I’m starting to understand the office space food dilemma. Having never really worked in a business where people were as food obsessed as I am, it was always easy to turn down less than exciting things that people had brought into share. But now, I’ve entered the doom zone.

After committing to a light morning, my coworker went ahead and brought in some lemon poppyseed muffins. Given that this is the second batch of these she has made this week, and I skipped out on the first ones, I decided that it would be worth my while to have at least one.

Let me tell you a little about Beth’s baking. She’s my vegan baker friend who is consistently bringing in tantalizing treats. Her mocha chip muffins are on my top favorite muffins ever eaten list.

So even when I plan out my day, and have committed myself to healthy eating, sometimes she comes in with warm muffins, and I just can’t turn her down.

After consuming this muffin, I do believe I was on a three hour sugar high, literally buzzing throughout the place. They were outrageously lemony and delicious. Really, I think this has been the week for lemons.

I was satiated until about 3:30 pm when I decided to finally crack into my lunch – an apple from my farm box, and some leftover rice and black-eyed pea curry. There wasn’t as much food in the container as I had remembered, so I was actually happy that I had eaten the muffin earlier.

When I got home from work, I decided that enough was enough, I was going to get in my greenery that I had been missing. I went the slightly drastic route, and chopped up all my swiss chard from the farm box.

And then I stuck it in the blender.

With some lemon juice and red pepper flakes.

I topped it all with a few cups of boiling water and chicken stock.

WHIRRRRRRRRed it up.

AND…..

BIO-SLUDGE!!!!!

I have to admit that I was slightly alarmed at the color and that I hadn’t mixed it to quite the consistency that I would have liked. I think it needed a little bit more pureeing. (What it really needed was a Vitamix.)

But it did the trick! And it was pretty tasty. The lemon and red pepper gave it just the right kick.

I also ransacked my freezer, and took out a little ziplock bag full of unlabeled soup that I had put aside at some point. I usually freeze portions of soup and label them – an easy way to have single meals ready on the nights you absolutely don’t want to cook, or are too busy. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I decided to heat it up anyway – nothing like a liquid-y dinner to get in the nutrients.

I *believe* it ended up being potato-leek soup with some kielbasa. It might have also had some white beans? I must admit that it was slightly entertaining to not quite know what I was eating! Whatever it was, it was good!

Night everyone!

Technorati Tags: Vegan, vegetables

This afternoon I headed out to Office Depot to buy some office supplies and organizational tools for school and my various jobs, and left empty handed. This particular location had NOTHING that I wanted, everything was overpriced, and I left completely frustrated. I’m an office supply junkie, so this was truly a disappointing situation.

Tonight was a low key dinner:

While I usually like to make my own salads (from a quality and price standpoint, usually the better deal) tonight we had a greek salad from Trader Joe’s. It’s perfectly portioned for two people, relatively inexpensive, and has a lot of little fixins’ such as feta and cucumbers that I don’t usually have on hand in the kitchen.

I made Devon some pasta, and I had a bowl full of leftover vegetables – steamed broccoli, chickpeas, leftover beet salad and acorn squash. Usually we have the same food, but there wasn’t quite enough pasta, and I didn’t feel like eating any. (Honestly, that’s a first..)

I actually topped all of this with some turkey bolognese, (also from Trader Joe’s), but it looked so awful photographed I thought I would spare everyone’s eyes, and assure you that it was absolutely delicious and surprisingly filling.

I didn’t really get in much exercise today, so I kept my meals light. It’s been an interesting mind game learning that I’m not actually very hungry when I don’t exercise – and I’ve been working to listen to my body rather than listen to my emotional cravings. It’s certainly a lifelong balancing act, but it’s been getting much easier of late.

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

Dinner tonight was an all-vegetable extravaganza. (I can only do this on Devon’s late nights, so I take advantage of it!!) The key idea here is to eat as many vegetables that I can, both to give myself a nutritional boost, and reduce the contents of my refrigerator.

Part One: Over the weekend I roasted an acorn squash to make space for the new vegetables from my farm box. It was now smaller, but I hadn’t eaten it yet. So for dinner, I mashed it.

I then topped the mashed squash with a fried egg. The great thing about acorn squash is that it requires absolutely nothing to be delicious. And there is almost nothing you can add to make it any better… except for the oozing yolk of a fried egg. (Although that, in my opinion, elevates most everything to a new level of deliciousness.)

I served it with sauteed beet greens and cabbage, with ginger, garlic, coriander and cumin, which I had fried up in a little bit of coconut oil. I have a big jar of virgin coconut oil that Tropical Traditions sent me to try, and I find it particularly useful for anything with indian flavors, and particularly greens.

In addition to my greens, squash and egg, I made my second dish this week from Ruta Kahate’s ‘5 Spices, 50 Dishes ‘, this time the sauteed beets with mustard and lemon juice. I’ve rarely met a beet dish that I dish that I didn’t like, and this one was pleasantly satisfying – the earthy beets were nicely complemented by the spicy mustard seed, chiles and tangy lemon juice.

After dinner I was still feeling like a needed a little something, but unsure what, so I toasted the last English muffin (so it wouldn’t go bad!) and ate one half with some reduced-fat cheddar from Cabot, and the other half with a tablespoon of crunchy Barney Butter, and a few teaspoons of Nutella. Sweet and Savory goodness!

And now, off to bed!! It’s late!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

After coming back home this afternoon, I resisted the urge to sit on my couch and watch some tivo’d CSI:NY, and instead headed out for a walk around my neighborhood. I ambled over the hill to Glen Park, an adorable little neighborhood filled with cute restaurants and shops.

I popped into Bird and Beckett , one of my favorite bookstores to check things out. Even on the days I’m not working at the bookstore, I end up looking at books. Apparently it’s a common syndrome of people who work in the field. I ended up leaving with a copy of their new literary review, which, I’ll admit, I purchased because of how great it looks! They tell you not to judge a book by it’s cover, but I find that books that have great covers tend to have good content in between. I’ve been flipping through it, and I’m pretty glad I took it home with me.

I walked through Canyon Market (another great independent grocery store), and then headed over to Perch, a little store that has the most carefully selected home-ware, stationary, bags, children’s clothes, jewelry, and other curiosities.

I was actually on a mission – I’m looking for a really perfect ceramic tea mug, to add a little something to my tea drinking routine. Perch didn’t quite have what I was looking for today, but I had to seriously restrain myself buying the entire store.

By the time I got home, I checked my pedometer and I had gotten in my 10,000 steps!

Because I had a pretty rich lunch, I decided to go on the light side for dinner.

Devon also has a long Wednesday night, so it’s me-time and I can eat a bowl full of vegetables without having to worry that the meal isn’t quite rounded enough.

I made a simple cauliflower curry, heating a can of Thai Kitchen Light Coconut milk on medium heat with a few slices of fresh ginger, adding a heaping tablespoon of curry powder, and then adding in about two cups of cauliflower. I covered the pot with the lid and turned it down to low, letting the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, and seasoned it with a bit of sea salt. This would have been good with a small handful of cashews added in, but I didn’t have any on hand. I topped it with cilantro, and it was a really satisfying meal.

We are watching some basketball, and then to bed!!

Goodnight everyone!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

After all that morning fog, today ended up being sunny and warm! Spring has arrived! I spent my day at the bookstore, although I really wanted to be outside! Fortunately I’m off tomorrow and will get in a long walk.

We just got in more copies of COCO: 10 World- Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs - a gorgeous book about chefs published by Phaidon, one of my favorite publishers. They create these big, beautiful books, with great graphics and layout. I’ve been working my way through it, reading one chef’s biography at a time. It’s a HUGE book, and people keep on buying all of the copies so I haven’t had time to get very far. (I know, I know, I should get my own copy… but I already have a book buying problem…)

Lunch today was some of the leftover black bean soup with corn salsa, and I think a little Cabot pepper jack cheese mixed in it (I’m not sure because Devon made it). The stuff was delicious. I also brought a plain Siggi yogurt, and had that leftover orange from yesterday. I’ll be honest, I quit the orange half way after every segment had about 5 huge seeds in it, and I had to awkwardly keep spitting them out. Sometimes nature is a bitch.

Siggi Yogurt is a thick, strained, non-fat yogurt, that is tangy – just how I like it. They are a little expensive for me to get all of the time ($2.49 at my local Whole Foods) but I was fortunate to get a couple of coupons for free yogurt at the Winter Fancy Food show! I’m not the biggest fan of flavored yogurt, but this plain is good stirred into almost anything.

It ended up being stirred into the black bean soup.

After work I took a good walk to help get to my 10,000 steps, and to take advantage of the warm air outside.

I walked to the bank, and deposited checks in the ATM. This is actually the first time I’ve ever utilized this feature of the ATM, and I was a little giddy that I could deposit checks after hours… I’m not sure why I didn’t previously take advantage of this. Ok, actually, it’s because I love the tellers at my local Wells Fargo. They know our names, and they are always in the best moods. Nothing like some great customer service to perk up my mood.

While I was walking, I listened to some health podcasts on my iPod, including some of my Integrative Nutrition classes on growing a health counseling business. Inspired, when I got home, I actually got in one last squeeze of exercise: A Leslie Sansone 1-Mile Walk Away the Pounds video, which happens to be free on my On Demand! Did you know that there are free exercise videos on On Demand? It’s great to try out new videos without having to shell out the cash.

Then Dinner:

A big girly salad!!!!

Devon’s day ends quite late on Tuesdays, so I get to eat “girly food” such as big bowls of vegetables, like this huge leafy salad with red peppers, avocado, and some chopped up leftover vinegar glossed chicken from last night.

There were also chickpeas – which sunk to the bottom.

Tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette.

During dinner I watched more Dr. Oz, listened to some NPR, and just sat around relaxin’.

I’m still debating a little bit of dessert, but now that Devon’s back we are sitting down to watch an episode of Chopped. Then hopefully to bed soon so I can get some beauty rest!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

I woke up this morning and made myself a cup of Gingerbread Coffee, while I settled in to watch a Valentine’s day morning Shark show with Devon. We love Sharks, so this was pretty exciting.

Now, if you don’t have a Valentine today, may I suggest Chef MIng Tsai? (I think he’s technically married with children, but one can swoon.)

(photo: People magazine)

I love Ming Tsai. I dearly miss his restaurant, Blue Ginger , in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the town where I went to college. This guy is hunky hunky, an ex-jock, engineering student turned professional chef. The food he serves at his restaurant is fusion at it’s best – bursting with flavor and the stuff I still dream about. If you ever get a chance to go, I was particularly fond of the Crispy Fried Calamari, the Sake-miso Marinated Alaskan Butterfish, and the Mom’s Famous Three Vinegar Shrimp.

I get my nostalgia fix by watching the guy on PBS – his shows ‘Simply Ming’ and ‘East Meets West’ are refreshingly down to earth, devoid of tv magic, and pretty darn entertaining. Last night, I watched a tivo’d episode of ‘Simply Ming’, and was inspired to make something using Ponzu sauce – a citrus based sauce- and bacon, his main ingredients. In the episode, Ming made bacon wrapped shrimp on radicchio with a ponzu and bacon glaze, a warm bacon, shallot and mushroom  frisée salad, and some bacon-pineapple fried orzo, with a ponzu vinaigrette. Pretty mouth watering stuff.

Fortunately, I happen to have some delicious Kikkoman Ponzu Lime sauce that I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program. This was one of my favorite condiments that I tried at the Winter Fancy Food Show this year, and although they were serving it with tempura shrimp and tempura avocado, I must admit that I’ve been using the stuff in pretty boring ways such as seasoning for my rice and not much else.

So I woke up this morning with new inspiration and decided to make use of the ponzu in a kale stir-fry, to compensate for yesterday’s vegetable shortage. I sauteed some shallot and ginger in olive oil, added some chopped turkey bacon (from Trader Joe’s), dumped in my bunch of chopped dino kale, and added a tablespoon of the lime ponzu sauce. Even the kale hater liked it. Me: It’s kale! Him: Yeah, but it’s meat kale. Note to self – three slices of turkey bacon negates picky anti-kale sentiments.

This made for a good brunch on it’s own, although if more hungry, or serving a crowd, I might have served it with some poached eggs. Happy Valentines’ everyone!

Technorati Tags: Breakfast, vegetables

Some of the best ways of getting kids to eat healthy food you pack in their lunch box is to make it look exciting! Try using a rainbow of foods to brighten their day. Here are some easy suggestions for rainbow colored fruits, vegetables, and other tid-bits you can use to make a fulfilling and colorful lunch for the little ones.

White: white rice, mushrooms, cauliflower, potatoes, butter beans, cheese cubes
Black: black beans, olives, black rice
Pink: pink grapefruit
Red: beets, cherries, red peppers, strawberries, tomatoes
Orange: apricots, carrots, oranges, orange peppers, peaches, pumpkin
Yellow: yellow peppers, bananas, summer squash, pineapple
Green: broccoli, green peppers, spinach, green grapes, lettuce, cucumber, peas
Blue: blueberries, blackberries
Purple: plums, grapes, eggplant, purple potatoes, purple cabbage
Brown: almonds, walnuts, chocolate chips (in small quantity!)

Don’t forget the dipping sauce – yogurt for fruits, or a simple vinaigrette for vegetables. You can either use a small separate tupperware for the sauce, or use a silicone muffin cup right in the container with the rest of the food.

But wait a second – rainbow lunches aren’t just for kids – eating a variety of different colored fruits and vegetables provides essential nutrients and enhances any diet – and let’s face it – wouldn’t it be kind of exciting to open up your own rainbow lunch after a hard morning of work?

What other tricks do you use to get your kids to eat their lunch?

Photo: Jewelmaker

Technorati Tags: fruits, Lunches for Kids, rainbow foods, vegetables