30 Days of Health & Happiness... Day 8

Hello hello!  I hope you guys had an awesome weekend. The weather was gorgeous! For the most part, today has been rainy and humid. Well, if any day is going to be a crappy weather day, might as well make it a Monday!

I started my day with a deeelicious smoothie! In the vitamix went coconut milk, mango, pineapple and spinach. Ah, probably the healthiest and greenest piña colada you will ever have :-)

An hour or so later I had a small handful of nuts. 

When lunch time came along I had two slices of cashew bread topped with turkey breast. Carrots and tomatoes on the side. 

I pretty much stayed full after this. Later on the afternoon I had another small handful of nuts. I knew I would be having a late dinner since tonight is CKO Kickboxing night. The mixed nuts will hold me over till dinner. 

After I finished my kickboxing class I went home and warmed up some meatloaf and asparagus. I made the meatloaf last night because I knew I would not have enough time to cook this evening. 

Dessert was blended frozen pineapple with coconut milk. 

A wonderful frozen treat to end the day. 

Activity:  I got my activity in by doing an hour of kickboxing. 

Happiness: Working out makes me happy. Sometimes it's so hard to convince myself to workout. Luckily, I have a great friend/workout partner who makes it easy for me :-)

30 Days of Health & Happiness... Day 3

Here we are... day 3! 

Well, you will be happy to know that I changed things up before breakfast. Actually, before breakfast I started my day off with another green smoothie. Same concoction as yesterday. An hour later is when I had breakfast. 

I didn't feel like having my usual puffins with almonds and almond milk. I was going to get a bagel from Pret A Mangier instead. When I walked into Pret I looked around for a bagel when I saw: *NEW*

OMG...I just had to try this! I mean what could be better than a warm brioche roll filled with egg, mushroom and cheese?!?! AND, less than 400 calories?!?! Sign me up!

As you can imagine, breakfast was delicious. 

For lunch I had left overs from last night, but this time I had my burger in a whole wheat bun with spinach on the side.  No pic because I devoured lunch in seconds. 

In between lunch and dinner I had an apple with mixed nuts:

Before my workout and dinner I had a Cliff bar. 

Dinner was on the go. I had Panda Express. I tried to go as healthy as I could by selecting from their low cal wok menu. I loaded up on chicken and broccoli with a side of veggies:

That, my friends, was my food for the day. 

I also had a very schweaty  and intense workout at CKO KICKBOXING. Now, that was an intense hour!

The hubby and I also walked around downtown Jersey City for about an hour after dinner. 

On to Happy Thoughts!

Happiness:  Sleeping with the windows open and waking up to warm sunlight and fresh air! Ah, one of the many things I love now that summer is on the way. 

With that, have a good night!

And We're Back...

Good Morning All!

Happy Monday. Time to start the workday. I hope you all had a great weekend. My weekend was full of fun and eventful things. 

We kicked things off Friday night at a Thai restaurant. I got the Garden Green dish which is suppose to be a bunch of vegetables. I was a bit disappointed because there were a bunch of limpy vegetables, such as cabbage and bok choy. I was hoping more for broccoli, carrots and string beans. 

The husband ordered a chicken dish which looked far more interesting than my dish:

Yeah... It's on fire. 

The rest of my weekend included a lot of healthy eats:

We also did a lot of cooking and prepped meals for the week. We are on an Indian food kick and made a pot of channa masala and daal. We also made a batch of falafel burgers. 

I also made a stack of oat waffles for myself for the week:

And that's a wrap with good eats :-)

Weekend Round Up...

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

Whew... The weekend just flew by. I sure could have used a couple more hours of sleep this morning. Monday's are the worst!

My weekend was pretty easy going. Saturday morning I woke up and went to go see my little niece. As always, she was as adorable and fun as ever. Once I left my sisters place I headed to the happiest place on earth for me...Trader Joe's! OMG... I could spend HOURS at TJs. Stay tuned next week... I've got a whole post dedicated to this magnificent supermarket :-)

Anywho, we had a dinner party to go to that evening and I bought some bread and fruit for appetizers and dessert. My original use for the bread was to have with bruschetta. However, I forgot to bring the bruschetta so I made a quick pizza bites appetizer. I thought this was ok but must have been a hit since it was all gone!

For dessert, our wonderful hostess made delicious tiramisu (which I had boat loads of). Also, I brought a colorful fruit platter:

Yup, we got sliced mango, kiwi, strawberries and apple and non fat honey yogurt for dipping. Healthy and delicious!

The dinner party was great and I wish I had more pics of the food. All of it really was delicious. There was lasagna and Spanish omelets along with a variety of cheeses, crackers, olives, shrimp and mushrooms :-) All so delicious and so great!

The party was awesome and we had a great time talking and catching up with friends. 

The next day we woke up to such beautiful weather. Of course we made breakfast and ate on our little balcony. 

After that it was time to run errands! I went around town and to get things done which took me a few hours. 

I came home and this was waiting for me :-)

a delicious plate of channa masala and mustard greens with a roti on the side. Also, cut up veggies to have :-)

Dinner was probably the best butter chicken I've ever had. We used a masala packet which just had a bunch of spices, added the chicken, water and a little bit o butter. This meal tasted like it came from a restaurant. It was so good that we looked online to see how we could get more of these masala packets. Yum!

Also, on the side, a small salad straight from our patio garden :)

After dinner we plopped in front of the television and started a 24 marathon. OMG... This show is addictive and we've been watching it on Netflix. We are still in season 1. 

Well, that's a wrap for the weekend. I hope you guys had an enjoyable weekend. Now... off to start the work week...

Getting My Food On...

Wow...already into Hump Day. This week is flying by! I hope you all had a great evening. 

Yesterday I completely forgot to make my breakfast and bring it to work. I definitely love to splurge on food, but on good food. Not on a bowl of oatmeal that I overly paid for, that I could have made myself! Anywho, so, I started my day off with a small bowl of steel cut oats with a banana mashed in. I got the oats from Pret A Mangier and they were delish!

Lunch was a chicken lime burger and a salad. All leftovers from the previous day. Sadly, no picture since I inhaled it :-p

A little while later I snacked on a Chobani non fat lemon yogurt. Mmm..mmm perfectly tart and sweet. Also, kept me full until dinner time :-)

Yesterday, was so cold and rainy. All I wanted for dinner was something warm and comforting. Thank goodness I had leftover lentil chili!! Oh yes, this totally hit the spot. I heated up a bowl of lentil chili and had a slice of ezekiel toast on the side. This was an awesome dinner followed by watching DVR episodes of The Mindy Project! Oh, I love Mindy! 

I also managed to make today's breakfast last night. Here's a sneak peek:  

:-) Enjoy your day!

Back To The Grind...

Good Morning!

Wow, the three day weekend flew by! None the less, it was a great weekend! I have to say though...yesterday was probably the coldest Memorial Day on record. 

Well, lets go over the shenanigans from the weekend, shall we?  Friday night was great. Had dinner with friends at The Beechwood in Jersey City. I had a delicious roasted veggie sandwich with a broccoli salad on the side. My sandwich was full of flavor and had a schmear of pesto on there.  Mmm...mmm good!

Saturday morning I prepped a delicious lunch. I made a lentil chili (recipe from the Whole Foods app). The chili was full of veggies, fiber and protein. I forgot to take a picture, but I do have leftovers and will take a pic tonight. I love the Whole foods app. I've never had a failed recipe when I follow recipes from this app. Anywho, the chili was served with a side of couscous, bread, grated cheese and sour cream. A healthy and delish meal! 

Oh, the other star of the meal was dessert. I made Nestle dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies. 

What was even more exciting was my sister, brother in law and my little munchkin were joining us for lunch. We love when everyone comes over and just chill out. That little one... I'm telling ya... I'm so lucky to have her in my life <3

The rest of Saturday was spent doing absolutely nothing. We did clean a little bit and went out for a bit, but really, that was it.  For dinner we made carna asada steak salads.  

Oh yes, another delicious and healthy meal!

Sunday we finally made it to the gym. I forgot, I have a 5K to run in June. I just started practicing :-p Eh, I'll be fine! The rest of Sunday was spent running errands, grocery shopping and walking around. 

Sunday morning breakfast:

Finally, we get to Monday! Monday started off with breakfast with fam at a diner. Followed by a fun filled, getting lost in woods hike! Really, it was fun, we had a great time and plan on doing it next weekend also. We also bought a map for next time. We went hiking in South Mountain Reservation (entrance conveniently located near the diner :-p ). We started off on the Lenape trail which was six miles. The Lenape trail was marked with yellow tags. Somehow lost yellow, ran into some white, throw a little blue and green in there and after some time wound up back in the parking lot from a totally different entrance! It was really fun though. I'm just glad we had eaten. We were already starving when we found our way back!

After the hike and some lunch, I went to work on our patio garden!!!  Ohhh, I'm so excited about this! This year we are growing:

Cucumbers

Cayenne peppers

Bell peppers

Okra

Mesculun

Tomatoes

Blueberries

Beans

The patio garden took a couple of hours but looks great!

Finally, dinner last night was had on the balcony. We made burgers and salads. We really did try to enjoy the weather and layered up with fleeces, but it was still chilly. I have to say... I am looking forward to more evening dinners on our little balcony... It's time well spent that we  enjoy!

So, that's my weekend in a nutshell. How was yours?  Now, back to the grind...

It's Smoothie Time!!!

Good Morning and Happy Thursday!!! The weekend is almost here!

I started my day off with the usual. A steaming cup of hot coffee. I also had half a banana. Shortly after I made myself a delicious Berry Breakfast Smoothie. I had this smoothie around 7am and I'm hoping it will keep me satiated until lunch time. In the blender went: 

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup of frozen berries (thank you Trader Joe's)

1/2 banana

1TB coconut oil

6oz nonfat yogurt

Then I blended it away and poured into my favorite Tervis :-) Delicious!

Now, I'm off to work...

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Happy Hump Day...

Wow... We are already into midweek! Another couple of days and we have a three day weekend to look forward to :-)

Yesterday I managed to get a twenty minute cardio workout in with the elliptical. Not bad, especially since it had been a couple of weeks since I worked out. Today I'm hoping for a similar workout. 

Yesterday was also a Trader Joes day for lunch and dinner. Lunch was leftovers from the night before. We made TJ's Garlic Chili Tilapia with a side of string beans. Delicious! Dinner was TJ's Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with a side of salad and balsamic asparagus. Guess what's for lunch today :-p...

Once again, this morning I woke up ravenous. I drank my coffee, had a banana and made my breakfast for the road. Two slices of Ezekiel toast with an omelet. Breakfast has already been devoured. 

Last night I worked on a healthy key lime pie filling. I plan on trying it out tonight. If it's good be sure to look out for the recipe. I did use a very healthy ingredient for this recipe. Any guesses?

Well, I hope your hump day goes quickly! 

And We're Back...

Good morning! I'm finally back after a two week break away! I'm also back to my regularly scheduled healthy lifestyle :-) 

This mornings breakfast was bright and early at 6am. I'm still jet lagged but I'm hoping to continue to wake up a bit early so I can ease into my morning. It's nice...waking up, having a cup if coffee and my breakfast while listening to the news in the background. 

The weather is finally getting warmer. It's so nice to be able to sleep with the windows open. Another plus...this weekend is Memorial Day weekend which means a three day weekend :-) you guys got any plans? I plan on starting my patio garden. I think this year I will plant spinach, basil, cilantro, mint, tomatoes and maybe string beans... Lets see. 

So, my breakfast this morning was very simple. I had a cup of black coffee with a dippy egg, slice of ezekiel toast and banana. Delicious and filling!

How have you guys been?

Jersey City Restaurant Review: Rajbhog Sweets

The other night we decided to go out for Indian food. It had been a while and we were both craving it. If you're in Jersey City, the place to go for Indian food is Newark Avenue, near the Journal Square Path Station. On Newark Avenue you will find all things Indian. Indian grocery stores and Indian restaurants. I've been going to Newark Avenue for the past 10 years. There are about 15 restaurants on Newark Avenue. Out of the 15 probably 5 have remained the same. I feel like every year a new restaurant opens but then closes with in a year.

One of these restaurants is called Rajbhog Sweets. Their sweets are AMAZING. I have never gotten a sweet I didn't like from here. Rajbhog Sweets also serves savory food plates. For $8 you get a huge thali(selection of indian food on a plate) of Indian food. This includes an appetizer AND DESSERT. The thali also comes with two rotis, two vegetarian dishes, rice and dhal. When you have this with the apps and dessert, it's a pretty big meal!

We decided to try Rajbhog and get the thali. My thali came with a samosa appetizer and a fried eggplant pattie. I also got a paneer(cheese) dish and channa(chickpeas) masala as my vegetarian dish. There was rice, dhal(lentils) and yogurt as well. Also, lets not forget... dessert was a gulab jammun (fried dough soaked in a sugar syrup). So, how was it? I loved the samosa, roti, channa and gulab jammun. I felt the panned was over cooked and was just to oily. The dhal...I've never had dhal that looked milky and tasted slightly sweet. I'm more used to Punjabi dhal which is a bit salty and has spice. Like I said the channa was delicious. The chickpeas were cooked perfectly and had a bit of spice to them. There are options to get smaller thali's and if I do eat here again I would get the thali with one vegetarian option.

The dessert was phenomenal! I love gulab jammun and these guys did a great job with that. I've gotten a few of their sweets in the past and have never been disappointed.

The verdict: Stick to Rajbhog Sweets for their sweets. The savory food can be hit or miss.

Rajbhog Sweets:
812 Newark Avenue
Jersey City, NJ

Workouts, Parisian Night and Then Some....

Good Morning!

I hope you guys had a great Monday. I had a great weekend filled with at least one workout, a fun filled Parisian night and Indian food!

I knew Saturday night there would be a lot of food and I wanted to try a little bit of everything, soooo I went to the gym Saturday morning and worked out extra hard. Oh yes, I spent 45 minutes on the stair master working to burn at least 500 calories. So worth it and I felt so good! I immediately came out and devoured a stack of healthy coconut flour pancakes :-)

So, Saturday night I threw a little Parisian party. Our friends from CT were in town and we made plans to meet up. I started the night off with a simple cheese platter. I had Brie, goat and port cheese along with some grapes and rosemary Melba toast. This kept people noshing until the main course was ready to be brought out.

The main course was roasted rosemary chicken and lentils in a balsamic Dijon sauce. To be quite honest, I thought the lentils were so much more flavorful and delicious. The lentils were an Ina recipe. Of course they would be good :-) On the side, I had French bread, white asparagus, roasted potatoes and sautéed green beans. I have to say... everything turned out pretty good.

Dessert was none the less... CREPES!! Seriously, how could you not have crepes on a Parisian night!!! Sadly, I did not get a picture of the crepes. I made the crepes from scratch and had fun fillings such as Nutella, bananas, strawberries, pudding and whip cream. Crepes = Success.

So that was our very fun Parisian night in a nutshell. Sunday we decided to take it easy. We had a lovely breakfast with my sister, brother in law and the little one. What did we have.. Crepes of course :-p
The rest of Sunday was spent shopping and roller skating, and dinner at an Indian restaurant. Review coming up.

How was your weekend?

Viva Mexico

Happy Monday! Remember, the sooner we get this day started, the sooner it's over :-p Anywho, I thought I'd start this post off with a review from a Mexican restaurant I went to on Friday night.

Friday night was a fun filled night with friends in Jersey City. We decided to check out a new restaurant that opened in the Paulus Hook area of JC. The name of the restaurant is Viva Mexico.

Viva Mexico is a small restaurant with a lot of food options. The atmosphere was bustling with positive energy. A great vibe to start off your weekend. They had everything from salads to Mexican sandwiches. The service was also very friendly. While we waited for our main entrees we were served with endless amounts of fresh chips and salsa. We ordered drinks first which came out right away. I had the Horchata. Now, I'm no Horchata expert but I felt this was a bit too sweet. It was still delicious but the sweetness could have been toned down. For my main entree I ordered the steak enchiladas. I got a plate of three enchiladas wrapped in corn tortilla served with a green sauce and a side of rice and beans. My enchiladas were DELICIOUS!! First off, the portions are huge. I got through two enchiladas and some rice and beans. The green sauce on the side had a bit of a kick and paired perfectly with the steak. For dessert, we ordered a flan for the table. I have to say... I was disappointed with the flan. It tasted and looked like it was just defrosted from the freezer. Not a big fan of the flan. Other than the dessert, I felt like Viva Mexico is a great place to go to for dinner!

If you're in the JC area, go ahead and try it out!

Viva Mexico
133 Morris St.
Jersey City, NJ 07302

Happy Thursday...

Good Morning and HAPPY THURSDAY!!!

Yes, just one more day and we are into the weekend :-) The weather has been so wonderful lately. I really hope it stays. I haven't blogged in the past couple of days because things have been pretty low key. I'm still on a smoothie kick so my breakfasts haven't changed. I am trying to get more protein in my diet. I noticed around 3:00pm I start to get hit by hunger pangs. Yesterday, I had two hard boiled eggs to combat that. This successfully handled the hunger till about 7:30.

I've also managed to get to the gym a couple times this week. I plan on going today, tomorrow and Friday as well. With the weather being so nice I'm wondering if I should do a circuit workout outside.

My focus lately has been just eating healthy, watching portion sizes and exercising. I can't really restrict myself from anything. For example going low carb will only want me to eat bad carbs even more. Now, I'm just trying to focus on eating well. If I am trying to limit anything, it is processes sugar. I really do think sugar is the devil and does more harm than any good.

So, that's what's going on now. How have you guys been?

Something Good...Something Bad...

Good Morning!

Yay, it's Thursday!!! One more day till the weekend. My week has been filled with lots of healthy food and a little bit of not so healthy food. On the plus side, I've been doing really well with cardio workouts.

I wish the weather would warm up already. Seriously, we are in April now! Come on Mother Nature... get your act together! One of the things I'm looking forward to us holding outdoor group workouts in Jersey City. I did a few last year and its really nice working out outside along the river front or in the park.

Today I'm going to try to post pics of all my meals. I really would like to make more of an effort to keep most of my meals healthy and only indulge once or twice a week. Same thing for going out. I like to cook a lot of my meals at home and go out less. First of all, I like to view going out as a pleasure and not an every day kind of thing. Once it becomes an every day kind of thing I feel I enjoy going out less as an indulgence. Also, when I do cook at home I know exactly what is going in my food!

How do you guys feel about going out to eat? Do you prefer to cook your meals at home?

I now leave you with some healthy food pics and some not so healthy food eats :-)