All right, now that we got all these logistics out of the way, let’s talk about something I’ve been super excited about lately – EXERCISE! A little while back I wrote kind of a sad post about struggling with overeating and just not feeling “it” in general. The very next day, I forced myself to go to the gym to sweat it out and haven’t looked back. I’ve been an exercise machine ever since. I can’t stop. It’s been amazing (and made a difference in my eating as well). Finally activating my 7-day pass at Healthworks just added more excitement. There are so many classes offered and I want to try every one of them. I’ve been going to Fitcorp (my current gym) and Healthworks and loving every second of it. I love when the snowball effect works in the right way. It’s all about finding something that you absolutely love (and that may change with time) – doing the “work” is then effortless. I actually look forward to every class!

So now let’s talk food. This is Sunday’s eats. I didn’t have a chance to blog about them earlier (and there is some really good stuff here!) so I actually left my camera at home on Monday and took a little break from picture taking. You still get to see a whole day’s worth of food (from Sunday) so I think it’s all good.

BREAKFAST

A few weeks ago, Lauren blogged about a healthy carrot cake sandwich that can be enjoyed for any meal of the day. I kept it in the back of my mind and even bought a special mango, pineapple, raisin bread that I thought would be great with it. I was right!

Look at this beauty from Sunday’s breakfast…

The back side

Since the sandwich just has a touch of sweetness, you don’t feel like you’re eating dessert for a meal yet it is still kind of exciting. I may have another one of these soon. Carrots are not an ingredient I use often in breakfast so why not throw it in a little more often?

WORKOUT

Body Pump at HW. Hurts so good…..

LUNCH

Beet salad, leftover L’Espalier chicken and feta wrap

Awesomeness.

SNACKS

Low fat cottage cheese + strawberries

L’Espalier macaron

Wow. I forgot how much I love macarons. I know this is a big no-no but I just had to take a picture of the inside. The paste was fantastic and the outside “shell” was so delicate, I definitely felt like I was eating a real treat.

Here is another TREAT. Sunday was Father’s Day of course so I baked my dad some pecan pie bars (recipe here). He loves nuts as much as I do (it runs in the family actually ).

Mmmmmmm – short bread crust, caramel-like pecan filling. These are not low fat/calorie by any means but SO worth it.

I probably had a square and a half throughout the day (I never actually had a whole one – just kept picking at it at different times). Oh, and if you make it – a little less sugar works beautifully. I used 1 cup for half a batch and it was perfectly sweet. If you love pecans, this is better than pecan pie (and way easier to make)!

DINNER

I mentioned before that my grandmas from Israel are here. Well, they still haven’t seen our new condo so I invited everyone over to enjoy some pecan bars and last minute, Adam and I decided to make dinner for everyone too.

Apps – pita chips, TJ’s garlic tzatziki (SO good!!) + grapes

The main fare – grass fed cheeseburgers (with whole wheat buns)

Toppings: tomatoes, avocado, pickles

Smashed grilled red potatoes (and sweet potatoes)

A big salad – mixed greens, carrots, grape tomatoes, grilled zucchini and pine nuts

My plate:

Everything was super yummy. For the burgers, btw, I almost always use 2T ketchup, 1T worchestershire sauce + 1/4t pepper for 1lb of meat. It makes really juicy and flavorful burgers. The potatoes were yummy as well.

A little dessert wine to end the meal. It tastes like white grape juice

And that was Sunday. Have you tried any new workouts lately? I’m going to a step class today – it’s been years. I can’t wait!!

BREAKFAST

Spinach, grape tomato and feta omelet

I used 1 egg and 1 egg white for this guy. As you can see, it completely fell apart but man, was it delicious. Salty from the feta, fresh from the pop of the tomatoes. Yum!

With the omelet I also had a little piece of toast, and grabbed this orange to go.

LUNCH

We had pizza at work during a meeting. I picked what I thought was a mushroom/artichoke pizza – that one looked wonderful… until I discovered a ton of pepperoni under the veggies. No picture but let’s just say I was picking at my food like a 5 year old. I had a whole mountain of peperoni on my plate and a million napkins all around me when I was done. So professional. I had 2 slices and stayed away from the super market cookies. I had something way better for me waiting in the fridge…

TREAT

Some of you were close with your guesses in my last post. I made cookies ‘n cream cheesecake bars following this recipe from Food for Living. I literally saw it yesterday morning and then stopped by the grocery store on the way home to pick up the ingredients and baked them that night. I like having healthier baked goods around so that I’m less tempted to stop by a bakery and buy something 10 times worse for me and way more expensive.

I resisted the urge to have a whole photo shoot of these guys. Lauren already did a wonderful job. The cheesecake bar tasted so delicious. The crust was thin and moist, the cheesecake was creamy with a touch of sweetness. I like that these are not overwhelmingly sweet. You can really taste the quality of the ingredients. I love making cheesecake bars – this recipe is a keeper!

WORKOUT

After work I headed to the track for a workout with Boston Performance Coaching. You may remember I’ve done it once before and was terribly hard on myself. It was a tough workout, one I wasn’t particularly excited to go back to (since I’m not even training for a race) but I wanted coach Ali to look at my running form again so I signed up. The Harvard Track was actually being used for some kind of a race so we went to this dinky little side track and did laps there. That made them much shorter and a lot more manageable. Still hard but doable. This time Christina (I think?) was coaching and she said my problem is my arms. I cross them while I run which is inefficient and hurts my back. I tried to relax my shoulders down this time. Something I must work on. She was right. I felt very accomplished after we finished and actually ended up walking back home too, which was a little over 3 miles. It was nice out and Adam was out so I took advantage.

Speaking of running – who wants to see super embarrassing race photos of me? You can find them here. Terrible stuff.

DINNER

Get ready for some more ugly food…

All I could think about was a quesadilla on my walk home. So that’s what I had. Here are the insides:

Corn, peppers, mushrooms

Spicy black bean sauce and grape tomatoes – plus Cabot horseradish cheese all over (I couldn’t find our grader so I used a microplane)

All folded and grilled on the pan – a giant mess! (the little dish is the stuff that felt out that I still wanted to eat )

It burnt instantly on one side and wouldn’t brown up on the other. It was exactly what I wanted, taste wise though. A little spicy and definitely veggie-full. I had some more spicy black bean dip with lime tortilla chips while prepping and after dinner. I think these need to be banned from our house. So good, I can’t handle it.

I ended up watching too much trashy tv before finally going to bed so I’m a bit slow this morning. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my giveaway (here).

Have you had any ugly food lately that was still tasty?

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Ok, I guess a bloody Mary is not really a balanced breakfast. I was craving nothing else so I grabbed some random stuff on my way out the door to enjoy at work when hunger strikes:

The siggi’s yogurt was not bad. It’s definitely a lot more tart than most greek yogurts, but I’m pretty hardcore in that dept so I don’t mind that. The pomegranate and passion fruit flavor was pretty mild. I still prefer oikos but I’d buy siggi’s if it was on sale (or like in this case, if I had a coupon for a free one ).

FRIDAY WORKOUT

I was really feeling Thursday’s pilates class and was hoping spinning would get the lactic acid out of my muscles. It was a great class (one of my favorite instructors is back after a long break) and I was so happy to have exercise back into my life.

BROWNIES!!

Remember this post? The brownie bake-off was this Friday!

As you know, I’ve tested a few recipes for the bake-off. For mother’s day (before I even knew of the contest), I baked rocky road bars, which came out too dry but I was impressed with the topping. Then a few weeks later (based on your suggestions) I baked some Baked brownies and declared them to be the best brownies I’ve ever had, which I find a bit funny since I’ve actually had the real Baked brownies before (yes, straight from the Baked bakery in Brooklyn). They were moist and chocolaty without being too fudgy (the kind that actually shows teeth marks when you bite into them) or cakey. Basically perfect. I didn’t know that was my ideal brownie (before that I’d say “fudgy” was my favorite) but here it was, made by yours truly. I also baked a batch of the King Arthur brownies (again based on your recommendations) for a Memorial Day pool party and everyone loved them, but my heart belongs to Baked brownies. I made a batch for the contest, topped them with marshmallows, roasted pecans and chocolate chips (just like the rocky road bars) and they became THE WINNING RECIPE at my work!! So cool. There was some very tough competition too.

Btw, I baked the plain baked brownies for 23 minutes and then after topping them with the goods, baked them for another 3 minutes. I’m telling you this because you should baked them. Asap! This day was going well so far… and then Friday night happened. Yay!

FRIDAY NIGHT OUTING

Adam and I had a party to attend later in the evening, but instead of sitting at home on our favorite night of the week, we decided to look through our groupons and such and went out for (a nearly free) dinner instead. A glass of wine + pizza at Cafe 47 was definitely a great way to start the weekend!

This was a glass of montepulciano – it was nothing special but still hit the spot. For my pizza I got an individual sized vegetarian pie with roasted red peppers, mushrooms, spinach and artichokes. I really LOVE artichokes on pizza.

I liked the chewy crust – this pizza was not bad but not the best I’ve had in Boston either. Nonetheless, slowly but surely I still ate the whole thing. Pizza is one of my favorite foods for sure!

Party time! I had 2 Magners…

… and some homemade mint julep ice cream. Classy pic, I know. The ice cream was awesome!!! I am SO making ice cream with booze for my next party. Brilliant.

SATURDAY

… was a lot classier. I started the day by meeting my sister for the aforementioned bootcamp class (had an orange and a coffee before that – unpictured). This class is great – she doesn’t do anything crazy, which is good because I don’t fear the class but it’s still very effective. Since I was already pretty sore from Thursday’s pilates (seriously?!) I was feeling every move. It was glorious. Inna loved it too!

LUNCH

A feast with local produce. Mixed greens from Silverbrook Farm (I buy my eggs from them too), fresh strawberries from Spring Brook Farm, feta from Narragansett Creamery (best feta ever!!), pecans, dried blueberries and pickled jalapenos, dressed in basil EVOO and strawberry balsamic vinegar.

Sweet, salty, spicy = amazing

+ an egg (for protein – I know random!)

Lunch was on the light side because we had a bbq to attend at 4pm at Adam’s boss’s house. The bbq was moved indoors due to the rain (we actually ended up canceling our own bbq on Sunday for the same reason ) but everything inside was still so beautiful and summery!!

During the cocktail hour I had a glass of Jordan Cabernet Savignon and munched on quite a few pita crackers with hummus and a bit of cheese.

This is my favorite Cabernet but it’s quite pricey. Basically we only drink it when we are around Adam’s boss. (i.e. Christmas and summer parties). I probably had 2.5-3 glasses throughout the evening. It’s so complex yet drinkable. Definitely one of the best.

My dinner plate…

+ some more corn salad which was phenomenal (I need to get the recipe) and a slice of bread with hummus. I left half of the cheese off. I was getting full and leaving room for dessert was a priority.

Pies! Let’s see if I get them straight – blueberry…

Peach:

Raspberry/blackberry:

I had a little slice of the apricot and the raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream of course. Pie has to be accompanied by ice cream at all times. Right? Right. I left with a bit of a stomachache (the second slice of pie was probably a mistake but I have a problem with delicious desserts, what can I say). I’d say it was worth it.

How was your weekend? I’ll recap Sunday’s eats tomorrow. It was another good day!

I’ve dined solo many times, mostly while traveling. It’s actually kind of relaxing and weirdly empowering. I like bringing a book with me otherwise I just eat too fast. Tonight though, I ended up just throwing a quick dinner together. Hopefully we can go out together with Adam some other night, once his work crisis is averted.

Before we get to my average dinner and some other “business,” let me quickly announce the winner of the CSN Stores giveaway. I had 230 eligible entries, and the winner is…. #119 (Blair).

Sorry mom, you can’t cheat the system – you’re going to have to buy that crockpot yourself. Perhaps at cookware. com? Blair, please email me your address asap – elina@healthyandsane.com

Those of you who didn’t win, you will be happy to know that I have ANOTHER giveaway for you. Through my amazingly persuasive powers (kidding), one lucky reader will receive an Oikos package that will include – 4 free 5.3 oz coupons, 2 multipacks, and one 16 oz oikos coupon + an Oikos tote bag. I’m pretty excited about this one. I’m a giant fan of oikos and I want you to taste it (if you haven’t already) or get a little more addicted if you’ve already tried it.

So here are the rules (they are a bit different this time so read carefully):

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me a random fact about the dairy or organic industry. Here are a few resources for you:

• My last post about the Stonyfield luncheon
• The importance of organic farming (from the Stonyfield website)
• The organic center
  

2) If you have a blog, let others know about the giveaway and link back to this post.  If you don’t have a blog, tell someone about this giveaway and let me know that you’ve done so (after they enter the giveaway by commenting). You can also tweet about this giveaway *Either one earns you 2 bonus point* Please come back to this post and tell me you did so (twice).

I will announce the winner of this giveaway next Tuesday, June 1st.

All right, let’s talk about food. I had a good day of official healthy living checklist err checking.

BALANCED BREAKFAST – check!

I got a few Siggi’s coupons in my Healthworks swag bag. I’ve seen Siggi’s yogurt all over the blog world but to be honest never cared to buy it because it’s not organic. Like I said, I’m a pretty die hard oikos fan. I buy TJ’s european style organic yogurt too because oikos is so expensive. I kind of alternate between those 2. The free siggi’s coupons made me purchase a few and this morning I tried the grapefruit kind.

… with a zucchini spelt muffin + coffee

I was surprised at how thick siggi is. Almost thicker than greek yogurt. I liked that. What I didn’t like was that it was a bit grainy and I was definitely not a fan of the grapefruit flavor. I actually don’t even like grapefruit but for some reason I thought this yogurt would be awesome. Maybe it’s the pretty picture.

What I did like… all of these things:

Milk from grass fed cows (weather permitting)? No artificial stuff? Music to my ears. What’s also cool is that Siggi’s is lightly sweetened with agave nectar (the plain variety is not sweetened at all). And then there is this super cool label recycling option:

Love it! Let’s hope their plain yogurt tastes good because I really like what they’re doing here. I also plan on meeting Mr. Siggi soon and find out why his yogurt is not organic. Changing the world one yogurt at a time

SNACK #1 – check!

Chocolate cherry granola bar

MOVE FOR at least 20 MINUTES – check!

It was brutally hot in Boston today and I knew I would have a terrible run if I attempted it. So for the first time in months, I treadmilled it. It was actually a great 5 miler. I alternated between 5.5-7.0 mph at 0.5-2.5 incline. I cooled down with a 1/2 mile walk and stretched a bunch. Great workout!

BALANCED LUNCH

Leftover slice of grilled veggie + fromage blanc pizza

Potato slices sauteed with 1t EVOO, garlic and dried thyme (yum!!)

Simple salad – mixed greens, pea shots, grape tomatoes

BALANCED DINNER – check!

Canned salmon salad with hummus, carrots and tomatoes

Snow peas, carrots, pickle

SNACK #2 (unpictured)

An orange + somersaults

TREAT

Baked brownie (test recipe #1 for the brownie bake-off). I’m going to try to make all of the ones you commented about.

This is 1/2 piece – I ended up eating the other half too – they’re good!

All right, I want to hear about your dining solo stories and if you’re interested in some free oikos coupons, you gotta follow the rules.

We got an ice cream machine from my parents-in-law this past Christmas. Around the same time we started our kitchen remodel, but that didn’t stop me from making my own frozen yogurt. It was a good first try. Pretty yummy but the recipe definitely required some tweaking. That was my first and last attempt at making a frozen concoction… until today!

I actually finally dug a whole in our freezer big enough to fit the ice cream bowl into a few days ago, but receiving The Oprah Magazine Cookbook from my parents-in-law for my birthday (thank you!) and locking eyes with the sour cream ice cream recipe sealed the deal for me. I had to go buy ice cream ingredients. Stat. [Recipe can also be found here, I used low fat sour cream and a little less than 1 cup of sugar.]

Introducing my new love

Mix all the ice cream ingredients and pour into this genius machine. Let it run for ~30 minutes.

I think someone wanted ice cream even more than I did

Try not to eat it all right away. It really should spend at least 4 hours in the freezer to reach the perfect (hard) consistency.

I lasted 1 hour. So what if it was a little softer.

My first REAL ice cream

Can you see how creamy it is?

OMG – amazing. Incredibly smooth and slightly tangy. Maybe it’s the sour cream that put it over the top for me, since you know, sour cream probably runs through my veins (being a “Russian” and all), but Adam thought it was pretty phenomenal as well. I am doing everything I can to keep myself away from the kitchen (read: freezer). This could be trouble!

If you don’t have an ice cream machine (although you should really start making space or saving for one – whatever reason has stopped you from buying it), no worries. I got a whole lot of other deliciousness to share with you. Let’s begin with…

BREAKFAST

I love leisurely mornings – they allow me to start the day with fresh baked muffins, like these zucchini spelt muffins from eat, drink & be vegan cookbook

The recipe made 4 larger muffins and 8 smaller ones. I also added about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter. For those of you who count calories – the larger one is ~255 calories, the smaller one is ~170 cals (just counted it so that I wouldn’t be going overboard on calories without even realizing it). I enjoyed one larger one with some local organic strawberries and coffee.

And then I went a little crazy with picture taking (it’s kind of the theme of today’s post actually – too much time on my hands? )

Hello, strawbs!

So pretty.

And so moist and delicious!!!! Dreena is right – don’t let the healthy sounding name discourage you – these are such a treat for your taste buds. Also Adam approved.

LUNCH

The rest of the morning flew by so I just thew together a random Mediterranean-inspired spread.

Fresh cucumber slices, Foxboro Co fromage blanc, jalapeno stuffed olives, Samira’s baba ganoush, Sofra beet tzatziki, edamame “hummus,” grilled peppers and zucchini and When Pigs Fly olive bread. Phew!

Adam and I shared this platter.

It was a fun lunch with lots of flavors and textures.

And yes, I went crazy taking pictures again.

Earlier this week I received from the company a sample of Lipton Pure Leaf ice tea for my review. I thought these would be perfect to accompany a summery-ish lunch.

The Pure Leaf ice tea is sweetened with stevia and has zero calories. I received 2 flavors: lemon and raspberry. Unfortunately I did not enjoy either one of these. They were extremely sweet and very “fake” tasting. Thumbs down from this blogger. Adam still polished them off but said he prefers diet Snapple. I’ll stick to water.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

Luna Protein chocolate cherry almond bar (I received in the Healthworks swag bag)

It tasted like a candy bar. I liked it. The ingredients list appears to be all natural too. Excellent

A while later – 1/2 fitness bread with light cream cheese, lox and grape tomatoes

+ an orange (unpictured)

DINNER

Although I really wanted ice cream for dinner, I behaved like an adult and made a real dinner – Ellie Krieger’s steak tacos with cucumber-avocado salsa to be exact (recipe can be found here)

Dinner came together in minutes and was extremely flavorful. These tasted pretty authentic to me. No cheese or sour cream needed – just lots of fresh flavors (mmm, lime + avocado).

So much good eats! I wish everyday could be this healthy and delicious.

Have you ever made your own ice cream? What’s your favorite kind? I think we’re going to do a chocolate/m&m combo next (Adam’s childhood favorite) and then junk-free oreo cookie ice cream. I love that I can use all organic high quality ingredients and that the mix-in possibilities are endless.

* Only a few days left to enter the cookware giveaway!*

Yesterday was another busy day as I was trying to tackle the rest of my to-do list, complete a longer run, and prep for a casual bbq. Adam was a HUGE help. I gave him a grocery list with like 50 items on it (some kind of obscure) and he bought everything but one (which I was fine without at the end of the day). Awesome! I love grocery shopping but sometimes a little help in that dept helps!

My long run was kind of bluh. It was HOT out by the time I got out (almost at noon) and I took lots of water breaks and gave up kind of early. I think I covered 8 miles (maybe a bit more) but maybe ran 6.5 of them and not all in a row. Oh well, hopefully there will be better runs this week!

My breakfast/pre-workout meal:

FFL english muffin with BB, strawberry rhubarb jam and 1/2 banana + coffee

Sorry for the terrible photo. I wasn’t even going to take a picture because you’ve seen it a million times, but then I took a quick one just in case. haha

I ended up kind of grazing for the rest of the day, so let’s call the eats below snacks, lunch and dinner.

Shrimp, mango & avocado ceviche in mini fillo shells. I think I’m going to submit this recipe to the phyllo contest. It turned out delicious after a few tweaks.

I munched on an orange and some cottage cheese while prepping these babies (unpictured).

Then the boys brought over some chips and salsa to munch on during the Celtics game. OMG, this black bean is like crack. So spicy and flavorful. I wanted to eat a whole jar with a spoon and call it dinner.

Let’s see the label a little closer. You guys need to find it asap!! I added it to my grocery list right away.

I did eat an actual meal eventually – Applegate Farms grass-fed organic hot dog & sauerkraut + grilled veggies

Did I mention how much I love grilled veggies? I think I did.

Dessert: bake-off test recipe #1 – break-up bars (recipe here)

I tried these  bars for the first time at the cookie swap party in January and they were definitely a favorite. I omitted the toffee (couldn’t find it + they are rich enough without it) but otherwise followed the recipe closely.

I’ve never baked with so much butter (more than a whole box was used for this batch) but man – these truly are incredible!! They took a while to set (I suggest throwing them in the freezer as the last step) but the wait was well worth it. So rich and decadent. I cut them into 64 little two-bite pieces and I think they can be enjoyed in such moderation guilt free (I had one of the bars pictured).

Shortbread + caramel + fudge = sounds like a winning recipe to me!!! I’ll keep on testing though, just in case

My birthday is this Saturday so I’m calling this my birthday week. I’m actually excited for it. See you later!

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/2010/05/mix-bakery-cupcake-heaven-here-in-boston/ http://healthyandsane.com/2010/05/mix-bakery-cupcake-heaven-here-in-boston/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 03:01:02 +0000 Elina http://healthyandsane.com/?p=10237 From the looks of your comments on my last post, you are more interested in getting all the details about cupcakes than hearing about eggs. I do feel the need to talk about both, but we’ll start with cupcakes first since you asked so nicely

So Friday I had the perfect girls night out planned – dinner and drinks out, followed by watching the first Sex and the City movie (can’t wait for the second one now!!!) and eating cupcakes. Sounds pretty good, right? A few weeks ago I won a giveaway at We Are Not Martha – the prize: half a dozen cupcakes from Mix Bakery delivered right to my door. Um yes, I was excited to say the least. So of course this was the perfect night to cash in my winnings and taste test these babies.

I emailed the owner Kelly and we decided on a 6 different flavors that were delivered to me on Friday night. I loved that the cupcakes were customizable, although the specialty cupcakes on the menu sounded so cool, I couldn’t get much more creative that that.

I chose the chocolate cupcake with chocolate butter cream frosting as my “base taste” – that’s usually my favorite flavor combination and I needed to know if Mix Bakery could be my go-to “cupcakery” to fix a craving for it (I have not found a bakery in Boston yet that could come even close to Magnolia bakery in NYC that I love so dearly).

So that was chocolate, let’s see what else I got…

Banana cupcake with chocolate butter cream frosting

Carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate peanut butter cup cupcake – chocolate pudding cupcake with peanut butter butter cream and a pb cup

Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting

S’mores – chocolate graham cracker bottom, chocolate cupcake topped with marshmallow buttercream and a mini chocolate bar

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is!

After photographing these beauties, it was torture not to have a little bite. Apparently even Adam couldn’t stand the beauty (and the smell!) – he wanted a taste too. So I let him choose a favorite and told him that he could share 1/4 of it with me so that I’d leave the rest for the girls to taste. We tasted the banana/chocolate first. And this is where all the rules went out the window. Guys, this was banana bread in cupcake form (!!!), topped with the most delicious buttery chocolate frosting I’ve ever had. After a tiny bite of Adam’s quarter cupcake, I dug back into the rest of it. The girls still had 5 other cupcakes to sample after all.

Adam said this was the best cupcake he’s ever had. This says a lot because he’s not big on sweets and thinks the whole cupcake craze is well… crazy. I assure you that if I let him, he’d polish off a whole one and probably dig back into the box. But no, we closed the box and I patiently waited for the girls to arrive. There was a mild inconvenience of dinner first (J/K – it was lovely) but then it was time to really dig in. No more rules, just good ol’ cupcake eating.

I was a pretty bad taste tester. I just ate and ate, and noted that each was good. VERY good – the cake part was very moist and the frostings were great, not overwhelmingly sweet like this other cupcake place in Boston (we won’t name names, I’ll be nice). The girls loved them all too. Tiffany‘s favorite was double chocolate, Katy and Liz chose the s’mores for its creativity (the graham cracker crust was awesome and the frosting was so light and fluffy) and I had to go with the banana/chocolate. It was perfection.

I am so ecstatic about this new bakery. Finally I don’t have to dream of going to NY to satisfy a cupcake craving. You will definitely be seeing these on Healthy and Sane again. They are healthy for the soul. For now Mix Bakery is available by delivery only, but Kelly is working on opening a bakery with a store front soon. If you are in the Boston area, I highly recommend you place an order from Mix Bakery asap – I’d just find a few willing girlfriends to come over because if I was left alone with a box of these and no plans, let’s just say there wouldn’t be a need for dinner that night

So yes, the cupcakes were awesome but I know many of you cannot have the pleasure of tasting them. So I’ll share a special treat I baked for my mom on Sunday and you CAN recreate these.

Small batch rocky road bars (recipe can be found here – I made mine in a 9″ sq pan and cut the batch into 12 bars). I couldn’t pick a favorite photo so here are a bunch. More eye candy, that’s for sure

The actual base brownie part came out a little too chewy and dry but the topping was amazing. Baking the pecans for a few minutes was key. Good quality chips combined with melty mini marshmallows were also a really fun addition. I’d play with the base brownie recipe next time, but I definitely cannot wait to have these again. Do you have a go-to basic brownie recipe?

By the way, the date day with my husband was really fun. It was pretty miserable out but we still enjoyed each other’s company and of course there was lots of delicious food involved. Thank you for understanding that this little blogger needs some time away from here once in a while.

Who’s ready to conquer this coming week?

I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t sure about these guys. Fresh basil and mint scares me in large amounts and the herbs were sure to stand out with such a short ingredients list. Furthermore, right before heading home to make these for lunch, I read Liz’s less-than stellar review of these and got scared even more. I am happy to say everything went without a glitch!

I cut the amount of rice vinegar in the sauce by half (saw the too-vinegary complaint in several reviews) and the sauce was perfect. Nice and spicy (and a little sweet), well balanced. The rolls were an ease to roll too – way easier in fact than I thought they would be. I made sure to soften the rice paper one at a time, and then quickly stuffed it with all the cut-up veggies, shrimp… and noodles?

Oh yes, noodles! After taking the above 3 photos, I realized I forgot about the noodles. I made them, but they were on the other side of the table and totally escaped my mind. So now that I caught this little mistake, the other 3 rolls had their noodles. See the 2 rolls on the left in the pic below? Yes, much better!

Last thing I forgot to mention, I used my mandoline to finely cut the carrots and decided to do the same with some fresh zucchini I had in the fridge. It was a good call, I’d do that again. And yes, I would make these again. Go light on the mint, heavier on the shrimp (1/roll is not enough!) and definitely keep the zucchini addition. Adam’s only complaint was that there weren’t more of these. Success!

I can’t wait to make other types of summer rolls too since I now have about 300 rice paper rounds left. Any filling ideas?

****

After work, I got back to my kitchen to bake some cookies. Adam and I are attending 2 parties this weekend. What better gift to bring than some freshly made vegan cookies!

First party – all ready for travel!

Dreena’s super-charge me cookies

I used a combo of raisins and cranberries as dried fruit. I’d add even more dried fruit next time – maybe some tart dried cherries? Mmm, cherries.

And Dreena’s “you got peanut butter in my chocolate” cookies (also from Eat, drink & be vegan; recipe can be found here)

.. and then I went a little crazy with the photo-shoot.

So here is the verdict on these 2 recipes. I liked the super-charge me cookies. I enjoyed the oats and the combo of the choc chips with dried fruit. I really think some tart cherries will be perfect in these. I’d even add more than 1/2 cup as per the recipe. Load ‘em up!!

The choc/pb cookies came out pretty flat and tasted a bit burnt to me. I cooked them for exactly 11 minutes as per the recipe, so I’m not sure if this was the intended taste or if something went wrong in my kitchen. I *may* make them again. We’ll see. Everyone at the first party we went to liked my cookies. We’ll see what the other reviewers will say tonight.

Have you ever made vegan cookies before?

Any fun plans for this weekend?

Now let’s dive into it. This weekend was action packed that’s for sure. I was up at 8am on Saturday and then it was go-go-go after that. The good news is that it was all fun!

So my morning started with a smallish breakfast before a bootcamp class + a little blogging.

Ww toast with Maranatha almond butter & 1/2 banana + coffee

The bootcamp class was tough. I almost always feel super out of shape during my workouts but then I realize that it’s because I actually push myself to my limit. I try to use 12lb weights for all exercises and except for the instructor (who is in an incredible shape and really is a machine and does the same), most girls use 5, 8 or at most 10 lbs. That makes a huge difference! So after reminding myself this, I felt a little better.

A crazy quick shower and then it was time to meet my friend Kathy for brunch at Brasserie JO. It’s about a 2 minute walk from my place and it was time we checked it out. I am usually a sweet breakfast kind of girl but I had some drinking to do in the very near future (see below) so I decided to get something a little more “lunchy.”

Coffee with skim milk and REAL sugar – all of you who are still using artificial sweeteners in your coffee to save on calories, I promise you that you CAN afford 15 calories/tsp. Train yourself to use only that much, and you will not gain weight from 15 calories and you will also not be injecting your bodies with chemicals or substances with unknown long term effects! That’s all I have to say.

Open faced crepe with ham, cheese and egg

I asked that they go light on butter/oil (whatever they use) – not sure if they did but this was not greasy at all, in fact it was pretty fantastic. You can’t see all the ham and cheese inside but it was there. I ate 3/4 of the crepe and stayed away from the home fries (I think they had a little onion in them). Delicious, delicious brunch and even better company. Kathy, I wished you lived in Boston!!!!!

Then it was time to Wine Riot!

I attended the event last year (whoa, my hair was so dark then) and it was a blast so we definitely made sure to buy tickets for this one. I was a little apprehensive about starting to drink at 1pm (we went to the first wave) but once I got there, it was all good. I took tiny sips and enjoyed the sun that was beaming through the windows. It was actually a pretty awesome way to spend an afternoon.

Hi, Adam!

Hi, Emily and Judie!

Judie really got into the Wine Riot spirit and got a pretty classy tattoo

I started with a sweet sip of a sparkling Moscato.

And then many little sips followed…

… you get the idea

At 2:30, we went into a side room to take a “crash course” on Mendocino wines – sustainable and/or organic wines.

Side note: up until now – my favorite wine was the Terra Andina Reserva Carmenere – it was full bodied and almost smoky. I really enjoyed it.

Back to the crash course… Bob Swain, Mendocino’s wine maker, talked about the sustainable and organic practices at the winery. Sustainable wines mean that the farms are carbon-neutral. Organic wines are of course taken further – no pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can be used in the growing of the grapes.

Parducci is Mendocino’s sustainable brand; Paul Dolan is the organic brand. We started with a tasting of the sustainable white…

[classy, I know ]

… which was delicious! It was subtly sweet and super smooth. We all LOVED it!

Next up was the organic Paul Dolan zinfandel.

Fantastic! It was complex and definitely had that “expensive wine” taste. At $18 it’s a little more than an every-day bottle but definitely worth the splurge on occasion. Plus, you can feel good about drinking an organic product!

So we loved the two wines so much, that the next stop was the Paul Dolan/Parducci booth. I tried every single wine and every single one of them was great! I’ll be looking for it at our liquor store (and Whole Foods)!!

Aside from wine, there was also some free Cabot cheese. Obviously everyone loves Cabot cheese but I took this opportunity to try something new – horseradish cheese. Have you had ever had it? OMG, I’m obsessed! It has this spicy wasabi (or horseradish, duh) taste to it – lingering heat. I love love love it. Must find more in the grocery store and put it on everything.

A few other favorites from the Wine Nose booth.

My favorite was the O’Reilly’s pinot gris from Oregon. I usually like sweeter white wines but this one was a bit more dry but so complex (I find that hard to find in whites). At $12, definitely a great buy! I love discovering new delicious wines! Oh and I chatted up the guy behind the booth and he shocked me with his Trader Joe’s stories. Apparently they really don’t want to waste their time talking to the “small guys.” Oh TJ’s, I love you so, but what’s up with that?!!!

So yeah, a bit of wine drinking was definitely had by all. What are we looking at here?

Much better!

And another one outside. Man, we were distracted a lot

Hi, Healthy and Saners! hehe, that sounds funny.

We all headed to our place with a bit of a buzz. The game plan was to eat some snacks, order dinner in a bit, and watch the Celtics kick ass!

Food Should Taste Good multigrain tortilla chips + organic salsa

TJ’s wild mushroom & truffle flatbread

Brownies I made from a box by adding lots of butter and eggs  – everyone loved them but I wasn’t a fan.

Eventually we ordered lots of Indian food from Mela - that was pretty awesome!!

I had a sampling of everything…

And the next morning discovered a dish I completely missed the night before and it now can go on a favorites list!

Subz panchmael – red, yellow and green peppers, artichokes, asparagus and bean sprouts stir fried with panch phoran flavored tomato and green cardamom sauce

I ate it for breakfast…

… and again for lunch (with a vegetable samosa).

Couldn’t get enough! I’ll leave this super long post with a picture of the raspberry squares I made for my parents yesterday. These were full-fat and super indulgent tasting but everyone loved them. My dad said he’d pay money for that! I’ll take those 2 bottles of wine you brought as payment, dad.

Have a great day, everyone! Feel free to comment on anything in this post. It was definitely information overload (for me too ).