My Wallet is Calling S.O.S!!!

It was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, ladies and gents! What's a girl to do with all this sunshine...especially when they are called for freezing temps and snow tomorrow? Shop, of course! But first, my snack last night. I really wanted to spread my homemade PB on something and remembered that I still had some chocolate banana cake in the fridge. Chocolate, banana and PB? Hell, yes!

I knew right away that this same flavour combo was going to be appearing again in my breakfast!

When I got up this morning I spent some time on the computer before eating. I realized that on the weekends I was eating as soon as I got up whether or not I was hungry. Through the week I'm up at least one hour before I actually eat and by then I'm ready for some food. I obviously don't need to shower and get made up right away Sat and Sun so I dodn't have that hour to let myself get hungry. That left me feeling quite bloated for most of the day. This new weekend routine has been working well. Goes to show that it pays to listen to your body and not just eat because it's a certain time or routine. Okay, enough of that and on to the food!!
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup Quaker oats
-1 tsp cocoa powder
-mashed banana
-1 tbsp PB
-a few peanuts for garnish
SO. GOOD!!! This bowl tasted exactly like I was going for!! Looky at who I caught where he's not suppose to be! This baby is one tough customer to crack in the manners department!
I let my meal settle for a good half hour and then popped in my 30 Day Shred to get (hopefully) buff. I'm still a wee bit sore but nothing compared to yesterday's pain! One thing I really noticed is that I'm a total weakling when it comes to the push ups....and I can only do the girly push ups at that. My hubby found thos quite amusing but I didn't see him down there hammering any out either! *WINK*!! I ate my last 3 dried apricots when I was done just because....
The boys left for hockey and once I was done showering and getting all pretty, DD and I took off to do some errands while the boys were gone. This is where my wallet's pain begins! First we stopped off at Market Fresh to grab another jar of Creamy Coconut Spread for Marianne because her's broke on it's cross country journey. (Don't worry, Marianne! This next one is swathed in lots of bubble wrap!!) At first I thought they were sold out because they weren't in the usual spot, but the manager told me that had moved them to the dessert case. Here comes the bad news! The company has decided not to ship to Canada anymore! BOO!!! I was told that they were going to reduce the remaining stock on Monday so I could have the sale price which was $1.50 off. So, I snapped up 4 jars! 2 plain, 1 with caramel and 1 with strawberry. I have travel plans for the other coconut one and we'll see about the other 2! next up was the fancy grocery store all the way across town where I picked up another bag of carob chips, some other items destined to travel and this package of frozen steel cut oats which I have never seen before!
The stats were pretty decent, too!
DD suckered me into a small bag of Cadbury Easter eggs. These were dark chocolate and we split the contents so what you see is what I ate. Love these guys!
It was pushing 1pm and DD was hungry for lunch so we went home and got there just before the boys. I made myself an egg white sammie on a Pita Break with some deli turkey, a LC cheese wedge and some fig preserves. Divine!
I also ate some fresh fruit on the side and some unpictured carob chips.
After lunch we made our way over to St. Jacob's to do some more shopping. I bought a few really nice things for the house which I will photograph as soon as my hubby hangs them up for me. I also came across a demo for this avocado oil...
The flavour was very light and unassuming and is actually better for you than oil oil. Dude even put a drip on my very dry hand skin and it absorbed right away leaving my hand smooth as silk! You can even add a bit to your shampoo if you feel the urge! Here is some of the info from the pamphlet that came with it. Hope you can all see it OK!

Our last stop before leaving was at the ice cream store for the kids. They make their own chocolate and candy at this place too and I snagged a container of "leftover chocolate pizza toppings" for 2 bucks!
This is most definitely something I should have left in the store but I couldn't stop thinking that it would be a tasty topping for my oats as a treat once in awhile! I hid the container on the top shelf, out of sight as soon as we got back!!!

I was ahead of the game for dinner because I had put a roast in the crock pot this morning so all I had to do was prepare some sides. We had steamed green beans and roasted sweet potatoes which I used my new oil on. They turned out wonderful if I do say so myself! Here's my plate!
No sweet end for me! We are off to my parents and Mom always puts out my favourite chocolate chip cookies. I definitely spent more money than usual today, but I love everything I bought so there's no regrets!!! Ahhh...retail therapy! When we get home I will be watching the Amazing Race and then doing another round of Shred! Have a good night!!

Bye for now!!

Speedy Monday

I surprisingly had no trouble getting out of bed this morning! I was a little worried because it was after midnight before I fell asleep. I got up just before 7am and it was already light outside. This is making me ponder the idea of getting up earlier and heading out for a morning run seeing as my hubby is on afternoons for the next 2 weeks. I ran that route I did twice last week through Map My Run again and it came up as 2.5 miles this time. I didn’t think it was 3 miles! I must’ve hit a wrong button last time I tracked it. I’m thinking that if I do that first thing, then another 3 miles or so at the gym I would have some time left over to devote to some much needed strength training. We’ll see! Anyways, here’s my eats!!

-1 cup water

-1/2 cup Old Wessex 5 Grain cereal (my last tin)
-mashed banana
-1 tbsp PB2
-sprinkle of chopped pecans

Nothing like a good ole bowl of PB and banana to feed my empty tummy!!! I really liked the PB2 mixed in the oats rather then in a glob on top. :)

The morning flew by at mock speed! Monday’s are usually the fastest day of the week for me, but coming back after a week off made it that much quicker! I nibbled on these Parnoosh dates throughout the morning. Not because I was hungry, I just needed something to chew on and I figure they’ve got to be better than candy (even though they taste like it!)

I’m on 12:30 lunch this week and was very eager to get back in the gym. I good run was definitely in order today! Stats;

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 174
Max Hr: 184
Calories Burned: 493
Distance: 4.73 miles

Phew! Today’s run was T-O-U-G-H!!!! I’m still not 100% sure why, but probably because I was only out running 3 times last week. I almost went sown to a walk a few times, but managed to trick myself in to running the whole thing! I should mention that I always do a 2 minutes warm up walk and 1 minute cool down walk with my runs.

I brought a container of leftover butter chicken and veggies for my lunch today. This was such a simple, flavourful dish! I’m glad I made it!!

I was thinking as I was eating this today that you could turn it into a great vegetarian dish by using vegetable stock and chickpeas. Hmmm…I think I’m gonna try that! :) I also ate some pineapple and strawberries for lunch.

When I announced the winner's of the baking contest, I didn't link to Sarah's blog! Here is her site... Running For Chocolate.com! Sarah's winning recipe was the Black & White Chipper's and they have been a HUGE hit! I brought 16 to work today and "sold" them for $0.25/each. They were gone in an hour!! I bet she'd be happy to share the recipe with anyone wanting it! :)

After Pilate's, but before picking the kids up and getting gas, I snacked on a blood orange and a piece of sweet potato oatmeal bread. I ate the bread while driving, so no photo!
While paying for gas I noticed they had a 7-11-like coffee bar set up so I sauntered over to check it out. I ended up walking out with a small (12oz) 1/2 decaf, 1/2 caramel cup cocoa.
This ended up being my sweet end. Back tracking a bit to dinner, I made my old stand by egg beaters-laughing cow cheese wedge-Sabra hummus on a Pita Break thin sandwich. On the side was some steamed broccoli with a bit of salt on it.
I wasn't exactly hungry. I pretty much spoiled my dinner with my snacking, but at least they were healthy snacks!! I had to get something in my belly, though or I'd pay for it later with a bit of binge eating. I know me well....hehe!! :)

Well, lovelies, I'm off to prepare lunches/back packs for the morning and help DS with his reading. Next will be beddy bye time for the kidlets and relaxing time for mama bear! I'm debating on what to pack for my lunch tomorrow. Maybe a big salad to use up some "on their last legs" veggies. Sounds good to me!! Hope you all enjoy the evening...

Bye for now!!

Hope You Have A While!

PHEW! What a great day we had yesterday! The weather was much too beautiful for me to be sitting inside all day! I'll try to make this post as picture heavy and text light as possible! Let's start with my Saturday night snack, shall we? :) Because I drank my green monster in the afternoon, I decided to have an orange and a Weetabix biscuit with the last of my Dark Chocolate Dreams PB on it....
This is my favourite way to eat Weetabix! The orange was dried out in spots which made it just blah. I had bought a big bag of oranges and this is one of the few left. Hope the others are OK!

Sunday morning I got up and showered right away because I knew it was gonna be a busy one. I made a delicious bowl of oat bran before we went out to the farm...
-1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze
-1/3 cup oat bran
-cinnamon
-1/2 mashed banana
-2 Tbsp egg whites
-sprinkle of carob chips and chopped pecans
Holy cow this was so good!!!

We left the farm a little earlier than usual because DS had his last hockey game of the season at 12:30. The kids ate their lunch before we left and I packed this Peanut Toffee Buzz Clif Bar to eat while at the game.
This flavour was another winner in my books!!! I'm always amazed at how satisfied the Clif Bars leave me. If it wasn't for the treat I'm about to tell you about, my hunger would've been kept at bay until dinner time!

So, treat, yes. We were a tad early for the game so I asked my hubby to stop at the store so I could buy those almonds. On my way back to the bulk sections, I came across the freezer bin full of the Cravings cheesecakes that I like so much. AND there was a new kind in there! Chocolate macaroon!!!
You know I just had to dig into one of those mid afternoon!!
Scrumptious!! I haven't had a chocolate macaroon in AGES! And this was only 110 calories for a good 1/3 cup. I'm in love! :)

DD went home with my parents after the game so after we were all snacked up, my hubby and I went for a walk while DS road his bike. That kids loves his bike rides, I tell ya!! We stopped at a park for a bit so he could play. I was surprised that the dirt was as dry as it was! Here is is getting ready to go down the slide!
When we got back I brought a chair and my book on the deck and squeezed in some reading time with my new Stpehen King book...The Duma Key. King is one of my all time favourite authors so I got right into it! I also let Pepper out on the deck for his first taste of spring. He was a little apprehensive at first, but quickly started to enjoy it!
Just before we left for my parents place for dinner, I decided it was time to try my hand at homemade almond butter. I ended up with just under a pound of almonds to start with.This is after about 5 minutes...And after 10ish minutes I finally had some spreadable butter!!! YAY!
I had some on a Triscut cracker immediately!It was warm from being in the food processor and OH, so good!! I packed it into some jars...
And brought the smaller of the 2 to my Mom's for her and my sister. I can't say it was a whole lot cheaper than that bought almond butter, but there certainly is some satisfaction in knowing that I made it myself!!

I started my birthday dinner out with a big serving of salad and a WW bun with a smear of butter.
Mom had made lasagna, but I can not eat pasta for dinner or I feel awful for the rest of the night. Round 2 was steak, sweet potatoes and asparagus. I declined the roasted potatoes as I'm not a fan.
Betty Crocker and my sister teamed up to make a marble cake which I ate with a scoop of Heavenly Hash.
My sister got me a neat little cookbook and some spa potions and lotions in a mango scent! can't wait to try the products out! :)

Check out my parents cat, Sinjin. She is 15 I think, and will shake a paw and do high 5's for treats! Here she is doing a high 5!
Eye on the prize, eye on the prize! :)

I had to fast for 12hrs so I could go get my blood work done first thing this morning. Before the clock struck 8pm, I munched on an apple with some of my homemade almond butter.
I wasn't exactly hungry for this but I knew if I didn't eat something, I'd be starving before bed which would equal a really crappy sleep!

So here we are at today, Monday and my birthday!! Happy Birthday to me! I can now officially say that I'm in my mid 30's, but I won't! :)

As I said, I started the day off with blood work so I couldn't eat breakfast right away. Surprisingly, I wasn't even hungry until we got home at 9 and I started getting the kids some food. Good thing, I guess!! I thawed out my last portion of Apple Pie Crock Pot oats and topped them with raisins and French vanilla International Delight coffee creamer once hot.
I started to get caught up on blog related things after breakfast, but once it settled I decided I wanted to go for a run...outside! I got the kids ready, packed up their bikes in the van and off we went. Ugh...it ended up being a DISASTER! The first trail we went to was still snowy and icy. Each kid wiped out once so we turned back and drove to another trail. This one was much better but still pretty wet. DS has no gears on his bike and kept up with me just fine. DD on the other hand was MISERABLE...and she has gears!!! She huffed and puffed and cried the whole 40 minutes and I was truly ready to just leave her there. Such a shame because the weather was fabulous and I felt really good! Somehow, I managed to get some pretty good stats out of it all.

Time: 40 minutes (of hell)
Avg Hr: 163
Max Hr: 183
Calories Burned: 376

I have no idea what the distance was because the trail was not marked as far as I could see. Next time, I'll go alone and pay more attention to the signs! And if I have to take the kids with me, I'll be sure to stick to the sidewalks!! When we got home, we had to strip out of our muddy clothes so I could throw them right into the machine. DD didn't come back down and when I went to check on her she was out like a light! when I woke her up for lunch, she informed me that she had been up since 6am. That sure shed some like on her crankiness at the trail! Here's a goofy picture DD took of me before we tried out the first trail...
I really need to invest in some better running gear! :)

For my lunch I toasted up 2 Dr. Praeger Sweet potato pancakes and sandwiched them between a Pita Break thin, Sabra jalapeno hummus, a laughing cow cheese wedge and some romaine lettuce.
This turned out to be a very good combination! I also ate 2 unpictured dates with homemade almond butter. As a treat later in the afternoon I drank a cup of dark hot chocolate...
Don't fret....that big mug was only 3/4 full! :)

I really just lazed around the rest of the afternoon (which was really only 1.5hrs) watching TV. My hubby came home from work with just enough time for me to get to Pilate's at 5. It was at this point that I realized that I had put my brand spanking new ipod through the washer and dryer when I did our muddy clothes after my run. Oh, yes....Krista is smart now that she's a year older. BLAH!!! Ruined my class because that's all I could thing about. I did come home to a surprise dinner, though which cheered me up some! My hubby & kids went out and got me a mango salad from my favourite Thai restaurant!
Yum, yum, yum!! I love this dish!! I finished my meal off with a piece of pumpkin loaf with a puddle of maple cappuccino sauce on top.
The sauce soaked into the loaf and filled it with gooey goodness! This is the suce that I used:
After dinner we drove over to Walmart and I bought myself a new ipod. My head is hanging in embarrassment. Too bad I can't really kick my own ass! :) Anywho, it's a little later than usual here and I must be off to spend some time with the fam before the kids go to bed. If you've read right through this monster post, I congratulate you!!

Around Blogland:

Jenn at Eating Bender is hosting a really cool contest for her 1st "blogiversary!" You don't want to miss it!! And remember to Get Us Baking and Win!!!

Bye for now!!