The in-season produce that is available right now has made for some yummy meals.  I’m so thankful for the millions of cherries I have in my freezer right now – I keep seeing frozen cherries on other blogs and people complaining about how expensive they were and how they would eat more of them if they were more affordable. 

Needless to say, I have been incorporating cherries into a lot of my meals and recipes.  There have been numerous cherry smoothies.  My favorite combo is the choco-cherry smoothie:

• A handful of frozen cherries
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• small handful chocolate chips
• ice cubes
• pinch of xantham gum and guar gum

This is a YUMMY smoothie.  I’ve never been one to drink my meals – I like to eat and never really feel like I’m having a meal when I drink a smoothie.  But these are so refreshing as the weather gets warmer outside.  I have also been having a smoothie as my nightcap – it helps with my sweet tooth at night, fills me up, and takes me a while to spoon through. 

Also making a frequent appearance in my eats has been the honey goat cheese from TJ’s.  I went through two huge logs of that cheese in a week!

On salads, in sandwiches and wraps, on crackers… this cheese’s sweet flavor compliments so many different things that I wouldn’t typically think of pairing with goat cheese.  I’m so happy we made this discovery!

Another delicious cherry recipe I created was Cherry Cream Cheese pastries.  S loves puff pastry, so anytime I can incorporate it into a recipe it’s a winner.  And it’s soooo easy, I love to use it.

Cherry Cream Cheese Pastries

1 sheet of ready made Puff Pastry
1 cup cherries (I used my frozen ones, could use fresh or cherry pie filling.)

Cream cheese mixture:
Half block of cream cheese (4oz)
1 Tbs sugar
splasy of vanilla extract
splash of lemon juice

Drizzle icing:
1 cup of powdered sugar
2-3 tsp cherry juice

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave for 10 seconds and mix in the sugar, vanilla, and lemon.   Cut the sheet of thawed pastry into squares. Then spread the cream cheese mixture on a diagonal.

Put the cherries on top of the cream cheese…

Pull the opposite corners up and pinch them together.

Brushed with an egg wash.  Put in the overn and bake at 425 until golden brown (took about 15 min in my toaster oven).

Remove and drizzle on the icing.

Voila!

Eat

So this week, I’m just sitting on my couch when the doorbell rings.  When I answer it, there is a huge package sitting on the porch, addressed to me!

I opened it up excitedly, and – low and behold….My newest toy:

That’s right, I have a soft-serve machine!  It was a surprise gift from my mother.  And in case you couldn’t tell from the picture… it’s PINK!

Best mother in the world?  CHECK. 

So, part of the reason that I haven’t been writing much about my eats is because they have consisted almost entirely of homemade soft serve. 

So far chocolate has been my favorite.

But I’ve also made vanilla and some protein ice cream too.  I’m so excited, THANK YOU MOMMY!

The lesson of the day?  Looks can be deceiving….

See this seemingly normal box of beer?

It is, in fact, a  CAT SHACK!

And that is all.

This weekend, S and I decided we needed a day away.  So we decided to take a day trip to Yosemite.  S has been there a couple of times, but I haven’t been yet.  We woke up bright an early (7am on a Sunday morning!), did our dog-ly duties and prepped a little for the day.

Before we left, I made us each a sandwich.  I used this goat cheese with honey that we picked up at Trader Joe’s last weekend.

Actually, S picked it up accidentally – he didn’t see that it had honey in it and thought that it was just regular goat cheese.  Since he pretty much dislikes most things that are sweet, he doesn’t like it.  Just as well, because I LOVE it.  More for me!  I made a goat cheese and honey sandwich with the Swiss honey and some sea salt sprinkled in it.  I meant for it to be my mid-morning snack, but I made it approximately 5 minutes in the car before I broke into it.

This sandwich was incredible.  The combination of the goat cheese, the swiss honey and the sea salt made my taste buds dance!  This will be repeated in the near future – that’s a promise!

Tessa was excited for a car ride. 

Well, at least she was for the first half hour.  Then it got pretty old.

She was a very well behaved puppy, though. 

S and I love road trips.  They are very relaxing for us – just driving and talking or driving in silence.  Seriously – after just a half hour of a road trip I already feel like a calmer, saner person.

After a few puppy pit stops, we made it into Yosemite.  We had barely entered the park when we saw this guy:

A bear!

I got a little snap-happy.   I have never seen a bear in the wild before – only in the zoo. 

He was just chilling out, eating and ignoring the tourist paparazzi taking his picture.

Yosemite was absolutely gorgeous.  I couldn’t believe how cold it was there – in San Jose it has been in the high 70s-80s, and in Yosemite it was FREEZING and there was still snow!

It’s waterfall season, so the falls were aflowin’ everywhere!

As someone who used to climb regularly, S loves the amazing rock walls.

I can’t believe people actually climb those! 

By the time we were done at Yosemite, Tessa was totally pooped.

She slept the whole way home.  Except for waking  up a few times to chase the reflection of light from S’s watch as it moved along the car ceiling. 

Back to reality, now.  Boo!  Can’t wait for our next day trip…

PS:  Check out Healthnuttxo’s You Bar giveaway!

Ever since I became a runner, one of my dreams was to have a dog to run with.  Now, years later, I am hoping that dream will become a reality with Tessa.

I’m not really supposed to run much with her right now because she is still a puppy.  I was told that dogs shouldn’t really run longer distances (more than a mile or so) until they are at least a year old because their bones are still growing and they are learning how to use their bodies and move properly. 

We’ve only had Tessa for a couple of months and I can already see a difference in the way she moves.  When we first got her, she was like a clumsy Tigger – constantly tripping over her own feet, skidding all over the place, and knocking things over with her tail or her ears.  In just those short few months she has become more sure on her feet, more stable. 

However, I am still at the point where I can barely take her on a solid, non-stop walk.  She wants to stop at everything and look at it, smell it, put it in her mouth.  She chases anything that moves…  squirrels, birds, geese, blowing leaves, other dogs, children, people on bicycles.  She has gotten a little better but not really all that much.

The last few days I have been trying to walk/run our morning walks.  Run a few minutes, then walk.  Run a few more, walk.  Sometimes we do ok, but other times we just don’t. 

Oh, and the newest thing?  Well, usually when we are outside walking she goes off into the grass if she has to go poo.  If she pulls to the side and I see she is sniffing around, I let her go because I realize it is potty time.  However, the last couple of days as we were running – she made absolutely no attempt to pull over to poo.  She literally just made a dead stop, in the middle of the road one day, the middle of the sidewalk the next, and poo’ed!

I’m hoping this is just a puppy thing.  I read about other people running with their dogs and my heart aches.  I really enjoyed this writeup by Melinda about the benefits of running with dogs.  I want those benefits!!! 

Any of you runners out there who run with your dogs… did you ever have these problems at first?  Does anybody have advice as to whether this is something my dog will outgrow, or whether she just might not end up being a running partner?

Testing my first post from my blackberry!

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life where all of a sudden, everything became clear?  Like your whole life was blurry, and all of a sudden it came into focus?

Today, I had that moment.  Literally.

I had Lasik surgery. 

This is me.

Now I take Tylenol PM and sleep for long time.

Night, ya’ll.

This weekend was Bay to Breakers!  I walk the race every year with two of my coworkers.  It is 12k and is always lots of fun and craziness – you never know just what you might see in San Francisco on race day.

My coworkers came to pick up S and I at about 6:30am.  Look what they brought us:

Holy cherries!  An huuuuuuuuuuge box, filled with cherries straight off of their family’s cherry trees up in Stockton.  Literally – enough cherries to last for months!  I was so excited and started eating them right away.  They are so sweet and delicious.

I love cherries, but don’t buy them too often (particularly this time of year) because they are so pricey.  Just yesterday I went to the grocery store and they were on sale for $4.99 a pound!  And this is literally at least 20 pounds of cherries. 

After I was finally torn away from the cherry box (I almost made us late!) we were off.  My coworker’s husband is kind enough to drop us off and pick us up each years, which makes things really easy.  No worrying about parking or finding our way through the crowds. 

We were at the starting line in plenty of time for the 8am walkers start. 

You never know what you are going to get as far as the weather is concerned.  I have done it four years in a row now, and each year the weather is different.  San Francisco weather = completely unpredictable!  Last year it was HOT and sunny.  This year it was COOOOLD and windy!  I was so glad I took my sweatshirt (I almost didn’t) because I would have frozen without it.

A tradition of Bay to Breakers is to throw tortillas at the starting line while everyone is waiting.  It is crazy… there are tortillas flying everywhere!  Out of nowhere, one will come and clock you on the head.  And when you look up at the sky at any given time, you can just see tortillas flying!  You totally have to keep your eyes open and stay alert to avoid any pre-race tortilla injuries

My handsome walking partner:

Best. Coworkers. Ever.

At 8am, the gun sounded and we were off!

Well… not exactly.  It takes over 10 minutes to actually cross the starting line in Bay to Breakers – that’s how many people there are! 

There were costumes everywhere.  A few I enjoyed (and managed to catch a picture of) included some interesting British soldiers in their skivvies:

And a group of smurfs!!

There was much porta-pottying to be had by all.

Please pay no attention to the large man in the pink tutu.

And we walked and walked.

And walked.

Oh yes, and of course there were many nakey people.  Not nearly as many as last year, due to the much colder weather, but still a lot!  I couldn’t resist taking this picture of my coworkers from behind.  See who else I captured in my shot?  Look closely… 

Just another day in San Francisco

Off to continue eating my body weight in cherries.  I’ll be back tomorrow for a new surprising fact about my already surprising boyfriend.  Don’t even try to guess.  You’ll never figure it out…

This seems to be a big week for graduations.  This weekend, my sister is graduating from college in Michigan.  The whole family, sans me, is there for the ceremony and to celebrate.  Unfortunately, since I just was in PA and am returning again in July, a trip to the east coast for the graduation just wasn’t in the cards right now.  It makes me sad that once again I am missing out on a family get-together, but I guess that’s one of the (few) drawbacks of living in California.

However, we had a graduation of our very own today!  More on that in a few.

My breakfast was a continuation of my ode to the egg:

An omelet stuffed with goat cheese, and some dried fruit (mango, papaya and strawberries).

Mid-morning snack was a blueberry bran vitatop.  I just have a few of these left, and then will not be purchasing them for a while.  Why purchase these, with added sugar, when I can make my own, healthier muffins?  That will be my next task as a part of operation Stop the Sugar.

Lunch was a big salad with turkey, eggs, veggies, edamame, and goat cheese.  Topped with EVOO and balsamic.

I am appreciating high-quality cheese more and more.  It totally makes the whole salad!  And when it tastes so good, a little bit goes a long-way.

Afternoon snack was a bit of random throw-together.  Roast beef, crab meat and chickpeas, with some EVOO and balsamic.  It was delicious!

I also had a bowl of peppers.

These are so sweet that they don’t require any sauce or dressing or anything!  I just love eating them all on their own.

We had our last training class for Tessa tonight, so I also had another pre-class snack.  A big bowl of pumpkin cottage cheese cheesecake pudding.

I can already tell that since I am eating less and less added sugar, natural things are tasting sweeter and sweeter.  I love it!

Then it was graduation time.  We headed to our last training class for Tessa.  She had to take her “final exam”, which included all of the things she has learned in training:

• Sit
• Down
• Stay
• Loose-leash walking
• Take it
• Leave it
• Come
• Shake
• All of the above with DISTRATIONS!!! (the hardest one for Tessa)

It was touch and go for a while – when we first arrived, Tessa was totally hyper and wasn’t listening to anything.  I took her outside for a few minutes to cool off and go to the bathroom, and when she came back in she was much better.

And she graduated!  She got her graduation certificate and even a little hat.

Proud parents:

I’ll bet you can guess how long that hat actually stayed on her head….

The graduate got lots of toys as graduation presents too.  We spent almost $100 on toys!!! 

Spoiled graduate…  Good thing she’s not going to grad school at this time.  We would go broke!!

Dinner was my favorite:  SUBWAY!

$5 FOOTLONG.  Except I always get turkey, which is $6.  But it’s worth every penny

And dessert:

Now this proud parent is going to bed!

Eggs are quite possibly one of the world’s most perfect foods. 

Breakfast was a 2-egg omelet with laughing cow cheese and an orange.

I could never be a vegan because I could never live a life without my eggs! 

This fact is confirmed with my mid-morning snack, a hard-boiled pair of googly eyes.

Did you know that the only difference between a brown and white egg is the color of the shell, which is merely a reflection of the breed of the hen?  In general, but not always, hens with white feathers and earlobes lay white eggs and those with dark feathers and red earlobes lay brown eggs.  One isn’t healthier, more “natural,” or more eco-friendly than the other. There aren’t any differences in nutritional quality, flavor, or cooking characteristics.

I have both white and brown eggs in my fridge right now.  But in case you were wondering, all my eggs today came from a hen with white earlobes

And just for kicks?

The best thing about eggs is that they are so versatile.  I have them for any meal, or as a snack.  Can eat just the whites or the whole or a combination.  Scramble, fry, poach, boil.  Can dump them in salads or in other dishes, or can just eat them plain.  Can have them sweet or savory. 

Lunch had eggs too – a big salad with eggs, goat cheese, tomatoes and crab meat.

Since I got back from PA, I have also been more consistent with my gym-going.  And consistent gym-going does a happy Rachel make. 

Today was a rest day, though.  I decided to take Tessa for a walk instead.  We walked to Safeway where I picked up a few groceries – killed two birds with one stone!  Safeway is about a mile from our house, so I take my reusable grocery bag and can only buy what I can carry.  I always figure that if I can fit it in the basket at the store, it will be fine to carry home.  But I always forget how much heavier the bag gets after a few minutes…. especially when I am trying to keep an unruly puppy under control with one of my hands! 

One of the things I bought was a cantaloupe…  probably not the greatest idea as it made my bag much heavier for the walk home.  Does that count as my weight training for the week? 

It was worth it when I got home and ate half, though.

Then I started on dinner.  I made homemade pizza starting with a Trader Joe’s garlic and herb pizza dough.  This was my first time trying this type (I had only had the plain whole wheat before) and it was great!  Really added some flavor to the pizza. 

To add more flavor, I tried to use some interesting cheese.  We still had a huge chunk of Gruyere cheese from Switzerland, so I shredded that for the first layer.  The second layer was a combo of mozzarella, cheddar, and colby.  And the third layer was a mixture of parmesan and romano!

When the pizza was done cooking, there was a lot of oil on top.  S told me it was because I used the Gruyere – he said when you bake with really aged cheese like the Gruyere, it results in a lot of oil rising.  It didn’t look all that pretty because of the oil, but it tasted AMAZING!

We did a his and hers.  His was pepperoni:

Hers was spinach and goat cheese.

I ate my part, and a little of S’s. 

The whole shebang. 

And for dessert, no sugar-laden treats for me!  I made myself some protein ice cream using one scoop of Dymatize butter cream toffee protein powder, soy milk, a pinch of guar gum and a pinch of xantham gum.

It totally hit the spot, especially on a night like tonight when the weather is getting warmer!!

Now, Biggest Loser is calling my name.  G’night, ya’ll.  Eat some eggs, will ya?

I’m a proud mother of a baby girl.

Looking at my past posts, you might have thought that my “she” was a “he”.  A big baby, weighing over 45 pounds… not exactly a delicate feminine daisy, eh?  And the blue collar she came with didn’t help.

Before:

Now, the makeover.

Pretty in pink.

No mistaking this is my baby girl!  No more strangers asking how old he is.

Now, about my eats.  Since I got back from Pittsburgh, I have been trying to significantly reduce my sugar intake.  I tried to think of some catchy name for it… you know…

• Operation Sugar Reduction
• Stomp Out Sugar
• Sugar Buster

or something else along those lines.  Eventually I just gave up and decided to call a spade a spade.  I eat way too much crap… and the majority of that crap is made up of some kind of refined sugar.

No more. 

My sweet treats have been replaced by other foods to satisfy my cravings, when necessary.  Protein shakes, greek yogurt, oatmeal, fruit.  When the chocolate or candy craving hits, I reach for a low-sugar or naturally sweetened protein or granola bar.  Pure Protein bars are my absolute favorite, and I am also experimenting at making my own.. 

I realize that bars are still processed and contain some form of sweetening, but they are much better than jelly beans, fudge, ice cream, and the other crap I have been shoving into my body by the bucketful.  And I’m concentrating on baby steps.  A little change at a time does a successful change make.  

Will I still have sugar?  Certainly.  Will I still have the occasional empty-calorie sugar-laden treat? 

In the words of Sarah Palin…  YOU BETCHA!

But those will be the exception – not the rule. 

So far it has just been about a week, but I feel great.  I’m happy, food tastes better (no joke) and I feel better.  I have more energy and just feel better about myself in general. 

Sweet (no refined sugar added) dreams!