Last day of freedom

I keep jokingly referring to today as my last weekday of freedom, because work starts on Monday. Luckily I got a beautiful sunny day. I went for a nice walk around the pond this morning and then had my hair and eyebrows done. A little pampering on my last day.

Last night I got my ice cream fix with Edy’s Slow Churned Ice Cream in Fudge Tracks (vanilla with swirls of fudge and pieces of peanut butter cup). It was so good. I had a small cup, so it should be around the serving size of a half cup, which has 120 calories and 4.5 g of fat. Not bad!

This morning for breakfast I had another Peach Chobani with Kashi’s Seven Grain Honey Puffs mixed in. It was a nice and refreshing summer breakfast.

After my walk, I picked up a salad from Panera for lunch. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture (I guess I was hungrier than I thought). My new favorite salad of theirs is the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad.  As the website says, it includes: all-natural citrus-herb chicken, mixed field greens, romaine lettuce, vine-ripened tomatoes, red onions, pecans, Gorgonzola, apple chips & white balsamic apple vinaigrette. Such a good combo!

Pizza night

Tonight my family had a pizza night for dinner.  However, instead of ordering in, we took a healthier and more economical approach by using Trader Joe’s frozen pizzas. All around, they were a hit! For the 5 of us, we split 3: Four Cheese (or Pizza 4 Formaggi if you want to be fancy), Parlanno (it had green peppers, onion, nitrate-free sausage, and uncured pepperoni), and BBQ Chicken.

Here’s the Parlanno after it was cooked:

BBQ Chicken:

and Four Cheese:

I started with a piece of the Parlanno and a piece of BBQ Chicken. I had to go back for another piece of BBQ though, it was too good. We also had a salad that I put together at the local grocery store’s salad bar. It had most of the usual veggies with some nice salad bar additions like mushrooms, beets, and zucchini salad. And of course I used more of the TJ’s Goddess dressing! Even though it’s for “goddesses,” my dad and brothers admitted to liking it too.

The mushrooms are my favorite part.

While I did get a salad at the grocery store, my real reason for going was to pick up some Edy’s Slow Churned Ice Cream (Fudge Tracks). I just love having something sweet at night, and I figured this was a little better than regular ice cream. Can’t wait to have some soon!

A dog’s life

Just got back from a run outside! At last. Unfortunately my first run in a few days wasn’t the great comeback I was hoping for. For some reason, I was having more trouble breathing than usual. I think it might have been allergies. I never thought I was affected by allergies, but this whole spring I’ve been coughing and sneezing.

For lunch I had a pretty basic meal. I had an English muffin with a little almond butter and jelly, with some carrots and celery. I dipped the veggies in a new flavor of Sabra’s: Greek Olive. I like it, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Roasted Red Pepper in my opinion. It’s good to switch it up every once in a while though.

Even though it wasn’t the most exciting lunch, it hit the spot!

I did some errands this morning and now I plan to relax for the afternoon. Still soaking up these last few days of freedom before work. I’m taking a cue from my dog…he really has perfected the art of relaxation. All he does is sleep and eat!

Fingers crossed

I woke up to sun this morning! It was a great change from the past few days. I have my fingers crossed that it lasts through the day. I’m hoping to get in an outside run this afternoon.

For breakfast, I had a Peach Chobani with a packet of Kar’s Goin Granola. Such a great combination. I love the peach flavor and the granola added the perfect texture.

Only a few days left before work starts, so I’m getting in all my last minute errands this week. My weekend looks busy with a beach trip on Saturday and a family party on Sunday. Right now, I’m off to get a pedicure with my mom!

Tornado Warning?!

Not only has the rain continued into yet another day, but today there’s a chance of a tornado! Massachusetts is being hit with flash floods, hail, and crazy winds. Plus, it’s only in the 60s. Once again, I didn’t get a chance to run outside today. Worst summer ever.

Unfortunately my lunch didn’t get photographed, but I made a repeat of my lunch from Monday. I put together a big salad of Romaine lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, feta, and Trader Joe’s Goddess dressing (love that name). I wrapped some of it in a tortilla and ate a few extra pieces of carrot with hummus.

After lunch, I went to do a little shopping for work clothes. Trying to make my wardrobe a little more professional. When I got back from shopping, I was tired and felt a migraine headache coming on. I thought the best remedy would be a quick snack, so I cut up an apple and paired it with almond butter.

I think it did the trick!

Steel Cut Oatmeal

I experimented with a new breakfast today: Quaker Steel Cut Oats.

I made it by bringing 1 and 1/2 cups of water to a boil, then adding 1/4 cup of oats. I then put the heat to low and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I microwaved some frozen berries and mixed those in with a little cinnamon.

I really liked it! It had a grainier texture than regular oatmeal which was a nice change. The only problem is how long it takes to prepare. I think the best strategy is to make it ahead of time and then just microwave it when you’re ready to eat.

Still cloudy today. I was hoping it would be less rainy so I could get outside later. I miss the sun!

Raining cats and dogs

I was just starting to think about going for a run when the skies opened up. It’s been pouring rain for the past two hours, with occasional loud cracks of lightning. I have a few errands to take care of this afternoon and now I don’t want to leave my house! I keep hoping it’s going to let up, but there are weather advisories on the news so I’m not sure that’s going to happen anytime soon…

Anyway, for lunch I had another Trader Joe’s frozen meal from my shopping trip last week. This one was a “Reduced Guilt” Baked Ziti entree. It was pretty small and not overly exciting, but still good. For a frozen meal it boasted pretty good stats: 320 cals, 7 g of fat, and an impressive 12 g of protein.

Back to waiting for this crazy rain to finally stop!

Lots of Tortillas

Today for lunch, I made a salad with Romaine, tomatoes, carrots, feta cheese, chicken, and some of Trader Joe’s Goddess Dressing. It was the first time I used the dressing, and it was great! I wrapped some of the salad up into a tortilla and finished the rest on the side.

After lunch I went for a run at a pond near my house, a popular place for people to walk, run, and ride bikes. Once around the pond is a little over 2 miles. I did a lap there today and then had an apple to hold me over until dinner.

I used tortillas again at dinner when we had tacos with ground turkey. I had two of these, with lettuce, tomato, Mexican sauce, and a little sour cream.

Just found out today that my new job starts next Monday, so I just have one more week of summer freedom!

Back to reality

The Monday morning after a holiday weekend is always a struggle. Even though I’m still enjoying my summer vacation before work starts, it’s hard to say goodbye to the weekend.

Last night, we had a little cookout to end the Fourth of July weekend. I tried a new Portbello and Swiss Turkey burger.

Here it is ready to eat:

So good!

This morning I had a yogurt mixture with a new Kashi Cereal: 7 Whole Grain Honey Puffs. I combined Plain 2% Fage with the Honey Puffs, as well as some fresh nectarine and blueberries. Here it is before I mixed in the nectarine.

It was a great combination, and I really enjoyed the Honey Puffs texture in the yogurt.

For the rest of the day, I’m planning to take advantage of the sun. Right now I’m going to go outside and finish my book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and maybe go for a run later this afternoon.

Fourth of July

I hope everyone had a great holiday!  In Boston, we finally had some beautiful summer weather. I spent a lot of time in the city–with my family during the day, and then met up with friends in the evening.

My family went to Sonsie for lunch.  We went here for lunch last year on the Fourth also, so I guess it’s becoming a family tradition. It’s a beautiful restaurant right on Newbury Street, with a cafe section that looks out on to the street. During the summer, the windows are wide open, so it’s a perfect opportunity for people-watching.

For my meal, I ordered a crab salad sandwich. It was difficult to narrow down my choices because everything on the menu looked good (and I was really hungry). This was sort of a split decision after I saw the person at the next table order it. I really enjoyed it. It was on great toasted bread, with applewood bacon, lettuce and tomato. The crab tasted nice and fresh. My only complaint was that the salad was a bit heavy on the spices, particularly dill. As a fairly strong spice, I think they may have slightly overdone it. But even so, it didn’t stop me from finishing almost the entire thing! It also came with amazing homemade chips, made from thick slices of potato. Here’s a picture of the sandwich (sorry it came out a bit blurry):

That evening, I went back into the city to meet up with a friend. We went out to dinner at Parish Cafe, just a street over from Sonsie on Boylston Street.  This restaurant is known for its sandwiches, as each one is created by a leading chef at some of Boston’s most gourmet restaurants. My all-time favorite is one called “Elephant Walking on Eggs.” It was made by Gerard Lopez, a chef at a restaurant called The Elephant Walk. As the menu says, it’s “an assortment of julienned vegetables sautéed with fresh goat cheese and New England eggs. Served omelette style on a French baguette. Sided with mixed greens, tomatoes and cucumbers with an herb vinaigrette.” So good! Unfortunately I just had a sandwich at lunch and was still a little full, so I went with a Greek salad instead.

After dinner, we walked around the city for over an hour. It felt as if we walked miles! We were originally looking for a frozen yogurt place, but by the time we finally found it, it was closed. So we settled for ice cream down the street instead. I think we deserved it after all the walking.

Then we found a spot by the Charles River to get ready to watch the fireworks. A friend from college who just moved to Boston met up with us too. I was happy to see that one of my college friends and one of my friends from home got along really well. I have a feeling I’ll be mixing these two groups of friends a lot this year, so I’m glad it’s working out so far.

It’s hard to get pictures of fireworks, but I did my best. The show was beautiful!