The dictionary defines the word “diet” as what we eat, but if you’re on a diet in order to lose weight or for reasons of health, you’ll know that a diet is more a question of what you choose to eat and what you choose to avoid. Tell people that you’re on a diet and the tips come flying hard and fast at you – eat this, don’t eat that, stay away from this, you must include this, exercise intensively, don’t eat dinner, eat a large breakfast – and so on and so forth. I’m sure they all mean well, but a diet varies in efficacy according to a person’s mental and physical condition. So you may find that your friend loses more weight than you even though you both are on the same exercise program and diet – the combination of your genes, metabolism, body composition, stress, and hormone levels boosts or hinders effective weight loss.

The most important thing to remember when you’re on a diet is that your body is unique and that you must consider your needs rather than following fad diets or what works for others. Most people neglect nutrition when they’re on a diet – they figure that all they need to do to lose weight is to cut down on the calories they consume and get a little exercise every day. While this is true, if you eat foods with very little nutritious value, you find that your health starts to suffer – you fall ill more often, your bones become brittle and prone to breakage, your skin becomes dull and lifeless, and you feel listless and lethargic as opposed to energetic and enthusiastic.

So if you’re on a diet, ensure that your body does not crave nutrition with the following tips:

• Drink lots of water. Your body is made up mostly of water, and even though you’re not the kind to sweat a lot, drink at least one glass of water every hour. Water keeps your skin cool and your body hydrated. It prevents a host of medical complications like dehydration, constipation, and even common colds. Do not substitute water with sodas, coffee, tea or other sugary drinks – they only increase your chances of dehydration.
• Don’t follow fad diets that recommend only one kind of food group – while it may seem exciting to be able to eat all you want with an all-protein diet, your body is dangerously at risk for various diseases because of the loss of all-round nutrition.
• Choose to eat good carbohydrates that have whole grains and keep you feeling full for a longer time and which do not cause your blood sugar to fluctuate wildly – wholegrain bread, pasta and other foods that are not processed are good options.
• Don’t eliminate fat from your diet – fat is essential for the breakdown of food and in limited amounts, boosts weight loss and other beneficial functions of the human body. Some high fat foods that are good for you are almonds and other nuts (don’t salt them), fish with fatty acids, olive oil, and avocado.
• Avoid sugar, salt and other additives and preservatives – so eat fresh food as much as possible, choosing fruits and vegetables over juices and canned stuff.
• Never skip meals even though you’re not really hungry – eat an apple at dinner time if you’re not keen on other food and never miss breakfast because it helps boost your metabolism and gives you energy for the entire day ahead.
• And finally, include both cardio and strength training in your exercise routine to boost your fitness and improve your muscle and bone strength.

When you’re wise about nutrition, you find that your diet works much more effectively and efficiently.

By-line:

This article is contributed by Ashley M. Jones, who regularly writes on the subject of Pharmacist Technician Certification. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: ashleym.jones643@gmail.com.

Related posts:

1. Guest Post: Healthy Dining Out Tips
2. Guest Post: Emily of EmmyLovesWine.com
3. Guest Post: Tech Tools to Keep You Fit!

Hello and Happy Friday! I love this weather and I already made it to the gym today so I am in a good mood. I made sure to go before work since I am getting a massage after work! A massage is always that much better when you are sore from a hard workout. This morning I did 40 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the treadmill, and some arm exercises using free weights. I usually hate doing weights without an instructor telling me what to do but I really enjoyed it today. I felt more productive than when I just do cardio and leave. I also want to make sure I continue weight training as much as possible since I can’t take Core Fusion anymore. I do plan to request some Core Fusion classes for my birthday (hi Mom..hint hint).

I was starving after my workout so I decided to try a new restaurant for breakfast. This restaurant used to be Pita Grill but it closed out of nowhere! I was very sad but was also pretty curious when I saw the new sign over the store: Muscle Maker Grill. The name sounded like it had to be a new healthy restaurant right? I checked out the website and thought the story of how Muscle Maker Grill started was pretty interesting:

At the age of 18, Rod Silva began working-out and bodybuilding. He learned that 80% of the result of exercise is eating the right food and he could not find any restaurant that had the correct nutrition he required. Having come from a family of great cooks, he began creating recipes that taste great and are nutritious as well.

On December 8th of 1995, Rod opened the doors to a protein smoothie store in Colonia, New Jersey. The store also carried a line of Sports Supplement products. Rod was 23 years old, still exercising and working out more than ever. While running the smoothie store, Rod would bring his food for lunch and dinner. Customers would smell the delicious aroma and would ask if they could buy the food. Rod started cooking extra and began selling tasty meals to his customers.

From the beginning menu of Home Cooked Chicken Wraps, Grilled Chicken Breasts, and Awesome Turkey Breast Meatloaf along with a $15,000 loan on his Nissan Maxima, Muscle Maker Grill was born. As they say, the rest is history.

I checked out the menu and loved all of the healthy options. They have everything from Fit Salads, to Muscle Maker Wraps, to Power Pastas.  You can substitute shrimp or steak with any of the chicken entrees. They also have a vegetarian section with edamame, brown rice and beans, a wrap, and more. The menu lists all of the calorie counts and is recommended by HealthyDiningFinder.com.

I walked in this morning and was greeted with a friendly welcome. There was one other customer in the restaurant. The employee told us that they specialize in lunch and dinner but their breakfasts are great as well. He said nothing in the restaurant is processed or cooked with butter. There were a bunch of great looking breakfast options such as sandwiches, wraps, breakfast bowls, protein oatmeal, and protein smoothies.

I decided on the Nitro: scrambled egg whites, reduced fat cheddar cheese and turkey bacon with MMG signature sauce. (227 calories)

I had the choice of getting the sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin, whole wheat bagel, or heart-healthy waffles. I decided on the whole wheat English muffin. The other woman in the store got the bagel and asked if she could get it scooped out. They said it was not necessary since the bagel is thin and only 100 calories. Good to know. I got my sandwich to-go and brought it back to work with me.

It was a bit messy but hey…messy food always seems to taste better! I liked that they provided a nice amount of egg whites. I also enjoyed the melted cheese that was oozing out of my sandwich!

The sandwich was delicious. I would love to know what their MMG signature sauce is! It gave the sandwich so much flavor. I could probably make this at home for a lot less than $4.99 but it is a great option in terms of convenience. It would be pretty tough to make this myself on days that I go to the gym in the morning. The breakfast wraps are $7.29 so I think I would have to stick with the sandwiches. I can get a perfect breakfast wrap from Energy Kitchen for just $2.99!

I was a little disappointed about this….

Apples in a bag just freak me out. I love a little fruit after breakfast but I would rather not eat a bag of preservatives. Nothing is processed?? Hmm..I don’t know about that. I would rather them give me no fruit at all than crappy Fruit in a Flash. This makes me compare the place to McDonald’s. Just give me a fresh apple and I would be one happy customer. To top it off, the apples were expired!!

I wish I would have noticed this before leaving the restaurant! The apples went right in the trash. Besides the little fruit incident, I was very happy with my breakfast. I plan to return for lunch and dinner. I will report back here with a review!

1) How do you feel about fruit in a bag?

2) What is your favorite kind of breakfast sandwich?

Related posts:

1. Lunch at the Pita Grill!
2. Cookies and Clouds at Cupoladua Oven!
3. Kreativ Blogger Award and Lunch!

Hello! Glad everyone enjoyed Part 1 of my Puerto Rico recap! I will start from where I left off yesterday!

The 2nd day of our trip was the rainforest tour! It was pretty cloudy out so it actually worked out perfectly that we did not have a beach day planned. After about 4 hours of sleep, we woke up for some breakfast. They gave us free continental breakfast for 2 of the days.

It included, fruit, juice, coffee, a cheese and strawberry pastry.  Talk about sugar overload! This was not the best breakfast after a night of drinking. I stuck with the fruit and coffee and had some of the cheese pastry for a little protein.

Waiting for our tour bus to arrive…

It was about an hour long drive but very pretty!

It was pouring in the rainforest so the ponchos were probably the best idea ever!

We walked for an hour or two through the pretty rainforest on thin trails. It was a great workout! There were tons of hills and climbing involved!

There were no monkeys but I did see a snail….

And a bat…..

And a cat!!!

Hector (another tour guide we made friends with) picked up a plant and lit in on fire. It smelled so good! It was similar to a candle.

We were all famished after the rainforest! The fruit was not filling at all. We stopped at an authentic Puerto Rican food stand for lunch. Hector warned us that everything would be fried.

Check out the doggie on the roof! I felt bad when it started raining again!

These were some of our options…

I got a chicken pastelle with rice and beans. They said it was wrapped in sweet potato and some other vegetables. It was really good!

I also tried a chicken taco! Nice and fried…and delicious.

After the tour, some of the girls rested and showered but Melanie (the bride) and I decided to take a walk by the hotel to explore.

Yes..cockfights. This guy told us ladies were free so we walked in out of curiosity. It was insane!!! All these men were cheering the chickens on so that they would stab each other. We saw one die and immediately ran away. It was so disturbing. I heard worse things happen there but I was not staying any longer!

Bachelorette Party!

Saturday night was our official party night. We stocked up on some goodies…

We pregamed in our club room. I had the techno blasting of course!

We put on our gear and headed out to dinner!

We went to a restaurant by our hotel that had pretty much everything. I got salmon and shrimp topped with mango sauce. It was amazing! Excuse the pink backdrop behind my plate!!

Our new waitor friend One of the waitors even came to the club with us that night!

Hi Daisy!

After pregaming at a few bars, we headed to Senor Frogs. It became spring break all over again! I have probably 100 more pictures but I will only post what I think is (somewhat) appropriate!

And I’ll leave it at that….

Once we got home around 5:00 in the morning, we were starving! We tried for room service but they weren’t serving anything. The only 2 things open were Burger King and pizza. We found Burger King first!

We got fries and grilled chicken salads. I would probably never eat chicken from there again but desperate times call for desperate measures. It could have been much worse right?

3 hours later we woke up for the beach! It was georgous and sunny out so we decided we’d rather recover outside. Another horrible breakfast… I ate the fruit plus a Larabar.

We hung out at the beach and then headed to the El San Juan pool to find some friends we made from the night before.

Their pool was so fun! There was house music playing, a pool bar, and 3 hot tubs!

We had a few drinks and headed back out for another tour! This was called the Bio Bay tour. Hector came and picked us up and drove us to a cute town for the tour.

I don’t have pictures from the actual tour since we were in little kayaks!  We did this at night so it was pitch black out! We took our kayaks through little canals over the black water! SO scary. We had to go when it was dark out because the water glowed!

Why does the water glow? (from the Biobay website))
This unique bay contains up to 720,000 single-celled bioluminescent dinoflagellates per gallon of water. These half-plant, half-animal organisms emit a flash of bluish light when agitated at night.

The tour was really awesome  but very creepy! We could see the fish-like creatures glowing in the water. One even jumped into our friend’s kayak! Luckily our boat never tipped over because I would have flipped out!

We got back around 10:00 at night and headed to dinner.

We went to another Puerto Rican restaurant. We all shared some delicious guacamole.

I got grilled chicken with rice and beans. I promise there was chicken under all of that cheese!! I scraped most of it off to prevent any stomach issues from occuring!

After dinner we checked out a few bars but nothing was really happening so we called it an early night.

We spent our last day at the beach before heading back to New York!

It was such a fun trip! I want to go backkkk!! One of these days I am moving somewhere warm!  

Well I am off! Thanks for reading!! Have a good day!

Related posts:

1. Puerto Rico Part 1!
2. Bridal Party, Birthday Party, Blog Meetup!
3. Lalalalala

Hello! Yesterday was a nice and healthy day..until dinner. That’s usually the story of my life so it’s okay! Margaritas were involved but did you expect anything less in this warm weather?

After my morning gym session I picked up some pineapple cottage cheese for breakfast.

I’ve never had it with pineapple but really enjoyed it. There were little chunks throughout the container.  I also had some crack espresso Click Espresso to drink. Love this stuff. It has 15 grams of protein and wakes me right up!

I also snacked on an apple later in the morning.

During lunch I walked around a little and tried to get a 30 minute tan! I also stopped at Westside Market and created my own salad.

It had chickpeas, broccoli, goat cheese, and pesto chicken. Delicious.

After work I got my taxes done. They were very generous to me this year because of my tuition bill! I decided to go celebrate with some margaritas! I met a friend and we wandered around near Union Square until we found a cute Mexican restaurant called EL Cantinero. It had an outside patio which I was very excited about.

We were trying to get a shot of the patio without people thinking we were taking pictures of them eating!

We were served chips and salsa of course. I was dying of hunger so I may have went a little overboard on the chips.

We weren’t even halfway through the basket and the server brought us a fresh basket of chips without even asking if we wanted more. Nice service!

I was debating between a margarita and sangria but decided I needed to see if any margarita could compare to the one at 5 Burro! I went with Mango.

At first I thought it was not as strong as the one at 5 Burro. I ended up being very wrong. This one was very refreshing and not too sweet. I downed it..a little too fast!

I got the Vegetarian Fajitas. I had to see if these could compare to 5 Burro’s fajitas too!

I loved how pretty the plate was! The orange slices gave the dish a nice touch. There was also tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, celery, carrots, lettuce, and peppers, and avocado slices. I love giant piles of veggies!! They were less greasy than the veggies at 5 Burro which was nice. I do prefer the zucchini and mushrooms at 5 Burro instead of celery and carrots but this was still very impressive. There were too many onions once I got to the bottom of the pile so I took that was my cue to stop eating!

The dish also came with Spanish rice and flour wraps but I skipped those since I had plenty of chips before the meal.

Sorry about the finger. The tequila was setting in.

Halfway through my meal I ordered another margarita.  Totally not necessary. I went with Blackberry this time!

It was delicious but I could only drink half. Missy not able to finish a drink?? That should probably tell you something about how strong the drinks were!

Overall I was very impressed by El Cantinero. The prices were a little steeper than 5 Burro but the food was delicious, the drinks were strong, and the service was great! The outdoor patio was a nice bonus as well.

I’m not sure how I ate dessert because I was stuffed but I guess I can never be too full for The Lite Choice! Cookies N’ Cream softs serve is always a wonderful way to end the night.

Hmm… I guess we can disregard yesterday’s post about continuing on my Passover diet! I did wake up for the gym again today at least! I did 35 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill. I ran for 7 of the minutes until I got a cramp. Very annoying. Tonight I am also going to Core Fusion with a blog reader so margaritas and soft serve are fine in my book! 

P.S. CALL FOR GUEST BLOGGERS! I am going on vacation next week and do not plan on bringing my laptop so let me know if you interested in doing a guest post! Have a good one!

Related posts:

1. Margaritas and Lite Choice Meetup (Giveaway!)
2. Birthday Margaritas!
3. 5 Burro vs. Garcia’s!

Today I am going to start off with a little product review and then move on to some delicious eats from the past few days. I received 2 products to try yesterday afternoon. They lasted all of about 10 minutes in my desk. Can’t resist dried mangoes and chocolate covered bananas!!

I received these from a company called Kopali Organics.  All Kopali snacks are Organic and Fair Trade.

ALWAYS:

- 100% organic and natural
- 100% vegan (no dairy, no animal products)
- Rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber
- Sustainably harvested and fairly traded

 I tried the dried mangoes first. I was very happy to see that the only ingredient was Organic Dried Mango. There is no sugar, oil, or sulfites added.  They are also certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

The mangoes were a nice big size and had the perfect chewy texture. One whole bag was just 140 calories and made the perfect afternoon snack!

I tried the Chocolate Covered Bananas shortly after because fruit and chocolate are my favorite combination! They looked just like chocolate covered raisins.

They were just 120 calories and fair trade certified. They are made with organic dark chocolate and organic banana. Another delicious snack! I love that the company is very passionate about supporting small local farms and protecting the ecosystems that support all life. Kopali Organics can be purchased on Amazon, at the Vitamin Shoppe, and Whole Foods.

Hummus!

I’ve been on quite the hummus kick lately. My work cafe has the best hummus sandwich ever.

Open-faced hummus & house-made tabbouleh on whole grain. Yum! 

Yesterday for lunch I had some more hummus at a place called the Ronnybrook Milk Bar in Chelsea Market. They hand out samples of hummus and pita almost every day so I always make sure I walk by there before eating. The hummus is so creamy and delicious! I decided to get the real deal yesterday.

I got the mushroom hummus served with warm, soft pita and pickles.

It was wonderful. The hummus really is amazing there. I was sad when I had no pita left because I still had half the plate of hummus leftover! It looks like a lot of olive oil but was perfect when I stirred everything together. Look how creamy!

I will probably go have more hummus during lunch in an hour!  For now I am going to chug some coffee because I feel like Daisy. Still not used to that time change!

1) What is your favorite way to eat hummus?

2) What is your favorite kind of freeze-dried fruit?

Related posts:

1. Sun Dried Tomato Hummus and Erin Baker’s Brownie Bites Review!!
2. Hummus Gone Wrong
3. Dripping Hummus?

A few days ago I received a healthy new snack from a company called Teather:  the original dried whole fruit and white tea snack strips.

About Teather (from the website):

Teather^TMis a brand of dried fruit snack strips bursting with natural ingredients:a refreshingly tart reward made with organic whole fruits and organic white tea leaves – real ingredients that are packed with antioxidants and other beneficial phytonutrients to keep you on the road to health and happiness.

Unlike most fresh fruit, Teather^TMdoes not over ripen, bruise or require refrigeration. Its portability and a satisfying, clean taste make it an ideal snack for today’s on-the-go, health conscious adults. Children of all ages also love the authentic flavor of Teather^TM

I was very excited to try Teather since I am always looking for all natural, organic products that are easy to take on the go.

I tried the Strawberry Pomegranate first.

The nutrition facts and ingredients are great! Just 50 calories with no added sugars. It is always nice when I can pronounce every single ingredient!

I love that they are cute little bite sized pieces of dried fruit. They are very fun to eat! I ended up eating the whole bag since they are so small but 150 calories for a snack is still great! They had a delicious fruity taste and actually filled me up for an hour or two before my lunch!

I tried the Berry Cherry Acai next. (Try saying that one 10 times in a row).

I really liked this flavor as well. According to the website:

Berry Cherry Acai offers a well-balanced blend of blueberries, cherries and acai berries with slight background notes of white tea and subtle hints of chocolate.

I did not notice any chocolate flavor but it had a strong blueberry and cherry flavor!

The Mango Goji Citrus was also delicious!

This one had a pretty intense citrus flavor and tart taste. It was very refreshing!

Teather is great to have in your desk at work or school! I also think it would be great to mix in oatmeal or yogurt! The website also suggests pairing it with dark chocolate, nuts, or red wine. Sounds good to me!

Giveaway!

One lucky reader will win 3 packs of Teather!!

How to enter:

1) Leave me a comment telling me how or when you would eat Teather? (By itself, paired with another food, at work?)

2) Follow Teather Snacks on Twitter and let me know below.

3) Tweet this giveaway.  “@MissyMaintains is giving away @Teather_Snacks! Enter here!   http://ow.ly/1o6g7c” Let me know below.

4) Follow MissyMaintains on Facebook.

I will choose a winner this Monday, Febuary 8th at 10:00am. Good Luck!

Related posts:

1. Teather Snacks Winner!
2. Peeled Snacks Review, Failed Bike Ride, Mexican!
3. A Chocolaty Breakfast & Funky Monkey Review!

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!

I really could not think of a title today so good morning! I am awake all early for no reason! Actually I had plans to finally do my laundry before getting my day started but both machines are being used. Hate when that happens! Anyway, onto some delicious eats!

There was a big meeting at work yesterday for the whole company so we got served breakfast! I got some scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, fruit, and a banana for later. The scrambled eggs were probably not the healthiest thing but they were so good. They were cheesy, soft, and delicious.  I had just 2 of the egg whites from the hard boiled eggs.

They also had hazelnut french toast, bacon, banana bread, and hash browns. I resisted all of that and just picked one not so healthy thing! Nice change to oats!

For lunch I went to Westside Market and created a salad.

It contained broccoli, edamame, salmon, and avocado. Great combination! I had some soy crisps on the side!

My dessert was a Chocolate Chip cookie Z-Bar. I also had a banana later in the afternoon just because it was there…

After work I went to Core Fusion! As I was about to walk into class, I heard 2 girls talking about inTensati! The girl was saying she took it at Equinox and that it was an amazing class. They actually hold a an inTensati class on Saturdays at an Exhale Spa but unfortunately I can only go to the classes for free if they are at Equinox. I decided to go up to the girls and tell them I was currently doing the Warrior Challenge. One of the girls happened to be the inTensati teacher for Exhale! She told me that inTensati plus Core Fusion totally transformed her body and she lost 30 pounds in just a few months. I told her that in a dream world,  those would be the only 2 classes I would ever take! She offered me a guest pass for her inTensati class so I hope I can take her up on that! I would love to try it somewhere other than Equinox! They really need to make a membership of some sort that only includes Core Fusion and inTensati. I would definitely get rid of my NYSC membership!

I went into class and the teacher announced that they are adding morning classes to the Exhale right next to my work! This is great news because I used to have to travel a half hour if I wanted to take a class before work! Now I have no excuses

Core Fusion was hard but great!  I did fine with my beginning plank and arms section! Then came legs…OW! My teacher last night is very challenging but jokes around the whole time so it makes class fly by! Abs were the toughest section for me yesterday. I always fall out of the C-curve a million times. I definitely think I improved from when I first started going though!

I was starving by the time class ended so I stumbled back over to Westside Market! This time a wrap caught my eye.

It was turkey with spinach, cranberries, and goat cheese! Yum! I wish they would have put it on a whole wheat wrap but what can ya do. I had some Salt & Peppa popchips on the side!

I didn’t do much last night. I am always too exhausted to do anything on Friday nights! I read 100 pages of my Integrative Nutrition book so I felt somewhat productive! My class starts in less than a month so I decided it was time to dig in to the book they sent me months ago! I really like it so I will probably finish the whole thing this weekend.

I am off to go check the laundry and hopefully get myself to a gym class! I am feeling a little too lazy to go into the city right now! We’ll see!

1) Do you prefer to workout on weekdays or weekends?

2) Are you doing anything exciting today?

1) I feel like I am better at going on weekdays just because I make it part of my routine. On weekends I sleep all late so it takes some motivation to get myself to the gym! I will definitely go this weekend since I only have 2 weeks left at Equinox and need to take full advantage!

2) Don’t have an answer for number 2 yet! I will get back to you!

Have a good weekend and don’t forget to enter to win some Dentyne gum!

Related posts:

1. Weekend of Working Out!
2. Weekly Workout Roundup
3. Morning of Surprises

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!

Hello! Hope everyone is having a nice Friday night! I just had a delicious dinner at Whole Foods! Now I am just relaxing with some TV so I figured I’d do a recap of today!

Probiotics

In my previous post, I mentioned that the only milk I had in the house was Kefir.

I bought a bottle last night because I  heard it was a great source of probiotics. I am currently on antibiotics which kills both bad and good bacteria. This can eventually lead to a yeast infection; a very unpleasant experience!! I am trying to avoid this at all costs! I am drinking tons of Kefir and eating lots of Greek yogurt this week.

I never tried Kefir before yesterday but read all about it on the Kefir website:

With its 10 exclusive live and active probiotic cultures, the good-for-you bacteria, Lifeway Kefir is a creamy and delicious yogurt-like smoothie the whole family will enjoy.  Not only does it keep digestive and immune systems intact, it also helps prevent common side effects from taking antibiotics, helps with lactose intolerance and weight loss. Plus, it’s an excellent source of calcium, protein and fiber. So enjoy Lifeway Kefir…any time of day.

I had it in my banana soft serve last night so did not really discover it’s true taste until today. This morning while getting ready, I made a nice big glass. I added a little bit of chocolate syrup because I thought I was making chocolate milk. I did not realize it was more like yogurt rather than milk.

Look at my pretty heart! I really enjoyed the consistency of the drink. It was thick and tasted exactly like plain Greek yogurt. I think next time I would eat it like yogurt with a spoon rather than with a straw.

I kept the probiotic theme going once I got to work. I brought a Vanilla Brown Cow Greek yogurt.

I added a banana, raisins, and some Navitas Naturals Raw Cocoa Nibs.

Delicious breakfast! It was a nice change from the usual bowl of oatmeal.

I had a Z-Bar before lunch since yogurt never seems to keep me as full as oatmeal.

One Lucky Duck!

As most of you know, I wander around the Chelsea Market almost every day during my lunch hour. It is right by my work and has so many fun food places. I was extremely excited last week when I found out that a One Lucky Duck would be opening in the market! I tried some of their raw cookies and macaroons in the past and loved them!

I walked in and they had tons of juices, cookies, salads, and a delicious looking tiramisu! Today I decided to try the raw zucchini lasagna!

It was hard to believe this was raw! It was so similar to real lasagna! The sauce was delicious and incredibly flavorful! It was very filling too! I need to learn how to make this!

I could totally eat this every day. Unfortunately my wallet cannot afford it too often but it will be a nice treat every now and then!

I had an apple and Navitas Naturals Cocoa Nibs later in the afternoon.

Great combo! I love chocolate and fruit together!

Whole Foods!

After work, I hit up the gym and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. I am 5 for 5 this week for the gym! Yay! Hopefully I can stay in this workout mode for a while. I rewarded myself with some Whole Foods for dinner afterwards!

• Baked Tofu
• Steamed Kale
• Roasted Fall Mix (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts)
• Carrots
• Peas
• Chickpeas

Perfect!

Now I am dying for something sweet! Reading all of your favorite desserts in the comments section this morning made me very hungry for chocolate and ice cream! I have some Ben & Jerry’s Light Cookie Dough in the freezer so I think I’ll have a bowl right now! Have a lovely night!

1) What is one thing you are looking forward to this weekend?

2) Do you drink Kefir? If so, do you mix it with anything?

Related posts:

1. Veggielicious Whole Wheat Pasta
2. Kale Salads and Yogurt Combos!
3. Soup Craze!