Holy moly, I actually rode my bike for the first time in 3 weeks this past weekend!!! yippeeeee! Well, I was sucking air like I had never gotten on a bike before and blowing snot rockets like you wouldn’t believe (watch out), but I actually made it without keeling over. Yes. Now begins the long journey to get my stamina back. It’s amazing how quick it goes. I’m trying not to think about it too much and push ahead to get stronger! (more…)
February 8, 2011
December 10, 2010
stay healthy this holiday season
We all know that the holidays are fast approaching! Every store we go into is blasting festive, cheery music, lights are twinkling, and for some, everything is blanketed in that white stuff that’s wonderful to look at but not so fun to drive in. While we’re scrambling to get every last task accomplished, all the gifts wrapped, the house cleaned, cookies baked for the cookie exchange, and still find the energy to make it to the gym or train, the last thing on our minds is our own sanity and health! (more…)
November 24, 2010
POM dinner party – tapas style
I was chosen as a finalist to host a fun POM party using those big red beauties in season. I love dinner parties, so I was definitely up for the challenge! Because the party had to be held right after getting back from FNCE in Boston, I had to hustle to plan the menu, go shopping for all the ingredients, and get everything set up by the weekend. I’m excited to share with you my POM party recap, it was a lot of fun! (more…)
August 16, 2010
baby shower + weeds
Yes, that is a strange combination, but this weekend I was mostly busy prepping and planning for a friend’s baby shower, as well as catching up on season 5 of Weeds. Oh my gosh!! That show is ca-razy! Does anyone else watch it? We don’t have Showtime, but the season premiere is starting and I sure wish we did! I guess while we’re on the topic to tv shows, I’m also super excited about the start of ‘It’s Always Sunny’ in September. That show is pretty crazy funny too. Honestly, I don’t watch that much tv because it takes so much time and once I fall into our old, dilapidated couch I can’t seem to pry myself up. I’d rather not get stuck if I can help it, but every once in awhile it’s fun to get lost in a fictional story where the lives of the characters are much more crazy, twisted and down right funnier than mine. Read on, there’s lots of pasta salad and mini cupcakes to be made! (more…)
August 10, 2010
cumin-crusted salmon salad
I just adore salmon! I think I could eat it every day and then some. There is nothing like a perfectly cooked flaky, fatty fish, crusted with delicious goodness atop a bed of fresh greens, black beans, and oranges. It sure is refreshing for summer! The one and only thing that I don’t adore so much about salmon is the price, boo. Oh yes and the other thing about contaminants, colorings added, and PCBs, major boo. I try my best to get wild when I can, but man, $18/lb + is sure a steep hill that I don’t like to climb that often unless I’m eating out for a special occasion. I’ll admit that I did buy farmed at Whole Foods this time because it was cheaper at $13/lb. They say that it is sustainable with no added hormones. It sure tasted good, you’ll see! (more…)
June 22, 2010
a bit late but Happy Father’s Day!
ooh, sorry for being a missing person lately. Yes, my good ol’ laptop decided to take a dump on me again for a 3rd time!! grrr It was actually pretty funny because Chris and I were talking about how I should get Mozy to back up all my files since my laptop has been so shady, and the moment I tried to then turn it on . . . nuthin’. Yep, it was dead. Another good thing about all this though is that my 2-year performance plan will be up in July, so if it would have waited to die another month or so I would have been sh– out of luck. I’m hoping that they will send me a store credit for a new one since this is the same problem for the third time. *fingers crossed* I do know that I will NOT be getting an AMD processor again. That thing just got too hot and fried itself every time.
I hope you all had a nice Father’s Day! Just a little re-cap of the weekend and our dad’s day celebration . . . (more…)
May 10, 2010
a taste of summer
I had a packet of farro in the pantry that I bought a little while ago because I loved it in the cheesy baked farro I made so much, I wanted to find something else to use it with. I also bought a bunch of veggies at TJ’s the other day and needed to use those as well. The weather is warming right up around here along with most of the country, so I thought I’d whipped up some kind of summery salad.
I had some lemons in the fridge that were on their last leg, so I decided to make a lemony farro salad with roasted heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, haricot verts and fresh mozzarella. It turned out really well and refreshing! Because I still have a few big bags of pistachios left when I won a year supply from The Green Nut on Twitter, I decided to also make coconut-pistachio crusted chicken tenders again to go alongside. (more…)
February 24, 2010
mangoes are not in season
After studying for a bit, and having a nice chat with my mom, it was time to get dinner started! This is really one of our favorites and is pretty easy to make. I also served it with a mango and black bean salad.
I’m a big fan of summer squash and many vegetables can be the perfect vehicle for stuffing practically any kind of filling you can imagine inside. I use lean ground beef in this recipe, but there is also quinoa, brown rice, cous cous, oatmeal, barley, lentils, and the list goes on and on. Grains and such have such a wonderful natural binding ability that using them as stuffing can be the perfect compliment to something as neutral and naturally sweet as summer squash.
Plus summer squash cooks relatively quickly which is always a plus! (more…)
February 18, 2010
easy dinner ideas
This week I didn’t do too well in the planning dinner department. Well, I did plan it out, but I didn’t account for somehow not having enough leftovers for us to have the next night, oops! So I had to figure out some quick, easy and cheap dinner ideas which included (more…)
January 12, 2010
just a few new finds
I don’t have too much time to blab on today, as I’m trying my darndest to focus on my proposal, but I did want to just stop by and share a few good finds I discovered and some eats I made this weekend.
Can I just say that it is absolutely glorious sleeping in till 7am and eating when the sun is actually up!! Because we went out to dinner a bit late with our friends Friday evening (terrible pictures by the way), I decided to sleep in just a little bit. I love having the sunshine to be able to take food pictures!! Yay! Most of the time I leave when there’s not enough sunlight and get home when the sun is just going down. Dang you time change.
I could even take a nice picture of breakfast! This is just a mixture of Wallaby yogurt mixed with a scoop of LF cottage cheese, topped with frozen blueberries, cereal, banana, and flax. I also had 1/2 a date bran muffin I found in the freezer. Those muffins are definitely our favorite!
Saturday we spent most of the day running errands and grocery shopping. I found some items I can’t wait to try . . .
For lunch I made a munchie plate with crackers, hummus, string cheese, apple, and salmon salad with pistachios and persimmons.
I tried a Fuyu persimmon for the first time this season and I really enjoy them. It tastes like a subtle creamsicle to me? I like to put them in chicken lettuce wraps too.
I also found the Laughing Cow cheese finally and am looking forward to adding it to various recipes like so many of you do!
Persimmon Pistachio Salmon Salad
- one small can wild salmon with bones (for added calcium!)
- 1/3-1/2 cup low fat greek yogurt
- 1 Fuyu persimmon, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- various seasonings (all-purpose, garlic powder, s & p, splash of vinegar)
Mix it all together!
I found this quick cooking barley at Walmart. This will be great to add to soups, oats or make a salad with because normally barley takes quite awhile to cook.
I have to say I am impressed with Walmart’s selection of healthier items and brands at a reasonable price. For some families, it’s just being able to find these and make the choice to buy them over what they usually do, and that can be tough.
That afternoon we went to a bike demo for a local bike shop that we like to go to and it was also a charity event for our local Shade Tree Shelter. Lots of bikes!
We signed a waiver and then tried out a few of them. Most of the people there were mountain bikers, which is a completely different crowd than road bikers. Kind of like the laid back surfer dude type.
First we tried a couple road bikes. Boy, it’s amazing how much better those felt compared to my baseline model. I was really looking forward to trying a tri bike, but they didn’t have any there to sample. We also got to ride around Red Rock on a mountain bike. It was so much different than a road bike but a lot of fun!
Hey, even this dog was enjoying a little road biking! I thought this was too funny. How does that little guy stay on there?
After a C25K run/walk this morning, I made one of my favorite festive bowl of oats this holiday season. I call them festive oats! (gee that’s inventive)
I just love Egg Nog and usually find the low fat version or the soy version around this time of year. I also saw some kind of pumpkin spice nog at Walmart that I’ll have to try. Both low fat nog versions taste equally yummy. I could imagine these would be awesome in your morning coffee too.
Here’s my version this morning:
- 1/2 cup soy nog or low fat egg nog
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, fresh nutmeg
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 banana (1/2 mashed to add with oats, 1/2 for topping)
- 1 tsp flax mixed in
- splash of vanilla extract
- 2 dates
- Handful of Kashi cinnamon cereal and shredded wheat
- sprinkling of pistachios and pomegranate seeds for the festive touch!
It’s not even Thanksgiving quite yet, but I thought this would be fun 🙂
How do you add a festive touch to your dishes? Any favorite items only available during the holiday season?
If I don’t post again till Thanksgiving I sure hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend no matter what holidays you celebrate! We are going to visit Chris’ dad and step mom who just moved into a new cabin for their retirement. It’s going to be freezing, but I’m looking forward to spending time with family and enjoying a great meal. I am definitely most thankful for my family without a doubt. It just wouldn’t be the same without their never ending love and support. Hope you all enjoy your time too 🙂
