Over the past week, I have discovered several interesting items in our mailbox. As per usual, the holiday season brings plenty of greeting cards and packages. What you see below is a mere sampling:

Tosca Reno (or more likely, her publicist) sent this festive card, which includes not only a reminder about her upcoming cookbook (Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook 2—due spring 2011) but also a rather fantastic recipe for apple cider.

The kind folks at Clif remembered my birthday and sent me a Clif bar in my favorite flavor (chocolate chip). Although my birthday is not for another 9 days (but who’s counting?), I plan on enjoying this treat ASAP.

Finally, these boxes from Harney & Sons arrived just this afternoon. Technically, they’re addressed to my parents but that doesn’t diminish my enthusiasm one bit. Dreams of tea fill my head…

What fun packages have you received this holiday season?

Now onto the grub!

I had hopes of running outside this morning, only to discover that our front steps were iced over—making it near impossible to even walk out to the street. Hence, it was an indoor exercise day. Once I finished my workout, I cooked up a big batch of pumpkin-banana oat bran.

Before heading to the dentist (eek!), I had a warm lunch featuring that fantastic light-in-sodium tomato soup. I added black beans and a few spices to give the soup some south-of-the-border flavor.( And yes, after eating I flossed for a good 20 minutes).

Dinner brought a culinary first for me in that it was my first time roasting beets. It was shockingly easy. A preparation tip for all: wear rubber gloves to peel the beets—it makes clean-up so much easier!

Alright, it’s just about snack time here, so I must bid you good night!

Filed under: Meals