Bears Beers Beat

Hello all! Hope everyone had a fabulous Sunday. Not gonna lie, when I woke up this morning and saw it was 16 degrees out, I really didn’t want to get out of bed. I took two Advil PM tablets last night and was feeling mellow. The last thing I wanted to do was bundle up and take Lincoln out. But since I love the little pup, I did and we had a nice walk even though it was desolate outside.

I took Lincoln back in and whipped up breakfast. The original plan was to make french toast but that seemed a little more labor intensive that I was looking for so I settled on eggs in a hole. I tried to make it using one egg for two pieces of bread but that didn’t fly so I walked over to the fridge to get another egg singing Cypress Hill’s “Ain’t Goin Out Like That” because I refused to fail on the first meal of the day.

Whatever happened to Cypress Hill by the way?

When I got to the fridge, I quickly grabbed an egg which slipped out of my hands so I attempted to clean it up since Lincoln was right by my side. Seriously, this dog smells food or has a premonition that I am making food and he is right there, very sneaky sneaky. So if anything drops, I have to make sure I clean it up or grab it before he gets to it.

The eggs in a hole turned out fantastic! And of course when I say “Eggs in a hole” I sing it to the tune of Nine Inch Nails “Head Like a Hole” I love music if you can’t tell and wish I had soundtrack music to my life. I think it would be so fun to have “Tiffany’s Theme” when I started to walk…..it would be “Stayin’ Alive” of course.

However, back to eggs in a hole.

I did some cleaning and feng shui in my kitchen this morning. I have a cramped kitchen as is but wanted to be able to open up the blinds to the back of my house so I could get some natural light in.

Much better, it’s no longer a bat cave! And why does Lincoln look like he’s plotting my demise?

Soon enough, it was time to go watch some football. Would it be the last Bears game of the season or not was the question on my mind

 I had a Living Social deal for Growlers Pourhouse in NoDa.

I’ve never been to this place but $30 worth of food and drink? I am willing to check it out! Don’t worry, I went with a friend because I definitely don’t need to be eating and drinking $30 worth (not to say I couldn’t, I just shouldn’t)

And for those of you who saw how much crap I carry in my purse earlier this wk, you would be proud to see how little I took with me!

Only four things–my wallet, phone, makeup bag and camera. Look at me cutting back!

We got to Growlers right before the game started and it was pretty dead except for a few randoms at the bar and a big party smack dab in the middle of the place. Exposed brick wall with a small bar area and four to five booths, for some reason I thought it was going to be larger than it was (that’s what she said) but it was a pleasant atmosphere. We were automatically greeted by our server who asked if we’ve ever been there then continued to tell us about their beer, food, etc. I thought it was really interesting that they make their own sausage there–you don’t see that too often and I am intrigued by the process.

I started with a pint of the Victory Prima Pilsner, which was quite tasty. I wonder if one of these days I will ever acquire a taste for IPAs or stouts?

We got the dip platter to start out with. I could exist on a diet of dips alone since I love it all-queso, salsa, onion, bean dip. You name it, I’ll dip into it! They have a dip platter for $13 and you get to pick three dips off of their menu. Our selection

Pimento Cheese dip. It tasted good but it wasn’t the traditional creamy pimento cheese dip that I’m used to. Plus the tortilla chips didn’t hold too well when you scooped it up.

Real French Onion Dip. I am still wondering what makes it “real”, this was my favorite dip. I love the minced onions in it and the chips served with it were perfect.

Roasted Vegetable Salsa. This was second runner-up and packed a lot of different flavors. We asked the server what it included because we couldn’t tell what the distinct flavor was and she said it was probably the variety of peppers used in it (poblano, jalapeno, bell) and coriander. My mouth wasn’t on fire but I sure did enjoy the flavor.

The end of the first half was not looking good

 Supposedly Cutler hurt his knee (although he seemed to walking around just fine on the sidelines, he seemed to be sulking more about losing than being hurt) But screw him because I’m a sucker for a man with a bald head.

(source)

Brian, when you need another baby mama, call me. Let’s make this happen.

After that, our bellys were full. I almost undid the button on my jeans  since all the dip and beer was bloating my up but I resisted and remained a lady.

You would think we would stop there right? Oh no, we had $30 to spend and my friend wasn’t drinking and while I do love a nice day drinking session, I never day drink on Sundays (one would think I was a bible thumper by that statement but not so much)

We had one more thing coming to us—Turkey Apple sausage to split

Alright, let’s talk sausage (that’s what she said-ZING-again!). So it’s homemade and it tasted that wise consistency wise. It had more water or whatever juice is in the sausage casing  (please don’t tell me what it is if you do know what said juice is) than I cared for. Plus when you took a bite into it, you couldn’t separate it with a simple bite, you had to gnaw at it and shake your head a bit. Very Neanderthal like. Thank god I wasn’t with a gentleman caller b/c it was not a pretty sight. Regardless, it was tasty just a little difficult to break up.

Purple Slaw (which of course, I was singing “Purple Slaw” to the tune of “Purple Rain”)

Mac N Cheese

If a restaurant offers a side of mac n cheese, I must try it. Check out this ooey gooey action shot.

We left around the end of the 3rd quarter since it wasn’t looking hopeful and decided to stop for some caffeine since was that weird time on Sunday afternoons. Too late to take a nap yet too early to retire for the evening. We stopped at Smelly Cat Coffee House, which is right neat Growlers. I love going there for the name alone!

I need this for my house!

Gah, I love independent coffee shops so much. They always have the cutest decor that never matches and that just makes me smile. Plus Smellycat has little pods that you can sit in, relax and enjoy some free Wi Fi! I just got a small coffee but next time I want to get the Sledge Hammer–espresso and Ghiardelli chocolate-bring it.

So that was my Sunday. Whoever said that Sundays were a day of relaxation can go suck it. And my Bears lost so I am a little bummed but oh well, time to root for the Steelers!

I am now questioning if Lincoln knows that a pillow is supposed to go under his head or body?

Are you watching football tonight or will you be happy when football is over?

WordPress users-do any of you know how to make a header with multiple pictures and not just one? If so, let a sister know!

Justifications

Yesterday was absolutely nasty. But I will put down that this was the first weekend in a loooooong time that I haven’t been hungover so that’s an accomplishment for me! Wow, writing that down it sounds kinda sad but whatev….non hungover weekends don’t happen too often during football season for me.

I woke up and made scrambled eggs with peppers and avocado with a sandwich thin topped with cranberry reservesthen had a killer kettlebell session.

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 2 sets)

Squats (15 reps, 2 sets)

Upright Deltoid Row (13 reps, 3 sets)

Swings (13 reps, 2 sets)

Side Bends (20 reps, 3 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Shoulder Press (13 reps, 2 sets)

Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell -10 lbs

Tricep Extension (13 reps, 2 sets)

Tricep Kickback (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc.

Donkey Kicks (13 reps, 2 sets)

Pushups (15 reps, 2 sets)

And today I hurt.

After that, I was still feeling ambitious and decided to walk over to Festival in The Park. I forgot that they were calling for a 50% of rain that day and thought I could get there in time since it’s only a 15 minute walk from my place but overestimated myself. About ¾ of the way, it started drizzling so I headed back and when I was somewhat close to home, it started raining cats and dogs. Which, how amusing would it be if it actually did start raining cats and dogs one day? I wouldn’t want those cute babies to get hurt but for visual sake it would be amusing. On another note, I am still waiting for it to rain men.

Damn you Weather Girls for it most definitely does not rain men in Charlotte.

So, like I was saying. Raining cats and dogs but not literally. I had to hang out on the stoop of a vacant condo for it settle down a bit and even then, it was still coming down consistently.

 And I absolutely hate when I am wearing my flips and my feet get wet. I was sliding all over the place and I think it’s just a gross feeling in general. Kind of how I imagine it would be to get a tongue foot bath. Nasty.

And then it rained and rained and rained some more. I had lunch and  watched movies and napped the rest of the day.

 It was perfect. Little Lincoln was comfy as well and was happy to partake in cuddle time.

I had an eggplant to use so I made roasted eggplant, red pepper and artichoke penne for dinner. I am not a big fan of the red sauce so I tossed with butter, grated parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and oregano.

Yummy. Nothing beats butter and grates parm I tell you.

I brought back an oldie but goodie for breakfast but with a new twist—pumpkin oats. I’ve seen bloggers adding pumpkin to their oats and never tried it. Um, why did I wait so long? I cooked on the stovetop with almond milk and added a few dashes of apple pie spice then topped with brown sugar when done.

Hollar.

And apparently there’s been a shortage of pumpkin this past year but USA TODAY says it’s over. Go figure why I couldn’t find canned pumpkin the other night.

There was yet another bake sale going on this week but for American Heart Association instead of Breast Cancer like the other week. Goodies this time were a bit cheaper—only $1 for anything on the table. I went with a decorative rice krispie heart.

 Again, my rationale that since my money is going to charity, calories don’t count (not a good rationale to have by the way)

I didn’t make anything for lunch last night but brought a simple lunch of a sliced chicken breast sandwich with buffalo cheddar cheese and tomato on a sandwich thin with a side of apples and cucumber. Look at me being all healthy.

Then my co-worker bought over his leftover French fries from Bojangles. I can’t turn down French fries and especially can’t turn down Bojangles fries. They had a super salty Cajun seasoning on them that in turn, makes me eat them only once or twice a year. I contemplated throwing them away but there are starving kids out there so that would be wasteful, yes?

Also, it’s quarter end week which means they bring in ridiculous amounts of sugar ridden snacks in hopes that hopping us up on sugar and caffeine won’t leave us too bitter about being here.

Nice view eh?

I got to leave work a little early since I had a Doctors appointment. And not a fun doctor like the OB GYN or dentist—my laser tattoo removal session.

My tattoo is almost completely faded so this should be my last session to get rid of the color (tip—green is the hardest color to remove so if you are thinking about a tattoo with green in it —make sure you really want it)

My next session will hopefully be them scraping it down since the scar has risen a bit from all the sessions I’ve had. It’s a painless procedure for the most part but they give me seven to eight shots of Novocain to numb the area so that is the worst part. After that, I just have to wait for the area to numb up completely and then they get to work. The actual laser part only takes a few minutes and then they bandage me up and I am good to go. The longer in between sessions the better they say because of something with the pigments and the treatments being more effective.

I love their retro waiting room.

I got home pretty early despite the slow drivers on the road because people here can’t drive in the rain and hung out with Lincoln for awhile. For dinner, I made the biggest slice of pizza ever.

Ok, so it kinda looks like a scroll. Don’t judge.

I topped with leftover eggplant, red pepprs and artichokes from last night and mozzarella cheese

So big, I have to cut in half so it would fit on my plate

Served along side with some fresh strawberries

C’est Magnifique!

And with that, I’m out. It’s not even 7P and I feel like I could fall asleep. Hope everyone had a happy Monday!

PS—Check out Prevention RD to win a mandolin!!

Working for the Weekend

Happy post 90210 day! One of my friends had “Happy 90210 Day!”as his status on the FB and I thought it was hilarious and didn’t even think of it yesterday

Yesterday I attempted to make a western omelet sandwich with peppers, onion,zucchini, ham and cheese but it didn’t turn out so much as omelet as opposed to a mess.

Then I realized I had some cucumbers in the mix of chopped veggies. And you know what? Warm cucumbers do not taste good. After picking them out, it was frickin delicious  so I shall call it a success!

I broke my Starbucks streak yesterdayy….only because there was no line. I have to walk through the Bucks to go to my office so if there isn’t too much of a line I will go ahead and get my coffee first thing but if not, will wait until it dies down a bit. I was fine the previous two days without the Bucks but I think it agitates me a bit. And when I say that, I mean the clientele. I love the baristas there and we know each other by name and they are nice and outgoing without being overly perky. But the people who visit the Bucks are just too much for me, I find them rude or they seem to be confused about the whole process of ordering.

Some days I’m afraid I’m going to have a freak out session like this

I love the subtitles and bootlegs

So maybe, I am better without the Bucks? Or maybe I need to practice a little thing called patience which is supposedly a virtue? I guess it has to be the latter as much as I don’t like it.

I had leftover pesto spaghetti with balsamic glazed chicken. I felt so bad for the woman standing next to me in the break room while I was heating it up-all she had for lunch was a hard-boiled egg. Ummm….and that’s it. I asked her why she was torturing herself and she was doing some kind of cleanse to “jumpstart” her system. No thank you. I will skip the jump starting and attempt to do it right and eat real foods. It just made me sad to see that while I was feasting on a great meal.

And this meal was great but a few bites into it, I asked myself “What could make this better?” and behold……

Laughing Cow Mozzarella and Sun Dried Tomato  added to the pasta….oh yes!

Today was a great day at work since I got to leave a little early being the day before a holiday. There wasn’t a whole lot of work to be done in the morning and that was a welcome break.

I walked over to The Energy Cafe for lunch. This place is a fabulous alternative to the fast food, unhealthy joints that seem to be a staple for many. They offer fresh, healthy food along with smoothies and protein bars (or fuel bars as they call them) at a reasonable price. Anytime I’ve been they are super quick with making your food right in front of you and although there is usually a line, it moves pretty quick.

I love how they put the nutritional stats on their menu so you can see how much you’re taking in (plus they have stats for protein and fiber as opposed to just cals/fat).  I got their medium build your own salad, which I think is the best deal—$5.99 with unlimited toppings and only $1.49 if you want to add protein (I got the chicken). They have a varied selection of dressings along with low-fat options for the creamier ones and I got the Greek vinaigrette —it has chunks of feta in it and anything that brings more cheese into my life is a good thing.

Seems like a lot of traders and closers were gone by Noon so I stuck around until 330P getting some busy work done and out I went.  I have plans to meet up with friends for dinner tonight and figured if I can take time to get pretty, I can fit a workout in.

I did a quick kettlebell session with a few dumbbell moves in there and did two sets of the following:

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Shrugs

Halos

Squats

Upright Deltoid Row

Swings

Side Bends

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Curls

Shoulder Press

Front Lateral Raise

Dumbbell -10 lbs

Tricep Extension

And with that I am—time to get ready for drinks and dinner. I hope everyone has a fabulous and safe Labor Day weekend! The parental units are coming in tomorrow plus a couple of my sorority sisters will be in town so I don’t even feel like I have too much of a weekend since I will be running around but it is guaranteed to be fun!

That’s What She Said

Thursday breakfast, I ate like a queen! I recently bought these Pops Mix It Strawberries flavored cereal. I am not much of a cereal person and if I do indulge, will have the healthy kind like Kashi Go Lean. Fruity Pebbles will forever be my favorite kind of sugary cereal —mostly because the milk gets a stained glass look afterwards and that’s just fun! But I never buy the Fruity Pebbles and only bought this kind since it was $1 for the bag.

 

It tasted good but didn’t keep me full at all.  When I got to work, I had plans to meet up with an old co-worker of mine for coffee. We went to Einsteins and when I got there I remembered that a coupon for free hash browns and free coffee when buying an order of Chicken Mini’s at Chick Fil A. If you don’t get their calendar and love the Chick Fil A, you need to get on that around Christmas time. It’s become tradition that my parents get me that every year and that’s fine with me b/c I am easy like that (that’s what she said). Tip—if you buy a $25 gift card, you get the calendar for free. The Chick Fil A near me takes expired coupons as well so I am still using some from last years calendar.

 

Chick Fil A was also the highlight of my lunch on Thursday with their fat free honey mustard dressing.

I love you Chick Fil A..

Has anyone out there heard about the Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt?

 source

I know this is a heart attack waiting to happen but I am going to try it. One of my sorority sisters will be in next wknd and she is crashing with me and we have made plans to make a late night trip to Denny’s (sober unfortunately) and have a go at it. We talked about splitting it but who knows if that will happen. All I know is I am so excited!!! And I am going to enjoy every last bite of it since I love all things cheese. The fact that it’s only $4 doesn’t hurt either.

Thursday night I made a Taco Casserole for dinner with macaroni, ground turkey, black beans, mushrooms, jalapenos, shredded cheddar, onions and sour cream. Wow, that’s a mouth full right there (that’s what she said). I’ve never made this before but it seemed like a really good recipe to try since I had all the items on hand and could mix everything all together and save for later.

I added some cayenne pepper, garlic and Tabasco to it for a little kick and kept me full for hours.

 

Pretty 

Dirty

 I made the mistake of watching Dexter Season 4 Thursday night. I was sleep deprived since the sugar from my adult drinks kept me the night before but needed to watch it.  I always tell myself I am going to only watch one or two episodes but five episodes later I was on the season finale and wow. That’s all I can say. Such an amazing show, I love the story lines, the dark humor and the character development.

I got up at 530A on Friday only to find I was out of coffee. No bueno. I need to jump on that asap b.c me in a house with no caffeine is just not right. At least was up with me…….well, kind of.

I made yet another egg and cheese sandwich topped with ketchup and green onions but got a little creative with the presentation

 

I am so happy I am a 30 yr old woman with the mentality of a 14 year old boy

I missed my bus but had Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang to keep me company. I just love her so, she is just so crass. My dream lunch (or happy hour) would be with her and Kathy Griffin, I just know we would be besties!!

Friday was unbearably slow. By 945A I was done with all my catch up work and had nothing to do. Thankfully, I remembered the hippies were outside and took a break to go read some more Chelsea and get some hippie loving.

 

All of this for $8. I love hippies long time. I got green tomatoes and of course am going to make fried green tomatoes. I’ve had them before and they were delish and can’t wait to make them this wknd! I asked how long they are going to be out this year because they usually go away in September but she said they are going to be there as long as they can with their winter produce available. That made me happy.

 

Lunch was leftover enchiladas, just as good the second time around!!

 

Then one of my co-workers brought me over a piece of her carrot cake she had from the night before. It was so yummy, I thought it was Cheesecake Factory quality but turns out it was Food Lion, go figure.

Does anyone remember the Pizzeria potato chips from the 90’s? They looked like Doritos and has different flavors like Pepperoni, Supreme, etc. These Wheat Thins taste so much like them its freaky!! I wish I could find Pizzeria’s on-line but don’t think they exists anyone, sadness.

I was itching to get out of work since I had happy hour plans after work and had a little overtime this week so I got to leave a little earlier than normal. I got out a little early and was waiting at the Charlotte Transportation Center (AKA Blvd of Broken Dreams) and I feel uneasy whenever I’m there. Someone is always smoking something, I get eyed like I’m a fried pork chop and I feel like a riot is about to break out. I was just sitting there with my ipod and big sunglasses not making eye contact with anyone and waiting for the bus to get there. The bus never showed up and I thought I was going crazy but turns out it was 15 minutes late which was cutting into my happy hour prep time. I don’t like that.

I started with some Abita Light. I never tried this beer before but love their Purple Haze so thought I would give it a go. It was a decent beer and kind of had a nutty flavor to it.

Then we went to Piccaso’s Sports Bar for drinks and grub. They claim to have the best wings in Charlotte so I had to give them a go. I got the Hot BBQ wings

Mmmmm, look how messy they look! I devoured these babies and they definitely lived up to the claim. I was still hungry afterwards and may have had some of my friends onion rings. Good times had by all.

Again, I woke up this morning with no coffee. But I did have food so I made a slammin cheese and green onion omelet topped with avocado and tomato

Hope everyones weekend is off to a great start!

Chicken Head

Thanks all for your warm wishes for Lincoln (ok ok and props onmy zebra print dress!), he is doing a lot better but that situation is just frustrating. It did not feel good to go back to work today. I was a tad hung over, didn’t have time to prepare my coffee and the bus was 20 minutes late which brought me into work just as our meeting was starting. I hate when we do early morning meetings and I don’t have time to start my computer or have my coffee. I was a brat and pretty much sat there with a scowl on my face the entire time b/c that’s how I stick it to the man. However I got an email when I got back to my desk saying there was free Starbucks coffee a few rows down from me. So maybe I shouldn’t try to stick it to the man anymore.

Breakfast was good though-simple eggs with ketchup and a side of toast with cranberry preserve

I officially put the candy bowl away today and locked it in an overhead bin at my desk that I need a special key to unlock with.

 This has been the bane of my existence the past two weeks.

I got a new read for my flight to Phoenix this wk

But I’ll also be bringing my laptop since I got Dexter Season 4 Disc 1 and 2 today-booyah!

So I decided to pimp myself out today for some Chick Fil A Fat Free Honey Mustard. Anyone who reads this knows I sing the praises of their crack-laced fat-free honey mustard. The fact that is fat-free just makes it even better. I went to Chick Fil A for lunch since I had a free coupon for a drink when you buy a sandwich and I asked if I could possibly get a packet of the FF honey mustard. I went on to tell the cashier how much I love the stuff and how they should sell it in stores. I may have leaned over a little to show some skin in high hopes he would give me more than one packet of the stuff and it worked! I waited for a few seconds and he flashed his smile with six teeth and told me he threw in some extras —–four total—holla!! I guess showing a little cleavage at a Christian backed fast food place doesn’t hurt huh?

I was planning on having the sandwich and my salad for lunch but I wasn’t too hungry so I had the original chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce and a nectarine.

Today wasn’t that busy at all, I took a relaxing 20 minute break in the afternoon and just sat outside and looked around. I breathed in the air, looked at the flowers and just was. It was so nice and peaceful. Then I saw Lisa’s post on taking pleasure in the simple things in life and I just smiled.

Some observations from sitting outside

*It should be illegal to be blaring Savage Garden from your radio while you’re cruising. Savage Garden—really?!?!

*Why do men think if they grunt at you, you will talk to them? Baffles me every day

*I love old couples who hold hands, it’s just cute and it makes me smile.

*It smelled like patchouli outside yet there were no hippies in sight. Funky.

I had a BIG salad with the same ingredients as yesterday with my beloved Fat Free Honey Mustard. I thawed some Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers and cooked them up on the stovetop

Thumbs down on the chicken burgers-they were straight up nasty. If I still had the box, I would return them but I gave the rest to Lincoln and he thoroughly enjoyed! I guess I was all about the chicken today. I don’t have too much fresh produce on hand since I’m going out-of-town so I can’t make anything. I could’ve made a bowl of oats but wasn’t feeling it and was in the between stage of hungry and satisfied.  And that just sucked.

With that, I tried Breyer’s Smooth and Dreamy Chocolate Caramel Brownie Sandwich.

This was a perfect portion for what I was looking for-a light snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth.

And ladies —Happy 19th Amendment Day! Today is the the 90th anniversary of when the 19th amendment passed and gave us the right to vote.

Thought I’d share the love– click here to get 16 free tracks from Spin’s September Issue (this is legit, I downloaded it to my iTunes)

Mmmmmm….Meaty

I had to get my car inspected yesterday morning—–at 7A. What fun. I grabbed a Kind bar and was on my way to the inspection place. After reading this post by Janaetha about fitting in workout moves into your every day life, I also grabbed my heart rate monitor so I could go on a walk while my car was being inspected. I figure I could sit on my booty reading some old magazines or play on my phone until the battery died since I forgot to charge the night before or I could get some cardio action in. I fit two miles in while my car was being inspected (I was hoping I would walk by Marshall Park b/c it would have been too freaky and fun seeing that’s Janaetha’s hubby’s name but no go).

I am a total Starbucks whore but at times, get a craving for Dunkin Donuts. I keep forgetting we one in my area and yesterday was the day I would hit it up after a hiatus. I got a medium strawberry Coolata and their new French Toast Bagel Twist

The bagel twist was super tasty….until I looked online and saw that it has 380 calories. It was good but I don’t want to waste that many calories on something so little. I finished half of the Coolata and kept the rest to enjoy later on an inevitable hot day.

 Saturday afternoon, some friends and I went to the Charlotte Summer Irish Festival

Hair sticking to my forehead is not hot

Ok, so I’ve been before but this year it was kind of lame. I went the first year when it wasn’t such more of a festival in a parking lot but in Connoly’s bar with bands playing, drinks a plenty and like a casino, you had no concept of what time it was since it was a dark and smoky bar. This year they had a lot of vendors, more family friendly stuff, dancers and such but it was outside in a barely covered parking lot and it was just dreadful outside. The one positive was that beers were only $3 but after being there for an hour, we were ready to head inside for some food and air conditioning!

Do you have a place in your city that you insist people go to when they visit? Well, I have a few of them and Mac’s Speedshop is at the top of my list. Mac’s is a bbq joint but also kind of a biker bar and anytime I have someone asking where they should go to eat when they are in Charlotte, Mac’s is my answer. They also have a patio area with picnic tables that’s great to kick back with some beers and bbq when it’s nice out but it was just too hot out this time.

 I got the Texas Beef Brisket Sandwich with grilled onions and a side of mac n cheese. This was MAJOR for me since the only thing I’ve ordered in the past has been the pulled pork sandwich (the Big Pig) and I have been so happy with it. I hate when I have an item I always order somewhere and I don’t want to stray away from it because what happens if I don’t like it as much?  But what if I try something new and it’s the new LOML? That’s love of my life folks.  This time I got the brisket and was not disappointed at all.

I didn’t mention how the brisket is served on Texas Toast huh? And this right here is one of the reasons I love Mac’s so much!

Come to momma!!!

My belly was so happy and full after this meal. The brisket was awesome and I didn’t even need a knife to cut it since it was so tender. I can’t believe it took me so long to try something different but I am sure happy I did. I was telling my friend that this restaurant is reason alone why I will never give up meat. Yeah, there is tempeh and tofu but I’m sorry it just doesn’t compared to some oink oink or moo moo.

That was kind of a linner meal going on so I wasn’t too hungry later on that evening. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich thin with Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and Cranberry Preserve on a Arnold Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin.

Now I can see why people like the peanut butter so much. This was delicious!

This morning I brought back and oldie but goodie–eggs in a hole

with a side of fresh, sliced peaches

Just an fyi, eggs in a hole does not work with liquid egg whites. Now that I type that out, it’s a big obvious but when it’s 8A in the morning and I haven’t had coffee it didn’t seem so clear and obvious. Regardless, I love a hearty Sunday morning breakfast.

I don’t know what today will bring and I  really don’t have any plans until the evening. I think I am going to break out the  kettbell and maybe take Lincoln to the park for a walk since he seems bored lately.

Happy Sunday Funday! 

Out and About

Happy Friday the 13th!! This is four months until my birthday so in a weird way, I’ve been in a great mood all day b/c I feel like it’s celebration time for my big da. Which kinda baffles me b/c it’s not like I’m getting younger but birthdays still excite me. I am loving 30 but the time seems to be flying even faster than I thought it was in my late 20’s.

The last few days haven’t been anything too exciting….well food wise. I feel like I’ve been on the go non stop from working to doing stuff at night.  I really haven’t had any time to cook in the past few days which is depressing. I really haven’t time to do much of anything now that I think about it. I’ve been waking up, going to work, coming home, having a quick bite then going to whatever I’ve had planned at night, come home, cuddle with Lincoln and do it over again. I love how my social life is picking up and all and this is how it should be but I need to adjust to it. I love that I am meeting more people, doing my stuff, etc. it’s a complete 180 from when I was living in my old apartment in the boonies and just sitting at home.

Lincoln is not digging all this stuff taking me away from him (look at how he’s glaring at me!)

Thursday night was the most eventful, I met up with some friends at the US National Whitewater Center  and had some drinks at the River’s Edge Bar and Grill.

Source

 They have a solid selection of beer including ones with a higher alcohol content than normal, I started out with the Olde Mecklenberg Brewery Mecklenberger then made a mistake and got the King Coconut Porter-blech. All I saw was coconut and was sold but this was a rich, dark beer that was too heavy for me.

My friends got the Big Boss Hell’s Bell which was 7.0% so they were feeling pretty good after one of those bad boys. Big Boss is a local brewing company in Raleigh and I would love to go check out their brewery but I don’t think the girls want to after last night! Oddly enough when we got there, our waiter was pretty nice and then as the night progressed I think he lost his patience with us.

We kept looking over the menu and decided to order three dishes and share

Tidal Wave Tuna-Ahi tuna atop fried wontons on a bed of lettuce topped with guacamole

River’s Edge Chips with Cheese

 Potstickers.

All of it was good grub but the tuna was my favorite by far!

Some other food from the past few days……

 

 

On the other hand dinner tonight was outstanding! I carried out Caribbean food from Austin’s Caribbean Cuisine, a little take out  joint near my place. I didn’t feel like cooking tonight and wanted something different. I drove around for a little while trying to figure out what I was hungry for and see this place going home every day so I dropped in and ordered. I got the jerk chicken plate with red beans, rice and cabbage

This was great! The chicken was succulent, spicy and fell right off the bone. I’ll need to see what else they have next time I go since I didn’t get a good look when I was ordering. I love locally owned places but I find a lot of them don’t have websites and I like to know what I’m walking into before I go and order from somewhere. They didn’t have any paper menus or anything (they are being green is how I look at that?) and everything was written on a chalk board. Old school is good though.

 I also need to fit some time in this weekend to catch up on reading. Unfortunately, no fun reading like the books I picked up this week

 

but for the North Carolina Driver’s License test. I’ve been here four years so I guess I should finally suck it up and take the test right? I’ve heard it’s really hard and I suck at tests anyways so I am going to start on that and when I have a good hair day (which won’t be any day soon with this damn humidity), go and take that test.

Off to catch up on my Netflix, email and blogs. I love Friday nights 🙂

Fresh

As much as I love the eggs, I really need to start buying egg-whites again. I think my heart will thank me after the fat fest I had for breakfast yesterday morning: Two Scrambled Eggs with Muenster Cheese, Avocado and Tomato

 

Lunch was a BIG salad with carrots, tomato, feta cheese, quinoa, green onions topped with pulled pork and pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Holy balls. I don’t like the idea of hot and cold together most times (with the exception of greek yogurt and oatmeal) but I nuked the pulled pork up for about a minute and the combination was terrific. I also liked how the pomegranate balsamic vinegar tasted with it. I didn’t want to ever end 😦

One of my co-workers came over to my desk and told me she had a treat for me. I love treats. And I love treats in the name of fresh produce even more. I thought she was just being sweet but she had an ulterior motive but it worked out fine because I can be persuaded just to do about anything if you put some good food in front of me.

I want this dogs life

A girlfriend and I had plans to go to dinner so she came over to my place and we walked over to Lebowski’s Neighborhood Grill, a semi-new place here. Can I say how happy I am that I moved? I love the convenience of being able to walk to restaurants, shops, bars, etc.  I know I keep talking about it but that right there is something I am willing to pay more money for. I can tell a difference in my energy level and attitude from not having to wake up at the butt crack of down and having a long commute.  Love it.

I got the Jerk style Gardenburger with garlic fries (I’ve heard people raving about them so had to see if they lived up to the hype)

There was jerk sauce and pineapples under the beautiful layer of melted cheese.

And the fries? They totally lived up to my expectations, it was a fair amount of garlic but nothing that would keep a vampire away. We had quick service, enjoyed the patio area and had reasonable prices, I would definitely go back.

Today was another day full of fruits and veggies. I needed to take a little break from the eggs for breakfast and had a green monster in a bowl instead. I made it with blueberries, spinach, almond milk, xanthan gum and half a packet of Spiru-Tein Blueberries and Cream Protein Powder topped with Kashi Go Lean Crunch

Yeah…..and there was about 1/3 still left in my magic bullet.  Again, if you haven’t tried xanthan gum, what are you waiting for?? It’s awesome!

Lunch was yet again a BIG Salad with romaine, tomato, quinoa, carrots, cucumber, onion, ham, hardboiled eggs, Laughing Cow french onion wedge and sunflower seeds topped with Ken’s Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette. Add another salad to the list that I didn’t want to end.

I was heading to zumba class after work and tried my Boomi Bar that’s been sitting around

I really liked this, it was a simple almond bar and it wasn’t too sweet or moist (I feel so dirty when I say that word)

Zumba was great but I didn’t rock it as much as last week since I am still a tad achey from Jackie Warner’s One on One Training DVD I did the other day. I didn’t jump around as much but I still got a good workout in with a nice calorie burn of 677 and average heart rate of 166—yes!

I was ready for a big dinner when I got home! I made turkey burgers (with parsley, green onions, Heinz 57, garlic and panko breadcrumb) 

Laughing  Cow makes everything better

I served with a cold quinoa salad with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper with carrots, cucumbers, tomato and red onion thrown in.

I loved the meals I’ve had the past two days and can honestly say that all this fresh produce is my favorite part of summer. I am going to miss having access to different farmers markets in the area once fall comes around but I think it’s a fair trade-off for football, sweaters and cold weather. There are so many veggies to look forward to as well which means new stuff-yay!

A Pom Kind Of Day

The friendly people at POM Wonderful contacted me a couple of weeks ago in regards to trying their pomegranate juice. I was so excited because I love all things pomegranate but have only tried the actual juice a couple of times before (I prefer to get my pomegranate from pom flavored beer thank you very much! 🙂 )

A little about POM Wonderful from their site

contain no added sugars, preservatives or colors

are a good source of potassium

are gluten-free

are flash pasteurized to retain both flavor and nutrients

are certified kosher

Plus they have different flavors of Pom juice that I never knew about-such as mango, kiwi, blueberry, cherry and nectarine with a myriad of different products like tea, bars, iced coffee (say whaaaaa??!!?!), shots, pills and more.

I got their package on Friday and have been brainstorming what I could make with it. Yes, I could make a cocktail or green monster but I wanted to try cooking with it.

With that, I decided to make Feta, Walnut and Parsley stuffed pork chops with a creamy pomegranate sauce and a side salad with pomegranate balsamic dressing

I finally bit the bullet and bought some xanthan gum. I’ve been wanting to get these to use in my green monsters since they turn out soupy a lot of the time and to use in sauced instead of corn starch. Most recipes only call for one to two tablespoons of cornstarch so this bag is going to last me awhile!

For the stuffing, I threw in 1/3 cup walnuts, 3 tbsp of feta and a few tbsp of parsley in the food processor and pulsed on low for about 10 seconds.

I butterflied two pork chips and stuffed with the filling then secured with toothpicks. I rubbed a little extra virgin olive oil and black pepper on them and then cooked at 350 for 25-30 minutes

For the creamy sauce, I threw  1/4 cup half and half with 3/4 of a POM Wonderful bottle on the stovetop with one tbsp xanthan gum and let cook on a low setting for 10 minutes until thick and bubbly. I know it kinda looks like the River of Slime from Ghostbusters 2 but don’t fear, it was tasty!

Side salad with carrots, tomato, extra stuffing mix, quinoa topped with homemade  pomegranate balsamic vinegar. I liked the dressing a lot and never knew how easy it was to make your own dressing!

 This was such a fabulous, filling meal. It was nice to experiment with the POM Wonderful for a different flavor for my meals and I cannot wait to try it with more stuff—thanks POM Wonderful for sending me and giving me the opportunity to try your juice, I am loving it!

I also found the mythical Chobani Pomegrante Greek Yogurt I’ve been seeing all over the blogs lately. I’ve never seen this flavor in the store before so when I saw it this past week, I practically screamed and started doing my happy dance right in the middle of Harris Teeter!

And I got to use the free Chobani coupons I won over at Nutrition Nut on The Run so free Chobani is always nice. It was terrific! I am a bit skeptical with new flavors ever since trying Chobani’s Pineapple flavor but this did not disappoint. Thus being said, I may just turn into a pomegranate by end of day.

 Fail to plan, plan to fail….yep that’s what I would say about my lunch today

Microwave popcorn-yum! I love the stuff but it is not filling at all. Oh, I didn’t mention I had this at work did I? Yeah. Another so busy week that I went in for five hours today just to catch up on my emails so I could get some peace of mind. I was annoyed by having to go in to do that but I kept repeating to myself “time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay” to make it bearable.

Oh and I know how I was singing praises to Jackie Warner and her workout dvd yesterday but today? I curse the day she was born. My everything hurts and each time I step up or sit down today, I whimper a bit. It’s sad. No pain no gain right??

I made a yummy plate of eggs topped with avocado and tabasco for breakfast.

Hey healthy fats!! Just wanted to say that I heart you.

I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday this past December and finally opened the box today to try it out with a green monster with blueberries, almond milk, baby spinach, Spiru-Tein Blueberries & Cream protein powder (half a packet), one Splenda and 1/2 tbsp of xanthan gum

Holy crap-why did I wait so long to use this? I absolutely loved how easy it was to use, quick it was and way more quiet than my blender. And xanthan gum, I just love it. It came out like sludge (which is a good thing!) this was more like an ice cream treat than a smoothie.

Happy August to everyone as well, I completely forgot its first of the month!

Things to work on for this month

*Drink less beer. I was out of control the month of July. Ok, not alcoholic out of control but drinking way more beer than I normally do due to the ridiculously hot weather out.

*Have a more consistent workout schedule each week. With moving and going on vacation twice in July, I didn’t get much workout time in. Again, add the nasty weather and it was a recipe for laziness on my part.

*Cook more at home, eat out less. Now that my kitchen is all squared away and I am somewhat getting used to cooking in a smaller kitchen, I need to get back into the swing of things.

All in all, today was a great day with work, new recipes, etc. Hope everyones August is off to an equally fabulous start!

PS—Check out Eat, Move, Love for a fun giveaway!

PPS-Anyone else have Blogger issues? I keep trying to comment on Blogger blogs and can’t, it’s a tad frustrating!

Do you want the real answer or the fake one?

Today was yet another hellacious day at work. We had three people off and it’s month end, which is always the busiest day of the month for us. My phone was ringing non stop, my email box was never empty and I was just struggling to stay on top of everything all day along with helping others on my team. People would call me and ask how I was doing since they knew about our understaffed team for the day and I would just reply “Do you want the real answer or the fake one?” Of course everyone wanted both answers

Fake answer- “I’m super fabulous!”

Real answer- “I want to crawl into a fetal position with a bottle of wine”

But it’s all over with (for now) and I can go in this wknd and catch up on things. Okay and get some time and a half-pay in the meantime (which will be going towards Lincoln’s boarding in a few wks when I go to Phoenix or some snazzy digs for me!)

The day started off questionable, I slept in late (yay!) but woke up to a text from my ex boyfriend from college (boo!)

I found my “Keep Austin Weird” mug that I got four years ago when I visited for a weekend. I loved Austin so much and would love to go back. Sso if any of you ever want to me to stay with you, let me know, will be over ASAP and I will bring Trader Joe’s goodies since you have the Whole Foods mothership!

I think I was going for overeasy eggs but it was kind of a fail in that aspect but still tasty.

I mixed it up (pun intended) with a Venti shaken Iced Green Tea.Lemonade with two splendas—tasty as well! I didn’t know refills of these were only $.55, when did that happen??

As busy as it as this morning (understatement of the year), I forced myself to take a short lunch break and visit my hippies and stop by Chick Fil A to buy a pakcet of their Fat Free Honey Mustard. This stuff is laced with southern goodness crack. I wish they would start selling it in stores because I will walk to Chick Fil A and offer to buy a few packets but they give it to me for free. Then I feel bad about it since they are always so nice about it and say “My pleasure”, which is what I totally to say to people at work when I am super busy and it’s more in a facetious tone

All that produce for $6, I love my hippies!

With that, I had a BIG salad for lunch with romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, ham, onion and tuna salad with my beloved fat free honey mustard. Seriously, if you haven’t tried their FF honey mustard, please do-it’s out of this world!

Anyone remember that tv show? I used to love watching it and dearly miss the fashion of the late 80’s

A late afternoon sugar rush is always necessary on a bad day. Swedish fish are the bane of my existence.

By the time I got off work, I had zero mental energy. I just wanted to get home, change into my comfy clothes and zone out. After reading Monique’s post about having home-made take out the other night, I knew that was going to be the meal plan for the night!

My favorite Trader Joe’s product of ALL time—Mandarin Orange Chicken. If you haven’t tried this, it really does taste like something you would get when eating out (if not better)

While that was baking, I cooked up some quinoa and red pepper, onion and zucchini…..and voila—home made take out!

Hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start! I took a huge nap after dinner so I am all out of whack time wise right now.