Friday, October 16, 2009

In The Soup

Brrrr…such a cold and dreary day!  I was in the mood for a warm and cozy breakfast, but I needed to be fasting for bloodwork , so I had to settle for yogurt in the car afterward.  I did blast the heat in the car to fulfill the “warm” part :)

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I had to ditch the gym again this morning.  I had to prepare for my lunch guests and I had no idea what I was serving!  I headed off to Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s and wandered around hoping for some inspiration.  My menu finally came together in my mind and along the way, I found this cool soap in Trader Joe’s that smelled amazing, so I had to get it…

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Random, I know! 

I made it home with my loot and got to work preparing lunch for my guests – The Grandparents- all 5 of them!  They had a special morning at little daughter’s school and I invited them to lunch afterward.  The (last minute) menu for The Grandparents Lunch …

Proscuitto, fresh mozzarella and arugula on French Demi bread spread with pesto…

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Same sandwich, but on whole wheat pane…

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Fruit salad…

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These awesome chips…

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and some Trader Joe’s Organic Creamy Tomato Soup which was the hit of lunch!

Getting ready…

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They all arrived and we got right down to eating.  I enjoyed listening to them talking while I dug into my lunch…

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and a few more handfuls of those addictive chips!

I did snack a little more this afternoon.  Nothing major to speak of, mainly bites, licks and tastes.  I knew it wasn’t  hunger.  It was definitely my nervousness about the race getting to me.  I made the mistake of looking at the race results from last year’s race and the last run time was 37 minutes.  Holy guacamole.  I haven’t run 3.1 miles in 37 minutes.  Ever.  My last treadmill run was 46 minutes!  UGH!  I know I shouldn’t care, but how embarassing to have everyone waiting for you at the finish line?!  Crawl under a rock…

Anywho…

Dinner was relaxed.  The husband and daughters had breakfast for dinner and I opted for more soup!  I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge, so I added some chicken broth to it, heated it all together and topped it with 1 oz. Cabot’s 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar, green onions and a slice of center cut bacon.  Viola!  Baked Potato Soup…

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I felt the need for green.  A small side salad with light ranch did the trick…

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I was about to break into some chocolate, but decided against it.  Instead, I went to my room, turned on the TV and watched the weather, willing it to stop raining for Saturday :(

ONE GOOD THING:  I feel so blessed that my daughters have both sets of grandparents and a great grandmom !

And now, for the winners of the free Silk Heart Health coupon…

Andrea@WellnessNotes

Kristen J

bostonred (Sue)

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice)

Please email me your addresses (trimthefatmarisa@gmail.com) and I’ll get your coupon right out to you!

Have a great day everyone!  I’ll see you later tonight for another post.  Please come back  - I may need some talking down off the ledge :-0

15 comments:

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice) said...

I love your creativity in the kitchen...specifically that soup you made w/ leftover potatoes. That makes me look at the ingredients in my cupboard a little differently already.

(Oh, and check me out! I'm a winner! Thanks, thanks, thanks!)

Allison said...

Your lunch sounds wonderful! Great idea to make a potato soup!

katecooks said...

you are going to be so crazy proud of yourself for running this race, it wont matter if you are first or last!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Those sandwiches look YUMMY! I love that tomato soup from TJ's! I always have a container of that in my pantry because its low points and great for a quick lunch.
Very creative to add chicken brother to the leftover mashed potatoes! I like that idea! Instant gourmet soup!
Your so cute being nervous for your race! :) Im sure you will do just fine! I hop the rain stays away for your big day! :)

m i c h e l l e said...

Your lunch spread looked so perfect! Very nice.

Also love your soup idea. You really have great "recipes".

When you are running the race, you get so motivated by the energy around you ... you will do great :-)

Anonymous said...

#1 Don't be so nervous-there will be runners of all kinds. Some super duper fast and some really, really slow.
#2 Just try and keep your own pace. If you get sucked into a faster paced crowd, it will become very noticeable! And not in a good way.
#3 Just stay calm and ENJOY yourself. This isn't the Olympics ;-)
Paula

Diane, Fit to the Finish said...

Don't worry about the race times. Every one is different and they won't pack up and go home until the last person crosses the finish line. If that's you that's okay. Think about how many people would give anything to be able to do a
5K at all!!

Heidi said...

Looks awesome. I'm going to have to try to make potato soup.

lk- healthy delicious said...

wow! that soup looks really easy and so good!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

You'll do great tomorrow! And don't forget, it's all about having a good time! :)

I'm so excited I'm a winner in your giveaway! I'll email you my address right now! :)

paulawannacracker said...

that potatoe/bacon soup looks great. I can't believe you work such magic with left over mashed potatoes.

You lunch/table/center piece look really nice. Love the placements. I never set my table and I'm thinkin I should. It adds so much to the meal.

Great post and I'm sure you'll do great with the race. It's about gettin in there and just doing it... who cares about the stats.

Take care
Paula

Unknown said...

What a great lunch!
I feel blessed as well that my girls have all their grandparents, and that they love them so much.
I hope all goes well for your run! Don't worry about your time, you'll do great I'm sure!

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

I'll take some of all of the above.

Clair said...

Don't worry about the run, I did a 5k in march last year and I was a heck of a lot heavier and not as fit as you and on the day I shaved 5 minutes off my time running on pure adrenaline!

You'll do great!

Anonymous said...

Great spread for your guest. You can pass them off as being catered.

Don't worry about the race too much. I think it is the experience that matters.

Congrats to all the winners.