Best. Lunch. Ever. (Oh and some stuff about my life)

Okay, I know I've sort of abandoned this blog but, well, I've just been far too busy for it.


HOWEVER, that does not mean that I have given up on my fitness journey- quite the opposite! I am on Day 31 (of 90) of P90X and cooking healthy dinners every night :].


I feel like doing P90X is the best decision I've ever made because: a) it gives me a schedule to follow (which I need desperately to stay on track and not slack), b) caused me to reevaluate how Mikey and I used to eat (going out for dinner every night!) and now I cook healthy meals at home every night (but we do use the weekends to go out :D), and c) it has made me feel so much stronger, more flexible, and all-around in great shape.


Even though I'm only 1/3 of the way done, I already feel (and look) so much better! Mikey has been doing it too. He is doing the P90x original, and I have been doing the Lean. I am so excited to say that I have not skipped a single day of working out. If I miss a day, I do 2 workouts the next. I have done every single workout and I'm so proud of myself!


Also, Mikey got a payed internship so he's gone most of the day :(, but it's really awesome because it's a great position! School doesn't start for me until the end of September.


Lastly, I think I may start selling some of my baked goods on Etsy! I'm excited about the possibilities with that :D


Annnnyyywayyys, the real reason I wanted to post was to share the amazing lunch I just had. It was just way to gorgeous to not photograph and share.

So what we have here is a delectable fig sandwich:

• whole wheat sandwich thin, toasted
• 1 huge Adriatic fig
• dijon mustard spread on bottom half of bread
• fig preserves spread on top half of bread
• small handful of baby arugula
• a few shavings (shaved with a vegetable peeler) of Manchego cheese
• really small amount of prosciutto di parma

annnd a 0% Greek yogurt with Pine Nut and Black Pepper Granola and a tiny drizzle of honey.

Nothing could be more amazing! BEST. LUNCH. EVER.

This is a Title....hah

I started out the day with another delicious mug of french-pressed coffee :D! I'm loving my new french-press. Except today, I tried it with 2% milk to see if I could taste a discernable difference from the SO Delicious coconut milk that I used yesterday, and there really was none. I'll be using the coconut milk every day for sure.

=15 calories


MUCH later I had one of the most delicious meals I have ever had- veggie burger "tacos":

• 2 Food For Life sprouted grain tortillas (160cal)
• 1 Gardenburger (100cal)
• 45g avocado (86cal)
• a few strips of red bell pepper (negligible)
• few leaves baby spinach (negligible)
• ~2 tbsp cashew spread (160cal?)

The star of this meal was the cashew spread- really called cashew "cheese" but I think its tastes NOTHING like cheese. Here's how I made it:

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups RAW cashews
• water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 sun dried tomato
• sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

1. Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Soak 2-5 hours.
2. After cashews have soaked, drain them and place them in the bowl of a food processor along with the other ingredients. Blend until you reach your desired consistency, slowly trickling water in to thin it up.
3. Let it sit in the fridge overnight before serving.

It's a super versatile spread and really made these "tacos" incredible!

=506 calories


Later I snacked on one of my Brown Butter Toffee Blondies because they are ultra amazing and Mikey is downing them fast! 
=175 calories


Dinner was hotdogs again! But turkey dogs this time instead of a beef dog. It's crazy because TWO turkey dogs are still 10 calories less than ONE beef dog.

• 2 organic, uncured turkey dogs (100cal)
• whole wheat hotdog bun (160cal)
• relish, ketchup, hot peppers (negligible)
• fuji apple (100cal)

=360 calories

I had a super late snack of a strawberry shake!

• 1 cup lowfat plain kefir (110cal)
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (50cal)
• 2 tbsp homemade chocolate-pecan spread (180cal)
• couple ice cubes
• cocoa nibs sprinkled on top (15cal)

=355 calories

=1511 calories for the day

¡Celebración!

Can I first just say that I am officially done with this quarter of school- whooo! My summer has officially begun!


My new french press arrived today! Yay!! I was so happy that I could finally drink coffee at home that the first thing I did today was make some :D! I had a nice mug of Caffe Appassionato's Morning Passion with SO Delicious's unsweetened coconut milk (which I also just got today) (10cal).
Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE this milk?!


Then Mikey and I got a BUNCH of pictures taken for Spache the Spatula, and while doing so I couldn't help but have a few bites of my S'mores Ice Cream (maybe 100cal?).
Afterwards, I had a bowl of cereal, mostly because I wanted more of that coconut milk!

• 62g Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries (240cal) why are freeze-dried strawberries so amazing?
• 1/2 cup SO Delicious unsweetened coconut milk (25cal)

=375 calories

To celebrate me being COMPLETELY done with school for the quarter (and Mikey graduating on Saturday), Mikey and I decided to eat some seriously unhealthy food- AZTECA!

FIrst, I gorged myself of chips and salsa (my ultimate weakness):

And for dinner I ordered the Azteca's Club "Quesadilla" (I put quesadilla in quotes because although they call it a quesadilla, it is unlike any I have ever seen before...):

Whole wheat tortilla stuffed with chicken, bacon, avocado, lettuce, Monterey Jack cheese and fresh pico de gallo. Garnished with sour cream and tomatoes.

It was also served with white rice with peas and carrots and their "no cholesterol" Ranchero beans.

I ate the ENTIRE "quesadilla" and about 1/2 of the rice and beans.

Blahhhh I am SO full!!!!

=1000 calories?

=1375 calories for the day

Resist the temptation....or not

Again, I apologize for not posting this last night. I was trying to finish up my very last homework assignment! This is yesterday's intake:


First of all, I would like you to take a look at what's sitting on my kitchen counter:

Yep, it's pretty amazing that I resist the temptation as much as I do because I could easily gobble that all down!


Sooo that being said, the very first thing I ate today was one of those lemon bars (250cal), lol. It was the best decision I have ever made. OMG they are possibly even more incredible than the Brown Butter Toffee Blondies I made yesterday as well, but it's a tough call. They are so tart- YUM!

After letting that sit for a bit, I decided to have some real food :).
I decided on an open-faced avocado, egg, tomato sandwich (can you tell I'm obsessed with avocados and eggs lately?:

• 60g avocado (120cal)
• 1 "fried" egg, cooked in the microwave (74cal)- Okay seriously, how did I just figure out how convenient it is to cook eggs in the microwave?! There's no extra fat needed!
• few slices of beautiful heirloom tomato +the rest of the huge beast with salt and pepper! (30cal)
• 1 slice 20 grain bread (90cal)
• sriracha!

=564 calories


Later I munched on 1/2 a blondie (88cal), and before long it was time for dinner!

Dinner this evening consisted of:

• organic, uncured hotdog (110cal)
• whole wheat hotdog bun (160cal)
• relish, mustard, hot peppers, celery salt (negligible)
• itty-bitty saturn peach (40cal)
• Coconut-Lemon Cupcake from Trophy Cupcakes (350cal)

I LOVE hotdogs, and especially these because they contain no preservatives (I promise there is a hotdog under all those toppings)! The cupcake was from yesterday and I figured I should probably eat it- SO good!

=748 calories (WOWZA!)

=1312 calories for the day

pretty excellent considering all of the sweets I consumed!

All Sugared Out

I apologize for not posting last night, I just didn't get around to it. I was too busy baking up a storm!


I got  my paper all turned in yesterday afternoon, and then Mikey and I grabbed lunch at Specialty's Cafe and Bakery. I, naturally, got my usual sandwich- "The Vegetarian" (420cal) Lately though, I have been getting it on the whole wheat bread as opposed to the herb bread that it normally comes on. I find that I really like the crunch of the grains on the outside of the wheat bread; I'm all about texture :p.

Mikey and I also got a small cup of their Tomato Tortellini soup to share which came with a whole wheat roll. I found that for some reason my sandwich filled me up more than usual so I only had one tortellini from the soup and a couple bites of the tomato-y broth. I also had just a minute corner of the roll (where talking one itsy bitsy bite here people). Maybe 40 calories in total for the soup/bread?

=460 calories

After we ate, we stopped by Trophy Cupcakes and grabbed some to-go because we are obviously terribly obsessed. Later, we realized we probably didn't need to do this (I had no time to eat mine!) considering I baked so much, haha.


Anyways, about my baking. I first baked some INCREDIBLE Brown Butter Toffee Blondies with Homemade Toffee. Seriously, I ate one and as I took my first bite I was literally in shock of how completely amazing they were. I will have the recipe up over at Spache the Spatula shortly.

So, besides eating a tiny blondie (175cal), I also did my fair share of snacking on the toffee I made. It was just s good I couldn't stop myself! I would guess I probably has about 175 calories worth of toffee, hah!
=350 calories


In no time I realized it was way past dinner time so Mikey and I headed over to Whole Foods to pick up some yummy produce for the week, as well as so food from their salad/hot bar for me!
I got a small container from the salad bar (200cal?) filled with:

• spinach as a base
• a bit of cabbage
• shredded zucchini
• some mushrooms
• pinch of sunflower seeds
• green pepper
• tiny pinch of wheatberries (LOVE the chewy-ness)
• some balsamic grilled red onions
• 1 tiny strip of steak
• 1 tiny cube of marinated tofu
• oil and vinegar drizzled on top

My hot bar container (400cal? that may be a bit high but meh) contained very small portions of (starting with the top left corner and going clockwise:

• butter chicken
• saffron rice (with currants and almond slivers)
• grain salad with dried cranberries, herbs, and nuts
• green mole chicken
• roasted garlic noodles
• roasted sole (fish) with tomato salsa (this wasn't very good and I only ate maybe 1/3 of the small portion
• green bean salad (with walnuts, cheese, red onions, green onions, and red wine vinegar)
• asian noodle salad

Really, the portions are even smaller than they look. I had to get such a big container because Mikey wanted like five of the Hawaiian Chicken Drumsticks from the hot bar, ha.

=600 calories

After eating, I went back to baking as Mikey really wanted me to make some Lemon Bars. Neither of us could eat them after they were finished though, hah. I get sugared out simply by being around all the sugar-y ingredients while baking!

=1410 calories for the day

Today's intake will be up tonight!

Writing my life away

Soo I didn't eat today until dinner. Mostly because I forgot, but also because we went to dinner with Mikey's parents, and I didn't get hungry until just a couple hours before we were supposed to go and I didn't want to spoil my appetite.
We went to Red Robin (certainly not my first choice, but I went with the flow), which is not the healthiest establishment. I ordered the Garden Burger which I though was a fairly healthy decision, but it also came with their infamous and greasy steak fries which I naturally had to engulf.

• Garden Burger: Our Gardenburger® is topped with tomatoes, fresh lettuce, pickles and our Country Dijon Sauce on a whole grain bun. (561cal)
• Steak Fries (439cal)

=1000 calories

Then I had to spend all night working on my stupid final paper for my English class, but luckily I'm pretty much done with school (minus a couple minor assignments) after I turn it in tomorrow.

I had a super late snack of a baby apple with some homemade pecan-chocolate spread (think Nutella only with pecans).

• baby apple (70cal)
• 1 tbsp chocolate-pecan spread (90cal?)

=160 calories

=1160 calories for the day

No Words, Just Food

No time for (very many) words today!


Lunch:

• the other 1/2 of my sandwich from lunch yesterday (210cal)

• Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcake from days ago (Trophy Cupcakes) (~300cal):

a little hard but still amazing!
=510 calories


Dinner (which was incredibly random):

• trimmed radishes (15cal) sauteed in butter (70cal), chicken stock, salt, tiny pinch of sugar, and pepper; reduced down to a glaze (85cal)

just for the record, these radishes were absolutely amazing and I can't wait to make them again

• pink lady apple (~90cal)

and then a bit later something more substantial:

• homemade veggie burger (395cal)
• 60g avocado (120cal)
• "fried" egg (74cal)
• sriracha

BEST.DINNER.EVER.

=764 calories

=1274 calories for the day

Indulging every once and while is AWESOME

Sorry I didn't post this last night!:

Before my test this morning I snacked on 1/2 of an Odwalla Berries GoMega bar to fuel my brain.

My test was surprisingly difficult, but I still think that I did pretty well.

=105 calories

At around noon, Mikey and I went to Specialty's Cafe & Bakery for lunch! Originally, I ordered my typical sandwich, but the Tuscan White Bean soup looked so good that I had to go up and get a cup :P.

Due to that, I could only eat 1/2 my sandwich.

• 1/2 my version of "The Vegetarian": wheat bread with avocado, dill pickle, red onion, bell pepper, pepperoncinis, grainy mustard, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, cucumber, mushrooms (210cal)
• cup of Tuscan White Bean soup: (I'm not sure of al of the ingredients but I think) white beans, basil, tomatoes, broth (180cal?)
• small whole wheat roll (110cal?)

=500 calories

Dinner tonight was not at all healthy, but mighty delicious! After Mikey's last curling game of the season, we went to The Ram. I got an amazing salmon club sandwich called the "Alaskan B.L.T.A.": salmon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, mayo, bacon, and roasted gazpacho tartar on thick-sliced toast. On the side I got sweet potato fries.

Worth. Every. Calorie.

=~1000 calories?

=1605 calories for the day

A Taste of This and a Taste of That

Last night I made some Milk Chocolate Cinnamon-Pecan Brownies for my English class and I may have had a few fingerfuls of batter.


This morning after they sat in the fridge for the night I tried one to make sue they were good enough to bring to my class. They were, but eating something so sweet right after waking up was a BIG mistake and I felt kind of sick for the next couple of hours.
=~200 calories?


After my Archaeology (where we spent an hour chucking spears outside, lol) and English classes (btw the brownies were a huge hit), Mikey and I stopped at Panera for lunch!
I got a whole "Classic Salad" (170cal)
Mixed field greens & romaine lettuce topped with vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions & our reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette.

and a whole grain baguette on the side (180cal) 

They gave me two since they were half-sized today :)
Yummy lunch!
=350 calories


I have my final Archaeology test in the morning so I've been studying all night, but I took a break for dinner and gobbled up a delicious tasting plate consisting of:

• radish tartine: slice of buttermilk bread, toasted, (100cal) with butter (8g=57cal) and radish slices (25g=4cal) sprinkled with Himalayan pink salt
• avocado tartine: slice of multi-grain bread (90cal) with smashed avocado (30g=57cal), heirloom tomato (5cal), sea salt, and cracked pepper
• Taylor's Gold Pear (205g=118cal)
• "fried" egg: toped with sea salt and cracked pepper then cooked in a ramekin in the microwave for 25 seconds (74cal)

It was one of the best dinners I've had in a loooong time! The tomato was amazingly ripe, and the pear was the juiciest and most delicious I have ever had. I originally was going to just have the pear and the 2 tartines, but then I thought there was a definite lack of protein going on so I through in the egg- so glad I did! As you can tell, I love me some fresh ground pepper, hah!

=505 calories (and yet oh-so-satisfying!)

=1055 calories for the day

The skies may be grey but the food sure isn't!

Ugh today was ugly as sin out. Honestly, no exaggeration! It was grey and dreary and vacillating between raining cats and dogs, and an obnoxious mist that sort of just hangs in the air.

I tried to brighten up the day with a vibrant lunch from Panera.

I got a You-Pick-2 with: 

1/2 Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (255cal):

All-natural citrus-herb chicken, mixed field greens, romaine lettuce, vine-ripened tomatoes, red onions, pecans, Gorgonzola, apple chips & white balsamic apple vinaigrette.

1/2 Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich (280cal):

Zesty Peppadew™ piquant peppers, feta cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cilantro hummus on our Tomato Basil bread.

So yummy! The cute little apple you see I brought home for another time :]

=535 calories

After my last class, I went home and took a MUCH needed nap! I love naps :D I think I may be nocturnal because I like sleeping during the day FAR more than sleeping at night.

Dinner tonight was a homemade veggie burger that I've had in the freezer for a WHILE, hah but it was still delicious! I LOVE these veggie burgers :D

• veggie burger (395cal)
• slice Orowheat Master's Best WInter Wheat, toasted (90cal)
• 30g avocado (57cal)
• couple small slices tomato (negligible)
• few leaves of baby spinach
• 198g Comice pear (119cal)

What I did was cook up the frozen burger smashing it and flattening out so it would cook faster. I toasted a slice of bread and spread the avocado over it, sprinkled on some coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper and topped that with some slices from this beautiful heirloom tomato:

Then I did the salt and pepper thing again and laid a few leaves of baby spinach on  top of that. All topped with the giant, flattened burger, and drizzled with sriracha (one of my favorite ever condiments).

I also had a juicy Comice pear on the side!

=661 calories

=1196 calories for the day