Cypress Grove

Pizza for the Parents

November 23, 2010 by Hillary 8 Comments

I know it isn’t Friday, but pizza and beer were on the menu tonight.

The beer traveled all the way from Minnesota, courtesy of my aunt + uncle.

… while the pizza featured local chevre cheese and a freshly-made crust from a [Bay Area] farmers’ market.

All in all: local basil pesto, caramelized onion + mushrooms, chevre + parm

plus a harvest salad of organic lettuce, apple, pear, feta, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, olive oil + balsamic.

Side Note: I am [used to be?] a mushroom-hater. There are a million other things I could have topped the pizza with, but I’m trying to acquire a taste for mushrooms. Mushrooms seem like something a foodie should like. I gobbled up my pizza no problem; I guess they’re growing on me.

Is there a food you like now that you used to dislike?

* * *

I have plans to go for a run again in the a.m… hope my knee cooperates. Are y’all getting excited for Thanksgiving? I’m ready to get my bake on!

Ta ta for now…

Hill

Can you hear my cheering? It’s the weekend – woot woot!! When you’re a full-time student, you quickly appreciate the weekends so much more, that’s for certain. Monday feels like forever ago. I hope that’s not an indication of how slowly the semester will progress. I just keep thinking of that diploma hanging on my wall, and I chug right along.

My mind hasn’t exactly been in blog posting mode this week. I took a pathetic number of random food photos yesterday + today. Perhaps I’ll put my camera to better use over the weekend, ya?

#1 snack: free Greek [Chobani loves to send me coupons!!] + fresh berries & honey.

#1 free chocolate bar: Coffee Bean Dark Chocolate Attune. These get a high rating from me, a complete chocolate snob. Agree!?

Healthier chocolate. I’ll make room in my cupboard for you.

#1 six-minute salad: fresh spinach, r-berries, red onion, avocado, chevre, olive oil, balsamic + pepper.

* * *

I went to the gym for the 7th day in a row tonight. I didn’t go with much enthusiasm, or use my successful exercise tips; consequently, I had a chill – though sweaty!! – workout.

1 mi. indoor track run @ 8:40
20-minute treadmill walk
20-minute StairMaster

The weather isn’t suppose to be at sauna temperatures the next couple of days, so I’m double-crossing my fingers I can go for a run outside. A true runner can only train inside for so long before going stir-crazy.

I’ll ~~talk~~ write more later. I’m closing up shop for the night.

xo HP

When do you prefer to exercise – morning, afternoon, or evening? Any late-night exercisers?

Unmentionables

July 11, 2010 by Hillary 16 Comments

HI!

Hooray, I finally have time for bloggin’! I’ve worked my ~~little~~ big behind off the past four days, and it feels so so good to sit down and relax. I am working again tomorrow, but then I have a b.r.e.a.k.

Yesterday’s event was extremely longgg. I clocked in a total of 13 hours! The wedding was at a campground-ish area on the river, yet this was no casual wedding. The bride looked like a princess as she pulled up to the ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage. Setting up a reception for 300 people, prepping food for 300 people, serving food for 300 people, and then cleaning up after 300 [drunk] people is a lot of work, people. Overall, the event went well on our part. But… the bride was not too happy that her cake collapsed! [We were not responsible for this.] Shouldn’t the cake baker know better than to leave a 4-tiered cake sitting in the 90* heat!? I was terribly sad for the bride; that would be my worst wedding nightmare!

I have to admit, with little chance to blog this past week, I also avoided filling up my camera card with my eats. Think of it as a good thing though, because now I’m motivated to do my thing again…

Today’s brunch.

Van’s + a perfect peach, pecans, unsweetened coconut, and drizzle of real maple.

Today’s dinner [apparently, only yellow & green were invited to the party].

organic lettuces + arugula, fresh parsley, grilled tofu, avocado, cucumber, tomato, peppers, vinaigrette, salt and pepper

steamed farmers’ market squash + basil chevre

* * *

I’ve written a couple posts about running attire: 1) My First Running Skirt & 2) My Running Shoe Relationship; though, I’ve failed to mention the ‘unmentionables’.

As a top-heavy athlete, any generic sports bra will not do the job – no cute and colorful under garments for me : ( I need a bra with a lot of support, and unfortunately, most that do that are expensive [I’d rather suffer the price of a good bra, than suffer the physical pain] and not stylish. I can rarely find a racerback that does the trick. That is, until I came across Bounce, Title Nine’s extensive bra collection.

I decided for as much as I exercise, having more than 2 sufficient sports bras was necessary; I chose the Triple Threat Underwire.

Triple Threat Underwire

[photo source]

I can’t give it an honest review yet, as I haven’t given it a true test-run, but so far it fits great… and it’s not too terribly ugly. I have high hopes.

Do you have any favorite exercise ‘unmentionables’?
Do you splurge on any particular exercise items/attire?

I hope you all had a nice weekend and are ready for the week ahead. How is it almost mid-July!?

Toodles!

Hillary

Apparently, I didn’t properly link my most recent CL post, so here it is in case you missed it: Savvy Summer Snacking 101.

Dinner for Three

June 14, 2010 by Hillary 17 Comments

I wanted to write this post last night, but my body clock is completely different since being home; in other words, I am exhausted by 10:00pm. I slept for 12 hours last night– yikes! I guess it was resting-up for my birthday week!

Anyway, there were a lot of great eats yesterday. I enjoyed going shopping at our local co-op – it’s seriously a health nut’s heaven; I came home with two full bags of organic goodies. After unloading, I dove straight into a 2% Fage with organic blueberries, our neighbor’s raspberries ,and a drizzle of organic agave – it won a blue ribbon for “Snack of the Day”.

Next, I dove into another new find. I think this is my new favorite Chocolove flavor – love love love!

What’s your favorite?

I couldn’t resist this at the market. Ya’ll know how I love my green tea. This is was super strong, but at only 6 ounces, I guzzled it all. I could almost taste the antioxidants ; )

Catechins are powerful antioxidants in green tea that help maintain a healthy heart and neutralize cell-damaging free radicals.

036

I was in charge of making Sunday Family Dinner…

Appetizer

Local Herbed Boule, Local Chevre & Organic Green Grapes

Award-winning Purple Haze: the perfect mixture of lavender and fennel pollen gives this cheese a sweet flavor that plays off the acidity in the cheese for a delightful complement.

Dinner

Arugula, Gorgonzola & Walnut Whole Wheat Pasta

[original recipe @ How Sweet It Is]

In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Cook 1 lb. of whole wheat pasta of your choice until al dente. Meanwhile, in a large skillet sauté 2-3 cloves of garlic in 2-3T of olive oil. Add 3-4 c. of fresh arugula and stir until wilted. Drain pasta, add arugula mixture, a couple additional tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 c. of crumbled gorgonzola, and a couple handfuls of toasted chopped walnuts. Combine thoroughly, then finish with a sprinkling of freshly-grated hard cheese [parmesan, asiago, etc.] – enjoy! Serves 4.

We also enjoyed a colorful salad full of homegrown lettuces, organic avocado, tomato, red onion, chive flowers, orange-infused olive oil & balsamic.