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Green Tea Living

January 7, 2010 by

Hey there!

Today was our first session of beginner yoga at work. The class, which was a complimentary session, was held in our small auditorium onsite. I have been so excited for so long about this class that it pains to me to say…the class was extremely underwhelming. It was so basic that I felt like I didn’t receive any benefit other than a break from work. Granted, some of the 10 women who attend were complete yoga novices, but it still left me disappointed. However, I have committed myself to 4 more weeks (or sessions) of the class. I really hope it gets better or I will be totally bummed.

When I came home from work, my day got a little better when I saw that a new book had arrived in the mail…Green Tea Living 2

Green Tea Living is a Japan-inspired guide to eco-friendly health, habits, and happiness. Although it focuses much of the book on the healing (and other) properties of green tea, it also offers insight into how we can live greener lives, similar to how they live in Japan. The book is super cute and is a quick read – I read or scanned most of the book in just an hour. It is also easy to navigate with specific chapters dedicated to eco-friendly beauty, eating, cleaning, healing, and much more. It even has references to the practice of yoga which was nice surprise.

This book totally inspires me to drink green tea…

Yogi Green Tea

But it also made me think about how wasteful people can be, including myself. That’s one thing I really want to improve on this year is cutting down on unnecessary waste – reusing shopping bags, recycling water bottles and cans, and trying to fix things around the house before buying something new. Holly, you’d be so proud of my new outlook on green living! 

Gotta finish packing for my trip to Phoenix tomorrow. Hope you’re staying warm and dry wherever you are!

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Calm Before the Storm

January 6, 2010 by

Like most of the Eastern half of the United States, Chicago is in the middle of a deep arctic freeze – or at least that’s what it feels like! Good thing I ordered my new coat from JCrew  – yeah! Now all I need is a warm set of gloves and I’ll be set for the rest of the winter.

Because we are all trying to warm up in our house, soup sounded perfect for tonight’s dinner…

1.6.10 Chicken soup 3

Seriously, chicken noodle soup is like the edible version of a big fuzzy sweater or a huge bear hug – warm and cozy I tell ya!

Around midnight tonight, Chicago is supposed to start getting snow. Not just any snow but SNOW! From midnight until Friday morning we are supposed to get anywhere between 6 and 12 inches of snow. I know, you probably think that Chicagoans are used to snow. And, for the most part, we are. But when snow falls that hard, that fast, it can really cause trouble on the roads – whether you’re used to driving in the snow or not.

For the most part, I don’t mind the snow – when I don’t have to leave my house and venture into it. But when I know that I’m supposed to go to work the next day, I get quite anxious before the storm hits. I spend all day listening to and reading the weather reports. Then I practically have an anxiety attack thinking about how long it’s going to take me to get to and from work (usually 2-3 hours each way in bad snow). 

So to calm myself down this evening, I chilled out with my new tres chic calendar…

1.6.10 French Women for All Seasons Calendar 3

The 2010 engagement calendar/planner is actually based on the popular book, French Women For All Seasons, by Mireille Guiliano. She also is the author of the fabulous book, French Women Don’t Get Fat, which I adore! The planner has large calendar pages interspersed with recipes from Guiliano’s books as well as French language lessons, and other surprises. Plus, it has colorful, French-themed illustrations – how cute is that?

And yes, those are more French macarons pictured above – do you see a theme here?? 🙂

I am supposed to leave on Friday morning for my Phoenix trip. With the winter storm headed Chicago’s way, who knows if I’ll be able to get out. I hope I do because I could really use some warmer weather right about now!

Ciao babes!

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Fun With French Macarons

January 5, 2010 by

Hello everyone!

Thank you all for your kind words about my last post and my 2 babies! I really struggled with whether or not to tell all of you about them. But then I realized that it’s really hard to talk about some aspects of my life (like travel, stress, etc.) without mentioning that I have children! Now you can understand why I’ve only been posting once a day and so late at night 😉

Anyway, the day started off per usual, with a fast 40-minute run on the t-mill, followed by a big, green, juicy pear – just ripe for the pickin’ eating…

1.5.10 Pear

And it looks too cute on my oh so pretty plate from Anthropologie!

On Friday, I will head out to Phoenix/Scottsdale for the 1st of 6 trips I have planned for the next 5 months (5 of the trips being work-related). So this week, I’m trying to get a bunch of things done before leaving the office on Thursday. I really want to use any extra free time I have on this Phoenix trip to STUDY for my personal trainer test. It’s only about 5 weeks away – yikes!

Lunch ended up being leftover chicken noodle soup from Sunday, along with another LUNA bar. I was actually in the middle of a project when I paused for lunch and completely zonked on the picture taking.

Scott doesn’t start teaching his night class until next week, so he was home tonight! Thank goodness too, because he had dinner almost ready by the time I came home from work (and from picking up Mr. C and Miss M). He made an awesome one-pot meal of sausage, leeks, and tri-colored bell peppers…

1.5.10 Sausage Leek 1

I do want to point out that I made this dish FIRST, so in essence, I taught Scott everything he knows about this lovely meal!

1.5.10 Sausage Leek 4

After dinner, I was soooo wanting a cookie or another somethin’ somethin’ from Barnes and Noble Cafe. But, seeing as we just started our Restaurant Diet, I went to freezer to see if it would magically reveal something that I like – and it DID!!

1.5.10 French Macaron 2

I bought these little beauties just before Christmas at Trader Joe’s! Who would have thought that TJ’s would have French macarons (yes, they are spelled with just one “o”, unlike American macaroons). Now I absolutely adore French macarons – love them, love them, love them! So, when I saw them at TJ’s, I just about squealed with delight. Normally, I would prefer fresh macarons from a patisserie but seeing as those are few and far between in the Chicago suburbs, TJ’s macarons would do just fine – and that they did!

1.5.10 French Macaron 5

After about 15-20 minutes of thawing, I anxiously tried the vanilla flavor. Oh my – this cookie was so light and creamy and the flavor was incredible! Since they are a Trader Joe’s product, you know that they are using natural ingredients. Plus, they are only 45 calories per cookie – perfect for a little after-dinner treat. 

Ok, enough fun with my macarons, it’s time to hit the books. Have a wonderful night!

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Surprise! It's A Boy…And A Girl

January 4, 2010 by

Hello out there! It has been nearly 6 months since I started Running With Cake. Like most of you, I don’t reveal all of my surprises right away, if at all. Some information needs to be kept close for security purposes or for other sensitive reasons.

What I’m getting to is this. Surprise! Scott and I are the parents of two young children! Our son, let’s call him Mr. C, is 4 and our daughter, we’ll call her Miss M, is 2 (very James Bond-esque names, don’t ya think ;-)). They, along with my husband, bring me so much happiness just by their presence.

IMG_4454

There they are, looking out onto the orchard where we went apple picking in September.

I chose not to mention my children for many reasons, but here are a few top ones:

  1. Safety/security reasons – too many crazies out there!
  2. I wanted this blog to be about my health habits and not a mommy blog (but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with mommy blogs)
  3. I didn’t want to be one of those people who talks about their kids all the time

So, as I’ve been writing the past 6 months, retelling my daily eating habits, health habits, and overall life events, my children have been with me 100% of the way. They have actually been a key part of my healthy lifestyle. I mean, how can you NOT be healthy chasing after two little ones?? I’m also a firm believer that our children will follow our lead, so I’m trying to not only be healthy for me, but also to set an example for them. I want them to grow up loving exercise and sports, while also knowing the importance of healthy and balanced eating. My son often says, “Mom, when I get bigger, I’m going to run with you.” For a mother and a runner, that is a sentence that brings me tears of joy.

Going forward, I don’t know how much I will mention Mr. C and Miss M, if at all, but know that they are still a huge part of my life and my heart.

By the way, if you think you have a crazy and stressful life, take a look at mine.

Jennifer (aka Running With Cake) is a…

  • Wife of a successful entrepreneur 
  • Mother of two
  • Career women with a full-time senior-level position
  • Author of two blogs
  • Aspiring Personal Trainer (studying for the exam!) 
  • An avid runner
  • A frequent traveler (for work mostly)
  • A neat freak

Whew! Can I have any more responsibility in my life! 🙂

Night all!

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The Restaurant Diet

January 3, 2010 by

Hello All!

In July 2009, Scott and I went on a diet. Now, I typically don’t believe in dieting, but this was no ordinary diet. When Scott and I realized that we were averaging $475 a month on eating outside the home, we nearly passed out right on the floor! I seriously can’t believe we were going out to eat THAT much. But the numbers didn’t lie. We were going to eat that much and desperately needed to stop.

Restaurant check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38475709@N00/129116434

So, we put ourselves on a diet – a spending diet. We called it our Restaurant Diet. 

The Restaurant Diet – For one month, it was no spending any of our own money on Starbucks or any other restaurants, including take-out. Was it difficult?  You bet it was! I felt like every Starbucks was calling my name. I felt like everyone in the world was going out to eat but me. Although my family knew of our self-inflicted plight, my coworkers did not (I guess I was too embarrassed to tell them). By the end of the month, I think I just about ran out of excuses for why I couldn’t go out to eat (unless, of course, someone else was buying!). Our only reprieve was a gift certificate that we strategically used and the welcomed business trip that allowed for a Starbucks or two.

Although there were several great reasons why we did this little experiment, the main reason was to save money. And, believe it or not, after one month on the Restaurant Diet we shaved $500 off of our food bill! Wow, it felt so good to say that we saved that much money on food. And we did it by following these 8 Strategies for Dining At Home. 

Although our diet only lasted for one month, we said that we would try to cut down on eating outside the home. Yeah right, that lasted a few weeks, then, it was back to the old Jen and Scott – spending money freely.

However, after seeing our December food budget go through the roof (granted, the holidays were thrown in there), we decided that January was as good a time as any to start our diet again. We would have actually started this sooner, but our intentions were clouded by the excuses in our heads, including…

Excuses for Eating Out…

  1. We’re too busy, so we must rely on going out to eat as our Plan B – but plan B quickly turned into our plan A.
  2. We don’t want to clean up. We don’t mind the cooking park, it’s the cleaning that sucks.
  3. We’re tired of our “go-to” recipes and must use restaurant food to get us out of our slump.
  4. We have quite a bit of traveling coming up, so how can we avoid going out to eat when we’re out of town?
  5. We both agreed – food just tastes better when someone else makes it for you.

OK, no more excuses. Tomorrow, January 4, we will officially begin the second round of our Restaurant Diet, which will last through February 3. Although this diet is difficult, it really is simple in theory because it only has one rule:

Rule #1 – No spending our own money on food/drinks other than groceries*

*Gift cards, gift certificates, and spending other people’s money are all fair game!

Ready, set, go!

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A MUFA-licious New Year

January 2, 2010 by

Afternoon everyone!

Yesterday, Scott and I spent most of the afternoon taking down all of the inside Christmas decorations. I didn’t put out as many as I normally do, so it wasn’t as bad as last year taking them down. I will miss how pretty my house looked, but I am glad to have it back to normal.

This morning, Scott left early to attend an Illinois v. Gonzaga basketball game in downtown Chicago. But, I managed to convince him to take a picture of me in my new Lucy shirt before he left…

1.2 Jen Breathe shirt 10.1

Thanks shman.

Blah, I just saw that Illinois lost. I didn’t go to U of I and, frankly, college basketball is NOT my thing. But I still want the Illini to win. Scott usually goes to the big game every year and hangs with all of his old college buddies. You think I would like basketball, even a little, after playing 4 years of b-ball in high school. Thanks, but I’ll pass. 

I didn’t end up going to yoga this morning like I planned (too cold to venture outside at just 6 degrees of bed separation). Instead, I started the morning with a few lunges, squats, and leg extensions. I usually start doing these in March to gear up for bikini season. But, seeing as I’m headed to Florida at the end of February then twice again in April, I figured I should get a head start! I also munched on some super nummy yogurt…

1.2 Trader Joe Greek Yogurt 2

Instead of buying individual 5.3 oz of Trader Joe’s nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt, I bought the big carton. I’m trying to really watch portion sizes this year, and I feel that the individual yogurts are a little too much for me. With the full-size carton, and a handy dandy 6 oz ramekin, I can fill up the ramekin 1/2 way, then add granola and blueberries. Honestly, this is ALL I need to get me started on most mornings.

1.2 Trader Joe Greek Yogurt 1

As for watching portion sizes, I’m not really trying to lose weight – I don’t have much to lose at just 107 pounds. I’m also not really the type to do New Year’s resolutions. But, every year, I try to start the new year off right with some of the basic principles of healthy eating…

  • Watching calorie intake
  • Loading up on fruits and veggies
  • Eating more fiber-rich foods
  • Cutting back on junk food
  • Saying “yes” to MUFA (monounsaturated fats)
  • Reducing diet coke
  • Kicking my Starbucks habit (I wonder if there’s a Starbucks support group I could join?)
  • Opting for all-natural foods, when possible
  • Limiting snacks

For instance, for lunch, I knew I’d be satisfied with a 1/2 reduced-fat salami sandwich, so that’s what I had (reduce portions – check). I made the sandwich on Brownberry double fiber bread (add fiber – check), and plus I threw in a few cherry tomatoes for the huge vitamin C but also because they are fruit (add fruits/veggies – check)

1.2 Salami Sandwich with olives 2

It’s a little strange eating lunch without Scott on a Saturday, considering we are almost always together on the weekends. No matter though, I had olive eyes watching me…

1.2 Salami Sandwich with Olives 1

Not to mention a beautiful a bird sitting in my tree who kept his hawk eye on me and my food…

1.2 Wild Hawk

I named him Nicholas Nickleby – Nick for short. Don’t ask me why, I was just in a Charles Dickens kind of a mood today. 

Tonight, I plan to do some major studying at Barnes and Noble and then tomorrow starts our 30-day restaurant diet – more details to follow 😉

So, what’s your healthy eating goal for the year?

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Cooking, Baking, and Merry-Making

January 1, 2010 by

Hello All! So, is everyone still recovering from last night? 😉 I took it easy because I’ve been kind of sick the last couple of days. Surprisingly, I was still able to run yesterday morning – which seemed to help a little. Since Scott’s parents were coming over for New Year’s Eve (and spending the night), I split my day between errands and cooking.

After running out for groceries (I love Trader Joe’s!), I started to bake, and cook, and bake again! I think I mentioned last week that I managed to go through the whole Christmas season without making a single Christmas cookie. Well, yesterday, I sure made up for lost baking! Aside from making my usual chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (a la Nieman Marcus), I also made one of my favorite Fine Cooking recipes…Banana Chocolate swirl coffee cake…

12.31 Banana Chocolate Swirl cake1

I said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t know how they can get away with calling this a coffee cake – it’s really more of a dessert!

If you can believe it, this was only 1/2 the chocolate I had planned for our New Year’s celebration. Scott has been repeatedly asking me to make chocolate mousse. I find mousse time-consuming and, unless you really know what you’re doing, it just doesn’t seem to turn out right. But, I obliged and made a simple chocolate mousse...

12.31 Chocolate Mousse

I followed the directions exactly, except for omitting the rum – because we only had spiced rum, not the dark rum that it called for. I thought is was just so-so, but everyone else seemed to like it – of course, after a few drinks, everything tastes better!

Just before my in-laws arrived, I also made a batch of Ina Garten’s cheese puffs…

12.31 Cheese Puffs with bacon

Hmm, these are soo good and really easy to make. I added crunchy, uncured bacon to give the puffs a little crunch and even more flavor – fantastic!

Although I don’t eat seafood, everyone seemed to love the shrimp cocktail, courtesy of Scott’s parents…

12.31 Shrimp cocktail

Sorry – I have a very difficult time even thinking about eating these little crustaceans. 

For our main course, I suggested we have a make-your-own salad bar to offset the not-so-healthy eating that we’d be doing for most of the night.

12.31 New Year's Salad Bar

I ended up not eating a salad after all because I think my stomach troubles have been linked to salad – either the dressing or the lettuce – and I didn’t want to chance it. 

I did attempt (and I’m using that term loosely) to drink some wine, but my stomach as still cramping up – ugh! I guess it was meant to be because the white wine ended up being bad after sitting in the fridge for too long…

12.31 Toad Hollow Chardonnay

Although, how cute is that little toad! Reminds me of the Wind in the Willows 🙂

The whole evening was spent chatting, eating, and listening to music (I think a little dancing happened somewhere in between). Just after midnight, we all wanted to call it quits for the night – that’s what happens after college, you just can’t keep up with your old self anymore!

By the way, did anyone catch Dick Clark on TV last night? It seriously hurt just to watch him, I had to look away whenever he came on the screen. He did a relatively good job though, considering everything that he’s been through health-wise. 

Ok, be back later with the scoop on today – which involved more running, eating, and taking down Christmas decorations – sniff, sniff 🙁

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Happy New Year's Eve!

December 31, 2009 by

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! 

So, what are you all doing for New Year’s Eve? Scott and I are playing in low-key tonight. I’ve actually been sick the last couple of days (tummy troubles – ugh!) but am trying to still have fun tonight. Hope you all have a wonderful time tonight, whatever  you’re doing.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap 😉 Be Safe!

Jen

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Food Hangover

December 30, 2009 by

Is it possible to have a hangover from food? If it is, I’m pretty sure I have one. I think I ate the most food at one meal last night than I have in a very long time! Without further ado, here’s the scoop…

Scott and I met his parents and his brother and sister-in-law at Francesca’s Famiglia, a fantastic, family-owned bistro in the Chicago suburbs (although the original Mia Francesca is in downtown Chicago). Our pre- New Year’s dinner started with a little vino and some bread/oil for dipping…

12.29 White Wine

Only one glass of Chardonnay for me! Next up were the appetizers – crunchy calamari and bruschette topped with mozzarella cheese, basil, plum tomatoes, and prosciutto…

12.29 Bruschette

The prosciutto was a little odd tasting to me but I took it off and ate the rest of it -hmm, hmm good!

The salad course was next. I was actually going to pass on the salad, but everyone else was getting a salad – so, when in Rome…

12.29 dinner salad

I had a simple dinner salad (giving half to Scott who decided to get the minestrone soup) which was mighy tasty with its super fresh ingredients -and HUGE carrots – plus balsamic dressing. 

Now for the main course…decisions, decisions…

12.29 Francesca Menu

I was really wrestling between the spaghetti with sausage and prosciutto or the fusilli. I decided to go on the lighter side, avoiding meat…

12.29 Pasta with capers olives

Talk about HUGE portions! The fusuilli came out in a large bowl and was topped with a light cherry tomato sauce, capers, black olives, and parmesan cheese. Simple, yes, but delicious! I decided to stop half way and save room for dessert. And luckily I did, because they had banana chocolate bread pudding on the menu…

12.29 Banana Bread Pudding

This actually was a smaller dessert than I expected, but it was just right for Scott and I to share. The banana chocolate bread pudding was topped with banana fudge gelato, drizzled with cream anglaise and caramel sauce. Oh my, I could have skipped dinner to eat this whole dessert and would have been content for the rest of night! Everyone at the table split a dessert, including tiramisu and protiferoles made with pistachio gelato…

12.29 Protiferoles

The profiteroles were so cute, I just had to have a taste! Finally, when I thought we had ended our meal, the waiter brought out a complimentary round of limoncellos for the table. Sorry, I took one sip of this very strong vodka drink and completely forgot to take a picture of it!

In true Italian/European fashion, the whole meal took about 3 hours from start to finish. For the most part, I think what I ate was very healthy, it’s just that I ate too much – or at least more than my body is used to.

Ok, now I must find a cure for this possible food hangover – WATER!

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Fit Bloggin Bound

December 29, 2009 by

Hello to all my blog buddies out there! I just returned from an amazing Italian dinner with my in-laws. I’m so full and completely exhausted from the wine and food. I plan to share all the details with you tomorrow morning, but here’s a preview of how I ended the meal…

12.29 Protiferoles

I just have to say – OMG!!! These protiferoles (cream puffs) were huge! Again, check back tomorrow morning for more details.

Fit Bloggin, March 2010

Before signing off, I must tell you that I just registered for the Fit Bloggin conference in Baltimore! Woo hoo! I am so excited. If you are at all interested in the Social Media-Fitness/health combination, I highly suggest you check it out! If any of you are going, drop me a note. Maybe we can arrange an early morning run (for exercise or just to Starbucks ;-)) or a dinner. March can not come soon enough!

See you all in the AM.

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