Raj and I walked downtown this evening and stopped by Nickels Arcade, a cute nook across from central campus that has a wonderful coffee shop. I am not much of a coffee connoisseur, but even I can tell that this is the real deal!
Here is a view of Main Street, Ann Arbor. I am not sure how long the keep the Christmas lights up, but am crossing my fingers that it is all year!
There is a Korean store, Manna Oriental, across the street from us (and yes, I drive) that sells a variety of vegetables dumplings that are low calorie, low fat and delicious. While I was happily munching away on them, I was daydreaming about eating this.
Delicious dipped in soy sauce mixed sprinkled with red pepper flakes.
Waiting patiently while Raj makes round 2!
While Raj was taking a nap, I snuck out and picked up some Bhelpuri from the Indian store across the street. OK, he wasn’t really asleep, just lounging and I am pretty sure he was craving it. Puffed rice, tamarind sauce, potatoes and more, it is the perfect lazy afternoon treat:)
This morning, I made an Eating Well recipe: Bacon, Egg and Asparagus Pizza. Right before rolling the dough, I realized that I threw out our pizza pan, so the egg spilling over the side (which they warn about) was inevitable, but it was still delicious! A couple of tweaks that I made are listed below and I got the dough from Trader Joe’s. This makes a hearty 5 servings and scores about 380 calories and about 17 g of fat. You can definitely lower the fat and calorie content by using low moisture cheese--Kroger’s was out:( and low fat bacon (the real stuff tastes way too good to me to switch!) It is tres delicious!
Tweaks:
For lunch, I combined a bunch of leftovers for a tasty treat:
While prepping lunch, UPS knocked on the door and delivered an awesome wedding gift from my Aunt Dorothy. How cool! It made my day:)
When I want to try something new, I tend to ride the same train of thoughts—what if I mess up? What if I am no good at it or I embarrass myself? Then I look like a kid playing the statue game—I freeze. By the time I thaw, I have talked myself out of the benefits (and excitement!) of taking the risk. I have a hard time visualizing the journey or the big picture and get lost in the fear of making a wrong decision. How is this a cooking lesson? Last night and this evening, I found myself short two ingredients. I thought how their absence would influence the entirety of the meal, shrugged and decided it was no big deal—the meal would be fine. What if I scrap my current thoughts about risk taking and view future risks as missing ingredients? Essential to the flavor of the meal, but not independently responsible for its overall worth.
I have been at Sweetwaters Coffee Shop for about an hour and a half now. I’ve edited three articles and researched another, but for some reason….I feel like I am in slow motion. Motivational suggestions, anyone?
This morning I remembered a great video that Raj showed me a couple of years ago. It speaks for itself.
Kudos to Weight Watchers for dinner’s recipe. The original calls for beef, but I used Light Life Chick’n Strip Tenders. Note to readers—next time I will throw them on the grill before adding them to the recipe—they were tasty, but a bit squishy.
Ingredients
Directions
This made two HUGE servings I piled on top of brown rice. When I calculate calories in a dish, I don’t count veggies. Calories: about 80 calories per serving of the sauce. If you use the light life, add 80 more calories. Topped with brown rice for a total of 320 calories. Oh, and for the record, it tastes A’ok without the basil.
Ever have a meal that looks a lot better than it tastes? The Mushroom Lover’s Burger was blah—the toppings (sautéed mushrooms, tomato, ketchup & mustard) saved the day. Ok, well, maybe the cool ranch Doritos saved the meal:)
Random tip—extending a bag of chip’s stay beyond a day in my apartment is a hard thing to do. So, this past week, I bought a LARGE bag of individually wrapped bags of chips and find it easier to eat a normal amount of chips..Or semi-normal:)
After annoying many drivers with my under 20 mph speed, I stopped by Kroger to drop off UP, such a great movie! Definitely a tear jerker, but very sweet and poignant. Who can resist a grocery store and all it offers? I sipped on a coffee and loaded my basket with tonight's dinner--turkey burgers for Raj and veggie burgers for me. And then forgot to return the movie. I guess I have another reason to go tomorrow!
I trekked through the weather and hit the gym for a bit of interval training--I ran walked for three miles (2 miles running, 1 walking) and then walked another1.3 miles:) It felt great to get moving and sweat. I ate lunch with Liam and had a soymilk/mango/banana/Whole Foods protein powder shake:)
When Raj and I were in Udaipur, we kept wandering back into The Modern Art Gallery, a cute spot located a few blocks from our hotel. We purchased two pieces--one above and one that we have yet to find a spot for:) The one above is extra special because it was done by the owner, who was very helpful and patient while we looked through her books. I can't remember her name, but will update when I see/talk to Raj:)
A couple of years ago, my Aunt Sharon hosted a bridal shower for her daughter Emily. A chef from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts gave us a tutorial on cooking and prepared a scrumptious meal. One of the recipes included a delicious marinara sauce. Well, at the time, I was interested in eating, but was not so interested in the preparation or cooking. I drank wine and watched with glazed eyes, daydreaming about the yummy foods that were about to enter my mouth. During my bridal tea, I received a book of recipes that my Aunt Ticklebee (who organized the entire event!) had put together for me. Friends and family members had sent her recipes and thankfully, my sister Diana included the yummy and very simple recipe for the infamous marinara sauce. Trust me, it is amazing. So good, that Diana once handed off a Tupperware container full of it to Raj at a swanky bar in Boston.
Here is the recipe! Try it out:) It makes 12 servings (1/2 cup = serving size). One serving size contains 75 calories, 5 g of fat and 1 g of fiber. Not bad!
One piece of sourdough bread, 1/4 cup of of marinara and 2 tsp of low moisture mozzarella. Ahhh! Perfection!
The weather in Ann Arbor today is amazing! Raj and I walked about a half mile to a local (and very famous!) deli called Zingerman's. On the way, we passed the Huron river.
The New York Times was right on when they called Zingerman's a "Corner Deli with International Appeal". The choices are endless and the food is amazing. Besides us, of course, it is a HUGE reason to visit Ann Arbor.
The place was packed and we had to trek it upstairs--imagine a New England attic with slanted ceilings and lovely views from the window--that is where we had breakfast:)
I snapped a picture after Raj snacked on his everything bagel topped with homemade scallion cream cheese. Everything at Zingerman's is made from scratch:)
I opted for a whole wheat bagel topped with delicious vegetable cream cheese. The green pepper, shredded carrots and celery were yummy. It made me realize that when I usually have veggie cream cheese, there is only a semblance of vegetables, rather than actual veggie pieces.
We topped our meal off with a small bowl of mac n' cheese. You know something is ridiculously good when I don't add salt!
After breakfast, we hopped into the Kerrytown Market so I could check out a dress that I had noticed while passing a store's window. Boo. In person, it was not quite that attractive!
