Mish Mosh Lunch and Chicken Salad Dinner

Lunch:

Asparagus spears in sicilian sauce with a little cheese (Sargento Reduced Fat Mexican)

Apple crisp sprinkled with cheese, I heard about apple pies with cheddar on top and figured I'd give it a whirl. Honestly, it was delicious but you couldn't taste the cheese at all.

On the side I had a chobani nonfat greek Strawberry Yogurt with half of a whole wheat British Muffin.

The Snowman says "Yay!"


Dinner:

Super Easy Super Healthy Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
I sliced up red grapes, length wise (about 2 cups)
Chopped Organic Celery Hearts ( I used 1 bunch)
1 green onion chopped
Boiled Chicken Breasts... (I did three here and it took about 20 minutes). let them cool, then pulled the chicken apart and into the bowl ( boiling makes it super easy to pull apart for "shredded chicken" )
Then I binded everything with:
1 container of Chobani Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt ( the 5.3 oz size , but I could have used the bigger tub)
1 big Tablespoon Helmann's Fat Free Mayonaisse ( its about 25 calories, 0 g fat)
Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
Stir and let sit in the fridge for about 2 hours.
That whole bowl ( it is big! it holds 8 cups) is total less than 600 calories, 108 g protein, No Fat ( well, about 1 g from the chicken but i took off what I could see). It also offers fruit, veggies, and calcium!

It was delicious!
I used a whole wheat wrap and added sliced purple cabbage, sliced raw almonds and hot sauce!

Toasted Cinnamon Almonds

...are the best! I got this big bag of raw sliced almonds from Trader Joes (~ $4) so that I could do a special appetizer for Momma Mo's tree trimming tonight! Well this bag should last me quite a long time, even though it was the smallest bag they had...

I toasted them in the pan while I cooked two pieces of egg white french toast and sprinkle cinnamon over all of it. I heated up frozen blueberries, frozen mango, and frozen pineapple. Chobani Nonfat Greek Yogurt on the side- I swear this is just soooo delicious . If you haven't tried this yogurt and you like yogurt with fruit on the bottom- you must try this! Its delicious!

Up top with black coffee in my snowman mug!

Today, I'm hoping to get in a run and look into getting a job and prepare the dish for this evening! Happy Tuesday!

Lunch

Chobani Blueberry
Salad with:
green beans (frozen organic heated in the microwave)
leftover Salmon (from Kanki last night)
little rice and veggies (from Kanki)
some Goddess Dressing

Half of a whole wheat wrap with some of the salmon.

Body:
Run...5 miles... 41 minutes. Woohoo!

Mind:
Studied, Studied Studied for Metabolism Exam tomorrow afternoon!

Soul:
I love running

I had so much fun doing the taste test stuff! and it was a nice break from studying, I made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen and Jeff gave Jack a bath. Because Jack ran away :-( but came back an hour later and smelled worse than awful!

Put a new wallflower in some kind of christmas noel scent-

Did some domain searching for a new blog site. I want to be able to make sections for recipes, nutrition course info, exercise info etc.

Christmas Party 08

Appetizer Hour:
My Glass #1 of Sonoma Merlot, Jeff's Glass of Bass

Oh My gosh... quite possible this was the best cheese I have ever had

Brie with Cranberries ( they were fresh softened deliciously cherry like), and Goat Cheese with Pesto

Here is mine: It was soooooooo satisfyingly delicious

I should have taken a picture of everyone at our table! I warned them when we sat down that I take pictures because I write a blog about food and nutrition. I was completely surprised that everyone was genuinely interested in knowing why and what it was like and they all want to get the link to the site- so whenever they stop by- Hi Michelle, Justin, Melissa,Woody, Christ, and Gretchen!

Glass #2 and Bread

I am not a huge bread person but I like to try things. I ripped off a hunk but it was too chewy

Salad: This was a very interesting way to do a Caesar Salad. A rib of romaine, anchovy slices on top, thin strips of parm cheese, that little wafer tasted like cardboard.

Entree:

Chicken on top of creamy mushroom risotto, zuchinni, steak. Last year they had a similar dish only with chicken and salmon. I mentioned everyone at our table being interested in my blog, well we had quite the discussion about this entree! My steak was medium-well. There was no pink at all. However, Melissa's was bright vibrant red, Justin's was a rose/blush, Jeff's was a mix of Melissa's and Justin's- It was incredibly odd how the same dish came to 8 people at the table but the steaks were cooked all different. Mine was so well-cooked that I could not even chew it. My chicken was very tasty, however, Michelle's chicken was very dry-

Congratulations Michelle ( she is having a baby girl!).


Dessert:

I ate the whip cream, the nuts, and that chocolate stick coming out towards you! I had a few bites ( again I like to try things) but I am not a huge fan of pudding AND I was full!

Overall Recap and Review:
I think the cheese was phenomenal and made my night! Everything was "tasty" otherwise so I hate to bring up the negative because it was "over-the-top"! It is definitely a fancy place and I love being able to attend. On top of that, to hang out with Jeff's co-workers because they are all about our age and really funny was fantastic! Last year, Jeff and a few others formed a secret band that played a great set of cover songs. They were outstanding, however, this year shortly after they began practice the drummer caught pneumonia. He had to be hospitalized and has some permanent damage but is overall fine now. Unfortunately, they couldn't do it without him. So we missed out on that but I got to spend more time with Jeff since he wasn't playing.

Jeff and I at the Tree

Initiation of the New Employees: Teams had to dress up one person like Frosty The snowman. We cheered for this guy because they were right next to our table- and one of the new employees sat with us. (They won, so they had to sing Frosty The Snowman)

I had so much fun chatting with Emily, Christy, Jennifer, Amy, Stacy, Michelle, and Melissa! Hi, Ladies if you stop in!!

Earlier Friday...
Lunch:
I know it is not as "spectacular" as the food above- Leftover pasta and chicken from the other night.

Mid-Afternoon Red-White-Green Snack( actually at about 4 because I did NOT want to go to the xmas party starving)
Red and Green Peppers, Mushrooms and a little blue cheese dressing (full fat deliciousness)
Chobani Strawberry with Pistachios

Body:
Cardio: A fantastic run. A wonderful run.

I "sprinted" 4 miles. I stretched for a few seconds at each mile but jogged in between all the sprinting so no walking for this lady!

My general treadmill pace: 6.5 mph (recovery/slow jog) 7.5-7.7 mph (usual, comfortable pace) 9.3-9.8 mph (sprint)

9.8 felt super sonic- I felt like I was going to fall off the treadmill, which made it even more exciting hahaha. I didn't keep track of much else aside from running for at least 2 minutes of each mile above 9 mph... So it was mostly at a 7.5 speed, I would sprint when a good song came on during each mile at 9.3 bump it up to 9.8 then recover at a 6.5 for no more than 2 minutes... back up to a 7 + then back up to a spring etc.

My goal was to run the entire time, sprint during each mile and I met my goal.

Mind:
I turned in my paper, I only studied a little. I felt a little burnt out from the three papers due total this week. I have this weekend to study so I wanted to pace myself.

Soul:

Fantastic evening. After the holiday party we went downtown to a bar - one of our friends' birthdays- so we danced with them and had a phenomenal evening!

Paper # 3 Done!

"Eat me Eat me Eat me" said my breakfast to me:

British Whole Wheat English Muffin ( from Trader Joe's)- meh its okay

Slice of Healthy Canadian Ham

1/2 cup Cage Free Egg Whites (Trader Joe's)

w. hot sauce and

Black Coffee in my snowman mug from college

Banana with Smucker's All Natural. I have been eating Smucker's All Natural since freshman year of college (8 years!) and I have never gotten tired of it. So yummy, the only ingredients are peanuts and salt.

The banana was really small...

2 Lunches ?

I normally do not have a mid-morning snack- most of the time I am writing or reading or exercising before lunch and just never hungry. I think it has alot to do with habit because when you are used to not snacking mid morning, you usually aren't hungry. But today, I was heading to campus mid morning (10:30) in hopes of getting as much of my project due tomorrow done as I could. So I had this Chobani Blueberry to hold me over..

SO GOOD! I swear, this is by far my favorite yogurt. I strive to consume organic dairy products ( Check out the Tag "CLA" for info why) but this yogurt is just soooo delicious. I have tried stoneyfield organic, fage, and Trader Joe's brand and Chobani just beats all of them in texture and taste ( in my opinion!). I for sure like all of the others but Chobani ROCKS!

I was so involved in my project, I realized I needed more fuel by 2 pm- grabbed an Odwalla Protein- another yummy mini-meal

( sorry for the repeat photo - didn't have my camera today on campus)
Good news- I finished my project at 4 pm!!! Woohoooooooo!!! It is due tomorrow by 5 but I am not even going to look at it anymore since I need to spend all day studying for either/both of my finals next week AND... getting ready for Jeff's work's Holiday Party. It's at the Umstead Hotel and Spa... Gorgeous new, total upscale, ritzy place.



Quick Dinner:

Big Delicious, In Need Of Veggies Salad

( greens, red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms, snap peas, EDAMAME, hummus from the other day)
Smoked Salmon from TJ- this brand was SUPER SALTY... i mean "country ham" salty... ick
Garlic Twists ( I used TJ pizza dough with garlic herb seasoning and cheese)

Body:
Gym trip Late Afternoon: Elliptical 30 minutes, Bike 4 miles

Mind:
Paper #3 FINISHED!! It was actually a series of small papers combined for this project on College Women Food Choices. I will make a separate post to explain it!

Studying tomorrow for Research Methods Final and/or Nutrient Metabolism Final ( Lipids)

Soul:
I got a big ol chocolate bar (hershey's dark pic tomorrow) and Jeff and I are watching "Tropic Thunder"...

I am getting in trouble for writing and not watching so its boyfriend-time

Pumpkin Pineapple Strawberry Yogurt Oats

Irish Style Oats: These oats are essentially steel cut oats, only quicker cooking. Much less processed than say, quaker instant, but do no need to be cooked for 30 minutes on the stove! I got them at Trader Joes for about $3 for a bucket (32 servings-ish ?) So that is 1/4 cup of irish style oats, mixed with about 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup organic pumpkin . Microwaved with cinnamon and a little brown sugar for about 4 minutes. It was so hot so I put a few frozen pineapple and a few frozen strawberries stuck into the oats to heat up

Then, I needed protein! I didn't feel up to eggs So O% Chobani Plain it was! ( That is the big container I have had for a few weeks but its funny how it looks just like the single serving size. Either way, there was just under one serving left.. so...

The Final One bowl Product

I mixed pumpkin butter into the yogurt- SO DELICIOUS! I added a teaspoon of peanut butter but apparently it thought the bowl was a slide...." Weeeeeeee" all the way into the oats. I don't mind so much with oats when things mix but I am totally the type that likes everything separate and not touching each other ( not in a weird way, just how i would prefer). In the middle is a little sprinkle of Uncle Sam's cereal (mostly just flax seeds because thats all i wanted)


Body:
I am not tired or sore from yesterday! Which is great! I think I will stick to running 3+ miles every other day + biking and more cardio to equal about a 6-10 mile run would equal. I would be up for a workout, but since I had a great cardio session yesterday and have LOTS of writing to do for my paper due tomorrow- I decided on a pre-final/dinner workout this afternoon ( I use purple dumbells my mom got me for me about five years ago- they are 8lbs each)

strength- shoulders and chest: push ups, plank, bent over fly 's; abs: planks, figure 8's, side to sides, my version of sit ups ( I have my arms above my head, knees bent, feet on the floor, keep my arms up and lift up then twist side to side and back down)

and... Yoga! 30 minutes felt fantastic, I wish I had more time!

Mind:
Paper #2. ... (5 pages are written but I emailed it to the professor for revisions)

Minority health response paper. We have to read this week's articles on concordance in healthcare, minority medical research views, and how these concpets tie into our own topics we researched (mine was native american children on reservations). Minority groups such as african americans, native americans, hispanics etc. have experienced racial discrimination for hundreds of years and this not only reflects in their culture and education and emotional well being, but it leaves most with negative views of healthcare practices also. The Tuskegee Syphillis Study is one very very bad example that has unfortunately not been made well-known for a variety of reasons.

Essentially, a group of about 400 men who HAD syphillis, were offered to take part in medical research to hopefully find cures for the disease. At the time there was no institutional review board that oversees the ethical practices of research. Well, as a graduate student and having been a student member of the Institutional Review Board in undergrad, there are ethical standards we must now abide by in research (both animal and human research) such as:
- informed consent ( which protects the participant in the research by securing their participation and fully disclosing what is happening in the research. If anything not explained on the consent form should occur, they would be protected by law because they signed what was on the consent form only so anything else would be illegal for the researchers to try).
There are many other aspects of IRB's but essentially they were formed to protect the research participants- make sure they are not harmed etc.

Well, the Tuskegee study essentially gave some of their subjects the drug that helped the disease, while others got another drug that didn't do any harm but did not cure it. Because there was no IRB or standards at the time, the study needed to maintain the groups as they progressed to make sure there were no other side effects, make sure they found the cure, etc. Well the people that did not get the right drug ( which the researchers did NOT know at first which drug would help ) eventually started passing away because of the disease. So the researchers then found out which drug was the "cure" and STILL did not offer the "other drug" group the "cure drug" because they wanted to continue research on the other "drug" .This was a HORRIBLE example of medical research and luckily in the 70's when they found out about the "cure drug" , the researchers were slapped with a lawsuit and helped families of all the victims and tried to rectify their wrong-doings.

Unfortunately, this had major impacts of minority health research because now people that may be at a disadvantage are PURPOSELY not seeking health care because 1. they do not trust "white" doctors 2. they do not trust the government 3. Minority groups have been asked about the study and have complete misunderstandings of the TRUTH. (this was from a focus group that was one article I read this week). They believed researchers injected men with syphillis when that is not true. They believed that the government knew all along and was purposely trying to opress that group of men- all kinds of stuff.

So if you are interested in that study here is more info on it : http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/after.htm . I left out a lot of details but tried to give a basic understanding of what went on.

Anyway, that is what I need to write my paper about today.!

Final Exam at 5:00 pm at a diner! It is for my gastronomy class, we are eating at a local diner that serves only local, fresh, organic food . I am not sure what part of that is the exam but we will see!! I will be bringing my camera!

Soul:

I had a dinner at a local sustainable organic diner that serves fantastic wines, cocktails and is in this fantastic historical building for my first final exam of the semester!! How awesome is that!

Jeff and I talked about our christmas plans and who/when/where we will be seeing.

My brother is most likely going to visit since he didnt get to visit over thanksgiving!

Jeff's cousin ( we went to their wedding in september in NY- Buffalo- Niagra Falls trip) is visiting the weekend after I am finished with exams.

My paper , although I am not satisfied completely with it, is pretty much done. I could hand it in as in, ( which feels great with all the other work I need to do) but I am a slight perfectionist.

Did I mention I had dinner as my final exam? I had a great conversation over dinner with classmates on top of that!

Weekend Photo Recap

 

Friday Lunch: Leftover Mediterranean Primavera Pasta with extra veggies (from dinner on wednesday night)

Friday Non-Dinner: English Muffin,1/2 with Peanut Butter n Pumpkin Butter ( bottom left), 1/2 with Rosemary Pork (top left), Cranberry Relish and Chobani Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt (top right) a bite of Tiramisu (bottom right)

 

Saturday Breakfast: Oatmeal (irish style oats mixed with water), lots of Cinnamon, Half a banana, peanut butter, Blueberries, Egg whites with Hot Sauce

 

Saturday Lunch: Tuna with a pickle and mustard, Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup
 
(dinner out Grilled Chicken Salad)
Sunday Breakfast:
Coconut, Berries, Nonfat greek yogurt, pumpkin butter, peanut butter on top of Pumpkin mixed with egg whites, cinnamon, baking powder, and irish style oats

Sunday Dinner: SO GOOD! Some leftover rosemary pork, Annie's mac and cheese , and TONS of frozen veggies:
Asparagus , Bell Pepper Mix , Spinach , Broccoli, Artichokes- All heated up in the microwave with a little TJ poultry seasoning and some parm cheese.
 

 

Monday Breakfast
Pumpkin Pie for 1 (sort of) and Berries! I didn't bake it because I was hungry and lazy- I added tsp peanut butter (bottom, left) and a tsp of flax butter (bottom, right) Some pumpkin butter not even a tsp, and about 1/4 cup chobani nonfat plain yogurt ( love it- its the best texture i think)

cinnamon sugar toast

SO still sick. BAH HUM( this icky) BUG!

Doctor called and prescription being filled. Oh I can't wait to feel NOT like death.

My mom used to make me cinnamon and sugar toast when I was sick, Did anyone else have this as a kid? Well, I decided it has been probably a year since I had this and being sick still was a great chance to relive this childhood memory.

Newman's Own Whole Wheat, Double Fiber Bread, toasted and then I rubbed a little butter all over ( I am talking little , just so the sugar and cinnamon can stick)... Then sprinkled with brown sugar blend and cinnamon. If you never had this, you must try! I usually had it with white sugar but you could use whatever-

Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt with a couple almonds and a pistachio, a skinny banana with flaxseed butter.

Rocky Road...

Body:
Doctor says it might not yet be a respiratory infection but I did get an icky strep test that (thank goodness) came out negative! So rest it was after buying some crucial theraflu for sore throat. As soon as I got home and took it, I fell asleep. I pretty much slept all day because I did not sleep AT ALL last night! Awful, I was up every hour ( i looked at the clock) from my throat hurting etc etc.

Mind:
I even stayed home from class... I HATE missing class but there was just no way it would be good for me to bear the cold and strain myself and making classmates sick ( esp. since there were food presentations today too)

I did do three suduko puzzles after waking up late afternoon

Soul:
I found a race next week, Thursday morning 8k around my Campus!!! How awesome is that! I loved training with my runs around campus and I was looking for a 10k to keep my spirits up since the non-race marathon a few weeks ago. I am going to try to kick this nasty bug with lots of rest and hopefully be up and going by thursday/friday of this week .. It will feel so good!

I totally called my mom - It will never go away, needing your mom's comfort when you are sick. I actually broke down on the third time I woke up last night, 1:30 am, I banged my hip on our doorknob trying to get back to bed without lights on. I crashed and just started bawling, which made me literally heave because of all my congestion and throat pain. As I was blurting unaudibly " i can't breathe I am so miserable I just want to sleep I hate this"....Jeff almost laughed at me but was seriously SO sweet, he was rubbing my hands and patting my back telling me to try not to cry because it would make it worse. He is so wonderful.

So this is the first time all day I have had any energy to do anything!
Onto eats... I did eat today and last night I made the most amazing dessert so I should start with that..



HOLY YUM! Rocky Road Brownie for Two ( B-healthy -style)
-three tablespoons no-pudge brownie mix

-2.5 tablespoons nonfat greek yogurt ( i used Oikos Organic Vanilla)
-mixed it very well

-microwaved for 2 minutes

-topped that with:
- Marshmallows

- Pistachios, Almonds, Pecans
- Flaxseed Butter

So freakin delicious! yum!

I know the marshmallows and the mix aren't incredibly healthy- but all the other ingredients are - IT WAS AWESOME!

Tuesday Breakfast:

French Toast
- two egg whites

-splash of organic 1% milk

-cinnamon

-a half teaspoon of Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

-whisk very well

-Dip slightly toasted bread into this mix, then into a hot pan ( on medium)
- While it was cooking I heated up some fruit - I could definately use the extra vitamins/minerals/antioxidant
- pineapple

-strawberries

-blueberries

-cranberries

When the french toast was done, I took it out and sliced half of a banana into the pan. Turned off the heat and let the sugars caramelize - YUM

Two dipping sauces: Chobani Strawberry Greek 0% Yogurt and Flaxseed Butter

Fantastic breakfast- I was hoping it would make it a fantastic day, but the cold won...

onto...

Lunch:
I got back from the doctor's and had...
Chicken Noodle Soup ( Healthy Choice)
added extra chicken and extra veggies!
On the side I slathered up a mini whole wheat tortilla (Trader Joe's) with hummus

Dinner:
Easy casserole + Tofu on the Side
-Annie's Mac and Cheese ( organic)
-Made as directed but used a splash of organic cream and 1/4 cup nonfat plain Chobani

- While that cooked, I defrosted broccoli in the dish

-Added sliced up "healthy style" canadian ham bacon ( it literally says it on the package "health style")
- I added the Annie's into my dish, mixed all of it really well

-Crushed four triscuits very well and spread on top

-Shook Parmesan cheese on that

-Baked for about 20 minutes on 350 ( in my toaster oven of course)

For the tofu, ( which is making its first appearance on the blog! wooohooo applause please)
I dried it out with a few paper towels, then sliced the pack in half. I left one half in the fridge for later and this half I used
Olive Oil

Pepper, Salt

Hot Pepper Sauce ( dashes of Frank's and Tabasco)

And let it saute on several of its sides.
I have to say, it was alright, but it was tofu.
Does anyone have any good recipes for tofu that do not include a "sweet" factor?

I found a bunch with maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, etc. I was trying to make it taste like buffalo chicken but it didn't do it for me. I will not give up on tofu though. ( I have actually tried several times before) ..

monday monday

Breakfast:
Breakfast Pumpkin Pie for One

- I put a little cranberry fruit sauce on the side ( frozen wild organic blueberries, frozen organic cranberries, frozen pineapple- heated up in the microwave!) and
- a half of a tiny banana w/ Naturally More Flax Butter! ( I haven't gotten this stuff in about a year- but its yummy- it has more protein (10g) than regular peanut butter, Less sugar, and less overall fat... which is a tough combo to actually make! I enjoy the flaxseeds in their as well !

Close Up...looks like a mini -pie slice...

Like my pjs!?
Yum Yum Yum!

Lunch:
Spaghetti Squash for One ( small guy)
I used it as my "serving dish" and put all the spaghetti in one half, with extra mixed veggies and vegetarian crumbles in the other
Chobani

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast
Leftover spaghetti squash and veggies
Sweet Potato Fries!



Body:
Rest...
( I also did an intense yoga and strength session after my short 3 mile run yesterday so I wanted to focus on my work today anyway)

Mind:
Finished up both presentations but still have to rehearse them tomorrow

Soul:
Woke up early! I am hoping to wake up early again tomorrow and start a morning workout schedule... I HATE working out in the morning! I love working out in the afternoon as my "reinforcement" for a good day- but I want to adjust to the mornings because it just works out better with the rest of my life if I can get to it since classes are in the afternoon 4-7 and my homework usually gets done best before those hours.

Meeting my mom on friday! We also have friends coming into town this weekend! My best friend I grew up with got engaged! A girl I knew in college just got engaged last week too!
My newlywed best friend Andrea just got back from Hawaii and is pretty sure she is pregnant! Wow!
see you in the am