Food

I haven't been faithful to my running program this week, mostly because the blisters on my right foot hurt so much that I wearing shoes with backs is painful.  Couple little cardio with eating like a pig -- and I had to try on my jeans this morning just to make sure they still fit.  If they didn't then I would have to rearrange my wardrobe choices for these last two days.  Luckily, I can wear them tomorrow on casual dress Friday.

Eating like a pig is not totally accurate.  Every morning I have a yogurt, granola and strawberry "parfait" from the hotel for breakfast.  Then I don't eat again until lunch -- a salad or sandwich.  I have had a small bag of almonds for an afternoon snack and a bit of chocolate.  And then I eat a delicious dinner where I don't think about the butter, cheese and otherwise fatty calories that I am ingesting.

Sunday I went to Joe's pasta and had their baked ziti.  That was good -- lots of ricotta along with the marinara sauce.

Monday I went Italian again and a slightly more upscale place.  There, the waitress was a vegetarian and steered me away from the basil pesto and recommended the vegetable lasagna.  She was spot on with her recommendation.  The lasagna was a layers of pasta filled with zucchini, onions, some winter squash, garlic, cheese and tomato sauce.  And repeated.  It was filling but not heavy.  I was a good girl and finished my plate.

Tuesday was the Mustard Seed as I've written about.  Last night was pizza at Monza for wood-fire, oven baked, thin, papery thin crusted pizza.  The dough was topped with a light tomato sauce and slabs of mozzarella cheese and basil leaves.

As I walked down the street back to the hotel, I passed a cupcake place.  I went in and discovered that they had vegan cupcakes.  Woo-hoo!

For my last extravagant dinner tonight, I went to Basil, a Thai place.  One of the trainers recommended it so I went in last night.  But the prices seemed steep so I left.  But today I got an email from a colleague whose recommendations never disappoint and he said that was his favorite Thai place.  I went back tonight and I am so glad I did.  I ate the masaman curry with tofu.  The peanut sauce was mild, even though I could see the red pepper flakes.  It was a gentle heat as opposed to the kind that makes me grab my water and chug as fast as I can to put out the burning sensation.  The potatoes were cooked through but not mushy.  The cashews added a nice crunch.  And I wondered if the onions might have been Vidalia as they were sweeter than usual.  The tofu had been fried so that the exterior was a bit crusted and the inside soft.  It was worth the $15.50 price tag.  Plus, the presentation was excellent.  How cute is the covered rice pot?

Since I passed by the cupcake place again, what was I to do but see what other flavor I could try?

For lunch today, the class and our two trainers went out for Mexican.  I would have passed the place by had I been on my own.  But we all know that looks can be deceiving.  They had the best chips.  And they served their salsa in beaker-like containers that you could empty into cute little bowls.  My enchiladas were tasty and it was nice to sit back and get to know the other people a bit better on a personal level.

While I haven't been able to explore the city's historical sites due to the lack of daylight during my free time,  I have taken full advantage of the culinary delights.  I am not going to get on the scale as soon as I get home. I'll have to run for miles and miles before I get on and look at the number.