Party Day

Seems like DS’s b-day has run 4 days long! Gotta love being a kid, eh?! Today was the last day of DS-fest with his birthday party with 7 of his friends. He had decided last month that he wanted his party to be at the local glow in the dark mini golf place. I was a little nervous because we’ve been there as guests for parties before and they always seemed like a gong show to me. But the bash went off without a hitch and the kids had a blast. But first I fuelled with a wonderful bowl of oats.

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup flax seed porridge
• cinnamon
• Enjoy Life Foods trail mix
• splash of vanilla toffee coffee “creamer”

Nom, nom, nom! And before I forget, I enjoyed a mug of Bellagio hot chocolate last night while watching “the Reader”.

Anybody seen this movie? What did you think of it? My hubby went to watch a hockey game so I took the opportunity to watch it. It wasn’t terrible or anything like that….I just have a gut feeling that the book is MUCH better. Actually, I think I’m going to see if I can borrow it from the library.

Party time was from 12-2. The kids golfed and played some arcade games before diving into 3 boxes of pizza. I planned ahead with my lunch a packed a WW bagel stuffed with a LC cheese wedge, ham, lettuce and mango wasabi sauce:

I packed it up in this way cute Valentine’s Ziploc baggie:

I couldn’t resist these bags when I saw them at the dollar store. I’m such a dweeb! :) HA! I also snacked a some dried apricots and nuts as we were walking out the door.

Here are some shots of the golf course. It’s actually a pretty neat place and my new camera did a good job of taking pictures with the lighting…

Here’s DS at the air hockey table and doing the birthday cake thang;

And a close up of the cake. I’m sure you’ll all be shocked at the theme! :D

We were home and settled in by 3pm for some serious down time. I didn’t have to worry about cooking dinner because we had lots of leftovers to use up. I spent my time reading some magazine’s, reading some blogs, watching a few cooking shows and enjoying a pineapple flax muffin with a little chocolate honey spread on.

When we finally got around to supper I made the exact same as last night. Half a kabocha with some tomato sauce and Allegro cheese.

Who even needs lasagna? To me this tasted like the real deal! We went to my parents for a visit tonight where I munched on 2 chocolate chip cookies and sipped a tea. We were discussing how it’s just not fair that the weekend is only 2 days. We’re of the same opinion that it should be at least 3 days long. Yes? LOL! I wish.

This week is pretty booked up again. Here’s sneak peek.

• Monday: Dance and hockey practice
• Tuesday: Pilate’s
• Wednesday: swimming
• Thursday: skating lessons (DD) and a hockey game (DS)
• Friday: free so far

How’s your week shaping up?

Bye for now!!

A New Toy

Is everybody enjoying the weekend so far? Hope so!! My day included a little bit of hockey, a little bit of shopping and a little bit of relaxing. Nice. I went with a tropical themed breakfast this morning in an effort to banish the cold weather that we’ve been having.

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup Quaker oats
• cinnamon
• banana
• crushed pineapple
• dorset cereal
• shaved coconut

I had some time to chill before we needed to leave for hockey practice. It was nice to be able to sit around for a bit. I dropped the fam off at the rink and hit the grocery store to stock up on some items that the stores on my end of town don’t carry. By far the best deal was $1.00 Clif Bars! YEAH!

We got home from the rink around 1:30 which gave me enough time to whip up a quick lunch before heading out to the mall with DS to buy party supplies for tomorrow. I toasted a WW bagel and topped it with some Allegro cheese, egg whites and hot sauce. A few BBQ flavoured mini rice cakes also made it on my plate:

After we were done gathering mini sticks, balls, packs of gum, etc, I made my way to Blacks to purchase my new toy. And boy am I ever excited to use it! Let me introduce you to my brand new, shiny purple Canon Power Shot SD980 IS camera!!!

WAHOO! I used it for some random shots before I put it on the charger and so far it seems to take great pictures. I can’t wait to test it out in different situations.

The fam had lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner tonight. I went with 1/2 a roasted kabocha that was topped with tomato sauce, salt, pepper, parmesan and herb seasoning and grated Allegro cheese. I also had a small garden salad on the side that was dressed with some white balsamic vinegar and a tiny piece of garlic bread.

T’was a great meal!

So, today’s my Mom’s b-day and the ‘rents will be here soon. That means I must disconnect and get her present ready to go! I also have grab bags to assemble a little later on. What a Saturday night! ;)

Bye for now!!

A Free Friday

Now that it’s Friday, I can say that the week went fast. And I’m so glad the work week is done because there is nothing on the agenda for tonight except catching up on the magazine’s that have piled up on my table. So let’s get with the eats, shall we? :D

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup Quaker oats
• cinnamon
• crushed pineapple
• Sahale walnut snack mix

Here are some snacks that I enjoyed today…

The pineapple flax muffins turned out perfectly. They’re nice and big and filling…healthy, too!

I got all set to go to the gym today and had just started on the elliptical when a co worker came to get me because the school had called that DS needed his inhaler. CRAP! So off I went to the school. Thankfully my office, house and school are all on the same route so I was there pretty quick. DS doesn’t have asthma in the “traditional” sense. It’s more environmentally driven and his main symptoms are cough and tightness of the chest. Normally spring and fall are the worst for him, but extreme cold can trigger it, too. And it is COLD today! Minus 21*C (around 4*F) with the wind chill. YIKES! They had been out for recess when he started complaining. A few puffs later and he was a new man. :)

Back at work I warmed up my very last serving of 10 minute chicken and rice soup:

I also spread 2 Ryvita crackers with a LC cheese wedge and topped them with some red pepper strips.

I picked DD up right after work to deliver her to a b-day party. After eating pizza and cake the girls are going to see The Tooth Fairy”. She was pretty excited to go! Then I dropped half my pay cheque worth of money (just kidding…..maybe) off to DS’s power skating coach. While gone my hubby got dinner together.

Grilled turkey sausage, steamed veggies and I warmed up the chickpeas. In the centre of my plate is some Ted Readers peach bourbon sauce for dipping. Food always tastes better when someone else cooks it, eh? ;) I came across one of my favourite ever chocolate bars on top of the fridge after eating.

Not sure if I was suppose to touch it, but I cut that baby in half and savoured each delicious bite.

My boys are currently watching one of Don Cherry Rock’em Sock’em videos. Man, some of those hits are outrageous! I told DS that when (if) he gets to a level of hockey where that kind of hitting takes place I won’t be able to watch. I think my head will be stuck in my hands the whole time! *shiver*

So, what crazy, wonderful plans does everyone have for the weekend? Mine will be fairly low key. DS has a 2 hour practice tomorrow and then we’ll go to the store to get grab bag goodies for his glow in the dark mini golf party on Sunday. Should be blasty!

Bye for now!!

Pip Squeak Turns 8!

So today my little munchkin turned 8 years old. Holy cow!! Really, I can’t figure out where the heck 8 years went. It’s all just a blur to me. Here are “before and after” pictures:
LOL! He sure has grown up on me. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, baby cakes!! He likes to read my comments so why not drop him a line?

DS started out the day at 5am in order to be on the ice for 6. That meant I was at the rink for 7. Fun times. I promised him breakfast out afterwards so I made a big tea to go and munched on a few cashews to tie me over. We ended up at a diner that was half way between the rink and their school for some eats. I actually had a really good meal! I ordered a 3 egg white omelette that was stuffed with tomato, feta and spinach. Potatoes and WW toasted rounded out the dish;
I normally don’t like hash browns but these were fab! I ate a good half of what you see plus 2 pieces of the toast with my eggs. Very satisfying indeed.

I didn’t start to get hungry until about 4ish hours later. That’s when I pulled out some nuts:
The gym was in use today for yoga so I took the opportunity to run to the bakery and get DS’s b-day cake ordered for his party on Sunday. He asked for a hockey themed one. Big shocker there! HA! Then I went home to grab a little lunch.
The rest of last nights quinoa and chickpeas with some freshly grated parm on top. Here’s what I ate for an afternoon snack:
That’s a decaf coffee there from Tim’s…

We had a “grab a leftover” from the fridge type of dinner because DD had skating lessons which start at 5:30 and I work until 4:30 this week. My hubby ended up taking her because he had a pick up to make on that side of town. That was a nice treat. For my meal I toasted a WW Ezekiel muffin and topped it with a LC cheese wedge, pomegranate jelly and egg whites. There was also some broc on the side:

Once the dishes were cleaned up I set out to make some muffins. I’ve been wanting to bake something for quite sometime but haven’t been home enough! Ha! Here’s the recipe:

Pineapple Flax Muffins

• 1 cup of oat bran
• 1/2 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1.25 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1 cup crushed pineapple with juice
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1.5 cups WW flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl combine first 7 ingredients
2. Allow to sit while mixing last 3 dry ingredients
3. Mix dry into wet until just combined
4. Stir walnuts in
5. Divide into 12 greased muffin cup
6. Bake 25 minutes at 350*

Bye for now!!

Cheer Gear

How’s your Wednesday been?? Mine’s been pretty good. And a BIG welcome to all the new readers lately!! HI! :D The kids were up dressed and groomed before I even got out of bed which meant I had the bathroom all to myself this morning. Happy times! I also indulged in a sweet breakfast AKA no fruit was in sight…
-1 cup water
-1/3 cup Quaker oats
-cinnamon
-almond butter
-carob chips
-walnuts
I enjoyed this while DS read me a story about a little boy named Hickory who lost his tooth. Gotta love school work. LOL!!

Work zipped along today. It helps that we’re entering our busy time frame. I work MUCH better not only with a schedule, but under pressure. Without deadlines I tend to be a slacker. Hehe…

Time for snacks of the day:
I decided to take a nice walk on the treadmill today. I think my joints are thanking me for it! I walked at 4.1mph with 6% incline.

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 140
Max Hr: 155
Calories Torched: 359
Distance: 3 miles

I brought another bowl of my 10 minute rice & chicken soup for lunch today.
It’s one tough meal to get a good picture of!! I also packed some tomato & basil Triscuits for dipping…

The kids had swimming tonight but it was nothing that we had to rush about for. The fam had chicken for dinner, but I went with a quinoa dish and steamed broccoli:

I simply mixed the quinoa with 1/2 a cup of chickpeas and 1/2 a chopped red pepper. Then I sprinkled some parsley on top. Simple yet delicious.

Before I go, my Lululemon Cheer Gear tee and pin that I ordered online last week arrived! Check it out…

Hockey? Who, me? LOL! My hubby felt the need to add his two cents by letting me know that he thinks the Lulu symbol resembles a ‘60’s hairdo. HA!

Bye for now!!

On The Road

I’ve been wanting a new pair of gloves/mitts and really wanted to get myself a pair of the Winter Olympic ones. I gave up trying to find a pair and bought these very warm Thinsulates as a consolation:

At least they’re the right colours, right? You can imagine my surprise when I popped over to visit Marianne this morning and realized that she’s giving away a pair of the exact mitts I want! :D Why don’t you head on over there to check them out??? :D

I went into work early today so that I could leave early for our road trip. This meant microwave oats.
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup Quaker oats
-cinnamon
-blueberries
-trail mix
-cappuccino agave

Work went kinda slowly today. I’m sure it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about all that I had to do when I left there! See, DS had an out of town hockey game which we needed to be at for 5:30. It takes 1.25hrs to get there meaning we had to leave town by 4:15. I worked until 4pm. ‘nuff said! Here are my snacks for the day:
The Clif bar was courtesy of Allie. She very thoughtfully sent me the 3 flavours she knows we don’t get here! :D

I managed to snag the elliptical at lunch today. Rumour has it that we’re getting a second one. YAY! I was talking to a co worker today and she brought up a valid point regarding the aches and pains I’ve been experiencing in my hips, knees and ankles. I’ve been spending loads of time in hockey rinks this winter which means my body has been exposed to cold, damp conditions for the past 5 months. Definitely more than what I’m used to. It would stand to reason, IMO, that this is probably not the best environment to be continually exposed to. Now remember, I’m just a spectator. I’m sure those that are actually moving and breaking a sweat in the cold are just fine…

Time: 45 minutes
Avg: Hr: 150
Max Hr: 174
Calories Torched: 397
Distance: 4.9 miles

For once I did not bring leftover dinner for lunch.. I found a container in the fridge that had some quinoa stew in it so I packed that up with an Ezekiel English muffin. When lunch rolled around I toasted the muffin, added a wee bit of butter and topped it with the stew:
Mmmmm! Talk about rib sticking!

We left the house at 4:10 and one pit stop to Subway later, we were on our way. I got a 6” WW turkey, ham & Swiss with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, cucumbers, black olives and sweet onion sauce:

The drive was uneventful and we were there in good time. Good thing too because a few of us went to the wrong rink! :/ Meh, it all worked out! The boys lost again. I must admit that it’s getting a bit frustrating. Oh, well…only a few more games to go. I just slurped up a smoothie made with 1 cup of peach slices (from frozen), 1 cup of kefir and 1 tbsp of honey. I didn’t take a picture because I knew the flash would ruin it. BTW, I’m using DD’s camera for now. Takes pretty decent photos, eh??? Thanks for all your suggestions on cameras. I’ll definitely be checking them out…

Bye for now!!