Thursday, February 11, 2010

Bar Review and Valentine Day Treats

I had another great sleep last night. That’s 2 in a row! Go me! Actually, the whole day was super productive which leaves me feeling satisfied. I revisited an old favourite for breakfast this morning: IMG_0241
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup Quaker oats
-cinnamon
-chocolate PB2
-carob chips & walnut pieces IMG_0240
I lapped this up with pleasure! :D

I ate a Sencha Green Tea Bar in “Morning Lychee” this a.m. before hitting the gym: IMG_0244
THOUGHTS:
-at first I was very hesitant because I’ve never tried a lychee fruit before and the smell kinda threw me off. I couldn’t quite place it, but it reminded me of some type of alcohol. Not gonna lie, the first bite threw me off, too because it tasted boozy!! But I’m a champ and kept at it. After a few more bites the taste really grew on me. The packaging states “a tropical fusion of lychee berries & sweet coconut”, IMG_0246 I couldn’t taste any coconut at all which was a bit disappointing.
-I love the texture of these bars. They’re chewy like a rice crispy square, but there are loads of seeds to give it a great consistency.
-They’re 220 calories but a good size bar so I feel it’s totally worth it. Because they are thicker and denser than a lot of bars, they take awhile to eat so there’s no rushing through it. IMG_0245 And they are gluten & wheat free which I appreciate even though I don’t have issues surrounding those ingredients.
-1 bar = 3 cups of green tea. Enough said.

RATING: 4/5
**NOTE: This bar was not sent to me for review. I bought them myself to try. See here for my thoughts on the “lively lemongrass” flavour.

The gym was awesome today! I decided to run and did I ever show that treadmill whose boss. BOOYA!

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 164
Max Hr: 193
Calories Torched: 501 (!!)
Distance: 4.4 miles

That is hands down the best run I’ve had in a long time; since at least before Christmas. I got into a groove early on and never looked back.

I packed myself a serving of quinoa stew for lunch today: IMG_0247
I always add a little hot water before heating my (thawed) frozen foods in the microwave. It helps to loosen the mix up a bit so it’s not like a glob of paste in my mouth. LOL! I also found a box of cute cookies in the staff kitchen so I helped myself to one: IMG_0248
This was SO freaking good! The base was cracker-like and the chocolate topping was filled with caramel. SO worth it!!!

Just before quitting time I ate a pink grapefruit that I butchered cut up this morning. IMG_0253
Grapefruits are something I’ve always loved, but I hate the pith on any citrus and I find this in particular to be the worst culprit. Cutting and sectioning the fruit, while a pain in the ass, eliminates this problem for me. Oh…I’ve still been eating way to many of these: IMG_0242

My hubby and I put a Valentine’s order in with one of our local high school’s (CHSS) bakery for some treats. This particular school is a trade school so it’s the students that make and decorate all the food. I always support them come “special occasions” such as V-day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc and have never been disappointed with the product. Take a look at this stash that landed at my desk this aft! IMG_0249
This is a 4 layer chocolate/banana cake with chocolate ganache. My hubby ordered 2. Yes, you read that right…2! Next is 6 dozen cookies. IMG_0251

One dozen is my hub’s, the other 5 are for the kids classes. Read on to see what we did with those.

I popped a roast in the crock pot this morning because the boys were on the ice at 4:30 and DD had skating lessons at 5:20. Us gals ate first. Along with my meat I ate a few potatoes that were also in the crock and some mixed veggies: IMG_0254

Once back home the kids and I assembled their Valentines using a cookie, some chocolate and v-day baggies. Here are a few of them….

IMG_0255

So right now I’m in the middle of baking mini muffins for a “coffee break” my department is hosting at work tomorrow. I used this recipe for blueberry chia muffins and replaced the blueberries with cinnamon chips. I doubled the recipe but only have 1 mini muffin baking tin so the second batch is still in the oven. I’ll take a picture of the finished product for tomorrow’s post.

Needless to say, I’m feeling pretty exhausted right now. I plan on making a tea and settling in to watch Vampire Diaries. The only kind of candy I want right now is eye candy!! ;)

Bye for now!!

11 comments:

  1. Wow! Now that is a packed day! I love that you place the treat order with the local trade school- just awesome! And the treats look delicious - perfect for the kids classes. I love your tip about adding the water to your stew/chilis before cooking- what a great idea. Enjoy some relaxing and I hope you get a THIRD good night of sleep in a row

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  2. Sold! At banana cake. You are going to have to let us know how good it is. Sounds A-mazing!

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  3. The treats look amazing!!!

    The lychee bar sounds good. I have never eaten a fresh lychee fruit, but I have eaten it in things, and I know what you mean by the taste being "different." But I like it.

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  4. a boozy bar?! hehehe...that's kinda funny!

    and i love the look and flavors of that cake! sounds yummy!

    the cookie goodie bag idea is cute! makes me want to be young again and do valentines!

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  5. whoa whoa busy day!..That cake sounds amazing and cute vday bags for the kidlets as well :)

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  6. glad that you had good sleep... it's extremely important to have a productive and positive day!!!
    your hubby is so sweet to order cakes and cookies! Lovely~~~ How will you celebrate it?

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  7. I've heard of lychee fruit before--sounds like it definitely has a unique taste! Looks like a lot of sweet treats were floating around you! That cake sounds to die for!! I love anything banana flavored and pairing it with chocolate makes it 10 times better!

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  8. i've never had a carob chip? What is it?

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  9. What a great kiddie valentine's ! im sure your kiddos are going to be quite popular when handing those out.

    its so great that you support the local highschool kids! i wish i could find something like that here, instead of buying over priced bakery cakes and those scary premade chemical cakes!

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  10. holy valentines day treats! all those goodies would be in so much trouble at my house i wouldnt be able to resist!

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  11. I think you should have a banana cake giveaway ;) It looks amazing! I'll have to look for those bars...

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