Good Addictiveness

Went to Mercurio's to use my Groupon and had this plate of deliciousness.

Antipasto Plate...yummmmm.....

 

Several types of olives, red pepper, spicy pickled banana peppers

and 2 toasts.

 

Delicious!

 

Coconut Crack....

 

Here is a nice little snack aptly named Coconut Crack.

The coconut butter was quite addictive on its own (or with apple).

But something about heating it and drizzling on cracklebred

then drizzling with honey that takes it over the edge.

 

The coconut butter is raw and organic

and as we all know

is totally a yummy coworker!

 

For the newbies reading:

A yummy coworker is a food that is as delicious as it is nutritious.

 

Notice the word "crack" in the name..don't say i didn't warn you..

Easy dinner....

Red lentils (1/4 c lentils prepared according to the package) with warmed tomatoes (1/2 c) and "Mexican blend" seasoning  (1T).

Served over tortilla chips.

Try not to just shovel it in..

Savor people!!!! That is a key to weight loss.

 

Eating slowly helps you to taste your food fully, savor the flavors and

it gives your body a chance to register fullness.

 

This is a quick and easy "I don't know what to make" meal.

Its chock full of protein and fills you up.

unnecessary yum-ness

General Store = Awesome..... Amish General Store = BeStillMyHeart

please ignore the smudge of excitement...

 

The last weekend in April I took a field trip to Warren Ohio
for a good friends bridal shower.

I was really happy to be able to make it to that, but sad to say I was even happier the day before when another friend took me to a General Store set in the heart of an Amish community!

I have an affection for General Stores.
Nostalgia in a modern setting is one of my favorite diversions.

This one is called the End of the Commons General Store in Mesopotamia, Ohio.

They have all kinds of amazing finds like classic candy, a wall of classic sodas, old timey toys (marbles and jacks y'all!!), flours by the pound, and Amish made meats, cheeses, jams and apothecary.

presorted bulk candies and assorted treats...

I had to purchase my items and leave the store so I didn't spend anymore money. Serious test to my willpower!

I had to keep chanting to myself "You need money for the trip!"

presents for the family

I purchased some marbles, giant button candy, violet candy, red and blue popcorn, dehydrated vegetables

As I was walking out the door I saw what may have sent me over the edge if I had seen it earlier:
A wall of penny candy!

Real, live, still costs a penny a piece penny candy!
Be still my heart!

Can you remember a time when your parents gave you a dollar and you felt like a millionaire?
My dollar would usually go towards a buffet of 50 pieces of candy, 1 huggie and 2 bags of chips.

Oh! And you'll never guess what else I saw...

I had a crazy revelation while in Ohio.
Amish people can be just as ghetto as the rest of us.

Check out this masterpiece of ghetto ingenuity:

 



That's right! A cart tricked out with old car seats to make a family "vehicle".
Better yet, the Amish gentleman who owned this had purchased it from someone else.
Is it possible there is a manufacturer of such awesomeness in Northern Ohio?

Just... wow....

A Delicious Dinner...

 

Tonight I fed a relatively healthy craving for tofu veggies and hoison sauce.
I bought all the ingredients on a Trader Joe's veggie run.
They have a package of stir fry veg with the hoison sauce in the freezer section.
Delicious quick meal when you've walked home from work and are too famished to fathom preparing anything from scratch.

What's that now? I'm the only person who walks home from work?
tsk.. Whatevs...

And now for a random bit of nerdiness...

Klaatu Barada Nikto

It's May Already???

I did not post once in April.

That was a pretty lame thing to do.

I will definitely be making up for it this month.
Mmkay?

And then I will be gone again in June.
Epic fail......lol

But I will try to post when I can since I will have
wifi and internet cafe at my disposal.

But no promises since I dont know if I will have
any free moments to get my post on.

So stay tuned for some excitingness and some awesomeness and some yummy food and some health tips and maybe even a picture of me trying not to die while doing Zumba for the first time after 1 month eating myself to death in Italy. Won't that be fun?

Hearts.....

Random Aside....

My local co-op had a little contest for Tom's of Maine and guess what!
I win-ded-ed (translation: i won)!

Here's what I got:

Deo, Soap, Mouthwash and 2 kinds of toothpaste and a cute bag

I really like Tom's (yes we are on a first name basis) products.
And I happen to have run our of 3 of the 5 products I received so I was even more stoked to win.
The soap and the toothpaste variation are new to me so Ill have to let you know how I like them.
Thanks East End Food Co-op!!

Random Meal....

Red Lentils with Veg

A Wonderful Weekend Out of Town...

Okay so it's the fifth day of Spring and

we had a snow storm last night....

Add caption: "WHY?"

Awkward.... For everyone involved...

It is quite beautiful, but let's not dwell on that for the moment.

Let's talk about my wonderful weekend.

Seldom Worked Territory... Somerset Edition

Saturday 5 cars of folks from my congregation went to help the

Somerset Congregation cover their territory (the area they are

assigned to preach in) and invite as many people as possible to

the Memorial of Christ's Death (Lord's Evening Meal).

We went with the plan of staying all day to help.

For the morning I was put in a car with 3 other sisters

and one 4 year old boy that was super tall and intelligent.

He could have passed for 6 easily.

So Brandy Max and I piled into the suprisingly roomy backseat of this

cubular car and off we went to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border.

We had a wonderful morning inviting people to the Lord's Evening Meal.

It was really nice to work in rural territory and since it is seldom

worked everyone was really nice and receptive.

We went back to their Kingdom Hall for lunch

then regrouped ourselves for the afternoon.

I had a different, but equally awesome car group in the afternoon.

It was comprised of 1 best friend COBE, 1 best friend pioneer partner,

and 1 new friend from the local congregation.

We also worked in the rural area of their territory.

I saw....

Snow covered valley's.....

Big Beautiful Farms...

And windmills!

These little (big) guys are especially controversial

in most areas where they are being erected.

But us city folk love what they represent

(throwback to simpler, less polluted times)

love their sleek look, so take a gander.

Random Photographic Thoughts....

Some random morning last month I was standing on

the porch waiting for my friends to pick me up

when I noticed that as the shadow moved the sun melted the frost.

Neat!

Random cravings...

oven roaste brocolli with cheesy rice lentil garbanzo beans mix

I want this so bad right now...

Of course I dont have the ingredients. 

Argh!

Time for a broccoli nooch run!!!

First Day of Spring

And you know what that means....FREE RITA'S ICE!!!!!

 

You heard me right:

FREE RITA'S ICE

 

But it's kind of freezing outside and...
Im eating sugar free right now and.....

there were snow flurries earlier so.....

 this is more along the lines of what I'm craving today....

 

old coconut oil jar = new Tupperware

 

A beautiful Spring soup with peas, cabbage

artichokes carrots and red lentils.

Warm and yum!

 

Even better:

I ate this while walking from work to Trader Joe's.

:-)

 

I'd Like Green With a Side of....

Green..

 

I don't know if it is Spring fever or the subliminal

messaging from so many of my fave bloggers eating

more "green" this month, but a lot of my meals

have been green lately.

 

Case in point:

 

Quinoa sushi bowl with mixed veg, avocado and nori.

 

Rice, barley and daikon seeds

 with peas, avocado and sun dried tomatoes.

 

Tofu with Kale, Avocado and sun dried tomatoes.

 

Seriously high on the yum factor scale.

Actually now that I think about it,

my meals have been green white and red.

 

Perhaps this also reflects the destination of my next trip.

Subliminally using their favorite colors in my meals.

Hmmmmm........

 

Anyhoo, these meals also show with what awesomeness

 I'm sticking to my clean eating goals.

 

I want to go to Avalon....

 

Oh you know what else Spring means?

 

Dollar sale and Avalon's Exchange!

 

Did you get my text message?

Did you go?

What did you score?

 

I got some items to wear now and some things for my trip in June.

Definitely time to liven up the wardrobe.

Ill show you some of what I got later

 

Here we go again....

So, Im getting ready to hit the road again.
It's time for another missionary adventure.

A little over 4400 miles from Pittsburgh..

Here's a clue....

 

Have you guessed yet?

Well, I'll let you marinate for a minute...

 

Don't you hate when people tell you to guess then tell you right away?

 

Do you find that in the minutes after you decide to eat more

shall we say healthfully...

you start craving the exact foods you wish to avoid?

 

Non-nutrient dense fried tacos with all the naughty fixins
and some non naughty ones...

fried breaded and naughty please...mmm

 

more naughtiness......mmmm

I know I do...

So how do you cope?

 

I fill my fridge with the foods I know

will nourish my body and help me to

reach my fitness goals..

If you only buy the healthful, nutritious,

nutrient dense foods you need to eat

you have no other choice than to exercise some will power and eat those.

 

No cheating!

 

You can eat all those naughty things when you reach your goal.

Or even a goal. Set several goals leading to your ultimate.

At each small goal have a treat.

 

But why not make the treat non-edible?

Retrain yourself to view food as fuel.

 

Is this doable?

What do you think?

 

5lbs in Id say its definitely doable!

 

Go for it!

Review: SPAK Brothers Pittsburgh

To be perfectly honest Ive been e-stalking SPAK brothers
ever since I heard about them last year

And by e-stalking I mean I would go to their website and
pick out what I would order if and when I actually got there.
Lame.. I know...

Well I finally got there....
Two days in a row.
For research purposes...

First Visit:

Pizza with mushrooms, Kalamata olives, and soy cheese (on half)

Curly Fries



Yes that is a bite mark

Second Visit:

Portabello Hoagie with a Side of Pizza Sauce

Seitan Wings with House Hickory Apple BBQ sauce

Curly Fries

The verdict:

I really liked everything I had there. I could drink that

BBQ sauce. Their pizza sauce was excellent and Im

really picky when it comes to pizza sauces. It was

neither too salty or sweet and the ingredients really

came through.

The seitan wings were really fantastic. Especially with

the sauce. They were fried first then smothered in the

sauce just as traditional wings are made, but without

the work of removing the bones.

Im not a big fan of soy cheese, so next time I will probably

just get a cheese-less pizza with  kalamata, mushrooms,

tomatoes and extra sauce on the side. Im salivating just

thinking about it.

The curly fries were fab-u-lous! They tasted freshly made.

Not like the crusted salty over processed curly fries you

get from fast food and restaurants alike. My only complaint is

I had to share them.

Added awesomeness: If you buy 3 toppings you get one free.

A great plus for someone like me who likes to load up. Im sure

it comes from

The bad news:

Normally, I stop obsessing over a place once I actually go there.

Sadly, Im still fantisizing about the Spak Brothers, whoever they may be.

I'd like to marry one of them so they can bring me home a pizza and

seitan wings every night.

*sigh*

You can find them at:
5107 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh Pa. 15224

On a healthier note...

Im really digging strawberry, blueberry almond milk smoothies with raw

pecans on top.

Im so glad I froze some of the strawberries from the bounty...

Im still eating from those and its a welcome taste of summer in the middle

of a snow storm and below zero windchill spell we've been having.

You know you are deep in winter when the snow is a welcome site

because the previous days have been too cold to snow.

Yikes!