Taco day

After last nights debacle I really want to get a good workout in tonight. Going to try and run 3 miles before hot yoga. Well see if it happens.

I am missing Pb and fluff lately. I gave up pb for lent and I an actually out of fluff. So this morning I made toast with sunflower butter and banana.

-2 slices sprouted soy crunch bread
-tbsp SFB
-banana

This was delicious and hit the spot.

Morning snack was a piece of cold and doughy Philly soft pretzel. .

Lunch was provided by work today. It was a challenge because it’s Friday and I can’t eat meat… And also taco day. Luckily they had veggies and beans. My plates:

-1 flour tortilla
-refried beans
-tomato
-lettuce
-black olives
-pickled jalapeño
-salsa
-guacamole
-little bit of cheese

I also had some chips on the side.

And a diet snapple.

For dessert I had a little coconut chocolate bite thing and a cookie.

The cookies were deliciously soft and under done. Love.

I tried to get back on track in the afternoon but not after pcketing 2 cookies for tonight haha. Cup o’ grapes.

Low fat chocolate chunk granola bar.

Fitness: I hadn’t been to hot yoga in a few weeks and I got another sweet living social deal for the studio near my house so tonight seemed like a good time to return. I was slated to run 2 miles but since I have rescheduled my week a little bit I rushed over to try and get 3 miles in before class. This didnt really work. I only had time for 2. I really pushed it though! One was 8:05 an the next was 8:32. I hurried and went in just in time for class. I really appreciate hot yoga as a great sweaty stretch session during my half marathon training.

Dinner was at home.

Wile I made my salad, I snack on some tribe hummus and everything bagel pretzels. The Tribe Origins is just as creamy and delicious as sabra. Excited other brands are stepping it up!

Dinner…

-greens
-blue cheese
-grape tomatoes
-green beans (uncooked for crunch)
-baby bella mushrooms that I stir fried for a bit
-some of my roommates RF cilantro dressing
-couple scoops of everything bagel pretzels on the side

The salad was good. I made it without eating meat on Friday and did not resort to pizza!

For dessert I had one of the cookies I hoarded from lunch. Still so soft and amazing!

Faux spaghetti

Since I got in to work so early yesterday because no one is on the road these days, I let myself sleep and extra half hour. I still made it in on time. Love the lack of traffic!

I really wanted oats for breakfast but I had no banana to whip in to make them creamy so I did a 180 and toasted a pumpkin vita top ad made grits instead.

Morning snack was this reserved pomegranate greek yogurt from TJ’s. This was so good! 110 calories, thick and creamy. definitely need to buy again.

For lunch I had a Smart Ones Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach.

This was the first time I’ve ever had this and it was amazing! lots of cheesy sauce, lots of spinach, creamy ricotta. I kicked it up with a little salt and crushed red pepper. My only qualm was the calories were a little low (about 260) could have used some protein in there. I added this side of mini airplane pretzels I had in my desk (50 cals) to bulk it up.

At lunch I went out and got a pedicure since no one was around. She rubbed my shins a lot which felt awesome and then rubbed smooth, hot, oiled up stones on my legs which felt great. of course I later found that a few toes were ruined either by my spin shoes or just my regular shoes (reason #100973 why you should live in a climate where you can always wear flops).

(secret photo… You’re welcome)

Afternoon snack was some gingersnappsh tea and 18 cocoa roasted almonds.. I weighed them out they were about 2/3 of an oz so between 100-150 calories. Missed getting a photo because I was too busy weighing. Oops.

Vita Preworkout

Fitness: I had a hard time deciding what workout I wanted to do today. I decided on rowing class since I haven’t been in a while but right before I left I realized that because of the holiday i risked it being dead and just being a class of me and the instructor. In a quick turn of events, I decided to take a spin class. However when I got there no instructor showed up so I ended up teaching it (been happening often to me i guess). Even though I wasn’t in the teaching mind set I got into it and the class flew by. I love getting paid to do something I would be doing anyway!

Special dinner… I have been dying to try spaghetti squash recently so I checked at the Acme by my gym and they had it! A big one! I snacked on a tbsp TJ’s cilantro jalapeño hummus and butter snaps while making.

1. I started by halving the squash. This was tough it took a lot of muscle to cut through the uncooked skin.

2. Put half in a bowl and microwaved for 12 minutes until it was soft.
3. Scooped out top seeds and strands and threw away.
4. Using a fork scooped out the innards. This is when it started looking like spaghetti.

5. Top with sauce and eat.

I decided to make my own sauce flavor today… Not sure why. I used crushed tomatoes, and added crushed red, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, mrs dash Italian medley, oregano, and capers withe the juice. It turned out spicy and caper-y. I loved it.

I paired my meal with 5 perdue turkey meatballs that I heated in the oven while the squash was using the microwave (what I normally would have used).

The squash was an awesome spaghetti substitute. It was very filling, good texture… I will definitely make again!

I had the last of a salad bag with a tbsp of the hummus and some balsamic vinegar for some green and as another way to eat more hummus.

So nice to have off tomorrow! I mustered up energy to sweep my room but not enough to put everything away but I have a load of laundry in. Now I’m watching Nova play Temple in my sweats. Gonna go to bed early because I have big plans of gym and pampering tomorrow. :)

Dessert… I cant stop eating dessert these days! It’s getting out of hand! I broke into my gift from my brother Shawn… 72 chocolate covered cherries. It was a thoughtful gift remembering my childhood love for these but I need to get them out of the house so I don’t wake up and they are all gone one day and I’ve eaten 4,000 calories of chocolate and cherries. Anyway I had one and it was deliciously goupy but not sweet. Not as good as I remember. I think I might prefer the cream kind now because of my love of icing. I did enjoy it though, brought me back.

Alright, let’s go nova!

Back home to the snow

Well I’m back in Philly. I was greeted by lots of snow :(.

Similar to this but not quite as bad (pic from last terrible winter storm). Actually i am being dramatic and thats e only snowy pic i have on hand :) this storm was nowhere near as bad but I hate snow unless I don’t have to be anywhere until it melts or I’m skiing.

Dan and I arrived at the Philly airport only 10 mins late and had to wait to get off for about 30 mins. Unpleasant but could have been worse. In an event of quick thinking we had the cab driver drop Dan at 30th st station to train it home and then drop me in snowy Manayunk. I was not happy to see the very icy streets and the fully snow covered steps leading to my house. I dropped my stuff off and was determined to get rid of the snow so i didn’t have to deal with it before work in the morning. I put on my rain boots, found the snow shovel and salt and hit the streets.

Lucky for me the snow was really powdery and did not take too lng to get off the stairs and create a path in front of my house. I then sprinkled salt to make sure there were no slippery patches.

The best part of my night was when I went to my car and there was NO SNOW on it!! God smiled upon me and said you are my most wondrous creation. Also the snow around the tires was minimal and light and fluffy so I am pretty sure I should be fine getting out. Just to be safe a shoveled a bit of it away.

When I was finished shoveling I made dinner with what I had in the house.

Spinach artichoke chicken lean pocket covered in Frank’s Red Hot and a mixed green salad with the last of my sabra Greek olive hummus and some balsamic vinegar.

I got the idea for hummus and balsamic from Gina and it was really good. Since i usually crave hummus and will eat it as a really unnecessary appetizer to my dinners, this is a great way for me to get my hummus fix without inhaling to s of pretzels and other random calories I don’t need.

Four loco… :/

Saturday was Dan’s company Christmas party. We hung out at his house and watched tv in the morning.

Warning the food pics are few since i was trying not to be embarrassing to Dan in front of roommates or coworkers.

When i woke upI was starving and we split a pumpkin granola bar before we decided what we were going to eat. Not pictured but it’s the natures path one I’ve had in the past. I also had some of a Pb and jelly sandwich (natural, flax pb on white whole wheat bread and Crofters) that Dan made. I didn’t get to snap a photo tho. Oops.

For lunch we ordered from a Lebanese place near Dan’s house- forget the name. History: I have a strange relationship with falafel. I have never had falafel I liked. Every time I get it it’s so dry. I always think it sounds delicious and am disappointed. I decided to try it again… And this was the first falafel I have ever liked! In fact, I loved it! It was so good. Picture taken quickly under cover because Dan’s room ate was there.

-falafel
-spicy sauce.. Yogurt sauce maybe?
-pickled cabbage
-lettuce
-tomato
-on a delicious doughy pita

Sooo good! On the side we split tabouleh and hummus. I really liked the tabouleh and the humus was very creamy but lacked something.. I think it was a little bland.

After lunch we hit the road. Dan’s party was in New Jersey or Yersey, might be a soft j. We arrived at the Hilton at about 3. (Fitness:) And checked in and went right down to the gym. I knew I would be eating a lot so I was determined to move a little bit. I did a half hour on the elliptical. I meant for this to be a leisurely work out, it was a little harder then anticipated but definitely felt better about my fried choice for lunch.

Then we showered and leisurely got ready for the party. It was a nice afternoon. I brought my camera but decided not to be the girl taking pictures of food. I apparently also decided to not be the girl taking pics at all. So we never even got pics together. Terrible pic… Here I am getting ready… Yes I decided to keep the big-ish dress I liked it too much to send it back. It was a good choice.

The night began with four loco. Yeah… It’s exactly as it sounds. I had a little of the grape. Dan had his own full can and some of another haha. Nice work. The grape was much better then the watermelon one I tried while we were in CA. It tasted exactly like grape soda which I don’t particularly like but it. Was better then tasting like.. Gross-ness

The food at the party was really good. Like I said I refrained from stalking the food.

They had cocktail hour and the best hor devour was a beef Wellington puffy thing. Nmh salty and buttery pastry. The dinner had some great mashed potatoes and tortellini among other things.

The most memorable was the dessert ice cream dish they were serving. Best vanilla ice cream I have ever tasted. Hands down. It tasted like icing. It was topped with pan fried mangos in brown sugar, butter, and tequila. Weird combination but it was soooooo good!!! I want to recreate it someday but I don’t think I will ever find ice cream that good again. Then and there, I decided I would rather have ice cream over any type of pastry or cake any day.

We drank a bunch during the night. After the bit of four loco, i had a raspberry stoli vodka and club and then decided to switch to beer. The beer selection was minimal so i went with corona and stuck it out for the long haul. Dan did many soco shots with coworkers and also decided sipping chivas on the rocks was a good move. You’ll see in the next post how that worked out for him haha.

You’re free, lunch! You’re freeeee!

Fitness: woke up at 5:10 this morning and went to cycling class. The class was not the best workout but there were some challenging parts and I felt good from it.

When I got to work I was really craving eggs but decided to stick to the oats I brought from home. Maybe I’ll get some eggs tomorrow.

Another batch of holiday oats. Tried to make these blue but they looked green.

-1/4 c steel cut
-1/4 c multi grain
-1/2 banana
-sweet n low packet
-blue cake sugar crystal things
-1/2 tbsp of naturally nutty honey cinnamon peanut butter
-handful frozen pom

Snacked on this banana:

For lunch the office was having free pizza (post title a play on a dominoes commercial). Who isn’t excited by free food. I had a skier of veggie and a slice of mushroom-topped with goya hot sauce. I ate it with a knife and fork to eat slower. I wish there was salad.

I had a few mints I had thrown in my bag to get the pizza taste out of my mouth.

Then when work was done I made my way to the bus. Since I’ve never written about it, a couple things about my trips to NY. I go to NY to visit my friend, Dan sometimes referred to as Daniel (it’s the spanish, pronounced Danielle).

1. I have to race out of work to make the 5:30 train near my house. I like to walk to it (takes about 10 mins) but most times I have to drive right there. Annoying be ause when I return on Sunday I either have to get my car and fight for parking. Which is terrible near my house. Or I completely forget about it until I go to work Monday morning and make Lauren drive me there haha.
2. I catch the 6:30pm bolt or megabus depending on what’s cheaper when I buy my bundle (I buy as many tux as far in advance as I can because that’s the best way to get them for cheap). The bus has wifi and plugs and is a great deal. It can be as little as $6 round trip (my pr haha) or as much as $26 (still a good deal).
3. Depending on traffic and the bus being on time (it’s often late- especially mega), I get into NY around 8:30
4. Dan usually meets me at a bar near the stop and I drink a shock top draft (one of my absolute favorite beers) and go on from there.

And I was kidding Dan is my boyfriend. Anyone who knows me probably thought “typical” when I didn’t say it. Gotcha.

Anyway, today I got to walk to the train. Yay. En route I realized I had no cash. Sucks. Lucky for me Manayunk has a bar on vey corner so I was able to get cash. Yay. And run to the train to make it. Sucks. Got Dunkin donuts latte light (120 skim milk cals). Yay.

Was unprepared for the bitter cold and froze waiting outside for the bus. Sucks. Now I’m en route and blogging. Yay. The person next to me is going to think I’m weird when I take pics of the dinner I packed… I’m so cool.

-everything bagel thin I toasted this morn(not so tasty now, but better then not toasted at all)
-sabra Greek olive hummus
-spinach
-tomato
-ham

Side of Herr’s whole grain pretzels. I love these. They have flax seed, omega 3s, more fiber and protein the normal pretzel sticks, and taste like delicious rye.