Alaskan Cupcake Gold, Hungry Animals and the Nats

Get ready for a grab bag of a post! It’s a bit here and there, just like I have been myself!

While walking past an ice cream store in Skagway, Alaska (and considering whether or not to make an ice cream stop…), my friend and I heard this conversation between a mother and child leaving the store. The kiddo had ice cream:

Kiddo: Mom, why didn’t you get ice cream?

Mom: Because I want a cupcake from Sugar Mamas.

What’s that? A cupcake? Yes please! I did what any good cupcake hound would do and tailed them down the block and around the corner. I was rewarded with this sight:

Inside this adorable pink store, my friend and I were treated to a selection of luscious looking cupcakes as well as some fun little treats for sale and a very friendly dog. I believe his name was Carlos. The pup took the time to ask my friend to toss his stick back and forth. I should have snapped his photo, but I have this one for you instead:

Look at the icing!! You may be able to read some of tags in the case. There were carrot cake cupcakes, fresh strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles, and several other kinds. It was NOT an easy choice, and I wish I had gotten a few to try later after I realized how great they really were. We both chose the Not So Plain Jane white chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and it was one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. This icing was buttery and sweet without being overly greasy and heavy (I hate greasy buttercream!!), and the cake was perfectly moist and sweet. I’m so happy that I was eavesdropping at just the right time. If the carrot cake had been equally as good, which I suspect would have been the case, I might not have gotten back on the boat!!

Now that you’ve had a little dose of Alaska (and you can expect some more for a few days more…), let me tell you about the Saturday I spent playing tourist in my own backyard. Of course, when you live just across the river from NW Washington, D.C., it’s pretty easy to find plenty of things to do.

A friend of mine, we’ll call him Mr. T, got a big new lens for his camera, and he thought the National Zoo would be a good place to try it out. I don’t love the zoo, typically. I especially dislike the apes. The way they stare back gives me the creeps! Primate issues aside, the weather was nice and the idea of walking around with good company for an afternoon sounded pretty good to me. Off I went! 

I took a ton of photos, but I’ll just share a few. Since this is a food blog, here are Tian Tian’s eats for the day. 

Mmm… bamboo. I will spare you a photo of the Magpie’s eats for the day. Watching him chow down on dead mouse was pretty disgusting, but to each his own. Here is an elephant munching on some grindage (points if you remember that movie…) with me in the foreground. I think my diet might closely resemble the elephant’s!

This tiger was just lounging in the shade, which is what I felt like doing after walking around all afternoon!

I think these flamingos needed a snack. They seemed to be having some issues, and the vibe was NOT a happy one… Low blood sugar?

It was such a nice day to be out and about, and I can’t wait to see the photos Mr. T took! I’m sure to be quite jealous of his new gadget!! The weather was so nice that we decided to go and catch a National’s game after the zoo. 

There was a pretty big crowd for a Nats game since the Nats were playing the Baltimore Orioles. There were lots of O’s fans in town for the game, and there was a lot of orange in the stands. Unfortunately, the Nats did not win , but we had a great time anyway! I’m not a big sports fan, but I do like going to baseball games. There’s just something about it! Usually, I pack healthy snacks before going to the ballpark, but since it was a spontaneous decision, all I had left in my bag was a little package of dried apple snacks. Those would certainly not do as dinner and wouldn’t even fill me up as a snack. What to eat? Well, here’s what I came up with:

Ben’s Chili Bowl is a Washington, D.C. institution, and their chili is really great. It’s nice and spicy with lots of juicy beef and plump beans. I have found that chili can be a pretty healthy choice, and it seemed like a better option than many of the other choices at the park. As much as I would have loved a big boat of French fries underneath my chili, I just got mine in a bowl with a bit of nacho cheese sauce and some chopped onions on top. I added a bit of yellow mustard, because I kind of like that in my chili sometimes. Anyone else do that? Is it just me? 

Of course, I needed dessert. There were tons of ice cream options, but Cracker Jack seemed like a better choice. It also didn’t hurt that the nutritional information was on the side of the bag so I didn’t have to guess at the number of calories I was about to eat. I appreciate knowing things like that most of the time! This whole bag (3 servings) was 350 calories. I was a happy– and full girl!!

I would have photographed my prize, but it was so LAME! I miss the lick and stick tattoos and the games with tiny plastic ping pong balls in a maze. My prize was disappointing, but at least my Jacks were good. I wanted something else, but managed to settle for a camera shy fountain Coke Zero. I’m not much of a diet soda drinker at all, but I like Coke Zero. Since I rarely see it as a fountain drink option, I decided to go for it. What is your favorite stadium food– healthy or… not? I do love a good hot dog, and the new stadium has Five Guys burgers, which are always an enjoyable treat. 

Saturday was such a nice day! I managed to keep my eating on track while staying in motion. I worked out in the gym on Saturday morning, and followed that up with several hours of walking around. It was definitely the sort of active day I needed during my “cruise recovery” program.  As for my Sunday, well, it has been a pretty laid back day. I still need to go to the grocery store, so I haven’t really done much cooking. I did make a sweet little treat that I wanted to mention: Chocolate covered bananas!

First, I peeled two bananas, sliced them in half, inserted some skewers, and put them on a plate covered with waxed paper:

I popped the plate in the freezer to let the bananas firm up for about three hours. Then, I melted 3 ounces of 77% dark chocolate with cocoa nibs (yummy), in the microwave in a small pyrex measuring cup:

I used to use the double boiler method whenever I melted chocolate, but, unless I’m making something super fancy, I think the microwave method works just fine! I’d say that you need about 1 1/2 ounces of chocolate per whole banana. Put the chocolate in a microwave safe dish and zap it for 30 seconds. Take it out, stir it, and zap it for 30 seconds more. Repeat this until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Then, dip the bananas. I decided I needed to use a rubber spatula to make sure I got the chocolate all over the bananas. After they were coated, I put them all back on the plate and popped them back in the freezer. You can see that the chocolate was already pretty much hardened up even before the second freeze:

You can see the bumpy little nibs too. Yum! Theoretically, these should stay in the freezer for awhile to allow the banana to re-freeze after being dipped in the hot chocolate. Realistically, I decided that 10 minutes was long enough!

I considered dipping these in nuts right after they took a swim in the chocolate, but the cocoa nibs in this chocolate bar gave it a crunch so I decided I didn’t need anything more. These are so easy, and quick. I’m not sure why I never made my own! I’ve seen some pricey ones in the freezer section at my Whole Foods, and those just seem extra silly now that I know how easy they are to make. Plus, I get to pick the chocolate I want.  

That’s the scoop on my weekend, and I’m so happy to have a bonus day off. I need another day like today to get things back in order after my trip, and I’m happy to be able to sleep late too!

Before I go, Christina made a batch of my cabbage nests and topped them with, get this, GRAVY! Genius! I’m so flattered, and so glad that other people are enjoying my recipe. This really is a versatile recipe. Remember my barbecued chicken pizza nests? How about when I topped a nest with a fried egg? I feel like the possibilities are endless!

Now that I’ve got you all caught up, I’m off to bed with a book, Underworld by Don Delillo, that I’ve really been enjoying. Since I don’t have to work tomorrow, I may stay up late with my book. I love when I’m able to do that! Ciao for now, and I hope everyone has a lovely Monday.

Happy Memorial Day!!

Packed (almost…) and Ready to Go!

Happy Mother’s day to you (if you are a mother), and if not, well, happy Sunday! I thought I’d leave you with a quick post before I head off on vacation. I’m not planning to post while I’m cruising in Alaska, but I will be taking tons of photos. I can’t wait to share them with you when I get back!

I’ve been busy trying to do some last minute shopping and packing over the last couple of days, and I haven’t had time to post up until now. Rather than try to catch you up on everything I’ve eaten, I thought I’d tell you about the yummy things I had on Friday. Everything else has basically been an adventure in refrigerator clean-out, and not that noteworthy.

On Friday, a friend of mine called before I left work, and we decided to hang out in the District for a bit before fleeing to our Virginia suburbs. We didn’t really have a plan, but I had just heard about a new fro-yo place that I wanted to try that was close by, so I proposed that we check it out. I loved the sign on the sidewalk outside of  Tangysweet:

“The bastion of zesty frozen delights”… Now, that’s high praise! I wasn’t sure what to expect from this fro-yo place, based on what I’d read about it on-line ahead of time. The website describes their fro-yo as being “tart.” I was intrigued! They have a number of permanent fro-yo options including vanilla, green tea and pomegranate, as well as a daily featured flavor. They also offer a wide array of toppings. There were lots of fresh fruits and berries, nuts and interesting cereal topping choices like Cap’n Crunch and Cocoa Puffs. I decided on the green tea fro-yo topped with some sliced almonds:

The nutritional information (according to the website) is pretty awesome! There are 90 calories and no fat in 1/2 a cup of the yogurt itself. I got the small size, and it was plenty! The coolest thing was the way my tastebuds reacted to this frozen treat. It did seem quite tart at first. I wasn’t sure if I liked it very much during the first few bites. Then, it started to taste really sweet to me as I continued eating it. It was very interesting the way it seemed to transform as I neared the bottom of the cup. I really enjoyed my treat, and I can definitely see myself becoming a regular at Tangysweet!

After that, we just started walking while trying to figure out what to do next. We ended up doing the most logical thing to do after having dessert: eat dinner. I had seen so much awesome food on various posts in honor of Cinco de Mayo, and I kind of wanted to make up for the fact that I hadn’t had as much as a tortilla chip to celebrate. Make up for it, I did.  We decided to go to Rosa Mexicano. Their food is always very fresh and interesting, and they make the best guacamole right at the table:

Look at the fresh cilantro! I had a pretty frozen pomegranate margarita on the side– talk about a treat… I never have these! I was already in vacation mode without even leaving town!

For my main course, I ordered the chicken tacos. They came with a tiny little bowl of  red bean chorizo chili, plenty of super spicy salsa, and a cooling little dish of fresh sweet corn in a cream sauce. 

I ate some of the chicken in taco form, wrapped in little corn tortillas, and then I put my fork to good use and finished off the chicken, peppers and the lovely melted chihuahua cheese in the bottom of the little skillet. They also brought out some delicious black beans and rice for us to share, and I sampled those a bit too. Yum! I love beans!!

I think it is worth mentioning that there were plenty of chips left in the basket at the end of the meal, as well as plenty of beans and rice. They were good, but I was stuffed! There was a time when that chip basket would have been reduced to crumbs whether I was full or not. I love tangible evidence of progress!

Even though I didn’t polish off the chips, I was so full that I didn’t feel well. I started having premonitions about my upcoming cruise. Of course, I believe that vacation is supposed to be fun, and food is one of the parts I enjoy the most. I often enjoy it so much that I don’t feel well afterwards– which is not fun. As with my daily eating, I need to find a better balance between eating what I really want and not overdoing it. I had planned to stay on track (also known as weighing and counting each morsel I ate) until I left for my trip on Monday morning, but the spirit of vacation crept in a bit early with this Friday night fiesta. 

I often think of that sick feeling I get from overeating as “FAT,” which is my acronym for “Food Aversion Therapy.” Just so you know, I deal with lots of acronyms in my job and I love making them up for all sorts of non-job-related things too. Another favorite I have is “PITA,” which stands for “Pain in the Arse.” Anyway, there are days when I want to whine like a moody child that it’s not faaaaiiiirrr that I can’t eat whatever I want all the time and maintain my weight. What usually happens is that, after a week or so of eating whatever I want, I’m more than happy to come home and eat my usual healthy fare thanks to a bit of “FAT.” I know that I feel much better when I’m making healthier choices, and that overstuffed feeling tends to drive that point home.

While it is likely that I will experience some “FAT” over the next week, here on the eve of vacation, I’m setting a few modest goals for myself. I won’t apologize for the fact that I plan to indulge while on vacation. I could choose to only eat healthy things, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Even so, I know myself well enough to know that I will still experience a bit of guilt and remorse when I experience “tight pants” syndrome on the way home. I know the negative consequences, but that doesn’t mean that I will do my best to avoid them. I wish that I could banish all food related guilt with a snap of my fingers, but I know that, for me, it isn’t that easy. What I can do is try to come up with a few positive things I can do while on vacation!

1. Make sure to drink the usual 100 ounces of water a day. There are so many reasons to do this. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. Plus, I like water and it keeps me from drinking calories, which I prefer not to do. I’d rather eat them in most cases.
2. Visit the gym each day. I don’t expect to work out at the same level that I do when I’m at home, but I know that if I stay active, it will help a bit. It’s also hard to munch on baked Alaska while running. My friend and I walked to a distant metro station after the Mexican feast, and I felt a bit better knowing that I had done something besides just collapse into a stuffed lump of lead. Exercise is always good for my mental health as well as my physical health. I’ve also booked a couple of excursions that are pretty active, as a way to make sure to work in some exercise, and I’m really looking forward to those.
3. Try to eat as much fresh stuff as possible. I have no idea what to expect as far as food choices go, except to expect that there will be a lot of them. Hearing the phrase “floating buffet” applied to cruising has left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, that means that there will be tasty food available 24/7, which means constant temptation. On the other hand, that probably means that I will have enough options to mix some healthier choices in with some unhealthier choices. I figure the easiest way to do that is just to make sure to focus on getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables into each day along with whatever else I might decide to eat. 
4. Remember that tasting is fine and that cleaning the plate is not necessary. Variety can get me into trouble because I like to taste everything. I just need to remember to try to share things with my cruising friends, and to ask myself whether I really want that next bite. I’m a bit of a grazer, which you might be able to tell by looking at my daily food posts, and I’d like to try to stick to little portions of things as much as possible. A bite is often enough for me!
5. Don’t overdo it on things I could have any day. That theory helped me make a few good choices while I was in Williamsburg recently, and it just makes sense. Saving room for the really special things makes more sense than eating Dunkin Donuts or something else that I could have any old day.
6. Be kind to myself. I can be very hard on myself when I know that I’m eating in a way that is contrary to the weight loss goals I’ve been so dedicated to for the past few years. I’m hoping that, by writing all of these thoughts down, I’ll make peace with it a bit. I know that the scale will gravitate upwards for a little while after I get home, but, past experience has told me that it will go back down once I get back on track. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, and I should just enjoy my time with friends, new sites, and fun experiences. I know that a fear of gaining back 180 pounds is largely what drives my negative thoughts, but I’m also smart enough to know that a week of eating “off-track” isn’t going to result in a 180 pound gain. I just need to have a good perspective, a good attitude, and try to stick to a few of the goals I’ve set for myself. I know that focusing on the positive rather than the negative is usually a much better approach in any situation. 

Do you ever set goals like these for yourself when you go on vacation? 

With that, I will leave you with the extra little treat I had yesterday. Most of yesterday’s choices were of the healthy variety following the Friday “FAT,” but I did manage to sneak in a treat from the Farmer’s Market. There are always some vendors with lovely baked goods, but I typically don’t stop by their booths. In the spirit of vacation (and since I couldn’t buy produce that would go bad while I was gone), I bought this lovely, spicy, fruity and nutty Appalach Apple cookie from the folks at Quail Creek Farm:

I’m reminded of the words from the mirror on my car: “objects in mirror may be larger than they appear.” This cookie was big. I had some right away, and I saved the rest for after lunch. Yum!

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you don’t think I’m silly for worrying so much about my upcoming vacation eating. Eating “off plan” is a genuine source of anxiety for me and something that I’m gradually getting better at dealing with. My main goal, above all– the goal to top all goals–  is to have fun!! Striking a balance is my constant challenge, and I’m sure it always will be. Good thing I like a challenge!

I hope to post again on the 19th or the 20th, and I can’t wait to show you some of the sites (and tastes) that I encountered on my trip. I’ll also tell you how I did with my vacation goals and attitude. I hope you will have lots of fun while I’m away. I will miss you all!!

Banana Wheat Bran Scones and a New Favorite Eatery!

Good morning and happy Monday! I’m awake earlier than usual for some reason, so I decided to go ahead and tell you about my Sunday. My blogging seems to be running a bit behind my life this weekend, and maybe this will get me back on track! 

I had such an enjoyable Sunday! The temperature has gotten up around 90 here for the past few days, which came sort of out of nowhere. It’s as if the summertime switch has been flipped. I wasn’t hungry for a hot breakfast yesterday at all, so I just had a little bowl of strawberry frosted mini-wheats cereal. I also had a little bit of peanut butter on bread. I definitely feel less hungry when the weather warms up, but I was also trying to eat light since I had a birthday brunch to attend. 

I met up with my friends yesterday at a great neighborhood brunch spot, but there was an hour and a half wait for a table. Too hungry to wait that long, we went in search of an alternative. We decided to go to the Le Pain Quotidien that had just recently opened. I’m SO glad we did! I started off with a hibiscus tea sweetened with organic agave. Isn’t it pretty?

I sat down, opened up my menu and nearly fell out of my chair. The menu was full of amazing choices and… it included the calorie counts for most of the foods!! Holy moly!! This was a dream come true right on my doorstep. The kinds of food available at LPQ are right up my alley. The boulangerie and patisserie selections alone could keep me entertained for a long time. For my lunch, I decided on the tartine with ricotta, mission figs, diced tomatoes, black pepper and organic acacia honey:

It was so fresh and amazing! The ricotta was smooth and creamy and went so well with the figs and honey. In case you can’t tell, a tartine is kind of like an open faced sandwich, and mine was made on some amazing whole wheat bread. BLISS! I also got a massive bowl of fruit to go along with it:

This was the perfect amount of food for me, and it was all so very fresh and bright. Speaking of fresh and bright, check out my friend’s gazpacho!

What a lovely lunch!! On the way out, I couldn’t resist picking up a jar of their praline spread and getting one of my favorites for the road:

I had my first chocolate croissant while I was studying abroad, and I’ve been a sucker for them ever since. This one did not disappoint! Happy Birthday to my friend… and happy new eatery to me.  

It was pretty late in the afternoon when I got back home after stopping to run a few errands on the way, and I spent some time putting my new plants into pots. I’ll take some photos of my little balcony garden soon so that you can see what I’ve been up to. It’s always nice to look out and see some living and growing things after a winter of staring at empty pots. 

When dinnertime rolled around, I decided to have some more of yesterday’s Buitoni creation along with my own little version of the salad I’d had at Art and Soul. 

Yes, it really was that color! I topped some of the pretty lettuce I got at the farmer’s market with some goat cheese and almonds. That’s always a good start! Then, I got out my new magic bullet. Oh yeah. Magic bullet action! I put in a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a Tablespoon of fig infused balsamic vinegar and three blackberries with the tiniest whisper of salt and gave it a whir. Three little blackberries made for all of that color and gave the dressing an awesome texture and flavor. If only I’d had some watermelon pickles! I think this might be a good alternative to my usual mustard and vinegar dressing mixes.

After dinner, I had a few little snacks that I didn’t photograph including a So Delicious mini-neapolitan ice cream bar. It was a 90 calorie treat that really packed a lot of goodness into a small package. YUM! After my icy treat, I headed off to the Sunday session with my trainer (plus cardio… 572 calories crushed). Yay!!

When I got back to the apartment,  I decided to use up some more of the bananas out of the freezer and make a batch of scones with what I had on hand. In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of using up what’s on hand, and that’s why I put so many little options in the recipe. I’ve learned that substitutions are fine in many cases, and there’s no reason to run to the store unless it’s really necessary!  By the way, my recipe is an adaptation of this one from Cooking Light with some of my usual tweaks.

Banana Wheat Bran Scones

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup teff flour (or whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup wheat bran (or oat bran)

2 Tbsp. butter, chilled and cut into little pieces

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup mashed ripe (or thawed overripe!!) banana

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt (or regular nonfat yogurt)

1 1/2 tsp. almond milk (or skim milk)

1 1/2 tsp. turbinado sugar (or regular granulated sugar)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Combine the bananas and the brown sugar in a medium sized bowl and allow to stand for five minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the first eight ingredients, AP flour through cinnamon, in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the flour mixture and the yogurt to the banana mixture, alternatively adding some of the flour and then some of the yogurt until the ingredients are completely incorporated, and stir until moistened. 

Using a rubber spatula “knead” the dough right in the bowl by pressing it down to really work in the butter pieces and then scraping the sides of the bowl. Continue to repeat that action for about 1 1/2 minutes. Alternatively, you could also turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for a minute or so, but the bowl method is less messy and works just fine.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Press into a 6″ circle using the back of the rubber spatula. Use a sharp knife to cut into but not through the circle of dough, dividing it into eight wedges. Brush with the almond milk and sprinkle the sugar on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. It should be browned and should spring back somewhat when pressed on the top. Cool on a wire rack, cut the wedges all the way through and enjoy!

This makes 8 scones at less than 130 calories each according to the recipe calculator I used. Not bad!

[Late breaking edit: Please see this post for a review of the scones. They didn't turn out to be my favorite thing and, in the interest of full disclosure, I want to give you my thoughts in case you are considering whipping up a batch! If you are trying to find something to do with overripe bananas, you might check out this post for a chocolate banana snack cake recipe that I adore!!]

Photos from the process:

These were super quick and easy, and I think you could certainly add all sorts of things to this recipe to suit your taste. I’m thinking that some chocolate chips would be a good addition next time. Chocolate!

Now, I’ve got to get ready and get to work. I hope you all have a good Monday, and don’t forget to enter my 100th post giveaway!! By the way, a special welcome to you if you are checking out my blog for the first time! Make yourself at home!!  

Ciao for now, bloggies!

100th Post Giveaway, Plus Art, Soul and Buitoni!

Hi!! I’m having such a lovely weekend, and I hope that you are too. I’m sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but, as you will see, it was a busy day. Plus, with this being my 100th post, I didn’t want to shortchange it.

I woke up Saturday to the sound of birds and… buzzsaws. It was warm on Friday evening, and I decided to sleep with the patio screen open to let some fresh air into my winter suffocated apartment. They are building a new hotel next door to my building, and I’ve been hearing all sorts of construction sounds for the better part of a year now. They’ve planted some ornamental trees and it looks like things are in the final stages. I’ll be glad when the racket is done!

I got up and headed over to the farmer’s market. Today, it looked like it usually does when it is in full swing with people, dogs and green things everywhere. There were lots of plants for sale, along with the usual treats. I was most excited to finally score some fresh asparagus!

I also bought some spring onions, a cucumber, another bag of the gorgeous lettuce mix I tried a few weeks ago, a bunch of pink lady apples, a thyme plant, a mint plant and a sugar snack tomato plant. It’s planting season out on the balcony, and I’ve had such good luck with the plants I’ve gotten at the market in the past. I had a sugar snack cherry tomato plant last year, and it did pretty well in my big balcony pot. I’m hoping for similar results this year!

When I was shopping, I had lunch in mind. Like many foodbuzz featured publishers, I received this package of pasta in the mail the other day to take for a spin:

I love wild mushrooms, and I was sure to love the taste of these! I thought about different sauces, but decided that, since the pasta was pretty high in calories, I needed to bulk up the meal with a ton of veggies instead. I decided that the beautiful spring green onions and the fresh asparagus from the market would be the perfect complement to the pasta. 

I thought the onions were so pretty! I sliced up all three of these rather large green onions and sauteed them, along with a clove of garlic, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper in a teaspoon of olive oil and a spray of cooking spray. I know that a mix of olive oil and butter is common in cooking, but you get a mix of oil and spray more often in my kitchen. I cooked them low and slow for about twenty minutes. Just look at how bright and green they are!

While the onions were in the skillet, the asparagus was roasting in the oven. I love roasting asparagus, and I think the caramelized flavor really adds another element to the vegetable and to this dish!

Once my onions had cooked down nicely, and the aspara-guys had gotten a nice tan, I mixed the two together. The pasta was nearly done at this point. It only took four minutes for the pasta to boil, which was pretty awesome!

I loved the bright springiness of this dish, and I also knew that all of these veggies would help to fill me up since I was planning to eat 1/3 of the package of pasta instead of 1/2, which was the amount that the package determined to be a serving. I tossed the two together and ended up with this:

What did I think of the pasta? I loved the wild mushroom filling and the quick cooking time. It was definitely delicious. I do think that it is probably too high in calories (320 for six of the pasta pillow) for me to have on a regular basis. Even so, four pieces of the pasta with all of the veggies, preceded by an apple with cashew butter and followed by dessert kept me full for awhile. 

Speaking of dessert, I tried something I’ve been meaning to try for awhile now:

I took one of the remaining pieces of chocolate banana snack cake out of the freezer, cut it in half, and added a layer of mighty maple PB before giving it a 15 second zap in the micro. It was a good as I had suspected, but then, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate and PB! 

After all of that, I made a trip to Whole Foods and then followed that up with a really long, but good, workout. It included time in the gym as well as running outside, which I always prefer to running on the treadmill. I love the calorie burn I get from running, but I just don’t love running all that much. I have my moments where it feels really good, but it’s never my favorite thing. It’s always nice to be outside, however, and, since I haven’t figured out how to elliptical al fresco, I’ll keep running in my mix.

After that, I hopped in the shower and got ready to go and meet some friends for dinner at this place on Capitol Hill:

While I have certainly tried a number of places in DC since moving here in 2004, I have avoided going out as often as I would have liked because I find eating out to be such a challenge on a diet. Now that I’ve tried to take some of the pressure off, I find it easier to go out and to just try to make some smart choices. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to skip dessert, as you will see, but it does mean that I will likely opt for healthier choices in the other courses as a little bit of a compromise. It’s a treat, and one that I think should be enjoyed! I took photos of my dinner, but, since I was trying to be all stealthy and not use my flash, they look kind of weird. I thought I’d share them anyway.

First, I had the arugula salad with blackberries, goat cheese, almonds, watermelon pickles and a blackberry vinaigrette:

This was a nice big pile of fresh and peppery arugula topped with some of my favorite things. The pickles were sweet and had a bit of spice, but they were different than the watermelon rind pickles we used to make when I was a kid. Ours were cut into cubes, and were bright red in a cinnamony sweet pickle syrup. These were a bit more subtle and were really delicious along with the other components of the salad. I got the dressing on the side, of course, and it was really good. I’m pretty sure it contained fresh pureed blackberries, which would explain the slightly chunky texture, and it was perfectly tangy and sweet. I ate as much of the dressing as I wanted, but that turned out to be only around half of the little dressing container.

I should mention that there were some fun pull apart type garlic rolls before the salad, but they didn’t photograph well at all! They were tasty, and I love the interactive element of pulling them apart and sharing them around the table. Yum!!

For my main course, I had grouper topped with pesto sitting on a bed of buttermilk mashed potatoes and strips of carrot, zucchini and yellow squash. That was all topped off with a carrot cider broth:

It didn’t look nearly as neon in person. I’m not the world’s biggest fish eater (aside from sushi…), but I’ve definitely expanded my fish eating horizons since moving to the east coast. I am honestly not sure that I’ve ever had grouper, but I am certain that I would order it again. The flesh was firm and tender, and the flavor wasn’t fishy or strong at all. It also didn’t hurt that it was sitting on top of a pile of mashed potatoes and surrounded by a sweet carroty sauce. The mashed potatoes are the thing that tempted me the most.

I’d checked out the menu on-line before going to the restaurant and done a bit of research. Nerdy? Prepared! I learned that, of the meats/seafoods featured on the menu, grouper was one of the lowest calorie choices ounce for ounce. Now, if you sit the grouper on top of, say, a stick of butter, it obviously doesn’t matter. This plate seemed reasonable to me, the portion wasn’t out of control, and, most importantly, I enjoyed it while trying something new. Maybe I saved a few calories by ordering the grouper, and maybe I didn’t when the accompaniments were figured in. I just think that making some sort of educated choice made me feel good about my meal. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that! I also learned that I like grouper, and next time I see it on a menu, it will be a contender! 

Feeling pretty good about my choices, I decided that dessert was a must. That’s no surprise, right? There were some really delicious sounding things to choose from on the dessert menu including an almond pound cake, a bourbon pecan pie and some Pennsylvania Dutch style donuts. At the top of the list was a dessert called “Baby Cakes,” and the caption underneath said that they were the chef’s favorite. This was curious indeed! I asked the server to tell me about them, and, after hearing his description, I knew exactly what I wanted!

I almost always prefer little samples of different things over a big plate of one thing. The baby cakes were perfect for me!  The little cake in the upper right hand corner involved bananas and a bit of fluffy whipped cream with a hint of mocha? I’m not sure, but it was good. The cake beneath it with the swizzle of glaze is a bit harder to describe. One of my friends had baby cakes as well, and she said it reminded her of coffee cake. I have to agree. I think there was some white chocolate involved and there was some raspberry on the bottom. It was good, and definitely breakfasty. On the bottom left hand corner was a delicate lemon cake with a lemon powdered sugar glaze. I love lemon cake with glaze, and this was one of my favorites on the plate! In the upper left hand corner… carrot cake. Oh my! Just look at the frosting. It was sooooo good! It probably gets my first place ribbon. Top and center was a very dark and rich chocolate cake that won my heart too. I had my baby cakes along with a nibble of another friend’s Pennsylvania Dutch style donuts, and I was a happy girl. 

I would definitely recommend Art and Soul for an evening out. The atmosphere was very nice and comfortably casual, and the food was very good. The noise level was low, which made it perfect for chatting with friends, and the service was great too. 

So, that about sums up my Saturday. I have some plants to put into pots today and a few more things to do to get ready for the week. I’m thinking about making some cookies today, but I’ll have to get the other things done first. One other thing I have to do today is to tell you about my 100th Post Giveaway!!!

I really enjoy writing my blog, and I’ve gotten to know some very cool people and found some awesome blogs since I started my own back in January. I can’t believe that I’m already at my 100th post! I wanted to have a little giveaway with some of my favorite things as a way of celebrating. Without futher adieu, I give you “Sweetie Pie’s Prize Pack:”

I’ve included a box of Kashi Honey Sunshine (my favorite “snacking cereal”), Lesser Evil Black and White Kettle Corn (one of my favorite snacks), a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams PB from PB& Co. (often part of my morning chocolate and strawberry fix), some chocolate Jay Robb’s whey protein (since I’m a fan of JR, and thought I’d share the love), a jar of the orange fig spread that I adore mixed into my Greek yogurt, one of my favorite little Z bars, and one of my favorite Theo chocolate bars too. These are all things that I love, and I can’t wait to share them all with one lucky winner!! Here’s how to enter:

1. For one entry, post a comment on this post telling me which of the items you would most like to try, or, which item is already one of your favorites.
2. For a second entry, If you have a blog, link back to this post and tell your readers about my giveaway. Please let me know that you’ve done so in the comments section. If you do not have a blog, you can e-mail me at melodylawgirl@yahoo.com, with the word “giveaway” in the subject line, and you will receive a second entry.
3. Finally, you can earn a third entry if you have a blog and you add me to your blogroll. Just let me know that you did so in the comments section.

If you have been reading, but not commenting, now is your chance to say hello!! I’d love to meet you! I will announce the winner next Saturday, and I’ll be receiving entries until midnight on Friday evening, 5/1/09. I can’t believe it’s almost May!! 

Now, I’m going to do a bit of balcony gardening. I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!! Ciao for now.

Sweet Sufferin’ Soybean Succotash

Hi and I hope you’re having a great weekend! Mine got off to a very wet, damp and chilly start, but at least the bad weather didn’t keep me from visiting the farmer’s market. I asked one of the vendors whether we needed the rain, and I felt a bit better about my soggy shoes when he said “yes.” If it means great apples in the fall, I guess I can soak up some rain drops. The market is really starting to come to life as winter loses its hold and spring takes over in full force. Just look at the flowers for sale today:

I was interested in finding some lettuce or other greens, and I stopped by the Endless Summer Harvest booth:

There were so many great choices, and I decided on a little bag of salad mix. I also restocked my Blue Ridge Farm Greek yogurt and smoked mozzarella, and got some chicken breasts from the EcoFriendly folks, a couple of sweet potatoes and a little bunch of arugula (that I had for dinner) from another farmer, some Chipotle Pepper Cheddar from a very nice man at Fields of Grace, and some pretty pink lady apples from the Toigo Orchards. It was worth getting out in the rain! I love apples with the leaves still on top.

Before I headed out, I made a quick breakfast. I think that the holiday spirit put me in the mood for something special. I made a couple of pancakes, using my very favorite sweet potato pancake mix from Bruce’s, and had a quick scrambled egg beater and a few grapes on the side. I also made a latte and fixed it up in the very cool mug I got from Laura. It’s so pink and cheerful! I love it! It went to the market with me, and I was glad to have something warm to sip in the chilly morning rain.

After I got back from the market, I decided it was time for today’s freezer clean-out project. My freezer is looking so much better after just a couple of weeks of really trying to use up the things inside. I’ve had a bag of frozen, shelled edamame that I bought months ago with succotash in mind. I also had some of Trader Joe’s awesome super sweet organic frozen corn, and a jar of roasted red and yellow peppers from Trader Joe’s in the pantry. Succotash was on!

Sweet Sufferin’ Soybean Succotash

Ingredients:

1 tsp. olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove of garlic, chopped

6 Tbsp. of roasted red peppers (or the red, yellow and orange combo I had in my jar)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (I used 1/2 but I like the heat along with the sweet corn)

16 ounce bag of frozen, shelled edamame (soybeans)

2 cups of frozen corn, rinsed

3 Tbsp. water

Directions:

Prepare the frozen edamame according to package directions. Mine involved boiling the edamame for five minutes and then draining it.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and then saute the onion and garlic for three minutes over medium/medium high heat. Add the salt, pepper and roasted peppers. Saute for two additional minutes.

Add the edamame, corn and water to the skillet and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the corn is heated through and the water has evaporated. Easy! 

This makes a good sized batch. I divided mine into 12 side servings, but I may double them up and have them as a main course for lunch this week. I think that there is enough protein in there to keep me full for awhile. If you are not a soy eater, you could always use the traditional lima beans. I just love the combo of corn and beans together, and the bright colors make me happy!!

I had some succotash on the side with my last leftover burger from the other night and a little Country Bob’s sauce. YUM! Then, I made a teeny bit more room in the freezer by eating my last blueberry muffin along with a little glass of almond milk. I love those muffins! 

My sweet tooth was still not satisfied so I had one of these:

On Thursday, I mentioned that I was unable to find any Cadbury Creme Eggs on my Facebook page. Every place I tried in my neighborhood was sold out! I really look forward to having a couple of these each year, and I was bummed that I couldn’t find one. I was on a genuine Easter egg hunt, and my basket was empty. One of my co-workers noticed my Facebook comment, and told me that she would bring me one of hers on Friday. Yay!!! She brought it by on Friday morning, and I set it aside to enjoy after lunch. When I returned to my office after lunch I found, not one, but three little eggs on my desk!!! The Easter bunny had smiled on me. Well, actually, another co-worker had read my comment and very sweetly fixed me up. I have such awesome co-workers,… and awesome candy. Tanks, Eastah bunnies!

Later this afternoon, I had a pink lady with some Mighty Maple peanut butter on top. Mighty Maple is absolutely my favorite PB&Co peanut butter, and I love it best on crispy apples!

Before I went to the gym, I decided that I needed a bowl of Greek yogurt with some berry jam and a bit of Zoe’s granola to fuel my workout. I also just think it’s tasty.

After I got back from the gym, I was hungry… again. I’ve been hungry a lot this week. I’m not sure if it is because of last Sunday’s super calorie burning trek, but I’ve wanted to eat everything under the sun. I decided to try out the Wallaby Dulce de Leche yogurt that I had in the fridge. This is another yogurt that I wanted to try forever, but didn’t buy because it would be a little higher in points than my usual. I love Dulche de Leche, and the slightly burnt caramelly flavor was amazing in this yogurt. Wow. SO good!!

After that, I hopped in the shower, and when I got out, it was time for dinner. I love potatoes and greens together, and I decided to saute a chicken sausage with my little bunch of arugula and use it to top a quick baked potato. I tossed a little feta and some chipotle Tabasco on top and, ta dah– a quick dinner that involved the greens and potato combo. 

My dinner was really satisfying so I decided to just have a little nibble of something sweet before I went to finish up my grocery shopping. I had a slice of bran bread from the freezer topped with some PB2 and jam.

The PB2 is growing on me. I’ve decided that I can’t really taste it mixed into my oatmeal, and I think the flavor is pretty lackluster when it’s just mixed with water. If you mix it directly into the jam or jelly however, it’s quite good! I’m certainly going to experiment with it some more, but, for now, I’m enjoying it mixed with my jam. It’s kind of magical, actually. You keep mixing this dried powder and, all of a sudden, you have peanut butter. Fun!

After I got home from the grocery store, I ate a Chex Turtle Bar. I didn’t take a photo, but I did enjoy the bar. I’d heard that these were good, and it really was delicious. It was also much more dense and chewy than some other cereal bars I’ve tried. I’m not sad that I have five more in the box. So, in case you can’t tell, I’ve had a pretty laid back day. That was fine with me! I really like days when I don’t have a schedule to keep. Now, I have a DVD to watch and I’m going to read some more of my new Alice Waters cookbook and sip on some bee pollen tea. Yes, I still have a couple of lazy Saturday hours left, and I plan to make the most of them! 

I’m making something special to take to Easter dinner at a friend’s house tomorrow, and I’m really excited! I can’t wait to tell you about it. For now, I’ll leave you with a photo of my aunt’s cat, Cricket, making friends with a neighbor’s bunny. Apparently, they got along pretty well. They look so much alike, they could be cousins! Ciao for now, friends. See you tomorrow! 

Do you have special Sunday plans this weekend?

Cookies and Blooms

It could not have been a more gorgeous day to see the cherry blossoms. It was sunny, yesterday’s crazy wind had blown out of town, and the temperature was just right! I decided to make the 10+ mile roundtrip jaunt by foot (walking and running) to see the cherry blossoms rather than fighting the crowds on the metro, and I got a good workout during my day of playing tourist in my own back yard. It was quite a day. 

I fueled my excursion with this chocolate breakfast cookie:

I was hoping it would taste like a “no bake” cookie. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, we used to make cookies with chocolate, peanut butter, oats, tons of butter and tons of sugar that didn’t require baking. Have you had them? Did you call them something else? Anyway, this was good, but not as much like my old “no bake” cookie as I’d hoped. I used some chopped roasted peanuts, reduced fat Jif, Jay Robb’s vanilla whey protein powder, unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, and a spoonful of cocoa powder. I’m having fun experimenting with the b’fast cookies, but I have to say that yesterday’s is my favorite so far. 

For lunch, I had some more of the soup I made yesterday along with one of my favorite little sandwiches:

I had some Alexia breads in the freezer, and decided it was time to get them out and bake them up. I had one piece of ciabatta left, which is what you see above. I topped it with some Trader Joe’s Bruschetta topping, smoked mozzarella and avocado. I hit upon this combination last summer, and it has become one of my favorites! This little sandwich packs a ton of yum! The soup was even better the second day. I love when that happens!

Before I struck out on my trek, I decided to use some more things from the freezer and make a batch of cookies. I was looking for a recipe involving banana, because goodness knows I have plenty of frozen bananas. I also used some of my coconut stockpile and some of the walnuts I keep in the freezer. I’m making progress! I got invited to a cookout later in the afternoon, and was happy to have a batch of cookies just waiting for an outing. I found a recipe on Cooking Light and changed it just a bit. The recipe made me laugh when I saw it. One of the ingredients is light mayonnaise. I think that any good southern cook who has taken foods to a church potluck probably has a chocolate cake recipe in the arsenal that involves mayo. I’d never seen it in a cookie recipe, and, of course, I had to try it! The original recipe is here. This is my version:

Coconut Banana and Apricot Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 medium sized banana, mashed (I used an 80 gram banana from the freezer)

1/2 cup reduced fat mayo (I used Hellman’s light mayo)

1 tsp. rum (I couldn’t tell it was in there so I’d just skip it and use coconut or vanilla extract the next time)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

8 Tbsp. (90 grams) of flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 cup chopped dried apricot

1 ounce of chopped walnuts

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

a dash of ginger

a grate or seven of nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

This made about two dozen cookies.

I have eaten SEVERAL of these today. I really like them a lot. My friends helped to make a dent in them, but I like them so much that the leftovers are either going to work tomorrow or into the freezer ASAP! In case you are wondering, I did use the sparkpeople recipe calculator to figure out the calories, and I’m counting them. I just figure that woman can’t live on cookies alone, and I’d be tempted to try it with these!  

Ok, so back to the cherry blossoms. Here are a few more photos from my afternoon:

See all the people on the steps of the Jefferson? It was really crowded, but I’m happy that so many people got to enjoy the day.

These were ready for their close-up! Here’s one more of the Washington Monument:

I was in the shade for the photos of the Jefferson and the Washington, and you can definitely tell a difference in the colors. It was a beautiful and busy day, and it ended nicely with dinner at my friends’ house. I had grilled chicken breast with Stubb’s BBQ sauce, corn on the cob (also grilled), potatoes and salad. Yum and yum. It was so good! My friends are always great at hosting, and I always love seeing them and their awesome dog. 

After all of my walking and running, it is definitely time for me to hit the hay. I do long jaunts like that when the weather is nice, but I can tell that I haven’t done it in awhile. I was tired by the time I got home. I’m going to go and mix up a breakfast cookie, and then I’m calling it a night. 

Here’s wishing you all an excellent week!! Ciao for now!

Italian Turkey Sausage Saturday and the Farmer’s Market

I walked past these pretty ladies on my way to the farmer’s market this morning. The plaza near my building has lots of big pots, and I’m glad that someone had the foresight to plant tulip bulbs in them. They were a welcome sight this morning for sure! The sun was shining and the weather was… cold. The wind was blowing like nobody’s business! I knew it was serious when I got to the farmer’s market and the vendors had decided to forego the usual canopies. As one lady told me, the innocent canopies were turning into guided missiles today. Yikes!

Before I headed off to check out the farmers’ wares, I made a quick breakfast. I didn’t have oats for the first time in days? Weeks? I was hungry for eggs, so I sauteed some swiss chard and made a little scramble. There is some smoked mozzarella in there too and a little Tabasco on top. I still needed my chocolate and strawberry fix, so I pulled another slice of my cottage cheese bread out of the freezer, and had a piece of toast with Dark Chocolate Dreams and berries. It was… dreamy! 

There was a pretty good crowd at the farmer’s market this morning, but the produce selection is still pretty slim. I’m expecting the market to make like the planter of tulips and burst into bloom anytime now. Even though there isn’t a lot of produce, there is still plenty to see. I bought some more Greek yogurt from the Blue Ridge Dairy folks. I think it is the best I’ve ever had so I got two! I also bought another pork tenderloin from the Ecofriendly Farms folks:

I made some pork chops the other night, and I was so disappointed in the lack of flavor. The chops didn’t even come close to the awesome pork tenderloin I got from the Ecofriendly folks the other week. I’m all set now with one in the freezer. Yes, I put something IN the freezer. I’ll tell you about some things that I’ve taken OUT in a bit.

I also saw these for sale, but decided on a photo rather than a purchase:

Seeing the forsythia in bloom was always a sure sign that spring had come to my parents’ yard when I was growing up, and what’s not to love about pussy willows! The other fun thing I saw today was a booth of honey products. I don’t know if they are new to the market or if I’ve just not been paying attention, but Bees ‘n Blossoms had some very fun things for sale:

I decided to try their bee pollen and lemon balm tea bags as well as their honey and pomegranate jelly:

I haven’t sampled my new purchases yet, but I’m planning on making a cup of the tea after I finish writing this post. I’ll let you know tomorrow what I think about it. I don’t see how that jelly could be anything besides fabulous! I’m imagining it in my Greek yogurt right now!

After I got home from the market, I enjoyed my first link of Italian turkey sausage for the day. I took the last three links out of the freezer to thaw, and I was planning to use them all in the soup I made this evening. I decided, instead, that I wanted a sausage pizza for lunch, and quickly browned a link up in the skillet, chopping it into bits as I stirred it around. It went on top of a piece of my Trader Joe’s naan, with the rest of the roasted vegetable tapenade from my little jar and some smoked mozzarella. 

Not too shabby if I do say so myself! I had a bowl of TJ’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup on the side, dipping bits of the lovely crust in my soup as I made my way through the bowl. So good! I followed it up with an old and sort of sad Edy’s Creamy Coconut popsicle that has been in the freezer since, well, last summer. I hate wasting things, and it was still enjoyable… once I knocked the ice off. I had a few other snacks this afternoon, including a Brent & Sam’s Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin cookie, a bit of granola and a graham cracker with PB. I needed a little PB before I headed off to the gym! I’m a snack photo slacker, but I’m sure you can envision them with little trouble!

I made a bit of progress today on “Project: Clean Out the Freezer.” Yesterday, I took out the Italian sausages as well as a package of frozen spinach and the remains of a sad little bag of frozen peas. I had thought that I would make a pasta sauce of some sort, but that didn’t turn out to be what I was in the mood for when cooking time rolled around. I won’t say that I’m planning to sacrifice flavor in the name of cleaning out the freezer, but I wasn’t expecting to like today’s pot of soup as much as I do. It isn’t pretty, but it was very soothing and homey and just plain good! There’s also quite a bit of good nutrition in this bowl, and I’m glad that the freezer was able to supply me so well! Since I liked it so much, I’ll give you the recipe:

“Project: Clean Out the Freezer” Spinach and Sausage Soup

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

3 portabello mushroom caps, chopped

2 links of lean Italian turkey sausage

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed

4 cups of Veggie or Chicken broth

4 cups of water

1 cup of frozen green peas, rinsed and thawed 

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and saute for an additional 5 minutes. Scoot the onion/mushroom mix over to the side of the pot and brown the Italian sausage, chopping it up as you stir it around. Once it is mostly browned, mix the mushrooms and onions back into the middle of the pot with the sausage and continue to cook for about 2 minutes, just to allow the flavors to combine. Add the spinach, broth, water and peas. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

This made 4 BIG servings!

It was easy, made for a very satisfying bowl, and reminded me a bit of Italian wedding soup– which I love. I liked the sweet little pop of the peas too. I’ll be eating it for lunch this week, and I’m going to be looking forward to it! 

The freezer is starting to look a bit better. My goal is to use up the things that are in there unless they are so freezer burned or so old that I don’t feel safe about it. The popsicle was still enjoyable despite the need for ice removal.I did have to toss the remains of a bag of frozen shrimp today, and I felt really bad about it. I’d probably feel worse, however, if I ate them and got sick. Hopefully, they will be the only freezer fatality. I don’t mess around with shellfish! I had some more ice cream with a vitatop for dessert this evening, all in the name of cleaning out the freezer, of course!

I was hoping to make my way down to see the cherry blossoms today, but the wind was just too ridiculous for me. I checked the weather forecast, and tomorrow is supposed to be better. Assuming the blossoms didn’t all blow off of the trees today, I should have some flowery pictures soon!  Now, I’m off to make a cup of bee pollen tea. I’m excited! I love trying new things!

Here’s a question: If you were given a couple of Italian turkey sausage links, a block of frozen spinach and some peas, what would you make with it? You can add other ingredients, of course!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend! Ciao for now!

It Was About Time…

TGIF!!! I hope this finds everyone doing well and getting a good start to the weekend! Quitting time could not come soon enough today, especially after I saw a spot of sunshine at lunch. I was in the middle of a serious downpour on my way into the office this morning, so I was so surprised that it was gorgeous at lunchtime. When you have a windowless office, the weather is often a surprise.

Aside from the rain, my day started off pretty well. Now that Jay Robb and I have become friends, I decided that it was time for me to give Fitnessista’s breakfast cookie a try. Last night, before heading off to bed, I mixed up this baby:

My breakfast cookie is made of 1/3 cup of oats, 1 ounce of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 15 grams of Jay Robb’s vanilla whey protein powder, 7 grams of chopped vanilla almonds, 1 Tbsp. of The Bee’s Knees peanut butter from PB&Co, and some leftover dried strawberries from my berry bar making adventure. I put it in the fridge to set up over night, and it was waiting for me when I got up this morning. 

I loved the chewiness. It really felt like a substantial breakfast, and yet tasted like a dessert. That’s just about perfect in my book! I topped it with a fresh berry that I sliced all fancy in honor of Friday with a little bit of dark chocolate dreams PB. I need my chocolate and strawberry fix in the morning! I will be having this again, and the breakfast cookie seems like a perfect hot weather breakfast option. Thanks, Fitnessista!!

I decided to toss the lunch I’d packed in the freezer at work and enjoy lunch with a friend from work instead. That sort of spontaneous eating would not likely have happened a few weeks ago, but the change in my eating approach has given me such a new outlook and so much more freedom! By the way, I’m not going to report on my weight today, but I will say that things are still going well. I’m so much happier too!!

My friend suggested that we get lunch at Busboys and Poets, and I wasn’t hard to convince. I’ve looked through their window a number of times, but I’ve never gone inside. Have I been missing out! They have so many amazing options on the menu, including a number of great things for vegetarians and vegans. My lunch really hit the spot, and the company did too!

I got the falafel wrap with a side of fruit. It was SO good! There was a delightfully nutty hummus in the wrap with the falafel and veggies, and I’m always happy with berries and fresh pineapple. There was also a fresh tasting drizzle in the little teacup that added a nice extra layer of flavor to the wrap. Lunch was really good, not heavy at all, and my plate had just the right amount of food. Perfect!

As usual, I couldn’t resist checking out the desserts. My friend and I split a slice of vegan cheesecake at the end of the meal, and– oh my! It was so good. It kind of reminded me of frozen cake frosting (love it!!), and the raspberries were an awesome complement. It was really good, and I always love the opportunity to share a dessert! I have to highly recommend Busboys and Poets. I will definitely be going back again soon.

When I got hungry later in the day, I had the snack I’d packed this morning. I scraped the last of my dalmatian orange and fig spread from the jar this morning. It is on the shopping list. I really love it with my Greek yogurt and vanilla almonds. Have I mentioned that I love it?? It really is so good. I’m going to recycle yesterday’s photo so get ready:

When I got home, I decided to eat a couple of things from the freezer in honor of “Project Clean Out the Freezer.” I had frozen a tiny bit of 96/4 ground beef awhile ago, and I decided to finish off a bag of TJ’s frozen naan by using the beef on one of my little pizzas.

See, I do label things sometimes! Here’s my empty naan bag. I’d be worried that the bag is empty except… there’s more in the scary freezer!

I tried out some of the Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce that I won from the giveaway hosted by Lucky Tastebuds, and, mixed with the beef, it provided a barbecue pizza type experience. It was yummy! That sauce is great! There is also some roasted vegetable tapenade and smoked mozzarella on the top. As usual, I enjoyed the crunchy naan with my favorite TJ’s soup: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato. 

In continuing with the freezer theme, I had some more of my Edy’s slow churned light cookies and cream on top of a Triple Chocolate Chunk Vitatop. Essentially, I had cake and ice cream. Woo hoo! I don’t think you can go wrong with that combination.

I really enjoyed reading the comments y’all left about the state of your freezers. I am glad to know that I have some kindred freezer spirits, and I’m also glad to know that it is possible to have a more organized freezer space. I think I’m shooting for something in the middle, but we will see. I’ve taken a few things out to thaw and I’m planning to turn them into something tomorrow. Stay tuned for that one! I did have a freezer avalanche event this morning, but things are already looking better. 

I hope your weekend is the best! The weather is supposed to be nice here, so I’m hoping to walk?/run?/bike? down to the tidal basin to see this year’s cherry blossom crop. If I do, you can be sure that there will be some new photos!

What are you up to this weekend?

I wanted to mention this giveaway before I go:

The Girl in the Little Black Dress is hosting a Quaker giveaway!! That robe looks too cozy!

Ciao, y’all!