Last Friday night...

... I was at my apartment, eating cheezits (reduced fat, of course), watching the VMA's (re-play, I forgot to watch them live) and impatiently awaiting the arrival of one of my best friends from High School.

This Friday night... I plan to go walkjogging (this is my new name for my workout: "jog as much as I can until I have to walk, then jog more"), tidy up my apartment, watch bad TV, and eat Outback curbside to go. My life is so thrilling - these Friday nights will become more of a regular thing once Fall TV starts again (Grey's Anatomy and I typically spend our Friday nights together, thanks to my sweet dear TiVo). I have not done nothing at my apartment on a weekend in so long - I have hardly been at my apartment on a weekend since I moved here. Believe it or not, I am looking forward to my super lazy Friday. It will be nice to relax (unless someone wants to take me on a date, just sayin'). The weather is cool enough now that I haven't had to have my AC on, just windows open (my wallet will thank me when the power bill comes). Warning: more random thoughts to follow.

So, yesterday I went walkjogging and had several ipod fails. I have a 75 year old ipod, the first generation video. Yes, that big bulky thing and I still lug it around. It just has so much good music on it! I don't think an armband holder for these ipods exists anymore, so I went with the alternative.

I decided to get me an ipod shuffle. One of those teeny tiny things that just clips on to wherever. No more shoving the ipod in the awkward back pocket of the yoga pants, or down the sports bra or wherever it so will stay put for an entire workout. These are pretty cheap, but I got mine for free! Thank you Wells Fargo credit card points - I probably spent far more money to accrue the points than the ipod would have cost, but hey - it's free.

On the note of spending money, I bought myself some new Bumble and Bumble shampoo today. I am obsessed with Bumble and Bumble products. OBSESSED. They make the best shampoos, conditioners, and styling products. And they usually have some good giveaways and free shipping on their website if you sign up for their emails. I've been having some scalp issues lately, and per some reviews on this shampoo, I hope it helps. I am also going to the dermatologist next week (so close to meeting my deductible for the year...) so hopefully I'll have a better solution to my scalp woes. Oh, my whole point to this story was that B&B does free gift wrapping - so I ordered a present to myself and got it gift wrapped. I love getting packages in the mail! I love getting mail in general.

In other news, I am really feeling good about my new healthy living plan. Walkjogging is making a difference - the scale hasn't budged but I have noticed that things are tightening up in the right places aka I am creating new muscle! I just need to keep it up. Part of a healthy living plan also is to treat yourself and I am certainly doing that today.

Lunch was Eez Fusion & Sushi - I honestly was a little peeved. As soon as I got the menu, I said "why do I even bother to open this anymore?" since I always order the same lunch (yellowtail hosomaki combo, side of spicy mayo, side salad with ginger dressing). Well thank goodness I opened it. I immediately noticed that they raised their prices and changed their options on their lunch combos (lunch was up $1.00 and there was an additional $1.00 upcharge if you wanted miso soup or ginger salad). I still ordered the yellowtail hosomaki but got seaweed salad instead. Their sushi is some of the best I have ever had, but the price increase and lack of selection really has me down.

Needless to say, Eez will no longer be my lunch spot of choice. While they do have the best sushi around, I am a bit irritated at their price increases and the selection decreases. Also, the service sucked (today - it usually isn't this bad). Our waiter dilly-dallied for like 45 minutes, we were just (im)patiently awaiting our checks. Finally he goes, "oh are you guys on your lunch break?" and picked up the pace and actually swiped our cards. I am usually a 20%+ tipper - not today. I drowned my sorrows in a bowl of TCBY froyo. It's not my fault it was within view of the lunch venue. Needless to say, today is a "treat myself" day and tomorrow is back to normal (ideal but not realistic)... Guaranteed back to normal on Sunday :-) As long as I keep up my walkjogging, I feel like I can eat reasonably and healhfully and have some splurges. I am less tempted with cravings than I ever was while I was on Weight Watchers - not that I deprived myself then... and I am not now. I just need to be less focused on the scale and more focused on the fitness. Slowly but surely transitioning my mindset in that direction.

Hopefully my weekend will officially start soon - the faster I can get walkjogging with my jumbo ipod out of the way, the faster I can start my relaxing on the couch!

Yep. That's my couch/nesting area. Doesn't it look so comfy? What is everyone else doing this weekend to relax??

I baked?

So yesterday I gave myself a mission. I never bake. I am not very good at it due to the necessary preciseness of the measurements... I'm more of a "throw stuff in to a pot/skillet/bowl kinda gal" and see what comes out. Usually, that turns out well.

Well I got overenthusiastic based on the hint of Fall weather (which I love, but I will miss you, Summer - especially when Fall weather turns cold.) I decided to make Pumpkin Spice Muffins and Vegan Banana Everything cookies.

I ran to Target to grab the few things (I thought) I didn't have in my pantry and proceeded to go home. I talked myself out of working out and in to baking instead. I got all of my little ingredients out on the counter, and my bowls, and my measuring cups, and spoons. And I ate dinner (so I didn't eat all of the batter/dough and actually had an output from my baking to prove that I did it).

And then I realized. I didn't have any sugar. Splenda with fiber was not going to cut it for this cookie recipe - I needed the real deal. I decided that God was punishing me for not working out, so I walked to the CVS (which is the closest store to me that sells anything resembling groceries. Also, they sell beer which is super important). I managed to snag the last sack of sugar they had - of course I paid a premium, but that's why they call it a convenience store right?

So now I am back at my apartment and I have EVERYTHING I need now. For real this time. First come the pumpkin spice muffins. Again, this is a super duper easy one bowl recipe. This picture looks a lot like mine (except these muffins don't puff up quite as much), but I didn't bother to take a picture of them this time around...

Photo credit
Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 box of spice cake mix
1 can of pumpkin puree
1 individual container of applesauce

Mix up. Pour in to muffin tin. Bake according to directions on spice cake box for cupcakes.
Easy enough for ya?? Anyone can bake these muffins.

Now on to the Vegan Banana Everything Cookies. So so so delicious. I was skeptical of a Vegan cookie recipe. I mean, the sugar/butter mixture at the beginning of every cookie recipe is totally the best part. But, my new outlook on eating healthy and homemade is allowing me to try new things. This recipe is a winner!!

Vegan Banana Everything Cookies

Nonstick cooking oil spray

1 very ripe medium banana

1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal or rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan, if desired).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with oil. In a mixing bowl, mash banana well. Add oil, sugar and vanilla, and mix with a strong fork. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and mix until just moistened.

2. Add oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate chips. Using your hands or a sturdy spoon, mix well, making sure oats are well moistened. (If dough is very slippery, add one or two extra tablespoons flour.)

3. Using clean, wet hands, re-wetting as needed, roll dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball, about 1 1/3 inches in diameter. Flatten slightly and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies.

I would say that I followed this recipe to a T (translation: I mostly measured correctly and only estimated a little bit), with the exception of rolling the dough in to balls. I kind of slopped it on the cookie sheet and made sure any outlying dough crumbs were put in to a cookie. This recipe yielded exactly 2 dozen cookies minus the dough I ate out of the bowl (so much for having dinner before baking...). I also ate way too many cookies after they were taken out of the oven. So, I brought some cookies and pumpkin spice muffins in to work to share (aka so I don't eat all of my baked goods in the next 24 - 48 hours).

These cookies turned out delicious, only used one bowl for mixing, and are relatively healthy! I think next time I am going to do half oil, half applesauce and see how that turns out.

What are some of your favorite fall recipes??

It's farmshare day!

Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 PM is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the week.

Reasons why:
#1 - It's not Monday anymore
#2 - It's almost time to go home
#3 - It's Farmshare Time!!!

For those of you that somehow don't know about my farmshare from Know Your Farms, my coworker Elizabeth and I split it each week. It is delivered to the office at 4:30 PM on Tuesdays, with all of the fruits and veggies from local farms within 100 miles of Charlotte. It is AWESOME. For the price of about $15.00 per week, I get more produce than I should be able to handle (but don't you worry... I handle it just fine).

Part of this farmshare is the reason I have taken on a flexitarian diet - I am not opposed to eating meat (and Friday night's scheduled dinner is a big ol' steak from Outback... I have a coupon.), I just choose to eat a mostly vegetarian diet. I eat meat on occasion throughout the week (mainly deli meat or turkey/chicken sausage). Anyway, due to this new diet change and my newfound love for working out, I have decided to take a little Weight Watchers hiatus and see if I can lose weight on my own by living a healthy lifestyle. I seem to have plateaued since umm March with Weight Watchers and essentially keep gaining and losing the same 3 lbs. While frustrating, I know I need to make some more lifestyle changes in order to get these last 10 lbs off.

I digress - the whole point of this blog post was to discuss (as promised) what came of my farmshare this week!

After work, I made myself workout - went on an enjoyable run/walk (I put run first this time because I think I did more running!!) and did some strength training. Came back, showered, and got down to business in the kitchen.

Let me first address that I am trying to grow an herb garden - or rather, keep an already grown herb garden alive. I can hardly keep myself alive let alone plants or other living creatures - so this is an experiment... See my cute little herb garden below: thyme, oregano, and basil. I included some fresh herbs in my recipes tonight. Shout out to my mom for giving me the moral support it took to make the $8.00 investment in these plants :-)

Recipe 1: Sauteed Peppers and Onions - very simple recipe. I diced up fresh green pepper, onion, and seasoned with Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning.

Recipe 2: Veggie and rice deliciousness - I do not have an official title for this recipe, but it is definitely delicious.

First I put a pot full of brown rice on to boil (1 cup of dry rice cooked according to directions). I diced up eggplant and onions and sauteed in a large pot with a little olive oil and garlic. Later in the cooking process I added fresh basil and cuban oregano (courtesy of the farmshare) After the veggies were softened and appeared to be fully cooked, I added some sliced green olives. Here is where I usually add a can of diced tomatoes. I did not have a can of diced tomatoes, but fortunately I had a container of homemade tomato sauce courtesy of my lovely coworker Elizabeth. I added the rice and the sauce and voila! Veggie and rice deliciousness. The beauty of this dish is that with a rice and tomato base, basically any veggie could be added and taste yummy. The first time I made this recipe, I happened to use what I had on hand which happened to be the components I continue to use due to their deliciousness.

Note to self: need to restock the garbanzo beans... Side comment: I ordered some fun pantry organizers (can holder and small shelf) as well as new food storage containers (yay for new Rubbermaid Glass!) from our employee purchase website today. Can't wait until they arrive!

Recipe 3: Gnocchi and chicken sausage pasta sauce - I cheated and pulled the sauce out of the freezer (pasta sauce, spinach, and garlic and fontina chicken sausage from Trader Joe's). I also bought the Whole Grain Gnocchi from Trader Joe's and put it all together. Not a farmshare recipe, but this was my dinner tonight - carbloading after my workout :-)

Recipe 4: Roasted Potato and Onion - diced potato, onion, fresh garlic, fresh thyme roasted in the oven until it appeared to be cooked. It's as simple as it looks. Finished off with a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

As you can tell, I was busy in the kitchen today but now I have lots of food to last me the rest of the week! My potato and onion dish turned out kind of like hash - I might have that for breakfast tomorrow morning with some grits. Yum! Lunch tomorrow is at Flat Iron Kitchen in Davidson. If you haven't been there yet, you should... the staff is very attentive and the food is delicious. I already know what I am getting and it is what I had last time (boring, yes. so what? delicious, definitely.) A shrimp salad with a basil citrus vinegarette, goat cheese, picked beets, and some peppers over spring greens served with a side of multigrain bread. Nom nom. Tomorrow, the week will be halfway over!! Dinner tomorrow night is my refried bean "tostada" with arugula instead of spinach... or should I have a hummus wrap with arugula? Sigh, the decisions...