Caroline Dines

First, I want to thank all of you for your helpful tips, suggestions and words of kindness last night. I am still feeling under the weather but am thinking this is just a full blown cold and nothing more. Plus after you read this post you’ll understand why my sickness has taken a back seat.

Last night as I was closing up, I went into the kitchen to wash my tea mug before bringing my purse back to the apartment. The next thing I knew I was on the kitchen floor in excruciating pain. What happened was pretty stupid. I fell on the slippery tile, partly due to my footwear, and partly because the floor was wet after cleaning up the curry sauce that had spilled. My ankle was twisted in the exact same position as this summer and I knew immediately that I couldn’t put any weight on it. Lucky for my pride, nobody was out there. I scooted my way into the office and grabbed the phone to call Darin, who quickly came out and gathered my purse, my lone shoe, and the mug that had gone flying. He brought me out the crutches from last time and helped me onto the bed to elevate with ice. I couldn’t believe it. In fact I am still in disbelief that I am back in the same position I was this August. Here is a picture from last night. I wanted to document how swollen it was right after so that I could see what progress I am making. (I have what you might call “wide” feet naturally but you can still tell the left is quite puffed up)

And here is a picture from this morning. The good news is that it doesn’t look AS bad as last time and this time I have all the equipment (ice packs, air cast, crutches) so I don’t have to deal with the E.R.

I am sorry to be such a downer but there was no way I couldn’t mention it on here since I will likely be using crutches for the next couple days and people might wonder why I am not doing my normal routine. An ankle injury means no running (of course) and no walking at this point so my food consumption will decrease quite a bit. Laying in bed doesn’t require many calories. I will try and do some exercises if I can to stay a little active (probably after I fight this cold off). Last time, I actually posted about this (this was one of my early posts, don’t judge the small pictures!) I ate a bowl of Barbara’s Shredded Spoonfuls this morning (with Almond Milk) in bed. It was delicious and I enjoyed every bite! I think I might like the Shredded Spoonfuls even better than the Shredded Oats last week!

I had a small Mac apple around 10:30 because I bought a huge bag yesterday and don’t want them to go bad! Also I was craving a little fruit.

On a much happier note, I received my free business cards yesterday from Moo.com (as a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher you get 100 free cards to start, thanks Meghan for the tip!) They are the mini moo cards and I couldn’t be happier. They come in this cute little box that fits perfectly inside your purse and even has dividers to organize your cards, and the cards you receive.

The front of the cards are all different but all very unique and fun images of food and beverages, perfect for the foodie!

And the information printed on the back came out perfect. They give you a little template and it has to say Foodbuzz on t, but I was really excited to see my name in print! Have any of you got these neat little cards yet?

I am thinking of repeating yesterday’s lunch (minus the apple since I already ate it!). Since it might be a task just to get lunch I don’t think I will be photographing it so I’ll give you one of the pics I didn’t use from yesterday’s just so you remember . Alright, now I am really getting that feeling of déjà vu.

Happy Halloween Everyone! I am so excited that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year and not only that it’s  a gorgeous 70 degree sunny Saturday here in Boston. This will make for some happy kids trick-or-treating. Growing up in Maine it was usually chilly by this point and our costumes usually had to be worn OVER snow suits or at least a lot of layering. Not very cool looking. Anyway tonight Darin and I are going to a Halloween Party being thrown by one of our friends. I am so excited to hang out with everyone and to see all the fun costumes. I’ll keep you in suspense a bit longer about ours but I will say that it involves a lot of fake blood, duct tape, a respirator, and some plastic wrap. I woke up bright early for yoga this morning and manged to eat this bar on my way to class. I was kind of running because I was late which was difficult to do while scarfing a lara bar. Not the best but it worked.

1 1/2 of yoga was exactly what the body ordered after the extra long run yesterday. I literally melted into my mat and ended up doing a lot of child’s pose because my muscles weren’t excited for more toning. It felt great though and I am so glad I went. I came home to shower and made myself an extra messy yogurt mess with shredded oats cereal, plain yogurt, pumpkin butter and cranberries.

The morning was spent getting costumes finalized, hydrating, and a walk outside to enjoy this beautiful weather. I came back thirsty and had some more of this apple cider which I haven’t been able to get enough of. It’s so good!

And because they were out for the kids in the house, I had a mini bag of smart food. I NEVER eat this stuff and figured it had a bit more nutrition than a kit-kat bar which I could have easily gone for.

The rest of the day will most likely include some resting in preparation for tonight. I wont be posting again until tomorrow morning so I hope you all enjoy your evening and take lots of pictures! I can’t believe tomorrow is November 1st and we set the clocks back an hour! It’s kind of good timing since I’ll need the extra sleep tomorrow but it will be hard to have it get dark that early!

This morning I woke up earlier than normal. I “got up” when Darin left for the gym but stayed in bed reading blogs, it was lovely. I knew that I wanted to make pumpkin oatmeal today using the remaining pumpkin from last weeks muffins. I looked up Kath’s video to make sure I had the proportions right. I think the key this morning was actually using milk and water instead of cooking with water and adding milk later on. I used one cup of oats, one cup of skim, and one cup of water. The result: Super creamy oats. I mixed in about 1/3 of a cup of pumpkin, vanilla, and some pumpkin pie spice at the end.

I also used Kath’s method of measuring the nut butter (a skimmed off spoon). Peanut butter was used today along with some coconut and the key ingredient: dried cranberries. These little sweeties were so necessary because the pumpkin oats by themselves without ANY brown sugar were a little on the bitter side. Adding the toppings or mix-ins made it not only bearable but really enjoyable.

This was just about 1/3 of a cup and I think I have two more servings in the fridge. I am off to yoga and then on a quest to find the perfect foam roller. Since being “discharged” from P.T. on Friday I am in desperate need of a good roll. Anyone that hasn’t use one of these things and has any kind of soreness due to running needs to find one asap! It’s addicting and I swear the best way to get knots out of your hip or thigh.

Mmmmm…..does anything beat the smell of freshly baked muffins? More on that later This morning I ate the left over oats that I cooked yesterday (with the remaining half of the cooked apple). They were even better this morning.

I think I am fully on board with the oats for breakfast. As I write this I am not at all hungry (12:00 Noon). I think the toppings I used this morning helped bulk it up but these oats are so dense on their own you really can’t go wrong. I was feeling straight up peanut butter this morning so I cracked open a jar of TJ’s creamy and drizzled about a tablespoon over one side.

On the other side I added some of the homemade Apple Butter from my Mom. Check out the texture on those oats. Unbeatable!

After I breakfast I made my way to what I hoped to be my last physical therapy appointment. After a quick strength assessment I was “discharged” from treatment and to celebrate I took a run along Jamaica Pond. I am so glad to be feeling better with my hip/piriformis. I really think that the P.T. worked and I am going to be really diligent about icing, stretching and using a foam roller (need to pick one up!) after running. On my run I started planning out the rest of my day and thought that since it is cold and I have the time, I should bake! I bring you my second attempt at an Almond Flour muffin. I am happy to say this one went a lot better The two key differences: Almond meal instead of Blanched Almond flour (use blanched for cakes, cookies etc.) and less wet ingredients (I omitted eggs completely because I didn’t have any!)

Here’s my “recipe” which I laid out on our Ikea message board to keep track and help me calculate the nutrition facts.

The batter mixed up well, not too wet like last time. I really attribute this to no eggs and using the “bulkier” flour. The only thing is they didn’t rise all that much. Here they are before the oven…

…and after.

I don’t mind that they are little, I am just happy that they aren’t as moist as last time. They have a really good muffin texture: crumbly. They’re also not sweet at all. With only 3 tablespoons of agave nectar and a scant half cup of dried cranberries, these little guys are sure to keep your blood sugar at a normal level.

Here is the break down nutritionally speaking:

Calories: 200

Fat: 12 g.

Fiber: 2.4 g.

Protein: 4.4 g.

Sugar: 8.8 g.

Feel free to comment if you have any questions about the recipe. I am happy to share Happy Friday!

Happy Friday all! It’s a cold, dreary day here in Boston (I think we might have experienced a bit of “wintry mix” this morning but I couldn’t be certain) which calls for warm comfort food. I woke up early this morning with a lot on my to do list and started my day off right with a satisfying bowl of oats. They were jazzed up with Barney Butter, Pumpkin Butter, Unsweetened Coconut, and Cranberries. I make my packet using water and then add a splash of Almond Milk to the top.

The coconut on top reminded me of the snow that is surely coming soon! And check out how dark it is outside. It was early when I left for physical therapy.

After my appointment I made my way to Brookline Village where I stopped into Starbucks to warm up a bit with a Tall, Skinny, One pump, Pumpkin Spice Latte. Perfection. I sipped it slow and caught up on some blogs. It was a great way to kill the twenty minutes or so that I had before yoga began. Speaking of which, yoga was killer this morning. I did the hour and half session that I used to do all the time and remember now why I like that. With the hour session there just isn’t enough time for each pose. The hour and half allowed me to get really into the flow and I left feeling so cleansed. Snacks during the period after yoga and before lunch were an apple…

and a light string cheese with a big glass of green iced tea.

After some more errands I came home to shower and then made my way BACK to the village to meet up with my childhood best friend, Lauren. We have literally known each other since we were 6 months old and while we have both grown apart in recent years it was so nice to reconnect with her over lunch. She suggested Matt Murphy’s Pub and she couldn’t have made a better pick in my opinion.

This was my first time to the pub although I had heard lots of positive reviews about their fish and chips and other classic pub fare. The restaurant itself is quite small and contains a decent sized bar. Lots of dark wood provided a cozy ambiance which I appreciated on this rainy day.

The menu was what I expected. Mostly comfort food such as Shepherds Pie, Fish and Chips, Pork Chops, Chowder, Soup, and hot Sandwiches. I would say that it was somewhat “upscale” pub fare based on the price (10.00 for soup, 20.00 for entree) and on the ingredients. I chose the Chicken Soup.

Lauren had the Pork Chops which were braised with a grain mustard and served with potatoes and cabbage.

I ate my soup with 3 pieces of bread that were served when we arrived. Instead of eating them before the meal I portioned them out on my plate and saved them.

My soup was fantastically done. Fresh fresh fresh ingredients: carrots, scallions, parsnip, potato, celery, green beans and delicious chunks of white meat chicken. The broth was robust and not trying to hide behind any oil or added fat. This soup didn’t contain any noodles which was preferable in my opinion. I feel fairly confident that the ingredients came from a local farm or at least were not purchased in bulk because they were all in season and you could tell that the soup had been made fresh that day. I am proud to say I ate the entire bow.

Once I returned home I began preparing for my parent’s arrival tonight. They are coming later on and spending the night here before the three of us take off tomorrow morning for Shelter Island where my younger brother Andrew lives. I did take a break from the laundry, vacuuming, scrubbing, and packing to eat a sweet treat. I thought long and hard about what I wanted and realized that I really was craving the Oatmeal Cookie Fro Yo from J.P. Licks. With this craving and the cold weather what was I to do. Something cold just didn’t seem right. Then I remembered the Apple Crisp in the fridge from last night. BINGO! I heated a small scoop of basically just the apples (nixed the topping since I didn’t want all the extra calories) and then scooped about a quarter cup of fro yo on top (and another dollop of cool whip, it was just staring at me in the fridge!). The heated apples melted the fro yo perfectly into a warm cream. Mmmmm…the perfect way to enjoy a frozen treat on a cold day.

Dinner could go one of two ways. If my parents make it down here in time we will go out to eat but if they eat on the road I’ll probably just make myself a sandwich. If things get exciting I’ll be sure to photograph but if you don’t see anything assume it was a boring meal not worth photographing.

Since we are completely out of yogurt and banana, breakfast took a slightly different form this morning. It started with this little packet…

…and turned into this delicious bowl of Pumpkin and Barney Butter Oatmeal topped with unsweetened coconut and currants.

I know that the packet isn’t the best method of eating oatmeal but it was quick and easy and free so I can’t complain. This bowl was so good that I am thinking of becoming an oatmeal eater for the colder months. I love seeing all of your sweet and savory oat bowls and I realized today that there is no reason why I can’t eat them too!

I am feeling much better this morning and have plans for a short run and a yoga session with a friend. Thanks for all the supportive comments last night. It helps to know that some of you go through the same struggles and nobody eats perfectly 100% of the time. Just like you all said, every day is a fresh start and if you mess up one day or one night you can wake up the next morning and try again. I think this mentality is critical to staying on track because a lot of times people get so down about one slip up that they just keep the bad habits going. As we all say it’s about balance and moderation and keeping the exercise going so that you can enjoy some indulgences without the guilt.

My good friend Dain sent me a link yesterday and asked me my opinion on the topic. The interview focused on the theory of eating hot or warm foods as opposed to cold foods which is a component of Chinese Medicine (from my understanding). The idea is that eating cold foods slows your metabolism. This comes as a shock to most of us who think of raw veggies and salads as perfect diet food for losing weight. I have more research to be done on the subject but I DID heat my muffin this morning and let my yogurt warm up to room temperature before eating it. I am also thinking about getting a mug of hot tea.

I know most of us shift our eating habits in the colder months and go for choices such as hot coffee or hot oatmeal but like I discussed yesterday I don’t crave a hot meal in the morning. Maybe I should experiment a bit more with some different options. What do you all think?

Any Chinese Medicine experts out there?

Thoughts on whether hot food really helps speed your metabolism?

I do know that this bowl was enjoyed thoroughly with the perfect 3 ingredients!

Today’s list includes the following:

1. Quick Run
2. Meeting for Work
3. Hour of Power Yoga
4. Coolidge Corner errands
5. Lunch
6. Laundry
7. Get ready for work
8. Decorating the “House” for Halloween and baking Halloween Cookies with the kids!

Come again when I am not heading out to my last day at the Farm! Oh well it will be exciting I guess trying to dodge the rain to get all the crops organized for pick up. More on the farm later but for now here’s my morning bowl.

I couldn’t get it out of my head after yesterday so knew that breakfast was going to be this bowl of yummy yogurt, pumpkin butter, barney butter and crumbled up muffin. Mmmmmm…..mmmmmmmm so good. I know that with this rainy weather and the seasons definitely changing you would expect me to change my palate slightly. I am not sure why but I am still loving the yogurt. Maybe next week I’ll try some oatmeal but it just doesn’t excite me as much as my morning yogurt mess! The hip is sore but not horrible and I am going to Physical Therapy this afternoon which always seems to help. I am not going to run to the farm this morning due to the rain and pain.

Despite the rain I am getting into the spirit of the season with some fun decorations that we picked up at home this weekend. I love Halloween. Enjoy your Wednesday everyone and stay dry!

Also did anyone catch this clip this morning on the Today Show? I know the Today Show is crap but I watch it in the morning while I am getting ready because we don’t have many stations here and it keeps me entertained. Anyway I have been a huge pig lover for years and years and when I saw this I got really excited. I couldn’t find the Today Show clip but here is a picture that gives you the idea

Friday is here. We made it through another week which is extra exciting around here because Darin and I are headed home to Maine for the weekend to see visit with our families. I haven’t been home since July so I am really looking forward to it! On another note I decided last night after a somewhat discouraging day in the healthy food world that I am going to be completely 100% accountable for what I put in my mouth in the next week. I haven’t been photographing EVERYTHING that I eat and the little snacks have been sneaking up on me. Couple that behavior with not being able to run this week, and I am feeling a little out of control. I know that the large majority of my food is very healthy and good for me but living and working where I do I am far too tempted by some very unhealthy treats (cookies, ice cream, pizza, just to name a few). And so I begin my week long challenge today of paying attention to portion sizes, eating out of hunger not boredom, splurging when it’s worth it, and taking pictures of it all.  I truly believe that a healthy lifestyle can include such treats as cookies, ice cream and pizza, you just can’t eat those every day. Work gets busy and than I eat what’s there. It happens to us all but I want to nip this behavior in the bud before I end up regretting it.

So without further ado…I bring you this morning’s breakfast:

I measured 1/2 cup of yogurt (all I had left, would have used more) into the bowl which didn’t look like that much in the big bowl I used. I then mixed in 1 tbs. of pumpkin butter (the last of the jar!) and 1 tbs. Barney Butter. Normally I would have just scooped out these two ingredients and after looking at what the proper portion should be I realized I have been eating way too much of these two items. The key to this mornings oats was mixing the pumpkin and barney butter in to the yogurt. It flavored the very plain yogurt beautifully. The topping was one full banana and the rest of my granola about 1/4 cup.

I sipped a mug of Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea and ate my perfectly portioned bowl of yogurt while watching last night’s Office episode. I have a busy day ahead of me, here’s what’s on the agenda:

• Put away laundry
• Vacuum
• Trader Joe’s run for my parents (they don’t have any TJ’s in Maine so I always get them the essentials)
• CVS
• Pack
• Physical Therapy
• Make dinner for the road
• Drive home to Maine!

Happy October All! It’s COLD here this morning, the weather woman said temps were in the 30’s! Yikes. We’re going home to Maine this weekend (which I am sure will be even cooler) to visit family and relax but will also be picking up all our cold weather gear (we have no storage here) which I guess is going to be needed sooner than I expected!

Breakfast this morning was a classic with an added twist. As I mentioned yesterday I got to finally open my Barney Butter jar. I don’t like to have more than one nut butter open at a time because it just encourages me to eat too much. This jar is mini sized so it wont take me long (sad, because it’s so good!). This is also the first time I have tried crunchy almond butter and I have to say I am completely converted to a crunch lover! Maybe it has something to do with the Barney Butter being so darn tasty but I really liked the crunchy bits of almonds in my yogurt this morning. I was in texture heaven.

Pumpkin butter, Crunchy Barney Butter, Homemade Granola, Ripe banana and tart and tangy plain local yogurt. Absolute perfection.

Now it’s time to do my “strengthening and stretching exercises” prescribed by my Physical Therapist. I am also going to throw in some yoga poses since I have been missing my daily classes this week and a couple ab moves for fun. I have some errands to run, a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and I am meeting my cousin Meg to try a new FRO YO place later on.