Abby: oops!

So I wanted to blog today. I was very excited about it in fact.  I had it all planned out.  Then I went to put my pictures on this computer only to discover that all of a sudden my memory card was EMPTY??? Hopefully the pictures are randomly still on my work computer. 

But for now at least I guess I can catch up on some old pictures I have been meaning to put up.  Like this AMAZING sandwich.  It is a hummus and veggie on rye from this deli right across from work in Arlington called Mikes.  I never eat out (cause I am a poor intern) but I have gotten this sandwich 4 times this summer.

And I have only gone out 5 times.  yes it is that good.  and while it may not look so daunting from these pictures, this sandwich is HUGE!!! and heck yes I finish it each and every time! :)

And to continue the post to the tune of "these are a few of my favorite things" do do dodododo....ALADDIN'S spinach salad with fresh pita and hummus.  I stayed vegetarian for a whole month literally so that I could continue getting my family to go to Aladdin's for this.  It is a huge salad topped with sprouts, fetta, mushrooms, and cucumbers.

Top it off with their house dressing (imported olive oil + lemon juice + Mediterranean seasonings of some sort = heaven).  When I am in desire of some animal protein, I order lamb on top.  It is a splurge and tastes soooooo good.  For just one hour I almost feel like I am back in Israel....I can't wait to get back if only for the food! 
Can you tell I LOVE my middle eastern cuisine?

start of the week

It is going to be another beautiful Monday!  This weekend was gorgeous as well!  Went to Upstate New York for family get togethers and cousins grad party and such!  Made an awesome Fruit Trifle for the party... you have to try this it is literally to DIE for delicious!


 Sooo Easy to make to all you do is layer up a few ingredients and garnish with whatever you want.  Here are the layers:
1. Angel Food Cake (Store Bought, cut up into pieces to make 1" layer)
2. Vanilla/Strawberry yogurt
3. FRUIT - any kind you want! Here we did blueberries, strawberries, kiwi
4. Cool Whip

Layer all those one more time and then on the end just layer with fresh fruit a dollop of cool whip and a sprinle of sliced almonds.

My mom and I forgot but it looks much prettier if you cut the strawberries in half to layer onto the sides of each layer to look really pretty through the glass of the trifle dish (sides of strawberry face outwards)

There was a lot of other good food but I didn't take too many other pix I was busy socializing hehe.  Except we all thought it was hilarious so I took a picture of the kool aid drinks they had for the kids!  Here is my sister showing it to you I thought it was so funny I haven't seen these squeeze bottles since I was 7! Ha Ha

Abby: Jealous of Kristen

Kris, I just read your Wednesday. I am head TRIPPING over my heals jealous of your work day.  Love my job, but knowing that others get to be paid to play outside when the weather is so nice, makes my office seem much less apetizing.  Actually since today is over 100 degrees, my airconditioned cubicle is feeling pretty good.

But whether here or home, I am a snacker.  Office work can make you just as hungry as running around and it is always important for me to keep a stocked cabinet. 

My coworkers all thought I was crazy when they first saw me sticking a sweet potato in the office microwave.

Now they are used to it.  I eat them "just like an apple" according to Kim.  Sometimes I cut them open and dump (litterally dump) a ton of cinnamon inside, reclose it up and let it smolder...that sounds weird.
but you know what, they are litterally one of my FAVORITE foods.

Another favorite food? Sloppy joes!  The other night I came home to my little (20 year old) brother complaining of having no food in the house.  Luckily I talked him out of spending money on ordering in with the proposition of an old favorite.  But since we had taco seasoning already in the cupboard, we improvised.

I present.......Turkey Taco-Joes! The last of my fresh basil and a sprinkle of cheese finished it off to Perfection.

 

and of course  a large heap of veggies.  After a long run it really filled me back up.  Now that I am out of basil though....I'm desperate for more!  I put it on top and bottom of this TTJ.  You are only looking at half of it.

The rest of my basil had gone to random different meals.

 

including a rather large TBM omelet a few nights earlier

Perfect recovery food after my long run that day.  I'm been having some knee issues lately.  But hopefully getting back into a better lifting regiment will help stabilize my knees. 

Today I did leg press for the first time in ages.  Good news is my strength hasn't diminished much.  205lbs bebe!!!

TGIF

HOT Friday! Saw 103 on the temp's for today YIKES... tried paddle boarding in the ocean it was awesome and probably my new favorite thing to do ever its awesome and really fun an relaxing too.  Anyways here is some catchup foodie pix I took thought you might enjoy...

Andrew got all upset when he saw that his ice cream sandwhich was smaller in size compared to Alana's bigger sized popsicle... so after trying to explain they both have the same amount of energy you get from each dessert treat I turned it around and made him super excited... had him close his eyes and turned the boring sandwhich into a superstar sprinkled with an explosion of colored sprinkles! wow was he impressed... alana definitely couldnt do that with her popsicle!














Later when I went home my sister asked me to make some bangin grilled peaches like I did for her last week so I did but I spiced it up a little and made a couple different variations...

1. One has vanilla bean ice cream in the center sprinkled with cinamon and a drizzle of agave nectar.

2. These two have raisins in the center and again sprinkled with cinamon and agave nectar

 

And this I tried dicing up the peaches and put on toasted half of a Joesph's wrap with sprinkled raisins, cinamon, and agave nectar DELISH!

Ok so now onto Friday morning... a little mid morning snack... rolled up banana in Joseph wrap with soynut butter, sunflower seeds, and cinamon... I toasted it for a minute in the toaster oven for a little crisp which I love as you can already tell haha

And for lunch had some of my barley and veggies I made the other night on top of a bed of greens and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. =) I wish my camera took better pictures your colors always look so vibrant mine doesnt seem to do the trick. Oh well you get the hint at least of what Ive been up to! ;-)

Wonderful Wednesday

Today was beautifullll just gorgeous and a great day overall!  Trained with the 2 girls - really gave them a push today! Worked on the treadmill then weights.  They were complaining a little bit but at least the incentive was a swim in the lake after all their hard work!  We canoed out to the center of the lake then decided to tip the canoe and jump in and swim back to shore.  Swimming, weights worked up a sweat then met with the dietitian Nicole to go over the nutrition part for their day!  Time to go at 5 pm and was all excited to pickup my Dad from the airport and meet up with him and my mom at Neptune's in Boston for some OYSTERS my favoriteee and then go to an amazinggg glass blowing extravagent showing at the Museum of Fine Arts... wellll over an hour later of intense traffic when it really should have only been about 20 minutes if that... I park and find out they just finished dinner and were walking out... No at this point I was startving and did NOT want to go right to the museum. Being in a sour mood I drove all the way home (another hour and a half to home).  However, on the way I thought of what I wanted to make for dinner.... I have lots of veggies and a fillet of fish in the freezer... FISH TACOS? YUP

Slices of red, green pepper, red onion

Saute with a little olive oil spray

Put into a Joesph's Wrap Wheat Tortilla with a Flounder Fillet I grilled up and topped with homemade salsa ( tomato with cilantro, onion, garlic) I added a little hot sauce too... then on the other side of the taco I added some corn salsa (homemade with corn, black beans, stevia, red onion)

I didn't know how this would hold up so I put it in foil and put in the toaster to make it a little more "toasty"

I was still in the mood to use up some more of the veggies I had so I threw on zuchinni, red, green pepper, red onion, salt pepper

Boiled barley and threw veggies with lemon juice and super FRESH mint and parsley and from the garden! Delicious for dinner/lunch/snacks for tomorrow and the rest of th week! DELISH

Abby: Marticle (Mini Article)

I've started writing these for work.  But I'll give you a sneak peak at the one written today ;)

Hungry? Are you sure?

So you think you are hungry, but it isn’t meal time.  Before you reach for that cake or candy bar, stop and think.  That feeling may actually be thirst.  Many of us easily mistake the feeling of thirst for hunger, eating more than we would like, and not feeling satisfied after.  Try drinking a glass of water first and see how you feel.  A study done at Virginia Tech showed that drinking a 16oz glass of water before a meal helped people ended up eating less.  Another trick to deciphering needless craving eating from actual hunger is to first ask yourself “if this _________ was an apple (or another fruit/vegetable) would I still want to eat it?”  If the answer is “no”, you are probably not eating out of hunger.  But remember, deprivation is no way to live.  If you have an occasional craving, go ahead and indulge a little, just remember that a reasonable amount doesn’t mean you eat the entire cake.

*this article can not be copied, quoted, or used without expressed consent from the author

Abby: pizza pizza

My mission for the week? use as much basil as possible. I bought a ton at the farmer's market last Thursday.  I love having one right out side of my office building.  Too bad every week I forget to bring money.  This time though, i was armed with $4.  So basil was just about all I could afford.  I looked very strange walking down the street constantly smelling my bag.  Even took it to happy hour for a little bit.  But I was the envy of all my coworker when they got a whiff.

First use was a personal pizza when I got home.  Not something I normally crave, but it was AMAZinG!!!

SOOOOO much basil for such little pizzas and oooohhh soooo good! I used my last sandwich thin for the crust.  so easy and so cheesy.

 

and of course the colors

I loved it so much I made it again for breakfast the next morning. Thank goodness someone picked up more sandwich thins. Later i got a craving for some peanutbutter.  Best kind? HOMEmAdE!!!

 

It is so easy to make! just peanuts, a little kosher salt, and I used one packet of Truvia.

 

  Of course since this was Sunday I was doing it while watching the Women's World Cup Finals.

 normally I am not a Truvia user, but I had it on hand.  And I'm willing to try things.  I used to be obsessed with Splenda. Lately I've been trying to cut back on the artificial sweeteners.  However in this house there are others to think about.  My dad is a diabetic.  So if you want him to try things, there better not be added sugars. Besides, with it running in the family I try to cut my chances whenever possible.

I used it for my pbj today.  Cinnamon raisin bagel thin, homemade pb, and strawberry jam.  THE BEST PBJ I HAVE EVER HAD! and that is saying something.  too bad I ate it before being able to take a picture :) whoops.