Old Friends.

Hey everyone!  I hope everyone had a good Monday and good first day back at school for all of you students who started back up today!  The weather here was so strange, it felt like a cool Fall day.  It was very nice & would have been a great day to run, but today was my rest day!  Maybe the temperature will be similar tomorrow.

Well yesterday I ended up meeting my sister, Danielle, to see (500) Days of Summer.  Yes, this is my second time seeing it!  I really love this movie and it has awesome songs throughout it.  Before I met her I heated up some of my leftover Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Bulgur.

mmm…mmm. Just as good as the night before.  I topped it with slices of Avocado & a sprinkling of Kosher Salt.  Of course, I had a Whole Foods Seeduction Roll on the side.  Can’t beat it!  Some of you asked where to find these in Whole Foods.  It’s right in the bakery with all of the breads!  They make both Seeduction Loaves and Rolls.

After the movie, I hung out with my parents and made an ice cream sundae.

Edy’s Slow Churned Peanut Butter Cup is so good!!!  Especially when it’s topped with a sliced banana!  It was so good that I went back for seconds.

I then watched part of 7 Pounds with my Dad.  It was late & we both ended up falling asleep…typical.  I heard it was a good movie but I thought it was really weird.  I don’t know…we were both really confused about what was happening for a long time.  I guess it just might be a slow moving movie?  Anyone see it?

This morning I made myself a bowl of Hot Oatmeal.

This bowl contained oats, H20, Skim Milk, Banana, Blueberries, Strawberries, Cinnamon, & Honey.  I also finished off the rest of my watermelon.

All mixed together.

I spent the majority of the day helping out at my Dad’s office doing filing.  It is BORING stuff but it’s a help.

Today I cut open my first pomegranate of the season!  Oh how I have missed them.

My Pom Seeds.

What better way to enjoy it then to put it in Chobani Pomegranate Greek Yogurt?!

So good!

Tonight for dinner, I heated up a piece of leftover grilled BBQ chicken.  Along the side I made broccoli, baked sweet potato slices, and a nice ear of Jersey Corn.

Awesome dinner!  I bought those sweet potatoes today from a nearby farmer’s market.  They are homegrown there.  Usually they sell normal sized ones, but today they had a bucket of these mini-sized orange yams.

They were so cute so I bought them!

After dinner, I went to meet  one of my best friends from high school.  I haven’t seen Larissa in a couple of years!  We have been trying to get together & it has finally happened!  haha.  It was so great to see her and we talked for a while.  We will both be going to school in Philly this year, so I hope that I get to see her more often!

At the fro yo place, I made a cup of Tart & Vanilla fro yo topped with Reese’s Cups & Peanut Butter Sauce.  As usual, it was awesome.

Hope you all had a good night! 🙂

Don’t forget about my Larabar giveaway!!!!  You have until Wednesday at 11:59!!

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My first Giveaway!

I had the most horrible night of sleep last night.  I just could not fall asleep!  It didn’t help that it started to storm in the middle of the night either.  I decided to get out of bed at 8:00 and I came downstairs to eat my breakfast.  I had overnight oats.

Banana-Date Overnight Oats.

Close up of one of my favorite breakfasts.

I’ve had a watermelon sitting around since about Thursday, so I decided to cut this baby up.

Yum, it’s a good one…I’ll try not to eat it all in one day like I usually do.

In about an hour I am heading to Bikram Yoga.  I’m not quite sure if I’ll be able to go to any more classes this summer, how sad.  So I’ll be sure to fully appreciate this one.

I plan to go to the beach today for some relaxation.  It looks like it will be a good beach day, but who knows with this weather.  Other than that, I’m not quite sure of today’s plans.  I am possibly meeting my older sister, Danielle, at the movies.  I have already seen (500) Days of Summer but she has not…and I kind of want to see it again.  So we shall see what the day will bring!

NOW…the moment you have all been waiting for.  My first giveaway! Yesterday while at Whole Foods, I decided to pick up a few extra Larabars to giveaway to one lucky Food & Fun reader.

I will be giving away 4 Larabars, including 2 of the newest flavors.  They include:  Cinnamon Roll, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tropical Fruit Tart, & Cherry Pie.  Now is your chance to taste for yourself why I was raving so much about the new Peanut Butter & Jelly flavor.

To enter the Larabar Giveaway, all you need to do is:

1. Simply leave a comment on this post telling me:

• • Out of the four flavors, which one you want to have the most.

2.  For a second entry, link this post back to your blog, letting other people                 know about this giveaway.  Just leave a second comment with the link to your             post.

3.  And finally, for a third entry, you can add me to your Blogroll.  Just leave               another comment, telling me that you have done so.  If I am already on your                Blogroll, leave a comment telling me that as well! 🙂

This contest will remain open until Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 11:59 P.M EST. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on Thursday morning.  Good Luck!!! 🙂

Oh yea, I ALMOST forgot!  Tay over at Taydor Tott is having her first giveaway!!!  Head over there for your chance to win your choice of 3 Nature’s Path’s products!!! Pretty awesome deal there!

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Must Try Recipe.

Today I had a pretty enjoyable day.  I went shopping to a few different stores.  I really need some new clothes but I have this problem where I can never find much that I like.  I know that most girls have the opposite problem!  Well I ended up buying one cute tank top from Anthropologie.  I really like it and it was on sale!  woo hoo.

During my travels, I stopped for my favorite smoothie…The Chilly Palmer.

Deeeeelicious.  Just what I was craving too.

Today I was also lucky enough to go to Whole Foods.  While there I snacked on some of my favorite little chocolate candies…SunDrops.  I also bought many other goodies…including LARABAR’s new flavor…Peanut Butter & Jelly.  I have been searching for this flavor everywhere!  Finally, it’s in my hands…

…and in my stomach!  I am not kidding guys, BEST FLAVOR EVER.  I absolutely LOVED it.  You gotta get your hands on this one!!

At around 6:00 I set off on my 12 mile run.  Boy am I glad that I decided to hold off and run this at night.  It was beautiful.  Parts of my run were ran along the bay and the sun was setting.  I find that I always run in the morning, but it’s fun to run at this time sometimes!  I ended up average 8:12/mile.  The run felt great.  My calves have been SO sore lately…even before this run.  I think I’m going to try to roll them out on the foam roller tonight.  Hopefully that’ll help.

After showering, it was already after 8:00 so I set off right away making my planned dinner.  I printed this recipe a few months ago and never got around to making it.  Ladies & Gents, I present to you…Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Bulgur.

Cookin' on the Stove.

I feel as if mine came out much thicker than the picture shown on their website.  I’m glad though because I loveee thick chili!

The meal would not be complete without a Seeduction Roll from Whole Foods.

Seeduction Bread/Rolls are the best.  If you haven’t tried them yet, run to Whole Foods and do so!

As you can see, I topped the chili with smashed Avocado mixed with Cilantro & Kosher Salt.

THIS MEAL WAS DIVINE!  You must try this recipe!!!!  I can’t wait to make it again & I am thrilled to have leftovers!!

Not too sure yet what is in store for dessert, but I do know that I bought some of Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate today at Whole Foods.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful night.

Check in tomorrow morning sometime, I have a VERY exciting announcement!!!

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Sometimes you need to sleep.

Today I decided to let myself sleep in and did not set an alarm.  I ended up waking up around 9:30 and it felt great.  I have not been able to sleep in for the longest time and  I was exhausted.  It wasn’t raining when I woke up but it definitely appeared as if it had been raining.

Today I am scheduled to do my long run of 12 miles.  I thought about pushing it off until Sunday, but I really want to do it today.  I just knew I needed to allow myself some extra sleep today.  So I’m thinking about an evening run around 5:00 or 6:00.  So we shall see.  I don’t believe I have anything else planned.

Since the weather is dreary, I decided to make a bowl of Hot Oats.  Not that I had much of a decision, this house is EMPTY of food except for some fresh blueberries & bananas I brought over.

So this morning’s bowl of oatmeal contained Oats, Water, Milk, Banana, and Blueberries.  I also mixed in some cinnamon & honey.

Well I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with myself for the rest of the day.  I hope you all have something more fun planned!!

See you all later.

-Mary

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A day with my Grandmom.

I wanted to thank everyone for your kind comments about my Grandmom.  It really means a lot.  I spent most of my day over at the hospital with my Mom, Grandmom, & sister (Danielle).  My Dad was also there for a bit.  I just hate to see my Grandmom so weak and sick.  She is honestly one of the strongest people I know.  She has been through so much treatment, etc. over the past 3-4 years.  I just don’t know how she does it…I could only hope that I am as strong as she is one day.

I didn’t get to take many pictures today as I was pretty busy.  But honestly, I didn’t eat anything too remarkable.  Probably the best thing I ate all day was a Philly Soft Pretzel with Spicy Mustard.

After leaving the hospital, I went to The Container Store to get drawers made for a closet in my sister’s apartment…I need a place to keep my clothes!  After that, I hit up Target.  It was fun there because I got to buy lots & I like buying things sometimes!  I bought essentials like toilet paper, paper towels, toothbrush, dishwashing soap, deodorant, and all of that fun stuff.  I also explored the food area and picked out some sweet cereals & tea.  I also bought my typical Kashi Original 7-Grain Crackers…& discovered they came out with a new type of cracker!!!  I don’t think Kashi has them on their site yet, at least I couldn’t find them.  I bought the Original flavor…they look pretty similar to Triscuits.  We shall see.  Oh the excitement of my life.

Shortly after I got home it was going on 9:00 and my Mom was still at the hospital.  My dad has been working hours on a bad leak we have in the basement.  There was no sign of anyone eating dinner anytime soon.  So I ordered myself some food from the Chinese/Japanese Restaurant and ate alone.  My life is thrilling isn’t it?

I’ve never liked Chinese Food & I hardly even consider what I order chinese food.  I usually always get Steamed Veggies & Chicken with Brown Rice and a side of Brown Sauce (whatever that is).

This may seem plain to many of you, but it does the job for me.  I actually love it.  This place also has the best brown rice.  It is short grain and very sticky.  It’s hard not to eat the whole container.  So good.

After I ate, I was craving some dessert.  Unfortunately our house is lacking food of all sorts.  So I could not find anything for dessert.  I settled on a Banana with Naturally More Peanut Butter and a cup of Green Tea.  Nonetheless, it was still delicious.

I am going downstairs to watch some T.V. with my Pop’s but I can hear it from here and he is definitely watching golf…now that is not too exciting.

I will leave you with my two fortune cookie fortunes…(I just crack the cookie and take the fortune…hahaha I hate those things)

To be content with little is true happiness.

Tomorrow morning, take a left turn as soon as you leave home.

hahaha so touching.  Well…I will hopefully be listening to the second fortune tomorrow morning as long as the thunder & lightening hold off for my long run of 12 miles.  Let’s pray!

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Quick Update.

I need to make this pretty quick.  Yesterday after work, I decided to go to the food store to pick up some things so I could make dinner for myself.  After shopping, I went to yoga…& it was my favorite teacher’s class!  It was probably the last one I will be going to for a while since school is starting up.  But it was amazing as usual.  The instructor is actually getting married this Sunday & I was talking to her for a while about that.  It’s an outdoor wedding so she’s praying that the weather clears up by then.

After class, I came home and made dinner for myself.  I made Grilled BBQ Chicken, Sauteed String Beans, & Roasted Sweet Potato Slices.

I love meals like this.  Plain & Simple, yet delicious.  I felt like it was last year again, because this was my go to meal when I was cooking for myself senior year of college.  Kristin, if you’re reading…this might look familiar!

After dinner, I chatted on the phone for a while with my older sister, Danielle.  She’s in her third year of med. school and she is crazy busy.  She was just getting out of the hospital when I talked to her at 8:30ish.  I will be living with her very soon…I will probably move in sometime next week!  But anyway, I was getting kind of hungry and I wanted Banana Whip but I had no one to go out with and I didn’t want to go by myself.  So instead, I had a bowl of cereal.

This morning I woke up and it looked like it was going to storm any minute.  I was kind of mad because I was scheduled to work & if I didn’t work I wouldn’t get my overtime pay.  I decided I was going to go in anyway and maybe they would let Stef & I drive around instead.  So I showered, ate my Banana-Date overnight oats, & drank tea.

My favorite combo.

Close-up shot of that deliciousness…

I love these oats so much.  So I was about to go to work and then it started to STORM.  It was a horrible storm and before you knew it the roads were flooded.  My dad has an an old historical car…an MG…that he didn’t put the cover on.  So I had to venture out there, put the cover on and dry off all of the metal…all while getting pummeled with rain.  Fun.

I then talked to my dad on the phone and my Grandmom who has bladder cancer is really not doing well at all.  So instead of attempting to go to work & make overtime, I decided to pack up some things and head home to the hospital to see my grandmom.  Sorry Stef that I couldn’t work with you on our last day.  I just stopped at home to drop my dog off and now I’m about to head over to the hospital.  On a happy note, my mom had some grapes waiting for me in the fridge that I almost polished off!

Hopefully the weather will clear up a little…see you all later!

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Blueberry Oat Cakes

I’m going to keep this short & sweet.

This morning I wasn’t feeling the best & I was tired.  So instead of running first thing, I slept in, showered, grabbed something to eat, and went to work.

Breakfast was definitely not stellar.

1/2 toasted wheat bagel with strawberry preserve spread

…with a Pink Lady Apple & an unpictured fig…

Then I went off to work.

I was able to get my run in later in the morning.   I ran 6 miles with an average pace of 7:51.  On the way out, I was running against the wind which made it slightly more challenging.  Towards the end of the run I began to get very tired.  Overall, it was a decent run.  After my run, I showered & had some snacks.

Now I am just finishing up my lunch.  I decided to actually make something since I am not in the best of moods right now and since my breakfast was kind of lame.

So for lunch, I tried out Oat Cakes.  I varied it slightly by using Blueberries in place of Raisins.  Who can’t resist the deliciousness of a sweet, warm blueberry that bursts when you bite it.

Two Oat Cakes with sliced banana that I later enjoyed with peanut butter.

These were really good.  I should have used a bigger pan because they sort of collided when I was cooking them and it made it hard to flip em’!

and a Close-Up shot…

Topped with Smashed Banana & Cinnamon

Delicious.  You should try them out.

I’m about to go make Tea and finish off the carton of Blueberries.

Other than that, not too much excitement going on.

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Happiness.

Last night was a lot of fun.  My parents came back down to Margate and showed up with a new car.

Audi Q7

Woo hoo!  Who doesn’t love a brand new car?  They traded in our Toyota Pick-up for this.  It’s really nice and spacious.  It also looks like it was built really well.  There is a sweet built in GPS and audio system.

inside of the car.

So that was exciting.  After checking out the car, we drove it down to Cape May to go out to dinner.  We went to The Lobster House…remember, I was just there a couple of weeks ago with my sister, Christina.  When I went before, we sat out on the deck and ate dinner.  Tonight, we sat in the dining room area where they have a different menu.  We shared a bottle of red wine.  I love red wine.  My dad and I split Jumbo Lump Crab Meat for an appetizer.  I completely forgot to take a picture.  But I did take a picture of the Loaf of Garlicy Bread that my parents and I devoured in minutes.

Yum.  It was so light and fluffy.  Our meals came with salads.

Twas’ okay.  The real treat was our entrees.  I ordered Broiled Flounder with a Baked Potato.

This was so FRESH and tasty.  I love squeezing lemon on fish.  This place also has the best Chunky Apple Sauce.

Both of my parents ordered LOBSTER.  Here is a picture of my Papa’s…

Well as you can see, dinner was fantastic.  It was so great to go out to eat with my parents!  After dinner, we ended our night with ice cream!  I ordered a Vanilla Fro Yo Cone with Reese’s Cups on the side.  Mmm…mmm.  Delicious.

Last night I had a crazy dream.  The only part I remember is some huge dogs covered in capes with cut outs where their eyes were.  Apparently they were after me or something, because I screamed out loud HELP!  Thankfully it wasn’t loud enough for my parents to hear.  hahaha. Anyway…on to other news…

This morning I went for a run and for the most part I experienced NO PAIN!  I ran what turned out to be a pretty speedy 4 miles (maybe those dogs were chasing me).  I was so happy when I took my first couple of strides to find out that I had no pain!  Towards the end, my foot felt a little achy…but I think that’s to be expected since this was basically my first run back.  I’ll stretch it and continue to take ibuprofen, etc.  Overall, I’m pretty pleased!

When I got in, I showered and ate breakfast.  For some reason I was not hungry at all.  But, once I got eating, I was lovin’ it of course.  I made myself a smoothie.

Green Monster Wanna-Be

This is a Wanna-Be because I lacked the Greens this morning.  I used what I had but I had hardly any left.  Oh well, I’m not complaining, it still tasted AWESOME.

Into the blender went:

• some spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• scoop PB
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 Tbl Flax
• some ice cubes

I enjoyed this so much.  I actually couldn’t get enough…so I made sure to get every last drop…

 

check out my sweet uniform. You don't want to see the shorts.

Before going to work, I toasted up a piece of Ezekiel Bread and spread it with some Strawberry Preserves.

I also just ate a Pink Lady Apple with Cinnamon.  Today I am working with Stef.  Not sure what else I’ll be doing today, but I hope it’s something fun.

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful weather!!!

-Mary

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Too Early to Celebrate?

This morning I woke up very well rested.  I love catching up on sleep!  I came downstairs hoping & praying that I was able to go for a short run.  I ran a few feet and quickly realized that my foot was not 100% better.  So instead of running on it, I decided to go for a bike ride.  It is really frustrating that I can’t just run, but hopefully I will be back out there in no time.  I went on an 11 mile bike ride, showered, ate breakfast, & went to work. 

For breakfast, I had Overnight Oats.  Again.  I just love these things.  I’m not sure if it will ever get old.

Today’s mix included:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup Chobani Plain Yogurt
• 1 Tbl. Ground Flax
• Cinnamon
• Honey
• Chopped Banana
• 5 Dates

I was about to jump in my car to head to work, but then I discovered my car was trapped in the driveway.  I live on the corner of my street and a huge trailer was trying to make the turn to come down our street.  The trailer was carrying one of those prebuilt houses.  Let’s just say, it ended up taking about 2 hours for them to finally make the turn and successfully make it down the street.  I normally drive to work because I am usually in a rush and would otherwise be late.  But really I work only about a 1/2 mile down the road so today I just took my bike since I had no choice.  It was actually pretty funny because a bunch of my neighbors were outside at 8:00 watching all of the action.  Some of them even set up chairs?  Kind of weird in my opinion.  I saw one lady with a camera around her neck.  Really, it wasn’t THAT cool.

So today I worked with Stef.  I am actually eating lunch with her right now.  We are the only two left working and we both stop working this Friday.  Today during work I was watching Barefoot Contessa and she was making Guacamole Salad.  I thought that this looked so good & I can’t wait to try it out.  Maybe I’ll try it out later this week!  

I just filled up on way too many grapes and now I am super-stuffed.

 I’m hoping that my parents make it down for dinner tonight.  I don’t want to eat alone again.  Also on a side note, as the day went on today, my foot has been feeling so much better.  Should I celebrate yet or is it too early??  Maybe I’ll hold off until tomorrow morning.

I love grapes.

 

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Black Bean Burgers, Take 2!

I have to say, it is really weird being by myself and I have only been alone for one day.  I’m not liking it very much.  Thank god I have my dog Andie with me!

Today I had work by myself.  For lunch, I heated up some of the Veggie-Lentil Soup I made a few days ago.  On the side, I had a Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow Cheese wedge and a slice of Multi-Grain Bread.

When I ran out of bread, I switched over to my favorite crackers, Kashi 7-Grain.

Later in the afternoon I was bored and kind of hungry so I snacked on a bowl of cereal and a peach.

After a pretty uneventful day at work, I went over to the gym for a workout.  Since I haven’t been able to run, I feel like I haven’t done much working out except yoga & a couple of bike rides.  I have not worked out in a gym since May…back when I was at school.  It definitely feels different to do a workout in the gym.  But anyway, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical with a 5 minute cool down, 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, & some core work.  I don’t know about you, but when I use the Stairmaster I DRIP with sweat.  I love it.  Don’t you just love to sweat?

Well it felt great to get a little workout in…just not as fulfilling as running, but that’s okay.  My foot definitely needs more time to heal up.  I want to be smart and take the time off now to heal it rather than run on it only to keep injuring it again and making my time off longer & longer.

Tonight for dinner, I had leftovers from last night.  I heated up a black bean burger and topped it with Guacamole.  Loads more Guacamole was consumed than pictured and I finished off my stash.  I also had some Steamed Broccoli & Blue Corn tortilla chips.

Delicious dinner !

Now I am sitting around, drinking tea and treating myself to some of Tina’s candy that she left…Newman’s Own Organics Dark Chocolate Caramel Cups.  She ate one of the cups and left 2, so I ate em’!  Thank you! 🙂

Delicious!  I love chocolate and the caramel oozed out!

It’s a beautiful night and Andie looks like she wants to go for a walk since she’s been inside for most of the day…so I’ll probably take her for a walk.  My parents will be back home tomorrow so I am excited about that!  I’m a baby and I don’t like to be alone!

See you all tomorrow! 🙂

-Mary

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