An on the go kind of day

Wow, I didn't even realize how close I was to 150 posts! I guess they add up when you post more often. :P

I'm probably going to be moving this blog over to my own domain soon. I had an earlier version of this blog over at www.spiceaholic.com and for some reason felt the need to start over here with the same name. I'm just going to move this one over and combine the two. You can go check out the old stuff if you want, it'll all still be there. Plus that URL is a heck of a lot easier to remember and type, isn't it? For some reason when I started this I thought your URL had to be the same as your blog name. Silly, innocent me.

But I'll let you guys know when I officially move over.

Anyway.

Yesterday I was out and about for most of the morning and early afternoon. I had an eye exam in the morning and then I was supposed to meet up with some former coworkers for lunch since I was in the area. I had planned to eat breakfast before my appointment but as usual I dawdled way too long getting ready and ran out the door with only a Coke Zero. Breakfast of champions indeed.

Afterwards, I killed some time at Dunkin Donuts. I got an iced coffee with Splenda and got a couple of chocolate Munchkins. I love the donuts there, but felt like having just a couple Munchkins would give me the taste I wanted without doing too much damage. I just read a little while I waited. We were supposed to be meeting for some Chinese food, but while there I got a text saying one of them had restarted her diet and wanted to go to F20 instead. Not really my kind of place, but I agreed to meet them there.

I got there early and since there was a Costco in the same parking lot decided to kill some time there too. Now I've told you before how I'm probably the only person I know who buys cookbooks there as often as food. I headed straight for the book section as usual. Found a new mystery out by an author I discovered a few months ago, but I'm on the waiting list for it at the library so ignored it. The cookbook section at Costco has regrettably diminished quite a bit in the past few months. No, not because I buy them like crazy. Anyway, I saw a new Cooking Light one that looked good - Eat Well, Live Well or something like that. I managed to convince myself it'd still be here in a few days and I could get it later if we came back to buy stuff. I also checked Amazon to see if it was there, but it must be one of those special prints they do for Costco because I've bought a few there and don't see them on Amazon for sale. I also took a quick looksie to see if there's anything I wanted to come back for this weekend. Might do so.

By now it was time to meet them for lunch so I headed over to F20, which stands for Fresh To Order. Now, I've only been here once, but it just didn't do it for me. I'm really not a salad kind of girl, and I'm actually pretty picky about my salads. Write me off if you must, but I do not enjoy goat cheese, bleu cheese, Gorgonzola, balsamic vinegar, candied nuts, dried fruits, and sweet dressings, etc. on my salad. Sorry. And it seems like there's a lot of that there. I know you can make substitutioins, but having had such a skimpy breakfast I wanted something more substantial than leaves and veggies.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised this time. Yes, they did have the tons of salads and stuff, but I saw some sandwiches that looked good too. I'm wondering if the time I went last time I was trying to be "good" and that just made it harder to order what I wanted because I felt restricted. Today I felt no such compunction. I ordered exactly what I wanted -- the Chicken Ceasar Panini with no avocado (allergic, how tragic) and a side of apple slices.

My food took longer to come out than everyone else, but it was worth it. I had chosen ciabatta bread and it was oh so good. The grilled chicken wasn't phony and processed, but real breast meat. It was very good and I was so hungry I ate the whole sandwich and didn't feel guilty. I had a few of the apple slices afterwards but they were starting to make my mouth itchy so I stopped and just enjoyed the company.

Thus vigorously fortified, I set off to run one last errand before going home. I had to return a library book but since I was nearby, I also popped into a natural foods store that opened up a few months ago. I'll drop in now and then and buy a couple things, but their selection isn't really that great to be honest. I found some PopChips and a vegan lemon cookie and got those.

After the library, I figured since I was out I might as well hit up the used bookstore that was nearby. It's a lot smaller than the ones I usually go to, but it's such a cute little store. I used to work in one when I was in college so these cozy places hold a place in my heart.

Now I was finally done running around and was able to spend the rest of the day just relaxing and watching old shows.

And yes, I finally have some food pics for you.





I felt snacky a few hours later and had some SunChips.




When I realized it was close to dinner time, I defrosted some tilapia I had in the freezer and cooked it up with some Berbere seasoning I got at World Market a while back. It's an Ethiopian spice mix that contains a lot of ingredients found in Indian cooking. I also cooked up some couscous and spinach and added some Ras-el-Hanout seasoning that I'd also bought at World Market. This stuff is a blend of spices from North Africa and the Middle East. Again, it has ingredients found in Indian cooking, so it tasted good to me.



After dinner we wanted something sweet, so I broke out the cookie I'd bought earlier. I liked the taste, it was very lemony, but the texture was not cookie-like at all. More like a dense cake. It worked for me, but Mr. Spice wasn't too crazy about the texture.

We watched more tv and still wanted something sweet so I had some ice cream and got into some Hot Tamales as well. I finally made myself stop before I did too much damage. I know it's because I didn't have a proper breakfast to start me off right. Lesson learned. Time to move on.