The Fluffy Bride

Pasta Fagoli soup sans pasta

2010-10-27T14:33:00.003-04:00

So this recipe originated at Gina's Weight Watchers website. I didn't have any onions, so I substituted chives, I also didn't have oregano or parsley, but I had fresh basil.

Start with your ingredients -

Heat some olive oil in a deep pot ans saute you onion (or equivalent!) and garlic for a few minutes.

Next, blend one can of Cannelini beans with some water until smooth. Then add that mixture to the garlic and onions.

MMMMMMM....

Then add the celery, carrot, tomatoes, herbs and chicken broth. A little s & p to taste and let that simmer for about 30 minutes.

We randomly have 4 hot peppers sitting on the counter. They are not going to make it much longer, so I figured I would throw one in whole. I let it simmer with all the veggies. I think I can taste a very small bite of heat...

At this point, you would add 1 & 1/2 cups of pasta. I'm trying to go light with the carbs, so I just left it out. The soup is definitely not as thick or creamy, but it's still tasty! Try it tonight! It didn't take more than an hour to put the whole thing together. Yummy!

Parmesan Pea Risotto

2010-10-12T13:50:00.003-04:00

Risotto is not hard, it's just time consuming, but well worth the time. Creamy and cheesy, it's perfect for a fall evening.

Start with Aborio rice - 1 cup. Don't mind the vinegar in the background - don't put that in your risotto!

Chop an onion, I used a whole one, you could get by with half, but I like onion. Saute the onion in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of butter. Just when you start to smell the onions, add the rice and stir and stir and stir for about 8 minutes.

In the meantime, with your 3rd arm.... heat up 4-5 cups of chicken stock, keep this close and at a simmer. You need to add hot broth to the rice or your risotto will not be cooked through.

When your rice has sauteed for 8 minutes, add 1/2 cup of white wine (red would be fine, too, the result will be red risotto!) and cook out. Then add one ladle of broth to your pan and stir in a figure 8 pattern. Stir and stir and stir. Stir until you can see the bottom of your pan...see below.

At this time, add another ladle of broth and repeat until the rice is cooked through and creamy. It will take at least 4 cups of broth, probably closer to 5. And it will take you at least 30 minutes, don't get anxious and add more broth! Just relax and drink some more wine.

When your rice is cooked, add as many frozen peas as you like. I really like peas....

Stir until the peas are hot. I also added some chopped basil and parsley because I had them on hand. Just before service add a couple of handfuls of Parmesan cheese, not the fake stuff, people, get the real thing. I promise you will not be disappointed. Weight Watchers calls for 4 Tablespoons of cheese, which is probably what I put in, not counting the extra I added to my dish before I ate it :)

I served roasted butternut squash along with my risotto (toss cubes of squash in olive oil and salt and pepper and roast in a 425 degree oven until browned) and a glass of homemade Pinot Grigio.

You could use vegetable stock and make this a vegetarian meal...

Weight Watchers Points - 7 for 1 & 1/2 cups

Enjoy!

Hawaii

2010-10-12T13:26:00.004-04:00

After that last post, I figured you might want to see some pictures from our honeymoon!! Here is an (almost) wordless tour of Maui and Oahu.....Enjoy!

We drank a lot of champagne....

View from our balcony in Maui.

Beautiful sunset in Oahu.

They were filming Hawaii 5-0 at our hotel in Ohau!

Tan skin, red wine and I had a steak on my plate in front of me.... perfection!

MMMMMMMM.....

Shrimp truck!

Im back!! I think....

2010-10-12T12:52:00.002-04:00

Hi! Remember me? I ran off and got married and went on a 2 week honeymoon and now I'm finally getting my life back together. After over a month now of being married, I'm loving life and trying to drop the couple of lbs I gained on my Hawaiian honeymoon!!

I successfully lost about 14 pounds before my wedding thanks to documenting my eats and exercise here everyday. I felt beautiful and had a wonderful time at my wedding!

But it's back to reality for me now and I'm trying to take off what I gained in Hawaii - who knew the food there would be so rich and delicious??? I guess starting off everyday with frozen tropical drinks will add some pounds pretty quickly :)

Anywho, I did work out while we were in Hawaii, there were gyms in both of the hotels we stayed in, so despite my indulgences, I did end up working out about 8 of the 14 days we were gone. Not too bad! However, I still gained about 9 pounds! A couple of those were fake pounds. (ie - they came off quickly after I got back to my normal routine)

So, now what to do? My blog is called The Fluffy Bride..... after some thought, I don't think I will resume documenting every recipe that make or every meal, but I will be making some fun new dishes that I will run through with pictures and descriptions. Hopefully you will enjoy it!

Should I change my blog name from the Fluffy Bride to the Fluffy Wife??? Hmmm, I'll have to think about that one.....

Crazy days

2010-08-04T13:42:00.003-04:00

Oh Lawd, I am one busy woman! Wedding is 24 days from today and things are crazy!!! Sorry for the sporadic posts as of late. Every minute there is something to do. It will all be worth it, though!

On to my eats from the past couple of days -

Breakfast of crappy office coffee and half of a grapefruit sprinkled with some Splenda.

Lunch is the (almost) last bit of my cauliflower and pasta and some ripe cherries, I love summer fruit! I will be really sad to see it go when big ugly winter butts in...

I ran around like a nut last night, so luckily I remembered that I had a free coupon for a sandwich at Chick-fil-A! My favorite!! I ran in, grabbed a Coke Zero and this sammie and I was on my way to get my nails done! (My bachelorette party is this weekend!!)

I ran and ran and ran and then relaxed while my sister-in-law did my toes and nails! So pretty now!

Breakfast (and lunch for that matter) are exactly like yesterday. Sorry! I didn't plan that one!

Grapefruit and Splenda.

A few almonds. I got caught at work sneaking this pic - Hi Marc!! He he he...

Cauliflower and pasta - can you believe I still have some of this in my fridge???

Snacked on some cherries in the afternoon. I have a hair appointment at 5pm, then I am cleaning my house and doing laundry. Sounds exciting, right?? Well, my besties are coming in town tomorrow and our house is a disaster!

Work tomorrow and then I'm off until Monday!! My bachelorettes are kidnapping me away to the beach for the weekend and I CANNOT WAIT!

Busy as a Bride

2010-08-02T11:08:00.001-04:00

Please forgive my absence! Things have been crazy busy in my neck of the woods! The wedding is 26 days from today and we're running around like crazy trying to get ready. SO, please forgive the lack of posts over the next few weeks. I will try to keep up as much as I can!

Oh and my bachelorette party is this weekend! YAY! I'm super super excited!

Cauliflower & tomatoes

2010-07-28T14:10:00.002-04:00

I had a half of a head of cauliflower leftover from my giardiniera, so I needed to use it up, I also had some tomatoes that needed a home.... My fiancee's mom makes a dish with boiled cauliflower, tomatoes and pasta. Ok, sounds good to me.

I attempted to recreate.....

Saute some onions in olive oil. I threw in a hot cherry pepper from my garden, too.

Chop some (I used 2 medium and one small) tomatoes, basil, parsley and oregano. All from my garden!! After the onions are soft, add the tomatoes and herbs. Let the maters cook down for about 15 minutes over low heat.

See - beautiful!!

While the onions cooked, I boiled some water and added the cauliflower. I boiled it until it was tender then I added the onion and tomato mixture. Let that boil for a while, season with salt and pepper then add 1/2 pound of pasta. And turn the heat off immediately. If you don't, your pasta will be way too soft. Pour some in a bowl and enjoy!

It was good, not my future mom-in-laws, but ok. Maybe half water, half chicken stock next time? Maybe a sprinkle of parm cheese???

Either way it was good enough to bring for lunch today. It's better after it sat overnight. I also brought that salad I didn't eat yesterday for lunch, but I didn't eat it again! Still not feeling it. Oh well. I have a grapefruit that I might snack on in a little bit, but I don't want to ruin my appetite for dinner. Finally the fiancee is making me dinner! I feel like it's been forever! It's really been like 3 days, but that's a long time for him not to cook. We've been busy.

Speaking of busy - we are getting married in exactly 1 month from today! Wow, time really flies. I feel like yesterday we had 8 months to go, now we have a month! Wow....

Forever a changed woman

2010-07-28T13:46:00.002-04:00

Sunday was a very lazy day in the Georgia household. We ordered Chinese take out, we caught up on DVR, we watched movies. It was glorious. I ordered chicken and broccoli because you can practically eat the entire container and still be under your Weight Watcher points!

Monday morning came with the arrival of a little something that will forever change my life. You heard me ranting about how I had a mini French Press on my wedding registry, right? Well, it was one of the first gifts that was sent my way. Great. However, it was in a million pieces when I received it. So, I sent it back to Macy's and waited patiently.

Behold..... My mini 3 cup French Press!!

3 cups is a bold lie, it's a 1 cupper, but it does the trick! We have a big 12 cup coffee machine, but I'm the only one in the house that makes coffee during the week, the fiancee gets his at his job. So, it was becoming a hassle to clean and make one cup of coffee everyday in that big machine. So, I registered for the mini press! And let me tell you, it has changed my life. By far the best cup of coffee I've ever had.

Then I came to work and had to drink this crap. The grapefruit was good, though!

A little leftover Chinese for lunch....

And dinner was as Southern as you can get! I've had more tomatoes in the past week out of my garden than I had all year last year! So, I cut some up, toasted some Wonder Smart bread and a little schmear of light mayo, s&p and you have yourself a bone fide Southern tomato sandwich. It doesn't get better than this! I added some sweet potato rounds as a side with some ketchup for dunkin'.

I brought some cherries for breakfast on Tuesday, but I wasn't hungry until lunchtime. So I waited. I ate the ham sandwich, the cherries and left the salad. Just wasn't feeling it.

Poor salad, it looks pretty.

Time for dinner!

Coffee on the floor, not pants on the ground

2010-07-27T14:19:00.005-04:00

I was sound asleep by 10pm on Friday evening. I'm quite the party animal....

Anywho, I had big plans for Saturday. There was coffee on the counter....

And then coffee all over the floor. Can you see my toes?

Oh darn.

I finally cleaned up all the coffee grinds and made my way to the gym. 45 minutes on the elliptical. Glorious.

Pineapple yogurt was waiting for my return. This is seriously the best flavor. Thick, creamy and pineapply. That is a word.

Lunch was pretty boring. Ham and cheese with carrots and cucumber dunked in....

My last bit of hummus.

Last week I was messing around in the garden and I accidentally knocked off some green tomatoes from my plant. I thought about frying them, as a true Southern lady would, but I figured my hips like to be less Southern. So, I tackled homemade giardiniera. According to Wikipedia.

My father-in-law makes it and it's so good on toast or sandwiches. So, I started chopping -

cauliflower

green tomatoes (from my garden)

cherry peppers (left whole & straight from my garden)
cubanel peppers (also from the garden)

long hot peppers

sliced eggplant

Put a layer of veggies in a container and sprinkle with Kosher or sea salt. Add another layer of veggies and another sprinkle of salt. Repeat until all the veggies are gone.

I opted for Tupperware. I figured it would be the easiest to track the progress of the veggies.

Then cover with plastic wrap or foil. And find something heavy.

Because you need some serious weight to allow the veggies and salt to do their thing. I found that some big cans of tomatoes and ceramic mugs did the trick.

Let the veggies sit for 2 weeks on your counter. You will notice water form at the bottom of your container and that's a good thing! That means everything is brining and preserving. After 2 weeks, rinse with a mixture of vinegar and water then store the veggies in an airtight container (think Mason jar) and cover with oil. Always keep the veggies covered with oil and they will last forever. Literally, I think. A long time, at least. Enjoy!

Saturday night we headed to Atlantic City for some food and fun. Wine and sushi make for a happy Georgia.

And edemame, I'm addicted.

Spicy tuna roll.

And chicken and rice with asparagus.

Got home late and crashed until late Sunday morning....ahhhhh.

Celebrations call for coffee

2010-07-27T14:12:00.002-04:00

A wonderful celebration Thursday night equals a little extra coffee Friday morning....

And a very bountiful breakfast. This is a staple when we go to the shore. My father-in-law's potato and eggs. So good. Slices of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs with parsley and cheese. So simple. So delicious.

And more coffee. It's going to be a long Friday.

My portion with a couple of olives. I could have eaten the whole pan.

That's one crazy bird

2010-07-27T13:52:00.002-04:00

Rewinding a bit to last week - after I left work on Thursday I made a bee-line (or is it b-line?) to Starbucks. I was so sleepy and I needed a serious kick. A Venti caramel macchiato did the trick.

Huge and delicious. That's what she said.

Sorry.

What goes better with a beautiful afternoon and coffee? The pool, of course! I threw my bathing suit on and laid by the pool for an hour or so. Just what I needed.

Then I spotted this little fella....

He wasn't afraid of anything, I walked right up to him and took some pictures. What did he do? Just looked at me, almost as if he was posing....

Then he decided he needed a little bath...

He finally came to my chair and said goodbye before walking through the fence.

I found him a little later that evening taking a nap in the shade by the driveway. How strange!

Next up?? Celebration dinner! We decided to splurge (tune of my week....) as a celebration of my radio station's great ratings!

Filet, shrimp and some grilled veggies sprinkled with parm cheese.

Mmmmm. So good. There was more food, but couldn't fit it into my belly. I've been a little more than indulgent this week! But dinner was spectacular.

So was champagne by the ocean!

With blueberries. So refreshing. The celebration didn't stop there. What's a party without flaming Sambuca? Evidently, there is no party without flaming Sambuca.

Sometimes I wonder if normal people do the same things that we do....

Creepy crawly critters from the sea

2010-07-22T14:25:00.002-04:00

I had no appetite this morning at all. I believe it's because I've been indulgent for dinner the past couple of evenings. I really think it has an impact on my appetite the next morning. So, this morning, I listened to my body and didn't eat until I was hungry. That happened to be around lunch time. And like I warned you....monotonous.... Turkey sammy with carrots and cucumbers. Tasty, but still boring. I also had some coffee this AM and some water this afternoon.

I will be stopping at Starbucks this afternoon after work for a little frap action. This is in celebration. Why, you ask? Well, we got our ratings here at the radio station.... and they were really good!!! Individually I did awesome! And the radio station as a whole did really well, too!!

Let the celebration begin this afternoon.... :)

On to the reason why I didn't need breakfast this morning.

Behold creepies from the sea.

My average blue claw crab consumption (how about that alliteration!) is about 4 whole crabs. Last night I stopped at 2 because I could not stop thinking about this......

Well, yes the view of the ocean (Ironically where these little guys came from, sorry fellas...) but more importantly......

THE PASTA! The pasta that is cooked to a perfect al dente, the pasta that swims in delicious crabby juices, the pasta that has close to 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese atop......Heaven. Believe it or not, I had 2 & 1/2 plates just like this. I kid you not. Because it was fan-freaking-tastic. I do not feel guilty. I feel thankful that I can enjoy such a wonderful dish like this.

That is all.

Showers, cupcakes and iPhones

2010-07-21T13:11:00.003-04:00

Well hello there!! It's been a while - my mom was in town for a week and we got to spend some nice quality time together, so I decided to not blog while she was around. We don't get to see each other all that often, she lives in Atlanta, so it was a real treat that she was able to make the trip up to Yankeeville for my wedding shower!

The shower was a huge success! My mother in-law decided to host the party at her house - so convenient. There was a HUGE spread of delicious food and we ended up having around 60 people hanging out.

Here is my mom in-law and I
The food!

All of my girlfriends!

My Maid of Honor and mama

Cooking - getting ready for the party!

Yummy Brown Betty cupcakes - they rocked! I had the strawberry, the one with pink icing.

It was a great Sunday afternoon that last way into the night with lots of fun games, great food and even better company. I'm very grateful for all of my friends and family!

Now, let's get back to business....

Remember I mentioned that the fiancee and I ordered iPhones? Well, they came in yesterday! I'm still having issues getting my phone activated, (sigh....) but I can tell that I am going to love every little piece of this new technology. Hopefully I will have everything worked out by this afternoon. I feel a little anxious and nervous without a cell phone.....creepy.

Bye bye Blackberry. We had a good run. Hello beautiful iPhone!

Here is my laptop set up in my office at work (I have a desktop computer without iTunes....) trying to get iTunes to activate my phone....

Breakfast will help alleviate the stress. Didn't end up eating the grapefruit, but the pineapple and cherries were on point. Sweet and juicy.

After a crazy week full of entertaining mama and preparing for my bridal shower, we need a break! Luckily the in-laws shore house is open for the week. We will be frolicking in the ocean at the Jersey Shore (not THAT Jersey Shore...) for a few days. So, I packed up 4 days worth of lunch and brought it to work. This way I know that I have a healthy breakfast and lunch already prepared for the week. It also means that my meals will be a little monotonous. I apologize in advance.

Case in point, lunch of a turkey sandwich on Wonder Smart bread with some romaine lettuce, American cheese and spicy mustard. Add a side of carrots and cucumbers and you got yourself a healthy and balanced lunch, if not boring. But good.

I'll be back with a dinner of creepy crawlies from the ocean! Stay tuned!

The calm before the storm

2010-07-13T21:40:00.002-04:00

I actually had an appetite this morning - that's more like it! Some cherries and pineapple and coffee, of course.

Another note on the French press ***I couldn't find the 3-cup in any local Macy's store, so I had to buy my new tiny French press online. I just got an email that it has been shipped! Let's hope this one makes it in one piece!***

Lunch was totally uneventful and boring, but remarkably filling. We have (or had...) absolutely nothing in our fridge. Not a vegetable to be found. So my lunch consisted of a whole wheat wrap with 2 oz. of leftover steak, a piece of cheese and some spicy mustard. It was tasty, but I didn't think it was going to fill me up. I waited for about 15 minutes after I finished & low and behold, I was actually full. I was ready to sneak some cheese crackers, but I honestly didn't need them. So, I went along with my afternoon.

So boring :)

Dinner was just the opposite. The fiancee and I finished off the leftover pasta. I had a side of hummus and a few olives. He made a fabulous garlic bread with 2 rolls we had floating around. Twas delish.

I finally made it to the grocery store and packed our fridge with vegetables. My mom is coming into town tomorrow & she has a reputation of cooking (fabulous) not-so-good-for-you meals. I'm hoping she takes my cues to make lots of veggies. I don't want to counteract all the good I've done! We're going out to eat tomorrow night, but then she will want to cook for the rest of her stay, that's just how she rolls. And she rolls with a large knowledge of delicious food. Can't wait!

Crabby Sunday

2010-07-12T20:48:00.003-04:00

I was in bed early on Saturday night after our long night at the concert and I was up and at it early Sunday morning. I went to the gym for a short elliptical sesh and came home only to get ready to go to the in-laws for a crabby Sunday, literally.

I snacked on this peachy Chobani after the gym.

My fiancee loves to eat blue crabs. Before I met him, I had never been up close and personal with a blue crab. Snow crab legs, yes, but blue craps are a different world...

First, some garlic, olive oil and lemon juice.

Sizzle sizzle.

Hello blue crabs. You will be mine.

Wine and beer are essential for the crab sauce, so why not have a glass? Or two...

Into the pot you go!

Shake shake shake!

Some parsley, garlic and a lid are all they need.

Oh man, these were good! I can usually eat 4 crabs, Sunday I ate 2! They were really big! Of course there was pasta with the sauce from the crabs and clams.

Mmmmmm, it was quite a feast! I also snacked on some cheese and fruit. And some more wine :)

Monday morning came too quickly! Where does the weekend go? I did not have an appetite AT ALL on Monday. I usually get hungry at least for some fruit in the AM, but not today. I had a cup of coffee and wasn't hungry for lunch until 1230pm. That's late for me. I ate a serving of leftover pasta with homemade tomato sauce. So good the next day!

Upside down pasta for lunch!

After work, I headed to Spa Toccare at The Borgata in Atlantic City. I've stayed at the Borgata several times, but I never went to the spa. I didn't realize how much I was missing out! It was very relaxing and much needed. I got some things waxed :) and soaked my feet in the hot tub while I read a magazine and then lounged around with cucumbers on my eyes for about 30 minutes. It was a glorious afternoon of relaxation.

I'm getting ready to sip on some tea and get into bed to read for a little while. My alarm will go off early to hit the gym. Guess what? My mom is coming into town on Wednesday! She's coming to town for my wedding shower! I'm excited!

Now for my long weekend

2010-07-11T10:06:00.004-04:00

Most people had Monday off since Independence Day was Sunday, but I worked to earn a comp day to use for my honeymoon. However, I did take off Friday July 9th to go to Hershey Park to see Zac Brown Band (my fav) open for the Dave Matthews Band (fiancee's fav). The best of both world's!!

Thursday came and went pretty quickly - actually - I finished up my caramelized onions on a turkey wrap with some carrots and hummus. The onions were really good and added just enough bulk to keep me full. I also brought a serving of baked beans, but I didn't eat them because I was full from the wrap.

Thursday evening was a pretty exciting event in our lives....I have been with T-Mobile forever....the fiancee has been with Verizon forever....neither of us were currently in a contract, so we decided to make the switch to AT&T and get iPhones!!!!! We ordered them Thursday night, we should have them in our hands by next week. I seriously can't wait - so excited to blog from my phone one day!

After the iPhones, we went to dinner at our local sushi place. We ordered spicy tuna and a yellowtail and scallion roll that was to die for..

We went to see "Eclipse" after dinner (yes, I know that I saw it Wednesday night, but it's just THAT good). It was better the second time around. :)

I got up Friday morning and headed to the gym for a quick workout since we were driving to Hershey, it's probably a 2 hour drive...

The Hershey towers! The sweetest place on Earth!

All the street lights are Hershey Kisses!

I'm a BIG fan of the opening band - Zac Brown - they are actually from Atlanta (as am I...) and I went to elementary and high school with Clay Cook in the band - he plays all kinds of different instruments. And they rock! We have tickets to see them in August in Philadelphia. They are awesome! It was quite a treat to be so close to the stage!

We danced and sang and drank big beers and it was a great night! I fell into bed when we got back to the hotel and slept straight until 10AM Saturday morning! We showered and hoped in the car to drive home. We stopped at Funk's Restaurant for some lunch. I had a roast pork open face sandwich with brown gravy and french fries. Totally random, but good! By the time we got home and relaxed for a while the fiancee went to the grocery store and got all the fixin's for linguine and shrimp. Sorry no pictures, but you will see the leftovers this week, for sure!

Today I'm about to head to the gym and then head to the in-laws for crabs and soccer! Go Nederland!! We also have to start setting up for my wedding shower, my mother in law is hosting (so nice of her!), so we need to set up the tables for seating and food. It will be a great party. I didn't want it to be a surprise, I'm not that kind of a bride. I also don't want any presents wrapped! I'm not the kind of person to sit in front of 60 people and open just as many presents for hours...boring! So, I asked that if you bring a present, don't wrap it. I will be greeting guests as they come in and take their present and thank them and then display all of the gifts. That way everyone feels special, but nobody has to sit for hours and watch me open....Weird?? Oh well, I think it will be great!

I hope so, at least!

Enjoy your Sunday! It's been such a nice long weekend, I'm not ready to go back to work.....

Weddings are hard work

2010-07-07T14:33:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I wish we would have eloped. Sometimes I wish we would have just organized a beef and beer. Sometimes I wish we would have planned a destination wedding..

But we are planning a large shore wedding. Don't get me wrong, it will be a fabulous party and I'm very thankful to be able to have such a nice wedding, but....

It's a lot of work! And I'm doing pretty much everything by myself. Some days I feel really really really overwhelmed. This has been one of those weeks.....

Thanks for letting me vent a little :)

Breakfast Tuesday consisted of some grapes and coffee. There is a small kiwifruit sliced up in the bottom of that container, yum.

Lunch was an epic salad with the usual, but I subbed steak for grilled chicken. I like the chicken with the goat cheese better than the steak, but it was a nice change of pace.

Tuesday night I had my first fitting of my wedding dress with the seamstress. The dress fits SO well! It was a little snug the last time I had it on, but last night it fit like a glove! I guess that's what 8 pounds less feels like!! I was so happy! The seamstress was going to have to let it out a little, but not anymore! It looked beautiful!

After the alterations, I headed to the in-laws for dinner. I didn't take a picture, but I had homemade minestrone soup with a tilapia sandwich. We snacked on some homemade salami and cheese, too. After a glass of wine, I was ready to crawl into my bed. Did I mention that I made it to the gym Tuesday morning?? Well, I did, I was proud.

I slept like a rock and got up Wednesday morning and made it to the gym again! And guess what????

I'm down another 1/2 pound!!! YES! No wonder my wedding dress fit so well!

Celebration breakfast was grapes, kiwi and more local blueberries. And coffee of course. **Note on the French press - I have my gift card from Macy's (for the French press that was sent to me that was broken) and I'm headed to the mall tonight! I might be "pressing" my coffee in the AM!!!**

I wasn't feeling a big entree salad for lunch today, so I wrapped up some turkey, cheese and hummus with a small side salad.

Simple and delish. I'm headed to see Eclipse tonight with some girlfriend's! Can't wait! I'm also on the hunt for a dress to wear to my wedding shower! It's soon! Omg, I'll be married soon!

A good friend of mine suggested that I start taking a shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning to help with the stress of planning a wedding. Evidently, the vinegar helps to balance all your insides out.... Have you ever heard of that? Would you ever do it?

Beans and onions

2010-07-07T14:07:00.004-04:00

This holiday (well the 5th actually) I had to work for a few hours, but I came home to an empty house and lots of groceries! I had a plan to attack my house by cleaning it from top to bottom as well as make some fabulous eats...

On to the eats -

www.iowagirleats.com had a wonderful sounding recipe for baked beans that I thought I would try - I figured I could put them in the oven and then attack my dirty house! Plan worked well -

Ingredients -

All together now -

Ketchup and bacon really make everything better -

Side project - I decided to caramelize some onions for a quesadilla I was working on for dinner. In between washing windows and checking on the oh-so-good-smelling beans baking away, I sliced 2 large Vidalla onions and sauteed them in a little olive oil until soft. I then turned down the heat and let them do their thing for an hour. I would stir them every few minutes. They came out very dark and caramel-y.

Beans, post bake. And after several spoonfuls....

You can find the recipe here.

After sweating all afternoon in my house while cleaning - the house looks beautiful, btw.... I was ready for dinner! I had some leftover bbq brisket, so I made a quesadilla!

First - whole wheat wrap in hot pan, cheese on top. I used reduced fat cheddar.

Then I layered on some pulled beef brisket, caramelized onions and bbq sauce.

I topped with another sprinkle of cheese and flipped it on top of the other wrap already in the pan.

Brown both sides and make sure the cheese is melty and delish.

Enjoy with a scoop of baked beans! Yummo!

Ahhhh the weekend...not a long one though :(

2010-07-05T11:43:00.004-04:00

The weekend really started for me on Saturday because I came home from work on Friday at 4:30pm....I was asleep on the couch by 5pm and woke up at 10pm. Only to crawl to my bed and sleep until 8am Saturday morning. And it felt wonderful, I was a little worn out by all the concerts!

I got up feeling refreshed and rested, so I got some things done around the house and headed to the gym for a looong workout. Remember last weekend when I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical???? Well, I topped that on Saturday!! 50 long minutes on the elliptical AND 20 minutes of shoulder exercises with some nice stretching at the end. And it felt SO good. Especially after my indulgences over the end of the week....

Saturday afternoon continued at a small pool party with some good friends. Then we were off to meet some of the fiancee's friends at a bar crawl that they were doing all day Saturday!! They had been out since 1pm that afternoon, we met up with them around 9:30pm.....needless to say, they were pretty buzzed! But they were all walking - safety is always important! We had a few drinks and ended up driving right into a great fireworks show! So lucky!!

Happy birthday America!

Oh I forgot about my lunch on Saturday! It was epic - how could I forget???? Obviously, I was HANGRY by the time I got home from the gym, so I devoured the quickest thing I could find....a huge salad with grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese and light lime dressing. It was gone in mere minutes. Delish!

We woke Sunday morning (after sleeping in a little bit :) and started getting ready to head to the in-laws for an afternoon bbq. The fiancee was making filets and bacon wrapped scallops. I made us some cheese toasts to get our metabolisms going. (and so I didn't eat all the bacon....)

My mother in law (well, soon to be in-law!) ALWAYS MAKES TOO MUCH FOOD! Which is wonderfully hospitable, but not so nice for my hips. I always want to eat everything in sight and end up feeling sick by the end of the day. I made a conscious decision that I wasn't going to do that on Sunday.

I still ended up enjoying this fabulous plate of food!

A small piece of filet, cucumber and tomato salad, broccoli rabe, grilled zucchini and ziti. I went back for 3 bacon wrapped scallops and another scoop of ziti. Not bad at all! I was proud of myself! And it was all so good! I love it that my new family can cook so well...

And, that brings me to today, Monday. I had to work today, but that's not too bad because I get a comp day later on for my honeymoon! And nobody is in the building on holidays and it's actually kind of nice!

Breakfast was the last of my pineapple with some more local blueberries. Perfect thing to eat when it's 89 degrees at 10:30am.....

Lunch was another epic salad with grilled chicken, goat cheese, cranberries, red peppers and carrots. Total heaven in a big bowl. I topped it all with Newman's Own Light Lime dressing. Near perfection.

I might round out my Monday with a dip in the sister in law's pool. However I need to clean my house and do some wedding stuff, so we'll see where my afternoon will take me! Tata for now!

Let's rewind....shall we?

2010-07-05T11:14:00.003-04:00

Rewind to Wednesday of last week - that's the last time I actually had a chance to breath and relax! Started with a quick run on the elliptical on Wednesday morning, headed to work and had a delicious turkey sammy (of course, on my new love - Wonder Smart Bread) with red pepper strips and carrots sticks for lunch.

Along with some fruit - sweet pineapple and local blueberries - go Hammonton, the blueberry capital of the world....

Wednesday night was night one of two Dave Matthews concerts that the fiancee and I were attending. We go to both shows in Camden each year, we also go to Hershey Park to see them perform later in the summer. We're fans, as if you couldn't tell. So..... Wednesday evening came and went with a turkey club wrap from Heritages (a local deli/convenience store) and some cheesy poofs. I haven't disclosed my love of cheesy poofs here before, but they are a once in a while treat that I enjoy without guilt. I enjoyed an entire $.99 bag of them and loved every processed cheesy and chemically tasting poof. Yum.

After staying out late Wednesday night at the concert, there was NO way I was getting up to go to the gym, so Thursday morning came and went without a workout. But that's ok. I will make it up. No worries.

Lunch was the last of my leftover pasta and sauce I made earlier in the week with a small piece of my olive foccacia. I was in desperate need of carbs on Thursday...

Thursday evening we headed back to the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden for night #2 of Dave Matthews. Wednesday night's concert was good, but Thursday's concert may have been the best show! (out of all the live music that I have ever seen....) WOW! Just awesome!

I decided to have a few drinks at the show on Thursday night, so I was not feeling 100% on Friday! I still had to get up early and make it to work, after very little sleep and a slight hangover.....blah. All I wanted was fried food that would satisfy me! So what happened?

The pictures say it all.....

That would be mozzarella sticks and a buffalo chicken cheesesteak. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. My only saving grace is that I didn't devour the whole thing! I saved 3 (of 6) cheese sticks and I only ate half of the cheesesteak. I could have eaten everything. Thank goodness my brain kicked in and saved me from destruction. All in all, it wasn't that bad! Definitely a splurge, but I made up for it on Saturday.... More on that in my next post....

Sweet strawberries covered in chocolate

2010-06-29T20:03:00.003-04:00

My alarm went off again at 5:15am this morning and I snoozed and snoozed and snoozed. Oooops. Tonight, I need to be in bed by 9:30pm and reading. Sleep is good, but the gym needs to fit into my schedule somehow! Tomorrow... really, I promise!

Hunger reared its ugly head around 10:30am and I scarfed down some cheese crackers. The lunch hour came around and I heated up some leftover pasta and my leftover salad from my sushi dinner from last night. Delish!

Just about the time that I started craving something sweet... in popped our promotional manager with this beauty!

A gorgeous edible arrangement! White chocolate covered strawberries, pineapple and grapes. So good! I had 4 strawberries (3 covered) some pineapple and a few grapes.

Then my stomach started to ache a little. Remember when your mama told you not to eat too much candy because you might get a stomach ache? I should have listened to mama!

About 30 minutes later I decided that I needed to do a mini workout in the studio. I recently found this website - lots of great recipes - but also a mini workout that she calls her "Get out of Bed in the Morning" workout! I did it in the studio with the door closed. It took about 20 minutes and I was sweating by the end! Check it out! I bet you could do it on a break in the afternoon in your office! It left me with a boat-load of energy for my afternoon of shopping!

www.howsweeteats.com/fit-bites/

Dinner tonight was leftover sushi - I figured why take another picture of it - you saw it already! A few pieces of the spicy tuna and a few pieces of the perfect roll, still not sure which roll was which! But they were all good! I also munched on a piece of olive foccacia. I'm currently sipping on some Sleepytime tea and getting ready for bed. I will make it to the gym tomorrow morning!!! It will happen!

Salty olive foccacia & a shedding snake

2010-06-28T20:31:00.003-04:00

What do these two things have in common? They were both a part of my last two days...

Like I said earlier, I was on my own this weekend, the fiancee was in the Poconos for the weekend with his bachelor's...... I don't ask questions.... I get my weekend in Ocean City, Maryland the first weekend of August :)

So, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning with all intentions of doing all kinds of stuff around the house while the man was gone. Some of it happened....

What did happen? I went to the gym for the longest workout of my short life. I was on the elliptical for 45 minutes and then I did 20 minutes of back exercises. It was glorious. I wish I had that kind of time during the week, but, alas, I do not...

Still not hungry for breakfast (will this ever change? I'm just not hungry until 11:30am-ish...?? Oh well.) By the time I got back from the gym I devoured a big bowl of pineapple and blueberries (NJ blueberries, of course).

And a turkey melt. That's not a burnt edge, the bread just wanted to be colorful. ;) Turkey slices on Wonder Smart bread - my new fav! - 1 Weight Watcher point for 2 slices,but it's soft and spongy just like white bread.... lurv lurv lurv.

Saturday afternoon was dedicated to making 300 wine charms for my wedding (that ended up taking all afternoon and much of the evening..ouch!) and my first ever attempt at baking homemade bread. I saw this recipe over at a wonderful website - The Pioneer Woman. I only added two of my final pictures because no pics of mine will ever compare to hers! She's a wonderful photographer and a cookbook author!

Behold....

Olive Foccacia -

The above was with parm cheese, the below with no parm cheese. The above is much much much better. The bottom loaf actually came out a little hard and crunchy instead of the above crunchy outside and soft and chewy inside.

The recipe calls for a sprinkling of sea salt of the outside of the loaf before baking, I would leave that step out. They came out a tad bit salty, but they were good! I would say it was a successful first bread baking attempt :)

A few pieces of foccacia later and I wasn't hungry for lunch, but dinner was a leftover pasta party. A very juicy (South Carolina...) peach and another piece of foccacia.

Sunday came and went without event, just some shopping for wedding stuff. I set my alarm Monday morning for 5:15am, but I snoozed until 6:30 and didn't feel a bit guilty. Sleep is more important sometimes. Tomorrow is a different story...

Dinner was sushi takeout! Super yummy! I have been craving good sushi for a while now - tonight was my breaking point. I HAD to have it! I ordered 3 rolls (spicy tuna, perfect roll and something else that I can't remember the name of...) Also some spicy Thai soup and a salad with ginger dressing. Delish!

Now onto the shedding snake. A few weeks ago a neighbor came over to tell us that his wife had seen a very big snake in our front yard. Um scary. Tonight the man noticed a piece of snake skin coming out of one of bushes..... um scarier...

See that straight thing that looks like a piece of fishnet? That's snake skin!

And when you look deep into the bush, this is what you see.....

I will have nightmares. I have already called animal control. I'm scared to walk out of my front door. I'm scared the snake will get into my house and eat my cat whole. Or the bunnies that run through our yard. Or the chipmunks. Oh my.

I called my dad. Because that's where I turn for advice. He said get a sharp shovel and take the snakes head off. WTH? I could never do that, I couldn't kill a snake. He said, "it's a snake, a reptile..." Whatever dad, he grew up on a farm, I guess that's how he was raised. Me, on the other hand, can't hurt a fly. Hopefully animal control will call tomorrow and come take the little (or huge) snake back to its normal habitat.

I will tell you all about my nightmares tomorrow. I could never live on a farm.

A Hunka Hunka Burning Love kind of weekend...

2010-06-28T14:17:00.004-04:00

More on Elvis in a minute....

First - in French Press news - remember how I kept casually mentioning on this here bloggy that I had a mini 3-cup French Press on my wedding registry?? Well, I got it! One of our good friends sent us the press, espresso and cappuccino cups (for our BANGING espresso machine the in laws are giving us for the shower....pics as soon as I have it in my possession!) . So nice! BUT, the French Press was shattered. :( so sad. I sent it back to Macy's and I'm awaiting my gift card replacement, so I can turn around and buy it again! Can't wait! Hurry up Macy's!

Thursday evening the fiancee' headed to happy hour with one of his buddies, so I was on my own for dinner. I used to cook all the time for myself and I enjoyed it. But the fiancee is such a wonderful cook, I haven't had to cook for myself all that much over the past years. Usually I can last on leftovers from something he has made, but on this particular evening, we had nothing in the fridge. So, I busted out the canned tomatoes and whole wheat pasta!

Start by sauteing garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil.

Next up, the tomatoes. Only San Marzano tomatoes will do. Seriously, unless you have fresh tomatoes, use these. They are more expensive, but worth every single penny.

Smoosh the whole tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon or crush them in your hands. Or just leave them whole, they will cook down.

Simmer as long as you can. I put a cover on mine for a while because it was cooking down too quickly. I also added some basil and parsley from our garden. And earlier some dried oregano. Always add dried herbs early, fresh one later...

Simmer simmer. I boiled a pound of whole wheat linguine and added it to the sauce and about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Sprinkled with parm cheese and enjoyed!! Lovely dinner, better leftovers!

Friday began with Sun Chips and cheese crackers. Why was I starving at 10am? A little People, Country Special (hottest men of country music) and my Friday was off....

Lunch came in the form of a BBQ in the back parking lot at work! We attempted to have a Memorial Day BBQ at work, but it fell through.... This was our makeup! I had crab cake sandwich with some pasta salad and greens. Really good!

Friday evening I headed with the MIL and SIL and another friend to Blackwood, NJ. The SIL is a HUGE Elvis fan. There was a guy named Doug Church performing. This is my second time seeing him - and I really enjoy it! Call me crazy, but I love it! It's so fun! I was (with the exception of my MIL) the youngest person there by at least 30 years! No joke! But it was a great night! They have a great dinner buffet with tortellini, salad, chicken, veggies and a carving station. Really good, sorry no pics. But I do have plenty of pics of Elvis, I mean Doug Church!

Hilarious! But so much fun! He's coming back in October and you best believe I will have my tickets in hand!

Anywho, I was on my own this weekend because the fiancee was kidnapped for a Bachelor's Weekend with the guys! More on what I did at home all by myself later!

I always get more done when he's not home! Why is that, I wonder???

Wednesday and Thursday

2010-06-24T14:33:00.003-04:00

Check out my new lunch bag!! So cool! I'm in love with green paisley. Got mine from www.qvc.com. I'm a little addicted to their "Today's Special Value"...... I got this lunch bag and a huge matching bag for picnics, road, trips, etc. So fun! For only $25! Gotta love QVC!

Insulation is key!

On to the eats, I figured I would group my meals for the past 2 days, since I'm in catch up mode....

Blueberries and grapes plus coffee.

Just blueberries today, plus coffee.

It's the same meal for lunch the past two afternoons. Boring. Turkey sammy's and sugar snaps.

Add another South Carolina peach...

My stomach was a little upset after I took my next-to-last antibiotic for my chest infection, so I munched on some cheese crackers that seemed to help a little.

So, in a small recap of the last few days...

I'm down another pound!!!

It's been SO hot in the Northeast!

Tonight is the first night that I don't have anything planned except organizing more wedding stuff. Which includes getting crafty.....

My Garden

2010-06-24T14:26:00.002-04:00

My first real harvest from my garden!!! Only 2 radishes, despite the fact that the plants are taking over! They are at least 4 feet tall with flowers, pretty, but I want more radishes!

Also a small handful of English peas. I shucked them and they are happily awaiting a steam, yummo.

But here is my super star! Look at all of those sugar snap peas!! I'm so proud of myself! They are beautiful and delicious!

Finally...

2010-06-24T13:39:00.004-04:00

Anndddd, I'm back! Sorry for my absence, but it has been a crazy 2 weeks in Georgia-land! I was sick for the first week (I'm still recovering from a bacterial chest infection...) and this week has been wedding-crazed! Got most of our invitations out this past weekend, a few more still to get in the mail. (After a little drama, that my MIL THANKFULLY took care of!) Also, I'm trying to think of all the little things that need to be done the week of the wedding and I'm attempting to take care of them this week. That's quite a task! Anywho....I'm back to the world of blogs, thank goodness!

I won't go too far back with all of my eats.

Let's start with Tuesday..

I have not been craving breakfast at all recently, but I figure it's important to get something (besides coffee) into my belly in the AM hours. It has come in the form of fruit. An orange and a peach. A South Carolina peach to be specific.

Let's talk about this.

I'm from Georgia, born and raised a sweet, southern, hospitable young female.

Georgia is the Peach State.

South Carolina has better peaches than Georgia.

There, I said it.

It's taken many years in therapy to be able to say that.

Moving on, quickly.

Lookout for a "Garden Post" coming up because my little garden is in full swing! Here's a sneek peak from my lunch last Tuesday.... SUGAR SNAP PEAS!!

Oh, and a turkey sandwich. But the star is the homegrown sugar snaps. They taste like they have been bathed in sweet little sugar crystals...yum.

As I was working on Tuesday, I was invited to go to the Hilton Casino at 6pm that evening. Short notice, but totally worth it! The casino had a flood a little while back on their second floor that houses all of the restaurants. Well, they have all been renovated and I was lucky enough to be invited to the "Press Party"! SO EXCITING!

I started with some champagne at Patsy's, I drank champagne all night! I felt so cool!

Patsy's had fried mozzarella, veg panini's, meatballs, lobster ravioli and stuffed squid. Everything was so good, but my fav was the fried mozzarella. I have a serious love for fried cheese. And burnt cheese...

Next we headed to Simon Prime, this used to the The Oak Room. So elegant. Very nicely decorated, I had another glass of champagne and oysters Rockefeller. Delish.

We moved on to the Chairman's Club. This is a private room for Hilton's elite members. So, in other words, I will never be in this room again! lol. They served cherry tomatoes stuffed with crab meat and a filet crostini with a wine sauce. Very tasty. The drink was from Simon Prime and it was called "A Latin Lover"! How funny, but I'm not crazy about tequila, so I left most of it right there on that table.

Next was Nick's Burger Bar. Very cool atmosphere, big screen HD tv's and tons of beer on tap. They were serving burgers of all types. I had a bite of a lamb and goat cheese burger, a bison burger and buffalo calamari. So, good. I had another glass of champagne! Sorry the pic is sideways...

There is a coffee shop that had some items on display, but, come on, let's be serious. When there is a chicken salad wrap next to a filet mignon crostini, which would you choose to eat? Ok, then. We skipped the coffee shop. Moved on to Ono Pan-Asian Bistro and Bar.

Don't mind if I do....

Decided on white wine this time, I figured it would go well with sushi!

And it did! Red and white tuna with sushi rice, a duck spring roll, a small piece of pork tenderloin and a little fried piece of Sea Bass heaven. OMG, delightful.

The view ain't too bad, either....

All in all I kept my portions in check and went home feeling perfectly full and bubbly. From the champagne, of course!

However, I didn't get anything done when I finally got home, I just fell into bed. Good thing I went to the gym Tuesday morning.... I actually got up and went Wednesday, too!

M-I-A & S-I-C-K

2010-06-21T11:43:00.002-04:00

Well, hello there! Sorry to be MIA for the past week or so. I got a horrible bacterial chest infection. Yum. Lots of antibiotics and some really strong cough syrup, I'm feeling much better. However, the lingering cough is still, well, lingering. But I will be back with all kinds of fun posts soon!

I've basically eaten nothing but soup and drank nothing but tea and that makes for some really boring pictures!

The cough syrup (the kind that makes you feel drunk...) also really decreased my appetite, so my stomach shrank a little bit and my eating has been way off.

But it's time to get back to the life of the healthy! I need veggies in my world ASAP!

Be back soon with fun fiancee created meals and possibly a stab at baking my own bread!!??

Oh no!

2010-06-14T20:41:00.003-04:00

And I'm sick.

Ahhhh!

Darn it!

It was too late to call in for work and I had a busy Monday anyways, so off I went. I felt like crap, but I trekked on.

Breakfast looked like this -

I probably drank 15 cups of tea today, it was the only thing that would soothe my sore throat.

My lunch consisted of TJ's organic lentil soup, more tea and Halls for my throat. Having to talk for a living when you're sick is not fun. It takes a lot out of you to try to sound happy and healthy!

The soup was just what I needed to help me make it through the day. My whole body aches!

I came home and ate some ice cream (another great way to soothe my throat! Good excuse....) and some more soup. I didn't have the energy to take a picture, sorry. Now I'm sipping on some tea about to watch True Blood and then take some Tylenol PM and go to bed! Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow! Lots of liquid and gargling with salt water. That's what my mom always had me do when I was younger and got a sore throat, it works!

Good night for now!

And a lazy Sunday

2010-06-14T20:21:00.005-04:00

We slept in on Sunday and awoke to more Jimmy Dean sausage. Funny how we ended up eating Jimmie Dean products this weekend out of all the weekends throughout the year....

We also had some cucumbers and fava beans, sprinkled with salt.

Coffee, of course...

My turkey sausage sammy and hard bread and tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

One of these days I will make hard bread. It's a basic whole wheat bread recipe that cooks for 48 hours in a 150 degree oven! It literally lasts forever after it's cooked.

The ribs were so good on Saturday that we decided to repeat the pool-side grilling on Sunday!

Pool-side beer for me while my fiancee slowly cooked our lunch. In the pool.

I needed a nap in the afternoon, the sun drains my energy! So, I read my book and dozed off for an hour or so and woke up to the smell of the grill for lunch! This time we used the real gas grill, not the charcoal one by the pool.

Burgers and corn. And the ribs, of course!

And some mashed up cauliflower.

My plate -

I met some girlfriends for dinner who were in town over in Sea Isle City. We went to Mike's Seafood, right on the water and the best seafood!

We started with some bread.

I wasn't super hungry, so I ordered the crab fingers.

And the crab chowder. It was kicking! (So said the description! It did have a nice spicy bite!)

Dinner with girlfriends is always a good thing. I headed home after dinner, I was anxious to sleep in my own bed, but it was a wonderful weekend and I'm so thankful that we are able to enjoy the shore!

However, on my way home, my throat started to hurt and I felt a little bit of congestion creeping about.....Uh oh.....

Sunshine and ice cream

2010-06-14T19:26:00.007-04:00

Saturday morning started with breakfast courtesy of Jimmie Dean, may he rest in peace... The fiancee sauteed turkey sausage in a pan.

Matched with a whole wheat english muffin.

And some scrambled egg whites.

And some coffee make for the perfect Saturday morning breakfast.

How could I forget the strawberries? These are the best strawberries I have had all season.

We spend the morning by the pool, the weatherman said there maybe a passing storm, but no signs of it by the pool! It was a glorious morning.

We enjoyed ourselves by the pool so much that we decided to grill in the pool!

The fiancee likes to grill more than he actually likes to eat! He brought down this little charcoal grill that we positioned right next to the pool, so he didn't even have to get out of the pool to turn the ribs!

Well worth the 2 & 1/2 hours! So good! He is a BBQ master.

We hung around the pool some more and then I decided I wanted ice cream. We hopped on our bikes and rode a couple of blocks down to my childhood ice cream parlor. Even though I grew up in Atlanta, GA I used to come to Stone Harbor in the summer with my dad, stepmom, grandma & grandpa. We used to always go to Springer's to get ice cream, so it has a special place in my heart. However, not being a child anymore, homemade ice cream goes straight to my hips.

The fiancee doesn't have these issues, so he got the Snicker's ice cream. And it was delish!

I opted for Lucy's Limeade ice, which is just like sorbet. Loaded with sugar, but a better bet than ice cream, I suppose. It was really tart and refreshing.

We rode our bikes around a little bit more and then headed to the beach for a nice long walk. I didn't run Saturday morning, so I figured a good beach walk would do me good. And it did! Walking in soft sand is definitely a workout! It was beautiful!

Dinner was the fiancee's pesto and pasta. Now, this is the best pesto I have ever had. He makes it with spinach instead of all basil. I can give you a rough draft for the pesto, but his measurements are always different, but it's fresh, healthy and light.

Start with baby spinach.

Add it to a blender with parsley, basil, pine nuts, lime juice and a little olive oil.

And garlic, of course. Whiz it all up until it's smooth. Looks kind of like a green monster!

The fiancee sauteed some shrimp and clams in white wine and olive oil and threw everything together with the pasta, pesto and seafood.

This picture does not do it justice, this stuff is GREEN!

Paired with some clams and cheese. Now, the Italians do not put cheese on seafood, but I put parmesan cheese on everything! So, I put all my seafood on the side of my plate, pasta in the middle and I cheese the heck out of it! Because pesto needs cheese!

It was great. We had some wine and then got all fancied up and headed to Jack's Place, a bar in Avalon. (Which is the town over from Stone Harbor) There was a band playing that we enjoy, so we had some beers and enjoyed a night out.

Let's Rewind

2010-06-14T19:09:00.002-04:00

Back to Friday. It's been a busy, but relaxing weekend. I started Friday morning a nice 25 minutes of elliptical and a short legs workout.

Off to work, yogurt, coffee and watermelon.

Boulevard's Cafe in Atlantic City brought us lunch on Friday, so I decided to forgo my salad for this little gem...

Bacon, egg and cheese on a brioche roll with mini ketchup. I love all things mini. It was small, but very filling. I thought I might have to break out my salad around 3 o'clock, but I stayed full until dinnertime. And for dinner I scarfed down that salad like nobody's business and forgot to take a picture! Ooops!

We spent the weekend in Stone Harbor, NJ at my fiancee's parent's house. It was a perfect weekend weather-wise. Hot and sunny all weekend! More on that in my next posts.

I'm going down, down, down, down

2010-06-10T20:15:00.002-04:00

Wednesday began with my alarm going off at 5:15am and I hit snooze 3 times... but then I finally dragged my butt out of bed and made it to the gym with just enough time to bang out 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. And I was so thankful that I did! It felt good to sweat!

Wednesday's are also my weigh-in day for Weight Watchers. Guess what???? I'm down 2 pounds! Woo hoo!!!

Enough celebrating, on to the eats for the day...

Blueberry yogurt and apple sauce, with coffee of course.

I had another epic salad for lunch but listen to this - now I happen to be the clumsiest person you may ever meet. I am constantly running into things, dropping things and tripping over my own feet. My fiancee says I need a bubble.. Anywho, I grabbed my epic salad, took the top off of my container, turned to place the salad in some nice natural light and it fell right out of my hand. Salad went flying all over the chair and all over the floor. Ha!

Enough, thankfully, stayed in my container to satisfy my rumbling stomach. And it was goooood. I ended up going out to watch the Flyers lose the Stanley Cup...sigh...and we ate out. I had a BBQ grilled chicken wrap in a whole wheat tortilla and a side of broccoli, pretty good...

Breakfast on Thursday didn't really happen. I just wasn't feeling it. The gym didn't happen either, but I kind of planned it that way. I knew I was going to take today off, so no biggie. But I was feeling lunch! It was the last of my leftover broccoli pasta and I must say that I'm sad to see it go. But I'm ready for some variations in my diet!

Snack was some grapes, cherries and watermelons. I love summer fruit!

Dinner was ordered because I'm going to be out of town all weekend, so I didn't want to stock the fridge if I'm not going to be around. I ordered a chicken stromboli with chicken, cheese, onions, peppers and sauce. So good! I've never ordered from this particular place, but I will pulling out their menu often! It was really tasty. Saucy, cheesey and vegalicious. Is that a word? :) I also got some buffalo chicken nuggets. I had a couple, they were just ok.

Cheesy and crusty!

I'm just finishing up some Sleepytime Vanilla tea and I'm about to pack a weekend bag and then read some of my book before going to sleep. I'm currently reading Charlaine Harris's "All Together Dead" it's the 8th in the Sookie Stackhouse series (or True Blood). They are great books, easy summer reads! I also ordered the Twilight novella about Bree Tanner...I can't wait to start it! I love to read! What are you reading??

Un-hormonal, un-nutritional

2010-06-08T21:29:00.003-04:00

I didn't crave chocolate for dinner, but I was craving something comforting and satisfying. Did someone say chili dogs?

Begin with TJ's turkey chili.

Heat in a pan on the stove.

Shred some cheese of your preference. Always buy cheese in the block form and grate it yourself. Evidently there is cornstarch on pre shredded cheese! Who knew? Thank you Pioneer Woman.

Heat up 2 turkey hot dogs (preferably filled with cheese) in the microwave. This is not the time to light the grill. There is precious cheese inside these hot dogs and you do not want it to go spilling about.

Final picture courtesy of my Blackberry because my camera battery died just as I was about to take the picture. Oh well.

Totally devoid of any nutritional value, but so delish. Sometimes it's necessary. Maybe like once a month. :)

Sipping on some s-z-urp... Not really. Sipping on some Sleepytime Vanilla tea and about to go to bed. I actually got everything done on my to-do list today! Love days like that! The gym will call around 5:30am tomorrow, so I should try to get a good night of sleep. Tata!

Hormonal Monday

2010-06-08T13:54:00.004-04:00

TMI? Sorry.

It's now Tuesday and I'm not so hormonal today, but I feel it creeping back.... more on the hormones in a minute.

First - breakfast of champions. I devoured my Chobani strawberry-banana yogurt so fast that I didn't get a picture of it! Use your pretty little imaginations on that one. Also, some fruit salad and some much needed coffee.

Our little kitchen at work has a Keurig machine. Which I have a love/hate relationship with. I love good coffee. Really good coffee. I buy Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts brand to use at home. I have a really nice coffee maker (however a French Press is on our wedding registry :) Now, a Keurig makes coffee really fast and efficiently, but it's not the greatest tasting coffee in the world. And we are not stocked with a vast selection of coffees to choose from. Nonetheless, it's coffee and that is what is most important.

What kind of coffee does your job offer???

Lunch was a cup of leftover broccoli pasta, lots of parmesan cheese too. My mother in law made this dish over the weekend at the shore and she makes awesome food, but sometimes she doesn't season her recipes. My fiancee and I are always baffled by this, he voices his concerns, I keep my mouth shut.... She grew up in a kitchen where mama didn't season with salt and pepper. Oh well, what can you do? Add parmesan cheese! It makes everything better.

On to the hormones....

Monday started as any other beginning of the week -

Alarm - 5:15am

Gym - 5:30am (25 minutes elliptical and a 15 minute shoulder workout)

Home - 6:30am

Work - 8:30am

Breakfast - Chobani strawberry and some fruit salad consisting of grapes, blackberries, strawberries, a few apple pieces and watermelon. And coffee, of course.

Ok so far.

Lunch was EPIC. Greens, roasted red peppers, grilled onions, grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese.........

AND another radish from my very own garden!

Aren't they beautiful?

And my latest obsession - Newman's Own Light Lime salad dressing. Seriously so good with the creamy goat cheese and the sweet cranberries.

I felt full and satisfied after lunch. That is, until the hormones kicked in. I needed chocolate and I needed it fast. My candy stash in my office is empty. Can you believe it? Empty? That's a mortal sin....

So, I rummaged through my bottomless pit of a purse and found 75 cents to purchase these....

I finished the bag in under 5 minutes. Not. A. Joke.

6 points for the whole bag, honestly, it could have been worse. Unfortunately dinner was going to be pretty points-heavy, so I made sure to set my alarm for the gym before eating (& enjoying the heck) out of the fiancee's "Wine Ribs". As he calls them.

At the in-laws.

Start with a pan and a little olive oil. Brown the ribs on both sides, then add sliced onion and whole garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes. Add about half a bottle of red wine (consume other half while cooking - that's a requirement) and cover and let cook for about 30-45 minutes on low. The meat from the ribs will start to pull away from the bone and the liquid will almost be gone. The onions and garlic basically disintegrate.

I had 3 small-ish bones and I ate all of the onions and garlic that were left over in the pan - on a piece of bread.... More hormones kicking in?? Probably.

For those of you who are not Italian (like me), or have never experienced a truly home cooked Italian meal (it's life changing) there are vegetables every where. You have lots of rich meats and cheeses, but you can eat like a vegetarian if you really wanted. Case in point - the mom-in-laws cauliflower. Which was our side dish with the ribs. Cauliflower simmered with water and tomatoes until everything is falling apart. Then you add pasta. I has a cup of pasta and about 1/2 cup of cauliflower/tomatoes. Oh how good!

There was also green salad and fruit for dessert. So, all in all, not too bad. There was also wine. There is always wine. I love wine.

The alarm did go off at 5:15am this morning and I made it to the gym for 25 minutes of elliptical goodness and 15 minutes of weights (chest). I will probably go tomorrow too and then take Thursday off. We'll see. Have I mentioned how Earth-changing it is to get up and workout before I go to work? Seriously, it has been such a revelation for me. You should try it to! :)

Not sure what is on tap for dinner, but I have a banana hanging out here next to me to try and curb those hormonal chocolate cravings that find their way to my palate....

I know I have the strength, somewhere...

The weekend at the shore

2010-06-06T21:11:00.005-04:00

After waking up Saturday and feeling like myself again..... I headed to the shore for the weekend. I had an appearance in Woodbine from 11am - 1pm. I needed gas, so I stopped at Wawa for some coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Turkey sausage, egg whites and cheese. They have the best coffee, too. You can pour you own and add all of your favorite ingredients. I love that.

It was HOT outside. And by the time I was done with my appearance, I was starving. I headed to Stone Harbor, NJ, which is about 30 minutes away. I stopped off at one of my favorite local shore restaurants - McGowan's in Sea Isle City.

Behold, Brynn's Summer Salad with chicken.

Greens, onions, tomatoes, grilled chicken, homemade croutons and balsamic vinaigrette. I housed that salad in a few minutes flat. I was hangry.

The fiancee came down a few hours later and we hit the pool for a few hours. We drank a few beers and played in the pool like we were 12 years old again. We worked up a hunger for dinner. The in-laws made it down and we started cooking. I only got a picture of the broccoli and pasta, but we had grilled asparagus, steaks, tomato salad, fruit and some wine.

The fiancee and I were going to hit the town to see a band that we like, but I think the pool time caught up with us. I was beat. So, we decided to stay in since we needed to be up early to get ready for our engagement photos.

This was my view when I woke up. There was coffee and a lot of Italian style breakfast food!

More asparagus to be steamed this time with garlic.

Some bacon for frying.

The upside down asparagus.

And crispy bacon.

The fiancee's dad makes a special breakfast dish with potatoes and eggs. First, the potatoes get fried.

Add some onions and saute with garlic. Add some whipped eggs, top with cheese and let it melt. Delish.

Then we had to get ready for our engagement photos! We set out for Ocean City for a photo session. I did some modeling when I was younger, but by no means I am comfortable in front of a camera. Neither is the fiancee. And it was a beautiful morning, so we knew the beach would be packed. But our photographer made us feel totally at ease and I think we got some beautiful photos. I will post some if and when I can.

We met the in-laws and went to lunch at the Flanders Hotel on the boardwalk. We're thinking about doing our rehearsal dinner in one of their banquet facilities. Lunch was good, so we will have to look over the menu and requirements for the banquet hall. The Flanders Hotel is very historic and some say it's haunted. Scary....thankfully I didn't see any ghostly ghosts :)

The fiancee's soft shell crab sandwich.

I ordered the strawberry and walnut salad with chicken. Greens, strawberries, oranges, blue cheese, chicken and citrus vinaigrette.

The fiancee's dad also ordered the soft shell crab sandwich, but mom in law ordered the crab cake sammy. It was the winner of the table. Lots of crab and it was huge. So good! I know our rehearsal dinner will be great if we end up here!

We headed home after lunch because I needed to get some stuff done before work on Monday. I snacked on some sweets in the form of Skittles. I heart Skittles.

I was going to snack on some hummus and olives, but it had a very strong smell and tasted a little funny, so down the disposal it went. That sucks. I had a huge craving!

No worries because dinner was spectacular. A small piece of leftover stromboli and a cup of broccoli pasta with some dipping marinara. And lots of parm cheese!

And a glass of white wine.

I am currently waiting for laundry to finish so I can fold it and put it away and then it's bedtime for this beach bunny. I can't wait! Tata!

Longest Friday EVA

2010-06-06T20:39:00.003-04:00

When I made it to work on Friday, I was tired, hungover and ready for a quick day. But Murphy's Law dictates that you will have the longest day of your short life when you feel the way I did on Friday! Live and learn, right? No matter, we had fun on Thursday night!!

Like I said in my last post I had a turkey hot dog for breakfast on my way to work. Lunch came courtesy of Sombero's in Egg Harbor Township. They sponsored one of my segments all week, so they brought us lunch on Friday.

A piece of chimichanga, a piece of chicken quesadilla and two tequila lime chicken wings. A little rice and some refried beans. Everything was so good! Spicy, but not too much. Fresh and authentic. Thanks Sombero's!

When work (finally) ended I headed to my (future) sister in law's new nail salon! I'm so proud of her! It's a beautiful spot and she's awesome at what she does. After a very long night with the ladies with way too much alcohol, I needed to relax. This was the perfect answer. And of course, the fiancee and I have our engagement photos on Sunday, so my nails needed to look good!

Any locals - check her out in Mullica Hill, NJ!

Beautiful!

Ahhhh, now this is what I needed....

After an afternoon of pampering, I headed home to a chicken stromboli from our local pizza joint. Filled with cheese onions, peppers and mushrooms. So satisfying. Sorry no picture.

Annnndddd, I was asleep by 9:30pm! And it felt great! When I was 25, I could go out and drink all night and feel fine the next day. Not. Any. More. I need sleep! My bed never felt so good! But still - we had the best time!!

Drinks with the ladies

2010-06-06T20:05:00.003-04:00

To rewind quite a bit, Thursday morning started off with an upset tummy. I think the Spicy Chick-fil-A didn't sit quite well with me. I enjoyed it, but I think I will stick to the Char Grilled sammy. It's my fav.

So, I opted for cheese crackers and about 3 glasses of peppermint tea for breakfast. Literally. And then I felt fine!

After weeks of reading how much Danica loves Newman's Own Light Lime salad dressing, I finally found it at my local grocery store. And get this, there was even a coupon on the shelf!

Of course for lunch I had to make a huge salad. This one contains greens, dried cranberries, grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, grilled onions, goat cheese and Light Lime dressing.

Nothing short of perfection. My new favorite dressing. Tangy, limey, fresh and refreshing.

Cherries were on sale, which is just about the only way I can buy them - they are expensive! But oh so delish. There were some grapes hidden in there too.

I came home from work and ate a random turkey hot dog filled with cheese. Totally random. I added a side of tortilla chips and TJ's spicy black bean dip.

Then it was off to a bar on South Street in Philly called Lickety Spilt. Ironically it was across the street from Phileo Yogurt where a few bloggers were meeting for a "Philly blog meet-up". Unfortunately they were meeting around 4:30pm and we weren't meeting until 7pm, so the timing didn't work for me to meet up. Next time for sure!

Anywho, our night was in celebration of my birthday and our girlfriend's birthday. I walked into the bar expecting to have a few glasses of wine and then head home. Boy was I wrong.

There was a cake.

And tequila shots for the birthday girls. That's me on the left, I clearly love tequila.

Because tequila makes me sing out loud.

Oh there is the cake. I didn't have any cake.

Just a shot of whiskey. I did not order any of these shots.

And there is my glass of wine. Next to a shot of whiskey. My friends are obsessed with tequila and whiskey.

Why?

I threw myself in a cab and got home at 1:30am. I fell into bed and didn't budge until 7:30am. I ran out of the house after a quick shower and devouring another turkey hot dog and made it to work on time. It was a long Friday. But you only live once and we had a fabulous time celebrating our birthdays! Thanks ladies!

More free food!

2010-06-02T20:30:00.006-04:00

Since I got such good sleep, when my alarm went off at 5:15am, I hopped out of bed, changed clothes and headed to the gym. My car clock says it all - that's am, not 5:30pm...

I got in 25 minutes on the elliptical and a banging arm workout. Thank you LA FITNESS.

I always feel so much better when I get up early and workout, my whole day goes better. Why did I wait so long to get into this routine?

On to breakfast -

Strawberry oatmeal!

It filled me up all morning long! I brought the other half of my birthday turkey burger for lunch and a salad, but I wasn't feeling the salad, so I had the sandwich and some unpictured cherries.

After a busy day at work, I headed to get my eyebrows waxed. We have our engagement photo session this weekend, so pampering is a must this week. Eyebrows done, mani and pedi on Friday.

Today was free Chick-fil-A sandwich day! Chick-fil-A is coming out with a new spicy chicken sandwich at the end of June and they are running a promotion through June 5th in which you can get a free spicy sandwich. Go to www.getspicychicken.com and make your reservation.

After my eyebrow wax, I head to Chick-fil-A and picked up my sandwich and a free Coke Zero! I love free things!

Since it's a fried sandwich I added a big salad to the side. This time I have goat cheese! Not just any ordinary goat cheese, this goat cheese has figs in it! We have 2 fig trees in our yard and I have an affinity for all things containing figs, goat cheese included.

All together now -

Verdict?

Delish! But definitely spicy, so be prepared. The sandwich alone is 9 Weight Watchers points, so this was definitely a special occasion. But how many times do you receive a free sandwich from Chick-fil-A? Well, actually on the receipt there is a code to take a survey within 2 days and receive another free sandwich! Free things are good!

The fiancee is currently at his parent's house for dinner (blue claw crabs and pasta = heaven) but I had a million things to get done tonight and I'm enjoying the house all to myself in order to get all that stuff done. I just seem to get more stuff done when he's not here! Bed will come early again this evening, so I can hop out of bed at 5:15am tomorrow morning!

Where do the days go?

2010-06-02T19:37:00.003-04:00

Seriously, where do the days go? I never seem to have enough time to get everything done!! Sometimes I'm not sure where the time goes....

And why do my pictures of oatmeal always look so ugly? Other blogs have beautiful pictures of their oatmeal! Oh bother..... Maybe it's the lack of windows in my office? All artificial light? Hmmm....

Blackberry oats -

1/4 cup old fashion oatmeal

1 tsp. almond butter

6 or 7 blackberries

pinch of salt

We had some leftover shrimp from our poolside cookout on Sunday, so I attempted to recreate that awesome shrimp and goat cheese salad from the weekend. However, I didn't have any goat cheese. Trying to recreate a shrimp and goat cheese salad without goat cheese isn't an easy task. More like an impossible task! Nonetheless, the salad was good.

For dinner, we were going to grill a big ole steak and have some salad. But, I checked my coupon file (yes, I have a coupon file...) and I forgot about my free burger from Ruby Tuesday's! They sent me an email for a free burger for my birthday, so we changed our plans and headed to the mall.

I asked the waitress if I could order a turkey burger instead of a beef burger with the coupon and thankfully she agreed. I also added the salad bar because it's the best salad bar eva!

I loaded my plate with greens, ham, carrots, cheese, tomatoes, a little pasta salad, croutons and low fat ranch dressing.

My turkey burger came with endless fries, as in free refills - omg - we didn't get a refill, thank goodness! But their fries are addicting. The burger had onion, tomatoes and lettuce. And it came on a pretzel roll! Seriously? So good!

The fiancee ordered the steak and lobster, it was good, but I think my burger won! After dinner we headed to Verizon and AT&T. Neither of us are in cell phone contracts right now, so we're shopping around different companies. I want the iPhone & he does too, but he would settle for the Droid Incredible as well. I think Apple is about to unveil the 4G iPhone, so we might just wait a few months until the new version comes out.

We got home at 8:30pm and I was in bed at 9pm. And it felt wonderful!

Working on holidays

2010-05-31T20:22:00.003-04:00

I had to work on Memorial Day, well, let me rephrase that... I choose to work on Memorial Day. If I work on a holiday, then I get a comp day to use later. I have worked every single holiday this year to put towards our honeymoon! I really don't mind working on holidays because nobody is in the building and I only have to go in for my on-air shift (10am-3pm). Ain't too bad. I got a decent night of sleep, so my alarm went off at 6:15am and I ran to the gym. Because of the holiday, it was dead! I love when the gym is empty. I ran on the elliptical for about 30 minutes and then headed to work. It's amazing what a difference an hour can make. I felt like I had all the time in the world to get to work.

Lunch was the rest of my leftover spicy noodles. However, this was a mixture of the spicy noodles, the rest of the fiancee's rice, a piece of his steak and a steamed dumpling. A little bit of everything, but it's all gone now. I love getting rid of leftovers!

I think this crazy mixture upset my stomach, maybe too much thrown together?

Once my tummy settled, I met the fiancee and his sister by the pool again for cabbage chicken wraps. Grilled chicken, tomatoes, cheese, cilantro and homemade guacamole. So fresh and delish.

I'm watching the Flyers right now, but I think I'm going to hit the hay early. I've been really tired lately, so I am going to try and get some extra sleep this week. Don't hold your breath on this one....I'm not :)

Radishes!!!

2010-05-31T19:49:00.004-04:00

I never knew I could get so excited over a radish. However, when I was in my garden on Sunday I saw these little red babies peeking out of the ground and I got really excited! See pics below.

Here is my little 10x10 garden. I have parsley, mint, basil, oregano, tomatoes, cherry peppers, radishes, English peas, sugar snap peas, strawberries, chives and sweet peppers. Oh my. Oh and asparagus, but they remain under ground right now.....not happy about that....

Strawberries take a year to bear fruit, so this will be the first year that I (might) get some berries. I picked these two babies off of my bush on Sunday, despite the picture, these babies are tiny. Like as big as my pinky finger! But they tasted good.

After I picked my mini strawberries, I started to weed around my plants and I noticed a little bit of red popping out from under the leaves.....

Yay! Radishes!!!

One was a big pappa, one was a medium bear and one was a small baby. They tasted really good. It's such a proud moment to plant, pick and consume your very own harvest!

I ended up going to the gym before the garden and got in a good back workout and 30 minutes on the elliptical. Then it was time for the pool!

We had a lot of fresh and frozen fruit that we mixed with some rum for our own blendie drinks!
Mine has peaches, strawberries and mango. It was so hot, the cold slushy drink tasted so refreshing.

We had light hotdogs and salad with my radishes. (secretly so proud...)

We also grilled some shrimp and clams. It was the perfect meal for an outdoor pool session.

The party continued into the night, but because I had to work on Memorial Day, I went home around 8pm. I got a chance to do some laundry and get the house organized for the beginning of the week. I had some sushi (that was gross) for dinner. Really not good. The fish wasn't bad, but the rice was mushy and the crab was imitation. Seriously? Gross.

I successfully cleaned out our DVR, I watched 3 episodes of the Real Housewives, 2 episodes of Glee (Lady Gaga's episode rocked!) and a couple of Oprah's. Thank goodness it's all clear for more good shows!

A lost holiday weekend

2010-05-30T11:17:00.002-04:00

It's been a wild week here in Casa Georgia. The last we talked I was finalizing my wedding invitations and working at NBC. Thursday was a whirlwind of a day which started in radio-land and ended in tv-land. I don't often work those long days, but the money definitely helps and it's always good to keep bridges with former networks. They are long days, but I think it's worth it some times.

On to the eats...

Last week was a bust in the workout department and in return my appetite was totally off. I think I only at breakfast a few days, but I just didn't find myself hungry in the AM. So, I didn't eat. Listen to your body peeps..

I did however try to finish my chicken salad, to no avail... But it was delish.

I opted to go sans bread for this installment of chicken salad Friday.

Friday I was tired and lost. I was so happy that the week had finally come to an end. It was a long one. For sure. Anywho, I left work on Friday and went to Vineland for a radio appearance and then headed to the in-laws for dinner. I was asleep on the couch by 10pm. So spectacular.

Saturday came early because we were headed to the shore to test drive a restaurant for our rehearsal dinner. We planned to go to a place called Sandi Pointe Bistro, but it was closed, I guess they are only open for dinner. So, we moved onto our second choice, the Inlet. It's a very nice place right on the bay in Somers Point, NJ. The place was beautiful and the food was really good. I am going to call their catering department on Tuesday to see what kind of menu they can come up with for us.

For lunch, I opted for the field greens salad with shrimp and goat cheese. It was really yummy, but I wanted tomatoes. I feel like it needed that sweetness, but nonetheless it was good.

Saturday night was a night by the fire in our backyard. We invited some friends over to hang out by the fire and watch the Flyers (they lost....). I didn't end up eating too much, just not too hungry, I snacked on a few chicken wings and some chocolate chip cookie cake!

It was a late evening, so I slept in on Sunday. (YAY!!!) Still not hungry this morning, but I'm about to make my way to the gym, so I should be ravenous when I return. This day is absolutely gorgeous, so the plan is to hang out by the sister-in-laws pool. First time of the season! Many more to come! Tata for now!

Thai, French, Chinese...

2010-05-27T13:56:00.002-04:00

We had to head into Philly last night to finalize our wedding invitations - they are awesome!! Since the man was still feeling a little under the weather, I offered to take him to dinner. This place is called Kaotip, it's on Cottman Avenue in the Northeast and it's a seriously hidden gem. It's always quiet inside and serene. And the food is delish! Fiancee started with some green tea, poor fella, he is feeling better today. I think it's in part because...

Of this soup. They call it chicken lemongrass soup. And it's banging. Like bangin' good. Spicy, brothy, lemony....ahhhh this is what I want when I'm sick.

We both ordered the dinner special that comes with soup, an appetizer and an entree. We both opted for the soup and steamed dumplings. I love the sweet soy dunking sauce.

My entree was spicy rice noodles with veggies, shrimp and chicken. It was really good, not too spicy. The server kept asking me if I thought it was too spicy because I was downing water! But it was great. I also got full pretty quickly, so I have a lot of leftovers.

They consider themselves a Thai/French restaurant, but whatev they are - they is good!!!

After dinner we headed to my old house (my old roommate makes invitations on the side) to pick our final draft for our wedding invitations. They rock! So nice, colors look great, style looks awesome, they are perfect. By the time we got home it was 10:30pm and I was exhausted! I hit the bed fast, I mean fast. My alarm went off at 5:15am I nearly threw it across the room. I re-set the alarm for 6:30am. There is no need to force a workout when you are so tired from a busy week. IMO, at least. I know I will monitor what I eat a little closer and try to get in some strong workouts this weekend to balance everything out.

Down off of soapbox....

I wasn't hungry for breakfast this morning, so I listened to this crazy body of mine and snacked on an apple and some coffee. Lunch was pretty spectacular. Chicken salad on an everything bagel thin with some carrots sticks. Plus some vitamin love. Slowly, but surely working my way through my fridge.

I'm headed to NBC again this evening for fill in for a gal who is on vacation. These days are long and tiring, but the extra money helps a lot (especially with the wedding approaching) and it's good to keep my toes in the sand over there. You never know who might have opportunities open up at anytime.

Mini things are just better

2010-05-26T14:26:00.002-04:00

So, here it is Wednesday already. This week is flying by! Too much to do.

Monday - dinner with maid of Honor & Mom in Law to figure out bridal shower
Tuesday - night work at NBC
Wednesday - finalizing wedding invitations
Thursday - filling in again at NBC
Friday - radio appearance after work
Then no plans for the weekend! Yay!!

Breakfast this morning was purple people eater oats. My mix -

1/4 cup old fashion oats
handful of blueberries
1 tsp. almond butter
sprinkle of sea salt
1/2 cup water

And some coffee. My fiancee's great aunt used to serve him coff and crack (that's what they grew up calling it!) when he was little. It was a breakfast of coffee and crackers smooshed up in the coffee. Can you imagine feeding a child coffee?? Italians have great stories of food...

He also happens to have a pretty nasty cold, he woke up with congestion, sniffles and a sore throat. So, I am trying to wash my hands every 10 minutes and load up on vitamins. These help -

Yes, the Starbursts are necessary.

Lunch was the very last of the chicken and broccoli. I love how you can eat Chinese takeout for days! And some mini peppers on the side. Crunchy goodness.

What's left of those mini peppers. Aren't mini things great?

These little lip glosses are cute mini's that Sephora gave me last year for my birthday! I love them, they fit into all of my impossibly small purses!

Tata for now, I'm about to get off the air and head home to then go out again to look at my final wedding invitations!

Chinese leftovers are delish

2010-05-26T13:35:00.004-04:00

On Sunday night, we finally made it home at 8:30pm. Which was perfect timing for the finale of LOST. I've watched this series since the pilot, I love me some LOST. I cried through the entire 2 and 1/2 hours. It was a good cry, I loved it! I thought it was tender, comforting and happy. I resolved to myself that I was never going to get some answers from the show and I just went along for the ride. I loved every minute. My fiancee and his sister are going to start buying up the DVD's of all the seasons to watch from beginning to end. He didn't get into the show until last year, so he needs to see the best seasons! (In my opinion were the first 2...)

Anywho, we picked up Chinese on the way home from the airport. Did you know that a full cup of chicken and broccoli is only 2 Weight Watcher points? What? No, seriously, how many points? And that 1/2 cup of brown rice is only 2 points as well. So, you know what I ordered....

We also picked up some chicken noodle soup, it's spicy and noodly.

Monday morning I had puffy eyes, from crying to LOST and nothing for breakfast except some purple oatmeal and Sue Sylvester...

We have nothing in our fridge except leftover Chinese food (which is the greatest - I enjoy it cold, too) and chicken salad. I need to hurry up and eat the chicken salad, it won't make it much longer. I was going to stop at the grocery store on my way home on Monday, but to be honest, we have enough food to last through the week. And after a wedding and a weekend away, let's just say that my checkbook needs a break.

So, Chinese leftovers for lunch!!

Not pretty, but it's so much better after it sits overnight in the fridge. Just like soup or chili - always better the next day.

And I needed some extra water in my life - like a lot of water. So I sipped (or gulped) all day with an apple as an afternoon snack.

Take a look at what the fiancee got me for my birthday! A new ipod nano! Just last week, I came home from the gym and started complaining about my old 1st generation ipod mini and how it skips and the arm strap is sucky. And what do you know??? A shiny new ipod for yours truly. Love ya babe, thank you! Any suggestions for a new arm strap?

This ipod has a pedometer built in and the ability to use Nike Fitness, which I will have to look into.... It also plays movies, has a video camera and has an FM tuner. I'm in love. I watched Star Trek to and from FL on the plane. It made the time fly by.

First things first - I had to load up all of my Zac Brown Band music. My obsession right now.

I worked a double on Tuesday, I worked at the radio station in Atlantic City, NJ then I drove to Philadelphia and worked at NBC (my old job) until midnight! Needless to say I didn't get up this morning and go to the gym, however I did get up on Tuesday morning, got in a good legs workout and some cardio. I will make it on Thursday morning, but then I'm filling in again at NBC Thursday night, so I will sleep on Friday. We have NO plans this Memorial Day Weekend! That hasn't happened in a long time. I will relish it.

Sunday eats

2010-05-25T14:25:00.003-04:00

The besties drove from Atlanta, so they headed home pretty early Sunday afternoon, but the fiancee and I had some time to kill before heading for the airport. So, back to St. George's Street it was! Our cab driver from the wedding the night before suggested Harry's as a good place for lunch, so we took him up on his advice.

Harry's was tucked beneath trees on a small side street. The building was beautiful and the trees provided enough shade to eat outside.

We started with warm bread and an herb(y) butter mixture. So satisfying after a night of cocktails.....

It was a Cajun restaurant, so we had to have gumbo. This was probably the best I've ever had. Full of okra, shrimp, crab meat and veggies. My fiancee said he's going to re-create it. I can't wait for that day....

My man ordered the New Orleans seafood special. Scallops and shrimp in a creamy sauce on top of a fried grit cake. Yum!

I ordered the shrimp and grits, this is like baked chicken or a chicken burrito to me. I can tell the potential of a restaurant by how well they bake a chicken or how good a chicken burrito is at a Mexican restaurant. At a Cajun restaurant (especially in the South...) I get shrimp and grits. That will determine just how good everything else on the menu will taste. At least that's what I believe.....

This was great! Creamy and spicy. However I got full really quickly, I think the gumbo filled me up. But I ate a good amount and just left the rest since we were getting on a plane in a few hours. We walked a little bit more and checked out the rest of downtown St. Augustine. Cute bed and breakfasts, quaint hotels, good looking restaurants, I can't wait to go back!

And the wedding....

2010-05-25T14:11:00.002-04:00

My friend looked like Carrie Underwood - so beautiful! I didn't get a ton of pictures with my camera because I was in charge of her camera all night! But I did manage to snap a few with my free hand! The happy couple!

The wedding and reception were held at a place called Marineland. So cool! There were dolphins swimming around through the whole ceremony - even when the couple said "I do", the dolphins swam up and made some noises! It was really cool and different and right on the beach.

The dolphins could swim right up to us!

Hi Flipper!

And then came the partying and dancing! I had a few drinks.....

Sunday (when we finally rolled out of bed....) was another afternoon of walking and eating!

St. Augustine & the wedding

2010-05-25T13:29:00.004-04:00

This was our first trip to St. Augustine and I can't wait to go back. Such a beautiful little town, great architecture, great food, great weather. You can't go wrong!

Here is the view from our hotel! Not bad to wake up to every morning.... but we slept in on Saturday. The hotel offered a free continental breakfast, I had a biscuit, some scrambled eggs and a big bowl of fruit, sorry no pic.

My 2 besties hit the beach, the fiancee and I hit the town. We needed a few things for the wedding and we wanted to explore the town since we were only there for a few days. Check out the beautiful Spanish moss.

The sunshine and trees were so magical, just breathtaking. And look - The Fountain of Youth!! We didn't go in because it was too expensive, but I loved how it's tucked away beneath all of the Spanish moss and trees.

We walked and walked and walked. Which was good because despite the fact that I actually did pack a workout outfit, I was not making it to the gym in the hotel. It was too beautiful outside. So, I felt better after walking for a couple of miles. But then the hunger pains hit!

We walked a little more and then decided to get a snack. This is St. George's Street where all the shops and restaurants are. We walked from one end to the other and then back again!

So, we split a taco! It was just perfect, fresh and delish. It was enough to hold us over until our official lunch, which came a few hours later. Now that we were fueled, we kept walking. I ended up buying a dress and the fiancee bought 4 t-shirts. He's a little obsessed with t-shirts....

More trees, more walking.

Lunch was across the street from the hotel, Two Can Terry's. A cute little beachy place with local seafood.

I had the Mahi-Mahi tacos. I guess I was craving Mexican food????? They were tasty.

Then it was time to get ready for the wedding. I love getting dressed up, especially weddings! I love them! And this one didn't disappoint. The rest of the weekend coming up!

I'm baaaaccckkkkk

2010-05-25T13:11:00.003-04:00

What a crazy weekend!! I will start with Friday - I slept in, didn't go to the gym and I'm ok with that. Why? Because it was my BIRTHDAY!!!! Yay!

We did, however, go to St. Augustine, FL for the wedding of a childhood friend of mine. It was a (fast) wonderful weekend! We flew out of Philly on Friday at 6:30pm. However, when there is a Chickie's and Pete's within 5 miles of me, I must consume crab fries. And there just happened to be one in the airport. :)

Dinner started with a beer and a water, we had to eat up because as soon as we landed in Jacksonville, FL, we had to drive an hour south. Not too fun. Hydrate and eat up!

Me and my birthday beer! FYI, I did have clothes on! It looks like I'm naked..... I have on a strapless dress...

Crab fries and a salad. Nuff said. Chickie's serves their salads with crab fries on the top. And I love it. We also shared some hot shrimp and buffalo fingers. (unpictured, sorry)

The flight was great, we actually made it into Jacksonville about 30 minutes early. We got our rental car and hit the road. We were at our hotel by 10-ish, only to be swept up by my besties and head to a local bar where the bride and her bridesmaids were hanging out. We ended up hanging out until 1-ish, but the bride and her maids left around midnight. Pics of the hotel (and our view) coming soon!

AM workouts and homemade pizza

2010-05-20T14:23:00.004-04:00

I totally forgot to tell y'all that I made it to the gym Tuesday evening, it was not fun, but I got in and had a nice workout. I had a car appointment early Tuesday morning, so my early AM workout got pushed to the PM...

Wednesday I had (almost) my last yogurt and some fuity, fruit, fruit. Nom nom nom.

This is the hummus chicken salad, on some salad. And a few mini peppers from TJ's. More healthy goodness.

Are my picture taking skills getting any better???? Doubtful....

Finally my fiancee made one of his fabulous creations last night! Wheat pizza with artichokes and prosciutto. Seriously good eats. Start with prepared whole wheat pizza dough (we used Trader Joe's) add some tomato sauce. He grilled a whole tomato then mashed it up in a saucepan with chopped garlic and torn basil leaves and some olive oil. Heaven.

Then layer slices of mozzarella cheese. Drooling yet?

Add any ingredients that you love! We added olives, prosciutto, artichokes, shitake mushrooms, basil and some arugula. Another drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Not the canned stuff. If you know what is good for you, you will date an Italian and his mother will provide you with bags and bags of freshly grated Parmesan cheese for your freezer. I'm just saying.

Bake at 425 degrees for 8-ish minutes or until brown and bubbly. The fiancee desperately wants a pizza stone (hint hint hint girlfriends, it's on our registry....) because he thinks the middle of the pizza gets soggy. I totally disagree with him and think he is the bee's knees. Thanks Geico.

Cut pizza into 4 pieces, yes 4 quarters and devour with more cheese. Yes! More cheese.

Breath in, breathe out

2010-05-18T20:21:00.004-04:00

I searched and searched my camera memory card, but, alas, no sign of all the deleted pictures. Oh well, what can I do???? Just breathe in and then breath out. Onward and upward...

I will get you some more pictures of my garden, unfortunately, it's been a rainy couple of days, so the next peek of sunshine and I will grab some nice pictures.

I am going out of town this weekend for a wedding, so I'm trying to eat up everything in the fridge. That means yogurt.... and these are the biggest strawberries and quite delish. Surrounded by lots of work...

Lunch on Monday was a chicken sandwich on an everything bagel thin, same stats as the whole wheat thin, but a lot more flavor. Yummy. The chicken was part of Sundays deleted dinner! My fiancee cooked 2 whole chickens under a brick on the grill, the pictures would have been fun, but we can all pretend... I brought along some leftovers with a smear of hummus and arugula. The rice was my creation! Yellow rice cooked with chicken stock and tons of veggies added. Peas, carrots, onions, celery and peppers - veg overload - which is never a bad thing.

Monday was a whirlwind. I went to work, went to the dentist (for an hour and 45 minutes...) then I ran home, picked up fiancee and went to dinner at his parents. His mom made blue crabs and pasta. I had 4 crabs and about a cup and a half of pasta. So good!

Tuesday, after a wonderful night of sleep, I had to be at the car dealership at 8am for an oil change. After that and pouring rain for my commute, I just needed some strawberry-banana love. And an acrobatic apple. :)

I actually didn't eat the apple at all, but it's already packed for tomorrow's breakfast. Lunch was the rest of the leftover rice. It was really filling. I brought along some celery sticks and hummus, but I didn't need it. Learning to listen to my body will save me some moola...

Considering we had 2 whole chickens (we cooked said chickens for 4 people) as leftovers, I figured I would try two different chicken salads....

Behold - diced chicken in each container, onion, celery, carrots, s&p.

In one container, I mixed light mayo and Dijon mustard. In the other container, I mixed roasted garlic hummus. I made the fiancee try both and he loved the hummus! I must admit that it's my favorite too. Who needs mayo??? Well, now I have 5 servings of chicken salad and mayo to finish before my trip this weekend. It can be done.

They both looked the same, good thing I put them in different containers!

So, of course, for dinner I had a chicken salad sandwich! (hummus) On a toasted everything bagel thin with some arugula.

Two juicy slices of tomato sprinkled with s&p and about 1/3 of a cup of chicken salad.

Seriously, these strawberries are gigantic and so sweet. I added a little crunch with some BBQ Popchips. Perfectly rounded meal with lots of fresh flavas... that's kind of like flavors ;)

I am getting ready to make some tea and get some work done. I have a whole butt-ful of things to do this week before my flight on Friday. Gotta get to it!

OMG seriously?

2010-05-16T20:58:00.003-04:00

I had 27 pictures to post this evening.

I accidentally deleted 27 photos this evening.

And I said "Oh my God. Did I seriously just do that?"

I had some beautiful pictures of my garden and of the dinner that my fiancee created tonight.

Oh damnit.

I'm currently scanning my computer to see if I can recall the deleted pics. I'll post them if I can find them. Sigh....

Lazy weekend

2010-05-16T11:56:00.002-04:00

Considering that you have been tortured by my boring repeats of meals this week, I decided to spice things up a little for my eats!

Breakfast -

Lunch -

After work snack - at a red light.... Happy Hour at Starbucks!

Friday evening we found ourselves at another bar for another Flyers playoff game - and they won!!! It was game 7 and the Bruins were up 3-0 in the first 10 minutes! We lost a little hope, but the Fly-guys made a huge comeback and won the game! It was very exciting! But as we made our way to the bar to meet up with some friends, a crazy storm rolled through. Lightening, thunder, hail and pouring rain. We hid out in the car in the parking lot until it let up a little bit. It was a crazy Midwestern type storm!

This was the same place that we went to last weekend where I had the most delicious grilled chicken salad with honey mustard dressing! I had the same salad Friday night, it's nothing fancy, just perfectly fresh and delish! The bar is called Nipper's. Basically a dive bar with banging food.

A rainy pic as we hid in the car!

Saturday I slept in and did nothing except catch up on DVR. It was glorious. A little chunky soup because I was lazy. 5 points for the whole can!

And then...............

Finally....................

The LAST of the turkey meatballs and spaghetti!

YES!!! So good, but it went on FOREVER!

We had tickets to the Sugarland concert in Philly, so we met some friends in the parking lot and tailgated for while. The show was good, but they only played for an hour and 10 minutes. Kinda bummed. I guess I'm just used to Dave Matthews playing from like 8pm until 11pm... oh well, still a good show.

The Susquehanna Bank center has a beautiful view of Philly.

We slept in again this morning. My man is currently mowing the lawn and I'm about to join him outside to weed my garden. Things are going well out there, except my first strawberries aren't going to make it. (Thanks a lot mother nature, for your 30 degree nights this past week....) And my lettuce didn't come up.... besides that, it's going well. I might get in a little yoga too, we'll see.

Breakfast was a bagel thin with light veggie cream cheese and an orange. After yard work, we're headed to Trader Joe's and Wegman's. I am severely sorry for those of you do not have a Wegman's in your area. It is the greatest grocery store of all time. Seriously. Not a joke. I could live there. Again, not a joke. ;) We have a fun Sunday menu planned....I'll post later. Tata for now! Oh and another Flyers game tonight!!

Yogurt, so much yogurt

2010-05-13T21:31:00.002-04:00

Once again I woke up at 5:15 in the morning and made it to the gym before work! Yay me! Thank goodness for small miracles!

Breakfast was.....guess, I'll give you 3 guesses....

Chobani!

Pomegranate with some pineapple. I love fresh pineapple! I can't wait to go back to Hawaii and have it for breakfast every single morning, ahhhh, heaven!

Are you tired of seeing spaghetti and meatballs? Probably as tired as I am eating it....though it is super yummy.

I leave you with a picture of the meaty-balls and a mini poster cutout of Brice Lee. He's an up and coming country star. Hey, I have to spice up pictures of the boring meals... :)

Wednesday night we went out to watch the Flyers. You would think that I'm the biggest Flyers fan out there with the way we always go out for the games. I'm actually not a huge hockey fan, but the playoffs are exciting! Anywho, I ordered the chicken quesadilla, can't you picture it?? Ha ha....

And omg, guess what I had for breakfast on Thursday?? Just guess....

Thankfully the pineapple is almost gone, but the yogurt and meatballs go on forever. I promise to get back to fun fiancee created meals soon! And maybe my mamas split pea soup. It's delightful!

Now here is this precious cat that I see every single day outside of my window in the studio, never fail, this cat struts by. I've tried to nab a picture before, but it always runs off. Today was my day! Isn't it cute?? It's definitely a neighborhood cat, it doesn't look too hungry.

Because we stayed out too late last night (ugh) I was running around this morning (needless to say I didn't get up to go to the gym this morning...) and I had to throw together my lunch really quickly. Yogurt, check. Fruit, check. Can of soup, check. Awesome, at least there are lots of veggies in it. I eat a whole can because I don't know about you, but a serving of soup does nothing for me. This whole can only had 5 points, though, so that's pretty good!

Work today was super busy, so this is how I ate my lunch. Come to think of it, this is kind of how I eat my lunch everyday....

Behold my massive bowl of soup. Yummy! So comforting!

I had an eye exam after work and then I had to run to my first fitting for my wedding dress! It's SO beautiful! I can't wait to put it on and walk down the aisle and marry the man of my dreams! Sappy sappy, but exciting! Anywho, dinner was at the in-laws. Consisted of some leftover chicken and veggies, some lentil soup and tilapia. Random, but good. Tata for tonight, the gym calls in the AM!

Monday, I mean Tues..., I mean, WTH??

2010-05-11T20:21:00.002-04:00

What day is it???? All day today I was a little backwards, I thought it was Monday, then I thought it was Wednesday! What day is it????

Maybe I'm confused because my alarm went off at 5:15AM! Yes, you read correctly, 5:15AM. And I got up. And I put on some sweats. And I drove my fat a*s to the gym. Remember the friend of a friend that I told you about? Well, she was at the gym, too. Running away on the elliptical. And I hopped on the one right next to her. 23 minutes later I was doing a rocking legs workout and it felt GREAT! G-R-E-A-T! My alarm is already set for tomorrow, my workout clothes are laid out, my breakfast and lunch are prepared. And now I'm exhausted. But that's ok, I would rather be sleepy now and get up in the morning and workout and start my day off on the right foot!

On to my eats for today...

Needless to say I was starving by the time I got to work. I told you that Chobani was on sale and my fridge is full to the brim! Besides my overflow of yogurt, I also have an overflow of spaghetti and meatballs! You will see a lot of both of them in the near future. Sorry dudes.

I must say the meatballs are not my Italian mother-in-law quality, but they are pretty banging.

It's so cold here today, honestly I wanted to come home and make split pea soup, but I have too many leftovers right now to justify that, but maybe in the near future.... I compromised by some chicken and dumplings soup and a fat sandwich. The soup was Progresso's Weight Watchers brand and at 2 points for the whole can, it was very comforting. I finished up the rest of my honey ham and Swiss cheese with a schmear of hummus and a handful of arugula. Delish!

There are a lot of veggies at the bottom of this soup bowl!

Currently sipping on some wine and getting ready for LOST!!!! I cant wait! Am I going to cry like last week? It's entirely possible....

Tata!

Giada's turkey meatballs

2010-05-10T22:01:00.001-04:00

I hit up the grocery store after work for some essentials and all the fixings to make Giada's turkey meatballs. Yummy! I used to make this recipe all the time, but it's been a while. I usually make normal sized meatballs and I've also made turkey burgers with this recipe. Both are equally good. My fiancee wanted to attempt making baked mozzarella sticks. They didn't look great, but they sure tasted great! He cut a ball of mozzarella into 1/4 inch slices, coated in an egg wash and rolled in panko bread crumbs mixed with a little parm cheese and oregano. Then he baked them for about 7-8 minutes until golden and bubbly. We determined that we should have put the pieces in the fridge for a few minutes, then into the oven...maybe they would hold their shape a little better?? Who knows, but they tasted great! He was disappointed, but he is his worst critic!

Topped with a little of my quick red sauce, delish!!!

The sauce could cook all day long I think! I added some red wine and red pepper flakes in the end.

For the meatballs, I used 99% lean ground turkey breast.

The mixture made about 20 normal sized meatballs.

Sauteed with a little olive oil. How do you get meatballs to stay round?? Mine always end up being kind of flat and oddly shaped????

Then I tossed the meatballs in the sauce for about 30 minutes while the pasta cooked.

Topped with some parm cheese and dinner was served! So good! I was going to make an arugula salad, but we were stuffed!

This recipe makes a lot, so you will be seeing the leftovers for a while. I'm sorry in advance.... I'm currently finishing up some laundry, enjoying some sleepytime tea and about to hit the hay. That alarm will go off very early....

Manic Monday...Whacky Weekend

2010-05-10T21:33:00.000-04:00

What a weekend! It was fairly uneventful, but it was like a hurricane came through! We were both up early on Saturday for work. I ran out of the house (late, as usual...) and threw together a bagel thin with almond butter and some strawberry jam, sorry no pic. I didn't end up eating it until around noon, but I did have coffee in the early AM. When I came home I made a delish tuna salad... Here is my mix -

1 can tuna in water, drained
1 Tbsp light mayo
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
s&p
2 huge handfuls of arugula

Best.tuna.salad.ever......

We ended up going out on Saturday night to a local bar where I ordered a grilled chicken salad with honey mustard dressing - so so so good! Of course I didn't take a picture because I'm still a little hesitant about taking photos in a restaurant....sometimes I feel totally comfortable & sometimes I feel silly. I will overcome this!! One day....

Sunday was mother's day, so we headed to the in-laws house. My fiancee wanted to make his version of a surf and turf - lamb and dungeness crabs. Total heaven. I did snap a photo of mom in laws hard bread and tomatoes and her homemade arancini. Hard bread is literally homemade whole wheat bread that goes into a low oven for 48 hours and gets hard. Sounds gross, but it is insanely delicious with these chopped tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and some dried oregano straight from the hills of Italy. You can drool, it's ok. Arancini is a fried rice ball filled with meat, peas and red sauce. Again, you may drool....

Monday morning came and went without a feeling for breakfast, so I stashed my yogurt in the work fridge for tomorrow. I ended up ordering lunch this afternoon because we had nothing in the cabinets. I ordered this Cajun shrimp Caesar salad. It was about as good as the picture looks.... too much dressing and not enough veggie love. The bread, however, was banging!

My alarm went off this morning at 5:15am. WHAT?? I didn't get up, I reset the alarm for 6:30am...

Here's the story - Saturday night I was talking to a friend of a friend that said she gets to the LA Fitness that I belong to, at 5:15am every morning to workout before work. She meets another friend there and they do cardio & weights every single morning! WHAT??? So, I told said friend of friend that she may see me on Monday morning. Well, I didn't get up (my excuse was that I didn't sleep too well...) so I have told myself to go Tuesday morning. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow....I'm not holding my breath....

Local Philly peeps - - Shoprite has Chobani yogurt 10 for $10! I stocked up!

When the alarm is silent...

2010-05-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

You don't wake up on time. Uh oh.

Well, not really. I woke up at 6am and my alarm was set for 5:45am so I could get in a little jog. I tried to tell myself to just go back to sleep for another 30 minutes because what's the point of a 15-20 jog???

A lot, that's what.

So, I actually got out of bed and ran for 15 minutes. Some-thang is better that no-thang, right??? Yes, I felt good and I was proud!!

And I fixed my phone, not sure what the problem was, but after a power cycle, the speakers work. Go figure. My Blackberry is ancient, I'm holding out for a Verizon/iPhone relationship.

Breakfast was some peach Chobani. Cause I'm a peach, of the Georgia kind ;)

Lunch was so fresh and delish! A bagel thin, ham and arugula. And an arugula salad with a little olive oil vinaigrette. I have a huge package of arugula, so you will be seeing a lot of it! And besides that, it's tasty!

At work, I realized I have a Laughing Cow wedge and a slice of reduced fat swiss cheese on this sandwich! Cheese overload! Which, incidentally, is not a bad thing.

Dinner was another of the fiancee's creations. We finished the leftover stir fry and he grilled up a skirt steak and a rack of lamb.

Yes, that's a lot of meat.

His excuse?? He wants to make his mom and dad a rack of lamb on Sunday in honor of Mother's Day and his father's birthday. So, I am the guinea pig. Which, like the double cheese at lunch, is not such a bad thing.

He made a fresh sauce of parsley, garlic, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. It was so fresh and tasty! Perfect amount of citrus with the meat. I had a few bites of steak and 2 lamb chops. I was full after I ate about half of everything!

Now we're going to watch the Flyers and the Phillies and hit the hay early. We both have to work on Saturday. I will be at Jersey Shore Pharmacy in EHT if anyone is close by. I'll be there from 10am until noon! Come by!!

M-I-A

2010-05-07T14:02:00.001-04:00

Sorry to have been M-I-A for the last few days...this gal needed a few days away from blogs, twitter, fb, etc etc... I know you understand, right?? Thanks :0)

I will rewind to Thursday's eats...

An old standby, yum.

Lunch was some leftover stir fry that the fiancee made earlier in the week, it was gingery, spicy and delish! Paired with a little brown rice and you have a perfectly balanced meal.

Thursday evening, I met my Maid of Honor in South Philly to get my makeup trial for my wedding!! So exciting! I loved my makeup, very natural, yet elegant and it made me feel beautiful! And that is most important!! I took a couple of pictures, but the lighting was a little poor, so the pics aren't great.... after the trial, we headed to Chickie's and Pete's. This is a local Philadelphia hotspot known for their seafood and ......

CRAB FRIES!! You don't go to Chickie's without getting crab fries. I had about 15-ish...

A light(er) meal is their mussels and red sauce, their sauce is awesome! With a little dunkin' bread, oh my, heaven! Just heaven!

After a glass of wine, some good convo with my bestie and some good food, I was pooped! I headed home to (finally) watch Lost. Only to cry my eyes out...

Do you watch Lost? I've been addicted since season 1 and that episode was sad. S-A-D, sad.

Boats, seafood and fog

2010-05-03T22:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday started out as a foggy cool morning, but it turned into a hot and (somewhat) sunny afternoon. I actually got a little bit of a tan on my shoulders! Because we had the tasting for our wedding this past weekend , we decided to make a weekend out of it! We went "down the shore" as a true Philadelphian calls it... ;)

Turns out there was a boat and seafood show going on this weekend! We made the most of the good weather and good eats!

Conch!! I love conch fritters!!

Things grilled on sticks are awesome

We ended up splitting a shrimp kabob, a scallop kabob, a grouper sandwich and conch fritters! Love love love.

Oh my oh my.

And a little vino, of course...

It ended up being a perfect day with lots of sunshine and warm temps. Perfect ending to a great weekend!

Lots of good food

2010-05-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon, the fiancee and I met his parents at the venue where we're getting married for the tasting. We got to sample everything we have picked for our cocktail hour and reception. Here are a few pictures ;)

Tabled hors d'oeuvres - tomato and mozzarella bruschetta and melon wrapped in prosciutto

Butlered hors d'oeuvres - lamb chops, crab cakes, chicken satay, scallops wrapped in bacon, veggie quesadillas and beef wellingtons. We decided not to order the wellingtons, they were ok, but the lamb was the star!

Salad - field greens with goat cheese, candied pecans, dried cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette.

Lemon sorbet as the intermezzo.

The entree is a choice of filet or chicken marsala with roasted potatoes and asparagus and carrots.

Not done yet......

In addition to the wedding cake, we're having mini pastries! Mini key lime pies, mini eclairs, mini cannolis and chocolate covered strawberries....

Oh my. It will be a good wedding!

Breakfast returns

2010-05-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

Kind of like Batman Returns....or maybe not....

Finally I was hungry for breakfast!! For the past couple of days I haven't had much of an appetite in the AM. This morning was nothing short of spectacular.... behold blackberry oats.

1/4 cup oatmeal
1 tsp. almond butter
1 tsp. strawberry jam
blackberries
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water

Before -

The purple people eater????

Twas delish. Lunch came and went without too much excitement. I had a Morningstar chix patty on a bagel thin, laughing cow cheese and some romaine.

On a fancy napkin! That's what my stepdad used to call these really nice napkins, not the cheapy ones that I use now! These were freebies from the break room!

Do you think my skin will turn a sunshine-y shade of orange if I eat enough oranges and carrots?

Possibly. But they are so delicious, too hard to say no. Tata!

The secret garden...

2010-04-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

My coffee this morning looked a little like a latte! Yummy! I've been making 8 cups of coffee on Monday mornings and then keeping the leftovers in the fridge and just heating up a cup at a time...this will all change when I get my super cute mini French press.... It's on my wedding registration, hint hint girlfriends.....

After my run this morning, I figured it would be the perfect time to show you some pics of my little garden. The pics are from my blackberry, so they aren't as nice I as I would like them to be, but they will do. Enjoy!

Strawberries - I planted this starter plant last summer, but strawberries take a full year to bear fruit. I CAN'T WAIT!

Sugar snap peas - from seeds. It's an amazing feeling to plant a seed and then watch it grow into nutritious food that tastes amazing!

Radishes!!!!

And my little herb garden - mint (in a bucket because it will take OVER everything) basil and parsley. I also have oregano and rosemary and I need to get thyme. Yay!

Friday Funday....

2010-04-30T13:51:00.000-04:00

I guess that supposed to be Sunday Funday, but it's only Friday! And what a Friday! It's in the high 70's here in South Jersey without a cloud in the sky! Doesn't get better than that!

And guess what??? I got up at 5:45am again this morning! And I ran (trotted) for a solid 30 minutes! I need to drive my running route to see how far it is I'm actually jogging. Maybe next week I'll do that because when I leave work today, I'm going straight to the beach! Ahhhh, what a perfect weekend to be at the beach.

On to my eats....

Once again I wasn't that hungry this morning, so I'm continuing to listen to my body and I didn't eat until around noon. I had leftover couscous salad (that's my EPIC couscous...) with some leftover grilled chicken and grilled pork. I got scared that it wouldn't fill me up, but it did the job! I'll be finishing off the rest of the couscous tonight, I love finishing off leftovers! Doesn't make for exciting blogging, but I hate to waste food!

Fun with food pictures....I'm trying to get better at picture taking. It's a long road, I'm afraid..

Also snacked on a sunshine(y) orange for all the glorious sunshine we've had today!

A KIND Starbucks

2010-04-29T19:36:00.000-04:00

Usually when I leave work (I leave around 3:30pm, I'm seriously so lucky) I am so ready to rush out the door and get to the gym - only to talk myself out of it before I get there. For whatever reason, I just want to get home. Well, today was a totally different story! I didn't rush out the door exactly at 3:30 and I decided to stop at Starbucks and treat myself. And then I made a leisurely trip out of my long commute. It was a beautiful day after all. I fully believe I was able to enjoy my commute because I ran, I mean trotted, this morning and I wasn't obsessing on getting to the gym. My alarm is already set for 5:45am for Friday!

At Starbs, I got a skinny vanilla iced latte and a Mango Macadamia Kind bar. This may have been one of my favorite eats of late - so so so good! It was a tropical party complete with steel drums in my mouth! You must try!

After some housework (boo) and a little fridge cleaning, a salad was born. I'm headed to the shore for the weekend, so I wanted to get rid of all our fridge stuff. My salad consisted of romaine, broccoli, green peppers, celery, carrots and 2 oz. sirloin with a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar. Very delish.

I am currently sipping some wine with strawberries and trying to motivate myself to pack..... Most of the time I enjoy packing because I know I'm going somewhere fun, but I'm not feeling it tonight...... My fiancee keeps stealing sips of my wine, get your own!

Gotta love the Eagles coaster! :)

A runner I am not

2010-04-29T13:06:00.000-04:00

However, I am a good trotter!

My lack of gym-going these days has had me down, so after some soul searching I figured out that I HATE going to the gym after work. I've always hated it. So, why have I been trying now for 6 months to do it everyday? I just don't know.

Remedy?

Set my alarm for 5:45am.

Ouch.

Or so I thought! It wasn't that bad! And it was chilly and light outside. I did not go to the gym, I simply ran in my neighborhood for 25 minutes. Well, I trotted in my neighborhood. It was really nice to be up and out of bed and have my exercise done! Now all day I've been fantasizing what I will do with my afternoon instead of dreading the fact that I still have to go to the gym. What. A. Revelation.

I think I will set my alarm at 5:45am again tomorrow. Life is good!

Despite my exercise this morning, I was not hungry for breakfast, so I listened to my body and I didn't eat until noon. What did I eat, you ask??

This beautiful homemade chicken soup. Nothing but veggies and chicken. Perfection.

Last night after my Maid of Honor and I shopped (found a rehearsal dinner dress! She didn't find the perfect dress yet, but she will!) we head to California Pizza Kitchen. Lots of girl talk, wedding talk and spring rolls! They were awesome!!

I ordered the Mediterranean plate with hummus, Greek salad and feta with some pita points. Perfect portion and delish!

My MOH ordered the roasted red pepper and goat cheese pizza on honey wheat crust - holy yum! I had a small piece - I could have eaten the whole thing! Is it weird that I have never ordered a pizza from here? I usually get their salads, but I will order this pizza next time!

We also had 2 glasses of wine and a great time!

Right now I'm picturing a grande iced caramel latte in my head..... maybe that dream will come true this afternoon....

Tata!

Down a pound!

2010-04-28T13:48:00.000-04:00

Finally I am down a pound! Woo Hoo! I didn't think I would have a loss this week, but I did! Maybe it's all those salads :)

Those salads that I have NOT wanted to eat lately. We went out last night and I ended up ordering a Greek salad wrap that unfortunately was not even worthy of a picture. Sad. But it was salad, does that count for the "Salad Challenge"? I guess it's my game so I can make the rules! I say YES!

Breakfast this morning was a very satisfying bowl of oatmeal.

1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup water
pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. almond butter
1 tsp. strawberry jam
handful of blackberries

Before -

And after -

Purple oats!

Lunch today was eaten during a meeting, so sorry no picture. It was a 6 inch Subway turkey on whole wheat. And I nabbed a cookie.....yummy.

Going out to dinner AGAIN tonight! One would think that I make millions....alas, I do not. But my Maid of Honor and I are going dress shopping! For her, not me, already ordered that dress! ;) My bridesmaids can whatever kind of dress they want, as long as it's black. So, tonight will be full of girl talk, dress shopping, and possibly sushi???? That sounds good! But I can't see myself justifying a salad with sushi.... Tata!

jkjkjkjkjkjkjkj

2010-04-27T13:52:00.001-04:00

Sometimes a title is just better left as nonsense.....

Monday night was an event for the radio station that we've planning for quite some time. It was a lot of fun and a huge success, even if my eats weren't as successful... ;) More on that in a bit.

Today??? The return of yogurt for breakfast!!! Strawberry Chobani to be precise and some fresh strawberries. Last night, I noticed that this container of yogurt was all the way in the back of the fridge, consequently, it was a little frozen. (the back of the fridge is the coldest part) So I left it up front last night and all was thawed this morning, but the yogurt itself was a little grainy and not as thick. Hmmm... I hope it was still ok to eat because I did! It tasted fine, just not as creamy.....oh well....

I also noticed that when I eat oatmeal for breakfast, my hungry stays away a lot longer than when I eat yogurt. Makes sense, but I like to have the dairy and calcium in the AM. I don't eat a lot of dairy in the afternoon or evening. Anyway - just an observation.

Lunch was a blurry portion of my EPIC couscous salad, warmed just a bit for maximum gooieness (for sure a word) from the cheese....I dream of this salad.

And an open face steak sammy! I ended up eating the lettuce off and then the sandwich! On one half of a bagel thin with a Laughing Cow wedge (obviously, I think I might be somewhat addicted to these...) and 2 oz of leftover sirloin. All on top of a very classy paper towel. that's just how I roll.

Like my ring??? Me too! My good friend Andrea gave it to me! Sometimes I think that I'm a rock star..

I have this apple here that I am ready to devour as soon as my lip gloss wears off.

What?

You don't purposely put on lip gloss so you don't down all of the cookies in the break room at work, so as not to mess up said lip gloss? Oh maybe it's just me.

I definitely need to work on my picture taking skills! Everything is blurry!

Monday's eats -

coffee and blueberry oatmeal (1/4 cup oats, 1/2 water, blueberries and a teaspoon of almond butter)

More couscous salad for lunch and a grilled chicken sandwich. Nothing exciting except that couscous....it's really THAT good!

Dinner at the event was a cheeseburger and some cheesy poofs. I could eat an entire bag of cheesy poofs all by my lonesome. Easily. Last night, however, I had about 6 little poofs. Good willpower, good.

EPIC Couscous salad

2010-04-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

Sunday night I wanted to make something for my work week lunches that wasn't the typical green lettuce salad with dressing. That can get VERY boring (coming from someone who's currently undergoing a salad challenge...). So, I came up with this simple and delish couscous salad loaded with veggies! You can add anything you want and I bet it will still taste amazing.

I started with this Near East Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil whole wheat couscous, I followed the directions on the box, however, I used chicken stock instead of water... yummy.

In the meantime, I chopped all of my veggies. I didn't cook these veggies in any way. When the couscous was finished, I fluffed with a fork and dumped my veg in. Simple. Here is what I included -

1 small green pepper
1 celery stalk
6 mixed olives
6 grape tomatoes
15 baby carrots
1/2 cucumber

I ended up adding some mozzarella cheese after the mixture cooled down a bit. I also sprinkled some olive oil and some lime juice. Results??? Fan-freaking-tastic.

I figured about 4 points if I make it last as 4 portions. Can't beat that. Along side some soup or a sammy for lunch, this might be the perfect lunch combo. OOOh, imagine some grilled chicken on top??? And I think you could eat this hot or cold. I prefer it warm, the cheese gets a little melty and that, my friends, is good food.

Paper makes everything better!

2010-04-25T21:41:00.000-04:00

As in paper plates!

Saturday morning was a little rough thanks a few too many glasses of wine....ooops... Ya know the best way to get rid of a little hangover? Get outside and get moving! The fiancee and I planted 1000 plugs of grass in our yard. Lots and lots of squats! Sunday was a little more laid back, we still had some grass plugs to put in the yard, but we weren't in such a hurry. Breakfast on Sunday was really an early lunch. I wasn't hungry until around 11am, so I went with a Morningstar Farms Chix Patty on a bagel thin with a laughing cow wedge and some romaine. All served on a very classy paper plate. :) Very satisfying for some more squats!

We squatted and dug and planted and plugged for a good 2 hours. All done! It feels good to know our grass (or the weeds...) will soon be a green, lush carpet of grassiness. Definitely a word...

We ran to Kmart for solar lights and then to the grocery store for some weekly staples. I'm making a couscous salad that will appear in my lunch posts throughout the week. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Dinner was slow grilled and smoked pork loin with steamed broccoli (I added a laughing cow wedge) and some leftover sweet potato fries. Yummy. Oh yeah, and a huge dollop of bbq sauce. It wasn't as big as it looks in the picture!

I'm currently sipping on some tea and waiting for my laundry to finish. Tomorrow I have to stay at work late for an event, so I don't think I will get a workout in. I wrestled with the idea of going to the gym at 530am and showering and then heading to work. However, I feel a little anxious about showering and getting ready at the gym. I don't know why, but I find the gym to be very intimidating. It shouldn't, but I always want to get in and get out as quickly as I can. Maybe one day I will try out the shower, but tomorrow, I think I will sleep in. ;)

A rough coouple of days...

2010-04-24T18:24:00.000-04:00

So, in my efforts to mix up my eats a little bit, on Friday for breakfast I had oatmeal. It was really good, I forget sometimes how much I enjoy it. I mixed in blueberries and strawberries and some coffee. Delightful. I can't wait until I have strawberries from my garden! I already have flowers on the plant, so I hope we have a good harvest!

Now to the rough part.....

Friday afternoon a funk came across me. Don't know where it came from or what may have sparked it, but I felt like I could cry at the drop of a hat. I welled up with tears several times! And I was at work! How embarrassing... Anyway, I don't know what the heck happened, but it was a rough Friday. Very strange because I didn't get any bad news, I didn't get punched in the face by a coworker, I just felt sad. So I cried the whole way home! (that's an hour commute!!!) And then I felt 100% better! I think sometimes a girl just needs a good cry! I'm glad that I feel better, but in the moment I ate 2 chocolate chip cookies, an entire bag of M&M's and a bag of Twizzlers. No joke. That's not a lie. Needless to say I didn't feel good and didn't document any of my breakdown! I'm much better today and I'm feeling good, so all will be back to normal for dinner. Well kind of. I'm not eating salad for dinner, I figured I needed a night off. Pizza it is! Can't wait, I'll post the pics later. Thanks for listening to my emotional breakdown! Sometimes you just need to shed a tear and devour some M&M's. I'm over it, move up and move on. Nuff said!

No yogurt tonight in my coffee....

2010-04-22T13:21:00.000-04:00

"No sugar tonight in my coffee no sugar tonight in my tea no sugar to stand beside me no sugar to run with me...." The Guess Who

He he he! ;)

I decided that I needed to change things up a little bit this morning. My old routine of yogurt and fruit in the AM is becoming exactly that - OLD! So, this morning I opted for some sprouted whole wheat toast, almond butter and strawberry jam ("and it has to be jam, f0r jelly is FAR to gelatinous for me" - Pierre Robert :) with some fresh strawberries on top. Of course, paired with coffee, for one delightful breakfast. Do you think I will bring back the yogurt tomorrow?? Only time will tell...

However, for lunch, the "same" bug got me - I ended up finishing the fava beans and pasta. I didn't take a picture because it's really ugly and you've seen it. At least 4 times!

Here is my problem....I am the only one who eats leftovers - the fiancee doesn't eat them, so instead of wasting them, I eat them! It just happens to get boring and a little old for the bloggy blog.... So here is a pic of the carrots, tomatoes and strawberries I snacked on after the pasta! Interestingly enough, I had the same thing yesterday as a side with my lunch. Oh bother....maybe I need some help!

I guess last night's dinner was a little bit of a change.... the fiancee made tacos and I had some of the fixin's on a bed of romaine lettuce, twas delish!

Last night rounded out a full 7 days on the "Salad Challenge". I feel really good, I think I look pretty good, but that mean scale has other things to say.... I'm not down any lb's, but I can totally tell a difference. So, I think I will continue the salad challenge as long as I can stand it. Only one time have I felt like I couldn't bare to take another bite of lettuce.

I found some extra motivation when I randomly came across a picture of the fiancee and I (pre ring days) in bathing suits! In a picture! I would die if someone tried to take a picture of me in a bathing suit today! It was quite eye-opening. I want to look like that on my honeymoon!

And btw, we booked 2 whole weeks in Hawaii last night!!! I can't believe I will be married and in paradise in a little over 4 months......ahhhh I can taste the Mai Tai's now........

I will definitely try to add a little variety in my diet, but I refuse to throw away food! I hate to do it! I'll take some tips from Loser for Life! Check out her post on adding a little variety...and cooking 2 meals!

Yogurt, yogurt, yogurt, I love (Greek) yogurt....kinda like scotch, scotch, scotch....

2010-04-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

Will I ever get tired of yogurt for breakfast? I'm sure that I will, but it's a good way for me to get my calcium in and have a small(ish) breakfast for not a lot of calories. The pineapple will always be my favorite! Add some coffee and this was the perfect breakfast. Yumm.

I snacked on some strawberries and blueberries before lunch, I needed fruit in my life today. So thirst quenching.

Lunch was a simple ham and cheese sandwich and some carrots and tomatoes. Sometimes you just need to keep it simple, stupid......

Bagel thin love....

Can you believe that I had yogurt for breakfast on Tuesday??? OMG. I can't even imagine it.... (and an apple)

Leftover favas and pasta - really ugly dish, but so good. I should learn this recipe from my MIL. She cooks with great REAL ingredients. She's awesome. I mean it, she really is. Also had an orange and a mini Coke Zero - so cute!

Dinner was out at a bar while the fiancee and I watched the Flyers playoff game (and the Phillies...) I had the buffalo chicken salad (surprise...) and ranch dressing on the side. I also had a few beers, so instead of weighing in today, I'm putting it off until tomorrow.....The beer will be out of mu system by then! Do you feel bloated after a night out with a few adult beverages?? I do!

However, I'm feeling strong and a little bit leaner despite what that mean old scale is going to say! I'll find out tomorrow.... Also, the fiancee said that he can see a difference in my body and my face looks slimmer! Score! As long as he thinks I look good - that is motivation enough to keep the salad challenge going. Tonight I think he's grilling up something spectacular on the grill (depending on the thunderstorms) and I will promptly put it on top of a large salad.

I haven't been going to the gym regularly lately because I was doing so much exercise with the mulch, but today I'm headed back to the dreaded elliptical machine. It's time that we become friends again....

No more mulch monster

2010-04-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

Finally we finished the 10 yards of mulch that was such an eyesore in our driveway! But after 7 days, several sore muscles and a lot of Advil, our whole yard is mulched and looking fabulous!! Before we tackled the rest of the yard work I had a bagel thin with ham, swiss and dijon mustard. Yummy. And some coffee.

After 4 and 1/2 hours, the bushes are in and the garden is ready! I planted radishes, lettuce, English peas and sugar snap peas (all from seeds) and I trimmed up the rosemary and mint. I'll have to get new basil, parsley, thyme and oregano plants. It's going to be a great harvest!

For dinner - a huge steak salad! Loads of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, grilled asparagus and 3 ounces of filet mignon. I mixed up some more low fat blue cheese dressing to go with it, total refreshment and satisfaction after a hard day of yard work!

I slept like a baby Sunday night after watching the ACM Awards (that's the Academy of Country Music) and slept in just a bit on Monday morning :) Breakfast was blueberry Chobani and some strawberries that I got on sale - buy one get one free!

Lunch was a buffalo chicken salad....now, I didn't plan on eating salad for lunch AND dinner with my salad challenge.... however, we just happened to have the perfect portion leftover from dinner last night, so I made a salad for lunch. I kind of didn't want to eat it... Too many salads! It was good, but I definitely didn't want another salad for dinner.....

I compensated with some Dove dark chocolate eggs :)

I was on my own for dinner because I was headed to the doctor's office. Nothing wrong, just a physical and to schedule some routine blood work. I can't tell you the last time I had my cholesterol checked...

Since I didn't really want a salad, I compromised with lettuce cups! Grilled chicken, carrots, cucumber on romaine lettuce with a drizzle of TraderJoe's Soyaki. Very good and filling!

Currently, I'm watching Anthony Bourdain and getting ready for some shut eye. Tata for now!

Salad monsters

2010-04-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

Day 4 of the salad challenge is over and I'm proud to say that I made it through the Phillies game Friday night without fail! I had a big salad before I headed to the ballpark (see below) and resisted the temptation of all of my girlfriend's cheese fries! Yay me! The beer however, was delightful and flowing very well!

It's now Saturday night and I'm lounging on the couch catching up with my DVR and magazines. I subscribe to around 10 monthly (1 weekly) magazines! Sometimes it's hard to find the time to read them all. Anywho, I wanted something sweet after my salad tonight, so I opted for half of this mini bag of mini eggs. Total satisfaction.

My salad tonight consisted of red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, carrots, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, grilled chicken, tomatoes, olive oil vinaigrette and some hummus. It rocked.

A little blurry.....

I didn't have any coffee this morning because I woke up around 8:30, got out of bed, fed the cat, etc etc.... went back to bed and didn't get up until noon! I guess I needed some zzzzz's. I ended up working in my garden for about 45 minutes and after showering off all the dirt all I was craving was coffee. So, I made a strong pot and enjoyed 2 lovely cups.

Lunch was 1 and 1/2 cups of pasta and fava beans. Another one of my MIL's creations, with some parm cheese, this is the ultimate (healthy) comfort Italian food. One of them, at least. Love me some favies, as my (very) Italian FIL calls them!

Before the Phillies game on Friday night, I made one of my very favorite salads! Buffalo chicken salad!!! Red leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumber, buffalo chicken strips (store bought) and homemade low fat blue cheese dressing. My fav by far! This baby kept me full all night long and it really wasn't that hard to say no to the cheese fries! :)

My friend Erin turned 31 on Thursday, so we all went to the baseball game to celebrate. She is very Irish and it was Irish Heritage Night! Her father, who besides my FIL, has the greatest accent! Anyway, he had a bagpiper come into the bar - after the game was over - and play while Erin did a little Irish dancing! It was a total surprise and wonderful! Happy birthday Erin!

The salad challenge continues....

2010-04-16T14:24:00.000-04:00

Wanna know why this picture is so blurry?? Cause I took it in mere seconds because I'm still frightened (or embarrassed) to take pictures of my food in public!! Ha! I got my camera out and took this shot so quickly, my fiancee didn't even notice! I'm guessing that the more and more I take pics in public, the more comfortable I will be.....

Alas, the salad challenge continues! Ruby Tuesday's is a great choice for healthy eating. Their salad bar is second to none. I got the salad bar and the white bean chili, but gave most of that to the fiancee. It was a light dinner and I felt so good afterwards. Not heavy and fat....

This morning for breakfast was none other than PINEAPPLE CHOBANI!!!! It's my fav, if you couldn't tell..... and a juicy pear and some strong coffee.

Lunch was a salad with radishes, celery and hummus. Totally delish, love the hummus as a dressing.

I finished off the egg salad I made earlier in the week on a bagel thin with some strawberries on the side. I'm now craving a Dove dark chocolate egg and some more coffee. I'm headed to the Phillies game tonight, but I will continue with the salad challenge. My plan is to grab a big salad from home and then head to the ballpark and consume beer for the rest of the night! Tata!

Willpower! I found a little...

2010-04-15T17:27:00.001-04:00

I did find my willpower last night when we went out! I got the buffalo chicken salad! The best of both worlds - delicious buffalo fingers and a big, crisp, fresh salad with low fat ranch dressing! I ate every.single.bite. of that salad... Not bad. Also enjoyed some wine. The fiancee makes his own wine here at the house, so store bought (or restaurant) wine is never as good as his :) But I enjoy wine with dinner. He's Italian, so he's been drinking wine since he was, like, 4....

At dinner I got to thinking that I would like to challenge myself to really jump-start my weight loss. I need to lose a few pounds to help with my motivation! (I keep buying bathing suits for our honeymoon...but it's not working!) So, the fiancee and I came up with a 'salad challenge' - eating salads (of some sort) every night for a week or so. Could be a plain salad, caesar, grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, chopped, etc, etc. I feel like salad can be the perfect meal - veggies, carbs, protein, fat and fruits. I'd like to go longer than a week, but I think I will get bored with salad every single night. I'm hoping that if I reserve my carbs for the afternoon and morning, then go carb free for the evening, maybe my body will react and I will lose a couple of pounds. I don't know about you, but if I see a noticable difference in my body, then I am super-motivated to keep it going. That's the extra push I need right now. So, I did well last night, tonight we're headed to the mall to pick out the tuxes for the wedding and then having dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Easy peasy. They have a great salad bar and great entree salads. Maybe I'll even find the nerve to take a picture in the restaurant!! Who knows.... The challenge begins!!

On to the eats for today - a delightful apple and strawberry-banana Chobani. love love love Tomorrow is pineapple! My favorite! I always save the best for last, so silly, but I'm really excited.... Sad, I know, but it's the little things in life that make me truly happy ;)

Nice side salad for lunch - cheese and radishes with Ken's olive oil and vinegar dressing.

And homemade lentil soup - 1 cup for 3 points. The MIL made it, she's a really good cook, just like her son :)

I came home and munched on a serving of reduced fat Cheez-its. 28 for 3 points. I think I will take a nap and watch the Phillies beat up on the Nationals until the fiancee scoops me up and we head over to the mall. Tata!

Seriously? 4 pounds?

2010-04-14T14:44:00.001-04:00

Wednesday's are my weigh-in day for Weight Watchers. For the past 2 weeks, I've maintained my weight - which is ok - better than gaining! But today when I got on the scale, I was shocked. Up 4 pounds. How does that even happen? I only used a couple of extra points this week and I had a great week of exercise! WTH???? I'm really upset. On the other hand, my clothes definitely feel better and I can see the definition coming back to my muscles. Maybe it's just a fluke.... I sure hope.... :(

And, of course, I was starving when I woke up. I can't understand my body! Peach Chobani and some coffee did the trick and a dove chocolate egg.. :)

Lunch was pretty good - the last of the bag of coleslaw with Trader Joe's Soyaki = deliciousness.

Weight Watchers egg salad (1/2 cup for 3 points) on a bagel thin with a slice of swiss cheese and a mound of romaine lettuce. Totally rocked!

This pear has yet to make it to my mouth because I've upset my stomach on chocolate eggs.... MUST HAVE WILLPOWER! No more eggies, the chocolate kind at least...

Headed out tonight to watch teh Flyers first playoff game! The place we're going to has some good healthy options. Hopefully their buffalo chicken fingers don't get the best of me.... they're SO good! WILLPOWER!!!

To eat chocolate or not...

2010-04-14T14:12:00.000-04:00

I cannot seem to keep my grimy little hands out of this bag! Ahhhh! I know they are dark chocolate, but eating half of the bag is not a smart or healthy choice. Oh bother....

I wasn't in the mood for breakfast, I think it's hormonal.... Sounds weird, but I have been feeling really bloated and large for the last couple of days, then I get really hungry, really quickly and then I fill up really quickly...??? WTH? I don't get it. Lunch was pretty delish, however. A small sweet potato and some veggie baked beans.

Dinner was another one of the fiancee's creations. There is this place in Sea Isle City, NJ called Welshie's. You go to Welshie's after the bar and you order a sidewinder. Nothing else. And it's delicious. Obviously I have a thing for all things covered in buffalo sauce, well this is no exception. The original sidewinder has nothing but bread, cheese, chicken and buffalo sauce. OMG it's so good. Our version has bread, chicken, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and a low fat blue cheese sauce I made. And buffalo sauce, of course.

First, the onions and peppers saute for a few minutes.

Then the mushrooms were added. I'm glad to get all those veggies in!

Then he sauteed the thinly sliced chicken breast until there was no more pink. Added some buffalo/blue cheese sauce and cooked until gooey and yummy!

Serve in french bread and enjoy! I had some extra sauteed veggies on the side. :) Gotta get them in anyway I can! I had 1/4 of a long piece of French bread for 6.5 points according to the Weight Watchers recipe builder. Not bad!

Here's how I made the blue cheese sauce -

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

6 oz. fat free plain Greek yogurt

1 TBSP low calorie mayo

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

1/8 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and let it chill for a while. Delicious salad dressing or dip!