Hello Summer?

I woke up this morning and went outside. It was going to be a scorcher today. I began fearing my run scheduled for the end of the day. Not only was it Monday but it was hot and I had to run 6 miles...

During my lunch break I quickly rushed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. (We went out of town this weekend so I didn't have time to shop yesterday.) I think shopping during my lunch break isn't a good thing for me because I forgot some key items...shoot!

I have been reading a lot of food blogs and it seems like everyone is making Overnight Oats. Overnight Oats are basically oatmeal soaked in liquid overnight in the refrigerator. You can add anything to enhance the flavor. On the blog Oh She Glows she adds canned pumpkin which I thought would be delicious. Unfortunately I couldn't find any canned pumpkin but I did find PUMPKIN BUTTER! This stuff is heaven. It's pumpkin, honey and spices and taste like pumpkin pie but only 40 calories per tablespoon.

Pumpkin Butter Overnight Oats:

1 cup oats

1 3/4 cup almond milk

2 TBSP Pumpkin Butter

2 TBSPS CHIA SEEDS

*Currently this is sitting in my refrigerator. I cannot wait for breakfast!

So it was now time for my run. I was nervous about the heat...

I brought my water bottle along with me. I filled it with 1/2 a coconut water and half water. I'm not a big fan of this water bottle because the weight of it throws me off balance, but until I find something better this will do!

My run was horrible. It was hot...and I just do NOT do good on hot runs. I think growing up on the coast my body is not used to hot weather. I think it's amazing how peoples bodies adapt to the environment they live in because for some people todays weather would have been the perfect mild summer running weather! Ughh I ran and walked some. 65 min...I think about 5.5 miles.

Dinner was a simple dish I found in this months Cooking Light. View the recipe here

* I added BBQ'd corn. Just cut the kernels right off and threw in the salad. I forgot the brocoli slaw at the store so I wanted to add something else to give it good texture. It was SOOOO delicious. I just love sweet corn.

Early rise tomorrow for work...my overnight oats will help me get out of bed!

Time to Relax

Well what do you know...I got a migraine yesterday! My migraines tend to be stress induced so go figure. It wasn't one of my horrible shut the blinds and cover my head with pillows migraine, but it was enough to make me lay on the couch the entire evening (except for the 10 minutes I was making dinner!).

Before the damn "M" word came on I made a lovely salad for lunch. I had a bunch of veggies that needed to be eaten so I piled them all on top of some lettuce, added some walnuts and opened a can of my favorite salmon. I know it sounds gross, canned salmon, but I found an amazing company who makes a mean can of Canned Fishes!!

Check out what else Vital Choice offers. I've tried a lot of samples of their products at trade shows I've been too. All are pretty delish.

Dinner was a combination of everything I had left in my fridge: Tofu, red bell pepper, green onions, edamame beans (they were in the freezer) and basil. I first sauteed the tofu, then added all the veggies. Topped with sauce and ta-da!!

Nothing too special. I made my own "sauce" that I pour on top for the final two minutes of cooking and then put all of it on quinoa.

Sauce:

-3 TBPS of low sodium soy sauce

-1 TBSP of sesame oil

-1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

-1 TBSP of brown sugar (you could easily use a teaspoon of agave here)

-a squeeze of sriracha

-2 crushed cloves of garlic

-1/2 TSP of corn starch (to make it thick)

I woke up with a migraine hangover so all day I thought I wasn't going to be able to run. But the idea of running consumed my mind NONSTOP. I didn't get to do a long run yesterday so I was already really bummed! By the end of the day I was feeling better (I mean how can you not feel good on a Friday?!) so I jumped in my car and drove to my favorite part of the Los Gatos trail. I just told myself to take it easy and do what felt good.

I RAN 4 MILES! And felt great after....look at that smile!

And to make this Friday even better...I'm headed up to my families lake house tonight for the weekend. So excited to spend time with Ryan and our good friends Chris and Alison on the car ride up! Excited to spend time with the family who will be there...

Reading material ready!

**Thank you Jenny and Tami for these fab magazines! So looking forward to reading them. (Tami you will get yours back!!)

Wine Night...

WOW...long couple of days. I have been on the road meeting with clients and Ryan has been working 12 hr+ days! Good Lord...

The good thing about being on the road is sometimes I get to see the people I love. I stayed over in Santa Rosa last night which was so fun. I got to see my sister and my brother in law (Mike) for a couple of hours. Christy and I went out to a great Thai Food place while Mike played softball. Before dinner we went on a walk with Christy's good friend Megan (and my friend too!).

I started this morning with a quick 3 mile run. Knowing I was going to be on my butt for most of the day driving around I wanted to get in a some type of workout.

Fast forward to the end of my day...I stopped in Santa Cruz (after being in Monterey) and visited a bit with my Mommy. Then I cruised to the West Side to spend some time with my lovely mom-in-law and my amazingly beautiful sister-in-law. Sooo good to see them! I feel like I haven't seen all of them in forever but it's only been a couple of weeks!

I rushed home to get dinner going so it would be ready for Ryan when he got home. Tonight's menu: Pesto Stuffed Chicken with Brown Rice.

*The rice wasn't ready in time for the pic.

Recipe:

-Two Chicken Breasts (all natural)

-1/2 of lemon. Thinly sliced and layed on top of the chicken breast

-1 tomato (seeded)

-Julienned basil

-1 cup of dry brown rice (mixed with 2 cups water in rice cooker)

-PESTO

*1 1/2 cup of whole basil leaves

*2 TBSPof EVOO

*1 TBSP of H2O

*3 BIG cloves of garlice

*1/4 cup of Reggiano Parmigiano

*1-2 TBSP of walnuts

*juice from 1/2 small lemon

*pinch of salt

(blended in a cuisinart!)

I butterflied the chicken and stuffed it with pesto. I sauteed 1 fresh cut tomato with 1 clove of garlic and used that to top the chicken. Then I garnished with freshly grated parmesean cheese and basil.

And of course...RED WINE!!! Another amazing Alapay wine tonight. We finished the whole bottle. It was just one of those nights...

Cobbler VS Crisp?

Home at last! 6 days in Portland was too long to be away from home. But I had a fabulous time and ate A LOT of delcious food, wine, and desserts!

Ryan and I went to the farmers market Sunday to get our fruits and veggies for the week. We were having dinner guests Sunday night and wanted to use as much food from the farmers market in our meal as possible. We decided to make tacos and a Peach and Plum Crisp.

I woke up wanting to make a cobler and asked my Aunt Renee to send me her famous recipe. With the recipe she sent a message saying "You will be banned from Healthy Blogging if you make this...". I opted for a healthier option! (sorry Aunt Nee)

Ryan was in charge of the tacos. He bought ingredients from farmers to make Pico de Gallo and we found a stand selling mexican food that made us a bunch of yummy corn tortillas! We picked up some pork and chicken on the way home. Ryan makes this amazing sour cream sauce. We call it "Schloupa". It's sour cream, chipotle powder, lime juice and this special garlic seasoning. He is not willing to share the amounts of everything he put's in it!!! I'll get it out of him eventually.

Ryan's Taco:

And...we made fresh lime juice margaritas! Lot's of work to get all the lime juice out, but so worth it.

Fresh Lime Juice Margs: (serves 2)

Lime Juice (1/4 cup-ish....)

2 shots of tequila

1 TSBP of AGAVE

splash of water

shaken on ice!!

* You can adjust to your tastes. We didn't really measure so I am just guesstimating here.

Everything tasted so good. It was so nice to be eating a home cooked meal.

(my taco didn't have any cheese or Schloupa. Depressing.)

Since I didn't run much these past few days I wanted to get a long run in today. I set out on a 6.4 mile run and at about mile 6 I hit a wall. Every muscle in my body was working so hard to move me forward but I wasn't going anywhere! Well anywhere fast that is. Perhaps too many desserts!

I'm on the road for the next two days. Meetings back to back to back, and so on...I hope I don't loose my voice.

I love Portland

I just adore it...for so many reasons.

#1 The food. (#2 the shopping...but I'm not even going to go there.)

Portland has so many amazing restaurants that offer amazing food combined with an amazing ambiance. It's rare that I am disappointed here.

Eating out can be quite a challenge. So when I know I am going to be on "the road" for a few days at a time I remind myself that I am not on a vacation...I am working and I need to maintain my healthy(ish) lifestyle and (try to) make smart choices on what to eat.

Before I go on long trips I usually try to workout pretty hard the few days before because sometimes I just don't have time to when I am working out of town. This past weekend (with Ryan) I did a 6 mile run, a hike, and then Monday morning a 5 mile run. Woooh. Was hard, but we got it done. I felt great getting on to the airplane knowing I had a good run that morning.

Always be prepared with snacks...in the SJC airport they have an new amazing wine bar. So of course I had to get a glass of wine. I was super hot (maybe because I had to carry my behemoth of a laptop and other carry-ons?!) so I opted for a glass of Pinot Grigio. It was quite refreshing. On the plane I skipped the free soft drink and peanuts and enjoyed a Lara Bar. I'm glad I had it because the wine made me feel very hungry.

I was able to get a short workout in this morning at the gym and plan on doing a 4 mile run tomorrow (early) AM. But the rest of the week looks questionable! Busy busy.

I will stop typing away and let you just enjoy pictures of some of the amazing food I ate today.

Lunch was at Isabel. Great food. Service was a bit slow. Portion was so big I left half of it.

And dinner was at my new favorite hot spot; DEPATURE (it's a restaurant at the top of the hotel I stay at while I am here, THE Nines). I'm lucky to have Lindsay with me!

Early bed time for me tonight. Gotta' get up and run my little heart out tomorrow. I have a VERY long day tomorrow and the rest of the week isn't looking any better.

Let’s Celebrate…take two

I was watching the clock Friday night. As I mentioned my cleanse would be over at 8pm. Ryan and I had talked about either opening a nice bottle of wine or getting a celebratory fro yo. I wasn’t in a wine mood Friday night (I know weird right?) so we chose the fro yo. We went to Yumi Yogurt in Los Gatos. They have the BEST Fro Yo I have ever tasted. They have some non-fat options, but I got the SNICKERS flavor and it definitely did not taste non-fat…or even low fat. I was in heaven.

For about 5 minutes.

You see, I am lactose intolerant. The past few years it hasn't been so bad. I can tolerate some cheeses, yogurt and half and half. But when you remove a specific food product from your diet (especially one that is you are potentially allergic/sensitive too) you will become so much more aware of your bodies reaction to this food once you reintroduce it.

I felt so ill. The morning was worse. Let’s just say it almost kept me from running my planned 6 mile run. After a couple pit stops I was able to make it to the beginning of the Los Gatos trail. It was a gorgeous morning and there were tons of runners on the trail so I was able to focus on just completing the run and not how ouchy my stomach felt.

Take Two…

It definitely was a wine night Saturday night. We joined Alapay Cellars wine club a couple months ago and have been patiently waiting to try a bottle from our first shipment. I randomly found this winery while at my bachelorette party in Avila Beach. They have a small little tasting room that we found and every wine I tasted (which was many) was good! That is a rare find. They have some of the best wines I have ever tasted.

We choose a 2008 Pinot Noir. I’m usually not the biggest fan of Pinot however like I said all of Alapay’s wines are good.

Check out our cool Vinturi Red Wine Aerator This does the same job as a decanter. It really makes a big difference in taste. We’ve done many taste tests ☺

This Pinot almost knocked me off my chair. The flavor was so BIG with hints of cherry and pepper. YUM. The best part is it didn’t make me sick! I felt wonderful this morning.

Ryan and I decided to go down to the Campbell farmers market. Such a good market...I'm glad we brought the camera.

Lastly, it’s my baby puppy Bella’s 2nd Birthday today. I bought her a Cake Cookie Treat and gave it to her before her birthday hike. She loved it!

Delicious dinner!! Ingredients from farmers market!

I’m off to Portland tomorrow for a 6 day work trip. Yay! Eating out for 6 days…I’ll let you know how it goes!

Still working on the new blog...

It's Tea Time

I have had tea the past two mornings! No coffee. Crazy but true. I don't know why but it just hasn't sounded good to me. Maybe it's my body's way of telling me "You are now fully cleansed."

My cousin Jenny (who I look up to in so many ways...even though she is younger) introduced me to a new tea. She's a big tea drinker so I went to her for some advice. She recommended a decaffeinated and naturally sweet tea.

It was so yummy. I loved it because it didn't have the gross after taste that most teas have. Also, it was sweet which is a huge bonus. It's naturally sweetened with Stevia. Stevia is a great alternative to sugar because it has no effect on you blood glucose (sugar) levels. I'll get more into it in some other post...

Yesterday morning I was starving. A smoothie wasn't going to cut it for me. I decided to make a scramble since I had some eggs and veggies that needed to be used up. Unfortunately I put way to much salt in it. Always pour in your hand first!! I did not take this advice and it came pouring out all of my eggs. YUCK.

Lunch was just a hodge-podge of things I had left in my refrigerator. I ended up making a Rice and Bean Salad. I heated the rice and beans and put them on top of lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado. The taste was OK and it was pretty filling because of the rice and beans.

Even though I was full I was craving something sweet. So I popped some frozen mango's in the microwave (30 seconds is enough to soften them and leave them cold). Having them still be cold is the key. I then topped with Artisana's Coconut Butter (I finally took a pic!!). Because the mango's were still cold the coconut butter hardened on to them like the chocolate on a chocolate dipped cone. It was one of my most exciting discoveries ever. So amazingly tasty.

The afternoon didn't go so well for me. I ended up getting a horrid headache. So I had to rest all evening. No working out. No cooking.

Lastly, the cleanse will end tonight at 8pm (perhaps with a ceremonial glass of Cabernet Sauvignon) . I know I said I usually do it for 2 weeks but I managed 2 whole work weeks and 1 weekend so I am very happy with that. I take off on Monday for a 6 day work trip so I want to semi-adjust before I leave. However, I'm going to stay off the caffeine, and not eat much wheat and sugar. I just feel so much better!

This weekend I will be giving my blog a little face lift. I'll let you know when it's ready!

On the Road Again...

I was up at the crack of dawn this morning because I had meetings in Fairfeild and Vacaville. Not my favorite places in California to drive to.

I wasn't hungry at 6:30am but forced myself to eat a big bowl of oatmeal. I packed some road snacks...cashews & dried cranberries, and an apple. For lunch I went to Amichi's East Coast Pizzeria. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find something to eat because it was a pizza place. OMG they had a gluten free menu! This made is super easy to find something that was "cleanse friendly". I got a spinach salad and added chicken.

When I got home I was starving so I made myself my morning smoothie (at 4:30pm). I knew I needed to eat before my long run. If I run on a completely empty stomach it's a migraine waiting to happen. Blah. So I usually have a small snack about 1 hour before.

My run was a success! 5 miles. The best advice I ever got about running is when my coworker told me "...running doesn't feel good. It will always hurt! But it feels so good when you complete your runs. You just have to push through."

And that's exactly what I did. I just kept repeating in my head "running will always hurt!!" But how good did I feel when I got home? Amazing!

Tonight for dinner I made Cilantro Shrimp. I found the recipe in this months Cooking Light.

I didn't really enjoy it too much. But I think that's due to the fact I had to de-shell and de-vein all the shrimp. It made me a bit nauseous. Overall it's a really easy recipe! I think I would've enjoyed it more if someone else prepped the shrimp for me. So I recommend trying it out.

My wedding prints just arrived. I'm so excited to get them in frames and on the walls!

You know what else I am excited for...only a few more days...

PASTA!!!

Eating pasta is something I do maybe 2 times a year. It's just not really on my list of favorites these days. However, in doing this cleanse I am trying to get creative, so I thought, what could I do with some rice pasta?

I originally planned to make a hot rice pasta dish with sundried tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, spinach, EVOO and S/P. However, I was invited to a friends for a BBQ and I thought I'd just make it a pasta salad!

I think I've been scarred from years of eating mayo based or "heavily-drench-in-crappy-italian-dressing" pasta salads, because this one was surprisingly fantastic. In fact, I think I'll be eating pasta a little bit more often in days to come!!

Recipe:

-1 bag of brown rice pasta. Follow directions to cook. Rinse with cool water

-6 TBPS of EVOO

-1 TSP of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (I put a dash more)

-1-2 cloves of crushed garlic (remember this salad is raw so the garlic gives a big kick!)

-3 thinly sliced green onions (mine weren't sliced thin enough)

-1/4 cup of sun dried tomato sliced in thin pieces

-2 cups of roughly chopped spinach leaves

-Sea Salt and Pepper to your liking

Combine EVOO, S/P, garlic and Red pepper flakes in separate bowl.

Put on the chopped ingredients in a bigger bowl. Add the pasta. Toss. Then pour dressing over. Toss Again! Chill in fridge until ready to serve.

So good and so easy!!

My workout today sucked. I did a 10 minute cardio video from ON DEMAND. At least it was something right??

Tomorrow I have a long work day on the road. I plan to eat a big breakfast and bring some good snacks, but I have to go out to lunch with a client. Should be interesting... Stay tuned.

It's a Fiesta!!

Or so you would think...fish tacos last night, a black bean and rice bowl for lunch, and then my "Fiesta" Turkey burgers for dinner!!

Good day today. I woke up craving my Kale Smoothie since it has been a few days since my last one. It was more delicious than ever. It didn't keep me full until lunch so I had to snack on some cashews and a 1/2 of a organic peach.

I threw lunch together really quick. Black beans w/ brown rice, corn salsa, pico de gallo (yes two types of salsa. I love salsa.), and cilantro and lime to garnish. You can put as much or as little of all the ingredients in your bowl. Whatever suits your tastes buds...I apparently put to much of everything because I couldn't finish. Leftovers for tomorrow?

I didn't get a good workout in this weekend (other than the miles I walked in all the shops I went to, and going up and down the stairs 100 times at my aunts house) so I decided to challenge myself today and run some hills! As I sit here right now typing every muscle in my legs are already sore. Hills are so tough, but I know they are going to help with my endurance in the long run.

The hard workout left me with a huge appetite. All day I was brainstorming what I could put in my plain old dry turkey burgers. When I got home I started chopping almost everything in my refrigerator...red bell peppers, red onions, garlic (I use a garlic press), and cilantro.

I also made some sweet potato fries and wilted spinach. I had visions of bright orange fries but alas when Ryan peeled them they were white. I was sad, but moved on because they still tasted fabulous! We cooked them on the grill in foil (one was flavored with salt, EVOO and Cinnamon. The other was salt, EVOO and Garlic Powder).

The turkey burgers were AMAZING! I have never eaten a turkey burger with so much flavor. I was randomly throwing stuff in the mixture so I had no idea how they were going to turn out! Here's my recipe:

-1 package of natural ground turkey meat

-1 brown egg (I don't think the color matters. Mine just happened to be brown!)

-1/4 of a large red onion

-1/2 red bell pepper

-1/4 cup cilantro

-Tons of fresh garlic (i used about 5 cloves)

- Sea Salt/Pepper

- 2 TSPs of AGAVE SYRUP (secret ingredient)

- 1 TSP of Chipotle powder

*Make sure everything is finely chopped. If the pieces are too big I would imagine the turkey burger would fall apart.

Time for bed now. We'll see if I can walk in the morning...

Cake please??

Wow....what a weekend!!

The baby shower was absolutely amazing. For pics check out my Aunt Renee's blog!! One of the most amazing parts of the shower was the food. Which I couldn't eat most of...so sad. I kept reminding myself that there is always going to be a party or a group of friends going out to dinner which makes there absolutely no perfect time to cleanse. I did feel a little "deprived" but there was a sense of pride about being able to follow through. I prepared for the day by making myself a stirfry with quinoa. I ate some before the shower and then some after. It was sooooo good. Or may because I just was so starving from staring at delicious salads with cheese, sandwiches, cookies and CUPCAKES all day?

Ryan and I last minute decided to go to sail the Chardonnay for my cousin Dave's 30th birthday. It was absolutely gorgeous. What an amazing way to celebrate entering into your 30's! They served pizza and beer on the boat...I'm not going to lie. At this point, pizza never looked so good in my life. Immediately after I stepped foot off the boat Ryan drove me as fast as he could to Whole Foods where I got some sushi, black bean soup, and peanut butter (you know from the machine where you can make your own? Gotta love the samples!).

Sunday was a very fun filled day as well!! Well not FUN but it was nice to get a bunch of to-do's checked off the list all the while spending the day with the husband. We went to Bed-Bath and Beyond (gotta love the triple threat), Target, IKEA and then I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's while Ryan built his new appliance. "A man' house is not his castle until the supreme appliance hath been installed."

We made a delicious dinner tonight on Ryan's new "appliance". Fish tacos with Chipotle BBQ'd corn. YUM!! Oh and for dessert my favorite BBQ'd Peaches. I was dying to put mine on vanilla frozen yogurt...I'm just dying to eat any sugary substance at this point.

Fish Tacos:

-2 small filets of white fish (I usually use Tilapia, I seasoned mine with lime juice, garlic powder, sea salt and a dash of chipotle powder)

-Pico de Gallo

-Cilantro

-Corn Tortillas

BBQ'd Chipotle Corn

-BBQ corn husk on

-2-3 TBSPs of EVOO

-1 clove crushed garlic

-1 TSP ish of Chipotle (depends on how much heat you like)

-DASH OF SALT

*Remove husk and immediately pour some of the EVOO mixture onto your corn. The heat will cook the garlic a bit.

Nothing beats a jam packed weekend like we just had. I'm exhausted but happy because I was surrounded by the people who I love!!!

I am off to go dream of cake...

Breakfast Guests!!

Thursday was a leftover day. I was running out of steam so I had no energy to make lunch or dinner. So I ate leftovers!! Ryan made his own dinner (his fav tacos)

I took Bella (puppy) on a hike in the Los Gatos Hills!! It got too hot for the black dog so we had to turn around sooner than I hoped. When I returned from my hike there was a message on my phone saying that my TWIN sister, Christy, and her husband, Mike, would be on there way sooner than they thought! (Christy, 8 months pregnant, has a baby-shower this weekend in Santa Cruz. Her and my almost 8 month pregnant cousin Jamie are having a dual shower. How fun!)

They were going to be to my house late but were staying the night so I was excited to make breakfast in the AM!

I decided to do something simple and make oatmeal. Oatmeal and I don't always get along so well. I went through a period in my life that I ate WAY to much of it, so it's taken quite a while to get myself back to the point where I enjoy eating it. This morning...I absolutely loved it. We put bananas, berries, walnuts, and coconut butter as toppings. DELISH! I guess all the tasty toppings changed my mind about this gooey substance.

* I would've never thought to put coconut butter as a topping on my oatmeal. I got this idea from an amazing food blog Kath Eats Real Food. She has a whole page dedicated to oatmeal!! The pics are to die for.

So it's Friday. I am spending the weekend in Santa Cruz for the baby shower festivities. I will stick to this cleanse. It will be tricky...being surrounded by amazing food, desserts, and drinks!! Yikes.

I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of days....

Is it the weekend yet?

A recap of yesterday...

After work I laced up the running shoes to conquer my 4-mile run. It was great being outside after being stuck inside all day! Let’s just say 4 miles felt like 12…not that I have ever ran 12 miles before (my longest distance is 8 miles).

I should share that I am training for a ½ marathon in October. I was training prior to my wedding however the wedding and stress that came with it seemed to get in the way!! So I’m starting all over again. One question I ask of you marathoners out there…does the pain ever go away?? I didn’t think so.

Lunch was leftover rice noodles with watered down soup (remember it was to salty for my liking). Around 4pm I realized I was a bit hungry so I made my Kale Smoothie. I put about a TSP of the Coconut Butter (still I forgot to take a pic) in it with the mangos and bananas and it tasted like tropical heaven.

Dinner was my go to Quinoa w/ Chicken Salad with Balsamic Garlic Dressing. One of my favorites yet its so simple. Ingredients are (but not limited to):

-Lettuce

-Cucumber

-Avocado

-Any other veggies you want!

-Quinoa (I made mine in my rice cooker. Same as rice. 2:1 ratio)

-8-10oz of chicken (for two people. I sautee mine in pan with a bit of EVOO and S&P)

Dressing:

-1/4cup ish of balsamic vinegar

-1/8 cup ish of EVOO

-2-4 cloves of crushed garlic (I put a lot in!)

-Salt and pepper to taste

I wanted to mention real quick about the COFFEE I have been drinking. Typically during cleanses it is not recommend you drink any coffee at all. However, if that were the case I know I would fail. There's just something about the routine of drinking a hot cup of coffee every morning and tea just does not cut it! (at least for the first few days).

Decaf can be processed in a few different ways to get rid of the caffeine. To make the explanation short, the most common process uses chemicals to extract the caffeine. However, the is another process called the Swiss Water Decaffeination Process, which essentially filters caffeine out of the beans as they are soaked in water. I would highly recommend if you were going to drink decaf coffee to buy some that has been decaffeinated this way.

I thought “Organic” would cut it, but my amazingly smart friend Andrea sent me some information on the Decaf Process and I quickly ran out to whole foods and bought some new coffee!

Off to go make my morning smoothie!

The soup was a complete...

Success!! It was oh-so-fabulous.

One thing I want to make a note of; be careful with how much soy sauce, "better than bouillon" goolosh and fish sauce you put in. The are all very high in sodium which isn't the best for you. I woke up feeling like a puff fish. And you don't need much. The flavors of the fresh veggies, garlic and ginger are enough to overwhelm you palate.

Thai Inspired Soup:

(this is a rough estimate)

-2 quarts of water (1quart=4 cups)

-3ish scoops of the Organic Better Than Bouillon

*I put in more and it was way too salty for my liking. I would recommend tasting it as you put each scoop in.

-2 TBSP of Light Soy Sauce

-1-2 TBSP of Thai Fish Sauce

-Thai thin rice noodles (follow directions on box. These must be boiled first then rinsed in cold water)

-2 TBSP of fresh ginger

-2 TBSP of fresh garlic

-2 cups of shrimpies

-Lots of veggies!! I used about 2 cups of rainbow swiss chard, 1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 of a yellow bell pepper, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 cup of green onions, 1 cup Mung Beans,

-Cilantro, limes and Sriracha to garnish

The soup only needs to boil for about 8-10 minutes....I would put the garlic and ginger in towards the end. Andrea did this by mistake (great mistake) but we loved it so much because the flavors were so much stronger!

This morning I woke up with no headache!! Such a relief. I was however craving something sweet so I spiced up the coffee a bit...with fresh nutmeg and Light Agave Syrup (agave is one of my "cheat" foods. You only need a drizzle!!)

It reminds me a bit of Christmas :)

Long day today! Busy work day and my goal is to go for a 4 mile run after. I'll let you know how that goes...