After writing my plans for the week, which was to stick with basic food and not eat ridiculously fat and sweet meals, I didn’t quite stick to my guns. After a long (trust me, it felt horribly long) and exhausting 2-mile run in the late morning sun, I did not feel like preparing lunch. Vari suggested going to the downtown mall and stop by the Blue Ridge Country Store‘s salad bar. This seemed like a reasonable option to me. So off we went. I was proud to make myself a healthy and colorful salad.I have to say, everything on their salad bar looked nice and fresh. The selection of vegetables and fruits was great. They also had a few prepared salad so to my regular colorful and leafy green salad, I added a spoonful of orzo salad and another or lentil salad. And it all turned out to be much cheaper than I expected it to be as well!
Unfortunately, as soon as I got back home, I felt pretty sick. Possibly heat exhaustion from the run. I was chugging water and had to lay down as I felt a pretty bad migraine coming. I ate half of a cucumber, just because, in the middle of the afternoon. I really just wanted to snack and, although my mind went directly to sweet or salty snacks, I convinced myself that cucumber would be a much better option. And I have to say, when all was said and done, it really was all I needed. I spent all afternoon dreading making dinner, probably just because I wasn’t feeling well.
When my husband came home from work, I may or may not have suggested walking to The Local, our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. Now, going to that place can go two ways: stomach ache from eating too much or feeling awesome by being reasonable. Thankfully, last night went in the latter direction. If you ever get the chance to go to The Local, you HAVE to get their crispy shrimp appetizer. I’ve never been there without having it and I am not willing to go if it won’t be part of my meal. As my main dish, I decided to get the appetizer size of house-made gnocchi with braised lamb. It was so so good. I have never had gnocchi before and I definitely fell in love. Although it was delicious, I only ended up eating half of the dish, as it was very filling. The other half will be my lunch today. 🙂 Now, I know, I know, I said I wouldn’t eat pasta this week. Well, I have to say that this was a lot less than if I had decided to make pasta at home AND I got a 30-minute walk out of it.
All in all, I might have been a little disappointed that both of my meals were out yesterday but, at least, I think I made good choices. I didn’t overeat (usually my problem when I eat out) and I got to spend more time outdoors, both on the downtown mall around lunchtime, and in the Belmont neighborhood around dinnertime. Tonight, I swear I’ll cook some chicken… 🙂
The Hungry Quebbie 