Jerk Chicken for dinner

It's a very busy week at the office for me as the design studio I work in prepares our twice a year stationery and invitation presentation for Target. We all worked 8am to 8pm today and will most likely do it again tomorrow. Days like these make eating healthy hard and getting to the gym impossible (impossible for me at least). Fortunately I came home to a very healthy, super tasty homecooked meal - jerk chicken, broccoli and black beans. I even went back for a second serving of broccoli! Thank you Oliver. He's already packed my lunch for tomorrow too (black beans with greek yogurt). So even if I work another 12 straight hours at least I won't have to eat poorly. Now it's time for some relaxation! Good night!

Eating bad never felt so good - Farm Burger

I admit it! Yesterday and today's lunches were neither heart healthy nor conducive to weight loss - but they were so delicious and definitely worth it. Yesterday Oliver and I met at Taqueria del Sol where we indulged in a big bowl of cheese. Queso, my friends, queso is my kryptonite. In addition to the cheese we also had some tasty tacos (but I was really there for the cheese).


Today we paid our first visit to Farm Burger. WOW. It's a dream come true: delicious and ethical. From their "beef to [their] tomatoes to [their] compostable containers... Farm Burger is sustainable, local, humane". I'm so happy restaurants with this ideology are starting to pop up in Atlanta. If anymore open they will have my business. Especially if their food is even half as fantastic as Farm Burger's. If you haven't been yet  - GO! 


And what the hell, since we're already eating burgers and bowls of cheese I threw all caution to the wind and also ordered a basket of garlic herb french fries and a couple of beers. Tomorrow I'll be back to  healthy eating and the gym (planning to keep my snacking in check at tomorrow's Super Bowl party) but for today I chose to indulge!

Good Eats: Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday
Breakfast: Kashi Crunch cereal with Silk soy milk and about 7 raw almonds, coffee with half & half
Lunch: red beans with Greek yogurt
Snack: banana
Dinner: Bo ssam left overs (this time with homemade guacamole)
no gym, no alcohol
Thursday
Breakfast: Kashi Crunch cereal with Silk soy milk and about 7 raw almonds, coffee with half & half
Lunch: mixed greens with cucumber & roasted red pepper (from Alon's)
Snack: none
Dinner: pork tacos with homemade tomatillo sauce, homemade guacamole and Greek yogurt (note: I ate 3, not 4), 2 glasses of pinot noir (worth it)
500 calories burned on the elliptical (level 9/hills setting/ 32 minutes)

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Weight Loss Check-In

Day 10: 142lbs (3lbs lost)

February is American Heart Month

"More women die of heart disease then all forms of cancer combined". Knowing the reality of your heart health is so important to living a long and healthy life. Use this awareness month as your reason to stop into a local pharmacy and check your blood pressure. The reading should be lower then 120/80. Then make an effort everyday to eat more fiber-rich real foods and less processed food-like "foods". While you're at, find a way to exercise just a little more. If you're reading this and know that you're already doing everything you can everyday to live your heart healthiest life then please use this month as a chance to encourage those you love the most to live their heart healthiest life.  You can even send them to this little blog for encouragement and ideas.

For even more ideas about how to keep a heart healthy pledge for the entire month check out this article on the American Heart Association's web page: Making Heart Health a Habit

Good Eats: Monday & Tuesday

Monday
Breakfast: oatmeal with bananas, coconut & walnuts
Lunch: red beans with a tablespoon of goat cheese
Snack: clementine
Dinner: spinach salad with poached eggs
no gym, no alcohol
Tuesday
Breakfast: oatmeal with bananas, coconut & walnuts
Lunch: broccoli salad (mostly made up by me - so it was a fairly experimental salad)
Snack: half a cup Friendship brand California style cottage cheese
Dinner: Bo ssam lettuce wraps (inspired by this New York Times magazine article*)
500 calories burned on the elliptical, no alcohol

*Oliver is not usually one to follow recipes (especially not recipes from celebrity chefs) but something about this bo ssam from David Chang prompted him to make an exception. Everything was made from scratch except the kimchi. The other two sauces are scallion ginger and spicy bean. The spicy bean was improvised from pureed beans (from lunch), Worchestire and siracha; the recipe called for spicy bean paste - something we did not have on hand. We'll definitely be enjoying this meal for several more nights of dinner! BO SSAM = DELICIOUS!

 

This week's YDFM haul

This week's groceries from YDFM (from left to right):
- 1.5lbs of tomatillos
- 3lb bag of onions
- 3 lemons
- 8 bananas
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 3 avocados
- 2 heads of broccoli
- whole bean coffee from Costa Rica
- half and half
- Silk soy milk
- goat cheese
- cottage cheese
- 1 shallot
- bone-in pork shoulder
- Greek yogurt
- golden raisins
- one bag of raw, shelled almonds
- bag of limes
- 5 jalapenos
- 6 clementines
Total: $65.00


Will pick up a bag of baby spinach from Trader Joes. Already have plenty of oats on hand. Check back to see what we make with all this food!

Good advice from my favorite Food Network star: Alton Brown

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner with Alton Brown at his own home. The man I was dating at the time was an actor on the show and Alton was generous enough to invite all of his employees (and their significant others) over for the holiday. In case you're wondering, he did in fact fry his turkey with the ladder and pulley method he featured in a Thanksgiving episode. But that's not why I'm bringing Alton up. I mention him because I just stumbled upon a video in which he clearly outlines his current healthy, real food, eating habits. Having met him in person half a dozen times I was struck by how very thin he appears in the video. When I met him he was barrel chested yet robust - now (as seen in the video) he is quite lean. His new eating habits are clearly serving him well.


I am so impressed with his eating advice that I wanted to share the video with the hopes it will influence more people. (My only objection is the red meat and alcohol once a week - but we all pick our vices.) Thanks for the video Alton and best of luck on your newest endeavors!

Learning to cook: Oatmeal

This morning Oliver got up early to go help our next door neighbors with the computers at their restaurant. They offered to cook him breakfast while he was there which meant I was own my own for food at home.You'd think that after Sabrina's fantastic guest blog post that I'd have tried cooking oatmeal on my own. And who knows, if Oliver wasn't around all the time maybe I would have tried sooner. Regardless - today was the day. I did it! It REALLY is easy. I can't believe I thought it was going to be hard. (The hardest part was finding where Oliver keeps the oatmeal).

Later today we're heading to Oliver's cousin's daughter's birthday party. These family celebrations always have a lot of delicious foods. I consider them "special occasions" (they truly occur only a few times a year)  so I usually allow myself to eat whatever I want while we're there. But because I'm currently watching my weight I'm prepared to exercise an extra dose of moderation (especially if faced with the buffalo chicken dip). For now, it's gym time. Hoping everyone enjoys their weekend!