ohm.....24 Hours

I arrived home last night and headed straight to yoga. Pressure of projects and deadlines was really getting to me and I didn't feel like running, so yoga it was. It felt marvelous. We did a lot of breathing exercises and leg stretches. I admit, I WAS one of those people that believed that yoga was only breathing and balancing, but the more I practice, the more I discover amazing physical and mental benefits.

After 90 minutes, my mind was clear and I felt a thousand times better. I came home to a cooked meal - noodles, peanuts, chicken and egg stir mix. It was a quick and filling dinner. I absolutely love the combo of sweet and salty. My favorite part of this meal - chunks of egg.

The little sous-chef (aka Brinkley) goes crazy when the chef makes this meal. It has all of her favorite foods - chicken, peanut and egg. She is running from one chair to the other and begging and whining. It's like this meal was creating just for her. I wonder if there is a pet friendly version of this meal?

I woke up this morning refreshed and ready to conquer my to do list. I only have less than 24 hours before I leave again, so a lot to cram into a day, but I can do it. To start my day right, I slept in and made a great breakfast.

It was vanilla almond granola with flex seeds, blueberries, 1/2 peach, cranberries, and spoon of peanut and macadamia nut butter. Delicious!

Don't you just love the color of those blueberries!!!! The chef copied my breakfast and made the same thing. He loved it, too. The only difference was that he didn't have the nut butters. I kept telling him that's what makes this a perfect breakfast, but he kept it to three ingredients. Oh well...difference in opinions and flavors is what our relationship is all about.

It's time to tackle my to-do list.....only 20 more hours left....

-The Faux Foodie Girl

Eating Airport Food

My stay in NYC was short lived and I am on my way home. I woke up a little later than originally planned, got ready, packed all my stuff and decided to walk in the opposite direction from yesterday. There are so many Starbuckses in NYC I was bound to find a new one on the next corner, with a different view, and different people to watch.

On my way to find a new Starbucks, I found Jamba Juice. So instead of having an oatmeal without fresh fruit and peanut butter, I decided to have a smoothie. I always get the wild berry with protein, but they had a special promotion on the new yumberry superfruit smoothies, so I ventured out and tried something new.

I had an Acai-Super Antioxidant smoothie that consists of acai juice, strawberries, blueberries, soy milk, raspberry sherbet with antioxidant power boost. It was delicious. It had the sweetness that I like, but you can certainly taste the acai juice and the power boost. This smoothie was so delicious that I drank it all by the time I crossed the street and walked into Starbucks.

I found a great seat near the window - perfect for some more people watching. I worked for a few hours and than it was time to head to the airport. By the time I got through the check-in and security, my stomach was grumbling. Thankfully, today was the first day of the "Food Court" at the Laguardia airport. I loved that it had everything for everyone - Prime Steakhouse, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, hummus and crackers, pre-made salads, salad bar, greek yogurt, Dylan's Candy, oatmeal, cafe and baked goods, really everything for everyone. So many great choices.

I chose turkey sandwich on seven grain roll with hummus, baby spinach, roasted peppers, cucumbers and provolone cheese with veggie chips. I also picked up Dylan's Candy milk malted chocolate bar. It satisfied my sweet tooth.

I am now flying in the friendly skies. It's actually quiet turbulant, but the clouds look so fluffy and beautiful. My plan is to come home, unpack, go to yoga and than continue working on the presentation. Somewhere in between, I have to get ready for a 9am meeting for a new piece of business I am pitching. I hope the chef has dinner planned, if not there is always the Whole Foods Salad bar or Chipotle.

-The Faux Foodie Girl

The New York Minute

Ladies and Gents - I am in my favorite BIG city in the world - New York City. I arrived on Sunday and it's been raining ever since. I am here for business, but plans changed last minute, don't they always in the Faux Foodie World!?!

So what's a girl to do? I woke up bright an early, got ready as if I were going to work (I actually think this is a key to working from home) and headed right for Starbucks. I ordered oatmeal and my regular ice-venti non-fat latte. It was a bit cold drinking the ice-coffee, but needless to say, I survived.I packed smart this time and brought blueberries and peanut butter with me. The Starbucks oatmeal additions are great, but there is nothing like fresh fruit and peanut butter. It was delicious, gooey and warm - almost like the one I make at home. Packing smart really pays off.

After spending couple of hours in Starbucks, I came back to my room and worked for another 6 hours and got one BIG project done. It felt so good. It was such a relief to be done. I still have "polishing" to do on the presentation, but the heart of it is DONE.

I am in NYC often and I always stay in the upper west side right next to the Central Park, but this time I decided to mix things up a bit. This time, I chose to stay in midtown. I stayed at a hotel that I always used to stay while doing the Food Show - oh the memories! It was small, nice and clean and at a great location.

Right before I came back to my room from Starbucks, I picked up a delicious sandwich at the Metro Cafe - they are on EVERY single corner of New York streets. They have plenty of healthy options and I picked up a great tasty sandwich. It was made with turkey, chipotle mayo, avocado, baby spinach and pappadew peppers. So delicious. It was gone in a minute - the New York minute. I was so tempted to pick up another one for dinner.

What made this sandwich was avocado - pappadew pepper - chipotle mayo, oh an the crusty chiabata bread. I must recreate this at home.

Somewhere around 4:30pm I decided I needed a break. I turned off the computer, took my camera and set out for a walk. I walked for miles. Yes miles. I actually took my Garmin and by the time I got back to the hotel, I walked 5.7 miles. Completely invigorating.

This photo is an epitome of New York City. Love it!!!

Street corner cafes....

Vast streets and yellow cabs....

French Bistro that reminds me of Paris....

Walk-ups...

"Think Coffee" - don't you just love that title of a coffee shop....
My favorite street....
New York, New York....
My second favorite store...yes, it's all the shops and boutiques;)
Just another New York Street....
Vegan Restaurant right next to Dean & Deluca....
This is exactly what I have in mind every time I think about the New York Streets - people and yellow cabs.
My favorite fine foods store - Dean & Deluca. There is a big sign NO Photography allowed, so I only got the picture of the window awnings...it will do.
After 4.5 hours and 5.7 miles of walking, a bit of shopping (of course it's New York), I was starving. I walked in the first Metro Cafe and picked up tomato/cucumber salad and a slice of mushroom pizza. My taste buds were in heaven. Salty, refreshing, a little grease, and perfectly crunchy.

My day in NYC left me happy. I enjoyed every minute of it. And I am looking at the calendar as I am coming back in October. Fall in New York City, here I come.

-The Faux Foodie Girl

Lazy Chef

While I was out on the trail (the newly discovered running path), I got a message from the chef "I am feeling lazy. I am definitely not cooking tonight. I cooked on my birthday". Even though he stopped at the grocery store and bought everything that we planned on having for dinner, cooking wasn't happening. Knowing the chef that only meant one thing - Chipotle. It's his favorite fast/healthy place to get lunch/dinner. It looks like the chef is extending his birthday celebrations.

I always get the same thing - chicken bowl with rice, black beans, lettuce, tomato and corn salsa, cheese and guacamole on a side. Their portions are huge so I am always guaranteed to have lunch ready for the next day.

Since I order guacamole on a side, I pretend this is my appetizer. The Chipotle's guacamole is velvety, smooth and fresh. I could easily eat another bowl of it. As a matter of fact, I would be perfectly happy just to eat their guacamole and chips. My favorite chips are the original "Food Should Taste This Good". They are crunchy and healthifed (flax seeds included), what more can you ask for.

All together - yummy. Just what I was craving for - salty, spicy and fulfilling. Delicious and nutritious meal after a good run.

Sometimes you just need a night off...I am exhausted, and tomorrow is a long day. Good Night....

-The Faux Foodie Girl

Birthday Celebrations Continued

To continue the low key birthday celebrations, the chef and I decided to try out a new running trail. My running group meets on certain days at the >>>>>>> Park, and it's all trail running. I decided that the chef would love it there. It's a nice 4.5 miles loop. We ran through woods, even had some incline, through horse ranches, along the tropical park and looped back to the park. It was so nice to escape the city and be one with the nature.

We both agreed that we fall in a rut of always running the same route around the house. It gets really boring day after day to run the same 4-6 miles. With so many parks in the Broward county, we agreed that from now on, every weekend (when both of us are in town of course), we will explore a new park. Be it running, biking or walking.

The park closes at 8pm and by the time we looped back we barely had time to walk for a few minutes and stretch before we were asked to leave. It's incredible what you can find if you branch out or go in a different direction. This park is only 10 minutes away from our house, but neither of us ever noticed it before.

I knew chef didn't want to go out for his birthday, but rather stay at home and enjoy a healthy meal. Now take a look at this picture. If this is not an epitome of healthy clean eating, I don't know what is.

We had mojo marinated grilled chicken with steamed broccoli and seven grains mixture. When the chef served the meal and tasted the seven grains, he looked at me and said "Oh you will love this - it's so weird tasting, it's perfect for you!". I wouldn't say it was his favorite, but he said he wouldn't mind having it again. Victory!!!!

We spent the rest of the night relaxing, opening birthday cards and gifts and watching TV. It was one of those rare nights when we were both home and chilling.

BTW, the chef loved my gift - it was a 100% score. I guess you can't go wrong with Bass Pro Gift Cards. I am not a big fan of gift cards for the immediate family, but the things that he wants at Bass Pro I can't even pronounce or know what they look like, so the gift card was perfect. Happy Birthday Chef!!!

-The Faux Foodie Girl

Revitalized Egg Sandwich

It's chef's birthday today. In honor of his birthday, he made ME an egg sandwich. Something is clearly wrong with this picture, but I will not complain.

It's safe to say, he is nothing like me. If you remember, I celebrated my birthday all month long. He showered me with gifts each week of the birthday month. We continued celebrating my birthday with a trip to Jamaica, and on it goes. The chef on the other hand doesn't want his birthday even acknowledged. But this year, something has changed. He made me breakfast and promptly asked "What did you get me for my birthday?".

Usually I am asking weeks ahead what would he like for his birthday and it's always the same answer "I don't know. I really don't need anything". He forgets that birthdays are not for needing something, but rather wanting. This year however, he has gotten back into hunting. He has spent numerous hours in the Bass Pro Shop, not to mention $$$ on purchasing "equipment" for duck, turkey and deer hunting. According to him, it all requires something different. Of course it does. I understand that, you can't wear the same shoes to the cocktail party and work. Yes, I am comparing shoes to hunting "equipment". But I think I thought him well ;)

So, what did I get him for his birthday....I guess you'll just have to find out tonight.

Anyway, let's get back to breakfast - a revitalized egg sandwich. This morning, I added spinach and brussel sprouts. I am feeling a need for more vegetables in my body and a little green added to the egg sandwich was just what I needed.

And the egg sandwich saga continues. I really can't seem to get enough of it. Today's egg sandwich was served on the Thomas' Bagel Thins, and for some reason, they just don't do it for me. I much prefer regular bagel or English Muffins. But, the chef is the fan, and since he did the grocery shopping while I was out of town, there is no room for complaining ;)

I am properly fueled until lunch and my TO DO list needs some serious TLC.

~The Faux Foodie Girl~

my life is spinning out of control

It's been a little crazy with all the changes in the Faux Foodie casa. Or as the saying goes "my life is spinning out of control" but, a spoonful of dark chocolate dreams, makes it all worth while living. One of the major changes in the FF life is the work life - read: new office location - new job - new responsibilities. I have joined the world of "Working from Home" peeps and this is my office. Tropical paradise completely inspires my creativity and I am loving it. The only downfall, well, there is none....I am doing exactly what I have been dreaming of doing for a very long time. The happiness that I have been searching for since leaving DC has been found. Welcome to my new life!!!

Part of this new life has been eating breakfast at the dinning room table. Not only does chef makes the egg sandwiches for breakfast, he also indulges me in buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup, peanut butter, assortment of berries, bananas and almonds. As much as I love the egg sandwich, it's kind of hard to compete with pancakes...Pure heaven of deliciousness.

As you can tell, pancakes are no longer just Sundays breakfast. They are becoming the perfect Wednesday morning treat.

With the new work life, I am trying to keep all the meals on the regular schedule. Meaning, I pack my lunches and snacks and try to control myself around Dark Chocolate Dreams. It ain't easy, I can tell you that much.

Lunch today, was an another one of those really good ones....OK, it's the same thing I ate on Monday, but I didn't have a picture to show for and now I remembered...Iphone photos are not the clearest, but... Curry chicken and baby spinach on croissant and carrots. Delic!!! Thank you Fresh Market on Flamingo Road.

Dinner was a complete refrigerator clean up. There were so many leftovers from the week and since I will be out of town, nothing was spared. My dinner looked very much like kitchen sink salads - all but a kitchen sink, or in this case, all but the refrigerator.

The kitchen sink salad consisted of baby spinach, tomatoes, yellow and orange peppers, onions, cucumber, pasta salad, and spinach pancakes, all mixed with Annie's goddess dressing.

What can I say except, it was completely satisfying, tasty and fulfilling. Best thing of all, the refrigerator is empty now.

Among many things going on in the Faux Foodie life, I am attending a food blogger conference this weekend in Chicago - Healthy Living Summit. I am not sure how I got lucky to get a ticket to this highly coveted event, but I am going. The bags, camera and laptop are packed. See you from Chicago.

Bon Apetit, the Faux Foodie Girl

Dark Chocolate Dreams

I clearly remember my dreams from last night - they were vivid, real and chocolaty. And they involved staying in bed. Can you tell where this is going? The second day of training didn't go so well. As per my schedule it was a strength training day, but the sofa sounded so much better. It was a long and mentally exhausting day, and all I wanted was a little bit of comfort food.

For these "just in case I need comfort food days", my pantry is always stocked with Petit Beure Biscuits and Dark Chocolate Dream. The petit beure biscuits always bring me back to my childhood. The warmth, the good memories, the good times. And the dark chocolate dream - well, I guess the title says it all - it's a chocolate dream. Complete magic happens when I eat it. This little combo makes life so much sweeter. It's velvety, crunchy and satisfying. What more do you need.

So the day might have not started as planned, but my meals were right on track. In my lunch bag, I found the new bar (thank you Chef) - PROBAR FRUITION - strawberry flavor. It was REALLY, REALLY good - oats, dates, strawberries, yum, yum, yum.

Lunch - leftovers thanks to the Chef!!! Mozzarella bufala and basil pizza. The sweet, fresh taste of basil - there is nothing that smells more like summer than basil. There is nothing better than cold pizza. Sure, it might sound weird, but it's how I like it.

And dinner, well, the chef just doesn't disappoint, does he!?! Like I said, it was mentally exhausting and long day and he certainly fed my craving for comfort food - breaded chicken and Annie's pasta salad with spinach. Oh and a glass of wine, of course. The contrast of hot and cold was refreshing and satisfying - can you tell this meal hit the spot? Delicious!!!

Talk about a comfort eats day. What can I say, I needed love, comfort and warmth today, and my eats certainly delivered. I am off to bed, as tomorrow is a new day and a new start. See you in the early AM. It's a new training day....Nite