It’s the last day of Winter, yet we just got walloped with more snow here in Massachusetts. I’m ready for Spring!

Last night I made the most delicious recipe and I’m excited to share it with you. I got the idea last week sometime when I was looking over all the ingredients I had in my fridge. I had an onion, some sweet potatoes and lean ground beef, so I decided that it would be fun to mix them all together. Who wants just an other old burger…ya know?

I went to Whole Foods and found this delicious looking Island Teriyaki marinade. It’s organic and not too high in sodium and thought it would be the perfect sauce for my “hash.”

Island Hamburger Hash

Ingredients:

1 tbs coconut oil

3 small sweet potatoes (baked, then chopped)

1 vidalia onion (chopped)

1 1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach

1 lb. lean ground beef

Teriyaki marinade of choice (as much as you desire to cover all the ingreidents and seaon the beef)

Avocado (sliced)

*Originally I wanted to add pineapple and didn’t buy any because I thought I had a can at home. I didn’t. #fail

1. Bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees. You want them baked, but still a little firm. When the potatoes are done, chop them up in to bite size pieces.

2. After baking the potatoes, chop up the onion and sautee the pieces in the cocnut oil until lightly browned.

3. Add the spinach. Pour in some marinade. Sautee for about two minutes.

4. Add the sweet potatoes and the ground beef. Pour in some more marinade.

5. Stir until the beef is fully cooked. Serve in a bowl with some sliced avocade. Enjoy!

I can’t even describe how delicious this dish is. The cool avocado on top totally made it. I have plenty of leftovers for my lunches at work this week. Woohoo!

Have a great day! Let me know if you try this

What crazy food combinations have you made lately?

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the Summer. Or at the very least, Spring! I want to wear dresses and flip flops. Ohhh flip flops…

Look at the weather for the rest of the week up here in Boston:

(photo credit)

The weekend looks okay, but the middle of the week is not looking so hot…ugh.

Besides the weather, something else has made me start thinking about the summer. My friend Sam! She lives right across the hall from me in my apartment building and last night she texted me to come over for some healthy snacks. Can I tell you how awesome it is to have friends who live right across the hall? I feel like it’s what I missed in college (since I commuted).

Look at this spread!

The yogurt was for her, but I defnitely helped myself to some veggies, dip and berries. Yum!

Even more exciting than the food (did I just type that?) was what we were doing while snacking…

Picking out races to run this Summer! Yay! I really haven’t run at all since last year when I ran my 4 miler, so it will be good to have a training buddy. We’re looking in to some 5ks, but also a mud run! I’m so excited! Running an obstacle/mud race was one of my resolutions for 2013. The one we’re looking in to isn’t until August, so we have plenty of time to train.

Speaking of training, I have some updates for you in the coming couple of weeks about my other fitness adventures. Stay tuned (or reading…).

Have you accomplished any of your 2013 resolutions yet? Do you have plans in the works? I’m trying to get back to writing here at least twice a week, so I’m on my way. Then I just need to sign up for the mud run!

Have a great day!

While getting ready for work today, I remembered that I still have a free birthday drink from Starbucks to cash in. I decided today would be the day.

A free drink from the “S-bucks” is awesome because, well, they are expensive! I was definitely tempted to get the biggest, most delicious drink I could get. But then, I remembered just how many CALORIES are in some of their drinks. And really, do I want to drink a million calories first thing in the morning? No.

I did get a Grande (that would be a medium at every other store…) Soy Chai Latte.

Yum! In order to take a few calories out, I ask to get only 3 pumps of the chai syrup, instead of the standard 4 that comes in a Grande. There were still probably about 200 calories- but they were sooooo tasty

I turned 29 last month. It’s a weird number. It just sounds old. Like, basically I think people already associate 29 year-olds as 30 year-olds. That’s what it feels like! Haha!

The reason I didn’t get out to get my free drink on my birthday was because of this little doozie that hit New England:

Front Yard

Back Yard

Did you hear about the big blizzard named Nemo last month? If you’re in New England then you sure did. It went from Friday, February 8 until Saturday afternoon, February 9 (MY BIRTHDAY!). I had a really fun party planned at a paint and wine bar, but it was obviously cancelled.

The driving ban was lifted at 4PM, so some of my girlfriend’s and I braved the cold and made it out to a couple of restaurants. It was not a healthy night of eats at Uno’s, but…the food was so good! The company was the best

The “dirty” pic with Em, Me and Kara

Cara (the other one!), Sam and Me

Ok, and what I’m about to show you was a HIGHLIGHT of my birthday…foodie heaven…

My roomie, Em, got this for me! Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting with raspberry filling! OMG- amazing!

Has any kind of weather ruined your birthday plans before? I’ll sure remember my 29th birthday!

So remember this mysterious drink from yesterday’s post?

Hmm…

It’s a new drink that I’m going to try and have every morning. The recipe/idea came from an awesome blog I follow, Food Babe.

The drink is: lemon and cayenne pepper in water.

Sounds weird, huh?

It tastes weird too. But…

According to Vani, at Food Babe, this drink is an awesome way to start the day. It will stimulate your liver to help detox your body and the cayenne will help ramp up your metabolism. Check out her whole article.

For the past three days, I’ve made this water at work with a couple of my work friends. We share the lemons and cayenne and my friend Christine even brought in cute bendy straws for us to use.

Me and Christine (with all the ingredients!)

I’m excited to add this to my morning routine. I’m already getting more used to the flavor and hopefully I’ll see some benefits from this in the coming months.

Have you started any healthy habits recently or have any habits you’ve been doing for a long time? Please share! Another healthy habit that I almost always do is washing my face before bed. I want to wash all the makeup and pollutants (from the air) off and let my skin breathe.

Have a great day

I hope you’re all doing well out there!

Today’s post is small, but it’s a little guessing game for you.

What Am I Drinking?

Hmm…

Find out tomorrow! (I promise to be back!)

The closet floor in my bedroom had become a resting ground for anything and everything that I want hidden or out of the way in the 2 1/2 years I’ve been at my apartment. I know there were a million shoes in there that I didn’t even remember. I’ve been wanting to clean it out for ever, so I decided that New Year’s Day was the day to do it.

Aaahhhh!!

What is all that junk? Oi.

I spent about an hour taking everything out of the closet and placing it in to the “Keep” pile or the “Trash” pile. Some things went back and forth between piles, but I really tried to get rid of clothes/junk that I didn’t need.

These are all bags from my closet that I decided I don’t need anymore and they’re all FILLED with junk that was in the closet too! Holy moly!

And now, my closet looks pretty good!

My scarves are somewhat in order (I brought in about 20 to give away at work) and you can actually see the carpet now! Who knew there was carpet in the closet? Haha.

I attempted to make my bed too, but someone wouldn’t move.

I love reading and haven’t gotten to do as much of it as I’ve liked in the past few months, but I’ve made up for it in the past couple of weeks.

My friend lent me a cute book, Homer’s Odyssesy: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat, by Gwen Cooper. The book was great; it had me laughing out loud and then a few chapters later, crying. Definitely the lesson to learn from the little blind cat, Homer, is not to be scared of life and “see” the possibility in everything.

(image source)

Over the weekend I downloaded three books on my Kindle. They were all only $3.99 each- I love a bargain!

I read Hopeless, by Colleen Hoover, in about 24 hours. It’s a romance, but it was intense and had a bunch of twists and turns, so I couldn’t put it down.

(image source)

Last night I started reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. It’s one of those classic books that I never had a chance to read. I saw the movie about a month ago and it was incredible-so well acted and inspiring. I knew I had to read the book. The story is cool because it’s written in notes from the main character, Charlie, to an anonymous person he just calls “friend.” I haven’t even finished it, but I already recommend it AND the movie!

(image source)

Next on the docket, The Great Gatsby.

Food
Over the past couple of months I’ve gained about three pounds. Sounds small, right? But, I can TELL. My clothes are a little more snug and I just don’t feel as good about myself.

To take control of the situation, I bought some seriously healthy eats at Whole Foods.

When I got home from WF Sunday night, I immediately cut up all the veggies, so that I can just “grab and go” for my lunches for the week. I also bought sliced up cheese and crackers, so I can make sure to have some protein snacks while I’m at work too. It wasn’t even too expensive to buy the cheese all cut up and it’s quick and easy.

Food isn’t the only problem though…I’ve been seriously slacking in the workout department. I’m just so tired all the time. Yuck. Well tonight I’m going to Bikram Yoga and I’m trying to make plans to work out with my friend Sam again. Workout buddies are the best!

Have you done any major cleaning lately? Read any good books! Let me know!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to 2013. I’m ready for this year to begin- I have a feeling it’s going to be great. 2012 was a really big, really tough year for me, but I learned so much.

I learned about heartbreak. It’s the worst. It’s true though, eventually hearts heal.

I learned that I can accomplish my goals when I really try! Like going from no running to my 4 miler in 6 weeks!

I learned that sometimes I need to make sacrifices to stay ahead of the game.

And that sometimes unexpected happiness comes from those sacrifices, like new skills and good friends.

Resolutions

Some people are anti-New Years resolutions, but I’m not. As long as you make really specific goals, then I think they’re a great idea. I mean, who doesn’t have things in life that they need to improve?? Superman maybe? LOL

Last year I made two resolutions: keep my room clean and floss my teeth more often.

Check out my room!

Not bad for New Year’s morning, huh? Can you see Teeny laying on my coat??

And the floss!

Right in my medicine cabinet, so I remember to do it.

Yay! See, resolutions can work!

For 2013, I have two resolutions:

1. Write two posts a week. I loooove my blog and I’ve missed writing here. I have to get better at balancing my time.
2. Run one of those crazy obstacle races, like the Spartan Race. Most of these races are in the summer/fall, so I have time to find friends to do it with me and maybe so some training?? Eek!

So what are your resolutions?

Breakfast Today

Since it’s the start of a brand new year, I wanted my first meal to be something nice and healthy. We won’t count the 3AM run to McDonald’s earlier as my first meal of 2013…ok?

Weird combo, but it was delicious and already prepped!

Sweet potato fries and tri-color pepper slices. I made everything yesterday- I love when I think ahead!

I wish a happy, happy start to your year! See you later this week! Promise

Before I get to my main post, I want to take a sec to thank Tiffany over at Domesticated Academic for my package of goodies that I won on her blog. Look at this cute stuff:

The spatula says, “Be A Good Cookie.” Love it! And the measuring spoons have smiley faces on them. Yay!

Beer and Apple Crisp Adventures

I want to tell you about an adventure I went on at the end of October with my friend Sam. I call it an adventure because even though we knew our final destination, we pretty much did the rest of our trip by the seat of our pants. We work together at the restaurant and decided to take a day off to use one of my…wait for it…Groupons! (Read all about my love for Grouopns on yesterday’s post.)

The Groupon was for a brewery tour and two keepsake pint glasses at Pioneer Brewing Company in Sturbridge, MA. Sturbridge is a little over an hour away, so it felt like a mini road trip. Since we serve breakfast all day long at the restaurant, we decided to go out for brunch and enjoy some good breakfast food. On the drive, Sam Yelped (as in, went to Yelp.com and searched) breakfast restaurants in Sturbridge and found Churchill’s Village Eatery. By the time we got there, we were starving!

The menu was big and we were so hungry we couldn’t decide what to get. We both ended up ordering Eggs Benedict, mine with canadian ham and Sam’s with breakfast sausage. I thought we needed something sweet too, so the waitress recommended a cinnamon roll griddled with butter…umm, yes please!

Look at this spread!

Amazingly delicious! Definitely stop in if you’re ever in Sturbridge.

After brunch, we stoppped in a wine and chocolate shop and then to a Yankee Candle outlet. We made some purchases and then headed to the brewery.

We found the Pioneer Brewing Company and it turns out that it’s on an apple orchard. Random, but cool. Here’s my geeky self in front of the brewery.

We went right to the bar to try some beer.

We tried their American Lager, Honey Ale and their Belgian-styel Ale. Here’s the Honey Ale- so pretty

Love the glasses!

We got so caught up drinking and watching football that the bartender had to tell us that the tour had started without us. Haha!  The tour was quick, but fun and then we were back to football and beer in the bar.

(I could NOT get the red eye out- GRR!)

OK, since this post is getting long, I’ll have Part 2 tomorrow with the rest of our adventure and the apple crisp recipe.

Have a great day!

Have you ever been on a brewery tour or are there ones you want to visit? I want to go to the Sam Adams Brewery in Boston soon.

Even with all the working, I’ve been having a lot of fun this month and I have recipes to share with you later in the week. How does Taco Stew and Apple Crisp sound? Not together, of course

What I want to tell you today is how awesome Groupon.com is. Have any of you ever used it? The site (and many other’s like it) is very popular, but I keep talking to people who still don’t know what it is.

Basically, Groupon offers really great deals and coupons for local attractions, restaurants, services and products because so many people will buy the deal that the provider still makes money. Here are three Groupons I’ve bought in the past month for the Boston area:

• $12 for $24 worth of frozen yogurt at a frozen yogurt shop down the street from me. I’m obsessed with it!
• 6 month gym membership to a gym down the street for only $89 (it’s normally $45 a month!)
• 10 class pass to a Bikram Yoga studio (my friend bought it too, so we can go together)

Then I also bought two more from a similar site, LivingSocial.com:

• 10 Zumba classes for $35
• $30 for a Shellac mani/pedi

Are these awesome deals or what? I’ve used these sites for my hair cuts and color, oil changes, dinners, brewery tours and so much else.

If you’ve never checked out these sites, I highly recommend you do so!

Bikram Yoga

Last night I cashed in one of the above mentioned Groupons- Bikram Yoga! My friend couldn’t make it, but I decided to go anyway. Some of my friends have done Bikram before and told me everything to bring: yoga mat, big towel (for the mat), small towel (for me), lots of water and a coconut water for after the class.

Here’s all my stuff in the morning. I wanted to wear a cool outfit since I knew the studio would be HOT.

Purple overload! Haha.

On the way to the studio, I stopped and got some water and coconut water. Everything fit well in to my cute Steph C. bag, which was part of my bridesmaid gift for being in Kara’s wedding.

I love the “curlz” font

The Groupon is for a studio in Westborough, MA  called Bikram Yoga Westboro (they also have a location in Auburn). I was totally nervous to go last night because everyone had told me that Bikram was really intense because of the heat. Turns out the room is heated to 105 degrees! Whoa!

The class ended up being awesome. A lot of the poses were new to me, but some of them I had done in my Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD. I was embarrassed at first when I couldn’t do some of the poses really well, but then I was just like “f-it” and modified the best I could.

An hour in and I did start to feel dehydrated, so I definitely need to drink more water before I go to class next time. I can’t wait to go back next week!

After class:

Not too flattering, but you can see how red I was. My car actually fogged up, so I had to wait a few minutes before I could drive home. Haha.

I promise I’ll be back again this week with at least one recipe and some other fun things.

Have a great day!

My office at work is all decorated:

Festive, right? Just wait till you see all my Christmas decorations!

Do you have any plans for Halloween tonight? I’m actually fighting a nasty head cold, so I think I’m going to watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” and then call it a night. #lame. LOL

October Foodie Penpal

It’s time again to reveal all my Foodie Penpal goodies. I loved everything I got this month.

In case you’re new to the blog, Foodie Penpals is a program run by Lindsay at http://www.theleangreenbean.com. Here’s the scoop:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

I love this program and encourage you all to join in the fun!

My penpal for the month was Candi and she was super sweet. Check out the goodies she sent me.

I love that she sent over a big tub of honey because I had just almost bought some like two days before, but held off. I must be psychic.  I haven’t tried the Spiced Pear Jam yet, but I’m dying to! I need to buy some good bread for toasting

She also gave me a bag of Luscious Granola. My kitty cat, who I put down last year, was named Luscious, so this granola was extra awesome to me I added some to my Trader Joe’s greek yogurt and it was soooo good! Look at all the different seeds…pumpkin, sunflower, chia…so cool!

Thank you so much Candi for the awesome box of goodies. Love it all!

I sent a box over to Val at www.goingveggie.com, so check out her blog too.

Have a spooktacular day!   Hee hee.