Sunday already?

Looks like today is going to be another beautiful day!

Mood:
Comparable to the weather outside

Food:
Breakfast: Lucas made me a fresh juice of carrots, oranges, and ginger. Absolutely delicious. The ginger gives it some kick!

Recap of Yesterday:
Check mark for everything on yesterday’s agenda!
-bike ride to Mount Bonnell (the ride there had a few hills, but it wasn’t too bad. The neighborhoods are beautiful and the street is shaded by large trees, it’s a pleasant ride. We made it to Mount Bonnell it no time–maybe 15-20 minutes! It was cool and sunny, we perched ourselves on a couple of rocks and enjoyed the incredible view of the turquoise river below. This place is one of the many reasons of why I love living in Austin).
-run 30 minutes in neighborhood hills (I was dragging on the run, I felt really slow and heavy and the hills were killing me, but I’m glad I did it. I was seriously debating it as it was sandwiched between the bike ride and the soccer game).
-soccer game (We won! The bonus was that it was great soccer weather, not cold, not hot, no wind!)
-attend a friend’s photography exhibit at Studio 2 Gallery (she wasn’t there, but we saw her  photos. And yea for the man that walks around with the little tray offering wine)
-dinner at The Clay Pit (word to the wise: make a reservation! I don’t know what I was thinking–of course there would be a wait! We waited at least an hour and 15 minutes. The food and service was good overall, but nothing really stood out).

Fitness:
-30-40 minute easy-paced bike ride (break in between)
-30 minute run in the neighborhood hills
-outdoor soccer game (I played half a game, maybe a little more? 40 minutes total at least)

Green heart:
My soccer game was in southeast Austin, about a 25 minute drive from where we live in northwest Austin. Rather than drive all the way home to shower, then drive back down to South Austin for the exhibit, I planned ahead to pack stuff for showering and changing and did so at a Gold’s Gym location in South Austin. I saved time & money and reduced emissions!

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It’s A Beautiful Day!

Mood:
Good, a little sleepy in spite of my 9 hours!

Food:
Breakfast: I made a fresh juice with our Omega 8003 juicer. The juice: 3 small carrots, 1 large apple, 1 small orange, 1/2 stalk of celery, a piece of ginger. It was super delicious—a great start to the day!…Later I had a big bowl of oatmeal.

In the oatmeal:
-1/3 cup steel cut oats
-1 and 1/2 cup water
-3/4 cup soymilk
-4 tbs rolled oats
-1 banana, mashed,
-1 tbs crunchy peanut butter
-2 tbs agave nectar
-1 cup of apple & carrot juice pulp
-a sprinkling of cinnamon

Seriously tasty and filling.

On the agenda today:
-bike ride to Mount Bonnell
-run 30 minutes in neighborhood hills
-soccer game
-attend a friend’s photography exhibit
-dinner at The Clay Pit

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The Perfect Friday Night

I met up with my friend Peggy and we enjoyed Happy Hour at Blue Star Cafeteria. We had some good one-on-one time!…The grilled cheese at BSC is to die for, and the Kiona Riesling is my new favorite.

Food:
Dinner: Grilled cheese sandwich and 2 glasses of Riesling
Dessert: I had half a pint of my favorite ice cream: Amy’s Mexican Vanilla while catching up one some 30 Rock episodes. My kind of Friday night! 🙂

Looking forward to a relaxed weekend. I hope you are too!

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Girl Friday

Mood:
TGIF 🙂

Fitness:
30 minute run in the neighborhood hills

Food:
Breakfast: Oatmeal (1/3 cup steel cut oats, 1 and 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup soymilk, 1 tbs flaxseeds, 2 tbs dried currants, 2 tbs rolled oats, 2 tbs Ezekiel Original, 1 tbs agave nectar, 1 large carrot, finely shredded)
Snack: Apple slices with cinnamon
Lunch: 1 slice of leftover vegetable quiche

Happy Hour:
Blue Star Cafe! Can’t wait!

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Oh Canada…

Two fun treats came in the mail today: my Shape magazine and a buy one, get one free coupon from Chipotle!

Chipotle is one of the few fast food restaurants around that fits into our overall food philosophy of eating whole, local, and/or organic foods. They serve what they call “Food With Integrity.” Find out more about it here!

I went into full-on snacking mode this afternoon: an alfajor, a piece of banana bread, and two bowls of cereal. Woah, Nelly! Not good, especially since I didn’t work out today. I have a bad habit of wanting to snack while I read a magazine. Kind of ironic considering that it’s a fitness magazine that I was reading!

Food:
Lunch: Two slices of leftover vegetable quiche
Post-lunch: a slice of banana bread
After work: an alfajor, another slice of banana bread, two bowls of cereal
Dinner: Lucas made vegetarian chili (kidney beans, white beans, carrots, onions, and more)

Watching the Winter Olympics…women’s skating finals coming up!

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Apples & Oats

Mood:
Yea! Almost Friday.

Food:
Breakfast: I ate apple slices with cinnamon while I washed some dishes this morning; it held me over until I was able to eat my oats-to-go at work.

This morning’s oats-to-go:

1/3 cup steel cut oats
1 and 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tbs flaxseeds
2 tbs dried currants
2 tbs rolled oats
2 tbs Ezekiel Original
1 and 1/2 tbs agave nectar

Happy Jueves!

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Alllllll byyyyy myyyseeeelf!

Tonight I made a vegetable quiche. All by myself!

Almost.

Lucas did walk me through the steps, sort of like a talking cookbook. Next time I think I can wing it entirely on my own; it’s a simple recipe and doesn’t require a lot of skill. Therefore, I was the perfect candidate to give it a try!

Please note that in the below recipe I use “ml”. Just use the flip side of your measuring cup; it should be printed there.

DOUGH
1. In a large mixing bowl, add 600 ml of flour. (I used half white, half whole wheat.)
2. In a separate bowl, add 100 ml of olive oil and 100 ml of milk (I used soymilk, but cow’s milk is probably better). Add 1 tsp of salt, then mix well.
3. Pour the oil/milk mixture over the flour. Mix well until combined.
4. At this point, you can knead the dough in a standing mixer. If you don’t have one, just knead by hand.
5. After several minutes, stop kneading. It’s ok if this dough appears to be crumbly (this may happen especially if you use a standing mixer). Take the dough pieces and form them into a ball. The ball will be slightly larger than a softball.
6. Roll the dough out gently with a rolling pin. Don’t have one? Google an alternative on the internet! I’ve used a drinking glass before, it’s not easy, but might do in pinch.
7. Place the dough in a large pan (I used a large springform pan). The dough should cover the base of the ban and go at least half way up the sides. Press well, and make sure there are no holes. If you see holes, pinch a bit of dough over the hole.
8. Your dough is ready. Now for the filling…..

VEGETABLE FILLING
1. You can use whatever the heck you want. I used a bag of frozen corn (thawed and cooked), 2 small zucchinis, spinach leaves, and leeks. Whatever you use, chop finely or at least into small pieces. Add veggies to a large mixing bowl.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, add 3 to 4 eggs (I used 4). Season as you like (I used salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper). Beat the eggs until well combined, add to veggies, and mix well.
3. Pour the veggie mixture over the dough, and even out with a spatula.
4. Place the pan in an oven pre-heated to 425 degrees. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Food:
Afternoon snack: Fage 2% Greek Yogurt topped with agave nectar and Kashi GO LEAN Crunch! Multigrain Cluster Cereal. Fage yogurt is so smooth, so thick, so creamy, I have never tasted a better yogurt. If you try it, I recommend at least the 2%. The 0% is good, but the 2% or higher is better. It is a bit expensive compared to other yogurts, but absolutely worth the extra cost. Yum yum yum yum yum.

Oh, please…I’m not that dainty. I of course added more agave and cereal after mixing in what you see above! 🙂

Dessert before dinner: I had one of the incredible alfajores de maizena that Lucas made yesterday, along with a cup of peppermint tea.
Dinner: Two slices of vegetable quiches made by moi.

5 Minute Clean-Up:
A few nights ago (or was it last week?), I wrote about a 5 minute clean-up test that I was going to try out before going to bed: set the timer for 5 minutes, and straighten things up around the house. It’s amazing what you can do in 5 minutes. And I am not discouraged by the idea of having to tidy up because it’s just five minutes. I like this! It’s a good little way to get the house in order on a weeknight without stressing about it because of wasted time or energy.

Movie Night:
Just finished watching The Hangover! I was kind of expecting something like one of those Judd Apatow d**k flicks, but I was wrong—this was actually funny!

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Soup & Salad

Food:
Mid-morning snacks: 4 Medjool Dates. Absolute perfection. Delicious and satisfying.
Lunch: Salad greens with 1 chopped carrot and 1 chopped celery stalk, drizzled with olive oil. A bowl of homemade soup leftover from last night.

Fitness:
Gym – 15 minutes stretching/abs, 25 minutes legs, 15 minutes arms

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Alfajores & Mate

Mood:
Sunny, just like it is outside.

Food:
Breakfast: I made a fresh juice with carrots, kale, celery, oranges, and ginger. Kale can be overpowering in a juice if you’re not used to it, so I used just a handful. I also whipped a batch of oats-to-go made with carrot pulp to take to work.

Yesterday recap:

Fitness:
Day off

Food:
Afternoon snack: Thick slice of banana bread and later apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon
Evening snack: Mate and alfajores that Lucas made (we each had one). Reminds me of “merienda” in Argentina!
Dinner:  A hearty homemade soup that Lucas made, and later celery sticks with crunchy peanut butter

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2 Tacos for 1

Snow! Grown-up Texans become kids again when they see snow. Everyone on my floor was running downstairs to take pictures! I stayed put in my windowless office for the most part, but did venture out into the hall to snap a few quick pics.

Just starting to snow……………………………………….snowing, snowing…………

Food:
Mid-morning snacks: Yogi Chai Green Tea and 4 Medjool dates.
Lunch: Two tacos (Ezekiel tortillas topped with lemon-pepper chicken, sauteed onions, and spinach)

I love these tacos.

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