Fortunate Fridays {peace of mind edition}

Hey loves,

breakfast this morning <3

Welcome to another edition of Fortunate Fridays. Hope everyone had quite the phenomenal week. Nothing too exciting on my end other than work and working on self-love and personal development. I know I sound like a weirdo. But that's whats going on in my life and I'm not afraid to say it :).

Without further 'ado, here is what I feel fortunate for this week:

1. Meeting new people. My best friend invited me to a get-together with her co-workers last weekend and I had an amazing time. I have to be honest, I didn't feel like doing absolutely anything at all but best friends push us out of our comfort zone when we don't want to be pushed and that's exactly what she did. We drank, danced, socialized, and everything in between. No pictures but I do have great memories. Cant wait to hang out with them again.

random selfie

2. The new addition to my mug collection. I am a sucker for cute mugs and this is one I had been keeping my eye on at Marshall's for about 5 months. I didn't want to buy it because it was a bit pricey for a mug (around $8). To my surprise, I found it on clearance for $3.50.  I was so excited. It was the only one left. I immediately grabbed it and off I went. The crazy thing is that Marshall rarely has the cute things on clearance. When they are gone, they are gone. However, it was my lucky day.

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

3. The resources to buy ingredients and the ability to prep some yummy meals. I love cooking at home. Here are some of the foods I was able to enjoy this week.

4. My sister is okay. I found out recently that she was involved in a car accident the other night. I am so glad she is completely fine! Material things come and go but a life and health are priceless.

5. Running outside. I ran outside twice this week. The first time was crazy hard but yesterday I went for a smooth run and I loved it. Getting easier for sure. Still working on my pace/mph (have a long way to go! my goal is to get back to 9 mph) and prepping for my 10k coming up in June.

6. Bonus: Peace of mind. The other day I had an aha! moment after a sudden scare I had while hanging out with one of my friends. I realized that I have nothing to complain about. Sure, my life is not perfect but I feel like all my "so called issues" are things that I have the power to fix and improve on a personal level. I've gotten to a point where I have realized that my advancement in life is in fact primarily dependent on my faith and then me, myself and I with a bit of help from people that also want to see me succeed. I have no "outside issues" that I cannot control, and for that, I am thankful.

And that's all for now! Thanks for passing by. How was your week? Did you do anything fun last weekend for memorial day?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {Family + baking + running + working, Edition}

Good morning! 

Happy Friday. 

Breakfast this morning: Organic oatmeal w/ sliced almonds, raisins, ground cinnamon, & almond butter toppings

Hope everyone had a great week but even if you didn't, guess what-- you made it to Friday! Today's post is going to be quick as I have a long day ahead of me but as always, feeling grateful for everything that happens. And here we go.

1. First park outing with the family- Family and I celebrated mother's day at the park this part weekend and had a great time.

2. The joys of baking- Was looking for something sweet to eat after dinner on Monday but there was nothing in my apartment as I usually keep junk food out of the house. Decided to go search one of my favorite blogs for a recipe and it did not disappoint (cookies lasted about 3.5 days). Baking is one of those activities that calms me and brings me 'zen'. Does anyone else feel that way?

Chocolate Chip PB banana Cookies

3. The inspiration to cook dinner- I meal prepped on Monday so this entire week I had a combination of brown rice and beans with either chicken or shrimp. And of course, my veggie on the side. Pretty satisfying.

4. First outside run of the year- All of my workouts since the beginning of this year have taken place inside a gym. I am so excited for the nice weather (finally) and was able to complete my first outside run in about 6+ months! Looking forward to more runs on nice days.

5. More billable hours at work- More hours, more clients, very excited and simply humbled and thankful for all the opportunities.

And that's all folks. Thank you so much for reading and wishing you a great weekend.

Tell me, What was the best thing that happened to you this week?

Love,
Mabelle

Delicious Finds #3: Inexpensive (and super delicious) Gluten Free Mac N Cheese

Note: this is not a sponsored post. This is simply a series where I share serendipitous supermarket finds that turn out to be delicious.

Hello my loves,

Happy Thursday! Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Just a quick post to share yet another super market find that has turned out to be truly delicious. I twitted about it the first time I made it and have been a fan ever since.

Last week I was able to find some organic chicken cutlets on sale at my local supermarket and thought to myself--- what better way to pair up some delicious chicken than with mac and cheese plus some veggies on the side to round it all up?! Well, that's exactly what I've been having for dinner the last couple of nights and I've had enough self control to still still have a good amount left over.

I believe the box is good for allegedly 2.5 servings but I've been portioning it to one cup each time I have some (2 times this week) and it looks like I still may have enough for two more servings.

 

The rice pasta comes with its own cheese powder, however, I add about 1/4 cup of part skim mozarella to make it more wholesome. Another tip is that I been using almond milk instead of the regular 2% milk the recipe in the box calls for; making it a whole lot creamier.

 

Almost forgot to mention this 'delicious find' was found at Aldis (can you tell I love that place?!). The box only costs about $1.99 if I remember correctly. I know it probably doesnt compare to mac and cheese made from scratch but is a great alternative for a quick and delicious meal. Also, a lot healthier than other options, in my opinion. Perfect to satisfy that comfort food craving from time to time.

 

Again, I am not getting paid to write about this. I simply enjoy several of their products. After I twitted about the mac and cheese, someone from their social media group did reach out (publicly, via twitter) to offer some coupons. I have yet to take advantage of that but will in the near future. We shall see. If anyone from Aldis is reading this please email me :)

And that's all folks!

 

Would love to hear from you-- what is your favorite mac and cheese recipe? Link it below! would love to give it a try.

Love,

Mabelle

Manifesting True Success with Oprah and Deepak

Hello my loves,

Hope you all had a great Thursday. I had a long day and just finished eating some dinner:

*Brown rice, grilled turkey burger with mushrooms & peppers, side of vegetables*

Ready to sit back and relax for the rest of the evening. Maybe watch some television and do some light reading.

Anyways, just here to share that this Monday I plan to join yet another one of Oprah's and Deepak's 21-day meditation programs and my goal is to actually get through the entire thing. As per the email I received, this is what this particular series will be focusing on:

***

Dear Friend,

True success is something you live, not an end state you arrive at. In Manifesting True Success, you’ll learn to embody authentic, lasting success, as you discover how to:

• open yourself up to the infinite opportunities that exist in the here and now
• find freshness, excitement, and meaning in each day
• give your daily activities direction and purpose
• let go of past conditioning to start making successful decisions
• expand your awareness to make success as effortless and natural as possible

***

I have to be honest in that I've joined some of the programs in the past and would miss several of the sessions, would have to catch up several sessions at the time (with didn't necessarily feel like meditation), or would simply miss the entire thing. I want to do better this time around.

I do recall the messages being quite amazing and insightful. Here is the best part: is completely free! There may still be time to sign up. Check it out here.

I am here announcing this to my dear readers so you all can keep me accountable. I'm not saying I'll be discussing each and every one of the sessions here in the blog. However, may do a weekly recap or something like that. We'll see. Wish me luck :-)

Tell me, have you completed any of Oprah's meditation classes in the past? If not, you're welcome to join me :)

How Trader Joes solves my dinner problems almost every time

Ok Trader Joes is going to have to start paying me commission for mentioning them so much on the blog. If you were wondering what was my favorite supermarket, well, secret is out!

I love to cook. My favorite meal of the day to cook is breakfast (specially when I have time to do so like on weekends) and my second favorite has to be dinner and I like to mix things up a bit. Sometimes when I am running low on ingredients or run out all together, I have to get creative. Tonight was one of those nights.

I eat vegetables almost every single night (yes, I am one of those weird people that actually likes to "indulge" in broccoli, mixed veggies, and Brussels sprouts). I only had a very small stalk of broccoli left so I decided to do some sort of "stir fry" with mushrooms, garlic, and onions. I steamed the broccoli first before mixing it all together. I seasoned it all with these two amazing powders:

Obviously that was just the "side". Here is where TJs really saved me. I steamed up one of these delicious Cheese & Green Chile tamales:

...and I was pretty much set:

Perfectly delicious and wholesome dinner for a long day! Now I am indulging on some fruit, tea, watching The View on my Roku and blogging for a bit. Hows your night going?

Tell me, Have you ever tried real Mexican tamales?

A quick, wholesome, delicious dinner using Trader Joes Sweet Apple Chicken Sausages

Whenever I am in the mood for something quick yet healthy and wholesome; Trader Joes sausages are my go-to. I got home from work trying to figure out what to make for dinner and this was absolutely perfect. All you need:

...well, this a a few more ingredients.

-Garlic & Onions to taste
-Oregano and curry powder (or any other kind of seasonings you may have around)
-Coconut oil (you can substitute w/ olive oil or oil-spray)
-1 chicken sausage per person
-Slices mushrooms
-Broccoli & mixed veggies

Heat up some coconut oil in a pan, in medium heat (I use about 1/2 tablespoon as it its just for me)
Once the oil is warm, add the onions and garlic, raise the heat enough to caramelize them. If you have some oregano and curry powder, add some to taste.

Once that process is completed, turn down heat back to medium and add the chicken sausage and sliced mushrooms. Cover it and lets it "simmer". Keep an eye on it to make sure nothing burns and everything remains "juicy". {Note: the TJs sausages are already cooked, as per the label. You simply want to make sure you heat them up well enough. No one wants to eat frozen meat.)

While you are waiting on the sausage to heat up, place your veggies in a steamer (if you have one) and steam away.

After about 15-20 mins or so, and once you notice the sausage has heated up well and the mushrooms have cooked as well, slice the sausage in multiple pieces and mix together with the onion and garlic thats already in the pan (similar to a "stir fry).

Check on your veggies-- are they nice and steamed?

FINAL STEP--  Mix up the veggies and the sausage 'stir fry' in one single bowl. Add some cheese on top if you have some on your fridge (I used feta).

Heat up a delicious tortilla and eat it on the side. I found this during my recent visit to Trader Joes and I think I discovered a new favorite:

...And thats all ladies and gents. Hope you liked it. For "dessert" i had a couple of tangerines and may have some dark chocolate later. But this dinner always hits the spot.

Whats your favorite quick and healthy dinner to make?

Dinner and Someone needs to ban me from TJMaxx

Hello!

Figured I passed by for a quick post and to share a few things. I managed to get home "early" enough today (by early meaning 9pm!) and prepped some dinner. I had some pre-seasoned wild salmon in my freezer. Thankfully fish seems to cook fairly quickly so I paired it up with my fave: sweet potatoes!  I added some cinnamon on top. Pic might not look very "attractive" but I can assure you it was GOOD! (I also had some unsweetened almond milk with my meal):

So, this is why I need to get banned from TJMaxx. Long story short, yesterday I had an AMAZING chopped salad by a place around my job (think: feta, avocado, grilled chicken, fresh lettuce/spinach/carrots/cucumbers). The salad was so well "chopped" that I didnt even need to add dressing! Sooo good.

So, the above noted salad inspired me to go by one of my retail addictions today: TJMaxx--on the search for a salad chopper. And long and behold, my wishes came true:

(only $4.99!!)

I had no business continuing to walk around the store and should have gone straight to pay for my chopper and left the store. Instead I walked over to their stationary section where I found this lovely number:

(Also $4.99!!!)

I am ashamed to say I could not help myself. It was the ONLY one there and I am obsessed with cute notebooks like that. I had to get it. The cover is leader, by the way. Super nice! I do a lot of journaling so, it will definitely be put to use!

They had so many cute notebooks. Here's another one:

I managed not to buy it but I loved the message: "When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes".

So cute, right?! :)

Ok just wanted to share! Oh! and Ive been running more this week by the way! so happy about that. But, will elaborate more on my end of week wrap up!.

QUESTION: Are you obsessed with any store in particular?

What Cabin Fever did and How I reversed it....Somewhat.

Hello my friends!

I came to visit my mom but she is busy helping my dad with his business so, I decided to sit back and do some blogging. I write this after eating this delicious home made meal:

It had been a while since I had my mom's cooking and I was kinda missing it yesterday. So, Im glad I made it here today. Is also always nice to come home and see my family-- Always a plus (in other words: I am not just here for the food lol).

The Cabin Fever Fiasco: So yesterday I spent the E.N.T.I.R.E day at my apartment. I had plans in the morning of going for a run but then I noticed that they hadn't clean the path where I usually do my running. Plus, I saw A LOT of kids and their parents playing in the snow (the greatness of being able to see the entire track from my bedroom window!). I didn't feel like being the random person just running and risking busting my ass behind  in front of all my neighbors so I decided to postpone my run and do some cleaning instead. 

Well, after a nice breakfast, some cleaning and internet browsing I planted myself in front of the TV and did a WHOLE lot of snacking and eating and then some more! Ugh! I know a big trigger for me is the TV but somehow after a long week I guess I was too lazy to do anything else. I also had somewhat of a headache and didn't feel too great so, while my snacking was taking place I watched a gazillion Lifetime movies about peoples lives which I find really interesting (don't judge me lol) and other random shows. By the time the day was over I felt like the biggest bum in the world.

....FAST FORWARD to this morning: I woke up with a mission!! Before I could think twice I put on my running gear and off I went. I completed 3 easy miles non-stop (by "easy" I mean I took my time) and then did a cool down by walking my way back to my apartment. There was still snow in the ground (probably my first time running on snow) but I made it work somehow! That run felt A.M.A.Z.I.NG.

Note: I am not the fastest runner in the world. I go at my own pace. I know a lot of you guys can do an 8 minute mile. Im still working myself up to that. One day I shall surprise you all :)

Back at my place I was in the mood for some hard boiled eggs so, while that was getting done I decided to do my scheduled Jillian workout: Ripped In 30. I am happy to announce I completed day 7 of week 2. I start week 3 this week coming up. I don't know if I should be excited or scared.

Post my workout and breakfast I took a shower, washed my hair. I then snacked on almonds and dark chocolate (not pictured). Eventually I got motivated to do some meal prepping for the week and that's what I did. Here are some photos:

In the zip-locks  Seasoned salmon and tilapia which i can cook up quickly. The containers on the side have whole wheat pasta divided up for 3 days.

Also, prepped some "grab and go" breakfast items:

In the zip locks: Granola with raisins. In the white paper: Almond butter and Jelly on sprouted raisin bread they all make a great and super satisfying breakfast).

Once that was done I came to visit my parents and here I am for a bit. Feels good to be here :).

So, the "somewhat" on the title of this post means that I cant say I've been eating 100% clean today (although I am working on recovering from yesterday's eating fiasco!). But, I've found a nice balance. I ate my moms food in moderation and somehow found the will power not to over do it too much on the dark chocolate earlier today! Life is all about balance. I am usually super good about my food and my workouts during the week. We all slip off once in a while. Is part of life!

Question: Hows your Sunday going? were you affected by the snow storm this weekend?

Fortunate Fridays!

Hello! As write this I am relaxing on my couch seeing the snow fall down through my window. Candles on and everything! I am watching an episode of What Not to Wear from my DVR collection (my fave show!). Needless to say I am feeling pretty relaxed right now after such a long week! Thankfully, the 'crazy' snow-storm they had warned us about hasnt been so bad. After the whole Sandy fiasco we now have a tendency to freak out (which doesnt hurt because is better to be safe than sorry) but I am happy to announce that so far so good. Lets see what happens during the night and tomorrow.

So, here I am like every Friday. And these are the things I am feeling fortunate for this week (in no particular order).

1. A job that embraces and celebrates different cultures. One of the days this past week my company celebrated "Chinese New Year" and brought in several traditional Chinese goodies for us to have. Most of it was pastries and sweet stuff. Sounds like I need to take a trip to china ;). I opted for this item. I have no idea what is called. I asked my chinese co-worker and he didnt even know! But It was good!!:

It tasted like chocolate angel cake and I was able to split it up in two and eat it as a snack during the day. Anyone know the name of it or seen it before?


2. The freedom of choice and to pursue my dreams! We had a guest speaker in my entrepreneurship course this past week and she was sooooooooooo inspiring. As she told us her story of how she came about her business and how she made the jump from an engineering career in to soap-making I almost started to cry. My favorite phrases from what she told us were: "what do I have to loose? If things didnt work out I could always go back to my carrer" "what If I loose some of my saving? I could make it back!". She was literally glowing and you could see that she was pursuing her dreams and somehow that shined right through her. Nedless to say, she made me realized that I have the freedom to get up one day and just decide to "go for it" whatever it may be. How amazing is that?! Freedom of choice! We only have one life to live!!! You can check out her business here. the name of her business is Kalliste Organics. I plan to make a post on her products soon :)

3. The fact that I SOMEHOW ended up with the perfect combination of courses this semester. After spending a week going crazy and stressed out; I ended up choosing the entrepreneurship course to compliment finance. I couldn't be happier with this combination. Praise the lord! Lesson learned: probably not a good idea to wait until the last minute to register. I feel really lucky everything worked out as it did.

4.  Learning 4 new things I didnt know before (These facts are pretty random and you probably wont care about any of this but I am sharing anyways. Sharing knowledge cant hurt, right?): 
-Someone made me aware of the wonderful world of S.E.O (search engine optimization)
-That you are allowed to claim the student loans that you take out on your taxes (I was under the impression you could only claim student loan interest).
-That anyone can invest on preferred stocks (not only for high wealth individuals)
-That January has always been a good month for the stock market, historically speaking (the recent rallies are apparently nothing new).

5. Being able to enjoy my mom's bread pudding today as a after-lunch snack. Ate it with some green tea. Sooo good. Everything in moderation of course! 
New goal: will learn her recipe and make a "healthier" version of this substituting certain ingredients.

 

By the way, below is what I had for dinner this evening (RIGHT AFTER FINISHING JILLIAN'S Ripped In 30: Day 6, week 2! Looking forward to a delicious dinner is always a great motivation to work out!)

Shrimp quesadilla made w/ a whole wheat tortilla, shrimp and 1/4 cup melted part skim mozzarella. So good! Plus, had a left over piece of sweet potato and baked it it in to chips: 

 

And last but not least---In honor of Fortunate Fridays, this was my YOGI Green tea message today:

 

Couldn't agree more!!! Have an amazing weekend everyone and stay safe!

Share with me something new you learned this week!

Back @ Work... and the Longest Trader Joes line in History!

Hey all!

So today should probably declared as "back to reality day" for the majority of us. Back to the work routine. I can def get used to the good life of not having to work for weeks at the time but until that day becomes a reality for me off to work I went!.My alarm went off at the set time but I woke up nearly 30 mins later (insert: PANIC). I got ready as quickly as I possibly could and ran out of my apartment like a bat out of hell. Here is today's work ensemble:

(Sweater is from H&M and was a xmass gift from my sister. Bracelet I already had but matched the sweater perfectly. Sorry about the somewhat blurry pic!)

My breakfast consisted of PB&J on an English muffin, cafe with soy milk (no sugar) and a side of pineapple:

During my lunch I walked to a local Barnes and noble (about 1 mile away from my office) to work on some new years resolutions (if you are committed to something you will find the time!). I got a decaf w/ vanilla soy milk (which I asked for AFTER my order because is cheaper that way) and got to work for about 30-40 minutes before it was time to head back to the office. Mid afternoon I still had some of the decaf leftover and was feeling a tad hungry (had a turkey sandwich and some chips for lunch that held me over for a couple of hours) so I had a snack:

**That Kashi flavor is delicious, btw!

After work I immediately made my way to trader Joes. The place was PACKED (as usual). Trader Joes and I def have a love/hate relationship. I LOVE the food but HATE the crowds and the lines. ugh! Anyways, I managed to do my quick shopping and get out of there on time to find this chaos going on outside:

One of the longest TJ lines I have ever seen!!! I guess people are serious about their new years resolutions! ha! Hope this lasts more than a week for most of those people. The line was seriously long as heck! I apologize for the blurriness but I was feeling a little crazy taking a random pic in the middle of the chaos. I suddenly felt lucky (and glad) that I was able to make it in and out of there before this craziness started. (If this was TJs I can online imagine how packed most gyms were today!).

And this was what I got:

So anyways, managed to get home despite the FREEZING NYC temperatures. Turned on ALL my heaters immediately and then proceeded to make a quick dinner because I was starving!

Baked sweet potato w/ chicken on the side (chicken was made by my mother for new years and I brought some leftovers back to my apartment. Is regular chicken breast with some sauce--everything was delish!).

Now I am lounging here (banana bread in hand lol) ready to get back to reading my book which is getting interesting. Hope you all had a great first work day of 2013!! (Or second day if you worked yesterday).

PS: Random non-health related note---I was super happy today that the fiscal cliff issue (most of it) was resolved last night and now the markets can get back to normal. If you read my blog you know I am into finance and I follow the markets so I was super happy to see the s&p500 and other indexes soar! 

QUESTION: Do you shop at TJs? Does your local trader joes ever get super crowded? (the one I go to is in downtown Manhattan and is ALWAYS insanely packed!)

Dried Meat and Card To a Friend

Happy Humpday everyone! Im super excited today because my office is putting up xmass decorations. My favorite holiday is the Christmas season (Beginning with Thanksgiving Day—which I consider part of the season) and my favorite day of every year is December 31^st! I am pretty sure I’ve mentioned this more than once since I started the blog but just in case anyone forgot!

Also, we get to dress down at the office until the end of November so this is what I am wearing today:

Yesterday was busy as usual. I had work and then class until 8:45 which meant I got home close to 10 ish. I wanted a quick dinner so I reached for my favorite item: sweet potato. I had some left over from the other day. I quickly sliced it and placed it in the oven while I put my pre-made tilapia and a piece of left over turkey in my little oven. In the meantime I went to take a quick shower and began doing something on the computer that by the time I removed my fish and turkey from the over it was super dry!!! Have you ever over-heated meat to point of it borderline getting burnt? Well, that’s what happened. Thankfully my sweet potatoes were okay. Dinner overall was good and satisfying. No complaints.

Yesterdays Elf4Health challenge was to send a handwritten card to someone. I choose my friend Ana whom ive known since high school. She has two kids, is a part time grad student AND works full time. I have no clue how she does it but whenever I feel like school is too much and I want to give up, I think of her. Despite the lack of communication at times; whenever we reunite is like time never passed. She is one of those friends that falls in to the “lifetime” category. Love ya Anita.

This was placed in the mail this morning:

…Oh yeah, and this is what happens when you try to multi-task while painting your nails:

Lesson Learned. Thankfully I was able to save my floor!!!

Enjoy the rest of you day!

Question: Whats your favorite holiday? Im still searching for boots by the way!