Monthly Archives: December 2009

So Hungover it Hurts

Posted on December 18, 2009 | 7 comments

Happy Friday! That was such a fake exclamation point by the way. I want to feel that happy, but I am so hungover I can’t think. I made it to work – okay maybe I was a half hour late and maybe I do sort of look inhuman, but hey, I’m here in body, if not totally in mind.

So this post is going to be really quick and to the point. Starting with yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart and light cranberry juice.

Lunch was not well thought-out, I’ve been too frazzled this week. I grabbed a salad.

Later on I had a Larabar for a snack and was not too impressed with this flavor.

Ginger Snap goes on my “do not buy again” list. Bleck.

So here’s where the trouble begins. Yesterday was really busy and so I didn’t snack very much. That’s literally all I had to eat. And then we went to our company holiday party. However, before we went to the party we stopped and had a drink.

Ok – one drink no problem. Then we headed to the party and had some food (thank goodness).

That’s my co-worker Tiffany and I.

This work holiday party was crazy. Just look at the dance floor – doesn’t it remind you of a high school dance?

I probably should have had more food, but I really didn’t think I’d be out drinking much or late. I did have some yummy desserts though.

After the holiday party a few people went out for more drinks and I went with them. Not smart. I’m a lightweight as is and it was just way too much for me.

I think I got home a little after midnight and getting up this morning was horrendous. I have an important project I need to work on and I feel really terrible. Dear God, please make this day go by fast and help me feel better soon.

Note to self: Never drinking during the week again.

7 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Uncategorized

Introducing Mr. Monkers

Posted on December 17, 2009 | 7 comments

Good morning and happy Thursday. This post will be brief because I am feeling very tired again today and I have been running late with everything this morning. I even forgot to bring lunch and snacks with me to work today, so it should be interesting to see how I cope when hunger strikes.

BTW, before I forget – check out my most recent Examiner.com article: Give the Gift of Healthy Cooking .

Breakfast yesterday was oatmeal with banana and agave and a side of orange juice. Nothing crazy, but the banana and agave made this delish.

Lunch was lazy – I didn’t have any leftovers on hand, so I popped out to pick up a salad. Romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, walnuts, carrots, cranberries and chic peas.

Snacks for the afternoon were Greek yogurt (strawberry flavor) with granola and a small bags of walnuts and raisins.

I left work and headed home to finish up the cookies I started the night before. Here is the final result!

And here is the recipe:

Saucepan Fudge Cookies

 Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
3 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar  –  plus 3 tablespoons, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 chopped nuts
1 cup flour mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a 3 quart saucepan over low heat, stir butter and chocolate until melted and smooth (turn off burner but leave saucepan there to get a little of the residual heat) and stir in 1 cup sugar, the eggs, vanilla and nuts  til blended.  Stir in flour mixture til well blended.  Cover and chill 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. until dough is firm enough to shape.  Roll into 1″ balls, roll balls in remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar (add more sugar if needed).  Place on cookie sheet and bake in preheated 300 oven for 20 minutes.  Remove to rack to cool.  The cookies can be frozen.

They came out a little flatter than what I’m used to, but tasted good. I did discover, however, that the bottom rack of our oven is much much hotter than the top, so when I bake, I really need to use the top shelf rather than the bottom. The cookie sheet I placed on the bottom rack had some tougher cookies than what they should have been. I noticed this before, but this reconfirmed my suspicion. Annoying.

Does your kitchen have any quirks for you to contend with?

Bill decided to make us dinner last night. He is a HUGE fish fan. He loves it. I don’t really like am not such a huge fish fan. Last night he made haddock and that is one type I can tolerate. I do hate how it stinks up our apartment though – yuck.

Are you a fish eater? If yes, what’s your favorite kind?

Apparently, Bill also ordered a bunch of “holiday” movies from Netflix and they started rolling in yesterday. So we watched “Four Christmases” last night. Can you believe that I made him come see this with me in the movie theater when it came out last year? I really like Vince Vaughn, but I also kind of have a girl-crush on Reese Witherspoon (Natalie Portman is my other girl-crush). Reese been one of my favorites since I first saw her in: The Man in the Moon, way back in 1991.

Sorry to hear that she and Jake Gyllenhaal are dunzo. Oh well – I’m sure another gorgeous man will be falling at her heels in no time.

You probably think Hubby and I are movie-obsessed, but seriously these phases happen every now and then. It’ll probably fade out soon.

Final thought and photo from the night: Hubby did this to Murphy.

How unamused does he look? Actually he looks downright mad. That’s his buddy Mr. Monkers. He’s had that stuffed monkey since he was a few months old and it goes everywhere with us. He also bathes it like its his child and then attacks it and beats the heck out of it. Sometimes I think Murphy needs a little brother or sister…but our apartment is too small. So Mr. Monkers will have to be it for now.

Murphy seems to show up quite a bit on my blog – sorry about that! Sometimes I think he’s just too cute. I’ll try to control my Murphy picture-taking and posting from now on.

Happy Thursday!

7 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Recipes, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Exhaustion Strikes

Posted on December 16, 2009 | 4 comments

Happy Hump Day! I feel like this week is flying by. Work is busy, I’m busy at home – there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I have to say that I’ve been a bit of a slacker this week in terms of working out. I made it to the gym on Monday night, but then last night I had some errands to run and I wanted to bake a bit, so the gym got cut from my “to-do list.”

I’m trying not to beat myself up about it, but my body also really seems to miss it.

How are you doing this holiday season as far as staying on point with your workouts and exercise routines?

Now here’s Tuesday’s eats:

Breakfast was a multi-grain honey English muffin (has extra fiber) with peanut butter and banana on top.

I also had some morning coffee I picked up on my way into work and then a mid-morning granola bar (not shown).

Lunch was leftovers from Monday night’s burrito bowl. I chose to eat this cold rather than heat it up and I think it was a good choice.

My afternoon snack was Rice Chips and an apple.

I left work a little bit late, which added to my decision not to hit the gym. I ran a few errands and stopped at the store on the way home to pick up the ingredients to make some cookies from a recipe my mom sent my way. These might just be my favorite cookies.

I started making them when I got home (probably around 7:15 p.m.)

The recipe then tells you to chill the batter for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours! I totally forgot about that. Well, by the time I got to that point it was getting pretty late. I checked with my mom and she said it should be okay to leave it in the fridge overnight. I was pretty tired so that’s just what I did.

So I stopped my baking efforts there and had some food instead. I’ll finish up the cookies tonight and post the recipe.

To be honest, I wasn’t really that hungry though or motivated to make anything. So…I am ashamed to show you my dinner. It was terrible and lazy. But that’s what my blog is all about right – accountability for what I eat and being more aware of my choices. So here it goes:

Know what it is? It’s triscuits with melted cheddar cheese and salsa on top. Pretty bad right? It’s my guilty little pleasure. (P.S. I also watched part of Sing Off so “guilty little pleasure” seems appropriate).

What is your guilty pleasure food? How often do you eat it?

To be fair, it’s not as bad as it could be. I mean the Triscuits are whole grains, okay cheese is cheese, but then salsa is just veggies! Trying to justify it.

Anyway – my night was pretty calm after that. I read Ahab’s Wife for a bit and then went to bed. I’ve been getting to bed kind of late recently and as you can see it’s been catching up with me.

This headline caught my eye today and actually made me sad:

Extreme diets: Life on 800 calories a day

People partaking in these very low-calorie diets (VLCD – as they are referred to) are missing out on so much and taking their bodies from one extreme to the other. It seems unnecessarily risky and I can’t believe these programs are allowed to run. Especially when these are just some of the side effects:

“Also, losing weight quickly could lead to gall stones and thinning hair because dieters are getting the minimum amount of nutrition, which can affect hair and bone density.”

I understand that once people reach such a high weight sometimes they feel like something drastic has to be done, but I don’t agree that this much limitation is the answer. It seems to me they are trading one kind of unhealthy for another.

What about you, do you agree with gastric bypass, VLCDs, pre-packaged food diets, etc.?

4 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Uncategorized

Annoyed Kitty and Fabulous Fudge

Posted on December 15, 2009 | 8 comments

I woke up today thinking it was Wednesday – getting a little ahead of myself. Happy Tuesday! Inching through the week. Here’s a quick recap of yesterday.

For breakfast I was lazy and had some Kashi Heart to Heart with Almond Milk and orange juice. I am really feeling much better and think I may have headed off that cold its very start.

My morning snack was two clementines. I also stopped and picked up a coffee on my way into work. I was needing a pick-me-up after our late movie night on Sunday. I try to limit how much coffee I drink because I tend to get a little addicted and then if I go without I get a caffeine headache.

However, yesterday I was swayed a bit by the following article discussing the benefits of coffee and tea. I also realize that just about every other week there is a new study out either touting the benefits or warning of the dangers of various food and drink. So I am taking this one with a grain of salt.

More evidence coffee, tea could prevent diabetes

How often do you drink coffee?

Here Are A Few Other Health Articles That Caught My Eye…
City takes its anti-soda campaign online
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Video

Fat in diet won’t affect weight gain over time

Next, for lunch I had a mish-mash of veggies (carrots, cucumber and grape tomatoes) with some cheese and balsamic. I also had a Greek yogurt (honey flavored) with granola.

My afternoon snack before the gym was a Larabar – Apple Pie flavor.

After work I hit the gym reluctantly (because I had a bunch of other things I kind of wanted to get done). I managed an okay workout:

4 miles on the treadmill in 35:26
85 crunches
35 scissor crunches
20 leg lowers

I stopped at the store and picked up a few things on the way home and then I set to making a really quick dinner. I called this dinner a Burrito Bowl. It’s basically brown rice, peas, corn, salsa, cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce all thrown together. I made the Hubby’s with chicken, so his bowl was a little larger. Here’s mine:

And yes, my bowl has a giant chip in it. I think it may be time to revamp some of my bowls. They are looking a little sad.

I forgot – just before I started dinner, I had to have one of these little babies. I was really hungry after the gym.

After dinner, I set to work making some fudge to bring into work next week. This will also go in the freezer until Sunday. Here it is:

And here’s the recipe, courtesy of my mama:

Chocolate Fudge

1 lb. Confectioners sugar  (1 box)
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
 
In medium saucepan, heat butter and milk – add sugar, cocoa, salt and vanilla, stirring over medium heat until well blended and smooth.  Remove from heat, stir in nuts (optional).  Spread mixture quickly in a buttered 9×5 inch loaf pan or 7×7 square pan.  Cut into squares once it has cooled.   (I put parchment paper in the dish, bringing it up two sides, so once it has cooled, you can lift it out of pan to cut easier.)

I made mine without nuts. I had a few pieces once it cooled and it was yummy!

After dinner Bill and I decided to watch a movie. But not before I showed him the Surprised Kitty video on YouTube. This thing has been making the rounds and it makes me smile.

Surprised Kitty

I love it so much that I decided to try it with Murphy.

Murphy was not amused. The last is him basically attacking my hand. He does a great “Annoyed Kitty.” If you haven’t seen “Surprised Kitty” check it out. Hope my link above works okay. If not, just search YouTube by that title.

After annoying Murphy we settled in and watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Jack Nicholson. My father has been insisting that we watch this movie for years! It won a slew of awards back in the day and has co-stars including Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd. It was a pretty funny movie. I think Bill and I were both expecting way too much after the way my father built it up for us. We thought it was pretty good – not absolutely fabulous. Sorry Dad – but at least we finally watched it!

Have a great Tuesday!

P.S. – I will leave you with this Murphy lounging photo, just to show that he didn’t stay annoyed for too long…

8 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Running, Uncategorized

Movie Mania Continues

Posted on December 14, 2009 | 2 comments

Weekend Recap
Saturday: Cold Weather Weekend Warrior
Sunday: Not Such a Warrior

Happy Monday. I can’t believe it’s here already. My weekend didn’t fly by as fast as usual, but they are always too short to begin with anyway. I can’t believe it’s already mid-December!

As I mentioned, on Sunday morning I was supposed to go for a fun run with some local bloggers, but I wasn’t feeling great and didn’t want to chance making it worse. So I went back to bed and slept until about 9:30. Then I got up and had a breakfast of oatmeal with apples, pumpkin butter and cinnamon with a side of orange juice and cold medicine. Lovely.

After breakfast I popped out to the store and picked up some ingredients to make sugar cookies. I’ll be bringing these to our holiday potluck on the 21st, but I wanted to make them now and freeze them until the night before. I used my mom’s recipe:

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter   (softened)
1/4 cup Crisco – regular or butter flavor (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together Crisco, butter, sugar and vanilla.  Add egg, beat till light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half, wrap in glad wrap and chill for 1 hour.

On lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8 inch thickness, cut in desired shapes and bake on cookie sheet at 375 for approx. 6 to 8 minutes.  Cool slightly and remove.  Cool completely before frosting.

For frosting the cookies: confectioners sugar, a pinch of salt and milk.

I was so busy baking that I didn’t really stop for lunch. So when the baking was done, this was my “lunch.”

Dinner was much better than lunch. I was craving soup, so I tried Amy’s Tuscan Bean and Rice soup and it might just be my new favorite. It was so yummy. I also had a side salad with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, goat cheese and walnuts with balsamic drizzled over it.

Finally, I needed something sweet to end my night, but I also wanted something that might help thwart an impending cold. I had half a grapefruit with one packet of Truvia sprinkled over it.

The best part of my Sunday was when Bill arrived home earlier than expected and we decided to watch another movie together. We’ve sort of been on a movie kick lately. I think we’re subconsciously trying to get the most out of our Netflix subscription.

Last night we ended up watching “Notorious.” I know what you’re thinking – it must have been awful. But actually, I was somewhat surprised with how decent this movie was. It was a solid 2 hours, but it didn’t feel like it was dragging and it never became too much about rap. I mean, it definitely was about rap, but I was never overwhelmed. I thought the actor who played Biggie was absolutely great and the little boy who played the child biggie was really good as well. Come to find out, he’s actually Biggie’s son! The resemblance was uncanny.

Anyway – I wouldn’t rank “Notorious” as a favorite by any means, but it certainly was a decent, different kind of movie. If you’re looking for something to mix up your movie line-up a bit, I would recommend it. 

My final comment: the guy who played Puffy looked nothing like the real Puffy. For the first few minutes he was in the movie I kept telling Bill there was no way that this “Puffy” character they were talking about was supposed to be Sean Combs.  The casting on that one was way off.

Have a good Monday everyone!

2 Comments

Posted in Bloggers, Dessert, Recipes, Running, Uncategorized

Not Such a Warrior…

Posted on December 13, 2009 | 9 comments

I felt so tough and strong yesterday after running 9+ miles in some pretty frigid weather. But I think my hubris got the best of me because this morning I woke up feeling completely congested and tired. I was out of bed at 8 a.m. and started to get ready to meet a bunch of NYC bloggers for a fun run in Central Park. After about 5 minutes of movement, I decided the wisest decision would be to go back to bed and catch up on some much-needed to rest to ward off the looming cold. I sadly sent the girls my apology email and crawled back into bed.

I am feeling much better at this point, so hopefully I made a good decision. But I’m still sad that I missed the run. Hope it went well!

Now, to finish up yesterday’s eats and day/night. After my early-morning run with Katherine I had another mini-breakfast.

I was pretty busy doing laundry and some cleaning – meanwhile Murphy spent much of Saturday doing this:

I had a light lunch of veggies with some organic roasted garlic hummus that was delicious.

My afternoon was spent writing out a few of these:

And then dinner was couscous with apple, walnut, grape tomatoes and diced cheddar cheese. It was filling, simple and tasty.

And for dessert I finally made some homemade cranberry sauce (in the microwave) using Julie’s recipe from last week. It was tart and sweet and perfecto!

After dinner I hesitantly selected “Food, Inc.” from our online Netflix queue. The Hubby insisted I watch it when he is not around, so this seemed like the perfect time. I say “hesitantly” because I was expecting to be overwhelmed with slaughterhouse and chicken-farm imagery and those are things I absolutely hate seeing – although I know it goes on. I was really very surprised by the variety of food areas into which Food, Inc. delved. It was by no means all about meat – the documentary touched on a variety of food topics. I really enjoyed it and was swayed even further by the idea of buying cage-free meat and dairy items, and of course, organic products.

I’m still holding out hope that Hubby will decide to watch it at some point. He is a pretty healthy guy and I think it would definitely benefit him to know exactly where all his food is coming from.

Have you seen Food, Inc. – did it change how you eat or even just view your food?

Anyway – that’s all for today. Time to finish up some baking and cleaning, and then rest and recover. Have a good Sunday night.

9 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Cold Weather Weekend Warrior

Posted on December 12, 2009 | 11 comments

Happy Saturday! I’m going to try to make this a quick post because I have laundry to do and possibly some cookies to make. I was up early this morning to meet Katherine for a 7:30 a.m. run in Central Park. I’m a baby when it comes to running in the cold weather and usually find an excuse not to go when the thermometer dips below 30 degrees. Well, this morning I knew I had no choice since I was meeting someone. This was my outfit for the weather, but then at the last minute I threw on another long sleeve shirt instead of a short sleeve, so this isn’t 100% accurate.

Before I headed out I ate a granola bar and some triscuits with peanut butter.

And please note the temperature when I headed out: 27 degrees (okay, almost 28)! Cold weather warrior!

I think our run went really well. It was the first time we’d run together, so finding the right pace can take some time, but I think we hit our stride soon after we entered the park. And it was certainly COLD! It was a bit shocking for me for the first few minutes, but once we were moving constantly I began to heat up. Katherine is an established winter runner, having run in Pennsylvania and Boston, so she gave me some helpful tips along the way. Thanks for the great run and tips Katherine!! Here’s what we ran:

1 mile to the park
6 mile Central Park loop
1.6 mile reservoir loop
1 mile from the park back home
Estimated total: 9.5 – 9.6 miles

What are some of your favorite cold weather running tips? My face was really cold throughout the run. Does anyone wear a face covering?

I have no clue how fast we ran any of this because I’m pretty sure I left my running watch up at my parent’s house again. Oh how I wish I had a Garmin!

That was this morning and here’s a brief recap of yesterday.

The Hubby took some pics of the Gossip Girl trailer area right outside our apartment door on Friday. I also saw them taping last night when I got home around 8 p.m., but couldn’t see any of the characters.

Do you know who Desi and Lucy are? I’m assuming they are some GG characters right?

Breakfast yesterday morning was some Kashi Heart to Heart with almond milk and blackberries.

My mid-morning snack was tea and a Larabar. I was so cold, I wanted something comforting and this was perfect!

I had to venture out in the cold to get some lunch and I didn’t feel like thinking too much, so I grabbed my usual salad: romaine lettuce, carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries, peas and cheddar cheese.

My afternoon snack was Greek yogurt with granola and the leftover clementines from yesterday.

After work, I decided to meet up with my friend for happy hour. We went to a dive bar in the West Village and I had one beer. I knew I had to get up early to run and I very rarely go out on Friday nights.

When I got home I made a quick dinner of multi-grain pasta with marinara sauce to help fuel my early-morning run.

And my dessert was my new fave again:

I think I was in bed and asleep by about 10:45 last night. I did have to get up once in the middle of the night because I heard Murphy playing with a tree ornament. I managed to find the ornament and wire hook in my sleep walk and non-contact blindness and then went right back to bed.

I’ve got another fun blogger run tomorrow morning – yay! The rest of Saturday will be some housekeeping, relaxing and maybe a movie tonight. Enjoy your weekend!

11 Comments

Posted in Bloggers, Running, Uncategorized

Freezing, Frigid, Friday

Posted on December 11, 2009 | 7 comments

Holy moly it’s cold outside! I left the house this morning and the temperature gauge was reading a chilly 23 degrees. Yikes. And I couldn’t find my hat, so it was not a very pleasant commute.

I also stepped out the door and found myself walking onto a t.v. set pretty much. There were Gossip Girl trailers everywhere! I didn’t have my point and shoot camera on me (left it at work), so I asked Hubby if he wouldn’t mind taking some shots before he left for work. I also saw the t.v. studio’s “snack caravan” set up just up the street. Must be nice!

As far as my snacks go, here are yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was rather boring – Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with Almond Milk. Yes, you read that right, I gave almond milk a whirl and have to say that I really liked it. I used it again today and it was so good. I’m not vegan or opposed to drinking cow’s milk, I would just like to cut back my dairy intake wherever I can. I don’t think it’s entirely necessary and my stomach tends to feel better with less of it.

What kind of “milk” drinker are you? Dairy, soy, rice, almond?

I’ve been eating Heart to Heart for a while. But after visiting Tina’s new NuVal blog and exploring the “Trading Up” section, I might try the Kashi 7 Whole Grain Cereal Puffs. It received such a high NuVal score!

Lunch yesterday was some Reduced Fat Triscuits, Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Flavor cheese and carrots.

And my afternoon snacks were supposed to be Greek yogurt, a few Rice Works chips and two clementines. But it ended up that I ate two helpings of the chippers and then didn’t want the clementines later. Oops.

I came across this NY Times article yesterday and found it pretty interesting: 

Ready to Exercise? Check Your Watch

It talks about how the different times you workout (morning vs. evening) can affect how “good” your workout is. I always feel like I’m stronger and faster in the evening, which apparently is the norm for many people. Although I do also feel very proud after completing a morning workout – not so much because it was fast or hard, but just because I actually got through it!

When do you feel at your best as far as running or working out goes?

After work I had an appointment to go to, so I ended up skipping the gym. This week hasn’t been as great as I wanted as far as running and the gym are concerned, but I’m slowly getting back into it.

The past few days have been filled with lots of grains, so I was really craving some veggies for dinner. Bill was at a work happy hour, so I was solo. I made myself a nice big salad with romaine lettuce, asparagus shavings, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and goat cheese. 🙂 And I had some leftover couscous on the side.

I actually stopped and got cranberries to make the cranberry dessert, but then lost motivation and had this instead.

I might have had it times two actually.

I’m ashamed to say that I also watched a bit of Jersey Shore last night as well. It’s just so God awful that I couldn’t turn away. Thankfully, I got sidetracked and eventually moved on, but I’ve heard from a bunch of people that they find themselves watching in horror as well.

I was toying around with my Rebel camera settings a little later and caught this picture of Murphy with a  litter nose.

I read a little bit of my new book Ahab’s Wife and am getting into it. It’s historical fiction, which I typically really enjoy (like The Other Boleyn Girl). So far the main character “Una” has been through a lot and has grown up tremendously. You start out with her as an adult, married to Captain Ahab (yes, the one from Moby Dick) and she is giving birth to his child, and then the story flashes back to her childhood and we learn where she came from and how she ended up with Ahab. At least that’s where I’m assuming it’s going. Right now she’s only 16 years old at the point I’m at.

I swear, I’m going to write my David Copperfield review this weekend! I’m looking forward to tonight – Happy Hour with Rachael – and then a weekend of relaxation and running. Hope I don’t freeze!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

7 Comments

Posted in Books, Running, Uncategorized

Movie Date Debate

Posted on December 10, 2009 | 2 comments

It’s Thursday, which means tomorrow is FRIDAY!! Yipee! I am looking forward to a low-key weekend, hopefully with some good running involved.

So last night Hubby and I had a movie date night. We are Netflix members (best decision ever), but we had just returned two movies, so we checked our “online queue” where you can just download them straight from your t.v. There were a few on there to choose from. I really wanted to watch Food, Inc., but Hubby said I need to watch that one when he’s not around. No fun.

So we ended up going with “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” I had never heard of it before, but it had some big-name actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marissa Tomei.

The premise of this movie and the characters’ actions ended up really affecting me. I was almost in tears and was feeling very stressed and anxious throughout the whole thing. Hubby hates watching movies with me because I constantly ask questions and make comments. I really try not to do it, but most times I don’t even realize I’m talking. And during this movie I was particularly out of control.

At the end, I turned to Hubby and said I really disliked the movie and thought it was awful. He then claimed that if a movie could get me so riled up and upset, then shouldn’t we classify it as good because it did its job. So that is our movie date debate.

Even if you dislike a movie’s premise, turn of events and general feel, if it affects you emotionally, would you then classify it as good?

In this case, I do not. I would NEVER want to see that movie again and don’t even particularly like thinking about it. Maybe to some that makes it good, but to me, it will always be a “bad movie” in my book.

Sorry for that little tangent. Here are yesterday’s eats. Breakfast was a multi-grain hot cereal with flaxseed and soy. It was on sale at the store, so I gave it a try. I added raisin and agave.

It was just okay. Nothing to write home about. I’ll use it all up though and then try something else.

Lunch yesterday was leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. I ate it cold and it was actually quite good.

Wow – I really hate florescent lights. This looks just awful.

Afternoon snacks were initially going to include just Chobani Pineapple yogurt with granola and two clementines. But then the 4:00 hunger monster struck and I ate some trail mix that I had leftover from my L.A. trip.

After work I hit the gym for a quick workout. I was feeling really tired (perhaps b/c our office was an inferno today and the heat really got to me).

Does your office have a temperature problem like mine? It’s either frigid or sweltering, no in between.

I felt very weak at the gym today, so I did the following.

3.1 miles in 27 minutes
85 crunches
20 leg lowers (abs)
15 squats
15 lunges

And yes, I need to do some arm stuff. But I was just so worn out.

I stopped at the store on my way home, with the intention of buying some cranberries to make a little dessert I read about on another blog. Well, when I got home, I realized I had bought a bunch of stuff, but completely forgot the cranberries.

For dinner I made some quick curry couscous and added in some chopped up vegetarian “sausage.” Doesn’t look spectacular, but I was happy. Hubby went his own way for dinner last night since he “needed meat.”

Afterwards I wanted something sweet. The cranberry light dessert was what I had planned, but that was obviously not an option. So I made this little concoction.

Warm Apple Mush

  • 1 apple chopped (with skin on)
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 packet of truvia
  • 1 tsp of agave nectar
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • handful of granola

Directions

Place chopped apple in a microwave safe bowl with water. Microwave on high for 1 minute – remove and smush some of the apple. Microwave on high again for 1 minute. Remove and smush apples again as desired. Add all the other ingredients and mix.

It was sooo good! Just what I wanted. It’s almost like applesauce, but not as smooth. It was the right amount of sweet and tart.

Just before we started our movie I browsed my new issue of Runner’s World. I was excited to see a “Marathon Guide” in the issue and was even more pumped to see two of the marathons I was considering ranked as “the fastest” courses. The Wineglass Marathon and the Bay State Marathon were featured and they are both races that Runnerbelle suggested previously as well!

After the movie I read a bit and headed to bed. My new book is very good. I’ll try to post a David Copperfield recap soon and will talk about my new book more tomorrow.

P.S. – Hubby texted me to tell me they are filming Gossip Girl on our street and actually right in front of our building! I saw them coning it off when I left this morning, but had no clue for what. I don’t watch the show, but still think it’s pretty cool our building might make a special appearance.

Have a great Thursday!

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Posted in Books, Dessert, Uncategorized

It’s Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2009 | 4 comments

Hello Wednesday. I must say, after last week’s all-over-the-place schedule, this week’s “normal” routine is feeling sluggish. I’m ready for Friday already. Although I did just get a ton of work, which is sure to make the rest of the week fly by – I hope!

BTW – check out my latest Examiner article, inspired by my great run at the gym yesterday morning:

Taking it to the treadmill and thriving

So who watched The Biggest Loser finale last night?! I did, I did! It was amazing. Everyone looked soo different. I have to say that Danny, Rudy, Tracey and Rebecca all blew me out of the water. I’m almost inclined to say that Tracey and Rebecca might have gone a bit too far. I hope they reached that weight in a completely healthy and appropriate way.

Spoiler Alert: Stop reading if you don’t want to know who won.

I am THRILLED that Danny won! I was almost certain that Rudy was going to take the crown, but I’m really glad Danny walked away with it. For some reason, Rudy bothered me. He was always preaching the “anyone can do this, I want to inspire others” rhetoric. What I really wanted to hear was: “I am doing this for me, for my health and for what I’m going to gain from this experience.” It’s great to be a role model, but come on, we know why you’re there.

What was your reaction to the finale?

So onto yesterday’s food.

Breakfast after yesterday’s run at the gym was sort of pathetic: a banana and coffee. As well as a bottle of water (not shown).

It was the best I could do in my scramble to get out the door in the morning. Miraculously, it held me over until my 11:00 a.m. granola bar snack.

Lunch was a bit later than normal and consisted of a salad with romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, carrots, chic peas, walnuts and dried cranberries. Yum!!

My snack later in the afternoon was Greek yogurt (honey flavored) with granola and an apple.

As the day came to a close, I began to look forward to dinner and the chance to prove myself after yesterday’s crock pot disaster. I chose to make this simple recipe, adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

  • 1/2 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 clove of chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/8 cup of frozen spinach
  • 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 chopped roasted red pepper

 Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place penne pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
  2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the garlic until lightly browned. Mix in lemon juice, stir in the pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. Defrost spinach, drain, add and cook for 1 minute. Toss in the cooked pasta and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

It was really good and light. The hubby seemed to like it as well.

My mini dessert:

And then after dinner – we decorated!! I feel bad, the Hubby had to do some digging in the basement to get out our big holiday container and he was none too pleased. But I think it was well worth it (although he may not). Here is our mini tree! Our apt is too small for a full-sized tree. I managed it our first year in the city, but quickly gave up the large tree idea the following year.

And here is our fireplace with our stockings! And Murphy’s!

And here is Murphy biting the tree. I’m sure I’ll find stuff on the floor when I get home this evening.

I was very satisfied with my minor decorations once everything was complete. I need to have a little something up. I then sat back and watched the end of the Biggest Loser while sipping on this tea.

And with that, my night was complete. I failed to mention that I was doing laundry will cooking and eating as well. So a night filled with laundry, delicious dinner, decorating and Danny winning The Biggest Loser. Awesome!

Until tomorrow – Happy Hump Day!

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Posted in Holidays, Recipes, Uncategorized