Category Archives: Lunch

Breakfast / Dessert / Dinner / Food Journal / Lunch / Snack

Super Late

April 18, 2010

Ok, so apologies are in order.  I’m so sorry that this post is so late; it’s been one of those weekends!  I will start at the beginning, and I won’t leave anything out.  Er… I’ll try not to!  In fact, I’m even going to make this into two separate posts so it doesn’t get too overwhelming with the amount of pictures.

So let’s start where we left off: Friday night.

KC and I did make it to Fenton’s after dinner that night.  We decided it was most economical to share a GIGANTIC dish of ice cream (3 HUGE scoops):

The flavors we chose were Butterfinger, Coffee Cookie Dream, and Chocolate Mint.  YUM!  I ate about half of the Butterfinger scoop, had a couple bites of the Coffee and I was spent.  We didn’t quite finish…

We got the rest to go, and it’s still sitting in our freezer.

Ok, so Saturday.  Saturday started like any other day.  Cheerios with a banana for breakfast:

I topped this off with a double shot from the Nespresso over ice:

After the caffeine I was ready and raring to go.  I grabbed KC and decided we should take a walk down Telegraph.  We wandered through the shops, and ended up at La Calaca Loca where we each had a taco (since it was lunch time by this point):

I had the chicken taco, which was good, but the chicken was a little tough.  Not as impressive as the last time I was there.  Maybe it was just an off day.

After our small lunch, we wandered back down Telegraph.  We spent some time at The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, which I affectionately call “The Junk Store.”  KC bought some CDs for 25¢ (the selection at the store was quite interesting).  After killing time there, we headed down the street to Remedy Coffee which opened fairly recently.

The cafe has a cool vibe, and my coffee and KC’s espresso were both good.

After (the extra) caffeine, it was time to meet up with Dan and Suzie, who were picking us up to take us to Golden Gate Park for April’s birthday BBQ.

It was a beautiful day at the park.

Unfortunately, amidst all the birthday fun I wasn’t able to take pictures of everything I ate.  I had a turkey burger…

Plus some of the munchies that were out (veggies and dip, chips and salsa, and 2! chocolate chip cookies):

All in all, we had a great time playing kickball and celebrating April’s 20-something year.  Nothing quite like a beautiful Saturday with good friends, right?

We gave the birthday girl a lift:

Once it started to get dark (and cold!) we headed to Durdy Nelly’s so the fun could continue.  I took some pictures there, but it was so dark none of them really turned out!  There was drinking (more done by others than myself) and dancing (even though I don’t think it’s really a dancing bar…?)  Fun fun fun.  After finishing up there, KC wanted to head to Trad’r Sam’s to meet up with a friend.  There may have been a late-night stop at Taco Bell/KFC (to which I kept singing, “I’m at the Pizza Hut.  I’m at the Taco Bell.  I’m at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.”)  We were not at Pizza Hut; but anyway, if you don’t know that song, I feel bad for you.  (No, I don’t.)  By the way, I have this strange fascination with annoying repetitive songs…  That Baskin Robbin’s commerical has been repeated endlessly in this apartment because I heard it and thought it was hilarious.  (Ice cream and cake and cake…)

Back to the point: Trad’r Sam’s serves these ridiculously huge tropical drinks — I didn’t partake, seeing as I was driving, but KC ordered a scorpion, which apparently means “Make me a drink the size of my head.  And make sure it’s pink.”  KC didn’t finish his…bowl.  Thank goodness — I think it would have ended badly for both of us if he had!

We finally decided to head home around midnight.  Once we got back to Oakland, we were all beat!  KC and I went straight to bed and Suzie crashed on the couch (after I made some pizza toast for everyone in an effort to lessen hangovers in the morning).

Sorry there was no update about this!  I was in no shape to be blogging that late.  I think if I had attempted to put something together it would have gone something like this:  “I ate today.  I’m tired.  Goodnight.”  Not exactly quality material…yes?

Breakfast / Dinner / Food Journal / Lunch / Salads / Snack

A Very Productive Friday (and French Salad Part Deux)

April 16, 2010

Hey all,

I hope your Friday has been fabulous so far.  The weather here was beautiful today!  I don’t know what it is about the Spring sunshine, but it makes me super motivated to get things done!

This morning I woke up and had a green smoothie:

Nothing like a healthy, green smoothie in a Guinness glass to start off your Friday!  I don’t know if y’all have noticed, but I have quite a few Guinness glasses…  The reason for this is because I traveled abroad a lot in college and shortly after.  Because I was off in foreign lands for the first 4 summers KC and I were together, I would always bring him back a souvenir.  The first time I was out of the country, I brought back two Guinness glasses for KC; and after that, it became a sort of tradition (especially the year I actually traveled to Dublin and toured the Guinness Storehouse).  Anyway, because of this, we have a nice collection of Guinness pints.

Back to the smoothie though: I made this one with 5 frozen strawberries, some frozen blueberries (1/4 cup?), a banana, 2 tbsp. flaxseeds, 1/4ish cup lowfat plain yogurt, 1 serving of tofu, 1 cup vanilla soy, and half a bag of spinach.  Yes, a lot of stuff.  And it made a lot of smoothie.  I didn’t finish that whole glass in the picture — I probably drank about half of the total amount made (the rest is in the fridge for later).

After my nutritious breakfast, I got to work cleaning the apartment.  Seuss, as usual, was no help.  She spent most of the time stalking/running away from the broom.

Once the apartment was spic and span, I hopped in the shower (baking soda and apple cider vinegar!) and got ready to head out to meet Alexis.

Alexis and I decided to walk to Holy Land for lunch.  We each ordered their special lemonade:

It’s basically slushy lemonade and mint.  It was good, but a little sweet for me.  Truth be told, I’m not that into sweet drinks.  Juice?  Cocktails?  No thanks.

For lunch I ordered the chicken schwarma:

It was good, but Alexis’ falafel looked much better.  The little sauce that came on the side was super spicy and delicious though!

After lunch, Alexis and I headed to Target where we spent way too much time and money (as usual).  How is it that I go to Target for trash bags and cotton balls and I walk out with 40 other things I “didn’t know I needed?”  Ugghhh… My bank account definitely did not need that!  Oh well.

After Target it was time for Berkeley Bowl.  If you ever need anything grocery-related, Berkeley Bowl probably carries it.  The place is huge and has a TON of stuff!  We spent a lot of time in the bulk bin section…:

I accidentally put my red quinoa and bulgar in some other guy’s cart… Woops!  (Me to Alexis: “Where did you get those potatoes?  Alexis: “Those aren’t mine.”  Me: “Oh shooot…”)  The guy was nice about it luckily.

I stocked up on organic produce and found the Madras Curry Powder and Chipotle Chili Powder I’d been looking for.  Score!

After Berkeley Bowl we headed to Trader Joe’s.  Yes, two grocery stores in one day!  I used to do all my shopping at TJ’s, but I’ve recently expanded my shopping to include Whole Foods or Berkeley Bowl, as TJ’s doesn’t always have everything I need for my recipes.

Alexis and I jammed through TJ’s.  I grabbed more produce, yogurt, almond milk, some canned tomatoes, a few other things, and we were outta there.  It was a lot of shopping, but now my grocery shopping for next week is DONE!  I’m sure KC is even more excited about that than I am.

KC and I are back at our place now.  KC’s watching the Shark’s playoff game (he yells at the TV which makes pretty much anything more interesting in my book). I was hungry after the shopping marathon, so I had an orange before starting dinner:

The oranges have been to die for this season!  I could eat them til I was sick, pretty much.

I made a different kind of French salad for dinner tonight:

This is based off a salad I had at Cafe de la Presse in San Francisco. (Lunch with Savilla before she moved down to LA — come back! SF misses you!)

For the salad I sliced a yellow onion and cubed 3 slices of bread.  I tossed all that in olive oil, salt and pepper, then baked it + 3 slices of prosciutto at 400° for 10 minutes.  Once done, this went on top of a chopped and washed a head of frisee (I crumbled the prosciutto).  This was all tossed with a white wine vinaigrette (1/2 tbsp. dijon + 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar + 2 tbsp olive oil + salt and pepper).  I then topped that with what was supposed to be a soft boiled egg (I forgot about the eggs so they ended up more hard-boiled than soft-boiled… Oh well).  There you go, French salad take two.

KC is hinting that we might be heading to Fenton’s tonight! Could there be a milkshake in my future? Ahhh ice cream! YUM!

Breakfast / Food Journal / Lunch / Snack

Sad Thursday

April 15, 2010

Happy tax day!  I guess I shouldn’t say happy.  Tax day is generally not a day of happiness for many people.  So, happy tax day!

So today is not only sad because I am now officially unemployed (meaning, zero income), but because my time with a certain adorable little tot has come to an end.

Today was my last day as Mason’s nanny, as his permanent, full-time nanny starts next week.  I started sitting for this little guy when he was only 3 weeks old.  I used to be able to fit him on my lap, lengthwise, and now look at him!  5 months old and sitting on his own.  He wasn’t even smiling yet when I started nannying for him!  Now he laughs and makes all sorts of hilarious baby noises.  I’m sure his new nanny will do a great job and love him just as much as I do; but I’ll definitely be going through some Mason withdrawal over the coming weeks!

Before heading off to watch Mason this morning, I had some Kashi for breakfast:

Nothing like some Heart to Heart in a pink bowl to start your Thursday!

I hopped on BART and headed to Bar Method to take Anita’s 11am class — she killed with the inner thigh work today!  I’m already sore from the class, so that doesn’t bode very well for how my muscles will be feeling tomorrow…  Oh well, bikini season approaches, and no pain no gain right?

After class it was time for my final hours with my favorite boy (under 5 feet).  Mason wasn’t so into napping today — I’d like to think it’s because he knew it was our last day together and he wanted to enjoy every minute of it.  Though I love spending time playing with Mason and making him laugh, him not napping means I don’t have much time to eat during the day.  I managed to squeeze in time for the iced coffee I brought (of course.  I mean, priorities people), an orange I didn’t take a picture of (I was eating it with one hand and shaking a rattle for Mason with the other — which he thought was fascinating — so I didn’t really have time or an arm for the camera unfortunately), and some yogurt in my new favorite travel-ware:

I figured after my stomachache last night, some probiotics might be in order.  I brought some organic lowfat plain yogurt mixed with organic wild blueberries, some honey, and raw sliced almonds.  (The other cool thing about my new travel container is there’s a compartment in the top — I kept the almonds in there so they wouldn’t get mushy.  Genius!)

After a full day with the big man at the studio, I headed home on BART.  I have plans to make brussel sprout salad for dinner (but I’m out of onions, grrr).  I heated up some of the leftover cauliflower to snack on, before I decide whether to run to the store for a single onion (so annoying) or just start dinner without it.

In other news, Priscilla (who works at Bar Method) has an organic cupcake business which is competing for the title of Best of the BayList.  You can check out her website for her company, MoonBaby Cakes, here. Let me tell you, I don’t even like cake (as I’ve mentioned before) but Priscilla is so good, she even converted me with her cupcakes! She made gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cupcakes for Heather’s baby shower (that’s Mason’s mom) last year, and oh. my. god. They were the most amazing little cakes I’ve ever tasted! I seriously still have dreams about those cupcakes… I have to think up an event where I can commission Priscilla to make those again. Maybe a party for when I become employed? That would certainly be something to celebrate.

Anyway, if you’d like to vote for MoonBaby Cakes for Best of the Bay, you can do so here.  And hey, if she wins, maybe Priscilla will have a cupcake celebration party and invite you! (Try and request the gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes she makes. Life-changing!)

Alright, off to make a decision about onions.  I know, my life… seriously epic these days…

Breakfast / Food Journal / Lunch / Snack

Healthy Snacking

April 14, 2010

Hey-o!

I don’t know about you guys, but I love to snack.  I don’t eat a lot at one time, but I love to eat things throughout the day (I eat probably every 2 hours or so..!)  Anyway, I find that a good way to stay healthy throughout the day is to prepare snacks for myself the night before, or in the morning.

This morning I had oatmeal for breakfast:

Irish oats with almond butter, raspberry Bonne Maman, and raisins — nice way to start the day!

After breakfast it was time to head to Bar Method to work the desk for a few hours.  Before I left, I got my lunch and coffee in order.  I make my own coffee during the week, and bring it wherever I’m going (usually Bar Method) in my travel cup.  The travel cup was definitely an investment (about $20), when considering that a cup of coffee is only about $1.50; but seeing as I’ve been using it weekly for the past 2 1/2 years, I’d say it’s more than paid for itself.  Not only that, but think about the number of paper cups this represents, not to mention the amount of money I’ve saved schlepping my own caffeine around (as the cup pays for itself in a mere 14 uses).  If you like coffee like I do (we have a very serious relationship, java and I), you might consider investing in a travel mug of your own!

I also used my new travel bowl again today.  This time I brought leftover Pasta e Fagioli soup in it for lunch:

That’s my very eco-friendly lunch setup.  Soup, coffee, and water.  The soup stayed a bit warmer than the oatmeal did yesterday.  Given the bowl’s performance today and yesterday, I’d say it was a good investment.  I will definitely keep using it.  Even though it’s kind of a pain to lug around all these accoutrements, it saves me from having to buy lunch (I’m poor, remember?) and at the end of the day, I’m not throwing away a bunch of plastic and paper.

Back to today: Bar Method was a zoo!  The studio has gotten super busy lately — I think people have finally caught on and realized just how effective the workout is.

I took the 3pm Bar Method class today after my desk shift ended.  Before heading into class I had the typical fare:

Yes, that would be an orange and a hard-boiled egg in my trusty Snapware (I bought 2 sets of the stuff at Costco a few months ago, and I love it!  Airtight and BPA free, what more could you want?)

After class I headed home on BART.  Once I got home I was hungry, but wasn’t in the mood to start dinner just yet (since I’m not sure when my hard-working boy will be home yet!)  I had a head of cauliflower and some tomatoes which were about to go bad, so I decided to make some turmeric roasted cauliflower with tomatoes (genius!).

I cut the cauliflower into florets and tossed it and the tomatoes in olive oil, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  I roasted all this at 425° for 25 minutes, and it was ready to eat.  Easy peasy:

Delicious and healthy snack!  If you haven’t tried cooking with turmeric yet, I definitely recommend trying it.  Not only is it delicious and a fabulous shade of yellow, but there are a bunch of health benefits to it (you can check out some of the benefits of turmeric here)

I’m currently trying to decide whether to make brussel sprout salad or carmelized onion pizza for dinner.  Hmmm, maybe I’d better look in the fridge and see what’s going to expire first…  That’s always a good way to decide things like this, right?  I’ll post the winner of this challenge later.  Off to the fridge!

Breakfast / Dinner / Favorite Things / Lunch / Snack

Insert Witty Title Here

April 13, 2010

Happy Tuesday!

Just a regular day today.  Cheerios for breakfast:

After breakfast it was time to head off to Bar Method to watch Mason.  Mason had a rough morning, but we were able to get a cute and colorful photo shoot in, in Studio 1:

What a cutie!  Don’t you just love the striped pants?

Today I was super excited to try out my new oatmeal container!

I know, it’s totally weird how excited I get about things like tupperware… but I can’t help it!  Look, it even comes with a portable spoon in the top:

It’s made of stainless steel, so it’s sort of like a travel coffee mug, just for oatmeal (or soup, or yogurt, or whatever).  I brought oatmeal in it today (no picture, sorry!  It wasn’t very photogenic).  I brought some of the McCann’s Irish Oats I cooked up last night and mixed in about a tablespoon of almond butter (I like the TJ’s organic raw unsalted kind), 2ish teaspoons of raspberry Bonne Maman jam, and some raisins.  Yum!  Considering I heated up the oatmeal 2 1/2 hours before eating it, it was still pretty warm (not hot though).

I also had coffee in my favorite traveling Starbucks cup (nothing disposable today!)  It’s starting to show the wear, no?  I guess that’s what 2 1/2 years of being lugged to school, work and everyplace in between will do to you!

I also brought an orange and a hard-boiled egg.  Had to fuel up before my 4:15pm class!

I think this is a great pre-workout snack because it’s protein (egg) + natural carbs (fruit) so it keeps you full (without being too full) and energized throughout your workout.

After class I headed home.  Nothing too exciting to report there: dish washing, vacuuming, many other thrilling activities.  Had a snack of cow cheese, water crackers, and tomatoes (Bar Method makes me hungry!)

Had leftovers for dinner (Pasta e Fagiole + bread + cranberry water) since KC was working late:

I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach when I reheated this, because I couldn’t finish!  I’ll have to remember to serve up less next time (you can always reheat more, right?)

I’ll probably grab some dark chocolate later… I just can’t live without it!

Time to jump in the shower, KC will be home soon (finally)!  Hope you guys are having a relaxing night.  Don’t forget, The Good Wife is on CBS at 10pm tonight — I love that show!  If you have yet to watch it, maybe tonight is the night to check it out.  (Oh Nurse Hathaway, you had me at ER…)