I Walk In This World

Hi everyone,

Hubz and I are back in the Soprano State, sadly leaving PA and our families behind.  We had a Great Time though.  Gosh.  Every time I visit with the in-laws and Dad/Elizabeth, I realize how much I miss having family close by.  My sis is closest at 1.5 hours away.  Dad’s 3 hours and the in-laws are 5+ hours away.  We hope to be closer to all of them in the next few years.

Exciting trip news but first today’s eats.

Just finished Din, which I threw together with whatever leftover bits we had in the pantry + veggie drawers.  Results = …

• whole wheat pizza with pecorino cheese + peppers + onions + mushies + turkey sausage
• whole wheat pizza with pecorino cheese + spinach + sundried maters + pesto + turkey sausge
• salad + spinach tossed with carrot, maters, portabellas and lf parm/peppercorn dressing

The pesto pizza was nowhere CLOSE to as good as this same one I made with goat cheese last time.  *drool*

The veggie one was good as usual.  But honestly, I like them better w/o the meat.  Hmmmm…..

And we BOTH watched Housewives of NJ while eating.  So…yeah…Do what you will with that information.  Upon arriving home, I hopped right over to the gym to work out carlegs (numb butt and legs from sitting still too long).  Got in a good 45 mins!

Our drive back to NJ was supa easy and good.  We both chatted about our Plans.  That means what we want to do with our careers, lives, etc over the next 2 years.  I love chats like that, despite how tough, b/c they force us to bring up stuff that we’re normally too busy to talk about.

Swenyway, lunch was grab and go in the car (unphoto’d and not worth chatting about).

Dad and Elizabeth don’t drink coffee and Hubz and I are fiends, so whenever we visit, Dad always takes me to Dunkin Donuts right down the road, for coffee and Breks.  Now that DD has those flatbread eggwhite sams, I’m happy to eat there!  300 cals + whole grain flat bread + protein + veggies.  I really like the veggie one.  So does Elizabeth.  She also served up that beauts fruit!

Ok.  Fun news!  In exactly 1 week, Hubz and I will be packing our suitcases for our 8 day vaca/anniversary trip!!  When figuring out where to go, coupled with economy woes, we decided to do a more local vaca this year.  We’ve literally both traveled all over the world (Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, etc.), so we don’t feel a huge pull to hop on a plane and go Far this year.  So what did we pick?

We’ve decided to do a driving tour of New England!!!!  And we’ll be spending our 1-year anniversary (June 7th)  in Bar Harbor/Acadia Park at a super Fabulous country inn.  I cannot wait!  It will be hard to work this week.

So.  Who has fun vaca plans this year?

Hi kids.

I want to give a thank you shout out to my friend Allison.  Miss Allison was the donor of choco marshmallow fudge for my Auction & Bake Sale for Beth’s Jimmy Fund Walk. 

Well.  I must have internet-drooled over her fudge for enough consecutive days, cuz she sent me a ginormous package of it + that cute card.

Just to be sure it was okaaayyy, I had to have a sample.  OMG.  This stuff is amazing!  I can already hear the glee in the hbuz hubz’ voice when he gets home tonight. 

Thank you Allison!

Din tonight was Fudge + more Fudge.

jk.

• mixed baby spinach + green leaf salad with carrot + maters + dried orange cranberries + goat cheese + homemade croutons + lf rasp walnut dressing
• half a piece whole grain bread topped with hummus + 1 slice of bbq tempeh + sprinkle of asiago cheese
• water

Hubz isn’t home tonight….politics.  So I got to eat easy Erin-kinda food.  It was fun.  :)  I mighta had another half piece of fudge to cleanse my palate after din.  I just unloaded the dishwasher, packed our lunches, and am catching up on blog work.  I swear I WILL be off this computer by 9pm.

In my attempt to burn some extra cals, I upped my gym time to 40 mins cardio.  20mins RUNNING + 20mins heavy hiking at incline 9.0.  I hate running.  But it works the saddle bags (ew), so I’m giving it a go for a while.  I was a sweating fool afta (oh man,  I ended the sentence with a preposition…sorry Mom!).

Ok.  Loading pics and then getting my giantass off the computer.

Nite.

Morning kids.

Time for a product review.  Part 2 of the lovely box o’ cereal I received from the kind folks at Nature’s Path was the basis for today’s Breks. 

Say hello to Optimum Slim.

Because I’m in love with all things peanut butter, I had to add a handful of Barbara’s PB Puffins in there too.  Trick is, just using a hanful prolongs the longevity of this box.  I feel like I’ve had it for ages.

In the blue bowl…

• 1/4 cup of puffins
• 3/4 cup of Nature’s Path Optimum Slim
• dried unsweetend blueberries
• half a banana
• unsweetened coconut
• a few chopped raw almonds
• skim milk

Review - This cereal is also good, in a slightly less sweet (more healthy tasting) way than some of their other products.  The grains are detectable, which I like.  And the flakes have a pleasant chew to them.  It’s fun to eat, but definitely not quite as tasty as my belove Maple Pecan Crunch from last week.  I am glad I added the blueberries and coconut for a hint of sweet b/c I don’t think I’d enjoy it quite as much on it’s own.  Definitely a cereal that will stay in my revolving list.  Well done Nature’s Path!

Thanks for all your dinner votes last night.  I had to laugh at the pretty even split of crockpot chicken votes versus pizza votes.  In the end…the no brainer won (thanks Sarah!).  Pizza and salad.  Totally wonderful.  Watch for the crockpot chicken to appear tonight.

 On the counter…

• Boboli’s whole wheat pizza crust topped with pizza sauce & asiago cheese
• mixed frozen peppers, frozen onions, fresh button mushrooms
• sprinkle of GAHlick and oreGANo (as the Brits say)

 At the table…

• 2 slices of pizza
• tossed salad of spinach + green leaf lettuce with cukes, carrot, maters
• hand tossed with lite honey french dressing & homemade croutons

As usual, this pizza was outstanding.  I am really in love with whole wheat crusts.  There’s more flavor to them, and I’m such a fan of that.  And I’m learning that I really don’t care for mozzarella on pizza.  I’m tellin ya, asiago is such a more powerful flavor base for homemade pies. 

I went back for a 3rd slice, but stopped after that b/c my tummy told me too.  It was hard.  That 4th slice just kept staring at me.  So I threw it in a Ziploc and shoved it in the fridge where it could no longer sing my name.

*pats self on back*

Good girl, Erin.  Good girl.

Oh what a Beautiful Morning, oh what a beautiful DAY!

It is hot (88+) today but oh so beautiful.  Even though it made me sweat, I walked to the store to get a few items for a fruit dip I needed to make for tonight’s cookout at my brother-in-law’s.  I was savoring the sun and warmth and then I stepped in gum.  Stupid bullshit people that drop/spit their gum everywhere.  I wish we had a law against that.  Doesn’t Singapore have something like this?  Arr.  We are so NOT a walker-friendly country.

Anyway, lunch was something new today and it turned out well.

Curried salmon pasta salad…

• canned salmon mixed over cooked veggie pasta with carrot, sprouts, apples, walnuts topped with a dressing of curry powder, dijon, garlic, honey, lemon, plain greek nf yogurt
• whole grain crackas from TJs

This was a beautifully light summer dish.  Excellent for hot weather. 

I’ve been in the kitchen all day pretty much.  Threw together this week’s crockpot meal (to make an appearance later this week).  Then did dishes/put away dishes.  Blah.  I knew I wanted to use that canned salmon for lunch, so I was investigating various recipes for HOW, and spent some time throwing that mix together.  Then the brother-in-law (BIL from now on) invited us down for a cookout, so I knew I’d want to prep some grill-friendly items I can eat (as opposed to grocery store meat items).  So I made spicy black bean bison burgers, using half a can of black beans, SPICE, and leftover bison from last night.  I can’t wait to have these babies on the grill!

Breks was excellent.  I was in the mood for bagels w/cream cheese, but wanted a healthyish version.  So I prepped a little cream cheese with basil pesto, gave it a swirl, and smeared some on a toasted whole grain mini bagel.  Somehow 2 Applegate Farms chicken apple breakfast sausage made their way onto my plate too.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love Applegate Farms! 

Ok, I plan to go sit on the porch, enjoy a beer, and read my book before heading down to BIL’s house.

Peace.