Grab-n-Go

Now I don't know about everyone else, but as much as I try to eat fresh, clean, unprocessed food, it's just not always an option. On those days I have to go for my back up health-ier options. While I don't suggest these are foods you add into your daily diets, the do make for quick convenient meals when you're traveling. or if you've returned from a work trip and have absolutely no food at home.

Subway 6" Veggie

with pepper jack cheese and honey mustard sauce,

and side of Baked Lays and Light Lemonade

464 calories, 9.5 g fat, 66 g carbs, 12 g protein

Taco Bell Chicken Fresco Tacos (x2) and side of Pinto Beans

510 calories, 14 g fat, 63 g carbs, 34 g protien

Making A List

So I've noticed I've been rather unproductive lately. Since I've started blogging I've notice it's much easier to fill up my days and keep me entertained with reading, writing and commenting blogs; however, what I've also noticed is a decline in keeping up with the rest of my life. All those mindless tasks that I use to say "I'll take care of that tomorrow" have traveled off into the deep dark spaces of my mind, whereas food, health, exercise and mainly food have filled up most of the functioning parts of my brain. :-)

So today I put so deep thought into how I would rectify this situation and I came up with the amazing idea! I will create a list of things I need to do and I will call it - A To-Do List! I will write down all the little tasks I need to do like clean out my inbox, return emails, make phone calls, organize photos, open my snail mail, etc. Friends, I have a feeling this To-Do list will change the world as we know it! Man, I am so happy I invented To-Do list so I could save the productivity of mankind.

How do you keep up with all of your "To-Do" tasks? Are you a list maker?

News Alert! If you have not seen Food Inc yet, which I highly, highly recommend you watch this movie like 5 times, you can watch it FREE on PBS through tonight at midnight!Be sure to check this movie out!

Now for yesterdays EATS!

Subway had free breakfast yesterday and who turns down free breakfast? They said this was a whole wheat English muffin but it doesn't look or taste quite like my Trader Joe ones. Topped with egg whites, a slice of Black Forest ham, and half a slice of pepper jack cheese. I also added onions and banana peppers because who doesn't like stinky breath first thing in the am??! The sandwich was, eh, okay. I will never have a craving for it like my favorite little Egg McMuffins, but I may try it again sometime when I'm traveling on the road. Subways website says this little sandwich only has 160 calories, 4 g fat, 18 g carb, 5 g fiber and 15 g protein. I feel like the calorie count might be a little low... but it's not too far off.

Lunch yesterday was one of my famous salads of randomness. Started with a bed of spinach and topped it with roasted veggies - eggplant, asparagus and sweet potatoes, beets, 9 grain medley, and goat cheese.

Then I added a veggie burger to the top and some roasted curried chickpeas for some crunch. I used up the last little bit of my Green Goddess dressing by mixing it with a little water, shaking the bottle well, and pouring the remains over my salad. Very yummy!

Afternoon snack was kombucha.

I don't know why this floaty stuff on the top freaks me out so much but I drink it anyway.

For dinner I headed to LAVO with some friends. It was good but wasn't amazing. I personally think Tao (same owners) has better food. However, if I were going to spend that type of money on dinner (ours was free), I would've gone to MESA grill or another spot. Here's a recap.

• Cocktail: Saggio - Stoli Blueberry, fresh muddled sage, lemon juice, splash of soda
• Appetizers: Garlic Bread with marinara, Caesar salad and Pizza (I only had salad)
• Entrees: Chicken Marsala served over spinach, Penne Pasta served al dente with eggplant & marinara, Salmon, Fried Zucchini strips, Gratin Mashed Potatoes and French Fries. ( I tried everything except the salmon and the fries)

After dinner we went upstairs where we had bottle service. Getting crazy on a school night! It was a great evening though. And did I mention FREE! ;-)

TGIF

Yay for Fridays! Particularly for Fridays and weekends that I don't have to work! I don't have much to say today. After being 45 and rainy here in Vegas yesterday, it's 75 and sunny once again and in the 80's this weekend. I just got my hair done, my little surgery boo boo is feeling so much better, and I'm ready for some fun this weekend. So without further ado, here are my food. My cameras was dead most of yesterday so please excuse my iPhone photos. :-)

Now for my Eats!

Yesterdays breakfast was a whole wheat english muffin with a Laughing Cow wedge and 2oz smoked salmon. 

 Snack was airplane peanuts! :-)

At lunch time it was pouring rain and I had just the cure for it.

I had bought this at Whole Foods sometime back and was waiting for a perfect cold weather day to enjoy it. It tasted like a grown up version of Cambell's Bean with Bacon soup I ate as a kid. Very yummy! I spiced it up with some sriracha and fresh ground pepper, and had some whole wheat crackers and Laughing Cow wedge on the side.

 I was still a little hungry so I snacked on the rest of the roasted veggies from the night before.

After work yesterday I hit the gym for 60 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I feel like I'll be up for some running this weekend! :-) After the gym I snacked on some chips and salsa and my Amazing Grass-wanna-be.

For dinner I decided to cook some frozen spinach & cheese raviolis. I had bought these back before I ran my half and hadn't made them. I decided to throw together a little sauce with beans for some extra protein


Several cloves of garlic in a teaspoon of evoo, the rest of the bell peppers and tomatoes, and a can of crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 40 minutes or so.

Boil water for pasta and then add beans to sauce.

And in the end you have, TA-DA!!

I also made this salad on the side with Romain lettuce, beets, artichoke hearts and goat cheese. The dressing is a dollop of Greek yogurt, a dab of Dijon, and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Perfect!

Breakfast this am was cottage cheese with cumin. Simple.

And I had this snack on the way to get my hair done. I gotta say, I don't think I'm a fan of Larabars.

And then at 2pm when my appointment was finally over I had this for lunch. A 6' buffalo chicken from Subway, loaded with lots of veggies and topped with honey mustard. Also had a side of Baked Lays and light lemonade.

That's all, I'm off for the weekend!

What's your favorite food to grab on the go or when you are in a hurry?

I Heart Artichokes!

Spring has sprung! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the artichokes are blooming! That's right, the artichokes are blooming! Did you know that artichokes are actually flowers? They are the flower bud to a thistle plant. Each spring along with the daffodils, ducklings, and warmer weather artichokes season begins. Artichokes are packed full of potassium, Vitamin C, calcium, protein and high in fiber. They're also an antioxidant power house hosting more antioxidants than red wine or chocolate.

I had an artichoke craving yesterday I could not resist. I hit up the grocery store after work and I stumbled upon a $3.99 price tag! I nearly walked away, but I wanted an artichoke for dinner so I coughed up money and left with my expensive, rather large, flower. Many people I have encountered fear the artichoke. Most likely because they don't know how to prepare it or how to eat it. Here's a simple step-by-step for choosing, prepping, preparing and eating an artichoke!

When picking an artichoke at the store look for one that is mostly green with the outer leafs in good condition. The artichoke should feel firm when you squeeze it and feel heavy for it's size, a sign that it fresh and still retaining water. The bottom leaves should snap off. If the bottom leaves feel rubbery, the artichoke is probably old.

Once you get your artichoke home you should peel off the leafs around the base and cut and 1/2" to 1" off the top and the steam depending on it's size. Also, if there are thorns on the tips of the leaves you might want to clip these off with scissors.

Once your artichoke is prepped you are ready to steam it. You can either fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil or use a steamer basket. Cover the pot with a lid and set the timer.  Depending on the size of the artichoke it will need to cook for 30-45 minutes. This particular artichoke was rather large.

While it is cooking I recommend you pour yourself one of these.

Lot's of people like to dip their artichokes in mayonnaise or an aioli. I wanted to make a healthier version so I mixed together some Greek yogurt, Dijon, lemon juice and lots of dill for a dipping sauce and set it aside. 

You will know your artichoke is done when the leaves easily pull off and meat of the leaf is tender.

The outer leafs will have less meat but as you get closer to the center you'll notice more and more of the leaf is edible. Use your teeth to scrape off the edible part of the leaf.

Once you reach the center, you can pull off these soft petals and eat them. Watch out for prickles on the tips though.

Once you get to the furry middle you can use a spoon to clean the artichoke. Don't eat this!

Mmmmmm... the decadent artichoke heart! Truly the best part of the artichoke. You can eat the entire base including the stem. Some people don't like the stem because it can be bitter, but I don't like to waste a precious bite of a delicious artichoke.

And when you're all done this is what you'll have left. I think next time I would like to weigh the artichoke before and weigh what is left after just too see how much was actually edible. This was delicious and very filling though. My whole dinner was this large artichoke, Greek yogurt dill dip and 2 glasses of chardonnay.

Artichoke & Greek yogurt dip, 118 calories, 2g fat, 22g carb, 12g protein

10 oz white wine, 240 calories, og fat, 8g carb, 0g protein

Do you have any foods you have a fear of cooking? What types of foods have you avoided at home because you did not know how to prepare it? I avoided tofu for a long time, but now I love it!

My other eats for yesterday included a breakfast of 1/2 c. plain yogurt with a banana, scoop of flax seed and 1/4 c. Bear Naked Granola. I also had a cup of coffee with half & half and Truvia.

 372 calories, 10 g fat, 63 g carb, 13 g protein

I had a doctor appointment at lunch to have a potentially cancerous "beauty mark" removed (refer back to my ABC's post) so I grabbed this sandwich from Subway on the way back to the office. A 6" veggie on wheat with pepper jack cheese and honey mustard sauce and a bag of BBQ Baked Lay's. 

464 calories, 9 g fat, 77 g carb, 12 g protein

Also had this little guy

25 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g carb, 0 g protein

Mid afternoon I was starving and had NO snacks!! It was horrible! I munched on 1/4 cup of Bear Naked Granola and then stole a handful of almonds from a coworker.

120 calories, 2 g fat, 23 g carb, 4 g protein

104 calories, 9 g fat, 4 g carb, 4 g protein

Day Total: 1,444 calories, 32 g fat, 203 g carb, 45 g protein

When I got home I made sure to put some Kashi bars and Just a Handful packs in my purse so I would have them later on!

I'm off! Have a great Thursday!