FOUR

Happy Birthday to my Pup, Mickey. She’s 4 today. No, I’m not thowing her a party. But we will have some cuddles and treats and possibly a really long walk provided the weather holds up…and if Mommy doesn’t get too thirsty at Happy Hour. LOL.
A quick post today. A really quick post later on the winner of the Mini Herb Garden. You still have till Noon today to enter! Click here!

For breakfast, a very uninspiring bowl of cinnamon spice oatmeal with a heaping tablespoon of Mighty Maple Peanut Butter. The good news is that the jar is sorta empty now and I will be having oats in a jar very soon!

Now that I am back at the gym, lunch prep has taken a back seat. I am going for quick eats that will keep me going but require the minimum effort to assemble. Behold the junk salad:

Literally thrown together in seconds. Spring greens topped with cut up slices of Virginia Ham, 1/4 chopped avocado, big tablespoon of roasted red pepper hummus, fat free mozzarella cheese, and alfalfa sprouts. Not pictured is the balsamic vinaigrette that I made… it wasnt the greatest dressing. If you have a homemade dressing you want to share feel free to leave a comment with tips or email me. I am getting a little bored with the bottled dressings.

Among some of the random things I take from my mothers refrigerator, I scored a cornish hen. I LOVE Roasted poultry…i CANNOT stand chicken or cornish hen when its cooked in the crock pot. It takes on this weird texture, odor and taste that most people cannot identify…but it makes me ILL. I havent had crock pot chicken since the last time i made it… the smell REALLY gets to me.

ANYWAY. Cornish hens, where I live are really expensive. Mom picked up a bunch of hens at BJs for a steal and my father HATES them… (thanks Dad) and mom handed this baby over…

I cleaned it up and then got to seasoning it. Onion, garlic, Salt, Pepper, and parm cheese. Never put parm cheese on poultry before but i was feeling a little adventurous. I put this lil baby in the toaster oven but the parm cheese started to burn and we cant have that so i put the oven on and roasted it for 30 mins. it was small so it cooked fast.

I had trimmed this up really nicely and thought the parm and the garlic were awesome additions to the seasoning. I might just start adding parm cheese to my poultry from now on..

There would be some pics of the cornish hen in all its yummy glory but I came home a little tipsy and kinda went to town on it… the end results were ugly!

Its Official (and a giveaway)

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck… its a duck right?
All this time I have been calling myself a blogger and confessed my love of peanut butter and my love of oats, and my love of tofu and bla bla bla… but there was on blogger trend that I never tried. When I first saw it I thought it was a great idea for using up every last bit of peanut butter in the jar… Oh, yes, I am referring to oats in a jar. Nevermind the fact that my first experience of putting peanut butter in my oats involved a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams and a packet of Cinnamon Roll oatmeal… how incredible it was… but the thought of putting oats in a jar of peanut butter never crossed my mind.
Maybe because I have a bajillion different flavors of peanut butter that have yet to reach the Oats in A Jar status…
Until Now.
I was working on the cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter for Months! Months i tell ya and the amount left in this jar was pitiful. I happened to have a packet of oatmeal and I seized the moment.

The verdict. Wonderful. I could not believe the additional volume to my oats. They were incredibly creamy and the peanut butter was studded with raisins so the extra bonus of raisins made for a textural paradise. seriously, party in my mouth. I am looking forward to more oats in a jar parties in my mouth as my bajillion jars are coming to an end. i will keep ya posted.

Around lunchtime i tried a new sammy. Avocados are in season and I love love love me some fresh and ripe avocado. When i first joined the workforce many moons ago, my first lunch was a grainy bread stuffed with tomatoes, hummus, avocado, and sprouts. So, i recreated it. Two slices of Ezekial 4:9 bread, 1/2 a ripe avocado, a healthy smear of red pepper hummus (translation: a glob), alfalfa sprouts and a heaping handful of spring greens. DIVINE. I have made some good sandwiches in my life… but this one – its VEGAN and its INSANELY good… and filling i might add. The calorie count on this whopper of a sammie is under 300 cals and kept me satiated till dinner.

Which wasnt so healthy.

When Carol was visiting, we passed by BAOHAUS and saw that it was JAMMED with eaters. We had just eaten and couldnt fathom another bite of anything…but i made a mental note to return.

While walking in the neighborhood i spotted the sign and noticed it was empty. I took this moment to experience Baohaus. Baohaus is in the lower east side and offers a small variety of vietnamese steamed buns. I am a steamed bun lover from the start since I work in Chinatown… but i wanted to put this place to the test.

The server was very friendly and helpful. I told her it was my first time there and she walked me through the ordering process. Since i wanted to sample them I asked for her recommendation. She knew I was looking to taste so she followed up by asking me if I like lean meats or fatty meats.

Taking a second to look at myself i thought and said FATTY.

And thats how i ended up with the Chairman Bao.

Braised Pork Belly, crushed peanuts, cilantro, Taiwanese red sugar, and relish on a steamed bun. It was $4 for one. I was a tad disappointed because $4 is a little steep for something so small… but the value comes when you buy them in bulk (3 at a time). Despite the price tag, I took a big girl bite. and then another. and another and before i knew it, this delectable treat was gone. Not wanting to go broke in the calorie house or in my wallet, I thanked her and walked out in search of some coffee. I thoroughly enjoyed the bun but in order to get back there someone is gonna have to buy )

And now, because Im in a good mood and because My Blog Spark sent me one, I have a giveaway.

Green Giant hooked me up and wants to hook you up to!

Enclosed in the prize pack is a resuable bag, a mini herb garden, three wooden cooking utensils, and a coupon for a free Green Giant Product.

As a city girl, i suck at planting anything… but this looked USER FRIENDLY enough.

I followed the directions and placed these babies on my window sill.

I will report the progress…. so far my basil is starting to sprout!

WANNA WIN?

One Entry per the following:

1- leave a comment about anything. What color is your top today? are you even wearing a top?

2- follow me. Cuz really, I am a great blogger and you want to hang on to every word i “say”

3- tweet tweet tweet: “Mo is giving away a mini Herb Garden. and No, its not weed” www.twitter.com/iarethefoodsnob

4 – link back… because more chances help your odds of winning

RULES:

- ANYONE in the U.S. can enter. You do not have to be a blogger to enter…but you MUST have an email address so i can let you know you are a winner.

- Contest ends Friday, april 9th at NOON.

- YOU MUST BE HUMAN to ENTER. Sorry Mickey Girl, you cant enter this one.

Cleaning out the Pantry

My fridge needs a serious restock. I find I am getting mighty creative in the eating department. And folks, when you dont satisfy your palette bad things happen… like you become a ravenous monster and you destroy every thing in your path till you find the thing that will make you most happy. Or, you just deal with it and dream up delicious things while you eat the stuff that just needs to be eaten already.
Early Morning. Workday. Only one thing on my mind: COFFEE
Alas, I am out of milk.
SHIT.
So i rummage through my cabinets and find a valentines day treat…
a Pink Hot Chocolate. I thought Chocolate= caffeine… right?

It was very pink which led me to beleive that it was made with white chocolate. White Chocolate = No Caffeine = No bueno.

I drank it in all its creamy pink goodness but headed to the bucks STAT for an IV filled with espresso. What is it about the transition of seasons that WIPES ME OUT! I am completely tired! And Im craving carbs like a junkie!

I grilled up some turkey sausage the other day was happy to pack a few links for breakfast. ((((Protein)))) and I had a mini portion of grits. Butter grits and turkey sausage- heaven!

While I was at the bucks I picked up a sandwich. I normally dont go for starbucks sammies because the calorie counts are INSANE! but this one wasnt bad. I beleive it was only 300 calories and had red pepper hummus inside… I am a sucker for red pepper hummus.

It was tasty but it was small. If im gonna have a veggie wrap the damn thing is gonna explode from all the veggies inside and its gonna be a two-hander (hold with 2 hands, duh). I’d get this again… if it were on sale (highly unlikely), if it were free (yeah, thats happening), or if it got bigger (TWSS).

At dinner time I wanted some straight up comfort in the form of frozen pizza.

I prepped a side salad (cuz we all know those pizzas pack on the calories but never leave you completely FULL- or i just REALLY like pizza and can never get full)

Stir fried up some ‘shroomies for the pizza topping. Hell, if I cant get take out- im gonna make this as enjoyable as possible!

Before the ‘shroomies.

After! MMMM. Delish. I am a big fan of garlic spinach on my pizza… its all spinach floretiney and stuff but i was out of espinaca (en ingles: spinach).

I was really craving a walk to the lite choice but it was 7:45 and I would not have made it to the joint in time.