Let Downs Left and Right

I would have posted sooner but someone placed 5 dozen (thats a lot) freshly baked cinnamon rolls near my desk. Its always on a day when I am dead serious about staying within my range… and then the temptation in the form of warm baked cinnamon rolls sits in front of me.
I took a 1/4 of one.
Probably still 300 cals worth of cinnamony sin.
DAMMIT.
I got ready for a delicious cup of traders joes greek yogurt and to my horror disocovered a funky gelatnous ring in the center of my yogurt… the date was fresh… and i was grossed out. CHUCKED! I went into the office fridge and found a chobani that was given to me last week… i cautiously opened it and gave it a stir… it was still good. whew. i threw in some oat bran. fresh bloobs and crumbled a 100 cal blueberry muffin.
I snapped a crappy shot of this and started to dig in. I got some really grossed out looks but it tasted a lot like a trifle. It was heavenly!
Speaking of heavenly, I had made a buffalo “chicken” salad for lunch and my fellow diva called and said “We need a drink, Mo”. And i looked at my salad. I looked out the window. Looked at the salad. Looked out the window…
“okay, i will meet you at the pub in 5″
The pub won. Not just for the ice cold beer with lunch but for this beauty: Matt, the bar owner always rolls his eyes when I order, jokingly of course, because this meal in his mind is a “healthy girly meal”. And really the only thing healthy is that i ask for salad instead of fries. My friends ordered loaded tater tots and double stuffed baked potatoes…i ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with chipotle mayo, fresh spinach and some provologne cheese. The spinach florentine sandwich. I dont know if it was karma or the fact that the kitchen was so busy but the end result was that my sandwich wasnt what i was hoping for it to be. It was on the bland side (blasphemy!) but the side salad? PERFECTION!
the reality of my disappointing sandwich inspired me to go home and make some fake take out. Lo Mein.
I couldn’t find my chicken seasonings and decided to wing it. (hahaha-wing, chicken- get it?) I diced up some lite tofu and a ginormous zucchini. I sauteed them both in some sesame oil and garlic for a few mins and then tossed in some thoroughly rinsed tofu shirataki noodles.

I added some soy sauce, ponzu sauce, onion, garlic, and some other randoms that i thought would make this taste good.

It wasnt TERRIBLE but it really needed that chicken seasoning to bump up the flavors and steer clear of the SOY SAUCE flavor. lol. I still enjoyed it but my other lo meins have been much much more successful.

How has having a craving for something let you down?

I was once craving crispy fries from Pomme Frites and the order i took to go was completely soggified. GAG

Do you think your PARENTS should use Facebook, and if so Should they be friends with you and your friends?

I say maybe. Parents should take a Facebook tutorial and study a List of Dos And Donts. This should be something for Melissas Three Things Thursday!

You love me!

Good Monday to you all.

Seems that the majority of you, (okay, all of you) really liked Story Time. I really loved the feedback you gave and I love making you smile! I think this will be a nice little project for the summer blogging… how do you guys feel about a Story Time Friday?

While packing up my groceries this weekend I unearthed a mini cinnamon scone that I had baked a few months ago… it wasnt wrapped properly and wreaked of “FREEZER”. Bummer. So I prepared my morning ICED coffee (yay summer) and headed to work. The iced coffee was delicious. The bottle however was a giant piece of ISH. I got this bottle at the Self Workout in the Park a few weeks ago. I was really diggin the bottle and the damn thing leaked, the straw didnt stay connected to the mouth piece and every time i opened the bottle, it flicked liquid on my shirt… not the desired effects one expects – especially when wearing a WHITE shirt. After i finished my iced coffee my bottle met the trash can.

Still having a hankering for a sweet bread in the AM to consume with my java, I went downstairs to the food cart (God Bless NYC) and asked my muffin man (he likes when i call him that) for whatever he had that was low fat. When I got to my desk I unearthed a softball sized, supposedly LOW FAT, Muffin.

Of course I ate the whole thing.

But that was because I knew what I was having for lunch.

When I went grocery shopping I picked up the most delectable rotisserie chicken… And had so much meat leftover. I am going to store some this yumminess in the freezer… so I dont get sick of it and toss it.

When it comes to “cleaning” a chicken.. I dont play games. And Mickey got a lovely treat of chicken skin and fatty drippings in her kibble. I never saw that dog eat so fast! She had an adorable chicken beard after she ate but of course the moment i turned the camera on she licked her face clean. I made a chicken salad for lunch.. So the softball muffin (all 1,000,000 calories) of it were somewhat balanced… right?

No, I know. Thats just me lying to myself again.

And when I got home, I looked at that pile of chicken and said “NAH”… and in all honesty, ever since my roommate moved in I have been slackin on the food shoppage because I am sharing my fridge… I just took it as an opportunity to order out.

I was in the mood for salmon so i got a salmon terriyaki dish.

And since the owners know me they sent over a bento at no additional charge. I seriously dont know how people can regularly cram that much food into their bodies… i enjoyed it but consuming this entire thing is ridic! Glad to have these leftovers! yum.

When i opened the door to recieve my delivery the delivery guy said “WOW! I havent seen you in a LONG time! its SO nice to see you again!”

Note to self: don’t order from the same place twice in one week…

So back to this story time Friday idea: yay? nay? or Whatevs?

Rode My Bike!

I said last week I was gonna bike ride to brooklyn…
I didn’t.
But mom did call me and tell me she wanted to go for a bike ride in Flushing Meadow park. Ah, Flushing Meadows… i have such fond memories of this old ass park! Like the time my father took me to a Mets game on Cap day and after the game we went for a walk in the park and it started to rain and the dye on my free hat leaked all over my face and shirt. Or when he took me to The Hall of Science and we got lost in the parking lot and ended up walking around the ENTIRE park to find the Hall of Science when it was a few feet behind the car we parked. We were such boneheads. (i still am)
So i woke up felt the tires on my bike and made a trip to the gas station for some air. Two really nice guys helped me fill my tires and I was really flattered until i realized they were hurrying so they could use whatever air was left on the meter after they were done helping me… smh. I was happy my hands didnt get dirty until the chain popped while riding back to my apt to meet my parents. I fixed it and with my black greasy hands we met up and i had a small brekkie
Protein cookie dough. I knew we were gonna have a big brunch type of thing after the bike ride so i loaded up on protein.
Then my father and I couldn’t figure out how to put my bike on the bike rack. I told you, we are boneheads. My mother got out the car and said “try turning the bike around”…
and that worked.
We got to the park and I was ready to go. Caution: DIVA on a BIKE. EVERYBODY MOVE!
Lots of hills. Lots of stops cuz my seat was not working properly. Finally fixed the seat and rode around for about an hour. Towards the end of the ride there was a MASSIVE hill that was so steep that bikers were WALKING their bikes up… and I decided that I was gonna take on that hill! i adjusted my gears and huffed and puffed ALL THE WAY UP. and the fun part was when i got to go down the massive hill.
No one was hurt.
We finally got to the beginning of the park and stopped for a sip of gatorade.

Mom saw it as a photo op. Thanks Mom. Only you can take the worst picture of me at the worst possible angle. Whatever. Its funny. I am funny. I know how to laugh at myself… and she should be warned that when the camera is out… i might just take a bad pic of her and post it on the internet! SO there.

We had a beautiful brunch that I could not share photos of because i didnt charge my camera. BONEHEAD. But I saved the leftovers for din din.

A De-constructed huevos rancheros if you will. 2 fried eggs, a 2 oz piece of steak (it was originally intended for mickey… but she was a bad girl), some red beans, avocado, and 2 slices of arnolds sandwich thins toasted with spray butter. I love breakfast for dinner!

Around dessert time, i wanted something healthy and yummy. And I remembered that Naomi had a really easy recipe for protein muffins and I had just about everything in stock!

Please see her list of ingredients and try it out! Its amazingly simple. I made a few tweaks:

1.5 cups of oatmeal (it was all i had left- didn’t see a point in keeping .5 cups of oats)

1.5 tsp baking powder

.5 tsp baking soda

1 heaping tbsp of cinnamon

3 scoops of protein powder

1 packet of fat free hot cocoa (she called for unsweetened cocoa… but i had none)

1 egg

1 cup of pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup of milk

I stirred in a big bowl and poured into muffin tins

I baked these babies at 350* for 18 minutes. My apartment smelled like the amish bread that i tortured my former roommate with! so this was promising!

When they were done, i took a big bite.

Love. Next time I’m gonna try with oat bran ( if i can ever find some! grrr) but these are awesome. I have them in the freezer for easy treats.

No clue on the calorie content but its yummy. I smeared one with PB and needed a moment alone.. it was divine.

I might be going for another bike ride this weekend… any recs on “fuelage”? favorite snacks for bike riding?

P.S. Dont forget to enter my $20 Stop and Shop Giveaway! Contest ends Thursday April 29th at 11:59 PM!

Meatloaf Muffins

FOOD SNOB IS NOW ON FACEBOOK YA’LL! Click the badge to over there -> or wait for the link later (FB is blocked at this computer, boooooooo!)

Its so gorgeous these days!
I have never noticed the effects of weather on my mood up until recently… I feel wonderful on beautiful days. Maybe I am just getting older. But for whatever its worth- I am in a great mood.
My allergies on the other hand are a mess. I am a sneezy sniffly puffy-eyed mess. And not even the expensive prescription allergy meds are providing much relief. I was the sneezy sniffly girl on the train today. I was the woman that people were tweeting about
“I swear if this chick blows her nose one more time…”
LOL
But it will all be over soon.
I went to visit momma the other day, and as always, when i leave moms house, i leave with groceries. Its going on 3 years that I have been living on my own and mom still shops like shes feeding an army. But why should i complain? She throws bags of kale, broccoli, and other random things that ROT in her fridge whenever i go there. Recently, she gave me some ground turkey and mushrooms.
I was thinking of using them separately but after much consideration I felt like meatloaf was in order. Meatloaf because i havent had meatloaf in a LONG time and the thought of chili in this weather is just not comforting (maybe in the winter). And the mushrooms? A mushroom sauce of course!
I preheated the oven to 350*. In the only mixing bowl in my house (its also my popcorn bowl), I combined the meat with an egg, a handful of italian breadcrumbs, 1 small chopped onion, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder. I then folded all the ingredients together to get all the ingredients acquainted with one another.
Stealing this idea from heather, i decided to use my muffin tin to bake the meatloaf. Normally i would make it the traditional way but now that im trying to get swim suit ready (HA!) i thought i would go for portion control.

I sprayed each cooking spray to avoid stickage and baked for about 30 mins. Since the meatloaf is portioned into smaller servings it will cook faster. While the meatloaf was cooking (and making my apartment smell OH SO NICE) I got to the mushroom gravy. Mom gave me like a pound of mushrooms! Once i cleaned them up, i sliced them and sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil. I kept them over a low flame and as they cooked, i sprinkled them with salt which helped draw out the natural liquids. I sprinkled some flour and whisked it into the mushroom “juice” to create a roux and i seasoned it with onion and garlic. I kept tweaking it by adding a little more water here and a little more flour there till the consistency was right enough for it to simmer.

SIMMER ACTION! OOOOOH.

I also needed some Greens… the number of greens in my diet have been few. An asparagus is in season so i trimmed off the woody ends and steamed some asparagus. I sprinkled them with salt, pepper and a little parm cheese.

I split a meatloaf muffin in half and poured my mushroom sauce over it alongside my steamed veggies.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meatloaf… the problem with making the meatloaf muffins, there are cute little servings readily available. I hate to admit but i went back for another one shortly after i consumed the plate above.

But i blame my mom for all of that! After all, if she didnt throw the chopped meat and mushrooms my way NONE of this would have happened.

So thanks mom!
Only one more day left to enter the Mini Herb Garden Giveaway! Now all three of my specimens are starting to sprout! If this City Girl can make this happen so can you! Enter here!