Monday, September 21, 2009

Shopped Till I Dropped

I got so much great stuff at the local farmer’s market today! I walked away with a lot of gorgeous produce. I bought corn on the cob, alfalfa sprouts, green beans, asparagus, a large onion, gooseberries, cherries, peaches and pears. I also purchased some fresh tortellini and, to go with it, a very small tub of pesto sauce (which will also be used on the turkey wraps I am planning on making sometime in the near future). From the butcher’s booths, I eyed some lamb kabobs that looked tasty and a couple of Cornish hens that I thought would be fun to try and prepare, but I settled on baby shrimp and scallops. To round out the shopping trip I also picked up a couple of jars of locally made honey and was given a free mini loaf of bread since they had already shut down the till when I asked the vendor for one right at closing time. It was such a nice trip and I left with a ton of healthy, whole foods!

I was also given a gift today! My husband and I wandered into a bookstore and I went to see if they had ‘Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200’ because I know there is a recipe in there for piña colada cupcakes that I want to try (thanks, Ethereal Endeavor, for turning me onto this). Anyhow, I found the book, but went to put it back on the shelf after thumbing through it because I had already spent a lot at the farmer’s market, and my loving hubby told me he would pick it up for me. I mean, our money is our money – it’s not really his nor mine – but it was such a sweet gesture and I know it’s probably one or two less buckets of golf balls for him to swing at, so I was really touched. He did make me promise to make him the banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting though – he’s not really much of a pineapple and coconut man.

We also went to the regular grocery store to stock up on several items I needed for a few recipes I am planning on tackling over the next couple of days. It’s weird but I have done more cooking during this last month and a half than I have in probably the last five years. Maybe that’s not so strange actually; I guess when you look at the amount of whole foods I have been consuming versus all the pre-packaged and processed stuff that I used to eat it makes a lot of sense.

Great fun though it was, I am totally beat after this long day of shopping. I didn’t do as much exercise as I have been, which I am feeling a tiny bit guilty about, but I did well with the eating. I am especially proud of this feat today considering that I passed by hand-dipped chocolates and every type of pastry you can imagine. Mmmm… tonight I will dream of lemon creams, caramel almond clusters, and cherry topped cream puffs!

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 8 glasses of water throughout the day
- 1 1/2 nectarines
- 1 1/2 cups of chicken noodle soup
- 1 1/2 cups of lemon and garlic green beans
- 4 toothpicks dipped in different honeys (about 1/2 tsp. total) to taste test
- 1 bite of an onion ring dipped in tartar sauce
- 3 cups of Caesar salad with Parmesan cheese and croutons
- 1/2 cup of gooseberries
- 1 cup of cherries
- 1 cup of tortellini with pesto sauce
- 1 small slice of whole grain bread with margarine

EXERCISE:
- 50 minutes of walking completed in 2 outings (both 25 minutes long)
- 4 sets of 15 lunges for each leg

11 comments:

  1. You are doing great! All that great food sounds so yummy! Let us know what you think of the book. I keep looking a it but don't want to spend the money on another cookbook. The collection I have is already insane. LOL

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  2. I love love love the farmers market... sounds like the one in your town is better than the one in my town.

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  3. You are doing great all that fresh market food is making me hungry!! So nice of the hubby...good for you on the eating for the week..
    Love,
    Irene

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  4. I love the farmer's market too! Always such great produce, and a lot of times they have things I've never tried before.

    I've always wanted to try that cookbook! I just know you will like it!

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  5. YAY YOU! Farmers markets are so great. Good for the health and often good for the carbon footprint, local economy and all of that.

    Keep on keepin' on! Let us know how those Hungry Girl recipes work out...I've been curious about that book too (especially her Marble Cheesecake Brownies...DROOL)

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  6. I love the Farmer's Market!! And I collect recipe books too!! Sounds like you had a great day. :)

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  7. I love farmers' markets AND Hungry Girl. Some of her ideas are really great. I even got the husband to eat those tofu noodles she is so crazy about. He did not flinch. Ate them like a trooper.

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  8. I love the farmers market. The food and flowers are a site to see. Enjoy baking.

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  9. I meant to follow up my post about the recipe with a review but I'll just comment instead. Sadly, I didn't think they were great, but I think a couple things could improve them. I usually cook cupcakes just to the barest edge of doneness so that they are moist, but that just made these too moist. So I recommend you really make sure they are done. And then don't forget to refrigerate them once they're frosted because they get much more moist very quickly if you don't.

    Overall, they were definitely very pina colada-y in a nice way...but a little too sweet for my liking. I may try them again with a few modifications though, because I did like the pineapple and coconut. My favorite cupcake recipe from that book is the pumpkin spice one. Man, those are REALLY tasty. :-)

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  10. Farmer's markets are so great... and I had a blast going too! I'm not sure I will get to try any of the recipes today (although one can remain hopeful), but I'm sure by tomorrow night I will have something to report.

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