Snow & Rain...What Season is It?

Sometime during the night the snow Gods must’ve opened the snow gates because did I ever wake up to white stuff! And LOTS of it! Even the kids were amazed. It certainly looks like December and I don’t think we’re in any danger of a green Christmas in these parts this year!!

I gave my gingerbread oats another try this morning and think I got it just right this time!


Gingerbread Oats

-1 cup water
-1/2 McCann’s Irish oats (the quick cooking kind)
-1 tsp each ground ginger and cinnamon
-2 Tbsp molasses
-1 tsp agave
-red and green sprinkles (for decoration!)

*bring water, spices & molasses to a boil
*add oats and cook until liquid has absorbed
*once in your favorite bowl, drizzle with agave and top with sprinkles!


Easy and delectable! Pretty, too!

The Christmas Concert last night was a hit! I really liked the fact that they didn’t sing any traditional carols. Each song was super fun and up beat which I think is a great idea for the kids. They all had a really good time performing for a VERY large crowd! The church was packed by 6:45pm and Mom, my hubby and I actually ended up standing (with others, of course) because all the pews were full! In hindsight, standing actually gave us a much better view!

I was hungry a lot sooner than usual for some reason this morning so I ate a piece of gingerbread around 10:30 or so. Seemed to do the trick because I didn’t get to lunch until 1:45pm!


My run today was kinda blah. I really wasn’t feeling it and almost didn’t even go home to do it, but I preserved and got it done. The snow turned into rain and the roads were absolute mush. I can’t wait for the office gym to open back up!

On to lunch, I had leftover chicken stir fry and couscous from last night.


Bet you’re all very surprised to see that today, eh?! And a Ferraro Roche for dessert. I <3 style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUQSRjleZIa0TP8jx7vnObwaE5GZiNX5PGOSMXZoLv3AOm8sVAoZsubuA6jBvdm_672x2wQD-_qbkpLrcO6-KdstfP7g_boXcK9-dpoY0BMo89RR896yearlMyIZbrfZS70xZs_rsurA/s400/choco.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277896299376693410" border="0">I also snacked on some grapes and kiwi throughout the afternoon.


Nothing very exciting happened at work today. December is a busy month for us so I’ve been keeping pretty busy. Good thing, too! Nothing sucks more than being slow at work….the clock never seems to move on those days!

**UGLY PICTURE ALERT!!** I give you fair warning that my dinner looks absolutely horrid....but it was delish! I had this tuna....


with a side of baked acorn squash and kale chips.


It matter not what I did. There was no getting a nice shot of this meal! My sweet end was a chocolate chip All Bran bar. I'm off to watch videos with DD(I promised) and then I'm going to bake my peppermint BSI recipe to submit tomorrow. By then, Biggest Loser should be ready to start! Looks like my night is all planned out! I'm going to try to get some blog reading done somewhere in there, too. I haven't had much time for commenting, but I promise I'm reading them all!

Bye for now!!

A Clean(er) Eating Day & Co-Worker Cookie Recipe

After yesterday’s chocolate over indulgence, I decided that I really needed to eat cleaner, healthier food today because I am suffering a serious food hangover today! I slept in until almost 9am (holy moly) and wasn’t even hungry when I did get up. UGH! I seriously can’t remember the last time I ate a chocolate bar all to myself, but I think I must’ve had almost 2 over the course of yesterday. My system is most definitely NOT use to that anymore. I did get
on the treadmill for a 45 minute run last night (2 min warm up walk, 35 min run, 3 min cool down walk) for a grand total of 4 miles. For that, I am proud!

On to breakfast. I made a nice, simple bowl of oats this morning and it was just what I needed!

-1 cup water
-1/2 cup Old Wessex 5-Grain cereal
-1 tsp pumpkin spice coffee powder
-1/4 cup Enjoy Life Foods cranapple granola



SO satisfying! After breakfast, I caught up on my blog reading while sipping a bottle of water. Looking back, at this point I was avoiding my Saturday chores like the plague! Procrastinating worked in my favor this time because by the time I got downstairs, my hubby had already started on the vacuuming! Yipee! That freed me up to do the other chores.

Early in the afternoon I took DD to see High School Musical 3. Very well done. It was my favorite of the three, and yes, I’ve seen 1 & 2 many, many times! The show started at 12:35 and I wasn’t ready for lunch before we left so I packed it to go and smuggled it in the theatre in my purse! I made an Ezekiel 4:9 English muffin with a Laughing Cow cheese wedge and some apricot jam.



I also packed some carrots sticks and two little treat bags.



After the movie we hit the store to do the groceries. The place was packed and by the time we were done, I was exhausted and just wanted to get home to relax with a cup of tea. And yes, when I came home I savored 3 mini chocolate bars.



I’ve put everything away so that when I settle I to watch TV later, they’re out of sight. Thank goodness I can take or leave the chips and candy. Man, I’d be in trouble if ALL of it appealed to me!

Dinner tonight was the second half of my stuffed squash from the other day.



Still good and VERY filling! Must be all that fiber!

No sweet end tonight. I was too full. If I start to hear the treat bag call me later, I plan on munching on a piece of pumpkin baked oatmeal.

After many request for my co-workers cookie recipe, I finally got it! This shows the ingredients for the original recipe which came out of a Tosca Reno cookbook and D's ingredients for a slimmed down version. Both are great and very filling! One of these cookies and a yogurt or fruit would be filling enough for me for lunch! Enjoy!

Original and Calorie reduced version of

Grandmothers Favorite Oatmeal Cookies



Ingredients

2 2/3 cups unsalted olive-oil margarine
2 cups packed brown sugar
3 lrg omega eggs
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp sea salt
8 cups old fashioned rolled oats
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup dark raisins
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts


Calorie Reduced

2 2/3 cups unsalted olive oil margarine
2 cups sucanat
1 lrg omega egg and 1/3 cup egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla
3 tbsp honey
1 ½ tsp sea salt
8 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour plus
3 cups whole Wheat flour
2 cups natural dried fruit, nut & seed mix



Preheat over to 350*. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the margarine and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs, honey, vanilla and sea salt until smooth and creamy. Using large wooden spatula or hands; work in the flour and oats until well combined. Add raisin/nuts until evenly distributed. Let batter sit for apprx. 15 minutes before rolling into desired cookie size. Press flat with hands and place on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes or until as brown as you desire. Will make minimum of 35 large 3” cookies.
Nutritional information per cookie:

Original: 471 calories, 6g protein, 27g fat and 52g carbs

Reduced: 285 calories, 4g protein, 18g fat and 35g carbs

**Note about these cookies: Can be used as a natural granola bar replacement . They are very filling and satisfying, will hold off the hunger cravings for hours. For an added fiber fill up you can sprinkle flaxseeds, wheat germ or bran into cookie mixture and it will not take away from the natural taste. ( I would add 1 more tbsp of honey if you are adding more fibre).**


Overall, I had a MUCH better day where food is concerned. Chocolate was definitely a conscious treat today as opposed to just stuffing it in my yapper. And that, my friends, makes all the difference to me on whether or not I'm going to feel "guilty" about it.

I'm off to watch some tube and finish reading my book. It's shaping up to be a relaxing night!

Bye for now!

A Busy One

Look what I woke up to today!



Now, I know it’s just a dusting, but only an hour and a half away they had 15cm!! YIKES! That’s just too close for comfort. They’re still calling for warming temps on Friday, though.

Breakie was a simple but good one today. I just felt like something more traditional in my bowl for some reason.



-1 cup water
-1/2 cup Old Wessex 5-Grain cereal
-1/2 a banana, mashed
-1/4 cup Sahale snack mix, walnut



Extremely tasty and crunchy! I ran out of cinnamon last night and I did miss that. I love my cinnamon! This kept my going for 5.5 hrs! Killer fuel!

I must say that I am so disgusted with the blue team on The Biggest Loser that at one point during the show last night I got up to bake a little something. Anyone out these following the show feel the same?? Anyways, I’m out of WW flour, so I dug out this recipe from halfmysize.com. Check out the original recipe. I did a few ingredient swaps. Here’s my adaptation:

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

-1 cup dry oatmeal
-1 cup oatbran
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup unsweetened almond breeze
-1/2 cup egg beaters
-1/2 cup pumpkin puree
-2 Tbsp agave
-1.5 Tbsp cinnamon (the last of my bottle)
-1 tsp coconut extract

*preheat oven to 350 deg
*Combine wet, add dry
*mix well and pour into a 8 x 8 pan
*bake 35 mins
*cool before cutting into 6 pieces

**the recipe says to use either 2 cups of oats OR 1 cup each oats and oatbran**

Here she be out of the oven.



Of course I ate a piece, but forgot to take a picture! Can’t believe it, but I did! It was still a little too warm to really tell how the taste was, but I love the texture of it! (keep reading for a taste update!) **I'll post this in the sidebar under my recipes for convenience sake, but it's not really my recipe...just a spin off of the original

The morning at work was absolutely INSANE! I went non-stop for 3.5hrs...not even a washroom break was squeezed in there! Good thing I had that bowl of oats to power me through! PHEW! I channeled all that built up “buzz” my body was functioning on in my run. Wow! Considering that I really wasn’t feeling like a run today, I powered myself through an intense one! Aren’t those always the best workouts?

Lunch today was an oddball . I had a lonely President’s Choice oat bagel in the fridge and ½ of a yellow pepper. I decided to make them into a sandwich with a Weight Watchers cream cheese cup, salt and pepper. I toasted the bagel, spread the cheese on it, put the pepper on it, then nuked it for 20 seconds. Voila! I ate the leftover pieces of pepper on the side.



A little later on I had a piece of the Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal. I’m happy to report that the taste was right on! I loved the coconut flavoring and the moist texture. The wedges are a generous size...you could probably cut it into 12 pieces for more of a snack size. I picked at a container of grapes throughout the afternoon, too.



Here's a neat recipe I made for dinner;

Acorn Squash stuffed with Autumn Bulgur

-1 cup chicken stock
-1/4 cup each onion, carrots and celery
-1/2 cup bulgur
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
-tsp each cumin, coriander, chili powder, dried basil, garlic powder, salt & pepper
-2 Tbsp grated Asiago cheese
-1 acorn squash

*preheat oven to 375 deg
*cot squash in half cross-way and brush with olive oil, salt & pepper
*place flesh side down on a baking sheet and roast for 35 mins

*Bring stock & veggies to a boil. Stir in bulgur, cover and reduce heat. Cook for 5-10 mins taking care to make sure liquid doesn't completely evaporate
*stir pumpkin puree and spices into the bulgur mixture. Continue to cook over low heat, uncovered, another 5 mins
*Place about 1/2 a cup of bulgur mixture into the well of the acorn squash, sprinkle with cheese and place back in oven another 5 mins.
*Serves 2




I loved this, but boy am I FULL! I ran the recipe through the spark People recipe builder and came up with this:

266 cal
2.4g fat
11.9g fiber
10.3g protein

This is per serving. While I was cooking away, I munched on 2 (OK, I went back for another!) amaretti cookies....



Okay! Off to pumpkin carving I go! Then SYTYCD Canada is on! I have a good night in store!

Bye for now!