Leftover Salad

Breakfast

The yogurt bowl is ruling my life these days.  I’m trying to keep carbs to a minimum during the week, just for the next few months, in an effort to look bueno in my wedding dress.  We’ll see how long that lasts.  All this really means is that instead of having a carb-heavy breakfast, followed by a sandwich for lunch and something carb-y with dinner, I’m trying to stick with yogurt-centered breakfasts and salad-heavy lunches.

I filled a bowl with Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, topped with a handful of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds, for some crunch.

Lunch

Corey and I were talking last night about our favorite lunches.  He asked me what I would eat for lunch if I could pick anything to make at home every day.  I said, “Honestly, I just like leftover dinner on top of lettuce!”

Anytime we have a little leftover chicken, fish, or even burgers, with some steamed or roasted veggies on the side, I love to chop up some Romaine lettuce and throw the leftovers on top (heated, of course).  I just add a few other salad toppin’s and my favorite dressing, and lunch is ready to go.

Yesterday’s creation was a small leftover turkey burger and steamed brussel sprouts with a sprinkle of 2% cheddar cheese and Naturally Fresh Ginger Dressing, on top of a bed of Romaine.

Workout 

I put off my workout for as long as possible yesterday.  Generally, I really prefer to wake up in the morning and get my workout over with.  It’s a great feeling to be finished and know that you can spend the rest of the day doing other things.  If I don’t, the thought of having to workout later looms over my head all day.  Yesterday was one of those days.

I loaded up my iPod with all kinds of new songs (basically 3 new Nicki Minaj jams, duh), and headed out the door around 4:00PM for a run.  Well, that didn’t last long, thanks to some shooting leg pains and a severe thunderstorm over my head.  I made it for about 10 minutes before coming inside to complete a treadmill workout for 35 minutes.

Dinner

Corey and I needed to make a grocery store run, so we decided to eat dinner first at one of my favorite places- Green Lemon Cafe.  I ordered my go-to salad- Tuna with Balsamic dressing.

Afterwards, we decided to venture over to Whole Foods next door.  After realizing that we could barely afford a lemon in that place, we started to make our way out the door.  And then, the bakery caught my eye.  Everything looked so great!  I picked out a Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie that was size of my face for us to share.

Corey also picked up a treat.

His version of the word “treat” and my version are clearly very different 🙂 .

What is your favorite leftover meal? 

1 Day With Mom

I sure managed to cram a lot of stuff into 24 hours!  My mom had her 30th Annual Spring Recital for her piano students yesterday.  She teaches over 120 students, and the recital is a big affair.  Every year, she performs a special song for everyone.  This year, I volunteered to sing, which meant I took a short road trip to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, and got back yesterday.

Workout

On Saturday, I knew I had to get in a workout of some kind because a) I really slacked off last week, and b) I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to workout on Sunday.  Corey convinced me to try out his new running route around our new neighborhood.  Exciting news: not only did I run the whole time, but we tacked on an extra mile to our distance!  Goodbye, 2.5 miles, helloooo 3.5!

And it feels soo good…

Breakfast

I opted for my new go-to breakfast: the classic PB ^2 + H.  In case you’re not a math whiz, that’s Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey.

Lunch

Corey treated me to lunch at my favorite spot- Green Lemon Cafe- as a mini-farewell for the weekend.  As I’ve mentioned, Green Lemon is known more for their delicious crepes than anything else, but I always go for the awesome Tuna Salad with Balsamic.

Corey ordered the Chicken Florentine Crepe, which comes filled with chicken, monterey cheese, spinach, and pesto.

Dinner

I arrived in good ol’ Laudy daudy at around 5 o’clock.  Just in time for Happy Hour on the porch with my mama! We had a glass of wine and chatted away before heading to one of my favorite restaurants ever (even though I’ve only been there once before)- Seasons 52!  If you are not familiar with Seasons 52, it is an upscale restaurant that features seasonal menu selections all under 475 calories.  Don’t worry, nothing on the menu lacks in flavor!  The food is fresh, cooked to perfection and just simply to die for.

When we sat down, we ordered drinks, and then I insisted that we order probably the most high-calorie appetizer they had (oops)- Mushrooms Stuffed with Shrimp and Crab- because I am a sucker for anything stuffed inside a mushroom.

The mushrooms were all covered in a crispy layer of cheese (yes, please), and even came individually tucked into mushroom-sized holes in this special ceramic dish!  On a side note, I will be registering for similar dishes, because I’m sure I will need to make these every night.

For my main dish, I opted for the Rainbow Trout, served with grilled carrots, asparagus, new potato wedges, and a grilled lemon, for extra flavor.

I was starting to get full when my meal arrived, probably because I ate my weight in cheesy mushrooms, so I boxed up the half of my meal that I didn’t finish.  Don’t worry- there’s always room for dessert!

Fortunately, Seasons 52 doesn’t offer gigantic desserts with names that make you gain 5 lbs. just from reading them- instead, they offer a variety of small bites, that come served in shot glasses.  I went with what our waiter described as a cousin to Tiramisu.

Everything was so delicious!  I wish I could eat there every freakin’ night.

My mom and I had a lovely time, and the service wasn’t bad either- my mom was a big fan of our waiter, Pete.

Hi Pete!

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On Sunday, we woke up pretty early, because we had lots to do before the recitals started at noon.

Breakfast

I made a quick breakfast sandwich- egg whites on a toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, spread with Laughing Cow Sundried Tomato and Basil Cheese, and topped with diced tomatoes and onion.

After running recital-related errands and setting up the hall, the students and their families began trickling in, and the first show started.  I opened each of the 4 recitals by singing, “I’ll Stand By You” (video soon to come!) You can see my sister and I singing the opening a few years ago, here.

While the students played I headed into the back room of the hall to study for my class, and do other productive things, like take obnoxious pictures of myself:

I'm workin' my butt off over here!

I took a lunch break in between shows, which included a 6-inch turkey and provolone on wheat with lettuce, tomato, banana peppers, and pickles from Subway.

My mom and I in our recital gowns (told ya it’s a big affair!):

The last show ended around 6:30PM.  We packed up the car and headed home after a long day!  I changed out of my gown and into some comfy clothes, packed up my car with my own stuff, and got back on the road to Orlando.

Dinner

I wish I could say dinner was as impressive as the night before, but…it was a big FAIL!

I tried to be a good girl and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, but I took one bite, spit it out, and threw the sandwich away, vowing to become a vegetarian. It was sick.

BAD sandwich!!!

Instead, dinner looked more like this:

(Thank you to the students who gave these to my mom- you saved me from starvation! 🙂 )

All in all, it was a fun weekend, and I loved getting to spend some much-needed time with my fabulous mom!

It’s Monday- back to the grind!  

Getting My Groove Back

Moving can be a big adjustment.  It can be a challenge to stay on track with eating right and working out, when all you feel like doing is eating what’s easiest and getting settled.

However, on Monday, I got my groove back!

Breakfast

I made my first meal in our new place- what better way to celebrate a moment of “firsts”, than with my first taste of almond butter?  I found these packets of Barney Butter chillin’ in the back of our old fridge (no pun intended), and was excited to try it in a bowl of oats cooked with almond milk.

Oh. My. YUM.

I’m now obsessed with almond butter.  Too bad it’s like $12 a jar.

Workout

I was feeling pretty crappy about my lack of workouts last week, so I was determined to get to the gym on Monday.  Well, “get to the gym” is an understatement of what I ended up doing!

Not only did I go to the gym and complete an hour of cardio, including 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes of running intervals on the treadmill, but I also went to another gym to catch a 4:30 BodyPump class!  I must’ve put Ritalin in my coffee instead of Splenda.

Lunch

In between gym trips, I stopped by my favorite lunch place, Green Lemon Cafe, which I am thrilled to have so much closer to me now.  I ordered a tuna salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

I didn’t want to get a cramp during BodyPump, so I only ate half, and saved the rest for later.

Dinner

Corey’s parents made us dinner, which consisted of smoked BBQ chicken prepared on the greatest invention ever- the Big Green Egg, which is a smoker. On the side, we had Caesar salad, corn on the cob, and potatoes au gratin.

Nothing like a home-cooked meal!

Lazy Sundays Lead to Manic Mondays

Is it normal to wake up and feel like your entire body is a giant bruise?

This keeps happening to me, and it’s only after I have a Fat Girl Weekend!  It feels like the pizza and beer from this weekend came to life and hit me 100 times with a baseball bat in the middle of the night.  Now there’s a creepy mental image.

I'm comin' for ya!!!

(Source)

I came up with this new little reminder to help keep me on track on the weekends: Lazy Sundays lead to Manic Mondays! Actually, I’m not sure if I made that up or if I heard it somewhere, but either way, I like it!

I was happy to get my butt to this gym this morning, and I enjoyed a nice workout which I added to my Workout Log.  Now that I’ve started jotting down my workouts, I’ve started to realize something- I miss my old gym!  The gym we go to now is nice for being part of an apartment complex, but it’s just not a real gym.  They have several treadmills, two ellipticals that aren’t normal ellipticals at all, so I refuse to get on them, and then a few stationary bikes, several weight machines, and a rack of free weights.  I just miss the variety that my old gym offered, and I really miss the group classes!  I was in love with spin in college, and I was finally getting back into going to classes right when we had to cancel our membership.  Hopefully, we will be able to add that luxury back in our lives in the near future!

Breakfast

Most normal people re-stock their fridges for the week on Sunday.  But, when two certain people are too busy being lazy on Sunday, we are left with this chore to do on Monday!  This means that I am one cranky girl on Monday mornings when I wake up and realize there is nothing for breakfast, and we are out of coffee creamer!  I resorted to the last OIKOS Greek Caramel Yogurt after my workout:

Last one!

Corey asked me to wait for him to go to the grocery store when he’s done with work, but I decided to get a head start on it by stopping by Winter Park Produce.

I’m not sure if every city has a place like this, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever discovered!  Corey told me about it a few months ago, and we’ve made an effort to get our produce there instead of at our grocery store.  Why?  Well, many people complain that eating healthy is too expensive, and unfortunately, that is something I can understand.  Fruits and vegetables are really expensive, especially at our particular grocery, so I was so happy to discover the produce market-  the prices are so cheap!  Here’s what I got today:

• 2 lb. bag of carrots
• Bag of celery
• 1 leek
• 2 bunches of green onions
• 1 white onion
• 1 red onion
• 5 Golden Delicious apples
• 1 bag of Russet potatoes
• Chopped cauliflower
• 2 heads of broccoli
• 1 package of white mushrooms
• 2 red bell peppers

Guess how much I spent?  $19.01!  The above list would’ve easily cost me $30 at our grocery store.  I highly recommend searching for a place like this near your home- it is so worth the extra trip.

Lunch

Thanks to our empty fridge, I asked Corey if he wanted to meet me for lunch.  We went to one of our favorite spots, Green Lemon Cafe.  They are mainly known for making delicious crepes, but they also serve sandwiches, salads, soup and smoothies.  I got a Tuna Salad with Balsamic Dressing:

Tunaaa

Corey likes to try a different crepe each time we go.  Today’s choice was a Whole Wheat crepe filled with veggies and topped with pesto.  Delish!  Something caught my eye at the checkout counter that I had to have…

Cookie!

We split this big chocolate chip cookie.  Yum!

See ya for dinner!