A Birthday Party

After dog class this morning, Dave and I went up to New Hampshire for Grandma S's birthday.

I made 5-layer dip and peanut cookies. ;)

My 5-layer dip


Dave's parents made salmon, and there was pizza.


Aunt Jenny had made a gluten free rice salad which I made I put into lettuce leaves with poached chicken and tomatoes as a sandwich! It was delicious.

For dessert: Aunt Jenny's brownies, fresh strawberries and blueberries with whipped cream


Grandma S opening presents with Luna helping rip the paper :)




We found our little angel fast asleep in our bed tonight...

One Day Behind

Yesterday, I went to Equinox and took a group exercise class called 'Whipped,' and literally felt 'whipped' afterwards. Sarah, Ali and I all looked like we had gone through a huge rain storm after we left, that instructor means business.

Dave and I then met my cousins at the Thirsty Scholar for the first USA World Cup game. The bar was so packed that the globe wrote an article on the event. I lasted about 30 minutes in the heat, with the beer and bodies, before I decided I needed to go home and get some air.

Dave came home a couple hours later, and we decided to try out Pho'n Rice, a Vietnamese place in our neighborhood for dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about that pho- chicken rice noodle soup I had had mid-week! Pho'n Rice did a nice job with their version on this dish.


I found this cartoon and it made me laugh, especially after 'whipped.'

Market Basket Gluten Free Cookie Mix

Dave and I were in Market Basket today, and normally I only, truthfully, shop the perimeter of the store. The outside, in my opinion, has the good stuff. The milk, fruits and vegetables, fish, lean proteins are all along the perimeter. What else do you need other than toilet paper, right?

Today though, I wandered into the baked good mix aisle. I think I was looking for Crazy Jane's salt. Anyway, I found this package.



So, of course I had to purchase it. The mix is $3.49, which is great price for a baked good mix. The ingredient list is small and includes items like brown rice flour, and potato starch. The recipe asks for a 1/2 stick of margarine(I used butter) because I think margarine is gross, an egg, and one tablespoon of water. I added a tablespoon Dagoba drinking chocolate powder for good measure, and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips. It is Friday, after all :)

The dough on a parchment paper ready for baking.



The delicious cookies baked! Dave and I have decided these are the best gluten free cookies we have ever had! Go Market Basket!

One Meal Out & Two Meals at Home

Today, as usual FLEW by. I was at work nice and early this morning for a couple of hours, then came home and had lentil and sweet potatoes for breakfast. Yes, I am one of those who likes soup/stews for breakfast. :) Then, I took Luna for her morning walk.

Dave had asked me to meet him at the new restaurant near his office for lunch today It's called Za, and has a large selection of gluten-laden pizzas.

I got one of their salads because alas no gluten free crusts here :( The salad was good though. It had avocado, black beans, tomatoes, and pickled jalapenos. I asked them to add some grilled chicken on the side for a little more protein.



Dave ordered their 'Mac n' Cheese' pizza, and I'm sorry but this pizza was just obscene. The sauce on the pizza was creamy cheese sauce, then it was covered in four cheeses, macaroni, and breadcrumbs. His stomach has been bothering him since, and he actually admitted that he thinks he should stick to the tomato and mozz pizzas from now on!


Great vibe inside though, and they use local farms for their produce and cheese. I would definitely go again especially if they put gluten free pizza on their menu ;)


Za
350 Third St
Cambridge, MA 02142


This afternoon, I met my friend, Carrie for a walk around Fresh Pond. We had a great time catching up, and we swamped stories about our families!


Then, Dave and I made a very disappointing dinner of grilled 93% lean burgers, greens and corn. The corn was the only thing that was really worth eating. The greens tasted off because I used too much mustard in the dressing, and the burgers were just awful. You win some, and you lose some!



Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Equinox gym with my friend Ali, and my sister Sarah for a group exercise class called Whipped! We'll see how it goes!

Boston's Soda Free Challenge

This summer, Boston's Public Health Commission is having a Soda-Free Summer Challenge. It asks each participant to either pledge to not drink soda for the entire summer or reduce the amount of soda consumed.

After tonight's class on diabetes and the link between both regular soda and diet soda- my one Diet Coke a month is moving on. I'll admit it, once in awhile a fountain d.coke tastes good, but I think this pledge will help me quench my thirst another way! :) Both Dave and I signed up!

Now it's your turn...

Dresses at Jcrew

Tonight, was a very successful! Sarah, Ali, Jamie and Nyssa all came with me to the Atrium Mall where the jcrew has their own wedding studio now. I tried on some great dresses, and think I might have found one. ;)

Some of the dresses that I tried on, but not my 'special' one :

Dress #1(note: my awkward expressions in ALL of these- YIKES!)


Dress#2


Dress #3



Afterwards, we went to the Vietnamese restaurant, Le's. I got fresh spring rolls with tofu, and chicken noodle(rice noodle) soup! Both were so delicious, especially after all that hard work ;)

Different kind of breakfast

After training and teaching a spin class this morning, I came back famished! I was in the mood for sun-dried tomatoes and zucchini, so I sauteed them in a little olive oil and garlic and added some buckwheat noodles. It was a perfect meal to get me running for today's activities.

I have a meeting with a school's food service director, some homework to do, and then tonight I'm going to jcrew to try on wedding dresses and look at bridesmaids dresses with my wonderful ladies! ;)

I'll post pictures later!

Miles on Foot

Luna and I walked MILES today. I walked to and from work this morning, and then back down the street again to see my wonderful seamstress, Lindsay. Then, I took Luna and my friend Beccah to Fresh Pond for a loop. Later in the afternoon, for a homework break, I took Luna on a Beacon Street loop and then back down towards Harvard Square. I think I walked over 6 miles today, and Luna probably did about 3 and half! She is pooped!

Now on to the food...

I made some lentil burgers yesterday which turned out rather crumbly and more of disaster than I had hoped, but as a salad with fresh South Carolina peaches, feta, and pea tendrils were delicious!



After a loop to the park tonight, Dave and I came home and made bbq chicken and asparagus pizza. It was soo yummy, and I think the Verrill Farm 'fresh' asparagus made it EVEN better!


Who wouldn't ask for a slice?



My plate...ok my first piece... I ended up having three pieces- I couldn't help myself!


My workout plan for tomorrow:
25 minutes of strength training
45 minutes of an indoor cycling class

Sunday Rain

Today, we got some major cleaning done in the back room(aka the storage room). We took 4x HUGE bags of clothes to a PlanetAid box, and cleaned out a lot of boxes. We also took change to a Coinstar machine and got $158 dollars. Woo hoo! I spent the money on some much needed summer reading including Women Food and God , and some other wonderful goodies!

I also got in a 30 minute circuit. Woo hoo!

My workout menu:

squats(plie & regular)
pushups
squat and press
biceps curls(21's)
triceps extensions
static lunges
pilates hip openers
shoulder press
bicycle crunches
single leg bridges

After a fantastic circuit, and then a run back from the park in the rain- Dave and I were ready for dinner. Tonight on the menu: tilapia tacos.

Tilapia tacos



After the rain stopped, Dave took Luna to the park to see if any of her puppy friends would be out to play. I decided to make some scones with fruit we got at the grocery store this morning- blackberries and South Carolina peaches.

My first decent tasting gluten free scones



They look good don't they?

A Day in Concord

After a rather disappointing round of stadiums this morning, where I barely finished half, Dave and I headed down to the Union Square Farmer's Market for some veggies. All I ended up getting was kale. I wanted to make kale chips for dinner.


Since our supposed 'rainy' day turned into a wonderfully sunny day, we headed to Concord with Jen & Len. We stopped at Jen's parents house where Luna met little Satchel, and got to swim in their pond.


Luna, Satchel & Len-man playing in the pond


Luna being a little 'frog'


We then headed into Concord Center for some lunch.

The pups were all wet so we put them in the way back. Alas, Satchel had another idea...


For lunch we went to the Main Street Cafe.

I got their chicken salad on greens


Jen and I also shared their gazpacho which was amazing, but I am not wondering if it had bread in it. Ugh!



After a nice walk on of the trails, we went to Verrill Farm, and picked up some pea tendrils, and asparagus!


I tried making kale chips for dinner.

I cleaned the kale and then took it off the stalk. Preheated the oven to 375F, and added one tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper into the bowl.


Then I placed the kale on a cookie sheet, and baked it for 15 minutes.




The baked kale.



My dinner plate: zucchini strip salad, kale chips, and bell and evan's gf nuggets.

Friday Night Dinner

A wonderful evening meal brought to us by Jen and Lenny.

It's a good thing that Dave bought a puppy pool today for the pup's to play in ;)

Luna & Lenny playing



"What mom, you're interrupting us!"



For dinner tonight: salmon and corn on the grill with a beautiful garden salad.


A wonderful end of the week meal. Alas, Luna had a corn cob and has been sick all night :( Note to self: She can not digest cobs.

On a positive note, the Union Square Farmer's Market opens tomorrow. Yippee! My favorite one in the neighborhood!

Oat & Chocolate Bar & Swiss Baker bread

My meeting got cancelled today with the food service director so I had some extra time on my hands. I was playing around with the idea of making a treat for my class tonight and fell upon Gluten-Free Goddesses quinoa brownie recipe. I played around with hers and came up with my own Oat & Chocolate bar.




Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Bob's GF Oat Flour
3/4 cup Bob's brown rice flour
1/4 cup of Bob's potato flour
1 1/2 cups of Bob's GF oats
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2-1 tsp. of cinnamon
1 shake of nutmeg
1 1/4 cups of organic cane sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. Dagoba drinking chocolate(low sugar and calories but very expensive) Could substitute cocoa powder.
1 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of canola oil
2 medium eggs
1/2-3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Most of the dry ingredients


Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Place all ingredients down to drinking chocolate into a bowl, and mix. Next add the wet ingredients: maple syrup and oils, and eggs. Stir then add the chocolate chips. The dough will not be liquidy, but rather need to be pressed into a pan. I used a 8x12 size pan, and used parchment paper. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean. Let them cool, and cut into squares. Enjoy!


Tonight, my friend Elise brought me this loaf of bread from Swissbakers which is located in Reading, as well as a birthday gift. I'll tell you what those nutrition students are kind souls! :)

The bread


It is light and fluffy, and tasted pretty good. I am already getting excited about using it for an egg casserole dish over the weekend! Thanks Elise!

June 2nd

My wonderful birthday started with a fantastic spinning class, and then a trip to Fresh Pond with Luna and Beccah. I then had a much needed haircut by Paula, who does wonders and then had nice relaxing iced tea date, with B on her back porch.

Our porch tea and snack(tomato and mozz)




Later in the afternoon, I was on the phone talking to family and friends and spent some time relaxing in the backyard. it was marvelous!

Then, tonight Dave asked me to be ready by 6:30 and to close my eyes. We ended up at the Garden at the Cellar with Ali, Jay, Nyssa and Ben! It was a wonderful surprise.

My birthday outfit with new haircut! :)


I had the pea soup and the beet salad with poached chicken. We all started with their rosemary/truffle fries and tater tots! So, it was no wonder I was so full from that I couldn't even finish my beets!

My pea soup


AND beet salad


Ali and Nyssa were so sweet and brought my birthday treats!

One of Ali's o' so famous cards(Note: I tried to rotate it four times and it wouldn't stick, but it's too cute NOT to post:)







My gift from Ali: the straw water bottle. I am SO excited, I'm always borrowing hers! :)



Nyssa gave me these wonder flowers. Don't they look like cabbages!




Thank you one and all for making my birthday so special!

Back to the Grind

I really felt the need for a strength class this morning so I went to muscle conditioning with a friend. After three bbq's over the weekend, I was feeling a little pudgey and ready for some major movement. The class was hard, and I got my sweat on which felt great! I then headed home to take Luna for a nice long walk, and to get some cooking done before heading to the Longwood for volunteer meetings.


I realized something this morning, in the last two weeks since being back at school I have been having meatless Tuesdays and Thursdays. It has been wonderful, and I'm going to keep it up! So, I made a brown rice/quinoa salad today to stuff into a green pepper for dinner. I also had a container of fresh peaches and plain greek yogurt to have with dinner as well. Pretty easy- meatless tuesday if you ask me! ;)

I used Ben's Whole Grain Medley(brown rice and red and black quinoa).



Then sauteed baby spinach, zucchini, garlic, a jalapeno, and scallions in about one teaspoon of olive oil.



Then I quickly toasted some sunflower seeds and through them into the rice mixture, and added everything to together. After seeing all the green, I decided it needed a punch so I added a red pepper.


The finished product with feta added for a hint of tartness.



In class tonight we dove right into childhood eating patterns, school lunches and obesity. I'm getting excited because this week I am interviewing one of the local public school food service directors about their policies and procedures in regards to the School Healthy Index. I have picked a school, on purpose, that has done very well with incorporating local vegetables, as well as providing well balanced meals with whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables to their children. I can't wait hear what Mary Jo has to say.


Now on to bed, I have an early training and spin in the morning.