I apologize for the lack of posts!!  With the holidays drawing near I’ve been unable to get many pictures or post anything.  Things are super crazy at work, etc.  As soon as all the holiday parties, Christmas shopping, etc. dies down a little I will post the winner of the BSI – carrot and get back to my normal postings.  Don’t hate me!

Ok, I am seriously loving work recently… I guess I always love work when I’m busy because I feel like I blink my eyes and it’s already time for lunch or to go home!  Plus, the people I work with are pretty awesome…   We have our Holiday Party tonight for my division, which I am super psyched about.  We’re going to this place called Slate which sounds pretty fun – pool tables, ping pong tables, open bar (of course) and heavy appetizers for dinner.  Yes please!

Lunch was super satisfying, although not too fancy.  I had a Rudi’s spelt English Muffin with some ZAP peanut butter and Polaner jam, two carrots, a huuuge and delicious orange, and a big macintosh apple.  Yummers!!

Don’t forget to send me some delicious carrot recipes friends!  You have until 7pm EST on Sunday, December 21st.  Get cooking!!

Party, Party!

Soo… Office party at Slate = way more fun than I thought.  Tons of pool tables and a ping pong table and our own VIP section.  Yes please!!  According to my boss Lindsay Lohan had her birthday party there… hey, if it’s good enough for Lindsay…  

Food was incredible too!  Coconut shrimp, vegetarian quesadillas, mini spring rolls, Asian chicken skewers, pigs in blankets, greek salad and an assortment of desserts which I wasn’t too interested in so I couldn’t tell

And now, as promised….

Festivus!!

Oh man was Festivus fun!  There were only 7 attendees this year as our friends Peter & his fiancee Courtney were unable to attend because they are staying down in D.C. this year.   That was definitely listed as a grievance! 

We started off the night with some wine at my sister & her husband’s apartment.  This little guy was the unofficial “host” of the evening, so of course he had to get pinned.  Not to hard, but he sure does wiggle around alot!!  We tried to go to two different places for dinner around 9pm, but with 7 people it was hard to just walk in anywhere.  We finally settled on the restuarant that Justin Timberlake opened on 2nd Ave – “Southern Hospitality“.  Admittadly not my ideal type of food, but it was really good BBQ if that’s your thing! 

I started off with a delicious Stella Artois and then we got two of the appetizer samplers for the table.  Each sampler included fried pickles (um way yo ruin a pickle!), deep fried BBQ ribs, hot buffalo wings, pulled pork sliders and BBQ nachos topped with guacamole, vegetarian baked beans, cheese and fresh salsa.  The nachos were definitely my favorite part….

For dinner I went with the pulled chicken sandwich with vegetarian baked beans on the side instead of fries and some coleslaw.  I also had a ton of the sister’s tater-tots.  So good, I couldn’t resist!  They kind of reminded me of camp – I used to go to town on those back in the day…

At the end of a super fun dinner my sister got pinned by her husband because we both decided that a puppy couldn’t officially host Festivus.  Man, I wish I had gotten out my camera in time!! 

I won’t bore you with pics of my brekkie today as it was just a Chobani and some Honey Rice Puffins again.  I’m nursing a bit of a hangover so creativity at breakfast just wasn’t happening.

Ok lovies, I have lots to do so I’d better get crackin!!

I almost forgot… stop over to Caroline’s blog Banana Cabana for a chance to win a Jamba Juice gift card!!!  I sooo want it!! 

Good morning bloggies!!  Last night was so so much fun… I love getting together with my siblings and our significant others.    We ended up celebrating Festivus at a place called “Southern Hospitality“.  Oh yeah, that’s right… Justin Timberlake’s restaurant on 2nd Ave between 76th & 77th St.  They specialize in Memphis-style BBQ… which is so incredibly good you have no freakin idea.  I will do a post on that tonight though because I haven’t uploaded any pics yet – sorry!!

I woke up this morning with a bit of a tummy ache… I guess all that rich BBQ food didn’t sit so well in my stomach.    Oh well, it tasted good at least.  I headed down to the gym and had planned on just doing a light run, but I decided to crank it up a notch and did 3 miles, alternating between a 3.0 and a 4.0 incline between songs as I listened to my iPod.  I finished off with 2 sets of 20 reps @ 10lbs. for bicep curl, tricep press down and tricep overhead extension (I think I’m naming them right…)  In between of each set I did a set of crunches (all different kinds).  Heck yeah for an awesome workout!! 

Brekkie was brought to work with me because I was running out the door – eek!  Totally underestimated how long I was in the shower I guess… I had a peach Chobani and a bag od Honey-Rice and Cinnamon Puffin cereal, but unfortunately I couldn’t upload pics before I left.  Really sorry guys, I promise to post all pics from last night, brekkie and lunch tonight!!  To all you fellow bloggers out there: When do you prefer to get your blogging done?  Are you finding that with all the added excitement / shopping / holiday parties of the season is making it more difficult to blog?  I am having some issues trying to fit it all in as you may have guessed, so I apologize again and promise that things will be less all over the place once Christmas and New Years is out of the way.  Thanks for continuing to read though – I absolutely love reading all of your comments!! 

Wowzers this day is FLYING by!!  I can’t believe it’s already 2pm… not much longer until my Big Brothers Big Sisters holiday party!  All the bigs & little are getting together for a little farewell party before the holidays because we won’t see each other again until mid-January.  I got my little a small gift to give her too during my lunch hour. 

When I was running over to Godiva today (yup that’s right, she’s getting some chocolates!!) I was approached by one dude in a suit who asked: 1) Did I have a boyfriend (yes) 2) Was it serious (yes) 3) Was he as cute as him (yes) and 4) Would I still feel guilty giving him my number (yes).  Persistant huh!  But actually nice, not in a scummy kind of way…  Then in the Godiva store I got approached by another man who just wanted to compliment me on my dress and tell me I looked pretty.  Hah, I didn’t even put on makeup for work today (except for my Bare Essentuals)!  Guess I just look extra smokin’ today…  

Anyway, lunch was soo satisfying today.  I had a baked potato covered with cheddar cheese and Amy’s organic chili popped into the micro to heat up for a few.  On the side I had a big salad of red leaf lettuce, shredded carrots and artichokes (leftovers from soup making last night) topped with some dijon mustard.  Mmmm perfectly lovely in my opinion – and well balanced!!  I have a big apple I’ll probably eat in a few minutes too… don’t want to go into a party filled with baked goods on an empty stomach – that’s just dangerous!   

Tonight’s dinner post may not be up until tomorrow morning because I have my Festivus celebration tonight.  If you guys have ever seen Seinfeld, Festivus is “The holiday for the rest of us”.  If you’ve never heard of it read this article.  It includes an aluminum pole instead of a Christmas tree (a cross-country baton), the airing of grievances (you say any issues you have with the other attendees), and the “feats of strength” in which the host of Festivus must be pinned to the floor.  Last year I hosted and found myself on my back on the floor in the middle of a bar where we were celebrating.  So much fun!!  My brother, sister, brother-in-law, boyfriend and some friends of ours have been gathering together for Festivus for 6 years now!!

I seriously can’t wait… don’t worry, there will be pictures!!  Ok, off to get some stuff off my desk so that I can make it to the BBBS holiday party in time.!

…that’s good enough for me!  Man, cookie monster was totally my favorite Sesame Street character growing up.  He would’ve been soo proud of my brekkie too.  Yup, that’s right I made the ol’ Breakfast Cookie again with some chocolate protein powder, oats, peanut butter, almond milk and banana.  Such an amazing combination!!

I know I’ve said this before, but if you haven’t tried it, you really must make it soon!!  I have a link the the recipe in my “Edibles” tab… it takes about 2 minutes of prep and then you just pop it in the fridge overnight, it honestly couldn’t get any easier!!  I also had some of this for some added protein…

I love whipped cottage cheese soo much more than regular small or large curd cottage cheese – and the 1% version adds a nice creaminess that you just don’t get in the fat-free version.  It’s really worth the like 10 extra calories per 1/2 cup.  Seriously, you shouldn’t freak over 10 calories… that’s nothing.  I probably burn 10 calories just typing this up on my keyboard!!

I had another great run this morning – 3.5 miles!!  Nothing like beating a cold by getting your blood pumping and your heart rate up.    It was really peaceful running through the park this morning too… all of the grass had a think blanket of snow and it just made me so excited.  Winter is just not winter without snow in my opinion!  Well lovies, I must be off, but have a great morning!  Do you guys share my deep love of the snow, or is it more of an inconvenience for you??

It’s officially winter in the city!!  After all my whining and complaining I got my snow!!!  Not just flurries, full on heavy snow!  Ok, so it wasn’t exactly sticking to the ground, but hey it’s good enough for me. 

After a little Christmas shopping when I was done with my work I decided the best thing to warm me up after walking in the snow was a comforting bowl of soup.  I felt that I should use the BSI tonight so I made Carrot-Artichoke Soup.   I always get this kind of soup for lunch at Elixir and last time I was there I was able to peek at some of the ingredients so I tried to recreate it tonight.

Carrot-Artichoke Soup:

• 3 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup canned artichokes
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash black pepper

I pureed the soup with my immersion blender that my sister got me.  Love it M!!  Ok, so anyway… in the spirit of full disclosure the soup wasn’t as amazing as I had hoped.  I think it’s because I didn’t cook it for long enough because the carrot was still a little grainy even though it was pureed.  I also think it could’ve used the addition of an onion to round out the flavors.  That being said it was still very good and I am absolutely looking forward to having the leftovers.  

I also had a big salad with my red leaf lettuce… Yeah I know, this is kind of a weak dinner post, but this evening before dinner I had a few handfuls of roasted nuts and that turned out to be a few handfuls too many.  I feel like I have a pile of rocks in my stomach!  Ugh!

Well, I have some 90210 reruns to watch so I’m gonna go.  G’night bloggies!!  Can’t wait to see your BSI submissions!!

Things I learned today…  1) Working from home is amazing & relaxing.  2) Lunches while working from home are amazing.  3.) I am obsessed with snow.

So I finally broke for lunch and realized that since I was home I had the awesome benefit of a kitchen, oven, cutting board, fridge, etc.  I figured the best way to boost your immune system is to fill it with lots of healthy goodies so I got to work on making some fantastic sweet potato fries to go along with some raw carrots and a Dr. Praeger’s Cali Burger w/ melty cheddar cheese on top.  Plus some corn chips and BBQ cape cod potato chips for “dessert”.

I have to say, I am seriously addicted to all these orange variations of fries I’ve been having recently.  Sweet potato fries, butternut squash fries… I can’t get enough of ‘em!!  I mean, just look at those babies…  I baked them at 425 for about 35 minutes with a light sprinkling of olive oil, salt and pepper.While I was eating I looked outside to see the most magical sight in the world… big snowflakes falling down!!    I. Love. Snow.

Admittedly not the best picture, but that’s the best I could do without actually crawling out onto the fire escape.  It made me feel all warm and Christmasy inside.  Ok lovies, enjoy your afternoon and don’t forget to get working on some carroty creations!!

Sorry for the suuuper late bfast post guys!!  I’m home sick from work today, so I’ve been doing work on my laptop and hadn’t gotten a free minute to blog yet.  I actually think I prefer working from home sometimes… I know some people say that they get less done at home, but I actually have fewer distractions when I’m here.  I can just sit in my pj’s and get right down to work as soon as I crawl out of bed.  Plus you obviously aren’t talking to anyone or walking to and from the bathroom down the hall so you use your time more efficiently.

Aaanyway, I made Banana Oats today with some vanilla almond milk and topped with a generous serving of chopped butter toffee walnuts.  The bf got those a while back and wasn’t a huge fan so I adopted them for topping my oats.  I don’t like them on their own bc they’re almost as sweet as candy, but on top of oats they make a fabulously crunchy-sweet topping.

Ok, I have much to do so I need to get back to work… I totally forgot to mention yesterday that I added another 5miles to my December mileage – go me!  I don’t know the tally off the top of my head, but I’ll post one along with my lunch post.  Have a great Tuesday all! 

I couldn’t decide what I wanted to make for dinner tonight, but when I got into Food Emporium something caught my eye that I just haad to try.  Smoked turkey legs!!  You might think that sounds kind of gross, but I absolutely love turkey legs.  They did not dissapoint.    What goes with turkey??  Cranberry Chutney of course!!  I made a small batch of the Cranberry Chutney I cooked up for Thanksgiving.

On the side I made some Butternut Squash Fries a la The Fitnessista.  These were sooo good!  Even the bf loved them and he’s hard to please (and quick to dismiss any odd vegetable dish).  Just some olive oil, salt + pepper baked at 425 for about 40 minutes – flipped it a few times throughout.  Thanks for another great recipe Gina!

My carrot concoction of the evening?  Green salad topped with a Carrot-Ginger Dressing.  Carrot-Ginger dressing is usually served over green salads at sushi restaurants and is one of my favorite parts of going there to eat (aside form the fish).  I tried to find a good recipe, but none seemed right so I came up with my own.

Carrot-Ginger Dressing:

• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 1.5 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• dash salt

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and chop until totally pureed.  I poured it over some red leaf lettuce and chopped tomatoes.  Just like in the restaurants!!  I had a really packed night of cleaning, etc. but afterwards I had a nice bowl of popcorn…  Ok, g’night all!

Lunch today was pretty uninspired.  I had some cooked acorn squash sitting in the fridge (I tend to make a lot ahead of time and then just use it up as I go along).

I also had some green bell peppers all chopped up alongside the squash – which were perfect for dipping into my leftover Smashed Avocados!!  You would probably be shocked to know that my guacamole did not turn all brown even though I made it on Thursday because I used lots of lemon and I placed a lemon slice directly on top to stop it from discoloring. 

I also had a bag of Glenny’s salt & pepper soy crisps and a biiiig macintosh apple (unpictured) that I got from the street vendor outside my office.  Plus a small one of these…   A gold coin??  Well, a chocolate filled gold coin… One of my coworkers received a bag of these in the mail and she was nice enough to share the “wealth” – ok, bad attempt at a joke, I know…  Sorry guys, my post tonight will be much more exciting, I promise!