was the best!

Sunomono – seaweed and cucumbers served in lightly seasoned rice vinegar

As you can see, I ordered it with seafood, which was very lightly grilled (basically raw). This was NOT seaweed and I did not enjoy whatever veggie it was because of the weird rice vinegar but the fish was great. I love sushi!!

So that’s my past 2 days in a nutshell (except for tonight’s dinner which you’ll see tomorrow). I was working until nearly midnight last night (with that short break for dinner) so I am definitely ready for bed tonight.

Sorry for the information overload here. What can I say, I like to “talk.” Who’s ready for the weekend?!!!

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

BREAKFAST

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

[408 calories]

LUNCH

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

[271 calories]

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

Today’s photo-set up…

Hardcore, I know!

SNACKS

A handful of raisins from this little box

[~42 calories]

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

[100 calories, duh]

DINNER

Star ingredient: grass fed beef chuck stew meat

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

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

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

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

[dinner = ~600 calories, all together]

Total calories consumed today: ~ 1500

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

After setting up my profile (I have 2 pig tails, light brown hair and a very stylish purple outfit ), the board (also a scale) weighs you and then you go through a few balance tests. Then your “Wii age” is determined. Last night my Wii age was 45 because my balance was way off, today it was 47 – the Wii told me I clearly have memory problems. Oops I am, however, in the “normal weight range.” At least the Wii got some love for me

There are 5 categories of exercise. I picked a few “aerobic” ones to warm up (included some hoola hoop and step – oh yeah, it was quite the scene!), then some strength moves and finally finished with a few yoga moves. I think I’ll probably do yoga more than the other ones but the strength moves are pretty good. Adam did the same ones so the system ranks us. I like it when I get to beat him. A little competition is good

For your viewing pleasure… I can’t believe I’m posting these (the hoola hoop video that Adam took will have to remain private… I look like I’m having a seizure).

I had fun, but this certainly can’t replace my “real” workouts. I think it’s a really great tool for beginners to get into exercise. The sensors in the board tell you if your form is improper. I discovered that my weight always shifts to the left, so that’s something I need to work on. Adam and I plan on tracking our progress on the Wii. We set some weight loss goals for the summer (nothing crazy for me, just a few pounds for fun so I can show improvement on the system).

BREAKFAST

Coffee banana oats with chuck chuck

LUNCH

B.good turkey burger with homemade cinnamon apple chutney, roasted butternut squash, and cheddar. This burger is not on the menu, but you can ask for it on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next few weeks. As soon as I found out about it, I had to get it!!

Is that onions on my burger?!!

Let’s try this again:

Much better!! I asked if there were onions on it and the girl said no. Good thing I decided to take a picture of it before heading back to work or else this would be a disaster. The girl was really apologetic and I got a free coupon for a burger for next time. It was almost worth nearly missing my meeting (I was scarfing this down literally outside of the conference room). SOOO good (is that a foodie combo or what?)!!

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS DESSERT

A little chocolate covered wafer from Japan from my co-worker:

Yum!

100 calorie brownie by Glenny’s:

This brownie was actually pretty good for being 100 calories and low fat, and I believe there are no junk ingredients either. Not bad, not bad… I’d get it again if I wanted to be really healthy but was also craving a brownie.

DINNER

Mixed greens, roasted asparagus, hericot verts, grape tomatoes and 1/2 sweet-spicy glazed salmon fillet

+ crackers with Samira’s Homemade baba ganoush (see below)

This baba ganoush is locally produced and it’s amazing!!! I actually couldn’t stop eating this (imagine another giant piece of ww bread with a thick layer of it + a few spoonfuls straight from the tub). It’s so smoky and delicious!!! (I bought it at Whole Foods).

And that’s how you do it!

Whoa, is it really 11pm already? Time flies by when you’re having wii fun

Have you tried Wii Fit? If so, did you like it? If not, do you have any interest in it? I’m all for fitting exercise in, in a fun way

Waterpik giveaway here.

This powerful exhibit could not be missed and reminded me of a coat I haven’t worn in a few years.  I dropped off this coat at the dedicated donation bin the very next day. This was such an easy thing for me to do, yet I’m sure will have a tremendous impact on someone’s life. It’s getting cold here in Boston!! Have you gone through your closet recently and donated clothing you don’t wear? I do this several times a year, and still find pieces from college and even high school that I can’t seem to let go of. Every time I make a little step in the right direction, and I hope that someone out there is able to benefit from it!

With the holidays around us, it seems that everywhere you look, someone wants a donation for a charity. Although the causes are noble, it can get frustrating. We should be giving back all year long and not just during the November-December stretch. This is why I love when companies step up and make donating a whole lot easier, like by shopping!!

Boston readers – 15% of every purchase from Mint Julep in Harvard Square on December 10, 2009 between 5-9pm will be donated to The Boys and Girls Club in Somerville and Cambridge! You may be able to find a unique gift there, or even a little present for yourself I’m pressed for cash these days, but I may buy something small for a good cause.

All right, all right – let’s get to food!!

BREAKFAST

2 pumpkin spice waffles (one with choc chips, one with walnuts) with crunchy Barney Butter and 1/2 banana + coffee

LUNCH

PART I – turkey, laughing cow cheese + cranberry/cherry sauce on TJ’s ww Tuscan bread

PART II (a few hours later) – Oikos with remainder of cranberry/cherry sauce

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

DINNER

A larger version of Saturday’s salad + pan fried tofu

+ a tiny treat:

These chocolate calendars are at TJ’s for 99 cents!! I couldn’t give up such an amazing deal

I am now enjoying some ginger yogi tea…

Today’s yogi message: “I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am blissful.” I’m leaving this post at that. Namaste. [PS - right before dinner, I practiced yoga for 45 minutes.]

• 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?!

BREAKFAST

Banana oatmeal with PB&J + coffee

The “J” was actually cranberry sauce from last night’s Thanksgiving dinner. I could really taste the dried cherries in it today. Delicious!!

DINNER

For dinner, the turkey leftovers were transformed into Asian wontons, based on the tip from page 74 of the November 2009 Cooking Light issue. I made a mixture of minced turkey, ginger, mushrooms and soy sauce, then Adam stuffed them in Nasoya wonton skins and boiled them in some chicken broth for a few minutes. They were really delicious with TJ’s gyoza sauce (I had about 4 or 5)!

We took the Asian theme a little further and decided to make some hot and sour soup. I followed this recipe from About.com, omitting the pork, the dry lili buds (what are these anyway?) and scallions, used dehydrated black trumpet mushrooms instead of black fungus, 2 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water, and a little more rice vinegar than the recipe called for (based on reviewers’ suggestions). I also finished it with 1 teaspoon of chili oil for the whole batch.

This picture doesn’t look like much, but I really felt like I was in a Chinese restaurant, except I’m sure this was way healthier! It tasted very authentic.  The whole meal really hit the spot and took care of my Asian food craving that I didn’t even know I had. SO good! I can’t wait to have it again!

DESSERT

Tonight’s dessert was not Turkey day inspired, but is my CEiMB entry for the week. This week we were allowed to pick our own Ellie Krieger recipe to feature, and I decided to finally make this recipe for cherry almond chocolate clusters my sister told me about nearly a year ago! Chocolate, roasted almonds and dried cherries are probably my 3 favorite things in the world, so I can’t believe it actually took me this long to make these. I’m glad I did, because both Adam and I thought they were incredible and I think will be a great treat to have around when that sweet tooth kicks into high gear.

The key is to definitely use high quality chocolate (I used a mixture of organic Green & Black’s espresso chocolate and Scharffen Berger semisweet chocolate) and I guarantee you’ll fall in love. They’re even pretty healthy (dark chocolate has lots of antioxidants!), as long as you can stop at just 1 I’ve been a good girl so far.

I’m loving this super long weekend! What are your favorite ways to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers? I’m thinking there is a turkey sandwich and maybe cranberry sauce muffins in my future

Ok, so here is where I need your help. We chose to go to Austin and San Antonio because we’ve never been and it’s going to be warm (and it’s relatively cheap). The problem is – we know nothing about these 2 cities!! What are you supposed to do there? Are there any amazing restaurants that just can’t be missed? I already know we’re going to the largest Whole Foods in the country – that, in my view, cannot be missed! Help!

Thank you all for your comments on my previous post about making exercise a priority. I woke up this morning with a food hangover and just wanted to stay in my pj’s and eat all day. The food hangover/stomachache continued through the morning, and I almost skipped the gym and went to the Paradise Bakery instead Do you ever get in this kind of rut when you skip a workout and eat too much, and all of a sudden that’s all that you want to keep doing? This happens to me, and it’s not because I like it – the opposite actually. I feel gross and I guess I feel continuing this seems appropriate. So I almost chose to continue the mad cycle. Instead I remembered my own words (and your comments) and made sure to make it on time to a crazy hardcore abs + bootcamp class. Ask, Coco, we were both dying in the class… in a good way I loved every minute of it and was just glowing for the rest of the afternoon! I love you, exercise!!

BREAKFAST

Banana oats with raisins and trail mix (cranberries, white choc chips, almonds and pecans)

MID-MORNING SNACK

100 calorie pack of almonds and walnuts

This is my new find. It’s really perfect for me because um, apparently someone (hint: me ) has been eating more than 100 calories’ worth of nuts lately. Yeah, portion control is good!

LUNCH

Turkey, avocado and fresh mozzarella on whole wheat toast + snap peas and grapes. Yum!

SNACKS

A low fat rocky road cookie I received in a package today from 24carrot. Thank you!!!

This cookie is GIANT… I really can’t believe it’s only 170 calories. No really, I think they are lying on that nutritional label!

The cookie got damaged in the mail and was very crumbly, but the crumbles were SO good! It was like a brownie (yes, a healthy brownie but a yummy one) with lots of nuts and mini marshmallows. I loved the nuts. I’d buy this cookie for sure if I could trust those nutritionals. 24carrot sent me 3 other cookies, all the same size and from the same company (I think), and 2 of them said they were 2 servings and 2 said they were 1 serving – and all were roughly the same amount of calories/serving. Hmm. If it is indeed only 170 cals, this is possibly my new favorite healthy dessert! Edited to add: I looked at the other 2 cookies and they’re full fat, which would explain the discrepancy. I think I need to invest in a box of these babies

Another new find – Smart Food chocolate cookie caramel pecan popcorn clusters

These were quite delicious. If you love sweet popcorn, you will love these… and the ingredients are 100% natural. Excellent. I’d still pick a baked good (or the above cookie) for a snack any day, but this is a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without consuming a lot of calories (this bag was 130).

DINNER

I left early today (6:45 pm!) which meant I could make dinner at home! Whoa, that’s a new concept these days. This Mediterranean inspired wrap pizza ended up being the highlight of today’s eats (except for the cookie… that was good too… ok, a tie it is)! This is a whole wheat tortilla with 2T sabra hummus, lite shredded cheese, roasted red peppers, goat cheese and zaatar. All ingredients except for zaatar are from TJ’s. Toast the wrap for a bit before adding the toppings, then toast the rest until it’s at your preferred level of crispiness. Voila!

Made me and my belly beyond happy

Perfectly crispy… and disappearing fast

Great eats today! Oh I just remembered, I’m going on vacation… I’m going on vacation!!!! If you’ve been or live in Austin or San Antonio, don’t be shy, comment here and share with us the cities’ gems!

V8 soup giveaway here.