The Fresh Market

A few years ago when I worked in Virginia Beach I was introduced to The Fresh Market and it quickly became one of my all-time favorite grocery stores! To be honest I probably like it better than Whole Foods, Central Market and Trader Joe’s. I mean, each of those specialty stores have unique things that I like, but all around The Fresh Market is AWESOME!

Lucky for me I realized there is The Fresh Market where I am currently on assignment at! I happened to find it trying to locate a store that carries Noosa yoghurt (one of my recent favorite food finds!). And while there, I found all types of goodies….

Of course, Noosa yoghurt …

 Some wonderful prepared salads that I can eat for dinner….

How could I pass up granola brittle? Since there’s granola in it, it has to be good for me, right?

Not the best looking picture but the granola brittle is wonderful!

And then finally one of my favorite tea drinks (and if you're lucky enough to have an Argo Tea Cafe in your area I am so jealous!) …

So if you ever see The Fresh Market I highly recommend that you check it out…you won’t be disappointed!

The Committment Lives On

Today is the last day of Lent. Although I’m not Catholic, some of you might remember that I decided to ‘commit to something’ during the time of Lent. Initially I thought it was going to be sweets, but then it turned into being committed to giving up meat (red meat and pork since I already don’t eat chicken).

Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking that I might have taken the easy road on this one. But I do enjoy a great steak, hamburger, and just about anything pork related. The most difficult part during this time is that I’ve been on a work assignment, which typically consists of more fast food options which aren’t always non-meat friendly.  For the most part it wasn’t that difficult and I had two slips ups:

1) From a box lunched served during a business meeting. It was about a week after I stopped eating meat, and I had half of a roasted turkey sandwich (and let’s be honest, is processed lunch meat really meat in the first place?);

2) When I was attempting to be conscious of what I was eating I ordered baked cheese ziti from Fazoli’s. From the name of the dish I assumed it would have tomato or marina sauce, well it didn’t. There were some type of meat crumbles in the sauce (and let’s be honest again, if I were really trying to eat meat it wouldn’t have been faux meat from Fazoli’s).

Overall I am very satisfied about my commitment to not eating meat. With the exception of pizza, I didn’t miss eating it at all. Although I really did want some good ole pepperoni on that pizza that I ordered!

As far as health benefits…I believe I was a lot more regular, if you know what I mean. I’ll spare you the details so we’ll just say that was a benefit for me. I also believe that I ate more veggies (which also probably contributed to the TMI moment that I just shared with you).

At different periods in my life, I have stopped eating meat. With the exception of chicken, I have always returned to eventually eating meat. Now, I am seriously thinking about continuing on this path and only eating fish and seafood (also known as a pescatarian but I’m not into those types of labels).

Probably my biggest concern with this decision is for those who invite me over for dinner. Right now people already think it’s strange that I don’t eat chicken, which seems to be a staple for most Americans. Now to eliminate all type of meats might make others feel limited as to what they can cook when I am invited over. Typically I don’t share my eating needs with others, and I’ll just eat the non-chicken items that are served. This new change might just make me come out of my ‘what I eat and don’t eat’ closet and expose myself to everyone.

Stay tuned and we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I can incorporate some other healthy changes into my daily diet. If anyone has suggestions for me regarding my new eating choice, please let me know!  

Wednesday Weigh In

For those who follow my blog on a regular basis, you might have realized that for the past two weeks I haven't posted my weekly Weight Watcher weigh in. Part of the reason is that I have been out of town on business trips for the past two Wednesdays. And yes, that is just an excuse since there are Weight Watcher locations just about everywhere. Here's to hoping that I find myself to Weight Watcher's next week!

OK, I'm only the second day into Lent and what I decided to be committed to for the next 40 days. I know originally I said that I wanted to limit my sweets consumption. That is still in play, although I decided to take it a bit further. Over the next 40 days I really want to concentrate on healthy eating and making better food (and drink) choices.

It always seems like when I have an epiphany about these things, I am in the middle of a business trip. (Although if I were being honest with myself, I'm ALWAYS in the middle of a business trip!) So realistically, there probably isn't a better time to begin something new other than taking charge and starting it today!

Just because I am traveling, doesn't mean I don't have healthy options available. I typically just choose to avoid them. I would like to stick to just seafood, turkey or vegetarian dishes during Lent. Yesterday I did pretty good that I had shrimp for lunch dinner. Where the better choice could have came in was not to have fried shrimp on a Po Boy sandwich (although it was SO good!). For dinner I did much better in that I only ate half of my meal. (It could have been that it was rich, but hey, I'll take eating half a meal anyway I can get it!)

Making the decision to change my eating habits is going to be a difficult one for me to stay committed. But when I stop and think about all of the other things I commit to (like walking 60 miles for breast cancer) I know that I can commit to a healthier lifestyle. I want to do this while the choice is still my own and not someone telling me I have to do it.

Fat Tuesday

I had a chance to get together with a friend and her family last week before they left for NOLA (that New Orleans, Louisiana for those who aren't familiar with the acronym). My friend and a good number of her family members evacuated from New Orleans and eventually relocated to Dallas after Hurricane Katrina. Since then I have been fortunate to learn New Orleans sayings ('make' groceries a.k.a going grocery shopping) and have exceptional cuisine (crawfish etouffee pies anyone?)!

From previous conversationswith my friend,  I believe that Fat Tuesday got it's name because it's the last day before Lent begins, and people typically eat a fantastic meal since something is given up or sacrificed until Easter. With Fat Tuesday quickly approaching, I asked my friend what she would be giving up. She shared that last year her pastor stated that Lent shouldn't be about giving up or sacrificing something, but should be looked at as being committed or dedicated to something.

Of course, I immediately began to think about what I could commit to for 40 days. Naturally, my thoughts drifted to my health, eating habits, and my desire to lose weight. Initially I thought about eliminating all sweets from my diet. Realizing that was a bit extreme, and that my commitment to that wouldn't last for long, I decided to commit to eating sweets only once a week. For me a sweet treat is picking up a cupcake or going to get a lemon tart from La Madeline. Unfortunately, I don't discrimenate against sweets too much.

If all goes well, hopefully my taste for sweet things will diminish and I will lose a couple of pounds in the process!

Losing...

I know that its been awhile since I posted my Weight Watcher's results. I finally decided to go in and face the music (a.k.a. weigh in). Here are the results:

Weekly Loss/Gain: -3.4 pounds
Total Loss/Gain: -9.8 pounds

Believe me, I am as surprised as you are that my weight is down! Especially after spending a week and a half in St. Louis and it all it seemed like I did was eat. Although for the past week, I have been a lot more conscious of what I have been eating. (And probably being a little under the weather helped that too!)

None the less, I think I am finally ready to get back on my weight loss wagon. Last week when I was town for a day, Simply Fit Foods was running a promo special on house accounts. So today I swung by there and picked up my meals for the next several days. Although I will be traveling the first part of next week,  the travel is close enough that I can pack some meals to take with me.

A few weeks ago I was watching a TV program (probably Oprah or Dr. Phil) about weight loss. And there were three questions that were asked regarding losing weight:

1. Why are you overweight?

I'm overweight because I don't exercise portion control and will power. I thoroughly enjoy eating - trying new and different things, going to new restaurants, desserts, the taste and texture of foods, and the list goes on and on. I realize that I can enjoy all of those things but it doesn't have to be on a daily basis. And when I do enjoy those things, it needs to be in moderation. I can still enjoy eating. I just need to begin enjoying fruits and vegtables a lot more.

2. Why do you want to lose weight?

I want to lose weight to be healthy. Adult onset diabetes runs in my family. And I know that the extra weight that I carry makes me more susceptible to getting diabetes if I don't begin watching what I eat and in turn losing weight.

3. Why have you been unable to maintain weight loss?

I've been unable to maintain weight loss because I think of it as once I lose the weight, the battle is over. And it's not. For me, maintaining my weight loss is going to be an active job for me. And probably a job that I will have for the rest of my life.

When I think about it, the extra weight didn't happen overnight. Unfortunately, it isn't going to go away overnight either. It is going to take a conscious decision on my part to become more active and make better choices around the foods that I eat. I want to lose the weight in a healthy way in order to have a better chance of keeping it off once and for all.

The Fountain on Locust

My work assignment in the St. Louis area ended a few days ago. In a small way, I was sad to leave. I think mainly because I wasn't able to see (or eat) all of the things that I wanted to. Typically for me a work assignment can last up to 90 days which allows me to pace myself a little better. Unfortunately, only being someplace cool for a week and a half, causes me to cram everything in.

Before I left, I did have the chance to try The Fountain on Locust which was an "I INSIST you go there!" recommendation from a friend of mine. And he was right on point!

The theme of The Fountain, is what I envision as a old time fountain and ice cream shop restaurant. It's a very small place yet packed with character and great food. I decided to have a egg salad sandwich on whole wheat bread, with a cup of Tuscan bean soup.

OK, you might be thinking, "What's so special about egg salad?". Well, this was the best egg salad sandwich I had ever had! It was a hearty sandwich and wasn't overly mayonnaisey (if that's a word). It was made with Dijon mustard and had capers in it which give it extra flavor. The soup was....it was an AWESOME bean soup! Full of beans and small bits of potatoes and lots of flavor. All of The Fountain soups are homemade every day too. (You might notice a partial view of a fountain glass in the upper left corner of my picture. That was a Pomegrante Egg Creme...delish!)

My friend who INSISTED that I go to The Fountain, is a big (and I men really BIG!) ice cream lover. The Fountain has all types of wonderful ice cream drinks (adult and non-adult) and ice cream concoctions. I decided on a butter pecan ice cream cone. Now, this was just any butter pecan ice cream cone. It was the creamiest butter pecan ice cream I have ever had, and it was in a homemade pretzel cone!

The combination of sweet and salty was WONDERFUL! The ice cream comes from a dairy in Wisconsin that some how ages its ice cream. Whatever they do to it, it is beyond awesome. By time I got to the ice cream cone, some of the ice cream had melted inside it, which made the cone even better. The cone was salty and it tasted like a fresh baked pretzel.

You definitely have to try The Fountain if you are ever in the downtown St. Louis area!

Drunken Fish

On the first night that I arrived in St. Louis, I took a list of recommended restaurants from the front desk representative at my hotel. Almost immediately, I decided on a restaurant named Drunken Fish, which sounded like a Japanese restaurant. As I started to drive there, I began to second guess my decision...I really, really wanted some good sushi, and I was going to be soooo disappointed if this was garden variety sushi. So against my better judgement I continued on.

When I arrived the restaurant hadn't open yet, I decided to wait 20 minutes until it did. And am I glad that I did!

First plus is that Happy Hour is offered daily three times: 11 am - 12 pm; 5 pm - 7 pm and 10 pm to close. For Happy Hour there was an assortment of appetizers, speciality rolls, traditional rolls, nigiri, and adult beverages offered at half price to choose from.

Everything sounded good so I decided to try a hodge podge of things: lobster spring roll, white tiger roll, and sticky fries. And here's what that goodness looked like:

White Tiger Roll

Although I don't have a picture of the lobster roll (I took the first bite before I knew it and it was gone quickly!) it was AWESOME! It was a spring roll stuffed with lobster, cream cheese, jalapenos, asparagus and masago with honey wasabi dipping sauce. The spring roll was warm and creamy, and felt like it melted in my mouth. And the honey wasabi was wonderful! The honey kind of cooled the wasabi and gave it a light touch of sweetness to compliment to spring roll.

About the time I finished the spring roll, the sticky fries and white tiger roll arrived. I love, love, LOVE sweet potatoes, and the sticky fries were home-cut Japanese sweet potatoe fries, caramized in sweet syrup and black sesame seeds. O.M.G!!! The white tiger roll consissted of calamari tempura, crab, avocado and massago, topped with white tuna, spicy mayo and eel sauce. YUMMY!

Sticky Fries

Well you can probably tell that I throughly enjoyed my meal. I definitely give this restuarant two thumbs up and highly recommend Drunken Fish to anyone who goes to the St. Louis area and is looking for phenomenal siushi in a hip atmosphere. And to confirm just how much I enjoyed the restuarant, I found myself there AGAIN two nights after my first visit!

Red Dragon Roll and Caterpillar Roll - YUMMO!!!



http://www.drunkenfish.com/#home

Buddha Bowl

I’m certain by now it’s no surprise that I enjoy shopping (Probably a little too much sometimes). Well, today my Buddha Bowls arrived in the mail!

Who doesn't love a cute box?

It’s kind of a looong story about how I found these bowls, but here it goes…

Somehow I came across an online website called OpenSky. I honestly have no idea how I came across this website, and this could be a case of which came first – the blogger or the website! Well on the website, I could select different people (who become my team) whose online store I wanted to follow. The ‘team' then selects items that they like to showcase in their store. Well I came across a blogger, Kath, who is a registered dietitian and writes a food blog (more on her wonderful food blog later!) and decided to follow her. And this is how I found the Buddha Bowls!

Every now and then OpenSky will give me store credits (I’m sure it’s just a marketing ploy to entice me to make a purchase. And it worked!). After I received a store credit for $10, and I decided to use it to purchase a set of Buddha Bowls. First, I love dishes that are ceramic or made of stoneware. Second, I love unique items and these bowls seemed to be a cool way to eat soup or drink tea or coffee. Thirdly, seeing Kath’s delicious looking creations in the bowls definitely sold me!

See how easy it is to hold the bowl in the palm of my hand?!

Although I have only had ramen noodles in my bowl, I love them! I love the way I can slip my thumb in the handle and then hold the bowl in my hand. The warmth from the bowl just feels comforting and makes me want to snuggle up on my couch in a big blanket! OK, about Kath’s blog….

Kath is an awesome blogger who post several times a day at Kath Eats Real Food. She posts mainly about what she cooks and eats, the bakery that she owns, and remolding her home. Kath is also a great photographer and her pictures will immediately draw you in! And if you like unique plates, bowls and glasses, you will love what she presents her food items in. What I like is that Kath is into healthy eating, although when you look at the items you might not initially think that they are good for you. Overnight oats are one of my favorite things to make. Ah ha… I just figured something out!

The blogger came first! I follow another blog in which the blogger wrote about overnight oats and referenced Kath’s blog. That’s how I first located Kath’s blog. Then once I found out about OpenSky, it was nice to see a familiar name listed and I decided to follow Kath’s online store there. So hopefully you’ll take the time to check out Open Sky and Kath’s blog. Just don’t do it on an empty stomach! You’ve been warned…

Crazy or Not? You Decide

People who know me, know that I don't eat chicken. Many find it funny and interesting since I'm Black (guess all Black people don't eat chicken...LOL!) and since just about everyone (except me) does consider eating chicken a pretty basic food to eat. The other evening as I was dining with friends, the question came up about why I don't eat chicken. Well, here's the story...

In December 1999, I had three bad experiences with chicken. The first one was at a random strip mall Chinese restaurant (enough said). The following week I was at Popeye's Chicken and received some chicken strips that we're a little too pink inside for my liking. Well, the last bad experience took place at Wendy's. I'll begin by saying that it was mid day New Year's Eve and the drive thru line was wrapped around the building and out to the street. After I ordered my fried chicken sandwich combo meal, I drove home. After I took the second bite of my chicken sandwich, the inside of the chicken was completely raw! 

I like to think that if each if these occurrences had been more isolated, and not a week apart from one another, I might still be eating chicken today. As time passed on, I thought about trying chicken again, but just couldn't do it. Now that 11 years has passed chicken free, I don't believe I will ever eat chicken again. And to be honest, a grilled chicken breast doesn't even look appealing to me. Watching others eat chicken doesn't bother me (as if it would stop them from eating it), although smelling large quantities of chicken does make me queasy (like a few weeks ago when I went inside Chick Fil A to purchase a gift card for someone).

So after sharing my story, I asked my friends if they had a food phobia or aversion that others might think strange. Here are theirs in no particular order:

Friend 1: Patio Umbrellas. If she is sitting outside she can't stand to look at them because she thinks they will fall over and they make her sick. (And I have been with her when it was almost a matter of life and death if we didn't change tables or seats)

Friend 2: Bone meat. She doesn't eat meat off a bone. Example ribs, fried chicken, corn dogs, etc. She says there is a name for this, but who knows. That night at dinner she didn't realize her entree came partially on the bone. Thankfully her husband was there to cut off the bone portion.

Friend 3: Ice Chewing. Although he loves to chew ice, he can't stand to hear other people chew ice if he doesn't have some ice to chew on too.

Somehow my chicken phobia isn't looking so crazy anymore...

Hawaii by Daylight

Ok, Hawaii is much better in the daylight than the dark! 

Although I awoke still a bit fatigued from traveling, I was anxious to get out to begin my day to see Hawaii. I also needed to switch resorts as well. My first night was spent at the Marriott Waliea which is a wonderful resort. (I even had my first celebrity sighting, Weird Al Yankovich!) After breakfast I walked the resort and was able to take some beautiful scenic shots before leaving.

After checking out of the resort, I headed west to the Kapalua area which is where I will be staying for the rest of my stay. On the way there, I found the most wonderful thing by accident - shave ice! And this is nothing like the Sno Cones I've had before either. Each shave ice (and yes, it is 'shave' without a 'd') has the ice shaved to order, and it looks like fine snow falling into to cup. I selected to have pineapple, blue Hawaii and guava syrup added to mine. And to top it off, I had it 'snow capped' which is sweet cream poured over the top of the shave ice. Well from the first scoop it was love at first taste for me!

For dinner that night I dined at Duke's Beach House and had a wonderful Seafood Risotto full of shrimp, scallops, and lobster. At the table we shared a slice of Hula Pie which is a macadamia nut ice cream pie on a chocolate graham cracker crust. That night we returned to the condo to toast in the new year with champagne.

After all of my festive eating, I thought it would be a good idea to get some exercise in. I walked part of one of the hiking trails and then added on another 2 miles to check out the resort.

So far the New Year is off to a great start for me!

Still A Loser!

I mentioned last week that I am actively involved in Weight Watchers again. I'm happy to report that when I weighed in today, I was down 5 pounds! Here's the summary:

Weekly Loss/Gain: -5 pounds
Total Loss/Gain: -10.4 pounds

A Twitter friend asked me what I did different this week to lose. I have to say two things: 1) I have been eating out waaaaaaay less and 2) I have been planning my meals. And here's how I did it...

This past Saturday I had a FABULOUS meal at Bob's Steak and Chop House. Since I knew I was going, I made certain to save my weekly point allowance for my special meal. I also made the choice of have a smaller cut filet mignon which is considered a lean protein. The big change that I made was only eating half of my meal, which is rare for me! Typically I leave a restaurant feeling stuffed and wondering why I ate all of that food. And before I forget, I also had my favorite dessert creme brulee!

I have also been using Simply Fit Meals to assist me with my meal planning. The meals are prepared and don't have any additives or preservatives. The GREAT thing is that each meal has the calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber amounts listed on them making them Weight Watchers friendly! I also make certain that if I will be away from home to take my meals with me in my cute insulated lunch bag.

So see, I can be on Weight Watchers and eat whatever I want. I just need to plan for it. I mentioned earlier that I have been eating out waaaaaaay less. For me that means that I have gone from the majority of my meals being eaten out, to now only eating out 1 or 2 meals a week. Over the course of the next few weeks I would like to transition from eating the Simply Fit Meals to cooking more at home. Stay tuned to see how that goes!

Magnolia Bakery Cafe

Last year when I was on assignment in Pasadena, TX I found a wonderful lunch spot called Magnolia Café and Bakery. They have wonderful sandwiches, salads, soups, and I would be remiss if I left out their desserts…FABULOUS! So yesterday as I was driving around between appointments I decided to stop at the location in Lewisville, TX.

For the past week or so I have been in hot pursuit of a ham salad sandwich. And believe it or not, you can’t find ham salad sandwiches everywhere. There are TONS of varieties of chicken salad (and anyone who knows me knows that I do not eat chicken!) and tuna salad in grocery stores, but ham salad seems to be a rarity. So when I saw the sign for Magnolia Café and Bakery I knew my craving would be satisfied.

I had some great ham salad on whole wheat bread along with kettle chips and a side of sliced carrots. But the ultimate ending to my lunch was the homemade Coca Cola Cake that they make. The cake sits on the dessert counter in a pan that looks like it came from my grandmother’s kitchen. The cake is about 2 ½ inches thick and is covered with some type of fudgy, chocolate icing…yummy!

If you are ever in the Houston or Dallas areas you won’t be disappointed (or hungry!) if you find Magnolia Café and Bakery!

The Fresh Market

While on a work assignment in Virginia Beach, Virginia I had the pleasure of being introduced to The Fresh Market speciality food store. When I heard the phrase 'They have an entire row dedicated to trail mixes!' I knew that I had to check it out!

True to my friend's word, The Fresh Market has at least 20 different types of trail mixes (Sweet Carolina is one of my personal favs) in addition to about another 20 speciality mixes. And if a store has good, fresh banana chips, it definitely ups their ranking with me!

Just when I thought I had already died and gone to heaven, I found the most wonderful snack: purple sweet potato chips! I love, love, LOVE sweet potatoes (I have a baked one about 5 times a week!) so when I saw the purple sweet potato chips, I knew I had to try them. I'll admit that the $9.99 per pound price scared me (well, not really) but I had to taste them. And it was love at first bite!
In addition to the wonderful mixes The Fresh Market has, they also have a fabulous prepared food section (really great for people like me that don't always find time to cook, but like to have a healthier food option available).

I also love fresh flowers and you can get an awesome bouquet of flowers for less then 10 bucks!