Getting Creative in the Kitchen

Hey all! I feel like I’ve had quite the hectic week and it’s only Wednesday. Ask me why I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday already?! Ugh! Yesterday there was a crazy accident on my train line on my way home from work so I had to find an alternative way to get home. I was left stranded at a random train station. Thankfully, I made the best out of it by going in to a Barnes and Noble while the craziness died down and it made for quite the productive evening (Barnes & Noble is one of my favorite places to be. Nerd alert!). Another plus side is that I even found my local express bus  in the area which eventually took me straight home! Sometimes breaking away from the routine can help us discover new things we’d probably never realize otherwise.

In terms of workouts—Ive been pretty good with doing Jillian “shred in 30” every other day since the beginning of the year. I love her DVDs. I seriously never though I’d be able to find a work out DVD I would love as much as this one (plz don’t judge lol. I still love his videos!!) but I did and I love it!! Ive also been walking several miles per day.

Somehow I’ve been able to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle without a gym membership! NYC can be an amazing gym in and of itself!

So…back to the title of the post. Lately I have been enjoying loving the kitchen and finding clean, healthy, yet delicious recipes to try or I’ll just make up random stuff (which I what I usually do). I have to share with you the three top dinners I’ve come up with this past week. Every single one of these dishes was soooo good and full of flavor! And guess what! I barely used any oil and zero salt. For flavor; I use about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and then I add garlic and onions; which I sauté. I also add some of my curry powder which adds flavor to everything (with a gazillion times less sodium than regular salt).

Sunday: Chicken Quesadilla

Monday: Mashed Sweet potato with Grilled Shrimp

Tuesday: Organic black bean soup with carrots and veggies on the side (not pictured)

…don’t you love Trader Joes? The delicious dish above came out of this lil’ number.



Oh! And I figured out a way to make ~65 calorie hot chocolate (Simple Ingredients: One cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk, one packet of “sugar free” hot cocoa, some cinnamon on top--- One word: D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. The almond milk gives it such a creamy taste! (side note: the Masala Chai  tea experiment is still a work in progress lol. For now, hot cocoa will do).

So, those are my eats so far for the week. Let’s see what new experiment I come up with tonight. I find that ENJOYING the foods we eat place a HUGE impact on weight loss and maintenance. As you may already know, it has to be a lifestyle. Who wants to go through life eating things that taste like cardboard just for the sake of being skinny? Not my style. There is a better way! Food is to be enjoyed. Bon Appetite!

Question: Do you like to cook? Are you a recipe person or a “I’ll figure it out” kinda’ girl?

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!