Fully Stocked

I love a full fridge. Lots of food = lots of fun options. 

We are having friends over for dinner tonight, so i decided to keep lunch on the light side. I wanted to try the Annie's Honey Bunnies cereal that we bought at the grocery store this morning, so I mixed 1/2 cup of the Honey Bunnies with 1 cup of Stonyfield plain yogurt, sliced watermelon and strawberries. 

I washed down lunch with 2 Ultimate Maltballs. 

My to do list is about half complete! I only have a couple of hours to finish it before our friends arrive. I better boogie! 

Happy Day Away (from the Office)

After breakfast, I took a walk to the supermarket for a much-needed grocery shopping. I tried to limit the amount of stuff that I purchased because (1) we are trying to save some dinero; (2) I had to carry all of it back to my apartment, which is about a 10-minute walk. A 10-minute walk is a piece of cake when you are running out for a bottle of wine (we do this often), but when you have 5 heavy bags and a 24-pack of TP, it's awkward and not at all enjoyable. Somehow, I made it home in one piece... obviously, sweating and out of breath.

In this week's cart...

• Lettuce
• Red onion
• Yellow onion
• Lime
• Larabars
• Green pepper
• Asparagus
  
• Organic milk
• Dates
• Scallops
• Peaches
• Chicken sausage
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Gruyere cheese
• Cannellini beans
• Stonyfield yogurt 
• Strawberries
• Cantaloupe 
• Corn
• Soda water
• Buffalo Kettle chips
• Bananas 
• Van's Organic Waffles
• Thomas English Muffins
• Thomas Grillers
• Canned tuna
• Capers 
• Nature's Choice blueberry multigrain cereal bars 

After putting away the groceries, it was time for a mid-morning snack. I was planning a late morning running, so a small bite to eat was a good idea. I had an iced coffee with 1/2 of a toasted English muffin with strawberry-rhubarb jam. 

On my run, I got to test out my new running sneakers. I ended up buying another pair of Nikes from Marathon Sports yesterday. I was never a fan of Nike's running shoes-- I was always a Saucony gal-- I've now been converted. Nikes are surprisingly great running shoes... and the pair that I purchased have the capacity to easily work with all of the cool Nike running gadgets. I have my eye on the Nike Sportband. I dropped a couple of (not-so-subtle) hints to Mal about it for my birthday next week! :)

Despite the brand-spanking new running shoes, my run today wasn't very energetic. (I blame last night's margaritas and beers!) My legs weighed a million pounds, and I just couldn't keep them moving. My run turned into more of a run-walk. I stopped and walked probably 4 or 5 times over the course of an hour. 

After running/walking and a shower, it was time for lunch! Today's lunch was canned tuna mixed with my favorite Vermont relish, capers, and lime juice on a bed of lettuce. The lime juice gave the tuna a nice, tangy flavor to it-- very summery! 

Also with lunch, I had a Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar. When I bought this bar this morning, I was drooling over the ingredients, but when I actually tasted it, I wasn't impressed. It didn't have nearly as much flavor as the other Larabar varieties... I dunno, maybe I just have my favorites. 

Today is flying by! I guess that's what happens when you're not chained to a desk and bogged down with endless work. I'm so happy I decided to have a day to myself! :)

Banana-Blueberry Smoothie and Groceries

Quick post before Mal's parent's get here... 

I found a recipe to cook tonight: Rachel Ray's Tomato, Basil and Cheese Baked Pasta. It sounds simple enough to make, and the ingredients sound amazing all together! Let's hope it turns out well! 

Lunch this afternoon was a banana-blueberry smoothie and a 1/2 of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on very stale Ezekiel bread. (I ate the sandwich on my way to go grocery shopping, so I didn't snap a photo. Sorry.) 

Banana-Blueberry Smoothie

Makes 2 

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

6 oz yogurt (I used Wallaby raspberry)

1/4 cup milk

3 cups ice cubes

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in blender.

2. Blend well. 

3. Enjoy!

Here's my smoothie from above (with Mal's knee in the background-- he was making a grocery list.) 

A shot of the ingredients (minus the milk and ice)...

Grocery Shopping: May 31 

• Lettuce
• Bananas
• Onions
• Garlic
• Cucumber
• Mango
• Tomatoes
• Green pepper
• Blackberries
• Celery
• French bread
• BBQ kettle chips
• Crushed canned tomatoes 
• Dr. Praeger's veggie burgers (regular and tex mex)
• Pasta shells
• Newman's Fig Newmans
• Fat free ricotta cheese
• Nature's Promise wheat sub rolls
• Yogurt (Dannon, Brown Cow, and Stoneyfield)
• Fage
• Classico basil pesto sauce 

Ok, time to get cookin'! I'll be back later to report on how dinner went for the future in-laws! Wish me luck! :)

Trader Joe's Grocery Shopping

Shopping at Trader Joe's is quite the treat for us! Unfortunately (and sadly), we don't have a TJ's near our apartment. There are a couple of TJ's on my commute home from work, but lugging groceries on the subway for an hour is not a good time for me! On our way back from our hometown, we stopped at a suburban TJ's for a quick shopping. Here's what we picked up...

• TJ's waffles
• Dr. Praeger's Veggie Burgers (soooooo delicious!)
• TJ's Turkey Meatballs
• Walnuts
• Bananas
• Fage
• Strawberries
• Medjool dates (finally found them!) 

• TJ's Sesame bagels
• Broccoli florets
• Green peppers
• Mushrooms
• Larabar (I'm finally trying one! I've been missing out, huh?)
• Brown sugar
• TJ's pita chips
• Dried cranberries
• Kiwis
• TJ's Gyoza Dipping Sauce

Groceries all together... 

This is kind of a small shopping for us, but with the cost of food so high, we are trying to do with a little less. 

Catching Up

Sorry that I have been MIA all day. I had a morning meeting, followed by a long office lunch, then played catch-up all afternoon, so I wasn't able to fit in a mid-day post.

After my commute home, I was still jazzed from the day and had a ton of energy! I already exercised this morning, but decided to go for a quick run on the treadmill. I was in the mood for running and upbeat music! I did a quick 4 miles on the treadmill. It felt great!

While I was running, Mal, being the wonderful guy that he is, offered to pick up some groceries for us. He asked me what I wanted him to buy, so I suggested a few things, but told him to just "surprise" me. He came back from shopping with 2 bags fulls of nutritious food... nothing junky! Love him! I think that my healthy eating habits are finally starting to rub-off on him!

Dinner tonight was stuffed grape leaves with a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and black beans.


Stuffed grape leaves up close... yum! Mal and I are going to try to make these from scratch some day soon.


All together...


Dessert was a slice of Pumpkin Maple Carob Chip Bread. I'm glad that I put sooooo many carob chips in this batch. Delicious!


Here's a shot of Mal's grocery shopping. He bought all of my favorites; he's the best!


I didn't take any photos during our office lunch today. We were "talking shop" and there just wasn't an appropriate time to take photos and explain my blog. Our group ended up splitting a bunch of different dishes, so I tried a little of everything. Lunch was at my favorite Thai restaurant ever: The Brown Sugar Cafe. Everything on the menu is wonderful! Mal and I used to go here all the time when he was working on his Master's at BU (Boston University) right down the street. If you live in Boston (or near Boston), you need to try Brown Sugar!

How is it ONLY 3:00?

The insanity at work has finally ceased... well, at least for today. I have a few things to finish up before I leave, but nothing that absolutely has to be done, which is a relief, especially with the way this week has been!

I worked through lunch again today, but I planned to get out of the office later in the afternoon. Lunch (at my desk) was a ham and swiss cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread with cucumbers slices. I haven't eaten a sandwich with cucumbers inside since summertime! (How sad!) It was a nice change from the usual H&S sandwich.


Ariel view with Refresh mint tea...


Also included in my lunch: Fage Greek yogurt with canned pumpkin and chocolate chips... mixed with a 1/2 packet of Stevia.


After finishing some "urgent" tasks, I finally left the office to run a couple of errands. My first stop was the grocery store to pick up a few items for tonight's dinner (photo below). I also stopped by the ATM for dinero and the post office for stamps. My errands took no time at all, so I decided to pop into JP Licks for a soy misto. I ordered my misto and still had some time to kill, so I decided to relax in one of the comfy chairs at JP Licks and read Eat, Pray, Love until it was time to go back to the office. It was so nice sitting, reading, and de-stressing. Man, I really need it!


Here's my Baggu bag getting some use...

At the grocery store, I purchased some scallions, wheat germ, reduced-sodium soy sauce, ground ginger, and rice milk.

Big Shopping

We finally went grocery shopping, and it was amazing! We bought sooooo much food... we were out of ev-ery-thing! 

In this week's cart:

• Grape tomatoes
• Cashews
• Amy's Kitchen chili
• Instant plain oatmeal
• Kashi waffles
• Oat bran
• Turning Leaf Chardonay 
• Liquid egg whites
• Whole wheat flour
• Soda water
• Spring Tree sugar-free maple syrup
• Organic non-fat milk
• Stacy's pita chips
• Ground turkey
• Nature's Promise chocolate chip cookies
• Simply Asia garlic noodles
• Black beans
• Healthy Valley lentil soup
• Organic tomato & basil pasta sauce
• Pitted dates
• Polaner fruit spread 
• Tomato 
• Bananas
• Red pepper
• Oranges
• Blood orange
• Kiwi
• Summer squash 
• Diced tomatoes 
• Fage
• Ezekel bread
• Pizza dough
• Soft tacos
• Taco seasoning
• Taco cheese
• Deli ham
• Deli swiss 

We bought lots of taco ingredients because we are having friends over for dinner tonight, and what better Friday evening food than homemade tacos! Can't wait! (I really get so excited for food!)

Grocery Challenge: Week of Feburary 24

So, Mal and I have created a "grocery challenge" for ourselves. We're feeling a little broke this week-- mainly because we have been going out a lot and spending too much money-- so we decided to not go grocery shopping this week and see what we can do with what is already in our fridge, freezer, and cupboards. I can't make it an entire week without fresh produce, so I did a small shopping on my lunch break to get some of the "necessities." FYI-- you may see some strange and interesting meals and food combinations this week!

Grocery List: February 19

This week's cart:

• Organic spinach
• Green pepper
• Jalapeno pepper
• Mango
• Bananas
• Walnuts
• Shrimp
• Cantaloupe 
• Black beans
• Annie's Mac & Cheese
• Fage greek yogurt
• Canned pumpkin
• Limes
• Red onion
• Organic non-fat milk
• Tomato
• Organic half & half

Yoga Bread Lunch

On our ride home, we stopped at Idylwilde Farms to buy a few things that we have trouble finding in Boston, including hemp milk, which has been all the rage lately. (Mal keeps calling me a "hippie" because I bought it!) Also in our cart:

• Steaming greens (kale, swiss chard)
• Cranberry and pumpkin seed Yoga Bread 
• Bulgar wheat
• Idylwilde homemade almond butter
• Pitted dates
• Pear flavored "Liberte Yogurt Six Grains," made with buckwheat, rice, barley, wheat, rye, oats. (Sounds interesting; I'll let you know how it is). 

For lunch, I had a mug of peppermint tea and 2 slices of Yoga Bread with 2 tbsp of almond butter and apple slices. I also had 2 of the cookies that I baked on Valentine's day. (They are so darn good!) 

I'm off to the gym to do some cardio. I'm sore from yesterday's free weight workout!

Grocery List: February 9

Our last-minute dinner party required a trip to the grocery store. We figured while we were there, we might as well pick up our groceries for the week. Here's this week's cart...

This week's cart:

• Broccoli
• Shrimp
• Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Singles (brussels sprouts) 
• Diced tomatoes - no salt added
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Fage greek yogurt
• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Grape tomatoes
• Apples
• Salad mix
• Kashi waffles
• Ground turkey
• Organic low-fat milk
• Soda water 

Grocery List: February 4

The supermarket was so quiet this evening, which was a nice change from the usual weekend madness.  After this post, I am off to bed!!

This week's cart: 

• Laughing Cow Original Swiss Light
• Boar's Head deli ham
• Alpine Swiss cheese
• Liquid egg whites 
• Kashi TLC Original 7 Grain crackers
• Multigrain rice cakes
• Organic low-fat milk
• Healthy Valley Organic Lentil soup
• Salsa
• Teddie Peanut Butter
• Tuna
• Light and Fit Yogurt 
• Grapefruits
• Bananas
• Baby carrots
• Almond slices
• Ground turkey