Did everyone have a great Easter weekend?  I went to Mount Pleasant to spend the weekend with my family.  Let's get right to the food - I ate some really yummy dishes.  As always, I tried to balance a few treats with mostly healthy choices.  

Typically, my family has LONG discussions about what to eat for dinner, and Friday was no exception.  We finally decided to pick up pizza from a local shop in Mount Pleasant; since it was cold & rainy that night we didn't feel like going anywhere. My mom, sister & I split a thin crust pie with tomato, mushrooms, and sweet peppers.  I definitely went back for seconds.  

On Saturday for lunch, we went to my favorite Mount Pleasant lunch spot - Five Loaves Cafe.  My first visit to Five Loaves was last August, and it is seriously one of the best restaurants ever.  They have the exact type of food I like - lots of unique vegetarian options.  

I ordered 1/2 an Artichoke Falafel Salad, and 1/2 a Roasted Cauliflower & Carrot Sandwich.  Both were amazing.  I love roasted cauliflower, but I never thought to put it on a sandwich.  And you guys, the falafel, wow.  It was so, so good.  I am officially obsessed with this place.  

On Saturday night for dinner, my sister Rachel prepared a "make your own" taco bar.  I had 2 corn tortillas with black beans, corn, salsa, and avocado.  And some cilantro rice on the side.  

I also mooched a beer from my brother-in-law.  And some {unpictured} cookies.    

After church on Easter, my Dad made brunch for everyone.  Matt had to stay back in Charlotte for the weekend since he had to work; and boy was he disappointed that he missed my Dad's food.  Biscuits, gravy, bacon, eggs, it was quite the spread.  I opted for a lighter meal and had a biscuit with egg & cheese, with fruit on the side.  

This isn't a complete food diary - I definitely ate my favorite PB Banana waffles every morning, and had a few unpictured treats like cookies, a peanut butter rice cake, and even a Godiva truffle!  But overall I was pleased with my food choices, I think I definitely followed my 80% healthy 20% unhealthy rule.  

Any amazing Easter foods to share?   

One of the best parts about living in a new city and starting a new job is all the new people I have been meeting - it seems like every week I am introduced to someone new!  As I am sharing meals with new friends and coworkers, I have been getting some questions lately about my diet.  

Q:  So are you a vegetarian?  
A:  Sort of.  

Q:  If you don't eat meat, what do you eat?  
A:  All kinds of stuff!  And a lot of peanut butter.  :)  

I don't ever find myself craving meat, the only time that I end up choosing something with turkey or chicken is when I'm in a situation where I don't see a lot of other options.  For example, I was at a crappy airport restaurant a few weeks ago, and every single salad had chicken on it.  The easy solution would have been to say "no chicken," but then the Asian chicken salad I ordered would have literally been lettuce, wonton strips, and dressing.  Meh.  

At home, I found myself in a similar situation when I thought about making a taco salad.  One of my staple meals from a few years back was taco salad with ground turkey.  It was SO good.  I could have made the taco salad without the turkey, but the warm seasoned flavor really gave the salad that little something extra.  I am proud to say that last week I re-introduced myself to my beloved taco salad - only this time it's meatless!  Cue the tofu.  

Doesn't it even look like ground turkey??  Here is what you do for 2 servings.  

Tofu Taco "meat" 

Ingredients:  
1/2 block of extra-firm tofu 
1 tablespoon oil 
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika 
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon water 
black pepper to taste 

Press your tofu for at least 20 minutes.  I do this by setting the block on a plate, then putting a heavy cutting board on top of it.  Drain off the excess water.  

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet, then using your fingers crumble the tofu into the oil.  Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown.

Whisk all other ingredients together to make a taco sauce.  Pour sauce over the tofu, then cook for a few minutes until fully incorporated.  Enjoy!!  

Once your tofu is cooked, it's time to assemble your salad.  Here is my bowl with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and black beans.   

Now add your tofu:  

And for the big finish - sour cream and salsa!  

I find that the salsa provides plenty of moisture, so there is no need for salad dressing on this baby.  

The tofu would also be great on tacos, in enchiladas - wherever you would normally use ground meat!  

Man, has the weather been amazing this weekend.  I have taken every opportunity available to be outside. I ate my meals outside, went on lots of dog walks, did an outdoor workout, and even enjoyed a beer outside at the Time Warner Cable Arena!  

I think one of the main reasons Matt was so excited to move to Charlotte from Harrisburg was the presence of all the sports teams.  We had a good time at the Bobcats game on Saturday night, but since I'm not the biggest basketball fan my favorite part of the evening was definitely drinking a Duck Rabbit Brown Ale  on the terrace and enjoying the uptown view.    

I'm not sure if Sadie loved or hated all the walks she got this weekend, she was such a tired doggy in the car yesterday on the way home from Reedy Creek Park.  And please ignore the fact that you can visibly see dust and dog hair all over my car.  

Despite all the good fun this weekend, I did find some time to do some meal planning for the week.  I am excited about this week's menu, it consists of a lot of my favorite foods as of late.  I am looking forward to making the crash hot potatoes - I watched them being prepared on the Food Network and they looked amazing.  

Meal Plan week of April 13, 2014 

Sunday:    Tofu Taco Salad (recipe coming soon!) 

Monday:  Garden Enchilada Bake 

Tuesday:  post-gym smoothies 

Wednesday:  Crispy Tofu Strips and Pioneer Woman Crash Hot Potatoes 

Thursday:  Cornbread Quiche with Zucchini & Onions 

Friday:  Visit my family in Mt. Pleasant, SC  

No, this isn't just a big plate of avocado and mango, there is some cornbread quiche underneath the avocado. Although I could probably just eat a big plate of avocado and mango and call it dinner.  

Anyone else have any meals planned for the week?  

Last week, Matt and I decided to embrace being "Charlotteans" and try out a popular local event - Alive After Five.  For non-local readers, Alive After Five is a weekly event every Thursday over the summer with live outdoor music & drinks.  Sounds like fun, right??  

So we headed to the Epicenter in Uptown Charlotte to check it out.  I had two observations:  1) I realized I was tired and hungry after a long day at work; and 2) the sponsor and main beverage provider was Bud Light, so I wasn't too into the drink selection.  You guys know I like a nice dark beer.   

I didn't want to abandon Alive After Five altogether since it was a really nice night, and I wanted to listen to the band.  Matt & I ended up finding a great option - grabbing a table at an Epicenter restaurant:  BlackFinn Saloon.  We were able to enjoy some drinks, food, and listen to the music, all from the comfort of an outdoor table.  Win!    

I wanted to order something light, so I ended up choosing the Shrimp Spring Rolls.  These look really pretty, and the idea of them is great, but my honest opinion is that they lacked flavor.  There was a dipping sauce on the side that could have helped, but it was too salty for my typical low sodium diet.  I still ate two of these since I was hungry.  Maybe a little marinade or seasoning on the shrimp & veggies would have helped.  

I also had a small side Greek salad that was much better.  It was really similar to the Panera Bread side Greek salad that I like to order, so it tasted great to me.    

I guess if I am attempting to eat healthy at restaurants, not every choice is going to taste great.  The drink selection was definitely better though - I had a refreshing glass of Pinot Grigio instead of drinking Bud Light out of an aluminum bottle.  That's a win in my book!  

And to leave everyone with something adorable- Sadie!!  Here she is caught in the act of tearing apart another expensive dog toy.  

So would I recommend BlackFinn as a must-try Charlotte destination?  No.  Is is a good location to grab drinks?  Absolutely.

Happy Saturday!  Popping in for a quick recipe post.  If you guys need something to make this weekend, try this easy recipe.  I LOVE enchiladas verde, and I typically take the time to make homemade verde sauce for my usual chicken enchiladas verde.  However, if you can't (or won't!) dedicate the time to making your own sauce, buy a bottle from Trader Joe's and get to work on this easy version.  It is really delicious.  

For toppings, just add your favorite.  Cheese is an essential, but you could also do avocado, tomato and green onion like I did.  Or if you don't like those toppings, try something else.  Black olives would be good, sour cream, greek yogurt as a sour cream substitute, whatever you want.  Enjoy!  

Easy Chicken Enchiladas Verde

Ingredients (for 8 enchiladas, or 4 servings):  
1 lb cooked chicken breast, shredded 
1 jar salsa verde 
2 big spoonfuls plain greek yogurt 
1 onion, thinly sliced 
8 small tortillas; I used soft corn tortillas 
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice 

Optional Toppings:  avocado, tomato, green onion, olives, sour cream 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare an 11x17 baking dish by lining with nonstick foil, if desired (easy clean up!).  Pour a little salsa into the bottom of the baking dish and spread around, a couple tablespoons usually does the trick.   

In a skillet, sautee sliced onion in a little olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add in shredded chicken, yogurt, and about 1/3 of the jar of salsa.  Heat for a few minutes until ingredients are incorporated.  

Spoon some of the chicken mixture into each tortilla, roll up, and place seam side down in your prepared baking dish.  If all your filling wouldn't fit in the tortillas, just add it to the baking dish.  Top the enchiladas with the rest of the salsa, using a spoon to spread it out so a little bit gets on each tortilla.  Top the whole thing with cheese.  

Bake for about 20 minutes, until hot & bubbly.  Add option toppings, and dig in!   

I thought it would be fun to do a "day in the life" post about a typical day of eating for me.  When I shared my meal plans, I only included dinners.  But of course I ate breakfast, lunch, and treats too!  So here is my food diary from last Sunday.  I might start doing this more often in order to showcase some quick, easy meals, but also to hold myself accountable for what I am eating throughout the day.   

Breakfast:    

Well, it's been 3 months and I'm still struggling to lose that 6 pounds that I set out to lose at the first of the year.  I am 50% there, which is definitely not the progress I was hoping to make by this point.  Next week, the "Biggest Loser" contest at my office is officially ending, but that does not mean I am stopping my efforts.  After all, my motto of It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle still rings true.      

Like always, I had a mix of healthy and unhealthy this week.  Here is last week's plan for dinners:  

Sunday:       Easy Chicken Enchiladas (recipe coming soon!) 

Monday:      Veggie Fried Rice 

Tuesday:      Out to dinner at Cabo Fish Taco 

Wednesday: Peanut Butter Sammy & post-yoga smoothie 

Thursday:     Bowl of cereal before The Dog Bar 

Friday:         Trader Joe's Thai Vegetable Gyoza with roasted broccoli, tomatoes, & green onion 

It's no secret that my husband loves BBQ.  When we lived in Pennsylvania, he was obsessed with Momo's BBQ, and we also made visits to Shakedown BBQ and Smoke BBQ.  Now that we are in Charlotte, we have already made several visits to Queen City Q.  So, you can imagine how strange it is that we visited City Smoke over the weekend, and neither of us ordered BBQ.   

Not surprising, however, is that I ordered a really dark beer.  The Duck Rabbit Milk Stout - one of my favorites. Delicious as always.  I think that Matt secretly wanted to visit City Smoke because they have an appetizer named the "Scooby Snack."  Ham and sausage in little biscuits.  I tried a few bites and it was decent - but I thought a little overpriced for the amount of food that you get.    

Since this is my first spring in Charlotte, I am learning about the huge temperature fluctuations that occur this time of year in this area.  Last Saturday, after doing a bit of unpacking from our recent move, we headed out to enjoy some beverages since it was SUCH a nice day.  The bars were packed since it was St. Patty's weekend.  

We started out by enjoying a beer at Triple C Brewing in South End, one of our favorite breweries in Charlotte.  I remember when we visited Charlotte back in 2011 we had trouble finding a brewery to visit, but now they are everywhere!  The beer is really good at Triple C, so we find ourselves going back there every few weeks.  

Since the weather was perfect last weekend, we decided to take a walk on the rail trail and scope out our next stop.  We ended up grabbing an outdoor table at Big Ben's and having a traditional St. Patty's day Guinness.

Last night, Matt and I met after work for a date night at La Tagliatella.  I know, during the workweek?  Who are we?  The folks at La Tagliatella invited me to join them for a complimentary pizza as part of their "30 Days of Delizioso" promotion, and I immediately knew I wanted to participate.  Pizza?  Uptown Charlotte?  Yes please!

We started dinner with drinks- beer for Matt, red wine for me {of course}.  And then figured we should have some veggies as well, so we split a small ceasar salad.  It was pretty good!  The dressing had a nice salty kick, and the roasted tomatoes were a really nice touch.  Yum.