I was really lucky tonight…I went to see Matthew after school at my Dad’s house, and found out he was staying for dinner…so I got 3.5 hours with him instead of 1. We did homework, and then made a drag racer out of tinker toys. Then we played Connect 4 (the new version—but we used the old rules).
As a result, I’m not sure I have anything useful to say this evening, but I did have a great salad for lunch.
A few months ago, my friend Ali and I went to Florida for a long weekend, and in spite of our troubles in finding good coffee in the morning…we had two great dinners that involved a salad with champagne vinaigrette. I didn’t recreate the salad, just because I was too lazy and cold to go to the store for ingredients, but I did make the dressing. I found the champagne vinegar at TJMaxx a few weeks ago.
Champagne Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey (I subbed in several drops of stevia)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp black pepper
Note: I used one head of chopped romaine + 1/2 red onion + 1 can of tuna + 1 handful of Savi Seeds….and half the dressing.
Cheese would have been nice 🙂
I don’t have much else going on—grading papers, discussing food, trying to resist my instinct to hibernate (not completely successfully, I will admit).
Elimination Diet Update: I feel really crave-y until mid-afternoon. Then I could take or leave food/drink for the rest of the day/evening. I have a headache, and body aches (especially my spine/neck/lower back), and I’m quite low on energy–but I don’t really feel that bad (I know that doesn’t make sense). My calorie intake is not low. In fact, sometimes I think I’m eating more than normal to fill my cravings (it doesn’t work—I’m trying to learn that lesson). I’ll try harder at documenting what I eat for a day or so.
The nicer weather in NY has reminded me of when I was doing my more traditional approach to physical activity—you know, back before it was frigid out and I could take a walk every couple hours. I felt so energized back then… So today, because I was feeling kind of blah, I chopped my workout up into pieces…every hour from 7am-2pm, I did 3 minutes of activity (like burpees with the Ugi Ball, push-ups, swing lunges, etc.). I just picked what I felt like doing at that moment–I like this method! I ended up with 24 minutes of activity, and I think I’m going to be a little sore.
Can you work out or be active at work? When I was doing corporate wellness coaching full-time, I set people up with exercises and stretchy bands to do in their cubicles. It’s true that most people did not do it, but there were several (women) who did it religiously and benefitted greatly. There was one lady whose arms were awesome after a few months (even though I had told her it would happen, I was still surprised at the results!).
Are you a vinaigrette fan? Did you know you should never use fat-free salad dressings? The fat in your dressing helps you to absorbs nutrients from the greens and veggies! Adding nuts, avocado, or other sources of fat will do the trick too.
See you tomorrow 🙂
The salad looks perfect! Those seeds intrigue me, but I agree it’s odd that the organic label was covered??? I lovee vinaigrette and this one sounds delicious! I like to think that working at TJ’s means I sorta kinda get a baby workout in when I lift stuff ;).
i saw that at TJ too. I liked it! i’ve been walking everywhere and staying active by moving. I like it.
oh, that is fun that you got extra matthew time! isn’t it the best to have that bonus time together! we had a fun aunti day in TO yesterday, too. no drag racers, but we did macaroni + glue crafting!
so there was a sticker over the organic label?? that is too funny. your salad looks wonderful! i have never heard of champagne vinaigrette. have to say i love kraft calorie-wise dressings – but i do add nuts and avacado to my salads!
thanks for the updates on the diet and exercise programs – very interesting, as always, to read how you’re doing!
happy groundhog day! 🙂
oops, i wanted to add that i do have an active job at the store, walking around, moving/unpacking products etc. i would find it very challenging to go back to a desk job.
That salad looks so yummy and the tuna really does look great, no need to pretend it’s crab! 😉 I really love vinaigrette, it’s my fave kind of dressing. I prefer to use a fat-free dressing or no dressing sometimes but then eat the salad with avocado or cheeses. I honestly could take or leave dressing and not even b/c of its calories, a lot of times I put so much in my salads that they don’t need the dressing. I can’t be active at work which sucks. My cubicle neighbor would look at me oddly and we have a small building and also not much reason to move! I try to find excuses to do so because it really improves my mood.
I love champagne vinaigrettes (used to have that same one from TJ Maxx) and love vinaigrettes period. I wish I could workout at work or be more active. My job is all about sitting….and sitting…
Yay for having more time with Matthew! 🙂
I really could be active at work, but I never put much thought into it. I try to get out of my office and walk around every so often, but some days I’m at my desk most of the time. Not good at all!
The salad I packed for lunch today looks kind of similar! Romaine, purple onion and then I added some tomatoes and goat cheese! I would definitely like some of the champagne vinaigrette though! I just have a balsamic one I made.
I love champagne vinegar! I got some last fall, and it really does feel like a party every time I use it! lol Unfortunetely, I cannot work out at work, I sit at a desk alll day long, but I go for walks on my lunch and breaks.
I’m definitely a huge vinaigrette fan, and I’ll have to pick up some champagne vinegar to recreate this — it looks amazing! That is weird about the sticker over the organic label on the seeds…hmmm!
I love vinagrettes and that’s basically all that I use on salad. I love a balsamic-mustard-honey-oil mix that gets me every time. I also love a simple white wine vinegar and oil! yum!
Champagne vinegar makes any salad feel festive 🙂 I love vinaigrettes – I basically stick to a variation on balsamic, olive oil, and sometimes a little mustard or honey thrown in for good measure. I end up buying all sorts of other vinegars to try and forget to use them…
This one really is yummy (p.s. I wanna work at TJs too!).
I like the activity mindset rather than always thinking I have to exercise really hard!
Avos on salad are my favorite!
The American Way—sitting!
I love your 3 minutes/hour approach! That might work for me…interesting. Sorry you’re feeling a bit blah. Hope that you feel better soon!
Thanks Stephanie…
The 3min thing is awesome—I just have to identify at what points in time I’m going to do it or I forget.
I do things like that too—buy fancy olive oil and vinegar…and then forget or “save” it for later. I think the mustard and/or honey ingredient makes vinaigrette awesome!
Somehow I have not tried white wine vinegar—but now I need to!
I think part of the draw (for me) is in the name too—champagne vinegar just sounds better!
Mmmmmm……goat cheese!
love that you dumped tuna on…that’s been on my salad for the past few weeks!! sooo good! 🙂
I try to avoid fat-free stuff, but this (absorption) never occurred to me before reading it now… luckily I LOVE avocado on salad!