Officially on Vacay

Bonjour!  Hope everyone is doing well!  It’s technically only been a day since my vacation started, but I’m already having a blast.  Yesterday we tackled more yard work in preparation for our ground level deck extension which we’ll be tackling next week.  I made myself a grand breakfast to carry me through a 1.5hr soccer practice and beyond:
I turned 2 English muffins into French toast and topped them with strawberries, walnuts and agave.  Mmm, Mmmm, GOOD!
I’ve been overrun with zucchini from the garden lately so I decided to make some muffins from ED&BV.  They came out fantastic!  My hubby ate 4 over the course of the day.
By the time these were in the oven it was just about lunch so I pulled my Hungry Girl cookbook and made some zucchini fries:
I served myself a heaping plateful with Dijonnaise for lunch.
This is the point where some serious sweat was shed in the yard.  The yards on my side of the street are pretty secluded and don’t get a whole lot of wind.  It gets hot back there!  By the time dinner rolled around I just wanted a huge ass salad.
All the veg you see came from my parents garden; the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.  There was also feta, leftover beer butt chicken and roasted red pepper dressing.  I ate a few cookies at Mom’s as usual for a Sunday night.  When we got back home we set up the cute little fire pit we bought at Walmart (also intended for said deck). See that concrete pad in the background?  That is the area we will be extending into a 12 x 16 deck.  Our raised deck is directly above that.  I can’t wait to have another liveable outdoor space!  The kids REALLY wanted to roast marshmallows…. 
And I set out the fixing for s’mores. 
I enjoyed 2 myself.  That was more than enough for me!!
Enter some TV, sleep and 8am wake up time to get breakfast and head off to Pilate’s.  I needed something quick and cereal was the way to go.  A bowl of Kirkland cinnamon pecan crunch to be exact!
My hubby and I cruised the net looking for a few things to do over the next few days that will entertain the kids.  At 11 &  8 we have to ditch some of the places we usually go because they’ve outgrown the attractions, rides, etc.  We managed to find a few areas of interest and printed off tickets and coupons.  Before I knew it lunch had arrived.  I made big salads for DD and I with greens from the ‘rents garden, feta, hemp seeds and cashews.  The dressing today was pear & blue cheese…
I also ate a muffin with some almond butter on top;
We spent the afternoon catching some rays at the “beach”.  It’s really the local conservation/campground park, but the kids love the beach area there!  They splashed around..
While I chilled on a towel with my hubby:
I coated us all with SPF 50 and was impressed that we were all OK after 3hrs of sitting out.  DD was tuckered out by the time it was time to jet home!
HA!  We stopped for Chinese take out on the way because neither my hubby or I felt like cooking anything.  I had some lemon chicken, low mein, beef & broccoli and fried rice.
This was good but made me very, very thirsty!  I have sucked back 2 bottles of water already!  Yikes!  Dessert was some pineapple coconut froyo.
As soon as the kids go to bed my hubby and I are gonna watch a movie or 2.  We have some plans set out tomorrow which will have us leaving the house by 10am.  Should be blasty!  See ya tomorrow!
Bye for now!!

David’s Tea

I didn’t actually get home last night until after 9pm! HA! I picked DD up right after work to go for hair appointments then it was straight to ball hockey, then the mall. It was great! DD took a picture of my hair while I was driving:

My hair is naturally curly, but no one can make that curl come out like my hairdresser!

Breakfast yesterday was some scrumptious French toast.

I soaked 2 pieces of whole grain bread in some egg beaters, USVAB and chai tea powder (yum!). As it was just about to come out of the pan I tossed in a handful of fresh blueberries and let them go until they popped. These topped off the toast as well as a drizzle of maple syrup.

I was SO tired yesterday at work. I could’ve put my head down and fallen asleep on my paperwork at any given moment. The gym was the last place I wanted to go but I knew that it may help perk me up some. I ate a berry almond Luna bar before going in hopes of a boost!

Each step in my 45 minute walk was forced…and I even out the incline down to 5% from 8. But I’m still glad I went because it woke me up a little.

• Time: 45 minutes
• Avg Hr: 134
• Max Hr: 147
• Calories Torched: 326
• Distance: 3 miles

I was quite hungry by the time I got back to my desk with my heated lunch! Like, almost ready to pass out hungry! Sheesh! I was happy to have a nice helping of Asparagus Barley Risotto to eat!

And because sugar always seems to go with being tired, I ate 3 mini cookies from the staff kitchen, too.

An orange also made an appearance,

I thought about inhaling this pb/chocolate treat, but ended up bringing it home for DD instead.

She enjoyed it….I would’ve regretted it! Hehe! We left the salon just as DS’s ball hockey game was starting so we made a pit stop at the grocery store for some portable dinner. DD had some taters and veggies with dip, I bought brown rice sushi:

And an apple from home.

The game was done by 7pm and we really didn’t feel like sitting around at home. DD had a few gift cert’s from her b-day to burn up so off to the mall we went. I found some great artwork for the bathroom walls (once my hubby gets them hung I’ll post the long overdue pictures!), the newest edition of Clean Eating magazine:

And some tea from a new tea shop that opened recently called David’s Tea.

My stylist told me about this place and that I HAD to try a tea called “Read My Lips” which is chocolate peppermint with a hint of chilli! And when she tells me something is great, I listen!

How’s that for a description??? Believe it or not, but this has actual mini chocolate chips and cinnamon lips in it! See for yourself…

How does it taste? AMAZING! It makes my tongue tingle…in a good way! I bought a fruity one for my hubby called “Bear Trap”.

I’m loving their descriptions! What a great find! And I can never leave the mall without stopping at Starbuck’s seeing as I only treat myself when we’re there. I went with a tall 1/2 sweet, decaf, dark cherry mocha!

I was just about to fall asleep last night when a wicked thunderstorm hit. It was LOUD! I was surprised neither of the kids flew down to our room and assumed they were asleep but they both told me this morning that it woke them up too. I did end up sleeping well, though.

• 1.25 cups water
• 3/4 cup Mothers oats
• cinnamon
• Enjoy Life Foods mountain mambo trial mix

Great start to the day and just the fuel I needed to power me through a few hours worth of serious, catch up housework. Ball hockey tied us up last weekend and not much got done. The rain held off so I put a few loads of laundry out on the clothesline. Love that! Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I made a big salad with spring mix, cucumber, goat cheese, cashews, hemp seeds and Japanese ginger dressing:

Then I had a double chocolate biscotti.

DS had another ball hockey game at 2 so we went to watch that. There won’t be another game for 2 weeks now. Afterwards we dropped the boys off and went back to the mall because DD had bought a pair of shoes last night and then decided she didn’t care for them. I tried on a cute dress that I thought would be nice for a wedding we’re going to at the end of the month and it looked GREAT on me, but I didn’t feel 100% comfortable in it so I passed. I suggested DD try it on and she loved it so SHE bought it for the wedding! HA! How’s that for weird? It looks great on her, too…just in a different way. We stopped at Starbuck’s again on our way out. *blush* I had a tall NF 1/2 sweet iced green tea latte:

DD had a frap called “the Oreo”. Not sure what’s in it, but it was one of the employees featured fave’s and it was really, really good!

Can you decipher that?? I only let her drink half and the rest is in the fridge for tomorrow. We scooped the boys up on the way by the house and made our way to our friend’s place for a very causal dinner. Their baby boy will be one in a few weeks and we haven’t seen them since Christmas so a visit was long overdue! They had all the fixing prepared for subs which was just perfect. I topped my fresh WW bun with cheddar, turkey, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickles and honey mustard.

Such a simple, yet satisfying meal! My hubby went over to DQ and bought a cookie dough ice cream cake for dessert. Here’s my piece.

Their little boy was ALL over this! And so was I!! :) We’re back home now and about to watch Werewolf. Not sure what that’s all about, but apparently I’m going to like it. We’ll see. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Bye for now!!

Thursday Already?

Today went by fast! Actually, this whole week seems to have gone by fast. Breakfast was a sweet treat today;

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup Quaker oats
• cinnamon
• raisins
• cashews, carob chips and hazelnut mocha sprinkles

We’ve been pretty busy at work the past few weeks so lunch time comes quick. I ate a chocolate mint Clif bar pre gym:

The elliptical was in use again today so back on the treadmill I went. I upped the incline to 8% today, though and only did 40 minutes because I got chatting and lost some time. LOL!

• Time: 40 minutes
• Avg Hr: 152
• Max Hr: 169
• Calories Torched: 395
• Distance: 2.8 miles

Lunch was a bowl of turkey quinoa stew.

This stuff is SO darn good!! I also had some (previously frozen) peaches;

Peaches are about the only fruit I can eat thawed out. I find that most of them turn to mush and that is one texture that truly makes me gag. The peaches stay firm which I like!

The fam had pasta for dinner and I made myself a batch of asparagus barley risotto:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 3 cup stock (I used chicken)
• chopped asparagus (I used about 14 stalks)
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parm
• salt & pepper

1. Heat oil in large pot and add onion. Cook until tender (about 5 minutes)
2. Add barley and cook 1 minute
3. Add broth, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat
4. Cook for approx 15 minutes or until barley is tender
5. Remove from heat, add asparagus and mushroom S&P and cover again
6. Let stand for another 5 minutes
7. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated parm
8. Prepare to smack lips with delight!

Soon after eating we went to soccer. I left my camera at home because the rain was threatening to pour down and I didn’t want to risk getting it wet. DS scored 3 goals and had a blast. Just before typing this out I heated a slice of whole grain bread and spread some peach/blackberry jam on top.

Ya think I love this bread??? HA! I’m off to watch SYTYCD again!

Bye for now!!