Category: Uncategorized

The week is looking up

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I was reading Oprah’s magazine this morning on the StairMaster, and a very distressed woman had written in for advice with the following concern: “Monthly facials no longer fit my budget. How important are they?” I started chuckling with gratitude that this worry is one that will never cross my mind (because I always make room in my budget for monthly facials, of course. JOKE). And then, while I was chuckling, the “Love Theme” from Love Actually started playing on my ipod and made me even happier. So it was a good morning. Workout stats for run to gym, legs/back/chest on cybex, 30 mins stairs, 10 mins abs/stretching, run back: 1 hour, 16 minutes; 440 calories; average heart rate 126; highest heart rate 165.

For breakfast, I had a big mug of sugar cookie sleigh ride tea and cup of carrot cake crockpot oats with 1/2 cup yogurt and sprinkle cinnamon:

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Also, I had a question about the type of peanut butter I use. I didn’t eat any with the oats this morning, but I thought I’d answer in a picture anyway. Hopefully it’s not the type with salmonella!

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I couldn’t find a website, but for you NYers, I’ve seen it at both C-Town and Fairway.

Welcome back to the week!

Compromise

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I really really really wanted pizza for dinner tonight, but I didn’t have tomato sauce. And the pizza place is four long blocks away. And the grocery store is six longer blocks away. And it’s snowing. I could have made some sort of crazy pumpkin sauce or even used my red lentil soup as sauce since it’s so thick, but I was only in the mood for some traditional cheesy, saucy pizza. So I gave up. I made pasta instead. Some things aren’t meant to be.

I used 1/3 cup dry whole wheat pasta. While it was boiling, I chopped more red cabbage — the only available vegetable I have (my carrots are for work snacks) — and tossed that in with the pasta. Then I started to worry about not having enough protein, especially after today’s exercise-fest … until I remembered a trick my stepmom taught me years and years ago when pasta was all I ever ate (literally).  I beat an egg in a bowl, poured it into the boiling pasta and cabbage, gave a little stir, and voila! Protein problem solved:

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The fun thing about red cabbage is that it turns everything a deep blue, and blue is my favorite color! Here’s the pasta water after it all finished cooking:

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To my pasta bowl, I added a Tbsp pesto (pre-made!), grated fresh parmesan, grated homemade cheddar, and freshly ground black pepper:

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Details:

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The cabbage turned my egg blue!

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For dessert, I had 1/6 of a giant banana with just under a Tbsp peanut butter:

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And a Godiva dark chocolate:

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With raspberry caramel inside!

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Time to start getting ready for bed and the real work week tomorrow.  I feel so off-balance after just one day off! What do you do to get back into the swing of things after a vacation?

Snow run

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As planned, Kate came over this afternoon so we could go on our own run instead of heading into the city for running club tonight. I’m so glad we went when we did because it started snowing as soon as we stepped out the door. Most of the sidewalks were still lacking a good shovel, so the going was slow and our legs got a serious workout. I tried to pretend it was beachy sand again … but I must have used up all my imagination magic this morning. The snow got progressively heavier as the run went on — I could hardly see by the end. My next running investment will have to be a pair of ski goggles! Stats: 43 minutes, 4.23 miles, 410 calories (total for today is 888), average heart rate 165, highest heart rate 179.

For lunch, I started with red cabbage. So pretty before it’s cooked!

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After chopping and steaming the red cabbage, I mixed it with the rest of last week‘s sofrito rice from the freezer.

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And of course I heated a heaping cup of yesterday’s red lentil-peanut soup. I can’t say enough about this soup! It’s so thick and filling — a perfect winter meal. I garnished it with a little piece of basil from my basil plant to make it prettier:

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Lunch from the rice’s point of view:

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For dessert, I had more sugar cookie sleigh ride tea alongside some pumpkin yogurt:

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I used 1/2 yogurt, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1/4 large banana (some mashed, some chopped), 1/2 apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger:

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I feel completely satisfied right now and nowhere in the vicinity of hunger … but I’m guessing the 888 calorie burn will catch up with me soon enough and I’ll be at it again!

Beach run

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Running on fresh snow to and from the gym this morning was almost like running on beach sand. Or that’s what I tried to tell myself. I went a little later than normal because I have today off, so I had a spoonful of peanut butter before I left to tide me over until breakfast. The gym was so packed!! I miss my little 5am crew. There was a class in the group room, so I couldn’t get an aerobics step and instead did arms balancing on the Bosu — didn’t have the same heart rate effects as a step, obviously, but at least it kept my legs and “core” engaged, blah blah. And, of course, 30 minutes on the stairs with InStyle. Stats from the HRM: 1 hour, 12 mins; 473 calories; 155 average heart rate.

Breakfast was a no-brainer. A full cup of my carrot cake crockpot oats from yesterday, half cup yogurt, drizzle of honey, sprinkles of cinnamon and coconut:

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Now I’m lounging around with a pot of sugar cookie sleigh ride tea (mmm!), and I have plans for a run with Kate at 1:00 since neither of us feels like journeying to midtown for running club on a vacation day!

P.S. After all my snacking while cooking yesterday, I finally got hungry around 9:30 last night and had Banana Fudge VitaTop with peanut butter. Here’s a cross-section:

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P.P.S. Oh She Glows is having another Honest Foods giveaway!! Enter here!

Twelve cups of healthy

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In typical Sunday fashion, I spent allll day today preparing food for the week. Even though I have tomorrow off, I kept to my Sunday routine because I love it. There’s nothing more relaxing than a day of creating and tasting food!

First, I started on this week’s batch of crockpot oats. I decided to make carrot cake oats when I found two items of questionable freshness (belonging to the roommates of course since I have a mind like a steel-trap when it comes to my own food!) in the fridge while I was cleaning it yesterday. Slimy baby carrots:

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And fermented pineapple:

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Since I’d be cooking everything, I figured any unfriendly bacteria/fermentation would burn off. I grated the carrots, crushed the pineapple, shredded an apple, and zested an entire orange:

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I also added 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger and 1 cup fresh frozen cranberries. The mix-ins:

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Because I’m out of steel-cut oats, I substituted 1/2 cup rye berries and 1/2 cup kamut (other whole grains). Other than that, I followed my crockpot oats procedure exactly, using the 5-hour low-heat method. The recipe made a little over 6 cups. I ate the “over” topped with plain yogurt icing and cinnamon:

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Next project was Red Lentil-Peanut Soup. My roommate Tara made a similar soup last weekend following a Weight Watchers recipe, and it smelled so good that I’ve been craving lentils all week. The peanut butter addition was my idea, and I must say that it was a fabulous one!

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Also during the fridge cleanup yesterday, I found these grape tomatoes in desperate need of assistance:

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I’ve never been one to ignore tomatoes in distress, so I chopped them and added them to the soup, too. And half of the chicken broth I used was my very own homemade stock that I’ve had frozen since I made it from a chicken I bought at the farmers’ market in November.

Just like with the oatmeal, the soup made a little over six cups … and I ate the “over”:

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Soooooo good! I barely had 1/2 cup of this soup, and I was instantly satisfied. Or almost satisfied, since I followed the soup with my last two pieces of peppermint salt water taffy. Then I was satisfied.