Archive - June, 2010

Food For Thought

June 29, 2010 in Good Food with 4 Comments

I adore food shopping if not simply for the fact of exploring the aisles and coming across various items which excite me and then I proceed to fancify my menu in the week ahead. I’m not a scheduled grocery shopper but do find myself on an outing more than once a week. Among my favorites are Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s which I do not frequent as much as I would like as they aren’t conveniently located near my apartment. Although, they are a short distance away from the office. I have a lovely heath food store just down the block from me called Heath Nuts which I pop into on a regular basis. There is also the little market Gourmet Garage one street over. I plan to visit the Union Square Farmers Market this summer on my way home from work to peruse the fresh produce. This past weekend while in Greenpoint, Brooklyn I discovered the best pierogies around town.

In my recent exploits through the markets, I have come across a few stand-out products in my mind worth a mention:

Carpe Diem Kombucha Classic – It is $1.99 per bottle which was why this first caught my eye. It’s refreshing and not as harsh as other kombucha I have tasted.

Fountain of Health Humm! Hummus Cocktail - This was on sale and why the brand caught my attention. I cannot recall the sale price but it was under $3.00. I chose the Roasted Red Peppers mix and it is excellent. I sampled it this evening with grape tomatoes.

Field Day Organic Mild Salsa

Rice Vegan Cheddar Flavor Slices - I am weary of alternate “cheese” products for my dairy replacement and hadn’t found one that I thought was up to par until now. These slices do the trick. I was making an avocado sandwich for lunch and I added fresh spinach, cucumber, and vegenaise on a 7 grain hero roll. It was tasty.

Follow Your Heart Vegenaise Dressing & Sandwich Spread – For those who prefer to eat dairy and egg free.

Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread

Briermere Farms Homemade Apple Butter: I visited this quaint farm stand a few weekends ago while out in Long Island with my parents. It made me yearn to live in the country. I have been using this spread in the morning on my toast and it makes me happy. This farm is also well known for their pies. We purchased a peach pie just out of the oven and were not disappointed.

And last but not least…

Ziemniaki ze Szpinakiem Original Pierogi – I opted for the Potato with Spinach. Delish! For an added touch, top with Russian mustard (mixed with vinegar) per a certain special russian mustard connoisseur.

Summer Lovin’

June 14, 2010 in Goals & Lists with 3 Comments

My favorite season is just around the corner. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of June 21st. The plan is to take full advantage of the activities I daydream of often. In addition to the impromptu fun moments that come about on a regular basis and to up the ante, I’ve created my very own Summer Fun 2010 wish list:

Happy Summer!

Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever

June 13, 2010 in Race Recaps with 0 Comments

I’ve had a bout of writer’s block lately if you will. I begin to write a post and then feel my heart isn’t in it so I erase whatever words I was able to conjure up. I proceed to stare at a blank screen tapping the keyboard thinking something will magically flow out of me at any given moment.  I instantly know when inspiration is present as the warm fuzzy feeling comes to the surface and I suddenly have plenty of thoughts I would like to share with the world. But there are those times I cannot seem to move my ideas to paper or to the computer and I remain paralyzed in thought.

I was running in a race yesterday in Central Park, the New York Mini 10K. I hadn’t had a good nights’ sleep in a few days with things on my mind and was not feeling up to speed but dragged myself out of bed and over to the race. I was meeting a friend so this certainly helped as an incentive. I did not fuel myself or hydrate properly so nothing was in my favor. But I smiled and took off at the starting line with thousands of other women standing beside me. I kept a steady pace not feeling at my optimum but continued on and over the hills of the park. I also realized that being in the midst of my triathlon training, the biking and swimming portions were currently my strongest and my running slightly dropped below par. I acknowledge the fact that I am a much slower runner than I was last year and I take responsibility for the fact that I haven’t been running the same routine. I need to get back into speed training and run with a group. This is key and makes all the difference in the world for me as it pushes me to run faster. Even so, I do these races and goals for fun so I will take it all in good stride.

Around mile 4 someone was holding a sign that read “Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever” and it sang loud and clear to me from a physical and mental aspect. There is something to be said for finishing what you start and I feel such an amazing sense of accomplishment in doing each and every race I set out to complete. I also began to look at this statement in other areas of my life that I feel I am figuring out as I go along. I put 100% effort into my job so that it may open doors for me in the near future. For other parts of my life,  I have to trust that things always work out in the end how they are supposed to and I must keep my head high and move forward making sure I’m having a ball along the way.

I’m not a fan of the “pain” part of this quote above but I will keep a big smile on my face knowing that deep down I always have a tremendous amount of pride even if some days it feels like it is hidden. It’s up to me to keep it alive.

I’m Hooked

June 1, 2010 in Good Food, New York City with 0 Comments

Last week I was introduced to a Vietnamese sandwich shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called Bánh Mì, http://www.yelp.com/biz/banh-mi-brooklyn-2. It’s a tiny take out space with a basic listing of sandwiches which cost about $5.00 each. I opted for the vegetarian and was not disappointed. The vegetables were deliciously fresh and arranged on an extremely crisp baguette-style (my favorite) roll. It hit the spot.

The next day I was thinking about one of these lovely concoctions and researched locations near my Soho office. During lunch I ventured over to Chinatown to visit Bánh Mì Saigon Bakery, http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/Bahn-Mi-Saigon. Again I decided on the vegetarian sandwich for $4.50 and it was another satisfyingly perfected roll and mix of veggies. My only complaint about this particular sandwich was too much tofu simply because I am not a huge fan of tofu. If I were to order again it would be vegetables only.