Guess Where I Went!?!?!?

I'll give you one clue...

YES!!  Whole Foods!!...well, actually that's a lie.  I really went to Harry's Farmers Market...which is owned by Whole Foods and is less than 5 minutes from my house.  They've got the same kind of stuff.

You would think with Harry's being so close that I'd already be a Whole Foods girl.  But it's not that I don't like going...cause I do.  You can always find some interesting new yummy treats...or hard to find veggie products...or those odd ingredients that are in your recipes that you can't find anywhere else.  Whole Foods is great!!!  It's just the cost!  It's so damn expensive!  I got the above at Whole Foods and I got this...

...at Wal-Mart.  Notice the size of my WH bag as compared to all the Wal-Mart bags.  Wally World is definitely not my favorite place, but it IS cost effective.  I'm getting back into my habit of going to two grocery stores in one trip.  One for my cheap stuff (i.e. Kroger/Wal-Mart) and one for my unique/ethnic/exotic/whatever you want to call it stuff (i.e. Harry's).  It is time consuming, but I think it allows me to have the best of both worlds.  In the past two days, I have actually been to FOUR different grocery stores looking for the ingredients for a recipe that I wanted to make.

I actually borrowed the recipe from Allie...who may be my new favorite blogger.  I used her yummy recipe for banana and avocado bread.  I followed the recipe to a tee...except that I added some walnuts for extra protein.  It really turned out good.  The recipe calls for oat flour, wheat flour, spelt flour and flax (hence why I was running all over the place to every grocery store within a five mile radius of my house)  But even with all that healthiness in there, it didn't taste wheaty or anything.  I'm excited for my fiance to get home so he can try it...his taste buds are pretty particular (especially when I'm cooking), so I'm not sure if he'll like it or not.

Here's my finished product...by the time I thought to take a picture, I had already cut a slice (oops!).

I decided to have a slice as a snack today with a cup of green tea.  Yummy!!!  The recipe is definitely worth trying.  Nice and moist...and you don't even have to like avocado cause you can't taste it at all. 

On Saturday night, I tried another Allie recommendation.

Now this...was not a favorite.  It was okay.  I've been craving Chinese beef with broccoli for awhile and I thought that maybe this could satisfy my craving.  But...not so much.  It wasn't awful.  The consistency was a little soft and it tasted like "fake" meat...which is a taste that I'm used to, but it's definitely not my favorite.  I think if someone who really knew how to cook (like my fiance) used it in a dish, it could possibly taste a lot better.  I whipped it up with some broccoli and brown rice and it was just okay.  Anyway, it's low fat and has lots of protein...so I was happy with that.  And I guess I didn't hate it that much, I ate it the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Okay...have to find the energy to workout.  Then back to pulling articles for my paper...it's crunch time!!!

RECIPES FAVES: Low Fat Vegetarian Taco Salad

Okay.  So I always forget to post what I am eating.  But I loved this salad so much that I decided mid-meal that I had to take a picture.  It was a Lowfat Vegetarian Taco Salad...and it was super yum.

I had been looking for different recipes for warm salads earlier this week...and I was super excited when I found one for low fat taco salad.  I made some changes to the recipe to make it meatless and it ended up being really good.

My fiance said it looks kind of gross in the picture.  But it was really good.

Romaine lettuce, grounds with kidney beans and Rotel (plus fresh cilantro, garlic and onions), 1/4 of a cup of low fat 4 cheese Mexican, lowfat sour cream and salsa mixture (for dressing), and some crushed tortilla chips (for croutons).  I ate it today and yesterday for lunch.  My fiance even enjoyed it.  Definitely a keeper!!!

Here's the recipe that I adapted from RecipeZaar.  

Low Fat Taco Salad Recipe 

SERVES 4

• 8 cups lettuce
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 dried chipotle chile
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• 1 tablespoon cilantro
• 8 ounces 4% lean ground beef
• 4 small corn tortillas

1. Chop or tear lettuce.
2. Cut tomatoes (or use cherry or grape) and onions.
3. Toss with lettuce.
4. Saute pepper, onions, and garlic in water.
5. Add beef and cook until almost done.
6. Add beans with juice.
7. Add spices and heat through.
8. Mix together salsa and fat free sour cream in a separate bowl.
9. Cut tortillas into triangles.
10. Spray with Pam on one side and sprinkle with a little salt or spices.
11. Bake in 400 degree oven until crisp.
12. Turn and brown on other side.
13. Arrange salad on plate.
14. Top with the meat and bean mixture.
15. Arrange chips around the sides.
16. Top with the salsa and sour cream mixture.

Pescatarian vs. Vegetarian vs. Vegan

Okay, so one of my goals is to be a healthy pescatarian.  What's a pescatarian you may ask?  It's a vegetarian who eats fish.  Though it's sounds made up, it's real...really.  I read it in a health magazine, so it has to be real:)  When people ask, I don't really call myself a pescatarian...I usually just tell them that I don't eat meat.  Which is usually followed by, "So, you're a vegetarian?"...which I usually follow with "No, I eat seafood."  I have found that vegetarians and vegans get very upset if you call yourself a vegetarian and you still eat animals...even ones that swim.  This is a definite veggie no-no.  I have been a pescatarian since 2006.  My then boyfriend/now fiance was a strict vegetarian and I thought that it would be easier for meal planning if I joined him.  Only problem, I was not giving up my seafood!  Funny thing was, HE started craving meat in 2008 or 2009 and we both had a meat relapse for about a year (only eating chicken and seafood).  I got back on the pescatarian wagon in January 2010.  He plans to stop eating meat when we start this healthy living kick tomorrow.

Anyway, I could never be a vegetarian because I love seafood too much.  I couldn't live without crab (specifically, Maryland Blue Crabs), shrimp, and scallops!  Oh!...and I love good fish and chips, too.  YUM!  As for being vegan...couldn't do that either.  My love for cheese is something fierce.  Nope, couldn't do it...nope, nope, nope.  Even though I do realize that if I were to cut out dairy, I would be a lot closer to my health goals a lot sooner...but it's just not something that I would ever want to deny myself.  No mozzarella on my pizza...no 4-cheese Mexican on my burrito...no provolone on my veggie sub!?!?!  No way!  So, I guess I will continue to eat cheese...in moderation, of course.