I will likely not start food blogging for a couple of days as I finish unpacking. It will be soooooooo nice to get back into routine after 2 months of chaos!!

I missed you guys!

I am less stressed. I think the key to relieving stress is to keep calm, press on, and SEE the end product in your mind. I will DEFINITELY do a little research and get back to you as I said I would. It likely won’t be until Sunday because I am making a trip to Windsor tomorrow to find a place to live for the fall as I will be moving there to attend law school. Wish me luck! It’s roughly a 4 hour drive from Toronto.

Susan tagged me in a quiz so here it goes!

What are you wearing right now?

haha It’s Friday night- I am in an oversized tshirt on the couch. Funny story behind the T-shirt: It’s a Jack Daniels shirt I got at a club one night when they were giving them away in my university days . The back of the shirt says “Jack Lives Here” hahah Good times!

What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading?

I am reading a book entitled The 10 Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer and it’s most enjoyable.

Do you nap a lot?

Never. It takes me a long time to fall asleep so I would likely need 5 hours to get in an hour nap. haha

Who was the last person you hugged?

Lancelot Houdini & Layla Clementine (my two loving puppers)

What’s your current obsession/addiction?

Cleaning up all the dog hair my pups are shedding

What’s for dinner?

done eating- see below

What was the last thing you bought?

A vegan cookbook from a New York bakert called Babycakes finally came in today even though I ordered it a month ago.

What are you listening to right now?

NCIS

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

The power to heal people around me

What is your favorite weather and why?

gorgeous sunshine and warmth

What time do you usually wake up?

6:30am blah- earlier if I want to take more time to beautify or if I have to be at work earlier for a specific reason

What is your most challenging goal right now?

Organizing my life in preparation for law school, moving, shuffling everything in my life!

Favorite pair of shoes that you keep going back to over and over again even though you have a zillion others?

sexy black heels

Name one thing you can’t live without?

Diet coke

What time is bed time?

11pm

If there was one place you could be right now where would it be?

on a private beach in Bora Bora

There is a lot of food I have consumed in the last three days that I did not get photographed so the commentary will be just of what I have photographed.

Wednesday evening I finished the macaroni salad I made Sunday evening. I love how the tastes of the scallions, tomatoes, black olives &  the Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tuscan Italian Dressing infused in the whole wheat macaroni. It was definitely tastier on Wednesday than on Sunday when I made it. Plus I don’t like to waste food

This wasn’t enough so I also chopped up some cucumber, added some baby carrots & radishes. I also toasted a piece of whole wheat bread and topped it with a slice of cheddar- mmmm melted cheese. One last add: beef jerky- a weakness of mine.

Yesterday in my state of not feeling well, I slept a good part of the morning away. I am a firm believer in sleep as a healer. I woke up quite hungry and I wanted a hearty late breakfast. I made an egg white omelette and I chopped up some red pepper & onions to put inside it. I also toasted two pieces of whole wheat toast and I topped one piece with peanut butter & part of a banana and the other piece with Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese mixed with strawberry rhubarb preserves. I chopped up the remainder of the banana and gobbled that up too. What a fantastic pick-me-up when you aren’t feeling well!

I had a light lunch yesterday since I ate breakfast so late. I took some Dare Vinta Sunflower Crackers and topped them with a few things: some with Philadelphia Chive & Onion Cream Cheese, some with Cheese Whiz, some with Kraft Light PB, some with honey, some with strawberry rhubarb preserves, and lastly some Kurtz Key Lime Pie Spread. I also added some baby carrots to the plate with some Kraft Light Peanut Butter & Philadelphia Chive & Onion Cream Cheese to dip the carrots in. Fantastic!

I really like the Dare Vinta Sunflower Crackers. According the package, they are baked with 12 grains & seeds including: rye, barley & millet.  The ingredient list is something to like as well: wheat flour is the first ingredient! The only disappointment is that there is only 1 gram of fibre per 10 cracker serving and there isn’t much by way of vitamins & minerals. Oh well- tastes great!

One of the products I used to top some of the crackers: Kurtz Kurds Key Lime Pie Spread tastes incredible! This is a product I picked up before Christmas at The Promenade Mall in Thornhill. Kurtz Orchards- a store based in Niagara-on-the-Lake (and they now have a permanent location here in Toronto at Bayview Village as I said in this post. That post also talks about the great store and some of the amazing products I recently picked up there.)

Last night I wanted a simple dinner so I tried something I have been meaning to do for quite a while. I cooked up some whole wheat macaroni and I simply added about a tablespoon of Philadelphia Onion & Chive Cream Cheese to the hot macaroni. It was as good as I thought it would be!! SO YUM!I likely should have added some veggies of some sort but I didn’t want to cook anything else up purely out of laziness.

I only have a photograph of dinner for today so I won’t even bother discussing my earlier meals & snacks. (Plus I am sure you’d rather know who the winner of the giveaway is…)

Dinner was homemade sweet potato fries with a whack-load of Heinz Ketchup. While the fries cooked in the oven, I finished up the last of the light cottage cheese. I just love cheese in any form!

Do you like sweet potato fries as much as I do???

Workout Re-caps:

Wednesday: 7 mins run, 50 minutes on elliptical- level 5  (I wanted to run but it didnt feel good)

Thursday: off (home sick)

Friday: 50 minutes on the kick-ass elliptical machine in my building- at levels ranging from 12 to 20- dripping sweat!! Burned 625 cals!

The last little while I have cut back on running considerably. As I have previously stated, my body (and my mind) just needed a break from it. I think I’m prepped to run again on Sunday. Running should always bring joy. That’s my number one rule.

Now: just a reminder of what My Giveaway includes:

AND the randomly drawn winner is…… Kath over at Kath Eats Real Food!!

She said:

On June 18, 2009 at 4:22 pm Kath Said: |Edit This

Love the giveaway combo

the most eccentric food you should LOVE is Sardines in a tin can!!

Congrats Kath! Please just shoot me a note with your address and I will send the goods off!

And to the rest- don’t worry: although this was my first giveaway, it certainly will NOT be my last. 

Have a wonderful evening beauties!

In addition, today was SUPPOSED to be the day of the draw for My Giveaway BUT I will give everyone one more day to enter AND I will be back tomorrow with a detailed post AND an announcement as to who the winner is!!

Have a great night!

I hope you’re well! I have been busy, busy, busy! Life is just crazy for me! I can’t believe it’s July next week! I have about three weeks left at work but I can’t even look at a calendar to confirm because it’s too much for me. I can’t WAIT to just be settled and ready for classes. There are a million things I have to do before then- I’ll just press on.

I have eaten really healthy the last two days! I realized (well, it is common sense) that the better I eat, the better I will feel. No need for the added stress of feeling crappy and potential weight gain (I can’t afford a whole new wardrobe).

Yesterday’s Eats:

Big Bowl of work Oats (2 packages of Kashi Heart2Heart Cinnamon Raisin)

Eating oatmeal was a good move on my part. It was a great start to my day.

Lunch was some of the leftover macaroni salad I had on Sunday. YUM!

I was stuck at work until 9:30pm last night so that meant no gym! boo! I had a really great pesto chicken salad from a place called Hot House the guys always order from. I don’t have a photo but it was really, really good! It had amazing grilled chicken breast, sun-dried tomatoes, homemade bacon bits, mixed greens & pine nuts. I wish I had a photo!

I also had a great phone conversation with 3 of my good friends! One of them is getting married and the rest of us are in her wedding party. They are all from my hometown and I have known them for years and years so talking to them is always a blast- it seriously is like no time has past. The wedding is going to be so much fun!

Do you have friends like that?

Today was another busy day! I had a cinnamon raisin bagel & coffee for breakfast.

Lunch was a re-run of yesterday- I don’t waste good food

I had the juiciest, sweetest grapefruit this afternoon! I LOVE a great piece of fruit. I was actually craving more fruit but I didn’t make it down to the store. I definitely need to stock up as I only have one single banana left.

I also chomped on a Quaker Delights raspberry almond dark chocolate granola bar. So tasty! One of my go-to snacks I store in my desk.

I made it to the gym tonight but I must say the workout did not feel good and for the first time in a very long time I felt crappy when I was done!! Unheard of! Perhaps I pushed my lead legs to hard.

Run Stats: 6.5 miles, 1 hour, Average Pace: 9:13 min/mil

Do you ever have off days at the gym?

My tummy ached but I knew I needed some re-fuel. My dinner was boooooooooooring but  I didn’t want to put any effort into it as originally planned in my mind at work. I had some of the Stonemill Bakehouse Grains & Honey Bread. One slice had swiss cheese, another had margerine, and the last had Philadelphia light cream cheese mixed with strawberry rhubarb preserve. Veggies were needed so I added some baby carrots & radishes.

Now as the title of this post suggests, I am stressed! I am trying my best to keep it under control. I am actually going to do a little research and include some great ideas on how to deal with it for all you lovely readers suffering from life-stress.

There are only two more days  to enter My First Giveaway!!  :-)

Nightie Night!

I had a nice afternoon snack. I reached into the freezer and found a piece of mint chocolate crumble square or something or other. haha I made it quite awhile ago so I have NO idea what in the world it is called. I teamed it with a cup of coffee. It was really good! I heated it in the microwave- it was perfect!

I made a quick trip to the grocery store for a few necessities and found that Bolthouse Farms Juice  was on sale so I picked some up! I naturally had to try one so I opted to open the Blue Goodness Fruit Smoothie. First off, the nutrition in this drink is awesome! In an 8 oz. serving there is 170 calories, 0 grams of fat & 8 grams of fibre! In addition, the serving includes: 110% RDI Vitamin C, 110% RDI Vitamin E, 120% RDI Thiamin, 129% RDI Folate and so on and so forth! Amazing as you can see. PLUS, the drink tastes great!! It’s the perfect sweet & is just thick and creamy enough. I highly recommend it!!

I took the pups out and I was way over-dressed!! Jeans in heat do NOT work! I was about 75% over-dressed! hahaha

I wanted to make a simple yet delicious dinner so I pulled out these ingredients:

We have whole wheat macaroni, light feta cheese, black olives, tomato, scallions, Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tuscan Italian dressing & a red pepper. Did you figure out what I made?? A delicious summer macaroni salad!

And some for me!

Naturally, I required some ice cream to cool my temperature down. I opted for Breyers Double Churn Neopolitan.  MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Sadly the weekend has almost come to an end. I hope you guys are enjoying the last few hours!

Oh and don’t forget to enter My First Giveaway!! You have until Thursday!

So after my rant yesterday about running, you’ll never guess what I gravitated toward yesterday afternoon shortly after posting? Yes, that’s right! I jumped on a treadmill and pounded out an excellent run! It just felt right and this is precisely what I was talking about. I need to feel it and not feel like I have to do it.

Run Stats (Saturday, June 20): 50 minutes, roughly 5.5-5.8 miles

I needed some healthy after that sweaty run so the first part of my lunch included a large salad which consisted of baby spinach, tomatoes, scallions, sweet corn, avocado, alfalfa spouts & beets tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.  It was really good!

I busted out the Stonemill Bakehouse Grains & Honey Bread and topped one slice with cheddar cheese and another with Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese & strawberry rhubarb preserves.

In the afternoon I indulged my sweet tooth with a Guiltless Gourmet Dessert Bowl Hot Chocolate Brownie. I picked a few of these up in the US the last time I was there. It was a great little snack and only 200 calories! The package comes with a bowl and powdered cake mix and icing. You add the cake mix to the bowl with a little water and then put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It was perfect with a cup of coffee!

I may have added a few small scoops of Breyers Double Churn Neopolitan Ice Cream.

Later in the afternoon I took the monsters out for almost 2 hours! It was a nice, leisurely walk. They came come and passed right out after that long jaunt outside.

I had a “girl date” with my friend Mel. We had been meaning to catch up for a long time now but we both have demanding  jobs and a lot of life changes so it didn’t work out until last night. It was just so nice to have her to talk to and listen to. The ability and the proper outlet to say how you are feeling with someone who genuinely cares is amazing.  She’s a great friend. We hit up the Pickle Barrel at Yonge & Eg. The Pickle Barrel has the largest menu ever and there are so many wonderful choices! It was difficult but I finally chose the Avocado Turkey Club which is made with a wonderful multigrain toast.  Couscous was supposed to come on the side but the waiter decided to give me fries because they were fresh and really hot. Now normally  I would have been very upset by this because I try to eat as healthy as possible but I was actually in the mood for some good old fries. He must have seen it in my face. haha

The night wouldn’t have been complete with some alcohol consumption. I indulged in my old summer favourite: Smirnoff Ice. So refreshing.

Backstory on my love of Smirnoff Ice: The best summer of my life was during my 19th year. I was still in university at the time and I actually went back to my hometown for the summer to work and live with my parents. I got a job with the township working outside mostly cutting grass, painting, etc. and I was lucky enough to be working with some of my great friends. That was also the summer I got into some serious shape and was running outside daily- I had a kickass route! Anyway, we worked from 7am-3pm and every Friday at 3pm we would hit up the liquor store and ice cold Smirnoff Ice was usually my drink of choice- we’d stock up for the weekend. OOOH that first refreshing ice cold gulp early Friday evenings!! Memories of that stomach always create feelings of nostalgia.

What was your most memorable summer and why??

While at Yonge & Eg I also went to Chapters  because I LOVE books. I always want to buy all the books! haha This particular Chapters is quite large. I finally found myself in the Health & Fitness section and I FINALLY picked up 30 Day Shred DVD!! I also picked up Jillian’s Hot Bod in a Box after Sammie at Running with a Recipe gave it a glowing review. I haven’t checked either out yet but I definitely plan to later this afternoon!

I slept in today and it was so nice! I wasn’t hungry at all because I had a few snacks last night when I got home. I decided to hit the gym around noon and I had a sweaty, sweaty AMAZING workout!! Oh I love when sweat pours off me!! And it was literally pouring!

Workout Recap: one sweaty hour on the elliptical at levels ranging from 12 to 20. I burned over 725 calories. It was just so good!

Post- Workout:

Now I posted these post-workout photos to make the point that beauty is not just a made-up woman wearing the perfect outfit. Beauty is a feeling. I think this is fitting given Caitlin’s Operation Beautiful.

The creature of habit part: I re-fueled with a huge salad that looked a lot like yesterday’s except I had no avocado and I added cucumber, raisins & walnuts instead. Yum!

I also had some of the Stonemill Bakehouse Grains & Honey Bread: one topped with cheddar, one topped with peanut butter and one topped with light cream cheese & strawberry preserve. Repeat? Why yes! haha

Have a great afternoon! I have some things I need to take care of and I want to cook something delicious for dinner!

I know the gym would do me a world of good. I am a runner at heart but if you are an avid reader, you probably noticed I did not do a large amount of running this week. I think my body needed the break. I love running but I don’t want it to turn into something I have to do- it should remain something I want to do. With that said, I may just pull out my Women’s Health Amy Dixon Perfect Body Workout DVD. Isn’t it hilarious that working out here in my home seems far less daunting than going down one floor to the condo gym to basically sweat and work just as hard? Oh the psychology of it all.

I have mentioned this workout DVD before- it’s excellent. As I have said to my friends that I have recommended it to, anyone can do it!

For breakfast I broked into the Stonemill Bakehouse Grains & Honey Bread I purchased yesterday. I had three slices because they are smaller than regular bread and I was hungry from the doggy walk. I topped one slice with low-fat Philadelphia Cream Chesse & Strawberry Rhubarb Preserve, one with the mandatory peanut butter and one with butter. This bread is really great!

On also washed some green grapes to have throughout the afternoon.

Well I am going to read some blogs and digest my breakfast (and all the snacks that did not get blogged last night :-p) so that I am prepared for a workout.

Have a great day!

My daytime eats were very boooooooring. I don’t even feel like re-capping them because it’s a re-run of the rest of the week and I have no photos. All I know is I need to diversify my breakfast and go back to preparing lunch the night before. I need to pull out my wonderful cookbooks and become re-inspired!

I got home early today after an appointment. I was nodding off on the train as I read my book. I knew this meant fatigue. I don’t fall asleep easily and I could have past out on the train. I did some cleaning when I got home to pump up my energy levels and took my babies out for a walk but I was still tired! The weeks long hours weighed heavy on my eyelids.

I really wanted to go to the gym but at the same time I wanted to curl up on the couch and sleep. Luckily I am stubborn as hell and I got my buttocks off the couch to face the condo gym and all its’ bright new shiny equipment. Can you guess how I felt afterward??? Awesome!!

Workout Re-Cap: 50 hard, sweaty minutes on the elliptical at levels ranging from 12 to 17!

I was dripping with sweat!! It was glorious!!

This is the exact badboy I was on. It’s different from the elliptical at the gym I belong to and I like it a lot!

Going to the gym was just a really smart idea and now I am sitting here feeling wonderful.

I made a quick trip to the grocery store afterward and by the time I got home I didn’t feel like putting a huge amount of effort into dinner.

I was in need of some veggies so that meant a massive salad. My very tasty salad included: mixed greens, spinach, diced tomatoes, sliced scallions, afalfa sprouts, avocado, blueberries, sweet corn & sliced beets tossed in Kraft Balsamic Vinagrette. It was one of the best salads I’ve made!

I am an avid reader. And as you can see, I like healthy foods. As a result, I enjoy reading books on and health, nutrition & exercise. One of the beautiful books in my collection is “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth” by: Jonny Bowden. 

As the title suggests, the authors talks about the 150 healthiest foods on earth (well obviously according to him). The book is very thorough and the author goes into great detail as to how and why each food is good for you. The author even divides the book into sections like “fruits” and “grains” and “nuts, seeds & nut butters”.

Anyway, I brought up the book because I wanted to give a snippet of it by choose one of the wonderful foods I put in my salad and giving some detail as to what is said in the book.

“Avocados are an amazing food. But until recently, you’d never know it. Avocados were almost a casualty of the fat phobia that swept the nation back in the 1980s….

….yes, avocados are high in fat. But that fat is largely monosaturated fat, specifically oleic acid, an omega-9 fat….monosaturated fats actually lowers chlosterol….

….avocadoes also contain lutein, a valuable member of the carotenoid family that is a natural antioxidant and helps your eyes stay healthy while maintaining the health of your skin.”

That is just a small portion of what is said about avocados. It’s an excellent book- and I can guarantee you will love it simply based on the fact that you are reading this very blog.

While at the store, I also found an amazing new bread I had never had before: Stonemill Bakehoouse Grains & Honey with 11 Whole Grains. The bakery is here in Toronto and the ingredient list is something to smile about!! The first ingreident is whole grain wheat flour and it just gets better from there. AND- it tastes amazing!! I love bread. I topped one piece with cheddar and the other with a bit of butter. The grains & honey bread went really well with my delicious salad.

It’s Friday and I am going to veg on the couch! Snack time! Ice Cream? Maybe! My Lancelot is on the other couch snoring! Yes, doggies snore too! haha

Don’t forget to enter My First Giveaway!!

Night Beauties!

Firstly, thanks for all the wonderful recommendations of eccentric food I should try in response to my giveway! You definitely have some interesting ideas ladies! If you are just reading this, be sure to check out My First Giveaway!

Lunch was some of the wonderful Curried Green Chicken I made last night. It tasted even better today! I brought some for my friend/colleague but he went home ill and it still sitting in the fridge at work. He is a huge fan of green curry chicken so I really hope he comes in tomorrow so he could try my healthy take on an amazing dish!

Melissa's Fine Catering

The only photo of a snack I had was a the Clifs Chocolate Almond Fudge Bar. Now I am huge fan of Clifs products but I have to say I did not care for this flavour. Oh well- they have many other flavours I love so no harm done.

So tonight is/was a late night for me because I did my part by participating in the annual Scotia Bank 5K Rat Race. For those of you who have not heard of the Rat Race, it is basically an annual 5Km run through the downtown streets of Toronto. The twist is that those participating are corporate bankers/lawyers/ etc. The main (and very important) purpose of the whole event is to raise funds for The United Way of Greater Toronto. It is a commendable event a lot of money gets raised for all of the organizations supported by The United Way. To avoid doing The United Way injustice, I would highly recommend you check out their website to see just how many people and organizations they help our- everything from battered women to recovering addicts to recent immigrants. It’s really quite amazing. The investment bank I work for works very closely with The United Way and I always personally get involved. I figure that since my job takes up so much of my time, it’s the absolute least I can do to give back to my community. I really enjoy the atmosphere at The Rat Race as well because most people are not really runners and are so dedicated to giving to their community, that they will run 5km. People get into it with costumes and team shirts too.

5km race recap: I think I came in around 25:30. Not too shabby! It hurt. A lot! Running at 8pm at night is NOT fun and I was hungry. Oh well- it was for charity and worth every stitch in my side.

It was a late night dinner for me! I opted for an egg white omelette with mushrooms & scallions. I also had ww wheat toast- one with swiss cheese, one with pb, honey & preserves. Yum yum yum!!!

Enjoy your evening guys! It’s almost Friday!! YAY!

Breakfast was soooooo boring! I had my usual cinnamon raisin bagel & coffee. I kept it light because I wanted to hit the gym early in the day since the bosses were not in the office. We tend to take advantage of these situations. haha

I love, love, love going to the gym in the morning. My energy levels are nice ‘n high and the gym is often pretty vacant around 11am. I had a kickass workout today!!

Workout Recap:

20 mins run, 2.7 miles

10 mins bike at level 10, 3 miles

20 mins elliptical at level 5

10 mins bike at level 10, 3.45 miles

GRAND TOTAL of 1 SWEATY HOUR of GLORIOUS CARDIO!

I finally brought my camera to work because I wanted to take a picture of my awesome plant named Bobby Banana. My colleague Kathy got it for me! It’s a type of cactus and it’s the coolest plant ever! Check it out guys!

Say hello to Bobby Banana!!

I snapped a picture of my lunch too! I had Knorr Yellow Soup which contains sweet corn, carrots & yellow summer squash. I love this soup. I actually love all the Knorr Colourful Soups. They are so full of flavour! I highly recommend this line of soups.

my soup and my desk!

My snacks this afternoon included a yummy in my tummy banana and a Melissa’s Bar of Love YouBar.

Melissa's Bar of Love

I knew it was high time I cooked a great dinner from scratch. Yesterday I came across a recipe for Curried Green Chicken on myrecipes.com. I love myrecipes.com. It’s a website with a culmination of recipes from many publications including Cooking Light & Southern Living, among others. I highly recommend you check out the site. Let’s let the pictures do the talking:

mushrooms & onions

chicken & coconut/green curry mixture

chicken

mushrooms, onions & peas

all together now

 The final product is served with whole wheat couscous. I promise to post the recipe in my Recipe Box  this weekend. I highly recommend this recipe! It’s very, very tasty!!

Have you ever used myrecipes.com? What successes have you had with recipes from the site?

Now on to the exciting part!! My First Give-away!!

Woohooo!!

Melissa’s Give-away

* Pink Headband &  my favourite Workout Socks from La Senza Spirit! (excited about this!)

* Stash Herbal Tea Sampler

* Smoothies & Desserts Cookbook Magazine

* President’s Choice Fair Trade Dark Chocolate from Peru

* Two Odwalla Bars: Choco-walla & Berries GoMega

* Two pkgs. of Planter’s Trail Mix

* Two Quaker’s True Delights: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond & Toasted Coconut Banana Macademia Nut

* Two Quaker’s Sweet & Salt Peanut Granola Bars

* Larabar Jocalat Cocoa Mint

*Oskri Coconut Bar

HOW TO ENTER:

a) First entry: leave a comment here telling me what is the most eccentric food I should try and why.

b) Second entry: in your next post, mention my give-away and then let me know.

Winner will be announced next Thursday (June 25) via random draw.

What do you guys think of my first giveaway??

Have a great night!