New (for me) products from Whole Foods

Honey bbq Smart Wings & Raspberry Chia Kombucha. This was my first time trying both of these products.

Kombucha - liked it. A different but refreshing taste. Lots of fiber in it. I'd totally buy this again.

After reading a bunch of stuff online, I learned that this is a pretty healthy drink. Have you ever tried Kombucha? I find it pretty pricey (almost $4/ bottle) and I’m not sure of the validity of the health benefits, but will definitely pick it up again as an occasional treat!

The smart wings on the other hand… ugh…. I brought these to work today with some frozen green beans. The sauce tasted chemically, kind of like metal and sugar mixed together. Bleck. The actual ‘wings’ were grainy tasting (I microwaved them according to the instructions on the box). Maybe if I pan seared them they would be better? I usually love soy chicken so I was surprised to toss these out half way through.

Have you tried either of these products? What did you think??

Mexi-Medi Salad

You'll need these

.

 In your largest bowl, put in your favorite Mexican salad ingredients

Romaine, sweet onion, tomato, shredded cheddar, 1/2 an avocado

Add the good stuff.

With some hot sauce for good measure.

Repeat at lunch. + Fake chicken.

I'm headed to a happy hour at Wicked Willy's 

Wicked Willy’s is not the bashful type: its kitschy, pirate theme-park décor—replete with nautical knickknacks, netting, chandeliers, mini–pirate ships, and a grinning skull-and-bones—is just the garnish for the bar’s nightly frat party. Appropriately, the action is dominated by hypercompetitive games of beer pong and flip cup. 

Beer pong, here I come :) 

Have a good night :) Enjoy:

Cute & innocent

Crazy & possessed.

Time to Get Back to Yoga!

Hi Everyone! 

Tonight I am heading to hot yoga at Yoga To The People in midtown Manhattan. I have done the 90 minute class here, but tonight I think I will stick to 60 minutes based on my laziness level. If you live in the city, please do check it out. It is a great studio and it is very affordable. http://yogatothepeople.com/new-york/

Believe it or not, I used to be quite a yoga woman / yogi. Maybe it's time I get back into it?

Just a thought.. 

For lunch today, I tried something new. Smart Cutlets Classic Marinara.

pretty good!

 The box came with 2 cutlets - pretty big and 150 calories each. So last night, I grilled em up.

I put one away in the fridge for a rainy day

 Cooked up some veggies: mushrooms, spinach & frozen broccoli from Trader Joe's.

 

Sliced the up the fake chicken and added my cooked veggies. On top of this I added some extra marinara sauce I had in my fridge. 

This was a perfect lunch. It was satisfying and kept me full with the help of some plain Fage Greek yogurt & 1/2 an avocado on the side.

Gotta run to my yoga class!!

i've been in need of some zen lately :)

Have a good night!

Product Review: Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo

I'm always looking to try new fake meat products - that being said, I've had a lot of bad experience with those fake smoke flavored, terrible textured, barely edible products. When I saw this guy at Trader Joe's , I thought why the hell not!

Stats:

salty!

I'll be honest, I had no idea what Chorizo was. So I turned to my good pal Google.

According to About.com ..." Chorizo is made by chopping or grinding pork and “marinating” it in spices. Spanish paprika (sweet or spicey) is the spice which is gives chorizo its characteristic flavor and distinguishes it from other sausages. The casing of the chorizo is usually made from pork, if made at home"  Gross, right?

Then I ran into the issue of having no idea how to cook this stuff. Trader Joe's products usually include a hint of a recipe but this packaging did not.

Attempt # 1 - Being nonethewiser, I just threw it in a frying pan and paired with a few rando sauces I had kicking in my fridge.

not even ketchup could save this mess

Result - Not good. Not good at all. The actual fake meat came in a plastic casing and kind of smushed out like Eloise's wet cat food. Barf. The texture alone was enough to give up. I was expecting a slicing-friendly sausage that I could dip like a veggie hot dog. This was SO BAD that I actually ended up tossing this & had some trustworthy tofu with veggies instead.

much better

Attempt #2 - Never one to give up on my dear friend Trader Joe, I thought I would give this stuff another shot. The huuuge package comes with so much fake chorizo I felt like I had to. This time I used Google again and searched "Chorizo recipe". I found that most people mixed the real meat version with eggs or used it in stews / chillis. Since I had some eggs & veggies, this seemed like the easiest option: a skillet like creation.

2 eggs, frozen carrots & broccoli, low fat  cheddar and lots o ketchup

Result - I was really good! I only used a bit of the chorizo and it added a spicy, meat-like (but not too meaty) taste to the dish. This was like nothing I've ever made before. I highly recommend putting this easy dish together if you're feeling ravenous. I was full for hours and hours, even after spinning class.

 What did I learn from this? Do some research before diving into any unknown fake meat otherwise you might be disgusted. Also, never give up on Trader Joe's  :)

Happy Monday everyone!