Sweet Summer Cravings

I am feeling so much better today!  It’s amazing what a difference 24 hours can make.  I ate all my meals today and felt more like myself again.  I’m a pretty easy person to get along with but I can get pretty ugly when I’m mad.  I’m just happy that it’s all over and we’ll see what happens from here on out.  Once again I got some great advice and support from you gals!  You are the best!

I can’t tell you how happy I am that tomorrow is Thursday!  As usual I have off on Friday and then have the next week off!  After all the stress from yesterday I’m ready to have some relaxing fun times with my 2 best girlfriends and their boyfriends on the camping trip this weekend.  I just hope tomorrow goes by quickly, it kinda feels like the last day of school or something which is stupid because it’s only 10 days off not a whole summer.

So we need to do some serious food shopping, we don’t even have the staples of milk, bread, or eggs, but it seems stupid to do it before the we go away for the weekend.  So I was kind of scrounging in the kitchen for meals.  Once again I totally forgot my camera, I used my Blackberry though while I was at work, not the best pictures, sorry!

For breakfast I had a chocolate chip clif z bar with pb and then an orange on the side.

 

Oranges are so good right now, I can’t get over how juicy and delicious the last few I ate have been.

Lunch was exactly what I said it would be last night.  Leftover Chicken parm.  I meant to bring a side salad but forgot this morning.  So I guess the tomato sauce is going to have to count as my vegetable for lunch.

I definitely made up for my lack of veggies with dinner though, ever since I mixed the rice pilaf with broccoli and green beans last week I’ve been wanting it again.  It’s just way too good.

Just to prove there is rice under there, here’s a shot with some peaking out.

I definitely went back for the last spoonful of rice with another piece of broccoli and a whole mess of green beans.  Such a simple meal but it’s so darn good,  I can not get enough.

After dinner Andrew and I decided we wanted dessert.  So unlike us!  We decided to go to a local Italian Ice place which also serves Ice Cream and Cream Ices.  I got a small pb cookie dough cream ice.

So delicious, I’m going to pretend it’s summer even if it doesn’t feel like it at all!

Well I’m off to start packing things up for the weekend.  Tomorrow night Michelle, Jessica, and I are going shopping for the camping food, anyone have any suggestions of healthy foods to eat while out in the woods? 

Italian Food Overload

Monday is over! Thank goodness!  I have a lot to look forward to so it’s making this week drag.  I’m just ready for it to be over already!  Starting Thursday at 5 I’m on vacation for 10 days!  Unfortunately it’s a mandatory furlough where I won’t be getting paid for the 4 working days but hopefully I’ll be able to claim unemployment.  As luck would have it Andrew has all those days off except 2 with me.  He’s on vacation from school for 2 weeks and the summer program starts next Wednesday so he’ll work Wednesday and Thursday and then have off for one of my favorite holidays, the 4th of July.  Let’s just hope it feels like summer!  This weekend I also have a very exciting camping trip planned with my 2 girlfriends and their boyfriends.  It should be a great time!

This weekend flew by, and I had a lot of family things to do for Father’s Day, plus looking at more wedding locations.  I think we found one that we both absolutely love and we’re taking our moms there on Friday for their opinion.  I have a feeling they are going to love it, once we make our final decision I’ll be sure to share it with you.

So if you’ve been reading my blog for a while you’ll know I’m not a fan of sweets, you’ll hardly see chocolate or cake, but I’m a big fan of Italian food.  It’s my weakness, a nice big dish of pasta, or a slice of pizza are my weaknesses.  And in today’s post your going to see a lot of Italian food.

First off let me start with last night’s fabulous Father’s Day dinner that my dad selected and my mother cooked.  She was a little upset I hadn’t posted it last night so here you go Mom.  Happy now?

My mother makes THE best chicken parm.  It was so tender you didn’t even need a knife and it was overall perfect. 

With Andrew’s favorite pasta on the side.

Wagon Wheels!

This was absolutely perfect, thank God it’s not Father’s Day everyday though because I would seriously gain all the weight I’ve lost this year plus some, if this was an everyday option.

Now on to today.  My breakfast of choice lately has been pb on a sandwich thin.  I have no idea why, I’ve just been craving that peanut butter a lot lately.  It seems to be the only thing I want in the morning.  Unfortunately I didn’t take have my camera today, but here’s the same picture from last week. 

For lunch today I leftovers from the weekend.  I had gotten an eggplant, fresh mozzarella, and roasted red pepper sandwich.  I had a 1/4 left and brought that in for lunch today.  These pictures are from the first time I ate it over the weekend.

So delicious.  A perfect combination of flavors.

Later on I snacked on an orange.

So juicy!

Dinner tonight carried on my theme of Italian food.  I had made a very lean meat sauce over the weekend and had some leftovers for dinner.  I’ll be posting the recipe for the sauce this weekend, so stay tuned, it’s really very good and actually super simple.

I actually had dessert tonight as well.  I had a container of Fro Yo in the freezer that was about to expire.  Never one to waste food I happily ate  a small serving with some chocolate syrup.

It’s hard to tell the size but that’s just a small ramekin. 

Well I’m off to get ready for bed.  Good night everyone, hope you are having a great night!

Random Foods

Hi Friends!  How was your Monday?   Mine went by super fast I can’t believe it’s almost over already.  I’m hoping the rest of the week goes quickly as well.  I had project management training all day which took me away from my desk, it made the day fly by, and I’m hoping I’ll be so busy tomorrow catching up on things that I should have been doing today that tomorrow is going to be another fast one.

I started off the day with Vanilla Chobani and another Luna bar mixed in, just like last week.  This time however it was the chocolate peppermint stick bar.  What a great combo of flavors.

My camera was acting kind of funny today as you can see, it’s like in soft focus or something.

Lunch was something I’ve been craving for a while.  Every time I open my freezer it was staring me in the face.

So delicious!  Amy’s burritos are awesome and this one was fantastic!

Definitely not an attractive lunch but delicious none the less.  I also had a peach on the side.

I think I have one more peach left, I’m definitely going to have to stock up they are so delicious!

Later I had a Granny Smith Apple for a snack.

Once I got home from work I snacked on a pickle while trying to decide what to make for dinner.

It was actually sunny out!  I’m almost out of pickles too, seems like I need to go shopping again.

For dinner I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted, I knew I wanted broccoli, and definitely green beans, but couldn’t decide what else to have.  So I decided to make a quick box of rice pilaf and just mix the veggies in.

Kind of random but it’s just what I wanted.  And of course all that fiber filled me right up. 

I was still in a snacky mood so I decided to break out the watermelon!  Oh I was so excited to have my first piece of the season!

It was so juicy and delicious, it made me want the hot weather even more.  I hear this weird weather might only last 7-10 more days and then we might actually have  summer weather soon.   On the news they were talking about this June vs. June 2008.  The average temp last year for the first half of June was 85, this year it’s 72!  In 2008 we had 4 days that were over 90, and this year we had 4 days UNDER 60!  Does not sound like summer weather to me!  I’m hoping these weathermen are right, I need to get some beach days in!

I hope you are all having a great night!

Big Announcement and Giveaway Winner!

I can’t believe tomorrow is my last day already, we have to leave the house early Sunday morning.   I’m nowhere near ready to leave!  This place is so amazingly relaxing.  The only good thing is next week because of Memorial Day and my Friday’s off I only have a short 3 day work week ahead of me.  Should make it a little more painless.

Yesterday was a really great day we woke up hung out by the pool a little later my dad made some delicious blueberry pancakes.

Since we had a late breakfast I wound up snacking on an unpictured orange later in the day and never ate a real lunch. 

We hung out by the pool for most of the day.

Yes I bought goggles to wear in the pool.  I’m a nerd like that.

I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of me walking, I never know about them until I upload my pictures.

Later on Andrew and I went for a bike ride down to one of the beaches. 

Afterwards we came back and had dinner.  I had some leftovers.

I had the chicken leftover from the night before.

The last piece of corn on the cob.

And a salad:

After dinner Andrew and I took a trip to Jockey Ridge State Park.  It is the largest natural sand dune on the East Coast.  Climbing up those dunes is tough but it is the most amazing view, on one side you have the ocean and on the other you have the sound.  It’s absolutely breathtaking.  And it will now forever be a very special place to me.

People looks like ants from the top.

As we were walking along Andrew stopped hugged me and got down on one knee, he pulled out the most beautiful ring in the world, and I started crying instantly.  I knew it was coming but he had tricked me into thinking it wouldn’t be for a little while.  I had always said I didn’t want a lot of people around when he proposed especially strangers, and as we were walking up the dunes he kept pointing to areas where there weren’t a lot of people, and he continuously was scoping out the area around us.  I had a feeling it was coming but wasn’t sure.  I never thought I’d be one to cry I though I would be far too excited, boy was I wrong.  We left the park just as it was closing and decided to celebrate with some ice cream.

  I wanted to post so badly last night but needed to call family and friends first, I’m sure you all understand.

I would post today’s eats but it’s getting late and I’m exhausted, plus they were pretty boring.  I have a ton of leftovers from our dinner out tonight but will post them when I get around to eating them.

Without further ado the winner of the Souvenir Giveaway is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

17	

17. Jenn@slim-shoppin  |  May 18, 2009 at 9:06 pm

I used to spend summer vacation there growing up. Most of my relatives are on the East Coast. When we were younger and would tell our friends we went to the Outer Banks (I’m from Chicago) they would say “Where?”

Awesome place to visit and great place to vacation!!

 

Thanks to everyone who entered I loved reading your favorite vacation spots, I hope to travel to some of those one day!

Jenn send me an email  365healthyeats@gmail.com with your mailing info and I’ll get these out to you as soon as I get home!  Congrats!

I’m not sure I’m going to be posting tomorrow since it’s our last day so I might not be around until Monday since we’ll be in the car all day Sunday.  I hope you all have a fantastic holiday weekend!

Back To Normal

I didn’t post yesterday because I felt so sick that I didn’t eat much.  It would have been a boring post although what I ate was healthy the amount I ate was not.  I would estimate for the whole day yesterday I ate about 600-800 calories which is obviously not enough for anyone.  Today I woke up feeling so much better and was actually able to eat, and eat well.  Amazing what a couple days of extra rest can do.

This morning I woke up starving, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to wait until I got to work to eat my breakfast so I ate before I left this morning.  I had vanilla yogurt with blackberries, 365 brand fiber cereal, and kashi vanilla island cereal. 

Probably my favorite breakfast combo right now. 

Work was okay today, a little hectic but it made the day go by faster, plus it’s really like my Thursday so there’s always more to do towards the end of the week. 

For lunch I packed a few pieces of chicken over a bed of lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

That piece of chicken I used is left overs from the diner we stopped at Saturday night, there wasn’t much chicken but it was a big salad that did a great job of filling me up.

I guess I’m making up for yesterday’s low calorie day because by 3 I was hungry.  Not just hungry for a small snack, but something substantial.  I decided to try a new bar I bought.

This was good, artificial tasting, but good.  I’d definitely buy it again because it’s good in a pinch.

After my taste of chicken for lunch I definitely wanted more so Andrew and I stopped at the store for a rotisserie chicken.   For a side we used a new find we got from Whole Food’s last week.

This box is 3 servings but Andrew and I finished it, it was so good!  He had a little more then me but I know I had a little more then just one serving.

I had a big bowl with rice on the bottom, steamed French cut green beans, and some white meat chicken on top.

And all mixed up:

Wow this was fantastic I would definitely do it again, it was so simple to make obviously since really I only had to cook the rice. 

I’m actually contemplating a dessert.  I’m thinking some fro yo with melted pb, I’ll let you know tomorrow if I wound up having it.

I hope everyone had a great day and is having a good evening.  I’ll see you all tomorrow.  Thanks for all the “get better” wishes those comments definitely made my mood lift a little even if I was still feeling sick!

Most Pointless Day of Work EV-ER

EDITED TO ADD:

My email address below was wrong, please see the corrected email address at the bottom of the page, so sorry about any confusion!

So I had some training today that was a complete waste of my time. I’m not going to go into details but I don’t think it was of any value to me.  Because of the training I was cranky all day.  The training started right at 8 so I got to work 10 minutes early and quickly ate my delicious breakfast I didn’t even get to enjoy it but I’m sure it was wonderful.  I had a 2% Cherry Fage with peak protein granola. 

Have you guys noticed that almost every picture I take at work,  has a ruler and a purple pen in it?  That’s my favorite pen, and unfortunately I have to use that ruler almost all day every day.  So, sorry if you’re sick of seeing it.

After my “oh so fun” morning I ate my lunch almost as quickly as my breakfast so I could go outside and take a walk and call everyone I knew to complain how much I hated today.  God I’m such a downer and a sailor, almost every word out of my mouth was an “F-Bomb”.   Lunch was a super easy wrap of pb and banana, not that you would be able to tell, I could have McDonald’s cheeseburgers in there but apparently I only took one picture of my wrap and you can not even see the contents.  Girl Scout Honor it was pb and banana.

Oh and for variety I threw a red pen in there!

After my training was over I had an orange.

After work Andrew picked me up and took me to D&D to get an iced coffee.  I’m so sensitive to caffeine I’m still wired hours later.  And there’s no picture because I wouldn’t shut my mouth long enough to think about getting out my camera.  Poor Andrew had to listen to me complain and tell stories of how hilariously sarcastic and bitchy I was all day, he couldn’t get a word in to tell me about his day.

My mom invited us over for dinner tonight and once I found out she was making a whole chicken I was sold on the idea.  Somehow Mom didn’t make a veggie tonight so my plate looks super boring, I assure you it was a treat for the taste buds though.  She made a side of oh so bad for you Rice-A-Roni and I was all over that.

I had another piece of chicken and another spoonful of rice.  Yummmmm!

So this weather we’re supposed to have this weekend made me think about my favorite things to do in the summer and BBQing is one of my favorites.  While talking to my dad tonight I though of the idea of having a (wait for it…)

 Blogger Barbeque. 

Would any of you from NJ or NY (I’m about an hour and 15 minute train ride from the city) or anywhere in the Tri-State area really, be interested in meeting and doing a BBQ in my parents backyard at some point this summer?  If you are send me an email:

365healthyeats@gmail.com

If you are I can give you the details of where my parents live and you can see if it’s a trip you’d be willing to make.  I don’t really have any details obviously since I just thought of it but I don’t want to plan anything until I know that some of you are interested. 

Well even though I”m off tomorrow, my sweetheart is not and I’m going to go spend some quality time with him before he falls asleep.  Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and I’m hoping it goes by quickly.

Rainy Monday

I’m so glad the rain held off until today as it was supposed to rain on and off yesterday. I don’t care what the weather is like Monday through Thursday but if I have the next 24 Friday’s off I want them to all be nice!  According to the weather this Friday and Saturday are supposed to be in the upper 70’s and sunny again, it’s still early in the week so clearly that can change but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it is true.

Yesterday after I blogged I went to my parents house, we sat out on their patio and snacked on some peanuts (unpictured) and enjoyed the time in the sun.  It wasn’t 80 like it had been on Saturday but I sat in the sun and enjoyed the warmth.  My mom invited us to stay for dinner and she was making my favorite roast beef so we stayed.  It looks very similar to last weeks Easter dinner because we had the same sides but instead of prime rib I enjoyed 2 pieces of roast beef.

With Mashed potatoes (I had a second helping).

And a ton of asparagus.

All together:

Fantastic dinner.  To finish out our almost Easter repeat I also had a piece of cheese cake left over from last week.

So good, thank God this is in their fridge and not mine or this cake would have been eaten in a couple days.

After dinner we came home where I organized my things for the week and promptly fell asleep.  This 8 hours of sleep is wonderful!

Today was a day of mostly leftovers, sorry if they are boring.

I made a full batch of pancakes yesterday so I brought in the 3 leftovers.  I was asked by Erin if I have a recipe for these pancakes.  I didn’t make these from scratch but used the Whole Foods 265 brand of Whole Wheat buttermilk pancakes, they are really delicious but definitely not quite as fluffy as regular pancakes, but I really enjoy them.

I smeared a litlte pb on each of my leftover pancakes, these were amazing.

For lunch today I continued with the leftover trend and had the last of my turkey burgers from Friday.  I had it on an Arnold Sandwich thin.  We’ve always had ketchup packets at work but apparently they were all out but I actually enjoyed this a lot plain.

After work I had an errand to run and then went straight to the gym.  I was so hungry (I should have had something to eat at work but I didn’t get hungry until I was in the middle of working out.  I burned about 307 calories but then called it quits, it was embarrassing how loudly my stomach was growling.  I came home and threw together a spinach pizza.

For the whole pizza I used about 1 cup of spinach, and 2 ounces of cheese.  I didn’t think I’d eat the whole thing but I totally did.

Before I go jump in the shower and get ready for bed I was tagged by Brandi to fill out the Survey of 8’s.  I love filling these things out so I of course was happy to do it.

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To:
1. Vacation next month!
2. The 4th of July (it’s such a fun holiday!)
3. Spending time with my friends outside on my deck during the summer.
4. Seeing my family in a couple weeks for my cousin’s communion
5. Being in my friend Laura’s wedding next year
6. My cousin’s wedding to be over and done with in September.
7. Moving down South eventually
8. Going to the beach on Fridays.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept late (whoops)
2. made/ate pancakes
3. caught up with things on our DVR
4. Went to my parents house
5. Enjoyed the warmth of the sun outside on their patio
6. Ate a fabulous dinner made by mom
7. took a short nap on my parents couch
8. Snuggled in bed and watched some TV with Andrew.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Not have to worry about money EVER!
2. Get to my goal weight.
3. be able to travel more
4. Cut my hair (my cousin won’t let me for her wedding…yuck!)
5. Live somewhere warm year round.
6. Be able to write for a magazine.
7. Lighten up.
8. Not take out my frustrations on others.

8 Shows I Watch:
1. The Office
2. Real Housewives of wherever (I’m addicted)
3. America’s Next Top Model
4. Biggest Loser
5. Ugly Betty
6. Hell’s Kitchen
7. Parks and Recreation (Love this new show, it’s so much like the office)
8. How I Met Your Mother

So now I have to tag 8 people to fill out this survey, sorry if any of you have already been tagged or already have done it if I missed it!

1. Kate
2. Vani
3. Erin
4. Sharon
5. Ellie
6. Tina
7. Amanda
8. Caroline

Hope you all have a great night!  It just started thundering and lightening here, what a weird day!

Carnivore

Sorry I didn’t post for Easter, but I hope that if you celebrate it you had a fabulous day!  I had a lot of family fun with both my family and Andrew’s.

Easter morning we woke up and it was sunny so we decided to take a walk on the trail.  It looked so warm out but unfortunately it was freezing, we only wound up walking for about 30 minutes because the wind was so strong and I was an icicle . My right inner ear was so irritated by the cold and wind we turned back and left. Common sense would have told me that if it was a little windy at our apartment chances are walking along the water would be super cold.  Lesson learned.  As much as I want it to be summer it’s not yet and I still have to dress for the weather. 

Once returning I laid on the couch whining about my ear while Andrew cooked up some Easter breakfast.  We had turkey bacon (meat!!!) and scrambled egg bagel sandwiches!

3 slices of turkey bacon and 2 scrambled eggs on a whole wheat bagel.  So delicious.

After not eating meat for 47 days it felt really weird eating the bacon, and actually to be honest I felt a little queasy afterwards but there was plenty more meat to follow during the day.

We first went to my parents house where I got my Easter basket.  The Easter bunny (mom) waited until the last minute so there were no Easter candies, just regular reese’s pb cups (my favorite candy), Mounds, kit kats, and the newest Danielle Steel novel.  Does anyone else read her books?  I’ve read them all, my dad insists my mom named me after her, my mom denies it.  I kind of side with my dad on that one. 

After hanging out with my family for a couple hours we went to Andrew’s grandma’s house.  I had a small slice of lasagna while we were there.  It was yummy but there’s no picture.  I’m sure you all know what lasagna looks like though.

Around 5 we headed back to my parents house for dinner.  Usually my parents make lamb, the smell of it cooking makes me gag.  Since I’d been meatless for all of lent my dad suggested we get Prime Rib.  I definitely liked that idea since we only have it once a year on Christmas and I love it.   So we had Prime Rib (super rare for me), asparagus, and mashed potatoes.  I ate about 1/2 of that piece of prime meat that you see, all the mashed potatoes (plus another spoonful) and of course all the asparagus.

After dinner we watched The Tale of Despereaux that my sister got in her Easter basket. It was a pretty cute movie.

And I had a small piece of Cheesecake for dessert.  My favorite dessert by far.

It looks like a pretty big slice but that’s a dessert plate if that puts it into perspective for you.

We eventually made it back to our apartment where I fell into a food coma and passed out.

I woke up this morning starving and pretty much the second I got to work I smeared some pb on a honey whole wheat bagel. 

 

Hit the spot!

For lunch I had a Chicken fajita wrap from Green Leafs.  It was delicious!

There was no description of it so I asked the woman behind the counter what was on it, she told me grilled chicken, grilled peppers and onions, and some sour cream based dressing.  I loathe sour cream so I got it without that, but she failed to mention there was a ton of jalepenos, and some kind of cheese.  Regardless it was really good.  I ate 1/2 and left the other 1/2 at work and plan on having that tomorrow for lunch.

For a snack at work I had 2 Mounds candies.

Mmm is there anything better then dark chocolate and coconut?

Once I got home Andrew and I decided to go for a walk, we went to the trail and walked for 1 hour 17 minutes and burned 574 calories.  Not too bad, it was a beautiful night for a walk.

I’m giving in to all my meat cravings now that I can have it and we decided to have tacos.

Lettuce, peppers, extra lean meat, and onions. It looks like a lot of meat but it was about 3 ounces, there’s a ton more lettuce underneath as well.

So obviously I have began eating meat again.  Although I really had an easier time then I thought for Lent, I definitely don’t see me being a complete vegetarian anytime soon.  I definitely enjoyed the experience and loved a lot of the “meatless” products that I will still continue to enjoy.   And although I’m going a little crazy with meat, and expect to for the rest of the week since I’m so excited to be eating it, and I’m eating everything I missed during Lent I’m sure it will taper back to down to just once or twice a week as it was before Lent. 

To be completely honest I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, I was sure I’d cave in and eat chicken or taste something of Andrew’s at least once.  I’m proud to say I had not tasted meat since February 24th.  Sometimes it was hard but for the most part it wasn’t too bad.   Thanks for all your support during Lent and always!

Time to go watch The Mets!  Anyone else here a Mets fan!?

Easter Eve

I loved Easter as a child, dying the Easter Eggs, watching The 10 Commandments, waking up to find the Easter eggs hidden around the house, and all the goodies in my Easter basket!  I still love Easter and although I didn’t dye any Easter eggs tonight I am watching The Ten Commandments with Andrew.  I want to get back to the movie so I’m going to get right to the eats.

After my post yesterday we accomplished almost everything on the list done.  A few things got pushed aside to another day but we got so much accomplished I don’t mind one bit.  For dinner I made pizza, with a boboli whole wheat crust.  I used sauce, mozzarella cheese and spinach.

I put the spinach under the cheese and I think it tasted great, there was a ton though that you can’t really see.  After dinner we showered and got ready to go out with some friends to a local Irish Bar.  I stuck to water all night though.

It was pouring this morning and I wound up sleeping until 8:30, we got up and went to Costco with my dad to pick up a few things.  On the way to my parents house I had a chocolate brownie zbar.

After Costco I had to go to the chiropractor.  Once we returned to my parents house we hung out with my sister while my parents went shopping.  I had a honey ww bagel with some pb.

 

My mom gave me the last of the baked ziti from the other night so after we came back to the apartment I had that for dinner.

My batteries were going dead so this picture came out blurry sorry. 

While watching The Ten Commandents I decided to have dessert.  I had vanilla fro yo with chocolate chips and pb!  It was so yummy!

I melted 1 tbsp of pb in the microwave then poured in on top of the fro yo and then placed in back in the freezer to become like a shell on it.  My friend and I used to do this in high school all the time, it’s a super yummy treat.

Well I’m going to get back to the movie!  I’m very excited for tomorrow because not only is it Easter but I get to eat meat again.  I’ll talk more about my experience of giving up meat for lent tomorrow, I am definitely glad I did it, but I’m excited to have some turkey bacon for breakfast tomorrow.