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

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

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

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

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

By looking through 260+ pictures I took, it looks like this weekend was as crazy busy as ever. But I can assure you – we definitely spent a few hours just sitting on the porch, soaking in the sunshine and catching up on books that have been gathering some dust over the past few weeks. And of course, we also ate well. Very well. Thank you, Jane and Jim, for being such great hosts! (I also cooked one breakfast and one dinner – cooking is what I love!). So how about a recap? Ready?….

We like breaking up trips that are over 2 hours with fun stops. This weekend was my first time in Potsmouth, NH where I finally got to taste the famous Flatbread flatbreads.

This adorable drawing pretty much says it all My choice of the carne special – pepperoncini oil, organic garlic yogurt marinated chicken, baby spinach, whole milk mozzarella, kalamatta olives, feta cheese, artichokes hearts and herbs was a very good choice. I can’t see it on my camera so here is Adam’s pepperoni + mushroom flatbread (also awesome!).

The place itself is also adorable, very fitting for a super cute town. I want to go back to Portsmouth asap!

The real eating commenced upon our arrival in Maine though…

HEALTHY HOME COOKED MEALS (over 4 days, in no particular order)

Ellie Krieger’s tricolore penne pasta with chicken (recipe here)

Stuffed peppers with eggplant (and parmesan cheese) – recipe here. I had no idea these were somewhat healthy. I limited myself to just one. I may need to recreate them soon to make up for lost time. haha

Dark chocolate bark with walnut and dried cherries (and crystallized ginger) – recipe here. I ate my weight in these. Addictive is an understatement.

Broccoli-cheese (and sausage) breakfast casserole – recipe here

Chobani with fresh strawberries, blueberries and mango

Chobani with wild Maine blueberries, fresh mango, Kashi GoLean crunch cereal + mixed nuts

+ some blackberries Adam freshly picked on the side of the road while I was eating breakfast

Breakfast casserole with mushrooms and asparagus (recipe here, I added more cheese, more veggies than the recipe called for + some fresh lemon juice)

Blueberry tea cake (Adam’s mom has been making it for years… from this recipe?)

Apricot-walnut cereal bars (recipe here, the recipe yields a lot more than 10 servings and they are very delicious!!)

Zucchini rice casserole (recipe here, we subbed broccolini for zucchini and corn – this tasted like sinfully creamy risotto – SO good yet healthy, although apparently time consuming. Thanks for making this, Jane!!)

On Monday night I offered to cook dinner (although it ended up being a whole family effort after all). What’s more Maine than lobster? Adam and I decided that we must eat it every time we come. At $4/lb, fresh out of the water, it doesn’t get much better than this!!

Adam’s dad steamed the lobsters…

I made the lima bean/corn/grape tomato and bacon succotash (based on this recipe, I used 6 corn ears, lemon juice and of course lobster!!)

Mmm, so summery… and so Maine

We bought 5 lobsters – Adam took the meat out of the last one and shared it with all of us. Good job, honey! Adam’s mom made this lovely pear tart from Ellie Krieger (recipe here)

Oh yeah, we ate quite well at home!

THE NOT-SO-HEALTHY MEALS OUT

A super special dinner at Primo. We’ve been dying to go ever since seeing Anthony Bordain go there. Vegetables served in the restaurant are home grown in their extensive gardens and meats, seafood and cheese are mostly local (we spotted some Italian cheeses – who can blame them?!).

The atmosphere was very cozy (read dark soft lighting) so my pictures would not do the food and presentation justice. Here is my favorite serving platter at the charcuterie bar.

The charcuterie board with homemade sausages was my favorite! Adam and I shared it as a starter and it set the right tone for what was to come – more delicious eats! This molten chocolate cake did not dissapoint either. Yes, I know – predictable… but I couldn’t help myself!

Pretty much the exact opposite of Primo was a plate of fried clams we got at Kelly’s on the drive back. I don’t know what was up with me – I actually got this craving. Adam and I shared this plate. You know who ate the onion rings.

OPEN FARM DAY

Food, as always, was kind of the main activity (well eating it at least) but the coolest part of the weekend was visiting 5 different farms all over Maine. There were dozens open for visitors this past Sunday. How lucky was I?!! These pictures should say it all…

This afternoon, before going back to Boston, we picked some wild blackberries for the road.

Slim pickings today. Does that mean we should come back in a few weeks?

The loot:

Another amazing weekend. I feel so fortunate!!

I had lots of time to destress and reevaluate my priorities. Some small changes will be coming to Healthy and Sane. Stay tuned.

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

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

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

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

Working backwards… lunch

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

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

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

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

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

I’m off to work……story of my life.

- I am not a morning person. No matter how determined I am the night before, waking up in the morning is the hardest thing on earth… especially when I am thoroughly exhausted from the day before. So this morning I hit snooze for another hour. It was much needed.

- Bootcamp class during lunch. I felt a million times better after. Definitely worth taking a little extra time out of my day. Yay for exercise!

- Fresh tomatoes picked that very morning taste like a completely different vegetable (or is it fruit?). I dreamed of cutting one up and enjoying it with hummus all afternoon.

- A venti (read: giant) iced coffee with soy milk held my hunger for 4.5+ hours. The only reason I finally had dinner was because I knew I “needed to.” It was pretty awesome to plow through work without worrying about fighting off hunger. The flip side? Once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. No bueno. I think maybe going back to a medium sized coffee will keep hunger at bay without completely throwing my eating schedule out of whack. You see, I’m learning.

- The carpet in the condo is getting a little drier. Good news.

3:2:1 in photos. My internet is down so I can’t transfer the picture of my giaganto coffee but I’m guessing you know what that pretty much looks like.

*I also had the leftover Thai red curry stir-fry after finishing the brownie. PS – that was heavenly. Best Carly creation for sure!

How are you, guys?

Obviously I’m going to eat (hopefully some super quick meals that are more “assembly” rather than “cooking” will still be satisfying) but exercise is the easiest thing to push off the schedule when life gets in the way. So how do you find time to exercise when it seems like there is no time to spare? My answer for now is going to be “You have to make it a major priority“. My deadlines are not for a few weeks but it’s a lot of work and I have to have the discipline to work with this in mind. The last few days may get tough, but until then I’m willing to do whatever it takes – that may mean waking up early on some days, or working until very late because I want to go to the gym during lunch. I also will try to increase the intensity of my workouts so that less time at the gym still provides me with a quick burn that I crave. Finally, that also means that some other things will have to suffer. I am sure my DVR will miss me dearly (or maybe not, I know I’ll miss it) and as previously mentioned, elaborately cooked meals will be out of the window for the next few weeks. Some healthy take-out once in a while will also give me a little extra time. Lastly weekend work will surely be required. It’s easy to get so stressed out about work that you don’t allow any time for other activities and burn out quickly, but I’m going to attempt to still take care of my body in the meantime. Do you have any other tips?

Onto today’s eats…

BREAKFAST

Raspberry apricot scone, siggi’s vanilla yogurt, fresh raspberries and strawberries

I froze this scone last week and microwaved it for a minute this morning. Unfortunately the microwave totally fried it. This was a little softer than a rock.

MID-MORNING SNACK

I had 1 almond stuffed date form the little batch I made last night. Here is how the whole “process” looks…

(From left to right): whole medjool date, medjool date cut open with pit inside, date stuffed with almonds, date stuffed with pecans, date stuffed with one of each.

A few closeups… easy, right?

So yeah, I had the guy on the left this morning. He tasted oh so sweet.

LUNCH

Leftovers from last night’s dinner at Panza saved me time today as well.

“Free form lasagna” - black pepper pasta sheets, chicken, mushrooms, spinach, plum tomato ricotta sauce (I had mine without the chicken)

Panza was a really great restaurant (casual, yet inviting, great service, delicious unpretentious food) and this dish was fantastic. I loved the fun shapes of the pasta and the chunky tomato ricotta sauce. If I go back there and order this dish again (very likely!), I’m going to ask for extra mushrooms.

After taking this picture, I also added a handful of cannelloni beans for protein. It was a great lunch!

WORKOUT

After all this talk about finding time for exercise, I did in fact find some time for a bootcamp class tonight. I’ve gained weight recently and its impacting my performance at the gym but it’s not going to stop me from keep trying. In fact, I’m using it as a challenge to get back into it and get even better than I was before!

DINNER

Super quick! Beet greens, diced tomatoes, pesto potato salad, roasted beets, goat cheese and pecan fritatta

Quick side note: the pesto potato salad I made for the pool party on Saturday. It’s this week’s CEiMB recipe hosted by The Not So Skinny Kitchen (recipe here). I am not a fan of the mayo-based potato salads but this one was quite delicious. The fresh peppers were an especially delicious addition – they added a great crunch and lots of brightness to this dish. Pics from the pool party set-up…

So yeah, I threw some of the leftover potatoes/peppers into the pan for some extra heft and carbs. I also pre-roasted the beets end of last week (sliced, at 350* for about 20 minutes). Tonight, I sauteed some beet greens in a sprayed skillet, then added 1/2 can of diced tomatoes, roasted beets and potato salad, cracked 2 eggs and finally threw a few pecans in. That was on the stove for a few minutes, then under the broiler for a few more. Done!

Another un-photogenic meal that was really delicious. Obviously beets + goat cheese go well together. The rest of the ingredients enhanced this combo further. Look at all these veggies!!

This was the perfect quick dinner… and the perfect ending to a great day of eats. I will say I’d love something sweet right about now but it’s getting late and I can probably do without. Maybe at least a sweet apple is in my future.

What are your go-to recipes on a super busy night? Mine will have to be sandwiches and stir-fries.

How do you fit exercise in during super busy days/weeks/months? I’m all ears!

So I wanted to talk today about something that I recently noticed about myself… I am a true Internet addict. Yes, many of us spend quite a bit of our time online (especially bloggers!) but for me the problem is that… once I pop, I can’t stop! Okay, maybe that exact expression is more fitting for chips, but seriously… if I allow myself “just 1 minute” to check the email, several hours pass by and its way past my bedtime. I check an email – that leads to a website, or twitter… and you know where that gets you. Twitter is not exactly productive. I’ve been trying to set a strict “bed time” but it’s not working. Anyone else is an Internet addict? I know at least a few of you are. Any tips of how to take it a little easier, or at least help with the whole “get in bed at a reasonable hour so you don’t look and feel like a zombie in the morning”?

You know what helps a bit in the morning though?

BREAKFAST!

How do you like that segway? Oh I crack myself up…

2 When Pigs Fly maple, pineapple, raisin with toasted sesame and ginger toasts with crunchy Barney Butter and a kiwi

Yum, yum, yum. Sweet and sour. Time for work!

MID-MORNING SNACKS

Shelling peas and 1 almond stuffed medjool date (unpictured – I’ll snap a few photos of my new date stuffing method for a future post).

WORKOUT

So Wednesday was my first workout in a week. Yikes! I took a super hard spin class and vowed to never take such a long break from working out again. It was due to a combination of going away for the weekend and work being super busy. Yesterday, I went back for more – this time for an abs + RIPPED class. Basically a crazy awesome bootcamp that I totally thought I couldn’t handle but somehow came out alive out of. The instructor was making fun of me a bit because I kept screwing up. She knows I haven’t been there in a few weeks and we both saw the pretty obvious consequences of such actions. She’s out on vacation next week, but I am going to ace these bootcamp classes again. I used to be one of the best in the class. I want to feel super strong again!!

LUNCH

We had no produce in the house, which meant a quick trip to the farmers market was in order. Here are my 2 favorite booths at the Prudential Center farmers market (open on Thursdays only).

Samira’s Homemade

The 3rd one down is my beloved baba ganoush. They sell it at Whole Foods but it’s cheaper at the farmers market since it cuts out the middle man. I stocked up!

Hehe, the guy that was working there wanted to be in the picture I think. Here you go, sir – your moment of fame.

Spring Brook Farm

This is definitely one of my favorites at our local farmers markets. I love that the girl that runs it is very knowledgeable about their farming practices and chicken raising (they sell their own eggs – from range free chickens that have their beaks for only $3.50/dozen – that’s cheaper than organic eggs at a super market!!).

I also love that their gorgeous produce is significantly cheaper than anywhere else. I think they actually watch their competition and try to undercut it a bit. Hey works for me. It’s still not cheap (i.e. I know they are well paid) but it’s more affordable compared to others for sure.

I bought SO much stuff there yesterday. It was pretty much a 1 stop shop.

… oh yeah, about lunch. I got a sandwich from the Iggy’s stand. They have the chewiest baguettes. LOVE.

Fresh mozzarella, organic tomatoes, organic basil with white vinegar dressing on buttered ficelle (I could do without the butter )

So fresh and delicious. It also held me off for hours, without making me feel super stuffed. Perfect!

DINNER

How could I forget? CEiMB meals are back! This week’s dish was penne with roasted tomatoes, garlic and white beans (recipe here). I got the tomatoes and basil at the farmers market for it so I felt it still utilized some local produce. I like really centering my meals around that.

This took quite a bit of time to make (not active time, just waiting for the tomatoes and garlic to roast) and I’m not sure that it was worth it. Maybe I overcrowded my tomatoes (I nearly double the amount based on reviews online) but they kind of came out stewed rather than roasted. This was a little on the bland side (again, maybe I should have doubled the garlic and oil too to compensate for the extra tomatoes?). We enjoyed it but I won’t be making it again.

Dessert: Russian apple cake made by my mother in law:

Adam and I each enjoyed a little slice with what was left of the greek yogurt froyo. I need to make another batch!!

Are you an Internet junkie like myself? Make me feel a little better – let me know

Any fun plans for the weekend? We have so much going on. It also happens to be our 2-year wedding anniversary this coming Monday and my dad’s birthday so there is lots to celebrate. See you tomorrow morning with a post.

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!*

So this post today has no real purpose except to tell you about my fabulous day and of course share my eats with you (although Boston readers have a special offer below, read on for more details). Sometimes I find the positive energy transfer over my computer screen as I read other bloggers’ happy posts. I hope this one brings a smile to your face and makes your day filled with a little more sunshine.

Every day starts with…

BREAKFAST

Nonfat organic yogurt, mango, Kashi Golean cereal and the Healthy and Sane YouTrailMix

Mangos + trail mix in yogurt is my favorite combo of all times

As my mid-afternoon/pre-workout snack I had a camera-shy chocolate, cherry & pb granola bar. Yummy.

Insert here a 5.25 mile run in the sun (during which I got a mild case of shin splints and really bad chafe marks on my belly button from the water belt scraping against it for nearly an hour, but that’s just details). On the way back I stopped by the first farmers market of the season at the Prudential Plaza. Weeeeeeee. This market is really tiny and basically this time there was not much fresh produce (some lettuce and fiddleheads, that’s it) but there were 2 new stands that I was particularly excited about.

• One was Samira’s Homemade. I am beyond obsessed with Samira’s baba ganoush. I buy it at Whole Foods nearly every week and can seriously polish off a container in 2 days (actually I could really polish it off in one day, but I “behave myself” ha). Last week I actually forbid myself from buying it because it’s so good, I go through it too fast – so I gave myself a little time out (the stuff ain’t cheap, you know?). Samira actually saw my positive thoughts on baba ganoush on the blog before and thanked me by email, so this time despite being sweaty and gross, I introduced myself to her at the farmers market. I can’t wait to try more hummus flavors! Samira hooked me up with some free baba ganoush and a bean dip. Score! I want to go back there next week less sweaty, with a camera in tow and “introduce” her to you. I’d love to feature local producers here on the blog.
• The second booth that peaked my interest was the Foxboro Cheese Co. They were selling grass fed humainely raised veal (yeah, I didn’t know that existed either!), grass fed beef hot dogs and burgers and cheese! The cheese is made from milk from their grass fed cows. Yay – love love love that. I bought a tub of tomato basil fromage blanc.

My farmers market purchases made it into a fresh…

LUNCH

Organic arugula, pea shots, cucumbers, Samira’s baba ganoush + white bean dip, Foxboro Cheese tomato basil fromage blanc, basil EVOO & lime juice + a big chunk of When Pigs Fly olive bread (remember it from here? I’ve been anxiously waiting for the farmers market’s return just for this bread).

Mid afternoon snacks included an apple and a small packet of somersaults. I also attempted to make this week’s CEiMB recipe – chocolate egg cream hosted by Chaya’s Comfy Cook blog. I admit – I wasn’t excited about this one and I was right, it’s not my thing. It tasted like a creamier sweater selzer. Really not my thing. After 2 sips, this thing was poured out.

It’s cool. I had yummier things to fill my belly with. I had a Blogger Bash to attend, hosted by Healthworks. The Bash started with a spin class which I couldn’t fit into my schedule, but I met with the girls at the club before heading out for drinks and food. PS – a little tip – if you go out with bloggers and they ask you to take a picture of them, beware. You’re going to be there for a while.

The gang:

Can you recognize your favorite bloggers… like ME?

On our way out, Judith pointed out the new and improved Healthworks sign…

… and everyone busted out their cameras. I was cracking up in the corner (of course after taking a picture myself. So predictable. )

After a quick T ride, we were at our destination – the gorgeous Liberty Hotel.

So many bloggers!

Our bash was held at Alibi. The Liberty hotel used to be a Charles Street Jail, so Alibi plays up the history of the space with a modern take on “jail chic” as I like to call it. The windows had prison bars and the walls featured photos of celebs that have spent a night or two in jail. The place felt surprisingly cozy for such a creepy motif.

Bloggers, bloggers everywhere. Melissa, your arms look awesome in this pic. I’d frame it if I were you.

Is it time for food yet? Oh yes, it is! All the food was courtesy of Alibi but came from the Scampo kitchen (upstairs, in the Liberty hotel). It was SO GOOD. Let’s see…

Fresh mozzarella, tomato and roasted garlic pizza

Caprese salad

Artichoke, prosciutto, pear and arugula pizza

Hi, Meghan!

Tuna tartare with a wasabi aioli (they made a special one for me, without onions!!! love)

Pizza bianco with bufala ricotta, fontina & green asparagus and truffle oil

Excuse the deteriorating quality of the pics. It was DARK in there (thank god for my super fancy lens I got as a gift from the rents for my birthday. Ok, I got a bit of track. Moving on).

The food was seriously amazing. You guys may know this already but I am one picky customer. This was possibly the best pizza I’ve had in Boston. I’m pretty sure it was. Yeah, that says a lot!

Of course drinks were involved as well. Double Cross vodka and RIPE sponsored this portion of the bash.

I had 1.5 of the strawberry basil cocktails (the half was due to the fact that somehow I lost my drink mid-evening – too much gabbing I guess)

This was so well balanced – not too sweet and had a fun little twist to it. I just loved the basil! I’m realizing I’m a fan of herbs in my cocktails. The best cocktail I’ve had to-date was a combo of thyme and pear at Church.

Shannon played with my camera for a minute and took some artsy photos of the Double Cross vodka bottles. Cool, right?

Hi, Shannon!

I had SUCH a fabulous time. I met so many cool Boston bloggers and one from Philly. I can’t wait to check out everyone’s blogs. I love finding new friends.

And if that’s not all, did I mention there was a swag bag involved? Yeah, this was SICK. So.much.stuff (like free massages and haircuts and yogurt coupons and passes to Healthworks,…….). I’ll review them as I go.

Thank you, Healthworks, for organizing such a fantastic event!!! I hope we can keep in touch.

Boston readers – if you’d like to check out a Healthworks gym near you, follow this link for a free 3-day pass. I got some passes too and am very much looking forward to trying some fun new classes.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my cookware giveaway!

Happy Friday! Birthday countdown: less than 24 hours!

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

How cute are these guys?!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

BREAKFAST

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

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

WORKOUT

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

LUNCH

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

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

Yes, I went a little crazy with the pictures.

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

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

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

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

DINNER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

]]> http://healthyandsane.com/2010/05/cool-stuff/feed/ 8 http://healthyandsane.com/2010/04/ceimb-southwestern-hash/ http://healthyandsane.com/2010/04/ceimb-southwestern-hash/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:10:29 +0000 Elina http://healthyandsane.com/?p=9994 Morning! I just had a delicious breakfast in honor of CEiMB Thursday. This week’s recipe for southwestern hash was hosted by It’s Melissa’s Kitchen (recipe can be found here).

The choice of this recipe came at the right time. I have a confession: I’ve been bored with my breakfasts lately. I don’t know what it is – they have been delicious, that’s not it. I just wanted something new and exciting. Something completely different from the usual yogurt, english muffin, oats, smoothie, Barney Butter and some kind of fruit combination.

So despite the fact that I’m typically a sweet breakfast kinda girl, I was excited for this recipe. Adam was too.

I meant to prep the ingredients last night but then time got away from me. So I set the alarm for 30 minutes early and got to work. I steamed the potatoes (they retain more nutrients if you steam them instead of boiling them) and then followed the rest of the instructions to the T (except that I of course omitted the onions). In 30 minutes I had breakfast. A delicious and new and exciting breakfast. Success!

Mmm, runny yolk. It really pulled it all together. A little hot sauce over the top brightened up the dish further.

This was flavorful and filling. I have a feeling I should be very satisfied until lunch time.

Are you into a savory or sweet kind of breakfast? What’s your favorite breakfast combo lately?