Double Deuce

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING ROOMMATE CHERRY GAMMELIN!

This weekend has been so much fun and I wish I could elaborate but I have a ton of work to do. I want to share with you guys two delicious meals!

I've been to Brown Sugar many times but had never tried the Chicken Almonds before and it was awesome -- sauteed sliced chicken with onions, mushrooms, pineapple chunks, scallions and roasted almonds. How cool is the presentation in the pineapple?



up close


This morning we went to Union for brunch and I had an egg white Zucchini Fritatta with goat cheese and roasted tomatoes. It was the perfect size and the toast and homefries were equally as delicious as the fritatta. Their Bloody Mary and Pimosa with pomegranite puree were pretty fab as well.

I definitely drank way too much coffee this morning with way too much splenda. I have my Dad to thank for my love of sickeningly sweet coffee. Oh, I also ate at Sol Azteca Saturday night but unfortunately forgot to take pictures...probably cause of the amazing company! :)

I can't wait for my sculpt and stretch class tomorrow ...the gym is screaming my name.

Happy Friday!

I'm sooo happy that it's Friday even though the weather is grey and rainy here in Boston. I have a big weekend of visitors, concerts, and birthdays which means lots of dining out! Does anyone have any fun plans this weekend?

See you guys Sunday night for a recap :)

A Day in the Life

Thefoodcritic asked what I eat on a daily basis so I thought I would share what a typical day of eating is like for me. The past few days I've replaced banana in my yogurt for beautiful, ripe strawberries. Warmer weather = delicious strawberries! I also switched up my yogurt from my favorite TJs to Stonyfield Farms organic non-fat French Vanilla. While it's not as sweet as TJs, and I'm all about the sweet, it has a really great thick and creamy consistency. I think I may switch over to Stonyfield yogurt permanently.

Breakfast: the usual with strawberries


Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly with a granny smith apple, baby carrots, hummus with some chick peas mixed in and a few dried apricots


Dinner: Spinach salad with a Morningstar Farms Mushroom Lover's Burger, dried cranberries, almonds, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese broken up (only 35 calories per wedge!), and sugar snap peas with a side of baby carrots with hummus and roasted pepper eggplant dip, kashi crackers, and a granny smith apple


Snacks: Some reduced-fat Triscuits and a low-fat string cheese, a Crunchy chocolate almond bar and a Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bar - I LOVE these but they're made with high fructose corn syrup which is no bueno




This particular day was pretty hectic. Normally I prefer to have a salad for lunch and try not to overload on bars, but when I'm running around they're the easiest thing to eat on the go.

After losing 30 pounds my weight loss came to a halt and I reached a plateau. I've found that bumping up the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables and increasing my cardio helped to break the plateau. A great rule to go by when eating -- how colorful is your plate? If you sit down to a meal and don't see an array of colors, chances are you aren't getting enough of what your body really needs.

Beautiful Day

I hope everyone went and got some free JP Licks today! I had a small half caramel half oreo yogurt, delicious! Next week the Coolidge Corner location is going to have coconut yogurt. Is it sad that I go on the website and check out the 'Yogurt Calendar' ...yes.

Did anyone go today? Try anything new and exciting?

Chocolate, Chocolate & More Chocolate

Is there anything better than a decadent dessert?!

I've aquired alot of frozen desserts over the last few weeks that I've been wanting to try: Vitalicious VitaBrownies, Skinny Cow Chocolate with Fudge Cones and a new SmartOnes sundae flavor, Mint Chocolate Chip. It's like every time I go food shopping I find something new and exciting! With boxes piling up in the freezer, I decided it was time to try some of this stuff.


Skinny Cow Chocolate with Fudge Cones are awesome. They definitely hit the spot when an ice cream craving hits. The chocolate ice cream is creamy and has swirls of fudge in it. The cone is crunchy and even has solid chocolate at the bottom of it, and for 150 calories and 3 grams of fat this cone is pretty decent. I want to try the vanilla with caramel cones soon!


Vitalicious VitaBrownies are kind of fun in that they're super tiny and sprinkled with walnuts, but I definitely prefer the Vitalicious chocolate muffins. I won't buy these again. The brownie was small and dry, but I have to say for 100 calories and 6 grams of fiber they're not that bad.


The SmartOnes Mint Chocolate Chip Sundae was really refreshing because of the creamy mint ice cream. My favorite part of the sundae was the tiny chocolate chips on top. Aside from being really tiny, this sundae is pretty awesome for 150 calories and 3 grams of fat because all of the compenents don't scream diet food: mini chocolate chips, fudge, creamy mint ice cream, and a cookie crust base.

While these desserts are low-cal compared to regular ice cream and brownies, they're not foods I eat on a regular basis. I'll definitely be turning to the cones and sundaes once it gets warmer out though!

Random rant - I wish JP Licks would post nutrition info on their website or anywhere for that matter. I heart their Oreo fro-yo and while it is non-fat, who knows how many calories and grams of sugar are actually in it. JP is giving away a free cup or cone to celebrate Red Sox Opening Day on April 8, let me know if you try any fun flavors!

Greek / Turkish / Middle Eastern Amazingness

I love ethnic food: Mexican, Japanese, Thai, the list could go on forever but I ESPECIALLY love Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine. I’ve strolled along Newbury Street countless times and had never noticed Café Jaffa on Gloucester until friends started raving recently about how delicious and cheap the food is.

After all the praise, I finally went tonight for dinner. I ordered the Baba Ghanoush Plate which came with a salad and pita. Baba Ghanoush is smoked eggplant blended with onion and spices. I expected it to come on top of the salad, but instead it came along side it. While it was really really pureed, almost to the consistency of hummus, it was still pretty delicious.

My Baba Ganoush after I had dipped some pita in it


Rachel’s Falafel and Houmus Plate, I tried the hummus and it was tasty


As far as cheap Middle Eastern food goes, this was probably the best I’ve had in Boston.

New York Favorites:
-The Pita House
-Gilshar
-Mykonos

The Most Important Meal of the Day

I've never been much of a breakfast person because I'd much rather get the extra sleep or take the time to straighten my hair, but this semester has really thrown me off. My class schedule is kind of all over the place and I tend to have class when I would normally have lunch, which forces me to eat lunch much later than I'm used to. A few days into the semester I realized I needed a much more filling breakfast than my usual chocolate caramel GOLEAN Crunchy bar ...my fav!

Lately I've been loving my vanilla yogurt concoction -



-1 sliced banana
-1/2 cup Trader Joe's Organic non-fat French Vanilla Yogurt
-1/4 cup Kashi GOLEAN
-1 tablespoon sliced almonds
-1 tablespoon golden raisins

Eating a legit sit down breakfast is a new thing for me. What are some of your favorite quick and easy things to make for breakfast?