Unexpected Journey

Don't you just hate it when things don't go according to plan? Yesterday, I was supposed to work all day and then today a few friends and I were going to travel up to Chagrin Falls and spend the day walking around and exploring. Chagrin Falls is a cute little mill town with a ton of small shops and a farmers market on Saturdays. I was totally stoked to go - I cleaned my car and everything! - and when I got to work yesterday, I'm informed that my schedule had been changed. Now I had Friday off and work on Saturday. Bummer.

I was heartbroken to say the least. However, I decided to make the best of my day anyway and what better way to do that than a Trader Joe's/Whole Foods Market trip! So I busted out my trusty Magellan and routed out my journey.

First stop - Whole Foods Market. Yay for Whole Foods! I love how The Fitnessista calls it Whole Paycheck by the way. So true. (:

But so worth it. I've had a list handy for quite some time now full of things I wanted to pick up from here. I tried to stay true to it, though I mayyyy have strayed ever so slightly when I got to the aisle that had all the teas and drinks. My boyfriend guzzles brisk like he'll never find another - it makes me cringe every time. I, like almost every other health food junkie, am digusted by anything with an ingredient list including high fructose corn syrup.

Being the amazing girlfriend that I am (*sigh*), I raided Whole Foods for acceptable substitutes to solve this problem. I picked up a couple Honest Teas, the sweetened green and blackforest berry, Joe's Half and Half Raspberry Tea, and a Steaz Teaz Peach Tea and presented them all to my less-than-ecstatic boyfriend. I had the last laugh in the end though when he admitted he really liked the Joe's Tea. Take that Pepsi Co!

I just love when the power of pure overcomes the chemicals of commercialized foods.

Next stop - Trader Joe's House.

It always amazes me how small Trader Joe's is, yet how much stuff they can pack inside. I swear, if you blink, you miss half the store! I found my beloved mochi there though so I really can't complain. I was beyond happy, practically singing even as I headed to the register. Expect to see daily pictures of me making kissy faces to my ice cream from now till the box is sadly empty.

All in all, a pretty good day I'd say.

fresh eats.
Today I awoke with a craving for peanut butter and pancakes - so why not combine the two? That's right friends, I'm currently hard at work on a peanut butter pancake recipe!! The ones I made today were pretty good considering they were a first attempt, but the batter was a little too thick and there just wasn't enough peanut butter taste. Tomorrow I shall do better!

And you know I had to break open one of my Whole Foods buys for this:

I would like to thank Girl Meets Health for starting an UNhealthy obsession with this peanut butter for me. Hands down the BEST peanut butter I've ever had. Ever. I originally wanted the Dark Chocolate Dreams, but apparently everyone else did as well since it was completely sold out. Never fear though, White Chocolate Wonderful turned out to be pretty wonderful indeed.

After breakfast, I decided to bake the cookies that have been going around the blog world like wildfire - Dreena's Super Charge Me Cookies. I made just a few substitutions, whole wheat flour instead of spelt flour, wheat bran instead of flax meal and dried cranberries instead of raisins. I made a little rookie mistake by accidentally reading over the "in a separate bowl" part when adding the wet ingredients and combined them all together in one (oopsies), but even though they were a little crumbly, they were still delicious! I gobbled up two as soon as they came out!

For lunch, I sauteed some mixed veggies in balsamic vinaigrette at home and threw them in a wrap at work with a little goat cheese and an apple on the side to round it all out. I'm just so super creative like that.

So quick. So easy. So delicious. My three favorite things for a meal! Dinner was also these things, a blueberry walnut salad with another Whole Foods find - Spiced Pomegranate Dressing. Mmmmm!

Andddd okay, maybe another cookie or two - for dessert, naturally.

It's not me, it's my sweet tooth. I swear it.

By the way, check out my interview with Erin on her blog, The Healthy Apron! A stellar post if I do say so myself. (: