Plugging Along

Wowsa! Today was a busy one at work, but also a gorgeous one outside. How is fall where you are? Per my dear blog reader Kristy's (at My Little Space) request, I attempted to a take a photo of the Japanese Maple tree outside my office window. Sadly, the leaves keep falling off of it each day. I shot from both the inside and outside, but the inside shot won. Apologies for the fuzzy screen look. :)

Today's breakfast featured an oldie but goodie, my open face fruit sandwich with chia seeds. I haven't had this in what seems like a while and it's another go-to safety dish when I'm running on borrowed time in the morning. I also had my usual iced coffee.

While waiting for some publishing issues to sort themselves out, I reached for a snack: an McIntosh apple with homemade apple butter, which were both purchased during a quick trip to the orchard on Sunday. The closest orchards to Chicago, at least to my knowledge, are in Wisconsin. Ryan and I decided to stop by Spicer's Orchard near my parent's house on our way back to Chicago on Sunday. It was a last minute trip, and a lot of fun! Not sure if serving apple butter is the greatest thing to serve with an apple, but it worked for me.

Come lunch time, we reverted back to our goal of working with a limited grocery list and today Ryan prepared a grilled chicken pita with cherry tomatoes, olives, greens and a greek yogurt sauce. On the side, we had a spicy McClure's pickle. A quick and easy, yet filling lunch!

After lunch, Ryan and I took a break from our work to take a walk outside. The weather is in the high 60s and quite lovely. I'm also trying my best to tear myself away from the computer for a few minutes each day for a short break. This afternoon, we visited Starbucks, where I ordered a tall skinny vanilla latte. I love them!

But dinner was another story. I have to say we caved when dinnertime rolled around only because we both worked past 6 PM. Once that happens, we wuss out on cooking something. We shared a medium margherita pizza instead from Robey's. I can't say I didn't enjoy it.

Arrgh ... back at the elliptical tomorrow. Time to take care of some organizational stuff before I hit the hay. How was your day? Thanks for reading! xx

What kinds of food do you go after when you don't feel like cooking?

Faster Than the Speed of Light

Happy Tuesday everyone! Fall is certainly in full swing here in Chicago and the large Japanese Maple tree outside my office window has finally changed color. It's a fantastic golden yellow ... I should take a photo of it. Anyhow, here we are at Tuesday. Tuesdays are always bonkers on my end since my work day is slightly cut short with my volunteering duties at Open Books. Every Tuesday blows through like the speed of light. I can't complain though ... It keeps me on my toes.

Lately, I've noticed that my breakfasts are fitting into the "quick" category, so to speak. With a 7:30 AM start time, I am typically rushing to get a healthy breakfast together and that's probably why you seen a lot of eggs here. Today is no exception.

For lunch, we had some of our leftover black bean and avocado salad with a non-dairy burrito from Amy's. YUM! And like I did yesterday, I snuck in two more chocolate chip cookies. So bad, but oh so good!

Once returning home from another fun-filled day with Open Books, Ryan was in the midst of preparing dinner. Tonight, he concocted a fabulously tasty Mediterranean Chicken dish with Jasmine Rice. YUM-MY! Definitely an easy one to mix up!

I have to say, so far so good on the lighter grocery list this week. Skipped working out today since I have a lot of catch up work to attend to. Back at it tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

When watching your grocery budget, what are some of your favorite easy-but-tasty dishes?

I'm Baaaaaaack!

My dearest readers, hello again! It's been a while hasn't it? I'm just now starting to feel back to normal after a fantastic trip to New York City. I had every intention of blogging while I was there. But I swear to you, I never saw my laptop. Between working from the BBC offices, seeing Ryan's family some of the time, visiting with friends, and getting around NYC and New Jersey, I never sat down until 10:30PM each night. At that point, I was spent. I seriously admire folks who can do it all and blog about their meals and exercise everyday, especially when living out of a suitcase. You guys are my heroes!

I wasn't home 24 hours until I had to jump on another plane to head back to Michigan for a speaking engagement at my alma mater, Michigan State University. I was honored to be a part of the Neal Shine Ethics Lecture last Friday, speaking about my experience as the bobsled, luge, and skeleton producer at NBCOlympics.com during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. I also attended MSU's homecoming game and hung out with my family. Loads of fun was had in the last 12 days, but I'm glad to be back in the Windy City, computing from my green-walled nook. How the heck are YOU?

Monday morning started off with some Fage fat-free yogurt! Oh how I've missed this stuff. I ate a yogurt parfait from Starbucks for breakfast everyday when I was in the Big Apple, but I missed making my own food. This dish is easy and I included golden raspberries for the very first time. Ryan looked at me like I was crazy when I purchased them, but they are fab! The strawberries, almonds, and chia seeds (plus a tablespoon of honey) aren't too bad either ;)

For lunch, we resorted to one of our usual go-to meals when we're lacking groceries: Rising Moon Ravioli. The Butternut Squash version is probably our favorite. Ryan likes to dress it up with chunky veggie pasta sauce from Rinaldi that's mixed with garlic, balsamic vinegar and red wine. I also had a mixed green salad on the side with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, tomatoes, carrots, and freshly grated parmesan. For dessert, I snuck into Ryan's homemade cookies from my Mom. Couldn't resist.

 

Upon returning home from our weekend in Michigan, Ryan and I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few things. While it wasn't our usual grocery trip, we hope our selection will hopefully last us throughout the week. They had a fabulous sale on freshly grilled tilapia tacos, so that's exactly what we planned for Monday's dinner. We served ours with Rudi's spelt flour tortillas and some cherry tomatoes. Ryan also created a fun black bean and avocado salad on the side.

Yay for home cooking! I almost forgot ... I got back together with my elliptical trainer, too. Even though it was only for 35 minutes, it was good to be back. Walking nearly five miles every day in New York was fine, but I missed shedding some sweat, y'know? HAHA!

It's time to play catch up with all of my bookmarked food blogs. Thanks for your patience and for always supporting Fighting the Pudge.

Here I Come New York City

Apologies for the quietness the last two days. Like usual, work has taken over and here I am, just mere hours away from flying to my beloved New York City! I hope to blog a ton about my food and exercise while I'm there. It'll be an interesting test, balancing healthy meals and exercise with working in the city. This will be my first time trying this in such a core environment, so here's hoping I can keep up with my SparkPeople log, too. I am determined to stay on course in losing an extra 15 pounds by the end of the year.

But aside from that, I'll be seeing a handful of great friends, taking in a Broadway show on Monday and doing serious shopping in SoHo. Until we chat again, may you have a fabulous day and thanks a ton for supporting Fighting the Pudge!

Fall Means Fall Cooking!

Wow, I think fall is officially here in the Windy City. Leaves on the Japanese Maple tree outside my window are finally starting to change color. It's also a little chilly outside and today was the first day where Ryan and I kicked up our thermostat. Here it comes ...

Happy Manic Monday, my dear readers! Tell me, what did you have for breakfast today? I'm always up for new breakfast ideas. Actually, I tried a new granola recipe this morning, Spark People's Low-Fat Maple Granola. It's a tasty fall dish with its mixture of almonds and pumpkin seeds. I had my usual iced coffee as well.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ryan and I are heading to our old stomping grounds of New York City come Thursday. I seriously cannot wait! The Big Apple is so nice in the fall and I'm really looking forward to the daily hustle and flow. We are also meeting up with his family for his Dad and Aunt's birthday celebration and seeing a host of pals. Again, I am so excited!

Anyhow, with our upcoming trip, we're trying to use up as many ingredients in our pantry before we leave, which also means that our meals are going to be less involved this week. Who says low key isn't lovely, right?

Our lunch for this week is one of those meals: Curried Butternut Squash Soup. It's loaded in veggies and quite delicious. I had mine with an orange and a pickle on the side today. I also tried drizzling some non-fat plain yogurt, so don't be alarmed by my squiggly-like attempt in the photo below.

Dinner featured one of our old-time favorites, the very simple Spanish Rice. Ryan introduced this dish to me when we first started dating and we always bring it back into rotation when we're in a rush. It's a nice mixture of whole-grain rice, lean ground turkey, one can of low sodium black beans, and a can of diced tomatoes. We also season ours with a dash of oregano, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. YUM! For tonight's dinner, we also had a mixed green salad on the side with cucumbers, tomatoes and freshly grated parmesan cheese. So quick, so easy, and oh sooooo good!

Later on, I was still pretty hungry and had a part-skin mozzarella string cheese. I also dived into the last of my Blackberry Pomegranate True Delights from Quaker.

Fab food for a fab day. To tell you the truth, I am exhausted! I am going to hit the hay tonight before 9:30. I haven't done that in what seems like a hundred years. I need to catch up on my sleep so I can attack Tuesday with full force ... and hit the elliptical too. 

Wishing you all a great evening! Thanks for reading xx

Chicago's AIDS Run Walk

My weekend started off with a bang with Saturday's AIDS Run Walk at Grant Park! I really needed it too, for I needed to get outside after being cooped up in the house for much of this week. I was anxious to stretch my legs and take in the autumn air. Sorry to sound cheesy, but that's the truth.

Taking part in Chicago's AIDS Run Walk was a lot of fun! Over 7,000 people participated and over a half a million dollars was raised in support to fight AIDS. I also accomplished my goal of raising $400! Thank you thank you to my family and friends who took time out to donate. I greatly appreciate it.

Despite the roaming clouds and drizzle, I plugged along throughout my 5K walk and completed the race in 59:03. Here are some snapshots from the event.

My next walk is the Hot Chocolate 5k walk on Saturday, November 5th. Woo hoo! Cannot wait!

I would also like to wish my fabulous Mom a wonderful and fantastic birthday today! Love ya Mom!

Carne Asada Friday!

WOO HOO! It's Friday! Don't you just love it when this day rolls around? What do you guys have planned this weekend? At last, my AIDS Run Walk is tomorrow!

Today's breakfast featured some more eggs -- I've really been in the mood for them lately. Ryan and I are also trying use up everything we have in our pantry since we're heading to New York City next week. Anyhow, I had an egg sandwich on flatbread with some mixed fruit on the side.

Since I spend much of my day blogging for work and blogging for fun, I thought I'd share a snapshot of where the magic happens, haha. I heart this little spot in our apartment.

Once lunch rolled around, we were scraping by with a lot of leftover ingredients. I got creative and resorted to one of my old faves, a veggie sandwich on Arnold multi-grain bread and Athenos jalapeno and artichoke hummus. It does the trick every time!

At the end of the work day, I reunited with my elliptical machine after nearly four days and it was fabulous. You know, for the first time in my life I'm really starting to notice the signals that my body is giving me in regards to exercising. I was so ansy by the end of this week, it wasn't even funny. So yeah, it was great to get back on the horse and kick some butt!

While this week has been long, our Friday night is going to be equally so. Ryan and I are headed to Lincoln Hall to see one of my very favorite shoegazer bands, Chapterhouse. They've reunited after 16 years and they're opening their U.S. tour in the Windy City. I'm covering the show for Anglophenia.

But before our evening out, Ryan prepped Carne Asada with Jalapeno Cilantro Pesto! Incredible! We also had homemade salsa and Tostitos' baked scoops on the side.

How was your week? Happy Friday everyone! xx