Week #3 is here and I am loving this challenge!  I hate to admit this but I usually gain weight in the summer months but this summer is very different because I’m moving more and making vegetables my main ingredient in my meals (including a smoothie for breakfast with spinach).

July 16, 2011

Garden Salad with homemade quinoa burger – Burger Lounge in San Diego

WOW!  This was my first time eating at the Burger Lounge and it was delicious… I highly recommend if you are ever in San Diego to try this salad or a sandwich.  Everything was very fresh and the place was very clean.

Thank you Stephanie for the recommendation!

July 17, 2011

Soupplantation – the original salad bar

With all this salad eating I had a craving for the ‘original’ salad bar – soupplantation.  I usually try and fill up on the greens so I’m too full to try too much of the other stuff.  But I did share some pasta primavera and a baked potato with the baby 🙂

July 18, 2011

Taco Salad with Organic Ground Beef

This is kind of a staple in our weekly menu’s.  We usually go back and forth between organic beef tacos and organic beef taco salad.  But I like incorporating these recipes into the challenge because it is a part of our life.  Probably one of the easiset and I served homemade baked Chips and homemade Guacamole for an appetizer.  The ingredients for this salad include – ground beef (cooked with a combo of lime, pepper salsa and taco seasoning), homemade baked tortilla strips, guacamole, black beans, green peppers, tomatoes, and salsa (used as the salad dressing).

July 19, 2011

Barbeque Chicken Chopped Salad (@ Home)

You now know I won’t eat chicken unless its organic so I never get to enjoy all the different types of BBQ chicken salad’s out there.  So I decided to make it for dinner and it included – spring mix, BBQ chicken, light ranch dressing, tomatoes, pea tendrils (my new favorite ingredient), black beans, and corn.  I need to learn how to make my own ranch dressing though…

July 20, 2011

Pear and Goat cheese Salad

This recipe was actually given to me by a friend (thanks JD)!  I made this for lunch because I had plans for a company dinner in the evening.  It included mixed greens, pears (I used canned), goat cheese, sliced almonds, pea tendrils, and my favorite fat free balsamic vinaigrette (Trader Joe’s).  She actually has a recipe for a homemade dressing (vinegar, olive oil, honey, paprika, salt, and pepper), but I didn’t have enough time to put it together before I left for the day.  Either way it was delicious!

July 21, 2011

Chinese chicken Salad Bowl

Marinated the chicken in the crockpot with teryaki sauce, cooked some brown rice in the rice cooker, sauted some vegetables (broccoli and asparagus) with some olive oil and teriyaki sauce in a pan on the stovetop.  After it was completed I plated it starting at the bottom with lettuce, brown rice, vegetables, and shredded chicken.  To be honest, I totally made this recipe up because I was just going to make a chinese chicken salad but I knew my husband would complain there weren’t enough carbohydrates on the plate.  Unfortunately, out of this entire month I have only had one miss and that was today.  The reason it was a miss was because I sauted the vegetables in teriyaki and they lost their flavor.  I would steam the veggies next time and find a yummy teriyaki drizzle to pour over the top for garnish and a little extra flavor.

July 22, 2011

Chipotle Veggie Salad Bowl

Once again it’s Frid-YAY!  And that means… no cooking 🙂  Therefore we decided to have Chipotle.  I love the philosophy around this restaurant because they offer fresh, whole ingredients, with no secrets because everything is right in front of you as they prepare your plate.

Sorry for this poor iphone image 😦

July 8th, 2011

Cucumber, avocado, and tomato salad

As most people are on a Friday night of a long work week, I was hungry and tired and looking for something both satisfying and easy for dinner!  I chopped up some cucumber, avocado, and tomatoes.  Tossed these ingrediens with equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar and some seasonings (oregano, parsley, pepper).  I finished it off by adding some pinenuts for a little protein and served it like brushchetta with some toast.

July 9th, 2011

I had some of my favorite ladies over for a tea party and one of my best friends made the recipe I featured on a blog  a few weeks ago – Strawberry, walnut, and goat cheese salad.

July 10th, 2011

Couscous tabouli salad (found on the back of the Trader Joe’s couscous box but I improvised)

This was a delicous salad that I definetly plan to make again.  It starts off with sauteing some finely chopped vegetables (tomatoes, squash, bell pepper, onion) in a pan for 5-10 minutes.  Make a full serving of couscous.  Add 6 tbsp of olive oil and the sauteed vegetables and plate it on top of a bed of spring mix.  We served this with some cajun salmon and it was perfect!

July 11th , 2011

Country Italian Salad – Trader Joe’s

This is a great lunchtime salad but it doesn’t have alot of calories so it doesn’t fill me up till dinner.  I usually need a few snacks afterwards before dinnertime (i.e. fruit, almonds, etc.)

July 12th, 2011

For lunch I had my favorite super spinach salad but since the challenge was to have a different salad every day I decided to make something different for dinner.  We had vegetable and orzo salad (a spin off of the couscous salad I made the other night).  This included orzo, yellow squash, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, goat cheese, olive oil, and seasoning.  I served it along side pan seared Sea Bass.

July 13th, 2011

Today I made my way to my favorite salad bar at Whole foods.  I figured its almost the weekend and I deserved a day off from prepping my own lunch. In my opinion, salad bars are only good when they are clean and of course fully stocked with different choices.  This salad bar offers everything from your basic toppings to other unique options from all different places around the world.  You can see I added lots of veggies but also included tofu, tabouli, and dolmas.

July 14th, 2011

Only one more day left till the weekend…  Tuna Salad on a bed of lettuce (added tomatoes, hearts of palm, pine nuts, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette)

July 15, 2011

It’s Frid-YAY!  Tonight we decided to have a relaxing meal before our busy weekend at Red Brick Pizza.  They offer a few different salad options but I love their chopped garden salad.

We had a busy long weekend and ate out a lot but I found a few places that offered some good salad options:

July 1st, 2011

Stonefire Grill – Garden Salad

A traditional garden salad at a traditional barbeque joint…

please excuse this shot it was taken with my iphone...

July 2nd, 2011

Urbane Cafe – Urbane Cafe Salad with Portabello mushroom (instead of chicken)

My favorite obsession right now!  The combination of spring mix, pears, goat cheese, walnuts, grilled portabello, and balsamic vinaigrette – my mouth is watering just posting this. 🙂

July 3rd, 2011

Wokcano – Seaweed Salad

I’m just realizing that this doesn’t have a whole lot of nutrients as I always thought it did but its low in calories and one of my favorite dishes to order at a Japanese or sushi restaurant.

Kona Krisp – Thai peanut salad with fried shrimp (** I know this isn’t the healthiest salad but they don’t offer any other protein alternative to chicken)

I love this Hawaiian fusion BBQ restaurant I just wish they had more ‘healthy options.’

July 4th, 2011

Shredded Chicken Taco Salad (homemade)

Ingredients – lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, salsa, organic chicken, daiya cheddar cheese, black beans, avocado, homemade crispy tortilla strips

This is a super easy dish to make.  It’s full of protein and delicious veggies and of course my salad dressing is salsa.

July 5th, 2011

Broccoli slaw

Ingredients – broccoli slaw (from Trader Joe’s), crushed cashews, fat free balsamic vinaigrette (TJ’s)

This has to be one of the easiest side salads to make or make it as an entree by adding your favorite meat and some extra veggies.  We had ours as a side to garden burgers and fresh strawberries.

July 6th, 2011

Super Spinach Salad (Trader Joe’s)

My mom introduced me to this salad just a few weeks ago and I’m in love with it!  I use barely a teaspoon of the dressing (very high in calories and fat) but the combination of the veggies and quinoa and seeds is perfect, you won’t be disappointed! 🙂

July 7th, 2011

Homemade ‘Urth’ Salad

A few years back I worked in Beverly Hills and a few doors down from my workplace was Urth Cafe.  If you have never been there I’d highly recommend it!  They offer organic chicken and have the most delicious coffee drinks including Boba.  Since I don’t live close by to any Urth Cafe locations I make my own version of the salad at home.  This includes Organic Spring Mix, goat cheese, carrots, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, hearts of palm, and balsamic vinaigrette.  You can also add garbanzo beans, chicken, or tuna for a little added protein.

please excuse this shot it was taken with my iphone...

The Pedometer Challenge is complete! I walked a total of 654,751 steps in 30 days, and averaged 21,825 Steps/day. I earned my $50 Nike gift card (which was awarded to those that averaged 20,000+ steps/day) which I plan to buy some new workout gear.

Hips – 38.5 inches (6/1/11- 39.5 inches) Total lost = 1 inch

Chest – 29.75 inches (6/1/11- 30 inches) Total lost = .25 inch

Waist – 28.75 inches (6/1/11- 29 inches) Total lost = .25 inch

Arm (left) – 10 inches (6/1/11- 10.5 inches) Total lost = .5 inch

Thigh (left) – 22.5 inches (6/1/11- 23.5 inches) Total lost = 1 inch

Calf (left) – 14.5 inches (6/1/11- 14.75 inches) Total lost = .25 inch

I know I didn’t have a huge change but overall I’m happy with my results (total inches loss = 3.25). I have this quote on my desktop and I can’t remember where I found it (please let me know if you can recall it…) ‘There is no single way to get to where you want to be.  Likewise, there is no magic pill.  It takes time, consistency, attention to detail, and an appreciation of what must get done in the short term in order to attain long-term success.’  I love this!  Knowing that everything has to start somewhere…  I look forward to changing up my workout routine so that it doesn’t revolve around ‘walking’. How did you do? Did you make it the full 30-days? If you didn’t start the challenge try it for the month of July. Make the commitment and you will see results mentally and physically. Happy July!