Psych Here I come!

Well yes I am officially a college student! I am so excited about my class!! My proff is awesome and very kind. I was worried cause I have a wedding to go to on June 12th, our finals are June 10th and Sean might have to leave before then cause he is in the wedding (the best man to be exact, it's his cousins wedding). So after class I introduced myself to my new proff (very Rory Gilmore of me) and told him of the possible dilemma. He was shockingly understanding and told me to have no fear I can just take it early if need be. So with that all assured and my first day out of the way I was flying!

I started my school day (I just love saying that) with a smaller than usual bowl of cereal. I am out of bananas shock I know and so I opted for a small orange and raisins and felt like going a bit light on the grains too. I had 1/2 cup twigs and flakes and 1/2 cup Kashi Sunshine and 1 cup skim.

After my lovely class with lecture included I was hungry hungry! I was able to come home before work so I whipped up a bowl of Fage 0% with an Apricot Cliff bar and also had a small apple:
For lunch I packed this veggiefilled meal; salad with Cuban black beans from TJ's, fire roasted salsa, 2 carrots, and pureed Butternut squash!

It was delish but didn't hold me long at work I was starved when I got home and a bit overwhelmed by the TO DO list so I poured a celebratory first day of school glass of Vino:

And quickly put together a meal of Soba noodles, kale, stir fried tofu and ate it with Seasoned Nori:

The most delish combo!! I will prob eat the left overs tomorrow night!

Well I am off to buy my text book holy geeze those things are expensive! And watch the tube and go to bed!

Good night ya'll!

C

Hello To Do list

Well another day another dollar I say! I am exhausted!!! Today I conquered my To Do list of cleaning, phone calls, emails, and bills! Not to mention work and a work out! Fewww! I want to start with a recap of last nights eats!

It was Sean and my 1 year anniversary (since we got back together, we broke up for a 6 month period but total it's been 4 years, I will not bore you with details of relationship drama. I'll just say this, no one cheated and no one moved we just had some figuring out to do and we are happy as clams now:) So we celebrated with going to Sushi! We tried a new place in our neighborhood; Beacon. It was a wonderful place! I love when an Asian fusion place serves up good sushi! We started with Edemame, of course! Sorry for some blurry pics the mood lighting doesn't help with my blog pictures:
The plates were so cute!

We shared the Spicy Tuna, no mayo thank goodness, and I had 2 pieces:

I had a Miso soup:

And the Chinese Broccoli with Tofu and Garlic:

I also had the Yellowtail roll with Scallions:

It was so refreshing! Sean had the "Fish and Chips" The fish was a Tempura batter with a side of Yam fries!!! I had one lil guy:

Moving on to bfast this morning I had Blueberry oats with a shot of cereal, a spoon of Fage 0%, a shot of raisins, a small banana and a shot of Bear Naked Granola:

For my mid morning snack I had half this bag of Cheddar Bunnies and Gram Bunnies and 11 Almonds:

I had the other half throughout the day. For lunchies I had half this Almond Butter and Jelly WW sandwich and the orange. I grilled the sandwich again and oh my lordy it was even better this time!!!

When I got home I wasn't too hungry but wanted to have a snack so I wouldn't make a poor choice for dinner. So I had this Blueberry Crisp Cliff bar:

And later this lil apple:

For dinner I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for so I heated up some TJ's Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup and had a 1/2 turkey sandwich and a small salad with beets and red onion. It was quite filling and I am happy it was so colorful!

For dessert I had a lil Marzipan but no pic cause the thought to take the pic happened after it entered my mouth! I am off to finish the laundry and watch BIG LOVE on Netflix with the boy!

Love and sweet dreams

C

Ok I need a NEW camera!

I am so deeply disappointed by my Casio Exilim "Crappio" is more like it! It was fine for my quick On Set pics or continuity pics on set, but this whole photographing my food thing has brought my standards to a whole new level! I am open to suggestions! So many of you lovely bloggers have wonderful looking pictures and I am officially jealous! I am not looking for anything too fancy or anything too expensive but just a GOOD camera that will take a clear picture and has a decent flash. I know my best pics are done in natural light with no flash, but I am often taking pictures at night, in my car, early morning or on the go....So I need a better camera to equipped myself with!

Well I guess I will show you what I mean; bfast pick:
Kashi WW Waffle with 1/2 tbsp of Almond butter, 1 small mashed REALLY over ripe banana, 2 shots of TJ's Twigs and Flakes, a spoon of Fage 0%, an orange, and some dried tropical fruit for fun :)

I thought the Waffle/ over ripe banana would be better, it was a bit soggy and too sweet but oh well.
I ate this bar at work around 10am, but took this pic at home before:

These Z bars, even though for kids, are very tasty and satisfying when I need a lil something but not a whole protein bar.

For lunch I packed a Sun Dried Tomato Jalapeno Tortilla with turkey, roast red pepper hummus and muenster (I have not been spelling it with an "e" so my appologise, my strong suit is obviously not my spelling:) This wrap was by FAR my fave so far! The salty cheese and tangy spicy tortilla went so well with the turkey and hummus!!!! Yummm! I need to buy more turkey now!

I also packed some baby carrots and sugar snap peas- I love these!

When I got off work I was in a hurry to run to the prop houses to snap a few pics for the Fashion Island add so I grabbed this Black Cherry Almond Cliff:

I made it home in the WORST traffic, but early enough to muster up the energy to make dinner. I made my BBQ Chicken moourl.com/bbqchick atop a mixed salad with Herb Spring mix, Butter Lettuce, Persian cucumber, red pepper, red cabbage, red onion, a dash of Goddess dressing ( yummm I haven't this stuff for YEARS and I have missed it, I cut it out due to the fat content, but now I figure a tad will not hurt me + the flavor it so jam packed you only need a tinsy bit).

This salad was just what the DR. ordered! I know I have not been posting any exercise lately....that's because I really haven't done any :( I try to squeeze in yoga, but my mind is a million places and my body is so tired! I will not let this stop me, and I plan to pick back up soon! I am on my feet all day at work and am hoping that the amount of calories I am burning will not allow me to GAIN any weight, but I sure know I am not LOSING any. I feel healthy and that is most important, but I would like to exercise because when I do I feel 10 times better! My will power is not keeping up right now and I need a bit of a push! The first step is getting my gym membership! So we will make that priority #1!

Good night everybody! I plan to have a few pieces of dried fruit for my dessert so I might show you the goods tomorrow, but to be honest it is just like the last few days dessert so I will probably spare you the lame pictures.

C

P.S. Monday is over and we are going on to Tuesday so if you guys are counting down the days til this weekend is here~ 4 more days baby!!

Sushi Time

I am back from my dinner and don't have any pics to show for it, first time hanging out with my friend in years so I strayed from taking a pic of my food. But it was very tasty! I had an Eel Roll with cucumber and sweet sauce, and Yellowtail sushi with lots of ginger and wasabi!!! It was a nice meal, not too filling but satisfied me so I feel good!

It was sooooo awesome to see this girl, it was like we had spent NO time apart. There was a lot of catching up to do and a lot of similar stories shared! I love connecting with people from my past, I feel it has been really hard for me to find decent girl friends as I get older, and this friendship feels real and right! Yeah! I told her about my blog and in her words "what do you do on a blog?" WOW there was a lot of explaining to do! I forget that not everyone blogs and it might seem odd to people who don't :) I guess I am a nerd, but it's cool cause so are all you guys! Just Kidding!

After my bfast and some laundry I did a 20 min yoga download for free! It was Gentle Hatha Yoga #1- I thought it was nice to listen to and easy to follow but WAY to easy. So my next download will be either intermediate or power or something much longer!!!! But it was still nice to stretch and warm up the body!
This afternoon I had some lil snacks- snack #1 chocolate
I know this pic is blurry!!!
Snack #2- 2 hours before I left for dinner I had this new flavor Cliff and a spoon of Fage 0%:

I love this flavor, I find Cliff bars can all kinda taste the same or be very close with the nuts and stuff, so I really like this fruit flavor! No nuts, just fruit and grains. The apricot flavor is there but subtle and not fake tasting which I love, a bit tart and a bit sweet (like me)!

I am now going to catch up on your blogs and try to not get into my pj's ( I was in them most of the day!) until Sean gets home from work! I hate it when he sees me in the morning in bed then when he gets home I'm in pj's! So I will try to stick out my cute outfit until he at least walks in the door!

Goodnight everybody! Love!

C

Calorie Burning Monday

This day has been very productive for me! I slept in a bit -8:30- but it felt so nice and I am not ashamed :) When I got out of bed I had a stretch and went straight to the kitchen to make a bit pot of oats! I made 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, dash of Cinnamon, 1 shot Craisins, 1 shot raisins, 1/2 handful of Quaker Oatmeal Squares and 1/2 shot sliced almonds:
I also had a cup-o-coffee not pictured. I showered, cleaned up bfast dishes and got dressed for work. I am having a hard time adjusting my lunch meal around my 11PM shift. I don't know whether to eat before I leave or at my 3PM break or what! So even though I was still quite satisfied from bfast I forced down a snack to hold me or possibly replace my lunch. I had a big red delicious some Mrs. May's and a Cliff bar:

At work I was glad I had a snack because I didn't end up taking my break until 4:30PM! I had a couple cups of Mogicha Tea and I made the Perfect Non-fat Vanilla Latte! My first officially "good foam" added to 2 shots Espresso and a shot of sugar free vanilla-yummmm! Sorry no pic, I can't even bust out my phone at work so a camera as of now if off limits.

I wore my HRM during my shift today to see how it compares with a day of sitting on my butt and working on set. This is the first test and here are the results:

Time: 5 hours

Calories: 900-whoop whoop!

I then walked to Albertson's to get ingredients for dinner. That burned 40 more calories! Can you believe 940 calories with no intended work out! I am curious to see what the totals are tomorrow where I will be wrapping the set I built on Saturday, and on Thursday where I will be in Traffic School-bummer I know. I think this is the ultimate experiment- variables included!

When I returned home I was pretty tired and needed some fuel for cooking so I snacked on this and read my new magazines. Eggplant Hummus with carrots and edemame:

So lately I have been craving an old time favorite of mine that I am surprised I haven't made sooner; Kale and Tofu with brown rice!!!!

Kale and Tofu Recipe

It all starts with this:

I have not tried this pre-cut and pre-washed package of kale before but it is a huge time saver and I love the no clean up!

Ingredients:

• 1 package Kale or 1-2 bunches chopped
• 1 package Tofu
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Hot Sesame Oil or not hot
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 4-6 cloves garlic minced

The brands I use:

This is how I cut my tofu- 12 pieces 1 inch thick. The thinner you slice the tofu the quicker they will brown and they absorb more flavor. Because I use med-firm tofu it falls apart a bit and you can mix it like a hash, but you can use firm tofu and the kale and tofu will stay separated. It is your choice.
Add oils to pan and saute garlic

Add tofu in one layer and add 1 tbsp of soy sauce

Brown Tofu on both sides over Med High heat Mix water, pepper and 2 remaining tbsp of soy sauce. Add whole package of kale to pan on top of tofu. Pour water mix on top and quickly cover pan. Steam fry for 3-5 min until kale stems are soft. I like my kale like I like my broccoli- aldante!

Remove lid and toss gentlyServe with brown rice!

Tonight I am trying a new product from Costco; pre-cooked brown rice! All you do is microwave it!

Here is my plate! I had 2 servings like this!!!! I could really eat the whole pot, but I will savor it and have some tomorrow too! I like to make a lot of this at once and heat it up or eat it cold!

Hope you enjoy my favorite meal! I am off to watch some tube and get a good night's rest- tomorrow I will be doing some serious manual labor!

C

Green Screen

Today I worked on (as I mentioned earlier in the week) a job for "Rescue Me" the TV promo. The day was long! I started my day off with a bowl of cereal, just like yesterdays, and a cup of coffee (since I was not going to make a free cup at the cafe). I ate bfast at 4:30AM, then left the house and went to a studio in Hollywood where we worked on sound stages.
When I arrived my boss gave me a belated Birthday gift:

It is an inside joke, and we giggled about it all day! In front of the pony is my second cup of coffee delivered via Starbucks. I also had a Cliff bar in Blueberry Crisp. Omg this flavor is so good! I first saw it in Tj's and then on fitnessista.com/. I like Cliff bars more and more everyday! This bar was harder than some and had little crispies in it with a very natural and not overpowering blueberry taste. I much prefer this blueberry bar to the Z Bar's blueberry flavor.

The mostly day consisted of painting lots of MDF wood Chroma Green (green screen green). It was tons of manual labor and I feel like I got a good workout from it! Here are some pics of the "buildings" and the stage we put together, built and painted:

Not that exciting but it was nice to get back on a set and do what I am trained to do!

Lunch was at 12pm and it was a real treat. Usually when shooting in a studio lunch can be hard to make healthy. But today we were within walking distance of Grub. An amazing award winning breakfast/lunch place that is part owned and ran by a Top Chef contestant from Season 2 Betty Fraser. "Ba-Da-Bing Betty!" .grub-la.com/index.html The food was great and the place is so cute! I had the Turkey-A-licious sammie with a side salad. It had Oven roasted Turkey Breast, French Brie, Fresh Basil, thick cut Tomatoes, Alfalfa Sprouts, refreshing cucumbers, creamy Dijon and house made zesty Pickled Onions on Cheddar Onion Kaiser. I substituted the bread to WW and the cheese to Cheddar and asked for no creamy Dijon. It was healthful, filling and fun. The menu is full if wise titles and witty descriptions. If you are in Los Angeles you should check it out! When you sit down to eat instead of bread they serve each table a bowl of mixed sugar breakfast cereals like CoCo Puffs and Luckycharms, fun huh? Here is the best pic I could get of my sandwich:

I got off work at 6:30PM and home at 7:20PM. I was officially exhausted and starved!!! I usually don't go that long without a snack, so I made a huge plate of leftover King Ranch Chicken with 1/4 cup of black beans for dinner:In honor of Saturday and pay off for a hard days work; I had 2 of these low cal beers:

Fun fact: 1 Amstel Light has 93 calories!
For dessert I had Yogi Ginger tea:

On the labels of Yogi tea bags they put instpirational words of wisdom. Tonight my tea bag read:Pretty good stuff huh? Along with my tea I had an assortment of dried fruit:

I am now watching "Jon and Kate plus 8", my secret obsession! (Well not anymore:) And later I plan to watch "Stardust". A fantasy adventure movie starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais. Awesome cast and perfect way to end this long day! Tomorrows plans: clean the house, yoga, grocery shop and relax! Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!

C