October 13, 2011 - Chana Masala Craving

Breakfast

I thought I was going to play soccer at night so I skipped my morning workout. Turns out I missed out on that. Oops. The person I was supposed to go with was too busy at work. Oh well.

Breakfast was just another baggie of cereal.

Lunch
I tried really hard to figure out what I had for lunch, obviously sans photo, but I just couldn't figure it out. I apologize. I swear I tried, does that count?

Dinner
Since I had to skip out on soccer, and was starving, and craving chana masala like crazy, I ended up going to Tarka to get some. I had been craving this for days and days and finally gave in. It was heaven in my mouth. I know how to make it on my own but the missing ingredients I didn't have to make it was more expensive than Tarka's. Plus, Mike go to get Chicken Tiki Masala, which I would never make for him, since I am allergy to chicken and might poison myself with it.

Question
What meal do you crave most often?

For me, it is mac n cheese, chana masala, or burgers. Is it bad that none of these are good for me? Probably. Oh well.

October 12, 2011 - Just Because

Workout

The morning started out with an intense leg and butt workout with Skimble.The workout included a lot of different types of squats, burpees, squat thrusts, and some abs.

Breakfast

Another morning, another meal of cereal.

Snack
Just a simple nutrigrain bar.

Lunch
Lunch was catered by work. I forgot where the food came from, but the food was delicious. I got a hummus pita, with some tabbouleh and a cookie. Aside from the cookie, it felt quite healthy.

Dinner
After work I wanted pasta, but to justify it, I wanted to justify it with a TON of veggies. I cut up two mini yellow squashes, with red onion and mushrooms.

Look how nice this bowl looked when done.

Is it okay that I ate whole wheat pasta with cheese if I ate a bowl just as big full of veggies? I think so.

Flowers
When Mike got home from work, he brought me some beautiful flowers. Please ignore the mess around the flowers and just look at the beautiful flowers. So sweet. I love that there wasn't even a special reason, it was just because. Yay.

October 11, 2011 - The Thing

Workout

I woke up early for a workout. I did a 30 minute ab workout with Skimble. 

Breakfast

The workout got me hungry. So on the car ride to work I had some more cereal.

Lunch
For lunch I ate some red curry black bean and veggie soup. I made this a few weeks ago and froze it for easy lunches. Perfect. I am excited I have co-workers now that sometimes bring their lunch and eat outside with me. Keeps the social part of my day alive, and healthier food.

Dinner & a Movie
After work I met up with Michael at the drafthouse to watch the original The Thing. Mike loves this movie, never watched it on the big screen, and even wrote an article on AFI about it. I knew Mike wanted company so I joined him, if only to honor his hard work on his article for AFI. I decided to go into the movie thinking it was a joke of a movie, and just laughed at it throughout the movie. Mike wasn't very entertained by my laughing at inappropriate times (well to HIM they were) but didn't get mad at me or anything. I think he was just glad I enjoyed it, even though it wasn't for the same reasons he did.

Before the movie, we started with the spinach artichoke dip. Mike was super excited for it, and even asked the waiter if it included chicken stock (it often does) but it didn't so I decided to have some.

For dinner, I had a goat cheese salad. It is a HUGE bowl of salad, with goat cheese, dried cranberries, pecans and a balsamic dressing. I actually don't use the dressing though because the goat cheese is so good it doesn't need it.

Question
Have you ever seen The Thing?

October 10, 2011 - Too Spicy Red Curry

Breakfast

Not the healthiest breakfast, but it does the job.

Lunch
For lunch I went to San Francisco Bakery with a few co-workers. I got the Santa Clara which includes cheese, sprouts,avocado, turkey, bacon and lettuce. I took off the turkey because it kind of skeeves me out when I eat it. But the rest of it comprises of a perfect sandwich. I also had it with a side bowl of chili. Nommm.

Workout
After work I went to the gym to meet up with my friend Lindsay for body jam. I got there a bit early so I did about 15 minutes of weights. Then I went onto an hour of Body Jam. We had a lot of fun shaking our booties. I even won a free golds gym towel randomly.

Dinner
For dinner I made some red curry with lots of veggies and tofu. The red curry was a tad on the spicy side, as in TOO spicy side. I accidentally added a bit too much red curry paste. Oops. I tried to water it down with more coconut milk and regular milk but it just wouldn't work. I made a big batch but I don't think I want to keep it. It was kind of gross after a bit. You win some you lose some, and this was definitely a loss.

Questions
Have you made a bad meal recently?

October 9, 2011 - What Is That Smell?

Breakfast

So before breakfast, I have to tell you a fun story. Well not "too" funny, but in retrospect, it is pretty funny. Before heading to La Boite for breakfast I tell Michael should drive because if I do, I will have to get gas. He was not excited about driving, so he said I had to get it sometime so why not now. So I ended up having to go to a gas station that I am not a fan of, because it was on the way. It had just rained out, like actual rain, and there were puddles, puddles that looked very oily by the gas pumps. Of course I had to stand in them to get gas. I get back into the car and and am hit with a lovely scent of gas and oil. So bad I had to roll the windows down. Mike and I decided it would jut go away and went on our way to La Boite, where we had a facebook deal for maccaroons. 

We walk into the trailer, and get ready to order, when we hear people freaking out behind the counter that maybe something is on fire because they smell gas. Mike and I look at each other and know, yes, it is me. I was too mortified to just say, uh yeah, it's me that smells horrible, don't worry you're place isn't on fire. This whole situation went on the entire time we were there. Awkward....

For breakfast I had an almond croissant. Every bite of this was heavenly, even if I smelled like gas.

We also picked up some macaroons with our deal. We got 6 different kinds. Oh man they were even better than I remembered them to be in Paris. Perfect. Mike an I shared these throughout the day. I let him eat a lot more than I did.

Ender enjoyed his day looked at the dreary day. I don't think he found it so dreary though. He loves to spend the entire day outside either chasing squirrels or just laying down staring at the birds. I find it just relaxing watching him do this for several minutes.

Farmer's Market
After Mike and I finished breakfast we went to Target where I heard a few more people go, "what is that smell, is something burning?". Oh embarrassing.

Then we went to the Farmers Market to pick up some veggies. Their deals have changed recently, which makes sense. Their deals were just too good. Now instead of a $10 box of veggies we now have to pay $20 and then get a prepared meal. Mike and I enjoy preparing our own meals so we weren't too excited about this. But we were able to get them to just give us some organic meat instead. Worked out nicely for us. But we are pretty sure they won't be as generous next time.

Lunch

For lunch I had some leftover pretty much turkey stuffing on a whole wheat tortilla with some feta cheese. This meal was very satisfying.

Dinner

For dinner, Mike and I ended up making shrimp and stir fry veggies for dinner with some rice and a few pieces of sausage leftover from the night before. This was quite a healthy meal we felt and made us feel really great after. I hope we make this one more often.

Oh and if you were wondering, I was able to get the smell off my shoes and my car. Unfortunately I do not have floor mats so it took a lot more work. Dawn soap works wonders on getting oil out of anything fortunately. Thankfully I had that on hand to resolve the situation. hehehe.

October 8, 2011 - Yellow Lunch & Rainy Soccer Game

Breakfast

Breakfast started out with a lovely cappucino.

Then a piece of leftover french toast, an egg and a piece of bacon. Mmm.

Lunch
For lunch I ended up having a veggie corn dog and some leftover au gratin potatoes. I realized after finishing making it, I realized how yellow it was. I am pretty sure Jamie Oliver would have killed me over it.

Soccer
Our soccer game ended up being in Pfluggerville, which is about 45 minutes away. 15 minutes before the game started, it began to pour. Not just sprinkle, or rain, but pour. In less than 10 minutes were were soaked all the way through. The game ended up happening regardless. For the first 15 minutes of the game it continued to pour. It ended up being a fantastic game. I didn't do very great skill wise, but my energy was up the whole time. We ended up winning 3-0 even though we had to use a goalie we weren't used to because during the last game he was red carded. Oops. Glad we had fun regardless though!

Dinner
After soccer Mike and I were starving, cold and wet. On the way home we went to the grocery store and picked up the fixins for home made pizza. We ended up buying a lot of random stuff at the store because we were so hungry. We ended up making pineapple and bacon pizza and one with jalapeno and sausage. Both were pretty magical. We also ate a ton of veggies to make up for the pizza, and my yellow lunch. Heh.

October 7, 2011 - Dinner & a Movie

Breakfast

I started off the day with a nice bowl of generic life cereal. 

Lunch
Lunch was a continuation of the burger tour, this time at P. Terry's. The burger was pretty tasty, I think it is essentially like in-n-out. Unfortunately they cooked this on a grill next to chicken, and I got chicken poisoned. Not my favorite thing to happen. Good thing I had meds, but it definitely was not a fun time. I feel like I have to avoid all restaurants that grill chicken to truly be safe. Ugh.

Dinner & a Movie
After work I met up with a friend who was in from out of town to go to the movies at the drafthouse. Her favorite thing to do when she comes into town is to go there. We ended up watching The Ides of March and eating dinner there. I ended up getting the goat cheese salad and was in heaven. I really enjoyed the movie. I wouldn't say best movie ever, but definitely entertaining.

After the movie went to The Gibson Bar and enjoyed a beverage while chatting about the movie. It was a perfect evening outside. Nice and humid yet still cool enough that you weren't sweating. I loved it.

October 6, 2011 - Tam Deli & Cafe

Breakfast

Breakfast consisted of another bowl of cereal.

Lunch
For lunch I was lucky enough to go to Tam Deli & Cafe. This is my friend/co-workers parents restaurant and it is rated as one of the top restaurants in Austin. I definitely know why they are rated so high because this was delicious. I started with a spring roll with peanut sauce. Nommm.

For my main meal I got a a bahn mi sandwich with pork. Holy yum this was delicious. I have been craving this sandwich everyday since trying this.

I was also surprised with a cream puff. This meal was heaven.

Dinner
For dinner I put some leftover turkey stuffing without the breading (basically) with some feta cheese on a whole wheat tortilla. This was marvelous. Very marvelous.

October 5, 2011 - Quite the Long Day

Workout

I knew I couldn't fit in a workout after work so I did an early morning workout for 30 minutes. The workout included bear crawls, push ups, sit ups, lunges and more. During this, I wished I had more time to do more. Possibly because I just wanted to watch more of the lying game and the biggest losers. Don't judge.

Breakfast

The plan for work was our quarterly meeting. This is an all day event where management talks about the goals we accomplished the previous quarter and ones we plan to accomplish the next quarter. We were served breakfast. I had part of this muffin. I rarely eat pastries like these, and this was going to be a long day, so I gave in.

Lunch
For lunch we had a little make your own taco bar for lunch. I ended up just getting a huge amount of lettuce, with some tortilla strips, jalapenos, black beans, corns, and guacamole. This ended up hitting the spot.

Happy Hour & Dinner
After our quarterly meeting a few co-workers and ex co-workers met up to celebrate life. We started off at the Daily Grill and I got some of their famous mac n cheese. Heaven. After wards we went to Gloria's toe celebrate a little more. We definitely had fun. I am so lucky to hae such a great group of friends.

October 4, 2011 - McCormicks Restaurant Week Lunch

Workout

I was able to start my morning with a workout. The workout consisted of lots of squats, lunges, squat jacks, burpees, double crunches, Russian twists, lunges and more. Sweatastic. I was super excited that doing Burpees for 1 minute at a time is finally not killing me. Doing it for  minutes in a row still kills me though. Someday I can do it without wanting to quit several times during it.

Breakfast

After getting ready for work, I had some cereal on my way to work.

Lunch
For lunch, I went to McCormicks with a few co-workers for their Austin Restaruant week meal. We were shocked to find out that for lunch we could pick three items off the menu. Most restaurants just let you pick 2 of the 3 items for lunch and only allow for 3 during dinner, when you pay a lot more.

I started off with the avocado carpaccio with some salad on top, sweet chili sauce and more. It was soo good. I could have made this my meal.

For the entree I chose the kobe beef burger. This was quite delicious although I was expecting a bit more from it. I ate about half of this and boxed up the rest.

For dessert I chose the Elvis Cheesecake which was peanut butter, banana and oreo. It was very tasty. I definitely did not finish this.

Dinner
When dinner time rolled around I was still mostly full from dinner. I knew I had to eat something, otherwise I would wake up feeling sick in the morning. I ended up just eating a bowl of cereal.

Please note that Ender wanted to help put fresh laundry away, by sleeping on it. Oops.

October 3, 2011 - Craving Satisfied

Workout

I started the morning out with an ab workout and upper body weights. I am definitely getting into the groove of morning workouts. I sure have been a lot more consistent in getting them done.

Breakfast

Another morning of cereal.

Lunch
I ended up going to taco deli for lunch with an ex co-worker and a current co-worker. It was a lot of fun. I got the sweet potato taco and a chili relleno pepper taco. The second taco was not my favorite, but the sweet potato taco is probably my favorite taco that I can think of.

Dinner
I had really been craving some salmon and green beans so I ended up picking up some. I never did go grocery shopping the week before so I didn't feel too bad about giving into this urge. When asked by the fish monger how much I wanted, or what piece I wanted I had no idea. I decided to just let him know how little I know so he could teach me the right way. Little did I know I would have to de bone the fish when I got home. Mike wasn't even home to help me. I was trying to fix it for him to cheer him up. I ended up having to pull up a youtube video on how to do it after my first attempt to do it was NOT working. haha. I kind of destroyed part of this fish. Oops.

The meal ended up coming together really well. I also served it with some leftover au gratin potatoes I had made a few nights before. Craving satisfied.

October 2, 2011 - Make Ahead Meals

Breakfast

For breakfast I had a leftover kolache that Mike had bought me earlier in the week. Tasty. I ate this while watching the first episode of the last season of The Wire.

I also got to relax with this cute little guy by my side.

Lunch
For lunch I had some more leftover bean soup. I could eat this meal far too often.

Make Ahead Meals
While prepping for dinner, I made meals for later in the week. I have been loving making several big meals on Sunday, and then eating them as leftovers throughout the week. I think it works out very nicely. Mike and I are often pretty busy at night and this allows for a nice home made meal without having to try very hard during the week.

Dinner
For dinner I had a pork chop with lingonberry jam served with some squash and corn and red onion.

I also had a side of home made au gratin potatoes. Mike claims something was off with this, but I thought it was pretty perfect. To each their own. :-)

We ended up watching the Premier of Dexter and the 2nd episode of the 2nd season of Boardwalk Empire. Dexter is my second favorite show of all time, so I was pretty excited. Have you ever watched it?