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Tick Tock

February 18, 2010 by

Hey All!

I need to make this a quickie since I spent way too much time on my post for Bistro Chic. Check it out – it’s all about the personalities of the European Runner!

Tonight I had an awesome dish that I adapted from a recipe I found online – Chicken Crescent Bundles…

These little pockets were so easy to make. And, once I added a bunch of sauteed veggies – like spinach, peppers, and carrots – they were fairly healthy too. Unfortunately, I was the ONLY one in the family who liked this dish. Why is it that when I cook something new, no one else likes it but me?

We have a really busy weekend planned, between birthday parties (how can everyone be turning 5 at the same time?), haircuts, and running last-minute errands for our trip. I hope we get everything done – tick tock, tick tock!

Have a great night everyone.

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Give It Up

February 17, 2010 by

Today is Ash Wednesday, the official start of Lent in the Christian faith. Lent is also a time of sacrifice. When I was growing up and attending Catholic school, this meant giving up something that you love – usually a food item. Even after leaving Catholic school, I would still continue to give up something during lent – most of the time it was food-related, like chips or cookies. One time I gave up gossiping and that was very hard considering I was in my sorority-girl phase. 

So what do I give up this year?

This year, I toyed with the idea of giving up chips – after all, I do love chips. I also thought about giving up French fries – something I love, but I really don’t eat them very much. So it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice. Instead, I decided to give up Starbucks’ Mocha Frappuccinos! That’s right, for the next 40 days (or until Easter Sunday) I will not have a single Starbucks blended coffee drink – yikes, I can hardly believe it myself.

After discussing my semi-addiction to frappuccinos with Anne this weekend, I decided that giving them up was not only a great Lenten sacrifice, but also a necessity if I wanted to reduce excess spending. It’s going to be a looong 40 days.

Also in Lenten tradition, Ash Wednesday means a day of fasting and no meat. Seeing as I didn’t eat very much for most of the day (a Luna bar and a 1/2 PBJ sandwich) dinner was my main meal of the day…

Instead of our planned cheese ravioli, Scott and I got take out at Go Roma. I had an awesome veggie panini with red peppers, onions, fresh basil, and goat cheese, plus some fries on the side. Hmm…maybe I should have give up fries for Lent 😉

For all of you Fitbloggin attendees, remember to sign up for the 5K run on Saturday morning. I’ll be there, will you?

Gotta run – Psych just started. I have been sooo Psych-deprived!

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Snow, Pizza, and a Hint

February 9, 2010 by

It snowed the ENTIRE day today here in Chicago. Much like the rest of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, we are under a winter storm warning until tomorrow morning. I’m still hoping for a snow day 🙂 My office did let us out at 2:30 PM which was great. The roads and traffic were not too bad, thankfully. 

I had originally planned on making turkey burgers for dinner, but had a change of plans at the last minute. Our favorite local Italian cafe was running a “snow day special” – buy one get one free pizzas or pastas. We ended up getting the equivalent of a small pizza and a family size pasta for just $10. Now that’s my kind of snow day deal.

I haven’t had their pizza in sooo long due to our restaurant diet. It was a welcome change from our usual weekday meals. Our pizza included huge slices of pepperoni, red bell peppers, and spinach, all on whole grain crust – it was awesome. We also ordered the country-style rigatoni, which was made with Italian sausage and mushrooms, all in a light garlic cream sauce..

Again – soo good! Although, any meal that I don’t have to cook is a good meal.

Despite the huge amounts of snow, I was surprised to get a special package delivered to the house tonight. Through all of the snow and darkness, I could just barely make out a huge object and red lights sitting in front of our driveway. At first I thought it was a snow plow, but no – it was UPS! Oh how Brown makes me smile! The very reliable UPS man delivered a huge box of Hint water – all for me!

The folks over at Hint were kind enough to send me a few samples of their unsweetened, no calorie, flavored water. As a runner, I absolutely LOVE water. I drink at least 8 – 8oz glasses a day and usually prefer it icy cold. But every now and then, water becomes bland, boring, or just doesn’t seem to be enough for my taste. That’s where Hint can fill this void. It also is a great alternative to my usual diet coke or sweetened coffee drinks. What I also love about Hint water is that it’s made with all-natural ingredients and no sugar.

When I received the packaged, I immediately tore it open and viewed my new flavors. I received 6 of their 10 flavors. All of the bottles were delivered icy cold, no doubt due to the weather. I gave the Mango-Grapefruit a try and was not disappointed. The water had a delicious, but rather strong scent. I expected the actual taste of the water to follow suit, but the mango flavor ended up being very light – just a Hint as a they say. I can really see this being a summer drink for me, either drinking it a alone, or adding it to ice tea or lemonade. Can’t wait to try my next flavor – Raspberry-lime – doesn’t that just sound fantastic? It really makes me wish for summer!

Gotta run for now! See you all tomorrow.

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An Unexpected Work-at-Home Day

February 1, 2010 by

Hey All!

I worked at home today – with the kids! I hadn’t planned on working at home at all and especially not with the kids. But, when push comes to shove, I do what I have to do.

Before Scott left to teach a class, I hopped on the treadmill for about 45 minutes. We have a separate heating system (electric heat) in our basement where the treadmill is. For some reason it is super hot down there every morning. So, I’m usually a sweaty mess by the time I come upstairs.

Breakfast was 1/2 a carton of TJ’s vanilla Greek yogurt, with a teaspoon of all-natural peanut butter and a few walnuts…

I also had the last of the OJ, which was seriously like 2 ounces!!! Why even bother leaving 2 ounces of juice in the carton? I just don’t understand it.

Lunch happened to be leftover homemade fried chicken from Saturday night…

I had two small pieces, although I could have easily eaten more. I paired the chicken with some steamed baby carrots and about a cup of Trader Joe’s shells and white cheddar..

Let me tell you, it is REALLY hard to work at home with the kids! At their ages, they demand all of my attention – which is not a bad thing except when I need to work. Fortunately, they both take naps and can be calmed by a Disney show (desperate times call for desperate measures).

While the kids napped then watched a Disney show, I was heads down in a project for work. Between working a little before getting on the treadmill, and working in the afternoon, I was able to finish my project and put in about 3.5 hours at home. Whew – what a day! I was so busy – and HANGRY – that I just had to have a snack – 2 small homemade chocolate chip cookies and a 1/2 cup skim milk. Plus, right before dinner, I was starving and couldn’t wait. Had a small, snack pack of Sunchips too – blah! Oh well, still under 1,600 calories for the day.

In all of my craziness today, I actually found the time to make dinner…

I tried a new Giada recipe for creamy orzo (at least it was new to me). Minus the peas, I thought this dish was really good, although I had to add a bunch of salt and pepper for taste. I’m glad I quartered the recipe because Scott and my son did not like this AT ALL! That’s ok though – Giada will never know. The kids and I also split a turkey burger which is the reason why it looks so small in the picture!!

Now, I have about 200 calories that I could still eat to get to my 1,600 calories a day – I’m thinking a small brownie and a little Breyer’s vanilla – what do ya think? 😉

Restaurant Diet Update

So today, it has been officially 4 weeks since we started our Restaurant Diet, vowing not to spend any of our own money on food outside of the house. So how did we do? We did fantastic!! By having gift cards from Christmas at our disposal, we were able to get our fix of eating out without spending money. So, for the most part, we really weren’t tempted to stray.

That is, until yesterday. That’s right, we decided to end the diet one day early. We contemplated going to Panera for lunch and using the last of our meal gift cards. But Panera just didn’t sound good. So, we opted for the Italian cafe near our house. Kids eat free on Sunday and we actually had a free meal to boot. So, we spent about $14 to feed 2 adults and 2 children – about $3.50 a person. Not bad!

So how much money did we save? Well, we were regularly going out to eat 2-3 times a week with the kids – blowing about $75. Then, between Starbucks, Barnes and Noble cafe, and going out to lunch, Scott and I easily spent another $25 a week, if not more, between the two of us. Overall, we probably saved about $400 by on the Restaurant Diet, which is well worth the effort!

Gotta get to bed. See you all tomorrow!

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Cake-Eater's Remorse

January 30, 2010 by

Well, the 5th birthday party came and went. It was actually fun, especially seeing Mr. C in all of his princely glory. Now, we get to do it all over again tomorrow at one of his friend’s 5th birthday parties.

After the party, we headed home for a little R&R before dinner. Scott cooked (or I should say fried) up some great chicken (Mr. C’s request), plus mashed potatoes and carrots…

I wasn’t super hungry by the time dinner was ready. Probably because of all the spinach dip I ate – blah! All I had for my actual dinner was a small dollop of potatoes, two thin pieces of chicken and carrots – although I was slightly tempted to get more. However, I made up for it with dessert…

I had a 1/2 piece of a brownie with about 1/4 Breyer’s vanilla ice cream. Sooo good! I really should have stopped there, but there was leftover birthday cake in the house. My feelings about birthday cake are as follows – birthday cake is like the large version of a cupcake. And, when it comes to cupcakes, I have little willpower. So, birthday cake in house = eaten birthday cake – get the picture? Sorry, no picture, not really proud of my two dessert night. I am definitely have cake-eater’s remorse.

OK, off to bed. Gotta get some rest then hit the t-mill for an extra hard run in the AM. So, how long do I need to run to burn off the calories from a piece of birthday cake? 🙂

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All-Natural Chicago Hot Dog Lovin'

January 28, 2010 by

Ok folks, I have to make this quick. I actually have work to do tonight. Yes, it seems that I don’t spend enough time working during the day that I need to work more at night. 

Before I forget, check out my new Bistro Chic post where you’ll learn all about my love for Jane Austen novels and Masterpiece Theatre – he he!

Today was sooo crazy busy at work that I barely had time to go to the bathroom. Not good – at least for my bladder.

Dinner was a makeshift meal of an all-natural, nitrate free hot dog by Vienna Beef. Hey, I gotta get me some Chicago hot dog lovin’ some how!

As you can see, I balanced the meaty hot dog on a double fiber piece of bread with a HUGE portion of broccoli. And I mean huge! I think there were two cups worth of the trees on my plate 🙂

Tomorrow, I’m getting ready for my son’s big Saturday birthday bash. He’s turning the big F-I-V-E and I can hardly believe it! We are all set to make goodie bags and then shop for other party items. This will be my first time hosting a kids’ party. I’m a little nervous I have to admit. Running after 20 kids, mostly 5 and under, is not my idea of a relaxing Saturday. But hey, you only turn 5 once right?

OK, gotta run. Have a wonderful Thursday night!

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Take the Cake

January 23, 2010 by

Happy Saturday everyone,

I am super tired right now, so I’m going to make this quick. We celebrated my father-in-law’s birthday today with dinner at their house. After a very hearty meal of zesty meatloaf, homemade macaroni and cheese, and scallop potatoes, we were treated to this…

An Almond Crunch and Chocolate Confetti Chiffon Cake, baked by none other than my father-in-law himself! I guess he has been waiting for ten years to make this cake – no joke. The recipe was from a Fine Cooking magazine from May 2000!

By now  you know that my father-in-law is a fabulous baker. He and my mother-in-law even contemplated opening their own bakery a few years back. So, I was not surprised at all that this cake was fantastic – it tasted as good or even better than it looked – if you can believe that! This proves that it pays to save those old recipes – you never know when they’re going to come in handy. I had one nice size piece, but could have easily eaten more. I did end up taking a piece home – AM coffee/tea cake, anyone?

Fine Cooking magazine really does have some great recipes. Now that I think about it, I subscribed to the magazine over a month ago and I still haven’t received my first issue – ugh!

Ok, must run for now. Tomorrow is a busy day full of WORK! That’s right, because of a HUGE new project (yes, it requires even more travel) I have to work this weekend.

Also, it’s supposed to be about 40-45 degrees out in the AM, so I’m hoping to get a long run in outside – fingers crossed!

Have a great night 🙂

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A Dessert Triple Play

January 20, 2010 by

Hello everyone!

I just came back from a fabulous dinner with my friend Prachi! Prachi is a Washington, DC, local so she is very in the know when it comes to restaurants. During our conversations, she had mentioned a local hotspot called Matchbox, so tonight, Matchbox it was! Matchbox is a DC favorite that is a mix between bistro and Italian cuisine. Naturally, dinner started with little bit of vino…

Then it was time for some appetizer action. Because I don’t eat beef or seafood, there was only one option left for an appetizer… fried mozzarella with tomato and basil – aka a fried caprese salad!

But I was not disappointed AT ALL with my choice. This was fantastic – but of course, it was fried, so how could it NOT be good, right?

For our actual dinner – we split the Q special pizza with grilled chicken, mozzarella, red peppers, and mushrooms…

Pretty good but I stopped at two pieces because it had a little too much cheese for me. Plus, I wanted to save room for this baby…

What could be better than one dessert? How about THREE desserts! I really didn’t want to get this huge monstrosity of a dessert, but Prachi made me ;-). Apparently, she does not eat enough dessert at home and wanted to make up for it tonight! He he! The trio included a banana chocolate chip bread pudding…

This was much lighter than bread puddings I’ve had in the past and had a great flavor. Next up, the molten chocolate cake…

At one point in time, I considered myself a molten chocolate cake expert – tasting expert that is. So, I had high hopes for this cake. I was disappointed – the best thing about this was the vanilla gelato on top. Nuff said. Finally, the cinnamon doughnuts…

As most of you know, I am not a huge doughnut fan, but these little pastries reminded me of beignets, complete with kahlua creme dipping sauce – lovely and calorie-free I’m sure. Just to ease your curious minds, we did NOT eat all of the desserts, we both took a few bites of each and then called it quits. And believe me, that took some willpower. 

OK, I have a date with the hotel treadmill in the AM, then it’s off to a 7 hour meeting for me! Have a great night everyone.

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Pretty in Pink Cara Cara Oranges

January 19, 2010 by

Hey out there,

Fitbloggin Info: If anyone is going to Fitbloggin, you may want to book your room at the Marriott ASAP. I just booked mine tonight and was told they had no more rooms left under the designated block. She finally “push it through” and gave me the conference rate. It looks like there are about 75 people signed up so far – at least there are 75 people with Web sites. Can’t wait!

As some of you know, a couple days ago I tried my first ever pink orange. I was at a loss for what kind of orange would be pink (kind of an oxymoron) but thanks to one reader, I now know where these pinkies come from. As quoted from the Sunkist Web site:

Cara Cara oranges, a type of navel grown in California’s San Joaquin Valley, are available January through April. Their outward appearance is similar to other navels, but their interior is a distinctive pinkish red and has an exceptionally sweet flavor with a tangy cranberry-like zing. Cara Caras are a rich source of Vitamins A and C, fiber and Lycopene. A perfect snack served as wedges, they’re also a colorful addition to beverages or squeezed into a vinaigrette salad dressing.

It just so happens that I had another pink orange today, and sure enough, when I looked on the sticker, it said Cara Cara!

Scott started teaching his night class again, so I was on my own for dinner tonight (well, actually with two kids in tow). So, it was a sandwich for me…

I put a few slices of lean ham and reduced-fat salami on a piece of double-fiber Brownberry bread, plus a little Swiss cheese for good measure. Apparently, when Mr. C saw the cheese, he had to know where cheese came from. I replied, “from milk that comes from cows.” He was satisfied with that answer. But when I added, “or milk from sheep,” he said, “but sheep don’t drink milk”. Not entirely true because sheep do drink milk, but it’s still funny, especially when that is my only entertainment for the night.

After dinner, I enjoyed one of the last pieces of the Trader Joe’s apple bread…

I am sorry to see it go so quickly, but luckily gingerbread is next.

2010 Trip #2: Washington, DC

As you’ll recall, two weeks ago I headed to Phoenix/Scottsdale for my first work-related trip of the year. Tomorrow, I leave for the second – to Washington, DC. My bags are packed, I’m ready to go…or so the old song goes. I am heading out a little earlier in the day to avoid the rush in the evening. Also, I really don’t like getting into a new city in the dark. I usually feel a little uneasy taking a taxi or public trans at night, particularly when I’m by myself. Fortunately, I am meeting an friend for dinner. I haven’t seen her in a year so it will be fun to catch up.

Off to bed now, but stay tuned for Bloggin from the Capitol!

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Saved By Gift Cards

January 18, 2010 by

Hey All,

Hope you all enjoyed your MLK day! I took advantage of the day off and slept in a little (until around 7 AM). It wasn’t until I got out of bed that I noticed something strange in the house – it was super COLD!!! Apparently, the heater went out sometime in the middle of the night. We were all walking around the house in hoodies and bathrobes until the heater guy came to fix the problem.

I did warm up a little in the interim with a 45 minute interval run on the treadmill, followed by a kick-ass ab workout! After waking up to the cold, I wanted something warm and fuzzy for breakfast…

So, a little Trader Joe’s apple bread hit the spot! I only had one small slice (watching portions ya know!) so a little later I munched on a 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt with a few walnuts…

A little Greek yogurt sure goes a LONG way, especially when you add MUFA-filled nuts. Tazo Awake tea was also on the cold morning menu…

Whenever I drink tea at home – which is quite a lot lately because I’m trying to drink more of it – my kids always ask for some. They are very young, so I only give them a little herbal tea to drink. They take a few sips then forget about it. This morning, I jokingly complained to Scott – why is it that whenever I make tea, no one drinks it? He responded with “that includes you” as he pointed to my mug full of cold tea. Touché!

I tried to get fancy for lunch by making my first ever butternut squash soup. Ok, honestly, it was Trader Joe’s butternut squash soup, but it was still my first time having it at home…

I hate to admit it, but at first taste, this soup was a little bland. But I added a few pieces of granny smith apple and some walnuts and it was much better. At just 90 calories a cup (without the garnish), this soup really is a great low-cal lunch.

I worked for a few hours this afternoon (it never ends, does it 😉 ) then we were off to IKEA to buy some shelves. Whenever I go to IKEA I am completely overwhelmed by the size and number of products in the store. We finally decided on some shelves after an hour, but when we finally located them in the “pick up” section, we realized the box would not fit in our car! OK, that was a wasted trip – blah!!!

But, not to despair, we ended up eating at Maggiano’s for dinner. For all of you wondering about our restaurant diet – we used our gift cards! Woo hoo – gotta love those gift cards. After eating what seemed like a whole loaf of bread, Scott and I split the house specialty – rigatoni D, with mushrooms, onions, chicken, and rigatoni all mixed in a marsala cream sauce.

When we lived in the city, we would go to Maggiano’s every other week, or so it seemed. And, we would most often order the Rigatoni D. But after a while, I just stopped liking the dish and stopped ordering it completely. After more than 5 years of being rigatoni D free, we decided to give it a try tonight. It was good, but then I realized why I really stopped eating it 5 years ago. Within an hour after eating, I felt sick, no doubt due to the cream sauce. No more rigatoni D for 5 more years – that’s it!

I’m actually still feeling sick right now, so I’m turning in early. Have a great night everyone!

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