Welcome to the World!

I have the most exciting news! My sister-in-law gave birth to my newest nephew on Friday morning! I made it back to NY about 2.5 hours after he was born. I really wanted to be there and I was so close! Welcome to the world Bradley James :)

He was blocking out the light with his hands hehe

Charlie seems happy to be a big brother too. Congrats to my brother and SIL!

I spent a good chunk of Saturday working on my internship applications. My work station looked like this

Coffee and Green Monster to get me through the day :)

Soup and a sandwich for din din

Actually had a girls night too last night.  My mom, aunt, and I went to see No Strings Attached which ended up being cuter and funnier than I thought it was going to be.

Today is another full day. Church, Homework/Internship stuff, and then off for my Nannie’s (that’s my great-grandma) 96th birthday party! She took a tumble this morning but is okay and the party is still on.

Hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did! :)

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

I am so sick of this snow! Last night we got about another foot in Boston. Parking is horrendous and people are getting nasty about it (ie: our neighbors. Get over it, the street is public parking)

Okay enough complaining because I do have some fantastic news – my thesis has been approved by the IRB and my partner and I can now move forward with it! I’m elated :)  We’ve got a logistics meeting tomorrow but hopefully we will be going in full force by the beginning of next week. Heck yes!

Amidst all this snow and thesis work my eats have been pretty uneventful. Looking over my pictures now I see mostly toast with peanut butter and cinnamon, eggs, fruit, and yogurt. And that’s not even counting the pictures I didn’t take of the same exact things! I’m so boring haha. I’m thinking of making black bean burgers for lunch though so that will be a bit different. I haven’t had them in months!

Spinach & Herb omelet, Toast w/ p.b. & cinnamon

Amy’s Lentil Vegetable (OMG THIS WAS FANTASTIC! DEFINITELY GETTING THIS AGAIN!)

Grapes, Kiwi, Pom CHOB, and Bob’s Red Mill Muesli

Sandwich thin w/ p.b. & cinnamon, Blueberry & Strawberry Smoothie

See what I mean? Well the soup was different and delicious but overall I just haven’t had anything exciting lately. Gotta do something about that now.

I can say however that I’ve officially finished day 5 of the P90X Lean program. This thing is intense. I can’t even do all the moves like they do or for as long but I figure I will get there eventually. I’ve got 90 days right? My body is sore but it’s a good sore. It’s an “I’m working my body hard” kind of sore. Maybe I should start looking at Victoria’s Secret bikinis? hehehe

Now I’ve got to wrap this up because I have a ton of homework to get started on. Besides working on my thesis, I’m also taking 4 classes (2 of which are online which has both pros & cons). I’ve got Nutritional Epidemiology, The Health Care System: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Sports Psychology, and Sports Nutrition Practice. Both the sports ones are online and the health care one, well even though it says interdisciplinary I’m pretty sure it’s going to be mostly focused towards the nursing students since there are so many of them.  My school combines nursing, nutrition, and physical therapy into the “school of health studies”. I’d say the ratio is probably 8:1:1, but I really don’t know many people in PT. Either way, there are way more nursing students than anyone else.

How much snow did you get in this last storm, if you got any?

It’s almost Friday!!! :) I’ll be heading back home to NY already after my meeting tomorrow. My sis-in-law is due any day now and I hope she has the baby while I’m home!

What are your plans for this weekend?

Hot Topic: Normal Weight Obesity

First I want to say “HI!” to some of my new readers! Second, the whole homemade facial thing definitely doesn’t compare to one at a spa but it’s still nice :)

And as for the whole dietetic internship application process? It’s coming to a close. Applications are due February 15th so that’s mega-stressful. I’m hoping to stay at Simmons but am applying to a few other schools as well – all community focused.

Hope that wraps up some questions ya’ll may have had!

So after a pretty indulgent weekend…………

  (PS- that’s a Carrot Cake martini!)

Oh and there was definitely some Oreo ice cream cake, Chinese food, and pizza. Yeah INDULGENT! What can I say, it was an extended birthday celebration for the boy :)

I compensated with some delicious oats with a diced pear and walnuts and a not so exciting rushed bowl of “mighty tasty hot cereal” with coffee and OJ.

I’ve really got to start taking pictures of things other than breakfast haha.

In other news, I OFFICIALLY started P90X yesterday. The other times I was just randomly throwing in one of those workouts but I decided to actually start the program this time. It’s just far to cold out to go running. I mean hello it was like 7 degrees out today! Yeah my abs totally hurt right now, but it’s a good hurt ;)

I also wanted to bring to attention the topic of a recent article in Today’s Dietitian.  The article “When Thin is Fat” discusses a condition called Normal Weight Obesity (NWO).  Basically it means that a person may be at a normal weight, and therefore may appear to have a normal BMI but in reality they have increased body fat percentage causing weight-related health issues.  People with NWO typically have decreased muscle mass and decreased bone density and elderly are at an increased risk for this condition.  So if your BMI is at the higher end of normal, you may want to get your body fat percentage checked to rule out NWO.  Try bioelectric impedance or the Bod Pod which may be available at major hospitals.

Feel free to share some opinions!

Preparing for the Final Return

It’s actually pretty late in January and many students have already returned to college. I will finally be on my way at the end of this week. It’s a bittersweet moment really.  Spring semester, my last semester at Simmons as a Masters student. It’s scary that almost 2 years has gone by already. I feel like I just started there. I’m not really sure what to think but I know I’m not ready for the semester to begin. It’s just going to be all over before I know it. *sigh*

Some of my eats over this past few days:

Salad (spinach, cuc, pepper, hummus), Sandwich thin w/ p.b. & cinnamon, Fruit

Sweet & Sour Chicken Stir Fry w/ brown rice

Some sort of beef, Mashed Potato/Cauliflower, Corn, Asparagus

I must also give myself some props. Yesterday I had 5 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggies! I’ve been having Green Monsters for breakfast basically every day (but really how many times do you need to see a picture of that?), so that certainly has helped.

And for fun I gave myself a homemade facial!

I ended up using ground oats, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, and a drop of honey. My face felt great after!

Oh and can I just say that the new “This is Tae Bo” dvd totally whooped my butt yesterday. My glutes were really sore all day today! I’m such a wimp. I only made it 30 minutes in P90X Yoga too. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

Have you started your spring semester (if you’re a student)?

Have you ever done a homemade facial or spa treatment?

Have you tried Tae Bo or P90X? Thoughts?

Tomorrow is Raf’s birthday so I’ll be gone for a few days. Have a great rest of the week!

Excuse My Lisp

So I finally got it. After OIAJ for breakfast, I headed to the dentist for my Invisalign!

They don’t feel too bad.  Really it’s only painful taking them out and putting them in (they have to be taken out for meals/drinks). It’s just a little pressure but it’s definitely going to take some getting used to. I think I’m going to have them for 9 months….. I think the worst part is that I can only drink water with them in so when I want to have a cup of coffee or tea (which is frequent) I would have to take them out.  I have a feeling I’m going to be drinking a lot more water in the next few months………

Afterwards I headed to work and put off lunch for as long as possible as to not have to remove my liners. When I finally gave in I ate the leftover acorn squash. Lucky for me it was soft because they suggested no hard foods.

I was in the mood for pasta for dinner so my mom made penne with salmon and veggies. So good. I topped mine with a little feta.

I also squeezed in a cup of tea before I had to put my liners back in. I want a snack now so bad! But I don’t feel like taking them out again. Who knew Invisalign was also tool to stop snacking.

Instead, here are two recipes I’ve promised. Pumpkin Turkey Chili and Blueberry Pecan Scones. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Turkey Chili (from allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 dash salt
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and sauté the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

This was the original recipe but my sis-in-law added beans to it (why a chili recipe wouldn’t have beans in the first place is beyond me!).

 

Blueberry-Pecan Scones (from the NY Daily News)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup 2% reduced fat milk (I used skim)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind (I used orange)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles course meal.  Gently fold in blueberries and pecans.  Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).  Turn dough out onto floured surface and pat into a 8 inch circle.  Cut dough into 10 wedges and place them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Brush egg white over dough wedges and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Bake scones for 18 minutes or until golden.

What a Weekend!

I can’t believe it’s Sunday night already. The weekend always flies by.

Saturday

Woke up. Worked out. Went to Work. THE USUAL.

But let me tell you breakfast and lunch were both absolutely delicious.

The scones turned so good. I’ll type out the recipe when I have more energy since you probably couldn’t read the picture from the paper. And lunch was a tuna/bean mixture with celery and orange bell pepper on top of spinach (and unpictured grapefruit).

My family from West Virginia also came up for a quick visit so we went to Coyote Flaco for dinner. I got exactly the same thing as I did last time because it was so good.

A crazy strong margarita, chips and salsa

Enchiladas Oaxaca (I ate 1 of the 2 plus half the rice and the guac)

I must have been so excited for the black bean soup that I forgot to take a picture of that too. Oh well. If you really want to see it, refer back to this post. I was stuffed and glad to have half leftover :)

Sunday

Repeat breakfast. Yum Yum Yum! Then church. Then lunch at my grandparents. I had no idea we were going there for lunch though so I didn’t have my camera. Why do my parents always surprise me that way? Anyway I had a small bowl of elbow macaroni w/ tomato sauce and a side salad.

Can I just say that this afternoon the weather was phenomenal? It was not too cold (30 F), sunny, and not very windy. My mom and I took advantage and went snowshoeing again. This time we were able to make it through the fields over to my brother’s house and back – an hour and a half round trip! We hauled butt back in order to get home in time for the Jets game. HECK YES JETS! WOOHOO! It was just an awesome day :)

All eats were leftovers except for this beauty

apple, plain chobani mixed with cinnamon

Tomorrow’s the day I go in to get my Invisalign. I can’t wait!

Let me have it. Are you glad the Jets won? Or were you rooting for the Patriots?

Do you have the day off tomorrow? Any fun plans? I’m actually going to work after I get my braces.

Apples are Red, Blueberries are Blue, Sugar is Sweet, and So are These Scones!

Instead of working at the animal hospital today, I rescheduled my nutrition lessons from the day we had the snowstorm (my typical day off).  I gathered my stuff together while eating breakfast.

 

Cute coloring pages right? Perfect for preschoolers.  I spent the morning at one pre-school and the afternoon at another (hitting the gym quick in between!).  I even brought fruit (apples, strawberries, grapes) and yogurt for the kids to snack on.  Unfortunately I forgot all about food for myself! Good thing there was a little leftovers for me :)

Everyone’s got to know the whole “Eat the Rainbow” lesson, right? Well that’s what I taught today. 8 kids in the first class, 13 in the second.  That’s 21 little people that will hopefully remember what I told them and try all sorts of new fruits and veggies!  I even got a book as a present for helping out.

Cutest little book! When I got home I finally made lunch even though it was closer to dinner time.

Roast beef, spinach, and Laughing Cow wedge on a sandwich thin + half a orange bell pepper

I don’t know about you but I just can’t get enough of bell peppers (except the green ones – yuck!).

Dinner was a toughie though. My grandparents invited my parents and I out to the diner down the road.  There was very few things on the menu to choose from that were healthy.  With my mom making some lifestyle changes, I try to help her and encourage her especially when going out to eat. We both ended up getting the same thing – grilled chicken on a salad, dressing on the side. We also got a side of sweet potato fries to share between the two of us and my grandma.

It ended up being a delicious meal. I wasn’t expecting such a yummy salad from a diner but the chicken was juicy and the greens were fresh!

When I got home I was in such a mood to bake. And then I saw this:

Blueberry-Pecan Scones. I used whole wheat flour though but that was the only substitution I made. Breakfast is all set for tomorrow!

Frolicking in the Snow

What a snow day for the Northeast, huh? I was supposed to teach the pre-schoolers again today (two sets actually) but because of the snow everything was closed.  Instead I slept in then had a big warm bowl of oats (with a banana and Teddie unsalted p.b.) while watching the snow fall. It’s beautiful but I’m still not a fan of the cold, or the bad driving conditions.

The rest of the morning I did some cleaning for mi madre. Aren’t I nice? :)

I was in the mood for pizza for lunch. Twice in one week – I’m on a roll! This time I made a white pizza using part-skim ricotta, mozzarella, and broccoli.

I picked the piece that bubbled. hehehe. Also had some extra veggies on the side w/ hummus.

I think I need to make pizza more often :)

I also coerced my mom to go snowshoeing with me this afternoon when there was a break in the snowfall.  However by the time we got ready to go and put our snowshoes on, the wind and snow started up again. Come on, seriously! We headed out anyway for about 40 minutes. Lena came with us of course.

She’s focused on the tennis ball at my feet. Totally OBSESSED.

Trekking through the fields

Heading back up the driveway. Yup – that’s just the beginning of my driveway (~1/3 of it I guess).

Dinner later was also totally awesome. Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Fajitas circa Fitness magazine 2008.

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Fajitas (makes 1 serving? 500 calories)

• 1/2 cup sliced onions
• 1 cup sliced multicolor bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 ounces precooked frozen shrimp, thawed
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 whole grain tortillas

Sauté onions and peppers in oil with garlic and cumin for 6-8 minutes, until tender.  Toss thawed shrimp, cilantro, and lime juice with hot vegetables. Fill tortillas with mixture.

I also put avocado on mine. Side of black beans and zucchini.

Breaking News!

I’ve just been informed that Chobani is introducing Chobani Champions, their greek yogurt especially for kids!

As you can see, they have two flavors Verry Berry and Honey-nana.  The Honey-nana sounds so delicious to me!  Each cup is 3.5 oz, 100 calories, and has 20% DV Vitamin D and 10% DV Calcium.  I also think it’s important to note that they are free of preservatives, artificial flavors, and milk treated with synthetic growth hormones.

And for the grown-ups – 3 new flavors will be coming out! 2% Mango, 0% Black Cherry, and 0% Lemon. I’m really excited to try the lemon!

(Disclaimer – I was not paid to advertise these products)

 

Did you have a snow day today? Did you do anything you don’t typically get to do?

Fitting in some last minute quality time

Saturday

Even though I worked all day Saturday, having game night made up for it.  It may also have a little something to do with the Pumpkin Turkey Chili my sis-in-law made :)

You actually don’t taste the pumpkin but it was so good! I’ll try to get the recipe from her ;) You may also see I crumbled some of the cheddar Food Should Taste Good chips on top. Perfect addition.

Game night included Apples to Apples (which I’m usually very good at) and Uno. I didn’t win any games! So sad. I think I won the game for who ate the most cookies though hehehe

Cookies and Tea

Sunday

First of all I actually got my butt out of bed on time for church. Quite the accomplishment considering Sunday is usually my “sleep in” day. We went to Dad’s Diner in Copake after but I didn’t know and so I didn’t have my camera. I found it very annoying that I had to pay more to substitute fruit for the homefries, especially when all they gave me was a small cup of frozen blueberries and strawberries.WTF. As for quality? What can I say – a diner is a diner to me. They’re all the same.

Then I spent the rest of the day with my bestie Kelly who I haven’t seen in forever!  Let me tell you that the movie Alpha and Omega is so not kid appropriate LOL.

Monday

Finally got my car back from the shop this morning! Didn’t get it in time to go to the gym and I was actually late for work anyway by the time they were done. Seriously they’ve had it since Wednesday morning and it was supposed to be done Friday but you can’t have it ready by 7:30 this morning? No apparently 9:30 was a better time for them. Oh well. It is running much better though. Good as new!

While I waited I had a Green Monster for breakfast.

• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• ~2 cups spinach
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• dash cinnamon

Work was easy peasy today. The boss went to Florida for a conference so I spent most of the day finishing up end of the year inventory.  Doing inventory actually sucks but at least I had time to eat my lunchtoday (that didn’t happen on Saturday!). Leftover Bean and Barley soup of course.

I managed to hit the gym after work for a 45 minute elliptical workout. I covered almost 5.5 miles :) Sweaty mess.

Came home to steak w/ onions, green beans, and sweet potato for dinner.

And strawberries w/ HOMEMADE HOT FUDGE SAUCE for dessert. Ooooh baby! I just couldn’t help myself.

1 week from today I’ll be back in Boston. I just have to get through one last semester but it’s going to be really tough. 4 classes + thesis + finishing up applying to internships. I’ll be welcoming summer with open arms.

Anyone else want to skip right to summer? ;)

Friday is Pizza Day!

Growing up, my mom would always make homemade pizza on Friday nights.  And even though I would fuss when it would be burned or thought it tasted bad compared to take-out pizza, I still have fond memories of those nights.  Tonight was the first time in years that we’ve made homemade pizza at my parents house.  My mom picked up some whole wheat dough earlier and we were set to make a veggie pizza!

Spinach and Peppers

Cucumber on the side

Otherwise, not a very exciting day.

Banana Oatmeal w/ Teddie unsalted p.b. for breakfast

Then work.

Bean and Barley Soup for lunch

I left early because of the snow storm and barely made it home. I’m borrowing my grandma’s car while mine is in the shop and her car is horrible in bad weather. SCARY!

Grapes for a snack

Also look at the new flavor of Laughing Cow -

I had a wedge on a couple Low Sodium Triscuits to go with snack

I can’t tell if it’s still snowing but after work tomorrow I hope it’s still light enough to go snowshoeing!

Now onto something a little different………

A couple weeks ago my brother went to McDonald’s and ordered this

He called it “Old McDonald’s Farm Sandwich” because it contained a rib, chicken patty, and beef patty all in one bun.  Now why do I say he made up his own name? Well because apparently he made up the sandwich!  It was news to me that at some fast food places you can order whatever you want even if it’s not on the menu and they will make it for you.  This conjures up some scary thoughts in my head – imagine what else people could be ordering. How much worse can these fast food places really get?!  But on the other hand this could also be a good thing because maybe in some way you could order an item “healthified.” Who knows really but if you are interested in more of these so called “hidden menu” items, I found this link that contains a whole bunch of things. Some make me cringe, others aren’t so bad (hello Naked sandwiches at Popeye’s means they don’t add the breading to the meat!).

TGIF!