My dad is full of good sayings and that is one he uses often. :)

Today was a day full of health conscious decisions. You know that commercial for NutriGrain choosing the NutriGrain bar instead of the donut effects the woman's whole day? Yeah that was me.Healthy choice #1  The day started off with a little sleeeeeeping in :) Ahhh it feels good to sleep till 7:30.

I had an epic train ride today so breakfast was enjoyed on the train. My wawa coffee mug is clearly well loved ;) What isnt pictured is 2 Tbsp of Peter Pan Honey PB I dipped the banana into. That's what she said? 

Since the office was quiet today, that opens the door for more snacking for me, so I try to keep my snack drawer a 'controled' area of yummy healthy snacks. My morning snack may have been a bad packing decision when it comes to the healthy scale. Featuring the star of the show: Old School German Gingerbread

This was so delicious and moist!! It would be a great oats topper for breakfast. MmMm! Maybe you'll see that later this week along with the recipe ;)

Because of the light week I was also able to squeeze in a 4 mile run at lunch. After running I'm typically either nauseous or starving. Today was the former and so I ate only a handful of pretzels and a gingerale. Thanks to Caitlin she was able to advise on eating some salt after runs to make up for lost electrolytes. It seems to work for me! I'll take any advice and try any/everything on fueling for running!

I ate dinner when I got home and by 5:30 the beast inside of me was starving. 

Left over Chicken Milanese  from Pizzeria Uno accompanied by ginormous salad? Dont mind if I do. 

Now I am enjoying a glass of wine (and contemplating a second chocolate truffle) by my beautiful tree. Do I really have to take it down? 


What Healthy decisions did you make today? 

Learning to slow it down. I have a tendency to go,go,go and tend to be tightly wrapped. As a matter of fact, I tend to be grumpy  when I am slow at work or bored at home because I am a person that likes to keep busyf. Some may say distracted. 


However today I'm starting to work on embracing the slower steady pace and  down time starting....................now. :) 


Are you someone who prefers things to move at a slower steady pace? Or are you zipping around looking for the next task or adventure? Any good tips to unwind and embrace the stillness?

Look at the surprise I found waiting for me in my pantry!

It seems I have a very hungry furry friend! This isnt the only thing he's take either! He also helped himself to my rice cakes! Well obviously we have mice in Doylestown so hide your croutons, hide your rice cakes cuz they're eating everything in here!

Part of my feels bad for the poor little guy. He probably just needed a warm place to sleep and eat in the BLIZZARD of 2010. But then the sympathy stops when you eat my pantry. 

So that was my birthday gift and 8 inches of drifting snow. Sweet. Actually, the bf knows how much my birthday means to me and so he took the day to walk through dtown with delicious hot chai lattes in the snow.

It actually snowed sideways. Yikes!

And then the rest of the day was spent with dinner being made for me, feeding into our latest Mad Men addiction and baking my own birthday cake (because I'm a control freak). Really I just wanted Jenna's amazing Whole Wheat Walnut Ginger Carrot Cake and I wanted it PERFECT.

The were like little cups of heaven. The BF and I may or may not have had a cupcake for dessert and again for breakfast, just sayin'.


The Holiday cheer didnt stop - it spread to South Philly tonight when I met up with dear old friends who have come home for Christmas. We ate, drank and were merry at The Victor Cafe.

And now I feel like I have been carrying around a food baby for the last 2 weeks- but hey it's the holidays and my healthy eating habit will start again Monday. Right?


Do you let loose around the holidays? How do you jump back on the healthy eating train?

Yes I know what you are thinking. "You're birthday is THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS??"  Despite the looks of concern I receive every year when someone learns my birth date, I am learning (slowly) to embrace how close it is to a holiday that to me represents believing in magic, spending time with family and eating a heck of a lot of good food! Oh yeah and there's the little fact that I (usually) don't have to get out of my pajamas until at least 3 PM. :)

So welcome to my biggest birthday gift to myself! The Pinch of Ginger blog. I cant think of a birthday gift to myself than to do something I love- Cooking, baking, talking about healthy life styles and enjoying each day to the fullest.

So I hope this 'gift' I am giving myself is something you also enjoy! Speaking of enjoy,  I'm off to relish in the best part of my December-so-close-to-Christmas-birthday....feeding indulgences, and playing in some serious snow :) Enjoy the snow day!