On Friday, I decided to order two puffer coats – one in olive and one in cream because I couldn’t decide on which color I wanted- from Macy’s since they were on super sale. I had ordered them in a small, but then read the reviews that it runs super tight so I called up and asked to change my order to two mediums. “Yes, mam everything is good to go.”

Sunday rolls around and I receive three shipment confirmation emails. I open them up, each with individual tracking numbers – to find that they sent me two black ones, two olive ones and one cream. Oh, and they charged me for all five of them. Now, I’m fuming because how can you possibly make that big of a mistake when all you had to do was switch the small to a medium? I call up customer service, explain my situation to, I believe her name is, Trisha who tells me she will look into this and call me back – which thankfully she actually does. She then proceeds to tell me that she has re-routed the black coats and asked if I still wanted the olive coats. After having tried them on, the winning vote was cream so I told her to re-route the olive shipment too. At the end of the conversation, she confirms with me that she will be shipping the cream coat free of charge. Now, I was confused by this assuming she meant shipping charges, so I asked her “What do you mean free of charge?” She says, “You won’t have to pay for this coat because of all the trouble you went through.” Yup. I definitely got a free coat (originally $245 – btw) from Macy’s!!!

As if the day couldn’t get any better, I completed my first 5 mile run outside with my running sidekick, Georgia. The weather was gorgeous, besides the fierce winds which made it a little tougher, but we pushed through and finished in a little over an hour! Later in the day I went shopping with my cousin Stella and Kleo and stumbled across a beautiful 70′s inspired boucle tweed bell coat – which also happened to be 20% off! You can only guess what happens next.

I may have overdosed on raisins this weekend, but besides that I ate pretty well! I also skipped my workout Saturday, so I’ll have to make that up today. Let’s hope this week goes by quicker than last!

Happy Monday!

When I say I can’t get enough of Mexican Food I really mean it. I can probably eat some version of it every day. In fact, I have been eating it since Sunday night when my boo decided to whip up a nice Mexican dinner for us.

He even gave us options! Skirt steak with roasted poblano peppers or chicken with black beans, cilantro & onion? Vegetarian? No problem, we have beans with cilantro and spices.

I’m the queen of guacamole so that was my duty. Chef Billy made the most amazing pico from scratch: (they were both incredibly delicious – perfectly ripe avocados make me happy!)

So, that was how my Sunday night went. I had a little of the steak, chicken, beans (not pictured) guac and pico. Perfect Sunday night dinner, followed by my cousin Stella – who is doing the sugar detox with me – and I indulging in some fresh organic raisins straight from Greece (as our cheat food).

Apparently, Sunday’s dinner triggered my inner Mexican food passion – so I went grocery shopping last night because I decided I wanted to make my own “taco lettuce cups.” What is that you ask? Well, it’s basically ground turkey and veggies seasoned really well, topped with cheese and avocado, and wrapped up in butter leaf lettuce.

Healthy Taco Lettuce Wraps:

The goods:

• 1lb lean ground turkey
• 3 bell peppers various colors
• 1/2 red onion or white onion
• 4-6 oz of garlic roasted tomato sauce
• 1 head of butter leaf lettuce
• Shredded cheese of choice
• 1/2 Avocado sliced
• Spices: Cayenne, Chili powder, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Cumin, Salt, Pepper and Cinnamon

The process:

Season the meat really well with all the listed spices – just a dash of cinnamon though. Brown the meat on skillet covered in EVOO on medium heat. Once the meat looks lightly brown add in the chopped veggies (I used about half of them and put the rest in the fridge for later use.) Add in the tomato sauce and turn heat down to simmer. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes or until the veggies are a little tender and the tomato sauce has absorbed. Pour the taco mixture onto the lettuce cup, top with shredded cheese and avocado slices.

Chopped up peppers and onions (pic was taken after I used about half)

Veggies and ground turkey simmering:

My lunch: 

I brought a cup of the ground turkey mix which yielded three wraps. Incredibly satisfying and delicious! I will definitely be eating this for dinner tonight – I told you I can’t get enough of Mexican inspired dishes!

On the 10-K training front: today I’m supposed to run 3 miles, but since I didn’t run 4.5 on Sunday I’ll have to make that up tonight. * I inspired my dad to join me on the turkey trot, so I’m getting his butt to the gym too!

Free at last! In honor of this fabulous day I’d like to share another recipe that I found from the same blog I cited yesterday.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes – Paleo Style

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• Cinnamon to taste
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Earth Balance

Nutrition Facts: (Makes 4 pancakes)

We have entered day three of this sugar detox and all is well… so far. No illness, no stomach upsets, no death. Who would have thunk it? I’m proud to say I received another sticker for yesterday as I followed both of my rules – exercise and no sugars. Although, I did have about five grapes to cure my sugar craving that was creeping up. So sneaky I tell you!

After my 55 minute cardio session while watching Modern Family – which is absolutely hilarious by the way – I went home and decided I wanted to try an “Egg Muffins” recipe that I came across from another blog, “The Food Lover’s Primal Palate.” <—- Awesome!

Ingredients:

• 50/50 mix of omega 3 eggs and Trader Joe’s Cage Free 100% Liquid Egg Whites
• Onions
• Broccoli
• Peppers (green or red)
• Coconut oil
• Non-stick muffin pan or a traditional size muffin pan with cupcake papers.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Saute the vegetables in a frying pan over medium heat with the coconut oil. Besides tasting great, coconut oil has many health benefits (and is also a fat-burning catalyst, because it is a medium chain fatty acid. Here is a great article explaining the health benefits of coconut oil!)
3. Cut off the sauteing process about half-way through cooking. The veggies will finish in the oven.
4. Divide vegetables evenly between your muffin tins.
5. Mix the eggs and the egg whites in a bowl, and pour into the tins. Only fill the tins ¾ of the way to the top – they will rise a little.
6. Stir the vegetable and egg mixture briefly to disperse the vegetables evenly in the tins.
7. Bake the egg muffins in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. Your cooking time may vary depending on the tin, the oven. Adjust accordingly.
8. Once muffins have cooled, store in your refrigerator for a healthy breakfast meal / anytime snack! They typically keep for about a week.

After:

These are so cute and so perfect for on-the-go people who don’t have time to sit down for breakfast or are too lazy to make something in the morning!  These also make a good mid-afternoon snack when you need some extra protein to hold you over and last but not least, a great way to get your veggies in. I actually had two of these today for breakfast alongside a Van’s waffle. This girl is one satisfied Sally!

*Suggestion: These came out a little bland because I didn’t use enough salt. As you can see, this recipe doesn’t list any spices –  but what’s great about this recipe is that it’s easily modifiable. Next time, I will add some more spices like salt, pepper, cayenne and also cheese! Who doesn’t love cheese, right? I’m thinking grated Parm or Feta (obvi) would be delicious!

Happy Thirsty Thursday

There are only 22 days left until Thanksgiving, but who’s counting? Yup – “it can’t come soon enough” is how I’m feeling right about now. In fact, I have been looking up recipes to make for our lovely feast – that’s how much I can’t wait to eat sweets again. This is where short-term loss for long- term gain comes in. Sometimes, we need to suffer now to reap the benefits later – or so I’ve been told. I really hope that wisdom is honest and sincere because if it’s not, I’ll be pissed at the end of this.

To fully and truly embark on this remarkable sugar-free journey, I imposed a new sticker rule for myself which goes as follows: “You do not get a sticker on your calendar if you do not follow your “Food Rules” AND “Exercise Rules” listed under November goals.” The end. I was fortunate enough to receive a sticker for yesterday, but I must say that it was a very painful procedure. I was pretty much exhausted all day and I had to crank out a three mile run – oh, and I had about 3 loads of laundry. How’s that for a cherry on top?! Nevertheless, I got it all done including; a beautifully crafted salad (Romaine, Belgian endives,Red Cabbage, Onion and Feta) for lunch today. All that with not one drop of sugar. Don’t underestimate your energy levels. The mind -over -matter principal greatly applies here.

Speaking of mind-over-matter, I’d like to also point out my daily temptations:

In case you all thought I had it easy. I think not! Try eating your salad with a sugar mountain like this staring at your face. “Eat me – Eat me” is what that says right there. My response: “I will win you.”

So, ladies and gents, the moral of this story is that you need to really fight those urges to cure your short-term cravings in order to reach your long-term success! This really applies to a lot of things in life (short-term loss for long-term gain) not necessarily the craving part, but you know what I mean! I know, I’m full of wisdom

Since it is hungry hump day, I’ll post a recipe I’m thinking about making for Thanksgiving – if I can wait that long. I’m all about simple food and simple ingredients.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Pancetta – I’m salivating as I write this.

Ingredients:

Last night I ended the month with a mouth full of interesting flavors.

For starters:

*goat carpaccio . tongue-olive vinaigrette . smoked roe (yep, I tried raw goat)

*warm marinated olives (not that good)

*goat chorizo flatbread . ajvar . peppers . green tomato . apricot . fresh ricotta (Delicious)

*hen of the woods mushroom ragout. sweet potato agnolotti . shroom creme fraiche . capers (also delicious)

*braised beef tongue . masa . beef vinaigrette . salsa verde (Not good)

*wood oven roasted pig face . sunny side egg . tamarind . cilantro . potato stix (Delicious)

*roasted cauliflower . pickled peppers . pine nuts . mint (So good)

*confit goat belly . bourbon butter . lobster n’ crab . fennel (One of the best dishes)

*chickpeas fritters . eggplant-tomatillo caponata . crave brother’s mozzarella (One of my favorites)

*ham frittes . smoked tomato aioli . cheddar beer sauce (I mean any type of “frittes” has my heart)

Last but not least – Dessert.

*chocolate bouchon . foie fluff . salted toffee . milk chocolate  sorbet . gooseberry compote

*pork fat doughnuts . honey yogurt . carmelized figs . lemony eggplant . ham streusel

As you can see, the brownie was demolished. The doughnuts not so much. Overall, it was a fun experience! Glad I ended the month with a big overload of sugar and salt – this way I’ll have absolutely zero withdrawal today

*Food description is off of the Girl and the Goat website.

It’s Hump Day, hooray!! A quick update on my workout(s) last night. As you know, I wasn’t really up to par yesterday, and I almost let myself get away with it until I received some encouraging messages from George, a good friend of mine.

When I get home from work I’m usually hungry, but I didn’t want to eat dinner right then because I tend to get the lazy-girl syndrome after that, so instead I ate a de-licious Kind Bar – gluten free to boot. If you’ve never had one or heard of it , it’s a fruit and nut bar that’s far better for you than any protein bar (in terms of ingredients.) I had the apple cinnamon and cashew one – so good!! It was just enough food to give me energy for my upcoming three mile run. I ran it outside – as it was around 70 degrees and perfect. As I was running, I couldn’t believe how “fast” I was going and I didn’t even stop for walk breaks. I kept telling myself “you got this” and apparently I was right because I completed the run in 32 minutes – my fastest time ever – averaging a 10:39 min/mile. Usually, I’m around 11:30 min/mile. I went from wanting to go straight to sleep to running my fastest three mile run -incredible how that works. It doesn’t stop there peeps. Somehow, I also managed to make it through an hour of Zumba and abs for a grand total of an hour and 30 minutes of exercise! Yep, it’s possible!

That being said, it’s also pretty amazing how exercise affects your energy. As I stated in my last post – to regain your energy you need to be active (even when you are tired as hell.) True story – today I woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual and had energy prior to drinking some coffee. Miraculous. The moral of this story is that, “a body in motion stays in motion” so get moving!!!

Moving on to the interesting stuff. I came across this recipe last week and practically salivated as I read the title.  As I was reading the ingredients I noticed “Pumpkin Butter” and had no idea what that was or at least I had never heard of it before. Being the curious cat that I am, I researched it and found that it’s incredibly easy to make on your own.

I chose to try this recipe from Eating Bird Food’s Blog.

Maria’s Homemade Microwave Pumpkin Butter

• Scant 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon clove
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups (15 oz) canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling mix)

Another fun weekend has come and gone, which led to some bad food decisions yesterday, but that usually happens when you don’t treat your body right the night before!

The Good:

I was prepared for a sloth Sunday, so I decided to run my first ever four miles on Saturday. The last mile was slightly brutal, but I pushed through!!

Celebration with great friends

“Making a thousand friends is not a miracle.  A miracle is making one friend who will stand by your side when thousands are against you.”

Too much of this: (birthday shots)

Leads to that: (weird fish faces)

And that: (too much fun!)

Never underestimate the power of good company.

“The happiest people I know keep an open mind to new ideas and ventures, use their leisure time as a means of mental development, and love good music, good books, good pictures, good company and good conversation.  And oftentimes they are also the cause of happiness in others – me in particular.”

Definitely never underestimate the effect of late night extravaganzas the following day – or maybe I”m just getting old :/

*A lovely new addition to the Boudouvas and Konstantopoulos family. 8lbs 21 inches – a big prince was born. BBB – Baby Bobby Boudouvas!

The Bad:

Food, nap, food, nap, more food and more nap. That’s pretty much how my Sunday flew by.

Meal 1 of 100.

I didn’t have the energy to do my 50 minute cross train yesterday, therefore today I’ll be using my “rest” day for XT day.  Happy Monday. Oh, the joy.

Be well

Okay, so last night I tried the “mock’ mashed potato recipe and I’m happy to say that it was a great success!

After boiling the cauliflower for 7 minutes, I threw it in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. I didn’t have fresh garlic so I used garlic powder and I drizzled a little EVOO to get it moving.

Finished product:

Disclaimer: Do NOT eat this before an event, going out or going to the gym. Cauliflower is a cruciferous veggie and they cause gas and bloating. Not pretty. Nonetheless, a very delicious alternative to mashed potatoes!

While the cauliflower was boiling I decided to grab my yellow squash and make “squash chips” before they spoiled.

Sliced up squash drizzled with EVOO, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano and paprika!

Dinner is served!

I am incapable of skipping dessert, so this was immediately following:

After dinner, I forcefully went to the gym thanks to some motivational text messages that reminded me of the two bites of Portillo’s chocolate cake I ate after lunch. (I really need to just throw that out).

I promised I’d show you my snazzy new running sneaks, so here they are:

And here is my new nike thermal hoodie that I bought for $35 from $65 (thank-you-very-much!) I loved that it has a cut-out for your pony tail – perfect for running outside! (Please ignore my dorky pose, just pay attention to the pony tail feature)

You may have noticed that I have gone a little picture happy with my new Photoshop app, but that’s because it’s so much fun!

Anyway, today is Thirsty Thursday so bust out that H20 and get crankin! (I was craving Dunkin Donuts – easy cream, no sugar of course!)

Workout plan today: Run 2 miles plus strength.

A little motivation:

We can all get easily discouraged because the truth is it’s much easier to sit on the couch and watch TV than it is to exercise, but the bottom line is that we all need to move – for the rest of our lives. Period. This is just non-negotiable, so below are some images from pinterest.com that I found to be very motivating last night as I had a few five handfuls of kettle corn - told you it wouldn’t last longer than two days! As I read a few of these, I found myself walking to the garbage can and dumping out the rest - oh, yes I did!

I’ll be honest, yesterday I was feeling really crappy. Massive headache all afternoon and it was the first day of my 10K training, but I didn’t let that stop me. When you have a goal you really just need to do it. I completed 2.5 miles which means I get a gold star on my training calendar The easy way out would have been to use my headache as an excuse, but no one ever accomplished anything the easy way and the feeling of accomplishment is so worth the pain!

When I got home after my run, I went straight to the kitchen to make some steak fajitas – with Feta (truth be told, I eat Feta with everything. I’m Greek - it happens.)

• Breakfast: buckwheat waffle with peanut butter, frozen blueberries and a drizzle of raw agave nectar.
• Lunch: my quinoa salad with shrimp.
• Unnecessary snack: kettle corn.

I don’t count calories because I would lose my mind and it seems to have the opposite effect for me. Again, there’s no one method that works for everyone - as we are all different, so do what works for you! Instead of counting calories, I sort of just eye-ball it.

Example: If I eat a heavy breakfast or heavy lunch my dinner will be lighter or if I eat a lot of starchy carbs for breakfast and lunch my dinner will be more lean and green. You know when you are over-eating better than anyone else, that’s why it’s hard for me to say only eat this or that. My best advice would be, through trial and error, figure out what keeps you full throughout the day and eat off of a small plate – just don’t keep going back for more

Words of Wisdom:

  WORK IT – WORK IT!!!