Archive for June, 2009

Daily Delish – An envelope worth licking!

Well, if you follow me on twitter, you know that I had a doctor’s appointment today — those are never fun! This one was particularly not fun, because I found out that I have to have surgery again. Remember my sexy legs? Yes, the ones with the circulation of an 80 year old?? Yep, well, looks like my vascular problems are back with a vengeance. My valves have once again collapsed (a bit more serious than before) and will need to be removed so that they don’t affect my healthy veins. The good news is that no main arteries have been affected and having the surgery will keep it that way! We grow new veins all the time, so while removing some veins sounds kinda serious, I assure you I’ll be just fine ;)

But tomorrow I’ll be scheduling my (second) surgery for July or August. I can’t say I’m happy about it. You all know how active I am and how much I enjoy rocking it out at the gym or even powerwalking with my mom. But I know that this surgery will contribute to my overall health and well-being and I’m pretty excited not to have pain in my leg anymore!

So now, onto the fun stuff – EATS! The Mister had to take a client out to dinner yesterday, so I met my family for dinner at one of our favorite local spots, Yours Truly. Check out this list of fun facts from the Yours Truly Web site. I ordered my favorite item on the menu, The Envelope, which is a fresh pita stuffed with baby spinach, tomato, cucumber, muenster cheese and choice of dressing (I order fat free french). Per usual, I asked that fresh mushrooms be stuffed into the envelope, as well.

The Envelope at Yours Truly
The Envelope at Yours Truly
Close up on The Envelope

Close up on The Envelope

It was delicious! The spinach and mushrooms make this a very filling sandwich and I love the extra punch of flavor from the French dressing. Gotta love that muenster cheese, too! I feel like I don’t have nearly enough opportunities to eat that goodness!

Have you ever had a surgery that required you to take a bit of a rest from your normal activity? How did you deal with it?

Try it – ‘Weighing’ in on the benefits of using a food scale

When the Mister joined in on all of my healthy practices and endeavors this year (i.e. joining me at the gym, taking an active interest in cooking, etc.), I knew it wouldn’t be long before the gadgets came out. See, I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the Mister is a bit of a ‘techie” (no, not trekkie– although, he is one of those, too ;) ).

Little did I know just how much he could infiltrate his techie ways into our healthy living routines. I showed you last week how I’ve started using ‘Lose it!’ on the iPhone,  but the gizmo that I’m about to share today has already proved its worth in my kitchen. Another point for the Mister!

What is this mysterious gizmo, you ask? My friends, it is nothing more than a simple digital food scale.

See, once the Mister started helping me with the cooking, he couldn’t understand why I didn’t even bother to accurately measure my ingredients before chucking them into the bowl/pot/whatever wasted so much time making sure I measured everything perfectly. Using his technology-seeking mind, he knew there had to be a tool to help. Enter: the digital food scale. After researching several models, he finally decided on the EatSmart Precision Pro.

EatSmart Precision Pro (image credit: buy.com)

EatSmart Precision Pro (image credit: buy.com)

We’ve been using it for several months now, and I’ve gotta tell ya — this thing is pretty awesome!

Let me break it down for you…

Have you ever tried to bake a delicious treat only to end up with something that didn’t achieve the accolades the recipe promised? Yea, me too. Well, after reading an article from Cooking Light touting the benefits of the kitchen scale, I learned the culprit could very well be the flour. See, baking with flour leaves VERY little room for error (especially with light baking), and even a couple extra tablespoons will leave you with a treat that would serve better as a doorstopper. With a digital scale, you’re able to slowly add the flour until the scale reaches the gram weight you desire. No more measuring cups!

I’ve also found that the digital scale has kept me accountable with my portion sizes. For example, my huge overflowing bowl of Puffins? Yea, that’s like 3 servings. My heaping mounds of peanut butter? Probably close to 2 or 3 servings — way more than my wishful thinking would like.

I’ve also discovered first hand just how much food manufacturers deceive us! I know, right?! The horror! Yes, sometimes a “cup” does not equal the gram weight for one serving (and I’m sure you know better than to think the under-estimate!)

While it’s fun to double-check portion sizes and keep myself accountable, I mainly use the scale for cooking and portion control. For example, I know that my Shrimp Summer Salad weighed 1710 grams total. So, for 1/6 of the recipe (suggested serving size, and also only 141 calories), I know to serve myself 285 grams. See how easy?

Do you use a food scale? What foodie/fitness gadget can’t you live without?

Daily Delish – Berry Delicious ;)

I guess I was subconsciously gearing up for the Fourth of July with my patriotic lunch, today. I couldn’t pass up these fresh berries that were on sale at the grocery store this weekend. I topped them off with some vanilla yogurt to complete the trifecta (red, white and blue!)
Berry Delicious!

Berry Delicious!

The berries were so juicy and full of flavor — I LOVE seasonal fruits and veggies!

It was berry good!

It was berry good!

Tonight I’m meeting my mom for a good power-walking session and then I’ll be digging into my summer shrimp salad with the Mister. I’m pretty excited for my SHORT work week this week! The Mister and I are both off on Thursday and Friday — and we have lots of fun activities planned – I can’t wait to share all of them with you! First I’ve gotta get through this week, though!

Are you going to have a nice long weekend, or are you going to be working?

Make it – Shrimp Summer Salad

As I sit here typing this, knowing that I have a full day of work ahead of me, I feel really good knowing I took a bit of time this weekend to make tonight’s dinner! I always say I’m going to prepare food for the week over the weekend, but we all know how that goes — right? Things come up! Like wanting to watch a movie on Sunday night instead of spending an hour in the kitchen… (hello, Road Trip! – ha, I hadn’t seen that movie in forever!)  Well, last night I was able to accomplish both! And I feel amazing knowing that all I have to do for dinner is open the fridge. So what’s on the menu, you ask?

Shrimp summer salad.

You’ll need:

  • 2 lemons
  • 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup fresh dill – to taste (chopped)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup fresh parsley – to taste (chopped)
  • 1 cucumber (chopped)
  • 1 red onion (chopped)
  • 1 package of cherry tomatoes
  • 10-15 stalks asparagus
  • 3/4 lb feta cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 lb orzo (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread shrimp in an even layer over a cooking sheet. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes. (DO NOT overcook)

Spread asparagus on a separate baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in oven for 5-8 minutes.

Let shrimp and asparagus cool to room temperature.

In the meantime, combine cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, dill, parsley and feta. Add the juice of two lemons. Toss well. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss well. Once cooled, add shrimp and asparagus (chop asparagus spears into thirds).

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve at room temperature.

This dish will keep for several days in the refrigerator, so enjoy it chilled as a refreshing summer salad.

If you’d like to bulk up the dish a bit, add orzo. Cook the orzo, according to the directions on the box. Add 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper. Combine with shrimp and vegetable mixture.

Shrimp summer salad (bird's eye view)

Shrimp summer salad (bird's eye view)

Shrimp summer salad

Shrimp summer salad

This is one of my favorite summer dishes. It’s so easy, but tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen! It would be a great dish to bring to a Fourth of July cookout. Since it’s served at room temperature, it’s very low maintenance. Enjoy!

I enjoyed cooking this dish next to a bouquet of flowers I bought for myself this weekend. They brighten up my kitchen and make me smile — I feel so domestic! (better fix that ASAP! ;) )

Pretty flowers

Pretty flowers

Beauty is simplicity

Beauty is simplicity

What is your favorite summer dish? Do you prepare your meals for the week over the weekend, or take it day-by-day?

Daily Delish – Yes, I’m a bread head

BUSY afternoon over here, but I wanted to share some fantastic information I came across.

Most of you know about my bread addiction. I don’t hide it. There is no way in heck I would EVER be able to go on a low carb diet — EVER! However, I do always look for the most wholesome breads, with natural and nutritious ingredients.

One of my favorites is the Seeduction bread from Whole Foods. This stuff is AMAZING! I love dipping it in olive oil for a perfect dinner side-dish, or spreading it with PB and banana for a tasty snack!

Whole Foods Seeduction Bread

Whole Foods Seeduction Bread

After doing a bit of research online, I stumbled upon a recipe that claims to recreate the same deliciousness! This was just too exciting not to share. I’ll definitely be trying this Seeduction Bread recipe (click orange link!) at home.
 
Have you tried the Seeduction bread?
 
What’s your favorite type of bread? Rye? Wheat? Pumpernickel? SHARE!
 
Also — be sure to check out my latest Examiner post (click orange link!) to see my favorite way to get in omega-3s!

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