And We Walked

I was up earlier than my alarm was set for because I was so excited for our walk. I was also excited to give those rye flakes that I bought yesterday a whirl. I was not disappointed!

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup POM wonderful w/ blueberries
• 1/2 cup rye flakes
• goji berries
• shaved coconut and carob chips

OMG…this bowl rocked my socks off! What a GREAT tasting breakfast!

As I was eating I could see that some very ominous clouds were rolling in. Sure enough, by the time we left it had started to rain. When we arrived we registered, picked up our t-shirts, snapped a family photo all before Mother Nature unleashed her fury. Here we are!

DS was less than thrilled about being out in a storm. Check the attitude out;

Boy did it RAIN! Actually, that’s too mild a word….it TEEMED! They actually had to delay the walk because there was so much thunder and lightening. When I checked the weather later on I realized that our region had been under a severe thunderstorm watch! Luckily, we nabbed a spot under the covered bridge and managed to stay somewhat dry. I took some pictures of the storm while we were waiting;

Finally the rain stopped and we were on our way. I was a little worried that it would be really muggy, but it was on the cool side which was perfect for our intent. The sun even came out at the half point mark! They always put on a great lunch for the participants and this year was no exception. They served roast beef sammies with sautéed onions, chickpea & pasta salad and assorted fresh fruit. I grabbed a sandwich, some chickpea salad, watermelon and apple…

At least half of the beef that you see here made it’s way to my hubby’s plate. Too much for moi! We stuck around for a bit so the kids could watch the entertainer they had for the little ones, but were still home by noon.

Before I forget, I put my chia seeds to good use last night. I mixed 2 tbsp of the seeds with a half cup of pure pressed, thick mango juice and let it sit for about a half hour. When it was all thick I added a dollop of Cool Whip Free and went to town!

Sorry for the crap photo. I didn’t realize how dark it was until I uploaded it to the computer! Post picture, the cool whip got mixed in and I enjoyed a lovely snack!! We also took some picture’s of or killer cat, Pepper, in action. Check out the ferociousness!

Here he is with his Polly pocket jacket that he covets like nobody’s business!

What a beast! :)

DS had a b-day party all afternoon so the rest of us enjoyed some down time while he was gone. That brings us up to dinner plans! We’re meeting 2 of my childhood friends along with their hubby’s and kids for dinner. The gals both live out of town now so it’s difficult to get together by we try to as much as possible. All of us have 2 kids….a girl and boy each. We laugh how the 3 of us morphed into 12! Dinner’s a little later than I’m use to so I snacked on a 1/2 cup of strained NF yogurt with blueberries, strawberries banana jam and some Dorset cereal.

This will tie me over nicely. I’ll leave you here now and continue today’s story in tomorrow’s post!!

Bye for now!

The Weeks End

**Before I get this post started, I wanted to let you all know that I may or may not be around tomorrow. We have a super busy weekend ahead (special trip to the market, ball hockey tournament and wedding) and I’m not sure if there’ll be time for posting.**

On to today! I am ever glad it’s Friday! I started my day off with some kamut flakes that I’ve been neglecting.

-1 cup water
-1/3 cup kamut flakes
-cinnamon, salt, vanilla
-goji berries
-stewed rhubarb (about a 1/3 cup)
-hulled hemp seeds and a sprinkle of maple flakes

The goji berries got extra plump today which was a real treat. I’ve got to remember to try the flakes as a savoury side at dinner sometime soon. I think they’d be great cooked up a as “pilaf” in some stock with peas and corn. Mmmm….

I was feeling hungry all morning even though I knew I couldn’t be. I was feeling a little unsettled (about what, I’m not sure) and I think that’s what was causing it. I did end up making a trip to the office candy dish where I found this; Two of my weaknesses…Swedish berries and rosettes! I actually ate double what you see here, but stayed away the rest of the day. Funnily enough, that bit of sugar seemed to dull the edginess I was feeling. See, candy can be good for you! :) On the more natural side of things, I did also enjoy three big figs that I scooped up at the Bulk Barn last night;

These are great! I’m guessing there’s loads of fibre in the little seeds!

So, the forecast is calling for massive amounts of rain and storms tonight and all tomorrow. The sun wash shining brightly at lunch so I decided to go home at lunch instead of the gym. I enjoyed an hour of vitamin D with a magazine and felt better for it.

Lunch was another beautiful en salata;

This baby contained some romaine, all the leftover steamed Swiss chard form dinner, 5 chopped asparagus stalks, sliced strawberries, the rest of my pork chop form a few nights ago and grilled peach bruschetta in lieu of dressing.
I swear the pork chops I buy at the market are a great deal because I got 3 “meals” out of mine alone. Now, my hubby can eat a whole one in a sitting, but they’re too big for me to do that! I also ate a few unpictured crackers before leaving the house to come back to work.

The afternoon went by pretty slow. I had some non-thinking jobs to do which was probably a good thing! When I got home I relaxed a bit and snacked on the last banana rhubarb muffin with some Mighty Maple spread on top and some tea before heading out to Pilate’s:
When I got home I made myself an egg sandwich with egg whites, avocado & LC smashed together and a wee bit of Sabra hummus. I ate some cantaloupe cubes on the side;

I'm finally posting from my laptop so I plan on spending some time on the decking blog reading tonight. My hubby bought me some of those Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches so I think I'll have one of those while I'm at it. If I don't check in tomorrow, I'll be back for sure on Sunday with a recap!

Bye for now!!

Guest Post Link and Last Call for Full Bar Contest

They called for rain today but so far so good! I slept in a wee bit this morning which is such a nice weekend treat. I wasn't too hungry when I did get out of bed so I decided to make another batch of Banana Rhubarb Muffins so I could bring some out to the farm. After all, my MIL is the one who supplied me with the bananas and rhubarb so I thought it only fitting to bring some of it back in a different form! :) The muffins were featured this morning over at Oh She Glows, so please click on the link above for the recipe.

I finally got hungry about 9 and got started on my oats.
-1 cup water
-1/3 cup Quaker oats
-cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt
-dried goji berries
-banana
-blueberries
-hulled hemp seeds
A smart, tasty way to get my fruits into me first thing! We loaded up and went out to the farm for a visit. I snacked on a cookie and a few chocolates while out there. My FIL really enjoyed the muffins and they both got a hoot out of the "returned" food!

We arrived home by "lunch time" but I wasn't at all hungry so I got to work in the front gardens again thinking to beat the rain. My back complained less than I thought it would, but it still wasn't too happy with me! By 1:30 I figured I'd better get something into me or I'd end up nibbling all afternoon and ruining my dinner. I make a yogurt parfait with the rest of my strained yogurt, pineapple jam, blueberries and raspberries.
DD wanted to hit up the store where she got a bunch of gift cert's for her b-day for a couple of sun dresses. I grabbed a Glenny's brownie for the rad as my lunch dessert;
Not necessary but scrumptious none the less!

I finally got a chance to catch up on my blog reading around 3. It was some much needed down time! DD tried on her 2 dance recital outfits so we were sure they fit right as her dress rehearsal is tomorrow. I was relieved that neither needed any tweaking. Here is her jazz outfit;
And the hip hop one;
We both prefer the jazz costume. Her hair will be slicked up into a bun and her face done up for tomorrow. Rehearsal is at 5 so we'll have to hurry and get her gussied in an hour's time. The joy of rushing!

We had BBQ'd steaks for dinner tonight. If you've been reading the blog for a while you'll know that I'm not a huge meat eater, never have been, and I like red meat even less. I actually HATED steak until I got preggers with DS. Once I started craving that, I knew something was up! That being said, nowadays I do enjoy a piece of steak every now and again. I paired it up with some fresh peach bruschetta and a great big helping of salad;
Here's a shot of the bruschetta that I bought;
I had another heap of salad for seconds. It was a store bought one that was $4.00 off so I picked it up for a quick side. It had cheddar, bacon, carrots, onions, cukes and tomatoes in it. I tried my best to leave the toppings for the fam. No sweet end as I'm stuffed! We're off to Mom and Dad's for a bit. If you haven't entered the FULL BAR contest, there's still some time....until midnight EST, to be exact! What are you waiting for?

It's likely that I will be posting a bit later than normal tomorrow because I'm not sure when I'll be home from dance rehearsal. Ahhh...recital time is crazy time, but I will have photos of DD all dolled up so the post will be worth the wait! And don't forget that I will be announcing the winner of the contest in tomorrow's post as well. Have a great night!

Bye for now!

Found my Bounce

Today was the first day in over a week that I woke up with a bounce in my step. Welcome back, energy!!! Very nice to see/feel you again! I’m on later start at work this week so I even got to sleep a half hour more than usual! AND, I was very excited about the breakfast that was waiting for me in the fridge! Can you tell that my Monday started out great?

Before I went to bed last night I combined 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup steel cut oats, a handful of dried goji berries and cinnamon in a bowl. I covered the mixture up and popped it in the fridge to soak over night. This morning I tossed it in the microwave for one minute, pulled it out added a mashed banana and gave it a good stir. Back in the nuker it went for 3 more minutes to get all thick and creamy…
Then I topped it off with some slivered almonds. The result was a fabulous, filling bowl of deliciousness! You can bet on seeing this method again on my blog!!!
I spent the day keypunching at work. This may sound boring (and it is), but today was the perfect day for it because I was able to let my mind wander to all the baking I had planned for later in the day! Read on, my friends! Part way through the morning I noticed these guys in the office candy bowl…
I love Swedish berries and can go overboard on them VERY fast so I pulled out my container of nature’s candy!! Check out these figs that I found at the Bulk Barn yesterday…
Yowzers, they’re big! I only bought 4 because they were a wee bit pricey, but man, are they tasty nuggets!! All together with their cousins, Parnoosh dates! :)
The return of my spunk brought about one helluva a fantastic, sweaty workout today! PHEW! First, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I set the resistance to L3 and kept my speed between 7-7.5mph. Then I spent 20 minutes catching up on the BBBC. I still need to do few more to be up to date, but here’s what I accomplished today…

*3 sets of 10 front arm raises (7lbs weights)
*3 sets of 10 side arm raises (7lbs weights)
*3 sets of 10 (girly) push ups
*3 sets of 10 tricep dips
*3 sets of 50 bicycle crunches
*2 sets of 10 side steps
*3 sets of 10 squats on the BOSU (very tough!!)

I split the exercises up and did a bit of a circuit with them to give my muscles a bit of a break between sets. I know 7lbs isn’t very heavy, but I am VERY wimpy in the arms and 5lbs is what I usually use, so I did upgrade. Here’s the damage;

Time: 50 minutes
Avg Hr: 158
Max Hr: 179
Calories Burned: 441
Distance: 3.5 miles on elliptical

I’m feeling pretty stellar about that!! Especially after my bum week last week!

I really had my thinking cap on before I hit the sack last night because I remembered to pull a serving of buttered “chickpeas” out of the freezer for my lunch today! (For those who are wondering what the heck buttered chickpeas are, I used a butter chicken recipe and ditched the chicken part in place of a can of chickpeas!) I turned it into a bit of a soup by adding about a half cup of water and tossing in a few handfuls of spinach and a good few shakes of nutritional yeast. I gave it a stir before warming it up to make sure the NY was mixed in well.
This was fabulous and really hit the spot after that workout! Later on in the day I ate a chopped up apple and orange….
My fruit supply is running low although I realized while eating this that I forgot about the 2 kiwi that still need to be consumed! Ah, there’s always tomorrow!!

On top of tonight being dance night for DD, DS started soccer and I had a physio appointment at 7pm. B-U-S-Y!!! Thankfully, there are only 3 weeks left of dance and I scheduled my next appointment for a night other than Monday. (When I made this one I didn’t know soccer would be starting). Needless to say, dinner was on the fly! I made my go-to meal of choice….egg whites on a toasted English muffin with a LC cheese wedge and Sabra hummus. I also sautéed up some fiddle heads in avocado oil.
How about that? YUM ! For my sweet end I ate the banana bread mini loaf that I brought in my lunch but didn't eat. After I took the photo I smeared it with homemade PB.
What a treat! Then I ate one of these Lindt chocolates that I got for Mother's Day...
So fast forwarding to now, which is 8:30pm....I have a crock pot full of banana bread oats that's almost done. My version has 5 mashed bananas, 1/2 cup golden raisins, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1 tbsp cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg. I also used 3/4 cup of Egg Beaters and a 1/2 cup of chai tea concentrate and 1.5 cups water. The oats are the same as Sarah's measurements. In the oven I have 2 versions of the Hungry Girl banana bread recipe that I always make. Version #1 has the usual subs of 2 tbsp of agave in place of Splenda and I was out of plain applesauce so I used a 1/2 cup of strawberry flavoured applesauce. I also added a 1/3 cup of carob chips. Version # 2 has the agave/Splenda sub plus I had to use a 1/2 cup of baby food prunes....hey! I had to use something!! and a 1/3 cup of dried fruit. I used my mini loaf pans again as the recipe calls for 8 servings anyways. This way I don't have to cut the slices!! They should be almost done so I will take lots of pic's a post them tomorrow! Just to note, I used up 12 of the el-cheapo bananas tonight!!! :)

I also cleaned a big bag of fiddle heads.
I won't lie, this is a big pain in the ass but SO worth it! Tomorrow I will steam them and prepare them for the freezer. Needless to say, it's been a busy one but I am so grateful to have my mojo back that I feel great about it!

Physio went well, too! I've got the OK to hop back on the treadmill at the end of the week for a slow run to see how my ankles take it. Very exciting!! Before you shut down for the night, please go on over to Oh She Glows and check out the info Angela has posted regarding a most awesome auction that she will be holding on Tuesday, May 19. All the proceeds will go to cancer research. You will not believe some of the goods up for grabs....Coach, anyone????? Have a great night!

Bye for now!!

Out of the Dumps

It dawned on me this morning when I woke up in a fabulous mood that I have been down in the dumps a bit this week. Funny thing is, I didn’t even realize it! Upon getting out of bed this morning I felt energetic and ready to take on the day. Wonder if it being FRIDAY has anything to do with it?!

I had a bit of pumpkin that needed to be used so into my breakfast it went!
-1 cup water
-1/3 cup Red River cereal
-goji berries
-pumpkin puree
-cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice
-carob chips (wink, wink Veggie Girl!)
-sweet cinnamon sprinkles
A-MAZING! This was one of those bowls that I was sad to see the end of! And this was the last of my carob chips. Note to self……go buy more this weekend!!

The morning passed quite uneventfully. I snacked on the last 3 prunes. I took a picture of the bag today to avoid photo boredom! :)
With my prunes I enjoyed a latte from the office machine;
And later on I munched on a ½ cup of “granola” that I made last night. I got the recipe from the new Hungry Girl cookbook.
I think the options are endless on this recipe!!!

I hit up the gym today and did 30 minutes on the stationary bike (my ankles were OK with this movement), 10 minutes of ab work, 3 set of 15 tricep dips as per the BBBC and a 5 minute walk on the ‘mill. It felt so nice to just MOVE my body! I even got some magazine reading in while on the bike!

Lunch was a good 2 cups of mixed veggies with this tuna steak on top;
All together now!
I snacked on an orange and some strawberries over the course of the afternoon…
There may have also been a few chocolate eggs consumed. DOH! Just before I left work I drank a chai tea. This is the brand that I used;
I like the idea of the aluminum vs a bag for easy use, but I don’t like that it promotes waste. At least a bag is bio-degradable.

My MIL bought me a cute little mini rose plant for my birthday and it didn’t like any of the spots I put it in at my house so I brought it into work to see if I could keep it alive until planting time. Not only does it LOVE it’s place on my desk, its got a bloom!!!
Too cute, eh?

I had very limited time between leaving work and going to Pilates. I picked up Subway for the kids, then picked up the kids and took them to my parents so they could eat. I had no time for dinner myself so a Z-bar came to the rescue! I knew just the one I wanted to try, too....Honey Graham.

This was every bit as good as I imagined it would be and held me over until I got home at 7pm.

Dinner ended up being a toasted bagel with a LC wedge, ham and egg whites. I had some steamed asparagus on the side.
I ate this so fast I almost didn't taste it. Tsk, tsk! Seven is a bit late for me to be eating dinner. Growing up, we always ate at 4:30...my parents still do. As a rule, we usually eat dinner around 5:30 now. What is a "normal" dinner time for you? My sweet end was a SF creme brulee pudding.
I don't know that this really tasted like creme brulee, but it was still tasty so no complaints out of me!

My hubby came home from work early tonight, so I'm gonna go spent some time with the fam as a whole. He's back on day's next week....YIPEE!! Life should be back to normal and I can't wait! I hope everyone enjoys their Friday night!

Bye for now!!