Category Archives: Meals

Tennesee Recap: Part Three (Game Day!)

Thanks so much for your valuable insights on getting caught on comparison traps in yesterday’s post. It’s good to know I’m not alone in this and I appreciate everyone’s encouragement!

I come to you today live from Barnes & Noble, mooching off wi-fi while I wait for my car to get its “check-up”. Car check-ups are way more expensive than human check-ups, unfortunately. And who knows what else they are going to tell me the car needs done to it – we’ll see.

I am going to be behind on recapping my days for eons on end if I don’t keep telling you guys about my Tennessee trip so I’ll waste no more time on getting back to it.

After a Quizno’s lunch of dreams, I vegged out in our room a little until it was time to head over to tailgate with my parents’ old friends. It was great to meet them, and their setup was incredible! When we arrived a Sysco truck was there setting up bratwurst, a nacho bar, hamburgers, hot dogs, chili, and desserts. Restaurants and brands send extra food they have over to Sysco, who provides it for free at these games as a form of advertising for said restaurants and brands! Pretty sweet deal if you ask me – the only thing that costs anything was the Sysco van’s sketchy-looking bar setup, which asked for a contribution toward the booze and mixers.

I brought my own Bacardi Green Apple though, and had that on the rocks, but my parents enjoyed the beers, ready-made mojitos, and Bloody Marys!

I wasn’t very hungry at all during the tailgate so I decided to save my appetite for the buffet we’d be offered at the game (we were sitting in box seats), but that food did look GOOD.

Condiment bar for nachos, hot dogs, chili, etc.

Condiment bar for burgers, plus sides.

My sister's burger! She said it was amazing.

It was someone's birthday – though not sure who?

My beverage definitely got me pretty buzzed and I had a great time with my family. I always have a good time, but let’s just say it was a little better than usual!

Nana Connie (grandma), Hannah (sis), and I.

Showing spirit with my hat and hair ribbons!

The Vols parade to the stadium!

My mom and I have quite a height diff, no?

My mom and I started getting pretty cold when the sun began to go down (story of our lives) so the fam trekked over to our box about an hour before kickoff. I was ready for dinner at this point! I was also very grateful to not be sitting outside because I honestly don’t think I could have even made it through a quarter. Now do you see why I dream of leaving New England? I can’t even survive fall in Tennessee!

I felt pretty special to have a reserved seat in the box, but then felt very un-special when I saw they’d spelled my name wrong.

I had barely even sat in that seat for a few minutes before deciding that it was buffet time. And oh, what a buffet it was.

Corn on the cob, shrimp, and potatoes.

BISCUITS

BBQ pulled pork…

…and so much cheese!

Got back to my seat and settled in with my plate. What a great view! Of the food, and the field 😛

I had another plate almost equivalent to that one, plus a cookie on my way out. I ended up leaving at half time because I was STILL cold in the box, despite the fact that I was inside, and Nana Connie was cold outside. She and I walked back to the hotel together and I was asleep by 11, just the way I like it.

There is still more to come in my Tennessee weekend recap – imagine how many recaps I’ll need to get through my week-long trip to FL in December, geez!

Have you ever been to a college football game? What’s the best tailgating food?

Bertucci’s and TCBY Night!

Hey guys! I am currently stranded for an extra night in Tennessee due to the snow storm back home, but I don’t hate it. I love it here and could stay for days and days more! I have been eating tons of food and having great quality family time. I’ve even managed to get in a couple of good workouts, including a 4 mile incline treadmill run today! I have to be honest that sometimes I get hesitant to indulge on vacations or let loose and let myself enjoy things I don’t normally eat, but I have been concentrating on being with my family and trying to use that to distract myself from any worries I may get about vacation food. After all, this tasty food is definitely not something that should be cause for worry!

Before I start recapping this trip I want to recap a couple of yummy nights out I had last week, starting with last Monday’s dinner!

I was a crazy woman last Monday night and went out to eat after the gym. Yes, I’m wild and insane. Usually I go straight home, but I made plans with Jeff and Kim to go to a Thai restaurant that I had a SaveNowCT deal to. Well, you know how small restaurants are sometimes closed on Mondays? Yes, that happened.

NO WORRIES! I’m a coupon queen, and had a $5 of $25 deal from the Bertucci’s Facebook page, so I met the two of them there instead. At this point I was ready to eat my arm off and I immediately started on a roll. Mmm. I love their rolls and olive oil + herbs.

Jeff the hand model

Luckily my meal came with a cup of minestrone, so I got that fairly quickly and was relieved from my hanger. It was delicious! I loved the plentiful red beans and noodles. I hate runny, lackluster broth soups. This was hearty!

Check out the herbs on top – love it! For my meal I selected the Seafood di Mare, which awkwardly means Seafood of the Sea? We will let that one slide. This was a brick oven entree of baby scallops, shrimp, mussels, cod, with plum tomatoes and a baked crostini AKA crusty, amazing bread that I put the tomatoes on top of and ate like a homemade bruschetta.

The mussels were very good! It was my first time trying them and I’m glad I had something new. The rest of the seafood was wonderful as well. My only complaint is the temperature of the dish. This thing was HOT, and not your normal restaurant hot. I’m talking after 15-20 minutes of eating (I eat slowly), I was still blowing on each bite and desperately sipping water to cool my mouth down. I finally figured out that taking the remaining components of the meal out of the hot oil they were chillin’ (not at all) and setting them on a bread plate for a few minutes would cool them down quickly. The amount of oil this was baked in was too much anyway – there was so much leftover when I finished! I’d recommend using less oil and heating it less – but really, what do I know about cooking? Just a thought though, Bertucci’s!

And now I’ll embarrass myself by showing the website’s image of my meal. Looks pretty similar in terms of what came with it, but man I would’ve enjoyed having that lemon!

Thanks to Bertuccis.com for image.

Jeff went with the Seafood Torta: “Bertucci’s famous dough filled with tender scallops, shrimp, roasted tomato sauce, tomatoes, shaved cheese and oregano. Topped with fresh thyme and then baked to perfection in the brick oven.” I’ve had the Vegetable Torta before and while it’s delicious, I found it hard to eat and too similar to a pizza. I might as well just get a pizza, it’s easier to manage!

We all agreed that the presentation on this dish was pretty sad. It looked so bland on that plate – so lonely! But Jeff said he liked it. And another website photo for comparison…

Thanks to Bertuccis.com for image.

If only Jeff’s meal had come with that sprig of thyme laying oh-so-delicately on the torta!

Kim got one of my favorites, the Venetian Spinach Salad: “Grilled chicken breast atop a bed of spinach, grape tomatoes, red onions, shaved cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.” Her only complaint was that the red onions were too large for the salad – they were in rings, not shavings, and she doesn’t like too much onion taste at once. I gladly took a few rings off her hands and ate them whole. Classy.

I’m really lucking out with the availability of pretty website photos to put mine to shame, huh?

Image from Bertuccis.com

I’m always impressed with this salad. It’s one of the few I will order from a restaurant. I like to get the salmon – it is worth the higher price. Bertucci’s offers surprisingly delicious salmon.

At this point, we were feelin’ pretty good because the meal was over and it was time to head to TCBY for some FRO YO!

Cute couple aka my dining partners in crime.

We arrived and I discovered that it was Trivia Night, aka answer a trivia question right and get $1 off. And I got the only easy question (Which designer’s daughter owns a candy shop in NYC, Ralph Lauren OF COURSE), so I got $1 off! Poor Jeff and Kim got questions about the 70’s gas shortage and the tallest waterfall on Earth.

The most interesting topping on tap was star fruit! I’d never had it before and was excited to try it. Jeff nailed it when he compared it to an under-ripe pear – it was OK, but not something I’d go for again. Maybe it was just under-ripe!

I went with a mix of PB, white chocolate mousse, caramel, and cake batter flavors. Lots of toppings and topped off with sugar-free chocolate sauce.

And now I bring you…our creations!

Jeff's

Kim's

Mine.

Hey, it looks like there’s a candy cane in there! Trust me, there’s not, I hate them. I am obsessed with those frosted animal crackers though.

What’s your favorite fro-yo topping? Have you ever run into a meal that was just WAY too hot?

Quickie

First of all, I’d appreciate it if you would take a chance to check out my About page, which I updated yesterday. I added a little more about my relationship with food/working out there, and hope you like reading an updated version of my story!

Yesterday was the first rest day I’ve had in awhile where I didn’t feel antsy and cranky. Instead I felt, well, rested. I consider this an accomplishment! I enjoyed my day off and am ready to get back into it today. I plan to sweat it out later with some Zumba or Spin – we’ll see which!

I honestly don’t have much time for posting today, which is a bummer because I wanted to recap a fun and delicious night out I had on Monday. It will have to wait though, hence this post’s title (get your mind out of the gutter). For now, please enjoy (?) a couple of photos I’ve accumulated over the last few days. This is turning into my MO!

Sunday's dinner

Sunday nights seem to be protein parties in my house. My dad inevitably ends up grilling three different kinds of meat, and we also happened to have leftover black beans from Saturday night. I had a turkey burger patty, half of a turkey sausage, and a piece of grilled chicken, all dipped in spicy yellow mustard. This was VERY filling! I relieved my dad of his potato skin and filled it with Mariah’s Chow Chow Relish.

Potato skins = my taco shell substitutes. Unless I’m eating real tacos, that is. Then no substitute will do.

Monday’s breakfast obviously, judging by its size, left me eating lunch at 10:30am. Oh well! I can move meals around and eat at my desk at work, so it’s all good.

Banana and Dark Chocolate Dreams PB

Eh, that definitely looks kind of gross.

Finally, I wanted to give a shout-out to the Elvis Duran Show (any fans out there?) and suggest that you head on over to their web store and pick up a HELLO LADY shirt. ALL profits will be donated to Susan G. Komen, and there’s still enough time in October to promote breast cancer awareness (of course, this can be done anytime). If you listen to the show you know and probably love HELLO LADY, and if not, I recommend you get on IHeartRadio and listen to Elvis Duran’s show because it is HILARIOUS and accompanies me to work every single morning.

That’s all I’ve got for today, folks.

Do you listen to the Elvis Duran Show?

Do you ever eat a breakfast that’s too small and end up eating a ridiculously early lunch?

Playing Catch-Up

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday, or as I like to call it, the most useless day of the week. Hear me out on this. At least on Monday you still have a post-weekend high. Wednesday is hump-day. Thursday you know you’re almost there, and Friday is Friday. Tuesday has nothing to offer me, so I’m hatin’.

I have several photos, the oldest from exactly a week ago today, that I never shared with you guys in terms of eats. So I’m using today’s post to play catch-up.

Last Tuesday's dinner.

This was a good one. We had leftover chicken and turkey burger in the fridge, so I had some of each. My mom went to Moe’s and got some of their black beans to-go, which was awesome. I LOVE their black beans. And of course the ever-present Ore Ida frozen fries with spicy yellow mustard. These are so addicting. I definitely had more after I cleared my plate. I can NEVER leave any left on the pan. I don’t hate it.

Last Wednesday's dinner.

Please forgive the Barney bowl, the paper late, and all the shadows that are having a party in this picture. This was awesome though, despite how unpretty it is to look at. Broccoli with tons of garlic, turkey and bean chili, and two whole-grain taco shells for dipping.

I also wore a new shirt to work that day, and was excited enough to take pictures.

Ann Taylor sale!

 The next night’s dinner was another hodge-podge of components, only this time, all in one bowl.

Last Thursday's dinner.

This bowl of deliciousness, and the second one as well, contained broccoli from the night before, pico de gallo, and awesome Mexican casserole my mom made, and some leftover filet mignon that my dad brought home from a work dinner. So random. So good. Doused with a heaping helping of garlic salt. Filet mignon on a Thursday night is what’s up.

And some random salad beast lunches that always look the same…

Protein of choice: leftover spaghetti sauce meat

Protein of choice: leftover Mexican casserole

Yay! Now I’m all caught up. Also, I had a good workout last night. Good, not great. But it’s because I wasn’t challenged enough! I went to Group Power and for the first time, I knew I could’ve lifted a higher bicep weight. I also could have lifted more in shoulders. I’m bummed that I could’ve gotten a harder workout in, but I also know that it means I’m getting stronger and I love it! Today is a rest day because I have class and haven’t taken one in a week!

Quick – tell me what you had for dinner last night. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Monday! Yeah, I’m trying to keep it optimistic. I had a great, productive, relaxing weekend though! I’m still feeling very organized and efficient, so I’m even gonna organize this post by subject – oh goodness! Maybe next weekend’s recap will be organized by day – craziness! Or, the exact opposite!

Fitness

I went to Group Step both Friday evening and Saturday morning. I really love the new release, and I can especially tell since I didn’t mind doing the same routine twice in 24 hours! I ran into Lauren and Casey again at the Friday class, so that was fun. And one of my favorite instructors was there Saturday in addition to his usual Friday class. For Sunday’s workout, I woke up naturally at the ridiculous hour of 7am. Luckily there was a Spin class starting around that time, so I headed straight to the gym to get my sweat out of the way. I hadn’t been to Spin in a few months, so it was HARD. It was nice to switch up my routine though – classes like this always remind me how good it is to not get too comfortable with a few types of workouts. Of course, always do what you WANT to do in terms of exercise, but today’s Spin class fit conveniently into my schedule and reminded me of how tough it can be! Despite the fact that I was disgusting afterward, I was in a great mood.

Food

Friday night, I met my former co-worker and friend Tom for dinner at a restaurant in town I’d had yet to try, the Diamond, to use a SaveNowCT deal. I was pleasantly surprised! It’s one of those bar and grill places, so I didn’t think I’d be able to find any options that would be delicious and not too…fried? And salads from those places are never worth the money! But I got the blackened chicken quesadilla with extra salsa and it was awesome! It came on an herb tortilla, a nice touch, and when I asked them to go light on the cheese they definitely complied. The balance between cheese and chicken was perfect. Their salsa was so fresh and chunky, not the Tostitos-style I was expecting! I also had a glass of Salmon Creek Cabernet before my food came, and it really hit the spot. Such a delicious house wine! Sorry, no photos (left my camera in the car because I was running late after Step), but the lighting would have been awful anyway.

I had lunch Saturday at one of my favorite places, Whole Foods, with a couple of fellow marketers. We had a great conversation and already have plans to meet again around the holiday season to restaurant-hop for the blog – they loved it!

Sole cake with spinach and butternut squash puree.

I do love me some Whole Foods trips on Saturdays – they’re always giving out the best samples! I had the above dish the second after I walked in. It was perfect! The squash gave it such a nice, fall feel. Check out the cute little foldable spoon! I also had half of a chocolate chip cookie buttercream sandwich sample from the bakery. WOW is all I can say. I devoured it before I could get a photo.

I’m barely skimming the surface of what was in here but I do remember that there was: edamame, falafel, roasted veg, many bean salads, cabbage crunch salad, and eggplant!

I had to restrain myself once I got to the salad bar, as usual, and get a little container. That didn’t stop me from piling over a pound of food in there and finishing every last bite.

After lunch I went to my favorite package store. I have to be honest that they are only my favorite because I can always count on them to have free wine tastings on Saturday afternoons – and wouldn’t you know it, I found just what I was looking for, a free wine tasting. I rarely buy alcohol, unless I am at some kind of tasting, so I couldn’t leave without a bottle. I went for the most festive bottle, which, ironically, Katie blogged about last night!

Pinot noir!

Fun right? I like to buy a bottle if I find something I like at a tasting, and save it for whenever an occasion comes up, like the BBQ I attended last weekend. Who knows when I’ll break this bottle out, but I now have it and a bottle of chianti waiting in my house’s “Caitlin Reserve”!

Saturday’s dinner came courtesy of my dad and his best friend, who headed to my favorite Mexican restaurant in the state, Loco Perro, to pick up some delicious takeout for the Tennessee vs. Alabama game. I ate my meal on the floor in front of the fireplace (trying to keep warm – dammit it is getting too cold already for me). Unfortunately Tennessee did not fare well against Alabama, but we weren’t expecting a win. Still, there was the usual amount of anger, yelling, and head-shaking that accompanies any game that Tennessee loses. My dad is a die-hard fan – one of his retirement dreams is to live there and attend sporting events every single day. He doesn’t need much to be happy! I guess that’s where I get it from 🙂

Shredded chicken quesadilla, salsa, black beans.

Sunday’s eats were extremely routine (except for dinner, which I will post about later). Of course I spent the morning studying at Daybreak with Toasted Coconut coffee (I had Mocha Java on Saturday). I got so much done, and I’m so ahead of my work!

I did manage to get a photo of a random snack though…Good Neighbors black bean dip and baby carrots.

Fun

On Saturday I did a little shopping and pampering. A cute boutique in my town, Silver Dahlia, was having a huge one-day customer appreciation sale. Everything was 20% off, and all clearance was 50% off. I got two more charms for the charm key chain on my car keys. The books and the Class of 2011 charm are the new ones, and the other four I collected this summer! Unfortunately I now have no more room for charms. Probably a good thing, they’re a little pricey, at $3.95 per charm. I’m not sure what company makes them, but if anyone wants to know I can find out! I got my sister one for her birthday too.

I got another key chain too. I liked its message! And the other side says “Life is Good”.

After seeing an awesome nail color on Jenny’s blog last week, I found out the name of the color (OPI In the Espresso Lane) and went to my favorite nail parlor to get a polish change. I love polish changes – they are $4 cheaper than manicures and I think they look just as good! At the end, I got a little free massage with a warm piece of a plastic-like material around my shoulders. It felt sooo good, since I was already pretty cold.

Thanks to my dirty workout top for serving as my photo background…

I also saw two movies this weekend, “50/50“ and “Ides of March“. I’d highly recommend both! “50/50” was very well done and not too depressing, despite what some (*cough* my parents) may have thought from the premise. “Ides of March” wasn’t what I was expecting exactly, but I still really liked it. I love me some Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ryan Gosling. In terms of female actresses, I really like Anna Kendrick, Marissa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood, so there was a lot to like about these movies.

Today I caught up with a lot of my shows and started a new one – “Revenge“. I LOVE THIS SHOW so far. I’m already almost three episodes in! I’m a big fan of Emily Van Camp from the “Everwood” days, so it’s good to see her back on TV.

That recap ended up being a lot longer than I thought it’d be! Props to you if you read it all. Even if you didn’t, maybe you can answer a few questions for me…

Have you seen any of the movies I mentioned, or “Revenge”? How about “Everwood” – any hidden fans out there?

Are you aware of the money-saving powers of the polish change?

What was your best workout, meal, and/or purchase of the weekend?

Weekend Fun!

I had an awesome weekend! I’ll be dedicating a full post to the Apple Harvest Festival I attended on Sunday, but that wasn’t the only fun that was had. I headed to work on Friday in a very TGIF mood, still a little cranky from the day before, but a fun outfit and yummy (yet routine) lunch cheered me up a bit. And the fact that it was Friday, but I’ll give that part a rest at the risk of sounding too much like Rebecca Black.

Red eye removal went to town.

  • Top: Forever 21 (Christmas ’08!)
  • Jeans/Headband: American Eagle
  • Watch: flea market!
  • Shoes: Wal-Mart ($13 baby)

As I mentioned earlier, I used a SaveNowCT deal at South Tavern on Friday night. That place has never left me disappointed!

Pulled pork nachos, shared by the table.

I was impressed with the quality of their Greek Salad. It wasn’t too expensive to add the shrimp, and it came with more than your standard fare: artichokes, chick peas, and pepperoncinis in addition to the usual romaine, feta, tomato, onion, and kalamatas.

Ugh restaurant lighting!

I got a ton of homework done at Daybreak both Saturday and Sunday morning. On Saturday I went with their Bacio (chocolate/hazelnut) flavor for my nonfat cafe au lait, and on Sunday I tried the Pumpkin Spice flavor. YUM.

My co-worker Steve had a BBQ on Saturday night and it did not disappoint! I put together a cheese, cracker, and olive plate to go with the bottle of Priam Vineyards Cayuga White that I have been housing in my fridge for almost a month now. For the crackers I found a tasty wheat variety at the store from Special K: Savory Herb. I also included the normal Ritz for the non-wheat eaters. I usually like to include options for parties for those that may be “watching” what they eat and those that aren’t. Either one of those is fine with me as long as there’s something for everyone!  I used my Artisan Foods cheese but did leave half the wedge in my fridge (too good to give it all up).

Steve really outdid himself. The BBQ had SO MUCH FOOD. I was in heaven and also ended up drinking all but one glass’s worth of that bottle of wine. Woo hoo…I was still in bed before midnight. Grandma needs her sleep!

Grilled pizza! I topped my slice with grilled chicken and my olives.

Roasted cheesy potatoes and crusty bread! Dipped both in garlic hummus.

Romaine, tomato, cheese, some sort of delicious dressing.

Oh boy! I braved the creeper to get to that delish corn.

4 glasses of wine later…

Missing are photos of steak, grilled chicken, ribs, hot dogs (I had my first hot dog in forever…that classic white bun, ketchup, and mustard was AMAZING), stuffed mushrooms, and grilled veggies. THANK YOU to Steve and his wife Sharon for having me!

Sunday I woke up feeling quite iffy from the wine, and also still full. I hit the gym for a Bootcamp workout class that I’d never taken before. It was quite intense but also a little less enjoyable for me than other fitness classes I take. It was a lot of sports drills which were tough and high intensity, but I didn’t get a satisfying muscle-burn like I get from Group Power or the fun choreography I see in Group Step. It was still good to step outside the box though and keep my body guessing!

I also barely took any photos yesterday (Monday), but that could be due to the fact that it was a day of repetitive eats. Seriously, if you want to know what I ate, look here. Hit the gym after work for Group Power and 25 minutes (2.68 miles) on the stair master. I read the latest issue of “Health” with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the cover – it was a good one! I love SMG, her interview was real and she seems so cool. Looks like I need to start watching “Buffy” since I’m so into “Ringer”.

This morning I woke up a little bit earlier than usual to do some nice yoga stretches per Shayla’s suggestion. I get very antsy and feel “pent-up” on my long work/class days, since I have a desk job and my responsibilities all involve a computer and SITTING! Hoping that starting my day out with some soothing yoga poses will help that today – thanks again Shayla!

The rest of my weekend is deserving of its own post, so I’ll end this here!

What was the best thing you ate this past weekend? I don’t think I can choose…

Is anyone else watching “Ringer”?

Workday Food Routines

Each night, I prep my lunch for the next day to bring to work. Even if it’s the day before a non-work-day, I still think about my plans for the following day and if any food prep is needed, I do it the night before. I find this is the best way to a) save money, b) save time in the morning, and c) keep healthy eats that I enjoy on hand.

I tend to eat almost the same thing each morning for breakfast, but the other day I was craving some of my Beltane Farm farmer’s market chive chevre, so I spread it on a crunchy toasted english muffin.

Like the Sesame Street plate? Childhood fave, will never get rid of it.

I added more chevre after I took this photo. Simply not enough.

Snack examples: TJ's veggie chips + chive cottage cheese, cucumbers + black bean dip.

When packing my lunch, I tend to pack a veggie-heavy salad for my main course, with some sort of protein incorporated. I also like to pack a couple fruit servings as snacks, as well as some starches. I tend to like to get my starches in during snacks and dinner, it’s just kinda my routine (I’m in favor of the evening carb-coma), so that’s why I like to keep my lunch in the form of a salad. A ginormous salad with about 10 ingredients – on a minimum-ingredient day.

A workday salad and side of fruit. Don't be fooled, there's meat in there.

It’s important for me to have plenty of snacks because I tend to eat many times throughout the day, a little bit at a time. Again, this is just what works for me and keeps my energy up constantly. I also work out after work on Monday/Wednesday/Friday, so eating snacks in the afternoon serves as pre-gym fuel.

A day of workday "loot".

Do you tend to pack your lunch, buy, or a mix of both? Do you have “standards”  you always pack? Any new snack or salad ingredient ideas for me?

Three Dinners

Yesterday after I got out of class, I was in a crappy mood, plain and simple. Even the dinner my mom had prepared, waiting on the stove top when I got home, didn’t cheer me up. Neither did watching the latest episode of “Ringer“. TGIF because I’m still feeling pretty blah. I’m hoping a weekend of dinner with old friends, cafe studying, a fall festival, and a co-worker BBQ will lift my spirits.

Last night's dinner: Boboli wheat crust with goat cheese, grilled chicken, vidalia onion, and broccoli.

That knife looks way creepier than I intended it to! It also did no good in cutting the pizza – toppings everywhere. Any suggestions on a better option?

Be still my heart: roasted Brussels

Went back for seconds on both. And the rest of the brussels found their way into my salad today.

I suspect part of the reason for my crankiness was the fact that I had a lot of pent-up energy from sitting on my butt all day at work and in class. I don’t really have time to work out on those long days (Tuesday/Thursdays). I could if I woke up earlier, or worked out when I got home at 7:45pm, but neither of those things are on my list of things I WANT to do, and I also know rest days are important. In the past I’ve been TOO rigid with having to work out each day and I think it’s actually healthier for me to teach myself to take days off, rest, and work out for enjoyment – but sometimes it’s tough! Any suggestions for me? How many rest days do you take?

I have a lot of photos from the week to share of other eats as well!

Monday's dinner: green beans, Ore Ida fries w/spicy mustard, turkey burger, grilled chicken, turkey sausage.

Is anyone else as addicted to oven-baked frozen fries, plain or sweet potato, as much as I am? I swear I cannot leave any left on the tray. I MUST FINISH THEM! They are so good with yellow mustard too. The green beans are home-canned by my Nana Connie. She brings them to us whenever we see her and we stock up on the jars in our garage! Each time my mom uses one it both pains and overjoys her. And after a weekend of several vegetarian meals (no parents = no meat in the house) I was so ready to load up on my dad’s grilled specialties.

Tuesday's dinner: leftovers and a baked potato!

My mom busted out some frozen meatloaf that I didn’t even know we had (score) as well as chicken and beans from the night before. More mustard, obviously. I filled the baked potato skin with Mariah’s Chow-Chow Relish.

Baked potato innards mixed with garlic salt and Promise.

After I took this photo I mixed in some of the Yummy Hummy pico de gallo – good decision.

I have more photos to share of a breakfast and lunches, but I think I may save them for later, which leaves me to another question for you all: Would you prefer to see one longer post each day from me, or several shorter ones? I will ask the same question on Twitter too!

There Is Food In This Post

The above title is necessary because today’s post is actually going to be about fashion, or lack thereof depending on your opinion of what I wear. I like when bloggers share their outfits, whether dressy, casual, or workout-related, so I thought I’d do the same. But I also know most readers expect me to talk about food/fitness so I’ll just start with a quick recap of last night’s workout and dinner.

I hit the gym for Group Groove. Got there a bit late but wanted to check out all of the new songs since the new release is officially out next week. Verdict – disappointed. The new tracks are not nearly as challenging as the summer release’s! After the “peak dance” I felt like I definitely hadn’t reached a peak and still had so much energy, so I skipped the cool-down (bad, oh well) and headed to a place I haven’t been in awhile – the treadmill. I had a weird and random urge to run so I put my dependable work-out playlist on shuffle and busted out a mile at with the incline set on 2. Not a ton, but I just wanted to run something quickly to reach a peak HR and I had to get to dinner anyway! I ran the first half at 7.0 and the second half at 7.5. I felt great afterward! And my desire to run has now probably been quenched for the next several months.

My favorite restaurant was next on the agenda – J. Gilbert’s. I was meeting my foodie friends Evan and Jeff, as well as my friend/Jeff’s girlfriend, Kim. Jeff had a coupon that he was kind enough to split with us (that place is expensive). I was again bad and did not take any photos, but ordered their BBQ Salmon Salad for the first time and was not disappointed. From the menu: BBQ salmon with “baby greens, tortilla straws, smoked corn-black bean relish, ancho chile onion rings, cilantro lime vinaigrette”.

This was AWESOME. I already knew I loved their salmon but the relish and dressing were crazy good. I also asked for sides of mango salsa and pico de gallo to add to the salad. Had to make it a glorified beast! Of course the onion rings mostly took care of that – the pile of them on top of the salad must have been at least 6 inches high. I took most of them off, along with some of the tortilla straws, and plated them on the center to share with the table. Not a ring was left standing, and I enjoyed the moderate amount I left on my plate!

Moving onto the photos – collected over the past week!

Friday's work outfit (yes I get to wear jeans!)

  •  Sweater – Forever 21
  • Jeans – American Eagle
  • Shoes – Keds
  • Watch – Fossil
  • Ring – Forever 21 (I have about 6 different colors!)

Saturday morning workout

  • T-shirt – Race for the Cure 2010 5K (in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month!)
  • Hoodie – Victoria’s Secret
  • Pants – Victoria’s Secret
  • Sneakers – Adidas

Back of the hoodie – it's my favorite!

Earrings for the Renaissance Faire!

I got those at Claire’s back in high school – I still love them and wear them every year!

Sunday morning workout

  • Top – 6th grade soccer jersey! Palm City rec soccer represent!
  • Crops – Victoria’s Secret

PJ'S!!!

No joke, these are one of my favorite pairs of PJs. They are so goofy because they’re silk and they match, but I got them at a VS Semi-Annual Sale and LOVE THEM. I call them my fancy pants PJs.
And because I promised you food…
cucumber “soba” noodles, watermelon pickles, tuna crudo, aji amarilla coulis, chipotle aioli, local tomato ceviche
From a tasting I went to at J. Gilbert’s this past summer – told you it was one of my favorite places. Now you can see why!
Do you care at all about fashion posts? Do you have any fancy-pants PJs?

Weekend Wednesday

Confusing title, no? But I am super behind on posting photos, and this post on some weekend eats is occurring on a Wednesday. And I need to upload my work week photos next. Bad blogger – I’m workin’ on it.

As long as you have something to look at, right?

Nonfat amaretti cafe au lait, with a side of homework, at Daybreak Coffee.

On Saturday and Sunday morning I set up camp at Daybreak to get homework done. The owner was kind enough to let me ask for a french-pressed cafe au lait on Sunday using whatever flavor I wanted (that they already had roasted and ready to grind). I went with toasted butternut and it was out of this world. Definitely tops their pecan pie flavor. FYI a cafe au lait is just a coffee with steamed milk. At Daybreak they actually call it a blanc, and at Starbucks they call it a misto, if either of those sound more familiar.

Whole Foods salad beast

I moved my study party to Whole Foods later on Saturday afternoon and had lunch while I waited to pick my brother up from work. I could not even begin to tell you what was in this beast, but it included their broccoli/sundried tomato/kalamata olive medley that I LOVE, avocado kale salad, about five different bean salads, pineapple, edamame, artichokes, red pepper fish, falafel, and…OK that’s all I remember but that’s probably only half. This was almost a two-pounder.

Falafel tacos

After the Renaissance Faire on Saturday night, and after my fiber-rific lunch had finally digested, I was ready for dinner pretty late (about 8:30pm) and was feeling particularly lazy since I had already been parked on the couch for over an hour watching “Secret Circle”. And since my parents were out of town, aka Dad the grill man was gone, our fridge was devoid of all meat except my brother’s ham (no thanks). So I went the vegetarian route for dinner (vs. the pescatarian route for lunch) and decided to mix two food “genres” to create some Greek/Mexican magic.

Falafel, pico de gallo, tzatziki sauce in whole grain taco shells

These were SO good! And so easy to put together too – I used a boxed brand of pre-made falafel (can’t recall the name right now) and these awesome whole grain taco shells we have that are less than 200cal for two! The pico I used was the Yummy Hummy variety I got at the Coventry Farmer’s Market. It’s still SO fresh and delicious over a week later!

And since that was not nearly enough for me, I proceeded to go tzatziki-carrot crazy, because once I start with tzatziki I just cannot stop.

Sunday was another day of packed study snacks in the morning, cheese and other goodies in the afternoon, and before I knew it, it was dinnertime and I was craving some take-out. So off to Moe’s I went to get my favorite item on their menu – a burrito “streaker”. Moe’s > Chipotle – who’s with me?!

Chicken with cucumber, cilantro, corn, olives, pico, salsa, black beans, onions, and green pepper.

After I was 75% done, I switched from fork to chips as my method-of-choice for getting this delicious pile of food into my mouth. It was a good decision. And when the bowl was gone, the chip munching continued with some more of the Yummy Hummy pico.

Those are my weekend eats photos – maybe this weekend I will post my week eats photos. No?! OK, I’ll try to be faster than that.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a weekend fashion post! These delays are getting out of hand. I should stop revealing when my photos were taken…nah.

What was the best thing you ate this past weekend? Only half a week left til the next weekend!

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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