Birthday Celebration Part 4 - the real deal!

Today is my birthday!! And the forth day of celebrating. I was honestly exhuasted by today! haha. Due to the marathon, Ashland closed down at 7:30AM so we needed to get out of the hosue early. My brother got to my house around 7:15 and we left shortly after to go to my fathers house to run around there. My father lives in between 135 and the Mass Pike. Mike and I had planned on going into the city to watch the marathon so we knew we had to get on the right side of 135 before the roads closed in order to get there. We also wanted to run before the race began. We ran 4.75 miles, most on the marathon course. It was a nice, relaxing run.

Date	4 /20/2009
Route	Richie's House to Natick Center
Distance	4.75 mi
Time	40:10
Pace	08:27/mile

After the run, we quickly got ready and then headed to Brookline. We parked on Harvard Ave and got bagels at our favorite bagel shop- Kupel's Bakery. I got the Tom Brady special. Atlantic Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, Sesame Bagel, Red Onions and Tomatoes. OMG, this WAS AMAZING!! Perfect way to start my day!

Then we watched the marathon right around the mile 24 marker. Its such an amazing feat and I wish I could do it SOMEDAY. Not sure I ever could though. Here we are watching the race:

After we were out in the cold for three plus hours, we decided to get some soup at Panera. Mike ordered the mushroom soup and I ordered the tomato soup, but we switched half way through because I liked his better. Afterall, it is my birthday : )


Once we got home, I prepped a ton more food for the week. I made more donut holes and a brocolli mash and taco 'meat' filling and cut up vegetables, etc. At 6, we headed to my mothers to celebrate what else? My birthday. My mom made one of my favorite dishes- stuffed sole with creamed spinach, potatoes and a strawberry salad. Here is my plate:

And here is my beautiful cookie cake!
The cake was fixed from Livvy to Lizzy. Here I am getting ready to blow out the cake!

Birthday Celebration Part 2 & 3

Well, I started out the second day of the birthday weekend by running a 5K in Worcester with my david and my brother. The race was EARLY at 8:30 so we had to get up at 6ish. Pretty rough. I ended up running one of my best times (since high school).

 49      24:51   Liz    

Still need to run faster, but this was exactly 8 minute pace.  My brother finished 5th and 3rd
in his age group.  He was still unhappy with his time though!  Crazy boy.  Again, I got to
keep his metal.

 

After the race, we got home and were starving so I cooked up some egg-white omlets. I put spinach and green onions and cream cheese in a whole wheat wrap.


Then Dave and I watched Game 1 of the Celtics Playoffs. Needless to say, the game didn't go very well. But we did eat some very tasty food! We finished the rest of the calzone and I made nachos with Blue Corn Tortilla Chips and Light Mexican Blend Cheese and Guacamole.


After the game, Dave and I rested for awhile and then got ready to go out to celebrate my birthday in Boston with friends. Before we drove all the way in, we decided to stop for a quick dinner at this Mediterranean restaurant called Big Fresh. I ordered the Salmon Wrap with white rice and a dill sauce and Dave got the Tofu Stirfry with peanut sauce. Both were very tasty.


Then we drove to Brighton and picked up three of my friends and drove to Fanuiel Hall where I enjoyed at least four (maybe 5) of these cocktails:


The birthday celebration with my friends was a blast. I love getting all my friends together. I've known these girls since elementary school!
We got home around 1:45AM and I slept until 10AM. Dave got me a bagel sandwich with Egg, Cheese and bacon. Just what I needed... greese. I felt a little better around 12:30 so I decided to head out to Verizon (to get a new phone), Kohls and Whole Foods. Not sure if I mentioned, but my friend Gretchen and I are going to eat RAW this week. We have both been doing a lot of reading on various blogs so we decided to give it a shot. I got tons of fruits and vegetables and ridiculous amounts of nuts and dried fruits. I got home around 4:30 and we immediately had to leave to go up to Saugus to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday. But first, we stopped at the Burlington Mall to pick up my perennial Cookie Cake. Doesn't Dave look like he is on a mission?? Also, Dave ordered the cake by phone and they ended up spelling my name Livvy. They fixed it, but it was quite a funny story.
For dinner, my mother-in-law made Shrimp Scampi with linguine and a side salad. It was sooooo good and I ate my whole plate!!!


For dessert, Karen made an Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Cool Whip frosting.

When Dave and I got home, I got to work prepping for Raw Week. I made these donut holes from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen cookbook that my friend Gretchen bought me for my birthday.

Donut Holes
1 cup almonds, dry
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cup dried pineapple, chop
1 cup pitted dates
5 Tablespoons dried shredded coconut

I used vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean and I also made a batch with dried apple and dried cranberry.

And here is what mine looked like:

Here is a bunch of my prep work. I am bringing 7 containers of tuperware tomorrow to work!

the Friday before the Berfday...

So I actually got up this morning to make the 6:25 AM train! I set the alarm to make the 5:30 train, but couldn't get up. I got to the gym and on the treadmill at 7:15. I ran until 7:55am, running 5 miles. I tried really hard to break 40 minutes, starting my run at 6.8 for the first mile, then 7.0 for the second, 7.3-8.0 for the next mile and a half then I ran the last mile in the 7:20 pace. But I finished in just over 40, going all the way up to 9.6 MPH on the treadmill.

Date	4 /17/2009
Route	Treadmill
Distance	5.00 mi
Time	40:32
Pace	08:06/mile

I then lifted!! I really need to work more lifting into my workout regimen. I feel so much better when I lift!

When I got into work, I weighed myself for the biggest loser (dropped 2 pounds), then ate my oats- exact same as yesterday. The oats were good, well as good as they can be for being well, oats. They were filling at least! At 12:30, I ate half my wrap.

Around 1:15pm, I met up with my friend Melissa. I enjoyed a small Iced Dunkin' Donuts coffee with a bit of cream and splenda. Sorry, I drank it all before I remembered to take a picture. I also ate half an apple when I got back to the office.



Around 4, I was hungry again, so I enjoyed the rest of my wrap.

At five of 6, I left the office and took the train to West Natick, where Dave was waiting to pick me up. We went straight from the train station to the restaurant Coach Grill in Wayland. Its owned by the same company that owns Atlantic Fish and Abe & Louie's. We loved Abe & Louie's and had phenomenal service there so I had high expectations. Well, Coach Grill totally disappointed. I think we had the worst service/waitress I've ever had. Once we sat down, we immediately got bread, and then it took 20 minutes before our waitress came over to even offer us water. We ordered our drinks, asked for water and ordered a Sashimi appetizer. Our appetizer came before our water did. It was crazy! Our appetizer was pretty tasty. Sashimi Tuna with crackers and a rice cake with wasabi.



We then got our drinks. I ordered the Pomegranate Martini and it was almost clear. Honestly, I know I'm a lightweight, but it was hard to drink. I want to say it was 99% alcohol.



We then ordered dinner. We got a spinach salad with apples, cranberries, walnuts and baked brie and creamed spinach to share.


Then I got a 10 ounce Filet Mignon and Dave got the Duck special.



The salad was tasty. But I ran out of water during this dish and it took another 10-15 minutes to get it refilled. Lots of waiters saw that I was frustrated but our waitress was no where in site. I actually saw her inside the kitchen chatting for awhile with co-worker. It was really strange. She was very nice, but just clueless. Our entrees came out next and they were tasty. I was happy with the meal. It wasnt the best thing I've ever eaten but it was good. I finally got my water refilled but I had to ask the waitress twice before she remembered. When dinner was over, our waitress finally came back over to offer us dessert menus. I honestly was so frustrated, I just wanted to get out of there so we said we'd just take the check. She handed it to us immeadiately and then dissappeared from sight. Dave and I waited another 15 minutes before deciding that we were just going to pay upfront. I was CLEARLY annoyed when I brought the check up to the front. In the process of paying, our waitress finally appeared and seemed to look around for us (perhaps she thought we skipped out on the check), but then walked back into the kitchen. I guess it didn't bother her enough to try to find us. We paid and still gave a 20% tip (we know its a tough market out there!) and then we left. We couldn't stop talking about the horrible service on our way home. I guess no more going out to fancy restuarants in the 'burbs! Although, I will say, we had horrible service like this at Grill 23. But that was on Valentines Day and the place was slammed. Today really had no excuse. She was just bad at her job. I thought about that tonight. When you are in the "service" industry, you really can't have a bad day. She just couldn't remember things and seemed to not care at all about timing. Weird.

Anyway, we have to wake up at 6AM to run a 5K in Worcester with my brother. Dave is asleep next to me with his glasses on. Think I should take them off before he crushes them? Night Everyone!

Almost the long birthday weekend...

So last night, I met my friend Stephanie at 6pm for a run around Boston. We ended up running 55 minutes. There was a lot of traffic getting to the river so I assume it was around 6 miles. I will measure it out on Map My Run tomorrow. It was 6.07 miles

Date	4 /15/2009
Route	Boston Charles River- South Station
Distance	6.07 mi
Time	55:00
Pace	09:03/mile

After the run, I took the T to meet Dave at Northeastern where he is doing research for his PhD. We drove home, and once we got home, I immediately got to work on dinner. I made Mediterranean Turkey Burgers. This is the recipe:

99% Lean Ground Turkey
Diced Red Onion
Feta Cheese
Egg White
Pesto
Panko Bread Crumbs

Mix these ingredients together and form patties and grill them. I then served them in Pita with a side salad.



I got to bed early and woke up late but got into work at 8:30. I decided to try my own "oats" mixture since I've been reading about everyone's creations on various food blogs. I used a cup of Old Fashioned Oats with 3/4 cup of water microwaved for :45 seconds. Then I added a couple scoops of soy raspberry yogurt and a handful of trail mix. It was soooo good and so filling!


I worked on three projects this morning and then for lunch, I was going to go a screening upstairs with my department, but a minor problem happened and I had to work through lunch (for a change). My friend Gretchen must really love me because she brought me this cheese plate from the meeting. I have to admit, I ate 80% of this plate and all the cheese. God I have no control with cheese.

Then, I ate this half sandwich. Honestly, I barely looked at it before I ate the whole thing. It was vegetarian and thats about all I know. I was so busy, I didn't even really know what was in it! But at least I took a picture!

Okay, now on to tonights dinner. We didn't have any meat left to be cooked for the week so I wasn't sure what to make. I knew I had half of the pizza dough left and spinach I needed to cook before it went bad. I also saw this recipe for salmon cakes in a magazine that interested me. So, when I got home, I turned the oven on to 400 then started prepping my Salmon Cakes. I had no recipe to follow, so I just took two cans of salmon, mixed with diced cucumbers, diced celery and 2 tablespoons of organic mayo (something I'm usually frightening of), I also added panko bread crumbs. Then I threw them on a hot pan and cooked them through. I then put one cake on a salad.

I'm not going to lie, this is the only cake that stayed together. The rest, I put in my pyrex glassware for tomorrow:


see, it fell right apart! I also made a Veggie Filled Calzone. I sauteed spinach and then filled my calzone with light mexican blend cheese, spinach and roasted red peppers. When that finished cooking, Dave and I each had a piece.

It looks really big, but I only ate about 1/5 of the calzone. It wasn't that big of a piece.

And, I might have finished this Rasberry Egg thingie I started the other day. I also caught Dave finished off the chocolate frosting brownies.


Okay, off to fold laundry then bed. Hoping to wake up and run tomorrow morning before the birthday celebration weekend begins!

i love blogging in bed

So as I mentioned before, I had a doctors appointment yesterday morning and I went running before and forgot to eat breakfast! Here are my stats for the morning run.

Date	4 /14/2009
Route	Ashland Neighborhood Loop
Distance	3.75 mi
Time	33:10
Pace	08:50/mile

I felt pretty slow and I really hate running outside by myself. Just not exciting or motivating. Plus I ran tons of hills. Ashland is hilly!

When I got into work- around 11:30, I was starving so I got this tomato basil soup from Cosi. It was soooo good. I love this soup!


Around 3:30, I ate half my wrap with cottage cheese. I bought this new type of cottage cheese and it was pretty bad so I only had a couple bites.



After work, I got my eyebrows done and then headed home on the D Line which took forever. When I got home, I got straight to work. My plan was to cook Chicken Curry. I was starving though so while I cooked, I snacked on my guac dip and these black bean chips:


Here is the recipe I found on Simply Recipes:

Chicken Curry in a Hurry Recipe
Ingredients

1 Tbsp corn, grapeseed, or olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, or to taste
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup sour cream


1 Put the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the onions (and optional raisins), sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, sprinkle with half of the curry powder, and continue to cook a minute or two.

2 Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle it with the remaining curry powder. Move the onion to one side of the skillet and add the chicken in one layer. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.

3 Add the sour cream and stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture is nice and thick. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook for a couple more minutes, or until cooked through, turning once.

Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve with rice.

Serves 4.

The only thing I did differently, was I used leeks and onions and I served it along with rice and brocolli and a salad. Yummy! I also sped up the cooking process by cooking the chicken in one pan and the onions in another, then combining them with the curry sauce for the final five minutes of cooking.

Here is the end result:




After dinner, Dave and I cleaned the dishes then I got ready for bed. I got another great night of sleep. Was asleep by 10 pm! I just got into work and ate my oatmeal and I had couple sips of my coffee before I had to sprint onto the train! Have a good day!

Monday Funday

Monday wasn't very exciting. Work was a bit slow and my eating was pretty typical. Oatmeal for breakfast, wrap for lunch with cottage cheese and lots of water. For a late afternoon snack, I ate these almonds.


When I got home from work, I immediately started cooking, I mean heating up our leftovers. I basically cleared our fridge and our plates looked like a meal from all over the world. We had crab cakes with a Thai Peanut Sauce- not a great combo and unsure why I chose that sauce, then leftover pork tenderloin with corn, baked brie, half a calzone with mushrooms and asparagus and my guacamole dip. SO RANDOM!


After this mess of a meal ( I think I'm still hurting from it), I continued to eat crap. I had half of this brownie and a Cadbury Egg. I'm fat.


Then I went upstairs to take a bath and was asleep by 9pm. Slept straight until 7 then went on a 4 mile run around my neighborhood at 7:30 AM. I had a Doctors appointment at 9:15 so it was nice to sleep in. However, it took FOREVER to get to Newton! Now I'm off to enjoy the beautiful day. Will write about today's food in a bit!