Post hike lunch: pan seared salmon, organic kale salad, & garlic fries

20130519-150657.jpg

 

Went hiking for the first time in forever near Rose Canyon Lake and had a blast! It was so amazing to be out in nature on a beautiful sunny day. Even got lost, and you know what? Had fun doing that, too. We were out there for about 2 and a half hours – not in any rush, took lots of breaks, and took lots of pictures. Afterwards, I was exhausteddddd. Ate this fantastic lunch then passed out for a 2 hours. Felt good.

For the salmon: seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and canola oil – then seared for a about 4 minutes on each side in a hot cast iron skillet

For the kale salad:

Tuscan Kale (Trader Joe’s)

Brown rice

Broccoli slaw (Trader Joe’s)

small grape tomatoes

raisins

All tossed together with lemon juice and olive oil to taste

Garlic fries from Trader Joe’s and followed the package instructions

Advertisement

Gotta start somewhere

20130206-070633.jpg

I’ve been away for a while and I have missed my blog world. I have been busy buying a house, starting school again, and just dealing with life in general. No excuse, though. I kept telling myself that I would compose some fabulous post with lots of pictures and tips when I did return but never got around to it. So here I am eating breakfast when it occurred to me, “what better time than now?” This has for a lot of things lately – buying a house, getting a Masters degree, and interviewing for that promotion at work (which I didn’t get). There really is no better time than now to live our lives one day at a time. There is no better time than now to let go, love people, and eat good food.

Good morning!

Lovely spinach salad with cannellini beans

20130103-182331.jpg

The thing about getting back to my normal diet of rabbit food and beans is that I am always hungry! It sucks! I put a half cup of rinse and drained cannellini beans on top of my salad so I’m hoping it hold me over at least until after the gym.

Either way, I am already feeling lighter and that’s what I really want.

The recipe is as follows:
Two three handfuls of baby spinach (romaine would have been good, too)
One tomato
One carrot
Handful of fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley
Half cup of cannellini (aka white kidney) beans
For the dressing:
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Ground cumin

I tossed all except for the beans in a large bowl and tossed. Then I piled the beans on top. That’s it!

I did a calculation using myfitnesspal.com and this huge salad is only 210 calories! Not bad! With the calories that low, guess who’s having a homemade chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich later?