I love my husband.  And while I know he loves me, I know he also loves his food.  Patrick will try and eat anything I make.  He has his favorites, he’s been the guinea pig for some of my ‘not-so-ordinary’ creations and he has even compared one of my dishes to tasting like fast food (but in a good way!).  But sometimes, Patrick just wants what he wants.  And sometimes, Patrick just wants a cheeseburger.

Image Credit – cafepress.com

Now, don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with a cheeseburger.  In fact, I enjoy eating them myself.  However, I can’t remember the last time I had a real cheeseburger.  I usually opt for a turkey burger or a veggie burger.  I think the last time I had a beef burger, it didn’t quite agree with me and thus, I’m now a bit leery.  So the thought of having a burger for dinner, would not be my first choice.  But the last time I ‘denied’ my husband of a meal, the restaurant ended up shutting its doors.  Lesson learned.  That said, we were off to satisfy Patrick’s craving.

Four Burgers is a cute little restaurant located in Central Square, Massachusetts, that serves, you guessed it, four different kinds of burger.  I first heard of this burger joint on the Phantom Gourmet, and I remember the rave reviews it received.  Since I’m a believer in the Phantom and this restaurant was only about 10 minutes away from our house, we figured we’d give it a go.

Cute, huh?

Notice the four circles?

This is such a fun and cozy place!  The four burgers that Four Burgers serves are all natural beef, vegetarian, turkey and wild salmon (they also had a lamb burger on special the day we were there).  I loved the decor and how the ‘four burger’ theme carried throughout the restaurant.  In addition, I really appreciated Four Burgers’ mission: To become the most “unique” and “original” burger concept in the market by providing top quality burgers and service. We are dedicated to making burger lovers out of everyone! Four Burgers also has some admirable core values.  Some of my favorites are that they use only the freshest, high quality, local products whenever possible, and they are mindful of their impact on the environment and the community.  And if that isn’t enough, their menu didn’t look so bad either.

Who needs a bigger menu?

Patrick took all of two seconds to figure out what he wanted to order (grass-fed, all-natural beef hamburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon and mushroom).  I couldn’t decide if I wanted a turkey burger (with apple & cranberry chutney, lettuce, tomato) or an organic vegan black bean burger.  They both sounded beyond good, but finally, I decided to go the meatless route.  And of course, no burger meal (meat or veggie) would be complete without a side order of french fries.  But in our case, we ordered what Four Burgers called, the ‘half & half’, which was half regular french fries and half sweet potato fries.  In our case, the side was more of an entrée!

So how did our burgers taste?  One word.  Phenomenal.  I’ve had my share of veggie burgers, and this one was one of the best I’ve had in quite some time.  It was flavorful, moist, thick and filling.  And, it was green in tint!  I’m guessing this was from all the fresh herbs that were inside.  My veggie burger also came with lettuce, guacamole and salsa (I could have also ordered it with mango BBQ sauce) all within a fluffy whole wheat bun.  While I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner, Patrick was on cloud nine with his.  To quote him exactly, “This is soooooo good!  The burger is juicy, has a slight char-grill taste, which you know I like.  And, the bacon is crispy.  You know how I like my crispy bacon!  I can’t believe we didn’t come to this place sooner!“  Um, yeah.  I think it’s safe to say Patrick really liked his dinner.  And what about the fries?  Perfection.  Both the regular french and the sweet potato were so, so, delicious!  I really hate to admit this but, we polished off the whole plate.  They were so worth it!

YUM!

My black bean burger close-faced…

And, open-faced…

Patrick’s ultimate cheeseburger…

Look at all of those layers!

Drooling…

Patrick and I give Four Burgers, four stars and four thumbs up!  The atmosphere was excellent, the food was excellent and the fact that they only use the highest quality ingredients and are environmentally sound is excellent.  We couldn’t have been more pleased with our meal.  While the menu was simple (in addition to the four burgers, they also offered an all natural hot dog, a mesclun greens salad, as well as a few sweet treats), the taste was nothing short of extraordinary.  But then again being able to provide great food with friendly service, coupled with a good conscience, doesn’t have to be complicated.

Pretty cool, huh?

(these might be the noisiest chairs on the planet!  just sayin’…)

What’s your favorite kind of burger?  What toppings do you like to put on your burger?

Namasté,
Nicole

I have so many apples in my house and have eaten so many apples that I think I’m going bananas (hehehe – sorry, I couldn’t resist that one).  Remember my adventure at the apple farm?  Well, I’m a complete slacker! Just check out Lauren’s amazing apple creations here, here, here and here, as well as Shannon’s sweet and savory apple pie.  Those fab ladies are making great use of their fresh crop and me?  Not so much.

Well, to be honest with you, I had all these recipes containing apples lined up and ready to go but for some reason, I just can’t seem to execute! I want to make something hot, cinnamon-y, nutmeg-y and buttery, but I keep coming up short (I am only 5′1!).  Maybe it’s just that I want to save my apples for the ‘ultimate’ recipe.  But just what is the ultimate recipe?  After all, I have about 6-8 recipes bookmarked and I keep finding more every time I surf online, which is pretty much 50% of my day.  Perhaps I’m just afraid my apple cooking/baking won’t live up to my expectations? Or maybe I’m just lazy (Hey! Nobody’s perfect!)?  Whichever the case may be, I decided to finally bite the bullet (or apple) this past Saturday and whip out an apple dish that I just conjured up in my head.  And if I don’t say so myself, it came out pretty dang good!

Apple, Sausage & Broccoli Frittata

Serves 6-8

• 5 eggs (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Cage Free eggs, large sized)
• 2 egg whites (I used 1/3 of a cup of carton egg whites)
• 1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup of nonfat cottage cheese
• 2 roasted garlic chicken sausage, chopped into bite-sized pieces ( I used Trader Joe’s brand, feel free to use any flavor)
• 1 small-medium apple, skin on (any kind, I used McIntosh), chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup of chopped onion
• 1/2 cup of lowfat milk
• few dashes of adobo powder
• few dashes of dried rosemary
• few dashes of dried parsley
• few dashes of garlic powder
• s&p

The members of the cast

Easily the star of the show…

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crack eggs into a mixing bowl, add egg whites, milk, adobo powder, parsley, salt and pepper.  Then add the cheddar cheese and the cottage cheese.  Mix with fork to get everything well-blended but be careful to not over mix.  Set aside.

All in the mix…

Eggy…

2) Coat a medium-sized frying pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat on medium-high.  Add the onions and apples to the frying pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions and apples begin to soften.

Apples + onions sitting in a tree…

3) Add the broccoli and sausage to the frying pan.  Then add the rosemary and garlic powder.  Cook for another 5 minutes until the sausage has browned and everything has been well-blended.

Everyone get in!

4) Pour the apple and sausage mixture into a greased (I used cooking spray) 11 x 7 baking dish.

All warm and toasty…

5) Then pour the egg mixture over the apple and sausage mixture.

Getting a nice soak…

6) Place in oven for 20-25 minutes or until the edges turn crispy and brown and the eggs are firm to the touch.

7) Serve immediately and enjoy!

This was the ‘ultimate’ brunch dish this weekend.  It was fast and easy (NOT like me ) and tasted wonderful.  I chose the roasted garlic flavored chicken sausage over the apple flavored chicken sausage because I didn’t want the apple flavoring in the frittata to be overpowering.  It was perfect! There was just enough sweetness from the McIntosh apple to take on the savory from the sausage, cheddar and seasoned eggs.  The soft pillows of melted cottage cheese gave the dish a richer taste and texture, without having to add too many extra calories or fat.  I also really enjoyed the dried rosemary against the eggs and chicken sausage; it certainly kicked up the taste of the frittata.

While most recipes I have seen online for frittatas use only whole eggs, I decided to reduce the amount and substitute with a couple of egg whites.  While the number of whole eggs were cut down, the taste definitely was not.  In fact, the egg whites gave the frittata a ‘lighter’ and ‘airier’ texture.  Plus, there wasn’t a whole lot of grease and you didn’t feel as if there was a brick sitting at the bottom of your stomach once you were done eating.  Also, the apple pieces seemed to freshen up the dish and eliminate the heavy taste that one often gets with eggs.

The sole drawback to this dish was that I only used one apple.  I really wish I could have added another, but one was plenty.  While my first instinct was to make a sweet recipe with my apple crop, I decided to mix it up a bit by seeing if I could incorporate the fruit into a savory dish.  It was the perfect combination! Patrick seemed to agree as he had about 2.5 pieces that early afternoon.  He said my frittata tasted so good, it didn’t even need ketchup! Now that’s saying a lot! I guess that’s why he’s the apple of my eye…

This picture was taken inside my homemade lightbox…

And this picture was taken by the window…
Which one do you like better?

What is your favorite dish to make for brunch?

Namasté,
Nicole

***Thank you so much for your patience.  I’m back and I finally have pictures (and boy, do I have pictures!).  Did you miss me?***

Do you have anyone in your life that is tough to shop for?  Someone who has impeccable taste and great style and has one (or more) of just about everything and anything? A person who is so beautiful that nothing you buy her will compare to her beauty? But this human being is very near and dear to your heart and you love her so much that you want to give her something but you just don’t know what?  Well, ladies and gents, let me introduce you to that person.  That person in my life is Mother Healthy Chow (or MHC for short).

As you might have read from my posts a couple of weeks ago, MHC recently had her birthday.  She turned 39 (*ahem-ahem, cough, cough*) and doesn’t look a day older 25.  Being the good daughters that we are, Michelle and I wanted to get a nice gift for MHC.  But we just didn’t know what?  The woman has too much a lot of clothes, more handbags than she ever can carry, fanciful jewelry, mucho make-up, a collection of shoes that can rival Imelda’s or Mariah’s and two amazing daughters (*pats herself on the back*).  What more could she want or need?

Can’t get enough of this pic!

However, even if a person has just about everything, the person’s gotta eat.  So, instead of taking MHC to the latest and greatest resto in the Boston area, we decided to shake-n-bake things up a bit and do something we haven’t done in awhile and should do more often.  Michelle and I decided to cook MHC a birthday dinner! And because MHC just moved in with her boyfriend, Darrell, we decided to make dinner at their newly renovated home.  There’s nothing like cooking in a brand spankin’ new kitchen!

Because Michelle and I were going to be responsible for cooking the whole dinner and bringing dessert, we had to plan in advance what we were going to make and thus, bring the ingredients.  I’m not quite sure how we decided, but we divvied up the courses as follows: sides, salad and dessert – Healthy Chow and main course and dessert – Michelle.  Yeah, I know dessert is mentioned twice.  That’s no mistake!  We wanted a birthday cake-ish treat for MHC, for candle blowing and wish making, as well as some other goodies, for variety and pigging out’s sake.

Image Credits – fundraw.com

While I was planning the few days prior to the dinner party, I chose to make sides that I felt would go with just about anything.  Because Michelle hadn’t told me what she was making as the main course and I didn’t want to keep annoying asking her, I just went with my gut (lame pun intended)  and selected recipes that were tasty and on the ‘healthier’ side.  Thus, I chose to make two recipes I found from Cooking Light - Creamy Parmesan Orzo and Mustard-Dressed Asparagus.  Both recipes received at least 4 out of 5 stars and very good reviews and comments from readers.  In addition, I had made the orzo recipe a few times before and it was delicious and easy and the asparagus recipe seemed healthy and easy.  Done and done! For the salad, I decided to bring mixed greens (baby spinach, arugula, radicchio and frisée) and the ingredients to make a homemade vinaigrette dressing.  So easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!  And for dessert, I just stopped by the store and grabbed brownie bites and chocolate chip ice cream.  You can’t go wrong with warm, soft chocolate baked goods à la mode, right?

I was so excited for this night!  Not only did I want to show off some of my much improved culinary skills, but I also love spending time with my family and I could not wait to see my mother’s new place.  MHC had just moved into Darrell’s condo, which they recently renovated and enlarged by acquiring the adjacent condo unit.  I’ve always loved seeing the interior of people’s homes, but ever since we gave our place a face-lift, my interest has reached a whole new level of appreciation.

Oh my stars!  I thought the ocean view from the outside of their building was incredible; the interior of their home was absolutely gorgeous! I tried not to have any expectations or visions in my head before arriving in order to be totally surprised and when I walked in, I was blown away.  Not only was their condo ginormous, but every detail was carefully paid attention to and flowed seamlessly to the next.  I felt as if I was flipping through the pages of an interior design magazine.

I lurrrrvvve those bamboo floors!

Absolutely beautiful…

Sparkle, sparkle…

I think the food might taste better coming from this kitchen…

Even the spices are cool, or should I say, ’sah-pie-say’!

Now that’s a closet!

My dream come true!

Even the washer and dryer are stylin’!

Darrell loves his shoes, too…

This closet would suit me just fine

An ocean view…

Simply breathtaking…

After receiving the grand tour and getting my groceries for dinner settled, I nibbled on some shrimp cocktail and chips and salsa.  While we told our mother she didn’t have to do a thing, she naturally put out a spread of appetizers and snacks.  What a good lil’ doobie.

It’s a good thing I had to cook or else I’d be full before dinner…

Snacks and sports…

I was having so much fun chatting it up with the party goers that I almost forgot that we were in charge of preparing dinner.  I could see the hungry looks growing, so I stopped munching (for a few minutes) and got started on cooking.  Since all of my dishes were relatively simple to prepare, I picked the one that would take the longest to make and would be the easiest to reheat.  So, I started on the creamy parmesan orzo.  Having Michelle and MHC (she couldn’t stay out of the kitchen for long, nor did we want her to) by my side in the kitchen was so much fun and so helpful.  While I would read off the instructions, one would hand me the needed ingredient and the coordinating utensil.  It was like having my very own sous chefs!

Stir that orzo, Michelle!

Even the birthday girl isn’t safe from kitchen duty!

Love that green!

Once the orzo was about done, I began on my asparagus dish.  Even though the recipe was for asparagus, I decided to add some zucchini since it would give the dish some variety and because I had some just sitting idle in my fridge.  I know, your girl is so resourceful! The recipe called for the asparagus to be boiled, but because MHC had a crazy-arse steamer built into the stove top, I just had to steam versus boil.  It just seemed so cool and high-tech; I had to give it a whirl.  The vegetables took only minutes to cook and the sauce took an even shorter time to prepare.  The key ingredient to this recipe was no doubt the mustard seeds.  They’re little, but they’re powerful (does that remind you of anyone you know?).

I gotta get me one of these…

The Yellow Wonder…(tee hee)

While I was cooking the vegetables, Michelle and her boyfriend, Jonathan began cooking the main dish – chicken saltimbocca.  Jonathan and Michelle make a great team both in life and in the kitchen.  They love cooking together and testing out new recipes.  I was told by the dynamic duo that the trick to making their recipe was to brine the chicken in salt water the night before.  I guess I’ll take their word for it.  It looked dang good! And just as the chicken was about to be taken out of the oven, I whisked together a simple salad dressing using Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, some chopped shallot and salt and pepper.  As I’ve said before, Trader Joe’s never lets me down and he came through for me again that night.  The Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar was divine! It gave the right amount of citrus and zip to the dressing without making it too sweet or weighing it down.  Another winner from TJ’s!

That’s some kickin’ chicken!

I heart TJ’s

Veggie Might!

Finally, dinner was served! MHC did a fabulous job setting up her dining room table for her first dinner guests and her first dinner guests did a fabulous job of dining.  I couldn’t believe how well everything turned out.  Everything was cooked to perfection and tasted wonderful.  Michelle and Jonathan’s chicken saltimbocca was moist and juicy (must be that brining action) and the prosciutto that enveloped it was flawlessly crisped with just the right amount of fresh sage.  Ah-may-zing! And like the chefs who played off of the synergy that was overwhelming the kitchen, the dishes co-mingled with each other fantastically and complemented each other perfectly.

And while I don’t like to brag much, I just want to say that my dishes came out quite well.  MHC loved the creaminess of the parmesan in the orzo recipe and said that the fresh basil was the perfect complement to the dish.  And everyone seemed to really like the mustard sauce on the vegetables.  They said it gave the vegetables a unique flavor.  As for the salad, everyone wanted to know what I used to make the ‘fruity’ dressing.  They truly seemed to enjoy my new found secret weapon from TJ’s and the fact that the salad was tasty without being too greasy or heavy.  Success!

And what would a birthday dinner party be without birthday cake and dessert?  Not a good one in Healthy Chow’s book! Jonathan made a key lime pie that was so light and refreshing, I thought I was having a cocktail.  There was just enough lime to cleanse my palate and the airiness of the filling coupled with the flaky crust was enough for me to want to have seconds.  However, because there were other desserts to sample, I stayed with having only one small (ish) piece and had a scoop of ice cream along with a mini fall-inspired brownie.  I think MHC honestly loved every bite of her birthday celebration.

While receiving a luxurious cashmere sweater, the latest bottle of perfume, a new pair of fall boots, or some fancy handmade jewelry may be a wonderful birthday gift, it’s no match for the gift of time.  Being able to spend time with my mother and sister in her new kitchen laughing, cooking and simply enjoying each other’s company was my favorite part of the night and by looking at my mother’s face, she felt the same way.

Oh, he’s such an angel! Hahahahaha!

Gotcha!

“Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderfuuuuullll?“

MHC is always appreciative of any gift she receives, but I could tell that this time this gift meant the world to her.  She was so excited for us to finally see her new home with Darrell and to be able to see how our culinary skills had developed.  I think it’s always a gift for a parent to see how their children have matured and blossomed, but it’s also a gift for the child to see their parent being happy in their new life.  While it may have been MHC’s birthday, I feel as though I was the one who was showered with presents.  It was a spectacular night filled with giggles, good times and great food.  While it might have been easier to go to the mall or hop online to buy our mother a birthday gift, it definitely would not have been as much fun, nor would it have been as special.  Being able to create a memorable night, such as our dinner party, is something that everyone should try – it may require a bit of time and energy, but what you get back is immeasurable and certainly priceless.  For the person who has everything, it’s definitely something of which they could use more.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?  Or, what’s your favorite secret ingredient to use?

Namasté,
Nicole

Sometimes I think I should have dedicated my blog to Trader Joe’s.  I <3 that place!  And, I can’t believe that I only started going there this year.  What the H-E double hockey stick (hi Greg!) was I thinking?  I try to only go there once a week, but it’s hard when there are literally three within walking distance from my house and another that is five minutes from my yoga studio (and I’m at my yoga studio almost every day of the week).  And when I’m in a Trader Joe’s, I try to stick to my grocery list and buy only what I need in order to not overspend and in order to NOT spend over an hour in there.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes, I just have to succumb to the power that is Trader Joe’s.

And like Heather, while I’m at Trader Joe’s, I like to always try a fun, new item in addition to my ‘necessities’.  But because everything seems so fun at TJ’s, I usually have a difficult time choosing the item (hence, my marathon stays there).  So after walking up and down every aisle at least three hundred times and having at least five TJ’s employees ask me, “are you finding everything OK, ma’am (gag, don’t they know Healthy Chow likes to me called ‘miss’?)?,” I finally settled on this:

Granted, this little item may not be as ‘fun’ as some of the tempting sweets that stare at me from up above whenever I’m in the frozen food aisles, but I’ve never heard of pea shoots and they looked pretty interesting.  Plus, they were organic, nutritious and cheap (I think it was less than $2.50 for this).  Sounds like a winner to me!  I also admit that I just like saying ‘pea shoots’.  I know, I’ m weird like that…

Here are some of the ways I enjoyed my fun, little Trader Joe’s pea shoot treat:

On a salad…(beware, it is a humungo salad…)

Before getting salsa-fied...

And after...along with some whole grain melba toast

Just from another angle...

The pea shoots gave my salad of romaine lettuce, baby spinach leaves, cucumber slices, tomato slices, chopped baby carrots, red kidney beans, adobo powder and salsa a fresh added crunch.  I would say that the pea shoots taste like a hybrid of bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts.  I get so used to eating the same things in my salad, that having something unique such as this diddy made my salad special.  Plus, as noted on the box, these pea shoots have a good amount of vitamin C.  Woot!

In a quesadilla (ish):

In a Joseph's flax pita with mashed red kidney beans, tomato, carrots, baby spinach and a slice of reduced fat provolone (not shown).

All grilled up in the Foreman...

Plated next to a sliced Gala apple

When I pressed my quesadilla in my George Foreman grill, the pea shoots got softened and cooked a bit.  While they were no longer as crunchy, the pea shoots still were crisp enough to be noticed in my cheesy quesadilla.  Actually, they seemed a tad more sweet after being grilled versus when I had them raw in my salad.  This was so yummy and filling! But then again, I think grilling anything in a pita with cheese is divine.

In an omelet (a very large one):

It was quite the stuffed omelet...

I think I've perfected the omelet flip...go Healthy Chow!

Next to an ear of sweet corn...

Take a look at all that yummy goodness!

I think this was by far my favorite way to savor the pea shoots.  As I mentioned previously, when the pea shoots are cooked, they taste sweeter.  However, when coupled with the sweet peas, the taste is sensational! I love egg white omelets in general – they are less greasy tasting than whole egg omelets and allow for the inside ingredients to really shine through.  While my omelet had tomato, baby spinach leaves, adobo and garlic powder and salsa on top, it was hands down the peas and pea shoots that stood out.  This combination of the subtly sweet and savory was a.maz.ing! Not to mention corn on the cob (sans butter) is like summer’s candy (oh, I miss you already, summer!).  Can you tell Healthy Chow had a good time eating this meal?

Well, I haven’t been disappointed by a Trader Joe’s product yet and I’m happy to report, that is still true.  I’m so happy that I selected something from the produce section for my fun, little item versus something from the baked goods (because I was so leaning towards that…).  It helped to show me that eating healthy can be fun and having fun while you’re eating doesn’t have to mean eating crap.  Also, a little treat for myself doesn’t always have to mean cookies, chips or brownies (although those are all wonderful, too!).  I have learned that treating myself to healthy and nutritious foods can be just as enjoyable as having a sugary snack.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love me some decadent cookies and cream ice cream, but life can be just as sweet with some pea shoots.

What’s your ideal breakfast?  Do you like having breakfast foods for lunch/dinner?  If so, what’s your favorite breakfast for lunch/dinner meal?

Namasté,
Nicole

*OK, this one is for you, Mom.  I know how much you love this song, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” , and you know how much I love you!

Boy, the Summit was like the grass sample that was in our swag bags, AMAZING!  After two days of socializing and ‘getting-to-know-you’s’, we finally arrived at the day I was looking forward to the most – conference day.  I think I’ll always be a student at heart because the thought of being in a room with all of our knowledgeable sponsors and keynote speakers was making me giddy with joy.  I could hardly sleep Friday night in anticipation of the big day.  I think I fell asleep with a smile on my face and woke up with one.

OK, that's me after I got ready, not as soon as I woke up

Because Patrick was so very kind to give me, Lauren and Shannon a ride (the first of many), we were able to make it to the hotel bright and early.  Thank you!!!  When we arrived, we were greeted by the Big 6 and were presented our SWAG BAGS (cue the bugles and applause)!  They were absolutely stuffed with coupons, tons of food samples, informational brochures, a re-useable bag (along with the re-useable bag the swag came in), pens, magnets, a shake container, a t-shirt, a shoe wallet, a baked good and magazines.  It was the ultimate goody bag!

The sign of the time

Heather, Megan and Caitlin

"Say my name, say my name..."

My Blue Heaven

"Swagger like us!"

After checking in, getting our name tags and bags, we were ready for breakfast.  Breakfast included an array of fresh fruit, Oikos yogurt, various blends of  MixMyGranola, fresh bagels, danish, muffins, Kashi TLC bars and the obvi fresh coffee and tea.  I chose an Oikos yogurt with honey along with a few scoops of lowfat MixMyGranola and some chunks of cantaloupe and pineapple.  I love me some fresh fruit for breakfast (or anytime), especially when it’s already been cut-up for me .

Hmmm, this yogurt is DEE-LEE-SHUSS!

Tina, Shannon, Lauren and Jesse

We had a good hour to relax, eat and do some more meeting and chatting before we headed off to the conference room.  As I mentioned before, I can be somewhat of a dork.  So when I walked into the conference room, I wanted to be sitting front and center.  However, that was being occupied by some of our sponsors, so I opted for front-ish and left of center.  What can I say?  I like to pay attention!

My table mates - Casey and Ania

Casey and Ms. Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed

After finding our seats, the Big 6 introduced themselves and welcomed us all to the Summit.  You could tell they were just as excited as the attendees and were glowing with anticipation of the day ahead.

Drum roll please!

The Big 6

Our first speaker was Janel Ovrut, a local registered dietitian, who talked to us about the importance of having a ‘healthy’ diet and how we can manage to eat well in our busy day-to-day life.  She was quite friendly and informative and gave us some useful and easy to remember tips.  She was able to provide insight without sounding ‘preachy’.

The next speaker was my favorite speaker, Cory, aka ZestyCook.  Zesty gave a wonderful presentation on Blogging 101.  He gave us pointers on how to best monetize our blogs, design our blogs and how we could best make them as successful as his (almost!).  I brought my giant legal notepad from home specifically for Zesty’s presentation.  I wanted to be a sponge and soak up as much zest as I could.  I think I did a pretty good job because while I hung onto his every word, my little hands managed to scribble out pages and pages of notes.  Thank you, Zesty!

We then broke for lunch (and the bathrooms).  I actually was hoping that this was not the line for the bathrooms and luckily, it was the lunch line.

The waiting game

But, the bathroom line wasn’t too much shorter.  Hence, by the time I got to the head of the lunch line, it was rather slim pickin’s.  Although I did manage to get a yummy turkey sandwich and fresh fruit that helped to squelch my hunger.  I was just hoping for some vegetables and since the lettuce shreds that were left looked a tad lack luster, I opted out.  But now that I have seen some of the other food bloggers’ pictures, I seemed to have missed a whole display of roasted veggies and salad greens.  Eh, that’s what I get for not going to the restroom when I first had to go and for being a Chatty Cathy .

We Are Not Martha - Sues, me and Chels

My Lunch: turkey with swiss & mustard on whole wheat bread w/ a side of fruit and caprese salad

Lunch mates

Meghan checking her phone...

Once lunch wrapped up, we had another very informative presentation from organic dairy farmer, Regina Beidler.  Regina, along with her husband and daughter (who was also at the Summit), are cooperative farmer owners at Organic Valley and the milk from their farm goes to Organic Valley’s New England Pastures for fluid milk or to Stonyfield Farm for their yogurt products.  Regina really opened my eyes to the importance of supporting local farmers and eating organic dairy products.  She was a great speaker and really did a spectacular job speaking to her audience.

Next up were the ladies from Body + Soul magazine.  They scared informed us about some of the potential dangers/toxins hidden in our beauty products and what are some alternative products we could use.  Wow!  I really need to do a better job of reading the labels on my beauty products – yikes!

Caitlin, from whom I won my golden ticket to the Summit, then gave us a presentation about Operation Beautiful.  She talked about how it got its start and how far it has grown.  Caitlin, along with Operation Beautiful, are both so inspirational!  To say the least,  I was moved!

To pump up get the audience and get us involved, the Big 6 then did some product giveaways.  Sadly, I was not a winner but I had a heck of a time cheering on those that did!  There were some great prizes!  For instance, a $300 gift certificate to Athleta.  Um, hello?  Healthy Chow needs new yoga clothes!

Then, we broke for juice (sans cookies).  Andrea, from POM Wonderful, set-up a giant spread of ice cold pomegranate juice and even posed for a few photos.

I’ve actually never tried POM before.  The tartness of the juice was similar to cranberry juice but with a slightly sweeter twist.  Andrea told me that most people she knew cooked with the juice versus just drinking it straight-up.  I can definitely see it working in a citrus-y salad dressing or with a nice piece of fish.  Lucky for me, Andrea gave me a few extra bottles and coupons to take home.  Thank you, Andrea!

To wrap up, the Big 6 each did a brief presentation on the type of fitness they prefer and how they got started with it.  Caitlin and Tina spoke about running and how while they have some injuries, they continue to work through those injuries and take care of their bodies.  Kath talked about how she squeezes in exercise whenever she can, such as when doing household chores like washing the floor and mowing the lawn.  Jenna talked about one of my favorite things in the world, yoga.  She talked about how great of a workout yoga can be and how important it is for the body and the mind.  I couldn’t stop nodding my head in agreement with Jenna.  I so badly wanted to jump out of my seat and tell the group that if they hadn’t tried yoga, they could come with me and I would be more than happy to show them the light .  Finally, Heather and Meghann talked about running and how they have worked up to competing in races.  They even brought out their running gear and demonstrated what they like to use and how sweaty these things can get .

To conclude the conference, we appropriately took a group photo.  We all squeezed into the back of the room and once again, Hangry Mark was our photographer.  Thank you, Mark!  I think if you squint your eyes or get a magnifying glass you can find me (I wore high heels (again) just so you all could see me!).

I promise I'm in there!

I don’t want to sound like a broken record (but I will) , but I want to say that I’m so happy that I was able to attend the Healthy Living Summit.  I had the chance to meet such extraordinary people and learn some fascinating things.  All these women (and men) share the same passion – to live a healthy and happy life filled with fitness, eating well, and passion.  Out of all the people I met this weekend, the one common link is that they all love life and want that life to be a healthy one.  While they aim to be healthy and fit, they know life has to have balance.  For that reason, there was never a hesitation to enjoy themselves – whether that meant having a cocktail, savoring a scoop of their favorite ice cream or simply getting up a bit earlier to take in a morning run.

Just watching the Big 6 speak about their favorite kind of exercise or their favorite thing to eat or how they first started blogging, you could honestly see the enthusiasm and drive exuding from their souls.  I truly felt empowered to be around all of these like minded individuals (bloggers and readers) – people like myself who want the best life and the best me possible and just want to share that with the world.

Contents of the bag...I refrained from eating anything so I could get a complete picture for you to see...that was really tough!

What makes you feel empowered?  Or, what’s the best free sample you’ve ever received?

Namasté,
Nicole

Do you know how they say you shouldn’t go grocery shopping while you’re hungry?  Well, I shouldn’t go grocery shopping while I’m hungry and while I’m on a full stomach.  I luuuuurrvvvee food!  If it looks good, smells good and and tickles my fancy, then it’s coming home with me (oh wait, that didn’t sound quite right…haha!).  Anyways, the produce aisle always seems to get the best of me.  I know fresh fruits and vegetables are great for me but I have to be realistic and understand that I while it’s BOGO right now for a pint of fresh blueberries, I can’t eat an entire shopping cart full of them.  I know freezing these lil’ gems of sapphire bliss can fix my overabundance issue, but you can’t beat the taste of a fresh blueberry.  That said, a few weeks ago I came up with this wacky little creation when Patrick was hungry for lunch.  He wanted a turkey sandwich that ‘wasn’t going to taste like a regular turkey sandwich’.  Funny, isn’t he?  So, this is what I made him.  The summer-sweet blueberries are a perfect match for the herb turkey and the yogurt adds the right amount of creaminess while the greens give it a cool crisp.

I present to you…The Cool Blue Turkey Sammie…

The Cool Blue Turkey Sammie

2 slices of whole wheat bread (I used Trader Joe’s)
3 slices of Applegate Farms Organic Herb Turkey Breast
1 slice of provolone cheese (I used Sargento Reduced Fat Deli Style Provolone – Swiss would be good, too)
small handful of baby spinach leaves
8 fresh blueberries, cut in half (think meatball sandwich – things that are round have a tendency to roll out)
2 heaping TBSP of nonfat yogurt (I used Trader Joe’s European Style Plain Nonfat)
1 TSP of dijon mustard
s&p to taste

Place your bread in the toaster (or toaster oven) and begin to toast.  Mix the the yogurt with the mustard in a small cup and set aside.  When your bread has met your desired level of toasty goodness, take out of toaster and start compiling your sandwich.  Layer 2 slices of turkey (add salt and pepper here if you wish) and spread some of the yogurt mixture over the turkey.  Then, add the halved blueberries (the key here is to make sure the blueberries get stuck into the yogurt mixture so they have better staying power in the sandwich and not on your plate or lap).  Layer the baby spinach next.  Then, add the last slice of turkey with some more of the yogurt mixture spooned on top (I had some yogurt mixture left over after the sandwich was made but I know some prefer a ‘wetter’ sammie).  Finally, top it with the cheese.  Cover with the last slice of toasted bread.  All done!  Enjoy!

Serves 1

Patrick loved this sandwich!  He said it reminded him of a post-Thanksgiving Day sandwich (think turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce) but only lighter and ’summery-er’.  Woot!

I like mixing around ingredients that you wouldn’t normally put together.  It’s fun to see what I end up with!  What’s the most inventive food combination you’ve ever come up with?

Namasté,
Nicole