A Friday List Post

I am feeling in the mood to put my thoughts and statements into a numbered list today...so without further ado (?)...

1. I am really sick of my lack of a computer...luckily Brian ordered me a new Hard drive!

2. It's sad that this new hard drive was only $40 for 80GB and god knows how much I paid for it when it was new (and only 60 GB)

3. He is installing said hard drive tomorrow! Yippie Skippie!!

4. I left my coffee on the counter this morning...so sad, I was really looking forward to it because I put yummy chocolate soy milk and a little almond syrup in it.

5. So I settled for a Soy Misto at S-bucks!

6. Speaking of Starbucks... I was invited to a media/blogger event tomorrow at a Starbucks in Boston for a Tea tasting/pairing! I'm guessing/hoping we'll be tasting the new Tea Latte's which I've been dying to try but nervous to order.

7. PLUS I believe I will be meeting some bloggers tomorrow at this Starbucks event!!!

8. Breakfast yesterday was delicious per usual. Last Slice of TJ's Multi-grain bread (cut into two thinner slices)9. 1 slice with Barney Butter, then Raspberry spread over half of the BB (banana slices added later). 1/2 slice with PB and Raspberry, and 1/2 with butter!
10. I had no lunch packed and decided to head over to Whole Foods to see what looked good!

11. The WF's near my work had a taco bar station with the other hot/cold foods!! So I proceeded to make a taco salad (with a few extras)

• lettuces, red onion, shredded carrots from the cold salad bar
• sour cream
• Guac
• shredded cheese
• salsa
• taco chicken meat!! It was like roasted shredded chicken, not ground...mmm!
  
  
• crushed a few tortilla chips on top
• Also:
• roasted veggies (summer squash, Zucchini, peppers, sweet potato)
• pasta salad (couple bites)

Filling and delicious!

12. I blew off the gym last night :( I even drove there!! I was just feeling so tired and I wanted to get to bed earlier!! I am feeling the guilt though. Plus I had to do some cooking/baking for...

13. Tonight I am going to a friend/co-workers house for dinner! She is having fajitas so I offered to make Guac and dessert.

14. First the Guacamole...honestly this is Life Changing Guacamole...the best I have EVER tasted and it's brought to you by Ina! The Barefoot Contessa
15. How did I live before I had this cookbook stand! Seriously!! No loosing your page or trying desperately to keep it open with a can of tomatoes placed in the middle for added weight...plus a shield...because maybe I tend to make a big mess when I cook ;)

16. The recipe calls for lemon juice...I used it, but I also used a little lime juice as well (because I needed it for dessert too)
17. All the ingredients in the bowl (minus tomatoes...added at the end)This is before it is mixed with two knives (mixing and simultaneously cutting the avocados)...it's really chunky!! I'll get a pic of the final product tonight!

18. Dessert...hmmm what would go good with a Mexican feast? Something Refreshing... I'll give two hints (well three if you were paying attention before)

Any guesses????

Well I just finished a late bowl of oats...actually it was up there with the best bowls ever, but I'll post about that later :)

Enjoy your Friday everyone!!!

Blah Day

We were supposed to get dumped on early this morning with lots of snow...just in time for the morning commute...awesome. So I decided I was going to go into work late and avoid the traffic. So I wake up only about 30 min later than usual (I wanted to do some on demand exercise and make stove top oats!)...well I look outside and there was a whopping 1/2" inch!!

Oh well I was up, so I threw on a sports bra, HRM, and crappy clothes and headed to the living room for my workout. I did most of the Biggest Loser Cardio Max, part of a 10 min core, and then a cardio dance workout!!! I only did parts of the first ones because I don't have my free weights here (they are at Brian's) and I just didn't feel like I was getting anything out of those segments without the weights. All in all I felt a good burn in my legs (jumping lunges!), and burned 300 cals.

Onto oats:I did a usual combo with a little less water:

• 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/5-ish cup water, salt
• 1/2 banana (wish it was riper)
• 1 - 2 T ricotta
• 2 tsp Pumpkin butter
• 1 tsp of ground flax...first time trying this in the oats...didn't really like the consistency, it made them too grainy...hmmm.

Toppings!

• Zoe's Honey Almond Granola
• golden raisins
• big tsp of Barney Butter
• big tsp of White Choc. PB (went back for more at end...I didn't like the oats on their own)
  
  

Then I got dressed and headed into work.

I have no issues driving in the snow...it just takes some common sense. What I CAN'T STAND is being behind someone going 15MPH!!!!! That's what gets my blood pressure up! Ok enough ranting.

• Lunch was leftovers from my dinner last night: (dinner pics, no lunch pics)
• TJ's Chicken and Vegetable Shumai (with the accompanying dipping sauce)
• Red pepper, zucchini, shredded carrots, garlic...stir fried with a little soy sauce and ground ginger.
• Yum, yum, yum, yummmmm

The Shumai are like dumplings and the dipping sauce is Out Of This World!! Sometimes I prefer regular soy sauce over some sauces that come with these types of dishes...not this time. It was salty like soy sauce but with a SUPER tang to it!!I had the exact same thing for lunch...just picture it all in a glass bowl :)

Afternoon snack attack: Plain Chobani, 2 slices of canned pineapple (after which I drank the juice...mmm), Zoe's granola.Delicious!!

Well the craptastic weather has turned to rain...which I'm sure will just freeze up nicely overnight.

Off to hit up WF's for dinner with the boy then to his late soccer game (9pm).

RIP Daddy: 11/06/47 - 01/28/07...miss you

Oligo-who???

This morning I packed a couple options for b-fast. I had a slice of the TJ's Multigrain, PB, and fruit spread...and I also had a plain Chobani, some canned pineapple, and granola! Yum and Yum. This was too much for 1 meal so I decided to save the yogurt for a snack later in the day.

Breakfast:
The multi grain loaf is small so I cut it a little thicker, and I had a half of a banana on the side...which ended up on top of the PB&J, obvi!

My mid morning snack was a light String Cheese...love these little suckers!

Lunch was more Leftovers!! When we went out to dinner Sunday night at the BBQ Place my friend didn't finish her meal and her fiance didn't want her leftovers!! I have no shame taking my friends leftovers...especially when it's Pulled BBQ chicken!!

Lots of chicken!! I added some of my mom's BBQ sauce and heated it up. Along with the chicken was a little leftover cucumber salad.
I also had the other half of my Carrot Raisin bread, toasted, with a little butter
I had a half of one of the Quaker True Delight bars I received leftover. It was the Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut one...which is Delicious!! However, I find them on the sweet side, and would prefer them more of a sweet treat than a regular "bar". This was a great little dessert though...I was checkin out the wrapped...reading the ingredients when one really popped out at me as a "Huh?!" I was skeptical so I looked it up online:

Oligofructose

Turns out this substance is pretty darn good for the body!

Here's the definition:

Definition: Oligofructose is an oligosaccharide - a type of sugar molecule with several branches. Oligosaccharides are, for the most part, not digested in the small intestine, therefore they add very little to blood glucose. However, they are broken down via fermentation in the colon (large intestine) where they can contribute to the health of the colon (for this reason, they are sometimes called prebiotics).

Oligofructose is 30-50% is sweet as sucrose (table sugar). It also behaves similarly to sugar in some food products. It occurs naturally in some plants. Most of the oligofructose used as an ingredient is either extracted from chicory root or is synthetically manufactured. It is included both in "Total Carbohydrates" and "Fiber" on food labels in the U.S.

So I kept reading a little more about it... This website had some good info, but if you don't feel like reading the whole thing here are some highlights:

"It is a resistant starch, or soluble dietary fibre..."

"Resistant starches are neither fibres or complex carbohydrates...They are now recognised under the carbohydrate banner and are listed on nutritional panels as soluble dietary fibre. "

"...This process leads to differentiation of cancer cells, a vital step that is required before cancer cells can be killed."

"...undesirable bacteria diminish in number as the healthy bacteria proliferate in the presence of oligofructose. "

I found this all really interesting...I have never heard of this substance but it sounds like a pretty kick-ass ingredient to me!

Well once again I've run into the double whammy of working late and an event at The Garden to squash all possibility of dance class...I can't wait until Bruins season is over!! (sorry fans).

I may just not workout tonight...I really would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get to bed earlier, and I've been super tired tonight. I'll probably do some things with my stability ball and whatnot in my bed room though...no worries.

Last Anniversary

Today is Brian and my 5 year dating anniversary! And our LAST dating anniversary!! Next year we'll be celebrating on September 6th :) We're not doing anything special today...instead we are having a special dinner on Feb 7th to combine it with Valentines day (kill two celebrations with 1 dinner haha). I did, however, get a beautiful surprise at work today ;)

I am definitely a girl who loves her flowers so this is always a big treat for me!! They smell so beautiful too.

I also started they day off great with an almost equally beautiful bowl of oats!:

The Oat Mix:

• 1/3 cup oats, water, milk
• salt
• about 3/4 of a banana
• 1 tsp pumpkin butter
• Zoe's Honey Almond Granola (love how crispy this stuff is!)
• little bit of Barney Butter!!
• small spoon of White Choc. PB
• 1 choc chip, 1 PB chip ...haha who only has 1 choc. chip...yeah this kid this morning

This was my first experience with Barney Butter in oats...delish! Although I must say that I am still a bigger fan of the White Chocolate PB...it just gives the oats this creamy sweetness. I love the Barney Butter on bread, and straight out of the jar...but I think I prefer the sweeter PB's in my oats. No worries, this will just make my jars last longer.

Lunch was something I picked up in Portsmouth, NH yesterday. We already had dinner plans but I had heard so much about this place I needed to get something to go. It's called The Loaf and Laddle (no websites...but you can google it)...basically it's a soup and homemade bread place! Hello!! Two of my FAVORITE things!

After staring at the menu board for about 10 mins...I got the Veggie Vegetable soup with a substantial hunk of Carrot Raisin bread.

The slice of bread was so thick I only ate half and still have another half.

The soup was a tomato broth base and Chock full of veggies!! It totally reminded me of a soup I'd make for myself. The bread was soft and very home-made tasting:) The carrot and raisin flavor wasn't too prominent...I guess I was expecting more of a spiced bread (like carrot cake!), but it was more of a plain white or wheat base...delicious toasted with a little butter.

For my anniversary...I went to the gym tonight for a nice sweat workout. Did about 50 min on the treadmill with lots of different running, walking, inclines...like those 45min treadmill workouts I see online but with my own twists. I did some triceps too, but then it was getting too late and I wanted to get home.

I ate my leftover veggie chili for dinner...yummmm, and then was bummed to find that there was NO Gossip Girl tonight...boo!

G'night.

Holy Busy Weekend!

Wow...I've missed the blog world all weekend!! This is legit the first time I've sat at a computer since Friday at work...especially since Brian was trying to "diagnose" my computer Friday night. He decided he's just going to buy me a new hard drive, and because my computer is about 4 years old it's only about $40! Sweet! I hope that solves the issue.

Saturday:

Reluctantly dragged my butt out of bed at 6:45AM to go to Hot Yoga at 7:30AM! As much as it pains me, I am always SO happy I went...it makes me feel great and therefore is a great start to the day!

Breakfast was planned to be oats...I haven't had oats yet since I got my Barney Butter! Well it's going to have to wait until tomorrow because I couldn't decide on breakfast and made a Half & Half Breakfast sandwich to go with my Soy Cappuccino!

• 1 Arnold Sandwich thin cut in half
• 1/2 as an egg sandwich: 1 egg, American cheese, ham
• 1/2 with Barney Butter, Raspberry preserves, banana
• PERFECTION!

Solved the salty and sweet cravings.

After breakfast I packed my things and Brian and I were off!

1st it was a family bday party, then we left and headed north to NH. His friend was having a 70's Fondue Party! Brian and I went to this great second hand store Friday night to find outfits :) His was awesome! He got a shirt, pants, and wore the aviators that I got for myself...but looked way better on him.

His pants are these tight hounds tooth print pants that were too short for him hehe! I got that lovely shirt and was also wearing some sweet platforms that I had bought in high school! My outfit paled in comparison to his but that's fine by me :)

Sunday!

Woke up at Brian's moms' house, and we headed south. He dropped me at a bridal shop to try on dresses for ANOTHER friend of mine getting married this year that I am a bridesmaid for.

I must say I really like the dresses...here we are all wearing them and the color chosen was the dark purple of the girl on the right.

That was efficiently done in about 20 min!! Awesome! Then we had lunch and I enjoyed a lovely (unpictured) Greek salad with grilled shrimp!

Roomie and I then drove 45-55 min east to Portsmouth, NH to meet our friend for her bday dinner. However, she was stuck in traffic in Boston!! So we drove another 45min to 1 hour south back to Boston and have dinner there. A bit much time in the car but what can you do!

We ended up at the Roadhouse BBQ in Brookline! It was yummy...but my favorite part was my beer! I wanted to order one and wasn't sure what I wanted so the waiter suggested this:

Brooklyn Brewery: Savoir Faire It was really delicious! Crisp yet slightly fruity...but not like girly beer fruity...like delicious beer fruity. I even had a Second glass! And yes I was feeling goood! I should say that I RARELY drink so if I start feeling a little good sometimes I'll just go with it :)

I also enjoyed some great vegetarian Chili...most of which I brought home...yay leftovers!

And obviously some corn bread...mmmm

I also had some collard greens but the pic came out blurry :(

When I returned home I had an exciting package from Food Buzz!!

Quaker True Delights

I am incredibly excited to try all three flavors...that toasted coconut banana macadamia but bar sounds SO Delicious!!!

Well I am super tired right now and only had enough time on roomie's laptop to do this post...so I will be SURE to check out all your wonderful blogs tomorrow...I Miss Them!!

Goodnight Moon

Fabulous Food Day

Not only was I able to enjoy delicious food at the tasting, I had an incredible exciting package waiting for me when I got home...Can you guess???

That's Right!! I am FINALLY the proud owner of two jars of the Infamous Barney Butter!! Of course I ordered 1 smooth and 1 crunchy. Even though we were minutes from leaving my apt for the tasting I HAD to try this ASAP. I broke open the crunchy and grabbed a spoon.

LOVES IT!!

As much as I love the not-as-smooth texture of natural Peanut Butter...I have never had the same love affair with most Almond Butters...I like them, but never LOVE them. I LOVE this! I know Almonds aren't the only ingredient...

Ingredients: Almonds, Evaporated Cane Juice, Palm Fruit Oil, Sea Salt.

However, I think the additional ingredients are necessary to get that super creamy texture...Heather said it perfectly when she compared it to the consistency of Skippy! Now I grew up with Skippy and still crave it from time to time (ummm PB and Fluff anyone?), but since college I have grown to love natural PB. I am Loving the Barney Butter because it's got the delicious roasted Almond taste but creamier and slightly sweeter characteristics. I knew immediately what breakfast today would be...more on that later.

Wedding Info: Tasting at the Caterer!

Background info: We are having our reception at a beautiful historic Mansion in the Greater Boston area...and therefore you just rent the space and bring in all your own vendors (catering, flowers, rentals...etc). Some people don't like this and prefer hotel type places where things are included = less work. I am the opposite...I wanted to pick and choose every aspect of my wedding and have enjoyed every minute of it.

I LOVE my caterer, they are out of Charlestown... Wildflour Catering, Inc. I'd highly recommend them if you need catering services in the area! They have been great to work with...even did a full tasting before booking, which most places will not.

We had already chose a few of the hors d'ourves based on our first tasting, but I wanted to pick 2 more, and then change the entrees.

We walked into a lovely table setting in the office, complete with Brown linens (what I want to use...not these exact ones but I want chocolate brown table cloths)

Rolls! (the company is located in this big industrial building...sharing the same space as a BREAD COMPANY!!...more on that below).We just had some white rolls...but for the wedding we are going to take full advantage of this bread company and have a beautiful bread basket with lots of different yummy breads!!

Then she brought out 4 new hors d'ourves to try:

• Lower left - Cashew Chicken Spring Rolls with an orange aeoli
• Lower right - prosciutto and white truffle oil pizzette
• Middle right - Mini BBQ Chicken calzones
• Top right - three cheese wontons with a red pepper dipping sauce
  
  First of all I'd like to give a HOLY YUM to ALL of them!!! Honestly I really just want to give everyone at the wedding a plate of like 10 different hors d'ours because they were all SO SO good.

Already decided from the last tasting were:

• Lemon & Herb Crepes Stuffed with Asparagus, Red Pepper & Goat Cheese
• Tenderloin Crostini with Horseradish Cream
• Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing!

We all agreed that we MUST have the Cashew Chicken Spring Rolls!

Then it was down to the pizzette or the wontons...both amazing, but since we will still be having lots of cheese on stationary displays, we went with the Proscuitto and White Truffle Oil Pizzette! Not that there was anything wrong with the BBQ chicken calzone...it was delicious, but the others were just out of this world delicious.

So there are the 5 Winning Hors d'Ourve!

Onto Dinner!

We tried 4 dishes, two chicken, two fish...they just brought out all 4 plates and we rotated, shared..etc.

Chicken #1 - Pan Seared Chicken with Warm Basil Vinaigrette & Pear Tomatoes , with a grilled vegetable kabob and Crispy Potato Leek Cakes Chicken #2 - Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Peppers, Fennel & Artichokes, with the same vegetable kabob (we picked this out at Tasting #1), and roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes. Both chicken dishes were great, however I really loved the flavor of the marinated artichoke, red pepper, fennel slaw on top of #2! The basil vinaigrette of #1 was good but I think I was hoping it would of tasted more like pesto...just wasn't as flavorful. So we went with #2, but I asked them to add more seasoning and perhaps marinade the chicken...I am like terrified that the chicken might be dry!!

Fish!! - Brian and I love fish, and that was another big reason, aside from cost, I went with it instead of beef.

Fish #1 - Chilean Sea Bass with a green tomato and caper sauce, served with the vegetable kabob and creamy herb risotto! (note: I definitely asked for a Risotto option!!)Fish #2: Chilean Sea Bass with Mandarin Orange, Tomato and Basil, served with the veggies and same Risotto.

Somehow I managed to miss the picture of this one, but it was obviously really similar to #1 but with a beautiful colorful mixture of the mandarin oranges, tomatoes and basil on top!!

The green tomato and caper sauce was Delicious!! IF you like capers...it was strong, and didn't look the best but could of been done with red tomatoes, however we thought the sauce may not be loved as much by others. Plus, Fish #2 was Awesome as well...so refreshing and can I just say how AMAZING Sea Bass is!!! So delicate and tender.

The real star of all the meals though, was the RISOTTO!! O.M.G. Freeking incredible...so creamy and flavorful. I originally wanted a butternut squash risotto and was told we could do that instead or some other add-in, but this was so perfect I didn't want to change it.

Final Menu
Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Peppers, Fennel & Artichokes
or
Chilean Sea Bass with Mandarin Orange, Tomato and Basil

Both served with:
Grilled Vegetable Kabob and Creamy Herb Risotto

Even though we weren't tasting desserts...our caterer was right up my alley feeling that you still need something sweet...

My aunt is making my cake(s), but we will still have a few of these mini pastries as well to nosh on...specifically the lemon tarts (in the pic), chocolate dipped cream puffs (the round chocolate ball in the middle), and some Almond macaroons (not pictured).

The bread! This is what we walked by to get to the caterer's office:
It smells SO amazing in there!! I don't know what I would do being there all day!

Fun Fact: This company, Biga Breads, makes the bread for Trader Joe's! Well at least the TJ's around here. And the pic below is bread for Morton's (fancy steak house).
At our first tasting she gave us this multi grain bread fresh from the oven...I was immediately obsessed, and knew it was sold at TJ's but they have more than 1 multi grain so I couldn't figure it out. Well I asked for more last night...and she even grabbed the TJ's bags so we'd know!
So of course Breakfast this morning was a no brainer: Multi grain bread, Barney Butter, and Banana!I left 1 slice untoasted (it was nice and soft), and the toasted piece got a little butter on one half...I'm a sucker for melty butter on great bread.
Incredibly Delicious!!

Super Snacky!

First of all...you guys are so great! Thanks for the supportive running comments...I know it will get better once I can get outside for my runs more often. It's just this cold weather combined with SO much snow...I'm not that hardcore yet :) I also very much realize that it's also very much a mental thing...there are sometimes I'll be running and it's not that my legs are tired or I'm out of breath, I just don't like the feeling and want to stop...I need that to go away!

I decided to not do all running at the gym last night and thank goodness because I forgot part of my HRM at home and left my ipod in the car!! So I did 25min on the step mill with a magazine and then decided to just bust out a mile on the treadmill afterward. Then did I hit up a few nautilus machines which I haven't done in quite a while.

Rewind to Breakfast yesterday

It was a chilly morning so I wanted warm comforting Oats!The Mix:

• 1/3 cup of oats, water, and milk
• salt
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp pumpkin butter
• granola (found a little left of my last batch...need to make more ASAP)
• candied pecans, chopped
• golden raisins
  
• 3 choc. chips, 3 PB chips
• spoon of White choc. PB!

Delicious as usualLunch was a re-make of Monday's dinner...and is also pretty much what I packed for today too!

• TJ's Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
• Frozen veggies added to soup: green beans, peas, corn
• WW Sandwich Thin
• 1/2 of sandwich with Honey Maple Turkey, American Cheese, Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 with ham, sopresatta, American cheese, Dijon
• Roasted Gorgonzola cracker!!

After my gym trip I was hankering for some Brenner (?) Breakfast for Dinner!

Made a scramble with:

• 1 egg, 2 egg whites
• zucchini
• red onion
• red pepper
• spinach
  
• American Cheese
• ham
  

With a side of TJ's Cinnamon Raisin British Muffin...half with Smart Balance, half with lite cream cheese!Scrumptious!!

Random new snack to try:Picked up at TJ's...I figure since I love gummi bears/sour patch kids so much these would be a good option!

Wedding Planning + Food = Super Happy Bridget!!

We have another Tasting tonight!! We had a couple before when we were trying to decide on a caterer. Now that we have our caterer, we are having a second tasting to finalize the menu options.

I want to have a fish and chicken dish as the options. I decided to forgo beef because its more $$ and more people will pick it...where as the fish may be just as $$ but not as many will choose it. I also want to make sure the chicken dish is Awesome...not bland unexciting chicken. So I sent my caterer a long email of ideas...you can only imagine how my mind was racing with ideas. So she's going to take all the info, talk to the chefs and surprise us tonight!

Can't wait to post about it later :) Plus last time we had so much food we brought home lots of leftover...mmmm!