Meals for one

Joe had plans last night to meet up with a friend at Denny's (Denny's? Seriously?), and I decided to use my rare meal for one status to indulge in one of my favorite things



Granted, I took the lazy route and bought frozen, but still a treat. Delicious chewy little bastards.

Decided to prepare a super simple meal (I have some grander plans for the rest of the packet a little later this week).

After defrosting, seasoned with loads of salt and pepper:



Then pan fried until yummy with cherry tomatoes, lots of garlic and a splash of white wine. Served with salad and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.



Truly delicious. Joe is not a big scallop fan, and I have missed these little guys. Next time, I may flex my Asian cooking skills and make pot stickers, but this shows that sometimes simple can be the best.

The Recessionista

The best part about cooking a creative dinner is reusing the leftovers the next day. It makes me a) responsible and thrifty and b) in line for a nice slice of dinner deja vu instead of my usual salad.

The pork and mushroom were delicious cold for a big badass sandwich. Add in a little salad (with my favourite new ingredient, raspberries) and one of the leftover sweet potato skins, and it was a very filling lunch. I enjoyed it with a big cold glass of water and yesterday's episode of Mad Men.



After a round of the 30 Day Shred this morning, I headed to the gym a little early for my kickboxing class this afternoon and knocked out a quick 3 mile run and 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Time for a quick snack..



Then it was time to punch and kick imaginary bad guys in class. I don't tend to do too many group activities, with the exception of long runs with the LA Leggers, I'm a bit of a solitary creature when I'm working out, and prefer to sweat and gasp in private - but the class is an amazing workout. If I'm feeling tired or have overrun my miles for the week, I'll sometimes phone it in, but this week I made an effort and kept on my toes for the full hour. I still don't enjoy being in a crowded, sweaty room full of people, but it's definitely a boost to my weekly workout.

Came back tired and gross and dove into half a banana which Joe had left for me. Onwards to dinner!

Gourmet night

When I went to bed last night, I vowed to stay there until I until a) hunger drove me out or b) the bed burst into flames.

Woke up at 10 in the middle of a confusing dream where I was re-enrolling at Oxford and moving back in with my roommate - at nearly 30. I forced myself to think calmer, happier thoughts and napped until midday, when cereal cravings forced me out.

After a quick lunch of scrambled eggs and a sprinkle of garlic chives, I made a quick trip to the gym for a 5 mile recovery run - not strictly needed after the 16 miler yesterday, but it felt great. I love running when it's easy and fluid like today. I felt like I could easily have run another 5 miles, but wanted to be careful and allow myself to recover. It's easy days like today that make me feel like an athlete. They almost make up for the painful, stumbly days when I'm forcing myself through it.

When I got home, it was time to try out a couple of recipes I've been excited about all week.

A few days ago, I added a brand new ingredient to the usual roster - pork tenderloin! Here it is nude. Try and avoid thinking about penises.

I was following the Napa Valley stuffed pork tenderloin recipe from one of my favorite new food blogs, with a few modifications, including rubbing with mustard before putting it in the oven.

Stuffed pre-oven:

Couldn't find any toothpicks to pin it together, so used fancypants wooden skewers. They worked great!

While the tenderloin cooked, I got busy on a yummy mushroom sauce to go with it. I mixed in some white and oyster mushrooms, and sauteed them with onion, wine, garlic and flour to thicken. Delicious!

Pre-wine:

Post-wine:

35 minutes later and the tenderloin was ready.

Carved

Continuing to pay homage to my sweet potato carby craving, I made sizzling sweet potato skins on the side (but forgot to take any photos of the process). This involved twice baking the potatoes - once to soften, scooping out the insides, blending with buttermilk and cinamon/paprika, then baking again for 15 minutes. We had them with sour cream and green onions.

The complete masterpiece:

This was my first truly ambitious meal in a few weeks (I've been sticking to some tried and tested recipes for a while) and I was really pleased with how it turned out. Not sure of the calorie count here (not completely sure that I want to know), but given that I didn't use any butter or oil (substituted with PAM), it didn't feel too sinful.

If I make it again, I may substitute plain potatoes for the sweet - it felt like the tastes clashed a little - but it was a great, truly satisfying meal that succeeded in quieting the marathon appetite for a whole night. No snack needed. Miracle!

Night of the endless desserts

The day of a long run is always a munchfest. I try to recover by eating fresh foods for lunch, then letting my tastebuds rule my head for dinner.

Hence today's healthy salad lunch

which included the last of the faux fried chicken, romaine leaves, tomatoes and raspberries, tossed in balsamic vinegar. PS. raspberries in chicken salad = amazing chicken salad. From now on, these two things are best friend in my kitchen.

For dinner, I headed out to a local pub called West 4 & Jane with my friend Jenn for some simple carby bar food. I was jonesin for sweet potato fries, but was disappointed to hear they'd discontinued their calamari salad wraps (had before, loved). To make up for it, I ordered the carbiest meal on the menu I could find - 'vittles' chicken with brown rice, sweet potatoes and coleslaw (not pictured).

Under normal circumstance, this might have got a thumbs down for being a touch bland, but as it was, on the ravenous carb train, this pretty much hit the spot.

Didn't mean that I wasn't automatically jealous of Jenn's fresh looking seafood cobb salad. She gave it a 'meh' review.

After dinner, we wandered over to Pinkberry, which has recently introduced an 'as many toppings as we can fit' policy, without charging you separately. This was good news for the kiwis, raspberries, granola flakes and chocolate shavings which got to join my frozen yogurt party.

We decided to go to the movies to catch 'Whip It', the roller derby comedy, and here's where the night took a turn for dessert madness.

Late night saturday movies without candy are just wrong. Enter the pick and mix store.

So easy to get carried away here (I want one of EVERYTHING), and pack a massive bag that is way too much and costs a bomb. I tried to stick to the non-sugar section where I could and just get a few select things.

My bag ended up costing only $2.50, and I was very proud of self for the restraint.

Needless to say, it was all gone by the middle of the cute but forgettable movie. I will be taking this to the treadmill tomorrow in penance, but for tonight I ride the sugar high! Yeehaa!

Sweet Sixteen

I was up with the birds this morning for a 16 mile run with my running group, the LA Leggers. This was a bit of a nerve racking one, as it was a) my first long run since the Long Beach marathon and b) my first long run with my new, faster group.

Loaded up on breakfast in the dark before heading out to prevent 10 mile rumbly belly. Round one was my usual cereal fruity potion:

Followed by an Arnolds sandwich thin, slathered in my two favorite guys:

To my complete surprise, the 16 mile run went very smoothly. It felt wonderful to run at a challenging pace and watch the miles melt away - I've been running below my natural pace now for a few months, and always felt cooped up and sluggish. We averaged around a 9:30 mile pace with fewer walk breaks, and it was one of my most pleasant long runs. I packed a Clif bar for extra energy on the run, but didn't even need to break into it (although I did snag an Oreo and a couple of orange slices from our volunteer water stations on the way)

Looking at your completed distance on the Garmin is the best. I'll never get tired of it.

A 16 mile run really makes you appreciate your recovery meal. I snagged a delicious bagel half from the LA Leggers HQ for the walk home, and decided to stick with the almond butter and jelly theme for round II.

Add a banana, and you have Joe's new favorite breakfast - the waffle sandwich. Yum!

For the rest of the day, couch, it's just you and me. Get ready for some hardcore lounging.

A Los Angeles classic...and Heart!

Joe and I timed our trip to the Greek Theater to see the legendary Heart in concert so that we could visit a favorite classic sandwich joint in downtown LA.

Philippes has the most AMAZING French dip sandwiches and so we went hungry, prepared for a feast. Before you even order your food, one of the coolest things about the visit is seeing the interior, which doesn't seem to have changed much since the early century.

Philippe's sandwiches use fresh French bread, dipped in homemade au jus from all the delicious roasting meats cooked onsite. You can order your bread single or double dipped for extra flavor and it's the most moist and delicious deli sandwich you can get in LA.

I ordered my favorite, lamb with a single dip, no cheese, and Joe went for a double dipped pork with swiss cheese. As a treat, we both ordered a slice of their homemade banana cream pie. None of these photographed too well, but trust me, they are incredible.

Best sandwich in downtown:

The full tray:

Close-up of the lamb (drool)

My philosophy on desserts is pretty simple. I was never much of a sweets girl, and while I'm trying to lose or maintain my weight, I rarely indulge. It's pretty obvious though that there are some times when it's acceptable, even vital to order pie. Or a brownie. Or ice cream. Usually when they are amazing/homemade/free and you would be a stupid person to turn them down. On these rare occasions, I go for it, and make a real effort not to beat myself up for it later.

Glamour shot of the pie:

(I had a glass of wine too, but NO moral issues there whatsoever. Bottoms up!)

We didn't leave a scrap of food.

Then it was on to Heart at the Greek for an amazing show. Ann Wilson's voice never fails to amaze me, even after all these years.

Our seats were pretty high up, but we managed some reasonable shots of Nancy and Ann. Rock on, ladies, rock on.

Then home and to bed in preparation for the 16 miler in the morning. Out like a light!

Three course gourmet

Today marked my return to the 30 Day Shred. The sheer effort meant that my meals were thrown all out of whack, and breakfast/lunch became a spread out, three course masterpiece.

Starting off with my regular fruity bowl of goodness and the last of the free gym wholewheat Cheerios:

Moving on to Breakfast II for two - scrambled eggs on an Arnold sandwich thin with chopped garlic chives from the Farmer's Market.

Portions for two modelled by Joe and his lovely feet. I always like to splash my scrambled eggs with balsamic vinegar to give it a little extra kick - admittedly, I like vinegar on almost anything, but this is a definite high spot.

As we were now hitting lunchtime, I threw together a small salad to fuel my gym trip - this included iceberg lettuce, the last of Joe's shredded prime rib, cherry tomatoes and a pinch of granola for some crunch. Simple and filling.

Off to the gym for an easy 3 miles ahead of tomorrow's long run, and already drooling in anticipation of tonight's sandwich.