Ola from Peru!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am rounding down my third and final week in Peru and it has been amazing! I could probably write a million words on the experience thus far but no one will want to read all that. haha
We are staying in Cusco, which is a tourist hot-spot. The sites, the sounds, the smells, the tastes….!! We have had an authentic Peruvian experience because we are staying with a family. The food has been so amazing! At first I must admit I was not really feelin’ the food but it has gotten so much better.
Macchu Picchu is indescribable. It is something you have to experience in your lifetime. A photograph cannot do it justice in any way, shape or form.
Would you like to see my amazing photos of Peru? Let me know and I can add you to Facebook! 
Just leave a comment or shoot me an email!
Take care!
I’m Alive!
Blog friends! I am alive! I haven’t been hiding: I have just been engaged in another round of self-torture (i.e. studying for exams). It is amazing how life can be thrown off-balance by certain events! I haven’t been cooking/taking photos/even eating properly. I know once this gut-wrenching process is over, I will definitely be back!
Last night I wrote a 4 HOUR American tax law exam! Yes, 4 hours!! It really isn’t as bad as it sounds- it’s worse!! We got out of the exam after 10:30pm and I felt like the life had been drained out of me. Today I am back at it for my professional responsibility exam tomorrow- I don’t know how much more studying my little pea brain can take!
I should be back in action on Friday! I leave for Peru next Tuesday!! I hope to keep up blogging while I am there as I will bring my computer! Wait until you see the food finds in South America!!
Take care! I miss reading your blogs! I will be back writing and reading this weekend for sure!!
Potassium’s Finest & GIVEAWAY WINNER!
Good evening ladies and gentlemen!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine has been hectic! I have so much to do and my mind is in overdrive so it’s been very busy, to say the least.
I have a lot of photos but I am going to limit the length of the post and get to the goods!
Today I had a bit of a baking adventure in the kitchen to ensure the very ripe bananas did not go to waste. Luckily, both my boyfriend and I absolutely love banana bread so I decided to try two new recipes.
The first banana bread recipe was a classic recipe I took from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I must say, I love this cookbook!
the ingredients
banana mixture
dry mixture
toasted walnuts
all together now
ready for the oven!
final product
from another angle
The second banana bread recipe came from the Whole Foods Website: Cranberry Banana Oat Bread.
ingredients
ready for the oven
final product #2
Aren’t those some beautiful banana breads? Tameek and I are set in the potassium department for awhile now! We have not tested them yet but they sure do look delicious!
After a run at the gym this evening and Tameek’s session lifting weights, we headed home and I cooked some dinner.
I was not in the mood to spend much time in the kitchen so I kept it simple with Trader Joe’s Cornbread Stuffing, Uncle Ben’s Cheddar & Broccoli Rice & sautéed zucchini and sweet potatoes with spices in olive oil.
dinner made easy
all together now
It was such a delicious and fast meal! I am especially impressed with the Trader Joe’s Cornbread Stuffing! I highly recommend it!
We also cracked a bottle of Pinot Gris I picked up at Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery when I went on a wine tour of local wineries back in September! We both enjoyed the white wine with the dinner and look forward to sipping it again! We definitely want to visit some local wineries!
delicious meal
AND THE GIVEAWAY WINNER IS…..
Here are your random numbers:
1
Timestamp: 2010-07-12 03:55:00 UTC
Hillary At Nutrition Nut on The Run!!
Hillary- please email me and I will be sure to ship it off soon!
Have a wonderful evening! I will definitely host another giveaway in the near future!
Glitch Fixed
My site is back up and running! Apparently I like to post a lot of pictures and the bandwidth needed an increase
I’ll be back this evening!!
Have a great Saturday!
A Candlelit Dinner
Good Evening Friends!
It is almost the weekend so I imagine most people are in good spirits. When I was working (and not a student), I generally liked Thursdays almost as much as Fridays.
Yesterday morning involved another bagel breakfast (boring, I know):
I also placed a bowl of green grapes on the dining room table for Tameek and I. I do all my studying at my very large dining room table. I bought this gorgeous table back when I was living the life of an adult. hehehe
Studying makes me hungry. Do I have any fellow hungry studiers? A few hours after breakfast I prepared lunch. I had a craving for eggs so I made an omelette with an egg, egg whites, scallions and sweet yellow pepper. The eggs would not be complete without melted cheddar! I also fried up some Yves Meatless Breakfast Patties. I discovered the breakfast patties at my brother’s when my sister-in-law bought them for us knowing that Tameek is pretty much a vegetarian (with a few dips into chicken and fish on very rare occasions) and I follow a similar lifestyle. They are so good! I didn’t think I would like them at first because I have bought Yves Veggie Burgers before and was not a fan. I also toasted a sandwich thin. Very good lunch!
For class I packed some Trader Joe’s Organic Trek Mix to hold me over until I got home later in the evening. I am a fan of this mix! It is very calorie dense but tasty.
shr
After class, Tameek and I headed to my gym. Tameek isn’t a member but I wanted to get him in so we could enjoy a workout together. Luckily one of the personal trainers I know was at the front when we entered and we kind of strolled in and did not look back. *haha*
I spent my time on the treadmill and ran for over 5 miles. It hurt a little because it was so late, because I have not been working out as much, and because I have been eating more than usual (read giggles) but it felt really good when I finished.
I was quite hungry for dinner when we got home at 10pm. I kept it really simple. In wanting to empty out my freezer, I pulled out a shrimp ring that has been in there for awhile with the anticipation of eating shrimp with the amazing standard dipping sauce. I also added Kashi TLC Stoneground 7 Grain Party Crackers, sliced up mozzarella cheese and chopped baby cucumbers topped with pepper. I love plates of random food!
I am not impressed with the late hours I have been getting up in the morning. Lately it’s been between 8:30am-9:30am, which is way, way, way too late. I guess my sleepless nights are back. I really want to break that habit and be up with the sun at 6am! Suggestions??
I had ANOTHER bagel this morning. I am not complaining but it rather boring to post of my boring bagel breakfasts. I need to change it up a little for sure. At least this time I added fresh peaches to the mix.
I made a trip to the gym around noon because my body was craving a good sweat and I had a good one hour session on the elliptical. I kind of anticipated going back today at some point but it does not look like that is going to happen. I may make a quick trip for a run in the morning.
I had a late lunch followed by a parade of snacks.
For lunch I had another variety plate with a piece of the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread I made a few days ago, a few squares of Trader Joe’s Organic Dark Chocolate with Raisins & Pecans (pictured below), baby carrots with ranch dressing & baby cucumbers. It was a very satisfying lunch!
And pictures of the snack parade:
a few handfuls of Old Dutch Baked Dill Pickle Chips
A few pieces of Maynard’s All Sorts (I remember when I hated this stuff but now a few pieces can subside the sweet craving. I know its pure sugar but I saw them in the store and couldn’t help myself)
And last but surely not least: Soy Delicious Neopolitan Soy Ice Cream (obviously because I am clearing out my freezer and no other reason :-p)
mmmmm creamy
Tonight I decided to prepare a really nice dinner for Tameek and I to enjoy by candlelight. I thought a risotto dish would be fitting.
I first sautéed garlic and dried oregano in olive oil for a few minutes then added the arborio rice. The scents were fabulous!
I slowly added vegetable broth to the mix about half a cup at a time over 20 minutes or so. Once the rice was soft and all the liquid was absorbed, I removed the pan from the heat and added feta cheese & cheddar cheese.
I adapted one of Rose Reisman’s Recipes to come up with this amazing dish. Rose has put out some excellent healthy lifestyle cookbooks and if you are ever in Canada and swing by the Pickle Barrel restaurant, you will find healthy items on the menu she created. I love her recipes!
As a side, I knew I had to do something with the broccoli in my fridge and instead of steaming it, I added so much flavor by tossing the florets in olive oil and spices and baking it in the over at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Lastly, I baked a loaf of fresh bread in my bread maker! It was literally ready in time for dinner! Warm delicious bread!
And all together now:
And for dessert (as if there was room) I used the shortcake cups you get at the grocery store and filled it with slices of nectarines & blueberries and topped with with some light whip cream.
Three Questions:
1. Do you enjoy candlelit dinners?
2. What is your favorite dessert?
3. Thoughts on Lebron packing it and moving to South Beach?
The success of the basil plant
Good Morning! Is the entire continent suffering from this heat wave? When I step outside, it feels like I have walked into a four hundred degree oven. Am I complaining? Perhaps. This weather simply makes it impossible to run outside because the humidity is off the charts and passing out on the road never really appealed to me so I have moved the workouts to the gym for now.
Annnnnnnnnd the bagel craze continues:
Breakfast on Monday
blueberry bagel with cream cheese & strawberry jam
I own a bread maker. A few years back I convinced my mother to buy one for me for Christmas. Success! As most bread maker owners (and this is a major assumption), I barely use it. I think the motivating factor is not wanting to eat loaves and loaves of carby goodness because fresh bread out of a bread maker is basically to-die-for. Plus, it doesn’t stay fresh for long so it must be eaten rather quickly, which is never a problem.
Monday morning I decided to dust it off and make a loaf. I cheated a bit and used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix. The mix still required me to add oil, eggs & water. I put it in and set it for 3.5 hours to a medium brown.
in goes the ingredients
finished product
It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t taste test it.
It was quite good. The man gave it two thumbs up. It is quite dense and the raisins are the only sweetness. It’s especially good when topped with preserves!
Around noon on Monday I got a monster craving for cereal & milk. I filled a big bowl full of Special K Satisfaction and flooded the bowl with milk. I really love this cereal as it is light and crunchy and has the perfect sweetness with hints of vanilla.
A few hours later I got hungry and was anxious to taste the fruits of my labor: the basil plant I have been growing for a few months now. Let’s call him Herman.
Hi Herman!
One of the most amazing combinations to me is basil, tomato & mozzarella cheese. So I chopped some up and also added Trader Joe’s Bite Size Everything Crackers & sugar snap peas.
perfect snack
It was delicious! The basil plant was a huge success and I wish I thought of growing some sooner! It was especially wonderful in combination with my absolute favorite crackers:
Monday was the day that I said I cannot handle not being able to run. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it has been way too hot to run outside even really early in the morning or late at night. I caved and hopped on the treadmill for an one hour AMAZING run! It was long overdue and it just felt really, really good. I hope to replicate that this evening since I took yesterday off because I was just too tired to hit the gym at 10pm last night after class.
Monday I also cooked an amazing dinner. I made potato gnocchi, grilled vegetables & steamed green beans.
The gnocchi was not homemade unfortunately but I did add my own touch.
While the gnocchi was boiling, I added some Wildly Delicious Pro Cuisine Pasta Drizzle Oil to a pan. Wildly Delicious is a gourmet cooking line with some amazing products! Check out the website! After letting the oil heat up, I added minced garlic to sauté for a few moments before added chopped mushrooms. After about 10 minutes, I added sun-dried tomatoes & cheddar cheese.
For the grilled vegetables, I chopped up eggplant & zucchini and added a few brussel sprouts. I tossed the vegetables in another Wildly Delicious Product: Roasted Garlic & Shallot Sauté Oil. I also sprinkled garlic pepper on top.
The finished product:
This amazing meal would not be complete without a glass of my favorite red:
Masi Campofiorin
In keeping with the carby breakfasts, I had two slices of the Bob’s Red Mill Cinnamon Raisin Bread I had made the day before with strawberry preserves.
deliciousness
Lunch required a whole slew of vegetables by way of a gigantic salad.
baby spinach, sweet yellow peppers, mini cucumbers, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes, blueberries & scallions
added shredded cheddar cheese & sunflower seeds
with a slice of Cinnamon Raisin bread
Lately I have been more stressed than normal because I have a lot going on not only on the school front but also life-wise. I have many tasks to be taken care of in the next 2.5 weeks before heading to Peru and it can be a bit overwhelming. Luckily, blogging and reading all of your amazing blogs really helps to relax me so thank you.
For a snack I recreated something my boyfriend discovered by chance. So he likes to put things in the freezer when he isn’t going to eat or drink them right away- I guess he thinks if it’s frozen it won’t go back (side note: I am not making fun of him haha) Anyway, I gave him a snack the other day of pro biotic yogurt and All Bran Buds and I guess he didn’t want to eat it all at the time so he stuck in the freezer. That same evening he pulled it out to let it thaw and we discovered it make an excellent frozen treat so I made myself one yesterday!
Some days I am really not motivated to prepare my dinner to take to class mostly because I will be in the midst of studying or working on something else and I have to stop to cook. On those nights, I throw something quick and easy together just as I did last night.
I boiled Spinach Fettuccine and put my own little twist on it by adding scallions, sweet yellow peppers, carrots & cottage cheese. It was REALLY good!
I also had a Kashi Go Lean Bar & a Mini-Larabar as well as some dried fruit- all un-photographed.
I was a zombie after class last night. Instead of heading to the gym, I sat on the couch with my boyfriend sipping a glass of Little Penguin Chardonnay & munching my favorite snack ever: Stacy’s Pita Chips!
Sometimes a girl just needs one of those nights…
I hope your Wednesday is going well and I look forward to catching up on some blog reading tonight after the gym! For now, it’s back to the books!
Don’t get to enter My Giveaway!
In my next life I will own a bakery that sells only bagel & giveaway reminder
The title says it all. I would be lying if I said I couldn’t eat bagels at every meal. I don’t know what it is about the carby round keys to my heart but lately I have been eating bagels on a daily basis. And I don’t discriminate. My favorite is cinnamon raisin bagel but I will probably munch on any bagel you stick in front of me.
Do you love bagels? What is your favorite kind? Any recommendation?
The last two days have been good for me. I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend. Although I am not American, I attend school partly in the U.S., my boyfriend is American, and I generally love America so I appreciate the holiday too! It has certainly been nice to have my American boyfriend over even if we are both working and studying.
Breakfast for the last two days have been the following:
plain oats with raisins, peanut butter & coconut = amazing
sesame bagel with Trader Joe's Mozzarella on one slice and Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam on the other = also amazing
grapes, sliced peaces & blackberries
Breakfast has been good to me the last few days. Or have I been good to breakfast? At any rate, my palate has been most pleased by these simple yet tasty meals. We can’t forget the coffee I have to go along with the meals.
What is your favorite coffee brand & why?
Lunch has been delicious as well. I made a trip to a farmer’s market and the grocery store to stock up on fresh goodness and I have been trying to include it in every meal.
huge salad with baked chicken, mixed greens, avocado, walnuts, tomatoes, shredded carrots, blueberries, scallions & red peppers
Tossed in this amazing dressing:
I had baked the chicken breast the night before. I picked it up at a farmer’s market and seasoned it with a few spices and baked it in the oven for about an hour. The meat was so juicy and tender! Buy local!
I am going to skip on to dinner from two days ago because it is what I had for lunch yesterday. I love cookbooks. I really do. I actually have a bookcase in my kitchen that is solely for the purpose of holding my cookbooks! I pulled out a few and found something quick and easy to make for dinner two nights ago from Cooking Light Fresh Foods Fast and improvised a little: Rosemary & White Bean Pasta. Ironically, what I did not include in the recipe was something from the title: white beans- haha
What I did include: tri-color pasta, feta cheese, fresh rosemary, olives, grape tomatoes, roasted pine nuts, minced garlic & olive oil.
Quick, simple & delicious!
Amazing Pasta
pasta with a side of chicken breast
So back to lunch yesterday: leftover pasta with a huge plate of veggies & ranch dressing
Dinner yesterday was a mis-mash of things eaten at random points because of studying and a gym excursion. And in steps evidence of the bagel obsession (and also a homage to my cracker obsession):
Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Pretzels, Cheese & Trader Joe's Everything Crackers
sesame bagel with mozza on one slice & cream cheese & strawberry jam on the other
baby cucumbers with black pepper
It has been super hot here late into the evenings, which quite honestly has made it pretty impossible to run. I guess impossible is not the right word. The rights words are unbearable and incredibly uncomfortable. I am not exaggerating- it has still been in the high 80s well after 10pm. The mornings have not been much better. As a result, I have been working out on the elliptical at the gym for an hour at a time. Two nights ago bf and I attempted a run outside near the water but between him not feeling well and the heat, we stopped after just under 3km and walked the rest of it. I guess that is better than nothing but for a runner craving an outside run, it sucks! I may bite the bullet and just run on the treadmill or suffer in the heat late at night (at least the sun is down). What do you think I should do?
Lastly, don’t forget to enter my giveaway! It is open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike! I absolutely love reading about all your fave beauty products!
Have a good one!
Continue reading In my next life I will own a bakery that sells only bagel & giveaway reminder
Happy Long Weekend & Giveaway!
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
I failed to return yesterday evening because I was in Ann Arbor with my boyfriend who is now at my place. Yay!
As I said yesterday morning, I woke up feeling blah. Given the not-so-good feeling, I decided to do what generally relieves that feeling: g0 to gym! I spent an hour on the elliptical and it felt really good!
Hunger returned after my jaunt to the gym. I went to an old favorite: egg white omelette with a sesame bagel and cheese
I spent HOURS cleaning my house yesterday. I LOVE the satisfaction of a clean house- everything is in order and smells wonderful! My breakfast kept me full for hours. I finally decided I better have lunch and kept it light because I was not all that hungry. I made the infamous veggie plate with a whole wheat flatbread with smashed avocado. SOOO GOOD! I topped the avocado with black pepper.
I had raspberries & a nectarine as well. I definitely had my share of fruits and veggies in one meal!
Dinner was very random because of the impromptu trip to Ann Arbor so I packed a sesame seed bagel with mozza cheese. It was definitely not what I had planned at all but it was worth seeing my boyfriend.
When we got back to my place, I had some Special K Satisfaction with milk. Nothing beats a late night bowl of cereal!
I really enjoy giveaways so I decided it was about time for me to host one! I decided on a few things.
I wanted to pick a few things that people would enjoy and likely would not buy for themselves.
First, I got coconut body butter, coconut hand cream, tangerine body lotion & a sea salt soak with a little makeup bag to store it in.
In addition, I have included a La Senza headband & matching workout socks.
And I had to add a Canadian touch: Canadian Chocolate bars & a Canadian shot glass!
All together:
Wanna enter?
1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite beauty product is!
2. Second entry: link this giveaway on your blog!
The contest is open July 11.
Have a great one!
Inspiring Words
Happy Friday and Happy Belated Birthday to my amazing homeland Canada! Sometimes we forget how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful, diverse, free land. Here’s to many more years!
Yesterday I failed to post because on a whim I decided to join my friends on a night out. Now we don’t even get home until 10pm so I didn’t head out the door until 11pm or so. It was a very low-key evening and I enjoyed myself. However, I did skip my run last night. The truth is, even if I did not go out, I probably would have skipped the run anyway. I am suffering from a slight lack of motivation. I am attributing it to my long weekend in New York and quite frankly still feelings it’s effects in my body and just in the overall lack of sleep. Lack of motivation is a slippery slope for me. I know the “all or nothing” approach Caitlin discussed yesterday is never a good thing when it comes to health and fitness but I am definitely the type of person who likes “almost all” and when I have both feet off the wagon, so to speak, it feels like I have to run my heart out to catch back up and jump on.
BUT, I was still hoping for some inspiring words and tips to get that 100% motivation back. (Insert your advice/comment here)
I did wake up the morning feeling good though so I hope Ms. Motivated is back for good.
Now for yesterday:
I woke up late and decided to strap my shoes on and just walk. I LOVE walking. If I could walk everywhere, I certainly would. Sadly time does not allow for this. It was something I grew up with and my parents still do a lot of walking to maintain a healthy lifestyle so I am grateful for them showing my the beauty of walking. Yesterday was a gorgeous day too and I stayed out for more than an hour.
I was quite hungry for breakfast after I got in so I went for the carby bagel with pb&j on one half and Laughing Cow on the other.
I was missing Tameek yesterday largely because we were together for 6 days straight and then to not see him at all for 3-4 days afterward can be a bit challenging. I think the fact that my motivation has been suffering a little also made me miss him a little more because he often has kind words and is very supportive of everything I do.
I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to print some photos so I can hang them in my home. I love photos! I am seriously in love with my camera. I bought it for myself for Christmas for making it through the first half of law school- a well-deserved gift if I do say so myself. I went with the Nikon D3000 and even purchased an extra lens after consulting a very knowledgeable employee at Henry’s. It was a hefty purchase because I opted for the extra insurance and sturdy camera bag but I still get excited when I think about it. It is also amazing because it is another thing my boyfriend and I have in common. He is an excellent photographer and when he was living in NYC he actually did it as a side gig with models. He took some amazing shots!
Back to food (haha!)
For lunch it was leftover whole wheat macaroni salad with the roasted veggies I made the day before. So, so, so tasty!
roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes & zucchini in extra virgin olive oil & spices; whole wheat macaroni with shredded carrots, green pepper, tomatoes & scallions tossed in Italian dressing
And for dessert I tried the local raspberries I picked up at the farmer’s market the day before. They were good but not as sweet as I hoped. Still enjoyable nonetheless.
In honor of my new found love of roasted vegetables in the oven, I (you guessed it) roasted some more. This time I went with broccoli & egg plant, both of which I purchased at the local farmer’s market.
I tossed them in about a tsp. of olive oil and some amazing garlic pepper spices I have and it was MAGICAL. I could probably eat roasted veggies every day!
Before heading to class, I tried one of the double chocolate banana muffins I made and they were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Watch out, Martha Stewart! :-p
For class I packed the roasted veggies and trail mix. I munched in class and I had more snacks when I got home: crackers, cheese, turkey sticks- all unpictured. I didn’t eat a proper meal but today I will get that back in order.
So tonight or tomorrow I will announce a long overdue give-away so stay tuned!
Also, I look forward to hearing your motivating and inspiring words about health and fitness.
Have a wonderful Friday!
Getting back on track after a vacation
Good Evening! Thank you for all the wonderful compliments! Before I switch to the regular, I must tell you about the cookies I received in the mail last week.
Last month I bid on some cookies in Bobbi’s Blogger Bake Sale because what is better than donating to a good cause and getting cookies out of the deal? I was limited to one choice because of geography but let me tell you how glad I was after I got a hold of these: Karen from To Be The Whole Package’s unnamed cookies.
These cookies are seriously amazing! And I am not just saying that to be nice. They are arguably the best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I have ever had. Thank you so much Karen! You are an excellent baker, no question.
Monday was back to the grind. I was walking around in a sleepy stupor all day because of the minuscule amount of sleep I got all weekend and especially on Sunday night. I did not photograph anything so let’s hop on over to Tuesday.
How do you get back on the band wagon after a long weekend of indulgences?
I generally find it a bit difficult but at the same time my body craves normality. I think the difficulty comes from feeling so tired from the lack of sleep. I definitely started feeling better yesterday after drinking tons of water and eating ‘properly.’
Here are my meals from yesterday without much commentary to ensure this post doesn’t turn into a long one:
sesame bagel, Laughing Cow cheese, PB & J and coffee
Lunch: Vegan burger on WW flatbread & chopped mini cucumbers
Snack: Karen's amazing cookies!
Giant Salad Dinner: Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Scallions, Cranberries, Shredded Carrots, Walnuts tossed in Newman's Own Walnut Raspberry Salad Dressing
Tuesdays are spent in American Tax Law. Four long hours of American tax law. I usually do not get home until about 10pm so there are some Tuesday nights I find it hard to strap my shoes on for a run. Thankfully, I am incredibly stubborn and love to sweat.
It took a bit of convincing but I did put my gear on and headed out the door for a run at 10pm last night. I told myself to keep it slow and no need to go any crazy distance.
Again, I am stubborn so I ended up doing: 10.15km in 56 minutes.
It felt good but I am not going to lie: it felt like everything was jiggling. Do you know what I mean? I was talking to my friend Steph (a fellow runner) and she knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. It is definitely a motivation to get back on track.
Does anyone know what I am talking about?
I woke up feeling good this morning because I had a healthy day yesterday. I kept it up with a bowl of oats for breakfast. I pulled out Trader Joe’s Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, Dried Cranberries, Peanut Butter & Coconut to make a delicious bowl!
deliciousness
After a little studying, I headed out to the market my friend recommended to pick up fresh, local produce.
Check out the bounty:
eggplant, kalmata tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, red & orange pepper, broccoli, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, apple, nectarines & raspberries
Nothing beats fresh fruits and vegetables!
For lunch I had an everything bagel toasted with Trader Joe’s mozzarella & tomatoes and cucumber on the side. YUM!
Prior to my trip to NYC, I mistakenly bought quite a few bananas. When I got back, they were very ripe so today I decided to do something about it and make double chocolate banana muffins and bring them to class to make some hungry mouths happy. I found the recipe on one of my favorite cooking websites: My Recipes.
I did not try them but everyone said they were really good! I joked with a friend of mine that I probably should have tested one prior to sharing them with others but luckily they turned out really well. I have never really had a bad baking experience thankfully.
For the last few days I have had a craving for roasted vegetables so I got to work in between studying. I chopped the veggies, coated them in a little olive oil, put them on a pan sprayed with Pam and roasted them at 400 for 20 minutes.
extra virgin olive oil, garlic pepper & sea salt to season
zucchini, sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts
sooooooooooo delicious
I also made a pasta salad with whole wheat pasta, tomatoes, scallions, shredded carrots tossed in Italian dressing.
I snacked on one of the sweet nectarines before leaving for class. It was so good. I love peaches and nectarines this time of year!
I really enjoyed my dinner in class! The roasted veggies were so, so good!
I headed to the gym after class and spent an hour on the elliptical. It was a bit tiring but I am glad I went.
Have a wonderful evening!
