Not Completely but Almost [Free]Tatta

I heard on the Today Show today that Thursday is one of the "unhappiest" days out of the week, based on a recent poll. I'm going to have to agree with the newscasters and say that I just do not agree! Like one of the ladies said, "I'm in a great mood today! ... Because tomorrow is Friday". Nothing wrong with that ;)

Because my weeks are getting more and more scattered with travel for work and play, I'm trying to be pretty frugal about buying groceries. There is nothing I hate more than having a ton of great looking produce and letting it go to waste because I end up traveling for the week. On the other note, sometimes when my fridge is full of fresh fruits and veggies, I end up eating waaaay too much because I'm afraid that it'll go bad. So, in an effort to try and just use anything perishable in my fridge, along with buying as minimal as possible I baked a delicious yet simple Frittata on Tuesday night!


In my fridge already was 4 organic eggs, some Jarlsberg cheese slices and 4 slices of Turkey bacon - (clearly I had a hankering for a bacon/egg/and cheese sandwich sunday morning). So I popped on down to the Chelsea Trader Joes which just opened and is the best thing on earth, literally :) Smiles appear on my face when I talk about it :) :)
...and I bought some mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and spinach for ~$5. Unbeatable.

Then I pranced on home, feeling pretty happy with myself and continued to bake the following:

Simple Frittata

Ingredients
- 3 eggs and 1 egg white
- 2 cups of mushrooms*
- 8 grape tomatoes*
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 slices of turkey bacon
- 2 slices of jarlsberg cheese
- coconut oil
- salt & pepper
- Thyme (1/2 Tsp)
*Use as many of these ingredients as you want and feel free to switch them up. That's the beauty of something like this, tons of different veggie combos can taste fabulous.
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Use butter or cooking spray to coat the bottom of a square baking pan (I assume any would work fine)
3. Put bacon on pan and cook until they look browned and crispy; place on paper towel to cool
4. Cut up mushrooms if they are not already sliced, and tomatoes in half
5. Saute cut veggies in 2 Tbs of oil until mushrooms are browned
6. Put veggies into baking pan to cover the bottom
7. Place spinach on top of veggies to add an additional layer
8. Scramble up eggs and egg white in a bowl and add a little water (or milk if you prefer)
9. Add in salt and pepper to your liking, and some thyme (Rosemary could work here to)
10. Add bacon to egg mixture
11. Pour egg mixture into baking dish
12. Pop into oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until egg looks well cooked
13. Take baking dish out and place cheese on top. Throw the pan back into the oven for an addtional 5 or so minutes, or on broil, to get a nice melted and crispy top.

Take out and enjoy!!

I was able to create 4 portions of this meal and use for lunch every day. Couldn't ask for anything better than a $1.25 lunch huh??

Happy thursday all - and feel free to enjoy it since tomorrow is Friday :)

Vegetarians Beware

I have never claimed to be a vegetarian, however sometimes I realize that I haven't eaten meat, chicken, or even fish, for a few days or a week at a time. Which then makes me question my overall protein intake and I end up dining on said meat, chicken, or even fish for the next weeks to make up for it. Ironically, I haven't been lacking protein in the past few weeks (mostly due to my stash of chicken sausages from whole foods - too many flavors to ever get bored)! However, I somehow managed to consume more meat in 1 meal this weekend, than I think I ever have, or will again... at least until my next bbq excursion ;)

Yes, that's right, on Sunday night (when nothing counts right??) I headed to Hill Country in Flatiron/Chelsea. I heard plenty about this unique place, but have never ventured inside. It's a little intimidating at first because it looks like a market where you bobble around with trays and pick and choose what you want. Not so fast though because there is a hostess at the front with a vibrant pig tattoo on her arm, and she is taking names... Needless to say, the staff is very friendly and explained how everything would work, once the initial shock of entering into this haven for meat-lovers wore off. Basically, each diner gets a ticket and you have a waitress for drinks, but otherwise, you bring your ticket up to each individual counter and the staff will check off what you order -- super simple!

First stop -> BBQ. Seeing as how we were totally out of our element, we asked the man with the giant meat cleaver for suggestions. He promptly stated that for the two of us: "3 lbs, moist brisket and pork spare ribs". Mmm Done and Done.

The sides table was where I really got excited and picked up a "Healthy Eatin'" Portion of smashed sweet potatoes and a cucumber salad. We may have snagged a piece or two of cornbread on the side ;)



Dig In!


Diner TIP - 3 lbs of meat is waaaaay too much, even for two people. I loved the pork spare ribs and had about two, but the moist brisket was just way too fatty for my liking. It comes with white bread so I put a few pieces into one slice and folded it over, but the texture and taste are just not my cup of tea. My dinner guest, on the other hand, just couldn't get enough of it! :)

Needless to say I had to be rolled home, but it was a fun dinner date for sure.

Additional recommendations: There is live music here! Check out the music schedule if you are planning on going and make sure you get in a good square dancing round!

Disappearing Act

Whoa, it's been a while since my last post! Between a plethora of vacations and trying to fend off this little cold that I will not let get the best of me, I have been so tired and overwhelmed and as a result have not been eating well at all. I figured, there is not better way to stabilize and regroup than to return from my disappearing act and starting accounting for all of my eats! And having all of you keep me in check ;)

I lucked out last night and had this ah-maze-ing dinner at Barbuto. Seriously so delicious, I'm not joking. I started with a grapefruit salad and then ordered the Seabeam as an entree. The fish comes whole (eyes and all) so I got to cut off the head and take off the spine. There is no harm in playing with your food as an adult!

Fun Fact: if you are stranded on an island, eat the eyeballs of fish for hydration. (Yes I learned this last night...and no I did not eat them, I had a glass of water / wine in front of me so I was all set)

Dessert was an indulgence but well worth it: coffee semifredo icecream, lemon almond pound cake and mint gelato. Mm mm. No worries! I split this between 5 people, but I wish it was all for me :)

After my extra-large dins last night, I started off the morning on the right foot with a killer spin workout (I created 40 wats of energy on the new Green Revolution bikes!) and a protein shake:

1 C organic skim milk, 1 Scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 T ground flax, handful of frozen cranberries. This was delicious, and pink!

What is your take on protein powder? Is it chemicals? Is it better to get protein from "real" foods? I don't know that much/anything about it so any information would be helpful and interesting!

Great to be back folks!