Category Archives: salad

My Day at Sofrita!

     I ate five meals in a row at Sofrita. I’m not ashamed. I’m uncomfortably full, but definitely not ashamed. Part one:
After setting up the booth last night, I strolled directly across the street and plopped my tired butt down in the corner table of this darling little restaurant.
Don’t freak out, okay? I ordered… A SALAD!!! I think this may be the first salad I’ve ever ordered on the road – I tend to gravitate towards rich foods smothered in cheese, preferably fried.
The El Gran Combo romaine, avocado, hearts of palm and fresh tomatoes drizzled with a coconut-lime vinaigrette.

     I wandered back to the hotel, full of pride and greenery, blazed through a bunch of homework and aced a quiz. As I fell into the (clean, white, luxurious) bed, visions of crispy bacon danced through my head.
  Seriously. I dreamt about bacon.
My dream came true! I went back to Sofrita for breakfast.
Huevos Nuevo Latino – eggs scrambled with roasted winter vegetables, served with warm tortillas, fresh salsa and fruit salad. I ordered a slice of bacon on the side. 
They gave me four.
I LOVE THEM.
I ordered takeout for lunch, à la Sofrita. Are you tired of the word Sofrita yet? Sorry.
I had the Cran-Raspberry Chicken Saladgrilled chicken breast with dried cranberries and raspberry mayo on crusty, whole grain bread.
Okay, I only told the partial truth. We had dinner tonight at Redendo’s, but to be fair, it is the sister restaurant of Sofrita
My dinner consisted of half a glass of Chianti, and an eighth of this huge plate of pesto pasta with goat cheese.
We accidentally (seriously, it was an accident) ordered a “bottle of sangria” when we meant “bottle of Chianti”, so we had this pretty little number dropped off at our table.
I have never had sangria before.
I was moved by this drink.
I was so moved by it that when we retired to the hotel, we decided to go over to Sofrita and experience it again.
This is their winter sangriablueberries, cranberries, grapes and an orange slice.
We split the chocolate cinnamon bread pudding – rich, luxurious and steaming hot, and then floated across the show grounds back to the warmth of our hotel.
And here I sit. So happy, so blessed, so uncomfortably full.

3 Comments

Filed under bacon of my dreams, Chianti, chocolate cinnamon bread pudding, coconut-lime vinaigrette, El Gran Combo, Huevos Nuevo Latino, pesto pasta, salad, sangria, Sofrita

Recuperation!

     It is wonderful to be back home! I’ve been recuperating from the long weekend in Arizona, and now I’m packing up my suitcase again to head BACK TO ARIZONA tomorrow! That’s right, I’ve got another art festival to attend, this time in Fountain Hills. If you’re in the area, come see me!

This has been my staple breakfast at home: A hot-boiled egg (all the rage in Germany, where my roommate recently returned from), and a Pumpkin Pie Monsta!
     I spent all day yesterday running errands and took a break a few towns over to get some lunch.
I got a personal pizza with whole wheat crust, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers and soy cheese.
My friend went all healthy on me and got a salad with heart of palm, carrots, bell peppers, walnuts, mushrooms and sesame dressing on the side.
PizzaSalad – All the ingredients here are completely organic and farmed locally! Love it!
     I’ve got to finish up laundry so I can keep packing, and head to the library to pick up some books I’ve been waiting for. Then I’m off to get my mane weed-whacked and get to end the day at my lovely retail job. Daily life is so NORMAL! I don’t know how to handle it!

1 Comment

Filed under Arizona, art festival, Fountain Hills, green business, green monster, hot-boiled egg, organic, pizza, PizzaSalad, Pumpkin Pie Monsta, salad, soy cheese

Blog Name Redeemed!

     I am back on the exercise wagon!!! Today, I completely overdid my workout and loved every second of it! I hiked. I biked. I ate! Boo to the yah!

     First, we’ll start with first things first. Firstly…

I had breakfast before my monster! This was an omelette with 2 eggs, 1/2 a cup of spinach, 2 teaspoons of chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I use the ones that are soaked in oil, then drain them – the flavor is so much better than dry!), and 1 teaspoon of goat cheese.
     My roommate was up late last night, and me, being the wonderful person that I am, decided to wait until both my roommates were awake to share the awesomeness that is the Green Monster!
By the time they were both awake, I’d eaten my omelette and was pretty full, so I had a half of a Monsta. Mine had 1 cup of spinach, 1/3 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/8 a cup of frozen cherries, 1/3 of a banana and lemon juice.
     We got on the trail very, very late. For a change, my roomie and I tried a different trail – this was decided halfway to the national park while we were in the car, and I had no camera to document. It was beautiful! There was a thick marine layer and we walked through mist for the entire hour. This trail was a steep downhill for 1.43 miles, but that meant that it was another 1.43 miles back up that steep hill. It hurt. I loved it!
     After we got back to the house, I decided that since I was all sweaty and gross anyway, I might as well get on my bike! I biked down to the local library to return some books, and pick up some more. It took me about 5 minutes to lock my bike because I wanted to lock my wheel and frame to the bike rack, but alas, it wouldn’t fit. 
I figured that since I’m not at UCSB anymore, no one will be out to steal my tire or bike seat.
It was still there when I came out! Yay!!!
     I biked around with a full backpack – about 6.75 miles of which only the last .2 miles KILLED me! I don’t think I can detail the hill I live on enough to make you understand the pain that is involved in the climb up. I’ll have to post a picture tomorrey.
     I finally removed the 40 pounds of books that I’d had strapped to my back, and collapsed onto the couch.
My interests of the week: Flexitarianism, Veganism and mountain biking!
     I read the flexitarian book and wasn’t very inspired. It’s not as much of a nutritional info book as it is a mixture of random recipes. Meh. Next! The Veganomicon book (included in my favorites –>) is pretty cool! I’ll probably be dabbling in that during the next week – I’m going to do a week of veganism, just to see if I can! If you haven’t noticed, I really enjoy ridiculous challenges that have no real purpose to them except to prove that I can do anything :). The other books I’ll get to tomorrow.
     After showering, I chugged about 48 ounces of water immediately, then had a mini-salad to calm my stomach while I sauteed some zucchini.
1 cup of chopped lettuce and 1/4 a cup of chopped bell pepper with 1 teaspoon of homemade balsamic dressing.
Lots of Herbes de Provence!
Lunch was 1/4 cup of Barilla Plus pasta with tomato-basil marinara, 1/8 a cup of my sauteed zucchini and a teaspoon of goat cheese.
     After fooding, I fell into the barcalounger and flipped through some of my books. Before I knew it, my alarm was going off to remind me that I had to go to work. I threw on some clothes and makeup (blah), grabbed some books and headed out.
     My first stop was to get a little more calories into my system. I worked hard today!
OOOOOH YEAAAAH! I had a small with amaretto chocolate chip, rocky road and Grandma’s Penuche from Paciugo. This totally made my day!
     I actually had work to do at work! I was slammed with unpacking and repacking of boxes, cleaning counters and all that fun stuff, so the time flew by. It’s such a nice change to not be staring at the minutes creeping by on the clock.
     When I got home, I was going to have a nice hot cup of tea, but instead I went for this:
Stockyard Oatmeal Stout! This had a wonderful mocha smell, and tasted like a rich coffee with some toffee/chocolate mixed in. It was very smooth and had a great amount of carbonation – some of you may know that I don’t like flat beers I.E. Guinness and the like. I’ll be back for this one, especially since it’s only a dollar down at my local Trader Joe’s!
     I now feel warm and sleepy – the perfect way to feel after a beer, so I’m off to read some of my mountain biking books and prepare for another day tomorrow full of exercise, FARMERS’ MARKET, cooking and another late shift at work.
Anyone up for a week-long vegan challenge? C’mon, give it a try!

4 Comments

Filed under beer, bike, green monster, hike, library, marine layer, omelette, Paciugo, pasta, salad, vegan, zucchini

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

Costco & Fro-Yo

Well, it turns out that bell pepper slices with hummus aren’t enough for dinner for a normal person – silly me. As soon as I got to work, my stomach turned on me with a vengeance.

I belong to the Godiva Rewards club, which means I get one free piece of chocolate per month. Godiva ain’t cheap, so this is the only time I’ll ever enter the store – my wallet learned from my addiction a few years ago. To try and calm the wild beast that was screaming from inside my abdomen, I selected the Spring Rasberry Truffle. It has a thick, velvety rasberry center and is draped in white chocolate. So freakin’ amazing! It didn’t comfort my stomach for more than half an hour though, so I headed over to our trusty new Subway and got a 6-inch roast beef and turkey on whole wheat with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers and mustard. I picked away all the excess bread that I didn’t want to eat and made the local birds very happy.

This morning began with Emergen-C, coffee and a breakfast scramble. I promise there will be something new for tomorrow! Just wait! We also went on another lovely hike that was again overcrowded with people. Good for all of them getting their fitness in – I guess I’ll just have to head out earlier to enjoy the peace and quiet!

Looking up towards the halfway point.

After a quick shower to attempt and rinse all the bug spray I’ve been accumulating during every hike, we headed off to Costco to stock up on some much-needed veggies.

But FIRST! We just had to stop for some frozen yogurt from Menchies! After my last fro-yo stomach pain, I stuck to the dairy-free Mango Sorbet, and topped it with fresh strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, and a touch of Mochi – a yummy rice candy that’s full of sugar and carbs :)! It was a perfect way to fend off the lunch-hunger that needed to be filled with free Costco samples.

At Costco we picked up a MONSTER bag of spinach which I’ll show you tomorrow, and a big box of coffee pods. Can’t live without my coffee! Samples were very low, and I skipped the baby brie on crackers and just had some stir-fried chicken on a toothpick. Not quite enough for lunch…

At home I caught up on my current favorite blog – http://eatliverun.com, and made myself a big Kitchen Sink Salad.
This one has an entire bag of Trader Joe’s baby greens, half of a bell pepper, an entire container of Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad, and half a cup of warmed lentils and was drizzled with a balsamic-whole grain mustard dressing. This baby is gonna have to tide me over until tomorrow – I head back to work for another 3 hour shift tonight :-/.

Tomorrow will mark my first attempt at a GREEN MONSTER!!! A green monster is a massive blend of spinach, soy milk, bananas, ice and blueberries. I’m going to get in 4 servings of veggies before 8am! Wish me luck 🙂

KSS MAKES ME HAPPY!!!!!

Comments Off on Costco & Fro-Yo

Filed under coffee, Costco, Emergen-C, green monster, hike, kitchen, salad, samples, sink

Rainy Days

Kitchen Sink Salad – possibly one of the best inventions my mother has ever come up with (along with the Breakfast Scramble). For dinner last night, KSS was on the menu. The recipe is excessively simple and you get a massive amount of veggies to fill up your daily quota.

Kitchen Sink Salad:
1 bag of lettuce (any kind is good, but I recommend a spring mix or baby greens)
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, chopped and sauteed in 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a sprinkling of Herbes de Provence (available at any grocery store) until soft
1/2 cup of warm, cooked lentils
1/2 cup of Trader Joe’s Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad
Dressing:
1 tsp Extra Virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp whole grain mustard
Simply throw everything into a gigantic bowl, mix and gorge!
The main calories come from the lentils (120 calories for the 1/2 cup), but you also get a nice 9 grams of protein and no fat! The egg white salad also throws in 7 grams of protein so you finish this meal feeling plenty satisfied, plus you’ve just knocked out 4 servings of veggies for the day!
I went on a 45 minute bike ride last night, of which the last 300 feet nearly KILLED me. I need to mention that I live on top of a mountain. And by mountain, I mean a really really steep hill. I got a good workout prior to heading back home, but the last slope to reach the driveway is painful! Luckily I had the KSS waiting for me as well as some wild caught Alaskan Cod. Perfect way to end the day. It was only missing the Fat Tire that I’ve sworn off of until I’m done filming mid-June.
This morning I woke up to a misty morning. Had my usual breakfast scramble (the fridge is re-stocked! Yay!) that starts me off with another crazy amount of veggies.
Breakfast Scramble:
1/2 zucchini, chopped and sauteed until soft
1/2 bell pepper, chopped and sauteed until soft
3-4 asparagus, chopped and sauteed until soft
2 cups of spinach, chopped and sauteed until wilted
After all the veggies are sauteed, push them to the side of the pan, then scramble 1-2 eggs on the other half. Once the eggs are set, mix it all together, then top with either 1/2 cup of fresh salsa or a few dashes of jalapeno sauce.
After an amazing meal and a lot of cleanup, we headed out to the trails for another easy 52 minute hike in the light rain. I think the bike ride yesterday pretty much drained all of my body’s resources, so this one was pure torture, but it always feels amazing to be done and be pumped full of those endorphins.
I was going to get home and go on another bike ride, but considering I haven’t been on a bike consistently in over 2 years, I decided to not risk the wet roads and crazy Cali drivers. Instead, I made my version of rice pudding.
Rice Pudding:
1/2 cup warm, cooked brown rice
1/8 cup unsweetened soy milk
Drizzle of pure maple syrup
Dash of cinnamon
Stir in a mug and eat while watching the rain. It’s a nice way to get your whole grains in and cure a sweet tooth while getting some protein as well.
Since I couldn’t bike, after I finished off some leftover Alaskan Cod and half a banana, I decided to go get some much-needed workout clothes. I hit up Sports Chalet with a hot mug of unsweetened Jasmine Green tea and got 2 dry-fit shirts, then went to a bike shop and got some even MORE needed padded bike shorts. After a few days on that bike, sitting down anywhere is enough to bring tears to your eyes!
Of course, now the sun is out and the roads seem to be calling me. The question is, give my body a rest, eat some bell peppers and spicy hummus and start a dinner of quinoa (pronounced Keen-Wa), roasted zucchini and butternut squash, or go outside and receive the pain I’m bound to get…

Decisions, decisions…

2 Comments

Filed under hike, lentils, olive oil, padding, Quinoa, rain, salad