Healthy Living Week 4

This week was a lot better for me. Though I did have one quite indulgent meal, I really was very well behaved for the rest of the week. I really watched my portion sizes and made sure that I knew exactly what I was putting in my body.

Friday night, my guy and I attempted to check out Tubby's outside of Whitewater. We pulled into the lot and already realized we were going to be waiting. We got inside and it was very crowded and we just decided to go somewhere else as we were starving. 

He suggested the Duck Inn and not being familiar with the area, I agreed. He used to be a bus boy back in the day, so I figured he knew what he was talking about. The place is a really cute old supper club style place with a very warm and inviting atmosphere. I'll do a full review next week, but we did enjoy ourselves.

Relish trays scream supper club in Wisconsin! Veggies with house made buttermilk ranch and two types of cold press cheeses for the cracker and breadstick basket. I sampled but didn't indulge.

Cashew Crusted Duck and T-Bone steak - Both were DEEEEE-lisious. Highly recommend ordering either. Full review to come. I only ate one piece of duck and that was plenty after filling up on the salad.

Saturday was Grill Day for me - I was so excited to get the grill and so thankful for my handy guy to put it together with a little help from the directions interpreter. Seriously Brinkman, I understand you provided multiple languages, but one of them written clearly would have sufficed.

Side note: Make sure the grill is going to fit in the vehicle before purchase. We had to take it out of the box to fit it in his Passat, which I would call an average size car. How to people buy larger things without owning a truck?

Anyways, She (I will have to name my grill soon -suggestions?) lit up just fine and grilled up some awesome bacon wrapped fillets, cheddar brats and pineapple. See the pineapple chunk under the grate - first fail by the operator of the tongs (yep that was me!)

Grilled veggies also accompanied the meal and I tried to fill up on those. They were spectacular. I am so excited to make many more meals on the grill.

Monday, I tried to copycat the Pairdd  meal. The salad turned out fantastic and my guy liked it too - he was skeptical at first but I got him to eat more than I thought he would. The salmon I made on the grill and I overcooked it just a little bit. It was still really tasty, but I think the Pairdd salmon was of higher quality and I will take that into account the next time I cook on the grill.

Do you like my new plate to display food on? That is compliments of my mother and my trip to IKEA on Sunday after my cousin's bridal shower. I think it makes my food stand out much better than my burgundy plates.

And now I'm back on my flat bread kick. This was an asparagus, onion, kale, spinach, pub cheese and mozzarella flat bread. I was trying really hard to get the flavor from the duck confit flat bread at Bernie's. This was my closest attempt yet, but still not quite there. And I didn't get the middle of the crust to crisp, even on "holy aluminum foil" Regardless, the flavors worked really well and I like the combo of kale and spinach a lot.

Yesterday I checked out my neighborhood and bit and found this nice trail to walk to get to Pick N Save.

When I got home, I was starving and realized a flat bread was again in my future after going down the frozen pizza aisle at the store and seeing some yummy DiGiorno crispy thin crust pesto pizzas. I had some pesto in my fridge, so I put a thin, very thin layer of pesto on the crust. Then I loaded it up with tomatoes, onion, spinach, mushrooms, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. I put the flat bread right on the rack this time and guess what....success! A deliciously crispy, crunchy flatbread in just 7 minutes!

So now that I have found the walking path and have found my love for veggies again (I haven't had meat in two days and I don't miss it!) I'm thinking week 5 is going to show some great progress. I just have to not eat the whole flatbread (whoops!). Probably would help if I only cook half the crust at a time.

So cheers to a new month being here already and warmer weather is coming, it just has to right? Let's keep up the good work together and Happy Eating!

Pairdd - A Gluten Free Option

I was contacted by Pairdd  a few weeks ago and asked if I was interested in trying out one of their Gluten Free meal delivery options. I was very humbled that someone found my blog and was very excited for this opportunity!

I knew nothing of Pairdd, so I Googled them and found out they are quite awesome. Pairdd is a Milwaukee-based meal delivery service that has gluten free options for you to make at home. Everything is pre-portioned out for you and ready to eat in less than 45 minutes from unpacking to plate.

The Pairdd box is delivered to your doorstep on a Tuesday and as long as you get it in the fridge within hours of delivery, you are fine. The box has two very solid ice packs inside of an insulated bubble wrap bag, keeping the goodies nice and chilled. I received Rosemary Salmon with a Kale/Quinoa side salad.

I received a large recipe card to use while making the meal and a smaller one to keep handy for future reference. One suggestion to Pairdd regarding the packaging is to make sure the enlarged image has better clarity. The image looked great on the small card.

All of the food was labeled nicely with green stickers - great branding and no chance for a mix up.

I invited my friend Kacey to enjoy dinner with me. He has Celiac Disease. I thought it was be great for him to see other meal options that are out there.

This meal came together with ease - my only issue was that my oven took a really long time to heat up to the 500 degrees for broiling the salmon.  This is my issue to deal with - definitely thinking a new stove is in order for Fall :)

Anyways, while the salmon was in the oven with the rosemary sprig on top, I followed the rest of the directions and put the salad together very easily. It was nearly efffortless - boil quinoa, chop kale, add together with chickpeas and Craisins- voila! Who would have thought that combo would taste so amazing together?!?!

I did cook the salmon just a little longer than suggested because I wanted to be certain it was the correct temperature (Yes. I'm still getting used to my oven.)

Kacey arrived just as I was lemon-ing the salmon and getting ready to plate it up. He thought the salad was spectacular and just wished there was more of the whole meal. (Side note on Kacey - he eats multiple servings of everything!) He made sure I finished all my salmon and salad and said that he would have never thought of making that salad. It was an excellent combination of flavors. He is now aware of more options for himself. And I have a option  of getting him a gift card to Pairdd for his next birthday. Thank you for the recipe and gift idea Pairdd!

The portion was the perfect size for me and I am so glad I was given the chance to try it. The salmon had great flavor and was nice and flaky. The salad was really a good combo of savory and sweet.



Pairdd has different weekly options on their menu to give their subscribers many choices. An order placed by noon on Sunday, will arrive on Tuesday. Let Pairdd do all the shopping and prep work so you can come home and spend just a few additional minutes finishing the dish.

At first, I did think the price was a little high, but then after careful consideration...If it saves me time, and I know I'm getting a nutritious and tasty meal, its price is right! And aside from great taste and healthy food combinations, I also want to consier that shipping is included (so I don't have to shop), the prep is done by Pairdd (so I have more time to enjoy pre-dinner conversations) and I'm heating at home in my new place (so there's no need to tip). Plus, this is a guaranteed Gluten-Free option. For some people with severe allergies, going out to eat or splurging on a meal, isn't always an option because their choices are limited or they may not want to risk the chance of an allergic reaction due to a mix-up in the kitchen. Pairdd seems to have thought of everything.

And about the shipping process, I wondered if Pairdd had any sort of collection of recycling of the ice packs, bags and containers. they are just too nice to toss. Well, low and behold, Pairdd has a program for that too -- yay for a smaller carbon footprint!

So I suggest you all try Pairdd for a quick, easy and healthy meal delivered to your doorstep.

Pairdd is even more amazing because they are offering my readers 30% off anyone's first online a la carte order until the end of April using this code FOODFUN.

Healthy Living Week 2

15 days  down, 31 to go!  A third of the way there......

Before I get into the details - I want to shoe this picture of the amazing Pairdd meal that I made last Thursday. Details on what Pairdd is and how the fabulous the meal was will come up later this week. 

Salmon w/ quinoa, kale, chickpea and craisin salad -- Pairdd

Week 2 was much harder than Week 1. I knew it was going to be more of a struggle, but I really didn't think it would be this hard. I think my body is finally realizing that I am depriving it of jelly beans, Starbursts, diet soda and other processed treats. And it's rebelling. I really have no want to eat the overly processed junk again because I know I will feel miserable after. It just tastes so good. My brain is craving it, not my body.

So it's a body over mind challenge for this week. I just have to treat food like fuel, which doesn't mean I'm going to eat cardboard, but does mean that I have to train myself that I don't need those extra snacks and treats.

I also had a setback with my back this past week. I went to the Dr. on Friday and was told that it's not a pinched nerve or anything with my spine but I did something to the soft tissue and need to take it really easy. No running, no back related workouts. So since Friday, I have been trying eat extremely well (two dates don't really help that cause) and do any workout I can do that doesn't hurt the back.

Situps are out as it's the bending action that really hurts it. So I have been working on toning my arms. That's about all I can do this week. I really hope the pain goes away and I can get back into it soon. I think I was using poor form and that's why my back got hurt. I plan to watch form videos on YouTube to make sure I am doing the workout right.

Not to mention, I tend to overdo things. When I jump into working out, I go all in and end up with very sore muscles for a week or so. It's a great feeling that makes me feel progress that I can't yet see.

So I have found that iced tea and Jamaican Lemonade are getting me through the afternoons at work.

Cafe de Arts

Salads are becoming my friend, like this Chicken Ceasar salad from Cafe de Arts. I used to eat the entire thing, but now I portion it out for myself and eat only half of it.

I am making wiser decisions when I am out with friends too. I might want the bacon cheeseburger and fries, but I can't have that if I want to lose the weight and be healthier.

So if I want to "indulge," I still choose something better for me and then I don't eat it all. I will take some home and let my friends try it - like these Reuben Egg Rolls from Bullwinkles - delicious but I didn't eat them all.

So here's to Week 3 and getting back into the swing of it and not letting my mind take over!