I'm off to a slow start, but I can at least prepare a good blog post today, though only one thing is something I actually made! Stay tuned, I will have one up in only a few days. Teaser: Gazpacho!
Spent the weekend just coping with the 100+ degree heat we've been having in NYC. If you're reading this and you're not familiar with NYC living or temperatures, let me paint a picture. Imagine temperatures so hot and air so humid it is barely possible to breathe. Then imagine trying to survive that on concrete, no grass in sight. Now, add in some car exhaust, some smelly garbage and a complete lack of an air conditioned car to get around in. You have NYC.
Spent the weekend just coping with the 100+ degree heat we've been having in NYC. If you're reading this and you're not familiar with NYC living or temperatures, let me paint a picture. Imagine temperatures so hot and air so humid it is barely possible to breathe. Then imagine trying to survive that on concrete, no grass in sight. Now, add in some car exhaust, some smelly garbage and a complete lack of an air conditioned car to get around in. You have NYC.
I'll start the post with something I actually made to beat the heat. This was my breakfast strawberry/blueberry/yogurt/chocolaty smoothie.
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
5 frozen strawberries
6oz yogurt (this was Dannon Light and Fit Coconut Pie)-80 cal
1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate Milk-20 cal
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
5 frozen strawberries
6oz yogurt (this was Dannon Light and Fit Coconut Pie)-80 cal
1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Chocolate Milk-20 cal
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla
Blended all together it gave this absolutely gorgeous purple color and a really nice consistency. I prefer to eat my smoothies with a spoon. They last longer that way =) PLUS, half of it doesn't wind up getting slurped through a straw and missing all my taste buds on the way down!
I topped it with two big handfuls of Go Lean! Kashi clusters.
I will call this whole bowl 300 cals. I also snacked a little before hand.
Unfortunately, today's plans involved some walking (3 miles) but very little other activity, so I will consider this a splurge day. I wont go nuts, but I'm sure I'll go a bit over the 1200 or so net calories I budget myself a day.
I topped it with two big handfuls of Go Lean! Kashi clusters.
I will call this whole bowl 300 cals. I also snacked a little before hand.
Unfortunately, today's plans involved some walking (3 miles) but very little other activity, so I will consider this a splurge day. I wont go nuts, but I'm sure I'll go a bit over the 1200 or so net calories I budget myself a day.
Ok, on to the rest of the weekend.
Basically, it's been hot hot hot here and I spent Friday night watching a movie and eating the only dinner I could palate on such a hot day: salad. Nothing special there, though to be fair, I find NYC tossed salads so enjoyable they might as well be a feast for me (and for the prices, they ARE!).
This thing is huuuugggeeee! Took me almost 45 minutes to get through! I unwisely chose beets in my salad though. Apparently, as good as they are in soup form, give them to me as part of a salad and I consistently don't like them.
Basically, it's been hot hot hot here and I spent Friday night watching a movie and eating the only dinner I could palate on such a hot day: salad. Nothing special there, though to be fair, I find NYC tossed salads so enjoyable they might as well be a feast for me (and for the prices, they ARE!).
This thing is huuuugggeeee! Took me almost 45 minutes to get through! I unwisely chose beets in my salad though. Apparently, as good as they are in soup form, give them to me as part of a salad and I consistently don't like them.
Yesterday we went to Mesa, Boby Flay's restaurant. Better known as the Iron Chef, Boby Flay also owns (?) Mesa in NYC. This place USED to be all the rage but has now calmed down enough so that two nobodys can get a reservation on Saturday afternoon for Saturday night. Though we still had to wait!
Anyway, earlier that day (also 100+) I had run 8 miles (while watching Cupcake Wars and Chopped!) and THEN had to WALK 4 miles (in the crazy heat) to fetch my cell phone where I had left it the night before. So after walking 12 miles, it's no surprise that I didn't feel guilty about having a glass of wine with frozen strawberries before dinner then a perfectly decadent dinner.
Anyway, earlier that day (also 100+) I had run 8 miles (while watching Cupcake Wars and Chopped!) and THEN had to WALK 4 miles (in the crazy heat) to fetch my cell phone where I had left it the night before. So after walking 12 miles, it's no surprise that I didn't feel guilty about having a glass of wine with frozen strawberries before dinner then a perfectly decadent dinner.
We are big restaurant sharers so we started with this: a shrimp and mushroom with cheese corn tamale....
Very nice, not TOO rich and a great appetizer size. I always have mixed feelings about tameles (which doesn't stop me from getting them) but this one definitely got a very enthusiastic thumbs up.
Very nice, not TOO rich and a great appetizer size. I always have mixed feelings about tameles (which doesn't stop me from getting them) but this one definitely got a very enthusiastic thumbs up.
We also shared this appetizer: a barbequed duck taco.
So simple, yet so perfect. It was REALLY salty, but that seemed to go well with the gaminess of the duck and the blue corn pancake.
So simple, yet so perfect. It was REALLY salty, but that seemed to go well with the gaminess of the duck and the blue corn pancake.
We finished our mains with this: a medium rare tuna steak on a bed of cous cous. Again, I'm NOT a fan of tuna steaks. I find the meat to be uninteresting and too difficult to get right. Well this was both delicious and cooked just right, so TWO very enthusiastic thumbs up for this.
Honestly, I felt this meal was pretty light (or maybe it was the 12 miles?) so I felt comfortable looking at the dessert menu.
Honestly, I felt this meal was pretty light (or maybe it was the 12 miles?) so I felt comfortable looking at the dessert menu.
And they actually had my all-time-favorite dessert OBSESSION: banana cream pie. Honestly, I am usually capable of avoiding dessert when I go out. At least, I am certainly capable of just having a spoonful or two. This will never happen with banana cream pie. You'd better believe I'm getting my half of that!
This was a deep dish banana cream pie, so it was low on the pie and high on the banana pudding/slices. Right up my alley. I have a feeling I'm gonna have to make myself some sort of Banana Cream Pie a la Jules. It wont be as good as the real thing, but at least I'll be able to have it more than once every 6 months!
This was a deep dish banana cream pie, so it was low on the pie and high on the banana pudding/slices. Right up my alley. I have a feeling I'm gonna have to make myself some sort of Banana Cream Pie a la Jules. It wont be as good as the real thing, but at least I'll be able to have it more than once every 6 months!
So I hope to make a better effort in taking pictures of what I eat, even if I didn't make it (and even if, like the pictures above, I didn't take them!) but that didn't happen this afternoon. After the smoothie, the camera (cell phone) went away for lunch. We walked around a lot and when we got hungry, I didn't want anything but a salad and none of the places we walked by would oblige. So we settled on sushi. It was stunning sushi at a really hole-in-the-wall kind of place.
Another great meal this weekend. Here's the highlight of the meal.....
Something I've never seen in NYC before....No Tips! Please!
They charged us a 12% service fee. Seriously who tips less than 15-18% these days? This place is losing profits!
Well that's it for me for tonight. Later this week: Gazpacho.
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