Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Avocado Salad, Dessert HELP!

Hey guys :) Hope you're doing well today! Before I get to my day and dinner, I have a request: I am going to a dinner party on Saturday and I am in charge of dessert. I plan to make a few different items including a vegan option. I want to make small/individual desserts so people can grab and sample a few different desserts. Can you send me some of your favorite desserts?? I would REALLY appreciate it ;)

Onto my day! After work, I got laundry and some housework done and then taught Body Attack. I truly LOVE this class. If a gym near you offers Attack, give it a try and let me know what you think :)

Next, I ran to Whole Foods to pick up some more fruit and veggies for the week. By this time, it was already 7:30 and I was hunnnnngry! I picked up a pack of Brother's All Natural Pineapple Crisps. This package of freeze dried pineapple contains only 60 calories! It was the perfect little snack for the car ride home:

For dinner, I made another salad (I know...I'm getting pretty boring here haha). This one contained romaine, pinto beans, tomatoes, red and green pepper, yummy avocado (healthy fat!), tortilla flats, and salsa. It totally hit the spot.
For dessert, I had a big bowl of cantaloupe and some un-pictured almond butter (yayy for more healthy fat).
Do you guys use UrbanSpoon? It is one of my favorite websites to use to find new/unique restaurants in my area. Urbanspoon rocks!

Hope you have a good night ;)

40 comments:

Jennifer said...

Yummy salad!!!!

I love using Urbanspoon on my iphone, great way to find a new place to eat! esp the reviews :)

Anonymous said...

Easy recipe is to take a box of fudgy brownie mix (my favorite is Hershey's triple chocolate chunk) and then place pieces of mini reese's all over the batter once it's in the pan. Or rolos. Surprise brownies!!

Anonymous said...

What about little brownie bites? Or just little dates stuffed with a nut butter? Mini upside-down pineapple cakes baked in muffin tins? Mini cupcakes? mini rice krispie treats with fun toppings like chocolate drizzles and PB?

lynn said...

i feel like you can never go wrong with chocolate dipped fruit - especially strawberries!!!

Mandy said...

I always LOVE seeing your salad creations! They look so good! I never think they're boring!

By the way, thank you for your sweet comment! You made my day :)

I haven't heard of Urban Spoon!! Off to check it out now! Thank you!

I have been so nutso this week with having family in town and being out of town with the family this past weekend... tonight is the first night I've been able to breathe a bit! I'll try to think of some dessert options and if I can find something, I'll be back!! Can't wait to see what you find!

Anonymous said...

Deeelicious looking salad!

I'm still scared of Body Attack. It must be the word "attack" that intimidates me, haha. Not sure.

I need to check out urban spoon! Thanks for the tip!

Alison Can Read said...

Thanks for the urbanspoon info. They have links for the twin cities so I'll definitely check them out.

The pineapple crisps sound good.

Maria said...

I never get sick of salads!

Now onto dessert:) I made these black bottom coconut bars and everyone loved them, you can cut them into tiny squares.
http://lichtyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/black-bottom-coconut-bars.html

These chocolate toffee brownie bites are also really good:
http://lichtyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/special-treat.html

Coconut Lime snowballs are one of my most requested cookie, they are small too: http://lichtyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/holiday-baking-marathon.html

Oreo truffles are always a hit too:
http://lichtyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/snack-time.html

Ok, I will stop there. You know where to find me. I have tons of ideas. I bake for people all of the time:) You can also do a fruit platter, maybe include pieces of good dark chocolate on the tray. I also like to do chocolate dipped pretzel rods too, jazz them up with sprinkles/candies. You can dip dried fruit, marshmallows, cookies, etc. too.

Ok I am really stopping now:)

Anonymous said...

I haven't heard of Urban Spoon! I usually use Menu Pages, but I'm excited for a new site.

My favorite desset is dark chocolate, dried fruit and almond butter. Yum!

Leah said...

My fav desserts:
- Tiramisu
- Angel Food Cake
- Brownies
-Raw Vegan Brownie Bites (featured on KathEats.com from Angela at OhSheGlows.com)

ChickPea said...

Girl, please--your salads will never be boring to me...they always look enticing!

MareBare said...

my favorite dessert for summer is angel food cake (nonfat and tastes like angels made it) and fresh mixed berries. for a party you could cut into tiny squares and serve with fresh fruit! so refreshing and simple!!!

Yum Yucky said...

Yay! for cantaloupe. I've eating it every day this week.

Eve said...

I'm so boring with dessert - we either pick up from Magnolia Bakeshop or I serve fruit, sorbet or cookies. When I was little I baked all the time but now I prefer to put the time into the meal itself!!

Lauren said...

Salads make the best meals. You can become so creative and get in so many different flavors in one plate.

ohhh desserts! I have a big sweet tooth but it's usually just for fruit. I'm not huge into chocolate or baked goods but I have a slight obession with ice cream.
My all time favorite dessert that I eat almost every night is slightly thawed frozen fruit with some Tru Whip. It always hits the spot.

Peanut Butter Swirl said...

holy smokes girlie - your salad sounds SO good and summery :)

I don't have any recipes, but I really love when people bring an assortment of desserts, like cookies, brownies, etc.

Unknown said...

Here's my favorite dessert option lately: http://carrotsncake.com/2009/06/peanut-buttery-bars.html

They are great for everyone (except vegans) and you can do with chocolate and without!

Priyanka@thehealthydiary said...

Thanks for the Urbanspoon link, I did not know about it!!

The salad looks so good and I am sure the pineapple crisps taste fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I love those crisps from Brother's All Natural. They are amazing!

Great salad combination. Yes, I definitely use UrbanSpoon - it is fabulous :o)

I will try to think of a dessert for you, but I don't have too many recipes. My ultimate favorite is strawberry shortcake! It's good for summer, too.

Allie (Live Laugh Eat) said...

I've never heard of Urbanspoon but I'm checking it now!

I'll think of a dessert recipe and send it over your way.

Unpictured almond butter=story of my life :)

Have a great day, Erica!

Krista said...

Your salads are anything but boring!!!

How about mini cheesecakes?

Fitnessista said...

salads are never boring! :D
the pilot uses urbanspoon on his iphone and we love it- it gives us a lot of great ideas!
maybe try these black forrest tarts?
http://www.fitnessista.com/2009/04/my-future-holds-many-shrimp.html
they're super easy and everyone loves them :D
have a great day <3

Anonymous said...

looks like the perfect summer salad!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

I love the dried pineapple--perfect sweetness and crunch! I made these delicious(and cheap!)mini tarts awhile back for a college demo, and everyone went crazy over them!
Recipes here-->http://apinchofthisandadashofthat.blogspot.com/2009/02/recipes-revealed-food-for-thought.html
Pictures of them here-->http://apinchofthisandadashofthat.blogspot.com/2009/02/cooking-demosuccess.html

Anonymous said...

I love your salads!

Hmm...desserts- what about macaroon cookies in different flavours, filo tarts filled with berries and cashew "cream" or the avocado cocoa pudding floating around? Veggiegirl's stuff looks pretty fab too!

Ada said...

Yum, that salad looks delish! I could totally eat salad for dinner every day in this hot weather:)

I wish I could give you dessert ideas, but unfortunately I'm pretty bad in the dessert department. I usually just end up making homemade ice cream. The other day I made a pudding pie but instead of traditional pie crust I used multi grain rice krispies covered in dark chocolate. It turned out very well!!

K from ksgoodeats said...

That salad is not boring at all! It sounds fantastic!!

I loooooove Urbanspoon - I always have to check out restaurants before I eat there. Those kind of websites are a God send :)

Unknown said...

Hey there, you could make the mini strawberry cheesecake that I posted on www.Zesty.com or

http://alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/07/special-post.html

Good luck,

www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com

Rose said...

Thanks for the link to Urbanspoon. I've used it before - but have completely forgotten about it, so I'll check it out again!

I wish I had some dessert ideas, but I'm one of those boring always-only-makes-cookies people.

LK- Healthy Delicious said...

mini fruits tarts!! I bake them in cupcake tins, and they're so cute.

Juliana said...

How about carrot cake? Anyway, lovely salad...first time that I heard of Urban Spoon, will check it out.

Stacy said...

Totally love these two cookie recipes: http://delicioushealthy.blogspot.com/2009/06/vegan-cookies.html

Julie said...

I loveeee Urbanspoon!!

This is one of my favorite recipes and it's probably the easiest thing in the history of recipes.

all you need:
1 15oz can of canned pumpkin
1 box of Spice Cake

combine ingreeds, put in muffin tins, bake at 350 for like 10-15 minutes.
amaaayzing and makes the house smell delicious! and super healthy!

Diana said...

I haven't been on urbanspoon, but I am liking happycow.net because it gives a database of local veg/vegan restaurants and health food stores! They can be holes in the wall sometimes so the website is very helpful. :)

Ashley (Sweet & Natural) made Super Charge Me cookies for a get-together I attended last night, and they are definitely a reliable vegan treat! DELISH!

Dani said...

I just tried Body Attack on Monday night. I think I need to give it another shot, because I liked it, and it DID attack my body, but I felt like a dork because I didn't know half the "moves" they were doing. I'll let you know how I like it after a couple more classes.

Erica said...

Dani- I can't comment on your blog for some reason? Anyways- first off congrats on the wedding and the weight loss! You rock! SO glad you enjoyed Attack...it does take a few classes to get use to some of the moves (i.e. superman!) Keep at it and let me know how it goes

Erica said...

All- THANK you for the recipes...you freaking rock!

Lauren said...

I made swirled cheesecake bars for the 4th of July, which were tasty (obviously not a good choice for the vegan dessert!). You can find the recipe on my blog if you're interested :).

Alison said...

I just wanted to de lurk and say that I LOVE body attack! My gym only offers it twice a week, but due to my schedule, I only take it once. I call it my "saturday morning beating." It's an awesome workout and has really helped increase my endurance for running. I also take Combat and Pump, but I'm not a fan of Body Step. I tend to prefer more challanging step choreography.
I love your blog!

Diana said...

Hey Erica! Here's a couple links to great desserts for parties...

http://dianatakesabite.blogspot.com/2008/12/peanut-butter-and-chocolate-chip-rice.html

http://dianatakesabite.blogspot.com/2008/12/marshmallow-cookies-my-favorite-holiday.html