New Toy

So many bloggers have nice cameras.  I’m always jealous of some of the gorgeous pictures they take. 

However I just could not justify spending the money…at least not right now.  I like my little point and shoot Canon and for the most part I like how my pictures come out!

But then it was like fate…my good friend emails me telling me that her husband bought a new fancy camera and is going to sell his on craigslist!

I hardly needed to think about it…it was almost half of what he paid when he bought it and I knew it would be in great condition still.

Boo yeah!!

SO EXCITED and I have NO idea how to work the damn thing hahah!

I played around a bit this weekend, had a little 5 min crash course from my cousin and am VERY slowly getting the hand of it.  For this post I shall label which pics are from the new camera or old camera :)

Saturday – Bootcamp blast with my bff!  I love working out outside, esp on gorgeous days like we had on Saturday.

I made sure to wake up with plenty of time for breakfast and man I was craving some Kodiak cakes. 
I love how 1/3 cup of the Kodiak cake mix has:

• 130 calories
• 1 gm Fat
• 4g fiber
• 2g sugar
• 7g protein

Not much different than a piece of whole grain bread!  Okay so I don’t usually put maple syrup on bread but still…

(above: old camera)

On one cake I did banana and a little almond butter + raspberry syrup

(above: NEW camera)

The other larger cake was eaten classic Bridget style…chocolate chips on top, so they melt, and then dipped in maple syrup.

Made an iced Americano as well…no dairy before workouts for this girl.

(all the pancake pics are with NEW camera)

Sunday, after a fun night out dancing (maybe too fun haha) for my friends bday…we went in search of pastries Sunday morning :)

FINALLY got myself to Tatte!

Look at the adorable display of mini brioche breads on old stairs… 
(above: old camera)

We shared a cinnamon pecan “rose”…like a cinnamon bun

(above: old cameras)

We also stumbled upon a great Jewish bakery in the area and bought a loaf of Whole Wheat Challah bread!  I hadn’t had Challah in AGES!

This loaf was basically the size of my head…ridiculous.

(above: old camera)

And a random pic with the new camera…Watermelon!    

Beefsteak tomato from the garden…this was with a flash.  I wasn’t liking the yellowish tinge I was getting without the flash…hmmm?

Dinner!

• Garden tomatoes
• Garden cucumber
• yellow pepper
• Feta
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

(both above: new camera)

Well that was another fairly random post, for a random weekend haha!

Fun blogger event tomorrow!  Let’s hope I can scoot out of work in time!

Side note:  I’m watching the Teen Choice Awards as I write this (yeah yeah I know…), but there was a dance number from Step Up 3D…O.M.G. INCREDIBLE!!  I kind of want to see it!!!  No I REALLY want to see it haha!

So how was your weekend??  I had such a fun night out dancing Saturday night…haven’t been like “out on the town” in a while, and I LOVE to dance :)

Falafel and Berry Cheese Muffins

After my busy week last week I decided that I was going to take an afternoon off this week and you better believe that I planned my time off around the weather forecast so I could enjoy the nicest day possible!

Unfortunately I felt like I spent a better part of the afternoon in the car, but that’s just what happens to me…I have delicious visions of driving into Boston or Cambridge for an extra special lunch, then hit traffic, can’t find parking, and decide to abort the mission.

Oh well, I was still headed in the right direction to hit up my FAVORITE market around: Russo's!

After stocking up on produce (and their seafood salad), I headed home (well I may have made a stop at Whole Foods as well to get some other things).

I knew 2 things: I wanted to run and I wanted to cook dinner and bake something!

I was planning to make the following:

Cooking Light’s – Falafel with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

And a muffin based off this recipe for muffins with a GOAT CHEESE filling!

Before my run I whipped up the cucumber yogurt sauce so it would have time to sit and get more flavorful! My old roommate made these falafel’s for me once and I just remember them being delicious, especially this yogurt sauce!

So easy and at only 8 calories per Tablespoon, you don’t have to go light on the sauce. This would make a great veggie dip too!

Just 4 ingredients:

• Red Onion
• Cucumber
• Plain Yogurt
• Lemon Juice

Then I headed out for a nice run. I did the route from my house, to the pond, around the pond, and back…about 4.8 miles :)

Felt great, I feel like I haven’t had a good outdoor run in a while. My legs are definitely feeling it now!

Then I got cranking on the falafel batter!

Once again, super easy, just throw everything into the food processor. I also added a couple cloves or garlic, but next time I’d even add more and maybe some hot sauce for more of a kick!

You then form patties and pan fry them in a little olive oil. Because I needed to make them in batches I didn’t use all the oil called for at once…added a little each time I added new batter to the pan.

The batter doesn’t stay together too well, but just enough if your delicate with them

I had a small side salad with an olive oil + lemon juice dressing, with a little extra cucumber yogurt sauce!

Great dinner! Easy, flavorful, and had leftovers…score!

then it was time to make some muffins :)

Mixed Berry Goat Cheese Muffins!

Like I said before I used Lauren’s recipe for Maple Cranberry Goat Cheese Muffins and the Eating Well recipe that initially inspired her!

My alterations:

• My goat cheese filling was a mixture of plain goat cheese + approx. 1T honey + 1/4 tsp almond extract
• I used Lauren’s muffin base, but only added a few shakes of cinnamon
• Also used 1/4 c. maple syrup + 1/4 cup Sucanant
• Fresh black berries + strawberries as my fruit
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (I reduced the overall milk slightly because I was using fresh fruit which will at moisture anyways)
• and a little lemon zest to the batter

LOVE these! Warm from the oven the goat cheese was all gooey :) However, cooled the cheese got more crumbly than creamy…need to figure out what to do about that. Maybe a mix of goat and cream cheese.

These would be awesome as Carrot Muffins + cream cheese center!! That’s my next task ;)

Tonight

Brian and I are headed to the SlowFest in Boston. I’ve been to many beer fests with him in the past, and while I do enjoy those, I’m really excited that this one includes local food! Also, all the beers are Session Beers which means they are all less than 5% ABV… perfect for me haha.

With all that beer and food I’m in need for a good calorie burning session tomorrow. I just signed up for an Ultimate Bootcamp tomorrow morning! Perfect :) Last time I did one of these I got my butt kicked hard!