April 2009

SCBR Week 10/ Day 5 Food/Exercise Journal

by Diana on April 30, 2009

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

I had a cup of Fresh Market Spring Blend in one of my fave mugs – the “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail mug” I featured awhile back.

I had to wake up and get ready extra early to drop my car off at the shop. My check engine light came on a couple days ago and I hear it’s not good to mess with that.

10:30 am – Strawberry/Banana Oats – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I did a play on yesterday’s Strawberries N Cream oats and did Strawberry Banana – one of my fave fruit combo flavors of all time! I basically did the same combo as yesterday, but with bananas, too.

All stirred up!

1:30 pm -Turkey Sandwich + Cheetos – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Today I brought a turkey sandwich on Great Harvest Dakota bread. The sandwich had shaved turkey breast, muenster cheese, organic baby spinach, and TJ’s Chipotle hummus, which gave the sandwich a nice, smoky, slightly-spicy flavor. I had my lunch with cheetos…so bad for you, but so good! I couldn’t help myself.

I found out today is National Oatmeal Cookie day over a phone conference and I had to run out and buy some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies to share with a couple co-workers, plus one for me and one for hubby.

I had to label one for a co-worker who was on hours and hours of conference calls.

Hubby picked me up from work today and we drove about 30 minutes to the car place…I feel like I’m totally being taken advantage of there since I don’t know how to tell if the work they’re suggesting is necessary or not. The last two times I’ve been there, the work they did was well over $500 and who can afford that!? Luckily, hubby is helping me out because this car work is expensive!! When they gave me the quote this morning, I was so frustrated I thought I’d cry. I ended up sucking it up and luckily, I had already found a coupon online that saved me about $150 dollars…hey, better than full price, right?

8:30 pm – Tomato Chicken Fresh Pasta – Full (7)

I got a bag of fresh pasta a couple days ago. Apparently the stuff lasts a few days in the fridge…who knew? I got Garlic Rosemary linguine from Pasta + Provisions …love this place!

I also got some Rosemary Foccacia, which I promptly froze – this stuff reheats like a dream in the oven…just a drizzle of olive oil and pop it in the oven at roughly 350 for 10-ish minutes…done and done.

I decided for dinner to do the sauce simple since the pasta itself seemed so flavorful.

I just did some sauteed veggies in TJ’s red sauce.

The pasta came out good. It was too good…I didn’t want to stop eating it and definitely overate. I’ve been doing that a lot lately it seems…maybe you’ve noticed I’ve hit 7 (full) on the hunger scale a lot lately…I need to work on that. I was hoping to finish the last 2 weeks of SCBR strong.

Anywho, I topped the pasta with some fresh basil and parmesan cheese…mmm…

Yummy foccacia. Whoever said carbs were bad was crazy!

Hubby and I enjoyed dinner over The Millionaire Matchmaker , which I’m still watching. What? It’s a marathon!

Did any one else celebrate National Oatmeal Cookie Day today?

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, SCBR

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SCBR Week 10/ Day 4 Food/Exercise Journal

by Diana on April 29, 2009

in Breakfast,Dinner,Lunch,Restaurant,SCBR

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

Another day, another welcoming cup of coffee in the AM. I had FM Spring Blend with more soy creamer…I’m really loving this stuff!

9:30 am – Strawberries N Cream Oats + Mas Coffee – Content (5)

When I was a little girl, I used to love getting those fruit flavored Quaker Oatmeal pouches. My sister and I would fight over the good flavors, my favorite being strawberries and cream. We got some strawberries in yesterday’s organic produce delivery, so I decided to try to re-create the flavor from scratch.

Pre-cooking:

1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp flaxseed
1/2 cup water

Microwave 90 seconds

Post-cooking:

About 5 strawberries, sliced, on top
A couple tbsp of 2 % milk, stirred din
About 1 tsp raw sugar, stirred in

I heat the strawberries through, I stirred everything up. I really loved this combo…I’m definitely having it again soon! Maybe tomorrow!

I also got some more coffee – a small cup of Caramel something. Forgot the name. Sorry!

11:30 am – Foodies Do Italian – Full (7)

My foodie friend is leaving us for awhile to travel for work and is starting a new project. I decided to take her out for lunch for a short goodbye. We started our meal with some warm bread and a bean mixture.

We each had a cup of the soup of the day – pasta fagiole. So good!

We couldn’t but help notice the “drama” going on outside. The restaurant was near the Bank of America building and BOA was very much in the news today. There were news crews and cameras everywhere!

My foodie friend and I split the chicken paillard – flattened, sauteed chicken topped with baby spinach, applewood smoked bacon, cherry tomatoes in a BV dressing.

It was very good!

What it’s like to eat with foodies. Haha. My friend has a lovely DSLR, too!

We made sure to save room for dessert – tiramisu! Yum!

4:30 pm – Clif Kids ZBar – Content (5)

I had a Clif ZBar in Honey Graham for a snack.

It’s funny how much this flavor reminds me of oatmeal raisin cookies…sans raisins, of course.

7:30 pm – Trivia Night + Bar Food – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I went to a local bar with some co-workers for Trivia Night.

I like the lofty feel of this particular bar with the exposed brick walls.

I had a Stella to drink.

It was beers all around for us.

The bar was featuring 1/2 off apps…

…so we ordered a little bit of this and that.

Sliders

Chicken fingers (2 baskets)

Macaroni Cheese Bites

Chicken Quesadillas

My plate – a little bit of everything. I also had another slider and a couple fried pickles.

As for Trivia Night….we won! No thanks to me, however…I stink at trivia! The only 2 questions I answered we didn’t use (but they were both right!).

I didn’t end up getting home until 11:15pm…phew…another long day. I’ve got another post to work on for another blog, plus checking in on PInk at the Plaza, which will be Saturday. They say it’s going to rain…I really hope it doesn’t! Positive thoughts, right? I’m trying to have positive thoughts…

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Restaurant, SCBR

{ 4 comments }

SCBR Week 10/ Day 3 Food/Exercise Journal

by Diana on April 29, 2009

in Breakfast,Dinner,Lunch,SCBR,Snack

It’s almost midnight and I’ve spent most of the night finalizing details on my craft show, Pink at the Plaza (for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer). The event is this Saturday and I’m feeling pressed for time, so I can only hope that I’ve done enough. Phew! Craft show planning is hard work! Good thing I have an awesome counterpart (the ops manager at the Walk) to help! Since it’s so late, I’m going to try to keep this short.

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5)

This morning I had some Bolivian coffee from TJ’s with soy creamer and sugar…so simple, but so good.

10:00 am – SBucks and Oatmeal – Content (5)

I was needing some extra caffeine today, so I had my Monday Starbucks Day starbucks on Tuesday. Close enough, right? I had the usual: Grande Vanilla Soy Latte.

I knew we were getting a fresh delivery of produce this morning so I didn’t get many oatmeal mixins this weekend. Thusly, breakfast was a simple maple syrup and brown sugar blend with flaxseed and sliced almonds. I made this from scratch, not from the pouch, though.

11:30 am – Chicken Noodle Soup – Content (5)

I knew Just Fresh had lentil soup so I was excited to get some 1. to fulfill one of my nut, seed, bean portions of the day and 2. to help me stay warm in the frigid office. I learned today, however, that they’ve discontinued the soup! Waaaah! So, I got chicken noodle instead. It was pretty good. I tore the roll into bite sized pieces to dip into the soup broth.

2:00 pm – Clif Energy Bar in Carrot Cake – Content (5)

Since we didn’t have bread this morning, I couldn’t bring a sandwich. Since we didn’t have produce, I couldn’t bring a salad either. So, I tried to do the best I could with what I had without having to buy too much new food.

I had this Clif Energy bar in Carrot Cake as one of my snacks. I was glad to eat something full of vitamins since I didn’t have any fruits or veggies to eat to get them. The bar was pretty good…nice texture and decent flavor. I’m so-so on the white chocolate pieces. Not sure it needed that extra sweetness.

3:00 pm – Babybel and Kashi Crackers – Content (5)

I had some babybel cheese in cheddar later in the day…

…along with some Kashi crackers in Original 7 Grain.

4:30 pm – Yogurt Parfait – Content (5)

I had a yogurt parfait late in the day – Wallaby organic yogurt in Banana Vanilla with some Fresh Market Cherry Vanilla granola. I was glad to eat the yogurt today b/c today was its expiration! I don’t like to mess with yogurt and expirations.

6:00 pm – Zumba! – Happy

I was feeling really blah at work today. I was still feeling unmotivated after work. I almost didn’t go to Zumba. I didn’t really feel like it. But, I told myself, go to zumba…you’ll feel better afterwards. And, you know what? I went…and I did feel better afterwards! I felt like a million bucks and I’m so happy I went!

8:30 pm – Pizza and a Movie – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

Hubby suggested pizza for dinner, while I suggested fresh pasta-dinner. Hubby won and we’ll have pasta tomorrow. Since I didn’t have any fruits or veggies all day, I was really looking forward to digging into our produce delivery.

I made a gigantic salad for hubby and myself with our organic produce delivery items: grape tomatoes, baby spinach, and local romaine lettuce. I also added a wee bit of fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and my fave dressing: Drew’s Rosemary Balsamic.

I started with a slice of pepperoni for dinner.

Hubby enjoyed his pizza, as always.

I had a second slice of pizza – cheese this time. Then a third piece, which I ate about 2/3 of saving a mini-slice for hubby. Hubby got the smaller than normal pizza so we ended up eating more slices. I was just glad to have that big salad to start the meal…so good to finally get some veggies for the day!

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, SCBR, Snack

{ 3 comments }

SCBR Week 10/ Day 2 Food/Exercise Journal

by Diana on April 27, 2009

in Breakfast,Dessert,Dinner,Lunch,SCBR

7:30 am – Coffee + AB Toast – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I brewed some Bolivian Blend coffee for the AM brew and had my yummy soy creamer with it.

I also had some Almond Butter toast. The cheese I was trying so hard to finish is gone and I finished the rest of the bread today. The raggedy piece in the back is a remnant leftover from the other night when my stomach was feeling a bit upset and I wanted something bland, like plain bread, to help settle it. I also toasted up one of the loaf ends. Both were lightly spread with some Barney Butter . This is becoming one of my go-to breakfasts when I’m pressed for time in the AM.

I wasn’t even craving Sbucks today, so I just skipped it. Must be the soy creamer?

1:30 pm – Veggie Soup + Roll – Content (5)

I spent a long 1.5 hours today in the coldest conference room I’ve ever been in! I was so freezing cold, I put my laptop on my lap to try to use the heat to stay warm. I’m totally bringing a blanket next week…for real!

To help defrost, I got some Garden Veggie Soup from Just Fresh , which I had with a roll. For a veggie soup, it sure didn’t have many vegetables, but it did help warm me up.

I just had more water with lunch.

3:00 pm – Turkey Sandwich – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

I brought a sandwich with me to work today. I wanted to eat it earlier in the day, but I was on a conference call from 2-3 and was doing most of the talking. I ended up eating my sad little sandwich after my meeting. The sandwich today was a bit sad because I didn’t have anything to put on it besides turkey and cheese! At least the Great Harvest bread was awesome as usual.

5:00 pm – Flamingo Martini – Content (5)

My team had a team building event after work today and we all went out for drinks after hours. We got to enjoy the beautiful weather from the restaurant’s patio. It felt amazing outside. I enjoyed a Flamingo martini – 10 cane rum (or something), pineapple juice, and grenadine (and maybe another ingredient I’m forgetting). Nice and fruity!

9:00 pm – Shrimp Pasta – First Signs of Feeling Full (6)

With SCBR wrapping up in just a couple short weeks, I’m hoping to really buckle down on my eating habits (since I’ve been splurging a lot lately).

I decided to make up a shrimp + pasta dish using pretty Papparedelle pasta, wine, peas, artichoke hearts, pasta water, and of course shrimp.

Dinner was pretty good and definitely a nice light meal for a change of pace. I topped the pasta with some parmesan-reggiano cheese.

I had a little more of the wine I used to cook dinner along with my meal. I like how drinking the wine you cooked with a dish really brings out the flavors.

I did save room for a little dessert – Chocolate Almond Milk. I hope this counts towards my nuts, seeds, beans, or soy intake for the day since I’m supposed to get at least one serving and I think I only had about 1 tbsp of almond butter in the AM.

I had a small cup – about 1/2 – 3/4 cup. It was quite yummy, but I think I like Chocolate Soy Milk better.

Which do you prefer: Soy Milk, Almond Milk, or Regular Milk?

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, SCBR

{ 5 comments }

SCBR Week 10/ Day 1 Food/Exercise Journal

April 26, 2009

9:30 am – Coffee + Cheese Toast – Content (5) We had a little bit of cheese and a few more slices of bread left by this morning – both on the verge of spoiling, so I did a repeat…

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SCBR Week 10 Changes

April 26, 2009

Wow, I can’t believe that I’m almost through my Small Changes, Big Results program! It seems like I just started yesterday, but I guess I have been doing it for awhile and I have learned quite a bit through the…

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SCBR Week 9/ Day 7 Food/Exercise Journal

April 26, 2009

My secret project kept me up till the wee hours of the morning…it is both extremely enjoyable and extremely frustrating to work on this project all at the same time. I think I’ve almost pulled my hair out at least…

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SCBR Week 9/ Day 6 Food/Exercise Journal

April 25, 2009

7:30 am – Coffee – Content (5) I stayed up a bit late last night hanging with my friends and blogging, but managed to get going pretty well this morning. Today started with a mug of TJ’s Bolivian Fair Trade…