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’m not much of a football fan but the Super Bowl is a big deal. I almost forgot about it so I started my morning the way I plan on starting all my Sunday mornings for the next 4 months – with a run!! But first…

PRE-RUN FUEL

Nature’s Own 12 grain toast with Barney Butter + 1/2 banana

[226 calories]

RUN

So I met up with my old running partner and friend, Molly, for a run. It was SO good to get back into it! We spent so many hours running last year, catching up on everything in life and I really missed that routine. Molly is running a half marathon in a few weeks but I decided to wait for a warmer race. This was my first week of training for the Run to Remember on May 30th. I have plenty of time to train, and I plan on killing this race. Yep, you will be reading about a very strong finish this time around! (I’ll do a separate post about my training plan, etc.) Is anybody else signed up for this race? Molly, did you sign up yet? If not, this is your reminder!!

Oh yeah, so back to my run. I was hoping to do 7 miles but I was super slow in the morning (forgot my shoes at the gym so we had to go there and get them, that kind of slow) so we ran out of time and only did a little over 6 miles. Still good though! I felt like we were flying but I know that wasn’t really the case. The wind just made it seem like we were working extra hard. It was 19* outside!!! About half-way in, I twisted my ankle badly, rested for a few minutes and felt ok to keep going, albeit a bit slower. Towards the end of the night, I couldn’t even walk though! Maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea to keep running. Oh well, I’ll recover. It was nothing too major.

LUNCH

The best thing about long Sunday runs (ok, 6 miles isn’t that long but the runs will get longer) is refueling!! I made the best little burger: TJ’s chicken patty with laughing cow, mushrooms and bbq sauce on FFL english muffin + snap peas

The patties are already pre-cooked and are really flavorful. I will be buying these even after our kitchen remodel is done – so quick and easy and packs a lot of flavor!

[408 calories]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

[80 calories]

DINNER

So yeah, since I forgot what a big deal Super Bowl is, Adam and I stopped by for food before the party. Our friends live in Allston, very close to Super 88 and the 88 food connection. Basically, it’s an Asian food court full of super authentic Asian eats. I’ve been on an Asian kick lately, so this was my idea actually.

The place even reminds us of Asia. Adam says it smells like Hong Kong (it’s a compliment). I may not have such a strong reaction to the smell, but I can tell you – the food is GOOD!

Adam pretending he can’t see me with the camera.

The Smile Thai Noodles stand caught my eye – particularly the Pacific Basil soup picture. When a soup picture calls your name, you have to listen, right?

The staff at Smile Thai Noodles was super friendly and knowledgeable. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was surprised they spoke English (that’s how authentic this place is!) but they did and that was really great because I was able to tell them to omit the onions from my soup and they did so with no hesitation! Awesome!!! So here is my final order…

Pacific basil soup: carrots, peppers, mushrooms, thai rice noodles, shrimp, squid, scallops and thai basil in a spicy thai broth

This was AMAZING!!! I was planning on only having a little and bringing the rest to the party to nibble on later but I couldn’t stop eating it! It was so flavorful (lots of thai basil!) and fresh with all the veggies… and there was a ton of seafood. I love love loved it! This is the kind of Asian food I love, not the gross Chinese takeout we got on Friday. I’m still bitter about it (post to come, I have to warn all Bostonians out there).

THE SUPER BOWL PARTY

So silly Adam and Elina have dinner before a super bowl party. Rookie mistake!! There was so much food there!!! A lot of New Orleans inspired dishes (and beer) – we were all about the Saints tonight. (Thank god they won, I think there could be crying otherwise). I’ll let the pictures do the talking. I had dinner so I only tried a bite of each savory dish/dip, but I definitely had my share of dessert + 1.5 Magners! Oy.

Are you ready for this week? I’m already looking forward to next weekend. This one really flew by!!

Despite a late-ish get together, I couldn’t help myself with a few appetizers and desserts

An antipasti plate with grapes, aged gouda, smoked gouda, four pepper goat cheese, salami and mixed olives

Tzatziki which I made by following this recipe from Cooking Light. I substituted 2% greek yogurt for nonfat plain and used dried dill and no mint. The result was so fresh and delicious. I think this was the best thing I made for the party!

Fresh cauliflower, baby carrots and cucumber slices for dipping…

My mom helped out with some cooking as well, and made these little cheese puffs. They have cheddar baked right into the dough, and are stuffed with russian cottage cheese, A LOT of garlic and fresh dill. This is a recipe my mom got from a German magazine when we were kids so although it’s not Russian, it really reminds me of my childhood. Everyone loved these guys of course!

Bacon potato chips I got from Foodzie for Adam’s Christmas stocking. The reviews on these were mixed. They are definitely on the weird side – lots of smoky flavor for sure!

Crab dip based on this recipe from Cooking Light. I halved it (because crab is expensive!), used claw meat (see previous reason), used 4% cottage cheese (I wasn’t sure how the fat-free would melt) and omitted the scallions. I tasted the batter before baking it and thought it was amazing. Post baking it was a little fishy, although one of our friends was converted into a crab lover during the party (the first bite was just okay to him, but he kept going back!) which I guess is the best review that could be given to this dip. It was also gone by the end of the night – another good sign.

I tried it with some cauliflower…

Trader Joe’s ham & cheese puff pastry bites

No prep required, just pop in the oven and bake. Perfect for a random get together or when you want to keep the cooking to the minimum! This was actually my strategy for the party – I made a few dips, but then relied on some store bought extras (cheeses, meats, chips, veggies, etc.). It worked out great – I was hardly in the kitchen to pull this off!

DESSERTS!

Desserts I made a few days before the party, to make sure I don’t run out of time. That would be criminal

I started with Ellie Krieger’s no bake lemon cheesecake bars…

They set a little better over the next 24 hours (after the last post), but I still served them in little muffin liners with spoons. This was definitely less messy! Overall I really liked the taste of them, but the texture just complicated things too much. I wouldn’t make them again unless I figured out how I can get them to perfectly set next time.

Next, my mom surprised me with a cake for the party. This one is called “holiday” in Russian, which was quite appropriate. The base is an almond meal crust (I think), topped with custard and chocolate ganache.

I was in heaven after the first bite. Here it is cut into party size bites. Mmm… thanks mom!!!!! My mom’s goods were my favorite from the whole spread!

Lastly, the peppermint bark cookies made an appearance as well. Of course!

Some alcohol was also involved We had some wine and glasses set up…

And a make your-own mixed drink set up. It worked out really well. People were making all sorts of fun concoctions!

+ a lot of beer! We have so much left now because everyone brought way more than they could drink. Not the worst thing in the world

I had a few glasses of red...

Then Pran showed up with sangria and I couldn’t resist… drank a few glasses of that. I love sangria!

A little posing action

Somebody wasn’t too amused. Hehe (actually he smiled right after the camera clicked – tough guy!)

So much fun! How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

I spent the majority of my first day of 2010 on the couch, watching reruns of the Next Iron Chef. Good times. I’m off to the gym now. I’ll be back this weekend with my New Years Resolutions for 2010 (want to digest them for a few days). Did you make resolutions yet? Have a fabulous weekend and a happy 2010!!!!!!!

The day was so relaxing that my only exercise was mashing potatoes

Actually it was hard work! My mom’s exercise was playing with baby Colby…

She wouldn’t leave the little guy! I think someone wants grandchildren, but she’ll have to wait a while for that. Hope she got her fix

Justin helped us really get into the spirit of Turkey day!

And then there was food, lots of food!

APPETIZERS

I had 2 little buffalo chicken in puff pastry guys, 1 piece of smoked gouda and a bunch of fresh carrots. The carrots were the perfect thing to munch on while we were all just hanging out before dinner time! Speaking of dinner…

THANKSGIVING FEAST

Before:

After:

Turkey (duh). I’m always surprised at how perfect it looks!

Sweet potato casserole (with brown sugar, pecans and cranberries) – as always, one of my favorites! It’s like dessert for dinner, and you guys know I’m all about that

Cheese & broccoli casserole

My sister in law made a special one for me, sans onions

Same with the stuffing, these stuffing muffins were made for me without onions… love the presentation!

Cranberry sauce with dried cherries

Mashed potatoes (professionally mashed )

Something here is not like the others… my mother in law made a Russian beet salad with walnuts, apples, garlic and light mayo. I LOVED it! This is actually what comfort food is for me.

My plate ( + some green beans that came out minutes later)

Crescent roll that I kind of ate out of habit.

Nothing (except for the green beans) was healthy so I tried a tiny bit of everything (minus the mashed potatoes, I know what mashed potatoes taste like) and kept the portions small. Surprisingly, I was very satisfied after finishing this plate. I grabbed a tiny bit more of the beet salad for seconds. That’s it!

Oh, of course I also enjoyed a few glasses of wine with dinner

DESSERTS

Oh yeah, this is what I live for, people. Desserts!! I was so excited for this spread because every single thing sounded amazing. Let’s start with my ugly apple pie… I followed this recipe from Cooking Light for caramel apple pie (you know I had to make the healthier version!).

Making this thing was such a project! My crust dough was too crumbly after the first step but I saved it by adding another tablespoon of water and letting it do it’s thing in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then it was too small for my pie plate. I spent a while stretching it, but as you can see above, those little dough pieces I added, just ended up falling off. Finally, the top wouldn’t brown! I cooked it for so much longer than the recipe called for (like 25 minutes longer!) but it was just looking soggy and bluh. At the end, I covered the crust and broiled the top for a few minutes. This resulted in slightly burnt apples. *Sigh.* A looker it was not…

… but it did taste really good!! Everyone seemed to enjoy it (including myself). My nephew even said I had to make it again next year and this kid doesn’t lie (5-year olds definitely tell it like it is). Not a complete failure I guess! I’ll keep working on my pie crust skills!

SIL also made a yummy pecan pie

A chocolate pudding pie (I didn’t try it)

Purchased an awesome pumpkin cheesecake from Costco…

And my mom made one of my favorite cakes – the black poodle (because it looks like curly hair on a poodle’s head)

Creamy filling, raisins, walnuts, chocolate ganache… what more can you ask for?! Thanks, mom!!

The whole spread:

My plate:

Again, I was proud for tiny portions of everything. I had all the intentions of going back for seconds and doubling this, but was satisfied with just this (whoa, is this intuitive eating actually starting to work?!!). After a few hours of chatting, I went back for a slice of mom’s black poodle cake. It was exactly what I wanted and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And that’s my Thanksgiving 2009 recap. I read through last year’s recap and noted slight differences in my thinking this year. Last year I was counting calories. I made a conscious decision to enjoy the day’s eats but not go overboard last year, just like this year. It did seem to be a little harder for me last year. I appears that although I probably ate nearly the same amounts on both occasions, my experience mentally was a little different.  Last year, I think taking a break from calorie counting, my instinct was to eat as much as possible since it was “allowed” but I fought it.  This year it was completely effortless.  I didn’t try to “be good” and didn’t fight the urge to go back for more. I listened to my body, and it told me exactly what I wanted and in what portions. I guess I am growing!! Hey, that’s something to be thankful for!

A few more family pics for the road… my mom and I. See the resemblance?

The whole family (minus my dad… he’s back from Israel tomorrow)

Adam and I

I hope you had a wonderful day. Anyone out there doing crazy shopping on Black Friday? Go out there and support the economy, will ya?! I’ve been doing my part for months!!

***

If you haven’t already, enter my NuNaturals stevia giveaway here.

APPETIZERS

Mashed potato and mushroom filled cups with dollops of sour cream (I was going for a Russian inspired appetizer)

Fresh mozzarella/grape tomato skewers (Adam assembled these babies. Pretty, no?)

Endive boats stuffed with oranges, goat cheese and candied walnuts (I followed this recipe from Cooking Light, which I found through Good Things Catered)

These were so fresh and tasty… a great combination of flavors!

Beef sliders with toppings…

I made the burgers by adding some salt, pepper, garlic powder and Country Bob’s all purpose sauce to ground 96% lean beef, and then grilling them (obvi ).

The star of the show (unsurprisingly) – spinach artichoke dip (using this recipe from Cooking Light).

This is the BEST spinach artichoke dip (including less healthy versions)!! I’ve made it numerous times before (I found at least 4 posts on my blog with pictures of it and happy “customers”) and really have no desire to ever try another recipe. Why mess with perfection?!

DESSERTS

Blondies (I followed this recipe from Cooks Illustrated)

They were delicious, but unfortunately a little dry (I got busy and overbaked them by mistake ). Most of them are gone, though, so I’d say they were still a “great success.”

Lauren brought the most delicious Veganomicon‘s Apple Peanut Butter Caramel Bars

Molly brought some yummy brownies (Molly, do you want to share your secret recipe with us? )

And Shannon brought apple and carrot shortbread cookies (I believe she followed this recipe). These were a little more subtly sweet than the rest of the over-the-top desserts. I personally really enjoyed them (you’ll even see them in my breakfast this morning )

My sister and I split this little plate and enjoyed it very much

We also enjoyed some pomegranate margarita!

Oh yeah, I also can’t get enough of this seasonal hard cider:

GOOD FUN

My friend Pran being silly (I thought she was a little close to me when we were posing… )

Shannon, me, Pran, Dina and Katy

More posing…

Adam and me

Black is where it’s at

You know the party is not bad when people start doing tequila shots at the end of the night (not moi). A little salt helps it go down easy…

It was so much fun! It was a lot of work, but I think Adam and I did a great job organizing everything and everyone seemed to have a really good time… that’s all you can ask for! Do you love entertaining?

The day started bright and early with the search for a costume for me. The past few weeks I refused to be bothered with costume talk and said I was just going to put on my back-up devil horns and tail and wear all black. Of course the day before the party, with everyone around me super excited, I got the Halloween bug. Once Adam and I were at the iParty store I got so many ideas and actually ended up wearing my costume for the majority of the day (running errands and all ). [If you're impatient, scroll down to see my costume, otherwise let's talk about the yummy food ]

The party hosts mentioned they’d like me to bake something. I had dozens of recipes bookmarked but at the end settled on making pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. My co-worker sent me the recipe on Friday, saying I had to make them because they were the best thing she’s ever had in her life. That’s a hard review! Here is the recipe. Yes, they were fantastic!!!

Ingredients

For the pumpkin whoopie cookies:

· 3 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon baking powder

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

· 1 tablespoon ground ginger

· 1 tablespoon ground cloves

· 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar

· 1 cup vegetable oil

· 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

· 2 large eggs

· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the cream cheese filling:

· 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

· 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

· 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism*, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner’ sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

*This recipe makes 12 large whoopie pies if you use an ice cream scoop. I used a medium cookie scoop (leveling off against the bowl) and this recipe yielded 33 mini whoopie pies. Perfect for a party! The result:

The cake was so moist and the filling was absolutely delicious. Cream cheese frosting is the best! I think you may be able to cut the sugar by a bit even. I may try that next time. Here is another pic of one of the babies, in more natural lighting. I can tell you that I had about a million of them by now and they are really amazing.

THE PARTY FOOD

The hosts apparently asked everyone to bake because there were SO many sweets. Very dangerous for someone who has no self control around baked goods and candy. Here is most of the stuff – so festive!

I will not go into details about what I ate; honestly because I don’t remember. I tried most things and enjoyed them all. I had a few of my own whoopie pies too. These things are addictive!!!

THE COSTUMES

There were some really creative costumes. I decided to go as a hippie and was happy with how it came out.

Such a fun weekend!!

Did you dress up for Halloween? What was your favorite treat?

Everyone brought a little something to munch on. I provided the cake, Adam was responsible for drinks… for everyone else’s delicious goodies, please see below.

Yeah, there was A LOT of food!

My food:

Multiply this picture by 1 million. These goat cheese stuffed dates where unbelievably amazing. The maple syrup sauce complemented the flavors so well! I actually asked Kevin (who made these) to make some without the bacon but I have to admit the bacon did make these better. It looks super fatty (and it is) but it didn’t taste fatty. De-licious! I also grabbed some of the asian salad, but unfortunately the scallions in it were a bit much for me There were so many good things in there though – broccoli slaw, carrots, almonds, ramen noodles, but the evil scallions killed it for me ( ) I think I’m going to ask for the recipe, though, and make it without them. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy this!

I ate another one of the pulled chicken sliders. They were so juicy and delicious. I didn’t eat all the deli meats you see here, and only had 2 of the stuffed shells. I got too stuffed. Ha.

And of course, I had some of the cake I made

Now on to the good stuff… the Wine Riot!!

* Yes, that’s a fake mustache. It got a little weirder as the night went on…

I’m not even going to attempt to describe the wines I tried. As you can see, it got a little crazy. I tried A LOT of wines. At first I just took tiny sips and poured out the rest. I wanted to taste as many wines as possible and didn’t want to be “out of commission” too early. But then it got easier… as the drinks kept flowing.  My favorite (because it was so unique) was the apple ice wine, made right in Harvard, Massachusetts!

It tasted just like apple juice, but with 12% alcohol content, it’s sure to make you feel a little happier at the end of the night

After the Wine Riot (and don’t ask me why any of us thought it was a good idea) we went out! People wanted something casual so we found a little dive bar a few blocks away. The name?  Sorry, I don’t remember I had 2 vodka cranberries there, which definitely put me over the top! Yeah, someone was mighty hungover the next day!

And of course, there were midnight munchies…

+

We had a lot of fun!  I don’t know if I’d say all of it was “worth it” but I had a lot of fun at the time Oh, and to think we used to drink like this every weekend in college… Crazy! *Hmm, now I sound really old

Oops, I almost forgot with all this party talk…

GIVEAWAYS AND FOOD BANK DONATIONS

- Remember when I posted about the Pound for Pound challenge? Well I hope those of you who are still trying to lose weight, joined the challenge, because for every pound you lose, General Mills will donate a pound of food to your local food bank. I just wanted to remind you that if you did sign up, please report your weight loss by May 5, 2009 at www.PFPChallenge.com. I have to do that too (although I wish I lost more than just a few pounds I think I’ll have to do some of my own donating do make up for it!)

- Speaking of donating to food banks, Zesty has created some fun Zesty Gear - all the sale proceeds will go towards donations to his local food bank. If you purchase something over the next 5 days, he’ll double your donation! Now I’m off to buy the apron… it’s for a good cause!

- Finally – check out the Stonyfield giveaway at Hangy Pants. Stonyfield is another company that always gives back to the community. I’m all inspired now!

I’m posting from work again so this will be quick.  I’ll update with more photos from the inauguration party we attended last night, later tonight.

BEST FOOD OF THE DAY:

This is a peppermint cheesecake brownie my friend Katie made and her boyfriend brought to work for us.  These were absolutely incredible and I was so happy to hear that they were even kind of healthy.  She used this recipe from Cooking Light.  Did I mention how much I love Cooking Light?  I know my photography doesn’t do these justice, but I’d say they looked even better in person than on the professional Cooking Light photos.  Great job, Katie – I’m impressed!!

STRANGEST FOOD OF THE DAY:

I know this is not usually a category I use, but this cupcake definitely deserved a category of its own.  A friend of ours made bacon chocolate cupcakes over the weekend and brought a few to the party to share.  Of course I had to try one…very hesitently!   The verdict?  They weren’t bad.  The bacon flavor was pretty mild – it was more of a texture thing.  Bacon pieces in my cupcakes – no thanks!  I ate most of it (shared a few bites with my husband) but I definitely wouldn’t want to make them or buy them in the future.  The cupcake batter and frosting (sans the bacon) were delicious!  Oh, and the decorations were of course very appropriate for this historic day.

OTHER EATS OF THE DAY:

Like I mentioned before, I’ll add some more close-up photos tonight (my husband and I brought some truffled crostinis… yum!).  Unfortunately I sat right next to the table, so I munched on the food all night and unsurprisingly still have a stomachache this morning.  Why don’t I learn?! I also had 2 champagne glasses and 1 glass of red wine.

WORKOUT

I don’t know if it’s the yoga or Jillian’s routine I did on Monday, but my butt is killing me!! I am hardly ever sore, so this is the strangest feeling ever.  Seriously it’s hard to sit or walk… or breathe.  Haha, I know you don’t breathe with your butt, but somehow my body moves a little with every breath and I feel how sore I am.  Oh yeah, my shoulders are sore too!

Anyways, I thought to stretch myself out a little I’d take an abs class followed by spinning.  I hardly survived this little combo!  Workout stats:

• Duration: 0:55
• Calories burnt: 461 (40% fat)
• Ave HR: 145; Max HR: 203

All right, time for me to sign off!  Hope you have a great Wednesday!  I love it that it’s Wednesday already after only 1 day of working

*edited to add* – here are a few more food pics from the party!

And we brought 2 types of truffled crostinis (sorry for the terrible photos!!):

All right, peace

So here is a quick recap of the party last night. This will be mostly pictures since I have a lot of ground to cover.

I started the party with a cider:

I sipped on that baby for a while, mostly because my mouth was busy munching. I was trying to be mindful of the fact that we just came from a dinner out, but being surrounded by food and the party atmosphere, my self-control did not last for long.

I popped the artichoke dip I assembled earlier today in the toasted oven when I got to the party. It was ready about 40 minutes later. Here is the first customer, excited about his first taste

And this is my first dip:

I probably had about 5-6 scoops like that throughout the night, but it could be more. I really stopped counting after a while. The spinach artichoke dip was a HUGE success again. As I mentioned before, the recipe came from cookinglight.com. I replaced the fat free cream cheese with the reduced fat kind, because I couldn’t find the fat free version, but otherwise followed the recipe to the T. Everyone was impressed!

Here is another happy customer eating the last very spinach-y bite:

Haha, I got her permission to post this online. And this is what was left of the pan (that held 22 servings):

In between various bites of the spinach artichoke dip, I had the following:

A chocolate cupcake (from a mix). It was “eh.”

Self explanatory, I think. I usually try to stay away from thing that I could have any time, but my guard was down last night. It was actually really yummy. It’s funny that I like these now, because when I first moved to the States I thought they were gross. Now with my obsession of peanut butter, these definitely are a nice treat! And then I hit the cookie “jar” (they were really in a tupperware container). Imagine this baby times 4. Yeah, go self-control!

These chocolate cookies were home made and finally hit the spot for my chocolate craving. I so overdid it with the muchies last night, it’s not even funny, but whatever, I’m ok with it. It’s not like I do it everyday (although some moderation could be nice!).

My other beverage was a vodka tonic from a very classy plastic cup:

There was no ice in that cup. I forgot to add it. The plastic cup threw me off. And then I also has some Andre champagne. Very little. Just a splash really.

So yeah, that was my Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, but definitely NOT healthy by any means. The plan was to revert back to my healthy normal life today and I did my best. A post on today’s fun is to follow.