Monthly Archives: August 2010

by | August 10, 2010 · 7:50 am

Death by Cheese!

     Our neighbor took a trip to Reno, Nevada, and brought back a gift last night for watching over her house.

Cheese bread. Our neighbor is evil… and so wonderful!
     I seriously ate about 1/3 of the entire loaf, then spent the rest of the night feeling like I was going to hurl. After practicing portion control all week, this was massive overload on my stomach. I woke up this morning with a greasy-cheesy-carbalicious hangover. Blah!
     Breakfast was a cleansing Monsta that made me feel all better, and then I headed to work. Coffee was desperately needed, so I headed to Nordstrom’s E-Bar to get a coffee. They have begun listing calories next to their drinks – my usual latte is 210 calories!!! Instead, I got a small brewed coffee with a little soymilk stirred in, and a Luna bar to tide me over until lunch.
“Nutz Over Chocolate” – not too sweet, with a little salty bite. Perfect for the five hour wait before lunch.
     I changed it up for lunch… well, kinda… I didn’t have sushi, does that count?
6-inch on wheat with turkey, extra spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, pepper jack cheese, a little mayo and mustard. A lot of the bread was discarded – the loaves are way too thick! Hooray for healthy Subway!
     When I got home, I poured a glass of “red wine” (Seriously, the bottle doesn’t say Zinfandel or Syrah, it just says “red wine”) from Trader Joe’s and had a KSS.
This KSS just had 1/3 of a bag of chopped baby greens, 1/3 of a chopped bell pepper, 1/3 of a container of egg white salad and a little dressing.
     It was a very healthy day! That is until…
Crap. Apparently overdosing on cheese bread last night didn’t kill my appetite for cheese and carbs. I had two slices of ham, caramelized onions and gruyere cheese tart. 
     Ah well, you can’t win them all! I don’t feel overstuffed, if that’s any consolation. Tomorrey is my day off, so I’ll be hanging with my cousin and friend Allie and doing some shopping, some eating of good foods (in controlled portions) and possibly facial-ing! We’re looking for some cheaper places in the area.

     Side note – my friend Heather has started a Green Monster mission! Heather, blog about it so we can cheer you on :)!

How do you spend your days off?

2 Comments

Filed under cheese bread, coffee, green monster, kitchen sink salad, Luna bar, Subway, wine

by | August 9, 2010 · 6:57 am

I Hate Women

     I had to work in the women’s department today, and I’ll tell you, they are VICIOUS!!! I got yelled at by a coworker who was stealing my sales and snapped at by some irritable female shoppers. I think I’ll stay in my nice quiet store with the nice, patient men.

     Today was… PANCAKE SUNDAAAAAAY!!!!!

I made Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa Pancakes and topped them with mashed banana instead of syrup. If you feel like something is missing, you’re right. No Green Monsta this morning! Sadness, cured by cakes of pan.
     Work was work was work was work. I dislike that building and the women in it, and I had sushi for lunch. Yep, that sums up my day.
     I got home and had some freshly-made Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder and a glass of Brochelle. According to my roommates, I am now a wine snob. Woohoo!
De-freakin-lish.
What’s your favorite healthy comfort food?

4 Comments

Filed under bacon, Brochelle, Pancake Sunday, potato chowder, summer corn, sushi, work

by | August 8, 2010 · 9:33 am

Obsessed with Lemonade!

     I had my first ever blogger meet-up today! We had ten bloggers from the LA area come together at Lemonade in West Hollywood. This restaurant is kind of a cafeteria-style place, with non-cafeteria-esque dishes (also known as delicious). Their food selection is INSANE! I looked up the menu online last night to check it out so I wouldn’t waste hours with my indecisiveness, but seeing the food up close and personal threw that out the window. Luckily, it only took me ten minutes to finally make my choice.

How the heck was I supposed to choose???
This was only half of the selection. Ready for my favorite part?
Best prices EVER. I got 1 portion (two scoops) of two different things so I could have some room for dessert and their namesake. My total cost, including drink and dessert was around $8.75.
LEMONADE! I had the hardest time deciding between these. The cashier was kind enough to give me samples of the Watermelon Rosemary and the Cucumber Mint. I went with the Watermelon Rosemary. Sweet and tangy with a warm, Christmas-y flavor from the rosemary. My mouth was confused… and thrilled. I must return to try all the flavors, and try more dishes! I may be completely obsessed…
My plate consisted of: Avocado, cherry tomatoes, and pine nut salad tossed in a lime vinaigrette, and the mission fig, arugula, and blue cheese salad tossed in a balsamic dressing. They were both delicious, but the fig and arugula salad had a little too much dressing, whereas the avocado and cherry tomato salad could have used a little more. Dessert was a mini red velvet cupcake. The frosting on this was to die for!!! The cupcake itself was a little dry and boring, but the frosting more than made up for it.
Random fact: This was the first time that Megan and I had ever tried figs! Not too shabby – light flavor, not too sweet or overpowering. The consistency will take a little getting used to in the future. Kinda slimy in my opinion.
     After everyone got their food, we all sat down and got to business photographing.
Megan from Healthy Hoggin’ and Stephanie, a reader who should start her own blog :).
Our lovely organizer Lynn from The Actor’s Diet.
From the far end forward: Ameena from Fancy That, Fancy This, Eden from Eden’s Eats, Lynn from The Actor’s Diet, Katy from Katy Eats…
Again from the far end forward: Andy and Amanda from Two Boos Who Eat, Stephanie (a reader), and Megan from Healthy Hoggin’.
     We spent about two hours stuffing ourselves and discussing blogging, food, real life outside of blogging (what’s that?), and more food. Everyone dispersed around 1pm and I headed to my car to drive to work – which I was scheduled to start at 12:45pm. Oops, my bad :).
     I had an hour and a half of training for a new product at work, and the representative brought in food from The Cheesecake Factory. There were corn dogs, deep fried artichoke hearts, deep fried mushrooms, and deep fried sweet corn that had been wrapped in dough. I was very, very thankful that I’d eaten well at the blogger meet-up, and had no temptation at all for any of this. I felt ill just looking at the layout.
    I spent the rest of the day going around to my coworkers and proclaiming about the deliciousness that is Lemonade, and then had to try to find something that sounded appealing for dinner. Nothing did after that meal, so I went and got the least unhealthy/cheapest thing I could find.
A single serving of beef with broccoli – one of their healthiest options on the menu.
Blech.
What’s the most  memorable meal you’ve had? This definitely goes in the books for one of mine – because of the food AND the company!

7 Comments

Filed under arugula, avocado, blogger meet-up, cherry tomatoes, Lemonade, mission figs, red velvet cupcake, watermelon rosemary

by | August 7, 2010 · 9:29 am

Finger Foods!

     I had a long, gimpy day at work. Seriously, I limped throughout the entire day, and was very annoying to all the people I whined to. You’re lucky you weren’t there. I was very annoying …and whiny….

     The day started off with a Monsta: Picture omitted because there are just too many, and lunch was a MSTRwBR. Again, picture omitted because of repetition. After lunch, there was a Paciugo -OMITTED BECAUSE I INHALED IT IN 36 SECONDS, AND YOU’VE SEEN TOO MANY!

     Now, here’s what you’ve all been promised with the title: Finger Food Dinner!

Chopped avocados, spicy salsa, roasted chicken, multigrain and flaxseed water crackers, a mix of jalapeno havarti cheese, smoked gouda, and mozzarella with prosciutto and basil, LOTS of romaine lettuce, and a glass (or three) of prosecco.

Three glasses of prosecco. Does this picture look straight to you?
I ate plenty, but never felt overstuffed! Yay, portion-control!

     Tomorrow will be the first blogger meet-up of my existence! I AM SO EXCITED THAT I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF!!! And then I have to have a full shift at work. The blog will be amazing, despite the 8 hours at work I have to suffer through – I will be showing up as late as possible to squeeze every second of enjoyment from the meet-up.
     I apologize for the lack of pictures, but tomorrey’s post will make up for it. PLUS more! Have a wonderful night, and a fantastic weekend!
L.A. BLOGGER MEET-UP! What’s on the schedule for your weekend??

2 Comments

Filed under blogger meet-up, gelato, green monster, Los Angeles, Paciugo, sushi

by | August 6, 2010 · 9:14 am

I Fall Down, Go Boom :(

     Twas a long, long day. All was well until I was leaving work, then I tripped and busted up my knee on the stairs, and proceeded to whimper and sniff all the way home. Now I’m blogging with a fatty ice-pack on my knee, and a small glass of red wine that my roommate poured me to help me feel better.

     I started off the day with a Monsta.

5 cups of spinach, 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/3 of a VERY ripe banana, 1/4 of a cup of frozen blueberries, a few frozen strawberries, and the juice of a lemon and a lime. The ripe banana REALLY made a difference – really cut out the spinach-y taste and sweetened it up.
     We went on another amazing hour-long hike down to the bridge and back. I LOVE HIKING!!! Afterwards, I refueled with some multigrain and flaxseed water crackers, and a few prosciutto-mozarella-basil slices.
YUM! Lots of protein and some great whole grains!
     I went to work with one goal in mind: to get a free lunch at the farmers’ market. I succeeded! Kinda…
Rainbow chard! Must try soon!
So many things I’ve never heard of!
I ran into my friend Duck-Duck and he joined me on my revolutions for samples. I made about four circles, sampling peaches, plums, sweet breads, apples, orange slices and honey. And that was lunch.
     I wasn’t very full after that lunch – surprise surprise, so I stopped by Paciugo for a child size brown-sugar-waffle-cone, and amaretto chocolate chip to get a few more calories in. As the day wound to a close, I went to Teavana and got a jasmine tea with no sweetener added, and sipped on that while reading “Nick and Norah’s Infinte Playlist” by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan: my current book–>movie. It’s actually turning out to be a good read! 
I loves me some jasmine tea!
     Then I fell. The day was ruined and now I’m going to feel sorry for myself, watch some crappy TV and keep sipping my red wine. I’ve upped my allowance to a small glass a day at most. It’s good for my health – CNN told me so.
Have you ever had a sample lunch? One of my favorites (and also unhealthiest) is Costco!

3 Comments

Filed under Costco, fall down, farmers' market, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, ouch, Paciugo, Teavana, whimper

by | August 5, 2010 · 7:33 am

Trailer Trumped

     Here’s a tip: DO NOT go see Charlie St. Cloud. It was long, it was slow, it was PAINFULLY cheesy, and there were way too many violins trying to tell me to feel sad. Don’t get me wrong, this definitely had its tear-jerking moments, and Zac Efron is a great crier with an even better bod, but it wasn’t worth the money paid. My favorite part of the movie was the trailer. Honestly, the trailer definitely trumped the movie, and I wish I’d just watched that and obsessed over how wonderful the movie COULD have been without actually seeing it. Those amazing trailer editors got me!

     Before the whole movie debacle, my parental unit took me out for an amazing lunch at the local Indian restaurant. We split two dishes, and a side of naan.

A slice of naan, chicken tikka masala, and saag. Sorry for the awful plating – I was focusing on my portion-control. I had another half piece of naan after this, as well as a little more tikka masala sauce and a small spoonful of saag. I left satisfied, on the edge of full.
The restaurant has this beautiful courtyard outside.
A little slice of paradise :).
     My mom and I released my dad from our girly-movie grips and headed to the theatre on our own. We were half an hour early, so we each got a child size gelato and sat outside to enjoy the fresh air before heading into the theatre. An hour and a half later, we walked out dazed and chuckling at the complete absurdity that we’d just endured.
     We swung by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few key ingredients for dinner, then headed home and put together this amazing setup:
We all split a plate of Multigrain and Flaxseed water crackers from TJ’s with some smoked gouda cheese, and had big KSSs. Each KSS had 1 chopped and sauteed zucchini with HdP, 1/2 of a cup of warmed lentils, 1/3 of the egg white salad, 1/3 of a diced orange pepper and 1 bag of chopped baby romaine lettuce. The wine of the night was Murphy-Goode’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – I had one glass and was content :).
     After a leisurely dinner out back, I heated up three chunks of the frozen Summertime Cherry, Banana, Coconut-Butter bread, and made a big mug of tea. The night so far has consisted of good food, good wine, and a LOT of ridiculing of Mr. St. Cloud. It is WONDERFUL to be home, indeed.
What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen? When In Rome gets my vote – I have no idea what possessed me to watch that one!

4 Comments

Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread, courtyard, Indian Food, kitchen sink salad, Murphy-Goode, wine

by | August 4, 2010 · 9:41 am

Baking and Pottery!

     Today was a perfect day. All of my perfect days start with a Green Monsta! Today, I had a Monster Monsta!

This thing had five cups of spinach in it! FIVE!!! It definitely tasted a little more spinach-y than usual, but in a good way. I could feel myself absorbing that green energy with every sip!
     My roommate and I, fueled up with green, went on an hour long hike down and back up our ridiculously painful trail. It was a hot one outside, but it felt great to finally be moving again!
     After we got back, I threw some of the leftover Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa pancake batter into the pan.
The batter really thickened up overnight! I mixed up the leftover mashed banana into the batter and didn’t need to use any to top it.
They were good the first day, but today they were AMAZING! Thick and rich and gooey inside!
     Since I had gone to all the effort to make my CocoButta, I decided to put it to good use and make Angela’s Summertime Cherry, Banana, Coconut Butter Bread. This recipe has been on my mind since she first posted it in June. Prep was very easy – I find that vegan baking setup generally is very fast.
I used the cherries that I pitted, halved and froze last week.
It took a little longer to cook than she stated. Mine was in the oven for roughly an hour.
Delicious and gooey! Overall impression: it’s good, but very, VERY dense. It was so thick that I stopped after 1/4 of a slice. I think next time I’ll use fresh cherries, add another tablespoon of coconut butter, and try a different flour (I used oat flour). I also added 1/4 of a cup of walnut pieces to the batter for some added crunch.
     All that baking made me hungry, and since I’d only had a quarter of a slice of the bread, I threw together a mini-burrito.
A small raw tortilla topped with 1/2 of a cup of refried beans, 3 tbsp of salsa, 2 tbsp of guacamole, 1 tbsp Tofutti’s “Better Than Sour Cream”, all on a bed of lettuce. I finished about 3/4 of this before I was satisfied and made myself stop. So. Hard. To. Stop!
     I did a little work for the manager from home, ate 2/3 of a cup of leftover Potato-Corn Chowder from yesterday, and then it was time to head to POTTERY CLASS with my mum!!!
I was excited and grungy! I wore all old clothes, prepared to get dirty!
     We got to the studio, which is located in an adorable little neighborhood on the beautiful property of the owners/teachers. I wanted to dig up their backyard and transplant it to my house.
We went under an archway that is covered in grapevines, with HUGE bunches of grapes on them! This backyard really is magical and alluring.
     We got inside, got on our aprons, and had a quick lesson on kneading the clay, throwing it onto the wheel, centering it, opening the clay, drawing up the sides, and shaping it. It was really that quick of an introduction, then she let us get straight to the wheel.
Boo to the Yah.
Yay, mom!
     My mom made 3 bowls, a mug and a soapdish, and I made 4 (really, really flat) bowls, and a small teacup. The teacher watched us center, helped us even out the clay, and walked us through every step. It was nice to get right into it and get our hands (and clothes) dirty – I’m not a fan of watching, I like to DO! This class was perfect for me, and I got some awesome girl-time in with my mom :).
     We got out of class around 8:45pm, COVERED in clay (I found some underneath my ear when I washed my face), and headed home. I had a big mug of caffeine-free peppermint tea, and a few water crackers with a little smoke gouda on top. Since I have another day off tomorrey, I’ll be hanging with the parental unit and enjoying being HOME! Charlie St. Cloud might make an appearance too, depending on our lunch schedule :).
What’s your favorite arts/crafts to make?

11 Comments

Filed under burrito, Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread, clay, green monster, Home, Ohsheglows, pancakes, Pottery class

by | August 3, 2010 · 9:25 am

Pancakes and CocoButta!!!

     “The Chief” aka portion-control, is going wonderfully! It’s ridiculous how much food I was stuffing myself with. Taking my time to enjoy every meal and starting with smaller portions really cuts down my consumption! As of now, I’m satisfied food-wise, full of chamomile tea, and very happy.

     I did something DIFFERENT today! I made a new recipe… kinda… We were out of spinach for Monstas, so I whipped up some pancakes: adapted from Angela’s Blueberry-Carob pancakes. Thanks, Angela!
Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa Pancakes!
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup quick cook rolled oats
1 tbsp Trader Joe’s sipping chocolate powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
3/4 cup blueberries
1/8 tsp sea salt

In a large bowl, mix together the oat flour, rolled oats, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour the soymilk into the dry mixture and whisk. The mixture will look VERY watery, but don’t worry, the oatmeal soaks it up after a few minutes! Stir in the blueberries.
Chocolate milk!

Pour a HEAPING scoop of batter into a pan that has been sprayed with canola oil and heated over medium for 3 minutes.
See? They turn solid! It’s like magic!

Wait until the tops of the cakes have begun to dry out and the little bubbles have popped (about 2-3 minutes), then flip the pancakes and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Plate and top with some mashed banana instead of syrup!
(I took the mashed banana tip from Angela as well. Delish!)
This made about 12 small pancakes. I had 3, made some for the roommates, and now have some leftover batter in the refrigerator for tomorrey morning :).

     After my awesome culinary expedition, I had to go to work. Sigh. This is how I spent my day:
This is a piece of paper that I sliced into oblivion using a pair of small scissors. It took me 2 hours to do this. I think I need a new job that mentally challenges me a little more…

     Lunch was the same old, MSTRwBR. You should know what that means by now. From now on, just assume that’s what I eat for lunch – If it’s ever anything different, it shall be photographed and blogged about!

     On the way home, I swung by Sprouts to pick up some unsweetened dried coconut to make my own CocoButta! I spent a lot of money on this coconut, so if it didn’t turn out, I would have been bummed!
That’s right, I splurged and spend $1.41 cents on this half-pound of coconut!

     I threw the whole thing into the food processor and pulsed it a few times.
Hmm, that didn’t do much…
7 minutes later…COCOBUTTA!!!!!
(Thanks for the recipe link, Justin!)

     I poured the CocoButta into a tupperware and set it on the counter. I’m still waiting for it to solidify. Am I supposed to refrigerate this? Does anyone know?

     Dinner was made for me by the roommate! I am so freaking spoiled!
1/2 cup of Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato chowder (soymilk was used instead of regular milk), and a glass of Brochelle.

     We took our amazing Zinfandel (Brochelle is EPIC!) outside and spent the evening enjoying the (somewhat blurry, thanks to my camera) view.
Now I’m off to start my “weekend”! I’m really looking forward to making some coconut-cherry-banana bread tomorrow, then throwing around some clay at pottery class with my mum!

What are you most looking forward to this week?

6 Comments

Filed under bacon, Brochelle, coconut, coconut butter, pancakes, potato chowder, summer corn, sushi, work

by | August 2, 2010 · 9:26 am

August Bucket List

     What a beautiful day! I wish I’d been able to get outside a little more, but I had a nice morning to enjoy the sun and fresh air. I started my day with a gigantic Monsta that had 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 a banana, 1/2 a cup of mixed frozen blueberries and strawberries, and the juice of half a lemon and lime.

     I headed out to work and made a very important stop to visit one of the most important people in my life.

Mrs. Godiva. She gives me one piece of overpriced candy FREE every month! She loves me!
     I’ve begun a new plan for this month: portion control! I’ve realized lately that I’ve been having way too much of everything. I’m generally comfortable with eating almost whatever I want, but recently it’s been sliding out of control and into massive bingeing. Here are some of my goals for August:
– Eat slowly and enjoy every single bite.
– No more visits to See’s Candies (Godiva is allowed once a month for my free piece).
– No more sugary coffee drinks (To save money, and needless sugar/caffeine intake).
– NO MORE BEER!!!!
Don’t freak out! The no beer rule is only for August. I’m still allowing myself two glasses of red wine a week for health reasons. The last time I quit alcohol, I dropped 8 pounds over the course of the first month, and my beer gut needs to go, especially since I start filming in two weeks!
     Even though I have a new plan (Now known as The Chief – no reason why, I just feel like using a code name), lunch was still the same.
A mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice and sriracha. I only used about a teaspoon of soy sauce with my sriracha for dipping. Salt is slowly being cut out.
     I did some speed walking on my breaks (My current “strutting” song is “Your Love Is My Drug” by Kesha – perfect for walking to a quick clip), and for a late afternoon snack had Paciugo. This time, I had a child’s size, which is two small scoops, of rocky road and amaretto chocolate chip. There’s really no need for any more than a small taste!
     Dinner was a small bean and cheese burrito made with a raw tortilla that was cooked in a skillet. I had 2 tablespoons of pre-made guacamole on the side.
Have you ever tried a raw tortilla? You can buy them in a regular grocery store in the cheese section. You just plop one of these into a dry skillet and slowly cook it until it looks a little opaque. These are the tortillas that they use in restaurants – the ones that make the burritos so unbearably good that you can’t help but inhale the entire thing. Luckily, this one was small.
     I’ve also made my August bucket list! A few key points:
– Take a pottery class (I start Tuesday night! My mom and I are going to be throwing clay together 🙂 ).
– No See’s!
– Have a 3-hour dinner at a local fancy restaurant with friends (I LOVE having extended meals!).
– Bike up “the Bitch” – a 7 mile bike trail that gently slopes from sea level to 300 feet, then climbs another 350 feet in 1/2 a mile. 
– Finally do my “audition intensive” where I put a bunch of auditions on tape to send in.
– Fax in my contract to Foodbuzz!
– L.A. Blogger meet-up! So excited!
– Cut out the brews and sub in 2 glasses of red wine per week.
– Film a festival short (August 14th-22nd).
– Read the Bible every day – I’m going to be doing a little Bible study in the next few weeks.
     My day was very productive and cheerfull with all the list-making, and I leave you now with some cozy pictures of happiness.
Enjoyed the final beer last night while sitting around the fire pit. Happiness.
Perfection in a fluffy package.
Do you have anything you want to accomplish/do for fun in August?

4 Comments

Filed under burrito, gelato, green monster, Kesha, Paciugo, raw tortilla, sushi, work, Your Love Is My Drug

by | August 1, 2010 · 5:43 am

Quick and Painless!

     I love Green Monsters. I really, really love them. It’s ridiculous how much I crave them every day. I’ve officially crossed the line into crazy in love.

That is me in the morning (sans makeup -aaaaah!), drinking my Monsta straight from the blender. I may have officially lost my mind!
     Since I started off the day with an insane amount of green, I figured, why not go way overboard and have some for lunch as well?
This KSS had an entire bag of chopped baby greens, 1 sauteed zucchini, 3/4 of a cup of warmed lentils, and an entire package of egg white salad. It took me an hour to finish this! LOVE!
     By then, there was just TOO much health and goodness in my system. I figured I should balance it out with something carb-y, greasy and cheesy.
It was so worth it! My pretzel craving is officially quashed. After the past few days of crazy eating, I feel like I’m ready to get back on track… Starting tomorrey of course 🙂
     I didn’t go see Charlie St. Cloud. I decided I wanted to save it for one of my days off when I could fully enjoy it and not be worrying and checking my watch to calculate the time it would take to get from the theatre to work. I’ll be seeing it either Tuesday or Wednesday, and you’ll get a recap then :).
     I’m off to enjoy the beautiful weather we’re having, and to sip my Franziskaner while overlooking the amazing view of the city with my BFF :). Homebody alert!
Do you like to go out and party on the weekends or keep it laid back with a few friends?

6 Comments

Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Franziskaner, green monster, kitchen sink salad, pretzel