Last night I celebrated Restaurant Week with Dori. We love Restaurant Week because it gives us a chance to eat an appetizer, dinner, and dessert at a fancy restaurant for a fixed price. We browsed all of the menus until we found a restaurant with some vegetarian options. It was actually kind of tough to find one with vegetarian options but eventually we chose, One if by Land- Two if by Sea.

We got there and realized that they were celebrating Restaurant Week until September 5th! We were kind of upset that we did not choose somewhere with outdoor seating but who knew? The restaurant had beautiful, old- fashioned decor with pretty chandeliers and a piano player. There was also a pretty garden outside of the windows.

Photo: Daniel Krieger

We sat down and felt like we were on a date! We got a candle lit for us and everything!

We checked out the specialty cocktails. They all sounded great! They were also $15.00 each. EEEK. I went with the Strawberry Margarita.

It was delicious and luckily got me a little buzzed! It better be strong for $15.00!! Dori got the Watermelon Martini.

They served us whole grain rolls to start. The roll was one of the best parts of the meal (besides the drink and dessert)!

Next they brought us watermelon gazpacho. This was a nice surprise! It was very refreshing.

We got to choose from 3 appetizers. I went with the Haricot Vert Salad: grape heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese, slithered almonds, basil, sherry vinaigrette.  

I had no idea what haricot vert was at the time but now I see that it is French for green beans!

I really enjoyed this dish. I pretty much love anything with goat cheese!

Dori started with the Cucumber Gazpacho: fage Greek organic yogurt, mint, dill, cilantro, and balsmic.

This was good but nothing special. I tasted it but don’t really like anything with cilantro.

For my main course, I went with the Wild Red Snapper: kalamata olives, preserved lemon risotto, herb salad.

I asked if I could get this dish with no olives but the server said that they were already mixed into the risotto. I can’t stand the taste of olives so I had to skip the risotto. The fish was pretty good but nothing special. I had about half of it and decided to save room for the dessert.

There is a funny story that goes with Dori’s entree selection! She planned on getting the only vegetarian option on the menu.  The menu online says that this is Homeade Summer Squash Ravioli: rustic peperonata sauce, oregano, Parmigianino reggiano. Dori thought this was what she ordered. Her entree came out and it was fettucini! We were so confused. We could not remember if she told the server fettucini or ravioli! We probably would not have went to that restaurant at all if she knew it was fettucini. She ate a little bit of it anyway but it was not what she wanted.

The couple next to us had a menu so we tried to peak over to see if it said ravioli or fettucini! We could not see. We decided we would say something to our server because we barely ate our entrees and we really wanted to see if they brought Dori the wrong entree. Unfortunately the busboy took our plates away before the server could see all of the food we did not eat. I was really annoyed that we were about to pay so much money for not so great food. We did not say anything to the server but decided to just check the menu on our way out. Oh well. We both wanted to drink more but did not want to spend another $15 for a drink! We thought about ordering one to share but we decided to just leave after dessert.

We both ordered the same dessert: Gianduja Mousse: caramel bananas,  banana bread ice cream.

We were both looking forward to this dessert for weeks! We were a little concerned that it would be tiny but luckily we were wrong.

The dessert was definitely the best part of the meal!! The mousse was so thick and creamy! The little bit of vanilla ice cream went so well with the bananas and banana bread. It was seriously so good. It was the only part of dinner that we actually finished completely! At least one thing was amazing!

We left the restaurant after dessert but decided to go back in to double check the menu. The menu really did say fettucini! The menu in the restaurant was different from the menu online!  This happened to us one time before during Restaurant Week. So annoying. We had no way of knowing though so we did not get too upset. The dessert was great and the restaurant was pretty but it was way too overpriced. Oh well! It was a lovely date with Dori anyway!

1) Do you have a Restaurant Week where you live?

2) Any recommendations if you are in NY?

Related posts:

1. Restaurant Week Dinner
2. Count Down to Restaurant Week
3. V-Day Dinner!

Happy July! I wanted to let you guys in on a little deal before I get started! A few of you have emailed me expressing interest in attending my school, Institute for Integrative Nutrition. They are holding an Independence Day special where if you enroll by Tuesday, July 5, you will receive a $300 tuition scholarship plus a “Let Freedom Ring” gift bag .

Here’s what’s in the “Let Freedom Ring” gift bag:

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 50 Card Deck
• Achieve Everyday Journal
• EnviroSax MiniSax
• Goji Cranberry Cacao superfood bars by graduate Moria Felber
• How to Find the Work You Love book
• Strengths Finder book
• Write it Down Make it Happen book
• IIN logo goodies

Just call (877) 730-5444 to speak with an Admissions Advisor about enrolling. You don’t have to live in New York to attend because they have a distance learning program. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions about the school! Also, if you mention my name when enrolling, I will personally send you an extra $50.00 check! Let me know if you are interested

Yesterday’s Eats

I’ve been having the same breakfast every single morning this week: a Chocolate Banana Burger!

It doesn’t get much better than that! I finally ran out of the Nature’s Pride wheat buns so looks like I’ll have to move on! Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter is dangerous in my apartment anyway. I will explain later. The tub is almost gone just after 1 week. Oy.

I brought a lovely lunch to work! I made a salad with a Morningstar Farms Mushroom Lovers burger, avocado, hard boiled egg, and grilled mushrooms.

Delicious lunch! I also brought a snack to munch on for the side. The folks over at Smile.ly sent me Snikiddy Cheddar Cheese baked fries to try out.

About the fries:

• 50% less fat than regular potato chips
• Gluten and wheat free
• No preservatives
• No corn syrup
• No trans fats
• Low in saturated fats
• No hydrogenated oils

I liked that there were a ton of fries in the bag for just 130 calories. I don’t think I would buy them because the ingredient list is just way too long and they don’t really have any nutritional value. They were fun to munch on though! I guess they are a better option than french fries!

After work I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and some hand weights. I also walked outside for another half hour to pick up a package at my sister’s. I made up for not going to the gym in the morning!

I made another fun salad for dinner!

It contained salmon cake bites, edamame, mushrooms, avocado, and hard boiled eggs. I used my cool egg slicer that I got at the Eggland’s Best event!

So fun! It made slicing my eggs much easier. Daisy spotted the hummus on my plate.

One more…

I had an intense chocolate craving after dinner, like always. I searched my fridge and freezer and found a Chocolate Heart Thrive bar. I heated it up in the microwave for 30 seconds and then went a little dessert crazy….

Apparently just the bar itself was not enough. I wanted more chocolate for dipping! Then I saw a banana and decided that it would be fun to dip in the chocolate peanut butter. Then I saw whipped cream and decided to make it like a sundae! It was delicious! That was all fine until I went in the fridge again. I made myself another banana chocolate burger earlier in the evening to bring for breakfast today and just could not let it sit there. I ate half of that too. Blah. I guess I can’t make such a good breakfast that involves chocolate the night before because it is too tempting! Maybe it is just a bad time of month.  I don’t know. I didn’t let it get to me. Instead I just set my alarm for 5:45 am and hit up the gym this morning. I knocked out 45 minutes of cardio plus some arm weights. Good to go. I was just sad this morning when I only had half of a breakfast left! I ate it as my pre-gym snack. Perfect. I will try to be a better intuitive eater today. It was just one of those nights!

1) Do you struggle with intuitive eating? Can you stop when you are full even if you are craving something?

2) Are there any foods you crave after a meal? Chocolate and fruit for me!

Related posts:

1. Veggie Burger Competition
2. Feel the Burn
3. Mexican and Ice Cream Fiesta!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I celebrated last night with dinner at an Italian restaurant called Da Rosina. 

It was in restaurant row and seemed very crowded so that is always a good sign! It did not have the nicest atmosphere but the food made up for it!We enjoyed a nice bottle of Merlot. 

I decided to go with the Pre-Fix menu so I could get an appetizer, entree and dessert for $30.00. We started off with a delicious appetizer:

Antipasti Bella Vista

grilled vegetables with fresh tomato, home-made mozzarella, & extra virgin olive oil dressing

There was squash, mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and artichokes with big chunks of mozzarella. Yum!

For my main course I got: 

Dentice alla Griglia
grilled red snapper served with vegetables

I loved this! The fish and the vegetables were both very flavorful.

Check out this entree:

Gnocchi al Pomodoro o Pesto
homemade potato dumplings with basil & marinara or pesto sauce

Doesn’t get better than that…until dessert!

Spuma di Cioccolata
chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream

I don’t think I have much to say about this other than MMMMM. Thick rich chocolate with strawberries and whipped cream. Great way to end dinner!

After dinner we went to see an opera that my friend from work was in!

It was in a cute little theatre and there were only about 30 people in the audience since it is a non-profit opera. We saw Bluebeard’s Castle. My friend was amazing. Such a strong beautiful voice!

We all went out for one more drink after the show to some bar near Penn Station. I got a Hurricane

Great night! Not sure what I am doing tonight yet! I got a nice gym session in this morning. I don’t really care too much about Valentine’s Day since everyone should show their love all the time! It is always a fun day to drink and eat chocolate! My roommate and I are talking about making chocolate covered strawberries later! Yum! Hope you have a great day with your sweetheart, friends, family, and pets! <3

Related posts:

1. Restaurant Week: One if by Land-Two if by Sea
2. Celebratory Dinner!
3. Christmas Dinner

Hello! Today is a nice day since I just got an early dismissal e-mail! I get to leave at 1:00! Gotta love snow days! It is also my dad’s birthday so happy birthday dad! I will do a little recap of Monday and Tuesday before I head home!

Monday morning I went to Core Fusion before work. I tried out a new teacher since they just started offering morning classes at the location next to work. I really liked her. She changed up a lot of different moves which kept things interesting and challenging at the same time. It was nice being right near my work instead of near Central Park when I was done. I got to relax in Starbucks for a half hour and read a book with a nice cup of coffee.

I got to work and had the usual oats with bananas and yogurt. Lunch was the usual turkey wrap so I won’t bother showing you again!

I got a text before leaving work asking if I wanted to grab a margarita from 5 Burro Cafe after work. Of course I agreed since I am pretty addicted to that place! I decided to go to the gym for a little since I can’t expect to lose any poundage with margaritas all the time! I did 40 minutes on the elliptical and then headed over to the restaurant.

Mango and Lemon margarita! I love my new dolphin!

At the blogger meetup a few weekends ago, Julie got the Grilled Shrimp salad and it looked amazing! I decided to try out the Lobster salad instead of my usual fajitas!

It was amazing! Definitely one of the best salads I’ve ever had. There were huge chunks of juicy lobster, peppers, avocado, and onions. I might be getting this every time from now on!

My friend got the beef tacoswhich looked really good too! I may have had some of that melty cheese!

5 Burro is seriously the cheapest place to go if you want a quick buzz! One margarita for just $8.00 did the trick! Going on a Monday was a pleasure too. There was no wait and barely anyone in the restaurant! Good to know!

Tuesday

My oats looked extra good so they seemed blogworthy! 

They were extra filling too! I was craving a nice big salad after my huge bowl of oats so I went to Hale and Hearty for lunch.

I got edamame, chickpeas, broccoli, cucumbers, and carrots with low-fat carrot ginger dressing. I also had some Cheddar popchips on the side. Love that flavor! I realized after I bought the salad that they charged me for chicken instead of chickpeas. So annoying but I was too lazy to go back and complain about $1.15. Oh well!

I’ve been bad about showing you snacks but I had a pear and a Kashi bar later in the afternoon. I had plans to take 2 Core Fusion classes after work so I knew I wouldn’t be able to have dinner till 10:00 at night! The first class I took was called Music Yoga Flow. I met Dori and Kristine at the Soho location. Dori was already there taking Core Fusion Open so I got to wave to her while she was stretching her legs. It was fun watching the class for once. There were lots of moans and groans!

About Music Yoga Flow (from Exhalespa.com)

This class is geared for students looking to have a great time in a consistent flow from pose to pose. Set to great music, including rock, reggae, hip hop, blues and world beats, each flow class offers an inspiring message and a deeply relaxing finish.

This description above is very accurate. I really enjoyed the music during the class. It was a great mix of songs that I actually knew.  I can’t say that I loved the class just because I am not a yoga fan. I keep trying to like it but I can’t relax. My mind races and I always feel like I would rather be doing something else. If I were to take a yoga class at all, I would choose one like this. We did a ton of planks and some pushups so I liked that it actually felt like a workout. I don’t think I would run back to the class anytime soon though. I only have so many classes in my package so I prefer Core Fusion Open much more!

There happened to be a Core Fusion Open class right after so Kristine and I stayed. I really loved the class. Once again, the teacher played really great music. I get so much more into the class when they play loud dance music. My weights actually felt a little light last night so I think it is time to upgrade! Core Fusion is working! I could actually handle abs more than normal too. Usually I feel like I am the only one who can’t stay in the C-curve for very long. Last night she had us put our legs in the air first and then put them on the ground and this seemed to help me. The time went by very fast too!

As I was leaving, a bunch of girls started chatting about how Core Fusion helped them lose inches from their legs! They said it is better than any personal trainer at a gym. I completely agree. I think I could actually afford to join the Soho location in the future (it is a lot less than the other locations) so I might consider it once I use up my packages. We’ll see!

I got home around 10:00 at night  so I was quite hungry for dinner! I tried to keep it light since it was so late. I made 1 egg and 2 egg whites with a salad and hummus.

I wasn’t satisfied so I had a Vanilla Chobani with some dark chocolate covered cranberries. Sorry no picture! It was very delicious though!

I am off to go venture home in the snow!

1) Do you have a snow day? Are you staying in or playing outside?

Related posts:

1. Weekly Workout Roundup
2. Ow!
3. Core Fusion Energy Flow

Happy Friday! I’ve had quite the day already! It all started when I woke up at 5:40 for Core Fusion. I made it out the door by 6:05 and thought I’d make it on time for the 7:00 am class. My train finally came after waiting 10 minutes. Some days it comes right away but you never know at that time of morning. About half way there, we were stopped for another 10 minutes. They said a train was broken in front of us. I decided to hop off and get on another train which drops me off pretty far from Core Fusion. At 6:55 on the dot, I got off the subway, found a cab, and told him to speed to class!  $8.00 later, I rushed into class 5 minutes late and found my spot next to Dori. It was very stressful since they charge you $35.00 if you miss a class. Luckily I only missed the warm up and part of the beginning plank.

The rest of the class was very good. Our favorite teacher, Kate, is always very challenging but extremely helpful. We have her scheduled for every single Friday from now on. After class, I stumbled to the subway. I have to take 2 subways to get back to work. I ran onto the 2nd subway and it was going in the wrong direction!  I had get off and get back on again at some random stop. It was not fun walking up all of those extra subway stairs since my legs were incredibly sore from my week of gym classes! The worst part is that I did the same exact thing on Wednesday! I will never learn.

Exercise Class Reviews

I wanted to talk about some other gym classes I took this week! On Saturday I decided to try a class at Equinox called WillPower and Grace. The website describes the class as:

A cardiovascular fusion of calisthenics, dance principles, yoga and Pilates. You will use your own body weight as resistance to tone your muscles and practice exercises to enhance your posture and walk with more confidence.

It sounded very similar to Core Fusion so I knew I had to try it before my Equinox membership ended. I walked in and we were told to take off our shoes and socks. I don’t really like being barefoot in sweaty studios like that. Hello foot infections. I took my socks off anyway since everyone else did. I don’t even know how to describe this class. We did weird flowy movements and stretches the whole time. We did really fast squats andlunges. It was nothing like Core Fusion. I kind of could not wait for it to be over. It was a little too weird for me and it did not feel like a workout. Oh well.

There was a class right after called Cardio Sculpt.This one was right up my ally. We used weights, a step, and a weighted ball. We did fun cardio moves while holding the ball and then weight exercises while walking up anddown the step. I was drenched during this one. If I ever joined Equinox, I would take this one every weekend. I was glad I left the gym feeling like I actually worked out!

New Core Fusion Challenge!

Sunday was a nice rest day. Monday and Wednesday morning, I went to Core Fusion. I really like going Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays before work. It will be perfect for the new challenge I am taking on this month called Buddha Camp!

The challenge runs from Febuary 1st to March 31st.  How it works:

Throughout this 8 week period, Exhale Spa will keep track of the average number of Core Fusion and Yoga classes you attend each week and reward your hard work with great incentives. Here’s what you can get!

3 classes

• Core Fusion Cardio class pass
• Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
• Choice of Core Fusion DVD
• Gift bag of exhale products

4 classes:

• Core Fusion Cardio class pass
• Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
• Choice of GRN manicure or pedicure
• Gift bag of exhale products

5 classes:

• Core Fusion Cardio class pass
• Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
• 30 minute True Facial or Fusion Massage
• Gift bag of exhale products

This will definitely motivate me to go at least 3 times a week! I like prizes After seeing Dori’s results from her first month of the challenge, I’d be happy doing Core Fusion every day! She lost 4.3% body fat and barely did any cardio! Amazing!

inTensati

This is the last week of my inTensati challenge! I went on Tuesday and Thursday and have my finale class on Sunday. I will do a more detailed summary of my likes and dislikes of the class once the challenge ends. Overall it was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed each class. I am definitely going to miss it but   luckily they offer some free classes so I will be able to take it every now and then! I will take measurements on Sunday as well since I took them before this challenge. I don’t really notice my pants getting any looser but we’ll see!

Attention L.A Readers!

Patricia Moreno, the founder of inTensati, will be teaching the class for a month in L.A. She is looking for people willing to do the same challenge I did! All you have to do is commit to going to 3 classes a week! You can find more information
here!

That’s it for workouts! Tomorrow will be a much needed lazy rest day in the snow!

Eats!

I will just show some quick highlights of great meals I had the past 2 days.

 Lunch on Wednesday was a salad with tuna, corn, kidney beans, broccoli, peppers, and a beet! Yes, I officially like beets!

 I had these delicious hummus chips on the side!

Lunch yesterday and today was a turkey and cheese wrap with spinach and mustard on a flat-out wrap! I promised myself I’d start bringing my lunch more! Gotta pay those bills…

Food Should Taste Good  Sweet Potato chips on the side. <3

 Dinner=the last of my cooking class leftovers!

Some sugar-free pudding for dessert! (I may have cheated and used the boxed kind).

Dinner last night was a salad with a Morningstar Farms Mushrooms Lovers burger, extra mushrooms, tomato, and American cheese! More sweet potato chips and hummus on the side

Dessert was grapes, Oikos, and chocolate chips! (And a little crumbled brownie left in the kitchen by my roommate).

Now I am off to lunch! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

1) Any plans for the superbowl?

2) What is your favorite way to eat grapes?

Don’t forget to enter my Teather Giveaway!

Related posts:

1. Ow!
2. Morning!
3. Feel the Burn

I’ve always wanted to take a professional cooking class. I get jealous when I read food blogs and people my age know how to make elaborate dinners! I do not consider myself a good cook and do not even know the proper way to chop a vegetable! I like to make quick and easy meals that are healthy. I am used to just throwing together a salad or making some pasta with red sauce. I never use recipes since I usually don’t understand a lot of the directions or I don’t have the necessary kitchen tools! Last week, an opportunity arose to finally take a cooking class at a reasonable price and for a good cause!

My friend Dori held an amazing auction in support of breast cancer. She needed to raise $1000 so that she could run her first 1/2 marathon on her birthday! One of her items up for bid was a professional cooking class. I immediately knew that was the one I wanted to win! I bid high enough (sorry Melanie!) and won!

I happened to meet my cooking teacher a few days before my class at Core Fusion! Dori and I took a class with her before work so it was nice to be able to meet her before she actually came over to teach me. Her name is Mercedes and she is one of the pastry chefs at the Ritz Carlton. She met Justin Timberlake. I wanted to cry when she told me this. It is my lifelong dream. Any connections….send them my way!

Okay enough fantasizing. Mercedes and I emailed back and forth so that we could create a menu and come up with a shopping list. I decided on an Italian dinner and asked that it be somewhat healthy! We came up with this:

Appetizer:
Italian and Mushroom Bruschetta

Entree:
Whole Wheat Pasta with Artichokes, Chickpeas, and Spinach

Dessert:
Chocolate Molten Cake

She emailed me a shopping list that looked a little something like this:

Kosher Salt/ Pepper
Olive Oil
Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella
Basil
Mushrooms
Red Wine
Cannelli Beans
Baguette
Whole Wheat Pasta
Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Chickpeas
Artichoke Hearts
Parmigiano Reggiano
Spinach or Kale
Valhrona Chocolate( I will bring)
1 pound of Butter
Flour
Eggs
Sugar
Anglaise( i will bring)
Fresh Berries

Strainer, saute pan, cutting board , knives , microplane , whisk , bowls

I had many questions for her about this list. This proves how much of an inexperienced cook I am!

What is a microplane?? (She brought one of her own).
Is it okay to use normal table salt instead of kosher salt? (She brought her own sea salt instead).
Should I get cooking wineor regular drinking wine? (Regular wine; Cooking wine is awful).
Should the artichokes and chickpeas be canned or fresh? (Try to get them fresh but if you cannot find them, canned will be fine).
May I use Stevia instead of sugar? (Yes).
May I use Smart Balance spread instead of butter? (Yes).

I also had to do a little google search to see what Parmigiano Reggiano and Anglaise was! Mercedes was extremely helpful and enjoyed my questions!

I spent my Sunday going to 3 different supermarkets to find everything. The hardest thing to find was the baguette. Finally I found one at store number 4! I was all ready to go!

Mercedes arrived Sunday night at 6:00pm and we got started! She brought a saute pan and sharp knives since I don’t own this stuff. I really want to buy good knives now after my experience!

We poured ourselves some wine before getting started!

We used this wine to cook with as well.

We started off by making the Italian and Mushroom Brushetta. We sliced the baguette on a bias with a serrated knife.

We sprayed a pan with EVOO and sprayed some on the bread as well. I used my handy dandy Misto.

We rubbed some fresh garlic on the bread too. We then put it in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degreesto toast. We used mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese for the brushetta topping. Mercedes taught me the proper way to cut an onion and mushroom!

I also learned that you are not supposed to wet mushrooms to wash them. You are supposed to wipe them off with a paper towel. I’ve been doing it all wrong…

We mixed them in a bowl, sprayed the saute pan with EVOO, and then let them cook.

I loved when Mercedes said, “Pour the red wine all over the veggies.” Okay!!

Next I learned how to slice a tomato…cut it in half, cut out the white part, and then cut it into long, thin slices.

We chopped up the mozzarella the same way and added EVOO, salt, and basil. I only had the basil in a shaker but she said fresh basil is better for next time.

Once the toast was cooked, we topped it with the mushrooms and tomatoes.

They were both delicious! The wine on the mushrooms gave them so much flavor!! They really tasted like they were from a nice Italian restaurant!

Get ready for my favorite part of the night (besides the chocolate cake)…..

How to roast a pepper!!

This seriously amazed me. So easy yet something I never ever knew!

All we did was turn on the flames and place the peppers on the stove top!

So cool! I always thought you could just roast peppers in the oven the same way I usually roast broccoli! We left the peppers there until they turned a little black.

We wrapped them in aluminum foil and let them cool down. That’s it!

After about 10 or 15 minutes, the peppers were soft and smelled great! I am going to be roasting peppers all the time now!

Next we poured about half of the box of pasta into a pot. We added a little olive oil and salt to the water.

I could not find fresh artichokes or chickpeas during my supermarket sweep so I used canned ones. We rinsed them for a while under water to get rid of those BPA’s and salt!

 I was able to find fresh spinach. We chopped off all of the stems.

We cooked the spinach on a pan with EVOO, salt and pepper.

We added the chickpeas and artichokes once the spinach was nice and cooked.

We added the wonderful roasted red and yellow peppers also.

Then we transferred as much pasta as we could from the big pot to the pot with the vegetables and stirred everything together.

Next it was time to shred the Parmigiano Reggiano. I’ve never bought this cheese before but it was delicious!

We grated the cheese over the pasta and vegetables using Mercedes’ microplane.

Heaven!

My plate…

A 2nd bottle of wine was opened.

This was so delicious and flavorful! It was probably the best pasta dish I’ve ever had! I love that it is something I can recreate myself!

The artichokes gave everything so much flavor. The grated cheese was so fresh and a perfect topping for this dish. I could not stop raving about it!

Last but not least, dessert!! I was very excited for Chocolate Molten Cake!!

We decided to make just 1/2 of her recipe since I did not want too much extra cake tempting me in the apartment every day! The following recipe made 5 cakes:

1 cup chocolate
1 cup butter (or Smart Balance)
2 yolks and 4 eggs
3 oz. sugar (or Stevia)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ounce flour (1/4 cup)

Luckily Mercedes brought over some Valhrona Chocolate for the dessert. I measured 1 cup and poured it in a bowl.

I added the butter to the bowl with the chocolate and melted them both in the microwave. We did 20 seconds at a time to make sure not to overcook anything. I think we stuck them in for about a minute total until they were melted.

In another bowl we added the eggs, vanilla, and sugar. We whipped it until it turned as white as possible. Next time I would use my hand blender because this took a long time! Next we poured the melted chocolate  into the egg mixture and added the flour. We poured the chocolate mix into aluminum cups (sprayed with Pam).

It reminded me of the chocolate river from Willie Wonka!

We cooked them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. They are suppposed to be soft in the middle and the chocolate is supposed to “erupt” out of the molten cake!

I chose blackberries so Mercedes instructed me to get a white plate. If I would have chose cherries, a black plate would have been fine. Now I really wish I did not buy a black plate set from Target! White looks so much prettier in pictures.

We spread the anglaise on the plate. Anglaise is basically an ice cream base (cream, sugar..all the good stuff).  We spread it in a circular motion and then to the right of the plate.

I added some berries next to the chocolate cake and a beautiful dessert was created!

With some more red wine of course!

The cake was amazing! It was warm, soft and perfect. I loved the combination of the cake with the berries and anglaise! I think we left the cakes in for about 2 minutes too long since the chocolate was not exploding in the inside. It was still much softer than it was on the outside. It was such a decadent treat! My roommate approved as well!

Mercedes and I were chatting about some other desserts I love.  I asked for some recommendations on fruit desserts. She explained how to make fondue and caramelized fruit! I also said I am a huge fan of pudding! She told me pudding is super easy and that she would show me before she left! Luckily we had all of the ingredients on hand!

Chocolate Pudding

2 cups of skim milk (or whatever milk you prefer)
1/2 cup sugar or Stevia
1/2 cup chocolate (cocoa powder works too)
1 tbsp corn starch

 I first mixed the milk and chocolate in a bowl.

I added the sugar and corn starch and stirred everything in a pot over high heat on the stove. I mixed until it thickened.

Once it thickened, I poured the pudding in a bowl and let it cool. Mercedes said a film could form on top but that it is fine to just pull it off. Then she said to refrigerate it and it would be ready in no time! So easy!

I had an audience

This was an amazing experience! I learned so much and Mercedes was super friendly and helpful. I am definitely motivated to try out some new recipes in the future. Thanks Mercedes!

Related posts:

1. Veggielicious Whole Wheat Pasta
2. Cooking With Eggland’s Best!
3. Core Fusion Meetup and Pasta!

Happy Friday! I just got back from an amazing Core Fusion class with Dori. The teacher made everything very challenging but in a fast-paced way so there was no time to suffer! My legs were burning (and still are) and I was able to handle abs. Sometimes abs are so hard and last so long that I give up. Today they were tough but each move was short so I tried a lot harder and actually feel it a lot more now. I am officially going to her class every Friday morning from now on! I hate working out on Fridays after work so this is perfect.

I will do a little recap of some of my eats the last 2 days! Breakfast both days was the usual oatmeal.

Nature’s Path Hemp Plus oats with goji berries, banana and Fage.

For lunch I walked over to the Westside Market and made my own salad.

It contained salmon, broccoli, edamame, and chickpeas! Yum! I have to stop going there because the salads are a lot more expensive than the ones I get at Hale and Hearty! I just love the salmon there.

Lunch yesterday was another amazing sandwich from my work cafe.

 

I could eat this sanwich every day. It does not get better than that!

I took the lazy way out for dinner on Wednesday and got some Subway!

I got a 6 inch turkey and American on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mustard. I had Cinnamon Food Should Taste Good chips on the side! The sub was okay but I hate that they only put 2 teeny tiny slices of turkey in the sandwich. I felt like I was just eating a roll!

Dessert was The Lite Choice soup soft serve. I had it on the subway for an hour and was too impatient to let it freeze up again when I got home! It was still delicious of course!

It was half Oreos N’ Cream and half Chocolate Cheesecake with some sprinkles! Daisy stole it from me of course.

Last night I had another “lazy” dinner. Cereal! 

I went to inTensati after work and got home around 8:30. I did not end up eating till 9:30 so I took the easy way out for dinner. I could eat cereal any time of day though!

I am very excited for the weekend! Tomorrow I have a blog meetup and a private Lite Choice party after! Margaritas and soft serve..here we come! Sunday is my private cooking class! Tonight I plan to go to Whole Foods to get the goodies! We have a delicious menu planned!

1) What is one meal or dessert you would love to learn how to make from a professional chef?

2) What is your favorite “lazy” dinner?

Have a good weekend!

2)

Related posts:

1. Salad Heaven and Meetup!
2. Weekly Workout Roundup
3. Ow!

Hey everyone! Ready for the weekend? I definitely am! The week went by kind of fast but I am ready for a few days to sleep in! I am going to show you some food highlights from the past two days and then move on to some more gym classes I tried!

Breakfast Wednesday and Thursday was a bowl of Natures Path Hemp Plus oats with a banana, skim milk, peanut butter, and Navitas Naturals goji berries!

Very fun bowl of oats!

Check out what was placed on my desk yesterday!

I had a few bites and it was the best thing ever so I had a few more…hmm probably most of it!!  Oops! I made sure to get in a good workout afterwards to balance it out!

I went to Cardio Kickboxing first since inTensati did not start till 7:30. I hate to say this again but I really did not like the class! It was not nearly as good of a workout as the kickboxing class I usually take at NYSC. We did tons of weird punches and barely moved around the room. Maybe I am just favoring my other class since I am slightly in love with the teacher. A class is always better when there is someone nice to look at! Lol. No seriously, in my usual class we are jumping up and down the whole time, doing squats, mountain climbers, everything! During this class we pretty much just stood in one spot while doing kicks and punches. Boring! I only burned 180 calories compared to the 350 or 400 I burn in my usual kickboxing class. Oh well…inTensati made up for it! It was an amazing workout as usual!

I went home and tried to keep dinner light too. I felt gross from that cake. It was worth but I really should learn how to have a few bites and feel satisfied. I guess I did not learn too much from Bethenny!  Dinner was a Morningstar Farms veggie burger with steamed broccoli, mushrooms, brussels sprouts and squash. My roommate made Korean sweet potatoes so I had a half of one. They are even better than regular sweet potatoes!

I made 2 servings of everything and brought the same thing for lunch today!

I needed somewhere to sit and eat lunch so I bought mushroom barley soup just so I could sit in the deli! It was very good!

Today after work I went to another inTensati class! I am slightly addicted. I loveee the teacher I had today. She is all about the extra cardio and calorie burn! She is always so energetic and an amazing dancer; not to mention she just had a baby! It amazes me! She also played one of my all time favorite songs, “Sandstorm” by Louie Devito. I plan to take off tomorrow but hopefully go back on Saturday! My wrist is getting nice and full of black bracelets!

I got home and made a similar dinner to the night before! I had soy crisps instead of the sweet potato though!

Fun dessert!

Baked apples with cinnamon, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and some sprinkles for decoration! MMM MMM.

Hopefully by now I have internet at work again but I typed this post at home just incase!

1. Do you blog from home or at work (if you have a blog)?

2. Do you prefer to eat a bigger healthy dessert or a few bites of a not so healthy dessert?

1. I usually upload my pictures at home using Livewriter. I type up the rest at work unless I am busy or my internet is broken!

2. I prefer a bigger healthy dessert like my baked apples above . You cannot put a piece of red velvet cake in front of me and expect me to eat 2 bites! Sharing it with someone would also be a good option for me!

Have a great weekend!

Don’t forget to enter to win some Dentyne Gum! I think I just chewed 20 pieces in a row as I typed this. Eek!

Related posts:

1. Ow!
2. Weekend of Working Out!
3. Pizza and Beer!

Good Morning. My title describes how I feel right now. It was quite a struggle walking up the subway stairs this morning! Let’s recap back to last night! I decided to try a new class at Equinox called Urban Rebounding.

We did every move you could possibly do on little trampolines. The class was PACKED. (The picture above was not my class). The teacher was awesome. He was like a drill sergeant and even had a whistle! When I started jumping in the beginning, I felt a little dizzy from being so tired. Luckily the feeling went away after the warm up. The instructor kept calling out moves and I had no clue what they meant so I just tried my best to follow. I was getting a little frustrated in the beginning and kind of just wanted to get on an elliptical instead. Once the class was half way over, I got the moves down and really started to enjoy it.  I burned 280 calories but I also left the class 10 minutes early. I think next time I will love it since I am now familiar with all of the moves.

Why did I leave class early?

I had a 7:30 conference call with Fred Devito, the founder of Core Fusion! Dori prepared a question and answer question for anyone participating in her 30-day challenge. We had about 8 or 9 girls on the line! Catherine Hesse, Dori’s health counselor for the challenge was also on the line to answer nutrition questions. All kinds of questions were asked such as what the correct form is for the C-curve, how much cardio is necessary during the challenge, and if it is okay to do Core Fusion several days in a row. I think Dori will be posting all of the questions and answers soon so I will let you know when they are up! It was a great hour long call!

Speaking of Core Fusion, this morning I woke up at 5:30 to take a class with Dori before work! I know my focus this month is now on inTensati but I would still like to do at least 2 or 3 Core Fusion classes a week. All of my inTensati/rebounding/hip hop made me very sore for the class today! I was struggling much more than usual. I had to keep standing during legs since they hurt so bad! The teacher was really great and helpful and I am happy I attempted the class at least! I have a Core Fusion Yoga class planned for this week as well so that should make me feel a little better. 

All of this exercise makes me starving! I ate a lot more yesterday than what you are about to see below but I will try to remember everything!

I made a nice bowl of oats when I got to work.

1 packet Nature’s Path instant oats with a scoop of Crazy Richard’s chunky pb, skim milk, banana, and cinnamon. I got hungry 2 hours later so I had an apple with some peanut butter.

I went to Hale and Hearty for lunch!

 My salad contained cucumbers, carrots, goat cheese, and broccoli. I wanted avocado too but they were out. I also stopped and got some fruit salad since I wasn’t very satisfied.

I had another scoop or 2 of peanut butter later in the afternoon since I had no snacks in my desk!  It was good at keeping me full since I did not get home till 9:00 from the gym. (I only worked out for 45 minutes but stayed at the gym for the conference call).

It was too late to go to the food store so I had soup again for dinner! I promise I’ll change it up the rest of the week!

I believe this one contained around 950 mg of sodium for just one serving so I added water and only ate half of the broth. Can we say bloating?

I love my hummus and Dr. Krackers!

Dessert was another Lite Choice Cookies N’ Cream bar!

Check out those Oreo’s in the background. My roommate leaves them on the table so I get to walk by them 10 times a day. I suprisingly have not dug into them even though they are my favorite! I guess my Lite Choice bars satisfy me enough

1) What is your favorite thing to snack on during the day?

2) Do you like eating several meals throughout the day or just 3 big ones?

Have a great day!

Related posts:

1. Weekly Workout Roundup
2. Haha!
3. Beet It!

Hello! I just got done cleaning up coffee from my keyboard! Luckily it is still working. I tend to spill liquid on every piece of technology that is put in front of me. I could write a whole blog post about my spillage stories! I will save that for another day. For now I will do a little update of some yummy foods I’ve been eating the past couple of days.

I started out my morning yesterday and today with some juice!

Egg whites with mushrooms, tomatoes, and low-fat mozzarella on a whole wheat wrap

So much better than oatmeal sometimes!

Free Lunch!

Yesterday Jamba Juice was giving out their new California Flatbread pizzas! You guys know how much I like free food so I walked on over during lunch.

I chose the Mediterranean: A crispy flaxseed crust topped with Mediterranean-style grilled zucchini, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and a combination of feta and mozzarella cheeses.

You may not be able to tell from the picture but the pizza was tiny!! It was smaller than my hand. I guess it makes sense since it is only 250 calories! I decided to stop and pick up a little salad to eat with the pizza since it looked like it would not be too filling.

Even though the pizza was tiny, it was delicious! It had a crispy crust with delicious vegetables and melted cheese. I’m glad I got to try it for free!

I snacked on an organic apple afterwards until I bit into something very yucky!

What is that!!!!!???!!! It looks like a bug or dirt! Ew! In the trash my apple went.

After work I went to a great Total Body Conditioningclass at my gym. Between kickboxing on Monday and TBC last night, I am very sore today! Yay!

Dinner!

I came home from the gym and made some dinner with the roommate. My snack plate was so fun on Monday that I decided to make another one last night. We used Sabra Roasted Red Pepper hummus as the dip instead of Vivi’s Carnival Mustard Sauce.

Very fun to munch on while waiting for our food to cook! We decided to make nice big salads. They were pretty similar to the salad I had the night before. I started off by steaming up some broccoli.

We also made brown rice and corn to give our salads a little Mexican feel.

We made salads with grilled mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, and avocado.

We topped the rice and corn over our salad! Perfect!!

We ruined our healthy dinner with a nice pint of Cookie Dough!

I added bananas and whipped cream.

Delicious and so worth it.

I have some work today so I am off! I will leave you with a few questions!

1) What do you think that brown stuff was in my apple?

2) Are you going anywhere fun for the holidays?

Related posts:

1. Mexican and Ice Cream Fiesta!
2. Gluten-Free Vegan Pizza!
3. Kale Salads and Yogurt Combos!