Work lunch

I had reached my fill of eggs this afternoon. I decided to order lunch from a place I used to go to all the time when I was working 9-5.

They have lots of salads, sandwiches and soups. But my favorite pick is always Dawn's Vegan Salad.

The salad is big and it is enough for 2 meals - perfect when I was working really long hours and I would be at work until late at night.

The salad is filled with healthy fats from the sunflower seeds and avocado. There is also plenty of protein from the beans and a hearty dose of greens.

For a large salad:

302 calories, 12g of fat (a bit high but it is the healthy stuff), 18g of fiber and 15g of protein.


I almost always get a small soup. Today's soup was minestrone. 

Minestrone soup with Parmesan shavings.

Here was the whole lunch:

I divided the salad in half.

 
While I was out I went to Fry's to pick up some cables because I am having trouble with my Time Capsule. I turned off the apple airport function thinking I had the right cable - but no such luck.

I didn't end up bringing home the right cable but I did end up with this:

Horror movies make everything better :-)

I am going to head to the Apple store tomorrow and hopefully they will have a cable that will have a Thunderbolt connector on one end and either a USB or (if this is even possible) an Ethernet connector on the other end. 

Wish me luck!

My first run in over a year!!

[source]

Today is a very special day. 

I ran for the first time in over a year!!!!!

Yup, you read that right. For the past year I have been nursing bum feet (I will leave out the details because it is incredibly boring - even I find it boring).

My tootsies have been on the mend but very, very slowly.

But today I had that restless feeling I used to get when I really needed a run. If you run regularly you know what I mean. 

I strapped on my running shoes and just started jogging. It felt WONDERFUL!! 

I only ran for 1/4 of a mile or so and it was a walk/jog/walk/jog kind of pace but still - I went for a run:-)

How did I celebrate when I got home?

Balega Enduro running sock [source]

I ordered some new running socks. The Balega socks are my absolute favorite and I didn't realize until this morning that I have worn through the heel on almost every single pair.

My post workout meal:

A pink lady apple, a spinach salad with blueberries and a black cherry yogurt.

This little salad really hit the spot.

One of my favorite brands of yogurt - they are not too sweet.

And something weird was going on with Blogger today. I got an error message when I uploaded my morning post. Now that post is not showing up blogger stats but I can see it from my webpage. 

Odd, very odd. So if my morning post isn't showing up for you just click here.  

*update* the morning post is showing up on my end now - I guess blogger is just slow today.

So the way it works out...

Beautiful tomatoes at the farmer's market.

So, yesterday started out well with the coddled eggs.

Absolutely delicious dish which I highly recommend. But that added to the lunch which I also enjoyed:

Miso soup

My friend's lunch - Katsu chicken

 And this was my downfall. It had nothing to do with the dish - which was delicious.

Vegetable tempura

The vegetable tempura along with the coddled eggs - each dish was delicious - but eaten all in the same day? put my sensitive stomach over the edge.

While I do enjoy a life where I can enjoy butter (my sisters stomach cannot handle it in any amounts) I am still learning how to balance my own stomachs need for limited amount of fats.  

And I did bring the dogs on a long walk early this morning (5 am) because I could feel the tummy trouble starting so (hopefully) I will have a mellow day. 


But I will have to bow out of my sister's dinner party later today...sigh.

Anyone that does not have an issue with stomach troubles please hug that wonderfully functioning body part and really appreciate it.
 

I just couldn't resist

Tacos carnitas

Today I was out doing errands and when noon time rolled around I drove right by what is quickly becoming my favorite food truck.

Cruz Elena Catering Truck

 The food always smells so wonderful I just had to stop.

What did I choose today? Tacos Carnitas.

The tacos were piled high with crispy pork, cilantro and onion. At first, the flavors seemed a bit dull but then I decided that salsa plays such a big roll in the food here - maybe the taco is intended to be eaten with the salsa.

Luckily, this time I grabbed a takeaway container of the red tomato salsa.

When the taco was smothered in the salsa, all of the flavors came together and it tasted wonderful.

Some might have found the pork a little on the dry side, but I found that is was a refreshing change from the usual tacos carnitas that are dripping with fat. 

The chips were just as light and crunchy as I remembered them.

The red tomato salsa was a bit hotter than last time but I suppose that is to be expected when the salsa is made fresh daily.

There was a generous serving of meat in each taco. I ordered three but I should have only ordered 2. They were so big I was stuffed after just 2 tacos. 

I hope everyone is having a great Friday. Mine has been nice and mellow so far. The dogs constant circling for the hour I did my yoga dvd apparently exhausted them and they are snoring on the bed:-) Ahhh, blissful momentary peace.


 

Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese.

This lunch time I had this bunch of ingredients to work with:

An heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil and a roma tomato.

So, of course, I made a caprese salad!

This salad is so easy, you just chop the tomatoes, slice the mozzarella, arrange the basil and drizzle with the olive oil and the balsamic.

The tomatoes were incredibly sweet. 

And they must have smelled wonderful because Connor was standing beside me and drooling the entire time I was assembling this salad.

It is one of the greatest salads to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Connor is one of those strange dogs that LOVES tomatoes. I made sure he got to enjoy all the of slices that didn't look perfect :-)

Oh, and how is the green bean recipe coming? It is still a work in progress. But you can take a peak at what the second attempt looked like.

Sauteed green beans with ground pork and sriracha sauce.

Now I am off to tackle the vegan scalloped potatoes. Wish me luck!

Food truck love

I was intending to go to the store this morning and pick up the necessary ingredients to make my second attempt at dry sauteed string beans but today I could not resist the siren call of this:

Cruz Elena Catering Truck

This is the food truck I have been meaning to try for a long time.

I have been curious about this truck because there always seems to be a big line of people.

Today I decided to try it out.

They have an impressive selection of drinks which I loved.

They even had aloe juice. I really like it when food trucks have healthy drink options. 

The menu is not huge - which I think is a very good sign. From my experience, food trucks that have a huge menu rarely focus on the quality of their food.

I was a bit confused by the choices at first but there was a really nice guy (who acts as the cashier) who was incredibly helpful.

I ended up getting a chicken burrito (hold the sour cream).

Chicken burrito, homemade chips with red salsa and pasta salad.

 
The burrito was huge! I got all of the above plus a drink and the total came to $7 - an amazing deal if you ask me!


When the women asked me if I wanted the pasta salad I said no. But the cashier guy told me, "You should get the pasta salad - it is really delicious!" I decided to go for it.


I was really surprised by the pasta salad. I expected it to be heavy and sweet. Instead it was light and filled with crunchy vegetables - very nice.


The next surprise was the homemade chips and salsa.

Homemade chips (my guess on the homemade part - I am going to ask next time).

Red tomato salsa, green tomato salsa and jalapeno peppers in vinegar.

I tried the red tomato salsa and I can tell you it was a definite winner. You could taste the slight sweetness of very fresh and ripe tomatoes and it had a nice mild heat with a spicy kick at the end.

The chips were not at all greasy and they had a nice corn flavor.


The only downside to the chips and salsa was that I could have eaten a vat of them, seriously, an entire vat. And I wanted to swim in the salsa - with more of the chips:-)


I am kicking myself right now because I said no when the woman asked me if I wanted to take home a small container of the salsa.


Then I dug into the burrito.

This burrito was packed with big chunks of succulent chicken and not just plain old broiled chicken but chicken that looked like it had been marinated in spices. The burrito was light on the cheese which I loved but I think the best part of the burrito was the beans.


The beans were creamy and buttery and incredibly delicious. They really just melted in your mouth.


And instead of relying on chopped tomatoes or more salsa to punch up the flavor, like most burritos, this one had wonderfully seasoned rice and lots of fresh chopped cilantro for a nice herbal bite.

From looking at their business card (they gave me one when I went back to take pictures - of course, this was after I had gobbled down the burrito :-) it doesn't look like they have a website. 


They really need to get one - as soon as possible - this kind of great food should have a huge following.

Parmesan chicken tenders

Parmesan oven baked chicken tenders.

I picked up some chicken breasts at the store the other day. They were huge! I tried cooking one whole but I ended up completely drying it out because I kept worrying that it wasn't cooked through.

For the second chicken breast I decided to cut it into smaller pieces and make some chicken tenders. 

Parmesan chicken tenders are best enjoyed dunked in your favorite marinara sauce.

Parmesan chicken tenders
 Serves 1


Ingredients:

1 chicken breast cut into long pieces
1 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. of salt
2 Tbsp. of Miracle Whip
 
Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wash the chicken breast and pat dry with paper towels. Set out two plates. Place the Miracle whip on one. Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper and place on the second dish. 

Cut the chicken breast into long strips. Take each strip and coat with the Miracle Whip and then roll in the bread crumb mix, making sure it is well coated. Shake off any excess bread crumbs and lay the tender on a baking sheet. 

When you have finished coating all of the tenders, place the pan in the oven. After 8 minutes, carefully turn the tenders over being careful not to knock off the breading.  Cook for another 8 minutes or until they are cooked through.

Use your favorite marinara sauce for dipping. 

Enjoy! 

Taste test

I am happy to report that I successfully completed the eating down of my pantry and refrigerator.

What did I do to celebrate? I went shopping, of course!

I picked up two containers of my latest obsession: Blood orange sorbet.

I decided it would be fun to do a taste test.

First the ingredients:

La Copa Loca Blood Orange Sorbet: water, frozen blood orange puree, syrup, sugar, dextrose emulsifier, guar seed, carob seeds, stabilizer


Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet: water, organic evaporated cane juice, blood orange concentrate, lemon juice, blood orange oil, pectin, natural coloring

Which one won the taste test? Hands down, the Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet won first place. 

The sorbet tastes bright and clean with tons of blood orange flavor coming through. I loved it!

The La Copa Loca, while it tasted OK, it did have a funny aftertaste to it. I am guessing that's from the carob seeds?

So, if you are looking for some really delicious and refreshing sorbet, I highly recommend Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet.

And I picked up some lunch:

This wrap was simple and very yummy.

Happy Sunday all!!

Tasty hummus rolls

Today I had this to work with:

Cumin, limes, tahini, garbanzo beans, rice and nori.

I was pretty pleased with my efforts which resulted in this:

Tasty hummus rolls.

I put one cup of rice to simmer in a soup pot on the stove. Then I started to create my hummus.

The following ingredient went into a bowl:

1 15oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed.

3 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp. of cumin

1 tsp. of garlic powder

2 tsp. of tahini

2 tsp. of Miso Mayo

1/4 tsp. of olive oil

1/2 cup of water

2 pinches of salt

black pepper to taste

The juice of two limes

I used my immersion blender until the hummus was smooth.

Then came the assembly:

A line of hummus, a sprinkle of paprika and some spinach leaves.

If a little comes out the end that is OK!



I finished them off with a sprinkle of paprika. Don’t they look pretty?



These would be a great lunch to take to work. Just make two rolls and leave them whole. It is much less messy to just munch from one end to the other rather than having them cut up.

The perfect summer dish

Watercress salad with white peaches and watermelon.

This salad is the perfect summer dish. 

I mixed together 1 cup of watercress with two cups of red leaf lettuce and tossed everything with my new favorite dressing:

The peppery bite of the watercress went really well with the sweetness of the peaches and watermelon. 

This was a very light and refreshing salad. I will be sad when summer ends and this endless supply of juicy fruit ends.

Some creamy goat cheese would have been great in this salad but I resisted the urge to run to the store to pick some up.  And, yes, the eating down my pantry project continues...

Use what you've got

Creamy coleslaw with honey roasted peanuts.

As I continue to eat down the contents of my fridge and pantry I am discovering strange things.

For the most part I have healthy ingredients in my refrigerator and cupboards but as I was digging around today I discovered a jar of Miracle Whip and a half full bag of honey roasted peanuts.

Now, I am not saying I feel obligated to eat everything in my fridge. If I found a container of deep fried Twinkies I wouldn't go about eating them. But the peanuts and Miracle Whip gave me an idea.

I combined:

2 cups of bagged coleslaw mix
1 Tbsp. of Miracle Whip
1 pinch of sugar
1 handful of honey roasted peanuts

I like my coleslaw heavy on the cabbage and light on the mayo. Feel free to add more mayonnaise or Miracle Whip if you like it creamier.

It was one very filling and delicious bowl :-)