Yesterday & Today

Hey, hey, hey….look who went MIA yesterday! By the time I actually sat down last night it was pushing 10pm and I was BEAT. I’ll do my best to keep this 2 day post short and sweet!

My lovely Friday breakfast…

-1/2 cup water/USVAB

-1/3 cup Sunrise blend w/ quinoa
-cinnamon
-banana
-small scoop of pumpkin butter & almond butter

I realize it looks like a puddle of goo, but it was so good that I didn’t want it to end!

Work went by at a nice pace for a Friday. I spent part of the day calling people for interviews which isn’t a normal job function for payroll, but I welcomed the change! I broke at 11am for a Clif Mojo Mountain Mix bar;

I’m almost out of these. Thankfully I have a road trip to Buffalo planned for mid-November!

I was not feeling the gym, but didn’t want to miss it seeing as I didn’t make it there on Tuesday or Thursday so I bargained with myself. I went all out on the treadmill for a half hour and then beat it home for a bit of downtime. Yes, I live that close to the office! :)

Time: 30 minutes
Avg Hr: 165
Max Hr: 179
Calories Torched: 315
Distance: 3.2 miles

I had packed a Fage and muesli for lunch but when I went to the staff kitchen there was lasagna, bread and salad leftover form a meeting. Pasta and bread do nothing for me, but I did forego my yogurt for a big bowl of salad with some tasty balsamic vinaigrette.

There were cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, feta, pumpkin seeds and black olives in this mix and it was delicious! I also munched my way through a sweet navel orange;

I massacred it while peeling it. I have a real problem with the pith and kept picking at it even after I took the picture, but the orange itself was worth the work!

My hubby had plans with my uncle last night so I ate a quick dinner of a grilled turkey cutlet with Ted Readers peach bourbon sauce and the last of the sweet potato fries with some honey mustard for dipping;

Then I enjoyed a Skinny Cow caramel/vanilla bar;

I swear, these taste just like frozen pudding! :D

Straight after eating I trucked the kids across town to DS’s coach’s house to pick up his warm up gear and track suit that had come in. They needed them for the game this morning, so that was a must. Then we went to the mall to buy a present for a party DS had this afternoon and to the dollar store to buy supplies to make POM POM’s for the season opener. We even checked out a Halloween store that opened up and tried some masks on. Check it out!

My hubby, the jokester, says that this is what I look like in the morning! :D Lastly, I felt I deserved a tall NF pumpkin spice misto!

We started on the POM POM making festivities as soon as we got home. It took us an hour to make 4 of them. Now, I’m not very creative, but I think we did OK! I used toilet paper rolls, streamers in the team colours and some silver tinsel for flare! Here’s DD modelling them!

We did use them at the game and they were a HIT!

Let’s move on to today, shall we? I started the day out with some kamut flakes;

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup kamut flakes
• cinnamon
• chocolate PB2
• raisins
• maple flakes
• hemp seeds
• splash of USVAB

We left for DS’s game at 10am. Thankfully most of his home games are Saturday’s at 11am. They lost 4-2, but put out a great effort. The team they were up against is in their second year of this league and were expected to win by much more. All the parents were quite impressed with our little players!

We rushed home, got some lunch in DS and then I turned around and drove him over to a bowling birthday party. With one kid down, I vacuumed, cleaned cat litter and the laundry room and had some lunch. I baked up the last of my butternut squash fries and dipped them into Dijonnaise;

You truly can not beat freshly picked produce. I consider myself very lucky to have the space for a vegetable garden. I also ate a b-nut squash muffin with some macadamia nut butter;

Later on in the afternoon I made another batch of homemade marinara sauce. I mixed 3 cups of it with 2 cans drained tuna to make a pasta sauce. I served mine over a pack of Shiritaki noodles, feta and steamed butternut squash;

Superb!

As soon as super was done I got busy making Veggie Girl’s Banana Butternut Pecan Bread;

Sorry about the flash…it’s been getting dark here at the un-Godly hour of 7:30pm! Ugh…Back to the bread! I had to make a couple changes due to what I had on hand. Pecans were replaced by almonds with pistachio’s on top and I used a 1/4 cup of butter as I’m out of oil. This is cooling right now, but I’m looking forward to trying a piece later on.

In other blog news…Zesty Cook put up a very exciting post today about a great challenge that he’s part of with Quaker and goobite.com. Go on over for a visit to see what it’s all about and vote, vote, vote for him!!! Good luck, Zesty!

That’s it for now. Bet you’re all breathing a sigh of relief! :D I hope the weekend has been going great so far for all of you…

Bye for now!!

Facelift

Hi everybody! I played around with the background colours of the blog a bit and decided to change the colour to white. I think the picture’s look brighter with the lighter shade behind them. You like?

I made my favourite flavour combo for breakfast this morning;

• 1/2 cup water & unsweetened almond breeze
• 1/3 cup sunrise blend w/ quinoa
• banana
• PB2
• cinnamon, vanilla, salt
• carob chips & shaved coconut

As you can tell from the dreariness of the picture’s, it was another dull morning in the neighbourhood. The weather of late has been very September-like. Not cool for July!

In an effort to eat up my Clif bar stash, I brought a Blueberry Crisp one to work with me today;

If you can believe it, I still have 15 left to eat! YIKES….how did I manage to accumulate so many?? I ate a good hunk of this with some cherries pre run today and saved the last of it for after my lunch.

I’ve noticed recently that when I pair up some carbs and fruit, I feel really energized in my cardio. So I of course killed it on the treadmill today! I also did 1 minute worth of mountain climbers and some really good stretching.

• Time: 50 minutes
• Avg Hr: 160
• Max Hr: 175
• Calories Burned: 457
• Distance: 4.6 miles

BOOYA!

Lunch was a bit different of a salad today. I mixed the rest of last nights Brussels sprouts, grilled chicken and veggies with some red leaf lettuce and hemp seeds for a tasty meal;

The last piece of my Clif bar woke my sweet tooth up so I made a mocha (1 tbsp Swiss Miss & 1 tsp of instant coffee) to appease it!

Then, before going home I ate the rest of my cherries and the last of the blueberries;

I wasn’t really in the mood to cook anything tonight so I warmed up a package of Shiritaki noodles and topped them with a tuna steak. Then I added some steamed green beans to the plate for colour…

Pretty, no? Tasty, too! My sweet end was a Puff N’ Stuff square;

I decided after one bite that it needed a little extra flair so I smeared some cinnamon & raisin PB all over it. Talk about taking it up a notch! It was camera shy, though!

Currently, I’m out on my front porch with the laptop. The sun is shining AND it’s raining. I think I’m going to go find the rainbow! Have a great night!

Bye for now!!

Double Digits

First thing I want to say today is HAPPY BIRTHDAY DD!!! Yes, my little girl has officially hit double digits!!! Here’s a little blast from the past! On Thursday, May 20, 1999 at 7:30pm I gave birth to a healthy 9lb baby girl. I will never, ever forget when the doctor handed her to me. My hubby and I were positively beaming!!! Here she is at 6 weeks old….
Fast forward 10 years….
My, how they grow!!!! I love having a daughter! She is my mall buddy, kitchen helper and if I ask her if my butt looks big in that, she is 100% honest! :-) Wanna see what I looked like a week before she made her grand entrance???
How about THAT belly?! I used to just set my dinner plate on my stomach to eat dinner. Worked like a charm! Now, on to regular scheduled blogging!

Our day started out EARLY this morning….like 5am early… because DS had a nightmare. Nothing we did kept him in bed after that. Ugh…I am SO not a morning person! You can be sure that I just lazed in bed until it was time to get up for real. I did have a great bowl of love just waiting patiently in the fridge to be heated up! I soaked some steel cut oats in ½ cup water/unsweetened almond breeze with about a ¼ cut of trail mix that I found hiding in the back of the pantry…

-1/2 cup water, unsweetened almond breeze
-1/3 cup steel cut oats
-cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract
-1/4 cup-ish trail mix
-mocha hazelnut sprinkles
Yowzers, this was one great bowl!!! I ended up with a crunchy peanut in almost every bite which made it seem like PB oats. The dried fruit plumped up beautifully and the nuttiness of the oats themselves was fantastic.

Work was tedious today only because the weather was absolutely fabulous! It’s suppose to be hot the rest of the week and the weekend. You can bet that I am looking forward to that! I plan on planting my veggie garden this weekend so maybe I’ll get some colour to my pasty white skin while I’m at it! Last year was the first in 10 that I didn’t have a garden. The house we moved into needed a whole lot of yard work done and there just wasn’t time. I’m twice as excited to plant again this year!

Here's my dates!

In the gym today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 20 of BBBC exercises. I can’t believe the challenge is almost over! I’ll be sure to post my measurements, good, bad or the same, June 1st. Here’s what I did today…

*side planks, 3 set of 30 seconds, each side
*3 sets of 20 calf raises (off a step)
*3 set of 15 BOSU squats
*3 sets of 50 bicycle crunches
*3 sets of 15 tricep dips
*3 sets of 15 ab dragon flags
*2 sets, 30 seconds each side plank with leg lift (holy HARD!!)

Time: 50 minutes
Avg Hr: 156
Max Hr: 181
Calories Burned: 463
Distance (on elliptical): 3.5 miles

I brought leftovers for lunch today so in lieu of subjecting you to another gross looking food photo, I’ll show you one of my purchases from the Bulk Barn last night! If you missed dinner last night, please go here, but I’m warning you that it’s not pretty!

Last night I left my purchase at “I added to my collection”. If anybody guessed a new STASH tea, you would be right! I didn’t see this flavour the other day so I’m not sure if I missed it or they just got it in. Drumroll……White Peach!
I don’t blog about what I drink in a day but every morning I fill my 3 cup Starbuck’s tumbler with tea. Today, of course, it was the peach. This is not as good as the mango coconut, but mighty fine none the less! And to be fair, the mango coconut pretty much knocks my socks off! I’m now officially up to 10 different flavours of STASH in my cupboard. YIKES!

We had a meeting at 2pm today that went until 4pm. Just before going in I enjoyed ½ of a cantaloupe and 2 chopped up kiwi’s…
Unfortunately, the kiwi's were not tasty at all! I don't think they are ripe enough yet. I didn't eat many of them.

When I got home from work I relaxed on the deck and soaked up some vitamin D. I also snacked on a banana bread loaf...
I made a most awesome dinner tonight if I do say so myself! I combined a LC cheese wedge, a 1/4 of an avocado, a 1/4 cup plain yogurt, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl, then I mixed it with a pack of hot Shiritaki noodles, steamed broccoli and a few shrimp.
Oh yeah, baby! This was fantastic!! I had just enough room for a small sweet end, too. A Cravings cheesecake..
This is my last one...BOO! Guess I'll have to make another trip to the store soon. Well, it's swimming lesson night and we have to drop the van off at the shop beforehand as it's getting a break job done tomorrow. I'll be home shortly after 8 and I hope it's still nice enough to sit outside and sip on a hot beverage. I hope the sun is shining where you are!!

Bye for now!!

Halvah...A Treat Indeed!

Hi! How's every one's weekend going? So far mine is going fast!!! Isn't that the way? I got up this morning and felt like something cold for breakfast. Odd for me, but I went with it! I made a huge bowl of cereal...
-1 cup puffed wheat
-1 cup puffed millet
-1/3 cup 3 Sisters Honey Oaties
-diced strawberries
-1 cup unsweetened almond breeze
This bowl hit the spot! Not to mention that it was HUGE!!!

After a bit of house clean up, a shower and putting my face on, we were off to the rink for ball hockey pictures at 11am. The game followed at noon but there was some time in between so DD and I went and did a little shopping at the "fancy"grocery store. Also known as the one that stocks everything but is clear across town from me! I picked up some more carob chips and Camino dark hot chocolate and some different store made breads that were reduced at 50% off. I also found some turkey pepperoni and raspberries that were on sale! I've had a nagging cough and sore chest for the past few days so before we left I bought myself a large organic mint green tea to try to soothe the irritation.
Worked like a charm. There's just something about a hot drink when you're not feeling up to par.

Lunch was a little later seeing as we didn't get home until 1:30. I made myself a toasted WW bagel with a LC wedge, slice of deli turkey and egg whites. On the side I had a sliced yellow tomato and the green beans leftover form dinner the other night.
I was full when this was all gone but not full enough to try a piece or Mara's Halvah that she sent me!
I've never, ever had this before so just decided to go for it and cut a hunk off. SO GOOD! It starts off a bit crumbly, but quickly turns creamy once in your mouth. The sesame taste is subtle and smooth. As I was eating it I was thinking that it would be great over some oats. Must put on the "to try" list!
The weather was up and down all day today and DD went to visit a friend for the afternoon. The boys were watching hockey so I decided to go for a LONG overdue pedicure. The place I go to gives you a nice foot massage while they're at it. Here's my toes!
This was just what I needed to put a smile on my face!

Once home I got started on dinner. I made pasta with meat sauce for the fam and I had a vegetarian version with Shiritaki noodles.
For my sauce, sauteed some mushrooms and carrots in broth with oregano, basil, chili powder, garlic, salt and pepper. When that was all cooked down I added some spinach and maybe a 1/3 of a cup of tomato sauce. Then the noodles went in to get themselves all coated!
I wasn't able to finish all of it! There's maybe a half cup left. In the old days I would've just eaten it, regardless of my hunger level. Now, I know to listen to my body better! After cleaning up and found a wee bit of room for another small chunk of Havlah. Then I hid the rest on myself!

My parents have come and gone and I'm in the process of showering the kids. I've got a few magazine's to catch up on tonight and there may be a movie later as well. Hope you're all having a great Saturday!!

Bye for now!!

I'm A "Hungry Girl"!

Hello all!!! This will be a quick post because I've been on the go all day and haven't got much time even now!!! I was up bright and early because DS started ball hockey this morning and we had to leave the house by 9am. I decided to try out a recipe from the new Hungry Girl's cookbook that was just released last week.
The recipe was called "fab 5 banana pancake mini's".
I opted for 3 bigger pancakes on which I smeared some homemade PB and drizzled with SF maple syrup. Instead of mixing everything up in a bowl, I gave the batter a whiz in the magic bullet and the consistency came out just right!
YUM!

Back tracking to last night, I did indeed have a snack about 9pm. I toasted a 100 calorie English muffin and spread it with a packet of Barney Butter.
The Barney Butter was good! It didnt blow my mind or anything, but I enjoyed the change. I still prefer natural nut butters, I must say.

DS really enjoyed ball hockey. I had no doubt that he would! My hubby and DS's friends father are coaching the team. The Dad's had a blast, too! Here's DS (im)patiently waiting to get on the rink....
His team is called the "Black Crows". Much better than the "Woodpeckers"!!!

We got home just before lunch so I spent some time tidying up and putting laundry in the machine. I snacked on some unpictured dried figs as soon as we walked through the door to tide me over. I started on my lunch around 12:30 and made a wrap filled with egg whites, spinach and LC cheese and on the side I had a 1/2 cup of plain yogurt that had 2 tbsp of PB2 mixed in. I used the orange as my "utensil" for the yogurt!
This was a very satisfying lunch! The yogurt/orange combo was terrific, but I wasn't fond of the mixture on its own so I tossed some granola in the last little bit to finish it off.

Right after lunch we were off again to buy a new bike for DD and shin pads and cleats for DS. DD really needed a new bike as hers was just too small and it was making it really hard for her to ride. We took the new wheels out for a test drive once everything was adjusted to her size. The ride ended up being 1 hour long and she didn't complain once!!! A miracle! :) I wore my HRM to see what my stats would look like on a family ride as opposed to by myself. Then I forgot to write it all down! I'll have to check the summary later, but I remember that we were gone for 58 minutes and I burned 268 calories. Not too shabby!

We got back to the house at 5 and the fam decided they wanted bacon and eggs for dinner. I decided that I wanted to try another Hungry Girl recipe! This one was called "Totally Pumpin Fettuccine". The recipe involved Shiritaki noodles, pumpkin, a LC cheese wedge, etc. I served it with a toasted English muffin to sop up all the sauce!
This recipe was another winner! I also ate maybe a cup of this watermelon that I chopped up while din din was cooking;
I'm one stuffed pussy cat right now! My parents will be over for a visit soon and after they leave I will be doing my shred DVD. I have a feeling that once that's done, I'll be collapsing on the couch!!! We have another early morning because there is one last "horrah" for DS's hockey team from 9-11. Where did the weekend go?????

Bye for now!!