Carrots 'N' Cake

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 05:07 PM

Beer O’clock

Success!!!

Mal and I finished our taxes in just a couple of hours this afternoon. We’re both fairly organized people, so it wasn’t too difficult to pull everything together. Thank goodness!

While we worked, I snacked on a Granny Smith apple.

And then a Sandwich Thin with Nuttzo spread on top.

Mal and I worked all afternoon long (doing taxes, cleaning, grocery shopping), so a well-deserved beer was in order!

Tastes so good when it hits your lips!

Time to get ready for our pasta par-tay!

Posted by: Tina 36 comments

Posted in: Uncategorized

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 12:05 PM

It’s not even noon yet, but I feel like it should be the middle of the afternoon. I woke up bright and early and busted out my Health post, then made breakfast, did 2 loads of laundry, and took a quick trip to the gym with Marie. We only spent about 45 minutes there, but I’m glad that we went first thing in the morning instead putting it off until the afternoon.

Breakfast

For breakfast, I made a big bowl of banana oat bran.

In the mix:

1/3 cup oat bran
1 banana
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup hazelnut milk
1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
2 scoops of Nuttzo

And, I had a glass of iced coffee with hazelnut milk.

Lunch

Around 11:00, my stomach started to grumble. I considered having a snack, but instead, I made myself an early lunch. I threw together a big salad with arugula, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, chickpeas, leftover barley salad, and balsamic vinegar.

I love big salads! They’re so satisfying!

On the side, I had a few extra dark Uncle Jerry’s pretzels.

With bottle-o-water…

And, of course, I wanted something sweet after lunch, so I whipped up a batch of Almond Joy “Ice Cream.” So yum!

I must say, peeling a frozen banana is NOT easy. Next time, I plan to slice the banana and then freeze it in a Ziplock bag. It’s gotta make it easier! Jeez, Louise!

I have an exciting afternoon ahead. Mal and I are doing our taxes and then we are cleaning our apartment. Don’t be jealous! We’re also hosting a pre-race pasta party tonight at our apartment, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Enjoy the day!

Posted by: Tina 51 comments

Posted in: Uncategorized

Friday, March 12, 2010 at 11:07 PM

Fab Friday

Hello!

Sorry for the lack of a mid-day post. Lunch wasn’t anything special, and I spent all morning working on my book. Neither of which were very exciting to blog about.

After lunch, I headed over to Cambridge to attend an event called “For the Health of It,” which was a seminar and Yukon River Salmon tasting, sponsored by Oldways.

Oldways is a Boston-based, non-profit organization that “promotes healthy eating based upon regional diet pyramids.” Food enthusiast and advocate K. Dun Gifford started Oldways to combat the rising prevalence of “pseudo foods” on the market and the chronic diseases related to poor eating habits. I can’t wait to learn more about this wonderful organization.

“For the Health of It” was held at the fancy-schmancy Harvard Faculty Club.

The event celebrated the unique health benefits of Yukon River salmon, and we heard from one of the world’s leading experts on omega-3s, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian from the Harvard School of Public Health. We also got to meet a couple of the Yupik fishing families, whose traditions date back 10,000 years.

The event started with some mingling and a wonderful spread of smoked salmon appetizers.

I dug right in and tried a bite of everything, but I was so busy chatting away, I never snapped a photo. It actually never crossed my mind!

After enjoying the smoked salmon, I grabbed a cup of coffee for a little afternoon pick-me-up.

Harvard has some tasty coffee!

The main event kicked-off with a fascinating lecture from Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH about what consumers need to know about seafood, omega-3’s, and health. Dr. Mozaffarian said a lot of interesting things, including:

Eating 1-2 servings of fish per week significantly reduces your risk of coronary heart disease
Salmon has the highest omega-3 content of seafoods; it has 5.2 g compared to 0.3 g in canned tuna (per 100g serving)
Omega-3’s are extremely beneficial to the brain development of infants
One should avoid shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel since they have high levels of mercury

Next, we heard from Jack Schultheis, the Kwik’pak Fisheries General Manager. He explained that the company was formed to protect the fishery and its market to help benefit the community and its fisherman.

Then, we enjoyed a live cooking demonstration from Jeff Tanner and Pete Doire of Legal Sea Foods. They prepared two salmon recipes on-site: Brown Bag Salmon and Salmon Ceviche– each of which will likely appear on the blog in the next few weeks.

And, finally, we heard from Ellen and Humphrey Keyes and Matilda Oktoyuk about the traditional way of life in Emmonak, Alaska. They talked about their experiences with fishing and subsistence.

After the main program, we enjoyed a reception (complete with champagne) and another salmon tasting.

Bubbly on Friday afternoon? Yes, please!

This time, we tasted the Yukon River Salmon, which was paired with a number of dipping sauces.

I loaded my piece of salmon with Mango Cilantro Salsa.

Delicious!

After the event, I met Mal at the Grendel’s Den for dinner.

As soon as I sat down at the table, I ordered a Dead Guy beer.

It totally hit the spot! I forgot how much I liked this beer! And, the best part: our server is a reader of CNC and hooked us up with a couple of complimentary beers! Thanks, Laurie!

Yay for Friday!

For dinner, I had the Alu Chole, which was a homestyle Indian stew of curried potato and chickpeas with pita bread on the side. It was so tasty and very filling. Good pick!

Mal and I didn’t want “date night” to end, so we headed over to Grafton Street in search of Bourbon County. We heard a rumor they had it on tap.

And, the rumor was true!!! Mal and I shared a glass of Bourbon County and continued to enjoy our evening together.

On our commute home from Harvard Square, Mal got a craving for ice cream. I’m not one to object to a craving like that, so we stopped at the grocery store, where Edys was on sale 3 for $6.