Thursday, June 11, 2009

Another Trip, Another Suitcase

by Meghann on June 11, 2009

In the last two months I have traveled to Tampa, Long Beach, Tallahassee, San Antonio, San Diego and have made countless overnight trips to my parent’s house.

In those travels I have had to go through the overwhelming effort of deciding what to pack, portioning out snacks, putting toiletries in little Ziploc baggies, dealing with excessive amounts of eating out, forgetting one thing or another and having to unpack and start the whole process over again upon return. Each time I get very excited about taking another mini vacation and each time I forget just how much work these vacations truly are.

As I write this I am in the process of trying to select multiple outfit options for hiking, shopping, lounging, sight seeing, running and sleeping. As well as all necessary accessories and shoe options that go with them. Packing is definitely the most exhausting part of traveling I have learned to dislike in the last month, but it will be worth it to have a week tucked away in the mountains.

Saturday morning my family and I are making the 10 hr drive to North Carolina. My Mom has rented a cabin for all of us just outside Asheville and as much as I have traveled in the last two months, this will be the first time I am actually on vacation. Sure there will be plans of what to see and do, but this time the agenda is a guideline, not a given and hopefully multiple swimsuit and sun exposure will be involved.

As I daydreamed about my impending vacation at my office I fed the hole that was my stomach some PistachiOats I found in my pantry.

I almost forgot these babies were in there. I found a whole box of them while I was doing laundry and discovered the expiration date is coming up fast.

Luckily they are very yummy so it shouldn’t be a problem to eat as many as possible before their past due.

When it came time for dinner I wanted to make something that would use up the remaining vegetables in my fridge and make great left overs to eat on the road. Insert favorite stand by – Roasted Vegetables!

Does anyone else LOVE cold roasted vegetables?!?! I think they will make a great lunch on the road trip.

I basically emptied the fridge on this one and made enough to feed an army!

I cubed:

Rutabaga
Eggplant
Sweet Potato
Cauliflower
Onion
Apple

Then added them all to a baking sheet with a little S&P & Fresh Cilantro then roasted at 400 for 20 minutes.

I put most of it in the fridge for lunch tomorrow and my upcoming road trip.

I saved a serving size for dinner while looking to pantry and fridge for inspiration. I was trying to avoid my habit of just adding marinara sauce and a protein and calling it a day, but honestly its one of my favorite combos and who am I to deprive myself of one of my favorite combos?

Atop a bed of Spinach I layered the Roasted Vegetables, Tempeh, Marinara Sauce and Jalapenos.

Mmmmmm…. yep you can’t go wrong with that combo. I cleaned my plate.

I came back to the kitchen an hour later and had the other half of my Green & Blacks Dark Chocolate Bar from Tuesday night.

After an hour of trying to pair outfits, I have come to the conclusion I own no cute clothes. Is it too late to do a little vacation shopping? Maybe I can squeeze some in during my lunch hour tomorrow.

{ 25 comments }

My Lunch Time Routine

by Meghann on June 11, 2009

A few weeks ago I posted about my morning routine and how I manage to fit in a work out, shower and breakfast all before work. At the beginning of this week Rachel requested I post about my lunch time routine and how I manage to eat at home during my lunch hour. I was happy to oblige.

I guess you can say my lunch starts at 10:15ish when I usually break out my mid-morning snack.

Today I had 2 pieces each of Dried Mango and Pineapple.

By the time its 10:15 is when it has usually been about 3 hours since I ate breakfast. My stomach starts to say ‘feed me’ so I give it a little something to stop it from roaring at me by 11:00. The snack helps me from gnawing my arm off before I head home for lunch around noon.

As far as my actual lunch hour goes…

12:00 p.m. – Leave the office and head home

12:10 p.m. – Arrive at home and am happily greeted at the door by Abbie’s jumps and kisses. I immediately take her out for a quick 5 minute walk or until she does her business. I have her on a tight schedule so she’s usually pretty good about making it quick.

12:15 p.m. – Start making lunch

I think this is the part that Rachel was most curious. How do I prep a healthy lunch in the short allotted time I actually have in the kitchen? Well really it all depends on what I plan to make and when I planned to make it.

My Lunch today was pretty simple to throw together thanks to these simple tips I try to go by.

Plan the meals out the night before and do as much prep work as you can before you go to bed. I.E. Last night I went ahead and shredded the rest of the Red Cabbage I had used in last night’s meal because I knew I wanted to incorporate it in today’s lunch. I also already had the tempeh portioned out and the watermelon and cantaloupe cubed.

Keep it simple! You will notice my lunch meals are usually pretty basic with different variations of Salads and Sandwiches. Sometimes I will get fancy and pull out the George Forman, turn the broiler on or bring out the toaster, but that’s about it. Today I decided to get fancy and did indeed pull our the George Forman, but I believe the idea of a wrap itself is pretty basic.

Utilize left overs!! I LOVE being creative with leftovers in my lunch. All you have to do is reheat and they are so easy to turn into something fun and different by simply adding them to a salad, combining them with other left overs, adding to the top of a Flat Out Pizza, etc. I managed to turn last night’s Red Cabbage & Tempeh leftovers into a new and fun wrap. Totally different then what I had the night before, but using the same great elements.

12:25 p.m. – Lunch is finished and ready to eat. I turn the TV to my favorite local news station and sit in front of my TV ready to chow down.

Yes, I eat in front of the TV, but check out my cool coffee table set up. How could you resist this?

Umm… sorry I did not feel like cleaning the table for the picture. I live alone and never have guests. Please don’t judge me. Abbie doesn’t mind it.

So the 10 minute prep left me with this great lunch.

The wrap was thrown quickly thrown together while the George Forman was heating up.

I simply filled a Flat Out Wrap with shredded Red Cabbage, Tempeh, Tomato, Pineapple, Spinach and Annie’s BBQ Sauce. I folded it and stuck it in the George Forman until it looked done.

While the wrap was heating up I poured myself a glass of water and pulled out the Watermelon/ Cantaloupe combo out of the fridge.

It was already cubed and ready to eat.

I also portioned out a serving size of Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Pretzels.

Once the wrap was done I plated everything and plopped down.

12:35 p.m. – I finish eating and feel I have had my fill of the news. I bring the dishes to the sink and and put everything back in the fridge that needs to be cold and make sure the George Forman is turned off.

12:40 p.m. – Give Abbie a treat and head back to work.

12:52 p.m. – Arrive back at my desk and quickly blog my post.

I hope this post gave a little insight into my lunch hour. Some days it varies depending on what I want to eat and how much prep is involved, but I usually make
it back to my desk in less then an hour if you can believe it.

What does your lunch routine look like?

{ 47 comments }

Amped Up

June 11, 2009

Thank You for all of your wonderful comments about my hair! I truly do love it. It just feels so light and refreshing. I also love coming to work with a fresh new hair cut. It always amazes me how many of my male co-workers actually notice the difference. Some of you were curious how more »

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