Wine Wednesday

I love having weekdays off, they seem so much more special and deserving of productivity than weekend days off. 

I currently have Wednesdays off, which is quite a nice little mid-week break, and a great time to get random errands and projects done.

My To-do list for today included:

·      Walk Leo

·      Yoga

·      Shower

·      Sand wood

·      Put up decorations

·      Pack lunch

·      Blog -- in progress :)

You may be aware that I have a slight addiction to Pinterest. There was some quote that says something to the matter of The irony of pinterest: the website where you pin inspirational pictures of workouts and ideal bodies, next to decadent, calorie laden foods.  

I could not find the exact quote I was looking for, but this one has similar sentiments.

The sentiments of the quotes are for the most part is true, but I have found it quite useful for compiling ideas I want for the wedding (including pinning possible bridesmaids dresses, food, and other general inspiration .... um I told you I was addicted already, give me a break).  I have also used it a lot for finding recipes, and some crafts. 

Today I started working on my very own Giant Jenga set (Inspired by pinterest of course)... I haven't finished my set yet so this one will act as my inspiration picture. I ran out of sand paper while sanding, so I will have to pick up on this project next time I have time (to be continued...)

After putting off my Giant Jenga making, I then set off to decorate the house.

For those of you that do not know, Jordan and I were planning to move to California so that he could more actively pursue his screen writing career, but alas we put off our plans after getting engaged and choosing to get married on the east coast (that coupled with the job market and me not being able to fine a job on the west coast.) 

So, for the time being we are living with his parents up in Gloucester, MA which is quite nice, and not paying rent is helpful for saving up some money, though the commute is a bit of a pain. We technically live in a little "cottage" off of his parents house, so we do not have room for a Christmas tree or many decorations inside of the house, so instead, I decorated the trees outside.

Alina (Jordan's Madre) had a couple of big shatter-resistant ornaments for the outside, but she sent me to get more when I made a trip to Home Depot (for my Jenga supplies...) I bought the 100 piece Martha Stewart shatter-resistant ornament set.

At the time of decorating, I started to think I made a terrible decision on the purchase! Not because they were a bad quality or anything, but simply because 100 + ornaments are really annoying to put up on your own, especially when spread across 7 outdoor trees! 

In the end, I think they came out pretty good (though I was not able to get any good pictures via my phone unfortunately.) 

After tree decorating, it was time for a late lunch of an antipasto-salad with: baby spinach, iceberg lettuce, roasted potatoes, carrots and onions, american cheese and deli ham and topped with Trader Joe's fat free balsamic vinaigrette.

Yes, it is in a mixing bowl... again, let's reserve judgement. Thanks.

Leo snugged up with me during lunch time, and then we went on a nice 3 mile wog (that's walk/ jog) along the ocean and through the woods.

After returning from the puppy wog, I felt really lazy and tired, so decided to scrap the yoga and just shower.  Furthermore, it is in fact #WineWednesday so I felt that I should honor it. We oddly are out of wine so I made due with a glass of this weird Sangria drink that Jordan's sister left behind.

 It is a very sweet wine drink with fruit juice in it. I had to water it down a lot. Nice fruity flavor, though clearly not for the wine snob. 

And now I have finished off as much as my list as I am going to today- and so- I bid you adieu!  

Supper Club and Polenta Pizza

Some of my friends and I have form a "Sanity Supper Club" in which we meet once a week/ every other week at someones house and cook meals and have an awesome girls night.

I hosted this weeks dinner: and I made Polenta Pizza and had a salad bar!

This was admittedly the first time I cooked with polenta, so for the sake of not totally screwing it up I used Trader Joe's organic pre-made polenta in a tube.

In my head the plan was to roll out the polenta like dough, but it isn't as roll-able as I thought it would be. Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out I made some individual polenta pizza by cutting the loaf of polenta into circles

Individual polenta circles for individual pizzas

I also tried mashing some up, mostly using the heal of my hand, to press them together, which worked pretty well to create a larger 'crust' 

For the large Polenta Pizza I used: 

Sauteed red onion

portobello onion

spinach

fresh roasted red peppers 

Marinara sauce, (Trader Joes) jazzed up with some yellow onion and pizza seasoning

Mozzarella Cheese 

Goat Cheese

For the individual polenta pizzas I made a huge array using various toppings such as:

the ones listed above

fresh tomato

basil leaves

mozzarella

pesto sauce

The Pizza was served with the salad bar including:

romaine

baby spinach

red peppers

green peppers

mushrooms

tomatoes

carrots

peas

corn

salsa

hummus

raisins

dried cranberries

walnuts

cage free hard boiled eggs

goat cheese

And of course we celebrated with some wine (for the antioxidants of course)

Planning ahead!

One of my tips for eating healthy on a budget is to plan ahead!

After the past few days of disorganization and lateness I definitely had the motivation to pack myself a lunch for work. Packing my breakfast and lunch ahead of time generally causes me to eat healthier and spend less money, so overall positive!

I work at Mass General from 7:30 am - 6 pm so the food I bring tends to span me from breakfast to afternoon snack.

Today I brought:

A grapefruit, which I pre-peeled, because inevitably whenever I attempt to peel a citrus fruit at my desk it never really ends well.



a salad including: baby spinach, romaine lettuce, whole wheat spaghetti, two whole carrots, some frozen corn and snap peas, pumpkin seeds, and raisins.



and some multigrain cheerios and a banana.




In my locker at work I also keep a stash of Healthy choice soup, some plain oatmeal, sometimes some granola bars, and of course A LOT of tea bags, for those times (aka every day I work) where I am not actually hungry but want to put something in my mouth.

If you are trying to eat healthier, or tighten the wallet, I definitely recommend buying your own groceries and prepping ahead of time. You are more likely to make wiser, healthier choices, and pay a fraction of what you would at a restaurant or work cafeteria!

More Holiday Treats

As I mentioned, my holidays were full of many sweet things, not just dessert, but family, friends, and warm tidings (cheesy, aye?)

Of course, all of these family affairs were punctuated by eating delicious foods!

The morning started with my mother's side of the family at my grandmothers house, and hor d'oeuvre.

The whole clan

Sister, Mom, Me

At home we began with some veggies, crackers and cheese:


One of my family's traditions is the "Christmas Pineapple" which represents good luck-- and so happens to go well with ham, and was my family's rational for what I would eat when I was a vegetarian.


Here's my Christmas dinner plate:

Including:
Salad (made by Jess and myself) with Romaine, grape tomato, cucumber, mushrooms, clementine, black olives, grapes, carrots, broccoli and red peppers.
Pineapple
Meatball (Made by daddy)
Ham (also made my dad)
piece of fresh roll (from local Jewish Bakery)


And a few candids:

grammy and dad

Jessica and Sister

By the end of the night we were all exhausted and suffering from a food coma

Jessica and Snugs ended the night with a spot of tea and a lil nap.

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

I packed my lunch for today, last night as usual. I generally am much healthier when I come with prepared food, because if I wait and allow myself to chose food at the time I am hungry, it rarely ends with a very nutritious outcome.

I had packed myself some Trader Joe's nonfat plain yogurt mixed with defrosted frozen pineapple and cherries from Trader Joes. It was a very tasty combination. I think those are my two favorite fruits. I ate that for breakfast before my first lab.

For lunch I brought my norm: salad.

This salad was looking pretty spectacular too. It included:

1 small head romaine lettuce
hot banana peppers
hummus
frozen carrots
broccoli
peas
water chestnuts
raisins
sunflower seeds
honey roasted sesame sticks

Though this sounded very good... it did not seem like it would be completely satisfying. I had left BU between labs to go to a doctors appointment and was tempted by the Chinese Lunch Specials at the Beijing Cafe. ... Say what you will, but I find their food to be very good, and their service is quick, though not always very friendly. They have recieved some bad reviews in regards to the cleanliness,... but... I still go there for better or for worse.


I decided on the General Gua's Chicken Lunch special (basically generals chicken and steamed white rice.) This was the first time I purchased meat all by myself. The last piece of meat I actually ate before becoming a vegetarian had been general's chicken, so it seemed fitting. I had actually been a vegetarian for about 2 months, but kept having the most absurd cravings for Chinese chicken, so I got an order, and then resumed my vegetarianism.


Beijing Cafe has really good, and interestingly textured vegetarian general gua's chicken, which I highly recommend, unfortunately they do not offer this on the lunch specials. They do have general gua's tofu, which is pretty good, but not quite as satisfyingly crunchy.

The lunch special was a little boring looking and lacking in the veggie department, so I decided to compromise and combine the best of both worlds by mixing my Chinese take out with my salad.

I also used a little duck sauce as a "salad dressing"

and of course, no Asian meal would be complete without a fortune cookie!



I think I have gotten this fortune like 50 times throughout my life. I hate to disappoint you little fortune cookie, but I still have never gone further west than Pennsylvanian!

Eclectic Edibles!

Based on my post a few days ago, I realized I could probably write an entire blog about salads, however, upon further consideration I realize I put so many various things in them they basically all wind up looking like a jumbled mess of vegetables and consequently all looking the same.

Nonetheless, I set off for lunch to make off a phenomenal salad.

I started by cooking the plantains J. gave me the other day, as at least one of them was looking sufficiently black and overly ripe.


I decided to fry them in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil, I got a bit distracted by doing dishes and they wound up rather burnt, but still tasty.


I also bought some bok choy recently so I steamed that.

Into the salad went:
Broccoli Slaw
Romaine Lettuce
Bok Choy
Plantain
frozen carrots (defrosted)
frozen corn
snap peas
olives
salsa
a couple raisins
pumpkin seeds
hot banana peppers
tiny bit of shredded cheddar cheese
rice vinegar

And the finished product:

and to pair with the salad I had a lovely cup of coffee, with soymilk and splenda, which admittedly was not the best combination with the salad, but it sure did hit the spot ;)

What's your favorite salad topping/ type of salad??

If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life.....

Being obsessed with food, I have often pondered the question, if I had to eat one food for the rest of my life, what would it be?

My answer: Salad. Ok, I know, it's kind of cheating since salad by definition is a combination of many foods, but I figure in order to get a nutritionally sound diet in you need something that will give you a nice combination of foods. Afterall, if someone said they would eat cheeseburgers for the rest of their life, they are still getting bread, meat, cheese, and possibly condiments and some veggies so I think salad should count.


I just love the diversity of them. You can basically throw anything together and call it salad. What I do not like (much) is those "side salads" you get at restaurants that generally include: iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion. Iceberg lettuce is just so un-fulfilling, I hate raw onion, and tomato and cucumber are just kind of meh in my opinion.

Not to toot my own horn, but I make pretty awesome salads. I think its partially due to the fact that I mix all of my foods together in general, so basically salad making is what I do with everything else, it is just more socially acceptable.

Tonight's salad began with a bed of baby spinach

and Trader Joe's broccoli slaw.


I then added in my left overs from yesterday, including the yuca, peppers, broccoli and tofu. I also had a little bit of random mashed sweet potato.


I'm not usually a big olive person, but today at the grocery store these deli style olives were tempting me, so I decided to splurge on them. The verdict: there is a reason I'm not much of an olive person, but, they're not terrible. And they were one more thing to add to the salad!


I also usually do not bother with salad dressing since I add so many wet ingredients, and then I usually just add some vinegar if it needs something else, but another impulse buy occurred today, so I threw it on too:
I also added in: kidney beans, raisins, pumpkin seeds, a bit of rice vinegar, and salsa. Mix it all together and finished product:

Sookie likes salad too!



So, What would your one food be??

Hi Ho Hi Ho off to work I go!

Yesterday, I actually had to work (7 to 6!). I surprisingly enjoyed my 4 days off despite complaining that I was going to be bored in lonely.

Work started with coffee. A lot of coffee. With skim milk and twin sugar.


Then I had some cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, and nonfat plain yogurt. I had let the frozen fruit defrost in the fridge over night with the yogurt so it was all runny and delicious, which sounds kind of gross- but its tasty I swear.

Lunch was a big old salad with mixed greens, frozen green beans, frozen mixed "ranchero" veggies, a tomato, raisins, sunflower seeds, and a packet of kraft light done right!
I love using frozen veggies in salads, one of my old roommates got me into it. It lets you have a much wider array of veggies in your salads since you can keep frozen vegetables for so much longer.

I was re-certified in CPR and the AED yesterday at work, but please, no one crash on me anyway!

After work, I was hungry! Again, I haven't been allowing myself to really go grocery shopping since I am trying to move out- so I decided to go to Subway. I usually do NOT eat out this much!

But I love Subway. I keep forgetting to take pictures....
I had a 6" on honey oat with every veggie except onions. I hate raw onions. Mostly because I have a bit of a tooth brushing compulsion and I can always taste the onion in my mouth for about ten days after I eat them. Ironically, for the condiment, I get the sweet onion sauce.


The rest of the evening will be in the post to come....