Today’s my Friday! I’m leaving Thursday for a super long 6-day “weekend.” We’re going to DC for a wedding and then up to New Jersey. I’m excited- I went to college in DC and it still feels like my second home, even though I haven’t been back for a while. Only problem– forecast calls for Thunderstorms every single day. Fingers crossed it changes.

Happy for another What I Ate Wednesday too! Visit Jenn’s page for more fun posts.

Here are my eats from Tuesday:

Morning exercise: The day started off with a mile long swim! I usually don’t count my laps and just swim for a specific amount of time (usually 30 mins, sometimes 45), but today I counted so I could make sure to go a whole mile. It felt great!

Breakfast was post-swim, eaten at Starbucks. Coffee with soy, an enormous banana, and a greek cobani yogurt with a spoonful of jam.

Lunch was raw swiss chard for a salad, topped with half of a leftover stuffed pepper that I was too full to eat at dinner the night before. Hit the spot. I heart leftovers.

Snacks: Juicy watermelon.

And my favorite snack lately– a version of chocolate milk: unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened almond milk and a spoonful of sugar, all whipped up in a blender. It’s not as chocolatey as the real thing, but does the trick when I am craving chocolate or sweets.

And dinner was a veggie plate with Swiss Chard, zucchini, and a carrot. Plus an egg topped with nutritional yeast on the side.

Hope your day is going well!

–What’s your favorite summertime food?
–What’s your favorite snack lately? I need new ideas to bring to work!

Last night, I made Stuffed Peppers for the first time. I love that they’re a one-stop-shop for a meal. You get your protein, carbs, and veggies all in one dish!

I made a variation of this recipe, which is a mix of couscous, meat, cinammon, tomato sauce and other yummy things. Among other things, I added kale, carrots, and more peppers to the insides. I used red, orange, and yellow peppers instead of green. I used grass fed beef. And I didn’t add the onions.

Result? Not bad. Not bad at all. They were good. Savory with a touch of sweet. And very, very filling. Couldn’t finish one. Also, aside from the long 45 minutes in the oven, the prep work was fairly quick and easy.
Next time, I’ll vary what I put inside a little bit more. But otherwise, makes a colorful meal!

Someone else got a good dinner too. It was Charlie’s birthday weekend

I made him a mini-grass-fed-beef-burger. He loved it, of course. And ate it in T-minus-3 seconds.

Yes, I ended up cutting it up more so he didn’t choke

He also got doggie-cupcake treats from the bakery that he shared with his dog friends. How cute are these?

Yes, I spoil my dog a little bit. I enjoy it. And the puppy kisses at the end of every day make it more than worth it.

– Dogs– Feed them human food or only dog food?
– Stuffed Peppers- What’s your filling suggestions?

I live about 30 minutes from my parents’ house and there’s something so nice and relaxing about spending an evening there.

The yard is pretty and I can hang out outside

Much, much better views that the dirty, cement-laden city.

And of course, a HUGE perk is that if I go for dinner, they usually do all the cooking and I can just enjoy it!

It was nice enough to sit outside:

My parents are pretty healthy eaters so I *usually* like what they’re making. The other night, they barbequed halibut and we ate it with a green salad and steamed cauliflower. It was nice to be spoiled and not have to cook.

It’s so nice to get out of the city sometimes! It’s also really nice to have someone cook for you. So, if you’re reading, thanks mom and dad

– How often do you sit outside to eat?
— Do you live near your parents? How often do you go for dinner (if that’s an option)?

I’m going out of town this weekend, so I celebrated Cinco de Mayo last night.  Better early than never, right?

I was outside the city last night, so went to dinner at a cute Mexican place with an outdoor patio.

It wasn’t a traditional (greasy?!) Mexican restaurant, but focused more on organic foods and fresh ingredients (aka sweet potatoes in the enchiladas, more veggies, organic meats, etc).  My kind of place!  Plus, it’s really nice to stay out of the City sometimes….I think I’m a subburb girl at heart despite how long I’ve lived in the City.

I ordered the Mahi Mahi Taco…..grilled fish on a corn tortilla with mango salsa.  I asked for no aoili, but they “forgot” so I ate it anyways.  I really dislake aoili so the taco was good, but def not great.

My date got pork enchiladas.  He didn’t like his one bit!

Despite that it was a holiday and all…..and that there was plenty of rum and tequilla there…

I stuck with water

I’m sure I’ll re-celebrate again this weekend (there’s bound to be a Corona somewhere!) and in case you’re wondering, I’m not Mexican, I just like to celebrate as many holidays as possible.  You too?

Ok, so now for some fun facts about Cinco de Mayo that I bet you didn’t know!
I found all the facts on this website and I didn’t really change too much of the wording so the following is pretty much a quote from them….

FUN FACTS ABOUT CINCO DE MAYO

Here, I’ll put it in quotes, so they have official credit….

“1. Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day. It’s really the anniversary of an 1862 battle between Mexico and France.  Clearly, the Mexican army won, hence the celebration every 5th of May.

2. So What Is Mexico’s Independence Day? Mexico celebrates the day it declared its independence from Spanish Rule on September 16th every year.

3. The Battle of Puebla was short. The entire battle lasted just about two hours and changed the course of history in North America.  France had over twice the amount of soldiers than Mexico did.

4. So wait, what were the French doing in Mexico in 1862? While Spain and England left after Mexico declared their independence in 1810, France tried to stay and take over the country. Obviously, it didn’t work out for the French!

5. Cinco de Mayo must be HUGE in Mexico! Not really. The major celebrations of Cinco de Mayo has largely been contained to the village of Puebla, about 100 miles east of Mexico City, where the original battle took place. In reality, Cinco de Mayo is much more popular in America.

6. My grandparents say they don’t remember celebrating Cinco de Mayo when they were kids. What gives? Cinco de Mayo, as we know it today in America, didn’t begin until 1967. Some students from California State University noticed that there weren’t any Mexican holidays celebrated in America like there were for citizens of other descent, like St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, or Chinese New Year. So they chose Cinco de Mayo as the day to celebrate and gathered Chicano students in unity and celebration. It has gotten a little bigger since then.

8. So they don’t party so much in Mexico, huh? Whoa, hardly. In fact, Cinco de Mayo is just one of more than 365 festivals that are celebrated by Mexicans and people of Mexican descent.

10. Have margaritas always been the unofficial drink of Cinco de Mayo? Hardly. While Tequila holds a long and storied place in Mexican and Mexican-American celebratory traditions, the margarita didn’t even exist in 1862! While tequila, ice, lime, and sugar all existed in 1862, they weren’t brought together in the form of a margarita until about 1930. Maybe that’s another day that deserves celebration. Just sayin’.”

Okay, Your Turn!

–Are you doing anything for Cinco de Mayo?
–If you live in the City, how often do you venture out for food/drinks?
–Are you more of a subburb or city person?

Well, you know me– I’m ALL ABOUT the few ingredient, incredibly simple recipes. Honestly, the least amount of steps and the fewer ingredients the better….as long as it doesn’t cut down on taste, of course.

So, Jared has been bugging me for requesting enchiladas for weeks now. Actually, that’s not really true….a few weeks ago, I announced I was going to make enchiladas and then something came up and I never did….and then I promised them the next week….and something came up again and I never did….and that *might* have happened again twice more after that….so you get the point. I finally put an end to that though and I made enchiladas!

I looked through a bunch of different recipes, most of them I ended up dismissing because they either had too many ingredients (which I didn’t have in my cabinets and would be expensive to buy), used cream cheese (which I weirdly can’t stand) or they were too onion-y (which neither of us like much).

And eventually, I just sorta winged it and created a REALLY simple, few ingredient, extra cheesy enchilada bake. They came out good!

Easy, cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

6 Flour Tortillas
2 Cups shredded Chicken (I used a rotiserrie chicken…and then used the leftover chicken for lunches, etc).
1 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 10-oz can red enchilada sauce
1/2 tomato, diced
3/4 cup frozen spinach
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup parsley
1 tbs lime juice
Extra lime wedges

This photo will always look upside down...whoops

Ready for the instructions? It’s super simple!

– Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×9 or 9×11 pan (I used ceramic, glass pan works too).

– In a blender, mix the enchilada sauce, parsley, cilantro and lime juice for 45 seconds.

–In a small bowl, mix the shredded chicken, 3/4 cup shredded cheese, frozen spinach and diced tomato together.

–Lay tortillas out flat, put chicken/cheese mixture, and roll up. Line up in pan.

–Pour enchilada sauce on top.

–Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese on top. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.

–After you take them out of the over, sprinkle some additional cilantro on top and garnish with a line (which you can squeeze on top, if you’d like). Serve with rice and beans for an extra filling meal.

They are extra cheesy and a perfect, simple enchilada that takes such little time to make! Yes, there’s a lot of cheese on there, but they aren’t as greasy as those in a typical Mexican restaurant, so can be counted as pretty healthy (as far as enchiladas go). I used white flour tortillas, but you can use whole wheat if you’d like.

And there ya go! Leftovers for dinner tonight- yeah!

– What do you usually order at a Mexican restaurant? I normally get soft tacos, fajitas, or enchiladas.
– When’s the last time you made enchiladas?
– Tell me something about your day!!

Ahhh, end of the week….almost.

My day started with early morning baking while sipping coffee.
Ghiradelli Brownies…..from a box, not scratch. Hope this doesn’t make me a bad blogger

The usual breakfast

FINALLY unpacking my suitcase

What a mess

Commute to work- blah

Work Work Work

Lunch and snacks.

This is my typical lunch and snacks this week- sweet potato, 2 hard boiled eggs for lunch, almonds and an apple for my snack....packed into a random shopping bag

More work.

Afternoon walk break to get some fresh air.

Hour+ commute home. I’ll spare you a photo of this “worst” part of every day.

Quick gym workout

Quick dinner. Shrimp+veggies.

And then BOOK CLUB. With wine. This is where I brought the brownies. Sadly, no pics…totally forgot.

So that’s how I spent my day.

You? What’s the best part of your day today?

Work is so crazy this week. We’re moving offices and launching a “spring campaign” and it’s been go-go-go. It’s also been pouring rain pretty much non-stop, so it’s all quite a combo. Luckily, I’ve managed to do well on the exercise front and have def felt better because of it (sneaking in early morning and late night workouts to keep me sane).

Anyways, Happy What-I-Ate-Wednesday and Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Jenn!

7:30AM- Breakfast. Apple, HB egg, and Tall Sbucks Coffee with soy.

11:30AM- A very green Lunch. A salad with romaine, parsely, cilantro, and a pear on the side. I kept lunch light on purpose.

2pm: Snack. I had BIG plans to go to the brand new Yogurtland (we don’t have any nearby) for a giant snack this afternoon. But then the weirdest thing happened. I really didn’t feel hungry for yogurt at all. I felt like eating fats and something savory. Who am I? That never happens to me.

So, instead of my yogurt plans, I went with a nut mix and an iced coffee. This nut mix was great because I am still trying to check off my Operation SuperFoods List and so I made a combo of all the ones I’ve been missing. Hazelnuts and Pecans (which I don’t normally like much), Almonds (i can’t make s nut mix without them), Goji Berries (superfood), Currants (Superfood), and Carob chips (superfood too!). I also got an iced coffee with Hemp Milk.

Interesting fact too- see the table in the above photo? It was made out of recycled milk cartons. Neat! Recycle, people!

6pm: Dinner- A red quinoa and edamame salad that I picked up at the same store. It was really good.

Not the most photogenic and certainly not very exciting eats this week, but oh well.

And because I can never resist, a photo of my favorite furball chillin’ with his new toy, Barney.

Hope your day is going well!

- Has work been busy or slow this week?
- What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen made out of recylced materials?
- You recycle, RIGHT?
- Do you like Goji Berries? I wasn’t as big of a fan as I thought I’d be.

After our Tahoe/snow/trip debacle, when we finally got home on Saturday, we were both hungy, but wanted something easy to make. Normally, I would have ordered Chinese take-out or a pizza, but with the “no eating out (while in SF) all this month” rule….we had to cook.

Sooo…..BBQ Chicken Pizza it was!

My cooking had been less than stellar lately (as you can probably tell from the lack of recipes I’ve been posting), but we finally had a winner!

Since I’m guessing all of you have “those” nights too– the ones when you don’t want to think about cooking too much, but want something tasty– I thought I’d share the recipe.  And frankly….it was really good and I’m pretty sure I’ll make this on a non-lazy “I want something really good for dinner” night too!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• Pizza dough (I went the lazy route and got the whole wheat dough at Traders, but Katie makes a good one and I just use ww flour instead)
• Pizza sauce (Store bought or try this one (can keep it in the freezer if you want)
• 2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup bbq sauce
• 1 cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 small tomato
• 1 handful fresh spinach
•  1 (smaller) handful fresh basil
• Cooking spray

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Flour cutting board or work space and let dough sit there for 20 minutes.
3.  Shred chicken and place in small bowl with bbq sauce.  Stir to coat chicken evenly in sauce.
4.  Chop up bell pepper.  Cut stems off basil and spinach.  Slice tomatoes.

5.  Knead and then roll out pizza dough until it’s 12 inches in diameter.  I did this by hand, which took a little while ’cause my bf doesn’t seem to own a rolling pin…(not that surprised)
6.  Spray a baking sheet and put the rolled out dough on top
7.  Spread pizza sauce on top
8.  Sprinkle veggies evenly across dough
9.  Add chicken
10.  Sprinkle generously with cheese!

11. Cook in oven for 9-11 minutes….or until cheese starts to bubble.

And, enjoy!

This was seriously better than any take-out pizza.

Ok, enough of my pizza talk.  Your turn!

How often do you eat pizza?
Do you own a rolling pin?  Do the guys you know own a rolling pin?   Just curious……

Happy Wednesday! Blogging from an overcast and pouring rain day in SF. We need the rain like no one’s business, but it’s like Mother Nature stored up everything all season until this week and just let it all out finally! But rain= cheaper tastier produce, so no real complaints from me.

And now, time for What I Ate Wednesday, Thanks Jenn!

These are my eats from Monday. It was a weird all-over-the-place kind of day. I was getting over being sick and I had jury duty, which made my schedule far from usual. But some days are like that, so here ya go:

My morning started at 7am with a great swim in the pool. I got my own lane (everyone must have slept in because of the time change). Sweet!

8am- Breakfast. Random breakfast: Coffee with soy milk, a banana, and a handful of walnuts. Omega-3s and potassium to start the day? yes, please.

Check out the sticker, "I'm chiquita banana....." Love it!

I was on “call-back status” for jury duty, so I spent the morning working from home (in yoga pants sprawled out on the couch). I was totally expecting not to have to go in, so when the 11:30am recorded message told me that I had to “report” by 12:30 to the courthouse FORTY FIVE minutes from my house, I was way unprepared. Poor Charlie was woken up from a nap and dragged out of the house to “daycare” with me, lol. Aww, the life of a dog.

11:30am- Lunch. This was pretty early for lunch, but I wanted to eat before leaving for jury duty, so I just threw leftovers together. It sorta looked more like dinner (?). 2 chicken legs (with liquid aminos), kale (from the farmer’s market), and leftover roasted eggplant. I ate the kale in the car. Messy.

3pm- After serving my patriotic duty as a juror (thank goodness I didn’t get chosen), I went outside for a snack. Almonds (more nuts? yes of course), an apple, and an honest tea. It was my first time with the tea. It’s ok. Anyone love it?

Isn’t the courthouse pretty? Jury duty was actually not so bad– the whole process is really interesting and like one big history lesson (i’m a nerd, i love u.s. history stuff).

I did a few errands after leaving the courthouse before going home to get some more work done.

6pm- Dinner. Even with the daylight savings change, I’m still hungry early. By 6, I was more than ready to eat. Brussel sprouts and quinoa mixed with pinto beans and nutritional yeast. I got more than my fair share of nutritional yeast that day.

Snack: Later that night, I ate (unpictured) 2 pieces of toast and 2 handfuls of raisins. Raisins do not stand a chance against me. I can’t get enough. Too bad cause they are full of cals.
I got plenty of fats and protein, but I was still pretty hungry in the end of the day. Need to work on better balance, I suppose.

Have you ever been selected to be on a jury?
How often can you work from home?
Do you eat meals in the car ever?

Somehow, I was way ahead of myself when I called last week’s WIAW post #9….when it was actually #7, so fixing that this week, Whoops. Thanks again for hosting, Jenn!

This was a day of good eats. I’m still trying for mostly green, mostly whole, mostly easy-to-make-on-a-busy-workday foods.

Also, for both March and April, I’m in a pact to not eat out at all (except when I’m out of town) to save some $$$. We’re not taking cabs either– it’s crazy how you can blow $20 in an 8 minute cab ride sometimes. Anyways, we’ll see how it goes….

So, back to my day…..

7am: Quick 30 minutes on the elliptical and some stretching. I was a little tight from skiing this past weekend, so it was good to stretch out.

7:45am: Quick breakfast smiley face. Just what I felt like. Bananas are just so delicious sometimes.

Smile

10:30am: Homemade trailmix made up of my favorite almond, raisin, choc chip combo, plus a date mix.

12noon- Lunch. Kale salad, my fave. With tofu and leftover roasted eggplant.

i heart kale

3pm- Big, red apple. Eaten while getting some fresh air.

Check out how windy it was!

Can you tell how hard it's blowing? maybe not. Anyways, I managed to walk by this Starbucks without stopping....go me!

Dinner at 6:30pm: Millet (yum! long time no see), a big salad with beets and red pepper, and some leftover ground turkey. All of this was sprinkled with nutritional yeast and a little himalyan sea salt, of course.

Filling, coloroful, and tasty

Evening walk with a friend in the fog and wind. We almost made it to the bridge, but turned around because we thought we were going to get run over– It was so dark out, we kept having to dodge runners and bikers, lol.

Glass of wine to end the evening. Ahhhhh, nice!

I think my eat-in challenge this month is all about this:

sorry for no photo credit, can't remember where i got this

Note to self– Grocery shop and buy good food!

How often do you eat out? How often do you take cabs?
What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?