Just a Preview

Full Baltimore Half Marathon recap coming tomorrow, but in the meantime, I thought I would let you know that I finished and snagged as many mini larabars as I could.  I would call that a successful race.  :)

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday night!

Read more...

Get Some Mojo

Eats


Last night, we made some pretty tasty fajitas/tacos and I wanted to share our process. First, the chicken marinated in Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade overnight. I really don't want to eat chicken another way - it was juicy and had the best flavor. Every chicken needs some mojo.
Next up, we sauteed a colorful mix of onions and peppers (some spicy) in a little EVOO.

Meanwhile, refried pinto beans went into a pot to warm up.

Normally, I would use corn or flour soft tortillas for fajitas, but we were fresh out, so I was happy to discover these hiding in the pantry.
After the onions and pepper cooked for awhile, we removed them from the pan so we could add the chicken w/ marinade to cook through. Then, we mixed the onions and peppers back into the chicken with some chopped tomatoes.

All together...topped with shredded cheese.

I was worried that the whole grain hard taco shells would taste too "whole grainy" - if you know what I mean - but they were incredible. Ortega Whole Grain beats Old El Paso any day. I ended up dipping my tacos into the beans before each bite. It was one of the most satisfying meals and SO simple.


The other day at work - I finally tried the German Chocolate Cake Larabar. I brought some greek yogurt to go with, but ended up eating it alone since I was crunched for time at work.
It was a pleasant surprise because I haven't enjoyed the other Jocalat larabars, but this one was great! Next time, I would top it with the almond butter for a major treat.

Last, but certainly not least - I had a wonderful salad for lunch today. Since I tend to be picky with salads, I was happy to find one I enjoyed so much. It was from Frisco Grille in Columbia, MD. Spinach, pinto beans, gorgonzola cheese, marinated/sauteed tofu, and cranberries. It came with a raspberry vinaigrette that I didn't use at all. The tofu was seasoned to perfection and all the flavors mixed together nicely.

Workouts/Running

I am currently training for the Baltimore Half Marathon on October 10th and finally feel like I am getting somewhere. Basically, over the past month or so, I have stopped all of my slacking and inconsistency and feel like I have gotten my mojo back. ;)

This week has gone well so far:

• Saturday: 17 mile bike ride
• Sunday: 6 mile run
• Monday: day off
• Tuesday: 6 mile run
• Wednesday: Jillian Michaels - Quick No Trouble Zones
• Thursday: 5 mile run
• Friday: day off (consider it done)
• Saturday: 10 mile run (planned) - I know it seems a little sudden for this long of a run since I haven't been posting my runs here regularly, but I did 8.6 miles the first two Saturdays in August.

Random

Anyone else watch Top Chef last night? Jen is a tough cookie and right now - I hope she goes all the way.

Read more...

Artscape, PB2 & *New* Larabar Flavors

Last weekend, before heading up to Artscape, we grilled out with some friends. Kevin whipped up cheeseburgers and italian sausage, while I put together grilled veggie & pineapple kabobs and corn-on-the-cob. We also had some fresh salsa, courtesy of Mara, which was leftover from the Friday night crab feast.

What is a great summer cookout drink/dessert? White Sangria with strawberries, nectarines, raspberries and blackberries thank you very much. Our friend Susan brought this and I made sure to ask what was in this deliciously refreshing drink. Pinot Grigio, club soda, lime juice, and fresh fruit. Simple and SO good.

I had never been to Artscape before, but was excited to hear some free music. As you can see, it was packed, but we managed to hear the end of CAKE and then find a seat for Robert Randolph & The Family Band.Fun times. It was a perfect Saturday night because we got home pretty early and managed to get up and go for a mountain bike ride at Loch Raven Reservoir Sunday morning.

Moving on to some fun product stuff! Last week...Jasmine sent me some Chocolate PB2 to try out. Please notice that it is sitting next to the Nakano Rice Vinegar that Foodbuzz Tastemaker program generously sent me to try. (More on that in a later post - I promise.)

So, this PB2 stuff is 85% less fat than regular peanut butter, but you have to do some work. It is powder - and you have to mix it with water to make the peanut butter. It felt a little weird and I was definitely skeptical about how it would taste.Well, it looks like peanut butter and guess what - it tastes like it too. ;) A little thinner than the regular stuff, but I thought it had great flavor. I tried it on a piece of whole wheat toast and voila - dessert!

Since I have stopped listing out everything I eat all day, everyday - I don't mention Larabars as often, but believe me - they are still very much a part of my life. Coconut Creme Pie and Key Lime Pie are my all-time favorites. They recently sent me some of their *NEW* flavors to try and I was so excited.

Tropical Fruit Tart is by far - my new FAVORITE larabar. I love it. I am thinking I may need to purchase an entire box because they are that good. Pineapple, Orange, and Coconut combined with Almond and Cashew make this bar incredible.
Next up - Peanut Butter & Jelly. Umm - why didn't I think of that? Who doesn't love PB&J? You may be wondering what flavor jelly - Cherry. There were big pieces of unsweetened cherries and I definitely enjoyed this flavor as well. Not going to break my top three, but I would totally buy this flavor again.

Last but certainly not least - German Chocolate Cake. I tend not to like the chocolate flavor larabars as much for some reason, so I still haven't tried this one. I am saving it for a rainy day when I am craving chocolate. Maybe I will smear some almond butter on top or something.

Thanks to larabar for sending me these flavors to try out - I love this kind of stuff.

Read more...

Full Day

Lately, I have been on an egg kick in the mornings. But yesterday, I wanted some good old OATS. In the mix: oats, skim milk, cinnamon, bee pollen, blueberries, 1/2 banana, spoonful of natural PB.

I needed all that good energy for the hour and fifteen minute Total Conditioning class that I took with my sister at her gym (Lifetime Fitness in Columbia, MD). That gym is HUGE and AMAZING. The class completely kicked our butts - I had no idea that my body could produce that much sweat. I munched on a Peanut Butter Larabar on the way home.


This is what I saw when I walked in the door after class. Oscar was ready for his walk. For lunch, I knew I wanted to have a salad because we had SO many veggies to use up, but I wanted something HOT. I sauteed yellow squash, mushrooms, and onions in a little EVOO. Seasoned with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Placed on top of field greens and topped with feta cheese.
Oh wait, what are those things on the side? Oven roasted potatoes. I sliced up potatoes and tossed in EVOO, salt, and pepper then baked at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes, flipping once or twice.
Later on, my sweet tooth hit me, so I combined a container of Honey Oikos Greek Yogurt, grape nuts, and blueberries. That hit the spot.
Later that night, even though my entire body hurt from Total Conditioning, Kevin convinced me to go mountain biking. It was a beautiful night - check out that sky!
Unfortunately, the trails in Patapsco were not that beautiful. They were extremely muddy from all the rain we have been getting. After falling in a mud pond and then a stream - I was irritable and ready to go home.

We stuck it out and eventually got back onto some trails that weren't as muddy - that is when it became fun again. Kevin got this video of me biking through a stream. Wheeee!

By the end, I was tired, but felt good to get back out on my mountain bike - it had been awhile. We have the Off-Road Duathlon in a few weeks, so we HAVE to get ready.
For dinner, I had made a Beef Vegetable Soup earlier in the afternoon that turned out better than expected. I say that because I just sort of threw a bunch of stuff in a pot and hoped for the best.


What Went into the Pot:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 white onion diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1-2 cups shredded cabbage
• Beef Stew Cubes
• 2 splashes of red wine
  
• 1 package frozen soup vegetables (okra, green beans, corn, potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, lima beans, and peas)
• 2 cans Hunts Tomato Sauce (14.5 oz each)
• 2 cans Beef Broth - fat free (14.5 oz each)
• 1 can Hunts Diced Tomatoes in Sauce (14.5 oz)
• 1 bay leaf
• lots of ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• splash of Worcestershire sauce
• a bit of dried oregano
• a bit of dried basil
• about 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley

We picked up some cheese bread from Panera on the way home that was perfect for dunking.
I topped mine with feta cheese because I am a firm believer in that fact that cheese makes everything better. :)


Hope you are getting out there to enjoy this wonderful summer weather!

Read more...

Snog Me, I'm Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since I am a quarter Irish, I am wearing my green proudly today. I spent a semester abroad in London my junior year in college, so one weekend, we took a ferry to Dublin, Ireland for a few days.

Coming out of a pub one night, my friend and I were asked by a few incoherent Irish lads, if we'd ever had an Irish Snog. We both said that we hadn't and the sweet gentlemen said they'd be happy to give us one. I was thinking I was going to get something to eat, but we promptly learned that:

Snogging = Kissing

In honor of this holiday, I have the following in my Crock pot at home:

• 3 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 corned beef brisket (3 pounder)
• 1 spice packet (that came with the brisket)
• 3 medium onions, quartered
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 head of cabbage, cut in wedges
• 1 garlic clove, minced
  

It went in at 7am and is on low for the next 10 hours until I get home. Let's hope my first attempt at Corned Beef and Cabbage works out.

I am a worry wort and feel like a fire is going to start while I am at work. I keep telling myself all will be OK because:

1. My alarm has a feature where it calls the fire department if it senses smoke.
2. There is a "self-appointed mayor of the block" (a.k.a. nosey neighbor) that watches over each house on our block. Did I mention that this sweet woman also dresses like a pilgrim? No lie - I couldn't make this stuff up.
   
   

Monday PM

Last night, after a long walk with Oscar in the park - I couldn't motivate myself to do Jillian Michael's workout, but I did make it to the gym for spin class. The hour long class kicked my butt.

After class, I was starving, so I munched on sliced zucchini dipped in hummus. Meanwhile, I whipped up some asparagus and shrimp.

Dinner just didn't satisfy me tonight, so I immediately made a small bowl of figs, black almonds, and a spoonful of almond butter. This helped.

Tuesday AM

Since I was busy filling up the crock pot, I stuck with cold cereal today. Honey Nut Cheerios were all that was left, so I topped those with chopped pecans, chopped figs, sliced bananas, skim milk, and a spoonful of almond butter.

This was my first time having a spoonful of almond butter with cold cereal and I didn't like it at all. I also wasn't digging the honey nut cheerios...I am more of a regular cheerio fan. AND, I am now officially "figged out". Too many of those things in the last few days - I am done for awhile. Breakfast was such a positive experience today, huh?!

I brought a few favorite snacks to get me to lunchtime. My all-time favorite larabar - COCONUT CREAM PIE.

The stickers are cute on these Cuties.

Enjoy your day!

Read more...

Overwhelmed (11.18.2008)

Anyone else feeling overwhelmed? My to-do list is overflowing right now and I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do everything. Plus, I have been a zombie since Sunday night, when we got home from the football game at 1:30am!!! So, while I had a ton of things to do last night - I barely got anything done. Well, I did finish up the laundry and take Lucy to her vet appt - so that counts for something!

To top everything off - I haven't worked out in over a week!! Besides my daily walks with Oscar, which have helped me stay mostly sane. Ok, enough of all that complaining - let's get back to food!

Over the weekend I ate alot of great stuff, and took pictures of some of it. Here is a sampling of my weekend eats.

Saturday at the Columbia Mall, my sister and I got salads from Bistro Sensations. I went with the greek salad, that came topped with two stuffed grape leaves and a grilled pita. It was a great salad.

Sunday's Lunch was Creamy Tomato Soup - I have been wanting to try this brand of soup and I really enjoyed it - especially knowing it was low-fat, low-sodium, and organic!

I also made some grilled cheese for dipping and put a spoonful of fat free ricotta in the soup. I definitely had enough cheese for the day with this lunch.

Sunday night's football game was alot of fun, except for the fact that they didn't beat Dallas - UGHH. We were freezing in the 40 degree, windy weather and had the most obnoxious Dallas fan sitting next to us. He was getting into fights with everyone around us. Some may find this disgusting, but I love stadium hot dogs - they taste so good! After having an incredible hot dog - we got to see these two Redskins Legends get their Hall of Fame rings. pretty cool.

Breakfast this morning was grape nuts with raisins, dried cranberries, and lots of skim milk.

Snacks today will be a very ripe pear...

and a PB Larabar. yum.

I roasted up a spaghetti squash last night, so lunch today will be that with turkey meatballs and tomato sauce. (my pictures have to be taken before work, so the meatballs are frozen in the picture!)

Getting back to my workouts/runs or lack there of. It has been a little over a week since the marathon and I know that my hamstring still needs time off from running, but I need to start doing something! I don't currently belong to a gym - so I am going to head over to my father's gym after work. It is a little ways away, but I need a good workout, so I plan to get my butt kicked in a spin class and then do some lifting. I'm hoping my hamstring will be ok. I am so excited to sweat - is that weird?

Read more...

JamFrakas Review

The stars of this post will be my niece and nephew - who are 3 and 5 (almost 6) years old respectively. Jenna dressed to impress in her purple princess dress! :) (I just re-read and realized I am a poet)

I thought this would be a better way to review the JamFrakas since they are targeted for children. This will be their first time tasting all of the flavors, except chocolate chip, which they had tried once before this taste test. Thumbs up and Thumbs Down are the method of judgement we will be using...

So lets see what the kids think! The set-up...

Strawberry Crispiscrumptious.

Justin was not a fan of this flavor, but Jenna loved it! I thought strawberry flavor was just OK for my "adult" taste.

Apple Crispalicious:

Both immediately threw up their thumbs - they loved this flavor and I agree it was better than strawberry!

Peanut Butter Blisscrisp:

Peanut Butter was also a hit. So far, Jenna likes them all! A girl after my own heart - not much I wont eat. ;)

Banana Chocolate Blastocrisp:

Jenna's first thumbs down - she did not enjoy the banana/chocolate! Justin gave it a thumbs up - but his face doesn't show it. ha. This was my FAVORITE flavor - I ate the rest of it!

Chocolate Chip Cosmocrisp:

The first taste was a thumbs up by Jenna and a strong thumbs down by Justin, but after trying it again...

he decided he liked it - chocolate chip was a hit. I thought it was just OK.

My favorites - Banana Chocolate and Apple! I think that these bars are great for kids. Perfect kid-size. Whole Grain. No HFCS.

But for me - I will stick with the regular Larabars - more nuts and sophisticated flavor choices!

Happy Monday all!

Read more...

Exciting Mail! (11.08.2008)

It was SO cool to come home this afternoon and find some very exciting mail waiting for me. First, Larabar sent me their new bars for kids - JamFrakas - one of each flavor. This was all because of Megan over at Megan's Munchies! After she featured them on her blog, the kind folks at larabar decided to send all who commented about them on Megan's post their own to try! I cant wait to sample these!And then, Foodbuzz sent me MiniCards with my Name and blog address on them! Each little card has a bright picture of some type of food on the back. I feel official!My pre-race day breakfast was whole wheat eggos with Greek yogurt, sliced bananas, cinnamon, and maple syrup. I savored every last bite of this filling breakfast.Also grabbed a Sumatra blend coffee from High Grounds. Mixed in lots of skim milk and 1 packet of sugar in the raw. I found my new coffee - the Sumatra blend is the best tasting so far.After watching my nephew's football game, I grabbed a Buon Giorno plain cheese pizza and brought it home for Kevin and I. (No picture, but the two slices I had tasted great!) Maybe I shouldn't have done the pizza thing before my race tomorrow, but we shall see if it hurts or helps me!

Later this afternoon, Kevin and I split a chocolate chip Zbar while out running errands. I think the peanut butter flavor is my favorite, but this one was pretty good.Just got back from a walk in the park with Oscar - it is a beautiful day outside today. It's looking like tomorrow is going to be just as nice, only cooler, which should be great running weather!

Tonight's dinner is going to be whole wheat cheese ravioli with turkey meatballs and marinara. Got some salad and bread to go with. Simple pre-race dinner! Keeping it basic for my stomach's sake - it has enough going on with the pre-race jitters!

Hope everyone is enjoying their saturday!

Read more...