DINNER

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

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

Here are all the goodies!

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

[Rewind]

BREAKFAST

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

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

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

LUNCH

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

Steamed brussels sprouts + a pickle for some added veggie love

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

SNACKS

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

Whole wheat Tuscan pane with roasted garlic hummus and avocado

Definitely lots of deliciousness all around.

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

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

[Back tomorrow with a restaurant review]

In the blender – 1+ frozen banana, frozen blueberries, 1c water, 1c 1% milk, Greens+ wild berry burst, 8 ice cubes, baby spinach and 1/4t xantham gum and 1/8t guar gum

It made 2 awesome smoothies – Adam and I shared them.

I paired my smoothie with a Food For Life millet toast with Barney Butter

[300 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACK

[70 calories]

LUNCH

Leftover savory pumpkin pudding

Still delicious the next day

[450 calories]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

TJ’s 100 calorie dark chocolate bar

+ 2 somersault packets

[All together: 240 calories]

WORKOUT

I had a lunch meeting, which meant I had to go to the gym after work. I REALLY hate working out after work but for some reason I got a burst of energy right at 5pm. I left a bit later and found Adam on one of the treadmills finishing up his workout. It never gets old seeing my husband running! Unfortunately, the second I started running, all that energy disappeared. I was dragging. I had 4 miles with 6×200 on the schedule but I wanted to get off the treadmill a minute after starting running. I finished 6×200 with walking for recovery for most intervals (I NEVER do that!) and then got off. I probably ran a little over 1 mile instead of 4. Ugh This is my 3rd crappy run in a row. I considered quitting all together last night. Something is off with me on the running front, and I feel trapped. Maybe the 5K I’m running this weekend will be the perfect fun distance for me, and then I can get back to distance running. We’ll see how it goes.

DINNER

Sweet potato gnocchi with brussels sprouts and walnuts (recipe can be found here, originally discovered through Tri to Cook)

To make this, I used the Nuovo sp gnocchi (purchased at Whole Foods). This was super quick and Adam and I both really enjoyed it. The brussels sprouts overwhelmed the sweet potato taste a bit when eaten together in one bite, but alternating bites between the gnocchi and the brussels sprouts resulted in a great balance between sweet and earthy. The walnut pieces added a nice crunch as well. Great, great dinner!

Oh yes, and there was a bit of vino involved. This bottle of Cono Sur pinot noir was fantastic. So smooth. I had this glass and another splash after that. What a fun treat on a Tuesday night!

Label close-up:

Dessert: the infamous peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar cookie

This time I ate it like dessert and enjoyed it immensely. It really is kind of a perfect bar cookie (minus the calories).

Are you ever super tired for several consecutive days? Any ideas on how to re-energize? I’m all ears!

Oh and btw, you all were right. I was not hungry at all today due to a very indulgent weekend (yesterday kind of became indulgent again) so I still nourished my body but consumed less calories than usual. I guess it does balance out. Wanna see what I ate today?

BREAKFAST

TJ’s organic fiber blueberry muffin + coffee

[265 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACK

2 clementines and a sample packet of somersaults – still love them!!

[140 calories]

LUNCH

As usual on Mondays, I get to come home for lunch. I made a small detour through TJ’s to stock up on veggies. The star ingredient was Gena’s carrot miso dressing (found through Soap & Chocolate).

The dressing came together quickly since I had all the ingredients on hand and the vitamix is a beast. It was almost “whipped.” Since I couldn’t just eat it with a spoon, I decided to make a salad. Might as well, right?

Mixed greens, steamed broccoli, shredded carrots, chopped cucumber, shrimp + miso carrot dressing

Here are all the greens + shrimp!

To be honest, something was missing there and the whipped texture of the dressing was actually a bit strange. I was imagining it would taste like the dressing you get on house salads at Japanese restaurants but that wasn’t the case. Also, I may have overdone it on the ginger or maybe it was missing salt? After a few bites of the salad I went to the fridge for water and noticed a jar of spicy Italian pepper rings. For some reason those sounded appealing and they really saved this meal for me. My mouth was on fire… in a good way!

Dessert: caramel oikos. Oh yeah, that’s the stuff!

[All together - 280 calories. I was actually shocked to find how low that was!]

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

[180 calories]

WORKOUT – Monday’s usual – Rack it Up. I just love that burn!!

DINNER

Ever since trying Shannon’s savory pumpkin bread pudding, it’s been on my list of must make meals. I knew Adam would love it. I mean this screams “man meal”, since bread, sausage, cheese and sour cream are the main ingredients. This dish even made it to my top 9 homemade meals in 2009  - it was that good. Tonight Adam finally had a chance to taste Shannon’s masterpiece – made by moi this time.

The verdict? He LOVED it! I know my husband so well. I thought Shannon’s execution was a bit better but I still enjoyed it.

[450 calories]

This was one hearty dinner, let me tell you. I am STUFFED hours later!! No desire for dessert or anything. I think one of the key “tricks” for avoiding over snacking is to have super filling meals. This was the perfect example of it. Could be a little heavier in the veggie department but I sure took care of that during lunch.

Total calories consumed: 1316. I can’t believe how crazy full I am for such a small amount of calories. I guess I’m like a camel – I stored this weekends’ eats for later.

Looking at this post, apparently I ate a lot of orange foods. So just for fun – what’s your favorite orange food? Any favorite way to consume it?

So yesterday was one of the happiest days I’ve had in a long time. I couldn’t really explain this pure bliss I was in. It was like this overwhelming feeling of happiness took over me and the only thing I could do was keep repeating how happy I was over and over. I felt like I was going to explode. It was wonderful! What was not wonderful is how hungry I kept on getting despite feeding myself what seemed to be like typical portions (if not more). I had no time to count calories so I just tried to listen to my body (I totaled it all up this morning so you can find the totals at the end). Let’s see where that got me…

BREAKFAST

2 ww waffles with Barney Butter, cherry preserves, fresh blueberries and plain oikos with coffee

I made the waffles by following this recipe from Food for Living. I added some slices bananas to the batter as well because I love the extra natural sweetness they add. This breakfast was delicious. The waffle recipe is a good one – these were nice and moist!

[485 calories]

After breakfast, Adam and I got to some major spring cleaning. This was our first time really cleaning our place since the kitchen remodel was completed. Adam scrubbed the bathrooms and everything in the kitchen while I made sure the rest of our place looked great. Around 1pm I got hungry but had no time to make lunch just yet, so I grabbed a peanut butter chocolate chip “granola bar.”

I did not sit down for this but I did try to savor it slowly and really eat it mindfully.

Per your request, here is the recipe:

Grease a 9×13 pan with shortening
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1/2 c melted butter or margarine

3 cups oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut

2/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup honey

1 cup choc chips

2t vanilla extract

1/3 cup wheat germ

2T sesame seeds

Combine butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, honey and vanilla in a large bowl.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pan and pat down using a fork.

Cook @13-18 minutes just until edges are golden brown.
Score into squares and leave in pan until fully cooled.
Freezes well in Ziploc.

Note from Melissa: You may cut down on sugar and honey if too sweet. (I used 3/4 cup brown sugar and a little less honey) However, I wouldn’t recommend cutting out any of the butter–I’ve tried it and they don’t hold together as well! ENJOY!!!

Here is the kitchen, post a good scrub with a few added personal touches.

Check out the new fancy toaster oven (in the left corner) my parents got us as a gift. This thing is so crazy awesome. Thanks guys – we love it!!

The place was spotless and our neighbors (who are about to start their own kitchen remodel) were really impressed with how well we did. They have the same ugly kitchen (and bathrooms) we had so they knew exactly how far we’ve come. Anyways, the marathon cleaning sesh made lunch taste extra good!

LUNCH

Ww toast with sardines, avocado, S&P and lemon juice – such a creamy topping over the crunchy toast. Yum!

Simple salad: mixed greens, shredded carrots, cucumber

[307 calories]

After my quick lunch, Adam and I decided to go out and finally enjoy the beautiful weather. I got a strong craving for papaya salad and Adam never had lunch, so we ended up at the Island Hopper for a snack (?) for me and a super late lunch for him.

Green papaya salad – (from the menu) choice of the Thai lady, green papaya, carrots, long string beans, and tomatoes mixed in lime juice and Thai spicy sauce, topped with crushed peanuts

[300 calories?]

It looked beautiful but it was a little too sweet for me. I ate most of it because I was craving this dish but didn’t love it. At some point I realized I was eating food I wasn’t really enjoying so I stopped. It was also around the same time that Adam suggested with finish our meal with some froyo from Red Mango. You don’t have to ask me twice to eat dessert!

Small froyo (1/2 original, 1/2 cocoa) with raspberries and sliced almonds

Red mango sweetens their froyo with stevia and I found it to be a lot sweeter than Berryline’s. Still delicious, though, and although I prefer Berryline, Red Mango is closer so I’m probably going to end up there more often. I don’t discriminate against froyo joints too much.

[~170 calories]

Eventually it was time for dinner (hours later, don’t worry!)…

DINNER

Adam was out with his friends and I wanted something super simple. We were basically out of all fresh veggies and proteins so I was pretty happy with how my dinner turned out with such limited resources. Some cooked wild rice and fresh basil on its last leg were the inspiration for dinner.

I followed this recipe from EatingRD (blogs came to the rescue today!) to make some pesto out of the basil, then mixed it with wild rice, shrimp (defrosted, already cooked), cauliflower and peas (all defrosted). Topped with a little extra freshly shaven parmesan cheese.

This was a wonderful combo together!! PS – I used the 2T pine nuts and 2T EVOO, 1/3 cup parm and about 1T water to thin it. The pesto was fabulous. Can’t wait to make a gorgeous sandwich with the leftovers.

Dessert – another pb choc chip “granola bar”

I wanted to keep eating these (they are SOOOO good) but remembered that I already had froyo earlier in the day and this was my second bar. I popped some gum in my mouth, drank some water, and cuddled up with a blanket on the couch and tuned into the Biggest Loser. I was super proud of my will power!

Here is the kicker. This morning I calculated the nutritional facts for these “granola bars” and realized they are 485 calories EACH!!!!!!! I knew these tasted rich but I had no idea how rich they were. I ate 970 calories worth of “granola bars” in one day. Ugh!!!!! This brought the day’s total to 2,700 calories. I wanted to die the second I saw this number because I really thought I handled myself well throughout the day. I really thought I ate intuitively and mostly healthy. WRONG! This is where the conflicting thoughts in my brain kicked in. I felt so defeated after seeing this total but at the same time felt I didn’t do anything wrong. The only mistake I made was to not calculate the nutritional info for these bars earlier. Of course if I knew how truly indulgent they were, I would have treated them as such. Perhaps I would have cut them in half or at the least would have stopped at just one. This kind of reconfirms my belief that calorie counting is important. I did listen to my body and it told me to eat 2,700 calories and not because it needed them but because I distributed them poorly. If I ate that amount of calories every day, I would (not so) slowly but surely gain weight! I tried not to cry over spilled milk, as they say, but I did feel uneasy. This was supposed to be a healthy day after my night out on Friday, with another planned treat for Sunday afternoon, and it clearly did not work out this way. I’ve had the whole day to think this over and I am much more calm about it but I did feel a little rough for a few hours. Any thoughts on the subject? Does this show you the power of calorie counting or proves why you hate it?

Of course every fun night out includes some really good food in my book The four of us met at Casa Romero, a Mexican restaurant hidden in the valley behind the famous Newbury St. I’ve heard a lot about this place but somehow none of us have ever been there. The restaurant is definitely a little bit hidden so we were surprised at the sheer size of it once we stepped inside. I couldn’t take pictures of the decor (the restaurant is in the basement so with no natural light, I was forced to use my flash which is extremely abrasive) but it was very colorful with large ceramic plates on the walls and lots of character. We were seated in smaller back room, which made it cozier (but with bright colors everywhere around us, still fun!).

Latin restaurant + fun atmosphere calls for sangria!! We got a pitcher to start (and then ordered another one with the meal). It was sweet and girly – perfect!

Some chips + salsa were served right away. I had a few dips but the onion flavor was overwhelming. The salsa was quite fresh and the girls gobbled it right up.

Casa Romero’s menu is extensive and everything sounded very creative and delicious. I loved that they marked some items in each section as “heart healthy” and was happy to discover that those items did not include the so often found steamed chicken with veggies or some other boring variety. We all know that healthy food can be exciting and flavorful, right? Thankfully Casa Romero got that message too, and I’m happy to report that my (heart healthy) camarones rostizados al chipotle (broiled shrimp in a chipotle sauce) were definitely one of the best Mexican meals I’ve ever had!!!

All meals come with rice and refried beans. You can also sub grilled asparagus or roasted veggies for an extra $2. I did that and somehow got 3 sides. [I ate all the asparagus and rice and only a few bites of the beans]

Everyone loved their food. I tasted a few dishes and think I made the right choice with mine. Seriously, the shrimp and the chipotle sauce was SO SO good. I am ready to go back there right now for another round!

It was Dina’s birthday weekend and Pran quickly mentioned it to the waiter as soon as we sat down. She was trying to get us some free drinks out of the deal. We didn’t get any drinks but we did get free dessert with a special birthday candle.

I should mention the restaurant’s birthday ritual. They actually start playing the “happy birthday song” out of the speakers (somehow the song sounded Mexican – don’t ask me why), turn the lights off in that room (for the candle) and make a bunch of noise. Dina blew the candle really quickly so the charade did not last long, but at some point during dinner it was clearly someone else’s birthday (in another room) and the song was playing for a loooong time. And it is LOUD. We of course thought it was hilarious but I have a feeling that if on one particular night there were many birthday diners, it could get annoying fast. Anyways, this is a good example of the kind of vibe the owners were going for. With free flowing (not free!) sangria, great food and lots of noise, a good time was had by all. Oh yeah, back to dessert…

Pay de chocolate cafe – rich flavored coffee, chocolate & Kahlua mousse & caramel on a chocolate & walnut crust, served with vanilla ice cream

SO good. It was like nothing I’ve ever had before. The walnut crust was especially good and was nicely complemented by the creamy rich chocolaty mousse. I didn’t have any of the ice cream. I think warm cakes must come with ice cream but this cake was cold so I found this combo odd. With that said, I’m pretty sure my husband would say every dessert should come with ice cream so maybe the restaurant owners share the same sentiment. What do I know, I’m just a food blogger.

VERY happy customers – Pran and Liz:

(Birthday girl) Dina and I:

Next stop – the M Bar (at the Mandarine Oriental hotel) for some drinks! The M Bar is super swanky. Good thing because we were in the mood for some fancy cocktails.

The cocktail list was quite extensive and all the drinks sounded pretty cool. I went with the mo-del – hendrick’s, rose syrup and lychee juice with fresh lemon and angostura bitters. The lychee juice really drew me in.

Mmm, yummy cocktails

My cocktail was definitely creative but I didn’t love it. The rose syrup stood out so it was more floral than sweet (I probably had 1/2 of my cocktail for this reason). I tried everyone’s drinks (love that I can do that with my girlfriends!) and mo-nsier was my favorite. Just in case you ever go there – that’s my personal recommendation.

Oh yeah, there were also some candied almonds and really great olives. I definitely dug into the olives bowl one too many times. Healthy fats, right?

But wait, there is more! Our friend Katy ended up meeting us at the M Bar as well. She had a few drinks by then so instead of ordering another round she got the mo chocolate brownie – vanilla, coffee, caramel cream, chocolate tuile

Wholly shit, this was good. The brownie was WARM – it tasted like heaven. I definitely ate my share of food by this point and did not think I wanted dessert but with a spoon in my hand I dug in and was so happy I got the chance to try this dessert. I may come back to the M Bar just for that next time. It was close to my ideal dessert (molten chocolate cake is my favorite if you’re wondering – I just love that oozing chocolate center).

I think this was my perfect kind of night with my girlfriends. How would you spend yours?

No, not spices. It’s my new kitchen (with this awesome built-in spice drawer) that makes me smile every time I walk into the house and I cannot wait to get in there and cook something healthy and delicious! Why waste calories on stupid stuff when you can have a satisfying meal? There are so many recipes I’ve marked over the past month and a half of construction, I don’t have enough meals in a day to execute all of them. But I’m up for the challenge! Now, should we take a look at that spice drawer again? [And yes, I alphabetized them!]

Yesterday the black peppercorns were the star of dinner.

I haven’t participated in CEiMB in almost 2 months now. This was a great recipe to dive back into it! I used to hate pork but pork tenderloin turned that around – it’s lean and tender and I’m pretty sure it’s one of my husband’s favorite meats (we discovered it together). For this reason, when I saw that Rachel of Rachel Hearts Food chose Ellie’s pork au poivre as this week’s featured recipe, I was more than happy to jump back on the CEiMB wagon.

This recipe was easy and had a very short ingredients list – perfect for a weeknight meal!

Gena’s carrot fries (found through Thinspired) made for a perfect side dish! Adam was making fun of me when I started making these but I knew they’d be amazing. I cut up a bunch of carrots (maybe 3/4 lb?) and used 1T of coconut oil. I think I’ll cut down on the oil even further next time, there seemed to be more than ample amount of it, but let me tell you… there will be a next time. Soon! Adam quickly stopped making fun of me after tasting these babies. They reminded us both of sweet potato fries due to a subtle sweetness from the coconut oil (I think that’s an important ingredient!). SO so good!! Adam said to add this recipe to our short list of “favorites.” Yup, carrot fries need to be on our favorites list. I’ll leave it at that.

Veggies take over the world! Or at least this plate… (carrot fries were accompanied by garlicky string beans which I just stir-fried while the wine sauce was reducing)

Did I mention this pork au poivre was great? It was! Tender, juicy, flavorful – we both loved it!

Oops, don’t forget the wine sauce!! I’d double the sauce amount next time… it was quite nice.

So yeah, dinner was amazing. Let’s fly through the rest of the eats.

BREAKFAST

Bacon, egg and cheese on a FFL english muffin + coffee

Breakfast of champions! Or something like that

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

1/2 blueberry muffin with 1T Barney Butter + tea

Oh yeah…

WORKOUT – 75 minute vinyasa class. It was great today. I was almost able to do the crow pose. Yay for progress!

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

1/2 cup reduced fat cottage cheese + 2 clementines

The clementines deserve a spot at the front and center too

MORE SNACKS

I finally got my last package of the bake sale for Haiti winnings. This one included some peanut butter/choc chip “granola bars” and banana bread.

These granola bars are basically bar cookies… and they are amazing!!!!!

It took a lot of will power to only eat 1. They are full of oats, seeds, choc chips and peanut butter – so dense and buttery. Oh yeah, there IS butter in them. Like I said, not exactly granola bars but damn, worth every calorie for sure! (I can provide you guys with the recipe if you’re interested).

The banana bread was nice too

I had 1/2 of this slice.

And that’s how you do it!

Do you ever lose motivation to keep eating healthy or exercising? What pushes you to keep at it? I have a feeling not everyone can just redo their kitchen

Now onto today’s eats…

BREAKFAST

TJ’s european style yogurt, pear, fresh blueberries and 1/2 blueberry muffin + coffee

The muffin chunks tasted like CAKE for breakfast! Best idea ever.

All messy… mmm

[302 calories]

MID-MORNING SNACK

The other half of the muffin + orange slices

[206 calories]

Man, it hurts me to post this ugly picture. It was crazy delicious though. I promise!

WORKOUT - abs + spin. Nice and sweaty

LUNCH

Baba ganoush, turkey, cucumbers and mustard on white whole wheat bread

A garlic pickle <3

+ baby carrots and cucumber slices

All together:

[326 calories]

I know this is obvious, but I just wanted to remind you all that cucumbers in sandwiches are awesome!!!

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

Strawberry Soyjoy I got at a conference ages ago.

[130 calories]

I liked it a lot. It kind of tasted like a strawberry cookie.

DINNER

Did I mention how much I love our new kitchen? Because I do! It’s seriously a pleasure being in it. I can’t get enough! I hope Adam can keep up with all the dish washing because I kind of want to live in the kitchen for a little while

For dinner tonight I made some sweet potato falafel by following this recipe from the Pink Apron. My pita bread totally fell apart so this was one messy meal, but it was quite tasty nonetheless. I loved how crunchy the baked falafel balls were and the subtle sweetness of the sweet potatoes added a fun twist to the traditional recipe. The tomatoes + cucumbers added a nice freshness to this meal. Unfortunately, the sauce, to be honest, was just okay. I didn’t thin it enough so it was quite thick and Adam is not a fan of parsley so I just used a bit of dried parsley instead of fresh and the sauce ended up tasting kind of like plain sour cream. Not that exciting (not Kelly’s fault since I didn’t follow her directions properly). I’d make the falafel again but probably use hummus for sauce.

[395 calories]

I just totaled up my calories for the day and realized I’m a bit low. I’m munching on a clementine and calling it a day.

See you later alligators!

1. Plate EVERYTHING before eating it. It’s crazy how many times I just go into the jar/ bag. I thought I was pretty good about this stuff — until I started paying attention. Even if you take 4 servings of something, seeing the 4 servings on a plate will make a difference.
2. Don’t eat standing up. Kinda goes with the above one. The “I’ll just take a bite” thing happens way too often with me (including this morning).
3. Don’t eat in front of the TV. If you want to eat — turn it off. Then turn it back on. Concentrating on what you are eating.

Further from Inna… I know I’ve heard all of these a gazillion times before, but I started doing these on Sunday and I can tell a difference in how I think. I have to keep stopping myself b/c I’m about to “break a rule” many times each day.

Back from me…

I think so many of us “break” these rules and this is basic stuff that DOES make a difference. I’m the worst with eating while reading emails, blogs or watching tv. For a while I tried to be more mindful, but then I got busy and that went out the window. Plating is another big one. I obviously plate most of my “real” meals since I write this blog, but sometimes snacks here and there still end up in my mouth and that’s the stuff I NEED to eliminate. A few almonds here and there really does add up. I’m trying to remember Inna’s rules as I shape up for my upcoming vacation (and these are good eating rules in general so hopefully they stick even after the vacation). Now let’s see how I did…

BREAKFAST

Food for Life (FFL) english muffin – 1/2 with Barney Butter, 1/2 with cherry preserves + banana & coffee

One of my favorite breakfasts for sure. Simple and hearty!

MID-MORNING SNACK

WORKOUT

I’ve been SORE from yesterday’s Rack it Up class but I knew I still wanted to get a run in. I saw some sunshine outside and decided to make it an outside run. I find outside runs to be so much more intuitive. On a treadmill you set the pace and try to keep up. Outside, your body tells you the pace it wants to go at (unless you need to push yourself for an interval or a tempo run). My legs were tight and rolling didn’t help so I took it eaaaaaasy. Just went slow for 40 minutes and was happy just to finish. I tried to enjoy my surroundings and it worked. 40 minutes, 4.3 miles, 9:18 pace. Done!

LUNCH

Total randomness in a bowl – not sure I’d recommend this combo but it was very filling – lots of healthy fats!

Mixed greens, broccoli, carrots, sardines, avocado, baba ganoush, parmesan shavings + 1T Annie’s goddess dressing

Alton Brown likes the avocado + sardines combo so I thought I’d give it a go. It was a good one. The baba ganoush, however, was tasty but did not belong here.

While whole wheat toast on the side for extra carbs.

DINNER

I’m going to add another rule – eat treat meals out with friends or family instead of at home alone in copious quantities. We implemented this rule by going out with friends to La Verdad for $1 tacos (Taco Tuesdays are the best!!). The place has a really fun decor and fabulous, creative (yet authentic) tacos. Plus, you really can’t beat the $1 price tag! That’s my kind of happy meal.

The chicken tacos and 2 types of pork tacos are included in the $1 special. I ordered 1 of each of the pork ones + 2 chickens. These tacos are quite small.

Chicken tacos…

Pork tacos…

Something about them was off today. I normally adore La Verdad’s tacos but one of them had onions and too much fat and the rest seemed dry. I think my batch may have been off because everyone loved theirs. I’ll definitely be back there for more thorough research

For dessert, Adam was craving Berryline (we were in our old neighborhood). I thought he was crazy because it was freezing cold out but I’m so glad he convinced me to go. It was (as always) amazing! I got my usual combo – small original with mango and pecans. Man, I missed this!

I didn’t count calories today and I know I was over, but I felt good about my choices. I guess for the most part as long as I follow some eating rules, things work out. Do you have eating rules you try to follow?

BREAKFAST

TJ’s organic moral fiber blueberry muffin + coffee

Those clementines in the box in the back were calling my name, so I finished breakfast with one

MID-MORNING SNACK

LUNCH

Lunch was SO good! I go home for lunch on Mondays… love that! I just threw a bunch of frozen and fresh veggies + cooked wild rice + shrimp in the wok and voila – delicious lunch!

Stir fry with cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, carrots, wild rice, shrimp with Jenna’s sesame sauce + sesame seeds

Yes, it tasted as good as it looked

+ another clementine

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

I am once again obsessed with KIND bars. I need to stock up. These bars are a little too sweet but the whole nuts are the best. This bar had whole almonds and macademia nuts. I’m nuts for nuts!

WORKOUT

I went back to one of my favorite classes at the gym after work – Rack it Up. It’s basically Body Pump/Group Power with a different name, and I LOVE this class. It’s been forever since I’ve been but I was able to lift the same weight as before (surprised myself actually!). The only thing was my legs. I used to lift 53lbs (includes 3lbs for the weight of the bar), but yesterday 33lbs almost instantly gave me leg cramps. I went down to 28 for the lunges track and still my legs were shacking. I hope I can run today! Anyways, I felt super strong and find these types of classes very inspiring. The guy next to me said he loves when I come because I can lift more than any of the guys (that included him, btw). Haha, love that!

DINNER

Leftover turkey, mushroom, spinach and cheese lasagna. Still awesome!

LATE NIGHT SNACKING

Oops, another one caught mid-bite

+ an orange and a zbar. I’m going to try to start “closing the kitchen” after dinner + dessert (if I need it). All these snacks add up!

Where would you go on quick vacation if you had a few days to kill?

Now, I’m sure you noticed I don’t drink much beer. I used to in college, and a good amount at that, but after a while the watered down “light” variety was just not doing it for me anymore (the days of drinking to get drunk are over) and most strong beers are usually too hoppy or bitter for my taste buds. Once in a while my husband (who LOVES beer) gives me a taste of his pint and I really enjoy it but I’m afraid I’d get overwhelmed or bored with a whole one so I rarely order beer at bars and never do at restaurants.

I’m always up for trying new things, though, and CBC proved to be a great little local brewing company. The atmosphere was perfect for a blogger meet-up too… laid back, lots of space, lots of beer excitement and free rein to take as many photos as you want without anyone looking at you funny.

Quite a few beer enthusiasts showed up.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed from the name, CBC brews their own beers. Behind the bar, you could see the brewing equipment. I thought it added even more character to the space and of course we all knew the stuff we were drinking was very fresh.

There were 11 beers on tap. I told the bartender I liked fruity and wheat beers and he recommended the weekapaug gruit as well as the tripel threat. I remembered that I also recently started liking espresso stouts so I gave theirs a taste as well.

Redbarn espreso stout (on left), weekapaug gruit (on right)

The espresso stout was delicious but the slight bitterness scared me from ordering a whole one. The weekapaug gruit was amazing, though! The bartender mentioned it was brewed with lots of herbs and Adam said it smelled like an herb garden. The sophisticated beer drinker that I am, I could not smell or taste herbs. I did however taste a slightly sweet, unhopped, smoooooooth beer. Lots of body too (can you say that about beer? I would for wine). I was in love!

Gorgeous, isn’t it? I had 2!

The hosts: Josh and Melissa. They were so friendly and fun. Loved meeting you both, guys!!

There was even a raffle. I didn’t win anything but I do need to get my hands on some beer cookies they were giving out. They looked like hard mini pretzels and I’m totally intrigued now.

Melissa and I:

It was such a fun event! I met some cool people and discovered a new beer that I love. If they sold it in growlers, I’d take some home with me. Maybe that’s for the better – daily drinking is not something I’d like to start engaging in.

If you live in the area and haven’t been to the Cambridge Brewing Company, definitely check it out. Thanks again, Josh and Melissa for organizing this event. I hope there are many more to come!

Where does beer rank on your drink preference scale? What’s your favorite kind?