This Morning's Thoughts

1. Vanilla extract is not good in your coffee. I thought it would be fun... it wasn't. Declared food misadventure.

2. My running hat smells bad. I can't wait for cooler weather. Cooler weather=less sweat=better smelling hat.

3. Hey, I put some new shoes on,

and suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
it so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
but long on time,
slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
and i'm running late,
and i don't need an excuse,
'cause i'm wearing my brand new shoes.

New cute shoes.

4. I'm excited to see old friends at James and MJ's party tonight! Squee!

5. I'm WAY excited about my new steal:

I'm thinking New Year's Eve? Perhaps before? Too bad I can't wear it to a wedding 'cuz I look good in white. Thanks Gilt!

6. My plan of 10 miles this morning and then beach is being thwarted by the rude weather. RUDE! 10 miles is happening... the beach, probably not. Sad face.

UPDATE: 11 miles. In 100 degrees. Needless to say, the hat smells baaaaaaaaaad.

And the food must be eaten...

This is my friendly reminder to myself... on the fridge...
It basically reminds me I can't eat anything fun. Thankfully, I've found a wee little treat at Publix.
And you know what, they TOTally taste like the real thing. I got the minis, and they're plenty big enough. Like the size of a Klondike bar. When I'm in pinch and a frozen banana just won't cut it, I grab a little guy and go.to.town.
But back to what I wanted to talk about... When I tell people I'm doing this "diet" (more like lifestyle change, thankyouverymuch) they're all like "what the what DO you eat?" I can eat whatevs I want, I just don't eat dairy, most prepackaged foods, and white flour. The picture above is what I had for lunch yesterday. 1 1/2 cups of spring mix, 1/2 cup of strawberries, and 1 tbsp of light organic balsamic vinaigrette and 1 cup brown rice, 1/2 tomato, and 6 baby carrots.

I attempted to eat this much because I ran 9 miles yesterday and I know I needed the nutrients, but once I got through the salad I was so full! I mean, I love my food baby tummy, but it's bikini season and some people get grossed out. Whatever.

Week Two is no meats. Anything that once had eyes, or a mother, that makes any sort of sound whether it is moo, cluck, ribbit, meow... (just making sure you're paying attention). I'm not doing week two wholeheartedly. I am giving up red meat and cutting way back on all meats, but refuse to give it up completely. I understand it would really help lower my cholesterol, but come on! Apparently I need to get more creative with this food thing...

Goin' Vegan(ish)...

Confession: I have high cholesterol.

Yes, yes, it's true. I eat healthy, run 30-40 miles a week, am 24 years old, and yet I have the cholesterol of an overweight 50 year old man (he probably dresses bad too, like a black socks and sandals kind-of-guy). I'm not revealing my number because it's embarrassing (everyone has their thing, ya know?). So, when this nice lady at church who works at Whole Foods told me about this book, I figured I could give it a whirl. I can do anything for 28 days, right? Right.
So, I'm about 1 week in. The first week (if you don't do it whole hog from the start) is giving up ALL dairy and processed/refined foods. This means NO: milk, cheese, eggs, butter, ice cream, sour cream, yogurt, white rice/flour/pasta/bread, cakes, cookies, unhealthy chips, sodas, etc etc.

The first couple of days were a struggle, but I actually am enjoying not eating dairy! And I never realized how much of it I was eating before. I switched to soy milk a couple of months ago and thought I was "off dairy"... Oh, no no. It is EVERYWHERE! I had a lady lunch date with lovely Ali at bb's on Friday and had to ask them to (gasp!) take the brie out of the wrap!! Let's take a moment of silence for that delicious, melty, creamy brie...... Le sigh.....

So, for Mother's Day I decided to make a dessert the whole family could enjoy (or just me... whatever). It's called Blueberry Dumpcake and is SO easy.

2/3 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2/3 c milk substitute

3 tbsp agave nectar

2 c blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Combine vanilla, milk substitute, and nectar in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. The batter will be runny. Pour the batter into a nonstick 8” square pan. Sprinkle blueberries over the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with lemon sorbet.

I used a frozen, organic, berry mix with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Yum!
This is the before baking shot. Ain't she purty?
And after... It smelled so good!
And with the lemon sorbet, which was a little overpowering, a little too zesty. Next time I'd want vanilla soy ice cream. But then I'd eat the whole container. Ice cream... it's like my kryptonite.

Overall? It was okay. I'd rather have it all regular normal style with lots of fat and dairy, but for the time being it was a good substitute. Sorry mom for making you eat this on YOUR day.

Look Ma! I can blanch!

I was in Costco (my love) the other day and spotted some yummy goat cheese... How could I resist? It sparked some ideas, mainly a desire to recreate this ahhhh-mazing salad I had at Medure's over Easter weekend (love you Stone family!). Argula with roasted beets, haricot verts, and goat cheese tossed in a light vinaigrette. A bold move on my part...

So, I improvised. I found some baby spinach and haricot verts at Costco. And bought some light balsamic vinaigrette and jarred (pre cooked and sliced) beets at Publix. Lazy, I know... but beets are stinkin' expensive and momma needs a steady income to be buying $5 worth of root vegetables! (Reason #652 why I can't wait to move: Trader Joe's).

I've never blanched. It's simple enough. Boil some water, throw some beans in, cook 1-2 minutes, fish 'em out and throw them in ice cold water.

Aren't they purty? All bright and crispy just chillin' in some ice water. Pun not intended.

And this is the finished product. A low-cal yet filling, fibrous meal. I mean, it doesn't hold a candle to Medure's, but hey, a girl can try. I think it was the beets. I'm such a cheapskate. Be prepared for more recipe triumphs and disasters to come. With no comparison to the AbFab Medure's, it was delicious. Victory is mine!