8.31.2010

a great appetizer

My friend made this amazing appetizer last time we ate at their house. It was so good, and I could not get enough of it!


The tomato mixture is simply chopped tomatoes, basil, oregano, olive oil. It is wonderful on bread or this crispy strips she made. The strips are tortillas. She cut a whole tortilla into strips, spread olive oil on it, and then sprinkled with spices.


The benefits: great way to get more vegetables in. tastes good. antioxidants in tomatoes!

8.27.2010

a great day of shopping!

I love this little farm near our house! LOVE IT! Locally grown, DELICIOUS produce that just calls my name.

Lots of things called my name this time... Check out what I came home with!



And a close up. Are these peaches HUGE or what??




When I was putting the broccoli away it looked like such a perfect bouquet, so I thought how funny would it have been if my wedding bouquet had been a bouquet of broccoli. Then I realized how nutrition nerdy that was and now I'm a little embarrassed. But I did take a picture :)



Have a nice weekend!

8.26.2010

lunch. amazing.



Last week while I was doing one of my favorite things - shopping at Target - the Giada pasta sauce caught me eye. I decided to try a jar of her Creamy Tomato & let me just say... I am in love! This stuff is incredible. Try it! Quickly-- before I buy it all :)


I'm having it again for lunch today

ps- it's resting on my study materials for the RD exam. that's what my day is today...

8.25.2010

this morning's surprise.

This morning I went out front to hang my bathmat to dry and I found this in front of my house.

Disgusting.

Today is trash day around here, so this morning my husband put our trash out in front. When I went out I found our trash plus the rest of the streets piled up in front of our mailbox! It looks awful! I called to complain, here's the conversation:

trash employee: "so you're saying the trash truck came and picked up the trash and dumped it in front of your house?"

me: "yes."

trash employee: "i've never heard of that before. that seems odd. why would they do that?"

me: "that's what i'm wondering. i'm not sure why they did it but it looks really bad."

trash employee: "do you live there?"

me: "uhh... yeah..."

trash employee: "because if you don't live there, they can do that."

me: "yes, i live here, and i'd prefer if they didn't do that."

trash employee: "well, that's weird."

me: "yes, it looks really bad and is blocking my mailbox."

trash employee: "are you doing construction?"

me: "no. our house is the neatest and cleanest it's ever been!"

trash employee: "because if you're doing construction there can be a lot of trash."

me: "it's not my trash!"

trash employee: "i will send someone out to look."



I'm not feeling too hopeful...

8.24.2010

sweet or salty?



Are you a sweet tooth or a salty lover? Or both? I like both for sure but without a doubt I'm ALL FOR SWEET! And by sweet, I really mean chocolate. Lately I have been wanting chocolate and lots of it. Guess what? I haven't been working out.



Do you feel healthier all around when you're exercising? I do and so I want to eat better. I crave fresh fruits and vegetables over high-fat, low-nutrient foods.

Running? Walking? What's your form of exercise?




Photo Credits:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://webpages.shepherd.edu/ECOLLI02/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.jpg&imgrefurl=http://webpages.shepherd.edu/ECOLLI02/Webquest.html&h=363&w=550&sz=32&tbnid=lZ6b0M7xI-7iUM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchocolate%2Bchip%2Bcookies&zoom=1&hl=en&usg=__-AAvRyDh3d4jHeM4yfFnT8RHXoM=&sa=X&ei=Gml0TPoxwbzyBvSUsJwG&ved=0CEIQ9QEwBA

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://whatwouldsummerwear.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/running.jpg&imgrefurl=http://whatwouldsummerwear.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/&usg=__JbzjMqn7lC_e9nobtSN7wsDMYnU=&h=566&w=849&sz=147&hl=en&start=0&sig2=01-hfJdVdnZevxBfwYVr3w&zoom=1&tbnid=bKjskoupbtJkQM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=186&ei=Xml0TKb8EITGlQegjJGWBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drunning%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D701%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=121&vpy=247&dur=2400&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=118&ty=65&oei=Xml0TKb8EITGlQegjJGWBg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0

8.19.2010

weird thoughts of things that bug me.

So my family skyped me last night. It was my brother's 18th birthday (ya!) and they were all together and I was not with them. So they skyped me. At first this seemed to be a good idea, but I quickly learned that 1 on 7 skyping is not fun. Especially when those 7 people are eating cake and ice cream in front of you but you can't have it because it's 600 miles away and you don't keep cake and ice cream in your house because you're a dietitian. Bummer.


So what was I to do after that? I was hungry. I rebelled and made a grilled cheese! With Velveeta. Also something I don't keep in the house, but my sister does and left it behind. You see she had been living with us for the summer, but she is now gone leaving her Velveeta in my fridge. The whole concept of Velveeta is disgusting to me. It's a block of cheese that's squishy. GROSS. Really gross. But yet I eat it anyway.

So now I'm turning this post into random things that bug me/gross me out:

1. People who clip their nails (finger but especially toe nails) in public! GROSS.
2. People in the grocery line in front of me with nuts and peanut butter. It's weird but I go to a different line. (This is allergy related though)
3. Do you look in people's carts at the grocery store or see what their line looks like on the conveyer belt?
I do.
4. When people pull their gum out of their mouth and put it back in. Gross for them. Gross for us.
5. The bucket of sour cream at Chipotle. Looks gross. I saw a small hair in there once. I still get it.
6. Watching people eat french fries with ketchup. I like to do it myself but watching other people lick their fingers is disgusting.
7. A messy kitchen. Mine is messy.
8. Dirt in my bed. Ugghh... I have dogs... They're relentless... I change my sheets like 3 times a week.
9. Being out of fresh fruit and vegetables. Except then I get happy cause I get to go to the farmer's market!
10. When kids are screaming at the store. I know I will one day be the mother with kids who scream and scream no matter how much I don't want them too, but for now, I am not, therefore, I can complain about it. :)

3:08 pm

8.16.2010

ever have those days?

This morning my sister left. She lived with my husband and me for the summer. We really got used to having her here, and it was hard to see her leave. It put me in a sad funk; I tried not to be like that but it happened. I went to get my engagement ring fixed, and apparently the company my husband bought it from 2 years ago is out of business nationally. Bummer. Now we will have to pay to fix it. It's disappointing but not that big of a deal, but I was really upset about it. It's just one of those days.

In the meantime, I made some good food over the weekend including pasta salad. I love pasta salad a lot but only occasionally, if that makes sense. I love pasta and then load it with veggies and it's super yummy. I used my mother-in-law's recipe:

Tri-color pasta
Diced green pepper
Celery
Carrots
Broccoli
Canned diced tomatoes
Black olives
Grated parmesan cheese
Italian dressing

*You can decide how you like the vegetables cut-- I prefer smaller bites
*Add as many of the veggies as you like just make sure it's proportionate to the amount of pasta you cook.

8.11.2010

on the hunt

I'm job hunting. I have been searching for awhile now and have yet to find a match. I'm learning about being unemployed. It started out great. I had a lot of time to lay on the couch and watch TV and do nothing. Then I started to feel really lazy. Now I'm at the point of constantly trying to do important things to fill the time but not really accomplishing much it feels like. I always work best with deadlines and pressure and now I have neither, so I'm being quite unproductive.

But there's plenty to be done.

- My husband and I are contemplating putting our house up for sale. It's a great home and we love it so much but we need to be in another area. We are currently working/thinking/struggling with this.

- I have an RD exam to study for and pass!

- I have blogs to write.

- I have the rest of the summer to make the most of!


So now... I'm going to make brownies for an event tonight! But probably eat some of the mix.....

8.04.2010

where did my love for meat go?

I used to eat a lot of meat. I used to eat red meat for most dinner meals in a week. For a long time I thought most entrees consisted of red meat--- ya, I was struggling. I didn't really know a lot about food or cooking or eating. Well, I knew how to eat but not how to eat good.

I never made a conscious effort to stop eating so much red meat; I just became more aware of cooking, recipes, and other options. Then as I learned more about nutrition I realized the benefits of not eating so much red meat. Did you know that a diet high in red meat can be an increased risk for developing certain types of cancers? Eating red meat is not a bad thing because it is a good source of iron and several vitamins, but it should be limited to less than 18 ounces a week & we need to choose leaner cuts!


In an effort to save money on our grocery bills, we started having vegetarian night intentionally one night a week (I say intentionally because I have vegetarian dinners probably half of the nights in a week). We still get protein-- from our beans! I am becoming a big fan of beans these days! And vegetarian night has been a lot of fun. Of course, most of the time, it consists of tortillas, cheese, beans, and salsa but we'll have to start branching out soon or we'll get tired of it.


My suggestion -- lay off the red meat a bit and give beans a try!










And no, not these kind of beans...




Picture Credits:

Mine (can you tell?)

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=401176

http://dialogue4health.ning.com/photo/beanspeasandlentilsposters-1?context=latest

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=257591

http://beckyandthebeanstock.com/?p=235

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/online_media/cpac_candy_coverage_pretty_sweet__152754.asp

8.03.2010

cchini bread.

Is that a word? I hope it's not because if so, I have no idea what I just said. Today is my first attempt at making zucchini bread. I found a good-looking recipe, I have a giant zucchini from my neighbors garden, so I'm going for it!

I'll let you know how it goes...

8.02.2010

Back Into It Week

That's what I'm calling this week. It's my chance to get back into a schedule and a routine.

This summer has been a little crazy. It has been challenging and fun and unscheduled (which is tough for me). We have had a great summer! It's been one of the best ever.

Now that it's August and we get back into the swing of things, I am making out schedules.


This week's meal plan: (I'm thinking I will plan for 3 meals because other things always come up)

Monday - Bowtie Lasagna from PW's Tasty Kitchen
with salad, fresh bread

Tuesday - Dinner out

Wednesday - Vegetarian tortillas with homemade salsa
rice, beans, low-fat cheese

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Chicken breast with fresh corn, and vegetables

Saturday and Sunday - out for dinner


It feels good to have a plan again. Next, I'm getting out my planner notebook that I haven't used in over a month!