Clean Eating Challenge: Days 6, 7 & 8

Into the weekend...

Day 6

Breakfast: Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Snack: Cucumber & Hard Boiled Egg

Lunch: Carrot Ribbon Salad with Chickpeas, Fig, & Pistachios

Dinner: Collard wrapped Turkey Burger

Snack: Coconut & Pistachio stuffed Date

I had high hopes for my morning smoothie. Everything that went into it I like on its own. Imagine my disappointment when I took my first sip and impulsively gagged! On the front end it is all fruity and great, but then the almond butter hits you as an after taste and it is disgusting. I had a co-worker try some to make sure that I wasn’t just being dramatic. She concurred, repulsive. After letting my thermos sit on my desk for about thirty minutes I accepted the fact that there was no way I was going to get that smoothie down without terrible consequences, so to the sink it went. Boooo.  

I tried to hold off on eating lunch for as long as possible, but the lack of dessert the night before and breakfast in the AM caused the hunger pangs to hit sooner. I altered the dressing to exclude apple cider vinegar and include lime juice. This was an interesting “salad”. I got a lot of funny looks at work while crunching a mound of carrot shavings! It wasn’t horrible but it is not going into my repertoire of recipes either.

My cucumber was kind of bitter: maybe it was the skin? I did not finish eating the whole thing. A hard boiled egg isn’t terribly exciting, but I put a pinch of pepper on top and it wasn’t so bad. My theory is that my taste buds are translating everything as bitter because they are being denied sweet ;)

Of course I would have loved an actual bread bun, but that turkey burger was awesome!! I inhaled it (which goes against one of the things I am trying to focus on, eating slower). Melty cheese, creamy avocado, juicy tomato. Yes! I’ll make this again, but I am going to have to think about the bun situation.

I never got around to eating my dates stuffed with pistachio and coconut though I made them.

Thoughts: The day started off on a rocky note with breakfast being a bust, lunch being so-so and the mid-day snack being less than impressive, but luckily dinner was a major winner!

Day 7

Breakfast: Coconut, Pineapple & Avocado Smoothie

Snack: Apple & Almond Butter

Lunch: Soft Boiled Egg with Sweet Potato Soldiers, Roasted Tomatoes & Kale Salad

Dinner: Shrimp & Snow Pea Stir-Fry with Cauliflower "Rice"
Snack: Blackberries & Pistachios

Remember how I said I was feeling kind of tired this week? Yeah, I slept for 12 hours and woke up well after an respectable breakfast time. That being said, I skipped the smoothie and the first snack. I began my day with lunch but I fixed it a bit different than instructed. I appreciate the creator's effort to make eggs differently throughout the challenge (hard boiled, soft boiled, in a frittata, fried, and baked), but I am a scrambled egg/omelet kind of gal. I also do not prefer hot tomatoes, so I sliced them up and ate them raw with pepper along with the roasted sweet potatoes and a kale, Parmesan, egg scramble.

Because lunch was so late, it pushed dinner into late evening. I don't cook a lot of meat at home, mainly because I am not confident in my abilities, but this shrimp dish was very easy and very delicious! I would make this again, but perhaps swapping out the snow peas for asparagus though. Garlic, ginger, shallots, yummy!

No time or desire for the evening snack, though I like blackberries & pistachios. Just not enough time in the day to eat everything when you sleep a good chunk of it away!

Thoughts: I know that I did not eat everything on the menu today, but the parts that I did eat were good. I am now leery of smoothies the one I was supposed to eat this morning sounded okay. 

One week down. One to go. I have not really missed gluten in its various forms. I know some folks are all about the bread in life, and I love a good wheat fest, but it really hasn't been that big of a deal for me. Now chocolate/sweet treats of the sort on the other hand: that I have noticeably missed.

Day 8

Breakfast: Baked Eggs in Garlicy Collard Greens & Sweet Potatoes

Snack: Blueberries & Pistachios

Lunch: White Bean, Cucumber & Tomato Herb Salad

Dinner: Roast Pork Loin & Butternut Squash with Grapefruit & Arugula Salad

Snack: CHOCOLATE!!!

Being the weekend and all I did not get up too terribly early this morning, but I made the breakfast any way. Well, I made my version. As noted above, I don't care for all of these fancy ways of cooking eggs. Just mixed them up with a spatula and cook them until they aren't running. Done. I did not care for the collard greens too much, I would have preferred spinach. 

Later in the afternoon I mixed blackberries and blueberries with pistachios for a snack.

While lunch sounded really refreshing and light, I did not make it. I will keep that recipe tucked away for future use. Dinner came together well. I've never tried butternut squash before but it was easy to prepare and has a very mild taste. Roasting vegetables has to the easiest way to prepare them! I gave grapefruit another try and with removing all of the bitter pith it was much more palatable.

After I finish typing up this post I am going to savor my chocolate snack!!! How many days has it been? Four I think. That is definitely a record for me. 

Thoughts: Due to my sleeping habits I seem to not require as much food on the weekends. I have skipped a few meals recently but have not felt hungry or deprived. 

Let's see how the rest of the week goes...

Clean Eating Challenge: Days 3, 4, & 5

The challenge continues...

Day 3
Breakfast: Broccoli & Scallion Frittata
Snack: Apple & Almonds
Lunch: Roasted Vegetables with Shredded Chicken, Parsley & Lemon
Dinner: Pan-Roasted Salmon with Garlic, Swiss Chard & Cauliflower “Rice”
Snack: Almond Milk Hot Chocolate

These silly people thought I would be getting up early enough to make a frittata before going to work! Hahaha! Not happening. I whipped up this colorful breakfast the night before, making my bed to work time frame as small as possible! Luckily I am a fan of broccoli; this was delicious!

Lunch was a tad heavy on the onions. The roasted red onions were soft and sweet, but the raw scallions had quite a bite to them. Sympathies to anyone who needed to talk to me the rest of the afternoon; my breath was fierce! This is my first experience with fennel. It definitely has that licorice taste people talk about. I would give it another go but probably if it was cut into smaller pieces and incorporated with other ingredients more. This lunch was more of pieces of food together in a bowl that you eat separately. The chicken and asparagus were my favorite parts. I picked at this bowl over the course of a few hours. No one should eat that much potent flavored foods in a rush!

Probably because I did not eat my entire lunch--I just couldn’t chomp on another onion--I was hungry by mid-afternoon. I nibbled on my almonds and watched the clock tick by. I sliced my apple and ate it. The clock continued to slowly move forward, my stomach growled. I ate more onions. Bleh.

Salmon! I LOVE Salmon! I was very excited about dinner and it did not disappoint. Garlic, salmon, cauliflower rice, swiss chard. Delicious! I did not eat all of the “rice” and greens but tucked it away for later in case hunger strikes.

Honest moment: I cheated. I did not make the hot chocolate. I don’t like liquid chocolate in the colder months much less summer time. I opted out of the almond milk altogether and savored the chocolate by itself instead :)

Thoughts: Breakfast was great. Lunch was gross. Snack was fine. Dinner was awesome. There was less kitchen time in the evening which was nice. 

Day 4
Breakfast: Chocolate, Spinach, Banana & Almond Milk Smoothie
Snack: Cucumber & Hummus
Lunch: Broccoli & Scallion Frittata with Grapefruit
Dinner: Salsa Verde Chicken with Roasted Leeks, Radishes & Carrots
Snack: Mango Sorbet with shredded Coconut

I made my smoothie the night before because the thought of that loud noise first thing in the morning was not appealing. For my first ever smoothie, it was not awful. Tolerable for sure. The banana flavor came through a lot and then the almond butter. I would make a smoothie again but maybe toss some berries in for sweetness? For fun I used my thermos!

The re-heated frittata for lunch was yummy but I knew ahead of time that it wouldn’t be enough. After googling “how to make grapefruit less bitter” I took the world wide web’s advice and sprinkled a teeny tiny bit of salt on top. It helped a little I guess but I will not be buying anymore of that devil fruit. I zapped my leftovers from dinner last night. Every time I eat the cauliflower “rice” I fall more in love with it!

Cucumber and hummus was fine. Nothing exciting there. The afternoon sugar/chocolate cravings are strong. My will has not broken yet, but it has been tested.

Fixing dinner was easy enough. I already roast vegetables frequently, including carrots and radishes, however, the leeks were a new addition to my plate. I feel like a little kid saying this, but buying carrots that weren't all the traditional orange was exciting and made my place even more colorful! Finally finished up the chicken from Sunday. I have plans for making something like that again in the future, it was just so easy!

It wouldn’t be an evening in the kitchen for me if improvising wasn’t required. I failed to follow the instructions earlier in the week with regards to freezing the mango and banana for the sorbet. I mean, I froze them, but not peeled. It is next to impossible to peel a rock solid mango. Lesson learned. Luckily I happened to have a bag of frozen organic mango, banana and strawberries on hand!!! So I tossed those in the food processor and out came a smooth, creamy frozen fruity treat! If you love tropical flavor sorbets, then this is the route to go for a low calorie, no sugar added option. I ate it, but I wanted chocolate.

Thoughts: Mid-afternoon chocolate cravings are going to be the death of me. I am holding strong, but I’m getting feisty. 

Day 5
Breakfast: Chia Pudding with Blackberries, Coconut Pistachios
Snack: Pear & Almond Butter
Lunch: Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Spinach, Parmesan & a Fried Egg
Snack: Banana, Coconut, Chocolate Popsicle

I could get behind this chia pudding thing but I would really like a pinch of sugar or dollop of honey to sweeten it up a bit. 

Lunch time couldn’t get here soon enough. I have felt super hungry the past two days. The lime/olive oil dressing wasn’t too bad so I tossed everything together and chomped away. My chickpeas weren’t very crispy anymore.

Almond butter with a sliced pear was okay. I would have liked a crispier pear--made me crave an Asian pear like the ones from the farm in Natural Bridge back home! I have concluded that almond butter tastes like a knockoff version of peanut butter. It is trying to be the goodness of pulverised peanuts but alas, it is only smooshed almonds. It is much more liquidier than peanut butter too. My taste bud jury is still out on this one.

I could tell from the recipe that dinner would come together quickly so I did some prep for the next day before firing up the stove. It wouldn’t be a day in this challenge if I didn’t modify something to suite my tastes better. I scrambled the egg because I don’t like the consistency of running egg yolk. Whatever.

Post dinner I was fairly tired so I watched an episode of Mildred Pierce and called it a night without eating my popsicle dessert. I’ll hold onto it in case of emergency over the next few days.

Thoughts: My meatless day went alright. Continuing to try things I have not made or eaten before. Learning a bit more about my preferences, and a lot more about cooking portions. For instance, because of all of the predetermined measurements in the recipes, I have noticed that I don’t need to use as much oil as I used to when cooking. I have always eyeballed that sort of thing, but now I have a better grasp of what I should use.

Onward march...

Love Is Love

I am so happy to learn that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in all 50 states!

Love wins :)

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 1 & 2

A few weeks back I stumbled across an article on Buzzfeed about “clean eating”. A nutritionist formulated a two week long food plan that included no gluten, few carbs, and a lot of fresh produce intended as a detox of sorts. I read the article, skimmed the plan, and emailed the link to myself for later consideration. Since doing so it had nagged at the back of my mind. Each Saturday, the intended “start date” of the plan, the thought would cross my mind: “today is the day I go to the grocery store with this handy, all-inclusive list, and purchase large amounts of lovely food.” But, as you may know, I am a procrastinator extraordinaire. Excuse after excuse, I never quite made it out the front door with list in hand until at last, on a hot Sunday afternoon a tinge of motivation hit me and I ran with it! I ran all the way to Whole Foods (not literally, it is way too hot for that kind of physical exertion) where I filled my basket with pounds and pounds of fruits and greens. $225 and seven bags later, the back of my SUV was packed up and I was ready to get rolling!

Technically the shopping and prepping was supposed to be done on a Saturday but I’m a rule breaker and I do what I want. Follow along as I attempt to keep myself on the “clean” bandwagon while working in the middle of an active bakery/chocolate shop. *Cringe*

The Sunday menu included the following:

Day 1
Breakfast: Banana Coconut Green Smoothie
Snack: broiled Grapefruit with Honey & Coconut
Lunch: roasted Fennel, Asparagus & Red Onion Salad with Parmesan and Hardboiled Egg
Dinner: Salsa Verde Chicken with Cauliflower “Rice” and Green Beans
Snack: Dark Chocolate

I did not make the smoothie and did not eat the lunch; mainly because it was early evening when I was able to begin prepping things. The broiled grapefruit was not my favorite; my palate is not a fan of bitter things. When describing this snack to Sara I said “you know when you have thrown up all the food in your stomach and then that yellow bile stuff comes up? Yeah, it tasted like that.” That was a tough one to swallow, literally. 

As I roasted the vegetables I sampled a bite of each to make sure they were tasty, otherwise I put them away when they had cooled off. The Salsa Verde Chicken, made in a crock pot, was the easiest thing ever! Plop your raw chicken breasts in the cooker along with a cup of store-bought salsa, put the lid on, turn the heat on high and walk away. Three hours later, voila! To my pleasant surprise, I rather enjoyed the cauliflower “rice”. I would make that again.

I had a moment of childhood deja vu when snapping the green beans before cooking them. Many a summer evening was spent on the back porch snapping green beans freshly picked from our garden. I used to sulk when asked to help with this chore, but now, in my older and wiser years, I can see how the simple task of removing the ends from beans can be comforting and almost therapeutic after a long day of pulling them from the ground. 

I finished out my first day when a little less chocolate than allotted, but boy oh boy did I savor it :)

Thoughts: Not so bad. The food I ate, excluding the grapefruit, was quite flavorful. I am exhausted from all of the kitchen work, but I think that I have things in order for the next few days!

Day 2
Breakfast: Chia Pudding with Strawberries, Fig & Almonds
Snack: Carrots and Hummus
Lunch: Nicoise Salad
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey, Tomatoes & Swiss Chard
Snack: Banana, Coconut, Chocolate Popsicle

“Pudding” is a loose term. This concoction sat in my fridge for 12 hours, I brought it to work, sliced the strawberries and almonds, tossed them on top and dug in. It was not terrible. I would have preferred a slightly thicker texture, but it kept me full for a good four hours, so there’s that.

The Nicoise Salad left a little to be desired. I made the dressing it called for: lemon juice, dijon mustard and olive oil, but the smell was absolutely repulsive. Disclaimer: I am not a fan of mustard. So I ate the weird mixture of items sans dressing. Individually I enjoy nearly everything in the salad: tomatoes, green beans, tuna, mixed greens. The hardboiled egg was not terrible but I prefer my eggs scrambled. Kalamata olives also fall into the pile of foods I do not like. All in all it was a LOT of food that I picked at for about three hours. Honest moment: I wanted chocolate after eating all of this healthy stuff despite feeling very full. That is going to be a hard habit to break.

Carrots and hummus are not an unusual snack for me to eat. I mixed it up a bit by purchasing a variety of colorful carrots: orange, purple, and yellow, as well as garlic hummus. Yum!

My take away from dinner: spaghetti squash is super hard to cut into! It is essentially an oblong yellow pumpkin, so imagine trying to slice a pumpkin into evenly cut rings to roast. It wasn’t easy, but I prevailed and continued cooking the rest of the meal. I messed up, but did not realize until later in the evening: I used twice the amount of ground turkey that I was supposed to. When I plated it all up I thought it seemed like a very large amount of food. I was not able to eat half of the spaghetti squash as directed, and did not finish the tomato, turkey, swiss chard mix either. I’ll need to swing by the store and acquire more ground turkey before Friday. I put the leftovers away in the fridge incase something falls through with another meal this week.

While dinner was cooking I whipped up a batch of banana, coconut, chocolate popsicles: super easy process with a blender. When I ate the sweet treat later that evening I was not disappointed, but would honestly have preferred this without chocolate. Perhaps some pineapple? The banana and coconut make it a tropical dessert.

Thoughts: Again, not so bad. I never felt hungry throughout the day, but my natural inclination to consume chocolate hit hard after lunch.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Shaya: Hummus Heaven

Kenneth, Sara and I ate a fabulous dinner at Shaya this past weekend. Named for its founding chef, Alon Shaya, the new Israeli restaurant on Magazine Street did not disappoint. We opted for the sharing/communal dining experience, ordering a bit of this and a bit of that. Twas a very wise decision.

The wood-fired pita bread was the best damn pita I have ever eaten. Paired with the smoothest hummus around, it was what can only be described as food heaven.

Our spread included the following:

Israeli Salad: cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and za'atar
Labneh: Progress Farm yogurt, Anaheim peppers and radish
Tabouleh: parsley and bulgar wheat salad, red onion, toasted almond and preserved lemon
Lutenitsa: Bulgarian puree of roasted pepper, eggplant, garlic and tomato
Tzatziki: field peas and sea beans
Tahini Hummus: extra virgin olive oil, Aleppo pepper
Lamb Ragu Hummus: pine nuts and spring peas
Soft Cooked Egg Hummus: red onion, pickles and harissa
Short Rib Tagine: fennel, star anise and couscous

I will most certainly be making my way back to Shaya sooner rather than later!

It Is Still June, Right?

I randomly found myself in a Hobby Lobby the other day after work (hoping a little retail therapy would alleviate some stress). This being only my second visit ever to the craft Mecca, I was not entering the premise with any particular plan. I soon discovered that HL has nearly anything and everything you could ever want or need to decorate a home; it is unreal. 

As I wandered up and down the isles, talking myself out of buying every other thing I laid my eyes on, I turned a corner and had to do a double take. I'm talking mid-June here and there, in front of me was a wall of pumpkins and fall decor. I continued to be confounded by the seasonal items already available for purchase. I literally exclaimed "oh dear God!" when I saw the Christmas decorations. I'm sure that is somehow sacrilegious due to the holiday theme itself as well as the widely known Christian beliefs of the company's founder. Still, come on! I love fall and Christmas is easily my favorite holiday, but when I  break a sweat walking from my car to the entrance of the building, it is too hot and too early to be seeing this stuff!

Not okay.

Okay.

Not okay.

Okay.

Definitely NOT okay.

I'm all for planning ahead, but lets not rush the seasons that much, eh? Christmas is over 6 months away!

Jurassic World

This one time I went to the theater with Sara, Curtis, Jackie and others and we sat squished beside hundreds of strangers in a large dark room as we watched the premier showing of Jurassic World on the big screen! We did not splurge for the 3D or the IMAX experience, though I am sure those are awesome, just regular ol' normal viewing. Some fellow patrons were dressed in Jurassic Park themed outfits, and dinosaur costumes. 

The movie was loud, it was scary, it was funny, it was thrilling. Bryce Dallas Howard's terrible acting was distracting, but Chris Pratt stole the show in all of his scenes. They really upped their game with the variety of species depicted. You had long necks, flying things, triceratops, swimming kinds, raptors, T-rex, and the new kid on the block: Indominus Rex. Some were friendly while others were only out for blood. 

In preparation for the release of JW I re-watched the original Jurassic Park. It has been a good decade or more since I had watched it in its entirety. Oh Jeff Goldblum, you can drip water on my hand any day! It really is amazing the visual effects they were able to pull off in 1993. 

Red Beans & Rice Pizza

I joined Sara, Curtis and Jackie last Monday for dinner at Mid City Pizza. Their Monday special is a vegan Red Beans & Rice pie topped with green peppers, red onion, and roasted garlic. While it was a tasty creation, I preferred the margherita. I think, at least for me, that cheese is a necessary part of pizza. 

Katie's Chocolate Club: June

I am a chocoholic. It is a vice that I have no intention of ever abandoning. With that in mind I have decided to create my own "chocolate club" of sorts. Instead of ordering a club or subscription from just one company, I have looked up various chocolatiers across the country and plan to order from different places each month. (Sucre offers a Macaron Club and a Chocolate Club that come in quarterly, bi-monthly, and monthly options. I have seen this offered other places as well, but I want variety!) Kind of like a "treat yo self" thing that I can look forward to every few weeks!

My first sampling was ordered from French Broad Chocolates located in Asheville, NC. The Caramel Collection and Bourbon & Beer Collection arrived nestled between gel packs (that had lost all signs of frozeness: southern heat is such a scorcher) packed in a biodegradable insulating material. Due to the heat exposure during the transit from NC to LA a lot of the salt or sugar garnishes had melted and a touch of perspiration was present on some of the truffle: this eventually dried up as they sat at room temperature. The chocolates themselves had thankfully not melted. Side note: I had these delivered to me at work to avoid them sitting outside at my house all day; had they been on my front stoop during the afternoon hours I would have had a mess on my hands!

The Salted Caramel Collection included:

Salted Honey Caramel: local wildflower honey, organic cream & butter, with grey sea salt, covered in dark chocolate and sea salt.

Cashew Honey Caramel: our honey caramel with toasted organic cashews, coated in milk chocolate.

Sorghum Caramel: liquid caramel with sorghum molasses grown and processed on Doubletree Farm in Marshall, in a milk chocolate shell.

Vanilla Bourbon Caramel: Knob Creek bourbon & organic vanilla bean caramel in a dark chocolate shell.

Porter Nib Caramel: local porter and fresh roasted cacao nibs in chewy caramel, dipped in dark chocolate adorned with cacao nibs.

Lavender Honey Caramel: our honey caramel infused with Mountain Farm lavender, sprinkled with lavender salt.

Notes: I appreciated the use of both liquid and more chewy caramel interiors. I would love to see how pretty these truffles were when they were boxed before the temperatures took their toll on the garnishes!  My favorite of this collection was the Sorghum Caramel!

The Bourbon & Beer Collection included:

Bourbon & Ginger: Maker's Mark bourbon and spicy, fresh ginger in dark chocolate, garnished with candied ginger.

Irish Depth Charge: Whiskey, house-made coffee liqueur, and a local stout in a white chocolate ganache.

Beer & Pretzel: Greenman IPA caramel with crunchy, housemade pretzel bits, garnished with a candied peanut and enrobed in dark chocolate.

Mint Julep: Knob Creek bourbon and fresh garden mint in a 66% chocolate ganache. Enrobed in dark chocolate and sprinkled with organic sugar.

Pisgah a la Mode: Vanilla bean white chocolate ganache layered atop a Pisgah Stout dark chocolate ganache. Enrobed in dark chocolate, with a white chocolate swirl.

Old Fashioned: Four Roses bourbon, Bittermilk old-fashioned bitters, a twist of orange and a touch of cherry in 68% Nicaraguan chocolate ganache, garnished with candied orange peel.

Notes: I shared one of each truffle with Sara since we are both bourbon/whiskey fans! The ginger in the Bourbon & Ginger was indeed spicy, almost too much for my palate. I appreciated the variety of bourbons and local beers used in the thick ganaches. My favorite truffle was the Old Fashioned. It was neither over powering nor underwhelming in any of the flavors. Perhaps it was a given that it would be my winner: an Old Fashioned is one of my go-to drinks :)

Working for a company that also produces artisan chocolates and being a part of the fulfillment/shipping/packaging side of things has given me a very discerning eye for details. I found it interesting that French Broad Chocolates stamps the name of the collection on the outside/front of their boxes. It gives the assortment a hand-made touch, but also looks a bit sloppy when the ink is not consistent in boldness. Their bows left a little to be desired (not pictured as I tore into these boxes pretty quickly after receiving!), but again, this could be because I see the most beautiful and evenly tied bows by our expert, Maura, on a daily basis! Their ribbons were two different shades of brown as well. When typing up the descriptions for this post I noticed a few typos and inconsistencies ("house-made" v. "housemade")- that is the anal, OCD person in me coming out! Their shipping materials were noteworthy: branded outer box with information regarding the biodegradable nature of everything along with branded gel packs wrapped in kraft paper. Clearly environmentally conscious. It is obvious that they are a small, locally focused company with a passion for chocolate and an interest in remaining purists. 

Overall I believe that my first "club" purchase was a success! They offer additional collections besides the ones I purchased, including a vegan assortment! According to their website they also have bars and brownies. I would love to visit their shop in Asheville some day :)

*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collections.

Tiki Party

Co-worker and friend Angelica hosted a Tiki birthday party at her house last weekend, complete with pineapple drink ware! Floral prints abounded, leis were ready for all guests, and her island-themed, 4-tier birthday cake was epic (I didn't get a picture!!)! 

Sara, Angelica & Me | Sara & Me being photo bombed by James & Meghan

Cucumbers

As I watched a guilty pleasure movie of mine, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, I caught a line I had not tuned into before. Sue Ellen, played by the adorably young Christina Applegate, is talking with her female boss when the following exchange occurs:

Rose: "Why don't you go on home, have a glass of wine and put some cucumber slices on your eyes, you'll feel much better."

Sue Ellen: "Well, I'm all out of cucumbers."

Rose: "Sue Ellen, every girl over twenty-five should have a cucumber in the house."

I thought to myself, "I don't keep cucumbers in my house and I am most certainly over twenty-five!". So on my way home from work this evening I stopped by Whole Foods for some items and made sure to toss a cucumber in my basket. I also grabbed a lime and tangerine to accompany said cucumber in a most refreshing beverage of fruit, ginger ale and spirits. Not a bad wrap up to my Tuesday!