by | June 20, 2010 · 6:50 am

Home Sweet Home

     Doesn’t everyone love waking up at 6am? Today was the last day of watching the LBM, so I had to wake up a bit earlier to fold sheets and straighten up around my foster house. I woke up early on my own (I was going to let myself “sleep in” until 6:30am), so I had plenty of time to enjoy my GM.

I like my Monsta with a little extra Monsta on top.
     Do you remember those cookies I bought last night for my date night? Yeah, I brought those in to work with me, in hopes of getting rid of them and not having any more. That didn’t work out so well. I ended up eating another two, and my coworker Vicky helped me polish off the remaining sprinkles that were stuck in the grooves in the bottom of the box.
     Once we were all hopped up on sugar, Vicky and I decided that we needed some coffee, so we ventured out for an “enorme” cup of java, but got sidetracked by See’s and bought some Tipperary bon-bons and caramels. THEN came the coffee, then came the outcome of our caffeine/sugar binge:
I apologize if you like those Zsu-Zsu pet things. This hamster toy was left a week ago by a little girl, and after letting it roam around the store, we decided that we’d had enough of its squeaking, so we made a spit and paper fire and roasted it. Caffeine/sugar highs make us creative!
     I had a BIG crash. Like, dropping-onto-the-floor-in-a-heap-crash. Subway would fix me up!
I had a 6-inch on wheat (threw away most of the bread) with turkey, roast beef, extra spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and avocado. If I find something I like, I order it over and over again.
     My final break was spent at Paciugo, my lovely gelato store. They had soy mint today, so I was finally able to get a cup instead of drooling onto the glass over all the milk-based gelato. I also introduced Vicky to Paciugo. She’s pretty mad at me for creating a new addiction :).
     Finally, I got to come HOME! I unpacked, organized, went to the bank to cash my check for watching the LBM, then went to The Habit for burgers with the roommates. I didn’t take a picture – I was much too busy swallowing the fries and burger by the handful. 
     Now it’s time for me to sign off and do a little reading of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, and prep for FATHERS’ DAY tomorrey! I’ll be spending the day with my mum and pops eating lots of indian food, drinking lots of good beer, and enjoying a hard-earned day off from work. Lots of father-spoiling will ensue. And yes, many, many pictures too. What are your plans for Fathers’ Day?

Have a blessed weekend!

Comments Off on Home Sweet Home

Filed under burgers, fries, gelato, green monster, Home, Indian Food, little blurry monster, Paciugo, See's Candies, soy, Subway, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, The Habit, Zsu Zsu Pets

by | · 6:22 am

Friday Recap!

     I’m back!!! I finally got to come home instead of driving to the other sad, empty LBM house after work and relax! Aaaah!

     For this blog, I’ll be recapping my Friday since I wasn’t able to be home and log on to tell you all about it. The morning started off with a BIG breakfast. My work shift was from 7:45am until 4pm, and I needed all the energy I could muster to fend off the crazy customers.

I had a VERY Green Monsta, and an omelette that had one egg, a teaspoon of goat cheese and a huge handful of… SPINACH!
     The day was completely insane with Fathers’ Day coming up – it seems to be crazy during all the holidays. Everyone seriously just spazzes out and goes into psychopath-mode. I needed to escape and take a breather, so for lunch I met with the most special girl in the entire world: my mom!
     We stopped by Lazy Dog for lunch and split the small plate of Togarashi edamame. Deliciously spiced and so hot it’ll make your lips burn!
What? Beer? No way! Okay, maybe I did have a SMALL glass of their Lazy Dog Amber Ale. It’s always nice to try something different!
     I ordered the Mediterranean Pizzetti (also from the small plate list).
     The menu says that this has roasted veggies, carmelized onions, mushrooms, goat cheese, tomatoes, basil and balsamic reduction. They failed to mention that on THIS particular pizza, they had also put parmesan cheese on :(. Boo. I ate it anyway – an hour for lunch is not long enough to reorder. Oh, and that’s half an avocado I stole from my mom’s salad.
     Needless to say, we polished off our plates.
That’s my mum! Ain’t she purdy? 😀
     Then I had to go back to work, but only for another two hours, which sped by. I decided that since I couldn’t go out (I had to work again this morning at 7:45am, plus clean up around the LBM house), I was going to have me a date night with myself! A quick stop at the grocery store and the Redbox and I was set.
I’m not entirely proud of this layout… Spinach, Fraziskaner, cookies (oh noes!) and Zombieland for the movie!
     I opened the bag of spinach first, thank you very much, and made myself a taco salad with spinach, a small corn tortilla shell and fat-free refried pinto beans. Brace yourselves for the picture: I made it small so you wouldn’t have to be totally grossed out, only minimally grossed out.
     This was followed by one or two of those amazingly delectable cookies and the Franziskaner. Apparently I was feeling very weak yesterday…
     Zombieland. Was. Awesome! I’m not a squeamish person at all, but the gore in this movie had me cringing a bit. Overall, it was hilarious and Woody Harrelson was genius! Bill Murray was incredible! Loved his cameo. It’s definitely something I’ll see again with my pops, who appreciates all things gory.
     That sums up my yesterday! Coming up later tonight is today’s blog. I was very, very weak in the food department again. 
Oops.

Comments Off on Friday Recap!

Filed under Amber, beer, Bill Murray, date night, edamame, Emma Stone, Franziskaner, Friday, green monster, Lazy Dog Cafe, little blurry monster, Mom, pizzetti, taco salad, Woody Harrelson, work, Zombieland

by | June 19, 2010 · 4:38 am

Happy Friday!!!

     WE MADE IT!!! 

     I was extremely lame yesterday and only took three pictures :-/. I’ll make up for it with tomorrow’s post recapping today, and a special SECOND post filling you in on tomorrow!

     I’m almost done with watching the LBM. Yay! It’ll be nice to get to come home and relax instead of running around to different places for internet and food.

     Yesterday, I ran out of spinach and had to come back to my house for a cherry-bomb Monsta!

This baby had 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, half a cup of fresh blueberries, half a cup of frozen cherries, lemon juice and half of a frozen banana. I want to start putting cherries in all my Monstas! So good!
     My roommate and I went on an hour long hike, then came back and made healthy deviled-eggs.
The centers of these have the yolks, 2 teaspoons of Smart Beat, 3 teaspoons of yellow mustard, and a few shakes of my favorite jalapeno sauce. I made four, but was stuffed after two.
     For lunch I went back to Bristol Farms. They were out of the chicken pesto flatbread, so I ordered the turkey salad flatbread.
This is dairy-free, and has turkey, walnuts, cranberries, celery and a little mayo. I need to avoid Bristol Farms! Too addicting which is not good for my stomach OR my wallet!
     I had half of the flatbread at lunch, then finished the other half before I ran off to work. Work was completely dead, but I got to hang out with my coworkers and be completely ridiculous. We bellydanced. People saw us. I ended up teaching a quick lesson in shimmying, and handed out the info for my bellydancing class. It made for a lively night, even though business was dead.
     Unfortunately, that’s all the pictures I have. I DID stop by See’s for a Tipperary bon-bon, yet another thing I’m addicted to, so I’ll use an old, blurry picture of its creamy, caramel-y ridiculousness.
     
     Tonight I’m going to head to the grocery store and get a big bomber of beer, some salad makings and a Redbox DVD, then I’m going back to the LBM house to have a date with myself. Yes, it’s Friday, but I have to work at 7:45am tomorrow, so I have to be lame or I won’t survive the day. 
Tomorrow’s blog will be EPIC. At least I hope you think it is….
🙂

Comments Off on Happy Friday!!!

Filed under cherries, deviled eggs, green monster, little blurry monster, See's Candies, tipperary bon-bon, work

by | June 17, 2010 · 10:21 pm

The Death of Internet

     It’s very difficult to blog without internet connection. I had a full shift yesterday, got back to the LBM house around 9:30pm, hooked my computer directly into the internet connection and… nothing. I’m really not techno-savvy at all! I’m lucky I figured out the hack so I could reply to comments! I’m sorry for this blog being belated, but it looks like it’s going to have to be this way until I’m finished dogwatching on Sunday.

     Recap for yesterday: Had a GIGANTIC purple Monsta. I mean, HUGE! It filled a 22oz. wheat beer glass with hardly any room to spare.

This had about 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of blackberries, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, lemon juice, a tablespoon of flaxmeal, a banana and ice.
     I had to leave for work around noon, so I scarfed down a big KSS for lunch.
This had 3 cups of spring mix, half a bell pepper, 1/2 a cup of warmed lentils, 1/2 a cup of egg white salad and 2 teaspoons of homemade dressing.
     On the way to work I needed a small pick-me-up, so I finished up my last honey stick from last week’s farmers’ market.
I’m cool like that.

     Work was really busy, and I only had about an hour to study my homebrewer book :(. I made up for it at lunch though. I packed my own lunch in an effort to save money.

I mixed half a can of tuna with a tablespoon of Smart Beat, mustard, chopped lettuce, diced bell pepper, a chopped hard-boiled egg and diced pickles and put it between 2 slices of my lovely 9 grain bread from Great Harvest.
     WAY too much food. I ended up finishing 3/4 of the sandwich before I just couldn’t take anymore. Post-fooding was spent on the comfy couch reading my beer book and taking notes.
     When I got back to the LBM house, I realized I hadn’t had dinner (my sandwich was eaten at 3:30pm), and I was looking through the cupboards for something healthy and filling. I failed. Instead of healthy and filling, I had Corn Pops.
I’m awful, I know! I had a cup of these (at least they’re whole grain and 3 grams of fiber!) with a little soymilk. 120 calories of sticky sweet EVIL.
     I also ate one of my coconut milk ice cream sandwiches and then decided I should probably go upstairs before I devoured anything else. I got to the end of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud part 1 and gasped audibly (read it and you’ll see why), then crashed and woke up early this morning to go for a hike. 
     That sums up my yesterday! Today’s recap will have to be tomorrow when I’m back from work and a long bike ride. 
We’re almost to the end of the week! JOY!

Comments Off on The Death of Internet

Filed under Corn Pops, green monster, honey sticks, Joy, kitchen sink salad, purple monster, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, wheat beer

by | June 16, 2010 · 8:13 am

False Sundays

     Ahh, the lovely substitute-Sunday. This Tuesday has been a day of delight for me. I get back on the work wagon tomorrow, so today I lived it up!

      First, I’ll start you off with a picture of last night:

That is Mission St. Hefeweizen. It was very cheap at TJ’s, but the checkout lady said it was the best cheap beer around. She wasn’t lying!

     Woke up exceptionally early because the shades at the house where I’m staying do not keep the light out AT ALL! I was up at 6:30am, covered my face with pillows until I got a lovely text from my mum at 7am – Thanks mom :)!

     I ran downstairs and was all prepped to make myself a GM with the frozen berries I found in the freezer, but when I pulled them out, I saw a big “SUGAR ADDED” stamp on the bag! Who buys stuff with SUGAR ADDED??? Crazy stuff, I tell you. Luckily, they had also bought fresh blackberries, so I threw a handful of those into my GM.

I physically can’t measure out a single GM for myself. I had enough for two full glasses! At least it was nice and purple instead of a scary brown!
     My GMs haven’t been filling me up, so I toasted a slice of my new 9 Grain bread from Great Harvest, and smeared about a teaspoon of Nutella on top. The Nutella had less sugar than the JIF that was in the fridge, how ridiculous is that? Why add sugar to your peanut butter when it’s so wonderful by itself?
     After watching a Food Network show to wake me up (Chopped FTW!), I went to hang out with my mom on a trip to Michael’s. I bought two glass jars and some broken sea glass – can you guess what I’m gonna make? I also bought an ocean breeze and lilac scented candle for $.78. I love cheap stuffs!
     For lunch we stopped at Bristol Farms. I was drawn to the panini in the deli section, but they all had cheese -BOO! Next to those panini were a few different selections of flatbread. I saw a chicken pesto flatbread and asked if it was dairy-free, and they said YES! Hardly anyone makes pesto without adding parmesan cheese nowadays. I asked them to heat up half of the pita and box the rest.

     This was AMAZING! Inside of the wrap there was creamy pesto, moist chicken, and garlic-soaked cherry tomatoes that burst in my mouth. I was in heaven!

     We looked around Bristol Farms for a few minutes and found some amazing things – the cheese section, the bakery, and the beer section!

Cool, huh?
I need to try that top one :). Not ONLY because of the name, but because it’s from one of my favorite places in the world: Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

     I headed back to the dogwatching house for some studying. I’ve been working through my homebrewing book and taking notes – LOVE IT! So excited to get started :)! I’m going to check out the homebrewing supply stores in Woodland Hills and Culver City, and take a class or two before I splurge on all the equipment so I feel confident with the process and not completely overwhelmed. I’m positive I’m going to love it though – it’s in the family (my bro and sister-in-law are really talented brewers).

     Dinner was the rest of that flatbread. Sorry – very boring. Delicious, yes, but boring. I had some beer post-dinner. Franziskaner is my current favorite Hefewiezen. Very clove-y and smooth.

It’s from Munich, so it’s REALLY really good!
     Now I’m off to the house of LBM to have an ice cream sandwich (I didn’t have one last night! I pulled it out of the freezer, but put it right back. I must have cured my sugar cravings!) and go sleep before an early morning hike followed by a full shift at work. Back to the grind – sigh.
Happy almost Humpday 🙂

6 Comments

Filed under beer, Bristol Farms, chicken, flatbread, Franziskaner, green monster, Humpday, ice cream sandwich, Menchie's, Mission Street, pesto, pita, tomatoes

by | June 15, 2010 · 8:09 am

Libraries and Infomercials

     Is everyone loving their Saturday as much as I am? (I know it isn’t ACTUALLY Saturday, but it is for me!) If you have today and tomorrow off, you’d better be living it up – yay midweek weekends! Today consisted of some of my favorite things: Trader Joe’s, the library, bakeries, Natural Cafe and another library :)!

     I realized this morning that the spinach at the house I’m dogwatching at was spoiled. I put it in a colander and it was all slimy and gross, so I came back to my house to make a big ole GM for myself and the roommates. Lo and behold, I got back and they were finishing up cleaning the blender. That’s right, they couldn’t survive a day without a GM so they MADE THEIR OWN!!!! Look what I’ve created! The only downside to this was that I had to make my own and only had about four blueberries to include. It came out kind of bland and chunky. I chewed my way through the glass.

     I headed out to return some books to the library, get gas in my car, and on the drive back, passed by THIS!!!!
     COMING SOON!!!! NEAR MY HOUSE! SO EXCITED!!!!!
     We have a Great Harvest Bread Company by the house, and I’ve been trying to find time for months to go buy a loaf, but I always end up getting there after they close. Today, I got there and the door was open! Hooray! I sampled some of their cranberry-orange bread with whipped honey, and bought a loaf of 9 Grain bread – first ingredient is 100% whole wheat! Note to everyone: wheat flour and WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR are totally different! Always make sure the first ingredient is 100% whole, or something like oatmeal!
     So pretty!
     And delicious! (One tablespoon of flaxseed peanut butter on top)
     After I’d calmed down from my indian/fresh bread freakout, I went and walked the Little Blurry Monster (who will now be known as LBM), and watched a P90x infomercial. Have you tried P90x? I’m dying to try it out – if their nutrition plan is suited for lactose-intolerant people, I’m going to hunt a copy down! The infomercial really inspired me, but not enough to get on the floor to do crunches. Instead I crunched this:

     Not the smartest thing to eat, but I think I can forgive myself… yes, I definitely forgive myself.

     Lunch was a cup of Progresso lentil soup with fresh spinach and a teaspoon of goat cheese mixed in.

This brand has a little too much sodium for my palate, so I tried to tone in down with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Very delish, but still a tad too salty.
     After two hours of cleaning, reading The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud and rotting my brain with a little Food Network, I met up with one of my best buddies for dinner. We went to Natural Cafe and split “The Locals’ Favorite” which has avocado, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes and onion on 9 grain bread. It’s also supposed to have garlic mayo but they left it off our sandwich :(. Healthier I guess, but I wanted that creamy garlic mayo!!! 
     I polished off my half and realized that I forgot to take a picture, but my dinner date was kind enough to let me photograph his.
     Oh yes, they also included blue chips and fresh salsa. I may have finished them all by myself, AND had a huge chunk out of that piece of bread in the middle.
     Finally, we headed to the library and spent an hour and a half perusing the shelves. I came back with even MORE books on homebrewing. I’m thinking of selling my surfboard in order to pay for some homebrew equipment. Any surfers or homebrewers out there with an opinion on this? 
     Now I have to go back to the house with no internet connection and walk the LBM, so I bid you all a good night. I looked over my day and realized that except for the goat cheese in my lentil soup, and possibly the chocolate chips in the granola bar, I was vegan today! My brother (who’s been a vegan for 10 years and counting) would be proud! Or he’d punch me in the arm just cuz I’m his little sister :P.
Oh yes, and a coconut milk ice cream sandwich and Mission St. Hefeweizen await me. Did I forget to mention that? 😀

8 Comments

Filed under chips, Dog walking, Hefeweizen, lentils, library, little blurry monster, Natural Cafe, salsa, soup, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, Trader Joe's

by | June 14, 2010 · 7:58 am

Little Blurry Monster!

     I HATE standing still. I hate not being able to move or walk at an extremely fast pace to the beat of my iPod in my ears. I think this job I have is slowly killing me. My legs hurt from doing NOTHING all day! Quite ridiculous :-/.

     Woke up this morning and made a GM for myself and my roommate, and used some frozen blueberries that I found in the freezer. This was the outcome:

Kind of a funky brown color, but it sure tasted good!
     I headed off to the house where I’m staying while I dogsit this little monster.

     Yes, she’s THAT hyper. I can’t get her to sit still unless she’s asleep. It should be an interesting week.

     At work there wasn’t much to do, but many managers around, so I didn’t get to read my book until lunch :(. Sadness. For a snack I had a blurry apple…

     …and a kiwi. WITH the skin on! I’ve never tried it like this before and it wasn’t bad at all! I think my tongue is burned from the acidity and the rough outside, but it was quite edible!
     For the last hour before my lunch break, I made the perfect mental picture of the sub sandwich that I would order. It looked a little like this:

     This was a 6-inch on wheat with turkey, roast beef, LOTS of spinach (I had to ask them to add more), tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, avocado, mustard, and a tiny bit of lowfat mayo. I have no idea why the word “lowfat” came out of my mouth. I never order lowfat – ewww! I went outside and wound up tearing off a lot of the extra bread. There is no reason for the bread to be that thick – it’s just a filler in my opinion. More veggies! I ended up with mustard all over my hands and the table, and ran away before anyone could pin the mess on me!

     I walked by See’s Candies about four times and didn’t stop once! I realized I wasn’t hungry, just bored and in need of something to do. I snacked on a handful of raw almonds – picture omitted because it was just plain boring.

     The last hour crept by until I was bored to tears, and then I booked it to my car and picked up the little blur and went home for a quick dinner.

     I don’t know why every picture is blurry today! This salad had lettuce (duh), roasted zucchini, cucumbers, diced tomatoes, homemade egg white salad (my roommate’s a GENIUS!), and fresh tilapia that was marinated in mustard aioli. The tilapia warmed the salad and I inhaled the entire thing!

     For now I have to head back to the house with the little blurry monster to stay the night. Before I go, I must bid a sad farewell to some friends that have been near and dear to my heart for the past eight years.

 
     These shoes have been with me from my first job when I was 16, up until today. Looks like I have to go do one of the few things I absolutely HATE to do tomorrow – shoe shop. I HATE SHOPPING! AUGH!!! Not the way I want to spend my day off, but I think the shoe situation is officially dire.
    Now I’m REALLY off to the other house. I’ll have a coconut milk ice cream sandwich and cuddle with the Blurry Monster and fade off into the pages of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.
Hope you’re enjoying the end of your weekend! Happy eats 🙂

2 Comments

Filed under housesitting, ice cream sandwich, salad, sandwich, See's Candies, Shoes, Subway, work

by | June 13, 2010 · 9:35 am

A Morning of Firsts, and Lasts

     I didn’t mean to… I swear I didn’t! Last night, I promised you all that I’d eat two ice cream bars, but I failed. I only ate one. I guess it’s a good thing that one satisfied me, but after my promises of not lying to you anymore, I felt guilty. Just had to let you all know the truth.

     Bad news: I ran out of spinach. There was no GM for me this morning. Instead, I decided to try the overnight oats that I’ve read so much about. I used the vegan version from Oh She Glows. Luckily, I had picked up some chia seeds at Sprouts before the farmers’ market on Thursday, so I was able to throw all the ingredients into a bowl. It looked a little scary…

     
     When I woke up in the morning, it looked even scarier.
     Then I stirred in a tablespoon of flaxseed peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup and it looked like it was going to crawl out of the bowl and beat me up.
     I’ll say this nicely – I’m NOT a fan. Cold oatmeal and I just do not mesh. It was chilly and slimy, and after every bite, I took a sip of coffee like a chaser to get rid of the shivers it brought on. Maybe if I ever get the guts (ewww, that’s what it reminds me of) to make it again I’ll reheat it and try it warm. Have you ever heated up overnight oats? Did it make them inedible or better?

     When I got to work, I diligently focused on my responsibilities.
     That’s one of the pages of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. The only copy that was available in my library was a large print. When I want to read something badly enough, I’ll settle for this, but large print takes some getting used to! Personally, I find it harder to read than regular.
     I also got to hang out with some of the boys.
     They hang out with me when I have a snack break and guard my purse from the delinquents who may try to steal it. They’re chill.
     My annoying stomach started going off an hour into work, even though I’d had massive amounts of cold, clammy protein in the oats and peanut butter, so I swung by See’s Candies to get a sample. The workers at See’s know me. They know me well. I paid for two pieces, and this is what they gave me:
     I ask for two, I come out with five. I hate those workers so much…and yet I adore them! Double caramel FTW!
     For lunch I had a mini spicy tuna roll with brown rice and sriracha soy sauce, yet again. I met up with my friend Brittany and we sat outside in the beautiful sunshine, enjoyed the fresh air and dreamed about what we could be doing if we had money and weren’t trapped doing retail. Girls gotta dream 🙂
     I bailed on work early. I just couldn’t take anymore standing around and reading, plus I had to pick up the roommate from the train station. I got home, sat in a comfy chair, tweeted about how I never wanted to get out of it, then finally got up and made myself a mini-KSS.
     This baby had lettuce, warmed lentils, half a bell pepper, half a container of Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad, a sliced and sauteed zucchini all tossed with about 2 teaspoons of homemade dressing. I feasted. I smiled.
     I headed on down to the train station, picked up the adored roomie and came back to catch up over a Franziskaner (for me) and a glass of wine (for her). Then I realized I needed to write my blog before I fell asleep in the aforementioned cozy chair, so I opened up a coconut milk ice cream bar, and here we are.
     Tomorrow begins a week of housesitting, so my blogs may be slightly sporadic because I don’t get internet connection over there – BOOOOO! I hope you all enjoy your Saturday nights, and aren’t as lame as I’m about to be – passing out in said chair before dragging myself to bed.
Bon Nuit!

2 Comments

Filed under books, Chocolate, coffee, Franziskaner, kitchen sink salad, overnight oats, reading, See's Candies, sushi, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, vegan, work

by | June 12, 2010 · 7:08 am

Friday? What’s That?

     Ahhh, the bliss of a Friday –  a day that everyone looks forward to so that they can start their weekend. Wait, a weekend? What’s THAT?

     My schedule is quite sporadic. I generally work every weekend, and random days during the week with my acting class every Tuesday. I miss the old days when I had a regular school schedule all week and worked towards the weekend, and finally summer.

     Tonight is graduation night. I’ve been listening to the performances of, “I Will Survive,” reverberate through the canyon up to the house as all the seniors bid farewell to their safe little high school bubble. I never attended my graduation – never really saw the point (I’m weird, remember?), but I listen to this and enjoy what I didn’t mind missing back then. Did all of you attend your graduations?

     Today was an early day at work. I woke up and made a GM for myself. My measurements were a bit off, and I ended up having a little bit extra.

These had spinach, half a frozen banana, 1/4 cup of blueberries, soymilk, ice and a tablespoon of flaxseed peanut butter. I finished them both 🙂
     I was hoping the extra Monsta, plus the peanut butter I included would keep me full until lunch, but alas, my metabolism has gone into overdrive. Luckily, I’d thought ahead and sliced up the rest of the strawberries from yesterday’s farmers’ market to take with me.
What? I don’t read at work! I take my job very seriously! 😛
     I packed my own lunch for work today. I’ve been desperately trying to save my money to move out to the lovely Santa Monica so I can have the LA experience while enjoying some unpolluted ocean breeze. Today I had the last of the chana masala and the other half of the TJ’s garlic naan.
     I FINISHED Julie and Julia finally! Not at work… I would NEVER read at work, no matter how dead quiet it was, even if there wasn’t a single customer in the store and there was nothing better to do… I actually ended up enjoying the book! Not a fan of all the kidney/liver/organs-that-filter-out-toxins recipes, but it ended up being a good read. Although I must say, her filthiness really got to me – I can’t stand a dirty kitchen!
     After I finished lunch, I had another hour at work before my stomach began insistently calling to me. To abate it, I went to See’s Candies and got a dark almond cluster – or 4.
Not the smartest move, but 4 of these have 260 calories total, with the fat mainly coming from the roasted almonds, which help keep you full longer. I’m okay with paying that price to calm the tummy.
     I snacked on those almonds throughout the rest of my day whenever my stomach started hollering. When I got home I wasn’t very hungry, but decided to get some more veggies into my system and up my daily green count. I chopped up two small zucchinis and 5 stalks of asparagus.
     I heated up a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then tossed all the veggies in and let them sear for about four minutes to create a nice brown crust.
   
     After they’d gotten that crust, I liberally sprinkled a big pinch of herbes de provence and a small pinch of salt, then placed a lid on top. If you’re like me, you can’t fancily toss the vegetables without getting them to fly all over the place, so I put the lid on top, then lifted the pan and gave it a good shake to disperse the salt and HDP. Then, I left the lid on for another 5 minutes to let the asparagus and zucchini soften in the steam.
     Now I’m relaxing watching “Build a Better Burger” on Food Network, and prepping for my Friday night! I’m going to enjoy it, even if I do have to work another full shift tomorrow before picking up a roommate at the train station.
     And now, I must admit, I lied to you all last night. I didn’t get a second So Delicious ice cream bar. The Fat Tire filled me up. I promise now that I will have two tonight to make up for the falsehoods that I claimed. I’m so, so sorry. Never again will I lie to you. Now I’m off to enjoy my Friday night! I hope you all have a lovely Friday as well!
Many blessings and happy eatings 🙂

Comments Off on Friday? What’s That?

Filed under asparagus, Becki Kregoski, burgers, Fat Tire, Food Network, Friday, ice cream, so delicious, work, zucchini

by | June 11, 2010 · 8:13 am

Farmers’ Market!

     Anyone want another picture of a GM? Too bad! I forgot to take one. Whoops! I’ve got a lot of pictures to post today though, so it’s probably best I leave out the Monsta.

     Today was my day off from working out. I woke up early, had a big cup of java and a big Monsta, then basically wasted a lot of time staring out the window at the marine layer that covers SoCal every June. And then I drank more coffee.
     The roommates went on a mini-vacation down to San Diego, so I have the house to myself! Before they left, they were kind enough to leave me with a lovely scramble. 
This has one egg, zucchini, bell pepper, spinach and….
Look who’s back! HOT SAUCE!!!!
     Lunch was a repeat, not that I’m complaining! I had half a cup of leftover chana masala (which really soaked up the spice after the first day!) and half of this piece of TJ’s garlic naan.
Lunch today, and more for lunch tomorrow!
     Thursday is Farmers’ Market day! I went out and spent an hour wandering the rows:
 
     I brought back a massive bounty!
     Yes, that is Dear John, the movie – because tonight is DATE NIGHT! Cheesy films and good food, baby! 
     For dinner I made broiled tilapia with homemade chimichurri sauce. I used to buy a chimichurri sauce from the farmers’ market until it just got to be too darn expensive ($5.25 for a 9.2oz jar – it lasts for only about 2 marinades), so today I decided it was time to improvise and make my own based on the ingredients they used in theirs. The following wasn’t completely measured, so it’s a guesstimate turned into measurements:
Chimichurri Sauce a la Bexter
2 cups of fresh parsley
3 tbsp fresh oregano
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
Twist of freshly ground pepper
Pinch of chile pepper flakes
1. Rinse and dry the parsley, then tear off the leaves and toss them into a food processor.
2. Rinse and dry the oregano, then strip the leaves from the stems by pinching the top and sliding your fingers down against the grain of the stem: 
3. Measure about 3 tablespoons of the leaves into the food processor.
4. Crush 4 cloves of garlic with the blade of a knife, roughly chop, then put into food processor.
5. Pulse the food processor a few times, then add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and chili pepper.
6. Blend until all the ingredients are incorporated. 
7. Bottle and refrigerate the chimichurri sauce.
     For dinner I coated the tilapia in my fresh chimichurri sauce, then placed it under the broiler for 4 minutes per side. Being the genius that I am, I forgot that olive oil has a really low smoke point and ended up opening turning on the oven fan to get rid of the small amount of smoke that billowed from the foil….Whoops 🙂 Then I topped it with another spoonful of chimichurri sauce.
     I threw together a salad of fresh mixed greens with farmers’ market strawberries that I sliced and soaked in a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, and topped it with some pecans I toasted in a pan over medium heat for five minutes. De-freakin-licious!
     I finally got around to watching Dear John! It was… fine. Nothing thrilling, not as good as the book, but movies hardly ever are. Now I’m watching Glee reruns and trying to figure out Blogger’s new format. I JUST got used to the old one! I’m technologically-challenged as it is, are they trying to drive me crazy?
     Oh yes, and I picked up a little something for dessert to go with the strawberries. 
     Yes, those are the So Delicious coconut milk ice cream bars I’ve been lusting after for so long! I have really, really bad news: They’re AMAZING. Only 100 calories, 3.5g of fat! Not bad! I stopped at one, which is a healthy number, but that was an hour ago… I’ll probably have to have another and make sure that the first one wasn’t a fluke. I should actually, definitely go do that now…
Whoops….

3 Comments

Filed under Becki Kregoski, chimichurri, famers' market, Fat Tire, kitchen sink salad, marinade, strawberries, tilapia, Whoops