Make Up vs. No Make Up

Lunch, lunch, lunch.

Today’s lunch was oh-so-tasty thanks to leftover BBQ meatloaf!

Meatloaf Sandwich

I enjoyed the leftover meatloaf on a whole wheat Arnold sandwich thin which I received as a sample through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

Though I’ve already declared my love for these sandwich thins numerous times on the blog, allow me to sing their praises one more time: La, la, la! They are so  doughy and delicious! La, la, la! 😀

Yum, Yum Eat 'Em Up

For some extra color, I also enjoyed chopped red and orange peppers with grape tomatoes.

Red + Orange

A cup of Mott’s Natural Applesauce also made an appearance.

Not Just For Kids, My Friends

Thursday's Lunch

I also ate leftover Brussels sprouts and onions from last night, but those eluded any photographs.

This lunch filled me right up!

Now on to some beauty talk…

Make Up vs. No Make Up

I have always envied girls who were good at doing make up.

Watching someone put on their makeup thoroughly amuses me. It’s almost like watching an artist paint a fresh canvas.

Unfortunately I am not good at make up. At all. Not even a little bit.

For one thing, eyeshadow makes me itchy.

I wish I had the ability to highlight my eyes with different color shadows or smudge some eyeliner to give myself the super-sexy smoky eye. Whenever I’ve tried to experiment with  color on my eyelids (other than tans, taupes, beiges and golds),  I end up looking like Mimi from Drew Carey.

Hi, Mimi!

I think that’s why my makeup routine is so simple and takes about five minutes.

My Make Up Goods

Fortunately I am marrying a man who is not a fan of makeup. He says he cannot tell the difference between me with a full face of make up and me without any makeup. (The poor boy is clearly blind.) On the weekends I often go makeup free since Ryan has said he prefers me that way and it makes my life a little easier, too!

In talking with some of my girlfriends, it seems like a lot of guys like their girlfriends or wives fresh faced. It makes me think that women often put on makeup for other women.

And now, speaking of fresh faces…

Faces of Beauty

As if I wasn’t already a big enough fan of Heather of the wonderful blog Heather’s Dish (this girl has some seriously awesome photography skills), yesterday she made an announcement about a new website she’s launching called Faces of Beauty, which made me love her all the more.

Faces of Beauty

Faces of Beauty is a site where Heather will post pictures of women (and men!) with no (or minimal) makeup to highlight the beauty within them.

100 Percent Make Up Free!

In Heather’s words, “What I want to do is start a CELEBRATION of our natural beauty.  What if we took things like wrinkles, smile lines, gray hair, blond eyelashes, crooked teeth, crooked noses, shorter necks, etc. and saw the beauty and the LIFE in them?”

Click here for more information about joining the movement for yourself.

Awesome, awesome idea, Heather! 😀

Of Possible Interest:

• How to Avoid Weekend Weight Gain (An article I wrote for FitandFabLiving.com)
• 10 Signs You’re a Running Fanatic (FitSugar.com)
• Weight Gain in Your 20s: Explained (Health.com)
• Healthy Twitter Chat: Tonight at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT join @ThermosBrand on Twitter to celebrate the launch of the company’s new series with a group of health and fitness experts: The Cold Matters Coaches, including Caitlin from the blog Healthy Tipping Point. Participate using the #ThermosCold hashtag on Twitter and you will automatically be entered to win some of the company’s newest insulated hydration products.

Question of the Afternoon

• Do you always wear make up, or are you a makeup minimalist?
  
• In your past or present relationships, have men preferred you with or without makeup?
  

Goodbye, Joe

Ever since I made sloppy joes for dinner on Monday, I’ve been picking at the leftovers every time I open the fridge.

No more picking!

Today I ate the last of the ‘joes for lunch.

Last of the 'Joes

On the side I enjoyed steamed broccoli and portobello mushrooms, sprinkled with garlic salt.

Thursday's Lunch

Eat Me!

So long, Joe!

I am a bit relieved to have these leftovers out of the fridge. As tasty as they were, I couldn’t seem to resist taking a forkful of the yummy meat every time I’d open the fridge (Yes, even before breakfast).

Do you sneak “little tastes” of items in your fridge or pantry? Any go-to foods?

You know I love my peanut butter fingers! 😉

Aside from peanut butter fingers, I used to always grab something every time I’d open our pantry. I’ve found that eliminating large boxes of cereal or crackers has really helped me with this. If it’s not there, I can’t eat it!

Post That Nutritional Info!

Hooray for HoneyBaked Ham!

Ryan’s mom sent us home with a large bag of leftover HoneyBaked Ham from yesterday’s big Easter lunch. Ryan enjoyed a big ham and cheese sandwich for dinner last night which inspired my lunch today.

I wanted a ham sandwich!

Monday's Lunch

I enjoyed my sandwich with a side of roasted turnip fries and ketchup.

Turnip Fries + Ham Sandwich

For dessert I dug into my Easter candy and enjoyed two Dove dark chocolate eggs.

Dark Chocolate Eggs

So smooth and so creamy!

Free Chavrie Goat Cheese

Are you a cheese love-ah?

Chavrie Cheese

Click here to receive a free sample of Chavrie goat cheese. Yum!

Posting Nutritional Information

How did I miss this!?

Apparently a couple weeks ago, a new health law was passed that will require chain restaurants with more than 20 locations, such as Starbucks and McDonald’s, to post calorie information on their menus and drive through signs.

Additionally, nutritional information must be displayed for foods sold in vending machines.

This information should be available as soon as 2011.

How do you feel about restaurants posting nutritional information?

I think this is awesome. With the growing rate of obesity in the United States, I think it is so important for people to have adequate nutritional information to make educated decisions about what they choose to put into their bodies. Whether they choose to ignore the information is up to them, but at least it’s out there and visible.

Food Addiction

You know by now that I don’t shy away from leftovers!

Last night Ryan and I enjoyed al fresco sweet Italian chicken sausage with peppers and onions for dinner and I used leftovers to make a sausage, onion and pepper hoagie for lunch today.

Here’s the food preparation process from last night…

Freshly Chopped Green and Red Peppers and Onions

Ryan Slicin' Onions

Ryan is the onion slicer in our house. They make me cry!

We put the peppers, onions and sliced chicken sausage in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring half-way through.

Sausage + Peppers

The leftovers made an excellent lunch today!

Sausage, Pepper & Onion Hoagie

Monday's Lunch

Addicted to Food???

Many people claim they are “addicted to food.” Whether they are addicted to the food itself or the feeling they derive from eating the food is often debated.

Do you feel like you’re addicted to food? Do you know someone who is?

I don’t believe I am addicted to food, but I will admit that when I start eating ice cream or certain other indulgent foods, I sometimes feel a little out of control. I consider these foods my “trigger foods” and I know myself enough to know that one little “taste” simply will not do. I know that once I take one bite of ice cream or break a teeny piece off a freshly baked cookie, I’ll immediately go back for more.

A recently published study examined two groups of rats. One group was fed junk food while the other group was fed a healthy diet.

Results from the study showed that the rats eating junk food continued to compulsively eat the calorie-dense food even when they knew they’d receive an electric shock (Those poor rats!). Those eating the healthy foods stopped eating when they knew a shock would occur.

Interesting, huh? I’m not sure if this really applies to people, but it’s pretty interesting nonetheless.

For more details on this study, click here to read my latest Examiner article.

At Long Last

At long last my leftover lunch arrived!

Hooray for tasty leftovers! I felt like I was reliving St. Patrick’s Day in my lil’ cube.

I used leftover corned beef and cabbage to make a tasty wrap.

Corned Beef + Cabbage Wrap

I spread a little light Miracle Whip on a whole wheat tortilla to add a little moisture to the roll up.

Post-St. Patty's Day Lunch

It was nice ‘n’ tasty!

For dessert I had a small slice of chocolate cake that was served in honor of a coworker’s birthday.

Chocolate Cake

For as much as I love chocolate, I think I prefer vanilla cake with chocolate icing to chocolate cake with vanilla icing. Still, that didn’t stop me from enjoying every last bite of this cake… and licking the remaining icing of the plate. 😉

School Lunches

If I didn’t pack my lunch or go off campus for lunch in high school, I ate the same thing almost every day: a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

Bagel + Strawberry Cream Cheese

Nutritious, no?

Thankfully my friends and I would often leave school at lunchtime and rotate houses and ransack our family’s kitchens, so I didn’t eat on campus all that often my senior year. Before that, however, the bagel and cream cheese combo was my go-to meal.

Did you eat school lunches? Were they tasty or horrible? Nutritious or unhealthy?

My friend Katie sent me a really interesting article yesterday about a teacher who vowed to each school lunches every day.

She’s anonymously documenting her lunches and opinions about the food on her blog Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project.

The pictures she posted of her lunches look eerily familiar to the school lunches I remember.

I think this woman’s documentation about what children today are fed in school is wonderful and will hopefully open the eyes of some influential people to make positive changes to the meals served to children at school every day.

Great job, “Mrs. Q!”