012. It's all about Pizza and Fro-Yo

I don't know what it is, but I've been on a huge pizza and fro-yo kick recently. Seriously. I could probably eat it 3 times a day! At least I'm making it work for me though.

Well start off with the rest of yesterday's eats. Lunch was the left over BBQ chicken pizza from Uno's.
After I ate lunch, I went with some co-worker's who were grabbing lunch, and I got some Freshii fro-yo with shredded coconut and organic granola. Once again, the staff could not grasp my trying to order half the usual serving. Once again, I threw half of it in the garbage.

My afternoon snack today was a 1/4c. of Trader Joe's ABC Trek Mix. I love it because it's a mix of almonds (my most favorite nut ever!) and dried blueberries and cranberries and some golden raisins for good measure. Yummy yummy! I actually wrote a blog via email about this, but it never posted. I'm going to have to work on that because what's the point of having a super sweet iPhone if you can't even blog from it right?

Dinner was a "burrito bowl" with brown rice, black beans, corn, ground Boca "meat" and some sharp cheddar. Sadly, I didn't have any avocado in the house. :( I took a picture but this meal is seriously lacking in the visual appeal department. Actually, it looks kind of gross. It was yummy though (and at least I have cute plates!)

The base was a mix of minute brown rice, organic black beans, organic frozen corn, and about a quarter cup V-8 because I didn't have any tomato sauce. then I added 1/2c. Boca crumbles and 1/4c. reduced fat.sharp cheddar.

After dinner I had some of the Trader Joe's fro-yo. I said I was on a kick didn't I?

• 1/2 c. TJ's non-fat Plain Frozen Yogurt
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils
• 2 T. shredded coconut
• 1/4c. oats.
  

Unfortunately yesterday took a turn for the worst. They were predicting gorgeous weather today so I decided to blow off my 6 mile run at the indoor track in favor of heading out this morning for 6 miles outside. Chris and I ended up laying on the couch watching Season 1 of How I Met Your Mother on DVD and noshing on the Halloween candy his mom sent home with us. Too much eating definitely occurred.

However, as promised, I got up at 7:45 and went for my 6 mile run. I really wish I'd had my camera, or at least my phone with me, because it was absolutely gorgeous, but since I run with as little stuff on me as possible, I didn't. Maybe tomorrow I'll ride my bike on the route I rant today and take some pics.

The run itself was really well. Previously the furthest I've run outside was 4.75 miles, but I figured 6 wouldn't be a problem since I had run 7 on the indoor track without much problem. I've always struggled more outside than anywhere else. I started off pretty slow, but I finished the whole run (including a short warm-up and cool-down) in 65 minutes so I managed to maintain about a 10:30 minute/ mile pace. I'll totally take that. I also wasn't hurting too much. I was definitely feeling it in that last mile, but it was a good push.

After my run, I toasted a homemade toaster waffle and topped it with the pumpkin filling Caitlin used in her Sweet Breakfast Burritos. I was too lazy to make pancakes and too hungry to take pictures, but it was delicious. After breakfast I did some serious shopping. I ended up getting 3 pairs of dress pants (size 10!), 3 camis (M!), a cardigan sweater, and a pair of jeans (size 8!) from Penny's and 5 Old Nave Fleece scarves (Hey it was $1 scarf day, and my BFF works at Old Navy!) Check it out!
Post shopping lunch was mini BBQ Chicken pizzas! Seriously, I think I've developed an addiction or something! I'm going to need pizza rehab soon.

• Arnold Sandwich thin
• 2 T. Culinary Circle, Sweet Applewood BBQ sauce
  
• 1.5 oz grilled chicken breast (It was left over in my fridge)
• red onion
• 1/4 c. reduced fat sharp cheddar
• 1/4c. part-skim mozzarella

Put it all together and popped it in the toaster oven for about 7 minutes at 425.

I've got a birthday party for a friend tonight in Indiana. I'll try to take some picture for you all to enjoy. Right now I need to pull together some dinner and get myself ready.

011. A Whole Mess of Random

(Warning: this blog ended up pretty lengthy and random. Sorry in advance, it’s kind of scattered. Also, photos will be added once I get home from work. - Sorry I'm late with the pictures!!)

Breakfast this morning was not a success. The upside is even though I only ate half of it I made still made it to 10am before I needed my morning snack. I’m going to have to work on perfecting this breakfast as it clearly keeps me pretty full. So what was my breakfast flop? Pumpkin-Pie Yogurt
1 container Trader Joe’s Organic Non-Fat Greek Style Yogurt – vanilla
½ c. canned pumpkin
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 T. rolled oats
2 T. shredded coconut (which was added a few bits in)

I think I may have gotten a bit over-zealous with the pumpkin pie spice. It wasn’t bad – it was good enough for me to eat half of it, but it definitely wasn’t great. Live and learn right?

I’ll try it again adding the various ingredients slowly until I get a good flavor combo. I might also try plain yogurt instead of vanilla. I’m still getting used to combining flavors and finding things that work well together. Truly, this was my first attempt at putting something together on my own so I’m proud that it was at least edible. I can cook, but I’ve always been a follow the recipe kind of gal. I’ve also spent most of my life being INCREDIBLY picky when it comes to food. This has resulted in a pretty redundant meal repertoire. I’ve been so inspired by recently by the food blogs I’ve been reading (Healthy Tipping Point, Carrots n Cake, Oh She Glows), and other resources out there. I’ve got such a strong desire to expand my horizons when it comes to cooking and eating now. Maybe I jumped in head first a little too soon. Oh well, like most things, this is guaranteed to be a learning experience.

My morning snack today was my old standby Kashi Trail Mix Chewy Bar. I do love me some Kashi products.

Lunch today is leftovers from last night’s dinner out – which I need to discuss, right now. Last night the BF and I did dinner and a movie. We went to dinner at Uno’s Chicago Grill, and it ended up being a perfect dinner out. We struck fantastic compromises and split everything. The food was delicious, and it didn’t destroy my calorie count for the day too badly. We started with a mozzarella sticks appetizer (his choice), but they were the best mozzarella sticks. They were really crispy, but they weren’t super greasy. I enjoy mozzarella sticks, but I don’t like when they come swimming in a pool of oil so I generally don’t bother with them. I didn’t get a picture because I keep forgetting. (One day I’ll get used to this!)

We split the BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza (my choice, but I compromised on the regular crust instead of the 5 grain, whole wheat they offer) which was also phenomenal. Again, I didn’t get a picture before we dug in, but here’s what it looked like re-heated on my plate for lunch today. I’m sure you can imagine how amazing it must have looked fresh on the table.

Dessert was the highlight of the night though. Generally I avoid restaurant desserts since they’re usually caloric nightmares and aren’t anything I couldn’t throw together at home. (Plus, I’m usually plenty full when dessert time arrives anyway.) However, when I saw this on the menu, I knew I would be angry with myself if I didn’t order it so I made sure to save room. For dessert we had pumpkin tiramisu. This was hands-down the most amazing restaurant dessert I’ve ever had. Seriously, I didn’t want it to ever end. I don’t think I’ve even eaten something so slowly in my life. I almost didn’t get a picture of it because I was so enamored with it, but Chris actually reminded me. So here it is in its half eaten glory…

When I got home, I looked up the calories online to assess just how much damage I had done, and I was pleasantly surprised. The dessert was two servings and each serving clocked in at 390 calories. Yes, this is more than I usually eat at breakfast, but if you consider the fact that some restaurant desserts have an entire day’s worth of calories in them, 390 isn’t so bad. It was totally worth every single calorie.

I’ve failed at blogging my food recently so here are some eats from the last couple days.

This morning’s Kashi Trail Mix bar.


Wednesday’s breakfast – homemade toaster waffle with ¾ c. frozen mixed berries, 1T. light syrup and 1t. flaxseeds.


Wednesday’s dinner and Thursday’s lunch – Sausage and Apples on Whole Wheat Rotelle pasta. This is something my college roommate Emily and I created (mostly Emily) when we had an excess of apples and a tube of breakfast sausage in our apartment.

Tube Reduced-Fat pork sausage
½ an onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T. of light maple syrup
2 T. water
3 T. white wine
2 medium apples, chopped
½ c. reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar
½ c. rotelle pasta
The recipe is linked above.


Thursday’s breakfast was inspired by Carrots n Cake – ½ c. oatmeal, ½ of a leftover baked apples and acorn squash.



I have a 6 mile run on the indoor track planned for tonight. I’m hoping it goes well. I’ve had pretty solid runs so far this week, but I haven’t been able to break 4 miles since I ran 7 a couple weeks ago. I’m hoping since my running funk seems to have lifted tonight’s run will be awesome.

I’m going shopping this weekend. I’ve been holding out on buying dress pants, but Wednesday a co-worker said to me “I hate to break it to ya girl, but you really need to buy some new pants.” That’s the downside of living a healthy lifestyle and loosing weight. Your clothes get too big and you have to buy new ones. Okay, I suppose that’s really only a downside if, like me, you don’t have a lot of extra money to be spending on new cloths because you recently acquired yourself a mortgage. Anyway, back to the point, I plan on leaving a whole mess of Operation Beautiful notes on fitting room mirrors since I’m sure I’ll be trying on many things.

That's enough for now.

008. Just a quicky

I went for a quick run today. I had no energy (and there for no desire to run) because I didn't sleep very well last night, but I'm really trying to stick to the training schedule I developed. I did the 2 miles in 18:41 which is a 9:20 min/ mile pace. I did do my run outside. I'm definitely going to make sure I'm doing at least one run a week outside as it gets colder; otherwise I'm going to have a really hard time breathing during the Santa Shuffle 5K on December 5th. The cold air really stings my lungs.

I was really in the mood for pizza tonight. I think it was Caitlin's Vegetarian BBQ Pizza post that got it in my head. I made a Hawaiian pizza tonight for the BF and I. It clocked in at about 185 calories per slice which isn't too bad. Plus, I have leftover to eat for lunch tomorrow!

Not the most appetizing picture - I forgot to take one before I cut it up - but it was really yummy. I used a pre-made crust like Pillsbury's only I bought the generic brand (which actually had fewer calories and less fat.). The crust was a total nightmare. I tried rolling it out myself because I like a really thin crust. That ended up being my worst idea of the night and nearly resulted in my rolling pin getting tossed across the room! Anyway, I topped the pizza with

• 55 g red onion
• 1/4 c. reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
  
• 1/2 c. part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz of pineapple chunks
• 6 slices of Rose Canadian Bacon
• 1/2 c. Culinary Circle Sweet Applewood BBQ Sauce

For dessert I had 1/2c. of Trader Joe's Non-Fat Plain Frozen Yogurt with 2T. sweetened shredded coconut, 5g of goji berries and 1T of rolled oats. It was really yummy!

Well, I don't have much else to say today. I also want to get to bed a little early tonight since I didn't sleep so well last night. I promise a more exciting post tomorrow!