Day 5 - San Diego Sunday

Today I forgot to take pictures of all my food.  Fail. 

That opening header is going to get some snickers about me being a millenial with the constant need to document my meals.  But come on... it is for the challenge!!  lol

I did take pictures of a few things I did today.  So I'll share those.

Breakfast - 418 Calories

For breakfast, my lovely gal pal, Brenda came over and I made her my Ground Turkey Breakfast Anti-Burrito.  It was pretty good except that I forgot to season it this time around (duh!)  I also skipped out on the cheese.  But overall all it was appetizing and satisfying.  I had this with a cup of jasmine tea.

After breakfast we headed over to Sephora for an exclusive VIB Rouge event.

We were each given a very nice makeup brush bag with a decent amount of samples as well.  I should have taken a picture of it... oh well.

Brenda tried a new lip color today by Kat Von Dee and dayum did she rock it!  I mean look at this beautiful young lady!

Gorgeous, right?  WELL SHE IS TAKEN.  So back off.

After Sephora, we went to the container store as I needed to find a container for a sample I wanted to give Bren of this amazing Shampoo and Conditioner called Novex.  Ultimately I forgot to give this to her which I have just realized as I am typing this.  

After our inevitibly pointless visit to the container store we headed over to the Hillcrest Farmers Market and I picked up the following:

Yum.

LUNCH - 215 Calories

For lunch, I had half a cucumber cut into dipping slices and I ate the Spicy Chipotle Sauce from Bitchin' Sauce.  It was so good!  I think I wasn't super hungry because of all the walking.  Which you would think would have the reverse effect...  Anyways, that was that so..moving along.

DINNER - 212 Calories

For dinner I had Solid White Albacore Tuna (1 can) mixed with a tablespoon of Best Foods Light Mayo with Olive Oil, one tablespoon of Vlasic Homestyle Sweet Pickle Relish, 1 Celery Stalk diced all wrapped in an outer piece of raw green leaf lettuce.  It was good, not great.  I can do better.  Then I snacked on some 'Mexican Hot Chocolate' almonds, a tiny bit of Jacks Links Teriyaki Jerky and a peach.  Which brought my total calorie count for the day to 1,128.  

I need to eat a little more than what I am eating.  I totally didn't see that coming.  I thought I would be fighting too many...  but as I am becoming more cautious with what I shove in my face, I am seeing that what is easily and readily available is so bad for me.  So I have trouble finding good stuff that I want to eat plenty of.  I do need to buy more ground turkey.  I don't know how vegetarians do it... or how they stay so thin with all that pasta...and all those grains.  My body has been saying no to sugars, oils and wheats.  Which leaves me veggies...and salads...and I can now sympathize with this cat:

Day 4 - Learning to Cook Thai

This morning I woke up at 9:00am.  That was me sleeping in.

I was craving my most favorite breakfast burrito from Eat At Joe's.  Which is terrible because it is in Redondo Beach.  I sure miss living in Torrance.  So I figured, I have everything I need to make it... I'll just make my own version of it!  So that is what this is, minus the tortilla:

BREAKFAST - 418 Calories

This is what I call the Ground Turkey Breakfast Anti-Burrito.  I cooked 4 ozs of ground turkey in a saute pan and added a little water to keep it from burning.  Once it was cooked I set it aside and in the same saute pan, I added 1/4 cup of diced orange bell pepper, and 1/4 cup of sweet onion.  I took half an avocado and cut it into cubes.  Once the veggies were cooked I tossed the turkey back in and added 1 cup of egg whites and scrambled it.  Then I added the avocado to mix it in.  Put it in the bowl and sprinkled a tablespoon of cheddar cheese.  It was delicious!  ALMOST comparable to Eat At Joe's burrito.  But I did forget to put in the tomatoes.  But it was still very filling and tasty.

LUNCH - 501 Calories

For lunch, I came home from shopping all over the place.  So I wanted something quick.  So I made Atlantic Salmon Sushi Flowers.  I thought I was over salmon... but then I passed it at 99 Ranch and it was almost like a reflex.  It just magically appeared in my cart.  I also bought a few things to make for dinner but I will make it with ground turkey :)  This was filling and if you love salmon, super fresh and delicious.  I had this with jasmine tea.

DINNER - 298 Calories

Since I was at 99 Ranch and I had ground turkey at home, I remembered one of my favorite Thai dishes that my sister-in-law's pops introduced me to.  So this made me happy and I wanted to try and make it for myself.  So I purchased a few ingredients based on a simple recipe I found and it came out PERFECT.  Now, usually it is served with Jasmine rice and a fried egg... but I felt like the flavors in this didn't need anything else.  I did learn something from making this dish and that is that you should ALWAYS wash your hands IMMEDIATELY after handling Thai chili peppers.  Because if you do not, you will feel as though the devil has sneezed in your eyes and sprayed pepper spray down your throat.  Seriously... WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY after handling these tiny peppers from mordor.  Anyways, I highly recommend the recipe above.

I am getting very full on much smaller meals now.  I don't even have cravings for sweets which is really surprising.  I made a batch of jasmine iced tea and that helps too.  When I do feel like I am hungry, I drink it and it helps put off the hunger so that I am eating 3 times a day.  It also helps when I go to bed early so that I am not hungry and I am more rested in the morning.  

I'm excited for tomorrow!  I'm going to the Farmer's Market here in San Diego with my gal pal Brenda whom I have not seen in some time as she has been in school lockdown.  So it should be lots of fun.  I like the farmers market because they have veggies I can't find at Von's by me which is the only other store here besides Pancho Villa's Farmers Market (Mexican Grocery Store with a fancy name).  The variety of veggies reminds me of when I would get that Farm Fresh To You box every two weeks and it forced me to be more creative with cooking.  Plus I like learning what is in season and all that... I am not going because I want to know the veggies origins...and I will never ask for my chickens name.  I don't care.  I will eat Jims, Bobs, Trevors, Helens, Marys and even Lucys. lol...  I WANT THEM ALL.  Mostly cause I hate birds.  Anyways, til tomorrow!

Turkey Veggie Lavash Wrap, Get your veggie on.

Today's lunch shall be this delicious Lavash Wrap that is very filling and tastes like heaven.  If you like turkey, that is.

Turkey Veggie Lavash Wrap | 356 Calories

Ingredients:

1 Sheet Whole Grain 100% Natural Flat Bread

1 1/2 tbsp Poppyseed Dresseing (I used Panera's)

1/2 tbsp Shallots (Slivered)

1 tbsp Italian Four Cheese Blend (Shredded)

3 or 4 Romaine lettuce leaves

1/4 of an Avocado (Sliced)

2 to 3 thin slices of Vine Ripened Tomato

6-8 Shavingsof cucumber (Use a peeler to shave it off)

3 Slices Oven Roasted Turkey breast

First, layout your lavash wrap on a dry surface.  My cutting board is large enough that I can lay it out on the left and prep on the right.  You are going to layer the ingredients on the top of one end of the sheet, the short side(Scroll below to see an example of how it ends up looking).  First place your lettuce in.  You want to make sure the lettuce is flat.  Next, you will shave the cucumber so that it looks like below:

Layer that cucumber evenly on top of the lettuce.  Then slice 2-3 thin slices of tomato and layer that over the cucumber.  Next, you will want to cut 2 layers of shallot into slivers, like this: 

Sprinkle those over your layers as evenly as possible.  Next you can drizzle in 1 1/2 tbsp Poppyseed dressing.  Try to keep it on top of the veggies.  If you get it on the lavash, the lavash will get soggy!  Next, sprinkle your cheese then top it with your sliced avocado.  The last layer is the turkey.  Your layers should look like this:

Place that turkey on top of your veggie layers.  Now you want the veggie side to be facing you so turn it around if you had it facing away like I did.  Now roll it gently but tightly like so:

Cut that baby in half and voila!  You have a delicious guilt free and filling lunch wrap.  Enjoy!

And perhaps celebrate yo baaaad self:

Country Club Sandwich. Because Bacon.

I was perusing Eat24 because I was hangry and wanted food lickity split but didn't want to tear apart my kitchen for it, when I came across the Country Club Sandwich from California Grill.  I was about to order it when I thought... I could make this better.  So I did.  And now, so can you.  Here's how:

Get some Rosemary Olive Bread, slice it and toast that bad boy.  While it's toasting, fry up some bacon (I recommend 2 slices, but I know some of you are going to do the bacon weave...).  I used the spicy mayo I made the other day.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, how dare you, my blog is a hoot and you should read it more often.  But fine... here is the recipe for the spicy mayo:

You just mix in 1/4 mayo, 1/2 teaspoon sriracha, 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon habanero and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Once you have the mayo, spread it over the toasted bread (your desired amount).  Slice up vine ripened tomato and layer that on next, then add spinach, avocado, deli turkey and bacon.  Add a little pepper and salt and then close your sandwich.

Congratulations, you made it!  Let me know how you liked it in the comments! :)

Avocado Turkey Sandwich on Cheddar Parmesan Focaccia with Spicy Mayo

Avocado Turkey Focaccia Sandwich with Spicy Mayo and Watermelon Sticks

I had my good friend, Edie, over yesterday and I wanted to make us a fancy lunch so while at the market, I saw that they had a Cheddar Parmesan Focaccia and decided to go for a sandwich.  Then the ideas just kept coming so this is what I came up with.  It's honestly one of the best sandwiches I've ever had! 

I started with the focaccia bread.  It's super huge so in total it can make 4 large sandwiches to 6 medium sandwiches.  I picked it up from Ralph's but I know several grocery stores make their own in their bakeries so I'm sure you can get it almost anywhere.

Next, I made the spicy mayo.  These are the ingredients above that I mixed for the spread.  You just mix in 1/4 mayo, 1/2 teaspoon sriracha, 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon habanero and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Spread the mayo over the bread, I make sure the bread is wet without overdoing it, it IS mayo after all and your stomach loves it more than your heart and arteries do.  Plus, you'll be putting a little more in later.

Add your sandwich favorites.  I love spinach with focaccia so I added that, plus vine ripened tomatoes, red onions, pepper and salt.  Use salt very sparingly as the meat and bread already have a good saltiness to them. 

Then add the turkey, and avocado.  I add a little more of the mayo spread on the turkey for more flavor.  Carefully top the sandwich.  It's much easier to place the turkey side on top unless you want a salad with a side of bread.  Then go ahead... hope you aren't wearing white.

Lastly, serve with a side of fruit.  I love sweet seedless watermelon cut into sticks.  It's easy to eat and compliments the sandwich very well.  Lastly, enjoy!