Good Food Made Simple Brunch: Thoughts on Reading Labels and Knowing What is In Your Food

3 Comments / Health & Wellness /

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I attended a blogger brunch at Stir (Barbara Lynch’s beautiful test kitchen and food library) sponsored by Good Food Made Simple on Friday morning. The company was launching part of their new healthy, flash-frozen product line and we were lucky to be among the first people to try it and offer feedback. Since I love food, meeting new people and trying new things, I was 100% in.

[yup, a library filled with ALL f0od-related books, how cool?]

When we first arrived, we were seated around the cozy countertop with place settings, including pencils and paper to take notes. Hey, when you’re serving a group of food and mommy bloggers, you best be prepared! While we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, I’m pretty sure I downed at least 5 cups of coffee…oops!

Once everyone gathered, the event began. The products being presented to us were 100% steel cut oats, organic rolled oats, and whole and egg white patties. I won’t lie: at first I was a little weary. Frozen oatmeal and eggs? How strange. Normally I avoid the frozen food aisle like the plague, other than my weekly purchase … Read More!

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Quotable Sunday: Why Friendships are the Perfect Ingredient to Life

1 Comment / Lifestyle /

most of the bunch. <3

This weekend I was lucky enough to be reunited with the group of best friends I went to college with. Some I hadn’t seen for months, some in well over a year. But even though we may not see each other as much as we’d like, our friendship never changes. It’s just one of those things that stay the same, no matter what the distance.

The best part is that even though we are all different in our own ways, we each have a little piece of one another within us. And I couldn’t imagine it any other way. They were right when they said “You go to James Madison University to meet your bridesmaids, not to find your husband.” I couldn’t agree more. I’d be proud to have any one of these ladies as a bridesmaid any day.

So this Sunday I leave you with a quote about friendship because, well, all of my friends are a huge part of my life…and always will be.

… Read More!

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Friday Faves: On White Wine, Creativity, The Beach and More

3 Comments / Lifestyle /

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Good evening ladies (and all my male readers too)! Hope you all had a great week, and now are ready to take on the weekend by storm. Today was just one of those perfect days. Not only was the weather absolutely beautiful (high 60s in Boston), but I kept myself busy from the moment I woke  up.

My day started off at a wonderful blogger event at Stir hosted by Good Food Made Simple. I won’t go into too  much detail as I’ll write a full post on Monday about it, but I had a blast chatting with other food and mom bloggers, sipping coffee, and of course: eating. After the event, I used all of my positive energy to carry me through a lovely three-mile afternoon run. Boy did that feel amazing.

Anyway, it’s Friday and you know what that means: time for Friday Faves! Here are a few things I’m absolutely loving this week:

White Wine: If you know me well, you know that I’m a huge fan of red wine. Merlot is my go-to drink on a dinner date, and there’s nothing tastier to me than a glass of good Malbec or … Read More!

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National Mediterranean Diet Month: The Scoop on The Mediterranean Diet Featuring Oldways

10 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Usually, I don’t agree with diets. I simply hate the word. D-I-E-T. Blah. It sounds scary. There’s the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Celebrity Diet, the South Beach Diet, and the Grapefruit Diet, and all of them are failures in my book. But when a diet has to do with a lifestyle and way of eating rather than an extreme method to lose 10 pounds fast, I tend to be a fan.

I’ve always been one to believe in healthy eating as a lifestyle as opposed to a weight-loss method, and believe it or not it all started on my trip to Italy a few years ago. I remember before I embarked on my journey abroad, I was scared to death I’d gain a bajilion pounds while there. Endless amounts of greasy pasta every day? What’s a girl to do? Well, when I arrived in the beautiful region of Reggio Calabria, Italy, I realized that was far from the truth.

Turns out, the part of the country I was in (near the boot, by Sicily) followed a Mediterranean Diet, that is a diet packed with fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, wholesome grains, fish and olive oil with room for a little … Read More!

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Hump Day Lesson: On Thank You For Being You Baked Salmon

16 Comments / Food & Recipes /

Last night I wanted to say “Thanks for Being You” to The Boy, without the usual “thank you” card or email I usually send. After all, he puts up with his (sometimes) crazy girlfriend day after day and deserved a lil thanks.

Indeed, I had to think outside the box. Well, what better way to thank someone than to cook for them?

This sweet ‘n’ spicy baked salmon I crafted says thanks in so many ways, in fact you won’t even have to say it yourself. When that someone “mmms” the entire time, licks their lips, and then clears their plate, that should be just the “You’re Welcome” you need. And then when they end up thanking you, telling you how fantastic it was and that they could get used to this kinda thing, well that’s just fabulous.

Here’s the Recipe:

*makes two servings

-8 to 10 oz. salmon, fresh

-2 TB low sodium soy sauce

-1 TB balsamic vinegar

-1/2 TB agave syrup

-1 TB cajun seasoning for spice

-1 clove garlic, diced

-salt & pepper (as much as you’d like)

1. Preheat oven to 350, and then lay the salmon on a sheet of tin foil. Spread the … Read More!

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Tuesday Talk on Embracing Change: How to Change Up Your Workouts and Eating Habits

2 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

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In life, it’s very easy to get stuck in a routine. We find comfort in going to our favorite restaurant week after week, always ordering chocolate ice cream, wearing that sweater you’ve had forever one too many times because you love it too darn much. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it is what it is: a routine we get used to.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “getting stuck in a rut” or following the same ol’ routine, particularly when it comes to my workouts and eating habits. In fact, I had a conversation with my roommate about it this morning on how we were both looking for a little change in our everyday run-of-the-mill workout schedule. Don’t get me wrong: I am a spontaneous, vibrant girl who loves variety. But even the most adventurous of souls can fall into the trap of a routine.

Well that’s exactly what’s happened to me this past month. I got so used to running (nearly every day) while training for my marathon, that I put strength training and other variations of cardio on the back burner. Sure I slimmed up my tummy and lost a few pounds … Read More!

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I am Back: 16 Travel Lessons I Learned This Week

3 Comments / Lifestyle /

Good morning and happy Monday! Well I guess it’s never really a happy Monday, but I hope you’re at least hanging in there. I myself am trying to hang in there, despite my sniffles and congestion, coffee withdrawal, and desire to be back on the road again with The Boy.

I just got back from a seven day road trip with my boyfriend which consisted of flying down to Orlando, enjoying two days in the Sunshine state, then driving two days up to New York, two days in New York and then a bus back to Massachusetts. Talk about a lot of traveling.

We had a wonderful time together, laughing, eating and singing our faces off. I’m sad it’s all over, but definitely happy to get back to my old routine up here in Boston. While I wasn’t working or studying on this vacay, there are definitely a few things I learned while on the road. Here’s a few of ‘em:

1. The little things like holding hands during the car ride, splitting fish ‘n’ chips on the patio at 11 p.m. or making each other laugh so hard you’re going to pee your pants is far more romantic to … Read More!

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Blast from the Past Series: Post 6 on the Perfect Baked Salmon

269 Comments / Food & Recipes /

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with The Boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 6 on making the most delicious healthy baked salmon…

Oh, and this is the very last Blast From the Past post in the series as I’ll be back ‘n’ bloggin’ tomorrow! If you’ve enjoyed reading about me, or want to learn more, this post on all of my favorite things pretty much sums me up in a nut shell.

[this post was originally published on August 17th 2010 as “Beauteous Baked Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce & Asparagus“]

I was craving salmon all day long but didn’t want the usual boring grilled I usually go for in the summer. Hence I made up my own recipe using some ingredients in the fridge plus a few other additions I picked up at the grocery store. When my … Read More!

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Blast from the Past Series: Post 5 on Handling a Fat Day

2 Comments / Health & Wellness /

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with The Boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 5 on handling a fat day…

[this post was originally published on October 8th 2010 as “How to Handle a Fat Day“]

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Fat days. We all know ‘em. We all hate ‘em. And they happen to the best of us: the skinny people, the curvy people, the happy people and the moody people. Let’s face it: fat days are inevitable my friends, but it doesn’t mean they have tosuck as much as they tend to do. I’m writing this post because I had a…dun dun dun (my attempt at scary, frightening music)…fat day yesterday. I woke up and I just felt like a big, bloated blob. It had nothing to do with how I looked in the mirror, what my friends … Read More!

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