Shaved Fennel, Garbanzo Beans, and Avocado Salad

It may be Fall in most parts of the country, but here in Vegas it still summer. Sunny, 80 degrees and the pools still open! I wanted something light and refreshing for lunch the other day and came up with this quick salad.

A bed of field greens, shaved fennel, garbanzo beans and fresh avocado. For the dressing I used equal parts of lemon juice, evoo, white balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste. Perfect as meal or as starter.


Enjoy!

People Who Photograph Their Food

People who photograph their food? What, what? People like that exist?? Yep, and I'm one of them.

The New York Times had an interesting article this week about people who photograph their food. Being pretty much brand spanking new to the food photographing world, I'm just barely starting to come out of my food blogging closet. By now, most of my close friends and family know what I've been up to, but there's still a lot of people I have yet to tell. I'm sure my coworkers have seriously began to question my sanity when I'm taking pictures of yogurt each morning, but so far this has been a fun little hobby.

The truth is I've always been a bit obsessed with food. I love food! It's one of the great pleasures in life and can be linked to many happy times and memories. Looking back over the years I've realized that I've always been a foodie. Not only am I a foodie, but most of my friends and family are foodies too! (Some might also consider us winos). We love to cook, we love to go out to eat, we talk about our favorite meals, we discuss that awesome dinner we had 2 years ago like the flavors are still lingering on our tongue, we like to take food adventures, and we love unique food combination.

Not everything I eat is 100% healthy and nutritious, and I will never say it is. I love diving into a huge plate of nachos with friends and margaritas, but I also thoroughly enjoy lots and lots of fresh veggies! This blog serves as my outlet to share my great meals with my friends and family and anyone else who cares to read. And hopefully gives you some ideas on how to find balance in your life as well.

Now for my eats!

Breakfast yesterday I had 6 (six!) deviled eggs and a side of pineapple. To keep the calorie load under control, but maximize the amount of intake, I used only 2 egg yolks mixed with a big dollop of Greek yogurt and a dab of Dijon mustard and used that mixture to fill my 6 egg halves.

Back at the office I was hungry mid-morning. I'm usually a 3 square meals with slight possibility of an afternoon snack kind of gal, but this week I've just been hungry! I snacked on this Just a Handful snack of cashews, almonds and dried cranberries from Trader Joe's.

For lunch I went home and mixed up this salad. An everything but the kitchen sink salad. It had romaine lettuce, baby spinach, roasted veggies - sweet potatoes, eggplant, and asparagus, corn, black beans, a diced up tic-tac-toe potato, and some 6 bean medley. For the dressing I mixed up some Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, honey, rice vinegar and little evoo. Quite tasty!!

and then I had one of these vegan chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

After work I hit up the grocery store which I found was entirely too much exercise for my little boo-boo! For a 1" incision, this bugger really hurts, or I should say annoying! It feels like a lobster has clamped down on my side and won't let go. I've been self medicating with wine. :-) Grocery trip today included: chicken broth, organic milk, frozen spinach, frozen artichoke hearts, a big artichoke (only $1.99 at Trader Joe's vs. $3.99 at Albertson's yesterday!), Super Green Drink Mix (which I'm hoping is comparable to Green Superfood), 3 Larabars, Morning Star Buffalo nuggets - been dying to try these!, English muffins, kalamata olives, 2 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc, 2 cans crushed tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and cherry tomatoes. Whopping total of $70! Whoowie!

This Sauvignon Blanc is fabulous by the way and only $5.99. I suggest you hurry your butt over to Trader Joe's and stock up because last year once they sold out, it never came back!

I also had this small grocery trip yesterday. Big artichoke (cooking), 2 cans garbanzo beans, 2 cans beets, goat cheese, nail files and tongs. $22.79. My grocery bill so far this month is right around $93. Let's see if I can keep it under $150 this month. I am traveling next week so that should be pretty easy. :-)

The lady at the grocery store thought I was super cute and loved that I was "green" and brought my own bag. Doesn't everyone do this??

First before I started dinner, I just had to try these Morning Star Buffalo nuggets. Pretty good!!

Dinner was use up all the veggies in the fridge night so I made some primavera pasta. In the mix were yellow squash, zucchini, onions, red pepper, and mushrooms cooked in chicken stock with basil and oregano. Also sliced some grape tomatoes and some "shaved" squash and zucchini for aesthetics.

For the sauce I used about a cup of chicken stock, cup of milk and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and whisked it together.

Then I added the sauce and the pasta to veggies and mixed it all up and let it sit for a few minutes allowing the sauce to thicken. Final result looked something like this! Yummy and filling! I was going to add shrimp but I forgot!

Do you ever wonder what to do with leftover chicken stock? Try freezing it! Pour the extra into ice cube trays. Once frozen transfer to a zip-lock bag, then you'll always have some chicken stock on hand!

I hate wasting food! Anyone else hate wasting food? What kind of tricks of the trade do you have for preserving food?

Weighing In

Now I know a majority of the people out there don't believe in scales. And I know many weight loss programs, trainers, dietitians, and bloggers say to only weigh yourself once a week or to not weigh yourself at all and let your clothes tell you your size. However, I always have and always will be a daily weigher. I'm not obsessed and there are always day(s) that I forget or weeks when I'm traveling when I'm not able to, but as part of my daily morning routine, I like to step on the scale.

For me, stepping on the scale helps me to monitor my day to day eating and exercising habits. I have a range that my weight will fluctuate within on a daily basis, and if I happen to be on the high end, I know I need to monitor my food intake for the next 24-48 hours. I know this because I know my body. I know my body can gain 5 lbs just looking at a carrot cake. Lucky for me, I don't have much of a sweet tooth. On the other hand, I can't stay away from salty foods and sometimes high fat foods. Basically what I'm trying to say here is just that I use the scale as a healthy way to keep balance in my life.

Unfortunately, the scale is not always my friend. When I stepped on this morning, my weight was 4 lbs beyond the high end of my normal range! How is this possible?!

Well, looking back on my eating habits over the past week, they haven't been the greatest. I did eat a lot of food with no health content and drink alcohol quite a bit the week before my half marathon. But I also had a lot of healthy foods in there too! I did eat extra calories over the weekend. But I also burned 1500 on Saturday and probably another 400+ on my hike/walk Sunday. And I did have uncontrollable hunger all day yesterday. I kept telling myself to drink more water (and I had lots) but I was still hungry, so I ate. But I can't go back in time I can only move forward. The weight on the scale is there and it's up to me to make the correct eating and exercise choices to get me back to my right weight. I know my body best and let's just say sometimes my pounds don't just come and go. Sometimes they like to stay for a season or two. Let's just hope the weight rebounds in a week and these pounds aren't stickers!


On to my eats! Yesterdays breakfast was plain yogurt with a banana, big spoonful of ground flax seed, and 1/4 c. granola.

For lunch I had this big salad with Goddess dressing. I usually make my own dressing, but mom bought this while she was in town so I figured I would it! Salad had romaine lettuce, spinach, black beans, corn, onion, tomato, leftover roasted veggies - sweet potatoes, eggplant and asparagus, and half an avocado.

And then I finished off the last 4 Peeps! No more candy in the house! Whoo-hoo!

Back at the office (like 5 mins after I got there) I had this as a snack. Ten Wisecrackers and a Laughing Cow wedge.

And still hungry a little later I had 100 calorie pack of popcorn. It didn't pop very well, and it was burnt. Good think I like burnt popcorn!

After work I came home still hungry (wtf?). So I snacked on half this leftover tic-tac-toe potato with the yogurt/dill dip. and then I finished the other half as well.

And then I had one of these cookies my mom left behind. and I had 2 more that I didn't photo. Told you I had a raging appetite yesterday!

 After my snacks I made a valiant effort to do Yoga for Runners I downloaded from yogadownload.com. About 10 minutes into it I stopped paying attention and became thoroughly confused as to what position I was suppose to be in. I pushed "stop" to the gentle voice that was guiding me and just did some yoga stretching on my own. I actually feel great today with virtually no soreness left from the race! Woo-hooo! I might even go for a run this evening.

For dinner I made the same thing I had for lunch. Pretty much the same salad with the same dressing with slight variations like arugula instead of romaine. 

And then I had another one of these guys... Just one this time!

And one of the eggs I had just finished boiling.

And then I had my bedtime tea, bubble bath and bed. :-)

Question for today: Do you use a scale to monitor weight? Or do you just go by how your clothes fit? Do you have days where you just feel absolutely ravenous?

Have a good Tuesday!