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A Sandwich for My Solo Dinner

August 4, 2009 by

Hola Everyone. Hope you had an awesome day. I was off to a slow start this morning, but then I made a steaming cup of Tazo Awake tea, and I was good to go…at least for a little while.

I ended up having a pretty good day. I had a very long meeting on a project I’m heading and it went fantastic. Now I have even more work to do, but I’m so psyched about it.

For lunch, I had a very healthy salad with a bunch of goodies added in…

8.4 spinach salad

….including:

Chopped Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad

  • 3 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 oz chopped rotisserie chicken
  • 1 1/2 oz mixed cheese (I used cheddar and feta)

Dressing

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

The salad was fantastic and very refreshing on a hot summer afternoon. Although the salad was pretty filling at the time, I did end up having 2 Dr. Kracker flatbreads later in the afternoon.

I was really hoping to take a walk after lunch but my husband’s car battery died and I had to be on stand by to help him. Luckily, a few nice people stopped to give him a jump. We now have a shiny new battery, but the radio doesn’t work. It needs to be “reset” – it’s a built-in security thing. I ended up taking a walk after dinner instead.

Dinner was on my own tonight (hubby working late) so I didn’t feel like making anything elaborate:

8.4 sandwich

I made a 1/2 peppered turkey and low-fat salami sandwich with cheddar cheese on multi-grain bread from the bakery. Caution, this sandwich looks much bigger in the picture than it really was! I also had a few sour cream and onion chips and a few slices of a granny smith apple on the side.

8.4 dinner

Some people need a huge dinner or at least a hot dinner to be satisfied. I literally grew up on sandwiches – they were a necessity in my house with 5 kids all active in team sports. So now, I actually find sandwiches comforting. You can also create so many different and healthy masterpieces with a sandwich. I love experimenting with them, seeing how I can make a better, tastier, and more healthy sandwich. 

And, another great thing about eating a light sandwich dinner – aside from no clean up – is that you have room for dessert!

8.4 chocolate pb

Just like the sandwich, the ice cream looks bigger in the photo because I served it in a very small “dipping bowl” dish. It was actually equivalent to about 1/2 cup.

I have an early morning tomorrow. I’m waking up at 5:45 Am tomorrow to run because I didn’t run today. Night everyone!

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Tazo Tea Keeps Me Awake!

August 3, 2009 by

Hey everyone! Can you believe it, after only eating a pear for breakfast, I wasn’t hungry for lunch until 1 PM. I’m so glad I brought my split-pea soup that I had leftover from Saturday. I was hoping the soup would give me extra energy to tackle my afternoon projects.

Pea Soup

Well, the pea soup must have worked because I had a super productive afternoon reviewing video footage and doing other work-related projects. 

I arrived home from work about 6 PM to an awesome dinner prepared by my awesome husband!

8.3.09 dinner

He grilled mesquite-flavored chicken breasts and a huge sweet potato that we shared. It was so yummy that I was sad we didn’t have more – hello appetite!

8.3.09 sweet potato

We also had some fresh cut greens beans and chunks of watermelon (not pictured). After dinner, I had a little piece (1/3 a slice) of the raspberry cream cake from last night.

8.3.09 Raspberry cake

It was just as sweet and delicious as it was last night. During dinner, I found out that my husband bought one of my favorite teas on his quick trip to Super Target….

Tazo Awake Tea

Tazo Awake tea! i just love this stuff! Apparently, hubby was reading my post from the other day and found out that I was out of Awake tea and decided to surprise me with more. How thoughtful…and I thought he didn’t read my blog! Just kidding – I know you do honey.

I can drink tea almost any time during the day, even when it’s hot outside. But I especially love it on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Awake tea just gives me that natural jolt of energy that I sometimes need in the morning. I am sooo looking forward to having a cup tomorrow after my run.

Because I only had a very small piece of cake, I’m thinking of having a cookie or two before bed. Hmm…we’ll see…

Well, time for me to sign off for tonight. Sweet dreams everyone!

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A Blue Danube Dinner

August 2, 2009 by

We had such a great evening listening to live classical music outside in a picnic-like setting. The orchestra was playing famous waltzes, including the Blue Danube. I don’t know how to waltz but when they played the Blue Danube, I really wished I knew!

Before the performance, we walked around the concert park to browse some of the vendor tables. They had a children’s instrument petting zoo, where kids could actually play a variety of instruments from strings to brass. Whole Foods also was exhibiting. The store was giving away granny smith apples (Yes, I took one for tomorrow’s lunch!) and samples of a bunch of all-natural hair/skin care products. Check out my loot…

Jason Conditioner

This is Jason’s Lavender and Rosemary curl defining conditioner. I’m looking forward to using this because I have naturally curly hair and need everything I can get to tame it!

Avalon Peppermint cream

And this is Avalon Organics Peppermint Hand and Body lotion. I plan to put this on my heels and feet before I go to bed. I’m hoping it makes my rough runner’s feet a little smoother.

The concert started at 5 PM sharp and our classical music entertainment was complemented by an awesome picnic dinner:

Picnic dinner

We brought rotisserie-like chicken, white cheddar cheese, French garlic rounds, and…..

Hummus2

Three-layer hummus from Trader Joe’s! I bought this a week or so ago and have been waiting for the right occasion to try it. The hummus included the flavors of red pepper, regular, and cilantro. My husband raved about the cilantro flavor and I loved them all.

Hummus3

We also had some super juicy watermelon chunks.

Picnic watermelon2

We brought cut-up veggies as well, but I’m still a little veggied out from my huge, but disappointing, salad at lunch. So no dinner veggies for me.

The performance only lasted until 6:30 PM, so we waited until we returned home to eat our dessert…

Raspberry cake1

A raspberry white chocolate swirl cake. It was so light and fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness. I’m not usually a white chocolate fan, but I loved this cake!

Now, it’s off to bed for me because I have a really busy week and it all starts tomorrow. Have a great night everyone!

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Organic Food Provides No Health Benefits

July 31, 2009 by

Before I get into a recap of my afternoon/evening (and an awesome freebie I had), I wanted to share with you the latest scoop on organic food.

Organic Food Is Not As Healthy As It Seems!

If you are one of the nearly 75 percent of Americans who pays extra for organic food thinking it is healthier, you may want to save your money. New evidence suggests that organic foods hold no added health or nutritional benefit compared with nonorganic foods.

Organic Marinara

In a study published this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from the London School of Medicine found no differences in most nutrients in organically or conventionally grown crops, including vitamin C, calcium, and iron. The same was found for meat, dairy, and eggs.

Some consumers also believe that organic foods provide a significant benefit over ordinary foods because they are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers, among other things. However, some experts believe there is insufficient research on the long-term effects of pesticides on humans.

RWC Note…. Although I strive to eat all-natural foods, I don’t necessarily choose organic over nonorganic because it’s better. When I do go organic, it’s because: 1) organic food may be the cheaper option (but this is rare) or, 2) among some all-natural food brands, organic may be your only option (so was the case in my Newman’s marinara seen above.)

So, the next time you’re deciding between organic and non, you may want to base your purchase on cost value rather than health-related value.

Back to may day….

I ran more errands this afternoon but did manage to get out to a local park to stretch my legs a little more. I also made an awesome sausage-pasta dish for dinner:

Sausage-pasta2

I call this dish my Italian Sausage-Pasta with Leeks. It is absolutely yummy and has become a standard in the RWC household. Here’s what you need to make it:

RWC Italian Sausage-Pasta With Leeks Recipe

  • 3 links Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1/2 small carton of button mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2-3 large leeks (white parts only, sliced length wise, then crosswise into 1-inch half-circle pieces – rinsed)
  • 2 bell peppers (any color you like, cut in long thin strips)
  • 8 oz of short pasta, cooked and drained (rotini, shells, or campenelle)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 cup chicken stock/broth

Add the oil to a large saute pan. Add chopped Italian sausage and mushrooms to the pan and saute until sausage is thoroughly browned and mushrooms are cooked through, stirring constantly so meat does not burn. Add leeks and bell peppers and saute until veggies are tender (but not mushy) about 8 minutes. Add butter, shallot, and broth, and cook on medium-high for 5-8 minutes or until some of the juice has evaporated a little. Add cooked pasta (that has been drained) to the sausage mixture and mix thoroughly. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 people.

If you like Italian sausage, I can almost guarantee you will make this dish more than once! I have used turkey Italian sausage before and it tastes just as good (although my husband would argue this point). I also like to change up the color of my peppers to give the dish a little variety. You can really add more than 2 peppers if you like, because they give the dish so much flavor!

Sausage-pasta1

My husband and I were pretty full, so we decided to head up to the local outdoor mall to walk off some of our dinner. We also decided to get a little treat for ourselves – ice cream!

Cold Stone

We went to Cold Stone Creamery – which we love but don’t go there very often because it’s so expensive. I had a kid’s size French Vanilla with chocolate cake – fantastic! And, to make things even better, our ice creams were free because they made a mistake on our bill (overcharged us by more than $4.00 – how does that happen?) The manager said it’s store policy to comp the order if they make a mistake on your bill. I was very impressed by this great customer service and especially appreciate that I didn’t have to shell out $10 for ice cream.

Now, I’m off to bed. Yoga starts at 8 AM tomorrow!

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A Healthy Mexican Fiesta

July 27, 2009 by

It’s a hot one this evening. It doesn’t help that my hot laptop is sitting on my legs and that my husband and I are too budget-conscious to turn on the air conditioning. Instead, we open all the windows and turn on all of the fans, which helps a little, particularly if you are sitting directly under the fan.

I originally brought leftovers for my lunch – 1/2 a turkey burger and couscous, but it just didn’t sound appetizing. I opted for plan B….

Chobani yogurt

Chobani All-Natural Greek yogurt, vanilla flavor. I bought this yesterday during a quick trip to Fresh Market. This was the first time I had ever tried this brand of  yogurt and I really liked it. To add a little more nutritious value to my yogurt lunch, I threw in a handful of blueberries, two strawberries, and a 1/4 cup of RWC Tropical Granola mix. Yum and so filling! I was seriously no where near hungry after I ate this. And, in spite of not having meat or veggies, my lunch had plenty of protein and fiber, as well as vitamin C.

I left work later than usual – about 5:40 PM – and arrived home to a fully prepared Mexican fiesta…

Taco1

Mexican food doesn’t have to be loaded with calories and “bad” fat to taste good. Instead, we make a lighter version of our tacos by using lean ground turkey in place of ground beef for the meat, and we add tons of fresh veggies and a little guacamole and cheese to top it off. 

Guac bowl

Holy guacamole! Can you say Ole?

Guac on chip

I just love this stuff. I remember a time when I didn’t like guacamole. I think it was because I had never really tried it, but thought anything that color green would not be appetizing. How wrong I was!

Now that I am fairly content with my awesome and light Mexican dinner, I’m debating on whether or not homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies could be considered part of the Mexican diet. I think yes.

Cookie1

So pass the cookies (and skim milk) please!

Night everyone!

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It's Summer Grilling Season

July 26, 2009 by

Hello All. Hope you had a great afternoon. It was gorgeous outside, but, unfortunately, I spent most of the afternoon inside – working – blah! I headed to Barnes and Noble’s cafe to plug in and use the free WiFi. I was able to crank out at least 2 hours of work there, but was still bummed that I wasn’t outside. To cheer myself up, I treated myself to a tasty frozen beverage….

Starbucks

It was yummy and so refreshingly cold – I loved every sip of it. I headed back home around 5:00 PM. My husband fired up the Weber Grill to cook our stuffed chicken breasts. My husband got his baby last year and we grill on it a ton, especially in the summer. It makes dinner and clean up a snap, which I love of course.

Weber Grill

Stuffed Chicken

We bought the chicken breasts from our local all-natural Fresh Market. My chicken was Venetian chicken, stuffed with goat cheese and roasted red pepper. My husband’s was stuffed with ricotta and spinach. We paired the chickens with a side of fresh cut green beans and some Trader Joe’s couscous made with chicken stock, and sprinkled with feta and grape tomatoes.

July26dinner

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Couscous-feta

Couscous is a great alternative to rice or potato dishes and it’s high in fiber. It’s also a little high in calories (220 calories per 1/3 cup) so I try not to eat too much at one sitting.

And for dessert – fresh and juicy watermelon!

Watermelon

This was truly an awesome summer dinner. Now, I’m off to do more work.

Have a great night everyone!

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Oatmeal: A Healthy and Inexpensive Breakfast

July 24, 2009 by

It’s going to be a hot one today. Even at 6:00 AM, when I started my morning run, it was already hot and humid. Weather like this makes for quite the sticky run.

After losing a ton of water from sweating, I made sure to drink plenty of H2O to replenish. I then made a breakfast that I hadn’t make in quite a while:Oatmeal1

Oatmeal made with old-fashioned whole-grain oats. Today, I made tropical-style oatmeal which had:

Tropical Oatmeal

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/4 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tsp fresh coconut flakes
  • 2 tsp dried pineapple
  • 2 tbs dried banana chips
  • Handful of walnuts
  • Handful of fresh blueberries

Combine the first three ingredients and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, watching it carefully so it doesn’t bubble over. Top with remaining ingredients.

Oatmeal2

The oatmeal tasted awesome – even without added sugar – and it was so filling. It was also a nice change from yogurt and cereal. Oatmeal also has a ton of health benefits. It’s an excellent source of fiber – and who couldn’t use for fiber in her diet! – as well as antioxidants that help slow the process of aging by helping protect the skin. Not to mention, it’s very inexpensive and fills you up with just one serving. So many reasons to eat oatmeal – why not try it? Plus, when you add fruit and nuts to it like I did, you get additional fiber, protein, and other important nutrients.

Oatmeal Bowl

I enjoyed my awesome oatmeal outside on our huge front porch. I even had a little Tazo calm tea, which has chamomile, rose petals, and other soothing herbs. Just the thing I needed after a long hard week at work.

Have a great day everyone!

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Mission Possible: Eating Healthy At Work

July 23, 2009 by

Wow, what an afternoon! I reviewed more videotape timecodes, had a meeting, and gave a presentation to about 35 people. All in a day’s work! Luckily, in all of the chaos I was able to stop and take a break for lunch – and it was catered again – yeah for me!

Lunch salad

Lunch was salad and wraps for today. I was not in the mood for a messy wrap, so I opted for salad. It was kind of a make-your-own salad, so I added tons of greens that had carrots, peppers, and cucs mixed in, plus I added cherry tomatoes, cheese cubes, and chopped chicken, all with a little Italian vinaigrette – delicious. But, my lunch didn’t stop there…

Strawberry

There were also fruit kabobs for dessert – I just love where I work. My kebob had pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, and a huge strawberry on the end. Between the fruit on a stick and the salad, I had at least 4 servings of fruits and veggies – all in one sitting. I guess this shows that you really can eat healthy while at work.

By the time I arrived home around 6:30 PM, I was still not very hungry. However, I knew I had to have a little something to eat.

Dinner

My husband was working late, so I made a turkey burger for myself (only ate about 2/3 of it) with a side of grape tomatoes. It was just enough. And, because my husband and I have both been working very hard this week, I decided to surprise him and make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Won’t he be surprised? Well, he won’t be that surprise, because he knows that oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my favorite cookies to make. I make them so much that I know the recipe by heart and can make them in 45 minutes flat.

Plate of cookies

Now for the close-up…

Chocolate chip cookie

Hmmm, so goood!

Now that I have a tummy full of cookies, I’m going to catch up on my reading – my new Shape magazine just arrived! – and then I’m hitting the sack.

Have a great night everyone.

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Feta Makes Everything Taste Better

July 22, 2009 by

Hello All. Hope you had an awesome day today. We’re having quite a few meetings at work this week, of which I’m only involved in one. But in our office, where there is a meeting there is always FOOD! And today was no exception. 

I originally brought leftover chicken stir fry for lunch, but was actually glad when I discovered we were having a catered lunch today. Hmmm…so many choices…what did I have?

Sandwich

Surprisingly, I chose a make-your-own sandwich over the salad. For some reason, a sandwich just sounded better today. I packed my sandwich with oven-roasted chicken, huge beefsteak tomatoes, and a couple of thin slices of cheddar cheese, all on rye bread (it was the best option available). I also added a few veggies as a side dish…Roasted Veggies

Char-grilled veggies to be exact. The veggies, including red and green peppers, asparagus, and carrots, were extremely flavorful. The sandwich was also very tasty but I ended up only eating half. I was starting to get pretty full so I thought it was best to stop.

And, I wanted to leave room for an afternoon treat…

Choc chip square

A chocolate chip square! It was about the size of a golf ball (3-4 bites) and had mini chocolate chips, finely chopped nuts, and even caramel mixed in. It was a cross between a blondie and a chocolate chip cookie. Super yum, and super sweet! I enjoyed it with some peppermint tea to balance out the sugar.

After viewing video timecodes for most of the afternoon, I decided to call it quits around 5:15 and head out. Tonight was a fast dinner. One that doesn’t take a lot of preparation or thought. But, it was still homemade and still quite tasty.

Sausage and Risotto

I prepared Italian sausage on our indoor grill (I still can’t seem to figure out how to use our Weber grill- my husband’s pride and joy). I also made a side of spinach risotto and threw in a few cherry tomatoes for myself. My husband does not care for chunks of tomatoes (yet he likes salsa, so that’s just weird) so he gives them all to me.

I added a little Trader Joe’s feta cheese to my risotto which really gave the dish some tang. Feta, a popular Greek cheese, has a ton of flavor so you don’t have to add very much to enhance your dish. And, I have to hand it to the Greeks. Feta seriously makes everything taste better. I add it to just about anything I can – salads, pastas, rice, veggies, and more. It’s also loaded with calcium which is very important for a runner – especially one who has osteoporosis running in her family.

Ok, enough with my feta fetish, I have a few more things to accomplish before bed. See you in the AM!

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Enjoy Dessert In a Martini Glass

July 21, 2009 by

I was really on a roll this afternoon – but I still have a ton more to accomplish this week. 

A few hours after lunch I was feeling a bit hazy from staring at the computer screen. I woke myself from the trance with a little snack. I nibbled on a few thin pieces of Tillamook’s Vermont White Cheddar Cheese. As “block” cheeses go, this is one of my and my husband’s favorites. I put the cheese on this baby!

Kracker

You might think this is just a cracker but really this is no ordinary cracker, it’s a Dr. Kracker flatbread piece – Sunflower Cheddar flavor. If you’ve never had Dr. Kracker flatbreads, they are organic crackers made with spelt flour (wheat-free flour) and all-natural ingredients. The crackers are huge, so at 105 calories-3 g fiber, one is sufficient.

Dr. Kracker

Although they are expensive, I prefer this cracker over all others because the flavor is amazing. And, the cracker is so sturdy you can load just about anything on it, from cheese to dips, and from meats to salsa. They also have to be the crunchiest cracker I’ve ever eaten.

Dr. Kracker Ingredients

I’ve seen Dr. Kracker products at Whole Foods Markets and Fresh Market, but I’ve also heard that Costco sells them – I’m still searching for them in their miles of aisles! Plus, if you’ve ever been to Jason’s Deli, they have individually wrapped Dr. Kracker crackers in their salad bar. I always snag one extra for a work snack the next day.

For dinner, I finished the homemade chicken and rice soup that I made on Saturday. It was probably a little too warm out for soup but who am I to let good, healthy food go to waste?

Chicken soup

I enjoyed the soup with a side of 12-grain artisan bread from Fresh Market, with a little of the dynamic duo – Trader Joe’s olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So yummy!

Bread-oil

With just a small bowl of soup and a little bread in my belly, I left plenty of room for dessert. I finished off the chocolate peanut butter ice cream in the freezer (about 1/2 cup) and had mixed feelings about seeing the bottom of the carton. I was sad to see it was gone, but happy that it would not be in my house anymore!

Chocolate PB ice cream

This time, I enjoyed the ice cream in a martini glass. That may seem a little eccentric, but my husband and I have a load of glassware that we received for our wedding that has basically gone untouched since we put it in our cabinets. I often wondered why we were waiting for a big dinner party or the president to come for dinner to use our fun glassware. So, I decided to live on the edge a little and use our fancy stemware –  martini, margarita, and wine glasses –  for everyday use during meals. Also, these glasses are typically smaller than regular drinking glasses and much smaller than bowls (such as those for ice cream). So it’s really difficult to overfill them, a technique that helps you eat less but enjoy what you do have to the fullest.

Besides – chocolate ice cream in a martini glass – now who wouldn’t drink to that!

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