More Salad Porn

What can I say with the weather as nice as its been we've been making use of the grill! The Grill = Delicious leftovers for salads :)

Yesterday it was in the low 90s!!!!! Felt like it was mid July or something! I took advantage of this hot day to wear a new dress I recently bought...
Ok so maybe I took this pic in the bathroom at work right before I changed for dance class, but I just was really loving that dress yesterday and wanted to share! Of course I had on a cardigan as the hot weather means the boys crank up the AC!!! Grrr! Don't worry I turn it off when us girls get too cold.

So after DANCE CLASS (yes I finally went back to class after my studying hiatus!!), and it was so nice to dance off my calories instead of a normal workout! Oh if only it wasn't so expensive I'd take class way more often...anyways AFTER class

we Grilled! We grilled Zucchini, Summer Squash, Red Onion, Marinated Chicken (from TJ's), and some Bay Scallops that Brian and I had picked up Sunday at WF's (on sale right now!).Please note the classy yellow plastic "dinnerware" and plastic "flatware"...we decided to run the dishwasher the other night but were out of dishwasher soap!!! So needless to say we were out of things. I'd also like to note that this rarely happens!
Chicken, Veggies, and some Scallops!

Oh I almost forgot, roomie and I had an "appetizer". We grilled up a good 'ol Hot Dog! There's something about a hot dog on the grill...as awful as they are I probably only have 2 or 3 all summer and the only other times are when I'm at a Red Sox Game...something about Fenway Franks, they are AWESOME!
We shared I dog...I had my half with Ketchup....mmmmmmmmmm.

Later we had to make a quick trip to the grocery store for dish soap and decided to pick up a container of Eddy's Slow Churned Mint Chocolate Chip!!! At only 120 calories per serving this is a GREAT treat with very little guilt. We even splurged on a box of Waffle Cones!! They were the same # of calories as the sugar cones so we went for it. A perfect 170 calories icecreamy dessert. This ice cream does NOT taste low fat!
I'd also like to note that I believe in most ice cream shops a Waffle Cone is much more than 50 calories...these are just the grocery store kind ( I believe Keebler).

Salad Porn
Amazing salad lunch day #3...I love my lunches this week!

Sadly this salad used the last ear of corn, but with the addition of grilled zucchini, summer squash, onions, and chicken this was the Best Salad Yet!!!

• Baby Spinach
• cucumber
• carrots
• red onion
• red bell pepper
• grilled zucchini
• grilled summer squash
• grilled asparagus
• grilled red onion
• Corn OFF the cob

Added at work:

• Grilled Chicken
• Avocado
• tomato
• dressing: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard

Seriously like the best salad ever...better than anything I've gotten in a restaurant.

Back to Yoga!

More and more little pieces of my "normal" life are coming back! I finally went to my Yoga studio tonight and when I looked at my class card the last time I went was March 19!!! Way too long!

I went for Hot Yoga but there was a substitute teacher who does more of a Vinyasa class, but the room was already hot from the class before so it was kind of Hot Vinyasa which was awesome! The normal Hot Yoga doesn't have much down and up dogs or planks so I this was great! My arms were getting so tired from all the low planks!!

So my roomie and I have officially made the switch to morning iced coffee!! I made a pot of Spring Blend iced coffee Sunday and it was A-MA-ZING! To make iced coffee we just brew a half pot of double strength coffee and then when its finished add enough ice to bring it up to the normal strength water level.I packed a KICK ASS salad today!
The goods:

• baby spinach base
• cucumber
• red bell pepper
• carrots
• red onion
• corn OFF the cob (the leftover grilled corn from last night)
• grilled asparagus from last night

I also packed a fresh tomato and avocado to cut up just before eating :) I don't like to refrigerate tomatoes if possible, it just ruins a good tomato.
I also made a quick dressing with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic, honey, and Dijon mustard.

I also enjoyed an Ellie's Cherry Walnut Bar that the roomie made last Thursday night! I've said it before but these things are SO good.
After Yoga I had a leftover Spanikopita Turkey Burger, YUM! And apple sauce...
Then maybe I had a Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie to round out the night.

AND I'm finally catching up on some TV! Watched Gossip Girl from like THREE weeks ago and a couple episodes of The Hills.

Summer Weekend

I can't even believe the weather we've had here in Boston this weekend!! I would of been Sooooo pissed if I would of had to study this weekend. It was almost 90 degrees Saturday and in the low 80's today!! Right now its cooled down but the breeze still feels great.

Everything about this weather makes me happy (well except one thing...BUGS!!), I HATE BUGS!! That's the BIGGEST drawback to warm weather :(

Other than that I am in a great mood! We just had a nice little BBQ with my roomies Brother and his gf. We grilled all sorts of stuff, but I'll get to that in a sec.

It started waking up to warm sunshine on Saturday and I made Brian and myself some multi-grain pancakes! I LOVE this recipe...it's in the classic "Joy of Cooking" cookbook and its the 4-grain pancakes!

They are made with whole wheat flour, corn meal, oats, and a little all purpose flour. There is some honey in the recipe as well which makes them SO delicious, even just plain with nothing on them. I, however, am a Real Maple Syrup LOVER!! I can't get enough!!!

some of the finished product extras that went into the Freezer for another day.

Then we headed into Boston to enjoy our lovely city on a perfect day. We walked all the way down Newbury St, and eventually decided to dine "al fresco" at one of the trendy little restaurants on this street: Cafeteria Boston.
We had a table right along the sidewalk and it made for some great people watching. I ordered an iced tea while Brian went with the Sangria.
I ordered a perfect salad for a hot day: "Buffalo Mozzarella, Marinated Peppers, and arugula".
This was the BEST fresh mozzarella I've ever had!! I made Brian eat some so I wouldn't eat it all :)

The city was jam packed with people, the atmosphere was so energetic!

This morning I got up early and got to cleaning the apartment. Studying always trumped cleaning so I was super excited to clean this place!

I had a pre-breakfast snack of an incredibly juicy pear!! Probably one of the best pears I've ever eatenjust look at that juice!!

A little later I had a Chobani before Brian and I went out for a run at my favorite place: Castle Island in South Boston! Could of used some more of that ocean breeze but it was great to run after a week of not-so-much exercise last week. Plus I burnt 5o0 calories! Yay!

I was STARVING when we got back and so I made a quick little sandwich on Arnold's Double Protein Bread with American Cheese, sliced tomato, and sliced Avocado! The Avocado was perfect!! Mmmm!Then we headed to a couple grocery stores for some grilling supplies...but first got distracted by the Gelato stand INSIDE whole foods.

I got a small with Passion Fruit and Chocolate-Strawberry....crazy delicious!
We had plans to grill so many things but didn't even get to them all.

Brian made some skewers with marinated steak tips and veggies. I made up some "Spanikopita" turkey burgers based off this recipe.

I used:

• 1 package of lean ground turkey
• 1 package frozen spinach (drained)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 med red onion
• about 1/2 package (maybe less) Feta crumbles
• dried Oregano
• S&P

These came out AWESOME!! I didn't make the yogurt sauce, but I can guess that it would be a fabulous addition.

We also grilled asparagus, corn, broccoli and a few regular burgers! We were too full once the corn was done so I'm going to take it off its cob for a salad tomorrow.I had 1 skewer and 1 turkey burger on a whole wheat potato bun. I also munched on asparagus and broccoli. Delicious summer dinner.

It feels so great to be back to my non-studying life. Guess I better get back to wedding focus...next up I need to pick invitations!!! For someone who loves paper products as much as I do, I am not really looking forward to this part!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

I originally typed "baked" to Reality haha...guess I need to bake something soon, and I can because I am no longer a SLAVE TO STUDYING!! YAY!!!!!! It's OVER!!!

Thank you all so much for your patience! I've been missing blogging way too much, but I did get in to check up on all your blogs once in a while so I didn't completely disappear!

Lets see, the last couple days have gone like this:

I am beyond THRILLED with the weather we are having and decided to make it official with an ICED COFFEE on my way to work Thursday.This iced coffee is the BOMB! It's Kahlua Cream flavor (just the beans, no added syrups or anything) and all I add is milk and it tastes just like a mudslide!!! (minus the sugary taste)...AMAZING! It's from my fav little coffee shop in Andover: The Ultimate Perk

I only worked a half day Thursday so I could have more studying time...I am definitely better at last minute studying, I need it fresh in my mind.

I had a studying smoothie for lunch (well more like a snack)...no green stuff today, just:

• 1/2 c Almond Milk
• 1/2 c Chocolate Soy Milk
• 1/2 banana
• 4 frozen strawberries
• a few ice cubes
• 1/4 t Vanilla extract

So refreshing! I wish it was thicker, but my blender isn't the best at the whole ice crushing (I need to get me a Vita Mix!)

Later I made a quick frozen pizza I've kept on hand: TJ's BBQ Chicken Pizza!

Popped this baby in the oven, directly on the rack for 8min...perfect!
A serving was 1/3 of the pizza, so I cut it into little slices so it would feel like more. I probably had a little more than 1/3, but less than 1/2.

Test Day

At least I had a test buddy...Brian! He was taking it too, and we ended up being sat near each other.

I must say the ONLY good part was the test site: UMASS Boston. They have a GORGEOUS campus! It's right on the harbor and the harbor walk that runs all long Boston even continues down here, so after we ate our lunch we went for a little walk.

I had packed a simple Honey Maple turkey and American cheese on Arnolds Double Protein Bread! Brian bought some awesome veggie chips from WFs!Then we walked.8 hours of testing later we were free! And wanted to go to a fun dinner.

We decided to try out the Cambridge Brewing Co. They had great beer but the dinner was so-so, well I think I just didn't order something good.

We started with brews:
I got the Berliner Kendall: a Berlin Style Wheat ale, traditional sour fermentation. Dry, tart, light-bodied.

Brian got The Colonel (which I can't find the description of and am not even going to try to describe it haha)My problem was that I wanted the:

Chick Pea Fritter Wrap Carrots, Spring Greens, Cucumber, Onion, Spicy Yogurt

but when I asked if there was Curry in the spicy yogurt the waitress was like "ummm yeah I think so" (thanks for ACTUALLY checking)...well this solidified a big NO for me because I HATE curry!! Don't know why but I do. So I went with the

Vegetarian Muffaletta House Giardiniera, Eggplant, Roasted Pepper, Artichoke, Portobello, Olive Salad

This just wasn't that great, I don't know...the bread was tough the veggies were OK, just not something worth my money.

Brian got the special: Ribs, beer battered onion rings, and potato salad.THIS was good!! I had a few bites (of course). Oh well, I'd still like to give this place another try because many of the menu items sound great!

Well it's going to be in the 80's this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO PUMPED!!!

Brian and I plan to walk around the city a lot today, something I haven't done in a while.

It's good to be back :)

One More Week

I swear I only have 1 more week of this crap (i.e. studying and stressing), then I can go back to normal life and only worry about work, the wedding, blogging, house hunting...you know, the usual :)

I wisked myself to my mom's house this weekend to get in some uninterrupted studying time!

But a mini re-cap:
The Weather!!
I'ts been SO GORGEOUS here in Boston!! Friday was 70*!!!! I couldn't possibly make myself study Friday after work so I got home and went for a run! It was great. I don't know how far I went but I was out for about 40min...running with some walking. Then I met up with friends in the North End where I had 1.5 glasses of Savignon Blanc at Bacco, then an appetizer at Monicas!

The wine was Oyster Bay Savignon Blanc...AMAZING!

Saturday was super study time...I made myself a GREEN smoothie and headed off to Mom's. I love how sunny warm(er) weather makes me want to eat better in general :)

• 1 cup Almond milk
• 4 frozen strawberries
• handful of Kale
• 1/3 ripe banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• >1T Almond Butter
• mmmmmmmmmmmmmmGREEN!

Saturday wasn't too exciting, I did take a shopping break with mom later that night. I'll have to take some pics of my purchases!

Sunday was grocery shopping, and then I made my mom Kale Chips!She gets such a kick out of some of the things "I come up with" (I know I didn't come up with them...I told her that) but she really liked them!

then MORE studying, then another great run!

I followed up the run with lunges up and down the driveway, some arm work with dumbbells and abs!

For dinner we got out, and headed to one of my faves: Legal Seafoods!

After the wine Friday I was actually craving it again...this is like the most wine I've drank in 1 weekend in a while hahaNot as good as Friday's...but still yummy. I love the little fishy guy on their wine glasses.

I wanted to get a good serving of fish, so I ordered the Wood Grilled Assortment: the Chef's selections of three fish, shrimp, and scallopsThat would be: Scallops, Shrimp, Blue Fish (far right), Tuna (middle under the shrimp), and swordfish (can't see it under the shrimp). Steamed Broccoli and Snap Peas as my sides!

They are the masters a wood grilled fish...it's always so flavorful and perfectly cooked! Plus I have leftovers for tomorrow.
Once again I hate my lack of posting lately, but everything is just sucky lately...wow this exam just puts me in the worst mood, I can't WAIT to be done on Friday!!!!

Hope you all have a great week! I am HOPE HOPE to see you tomorrow :)

Winners, Squash, and Beans!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3
31
41

Timestamp: 2009-04-15 14:34:22 UTC

Winners are:

Erica at Itzy's Kitchen

Kelsey (reader)

and Megan from Healthy on the Run

Congratulations!!
Please email me your addresses along with your preferred prizes ranked 1-3 with "1" being your first choice.

Choices are:

The Fiber One Chocolate Giveaway

Yoplait Giveaway

3 Zoe's Bars (1 of each flavor)

I'd also like to thank everyone for your awesome ideas for me to use up the Coconut milk yogurt. I'll say, though, the decision was EASY!!! I can't even tell you how long I've wanted to bite into a Veggie Girl Blondie!!

I took one of her Blondie Recipes...like the one here...and added some coconut, sliced almonds, vegan choc chips, a few PB and Milk choc. chips

Then topped them off with some big unsweetened coconut flakes.

Mmmmm...I can definitely see myself re-using this recipe and experimenting with ingredients! My one complaint is that I could STILL taste the weird "vanilla" flavor from that yogurt!! Maybe I'd use plain next time.

They were particularly good with a tiny smear of PB :)

I have to toot my own horn and say I made up a Kick Ass dinner Monday night!!

It started with a squash...my mom had baked 2 whole butternut squashes for Easter, but didn't end up needing them since my aunt brought the Squash Souffle. So I took 1 home; God knows I'd use it!

So there we have 2 baked butternut squash halves in a bag

We also had black beans, fresh cilantro, salsa...mmm.

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burgers (well more like cakes)

• 1/2 of a baked butternut squash (scraped out of skin)
  
• 1 can Black Beans
• handful (maybe 2-3T) fresh cilantro, chopped
• *1 clove garlic (finely chopped or use a garlic press!)
• **2/3 cup Quick Oats \
• salt
• pepper
• spices - anything you like, I added a few shakes each of:
• cumin
• garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• Chipotle powder
• Penzey's Fajita Seasoning

*I'd add another clove next time
**I'd increase this to 1 cup for added texture and bulk

Mash all ingredients together in a bowl using a potato masherForm into patties, and grilled on my grill pan on med/high heat for a few min on each side. There's obviously nothing that needs cooking.

Next time I'd maybe try something to make them crispier on the outside??

I served these on a half of a toasted Arnold's Sandwich Thin, and topped with some lite Sour Cream and salsa!Also grilled some zucchini with the some olive oil and Fajita Seasoning as well :)

These were AWESOME!!! I had a little canned pineapple on the side because I thought something sweet would be a great counterpart, but didn't even need it because the natural sweetness from the squash came through beautifully!!

The key/best part was the fresh cilantro...I know some people hate it (don't understand that one), but its what makes these incredible!!!
It made 8 patties, I'd say 2 per serving (well that's what I ate). They were awesome for lunch at work the next day too, I just packed my little containers of sour cream and salsa...I am the queen of little containers :)

A quick enter into SparkRecipes and each serving (2 cakes/patties) have:

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 176.4
• Total Fat: 1.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 5.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 35.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 10.0 g
• Protein: 8.3 g

Yay for Fiber! I think Avocado would be a GREAT addition as well.