I Wanna Be A Hockey Player

Well not really, but let me explain! My hubby bought a HRM last weekend to wear during hockey as he’s always been curious as to what his stats after a game are. He wore it Saturday and I almost fell out of my chair when he showed me that he burned a whopping 1778 calories!! Oh, my lord! That would explain why he’s famished after a game, though. Sheesh!

Here’s my breakfast!

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup Sunrise blend w/ quinoa
• 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• cinnamon
• carob chips and shaved coconut

SO tasty!

I had another meeting until 11am so the morning went by quickly. I dove into my blueberry muffin late morning as a pre run snack;

I used muffin liners despite knowing better and true to form, the muffins stuck. URGH! I’m not sure why I always have this problem with liners! I ended up gnawing half the muffin off the paper!

My legs were on fire during my run today. I was sad to have run out of time because I could’ve kept going.

• Time: 50 minutes
• Avg Hr: 162
• Max Hr: 175
• Calories Burned: 503
• Distance: 5.1 miles

BOOYA! That’s a great run for me!

I enjoyed a great salad at lunch today. I bought a marinated bean salad that I’ve never tried before and used it as the protein topping on my greens. It was a mix of 3 beans and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was!

Because it was already dressed, I used a fork to pluck the beans out and shook as much of the “sauce” off as I could. There was enough flavour that I didn’t end up using the dressing I had packed.

• romaine & baby spinach
• feta
• tomato
• mushrooms
• beans

Much later in the afternoon I snacked of some delicious red grapes;

I love grapes when they are firm and juicy. Soft ones are just wrong somehow.

My hubby grilled up some steaks on the BBQ tonight so I had a small piece of one along with the last 2 pieces of polenta (also grilled) and the rest of my kale/Swiss chard/beet green mix;

I could’ve done without the meat. I’m just not a huge red meat fan. Besides, I was looking forward to some much anticipated banana soft serve for dessert! I blended up 1 large banana and then stirred in a handful of blueberries;

Aside from the ice cream like consistency, I really like how the berries get semi frozen and pop in my mouth. It’s all about the texture, baby!

After dinner DS and I took K.C. for an hour long walk as he was full of P&V and needed the exercise. I’ve decided that he’s the perfect dog….We can walk him, give him treats and love him, and then we bring him home! :D

I just realized a few minutes ago that my whole fam is at the neighbours across the street. Not one to want to miss out on anything, I’m going to head on over myself! Have a great night!

Bye for now!!

Lump On A Log

That was me today. It was a dull day with rain on and off, my hubby was gone a good chunk of the afternoon playing hockey and I pretty much sat on my derriere for the majority of the day!

I started out with another great pumpkiny breakfast.

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup of PC 5 grain cereal
• cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg
• dried currants
• almond butter
• Nature Valley granola cluster crumbs

The taste of pumpkin has really brought out the urge to bake. I have a few things in mind to put together in the next week. Here’s a shot of the granola clusters that I’m talking about. I found them at Meijer’s in Michigan.

After eating I threw some laundry in and then DD and I went to get the groceries done. That was the most ambitious thing I did all day! :) When we got back I did a few more chores, got some computer time in and then it was lunch.

I went with a toasted WW bagel, pepper jack cheese, a slice of deli roasted chicken and 3 tbsp of egg whites. On the side was some leftover grilled zucchini;

Then I enjoyed this Rachel’s yogurt;

The kids wanted to take K.C. for a walk so off we went around the big block at a very leisurely pace. We took umbrellas just in case but didn’t end up needing them. When we got home I was craving some chocolate so I indulged in a handful of carob chips while reading out on the deck;

A few other snacks that weren’t photographed were a handful of corn chips, the crust from DS’s grilled cheese and a 1/2 decaf, 1/2 hot chocolate from Tim Horton’s brought to me by my hubby. Yes, it was that kind of day where boredom sets in and munching mindlessly begins!

I was able to read out on the deck until about 4 when it started to rain so I brought myself inside and parked my butt on the couch to watch some Food TV. Very exciting, I know. The fam had requested tacos for dinner so I pulled out a trusty El Paso soft taco kit and got to work chopping tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. For myself, I steamed down a huge pot of kale, Swiss chard and beet greens as part of my dinner. Check out how full my Dutch oven was!

Of course by the time it cooks, it loses tons of volume! I decorated my portion with some sharp aged cheddar, pistachios and dried cherries. I also baked up some polenta rounds that were just seasoned up with some S&P. Voila!

Here’s a close up of the salad just because I think it’s pretty!

Dessert was a small serving of Maple Walnut fro-yo. I use a very small bowl to keep my portions in check!

And that about sums up my day. I can see some dark clouds moving in so it looks like the rain will be here again sooner rather than later. Ugh…Another movie will likely be in store for later on. Last night we watched “What Happens in Vegas”. Not a bad watch as long as you’re not wanting something too deep. As far as I’m concerned, anything with Ashton Kutcher is worth watching! :D

Anybody out there who has great plans tonight…remember to send some fun vibes my way! :) I’ll sign off with a picture of my baby…Pepper;

Bye for now!!

Someone’s Exhausted

And it’s not me….much! I have never seen DS as wiped out as he is tonight after 2 days of hockey camp. The poor sap could barely make it up the stairs and into the tub. I don’t think he’ll be doing any arguing about going to bed tonight. I think he’ll be a puddle of mud by Friday evening.

I had a bit of extra time this a.m. so I made a batch of pancakes for myself. As usual, I added a pack of Amazing Grass to the mix;

Blueberries were also added the the ‘cakes….

For the top I mixed some raspberry jam and almond butter….

These really filled me up…almost too much!

Work was work. Another day another dollar; what can I say? Thank heavens for the gym! I snacked on half of this apricot Clif bar before heading down the hall;

I gotta be honest here. I love Clif bars, but I did not love this flavour…and I love apricots. This bar was just too sweet. Now I’m not sad that I haven’t seen this flavour in Canada.

I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the treadmill walking at 4mph with a 5% incline.

• Time: 45 minutes
• Avg Hr: 157
• Max Hr: 175
• Calories Burned: 432
• Distance: 4.4 miles total

Nothing inspiring was coming to me while getting lunches ready last night so I brought a serving of vegan chili to work with me today. It’s pretty spicy stuff so I also packed some plain NF yogurt to stir in. Next up was a bag of these Yogachips!

After seeing these on my blog a few weeks ago, Jennifer contacted me to see if I would like to try some other flavours. Of course I jumped on the offer because I really enjoyed the bag I had bought. Yogavive was generous enough to send me 8 bags! Here are the flavours that are available;

I already knew that I liked them so I shared my baggie with a few co-workers who all thought they were really good. When I asked what they thought they tasted like, they all replied, “APPLES!!” and with good reason because the only ingredient in the plain is 100% organic Fugi apples.

If you see these kicking around your friendly supermarket, give’em a try!

I was suppose to meet my bestie for some more gym time tonight, but my hubby ended up working late and I had to bail. We changed our plans to tomorrow instead. Once getting home from picking DS up, I ate some honeydew and cantaloupe chunks;

I made some pasta for DS then we took K.C. for a walk around the block before I settled in with a small meal of my own.

I sautéed some kale, swiss chard and beet greens then tossed them with some raspberry walnut dressing, feta, pistachios and dried cherries;

So good!!! I finished off the meal with a small scoop of froyo that wasn’t even enough to take a picture of. I chilled on the porch for a bit with my book and now I’m going to tuck in to watch SYTYCD. Then, just before bed, I have to prepare DS’s lunch for tomorrow. As for right now? I need to go tuck my tired baby into beddy bye!

Bye for now!!

Beer Butt Chicken

I started off my Saturday with a bit of a sleep in. Not too long, though! Don’t want to be screwing with my sleep patterns now that I’m back to work!I got my breakfast idea this morning from the new Clean Eating magazine.

This here is 2 Weetabix biscuits with a 1/2 cup of USAB, half a thinly sliced banana, blueberries and the little packet of chopped peanuts that I got with my sundae last night.

The CE version didn’t have the berries or peanuts in theirs, but I’m crazy like that, ya know! :D

DD and I made a trip to the local farmers market where I loaded up of beautiful veggies that I do not have growing in my garden;

Swiss chard, kale and candy cane beets is what you see in the above photo. I also bought juicy Ontario peaches and local corn on the cob. Keep on reading to see some of these eats at dinner time!

Lunch was awesome. I toasted up some multi grain bread, spread on some broc/guac dip and hit it with a slice of pepper jack cheese and a 1/4 cup egg whites. On the side was more dip with pepper strips and carrot sticks;

Then I dove into this Rachel’s vanilla chai yogurt;

YUM-O! This yogurt was definitely runnier than what I’m used to, but the taste of it made up for that. Needless to say, I was one stuffed mama after this meal!

We wandered around the mall for a bit this aft because DS needed a new mouth guard for hockey camp next week and you can’t just go to one store when at the mall! Old Navy was having a sale on tanks…$2/ea. Too bad I don’t wear and XL or an XXL. Apparently many people in my city needed cheap tanks this weekend!

By 3:30 I was feeling hungry again so I snacked on some cocoa roasted almonds to tie me over until dinner.

Din din was a beer butt chicken!

We liked it so much last weekend that we bought the $10 contraption to make our own. I also threw the candy cane beets and 2 sweet potatoes on the BBQ (wrapped in foil) AND boiled up corn on the cob. What a feast! Here’s my plate o’ goodness!

I told my hubby that everything on my plate aside from the chicken was sweet like candy. Oh, goodness! Here’s a zoom in on the succulent beets;

I ate another ear of corn, too. It was crisp and fresh. I’ll be back to that vendor next weekend for sure. Needless to say, I’ve got quite the food belly happening right now so no sweet end yet. I may whip up some banana soft serve later on to enjoy out on the deck.

My parents are coming over soon which is why this post is up a little sooner than usual. Is anybody doing anything fun tonight?

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!!

OPERATION BEAUTFUL-Brilliant!

After reading Caitlin’s post yesterday on Operation Beautiful,

I decided to leave a random note stuck to the washroom mirror at work first thing this morning!
I was happy to see that it remained there all day long! It was a riot for me to sit in my little corner cubicle out of sight listening to everybody talk about the note! The staff had a good laugh over it. Here are a few comments that I overheard throughout the day;

*what a great idea
*such a moral booster
*we should start leaving notes everywhere
*take the mirror away and just leave nice quotes in its place

The only person I revealed myself to was my D, my most awesome supervisor. She was caught saying that she wished she knew who it was so she could say thank you. I couldn’t resist!

In keeping up with my June challenge of eating something other than oats for b-fast one day a week, I switched it up today. After seeing Sarah make some fancy pants chia yogurt I knew I had to have it. Here’s what went into mine;
-3/4 cup plain NF yogurt
-4 chopped strawberries
-1/2 cup blueberries
-1 tbsp hulled hemp seeds
-1 tbsp chia seeds
-1 tbsp ground flax
-splash of vanilla extract

I apologize for the crappy pictures; it was SO overcast this morning that I had to use the flash. They really don’t do this concoction justice because it was delectable! All the ingredients got mixed together last night before bed so it was uber creamy this morning.

I picked some peonies from my garden yesterday before the rain had a chance to weigh the petals down. I opted to bring it in to work because Pepper is really bad for knocking vases of flowers over. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way! Aren’t the stunning?

Before going to the gym I ate a few dried apricots and parnoosh dates;

I found a big fan hiding in the gym today that I made sure to plug in and point right in my direction! Worked like a charm even though it was really only blowing hot air around. I was just happy with the air movement!

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 159
Max Hr: 179
Calories Burned: 426
Miles: 3.5

I was on the ‘mill for 35 minutes and then spent 10 minutes working on my core. Can’t let that slide!!!

Lunch was a mish mosh of dinner leftovers. I threw together some of the pasta sauce with the rest of the lentils and some fresh broccoli florets, then the whole shebang got a garlic hummus hat,

I also enjoyed a banana rhubarb muffin…

And then later on some green grapes;
Sweet and crisp…just how I like’em! And a handful of these...

I was suffering some major munchies! There was also a box of chocolate in the kitchen that I managed to avoid....okay, okay...it was empty by the time I saw it there! :)

For dinner we had BBQ'd pork tenderloin, roasted asparagus and steamed rainbow Swiss chard (picked up at Whole Foods). Here are the greens pre cooking;
Dinner is served!
For dessert I pulled out a SOY JOY bar that Julie sent to me...
The first bite was kinda meh, but by the time it was done I wished there was more of it! It sure looked strange....just like a hunk baked tofu, but there were lots of dried berries and it had an almost cakey consistency. I couldn't take a photo because I was driving while eating it. I have 2 more waiting for me to dig in to!

I had a follow up appointment with the podiatrist to make sure my orthotics were OK, which they are. Phew! Seeing as I was on the side of town where the Bulk Barn is, I ran in to grab a few things. Two items I could not pass up were some Celestial Teas in chocolate raspberry and strawberry vanilla rose.
Can you blame me for having to buy them? Right now I am sipping on the chocolate raspberry one (DUH!) and it smells just great and tastes good, too! Once I post I'm going to fiddle with the laptop as we have wireless set up now! WAHOO! I need to set up some folders and I want to download Windows Live Writer, too. Any advice, comments or tips on how to use the program from those of you who like it would me much appreciated!!! Have a great night....

Bye for now!