I have gotten emails and comments from many readers saying that my meals often look so pretty and appetizing (thank you again!).  But, I’m here to show you it isn’t always so!  There was some ugly food on the plates today!

Starting with breakfast…

What the heck is that, right?  Okay, I’ll explain…

• egg whites
• baby spinach
• 2 slices of canadian bacon
• neon orange processed 2% cheese <— so wrong but I love it
• dollop of Trader Joe’s Triple Layer Hummus <— also wrong but it worked in the omelet

Sloppy, messy and not so pretty…

But tasty, nonetheless.

After breakfast, I got my chaturanga on with a new yoga video on Exercise TV called Body by Bethenny.  You may know her from the Real Housewives of New York and the Skinny Girl Margarita!  This video is guided by a fitness instructor, not Bethenny, but she follows along and gives her input throughout the workout.  Overall, I loved it!  The yoga moves had a great flow to them and were challenging, but not overwhelming.  I didn’t have time to do the entire hour -long video, however what I did was definitely a workout!  It’s my new fave!

Later, I met up with my friend, Coleen for a lunch date at Panera Bread.  I briefly checked out the menu before I left and it looked like I would be safe in the gluten-free department with a salad and soup.  I ordered the Low-Fat Garden Vegetable Soup and Greek Salad…

I munched away on the salad and got halfway through the soup before I noticed it contained barley!  Barley is NOT a gluten-free grain.  I wasn’t entirely worried because I don’t think I have an allergy, however, a couple hours later the bloating was back.  And indigestion.  It was not pretty.  Boo   So, there may be something to this gluten-free way for me, but I wanted to give it a full month to get a better gauge before I share my thoughts and experience.  Stay tuned!

This girl cannot live on salad alone; needless to say I was hungry a couple hours later.  Even though I was feeling the bloat, I tried out one of these Mrs. Mays Trio Bars I picked up while Coleen and I worked on some retail therapy

I made sure this was not an offender…

These are very good!  Reminiscent of a KIND bar , but crunchy instead of the chewier texture of the KIND bar. 

Also, low in sugar – only 6 grams per bar!  Another winner.

Back to some ugly food!

Dinner ran late due to little daughter’s dance class,  so leftovers were my choice.  I heated up the last of  Chicken Thighs and Zucchini with Parmesan Pan Sauce along with Trader Joe’s Giant White Beans…

Looks yucky, but tastes great!  Can’t judge a book by it’s cover, they say

I’m off to get under the covers!

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you think pretty food tastes better?  Are you surprised when a food doesn’t look good, but tastes good?

Whoooo hoooo!  Today was the last day of school for the daughters!  It means a change in schedules and me setting up the boxing ring for when they start to duke it out after the first nanosecond of being home together.

Seriously, I do get really excited for our time together in the summer;  we have lots of fun!

I started off the day with the usual…

Then shipped the daughters off for their final day (just a half). The half day gave me just enough time to fit in my run.  First, some Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar fuel…

It was such a beautiful day for a run!  Hot but no humidity.  Can I order that up for every run???  My running partner, Kerry, met up with me and we cranked out a 4.09 mile run doing 3:1 intervals a la GYMBOSS …

I rushed home for a quick breakfast – Ezekiel Golden Flax Cereal with blueberries and skim milk…

Non-epic, I know. Where is the Breakfast Sandwich, right Biz ?!

I got spruced up and headed to the bus stop to pick up the daughters.  They walked to the car…very slowly.  They knew what was coming.  I do it every year on the last day.  They got in the car, buckled up and stuck their fingers in their ears while I drove through the neighborhood wildly beeping the car horn, hooting and hollering out the window… “Whooo hoooo!!!!”

I am saving money for their therapy.

On the last day, I always take them out to lunch after torturing them in the car.  Now this tradition, they like.  They decided on Panera Bread.  Good with me!

I was starving and everything on the menu sounded enticing.  I quickly opted for the Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad with chicken added…

It was great!  Except for the tomatoes.  I can’t wait until tomato season is in full bloom with red, ripe tomatoes! 

After lunch, we shopped til we dropped.  Okay well, I dropped.  I can only stand so much shopping.  <—-brainwashed by the husband in my sleep.  The daughters needed a few summer things and it was nice to have them there to pick out what they wanted (read:  easier for me so I don’t have to go back to the store 957 times to return stuff).

I dragged them out and got home just in time for dinner.  Thankfully,  I had pre-planned or it would have been a pizza night for sure!

Chop and Bake…

Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Chicken Legs and my “go-to” salad…

Way better than pizza

Have a great day, everyone!

What is your “go-to” take-out meal when you don’t have time to cook?

Every day I wake up believing that anything is possible with more coffee…:D

Even running.  Thursday is a run day.  I didn’t really want to because it was hot and so humid!  I wasn’t very hungry, so I fueled with half of a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar…

I met up with my running buddy, Kerry, at our usual trail.  Since the humidity was in full force, I thought it might be better to change up our intervals to a shorter time.  I reset my GYMBOSS to a 2:1 interval and it was much more comfortable for this weather.  I was short on time today, so our run ended at 3.27 miles in 42 minutes with 14 intervals…

I raced home to shower up and meet my MIL for some shopping and lunch to celebrate her birthday.  After browsing around the Christmas Tree Shops, we went to Panera Bread to eat lunch.  I usually get the soup and a sandwich, but since I’m staying away from flour, sammies were out.  In a way, it was nice to explore some of the other options.  I tend to get in a rut and order the same things when I frequent a restaurant! 

I branched out today and got the Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad with an apple on the side…

It was pretty decent.  All the goodies like bacon, egg, and gorgonzola cheese were hidden underneath the chicken! 

True Confession Time:  I hate making salad.  I don’t like cleaning the lettuce, don’t like chopping up all the stuff to go in it or trying to come up with interesting ways to eat it. 

Actually, I used to hate salad altogether.  When I was a kid, my parents would make me sit at the table until I ate it.  Sometimes, I would still be sitting at the table at 9 p.m.!  I just couldn’t stand it, which is crazy because my Mom makes great tasting salad!  Now, I’ve grown to really love salad.  When someone else makes it.

After our nice afternoon out, I headed home to prepare for dinner.  I invited the in-laws over for more birthday celebrating.  I was lucky enough to have some of Gram’s manicotti with bechamel in the freezer, so I heated that and really only had to make asparagus and my favorite thing to make…

Salad 

I decided on a Salmon Roulette for my dinner, along with salad and steamed asparagus with marinated mozzarella balls…

I ended up only eating the salmon portion of the roulette.  In looking at the ingredients, I noticed that there is added sugar as part of the stuffing!  Isn’t that crazy?  It really is in everything!  I don’t want to get all “sugar is the devil,” and crazy about this, but it is shocking how sugar is added in so many prepared food items when it’s not necessary.

While everyone was digging in to cake for dessert, I mixed up some mango soft-serve!  It’s basically the same method as banana “ice cream”.

Start with frozen mango chunks…

Defrost slightly or nuke for about 15 seconds (frozen mango was like rocks, so this will keep your food processor from biting the dust) and place in food processor…

Let the processor run until mango is smooth and creamy…

Rich and delicious!  I like making soft-serve! 

Salad…. not so much

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you like salads?  What is your favorite salad to make?