The price of gluttony July 10, 2009

Yesterday was a food fest that I’d rather forget about.  But I can’t.  I consciously ate to excess and paid the price–I could hardly sleep last night.  A picture post is to follow; for now I will detail my gluttony.

Breakfast:

Started out innocently enough, with a hearty bowl of oatmeal and fruit.  Ended up with me drinking excessive coffee all morning.

Lunch:

I knew I was in for it as soon as my mom said “The Original Pancake House” as her birthday lunch choice.  Going in I was okay with overeating a bit since eating there is a rare treat, but once at the table I couldn’t control myself and “overeating a bit” turned into not being able to put the fork down.  In the presence of the Green Chile Omelette (we subbed in sharp white cheddar for the pepperjack–OMG!) and the Apple Pancake I kept finding my fork travelling from mouth to plate to mouth to plate to mouth… the flavor sensations of the cinnamony, sweet pancake were to die for, and the fluffy, creamy omelette was sensational.  What was a girl to do???  Keep eating and wash it down with more coffee   I felt a bit guilty about overeating, but at least I wasn’t so full that I felt ill.

Dinner:

Another business function at Andina Restaurant in the Pearl led to consumption of two glasses of wine, and:

CHICHARRSN DE LANGOSTINOS crispy golden prawns studded with quinoa, served with huacatay-peanut sauce

HONGOS SALTADOS  wild mountain mushrooms wok-fried with onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, garlic, and ajm, served with Yukon Gold “papas fritas” and garlic rice

FLAN DE QUESO DE CABRA
creamy goat cheese and lemon cake, served with fresh seasonal berries laced with basil and habanero

and some of Chris’  MOUSSE DE VALLE Y SELVA a tiered semi-freddo of velvety lucuma and espresso mousses, chocolate ganache, and crushed cocoa nib meringue, served with espresso shortbread.

Holy shit, I ate too much, and it was not nearly as satisfying and tasty as lunch.  I ate only one of the prawns, and it totally wasn’t worth it.  Our waiter asked me if I wanted to skip them since I told him I was vegetarian, but I got them for Chris.  The main dish was good, but nothing spectacular, and the Flan was quite yummy (I only ate half), but I found myself nearly licking out Chris’ mousse glass.

Postre:

Yes, there was another postre!  We went to pick up Lily, and I had a slice of cake from Helen Bernhard Bakery.  It was pink champage cake with raspberry French cream filling, and vanilla French cream frosting.  To. Die. For.  But, more than this gluttonous biotch needed!  Ack!

This incredible combination of rich eats, sweets, wine, and what not left me kinda grumpy last night, and really tired.  I mean, I was tired from a lack of sleep, too, but I think the food made me drag.  I fell alseep for a few hours, then tossed and turned for many more.  Was there a lot of caffeine in those cocoa nibs or the espresso shortbread? I thought of getting up to go workout finally, but that didn’t happen.

Today my sweet tooth has kicked in since I ate all that sweet stuff yesterday.  Eating crap leads to wanting to eat more crap and so on in a vicious cycle, no?  One of my colleagues brought in Voodoo Doughnuts today–damn him!  I have successfully avoided them but for taking a picture to share with you later, as tonight is another feast in celebration of my mom’s birthday.  This time at The Chart House.   I called ahead and the only vegetarian dinner they have is pasta marinara or something like that; sounds fine by me.  I hope to do better with the volume of my eats, and hold off on dessert in favor of having more cake at my mom’s afterward

If this post has made you crave unhealthy food or given you the desire to go stuff your face, perhaps my last words will deter that–Chris said the house smelled like I shit my pants last night from my gas.  That’s right, the house, not just the bedroom.  Aw, thanks, honey.  Ain’t that sweet?  I guess I expelled this lovely odor during the few hours while I actually slept, cause nothing was a rumblin’ before I hit the hay, or after I woke up.  But(t), apparently that mix of eats was lethal!

With those fine thoughts I leave you to ponder your Friday afternoon/evening. I’ll probably be back later to post pics of most of the above, along with today’s eats.  Chow!  Ciao!

Butternut, why do thee hate me? July 8, 2009

I’ve been uber frustrated the last three times I’ve made butternut squash chips–they don’t turn out like the crispy gems I’ve come to love.  Rather, they are a bit floppy and just not quite right.  I ran out of my canola oil spray and switched to olive oil spray; perhaps that is the culprit?  But tonight I didn’t really use spray (just a touch on the pan) and I still had issues.  Makes me wanna give up!  The only other change I’ve made is not nuking the squash for quite as long before peeling and slicing.  Is that my problem?  We shall investigate next time…

This blogger has been a cranky bitch the last few days, and has eaten erratically (or so it felt like).  I’ve eaten just to eat, gone for frozen yogurt quite a bit, and haven’t been satisfied at times.  I’m not sure what is up, but mentally things have been a little tougher and that has contributed to my issues. 

Notes of the last three days:

• I visited WinCo Foods for the first time in like 20 years.  What a trip!  They are a bargain grocer and also have some household items and toiletries.  Of course while I was there they had put away all the produce and bulk goods to clean the floor
• Get ur ass boobs to Target to pick up a fabulous Champion sports bra for $12.99 (thru Saturday)!!  Two styles to choose from, like 15 colors, and both are super comfy.  The girls are in love!
• Chris modeled my Mexican Ropa Vieja salad for the camera.  That icky looking thing in the middle is a fried jalapeno–ay, ay, ay…muy picosa!
• Raspberries from Costco = heavenly add to this week’s produce
• Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday and it marks the beginning of three to four days of eating out too many times for various reasons.
• I’ve worked out twice this week, three times if you include tennis on Sunday.  Already 200-300% better than last week!
• The walls of my office are still naked and stark–I can’t commit to any art, picture, tapestry, or otherwise.   Perhaps a trip to Ikea Saturday can cure that
• This week has flown by!!  Yee-haw!! Oh, wait, tomorrow’s only Thursday.  Grrr.
• I finally bought avocados at Costco.  As Andrea noted, they are up to $1.50 each, but that is better than what the price has been at Freddy’s for the large Hass variety. 

Gotta love the gallery

Oyasuminasai!

Weekend report July 5, 2009

Happy belated 4th of July!  I hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed some tasty eats   I haven’ t blogged for like 3 or 4 days… bear with me here!

I told myself I’d wake up early and work out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but that totally didn’t happen.  I worked out ONCE this last week–yipes!  And it was only cardio.  While I don’t think one week off will kill me, I’m afraid that going back will be really hard.  I don’t want this week off to build and build until I just don’t go the gym anymore, and I sure as hell don’t want to lose what I’ve worked so hard to build.  I be gettin’ my ass to the gym this week, fo’ sho!

Friday was rather boring, with both Chris and I working in an unairconditioned office from about 11 to 5, and a trip to Fajitas for dinner.  Afterward I trekked to Target for a pick me up, and ended up buying several things, including:

• Origin Calcium 600 + D with  60% RDA Calcium and 31% RDA Vitamin D
• Origin B-Complex sublingual liquid with 100% B-2, 100% Niacin, 100% B-6, 20,000% B-12, and 300% Panthenoic acid
• Origin Biotin with 333% RDA
• Up and Up SPF 15 lotion and SPF 30 spray
• Nivea My Silhouette firming lotion/gel (hate! too fragranced for me! boo:( )
• Dreyer’s Slow Churned Vanilla Frozen Yogurt (love!)
• Boots Expert Sensitive Hydrating Eye Cream (love!)

Origin and Up and Up are Target brands that seem to be great values and high quality products.  The supplements I chose are all vegan, have no artificial or unnecessary ingredients, and were very reasonably priced.  Here’s hoping they help me feel more energized, assist in metabolizing my food, prevent cracky teeth, and aid in the health of my skin, hair and nails.  I didn’t end up choosing a calcium chew b/c of the extra ingredients I really don’t want (sugars, oils) and the higher cost.  But, if I do buy any in the future I think it will be the Nutrition Now brand.

Saturday I opted for oatmeal for breakfast, and didn’t realize how patriotic this shot was until now.  I’m totally not patriotic, FYI, and the blueberries just kinda landed in that star-like pattern. 

After this and reading a bit I slaved away in the yard for two + hours pulling weeds.  Yee-haw, right?  At least I worked up a nice sweat and got in some vitamin D!

Our Fourth of July “celebration” was dinner at my dad’s house with Chris, grandma, my uncle, and my mom.  We always stand around eating a lot before dinner at my dad’s; last night it was cherries, Tumalo Peppercorn Goat Cheese, Kettle Chipotle chips, and some non-oak Chardonnay. 

My dad was really thoughtful and bought these so I could have a vegetarian dinner   He said he’s also interested in trying them–go daddy!

Dinner included: a Veggi Patti on a toasted bun with habanero oil guacamole, dill pickles, iceburg, nearly black heirloom tomatoes, sliced jalapeno, sliced Anaheim pepper; pasta salad with grape tomatoes, broccoli, red cabbage, red onion, red pepper, carrots, vinaigrette of some sort,  and parmesan cheese.    (My dad grew all of the spicy peppers we ate )  We had some tasty French and Oregon wines as well. 

After dinner came slices of fresh watermelon, eaten outside while watching Lily eat her corn.  My daddy was really thoughtful and bought 2 ears of corn just for her!  We grilled it and let her enjoy it right off the cob

As if that wasn’t enough food, we jumped for the Lee Berry Farms rhubarb pie awaiting us in the kitchen.  I brought the Dreyer’s froyo over to go with the pie; it totally tasted like ice cream!  I forgot to photograph my first bowl, and show you my seconds here:

Sunday morning started off with a beautiful bowl of berries and granola, coffee, and finishing up A Good Year.  Made me want to be in Provence like none other…

This beautiful moth was enjoying the wildflowers; anyone know what the heck this is?

Chris and I played tennis for about an hour today with the Lily Bird acting as our ball girl.  She’s had quite an active weekend and is passed out under my feet now

Holy shit, BBC America did a documentary on the 18 girls in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that all got pregnant around the same time.  Crazy stuff!

This biotch is tired and ready to hit the hay.  In a rather meh mood for various odd reasons, but all in all the weekend was  good.  Here’s to a great week ahead

Here I am, fat and on a quest to be fit once again November 7, 2008

Hi!  My name is Kersten and I’m a 27 year old Portland, Oregon, resident who is sick of being out of shape!  Once upon a time I was fit and trim, but then I started an intense job about 4 1/2 years ago and let my eating and workouts go by the wayside.  I am now battling the bulge, growing out of my clothes, have low energy, and hate how my body looks   No more, I say!!! 

I hope you will follow, join, or encourage me on my quest to lose inches, gain tone, and return to a mostly healthy lifestyle.  About one month ago I began eating more healthfully by making dinner at home 4 times a week, and by making my lunch for work 4-5 days per week.  While I don’t intend to be 100% perfect and healthy, I hope to eat mostly healthy foods, reduce my impact on the environment at the same time, and workout regularly.  My major weakness is Mexican food, which I currently eat 3 times a week between two restaurants–I do not anticipate that this will go away, but I hope to make better menu choices when I eat there.

Just today I bought a 2 year membership to 24 Hour Fitness–my long lost gym!  (Check it out!  Costco is selling all-club Sport memberships, 2 years for $290!  That’s about $12/month!!) I hope to attend some pilates and yoga classes, and begin an early a.m. workout routine to get my ass in shape!

I was inspired by my blogging friends at caretoeat.net to start this blog, especially Erin who was my workout buddy and major friend and source of support when I was fit once upon a time–love you girl!  Erin and Andrea are totally fun, majorly healthy, and a great inspiration to anyone hoping to eat and live well   Rock on, girls!

I went to the gym! November 8, 2008

Brace yourselves, people, I actually got off my arse and went to the gym today!!  Over the last week I have been checking out details about my local 24HourFitness’ classes, and the yoga and pilates selections piqued my interest.  I haven’t received my 24Hour membership voucher from Costco yet, so I downloaded a free 7 day pass online!!  Imagine that, I was actually MOTIVATED enough to be proactive and figure out how I could get to the gym today. 

Last night I kept thinking about heading to the gym, and this morning I wasn’t positive I would go, but at like 9:30 I decided to go for it and head to the 10 o’clock pilates class. The membership people were kind enough to not bore me with details when I got there. I headed upstairs, jumped on a the elliptical to warm up for a few minutes, and headed on in to the studio for my first pilates sesh in like 4 years.  I know, you say, “what are you thinking diving in to pilates right away??!!” but it worked out well (no pun intended!).  I was careful not to overdo it, stuck to basic versions of all the moves, and listened to my body so as not to hurt myself.  That hour flew by, and it did help me feel energized and accomplished

So, back downstairs I went, stopping in the ladies room to wash the hands along the way.  Touching things in the gym makes me feel pretty germy, and although I’m not obsessive about germs I felt the need to wash the hands.  I was also curious to see how much I weigh, but the scale in the ladies room was broken!  I’m guessing I’m somewhere around 155, but my scale at home is an crappy old spring scale that is totally inaccurate.  Oh well, I’ll use the scale upstairs at the gym next time.  [side note...the gym was PACKED TO THE MAX!  I got a little nervous about walking around in front of everyone with my ass ga-donk-a-donking around, but then I actually felt rather anonymous and un-spectacle-like because of the crowd.  Everyone is there to get fit, right, no matter what they look like ]

Off I went to meet with David in membership, and get the schpiel about how I need to do personal training to make sure I get results and work out efficiently.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the value of paying someone for specific, tailored advice, but I just don’t know if I want to hire a personal trainer for like $55/hour just to walk me though the target heartrate calculation, diet evaluation, and exercise techniques I’m pretty familiar with.  I’m kind of in the zone of creating my routine and executing it on my own for now, but we’ll see what happens.  So, David mentioned the “Biggest Loser” promo of 5-25minute sessions for about $100.  This sounds like a much better deal to me, and we’ll see if I end up pursuing it.  Sounds like a great Christmas gift (hint, hint to the fam).

I headed out and realized I was getting overly hungry, as I did not eat anything this morning.  That is a HORRIBLE habit I’ve gotten into over the last 4 years–not eating breakfast.  I love breakfast though, but usually I’m a bit lazy and don’t want to take the time to make something.  Now I’m going to make it a point to eat some breakfast every day, even if it is just a Clif Nectar bar (love those!) or some fruit…just something to get the metabolism going and fuel my morning. 

At first I thought I’d make some whole wheat French toast with syrup from Megan’s wedding, but then got a hankerin’ for something savory and made scrambled eggs with feta and kalamata olives in a reduced fat heart healthy tortilla.  One thing I noticed about these tortillas is they’re rather bitter unless I heat them up thoroughly, so here’s the pic of my little friend warming in the pan with his guts going along for the ride.  It was yummy!  I also had the rest of my Fuji apple from yesterday’s lunch.

So here I sit, mid-day Saturday, feeling accomplished and good about getting to the gym today.  I may go tomorrow, too, and try out the yoga class at 10.  We’ll see!

One last topic before I go for the day:  body image.  I have described myself as fat throughout my site, and I should probably describe what I mean by it.  To me “fat” does not mean incredibly overweight, it means having too much body fat and feeling too soft.  I’m sick of having my stomach fold over itself (or my pants!), seeing muffin top sprawl out of my low jeans, and watching my body jiggle as I move around.  I don’t like how I look in the few clothes I have left that fit, and most of what I see when I look in the mirror is the pockets of fat that bulge from, roll over, or stretch out my clothing.  No, no, I don’t have a totally negative body image, but I miss feeling svelte and being able to sit down without having the stomach runneth over the waistband.  I feel less beautiful than I should, and I know that by improving my fitness I will ultimately be improving my body image, body composition, and perception of my beauty

Thanks for reading!  Let’s finish with a question:  what makes you feel beautiful?  Please leave a comment or answer so I know you were here!   Have a great day!

Well, I thought I was done for the day… November 8, 2008

Thanks Erin and Heather for the comments!  Erin, you totally rock and I must thank you especially for the mention on your blog, caretoeat.net.  I’ve gotten lots of traffic because of it!  I do remember when we used to walk around 24Hr like we owned the place…heck, I think we did!!  I’ll have to remind the peeps at my new gym of that

After I posted earlier I got to cleaning a bit, which involved sweeping the floor and lamenting over quickly it gets dirty.   That’s the sweet Lily Bird who helps grow that pile of dirt and hair lightning fast. 

I later compiled the grocery list and headed out to Fred Meyer to stock up.  I hate how busy the store always is, and was glad to get out of there.  Here’s what I made for dinner:

Chicken, green & red bell peppers, onions, olives, a little cheddar cheese, and a some jalapeno salsa wrapped in tortillas and baked until hot and a little crispy on the outside.  I made a few extra for lunch over the next few days; mine are the ones covered in salsa   Chris is a wino and didn’t want the spice to affect the taste of his yummy wine.  I also had a little bit of homemade guacamole on the side, mixed with some salsa and touch of reduced fat sour cream-yum!  Here’s what we had to drink:

I am starting to get addicted to blogging!  It is fun, relatively easy, and I think it will continue to be a motivating factor for me.  I seriously think Erin and Andrea’s blog got me motivated to begin my health quest and use a blog to do so–props, girls!!!  I hope to motivate others as well   You have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here not wanting to get off my ass and get healthy.  Finally, a change!

Tomorrow’s plans to work out may be foiled… I’m having breakfast with my mom at The Original Pancake House (sooooooo gooooood!), and then heading to work for awhile.  Yes, work on a Sunday… a necessary evil given my workload and current economic goings-on.  I’ll undoubtedly be having Mexican for dinner, too.  I’ll have to photograph Chris’ and my beverage of choice there–the Casuela.  Not healthy fo sho, but at least it is mostly fruit juice.  Lately I keep ordering tortilla soup, and tomorrow probably won’t be any different

Nighty night y’all!  It is only 9pm but I’m tired and still have a little of that glass of wine to drink.  Keep it real!

Work it, baby! November 9, 2008

Sunday turned out to be a bit different than expected, as I did not go to work after all, but I was able to get in a work out   Yippee!

The day started out with me in a pissy mood for random and PMS-induced reasons, but ended up quite alright.  I got up early (<8am on a Sunday), wanted to kill a few people on the highway on the way to pick up mama, and headed to the Original Pancake House.  The wait was super long!  I chatted with a cute 7 year old named Taylor while I waited, and then was enthralled when we were seated and I was able to finally dig in to this:

A white cheddar and bacon omelette, oven baked to perfection!

I ate less than half of this, two little pumpkin pancakes, and one little regular pancake.  I stopped before I was full, and was very proud of my self for doing so.  Afterward it was back to mom’s house to watch giant squirrels in her yard for a little while–they are huge!!  Like little cats or something…

 

After I got home Chris and I ix-nayed work for the day–that was good news to me!  We made some coffee, I played with Lily, and then I checked out the gym schedule.  No more classes today, so I figured I’d go do some cardio later. 

Around 12:30 I started getting a little hungry, so I made a wrap with some new ingredients, a la miss Erin! 

A low fat tortilla with a little hummus, lots of spinach, some broc slaw (!), pepper, and a dash each of balsalmic vinegar and olive oil.  I also had a handful of grapes.  Tasted yummy, but my tummy wasn’t too happy afterward.  I think I had too much coffee this morning and trying to drink some after lunch didn’t sit well.  So I moved on with the day…

 

 

I thought I’d add some pictures of birds into my blog, as I am fitbird after all.  I really do like birds and have been amazed by the variety I’ve seen in my own backyard.  While Lily and I looked outside for a little while I thought she looked too cute and had to be photographed too. 

“Mommy, can we go outside?”  Well, sure…

Lily LOVES to play with the tennis ball, so while I entertained her I tried to snap some shots of birdies, but not many were around. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going back inside a male Anna’s hummingbird came up for some fresh juice from the feeders, and I managed to catch a pic of him:

 Can you see him, to the right of the feeder in the air?

His red/black throat was gorgeous, and between sips he’d fly off and make metallic chirps from the tree.  Yay hummer!

 

 

 

I proceeded to start some laundry and clean out the fridge of some old food that had to go.  Instead of chucking or recycling the plastic tubs these items came in (hummus, olives, etc.) I decided to wash and reuse them.  They are perfect sizes for my lunch and snacks, so why not?  The other day I was reading about random recycling facts/etc., and realized that I don’t reuse much (or at least the whole reuse thing kind of hit me as I read about it).  I really try hard to recycle what I can, and reduce consumption, but I totally missed that I wasn’t reusing some things that would be easy.  I’m also trying to use both sides of paper before I recycle it, and wear my clothes five times before washing (haha!  just kidding on that last one of course–testing you to see if you’re paying attention )

I threw some more laundry in and gave the man a haircut.  He goes for a #1 1/2 buzz cut, so it is a pretty easy procedure every few weeks.  But, that meant more sweeping!  I swept the family room and kitchen areas again, too, and was of course amazed at the fur again. 

FINALLY we went to work out around 3:30.  I had 1/3 of an apple before heading out.  Chris is a member at Bally’s, so I dropped him off and headed off to 24Hr for some cardio.  I jumped on my trusty old machine–the elliptical–and did 30 minutes at the upper end of my target heart rate.  (Oh, I googled that and calculated it earlier so I’d know my healthy limits for effective cardio.)  I was floored by the fact that my elliptical had a TV and an iPod connector on it!  What is this new-fangled technology!??  It was great tho, cause my iPod battery was running low and I wanted to crank Justin’s “Sexy Back” to get me moving.  Now I can look forward to watching what I want to while doing cardio, which is pretty cool.

I felt good after the cardio, especially cause I knew I was heading off to dinner at Fajitas, our friendly neighborhood Mexican restaurant where everyone knows our name   This is the Casuela I mentioned:

Yes, friends, that is a whole pitcher full of orange and pineapple juices, vodka, tequila, grenadine, and some fresh fruit.  I know that fruit juice is basically just sugar, but at least there’s some vitamin C and other nutrients, right?  I drank about 1/3 to 1/2 and passed the rest off to Chris.

 

 

 

I did indeed order tortilla soup, which was quite yummy, but had more cheese than usual.  I love cheese!

Again I was able to stop eating before feeling full, but I was also drinking a lot of water and ended up feeling a bit full when we left the restaurant. The weirdest thing happened while we were there–an Italian guy randomly came in and tried to sell us pleather coats!  He only spoke Spanish and Italian, so Chris chatted with him in Espanol while I tried to understand.  This experience reminded me of being on a beach in Mexico, or a little street market in Italy.  Random!

Now my Sunday is winding down, and I feel happy and content.  And, tonight, fresh sheets!  I love fresh sheets.  Heck, who doesn’t?!  I managed to get a whole bunch more done tonight, too…prepped oatmeal for tomorrow, emptied the dishwasher, organized my closet a bit.  Feeling productive is good  

Thanks for reading!

I got ‘punctured’ today November 10, 2008

Happy Monday to you all.  Today actually was quite a happy day, surprisingly.  The day went quickly, too, which was awesome!  A recap of my day for you…

Woke up around 7, but didn’t crawl out of bed until about 8.  Got ready as usual and made sure to remember my pre-soaked oatmeal before I left. As I went to photograph it I noticed that Chris wrote something on my reminder, which totally made me laugh:

My reminder was sitting by a bag of trail mix, which apparently looked like some other type of food   That pic is of my uncooked oatmeal; the trail mix had raisins, almonds, peanuts, chocolate chips, and sunflower seeds. 

I tried photographing a Stellar’s Jay this morning as it swooped in to pick up peanuts, but it kept moving so fast all I could capture was a blur.  They are so pretty with their black combs and bright blue hues.  (Ack, Lily is trying to help me write this by putting her head on the keyboard and my hands–so cute!)

On the way to work I got totally hungry, almost hangry (love that term!).  I was really looking forward to the oatmeal, and popped it in the microwave as soon as I got to work. It seemed a tad bitter, so I added 1/2 a packet of Splenda and that helped a lot.  I didn’t really like the peanut and sunflower seed tastes in the oatmeal, so I don’t think I’ll be adding that particular mix into the oats in the future.  Oh well, I did like that the raisins I put in the night before were all plump and juicy–yum yum! :P

I was in a meeting from 11 to 1, and when I got out I was just starting to get hungry.  I reheated our leftover chicken burritos from the other night, and also ate a Fuji apple.  I think I ate a little too much, and then I started to feel bloated and rather miserable.  I worked a little more and headed out…

I had an acupuncture appointment at 2:30, which was quite nice today.  My acupuncturist, Randy, is using me as a guinea pig for an allergy treatment technique he’s learning:  NAET.  It involves treating the body while being exposed to an allergen, and works by teaching the body to not react to the presence of the allergen.  Today I was treated with tree pollen, as I think that has been giving me crazy bad allergies lately.  I only seem to have reactions when I’ve been outdoors; about an hour after exposure I start to feel heady, get sinus pressure and/or headaches, sneeze a little, and sometimes feeling nauseous or have flu-like symptoms.  Tylenol Multi-Symptom Allergy keeps my symptoms at bay, but I look forward to the NAET treatment preventing me from reacting in the first place.

My treatment was very relaxing, and I thought about working out and feeling good while I was resting with my needles in.  I must say I never thought in a million years that I’d want someone to put needles in me, but acupuncture is usually not painful at all and does provide relief for my ailments.  (It is only a little prick, if that, when most needles go in.  Sometimes areas are tender, because they are points related to issues I’m having, which hurt a bit more when the needle goes in and then it subsides right away.) I used to get migraines a lot, but I’ve only had two since May!  My emotions also seem to be more balanced, with fewer random ups and downs.

My acupuncturist mentioned the relational acupuncture workshops he does, and I’m seriously considering joining the next round.  It involves having acupuncture treatment while seated in a room with others who discuss relation and intention as a modality to achieve greater focus and well being.  Sounds interesting!

I got back to work around 3:45, and worked until about 5.  Not a super long day, but it felt productive and positive.  When I got home I made a salad and low-fat beef stroganoff for dinner.

The salad had spinach, broc slaw, celery, and green bell pepper, dressed with balsalmic vinegar and olive oil, with some cracked pepper and a touch of salt for seasoning.  The stroganoff had 93% lean ground beef, onions, beef broth, a tiny bit of low-fat sour cream, and cracked pepper; I served it over whole wheat yolk-free egg noodles.  My eyes were much bigger than my stomach, and I only ate half of each before I started feeling full.  I’m still nursing my caffeine-free Diet Pepsi now, two hours later, and I still feel bloated from lunchtime–bleh!

I don’t know if I’ll eat anything else today, but I’m craving a little something sweet.  Raisins?  Skittles?  A little birdfood with almond milk (hehe)?  We’ll see if I can justify eating anything else while feeling like a balloon.  I’m watching Law & Order now, and Lily settled down and is laying on my feet   Pretty basic evening here… what do you usually do on Monday nights?

A funky Tuesday November 11, 2008

Hi–welcome back!  Tuesday seemed to be blues-day for my honey, but it was okay for me, other than the nasty feeling tummy right now!  Started out the day getting out of bed around 8 again, performed the usual get ready/play with Lily/pack lunch routine, and was able to wear casual clothes because I didn’t have any appointments today.

I made my oats after arriving at work, and had the usual cup o’ coffee with sugar free vanilla Coffeemate.  I wonder if almond milk could work as a substitute for the Coffeemate?  I don’t like coffee with milk (not creamy enough), but I’ll try to remember to add almond milk this weekend instead of Coffeemate. 

Bob’s Steel Cut Oats with half almond milk, half water, and raisins

The oats were pretty good, but I still feel like they’re missing a little something…I’ll have to keep experimenting.

Lunch was a low fat tortilla with low fat turkey and the rest of my salad from last night inside–it was yummy!  I also had some apples (no, that whole tub wasn’t for me!), and then a few hours later a white cheddar rice cake.

Do you eat at your desk?  Some people think it is not good to do, and I know if I’m distracted I eat too fast, but lately I’ve just been taking a bit of a break to eat and then I go back to work.

The afternoon was the more funky part of my day.  I did not get the work done I should have, and I just kep thinking about the day being over with already.  I kept looking forward to working out, and eventually it was more of a need to work out that developed.  My hunger came back here and there, so I finally had a Special K20 protein water, and that was okay but the texture got to me and I couldn’t finish the last bit.

Around 4 I had a Clif Nectar cherry pomegranate bar–yum!  I love these bars and have a few each week.

Dinner was a doosy, as Chris and I could not decide what the heck to do for the life of us.  He was feeling a little down from random events of the day, and wanted to visit our neighborhood Mexican restaurant.  I, on the other hand, was feeling the need to work out and did not want to get stuffed or drink alcohol and then go work out.  But, I knew I needed to eat before working out and didn’t really look forward to cooking.  We eventually compromised and did go get Mexican, but I had a taco salad and took more than half home for later. 

I worked chest, triceps, legs, and a little bit of abs today   I also did 30 minutes of cardio, and felt great when I left the gym.  I went to Target and bought a yoga mat and reusable water bottle, too!  Hopefully I can start yoga Thursday night.  When I got home it was late, like 10:15, and my hunger was returning.  I picked at the rest of my taco salad, even though I knew I shouldn’t eat something like that this late.

Thinking about this or describing it is almost making me sick–I just started feeling totally icky a few minutes ago, and am not exactly sure if it is the salad, working out, …..????

I opened my yoga mat and Lily was kind enough to model for me:

It’s a little blurry since I didn’t want to use the flash…

Isn’t she a cutie pie?!  She was so good

Well, I’m gonna head to bed since I feel gross and just want to curl up.  Hope your Tuesday ended better than mine! 

Hasta manana.

Rain rain go away! November 12, 2008

It is SO icky here right now–windy, rainy, flat out blustery.  I’m sitting on the couch with a blankie wrapped around me watching Law & Order, and I can’t believe it is still before 9pm!  I’m going to try to go to bed at 10 since I have to get out of bed a bit earlier tomorrow.

The day started out fine, much better than I felt last night for sure!  I didn’t sleep totally well, and I was tired when I got up.  I went through the usual routine again, except Lily couldn’t find her ball outside so we couldn’t play  But, there were three squirrels in the yard this morning, and lots of little birdies   I managed to catch a pic of a squirrel and a Downy woodpecker (the’pecker is on the bottom right part of the little house).  Raccoons have been wreaking havoc in the yard the last few nights, pulling the bottom out of the platform feeder and getting the suet out of its house.

My breakfast oatmeal seemed better this morning, even thought it was the same as yesterday–steel cut oats with raisins and almond milk.  After eating I noticed I felt allergies coming on–suck!  Why can’t they go away already?!

This held me over for a long time, and I didn’t eat lunch until about 12:30.  I had a sandwich consisting of whole wheat bread, low fat turkey, avocado, spinach, and a little Nature’s Seasoning sprinkled on the avos.  It was yummy!  I forgot about the avo and was not very excited digging into it, but then the avo and Nature’s hit the palate and made me smile   Like my foil?  I made it a point to reuse it for a few days.  I’m not sure how to pack a sandwich without wrapping it in something so it doesn’t fall apart, but then I end up using more packaging over time than I’d like.  Any suggestions?

Around 2 I had a little snack:  a white cheddar rice cake.  I also made it a point to drink lots of water today to help make sure I was hydrated and to stave off hunger.  I chatted with my office mate about getting sick last night and the same thing happened to her–shortly after eating her stomach started hurting, nausea came over her, and she tossed her cookies.  Is it an incredibly quick bug going around?? 

I also had a handful of trail mix around 4 or 4:30.  Sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, raisins, dark chocolate chips.  No pic of that…

Traffic was slow on the way home because of the heavy rain, and it seemed so dark.  I hate how early it gets dark now!!!  Lily is so cute when we get home, and immediately she wants to go out and play.  She’ll totally go look for her ball and bring it to me before she does her business… a bit obsessive??  But, again, no luck finding the ball. 

I made a rather quick and easy dinner consisting of pan fried pork chops, mashed potatoes with Smart Balance Light & a touch of reduced fat sour cream, and canned Italian green beans.  I felt like I needed something to snack on while cooking, and that an extra serving of veggies would be great, so I made a little spinach and broc slaw salad with balsalmic, olive oil, S&P.

 Yummy!

Dinner turned out well, and although this plate looks large I somehow managed to eat it all without being full really.  The potates were good, especially since I added a little bit more Smart Balance   I like mine with chunks of potato in them, how about you?

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot while eating is s-l-o-w  d-o-w-n. I used to eat too fast for a few reasons:  I would be distracted or thinking too much about something else; or, I would practically force myself to eat faster so I could get more yummy bites in.  Today it finally *clicked*:  if I eat slower I’ll be enjoying the food more, stretching out the time I get to enjoy it, and eating less.  DUH!  My last intentional overeat was about a month ago when I had chicken pineapple curry for my birthday.  I just could not stop myself from eating more and more and more, and afterward I was quite miserable because of it.  No more!

Now, a Recycling Moment with Kersten… While at the gym over this last week I noticed a HUGE number of plastic water bottles in the trash cans all over the gym.  Don’t these people recycle?  How can they just throw away something that will take like hundreds of years to break down??!!  On my way out I asked the front desk staff if there was a recycling bin for plastic bottles, and she said, “yeah, there’s one upstairs.”  ONE?  UPSTAIRS?  What good is that doing?  She made a note to ask management about it and try to get another one downstairs   I desperately wanted to dive into the trash and take all those lost plastic souls home to recycle, but I didn’t.  Boo.  Did you know that like 85% of plastic water bottles end up in the trash?  Double boo!!!

At my office only paper recycling is accepted by our property management, even though other items can be recycled at work throughout Portland.  So, I added a bin that is for all other recyclables, and it seems to be going okay.  There are 11 people in my office, and I’m still surprised that water bottles, cans, other plastics, etc, end up in the trash.  I do fish those items out of the trash, though.  At the end of the week I bring the bin home, sort it, clean everything, and recycle what I can at the curb.  I’ve started collecting non-curb recycling items to take to a recycling depot near work.  At least someone will take those little tubs, styrofoam, and other things my local trash carrier won’t.  Yay!  I’m thinking of taking a Master Recycler course in Jan/Feb, which involves a great amount of teaching around materials, processes, and problems in recycling, and requires some community service time to promote recycling.  Sounds fun to me!

Alright, it is already like 9:50 (I’ve been watching more Law & Order along the way), and I still need to update my iTunes and then hit the hay.  I enjoyed rocking out to Billy Idol and Duran Duran during yesterday’s workout session, and I need to make a playlist just for working out. 

Peace out!

Yogi bear, and the rain went away! :) November 13, 2008

Happy Thursday!  It is almost Friday I suppose–yay   Today was good in many ways, so let me detail my journey for you… 

First of all, it was bright and sunny today, and that really helped the mood.  ‘Twas a tad colder, but I’ll trade heat for dryness these days.

Chris and I didn’t get a whole lotta sleep (I was up til practically midnight after all!), but had to get up early.  The typical routine was just that, and off we headed to work around 7:45.  Upon arrival I heated up my new morning friend:  Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats with Blue Diamond Almond Milk and raisins.

“Good morning!”

My morning went quickly, and my mid-day lunch was slightly altered by a trip to the mall with mom to walk around and talk.  I quickly ate my nummy sandwich before leaving.  That’s my lululemon bag cum lunch sack that I faithfully pack the day’s food in  

The sando (thanks for the word, Erin and Andrea) was just like yesterday’s but only a half today:  whole wheat bread, low fat turkey, spinach, avocado, and Nature’s Seasons for shits and giggles.  The combo of avocado and Nature’s made me smile again, I must admit. 

Off to the mall I went with mama, walked and talked for awhile, looked in Sephora (an adult woman’s candy store, no?) and Papyrus (another adult woman’s candy store), then sat down at Newport Bay for ma to eat lunch and chat more.  I had coffee with 1/2 and 1/2, one bit of her chowder, and two of these bad boys:

Coconut crusted prawns with some sort of slaw

The prawns tasted good, but the batter has changed and is too plentiful I think.  I only like coconut in my pina coladas or fried, how about you?

After another quick walk we headed out and mom dropped me off at work around 1:30.  When I got back to the office I had that confused tummy feeling–full? hungry? I think it was because I didn’t eat much at any one time during the lunch hour.  At 2ish I began feeling hungry, so I had my salad:  spinach, broc slaw, green pepper, avocado, s&p, olive oil, vinegar.  It looked a little sad at first, but tasted great. 

Did some more work, read about recycling, and was referred to this link by a great client:

www.container-recycling.org    

Check it out!  Pretty informative!  Follow this link to sign a petition to request DEMAND a national bottle bill. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/support-a-national-bottle-bill

Oregon has a bottle bill (deposit on soda/beer/regular beverage containers) and we have an 85% recovery rate because of that.  Compare that to the national average of closer to 40%…see the difference a bottle bill can make?  Effective Jan 1, 2009 we also have a deposit required on water bottles!  Yay, that should help prevent the ginormous amount of them that go into the trash. Yippee for recycling!

Chris and I left work around 3:45 to get home to Lily Bird (we don’t leave her more than 8 hours usually–longer than that feels cruel )  While playing ball with Lily outside upon returning home I saw lots of birdies!  Hummer, Cedar Waxwings, Downy Woodpecker… I captured some photos for you, too:

 

After that I changed and proceeded to prepare dinner:

Can ya tell what it is?

Chicken, smothered chicken.  (And my leftover Italian green beans from last night).  I sauteed bell pepp and onion, then chicken breast, put the two together, and added a little bit of cheese.  This is one of the first “real” dishes I made from my Betty Crocker cookbook years ago, and I still love it (sans ’shrooms since I hate those).  This tasty goodness energized me for my….

First yoga class!  Well, okay, I didn’t go straight to yoga…. Watched some TV, headed to PetSmart to restock Lily’s food and treats, and then hit the gym.  I was still early, so I did 25 minutes of cardio and cranked my iPod’s spankin’ new Work it, baby! playlist.  I bought “Disturbia” by Rihanna since I’ve been obsessed with that song lately, and cranked it on the elliptical.  At 7:25 I headed up for my class, new yoga mat and water bottle in hand, ready to strike a pose.

The yoga instructor’s name is Shelly, and she was awesome!  She gave good instructions, was sure to move around and help us out in our poses, and had a good sense of humor.  It took me awhile to get into the breathing pattern while holding poses, and there were a few poses that I totally couldn’t hold (don’t ask me which ones… no idea yet), but it was great.  A few times I felt light and wonderful, especially at the end.  I introduced myself to the instructor afterward, and I look forward to seeing her 2-3 times per week for more yogi wonder. :smile:

I left the gym feeling great, cranked “Disturbia” in the car, and proceeded to cry while waiting to get out of the parking lot (!).  I suddenly had an emotional feeling come over me that made me cry, but not in a negative way at all.  Weird, huh?  I know it was from the yoga working on my Qi (energy), as that was the same thing that happened after my first acupuncture session.  I was happy on the way home, and still feel happy now–awesome!

I had this little snacky-poo when I got home to stave off late night hunger–Cascadian Farms Vanilla Oat Crunch with almond milk.  Yummy, and slightly sweet since the cereal has so much sugar (ack, didn’t realize this before…at least it is not refined white sugar, tho).

 (oops, a bit of a shadow there…)

Erin asked me the other day if I noticed any differences already because of my new, healthy routine, and I didn’t think so at that point.  But after listening to my body a bit more since then, I realize that I have been happier every day and I am not getting cravings for sweet or salty goods (or anything, really), even tho I’m PMSin’ and this would be one time where I crave salty goodness and then a sweet chaser. 

I have to admit I weighed myself at the gym after yoga, and although my guess of 155 was accurate, I was still disappointed to see it on the scale (it was actually 157 but I took out two pounds for shoes and clothes–that’s fair, right?).  Whatever, I’m on the way to reducing that, and, more importantly, improving my body composition, mood, and general health.  Here’s to being happy and healthy   May you, too, find that zen in your life. 

‘Til tomorrow… stay sane and healthy.

A funky down and up day November 14, 2008

Happy weekend to you all!  Today was a bit up and down, and I was tired and had allergy symptoms almost all day.  Last night I couldn’t fall asleep, and woke up several times.  Did the full moon get to me?  Lily kept “tap dancing” around (that’s what I call the sound of her toenails on the floor), and she woke me up at like 5, after which I couldn’t stay asleep much.

I got out of bed around 7:45, feeling a bit stiff and sore.  Could it be yoga?  Sho’nuf.  Lily wanted to play with her incredibly squeaky ball while I got ready, and I think I may have to kill the squeaker in that thing to protect our hearing.  I realized while getting ready that I forgot to prep my oatmeal last night, and no way I could make steel cut oats in the micro at work without being presoaked… so I figured I’d eat a bar and moved on.

When we went outside there were lots of birdies around, so I had to run back in and get the camera.  There was a female hummer today   Not sure if she was Rufous or Anna’s…the pics turned out grainy b/c the camera setting was not optimal.  Here’s some of the feathered friends:

Spotted Towhee

WTF?  First time I tried inserting these three pics the last two disappeared.

Hummingbird

[obligatory text to make photos work...]

Stellar's Jay

I took Lily to my mom’s since we needed to be away from the house for more than 8 hrs, and chatted with mama for awhile.  She just received some yummy chocolates she ordered from some choc company (can’t remember the name…), and I ate a pecan turtle.  It was good, but I felt bad since I hadn’t had any breakfast yet. 

I got to work way late in the morning, in my funk and with allergies rapidly coming on.  Dizziness was the prominent symptom, and seemed to hang around all day.  I finally got my cup of coffee that I had been looking forward to, but it was not as good as normal.  On Fridays we don’t have coffee service in the office, and someone made coffee that didn’t taste quite right–not strong enough?  old coffee?  Either way, it disappointed me.  Boo!  I looked at a blogs for a few minutes to cheer me up, and it worked briefly.

Chris came to see if I wanted to eat early, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get out of the funk.  I had a half sandwich consisting of 1 slice of whole wheat bread, sliced sauteed chicken breast, spinach, avocado, and Nature’s Seasoning.  I should have put more Nature’s on it, as I forgot the chicken was unseasoned and a little bland.  My salad was boring, overly plain, and not tasty enough–spinach, broc slaw, Nature’s, balsalmic, and olive oil.  The under-dressed spinach left my mouth feeling like I had a velvet tongue or something–weird.  I think I’m going to stop using foil, unless I can verify it is recycled.  Aluminum production is like the most polluting industry out there, but recycled aluminum takes 95% less energy to make.  Only con is recycling aluminum that has been painted produces toxic gases   I need to find a way to pack my wraps w/o having them falling apart. 

After lunch I was feeling better, and got some work done.  Around 3:30 I got pretty hungry and ate two white cheddar rice cakes, which were yummy and satisfying.

Every time I got up today I noticed that my body was somewhat stiff and I had mild muscle soreness in various places–yoga sure did work ‘em!  But, being tired from a lack of sleep I felt a little sluggish while moving around.  I think I’ll do some cardio and stretch a lot before pilates tomorrow to help out with the soreness and stiffness.

It was Friday, so I grabbed the non-paper recycling box I provide at the office to take home and sort.  It was full=less trash in our landfills   I was still amazed at how much stuff I had to pull out of the trash cans at work during the week.  What do people not get about putting anything even remotely recyclable in my recycling bin???  I totally sort it all and see what can and can’t be recycled, so what’s the harm in throwing that plastic cup or bag in?  BTW, I did apply for the Master Recycler program last night, and will find out after Dec. 3 if I got in to the next session. 

Chris and I met my mom at our other favorite Mexican place–Si Senor–for dinner.  I was battling with what to eat, but I chose tortilla soup and a small margarita.  The tortilla soup is totally different than at our other fave place, and not nearly as rich.  It was a very lean broth with strips of crispy tortilla, chunks of grilled chicken, a little avocado, and a little cheese.  I wish I would have had fresh jalapenos to add now that I think of it.  This looks a lot bigger than it was…I ate most of the stuff out and left about half the broth, and I felt a little full.  I also had some chips and salsa beforehand.

The trip home sucked!  There was an accident near our house and traffic was backed up for miles.  (We work about 17 miles from where we live, and we ate around where we work.) It took us an hour to get home, but we had Lily with us and she was entertaining.  She likes to stretch from the back seat onto the armrest between the front seat with her head/front feet, and sometimes she’ll stand on the armrest.  I opened the sunroof and she stuck her head out–so cute! 

Tonight I organized some paperwork, did some bookkeeping, read a few blogs, and watched some shitty TV.  Now Lipstick Jungle is on; I heard no more episodes are being made tho, and it is being cancelled before the end of the season   It’s not an incredibly great show, but I do like it and was just getting into season 2, dammit.  I do think it is funny that tons of Brooke Shields commercials (VW, Colgate…) are on during the show–don’t we get enough of her during the hour?

Okay, so my funktified ass is going now.  Peace out, and may tomorrow be a merrier day!

A better day by far November 15, 2008

Happy Saturday-almost-Sunday   Today was a much better day for me, involving lots of productivity around the house and some tasty eats, oh, and some birdies!  Get ready for lots of pics…  I’m having issues figuring out how to gallery only certain pics; I number the ones I want in the gallery, but they ALL appear in the gallery after all.  Sorry!

I slept pretty well last night, but woke up here and there, and was tired this morning.  I finally got out of bed just before 9, went out with Lily (tons of birds), got ready to go to the gym, made some coffee, and had the last of my CascadianFarms Vanilla Oat Crunch with almond milk.  I was a total klutz andthrew coffee grounds everywhere when transferring them from the grinder to the basket.  I find myself getting klutzy right before my period, how about you?  I tried to do some menu planning and make the grocery list before leaving for the gym, but I was too rushed and left it for later.

After this I was rather full (had a big glass of water, too), and afraid that it would hamper my workout, but not so.  Pilates was good, but I wasn’t able to do all of the moves in today’s class for a lack of strength I suppose.  Loved the tight core feeling after leaving the class–work those abs, baby!  I also did some back and biceps exercises before heading out.

When I got home there was some major wildlife action in the backyard:  four squirrels and tons of birds.  We had robins, waxwings, hummers, juncos, jays, a nuthatch (my favorite, but no photo), chickadees, towhees, and I think a few song sparrows.  Here’s some of the day’s pics for your perusal.  That last one is of Lily smooshing her nose into the back door while watching the squirrels–it was too funny!

For lunch I didn’t have much but eggs to build on, so I made a two egg omelette with spinach, avocado, salsa, and a little cheddar.  It was so tasty!  I loved the mix of all the flavors, and could have left out the cheese after all. I was a total klutz while making this, too, and flung egg over the stove when I lost control of my spatula.  Oof!  That’s my trusty Nature’s Seasoning in the background…goes with just about everything!

 I cleaned up and proceeded to go outside with Lily again, and photograph even more.  After that I finished the menu planning and grocery list, and headed to Fred Meyer.  When I got there I thought I was in for it (there were like 3 shopping carts left–you know what that means) but it wasn’t too bad.  People were more aware today and not as aloof blocking the aisles and all that annoying stuff.  While looking through the lunch meat I practically ran into the Laughing Cow sale display, and put a Light wheel in my cart.  My total bill shocked me, but I suppose I bought some things I don’t get every week.

Got home, unpacked the stuff, and was getting hungry.  All that yummy food to choose from…options were plentiful and I finally decided on Kashi TLC 7 grain roasted veggie crackers, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light, and a gala apple.  It. Was. So. Yummy.  Especially the cheese on the apples–to die for!

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

Chris was napping, so I had a bit of the afternoon to myself and decided to sort my recycling and clean up the kitchen.  There are some things, plastics mostly, that cannot be recycled at the curb, so I put those in a giant bag and will take them to a recycling depot every once in awhile.  Sadly, though, the company that accepts those hard-to-market plastics (that’s why they don’t go in curbside, as they don’t have an active buyer’s market locally) is putting its collections on hold because of a slowdown in their business.  Poo!  Oh well, I guess that bag will just get extra-giant by the time I take it in. 

I emptied out my fridge of old condiments and a few food items that had to go.  Now, don’t get the wrong idea here… I really try hard not to over-buy food or waste things, but there are still some things that manage to go in there and stay past their prime.  It felt good to get rid of that clutter in the fridge, and to be able to recycle or reuse every container, bottle, or jar.  Here’s what I pulled out:

After this I emptied the dishwasher, did some handwash, and started getting dinner ready.  I made a chicken stir fry with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower (ick, for Chris), celery, and broc slaw; I used red wine vinegar, chicken broth, stir-fry sauce, and corn starch to make the sauce to flavor everything up.

It was good, but a little bit salty for me.  I made sure to drink extra water afterward. 

All I could think about after dinner was that yummy Laughing Cow Light experience I had earlier!!!  I kept telling myself not to eat unless I got hungry, but you know how thinking of food can make one hungry, right?  Chris asked if I wanted some wine, so that distracted me for awhile.

But, around 9 I finally broke down and had this:

All that for about 120 cals

Well, that’s about it for today.  Tomorrow I think I’m having 2 breakfasts!!  Yay!  My favorite meal   I’m going to lunch at the Original Pancake House with my mom and one of our friends, so I’m sure that will be my 2nd breakfast of the day.  Oh, one more cute pic of a passed out Lily before I go…

Toodles!

Sunny, beautiful, and blah :| November 16, 2008

So, it was a pretty day, but a sort of up and down day again.  I got out of bed around 8? 8:30? I let Lily out, but did not go outside, and made some coffee.  I almost had a coffee-klutz moment again with the grounds, but narrowly missed disaster.  I had a bowl of All Bran Strawberry Medley with almond milk and half a banana, and it was pretty good.  Sometimes the dried strawberries get to me, as they are a bit sour I think, so the half a naner was a good idea to add some sweetness.

After this my coffee was ready so I fixed a cup with some Coffeemate Sugar Free Vanilla, gathered some bird food and a few of the peanut butter and birdseed cakes I made yesterday, and headed outside.  I forgot to tell you!  I had some old PB and instead of rinsing it down the drain, I added some birdseed, put it in a muffin pan, and froze it yesterday.  The birds LOVE PB and were very happy and both were gone by the end of the day. 

That’s Lily’s Chuckit! in the middle…saves me from getting dirty hands while throwing her ball, and allows me to throw it further for her. There were tons of robins outside, and it was a tad foggy.  Here’s a few pics from the day:

A lone dove!

After this I got on the computer for a little while, and was amazed to see my blog had like 38 views yesterday!  Thanks, everyone!  Please leave me a comment and let me know you’re out there

My mom and I joined our friend Elizabeth at the Original Pancake House, and I ordered the same thing as last week:  Sharp white cheddar and bacon omelette that comes with 3 little pancakes.  I ate about 1/3 of the omelette, and 1 1/2 pancakes and stopped myself before feeling full   I forgot to photograph it, tho, so here’s last week’s pic of the same thing.

After lunch mom and I headed back to her house, and I collected some of her art to bring home with me.  My mom used to paint a ton, and she has so many framed originals and prints… I brought some floral related ones home since in the four years I’ve lived here I’ve hardly hung anything!!  I don’t want to live here another four years, but maybe if I hang some pretty art I’ll feel like there’s more of a piece of me/sense of home here. 

When I got home Chris had a roof repair guy on the way over, as a few days ago we discovered a leak after the hard, hard rain.  Ahhh!  I raked some leaves, cleared land mines (aka picked up poop), put away the hoses, tiki torches, and wheelbarrow, and smoothed the barkdust where Lily tears through it regularly.  I felt kinda bad that I didn’t think I’d get to the gym today, but at least I worked up a sweat in the yard.

I was in a funky mood at this point and felt like a workout would do me well, but I didn’t know if I’d make it to the gym tonight. I swept in the house, and got ready to leave for dinner at Fajitas.  Got my usual Casuela and tortilla soup, and the little drink is a “la casa,” the free drink they give you after you’ve eaten.  It has milk, ice cream, Bailey’s and cinnamon.  I was a little full and didn’t feel like drinking much, so Chris had most of it.

And, no, I didn’t drink that whole Casuela!  I had maybe 1/3 and gave the rest of that to Chris, too.

Now I’m home and feeling quite tired, and Lily is bothering me to go outside and play.  Off I go!  I’ll probably watch TV, prep some food for tomorrow, and go to bed early.  Ahh…bed sounds mighty good.

Hope you all had a good weekend, and thanks for reading

Monday was happy :) November 17, 2008

I finally, finally, finally got a good night’s sleep, and a ton of it, last night, so today started out pretty well when I finally got up around 7:45.  Lily was howling out the back door at that point, and it was our roof repair guys here to start the job.  Did I tell you about that?  We saw a leak last week out in the garage, and had noticed some dry rot in a few places outside.  Turns out the roof wasn’t braced properly in one place, nor were the valleys done correctly.  Our house is about 34 years old, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.

I was making lunch and figured that I’d heat up my oatmeal and eat at home since I didn’t know how the morning would pan out.  It was a little runnier than I’d like, and part of that was me adding more almond milk to cool it down so I could eat it sooner than later.  A question for you, though:  is it bad to eat my breakfast when I’m not hungry?  I’m not usually hungry when I eat my oatmeal, but I figure that it is a good kickstart for my metabolism and that it will keep my brain powered for the a.m.

The roof guys were busting out the repair, so I headed to Home Depot to get some paint for them (deal was we provide the paint and they’ll paint the underside of the eaves they repair for free).  At that point I had to cancel my acupuncture appointment    and Chris had decided to stay home for the day to monitor the work.  When I got back I made some coffee, waited to pour myself a cup, and headed to work.

I made a detour to Costco on the way in, and picked up an Rx, peanuts (for the birds/squirrels), multi grain chips, and Laughing Cow Light (!!).  I was SO excited they had Laughing Cow, as Chris and I just about killed that wheel in a day and a half.  The price was great, too, less than the sale price at Freddy’s per wheel. 

My new friend  :)

Once I got to work I got on the computer and took care of random tasks, then broke for lunch at about 12:30.  My wrap was a low-fat tortilla with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light, low-fat turkey, spinach, and broc slaw.  I was worried it would be a bit bland, but not so!  The cheese was so creamy, and I could probably even go with 1/2 a wedge.  I also had a small apple, and about 5 of the Kashi crackers.  I know I said I wouldn’t use foil anymore, but this is reused foil from last week. 

Back to work for about an hour, and I headed out for the day.  I know, I know, a very short day… I was getting energized and felt like working out, and couldn’t really get into work mode.  I thought I felt myself getting hungry on the way home–”no way, already?” I thought.  I tried to ignore it and drank an EmergenC when I got home, and more water. 

The gym was great–I did a full hour of cardio!  I went in with a goal of an hour, and wanted to integrate the beastly stair master, but was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it for very long.  I started on the elliptical and the first 15 minutes just blew by; getting to 30 felt like no big deal.  Then I approached the beast, climbed on, and proceeded to knock out 90 floors in my 30 minutes.  Yeah, I was going rather slow, but I did not lean on the machine and every step was quality   I hate seeing people lean all over the machine–what’s the point?

There were a few times I felt like getting off the stair master, but I stuck with it and used my music to pump me up for that last 15 minutes of sweaty glory.  (Erin, I totally have to agree that the stair master is a no-go without the headphones!)  Afterward I stretched, and thought a few people looked at me funny on the way up and downstairs.  When I got into the bathroom I saw my face was beet red–no wonder they looked at me like that! 

After I got home I played with Lily and ran around the neighborhood with her to get some of her energy out.  With the roof guys there and roof debris on the ground we didn’t want to let her out for fear of getting a nail, staple, or sliver in her paw.  After that I got cleaned up and started prepping dinner.

I was getting a tad hungry so I made a spinach salad with broc slaw, green pepper, a few kalamatas sliced, a little feta, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pepper.  I made more than I thought I would eat so I could stuff the rest in my wrap tomorrow, but I ate it all!  It was a great pre-dinner snack. 

Dinner was a treat fo’ sho:  beef tenderloin steaks with mashed potatoes.  Yum yum yum yum yum!  I broiled the steaks with nothing but some salt on them and they were perfect–a relief ’cause I’m always nervous cooking steaks indoors (the grill is their rightful place).  The ‘tatoes had Smart Balance Light, a tbsp of reduced fat sour cream, and Nature’s Seasoning in them.  I topped mine with a hair more of the Smart Balance and sour cream for extra creaminess, but probably could have skipped it.  We had a Cabernet Sauvingon with our meal.  I forgot to take a pic before I dove in…  VEGETARIANS LOOK AWAY!!!

That was one tasty dinner, and although I didn’t feel full afterward I thought I ate a little too much.  I gave Chris part of my steak, and drank tons of water, and since I’m not hungry by now (about 9) I don’t think I’m going to eat anything else today. 

Today was a very happy day overall, and I’m so glad I was able to do a full hour of cardio.  In an effort to help the weight come off more quickly, I’m doing a little calorie research so I can be more aware of how many calories I’m eating to try to cut down a tad.  Who knew a medium potato has like 200 cals?  Yipes! Or that a cup of spinach only has like 8??  I knew the content of most items b/c of the nutritional labels, but some things (avocado, bulk raisins, potato, apple, olives…) were eluding me.  I used caloriecount.com for some assistance on those things.

I hope you all had a great day, and “see” you tomorrow.

p.s.  Of course now that I say I’m not hungry, I’m getting hungry thinking about all of this food!  Blogging does that to me, does it make you hungry, too?

Fast Tuesday November 18, 2008

It was Tuesday, right?  The day just flew by now that I think about it.  Typical routine getting ready today, but Lily got sick when I was done making myself up.  You could tell she felt bad for making a mess inside, but she didn’t seem to feel sick after that.  She got to spend the day with my mom, and go on two walks   Thanks, mom!

When I got to work I discovered the cold water tap on our cooler was broken–suck!  It really did make a difference in my consumption since we don’t have a kitchen and I pretty much didn’t even think of walking to go get a cup of water.  Duh. 

Breakfast was as usual, but it was a bit stiff today.  I think it sat in the fridge a few hours longer, and I used all almond milk to soak it.  1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 cup almond milk + a dash after soaking, pinch of salt, handful of raisins, and voila:

I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera today so I had to delete some bird pictures that were on the internal memory to make room for my food pics   I had a few of each type of bird, tho, so it wasn’t too big of a loss.  Do you guys like seeing my bird/animal pics?

I plugged away for a few hours and had started getting hungry when Chris walked in and I read his mind–”ready for lunch?”  Yes!  My wrap today was the usual low-fat tortilla with a new mix of spinach, broc slaw, sliced kalamata olives, a little feta, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and some cracked pepper.  I also had half of a small apple with some of the Laughing Cow Light, and a few Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers. 

 I retired that foil today…time to switch to reusable tubs all around!

The wrap was tasty, and surprisingly my lunch had decent staying power.  I started getting hungry about 3 hours after eating, and had my Fred Meyer brand Lite Vanilla yogurt with a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea.  I let the tea brew too long and it was quite strong, tho.  I should have added more water as I drank it down.

This snack totally did not have staying power, as I was hungry like 30 minutes later!!  So, I broke out the crackers, had a few, and then remembered I have Clif Nectar bars in my desk   I ate the cherry pomegranate one and it was so yummy.  I still can’t believe these bars have only four ingredients in them!

 Feel free to send some my way, Clif!

This helped hit the spot, and back to work I went.  I was not in a very “deep” productive mood today, which is what I needed to bust out the case work I have piling up.  Guess I’ll be cranking that out tomorrow under a nice veil of motivating stress.  Does stress help to positively or negatively motivate you?  For me it is mostly positive, but of course that depends on the source.  The recent super-crap the economy took in September was not incredibly motivating, but I managed to work some long ass weeks and the negative stress didn’t get to me for awhile.  Since then it has been more positive.

I was thinking of taking yoga at 6:30 at 24 Hour Fitness, and got all excited about that all afternoon/on the way home/while making dinner, but then a few things happened to steal my thunder:  Chris wanted to go workout later, and I realized I would have needed to sign up for the class in advance    Boo!  Oh well, I still ate my dinner too fast and was in a funk for awhile.

 Yay for spinach!

This was a rather yummy meal, inspired by a fellow blogger’s dinner I saw last week (I can’t remember who, tho   So sorry… let me know if it was you!!!)  This was whole wheat penne, sauteed chicken breast pieces, Italian canned tomatoes with juice, some sliced kalamata olives, fresh spinach, and feta.  It was pretty yummy, but like I said I ate too fast   I didn’t get full, thankfully, but felt sorta guilty about eating so fast.

After this I stewed for awhile for no good reason, and put that icky state of mind into being productive.  I folded my laundry, washed the pans from dinner, reorganized my workout clothes drawer, hung up a bunch of clothes laying around in my closet, and got my oatmeal ready for tomorrow.  Oh, I also took Lily out and ran around the neighborhood with her for like 10 minutes.  We still aren’t going into our backyard much b/c of the roof repair debris, but that should all be cleaned up tomorrow   She’ll be so excited to get out there and run around like a banshee with her tennis ball.  And I’ll enjoy my time with the birdies again, too

We finally went to work out around 8; Chris works out at Bally’s so I dropped him off and headed to 24.  I got in 15 minutes of the stair mill and 15 minutes of elliptical before I had to head out to go get him.  My elliptical machine had a fan built in–so nice! 

After getting home and cleaning up I enjoyed this bowl of All Bran Strawberry Medley with almond milk, as posed for your enjoyment:

This just made me think of Mad Men for some reason, a comment Duck made in the last episode of the season about selling product.  I miss that show already and can’t wait for next season.  Did Breaking Bad start up again…oh crap, I maybe missed an episode or two.  What are your favorite TV shows?  I like shows on the Discovery Channel, E!, and Comedy Central in general.  Specifically Mystery Diagnosis, Chelsea Lately, The Soup, Chocolate News, and some reality smut mixed in there. 

May Friday be here soon!

Say what?! November 19, 2008

Today started out just fine, with a typical getting-ready routine, but I ate my oatmeal at home since we were stopping at Chris’ dentist on the way in.  Lily was going to my mom’s again and was with us, so I walked her around outside the dentist’s office for awhile and then went in to snag some coffee and read a magazine while I waited.  Here’s the boring oats pic of the day–1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup almond milk + a dash on top when done, 1/4 cup water, and a tbsp or two of raisins:

After Chris was done I dropped him at work, dropped Lily at my mom’s then went to work (Chris and I work in the same office, but rather than having him go along for the ride to drop Lily off I took him to the office on the way).  When I pulled into the parking garage at work Chris called and told me there was a problem with some business I had just placed, and that I may want to get there sooner than later, so my stress level rose right away.

Turns out some business I did in Idaho was erroneously tagged as an unlicensed sale due to a home office error (say what?!), but it totally screwed up the business processing, compensation, and other shit that took me two hours to fix, caused some tears of frustration and a strongly worded email to a company leader, but somehow ended on an up note when the client said, “Don’t sweat it, no problem” to having to complete an entirely new set of paperwork.  Phew!  I was so mad at my home office, tho, as this is the 3rd screw up they’ve had with my licensing and registrations this year on items that were strictly in their hands to do correctly. C’mon, people, do your fucking jobs with some pride!

I finally ate around 1:30 and was quite pleased with my lunch, although not that hungry.  My wrap was the same as yesterday, just folded squarely to fit in my Gladware  It was a low fat tortilla, spinach, broc slaw, feta, kalamata olives, cracked pepper, and balsamic vinegar.  I didn’t eat any cukes, or Laughing Cow Light, but I had a few of the chips.  They were my recent purchase from Costco, and are really nummy–they’re by a brand called Food Should Taste Good, and they are multigrain tortilla chips made with flax, sunflower, sesame seeds, oat fiber, brown rice, quinoa, and soy.

My lunch today didn’t have as much staying power, probably because I wasn’t in such a great mood and didn’t eat much other than the wrap.  I had a light strawberry yogurt before my meeting at 3 to try and secure some brain power for the next few hours.  The texture of this and the other one seemed pithy.  I don’t remember that from before… I may have to try a different brand.

 

That’s a blurry pic of me in Mexico on my digital picture frame slide show.  The little lady bug in front of the frame came from Mexico in 2007   Hopefully Chris and I can afford (both time and money wise) to go there again in March.  That would be so great considering the lovely state of the economy and our morale at times.

My meeting went by quickly and around 5 Chris and I headed out.  He wanted to go to our favorite westside Mexican joint, but surprisingly I wasn’t all that excited about it.  Their menu prices just went up by about $1 on most items, meaning I’d be paying $9 for just about anything I’d usually order.  I was also slightly bummed I wouldn’t be cooking; I thought I’d be making stuffed peppers at home. 

I ordered Ropa Vieja (yes, Spanish language readers, “old clothes” or “old rope”), which consisted of a fried flour tortilla shell (love those!), chicken, romaine lettuce, avocado, sliced green olives, cantaloupe, and a light vinaigrette.  It is usually really good, but wasn’t quite as tasty tonight.  There was more cantaloupe than pictured (ate it all), and I ate part of the crispy shell.  I also had a small margarita and a few chips & salsa.

I stopped well before getting full b/c it wasn’t very tasty/satisfying   There goes $9, but at least we had a coupon for about $8 off the tab and our favorite waiter was working and hooked Chris up with a free margarita.

We picked up Lily and got home to find that the roofers were pretty much done, and had powerwashed all of our concrete, and the roof I think.  Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen our concrete that clean before, but I feel bad that they used a lot of water to do it   Top Chef was starting up, so I ran inside to catch it from the start.  Can’t believe some of the comments by the people who didn’t make the show–ouch!

I got a litte hungry around 7:30 and had this, a low fat tortilla with my Laughing Cow Light wedge from lunch.

 Apparently I love flour tortillas

That STILL didn’t cut it, and I wanted to eat more around 8.  I sort of wanted sweet over salty, but not a lot of bulk, and somehow I opted for a small glass of almond milk.  Yummy!  I made it a point to use multiple senses to enjoy it rather than just drinking it down while staring at the TV.  The smell was nice, and taste good, and the sight pleasant, too.  I couldn’t hear anything coming from it, tho–hehe.  That’s Lily’s birthday gift to me underneath it; I used to read Road & Track a long time ago and missed being up to speed on cars out there, so Chris helped her buy it for me

I saw how wool is made tonight on Discovery’s “How It’s Made”–neato.  Now I know where my shirt came from and how it got its soft, not scratchy texture.  I’m super tired all of a sudden, and may just go to bed after this.  I like watching TV and reading in bed some before I pass out.  How about you?

p.s.  Friday is drawing even closer–yippee.  We are going to wine country this weekend with my dad, which should produce some good pictures.  Yay!  Do you like wine?

Wednesday (Today) Friday November 20, 2008

Odd title, I know, but today just felt like a quick day somehow.  I wasn’t a good girl and went to bed later than expected last night, woke up a few times, and was tired this a.m.  Kind of like Andrea at caretoeat.net…woke up early, stayed in bed, fell back asleep, then was groggy.  I finally got up when the roof guys started their final push to get our roof and ensuing clean up done.  I knew we’d be at home for awhile, as we were waiting for the head roofer to crawl up in the attic to do one final repair.  I nuked my oats, which were the usual steel cut with part water/part almond milk, raisins, a pinch of salt, and a new add in–cinnamon.  I had it in there yesterday, too, but forgot to tell you. 

I worked a bit from home while drinking my coffee, and when the roof guys were done Chris and I headed out to inspect the yard for nails and other debris.  The guys were pretty good about picking things up, but when they powerwashed the patio/walk/driveway they blew debris and nails into the yard.  The magnet they used to pick up the nails didn’t totally work, and last thing we want is for Lily Bird to step on a nail or staple   I put out birdseed and the last two peanut butter cakes, and we instantly had a wildlife sanctuary bustling out there.  Here’s a few of the critters:

Flock of bushtitsThree squirrels in close proximity!

The squirrel hanging on the suet feeder was trying to enjoy one of the peanut butter cakes–quite intent on getting it, wasn’t he?

It was raining cats and dogs at times, and we were pretty soaked by the time we went in.  Lily was super wet, too! We got cleaned up, I made lunch, and we headed to work mid-day.

 

I ate this not too long after getting there.  It was a BIG wrap consisting of a low fat tortilla, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light, tons of spinach and broc slaw, pepper, and some balsamic vinegar.  I had a few of the chips, too, but none of the carrots.  I dove into case work, and before I knew it 4pm rolled around and I was getting hungry again.  I reached for the chips, and ate them all before I could take a photo!  Yum yum!

Chris and I had our weekly business meeting (except it has been a few weeks since our last one…), we shared some good news and thought about our business planning for 2009.  Chris has a corner office, and the veil of darkness outside was seeping in and making me want to crawl into a warm bed.  We headed home, played with Lily outside (yay!) and I started dinner.

This may look familiar…”as seen on last week’s table…”  Sauteed pork shops, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  The mashers had my new favorite combo:  light sour cream and Smart Balance Light with Nature’s Seasoning.  Yummy!  I ate a bit too much, even though Chris had part of my pork chop, and i was full afterward.  Not a good thing b/c I needed to get ready for yoga and head out!

I had about a half hour to digest and didn’t feel full by the time I started yoga, thankfully.  The class was good, and I think the instructor stepped up the difficulty a little this week.  I enjoyed class, but need to be careful of my shoulders and elbows in certain poses.  I felt relaxed and calm afterward, and just wanted it to continue all night. 

But, as we all know, sometimes being at home is not relaxing.  I washed dishes, prepped my oats and Chris’ tuna salad for tomorrow (YUCK!  I hate tuna with a passion!  Ah, what we do for love ) Lily and I also played more, too.  She is very happy to have the run of the yard again.

I thought I’d maybe be hungry again tonight, but it is late and so far the hunger hasn’t boiled up again.  I’m sure I’ll be ravenous in the morning!

Can’t believe we’re a week away from Thanksgiving!  I’m planning on making an apple crisp for our get together, and am looking forward to all of the yummy food.  I am still going to try really hard not to stuff myself, and I think the most challenging part will be taking only a tiny bit of every dish I want.  I go for turkey, dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy usually, followed up with a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  Now I’m getting hungry!  What do you like for Thanksgiving?

Nighty night!

Maria! November 21, 2008

Finally, the week is over and I suppose it ended on a good note.  I went to bed too late again, but other than that my day started and ended up alright.

My breakfast oats caused a little stir in the office, as the power use caused the surge protector to flip off and briefly disconnect our internet power, too.  The micro sounded really bad, then just stopped, and I thought it was just a crappy microwave.  Oh well, at least everything was fixed with the flip of a switch.  My oats were yummy;  I think the cinnamon is a great addition.

I snagged a new chair (at least new to me) from a colleague today when he got a new chair.  My old one was too big and now I don’t think I’ll end up slouching as much at my desk   I enjoyed my coffee as I worked and read the news, and then lunch crept around.

My wrap today wasn’t as good…rather blah, not tasty enough in the right ways… tortilla, avocado, spinach, broc slaw, black olives, and pepper.  I also had a few carrots, and some Food Should Taste Good chips with a little Laughing Cow Light.  At least that was good

I don’t remember much of the afternoon, and around 4? 4:30? I had a Tiger’s Milk bar.  I was going to have a Clif Nectar, but then the sound of peanut butter got me.  I like Tiger’s Milk, but can’t believe the 2nd ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.  Grrrrreeeaaaat…

Chris and I left sometime around 5 to go get Lily, and arrived to see my mom walking her on the street.  Lily was so excited to see us she nearly pulled my mom over.  I can’t believe how strong our girl is!!

We had horrible, horrible traffic on the way home due to an accident, and it took us like an hour to get over to our neck of the woods.  We were already planning on going to see Maria; this is the term we use when we go to our fave Mexican restaurants.  When we first went to Fajitas, they used to play a song that had a chorus of, “Maria!!!….Maria!!!…Maria!!!…” and it kinda stuck with us. 

I had my fave tortilla soup, and opted not to put any sour cream in it.  I added lots of jalapenos, but they weren’t as spicy as I’d hoped.  I had my Casuela, too   It all tasted good, which is nice b/c Chris and I proceeded to get into a slightly heated discussion about giving each other feedback, the environment, and use of resources.  B/c we’re together so much (live and work together) he said it is tough to take personal feedback from me, and that it feels more like nagging.  Yipes!  He also says I leave lights on, I say he showers 25 minutes too long…blah blah blah…not terribly fun but we didn’t end up mad at each other.  I think the alcohol fueled it a tad and I was glad to get out of there and get over it.

Since we’re going wine tasting mid day tomorrow, I thought I’d make lunch for the road.  The wineries provide some snacky food, but nothing substantial enough to call lunch.  Not a good thing considering you’re tasting wine…  So, I headed to Freddy’s to pick up some spinach, almond milk, and apples.  They didn’t have the almond milk I wanted, so I got some Silk Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk.  More on that in a minute.

I sauteed some chicken breast for our sandwiches/wraps tomorrow, and prepped my oatmeal using half soy milk and half water.  At that point I thought I’d taste it, as it smelled decent enough. 

First of all, as I read the carton I nearly cried:  170 calories and 28 grams of sugar per cup.  I should have read this at the store, as I probably would have realized how sweet it would be.  I was shopping quickly and bought based on a whim.  Second, the sweetness nearly killed me… did you see Top Chef this week and watch Padma spit out the meringue?  That’s how I felt.  I guess I’ll have to use it to make oatmeal, pancakes, or something else I can mix it with.

Wow, it is already 11:15, and I should hit the hay.  We’re off to wine country, and then probably to have dinner with Chris’ parents for his mom’s birthday.  Should be a long day.  I hope I can get a workout in; I may end up going earlier in the morning since we need to leave here around 11.  I can’t take my pilates class  at 10

Hope you had a nice Friday, and that your weekend is great!

A funny link for you! November 22, 2008

Good morning!  I woke up with a horrible headache during the night, no doubt alcohol triggered, and am still suffering as I sit her infusing my body with caffeine and drugs to make it go away.  Hopefully that will all kick in soon…

One great, funny link a colleague sent to me a few years ago still has be laughing today, and I hope you enjoy it, too! 

Make sure your sound is cranked up!

http://ww12.e-tractions.com/snowglobe/

Have a great day, and I’ll post later about my eats and adventures of the day.

Grape escape November 22, 2008

Aw, Saturday is already over practically!  Quick weekends suck, no?

This morning I was desperate to get rid of my headache, but thankfully didn’t feel sick to my stomach as sometimes happens.  I had my oats and some coffee to start the day while watching the critters outside, and a few pieces of apple too since I was cutting two up for lunch and it wouldn’t all fit in the container.  It was so cold last night!  Down in the low 40s and foggy-brrrrrrrr.  My oats warmed me up nicely, and the pumpkin spice Silk gave a hint of sweetness and spice.  Given that the Silk is so sweet, I thought my oats may follow suit, but I only used 1/4 cup of it in them.   Maybe I can use it in my coffee, too…

I was in no condition to work out, and was rather bummed about that.  I want to go to the gym 4 times per week, and not going today means I went 3 times this week.  Perhaps I can fit in an extra day this coming week since work is light and I have a day or two off in there.

Wineries don’t often have much food to eat with the wine, so I made lunch for my dad, Chris, and I to enjoy beforehand.  I tried something a little different:  I cut up low fat tortillas into thirds, spread on some Laughing Cow Light, sprinkled on broc slaw, added spinach, and put in a strip of chicken.  They rolled up nicely and were cute in my Glad Ware   I made six of them, and also a sandwich for Chris (he’s more of a sando type of guy). 

Chris and I departed for wine country around 11:15, and arrived at Archery Summit around noon.  We sat in my dad’s car and ate for a few minutes, then entered the man made caves under the winery and starting our tasting.   

 

Archery Summit had some cheese paired with 3 of the 4 wines, and all of it was nummy.  In general, the wine here was good, but it is a bit overpriced for what you get.  It was a beautiful place, though   I had 3 small pieces of cheese, a few pieces of bread, and 3 1/2 small wine samples.

We moved on to Willakenzie Estate (www.willakenzie.com), where Chris has been a member for like a decade, and I’ve been going for about 4 years now with him.  We know a lot of the staff there, so it is kind of like our winery equivalent of Cheers.  It was so busy!  We moved through the six samples of wine, four of which were paired with some yummy foods, and showed my dad around a bit.  He left around 2:45 or so, and Chris and I stayed to chat with friends and have more good wine.

 The winery still had three vats full of fermenting grapes, and were punching them down each hour for us to see.  It looked like quite an odd stew of purple matter, and you could smell the fermentation a bit.  Interesting!  Woops, dropped my hairbrush in there… haha, j/k.

The foods I had were the lesser funky of the four offered:  pulled pork on polenta with scallion, and (get this!) a wild boar pate with an unidentifiable chutney and frisee on a water cracker.  I’m surprised I ate that last item, as I’m not a big fan of pate and boar just sounds odd.  I also had several table water crackers throughout our visit.  I didn’t eat the scallop and lamb bites, as I’m not a fan of those proteins.  The wine here was good, and we took home our Cellar Club Member selections from the last year, basically.  (It was too hot to have them in the car before when we visited, so we left them there until now.)  Yay, a whole case of wine to add to the collection   If you visit the webiste and decide to join, be sure to say Chris and Kersten referred you! 

We left Willakenzie around 4? 4:30? and headed to Forest Grove, where Chris grew up, to eat at his favorite sandwich shop:  Phil’s 1500 Subs.  We split a large fajita sandwich on whole wheat, which was really yummy, but I ate too much   My hands totally still smell like onion, too.  Isn’t it amazing how onions stink up clothes, hands, etc?  This is a pic of my portion:

 

 Chris was being silly and decided to flip off the sando/me as I took a picture.

Our drive home was loooooooooooooonggggg, dark, and windy, as I went the back way and missed a turn that would have saved some time.  Chris was snoozing a bit, and he didn’t notice until it was too late.  I’m glad to be home, but feeling a little out of it.  I hardly slept last night, too, and would love to get some sleep and completely be rid of my headache.  I’m afraid it may come back due to my wine consumption, but so far, so good.  I really want to work out tomorrow, but may end up skipping yoga.  I don’t want to, but I’m afraid I may hurt myself (shoulders, elbows, and aggravated knee) and that would be no good.  Perhaps some cardio and weights instead to strengthen and help me be ready for more yoga Tuesday.

Tomorrow I’m going to lunch with my mom at the Olive Garden, and I hope to visit the new Trader Joe’s (www.traderjoes.com) nearby afterward.  Do you have TJ’s near you?  Do you shop there?  There’s also a Market of Choice about 10 min away, but I haven’t ever shopped there. 

Well, time to retire into my comfy bed and watch some TV.  I love watching TV from bed, how about you?

Non stop action November 23, 2008

As much as I hate that Sunday is nearly over, I am excited that this is only a 3 day week and that Thanksgiving is Thursday.  Today was really busy after I got going, hence the title.

Lily was up and at em by 7, and she came to nudge me a few times but I didn’t get up until just before 8.  I guess I slept pretty well, but I was tired and just wanted to stay in my cozy bed all morning.  I put some coffee on and went out to play with the girl (it was so cold…frost was all over the place), and happened to see a flock of [don't snarf your tea, Andrea...] bushtits.  I wishI could capture more of them at once, but they’re so busy moving around it is rather hard.  Here they are enjoying some suet:

Once back inside I poured a bowl of All Bran Strawberry Medley with almond milk, and made up my coffee.  Last night all of my containers were dirty, and since I didn’t feel that great I was fine with not prepping my oats.  I like the various textures of this cereal, especially the little waffle/grid looking things. 

I watched about a half hour of Top Chef reruns, called my mom to figure out our lunch time, and then got ready to go to the gym.  I don’t feel like I’ve been doing enough weight training, so today I was intent on getting in a good session and come cardio.  I supersetted legs and then back and biceps, and was still amazed at how long those 10 exercises took.  I worked legs hard, and was a bit shaky while stabilizing myself for my upper body work–yowza!  My quads felt a little jelly-like heading downstairs to do my cardio, so I was totally holding on to the railing just in case they should buckle.  Cardio was good, but not as long as I’d have liked:  25 minutes of moving fast on the elliptical.

I got home in just enough time to shower, make myself pretty-ish, and head out to the Olive Garden.  I ordered minestrone soup, salad, and breadsticks to help avoid over eating and try to be a bit healthier than my usual fettucine alfredo.  I also had a bite of my mom’s carbonara–heavenly!!

I was able to avoid eating until I felt full–yay!  Good thing b/c we headed off to Old Navy and Nordstrom Rack afterward to look for a few things Ma needed.  I tried on some stuff at Old Navy, but ended up buying only a cute pair of hot pink flats for $7.49.  (BTW, I love pink, especially hot pink/fuschia/magenta).  I didn’t see anything at the Rack, and was getting incredibly tired while we were there.  Seriously, I felt like I could have napped right there on the floor!  After Ma and I parted, I headed to Freddy’s for the grocery shopping, and was dreading it a bit b/c of how tired I felt. 

Freddy’s was majorly busy, and I felt like a zombie, but managed to keep my head on straight to get the shopping done in one fell swoop through the store.  I’m making an apple crisp and a winter veggie dish for Thanksgiving, so I gleefully picked up lots of apples, and some parsnips, carrots, onions, and an acorn squash.

I got home around 3 and had a snack after putting away the groceries.  It consisted of 1/2 an apple, a tiny bit of Laughing Cow Light, and one of my leftover mini wraps from yesterday.  I forgot to take a pic.  Oh, and I had 3 or 4 of the Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips, too.

I don’t know how I managed to wake up again, but I didn’t really feel tired after getting home.  I proceeded to play with Lily, sweep the house, take out the recycling and organize the kitchen a bit.  I have been really trying not to put off the inevitable cleaning/organizing duties and am finding that I feel a lot more productive and happy b/c of it.  I still procrastinate on some stuff, but mostly feel like I’m getting the hang of being a domestic diva again  

Tonight’s dinner menu consisted of stuffed bell peppers, and I started prepping that at 4-something at a nice leisurely pace.  This dinner takes a little leg work and a few pans, but it is well worth the result   Tonight’s stuffing consisted of 93% lean ground beef, brown rice, canned Italian tomatoes in their juice, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, a hint of cayenne, garlic, onion, and Nature’s Seasoning.  I like to cut the peppers in half, since I find that a whole stuffed pepper is too much food for me usually; after I stuff them I pour on a little tomato sauce.  When they’re done I put a small spoon of low fat sour cream and some shredded cheddar on top and pop them back in the oven for a minute.  Yummy!  We enjoyed dinner with a nice jammy zinfandel.

I’m excited to have a pepper for lunch or another dinner, too.  They are one of those foods that often tastes better on the 2nd day after cooking, once the flavors have melded a bit more. 

After cleaning up dinner I was getting the itch to have clean carpets, and since Chris wasn’t feeling up to it I vacuumed.  I also put in some laundry since I figured it couldn’t hurt.  I finally sat down by the fire with Chris and read the rest of my Road & Track, andsome work related stuff.  Around 9 I started getting a bit hungry, so I had some Danon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt with almond slivers, raisins, and chocolate chips (the latter two plucked from my trail mix from like 2 weeks ago).  It was good; this yogurt is definitely an improvement over the Freddy’s brand. 

 Damn, I gotta work on my photography–shadows abound!

I’m excited for my oatmeal tomorrow morning, as I’m trying a few new ingredients.  Check back tomorrow to see how it goes!

Hopefully you can see this pic of Lily sniffing my new shoes.  She had her nose fully in the shoe, but moved before I could capture the pic.

Lily is nudging me to go outside again one last time and play, so off I go with her, and then on to bed.  Hope you had a nice weekend

Cold and quick! November 24, 2008

Just like it sounds, the day was cold and fast.  It helps that I got out of bed late, I’m sure.  There were tons of birds and squirrels outside, and I caught 4 of them in close proximity to one another.

After getting to work I tried out my new oatmeal combo: steel cut oats, part pumpkin spice Silk, part water, slivered almonds, and dried figs.  Yum yum!  And, I was able to enjoy my whole cup of coffee before it went cold. 

I had acupuncture at noon, and had a snack of half an apple at 11:45.  No pic, sorry…rather boring anyhow, no?  My appointment went well, another allergy treatment for tree pollen, but I’m a total dope and forgot I’m not supposed to be outside for 24 hours! I totally spent time outside with Lily twice tonight.  Duh.  (It was SO cold when we got home…even with my down jacket on I still felt the hard bite of the cold.)

Anyhow, I ran into a mortgage guy I know on the way back into my office complex and we chatted for a long time.  I didn’t get to eat my wrap until about 1:45, and I was hungry!  The wrap was good–low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow Light, spinach, broc slaw, sauteed chicken, and a touch of balsamic vinegar.  It was perfect!  I also had those last two apple pieces. 

 

My office mate was craving popcorn (and has been for like two weeks ) so she popped a lonely bag of Orville Redenbacher’s Movie Theater Butter that has been sitting on the fridge for awhile.  I had a coffee filter full of it, and enjoyed it quite a bit.  I hadn’t had popcorn in a long time–thanks for the snack idea, Kristin!  (yes, my office-mate’s name is Kristin, and mine is Kersten.  Used to be worse, as my old office had me, Kristin, Kristi, another Kristin, and Chris.  Say that fast five times!)

 Woops, forgot to take a pic before eating nearly all of it!

Chris and I got the Thanksgiving details settled finally, as we weren’t sure if his parents would be able to join my family’s dinner b/c of his mom’s work schedule.   After talking with her for awhile he wanted to escape to a Mexican dinner, so we left work early enough to hit up happy hour at Si Senor.  I was going to have a cup of tortilla soup, but then these called my name:

More about those in  a sec.  I had chips and salsa first, and the salsa was extra spicy today.  I also went for a Diet Coke, and before my food arrived my stomach was hurting a bit.  I had one Taco al Carbon (double corn tortillas, chicken, pico de gallo, and a little guac put in it), and felt satiated.  My stomach was still hurting, and in fact a bit worse, but at least I didn’t feel sick.  I don’t know what it was…spicy salsa? DC?  Whatever it was, eventually it went away; yay, cause that meant I could go work out tonight.

I hit the gym and did chest, triceps, abs, and 50 minutes of cardio.  Lily was in the car, and I didn’t want her to get cold so I chickened out on the last 10 min of cardio.  When I got to the car she was fine, and she was enjoying watching everyone come and go from the gym.  She is so cute…no matter what she’s doing!  I love how she’s all wiggly and happy when I come home or get back to the car.  It makes me feel good

After cleaning up and playing with Lily, I made myself a snack.  I had the yogurt I packed for a daytime snack (Danon Light and Fit vanilla), and added in All Bran Strawberry Medley, a few almond slivers, and at the last minute, added half a b-nanner.  It was calling to me from the counter as I photographed the first edition of my snack…’eat me! you know I’m tasty!’  It sure was. 

Afterward I was still feeling a tad hungry, but didn’t eat anything else.  Then I figured out that it is my allergies, dammit.  I hate the flu-like symptoms I get with them sometimes, and the random super-hungry feelings they can cause. 

Today I did a little more calorie and weight loss research and figured I should be losing about a pound per week.  ‘Yee-haw, a frickin’ pound?’ I first asked myself (cause it sounds so slow), but then I realized that would be an annual average of 52 pounds, which is more than I need to lose and sounds significant.  So, I told myself not to get too hung up on the weight loss and to keep focusing on eating less still while working out more.  It was good motivation for the gym tonight.  The good news was I’ll be done with my weight loss in about 23-25 weeks Now if the damn scale in the ladies locker room could just be fixed… it seems like a conspiracy to have everyone weigh themselves right by the personal trainers in the open gym, which will then get them motivated to use the trainers. 

I’m going to head to bed to fully relax and get cozy…and of course, watch a little TV   I’ve been annoyed by the TV selection tonight so far, so we’ll see if there’s anything worthy of watching other than the news.  Stay warm out there, and hasta manana.

Tickle me Tuesday November 25, 2008

My post probably won’t be as interesting as my title…just sounded good.  It has been nice having this short week, and I’m getting excited to begin the Thanksgiving festivities.  I’ll be in the kitchen peeling, chopping, mixing, and baking—sounds good to me!

Chris didn’t feel so hot today from a cold or something he has, so he stayed at home with Lily.  I got up late again, desperately wanting to sleep even more, and did the usual routine to get ready.  TOTALLY forgot about the don’t-go-outside-per-the-allergy-treatment again this morning, so I’m sure the tree pollen treatment didn’t stick again.  Poo.

On the way to work I called 24 Hour Fitness to sign up for the yoga class, as the 6:30pm Tuesday class has a * next to it indicating you need to sign up in advance.  The chick at the front desk told me I had to sign up in person, and that if I did it more than 1 hour before class I had to pay $1.  Okay, so I figured I’d head to the gym early and do some cardio.  More on this topic later…

When I got to work I microwaved my oats, got my cup of coffee ready, and began the morning reading session (email, company webpage and news, market news).  I worked in a semi-dark office today, with just the lamp on in the office, and it was nice and peaceful.  I’m sure my oats enjoyed being consumed in the darkness, too–they couldn’t see me coming as well

[imagine oatmeal here]

Okay, WTF, I swear I took a pic of my oatmeal and there is nothing on my memory card… strange.  It was steel cut oats, part pumpkin spice Silk, part water, slivered almonds, and raisins.  I find that adding a touch more of water after nuking them for 2 minutes makes them the perfect consistency.  Yummy!

Plugged away on work and personal BS for awhile, and heard my officemate say she was hungry but had to wait for her husband to come by like an hour later.  I waited to eat til after she left b/c I thought it would be cruel to eat in front of her.  She left just before 1, and I enjoyed my wrap:  low fat tortilla, turkey, spinach, broc slaw, and 1/2 a wedge of Laughing Cow Light.  I forgot the balsamic, but the wrap was still plenty good.

 That’s a Varied Thrush on my wallpaper.  One of my fave birds!

Plugged away some more, and did more nutrition research.  Along the way I found out that Utz is a real snack company!  On Mad Men this season (best drama ever!), Sterling Cooper handled the Utz account and I never knew it was a real company.  I guess their products aren’t distributed here…  I was looking on caloriecount.about.com for tortillas and their tortilla chips came up, too.

Around 3 I had a really tasty snack:  Danon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt, slivered almonds, 1/2 a nanner sliced, and cinnamon.  It was heavenly!  Of course I totally choked on one bite of banana with lots of cinnamon and had a tickle in my throat for a few hours. 

  ”Eat me!”

Chris’ mom called me, and we ended up talking for like 25 minutes about random stuff, and Thanksgiving.  She’s poultry intolerant, so I wanted to figure out what kind of protein she wanted instead.  A few things she said made me nervous about our dinner; let’s just say it should be entertaining if someone says something she doesn’t like

I left work around 4, and found somewhat heavy traffic on the way home.  Boo, I hate traffic, especially lately!  Makes me not want to take the highway home, and perhaps head the back way until the fall/winter nightmare highway traffic subsides.  I don’t even want to think of what it’ll be like tomorrow as everyone flees town for their Turkey Day destinations.  I can’t wait until I live less than 18 miles from work…

I got home to find my honey had stayed in bed all day, and he didn’t eat anything!    Never a good thing… so I heated up two halves of stuffed pepper from the other night, and made sure he had everything he needed.  I got dressed for the gym and had a snack while doing so:  Clif Nectar cranberry, apricot, and almond bar.  I like the texture of these bars, and the fact that they have like 4 or 5 ingredients.  Simple=good.

I was all anxious to get to the gym and reserve my place in the yoga class, so I headed out hoping I’d get there at about 5:30.  On the way to the gym I realized I forgot a towel, but, alas, I had a $5 coupon for the pro shop from when I activated my membership!  I signed in, and then asked the guy for the yoga sign up sheet.  He acted like I was speaking Greek, and then got it, only to say “you don’t need to sign up.”  Huh?  Then why did the girl this morning say I had to?  And why is there a * next to it on the schedule?  Grrr…sort of frustrated by that, but glad I didn’t have to worry about it in the future. 

I hit the elliptical for about 35 minutes, cranking Justin Timberlake and some other tunes for a little help.  It felt good, and I was excited to head upstairs at 7:30 for yoga.  The class was great, it was warm in the room, and I had a mild sweat going the whole time.  Nothing like a little sweat to reassure you you’re working hard   Most of the poses felt more natural this time around, and the flow of things was a bit easier, too.  It was challenging, though!  We did half-moon and bird of paradise in the mix; half-moon went well, but bird felt awkward and probably didn’t look so pretty.

On the way home I stopped off to buy Thanksgiving protein for Chris’ mom, and a few more parsnips for my roasted winter veggie dish.  I thought a few people looked at me funny at the gym and the store, and when I got home I saw why—I had some mascara under my eyes and on my cheek!  When I was sweating in yoga I must have been a little hasty with the towel and smeared it.  Woops!  Mental note to check the face in the mirror before I leave the gym.

I was looking forward to reheating the last half of stuffed pepper for my dinner, but got sidetracked in a conversation with Mama.  Finally, around 8:15 I had my glorious little friend, who looks a little splayed b/c I cut and smooshed him to heat better in the micro.

  I added a spoon of low fat sour cream for shits and giggles.

Tasty dinner, and now I sit here around 10 doing my blog.  Sheesh, where did the time go!  I gotta get crackin’ on adding some things to eBay; there’s a 50% off listing promo through today, and it is nudging me to finally list some things I’ve had sitting around to sell.

Hope you had a nice Tuesday, and thanks to everyone who read my blog today!  Over 40 of you were kind enough to stop by.  Please do leave comments, feedback, suggestions, whatever… I love reading your comments

Ready to go! November 26, 2008

Yippee, Turkey Day is almost here.  Today was rather slow, but all in all felt productive and positive.  I had a little funk this evening, but snapped out of it by doing food prep.  More on that later…

I was up later than usual last night, until a little after 1.  I listed 16 Cow Parade cows on eBay (they were a reward from my old office manager), got done around 11:45, and then decided to read some Road & Track.  There was an interesting article in there about oil use, unconventional liquids, and water.  Sounds like we’re in the shitter on non-OPEC oil production, and that water supply will be one of the key problems, perhaps moreso than oil.  Check it out here: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=36&article_id=7319

Lily has totally been my alarm clock this week, coming in to say hi and wake me up around 7, and insisting I get out of bed around 8.  It is kind of good, though, because that way I get up and start my day earlier on weekends, which I like.  No where near the 5 am alarm most of you have, but early enough for me

Chris wasn’t feeling too hot again, and while he decided whether to stay home or go to work I had my oats.  Steel cut oats, pumpkin spice Silk, water, almond slivers, dried figs, cinnamon, pinch of salt=yummy.  Chris did decide to stay home, so I also made coffee and took a cup with me to work when I left.  I suppose I enjoy having coffee in the car, especially when it is cold like it has been lately.

I worked for a few hours, and nearly ate out of boredom before I was hungry.  Alas, thinking about food make me hungry, so I had my wrap around noon.  Low fat tortilla, turkey, 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow Light, spinach, broc slaw, and pepper.

 I was drinking hot water with lunch b/c I was so cold!

It was hard to warm up today for various reasons, and I think the hot water helped.  Kinda weird though, just water with no tea or anything (didn’t feel like it).  And yes, I used a non-recyclable cup   I can reuse it thought I didn’t want to use my regular coffee cup, b/c even when it’s clean it still smells like coffee! 

I knew traffic would be horrible today, and I didn’t need to stay at work, so I left waaaaay early, like at 1:30.  Even then I hit some traffic, but not much–  phew.  I was already getting hungry thinking about my yogurt snack awaiting me, but when I got home I first heated up some soup for Chris and played with Lily outside.  Then I indulged in my snacky poo:  Light & Fit vanilla yogurt, slivered almonds, 1/2 a nanner sliced, and cinnamon.  I forgot to take a pic before I stirred it…

After this I felt like doing something other than watching TV or reading, so I began prepping my veggies for the roasted veggie dish I’m making tomorrow.  I gathered some of the victims on my cutting board for you to see:

 ”Haha!  You’re no match for my incredibly large and sharp chef’s knife!”

…Or so I thought.  That acorn squash’s skin armor was really hard to get through!  I had no idea how tough those puppies are! Don’t know if I needed to, but I peeled the SOB, too, which involved cutting the squash into sections and peeling them individually.  Hopefully it all turns out well.  I’m just going to roast them simply with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Maybe a little balsamic or nutmeg if it seems right, but I haven’t made up my mind.

After that I sat down for a few minutes, and Lily wanted to play again, so I went to the back door.  Behold, a Sharp Shinned Hawk had caught a bird and was eating the last bits of it!  Holy moley!  Lily and I scared him when we walked up to the door, and he flew into the tree nearby, but then came back, grabbed the last of the bird, and flew off.  I went out to inspect the feathers, and I don’t know what kind of bird the hawk got.  Here’s the scene of the crime:

Wow, nothing left but feathers.  The orange on the feathers makes me think it was a Varied Thrush or Spotted Towhee   Oh well, that’s nature for you!

I was kind of in a funk after this, but not because of it I don’t think.  I was getting a little hungry and had a spinach and broc slaw salad with S&P, olive oil, and balsamic.

After this I got dinner ready, and as I prepped my chicken I realized just how natural it is for us to be a bit grossed out by handling meat, and that alone is another good reason to be a vegetarian.  I’ve never considered being one before, and I do like chicken and beef mostly, but just a thought that crossed my mind. 

Dinner was plain and simple:  sauteed chicken breast with whole wheat egg noodles.  I put Smart Balance on the noodles, cut up the chicken, and sprinkled canned parmesan & ground pepper on top.  I know, I know…canned parmesan?  Yes, I like it on pasta. 

This was a bit too much food for me, but I ate it all anyway.  I was still coming out of the funk and was just kind of eating it mindlessly for a few minutes.  Bad, bad me!  I ended up feeling full, although not too bad.  That strange confused full/hungry feeling came over me as I digested; I find it quite fascinating that for a few minutes my stomach really seemed to be telling me I was hungry, yet I knew I had eaten and was full. 

Hmm…what did I do next?  Uh, I think I cleaned up, started the dishwasher, and sat down in front of the fire to read for about an hour before Top Chef.  I read more of the Road & Track, and before I knew it 7pm rolled around and I went into the living room to watch TV.  I have DirecTV, so I get new non-local-network shows premiering at eastern time, and then repeated a few times that night usually.  It means I can watch Top Chef, Mad Men, and other good series early

Top Chef was good, quite a doosy of a kitchen they had to cook in!  I won’t say anything in case you haven’t seen it yet, other than that dessert seems to get the best of ‘em!  I’m surprised that in so many seasons the contestants haven’t learned to step outside their comfort zone and learn how to make better desserts before going on the show.

I talked with my mom and brother, and my bro asked me what I was doing tomorrow morning.  “Probably going to the gym, why?” “You should go on a walk with Dad and I in Mountain Park at 10:30, with the dogs.”  “Okay, sounds great!”  I’m excited, as I’ll get to exercise and spend some time outside with some family and the pups   My bro and his wife have a cute Bison Frisee/Havanese mix–Beaudin–and Lily loves to play with him. 

Knowing that the walk would take a few hours out of my day, I decided to prep the apples for my crisp.  I peeled, cut, and cored 10 apples and then added lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar.  Woohee, I think I got enough peeling in today to reach my annual quota!

I ate a few of the apples before putting them away–they were so good!

I also mixed the dry ingredients together, so my work tomorrow should be really simple.  Yay for prep work!!   That definitely got me out of my funk, and I finally feel all warm and cozy… now I get to go climb into my cold bed.  Brrr

I can’t believe how excited I am for Thanksgiving…it is so weird.  You’d think it was Christmas and Santa was coming tonight or something.  Are you all excited and ready to cook up a storm?  What’s your favorite part of the holiday?  I LOVE the smell of the turkey and gravy, and the taste of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  [Drooling now...]

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone, and I look forward to seeing and reading about all of your yummy Turkey Day eats and fun family experiences.  Be sure to take lots of pics!

Gobble, gobble…gobble-gobble November 27, 2008

Whoo-ee, what a day!  It felt so loooong, and had a few speed bumps in there.  But, here I am, somehow not in a comatose state from all of the food I consumed. 

The day started out well, with me getting up around 8:15 and knowing I was going for a walk around 10:30.  Lily and I played, and the wildlife came out in droves. 

I had my oats, but today added a bit of nutmeg since I had it for the apple crisp.  It was so yummy!  To recap, the oats consisted of steel cut oats, pumpkin spice Silk, water, dried figs, almond slivers, cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg. 

I got ready for my walk, got Lily ready, too, and headed over to my dad’s house to carpool.  Lily was excited b/c she saw lots of dogs and people walking in my dad’s neighborhood, so while my dad changed we ran around his back yard.  There was a bright orange fungus growing at the edge of his lawn, and it fascinated me.  I forgot to take a pic!  At first I seriously thought it was flower petals or an orange peel.  Way cool!

We went for our walk on Mountain Park, in Lake Oswego, and it kicked my ass!  It was my brother, my dad, my bro’s dog, me, and Lily.  We huffed it up the hill, moving at a good clip, and finally reached the top of the hill about 50 minutes in.  At that point I noticed my left heel was getting rubbed by my shoe for a few reasons.  1) My left foot is a half size smaller than my right, so sometimes shoes are a little big for it.  2) I wore low cut socks, and the left one kinda shrunk down into my shoe.  On the way downhill my feet were barking at me a bit more, and I was kicking myself for not thinking more about the socks I wore and the friction I’d experience.  Grr.  My feet hurt pretty bad afterward, but my dad wanted to go to Whole Foods and I wasn’t about to say no.

We shopped for Friday’s dinner, and ended up getting halibut, rice, brie for a starter, and some beer   While there we sampled some yummy Seaside Cheddar.  I LOVE their cheese section and could probably just stand there all day asking for samples.  As you can see, my cheddar sample was HUGE.  I stabbed the toothpick into the bowl of cubes, and accidentally snagged that big boy on the end of my toothpick.  I was famished from walking so I gladly ate what I got

When I got home I felt tired, sore, and the dogs were barking.  As I bent over to untie my shoes Lily accidentally head butted me so hard I cried!  I’ve totally got a bruise on my forehead.  I made myself a typical wrap for lunch, and got out my yogurt snack that I prepped earlier.

The wrap was a low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow Light, turkey, spinach, broc slaw, and ground pepper.  I probably didn’t need the sidecar of yogurt, but I ate about half of it and saved the rest.  It was Dannon Light & Fit vanilla, half a nanner, slivered almonds, and cinnamon.

After this I got to baking my Thanksgiving dishes, starting with the vegetables.  They smelled yummy as they roasted, and I was happy with the finished results.  This consisted of parsnips, onions, carrots, acorn squash, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Simple and tasty.

I was in quite a funk for some reason this afternoon, and totally emotional.  It was so weird and unexpected, and Chris had just the thing to try to snap me out of it:

 Cheers!

Next the apple crisp went in.  Just mixing the topping up made me drool!  Check out this pre-baked dish of goodness.  It smelled like heaven already and I totally licked off the beater from my mixer.  Wow, out of control!

As this baked I thought I was going to melt b/c the smell was to die for.  The finished product looked beautiful, with the top all crispy and brown, but I forgot to take a photo since I was in mad prep mode to get going to Grandma’s house.

After arriving at G-Ma’s I helped to finish and dish things, and the usual family stress crept in.  Too many people helping out in the kitchen, too many things going on at once… “hand me the wine.” 

Once we finally got seated for dinner, I just about died at how good the food was   SO TASTY!!! I put too much food on my plate, at it all, and even had a little more afterward.  And, yes, those wine glasses are both mine   The plate o’ goodness included: white turkey meat, mashed potatoes, dressing, roasted veggies, two kinds of cranberry sauce, and gravy over half of the above.  The bowl back there had fruit salad with apples, orange, bananas, walnuts, cherries, and whipped cream (zoikes!). 

I was so bad and kept picking at the food as we cleared dishes and put leftovers away.  Naughty girl!  My sis-in-law’s dressing was super tasty, and I kept sneaking bites every time I passed by.  Someone slap my hand away!

Dessert was fabulous, and I had tastes of my apple crisp and my mom’s pumpkin pie.  The whipping cream froze solid during its short stay in the freezer (don’t ask…), so we opted for the blow-on kind instead.

Here’s where I really went over the top–too much food=uncomfy tummy!  I had a hard time sticking to my guns today, obviously.  All I can say is at least I worked out a lot this week, otherwise I think I would be feeling a lot more guilty now.  Did you all workout more to get ready for today?

I think Chris’ parents had a good time, and everyone got along really well and had fun.  Phew, and yay   The puparoos were really good during dinner, and here they are laying down watching the kitchen activity.  They were both laying with their heads on the floor, but Lily heard me and lifted her head up.  Hi sweetie!

Lily is tuckered out, and so am I.  I’m watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion right now–wow, them bitches are crazy!  Off I go to watch more and drink massive quantities of water (too much vino). 

Hope your Thanksgiving ended splendidly  

Free and Lazy Friday November 28, 2008

Wow, it was only Friday today.  Sweet!  I passed out on the couch last night and didn’t sleep all that well, part couch and part alcohol consumption I think.  Does alcohol do that to you, too–make you wake up after one sleep cycle or so?

I finally got up around 9 and did the usual take Lily out/make coffee/make oats routine, but for using a different type of oats today.  I used the rolled oats I had left over from my apple crisp, and made them on the stovetop with pumpkin Silk, water, raisins, and a pinch of salt.  When they were nearly done I added slivered almonds, and I topped off the finished product with some more Silk.  I liked the taste, but think I prefer the chewier, heartier texture of the steel cut oats instead of the mushier, softer texture of these.

I sat around reading blogs, watching some TV, and drinking coffee all morning.  I can’t believe how sore my legs are today from the walk yesterday!  It is great!  I also did a little yoga this morning, as I saw it was on Fit TV and got in like 10 minutes of practice.  I was in a pretty good mood, and enjoyed being able to relax.  I kept wondering about going to the gym, but decided to take the day off b/c of my crazy sore legs and feet.

For lunch I had some leftover roasted veggies, turkey, and a little bit of gravy.  Yummy smell as it heated, and great taste:)

After this I went to Fred Meyer to pick up some things for dinner tonight at my dad’s, and for Chris, Lily, and I in general.  I didn’t do the usual menu planning b/c I didn’t feel like it.  I knew I had protein for the next 2 days already, that I could finagle some sides, and we have Thanksgiving leftovers.  No shortage of food here.

I’ve seen a lot of cottage cheese incorporated in all of your blogs out there, so I decided to finally buy some and test it out.  Now, let me tell you about my last experience with cottage cheese. .. It was, oh, about 8 years ago in college (holy shit I feel old saying that) and my boyfriend liked to eat cottage cheese with ranch dressing.  I had never liked cc before that, but one night after drinking too much Franzia white zin with the bf I ate like half a bowl of his cc and ranch concoction.  I promptly got sick (mostly from the wine, I’m sure) and haven’t really wanted to try cc since then.

Enter 2008’s blog scene and my taste test today.  I just had like 1/4 cup with some no salt added Saltines (bought them for Daddy’s halibut recipe, and saw they have high fructose corn syrup in them!!:|)  I ate a few spoonfuls of the cc alone, and noticed how the curds remind me of salty mozzarella in taste and texture.  Great, b/c I love fresh mozzarella   Paired with the crackers it was pretty good, and I’ll see about trying it in oats, with fruit/jam, cinnamon, or other preparations.  I would love to hear your favorite cottage cheese dishes/concoctions/recipes–please leave a comment for me!

 Not too shabby

What did I do after this? Hm…more blogging I think.  I felt kinda lazy and didn’t want to clean or unload the dishwasher, so I was on the computer for awhile. 

Around 4:15 we left for my dad’s so I could put the pie in the oven early before he came home from work.  The pie was from Lee Farms of Tualatin, Oregon: http://www.leefarmsoregon.com/  I also prepped some of the salad, crushed the saltines, got out the brie and promptly began eating it, and enjoyed some Willakenzie 2006 Pinot Blanc.  (My G-Ma also brought over some Spanish sheep’s milk cheese that was really soft, creamy, and mild.  Mmmmm.) Lily asked if she could have some too, so I gave her a cracker:)

I was good, eating just a few bites of everything while keeping busy in the kitchen.  My dad got home and we did more prep, then started cooking when everyone was there.  The halibut was SO good–moist inside, crispy outside, fabulous taste and texture.  My dad coats it in an egg wash, dredges it in the ground up Saltines, and pan fries it in some butter and olive oil–100% perfect!  For sides we had red Bhutanese rice, leftover mashed potatoes (G-Ma insisted on bringing them over since she had leftovers she wanted to pawn off), and a spinach salad with broc slaw, red pepper, and a little basil.  A very yummy dinner that wasn’t overly large.  I decided to forego the potatoes since we already had one starch.

Chris picked out two fantabulous wines from my dad’s cellar: a Bergstrom 2001 Paso Robles Syrah, and an Archery Summit 2005 Red Hills Pinot Noir.  Both were really full bodied, had great flavor, and gone too quickly.  The 7 of us drinkers went though 4 bottles of wine in all.  Here’s pics of the cellar and the Bergstrom:

My dad’s hall closet is under his staircase, and has a bunch of open space in the back; it also happens to stay at a perfect, consistent temperature for most of his wine, so it is therefore his main “cellar.”  I always think it is fun (and funny) to whip out the flashlight, part the coats, and crouch in the closet looking through his wine.

Next we moved along to the yummy pie, but not before I had a few more bites of cheese while sort of helping to clean up.  The marionberry pie was TO DIE FOR.  I don’t think I’ve ever had pie that good before–perfect taste, texture, and crust, not too sweet and not too tart.  I added a little spoon of ice cream, too:)

Double yum!  We had some coffee with our dessert, and sat/stood around chatting in the kitchen and family room for awhile.  All in all it was a great evening, except for me eating a tad too much on all fronts.  Thankfully we don’t get together twice a week like this, or else I’d be in trouble for sure on the eat-fewer-calories front.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the food and socializing, but it is easier for me to control my portions and nutrition when making my own meals, or when eating out at familiar places. 

There’s my honey and my little girl:)

Now Chris and I have succumbed to yet more wine.  I’m feeling like quite the wino lately.  We are enjoying a Willakenzie 2005 Selection Clonale 114 Pinot Noir, and it is yet another great wine.  I like tasting the individual clones that are blended to create the wines.

There’s a Mork & Mindy marathon on SciFi right now, and it is suprisingly funny and entertaining.  Right now they’re about to get married and Mork is turning into a dog b/c his alien master doesn’t approve.  Lily heard Mork bark on TV and started growling… such a good girl protecting us.  Love her

I’m out for the night, folks.  Hoping to get in pilates and cardio tomorrow, how bout you?

S-S-S-S-Saturday November 29, 2008

Today did not feel like Saturday at all, more like Sunday I suppose.  I was tired and a little cranky last night after I posted, and I went to bed around midnight.  The last few weeks I have had a hard time warming up in bed, even with the quilt and a blanket, so I wore a long-sleeved shirt last night and that helped a lot

I woke up maybe around 7, but stayed in bed and dozed in and out until about 8:45, when I realized I had better get going to be awake and make it to pilates at 10 on time.  I started the coffee, poured a bowl of All Bran Strawberry Medley with almond milk, and headed outside to play with Lily.  I totally forgot to take a pic until after I ate.  Oops.

[imagine cereal here]

Andrea (at Care To Eat) said she’d try to be at pilates, and she was there!  I was surprised b/c I thought she went to a different location of 24 Hour Fitness, but it was good to have someone I knew there in class   Go Andrea!  After class I did 40 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, then headed home in a state that told me I needed food even though I wasn’t hungry. 

What to make, what to make…??? Wrap? Leftovers? Eggs?  I ended up making a wrap with a 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow Light, one lightly scrambled egg, spinach, and broc slaw.  I knew I wanted an apple, so I decided to try one with some cottage cheese.  It was a good combo, but the apple wasn’t that great so I only ate half of it.

I began busting out housework so I wouldn’t have to do any tomorrow (yay!), and got quite a bit done.  I hit a wall around 2 and was insanely tired.  Are the last 2-3 days of activity catching up to me? Did I overdo it? Am I just tired?  I don’t know… I was also getting a tad hungry already, so I turned to my new friend, cottage cheese.  Can’t believe I’m eating it! I’ve been missing out for the last 27 years. 

I had Food Should Be Good multigrain chips with it, and it worked out well.  As I ate this I watched Hell’s Kitchen reruns on Fox Reality, and caught the last season finale.  I thought I may fall asleep on the couch, but ended up staying awake and watching the whole thing while tending the laundry on commercials.

Chris suggested we go to Fajitas (neighborhood Mexican restaurant) for dinner, and I was kind of relieved since that meant I wouldn’t have to cook.  Tortilla soup sounded good, so I did indeed order that with a Casuela, too.

I added lots of jalapenos to my soup, and ix-nayed the sour cream.  I loved the fiery mouth effect of the peppers! My inner ears started to feel hot and itchy–a sure sign of spicy heat. When I was younger I hated spicy stuff, but now I love it.  I’ll need to figure out how to incorporate some Sriracha or spicy curry into my diet soon… Anyway, I ate too much and got home feeling quite full.  I guess a lot of it was fluid, but I need to stop myself before I get full.

The week is finally winding down to a close now, and I have mixed feelings on it.  One one hand, I worked out 5 times this week, with two great leg workouts and a nice walk/hike outdoors:)  On the other hand, I ate too much each of the last 3 nights and didn’t drink enough water this week:(

Tomorrow is a new week, and I’m determined to eat well, work out at least 4 times, and continue (ahem, restart) my approach of not eating until I’m full.  I’ll start out with yoga in the morning, and I am looking forward to having steel cut oats again for breakfast (better prep those now!).  I bought them in bulk this week at Freddy’s, and they definitely look different than Bob’s Red Mill (smaller, a few dark specks in there).  I’ll let you know how that goes. 

I hope you all had a nice end to your week, and I know I’m glad to have one more day off before heading back to work.  How about you?

Posting tonight… December 1, 2008

Hi friends– I didn’t post last night because Chris and I watched “Heat” and I was too tired to post after that.  Stay tuned tonight for Sunday’s and today’s eats and activities.  A little preview:  I had cottage cheese in my oats this morning!  And, I’m feeling smaller in my pants today–yay, finally some results:D

Kersten

Flipping the calendar (off) December 1, 2008

It is sooooooo weird that December is already here.  Where is the time going?  Ahhhhhh!  Over the last few years it seems that life has been accelerating rapidly.  How bout you?  On to the posting madness… Let’s start with a pic of yet another female hummingbird that is visiting my feeders:

This means there are at least 4 coming by!

Sunday was good, especially because I got in a rockin’ yoga class–more on that in a minute.  I started out at about 8, made coffee, cooked steel cut oats on the stove top, played with Lily and enjoyed some blogs.  I’ve figured out that I totally prefer steel cut oats soaked overnight then nuked rather than done on the stovetop.

I headed out to the gym, got warmed up on the treadmill, and plunked my yoga mat down in the biggest class ever.  There were like 50 people in the studio, and a few had to be turned a way I think.  I saw Megan S. and her sis-in-law (hi!!) in class This yoga session was pretty intense, moved quickly, and was warm since there were so many bodies squeezed in there.  I felt kind of inept a few times, but it was a great overall.  I had planned on doing cardio and weights afterward, but just did a quick bicep/ab/back workout instead.

Since I already ran out of my new friend, cottage cheese, I stopped by Freddy’s on the way home and managed to fill an entire grocery bag with stuff.  I got a big container of fat-free cottage cheese to try and other usual stuff.  I was getting pretty famished, and made the same lunch as Saturday (sans apples): low fat tortilla with one egg, 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow Light, spinach, broc slaw; cottage cheese on the side.  At first the f.f. c.c. tasted kinda weird to me (funny aftertaste?), but it was still good. 

Not sure what I did after this…blog some?  Play with LB?  Shower? Who knows…

I snacked on the same thing as Saturday, too, while reading up on yoga poses. It was cottage cheese and Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips.  Mmmmmmm…..

Putzed around more in the afternoon, and got out some chicken I’d had in the fridge to cook for our lunches this week.  Peeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeewwwww! It had gone bad and smelled kinda fishy   Damn.  At least I bought fresh chix and can cook that up, as we’re about out of lunch meat.

Moving on to dinner… I was bad at menu planning and didn’t really have any sides, so we used mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, and dressing from Thanksgiving.  I cooked up a pork chop for each of us; when I opened the package I saw one was pretty small–perfect for me   I gave Chris the carrots from my roasted veggies, and had the remaining parsnips, squash, and onions.  I also had dressing.  It was all yummy.

I never got hungry after dinner, and felt like I had a good day since I was back on track eating well.  Chris and I decided to watch a movie around 9, and we chose “Heat”.  We enjoyed a Willakenzie 2004 Emery Pinot Noir–soooooooooo tasty.

That wrapped up Sunday

On to today, Monday.  Hmmm…got up later than I should have, felt discombobulated making lunch since it had been so long, but then felt skinny when I got dressed for work!  My pants were definitely looser than they have been, and my shirt.  Yay!!!  That put me in a stellar mood all day.

I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast until 10:30.  I should have known better and eaten at home.  I was doing work stuff, had to pick up wreaths I ordered from a colleague in the next building, and take Lily to my mom’s house.  I was really hungry and enjoyed my oats tremendously.  I mixed in a big spoonful of cottage cheese!!  It was somewhat creamy, and I think the little curds plumped up in there BTW, this was the first day I had the Fred Meyer bulk oats, and I couldn’t tell the difference from Bob’s Red Mill.

 I’ll add more next time…

I went into a meeting after this, and emerged hungry already around noon.  Chris and I sat down for lunch in his office, where I had half of my wrap (low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, turkey, spinach, broc slaw, ground pepper), a little bit of the cottage cheese pictured, half an apple, and water.

Around 12:45 I left to go to acupuncture, which also went well.  I saw my naturopath and conveyed the good news that I have been working out and eating well, and that I feel so much better.  She was really excited for me–thanks Dr. B!  My acu. session went well, and back to work I went.

I was hungry again and ate the rest of my lunch around 2:30, sans cottage cheese (Chris had it with his lunch). I should have photographed the “butt” of my wrap for Erin!

Man, I was a bottomless pit today, and ate my banana around 4:45.

Hello little nanner!

Chris told me Maria was calling (aka he wanted to go to Mexican for dinner), and that didn’t sound too bad to me at all.  My 5pm meeting couldn’t make it, and around 6 we left to go to Si Senor.  I had an Original Margarita and a Chicken Monterrey Burger (small chicken breast with jack cheese, lettuce, avocado, and jalapeno(not pictured), oh and fries on the side).  I ate waaaaay to much of the burger…spurned on by the yummy chicken, avocado, and roasted fresh jalapenos (not to mention margarita buzz), I kept putting food in my mouth.  The jalapenos were bloody hot, and I kept trying to find something to kill the heat, too (or at least that’s part of my excuse!).

So, although my day started on a good note, I feel bad for overeating tonight.  No, I did not eat the whole burger, or even half of the fries, but I was full and knew it while I was still eating.  Bad me!  Lesson learned and I will do my best to be more diligent in the eats dept. this week. 

I think I’m going to find some yoga online and do a little sesh here at my house.  I have a 4:30pm meeting tomorrow but hope I can make it to the 6:30 pm yoga class.  I’m really digging the movement, exercise, and breathing so far, and am excited to become more proficient.  It is really awesome that all classes are included in my gym membership–thanks 24 Hour Fitness!

On a random note, my WordPress Dashboard said I had like 300 views today!!!!!!!!!!!!  Say what?  Is this a fluke?  Did your view counter look right today?  That’s like 10x more than my normal traffic.  If it is true, thanks for visiting everyone!  Please leave a comment and say hi

The humanity! December 3, 2008

Today started off great, but the lack of manners, class, and common decency witnessed after 7pm just about killed me.  Brace yourselves for my rant in the latter half of this post.

So, got up to go to work and the man & I decided to sleep longer   Yay.  I fell back asleep for like 1 1/2 hours, and had some crazy vivid dreams.  When I finally dragged my arse out of bed I made coffee and heated my oatmeal.  I mixed in more cottage cheese but forgot my almonds.  All in all, a yummy start to the day.  While I made this I was on the phone with DirecTV per the promo letter I received–they’re giving us $10/mo off for 12 mos, and free Showtime and Starz for 6 months.  Sign me up!

I worked from home for a few hours (aka blogged and sorta checked my email and news), but the company website and applications were on the fritz today so I got frustrated and mostly blogged.  After I packed lunch I went to the office, and ended up eating around 1:40.  Typical wrap for lunch (low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, turkey, spinach, and broc slaw), a little bit of cottage cheese (all that was left!), and half an apple.  That hit the spot

I worked for a bit, chatted with my office mate, and just now realized I forgot to contact a client about something.  Shoot.  Anyway, I ate the other half of my apple around 3:45, mostly because I knew I should have something to support my brain power for my 4pm meeting.  Forgot to take a pic, tho.

[imagine apple here ]

My meeting went well, and I headed on home starting to get hungry.  Thankfully traffic was not bad at all, otherwise I would have been frustrated by that fo sho.  Lily was so cute when I got home…her little wiggly greeting will never get old

I cooked up chicken breast and green beans for dinner, hoping it would be light enough that I could work out sooner than later.  I probably should have had more calories for dinner; not until later did I realize this was fewer than I was going for.

Chris and I watched Showtime for a little while, and I headed off to the gym.  Here’s where “the humanity” got to me… A nice guy opened the front door for me, and all began well.  The gym was packed.  I started with a quick warm up on the treadmill, then began to bust out legs superset style.  Here I was annoyed by two girls chatting it up while one of them *barely* worked out on a leg curl machine.  I wasn’t using that machine, but ones on either side of it.  They were there for like 10 minutes doing nothing and totally oblivious.  Grrr.  C’mon, if you’re gonna be at the gym can ya please work out and not just take up space?

My supersetting didn’t go so well since it was so busy, but that didn’t upset me.  Next frustration was a meathead doing tricep rope extensions–I didn’t know he was using that particular stack (no water bottle/towel/keys/etc.), but during my first set I noticed he was standing rightnexttome.  When I finished he said “I was using that” and practically pushed me out of the way to get on it.  Fucker.  There were only 3 other open stacks at the time.  So I took an open one.  I was glad to head downstairs for cardio after that.

The cardio machines were TOTALLY FULL.  I didn’t want to go upstairs to use the non-TV machines, so I just waited for a minute.  First I was going to use a stair mill, but the chick getting off of it took about 5 minutes to stretch on the damn thing instead of moving on. Her crime:  being totally oblivious to the fact that people were waiting to use the machines.

So, I took an elliptical that opened up and started cruising.  Phew.  TV worked, closed captioning was on(not sure how you turn it on but I prefer it since I listen to music on the iPod at the same time). Next, I see two cheerleaders (t-shirts had high school cheer squad on them) do some “cardio:” they fucked around on two machines in front of me for about 5 minutes, one of them putting both of her feet on one footpad and pumping with her arms like a kid. The other one looked like she was made up to go to prom–not exactly indicative of someone who is trying to work out. Their crime:  not being serious about what they were doing.

Next, fat man with no t-shirt pacing around on his phone in front of the cardio area.  Ewwwwwwwwwwww.  He had some nasty body hair, too.  It was one of those things where you try not to look but somehow still do every once in awhile.  I think most of the people on the machines were trying to keep their dinner down.

Lastly, young asshole spits in the recycling bin.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Is it that hard to read “recycling” in big letters on the side?

By this time I got to my 45 minute goal and got the hay out of there.  At least the cardio was good

I stopped at Freddy’s on the way home, only to be annoyed by sick kids coughing and sniffling and not doing anything to keep their germs to themselves, and young assholes who tried to cut in front of me at the self-scan.  But I saw they now carry Flat Out! wraps!!!  I’ll have to try those when I run out of tortillas.

At least I got my cottage cheese, and a d’anjou pear , and got home safely.  I swear, it is evenings like these that make me want to give up on human kind.  I guess I believe in karma, and just figure if they’re putting out negative energy they’re going to get some back.  Hopefully my annoyed ass wasn’t putting out a bad vibe…

After I cleaned up I had a snack of 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese, and some Food Should Taste Good chips.  My little bowl runneth over!  Yummy and satisfying. 

My eBay auctions all ended tonight, and I sold 13 of 16 items!  Yay!

So I leave you my trusty bloggers.  Sorry I wasn’t in a great mood when writing this tonight, but thanks for reading anyway   Hopefully some of you will share your experiences or feedback with me, I would appreciate it a lot.

Shake it like a Polaroid picture! December 4, 2008

I felt a little shaken up today, rather ditzy, forgetful, and clumsy since I woke up with a monster allergy headache that didn’t want to go away until late this afternoon.  Phew, b/c I had plans to attend Zumba with Andrea Care To Eat tonight. 

When I woke up I realized I that in my huff last night I forgot to prep my oats. Oh, no!!!   I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat, and ended up taking a banana and a pear to eat for breakfast.  I ended up eating only the banana, and forgot to take a pic.  I should have forced myself to eat more, but I was at work and didn’t want to go buy anything or eat the cookies at the office.

I had a poopy morning b/c of the headache, and didn’t get much serious work done.  Around 12:30 I had lunch:  wrap consisting of low fat tortilla with sauteed chicken, 1/2 wedge LCL, spinach, broc slaw, Nature’s Seasoning; ~1/2 cup low fat/fat free cottage cheese mix; and about 1/2 and apple. 

I ate the rest of the cc and apples later on.  Twas a tasty little snack, but I forgot to photograph it (again)!

Chris and I went to my mom’s house for dinner–homemade turkey soup with dumplings, and a salad with broc slaw, red pepper, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a balsalmic vinaigrette.  Yum yum!  I didn’t eat much b/c I was afraid of being too full for Zumba.  But, I wasn’t really full, in fact I was still a little hungry, and I had some brie with these yummy TJ’s cinnamon flatbread toasts. 

Lily wants to get her pic in the blog, too. 

We headed on home around 6:30, I changed, and grabbed a few spoonfuls of ff cc before heading out.  Yes, that’s me eating straight from the container!

Zumba kicked my ass, but was really fun.  Andrea and I tried to keep up, but I know I couldn’t get some of the moves, especially the boob/ass/hip shaking while doing other moves.  We were nice and sweaty afterward, so I can only figure that was a good workout. 

At home my eBay sales were awaiting packaging, so I started getting them all wrapped up.  Quite a project, and I ran out of materials for the last two.  Here’s the herd of cows bidding me adieu.  Mooooooo!

Top Chef was replaying at 11, and I was feeling a bit hungry after all that packing.  I had a wedge of LCL and some Food Should Taste Good chips.  That hit the spot.  Did you like tonight’s Top Chef?  I thought the elimination was well justified.

Wow, it is 1am, so I had better get to bed.  Of course I’m not that tired, dammit.  I’ll watch TV for a little while probably and head to bed.  Nighty night!

Holiday party kickoff December 4, 2008

I knew that today would end with my first holiday party of the season, so that gave me something to look forward to all day.  I was a tired girl today…watched some of the South Park movie after I posted last night, and fell asleep on the couch for a short while.  Erin & Andrea, that’s one fantastic swear-a-thon for us! 

(OMG, my dog has horrible gas right now!  I can hardly stand to sit here, holy moley, what did my mom feed her today!?)

I ate breakfast late this morning, around 10:30, and knew a friend was bringing pizza in for the office at 11:30.  I figured I wouldn’t be that hungry this way and could avoid the pizza temptation mostly.  My oats consisted of 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup pumpkin spice Silk, tbsp slivered almonds, tbsp+ raisins, good shake of cinnamon, and pinch of salt.

As I ate I prepared shipping labels from my eBay sales.  I tell ya, the whole packing and labelling process took longer than I thought it would!

I worked, then finally had a 1/2 slice of Pizza Schmizza Zorba pizza around 12:30, which had chicken, basil, tomato, and polenta on it.  It wasn’t quite as tasty as I’d hoped…I originally thought it was Spicy Thai when I saw the pizza, so most things taste bland compared to that spicy goodness.

After a meeting and working more I at my salad around 2:30 or 3.  Spinach, broc slaw, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

I knew that tonight’s holiday party would be really light on food and potentially heavy on booze, so I ate another snack around 4:30.  Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt (3/4 cup? 1 cup?) with a tbsp slivered almonds, half a banana, and cinnamon. Yummy!  Chris stopped by to chat and had a taste, and I was surprised he liked it a lot   I had the other half of the nanner like 15 minutes later.  I couldn’t leave half of it…wouldn’t have eaten it tonight or tomorrow and didn’t want to waste it.

I ate this while proofreading my email to the people in my office suite; I was trying to politely ask them to use the recycling bin that I manage for anything that could be recyclable.  I still see tons of recyclable stuff in the trash

Left work around 5, picked up my mom, and headed to the party at Carl Greve, a local jewelry store.  They liquor everyone up and offer drawings in the hope that we all buy jewelry, I suppose, which is kind of what happened 3 years ago when Chris bought my rings.  Hehe. 

I had a few glasses of champagne, and three pieces of appetizers circulating–crostini with parmesan, tomato, and goat cheese; sushi roll with avocado, cucumber, carrot, and wasabi; and endive with Dungeness crab, avocado, and caviar.  None of them were that good, so I didn’t bother to have more.

This year was not nearly as busy as previous years, and the jewelry didn’t seem quite as va-va-va-voom either.  My mom was hungry, and I knew I should eat something eventually, so we walked down the street to Typhoon! (best Thai place ever!) for dinner. 

We had salad rolls (rice wrapper, rice noodles, basil, shrimp, peanut sauce), pumpkin soup (pumpkin, coconut milk, spices, ???), and pineapple fried rice (rice, chicken, shrimp, pineapple, onion, dried chiles, ???).  I was desperately craving curry, but wasn’t that hungry and figured I’d overdo it fo sho if I ordered that.  The pumpkin soup was rich and spicy, and actually fulfilled my curry craving   I didn’t eat too much and felt satisfied when we left.

I love Thai food and wish we ate it more…curry=my second love.

After this we went back to the party (where Chris had stayed), I had another glass of champagne, and we headed home not too long after.  No, no purchases tonight.  We don’t usually buy anything but love looking at all the pretty stuff   Each year we pick out something we would love to buy; tonight Chris picked a Roberto Coin enamel and diamond garden motif gold ring , or rose enamel and gold earrings shaped like roses.  I wish!

I can’t believe it is almost midnight already.  Off I go to bed in the hopes of getting a lot of sleep.  Nighty night!

What day is it? December 5, 2008

I feel totally disoriented today.  I worked from home and keep feeling like it is Saturday.  Also, I am dizzy today!  I think it is allergy related, but it is majorly annoying.

I started off the day with a newer oats combination:  1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup pumpkin spice Silk, 1/4 cup water, tbsp raisins, tbsp slivered almonds, cinnamon, dash of salt, and a dash more of water and 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese after they were done cooking.  Rich and creamy, slightly tangy, yummy.  I bought some pumpkin and need to remember to add that in!

(BTW, I LOVE that I can select multiple pics to upload at once now and that this new version of WP is a lot faster!!!)

I had some good coffee, played with Lily, blogged, worked, and shipped the last 3 eBay boxes I had. 

Lunchtime came around, and I mad a yummy wrap:  low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, semi-scrambled/fried egg, spinach, and broc slaw.  I also had ~1/4 cup ff cottage cheese mixed with a big spoon of lf cottage cheese. 

The egg and LCL taste so good together!!  I strongly suggest you give it a try on a sandwich, in a wrap, in an omelette, etc.  While eating this I noticed I zoned out a bit, though, and wasn’t as mindful of what I was doing as I should have been. 

I putzed around this afternoon, not even sure if I can recount what I did… I had a small snack of 1/2 wedge LCL and some Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips around 3 or 4.  Forgot the pic of course.

I watched the 4pm news and some shows on the Food Network.  I’m liking Good Eats again (didn’t like it for a few years), and watched an episode about fruit cake and one about roasting meat.  That made me nice and hungry, and excited to head off to eat Mexican food.

Off to Fajitas Chris and I went, and I had my usual feast:  some chips and salsa, tortilla soup, and a Casuela. 

I added a tbsp of sour cream to the soup tonight for a little extra indulgence.  Bad me!  The soup was probably cheesy enough that I didn’t need it, but it was good   The jalapeno was nice and spicy, just as I like it.

 ”La Casa” for dessert

I didn’t sleep as well as I’d hoped last night (kept waking up, sleep wasn’t very deep), and I know I’m watching Lipstick Jungle at 9, so I figured I had better post earlier tonight. 

There’s another party tomorrow night–Erin, Joel is back in town for the holidays and Chad & Chelsea are having a party.  Should be fun!  I’ll try to take some pics and post them for you   We’ll miss you!

Party hard December 7, 2008

I am soooo tired and rather out of it this morning.  Sorry I didn’t post last night, as I went straight from dinner to party and got home at 1 am. 

I’m getting ready to head out to yoga, and will post this afternoon or do a double this evening.

Some previews:  Saturday involved pumpkin oats, buying a Christmas tree, Chinese food, and a party!  Today will possibly have a party in there, too, but a mild one

Happy Sunday!

Wrapping up the weekend December 8, 2008

Well friends, ’twas a busy weekend and I’m now finally able to post for Saturday and Sunday.  I had a nice weekend overall, and am glad to have accomplished some good things, but am disappointed in myself for over eating in certain bad ways.  Read on.

Saturday

I finally slept well and had to drag my arse out of bed to get going and make sure I was awake for Pilates.  I heated my oats, which were switched up a bit:  steel cut oats, pumpkin spice Silk, water, pumpkin, cinnamon, and pinch of salt.  Not sure I liked the texture so much…a little too gooey for me.

 

Pretty cinnamon swirl   Thought I’d showcase my trusty Coffee-mate, too.  BTW, I added a tsp or tbsp of the Coffee-mate to my oats for sweetness.  Sounds gross, but works well.  I used to do that a lot in my old office. 

It was SO cold–like 20 something and frosty–yesterday morning.  I took a pic showing how white the grass was, but not sure if you can tell.

 ”Hurry up, Mommy, my toes are cold!”

Pilates was good, but not quite as intense as when Karlyn teaches.  I also did 45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and felt accomplished.  I totally need to do more weights, tho! 

Afterward I headed to a local Christmas tree lot (5′ Doug Fir for $15!!), and then Freddy’s for the weekly grocery trip, and was amazed at how busy it was.  I jumped in the U-Scan line even tho I had ~20 items, as it was deserted.  I hate waiting in the regular lines. 

I was ravenous when I got home, and made one of my new trusty wraps you’re probably bored of seeing:  low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, 1 scrambled egg, spinach, broc slaw.  I also had some cottage cheese   I snacked on an apple and the tiny remnant of ff cc that was left while cooking.

 

Yum.  I cleaned, played with the LB, and organized around the house a bit before deciding I needed a snack of the other half of my LCL wedge and Food Should Taste Good chips.

Mmmmm.  I’m still amazed at how yummy LCL is.  Thanks a million to Erin at Care To Eat for this and her other awesome eats

What did I do next?  Not sure.  Oh, I know, I FINALLY took a few minutes to use a blow dryer with diffuser to dry my hair and was happy with the results.  Volume, baby!  My hair is baby fine and rather thin, so volume is a rather foreign concept.  Oh, we also watched “Dexter” on Showtime and it was great!  I think we’re hooked.

We headed out to dinner at Imperial Garden, a local Chinese place.  I knew we’d be tempted by all sorts of food at our party later, but figured that starting off with a full stomach would help me resist the temptations.  Chris and I shared two appetizers and one entree:  BBQ pork, fried shrimp (LOVE fried shrimp), and Kung Pao chicken.  Everything was good, but I ate a little bit too much.

  Who dat?

Notice the annihilated food (or lack thereof) behind my fortune! 

We headed off to Chad & Chelsea’s for the par-tay, and overall had a good time.  Chelsea always gets lots of food and a huge bar, so there was no lack of calories to be consumed if that was one’s prerogative.  I successfully avoided the goodies until about 10, when I had a piece of peppermint bark. It went downhill from there.  Rob and Erin know why…

The 2nd pic is bread with hummus, and the 3rd pic is what was left of the table around 11.  I had another piece of peppermint bark, bread with hummus, bread with olive oil, red pepper with hummus, vanilla ring cake, a few tootsie rolls, a few Jolly Ranchers, and a few bebidas.  Somehow I avoided the Doritos and cupcakes, thankfully.  For drinking I mostly stuck to club soda with a splash of pina colada juice, but added vodka in here and there.  One word to describe what happened food-wise: disaster.  I felt guilty, disgusted with my lack of control, and upset that I noshed on so much stuff!  Yet I kept on eating.    We left around midnight.  It was fun to see everyone, but I totally didn’t get pics of anyone!  I’m such a dork in that dept. now that I’m focused on photographing my food.

Sunday

I woke up today feeling a bad-food-induced hangover.  It was tough to get out of bed, but yoga was calling my name and I was really looking forward to it.  I had a bowl of cereal since I (of course) did not prep my oats last night.  All Bran Strawberry Medley with unsweetened original almond milk.  And a cup of coffee.

I got to the gym just in time for yoga, and found a spot at the back of the super crowded room next to Megan S.   Hi!  I was feeling challenged by the moves b/c of my “hangover,” but persevered and was glad I went. 

Next stop, Costco for some Stacy’s Pita Chips (the BEST chips I think), coffee, and a spankin’ deal on a 3-pack of Calvin Klein tank tops for $14.99.  You should have seen my workout garb today–about two sizes too tight and also too short.    Dirty laundry is to blame.

Lunch was a little different–scrambled egg on one slice whole wheat toast, spread with 1/2 wedge LCL, topped with spinach.  I also had about 1/2 cup of ff and lf cottage cheese mixed, and some Stacy’s chips. 

I was tired, but looked forward to decorating the Christmas tree   The Doug Firs are bushier, without much space within to hang things, so the overall look is different.  But, pretty

 Sorry, a tad blurry.

Chris and I had a quick, easy dinner consisting of sauteed chicken breast and brown rice made with a can of stewed Italian tomatoes.  Easy and good.  I sprinkled a little canned Parmesan on top for shits and giggles (not pictured).

Off we went to the Louis Vuitton holiday gathering.  Yes, I know…LV, the most hoity toity malletier I could find, right?  Well, the mom has a history of gifting such things to me and I must admit I like them.  No, I can’t afford the stuff myself right now, but would love many of their items for my collection. 

I had champagne, a few mini-quiche, a macaroon (!), and a few little chocolate truffles (!).  Great, another bad eating night, I thought.  More champagne to kill the conscience.  I enjoyed looking at all the fineries I can’t afford, and speaking some Nihongo with the store associates. 

That’s me, my macaroon, and my champagne; and me and my mom (along with some poor guy we captured–sorry dude). 

Just watched the new Dexter–fabu!  Too bad we didn’t have Showtime previously.  Oh, I’m also enjoying some wine, and just grabbed a few Stacy’s Pita Chips.  (The insanity continues.)

I’m honestly looking forward to this week (weekdays, specifically) since I can control my eating/diet much more effectively during my regular routine.  I really want to lose weight, I know I chose the wrong season to start, but I’m still determined.   Here’s to a better week.

Monday December 8, 2008

I couldn’t think of a post title. Sorry bout that.

I just realized I forgot to include a snack picture yesterday–how dare I leave that out!!  It was an afternoon delight consisting of 1/2 cup Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt, 1/2 a large banana, 1 tbsp slivered almonds, cinnamon, and my last dried fig.  Tasty!

On to Monday… hmm, woke up groggy as hell and stuffed up.  I think I might be allergic to my Christmas tree.  Not sure tho, could be a cold sneaking up on me.

My oats were rather normal, but not as sweet as usual b/c I didn’t have any more pumpkin spice Silk.  1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp slivered almonds, 1 tbsp raisins, cinnamon, dash of salt.  Still good tho. 

 

I ate this rather late, and had a second cup of coffee that gave me a bit of an unwelcomed buzz.  It made me a little anxious given everything going on (end of year business stuff, Christmas season, etc), and my allergies/cold/whatever were making me feel poopy anyhow.  I ate lunch around 1:15 while working.  Wrap with low fat tortilla, 2 slices of turkey, 1/2 wedge LCL, spinach, and broc slaw.  I ate about 1/2 cup ff/lf cottage cheese mixed, and a few pcs of the apple.  I heart cottage cheese

Off to acupuncture I went, and was glad to do so.  I figured Randy could calm me down with some strategic needling.  I had a balancing treatment today, which involved putting needles up and down my spine on either side to positively influence my chi and body systems.  Sounds kooky but is totally relaxing and works.  He also did some needles for my tight calf and anxiety/PMS.  After the needles come out I got a great Chinese back massage, and a little linament at the end.  I smelled like an old fart, but sure felt good–totally relaxed and wishing I could just curl up with a cup of tea and rest. 

But, back to work I went.  My stomach freaked out a tad and felt horrible for a few hours.  Possibly a side effect from the needles, or my allergies/cold wreaking havoc on me.  I was hungry, tho, so I had my d’anjou pear, some Stacy’s pita chips, and some lemon blossom herbal tea.  The pear was a little weird–the skin texture/mouthfell wasn’t so great, and the taste was mixed between sour and sweet.  Odd.  The chips were nummy.

My tummy didn’t settle down for a long time, and I felt rather funky for awhile.  Finally around 5:30 I had a few apples before we left work, and the tum settled a bit.  We knew we were going to “see Maria” tonight at Fajitas, and I almost didn’t want to go since I still felt weird.  Thankfully that went away on my drive home and I had my usual Casuela and tortilla soup at the restaurant.

A little macro action for ya on the pics lately.  Check out the white meat chicken, avocados, fresh jalapeno, and cheese in my soup.  Super-yummy!  Love the detail of the super-close-up pics.

I was a tad full afterward, but not in a gut-busting or guilt-inducing way.  The tum started aching awhile after dinner, and still hurts a tad now.  I hate the tummy aches I’ve gotten a few times over the last month.  They don’t seem consistent to any one type of food, restaurant, or otherwise.  It reminds me of how my stomach hurt after I had the stomach flu way back when–painful, slightly nauseous, and uncomfortable.  Bleh.

Chris and I are enjoying a fire now.  It only took forever to get started, tho, since the wood provider sold us wet wood and said it was dry.  Grrr.  Speaking of dry, it is really dry here right now!. My hands are tight and miserable.  Supposed to snow this weekend and be really cold for a few days on either side.  Brrrrr! 

I’m a tad out of whack as you can tell…sorry for not being my usual smartass funny self!  Hopefully I’ll return to normal soon:)   Hope you all had a great Monday!

Check out this post! VitaMix blender giveaway on Eating Bender!!! December 9, 2008

Hey everyone! Check out this post and mention that I sent you. She’s giving away a VitaMix blender (aka the queen bee of all blenders).

http://eatingbender.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/vita-mix-super-5200-giveaway/

Good luck, and please remember to mention that Kersten sent you!

Vrooooom, vrooooom…eat my dust red liver lips December 10, 2008

I’m like a kid in a candy store today with the loaner car I got from the BMW dealership while my car is being serviced:  a new 335i sedan with ~4k miles on it.  So that’s what like 300 bhp feel like?  It goes 0-60 in 5 seconds.  Wish I had the dough to buy this car!  Seriously, I like to drive cars with guts and be aggressive with my shifting and cornering   My nearly 9 yr old 323i just doesn’t cut it in those depts. most days.  Anyone else wish they drove at Le Mans in a rockin’ car??  Or the Autobahn!?!

Moving on, I’d have to say I’m in Andrea’s boat today–it’s only Tuesday and it feels like Thursday.  Let’s get it over with already.  Except for the car thing–can I drive it more, please?!  (Yes, I’m obsessed.)

My day started well, and I had half of an apple before leaving the house (no pic); I knew I wouldn’t get to eat for awhile and was already hungry.  I did a bit of extra running around to drop off Chris, Lily, and my car, but I got to the office by 9:30 and had my oats.  Today I added a little brown sugar to the steel cut oats, almond milk, slivered almonds, raisins, cinnamon, and pinch of salt.  The sweetness was nice, but not too strong. 

The morning was soooooo slooooooow.  Around 11:30 I was ready for lunch.  My same old (boring yet?) wrap: low fat tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, turkey, spinach, broc slaw.  I ate a little bit of each side:  ff/lf cottage cheese mix, Stacy’s pita chips, and apple pieces.  Mmmmm.

Around 2 I headed to Freddy’s to pick up some allergy stuff for my mom and drop it by her place, as she was feeling icky today and ran out of med.  She had just baked a pie, and I was on my way to the dentist, so I ended up swinging back by her house afterward to eat a piece!  It is called Razzleberry by Marie Calendar, I think. 

I headed back to work with Lily in tow (shh, don’t tell the car place I had her in the car   I did have the seat cover, at least), worked for about an hour, and had the rest of the cottage cheese that I made Chris leave for me

We left around 6 and stopped by my grandma’s house to pick up some Christmas tree ornaments on the way to dinner at Si Senor (aka Westside Maria).  My grandma stopped getting a tree years ago and wanted to get rid of the rest of the ornaments she had.  They are all really pretty, and some are really old.  I feel special that she gave them to me rather than giving them away or chucking them (not beyond her to do that with sentimental items…).  I’ll have to photograph some of them tomorrow if I have time to add them to the tree.

On to dinner–Chris and I split the Si Senor special:  charcoal grilled steak and chicken, grilled mushrooms in a butter sauce (ew, hate fungus; Chris loves this dish, tho), rice, avocado, and a little slaw of some sort.  Our fave waiter, Javier, also hooked us up with some roasted jalapenos.  Ay, muy calor!  Oh, and we had homemade flour tortillas that are the best ever! 

I ate one tortilla, maybe 1/2 of the chicken, some steak, rice, two slices of avocado, and one of the jalapenos.  I also had a Diet Coke since I knew I was going to work out and didn’t want any alcohol.

I drove like a frickin’ banshee on the way home (took the back way for more windy roads and opportunity to rocket away from full stops).  Lily hung in there, and thankfully she does not get car sick or we would have been in some trouble!

After we got home I changed and left for the gym.  I did a good round of legs, and hit up back, biceps, chest, triceps, shoulders, and abs with 1-2 exercises each.  I totally feel like I haven’t been hitting the weights enough, so I figured I should at least moderately work all major muscle groups tonight.  The gym was crowded, but not too bad.  I was able to superset a lot of stuff. 

Only thing that annoyed me was a chick who was totally hung up on herself, and who was pretty bold about it.  She did split stretches on the mats for like 20 minutes (in teeeeeeny shorts, no less–peekaboo!), then proceeded to use free weights, leave them strewn all over the floor, and at the same time had her shit on 2 benches for like 20 minutes while she was elsewhere.  Hm.  She was also treating her friend like her servant: “get me more water” “where’s my towel?” I heard her chatting with some guys (could hear her over my music) and the only words coming out of her mouth were about the large amount of weight she does on various exercises, and that she’s strong for her size.  Grrrreeeat.  Excuse me while I curb my desire hurl on you.  (aren’t I chipper?)

I hauled ass home (LOVE the sport shifter and paddle shifters on the steering wheel!  Never had the paddles before and they are FUN), did some cleaning and lunch prep for tomorrow, and here I am now blogging at midnight!  Yipes!  Where’d the last two hours go?!  I had a snack while doing the lunch prep:  Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla mixed with a big spoon of pumpkin, some cinnamon, and some slivered almonds.  Mmm…nice combo.

I also had a few spoons of ff cottage cheese around 11:45, as hunger bowled me over after I started writing this.

I’m not heading into work early, thankfully, but would like to watch some TV and hit the hay.  What’s the weather like where you are?  It is supposed to get colder and snow here this weekend!  This had better not foil my breakfast plans with the ladies on Saturday, dammit!!  SO looking forward to that

The day is finally over December 10, 2008

Not a very fun day.  PMS, random other shit, blah blah blah…it is finally over.  Quick recap for you:

Breakfast at home, lunch at home, looked at Grandma’s ornaments (check out the “Made in Western Germany” tag), snack at work, short cardio sesh, dinner at Fajitas (again!)

I had to return the wonderful car I came to love over the last day, did the office recycling, and prepared for Chris’ and my little seminar tomorrow night.

I’m watching Top Chef now…quite interesting what everyone is coming up with for Gail’s bridal shower.  Not sure if I’m going to make it through the whole episode since I’ve got to get up early. 

Here’s a gallery of my day, sans dinner since I forgot my camera at home. I had the usual Casuela and tortilla soup.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!!!  It will be long, but hopefully I’ll feel like blogging in the evening.

Adios!

Yay! It’s almost Friday! December 11, 2008

Today was long, yet not slow.  We got up around 6:30 and I cut Chris’ hair (buzz cut, yo… I don’t think I have skills to do a real cut).  Allergies had me groggy and headachy, and I was anxious to get to work since I had an 8:30 meeting.  With my irritability I was probably a little impatient with Chris this a.m.  Sorry, Honey!  You’ll love this–one of my brakelights went out this morning; do I have good timing or what (since the car just got serviced yesterday…)??

We got to work around 8:15, I reviewed my shiz, got some coffee, and then got a call at 8:28 that my client was sick   Booo!!  This was the third appt with this client that I’ve tried to have in the last two weeks. 

Oh well, that meant I could eat my oatmeal sooner than later   I forgot to take a pic AGAIN   I had 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, a little water, tbsp+ of raisins, cinnamon, tbsp slivered almonds, and pinch of salt.  [imagine yummy oatmeal here]

Around 10 I took Lily to my grandma’s house to give her to my mom, who was there getting my g-ma’s flat tire changed w/some help from AAA.  Yay for roadside assistance.  I’ve never changed a flat by myself.  Is that bad?  I helped my bro do it a few times, but never all on my own. 

Chris and I had lunch with a mutual fund wholesaler at Gustav’s, and I forgot my camera.  I had a 1/2 turkey rotisserie sandwich and a cup of lentil soup.  The sandwich had ciabatta bread with a nice thick piece of turkey, muenster cheese, herb cream cheese, and a mustard-mayo sauce that I asked them to leave off (gag).  I didn’t feel like complaining, so I scraped it off and added lots of pepper to mask the remaining flavor.  The lentil soup was good, but I’m not a huge legume fan b/c of the texture.  I also had black tea with lemon.  OH, and a big dill pickle spear

I was hungry like an hour later AT 1:45!  I guess I wasn’t that full from lunch, and the tummy wanted something else.  I busted out my snack of ff/lf cottage cheese, an apple, and Stacy’s Pita Chips.  mmmmmm.

Chris helped me with the cc, and I saved 1/2 the apple and some chips.  Thank goodness I did that, as I was hungry again around 3!  I was a bottomless pit today, I suppose. 

I ate these while reviewing the New Seasons catering menu for our next seminar.  I usually get some easy foods and set them up myself, but wouldn’t mind something a little more gourmet with less effort for about the same price.

Chris and I headed to Fred Meyer to buy stuff for the seminar, and then proceeded to do our usual set up routine in the general conference room in our office complex.  Here’s what my little spread looked like.  Guests started arriving right before I took this so I didn’t get in there to get a really good shot.

Our spread consisted of:  a veggie platter with ranch; grapes; whole wheat baguette slices; table water crackers; hummus; meats (roast beef, low fat salami, turkey, ham); kalamata and green olives; muenster and provolone cheese; red and white wine; and water.  I had a plate, and snacked some on top of that, after we were done.  Not sure what the caloric intake was here, but I didn’t eat until full. 

The only thing I didn’t eat some of was the broccoli and cauliflower.  I really don’t like raw broc (other than slaw!) or cauliflower in general.  Yesterday on Erin’s blog I forgot to mention one of the nastos I eat sometimes has been ranch dressing.  I hadn’t had it for a long time until tonight.  I used to love it on my fries at Red Robin :O  That cheese was so creamy and good, esp. the provolone.  Some of the grapes were HUGE–so much fun!

We chatted with Alex, the presenter at our seminar (we invite wholesalers to present topics and just do a brief opening and closing ourselves), and then headed out to get Lily at my mom’s.  She was so cute tearing around when we got there; she loves to run around on the deck outside between Chris and I. 

I am tired, it is 11, and I think I’m going to jump into bed!  Yay for Friday nearly being here, and for the weekend ahead.  Hope you all had a good day, and yes, today was much better than yesterday for me

Phew, the weekend is here December 12, 2008

Today went from good to bad several times, and overall I feel a bit discombobulated!  I’ve just been a total mess the last few days it seems, from physical dexterity (like spilling water all over myself twice at the gym today), to being an emotional weirdo.  I am hoping this all passes soon.  PMS be damned. 

What’s the weather like where you are?  Whoa, 103mph wind gust on Mt. Hood today!  Weather is getting a little hairy here, with major cold rolling in Sunday.  We’re expecting the longest and coldest winter spell since 1990 is what the news is saying!! Oy vey!  I was 9 and don’t remember what 1990 was like.

Anyhow, here’s the start of my poopy-ish day:  I was awakened to hear Chris making coffee, and thought it was like 5.  Not so…my alarm went off a minute later.  Get up, now?  Ugh. I was tired, Chris has another cold, and I wanted to go back to bed.  Didn’t happen.  So I got ready, and then saw that I forgot to prep my oatmeal last night :sad: Boo!  So I grabbed a cup of coffee and we left for a short work day.

Work was fine, but without my oats I felt a bit lost.  I finished my coffee and wondered what the hell I was going to eat.  I remembered I left 1/2 an apple in the fridge, so I ate that. 

Nevermind that I totally forgot/didn’t even see my office mate keeps a box of instant oatmeal on the fridge.  Duh.  Chris reminded me that I had a bar in my desk, so down that went.

That’s an osprey on my computer screen.  They are so big and beautiful… they summer up here and we see them build nests on cell towers near lakes and rivers.  We’ve even seen them carrying fish back to their nests! 

Worked for a few more hours and left around 12:30.  Chris asked if we could have burgers for lunch, and it didn’t sound so great.  But, then I started thinking about ways to make it a little more healthy and thought my friend cottage cheese may play a part in that.  I made Chris’ burger first, and nearly died watching him load his bun with mayo, especially since it splucked all over the place.  Bleh!  Next I made mine… 1/4 lb 93% lean beef, Nature’s Seasoning, few tbsp ff/lf cottage cheese, spinach, whole wheat bun, with some carrots and Stacy’s Pita Chips on the side.  Pretty yummy and filling!  Oh, and I had organic ketchup on it, too.

I felt rather poo-ey at this point.  Down and blah, and thought I should go work out to see if that helped. I had to do laundry, and while getting dressed I nearly cried.  When I looked down and saw my stomach while changing it seemed bigger and flabbier That didn’t help my mood.  I eventually left and ended up doing a full hour of cardio on the elliptical.  Not sure I should have, because the body was a bit sluggish with a few hip, knee, and back twinges here and there, but I felt accomplished at the end.  I weighed myself, and think I have lost a few pounds.  24 Hr fixed the scale in the women’s locker room, but it still seems a little wacky.  I think I’ve lost 3-5 lbs tho   That made me somewhat optimistic.

And then I felt like shit when I got home b/c of ???  I had a small pre-dinner snack since I was getting hungry:  Dannon Light & Fit vanilla with slivered almonds and cinnamon.  Mmmm.

After getting cleaned up I proceeded to make a chicken stir fry, and felt even shittier.  Allergies? Low blood sugar?  Mack truck hit me?  WTF?  I hate feeling that way.  The stir fry had chicken, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green bell pepper, broc slaw, teriyaki & stir fry sauces,  and sesame seeds.  I desperately wished I had some Sriracha at this point.

I got through about half of this before giving up and going to lay down and watch TV.  Eventually I started feeling better, and was hungry again.  That’s when my friend cottage cheese came to the rescue   Ff/lf cc mix with some Stacy’s on the side.  This little wonder snack made me feel even better–yay!

Now I’m watching Lipstick Jungle and could possibly be getting hungry again.  I’m starting to feel like a bottomless pit, with a headache suddenly.  Bleh.  When will it end!?  It dawned on me earlier that I have not been good about taking my throid remedy the last few weeks.  That could be catching up with me but doesn’t explain the allergy/cold symptoms. 

Holy shit Lily will not leave me alone.  Enjoy these while I go let her out…

Okay, I’m back, and I ate a chocolate caramel while I was gone!  They were a gift from a colleague, and thankfully Chris already ate most of them   It was so yummy!  No pic, sorry. 

Alrighty, off I go.  Hope you’ve all enjoyed your Friday night!

Special post: Banana Pumpkin Spice Muffins December 13, 2008

The bananas I bought earlier this week were never eaten, were getting brown spots on them, and were begging to be made into something yummy. At the same time I had most of a mondo can of pumpkin to use, but didn’t know what to do with it.  *Ding!* “Make some pumpkin banana bread!”  Oh, but wait, I can’t fathom using sticks of butter, or cups of oil, and loads of sugar in a recipe right now.  Just couldn’t do it.  So, I explored my options for lower fat and lower sugar alternatives, and ended up being inspired to amend some bread and muffin recipes I was looking through to create my own muffiny goodness.

Banana pumpkin spice muffins

Makes 24 muffins

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 cup ripe bananas (2 large), roughly mashed
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray bottoms of muffin pan cups with Pam, or use paper muffin cups.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add wet to dry and mix gently just until moistened.

(Enjoying some white wine between batches)

Fill each muffin cup ~1/2 full.  Bake 12-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or just barely moist, whatever your preference is.  Let rest for a minute, then remove to wire rack to cool.  I highly suggest you eat one now with some Smart Balance Light or your favorite spread/butter.  Mmmmm!

Estimated nutritional content per muffin: 95 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 3 grams protein, 2 grams fiber.  (Calculated using caloriecount.about.com)

I suppose this recipe could be used to make a loaf/loaves, too.  In that case, you should probably bake at 350 degrees.  Not sure of timing…

The finished product is satisfying, but not sweet.  Definitely not as delicate as a refined-sugar loaded, oiled up version, but still hits the spot   And just under 100 cals each!  Awesome!  I think I’ll eat another one

Check this out… All three of my eggs were double-yolked!!!!!  I’ve never had that happen before.  Now I’m totally curious to see if the rest of the dozen is the same.  They are cage-free, vegetarian fed hens; I bought a different brand today.

F-f-f-f-f-f-f-freaky!

Enjoy your muffins

Sweet Saturday December 13, 2008

Today was nice, sweet in many ways (figuratively, that is), and satisfying.  I got up around 7:45, let the Lily Bird out, and got ready to go eat at Bob’s Red Mill with the ladies.  Andrea at Care To Eat, her cous-in-law Megan M., our friend Megan S., and I met at Bob’s at 8:30 and proceeded to order our nummy eats.  I had the #4: two eggs over easy, hash browns, and biscuits.  Plus coffee, of course.  That’s a little gratis side of Bob’s grits, too.

I never used to like over-easy/runny eggs, but like them now in a few select applications.  Mixing them with hashbrowns and ketchup is a fave!  I had one egg, the other egg white, ~1/2 the hashbrowns, and one biscuit with a little butter and marionberry jam.  I left behind one egg yolk, one biscuit, and some hashbrowns.  I still managed to be pleasantly full, tho

Chatting with the girls was fun, and at about 9:30 we mosied to the gym for pilates.  Karlyn was back today, and led us through a good session that beat my abs and booty up.  Ye-yah!

I headed on home, played with the LB, and made coffee with Chris.  It was really cold today, and the warmth of a hot bevvie sounded great. 

After this I started menu planning, but got hungry.  I made Chris a tuna melt, and made myself a satisfying plate of 1/2 cup lf/ff cottage cheese, ~7 slices smoked turkey, 1/2 an apple, and ~8 Stacy’s Pita Chips.  Nummy!  Definitely a voluminous lunch (the v-word is borrowed from Miss Erin at Care To Eat

I was full for awhile, then hungry not too long after.  So I had 1/2 cup Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt with 1 tbsp raisins, 1 tbsp slivered almonds, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

After this I continued menu planning, but kind of had a cooking block and didn’t plan too specifically.  Whateva.  I went to the store and was blown away by how full the parking lot was, which of course meant the store was packed.  A few people frustrated me with their obliviousness, but it was okay for the most part.  I bought some Flatout wraps, and some freshly ground almond butter   Can’t wait to try those.

What did I do next…not sure.  Oh, I ate a spoon of the AB–I really didn’t wait, did I?  It had staying power!

I also ate this little clem while I was putting groceries away.  He looked so sad and lonely, and wondered why he’d been sitting around for so long untouched.  No more, little clemmie-poo!

At some point I started dinner, which I wasn’t too excited about:  beef stroganoff.  I wasn’t looking forward to the beef and richness of the dish, but couldn’t think of what else to make for myself without a lot of add’l effort.  So I added some fresh spinach to the stroganoff and it wasn’t too bad.

This dish consisted of whole wheat yolk-free egg noodles, 93% lean ground beef & onion sauteed together, a touch of reduced fat sour cream, and a sauce that had a little butter/flour roux and beef broth mixed.  I added lots of pepper and fresh spinach at the end. 

Here’s where I had a majorly satisfying moment:  I made muffins!  (Which you can see below in my other post of the day.)  I like love baking and was happy to work on my project for awhile.  I’m very happy with how the muffins turned out, and I’ve already eaten 3   Hehe.

My kitchen was a a freakin’ mess after having cooked and baked today, but I didn’t really mind cleaning up b/c the mess was worth it

Now I sit here having another glass of chardonnay, watching some random Encore movie, and feeling happy about my day.  I hope yours was equally satisfying!  Have a great rest of your weekend!!!

p.s.  The weather is supposed to be below freezing here for the next week   Snow tomorrow/Mon and perhaps Wed/Thurs, too.  Seriously, I just hope I can make it to yoga!  I’ve missed it this week terribly.

Winter wonderland [edited to incl. food photos] December 14, 2008

Hello everyone!  Hope your weekend ended well.  Somehow I have a feeling that mine is not over since there was a bit of a blizzard here today, and it isn’t supposed to be above freezing for a few days.  Living ~18 miles from work makes me not-so-inclined to brave the snow and drive on two busy freeways in a rear wheel drive car without studs or chains.  Know what I mean?

The snow started this morning sometime after 6, and I think we got about 4 inches here at my house!  Wow!  There’s not a lot of snowfall here during the winters, and this is supposedly one of the worst storms we’ve seen in over a decade.  Four inches of snow is that bad, you ask?  For Portland it is; I know it’s nothing compared to the feet of snow that fall in many places. 

Anyhow, good thing I prepped my nummy oats last night because I needed something to warm me up after playing outside with Lily for awhile.  I had ~1/3 cup steel cut oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, tbsp raisins, tsp slivered almonds, cinnamon, and a spoon of almond butter once heated.  Not sure I’m diggin’ this almond butter b/c of the texture/taste combo; may have to splurge and go for the Barney Butter.

Alrighty, so moving on then.  I had a late morning snack of a pumpkin banana spice muffin with some Smart Balance Light.  I ate this while gazing out the window admiring the accumulating snow.

 

I was a tad down for some reason, but felt better after a nice hot shower.  I fixed lunch for Chris and myself, first making him an omelette with the freaky double yolked eggs.  All three of the eggs for his omelette, and the one for my wrap, had double yolks!!  Seriously, this is bazaar.  Has anyone else ever had a whole dozen eggs be double yolked???

My lunch was a Flatout light wrap with 1 wedge Laughing Cow Light, one scrambled egg, a few slices of deli ham, a few sliced kalamata olives, and a handful of spinach.  I had a sidecar of lf/ff cottage cheese   This was tasty, but almost too much so.  I didn’t need that many olives since the cheese and ham gave the wrap a salty kick already.  But, it was still good, and I like the wraps. 

Chris built a fire, I blogged, we played outside some, and eventually I had a snack–another muffin.  I ate this one alone, no accompaniment.  After eating it I thought I should have added another banana or more applesauce for more moisture in the recipe, perhaps. 

Dinner time rolled around and I decided to make sauteed chicken breasts with peppers and onions, and mashed potatoes.  I added cottage cheese to the mashed potatoes!  I know, I’m a cc freak these days….  It was good; only bad thing was the potatoes weren’t quite done and were a little watery, but the taste was still good

We enjoyed the fire more, I tried to play with Lily in the dark (still relatively bright b/c of the snow!), and decided I needed to do some yoga.  I searched on YouTube, found a few videos to try, and got in maybe 20 minutes of yoga.  Lily seriously did a few downward dog poses with me!  She came up while I was on the mat in that pose, and did her version of the pose twice.  So cute!  Doing the yoga, and Lily’s participation made me feel good

I got hungry around 8, and had an Erin-inspired snack:  yogurt with a muffin in it.  I used Dannon Light & Fit vanilla, another of my muffins, some raisins, and a little almond butter.  Yummy!!!

We watched Dexter at 9–so good!  I’m sad I missed the whole season but for the last 3 episodes.  Californication was on afterward, and that was a riot, too.  I had a spoonful of almond butter when Dexter was on…hehe.

I think I’m going a little stir crazy, and probably will be there for sure tomorrow if I can’t get out safely to exercise or something.

Sorry my post is so boring and almost anti-exciting tonight. [Yay, I was able to add pics!]

Off I go to let the pup out one more time and prep my oats.  Stay warm and sleep tight!

Pics from Sunday’s snow December 15, 2008

Yay!  My photo uploads worked today   Here’s a few pics from our backyard yesterday during the snow.

I’m going to be a Master Recycler! December 15, 2008

I heard back today from the Master Recycler program that I got into the winter class!  Yayayayaya!  To learn more about it check out www.masterrecycler.org

There was no new snow this morning, but I didn’t really like the idea of driving the 18 miles to work.  Chris and I hung out at home and had coffee.  I also had a bowl of cereal, as I totally forgot to prep my oats last night (I suck!). All Bran Strawberry Medley with almond milk.

We drank coffee, chatted, and eventually I made lunch.  More freaky double-yolked eggs, but not all of them.  2/4 were single yolks this time.  I had a Flatout wrap with one scrambled egg, 1/2 wedgle LCL, a few slices of ham, spinach, and broc slaw.  I also had 1/2 an apple with the other 1/2 of the LCL wedge.  Yum!

At about 12:30 we made the trek in to work.  It wasn’t bad but for our street and a few icy spots on the freeway thankfully.  I was nervous tho that we shouldn’t wait too long to go home or it would be icier.

I ate a muffin mid afternoon while dealing with work shiz.

Hm, worked a bit more, then drove home.  Traffic was a bit heavier but we didn’t have any incidents.  I went to work out after getting home, but could only do 20 minutes of cardio (!!).  I told Chris I’d be home in an hour, but a blob of traffic meant it took me like 20-25 minutes to go the 2 miles to the gym.   Boo.

For dinner we went to Fajitas, and in true form I forgot my camera.  I was feeling the need to cut a few calories out of dinner, so I chose to forego the cheese in my tortilla soup, and I drank less of my casuela.  I added extra jalapenos to my soup, and man, they were spicy tonight.  My tongue was painfully on fire for quite awhile, but I loved it!

One of Chris’ client’s sons was on Wheel of Fortune tonight, so we watched that after getting home.  He won like $40k in cash plus a Canadian vacation.  Awesome!

I have been watching random TV tonight, including Trainspotting right now.  I had me a little snacky-poo earlier, too.  Same as late last night:

Dannon Light & Fit vanilla, muffin, raisins, almond butter=tasty.

I was seriously down on my fitness progress earlier, but Chris helped me “see the light”.  I still feel motivated, thankfully, and know I just need to stick with my healthier life.  I will see results, I will lose weight, I will succeed.  Now if I can just get through Christmas and the bad eats coming my way…

On the bright side, at least I already prepped my oats for tomorrow This means I’ll have a great start to the morning fo sho.  In fact, I found a whole bag of Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats in the cabinet when I made my muffins the other day.  Totally not sure from whence they came, but the use by date on them is still like a year away.  Cool!

Mixed eats December 17, 2008

I didn’t post last night because I was SOOOOO tired.  I’m home today from work because the weather is too much of an unknown, and I’ll be damned if I get stuck on the other side of town. 

Yesterday morning started with playing outside with Lily, then a big bowl of Bob’s steel cut oats with raisins, almond milk, cinnamon, and a spoon of almond butter stirred in while hot.  (I had coffee too, of course!) I definitely noticed the difference between the Freddy’s bulk oats and these now that I switched back to Bob’s.  Bob’s has much bigger oat pcs.

I love how pre-soaking the raisins with the oats and almond milk makes them plump up!  They are all juicy and round usually.

After breakfast I don’t remember the next few hours.  Bloggin? Playin outside?  Chris had been trying to reschedule an appt. with a client b/c of the weather, but hadn’t gotten a response, so all of a sudden at 12:15 we blew outta here and went to work.  I grabbed a few random things to eat for lunch, and ate around 1:30.

I had lf/ff cottage cheese mixed, a Fuji apple, and one slice of turkey.  That didn’t hold me over totally, and when we left work around 3:15 I grabbed a homemade chocolate chip cookie a coworker made.  Luxuriously yummy!

I tried to savor it but was in the car and talking at the same time, so I probably ate it faster than I should have for utmost enjoyment.

Chris shared with me he wanted to eat Mexican again b/c we may be housebound for a few days, and I wasn’t too excited about that b/c it would interfere with me getting to the gym.  Hmmph.  It was either don’t go eat with him and workout, or eat with him and not workout.  Neither was good, and I said I’d go eat with him later.

I was still hungry when we got home (loooong drive of an hour b/c of traffic), and had a phone appointment coming up, so I heated up two muffins and smeared ‘em with Smart Balance Light. 

That hit the spot.  I had my meeting, and then we left for Fajitas.  It was really busy!  Everyone getting out before the storm?  I had my very typical dinner:  casuela and tortilla soup.  I had a little bit of cheese in the soup this time.  Mmmm.

Jalapenos and avocado rule

 All was tasty, but I felt so bloated afterward!  Fluid overload!  We went to Costco, and then Fred Meyer, to pick up some staples before the storm.  Both places were really busy, and Freddy’s was just about totally cleaned out of meat, eggs, and bread.  Of course, all the healthy stuff like fruits, veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy were still in high supply.  That meant I got all I needed   I picked a new cereal you’ll see later on in my recap of Wednesday. 

After getting home I felt soooo tired, and resigned to having some wine and watching Law & Order, then Mash.  The wine was great, and I fell asleep on the couch around 11.  Nice comfy end to the day

Check out the HUGE Fuji apples from Costco in the background.  They were only $6.49 for like 12 apples (like 10 pounds since they’re so huge).  INSANE deal.  Organics are the same price, too!  Here’s greater detail for you:

Holy shit I just had deja vu while re-reading my post.  Deja vu is so weird!  Almost creepy feeling for me sometimes.  Did this already happen?  Ah!

Have a great day!

Screw the weather forecasters December 17, 2008

Friggin’ weather forecasters couldn’t get their shit straight for today’s forecast.  They tease us all week, even today, with “2-6 inches of snow in the valley…” and then it RAINS most of the day.  Poo.  I was so looking forward to more snow.  Maybe this weekend.

For like the 10th time in two weeks I forgot to prep my oats, but  thankfully I picked up some more cereal last night.  A new one in the Freddy’s organic section (remember when it used to be called the “health food” section??!!).  I also had a Fuji apple before this.

I bought this partially b/c of price, and partially b/c of the textures it appeared to have.  I didn’t read but the front of the box at the store, and was fearful this morning when I read on the back panel that it had a mild chai flavor.  I had a bowl of it with almond milk and really liked the flavor.  Coffee followed, as usual.

I did a little work, watched some TV, read a few blogs, and then went to the gym around 11:30.  The snow was really coming down when I got there, but wasn’t sticking and never did.  I saw a teacher from my high school while warming up on the treadmill–Hi Mr. Runion!  After that I did some superset back, chest, tris, and bis, then legs.  Next I did a more intense-than-usual 30 minutes on the elliptical, and it felt great.

Afterward I headed to the new Trader Joe’s (finally!) to pick up some treats for my blogger Secret Santa recipient.  The store is really open and airy, unlike the other jam-packed locations, and wasn’t busy, so shopping was easy.  There are so many yummy things there I had a hard time picking gifts.  I got myself some cinnamon flatbread, and some Gardenburger Riblets to try.

Just as I was leaving I got a call that a colleague with terminal cancer passed away last night.  Sad news that struck me hard at first, but after the shock went away I did okay this afternoon.  The guy was someone I’d known for the last 4.5 years, but his personality was not one I really cared for usually.  Still a very sad situation, though.  Sigh.  He ate like crap his whole life, never exercised, and found out he had colon cancer when his colon finally ruptured and he had emergency surgery about 1.5 years ago.  Case in point to continue eating high fiber, low-fat foods and exercise.  He was only like 45.  RIP Dave.

I was a little shaken up when I got home, and had a few pieces of the cinnamond flatbread with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light.  Mmmmmm.  Tasted kind of like cheesecake!

 

I took a nice hot shower, then started to make lunch.  Chris wanted a tuna sandwich, and I thought I’d go for a riblet wrap.  It was incredibly tasty, and the texture was really great.  I loved the BBQ sauce with it, too.  That was the best BBQ I’ve had in awhile   My wrap consisted of a Flatout with the riblet, spinach, and broc slaw.  I also had 3/4 of a Fuji apple.  I think I found a new food friend in the riblet… and they were surprisingly inexpensive at TJ’s.  Yippee!  (I love BBQ sauce, BTW.)

Having a late lunch made the afternoon go quickly.  I wrapped up my Secret Santa items and took them to the post office.  I hope they make the recipient happy   I”m excited to get my Secret Santa package, too. 

I nearly forgot I had a 5pm teleconference, but remembered on the way to the post office.  Phew.  I had a few bites of ff/lf cottage cheese when I got home.

My meeting went well and afterward I started making dinner.  Chris wanted burgers, but I was seriously considering making the other riblet!!  I opted for the burger, tho, and it turned out really well:  ~1/4lb 93% lean ground beef, whole wheat bun, wedge LCL, a pickle, spinach, and organic ketchup.  I also had a whole Fuji, and was quite full, but not in a big, bad, ugly way.

Chris and I had some Cabernet Sauvignon with and after dinner, and eventually a little hunger got to me, so I had a piece of cinnamon flatbread.

Before I started my post Lily wanted to help me comment on blogs:

Well, that does it for me for the day.  I’m pooped even tho I don’t feel like I did a lot.  Hope your Wednesday was good, and that you’re all staying safe in the crazy weather that is hitting all over the country.  Nighty night!

Only one week til Christmas?! December 18, 2008

Wow, cannot believe we’re in the homestretch to Christmas.  Where has the time gone?!  I have bought only one person’s gifts, two if you include Blogger Secret Santa, and have many to go!  Guess I’ll be running errands this weekend with all the last minute shoppers like me and hoping what I need is still in stock.  How are you all doing with your shopping?

Today felt productive, and is ending on a nice note because the snow is finally sticking outside   Pretty!

The day started off with a new oatmeal combo:  steel cut oats, almond milk, water, frozen berries, cottage cheese, and cinnamon.  I put the berries in last night before microwaving, and may add them after heating next time to preserve more whole berries and for add’l texture.  This mix could have used some add’l sweetness, too.  Perhaps I’ll seek out some stevia.

 

The weather was odd today, with snow over most of the area except for our house, I swear.  It was raining when I woke up and when we went into work mid-morning, and the temp was around 37. 

I worked a bit and then had lunch around 12:30.  I had: a Flatout wrap with a 1/2 wedge of LCL, 4-5 slices of turkey, spinach, broc slaw, and cracked pepper; ~1/2 cup lf/ff cottage cheese, and 1/3 of a Fuji apple.  Tasty and filling.

Worked, worked, worked this afternoon to catch up from not working much this week, and found out that Chris and I will probably be reaching our last annual business goal next week.  Perfect timing, eh?

Around 3 Chris came in and wrote me a note in Spanish:  Tu amiga Maria te llamo y te hecha de menos, y espera que vengas a reunir con ella.  Basically, he wanted to go to our fave westside Mexican restaurant, Si Senor.  Okey dokey.  To prevent pigging out on their unhealthy happy hour menu, I had the rest of my apple around 4.

At Si Senor I had a big Diet Coke and Tacos al Carbon.  Each taco consisted of two corn tortillas with grilled chicken and pico de gallo inside; I added in a little guac, some lettuce, and ranchero sauce.  A few chips and spicy salsa sneaked their way into my tummy, too

(Wow, I’m watching a TLC show about landslides–crazy stuff!)

Chris and I always take a doggie bag of chips home for Lily.  She loves the corn tortilla chips and Chris started feeding them to her in a cute way–he puts one in his mouth and then lets her take it from him.  So funny!  I tried it out tonight, and had him take a pic for you to see how silly we are.

I had hoped that yoga would still be on tonight, but sadly it was the only class of the evening that was cancelled   Boo hoo!  No yoga class yet again b/c of the weather.  But, I got dressed and headed out anyhow since I knew a good workout would feel great.  I nearly fell on my ass walking into the gym, as the temp was dropping, wind picking up, and snow falling when I arrived there.  I did an ab and lower back workout, then ~50 minutes on the elliptical.  Felt great just as I’d hoped!

When I left the snow was sticking a lot more! Pretty!  I got home safely, cleaned up, and decided I needed a snack.  Cottage cheese sounded like a good base, and I added some of the Peace cereal I showed you yesterday.  It was tasty, but apparently I wanted something sweet b/c I kept thinking it wasn’t sweet enough while eating it.  So I had a piece of TJ’s cinnamon flatbread, too.  Not exactly sweet but hit the spot.  I love the cinnamony, buttery taste of these crispy suckers.

The house seems to be getting messy and staying messier these days, even after I clean.  I think part of it is extra holiday related stuff is piling up, and we’ve been home more to create more mess.  I had to do something about it so I cleaned the kitchen up and swept the floors.  Much better (sigh of relief).  And, for those of you tracking me, I remembered to prep my oats for tomorrow.  Yay!  Here’s a random pic of the snow accumulating I took out back tonight.

Off I go to fold some clothes and then watch more TV before hitting the hay.  I was sad the Top Chef wasn’t on tonight…forgot it won’t be back for a few weeks b/c of the holidays.  Do you miss it, too?

Oyasumi nasai.

Winter wonderland…errr…sort of December 20, 2008

Yesterday I woke up to this!  How pretty!  Just a small accumulation, but enough to make ya smile, ya know?  I have tons of pics for Friday, so perhaps I’ll reduce the verbiage for ya.

 

Morning eats: 

1) steel cut oats with almond milk, water, raisins, slivered almonds, and cinnamon.   Mmmm…classic favorite.

2) Fuji apple

My little glove thief!  For some reason she always loves carrying off gloves and sniffing them to death.  SO cute

Lunch was pretty typical, but for some reason not quite fully what I’d hoped. (Perhaps that’s ’cause I’d been dreaming of a riblet.  I decided to save the riblet for the weekend.) Details are:  flat out wrap with 1 whole egg & 1 egg white scrambled, 1/2 wedge LCL, Italian herbs, spinach, broc slaw; 1/2 cup ff/lf cc mixed; Stacy’s Pita Chips.

The snow was all melting off by this point   We stayed home until the afternoon and eventually went to work, knowing we were heading to a party around there at 7pm.  I took some heavier snacks since I knew the party eats would be plentiful and sinful:  two Fuji apples, wedgle LCL, and lf vanilla yogurt mixed with raisins, cinnamon, and slivered almonds.  I ate 1.5 apples with the LCL, then had the yogurt right before we went to the party.

The party was great!  The MOST dense Christmas decorations I’ve ever seen in a house, but not gawdy or overdone somehow.  This is a colleague’s house, and he and his wife set up SIX trees, a few villages of figurines, a 6′ diameter wreath, and tons of other decorations.  So pretty!  Thankfully we did go, as the drive up was hairy, the car was a slippin’, and the snow was falling.  I thought we may be trapped there fo sho.

Here are my plates: 

1) 1 fried shrimp, 1 pc. bread with baked brie, 1 pc. beef teriyaki, 1 cracker with goat cheese and roasted tomato concasse.

2) 1 rice krispie square, 1 choc/toffee peanut blob, 5 peanut M&Ms. 

‘Twas perfect!  Oh, and I also had 2 glasses of Champagne, and water, of course.

Okay, you are going to think I’m crazy now… I MUST go work out even tho there is lots of snow falling now and my neck is fucked up (more on that later).  I can’t get in cardio while at home, and the weather is only supposed to be worse later today and tomorrow, so I’m going to brave it. 

I’ll post today’s stuff later, and more pics from last night.

Peace out!

White out December 21, 2008

Wow, Saturday brought an incredible amount of snow to the Portland metro area.  I think we had 6-10 inches, but the wind made it difficult to measure very well. 

Since I have so many pics and am feeling rather poopy at the moment with sinus issues, I’ll insert a gallery for your viewing pleasure.

The day started out with a romp in the backyard snow, feeding the birds, and eating a bowl of Peace Cereal with almond milk and frozen berries.  I thought putting the berries in my cup of almond milk would help defrost them, but it ended up the other way around!  The berries all had a coat of almond milk on them, which is why they appear white in the pic.  But, it was yummy. 

I went to the gym and did ~45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.  My neck was killing me yesterday morning, which I’m fairly sure is a result of me sitting on the computer and looking to the side to watch TV, or perhaps even spending too much time on the computer in general; the pain developed over the last week, but has been more intense the last few days. It is the right side of my neck that hurts, and yesterday even one small false move would send pain shooting up my neck.  Grrrr.  Thankfully I was able to keep my upper body still on the elliptical and avoided pain for most of my workout. 

I hit the store on the way home, and made lunch when I got back.  I had a sundried tomato Flatout, one fried egg white, spinach, broc slaw, 1/2 wedge LCL, with 1/2 a Fuji on the side and the other 1/2 wedge LCL.  Mmmm.

Chris and I decided to go for a walk in the snow with Lily down to the Clackamas river.  We ended up putting a fleece vest on her to protect her from the snow a bit.  So cute!  Our walk down was good, but it was snowing hard and the wind picked up when we got down to the river.  Lily was so cute in the snow   We stopped at the Starbucks in Safeway on the way back, and I treated myself to a small hot chocolate.  It was so decadent!  I haven’t had hot chocolate in a long time, and the creamy goodness was quite a treat.  Chris had a caramel apple cider–that would have been far too sweet for my taste.

We got back a full 2 1/2 hours after we left!  The last mile felt like walking in sand b/c of the texture and depth of the snow.  Yay, it was a great workout and really pretty and fun, too

I was so tired when we got back, and tempted to take a nap, but we got cleaned up and made dinner.  Chris wanted something far too rich for me (sausage and pasta), so I had a Gardenburger riblet and a spinach salad with broc slaw, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Yum yum yum yum yummmm! 

Eventually I got hungry, so I had a bowl of vanilla yogurt with raisins, almond slivers, and cinnamon.  Chris had some of the fudge pictured–check it out–it is made by monk in Amity, Oregon.  It has 200 cals in a ~1″ cube, and that was enough to help me say no.  I’ve found that if I just don’t go in for a taste/small bite at all, it is much easier to say no to the foods that would blow up my daily intake.  How bout you?

Freezing rain started to fall at night   Boooo!!  That means we can’t play in the snow anymore, and it is tough for Lily to get around.  We let her out when the ice was still thin, and she hopped through the ice/snow around the yard, but was confused and didn’t like it.  Chris was sweet and got out there to stomp an area clear for her to do her business.

Today the ice is like 1/2″+ thick, and we had to go remove it from a larger area for Lily.  I hate the ice, and the fact that we can’t go for another walk in the snow, and that Lily can’t play.  She relishes in running around the yard chasing the ball, and she’s going a bit stir crazy so far today.  We’ll see what happens and I’ll report back to you later on today’s eats and happenings.  Hope you’re staying warm and dry where you are!

Icy madness, and is wine killing my diet?! December 21, 2008

The freezing rain started yesterday evening, and ended up leaving about a 1/2 in coat on all of our beautiful snow   Boo!  It is hard to walk in, and I fear that Lily will cut her feet on the shards of ice if we let her walk all over in it.  Chris and I cleared off an area for Lily, and you can tell she is sad she doesn’t have the run of the yard today.  She enjoyed trying to tunnel under the ice, though! And she chewed on the end of an ice coated branch for a second.  (She’s barking in her sleep now! So cute )

When I woke up my neck was markedly better–yay!–but still a bit messed up.  After clearing the ice I had a bowl of Peace cereal with almond milk and raisins, and a few cups of coffee with sf Coffeemate Vanilla creamer.

My tum was not a happy camper this morning. I had a bad sinus headache that persisted til mid day; perhaps that was part of the problem.

There were tons of birds today, especially since Chris was kind enough to put out fresh water for them to drink.  There were tons of robins and juncos, some towhees and house sparrows, and a few house finches. Fun!

Mid-day brought hunger later on than expected, and the things that looked good to me created a snacky lunch of a Fuji apple, lf/ff cottage cheese, and Stacy’s Pita Chips.  Nom nom…the multi-textural experience was quite pleasing.

 

Eventually a mid afternoon snack was in order, so I had a Fuji sprinkled with a little cinnamon (why, oh why, have I not thought of this before?!), some yogurt with a few almonds and cinnamon, and a few TJ’s cinnamon flatbread pcs.  ‘Twas a cinnamon experience I greatly enjoyed You must try the apple with cinnamon.

I was totally sad that we couldn’t go walking in the snow, and I ended up watching some TV, blogging, emailing, and reading a bit today instead.  We had a few inches more of fresh snow late this afternoon, but nothing can make all that damn ice go away.  We haven’t lost our power yet, so I wait with baited breath and flashlights for that to happen. 

Dinner was inspired by a read of my favorite cooking magazine, Gourmet:

If I had ground beef I probably would have attempted a meatball!  I opted for an easy marinara sauce:  sauteed onions, one can of Italian tomatoes, extra garlic, herbs, and some chili flakes.  I had this over whole wheat penne, and it was quite good.  I added too much pasta, tho–I had hoped to eat the whole batch of tomato sauce with just a little pasta, but mis judged when adding it in.  Oh well.  I sprinkled some oh-so-fabu canned parmesan on top.  I know, I know, but at least it is real cheese with nothing added but a few natural preservatives.

Afterward Chris and I decided to have wine, specifically a 2002 Gago red (de Espana).  I had some, walked Lily here and there, and finally had a snack a few hours later.  This was a conundrum at first–I was hoping for peanut butter, but that would have killed my wine palate for sure, and same goes for the creamy LCL I had listed as second.  Hm.  So, I went for a few white cheddar rice cakes.  Hit the spot, and low-cal.  Gotta love it.

Here’s where I had a mini lightbulb moment about wine calories and me not losing much weight.  “Could it be? Am I killing my diet by having a few glasses of wine a few times per week?!  No, say it isn’t so!”  I guess each 4 oz. glass has about 100 calories.  Damn.   So we opened our 2nd bottle of wine

The last few days I’ve been rather down at times, and mostly about not seeing much progress on the weight loss front.  I do see more definition in my arms & shoulders, a reduction in cellulite (I think), my legs may be a little smaller, Chris sees a difference, and I know I’m making progress, but it just seems so small.  I need to do more intense weight training, and keep up the cardio, and perhaps then I’ll lose the 1lb/week I’m hoping for.  I really hope to go to Mexico in March and not have an embarassing body again this year.  I’m heavier than I was last year, so at least I’d like to be down 10lbs by then.  I’m trying to eat around 1500 calories per day in the hopes that most days I run a 500 calorie deficit to attempt to lose the 1lb per week.  I know that if I’m building muscle at the same time the weight loss may not be there, but, c’mon, I’ve been busting my ass and eating well for what feels like a decently good amount of time now, and I want to see my cellulite lessened more and my roll-of-shit-in-the-middle be reduced.  Hmmmph.  Okay, I’m done ranting for now.

Off I go to finish my first (and only) glass of this shiraz. 

For those of you that have had a goal of losing weight–de-lurk if you would and tell me what your weight loss experience/timing has been.  Am I eating too much bad stuff?  Am I eating too many calories?  Not enough working out?  What the fuck is up with me?  I appreciate your comments in advance.

Saucin’ it up in the snow December 22, 2008

Wow, I didn’t realize the snow would persist into today as much as it did.  We now have over a foot of snow in all places outside, up to 2 in some areas.  Crazy!  It was really pretty this morning to wake up to the additional snow and quiet.  Remember that table from yesterday, it only had like a foot of snow on it, and now it is closer to 2 (see photo below)!

Chris started illin’ during the night, and was not feeling so hot this morning   I took care of the LB, made some coffee, and Chris attempted to go back to bed, but he couldn’t get comfortable so he got up. Flu? Major tooth infection (seriously)? We’re not sure.  He’s been feeling pain in his mouth for a few days and I fear he has an abscessed tooth.  I told him to call the dentist, but of course he didn’t.  Men. 

I nuked my oats, and decided to add applesauce for shits and giggles.  It was good!  I liked the additional flavor it added, especially with the cinnamon.  The total package consisted of: steel cut oats, unsweetened almond milk, water, raisins, slivered almonds, unsweetened applesauce, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.

 

Somehow I didn’t end up eating until 10 I think…not sure how that happened.  Time flew this morning.  I made Chris lunch around 11, farted around on the computer, cleaned out the fridge, and slowly went stir crazy.  Around 1 I decided I was hungry enough to eat lunch.  I wasn’t sure what to eat, but as I looked around I saw my leftovers from last night.  I decided to sauce them up by adding some cottage cheese and chili flakes.  Ohhhhhh yeahhhhh.  The cottage cheese was a nice protein addition that blended in well. 

Chris passed out and I decided to walk to the store, which is 4/5 of a mile away.  With the snow still coming down heavily, and mixed forecasts not much above freezing the next several days, I figured I might as well get some more food for us since I won’t be driving anywhere soon.  Lily is almost out of her food, too!

I bundled up, grabbed my backpack, and set out hoping for a pretty walk.  Honestly, the area I live in is somewhat ugly, so the snow is a welcomed presence that beautifies the trailer parks up the street, the semi-run down houses, and the sparse industrial look of the rest of it.  This is what I encountered along my way to and fro:

 Icicles abound on my gutters!

 Wow, lots of snow covering those cars.

 Pretty trees over the sidewalk.

Fred Meyer was very busy, and the bread and meat departments were majorly lacking.  And, they stocked sliced raw almonds in the bin for blanched slivered almonds!!!!!  What is a girl to do?  I got the sliced almonds On my way back it was a more difficult walk, as the plow had gone by and totally buried the sidewalk in even more snow.  I was haulin’ a bigger quantity of shit than anticipated in my backpack and shopper bag, and I got nice and sweaty.  Hey, at least I got a workout out of the whole thing, right?

A snack was in order, so I sliced up a Fuji and mixed some lf and ff cottage cheese.  Why mix, you ask?  The 2% seems decadent, and the 0% a little lacking, but together they’re perfect   I also had the Diet Pepsi that I grabbed on an impulse while in line at the store.  Mmmm…I’ve been wanting DC or DP lately.

I had only 1/2 the apple and 1/2 the DP, saving the rest for later.  Here’s a pic I got just before the sun went down.

 Check out the table’s snow depth!

Chris was still sleeping, and I putzed around here until about 5:30 when I realized I was really hungry.  I didn’t want to wake Chris as he slept on the couch in the family room, but I could not resist the urge to microwave a riblet  

Dinner was nice: Flatout with the riblet and some spinach; spinach salad with a wedge of sliced Fuji, sliced almonds, balsamic, olive oil, S&P.  Tas-tay.

Chris finally woke up around 6:30, and thankfully didn’t feel any worse.  Still tired, but hungry enough to eat some soup.  Gotta take care of my baby, ya know?

We watched some Law & Order, and then Animal House.  Haven’t seen that in ages, and it was great.  I had a little snack-a-roo near the end:  the rest of my Fuji, a wedge of LCL, and a few TJ’s cinnamon flatbread pieces.

Now it’s nearly 11 and I’m really cold!  I think I’ll take the LB out one more time and then hit the hay.

Thanks to those of you who commented on yesterday’s post.  I feel better reading about your experiences, and receiving your encouraging words.  I wish Erin was here to help me kick ass during workouts like 4 years ago!  Love ya, girl!

Take care, and keep it saucy

The booze has got me fiz-izzled! December 23, 2008

Today was a nice relaxing day for the most part that started out well and is going to end with a repeat of Top Chef I missed over the last few weeks.  I forgot to tell you I kicked my foot into the foot of the couch yesterday, and my foot ain’t so happy.  Can I say foot more in one sentence?

I decided not to have my usual oatmeal for breakfast today, instead opting for Quaker Oatmeal Squares with almond milk and banana.  I picked up the box of cereal yesterday for only $2!  They are usually $4.59 or so; if I had room I’d have bought more probably.  I hate how expensive cereal is.

Not sure what I did all morning… walked Lily out in the street I think, was online some, and did a few things around the house.  Eventually I made Chris lunch, and contemplated what to do for myself.

I settled on a new salad:  spinach, chopped turkey lunch meat, a chopped cooked egg white, a few slices of chopped apple, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.  So tasty!!  I also had the rest of the Fuji apple on the side.

This didn’t have much staying power, so shortly thereafter I had ~1/2 cup of lf/ff cottage cheese.

Chris spotted a varied thrush in our yard while I was cleaning up the kitchen!!  We haven’t seen one in the yard for a few years, so we were quite happy to spot her. She stayed around all afternoon   We also had a new bird today–a white crowned sparrow.  Nifty!

The ice didn’t seem as bad today, so we let Lily have the run of the yard.  After hearing that my mom’s neighbor’s dog nearly severed a toe b/c of the ice I was super anal about clearing an area and only walking her on the leash in that area.  She was very happy to get to play ball and romp around.

My hands and feet got really cold all of a sudden, and when I came in hot cocoa sounded really good.  I mixed some almond milk, cocoa, and tiny bit of sugar (why did I even bother??), microwaved it, and then ended up adding some whipped cream on top.  Yummy!  The almond milk was a great base and added that much more depth to the drink.  This was the first time I used almond milk in a hot beverage application.  I also had half a nana shortly after this.

Chris mentioned walking to the Mexican restaurant, and at first I thought he was kidding, but not so.  After he cleared the snow off of our wood shed we got ready and headed out.  The compacted snow was slippery in areas, but the walk was good.  I felt like I was speed walking to keep up with Chris, as he is 6′2″ and I’m 5′5″, so I had to tell him to slow down here and there. 

We had our usual round of Casuelas, and I had tortilla soup sin crema, con un poco de queso, solamente jalapenos a parte.  Mmmmm.  Another epiphany came to me as we ate…the 1/2 pitcher of Casuela that I usually drink is also killing my diet.  Doesn’t seem like much, but ~24oz. of fruit juice and booze 2x/week adds up to 700+ cals.  Eeeeeeeeeek!  And the La Casa (ice cream, milk, Bailey’s, cinnamon) ain’t helpin’ either.  Scheize.

 My Casuela Soupie soupie! La Casa

Our walk home was nice, and somewhat entertaining when we saw 3 semi trucks stuck at the light in one intersection.  Woops!

Lily enjoyed playing a ton when we got home, and now we’re watching Law & Order.  Can’t believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and that I have NO GIFTS for most people on my list.  Double woops. 

I sent my Secret Santa gift last Wednesday via Priority Mail, and my recipient hasn’t received it yet   I didn’t get delivery confirmation, but hopefully she gets it tomorrow.  I just hope it isn’t lost   I’ll be sure to keep you posted when I receive mine, too

Well, off I go to get comfy and watch Top Chef.  Hope you all had a great Tuesday!

Merry Christmas Eve! December 24, 2008

Hi everyone!  Today was rather shitty throughout, but has ended up well, thankfully.  I was really emotional today, and not quite sure why–frustrating!

Things started out with us seeing an inch or so of new snow, and I tried my Quaker Oatmeal Squares warm this time.  I microwaved the squares and almond milk, then added half a nana.  Not quite the texture I was hoping for, but still good.  I’m totally sold on warm almond milk, and may just drink that alone!

The morning was boring.  Chris slept all morning trying to get rid of a headache, and I chatted with family, watched TV, and blogged a little. 

I was in such a funk I didn’t eat lunch until 2pm!  I had a wrap consisting of a sundried tomato Flatout, turkey, spinach, 1/2 wedge LCL, and ground pepper.  (My broc slaw already kicked the bucket, even tho it is just 2 days old!!)  I also had an apple with the other half wedge of LCL.  Yummy, and decently filling.

Chris wondered if we could get out to Costco to get gifts, but I was skeptical of the road conditions.  The freeways looked fine, but the roads we were going to drive on were an unknown.  I chatted with my dad, and he said there were bad ruts, lots of icky, snotty slush, and probably no way my car could make it b/c of ground clearance and traction. 

My dad invited Chris and I over for dinner, and he came to pick us up around 5.  Chris and I madly shoveled the driveway while my dad was on his way, and I checked the mail box when I got out to the street.  Low and behold my Secret Santa package was shoved into the mail box, and it took both me and Chris pulling on it to get it out!  Fuck the postlady, seriously.  She folds all of our magazines in half (hard crease that makes reading them a pain in the ass), jams the mailbox too full, and now this?!  She also bent the mailbox door, probably while she braced herself to shove the package in.  WTF was she thinking.  I’ve had at least 10 post people in my life over various states and I”ve never had service this bad.

Anyhow, my package was full of so many fun things!!! Bars galore, cocoa, gifts (including Christmas socks!)…see the goodies?!

Chris and I left a layer of snow and ice on the driveway, and my dad was so funny–he jumped out of his car and finished shoveling the driveway when he got here!  Once we got on the road I was so glad Chris and I didn’t try driving.  I couldn’t believe how stupid people were being on the road, and how crazy the ruts were. 

We stopped at Freddy’s for a few last minute items, and then headed back to my dad’s.  We made elk tenderloin medallions, a potato/onion/carrot saute, and a broccoli/brussel sprout saute.  We also had a spinach and baby greens salad with tomatoes and a red pepper.  Mmmmm!  Of course we also snacked on a few crackers and cheese beforehand.  Thankfully the cheese was so stinky I couldn’t stand it. 

Liz (my dad’s wife) asked if my dad planned dessert, and when he said no she popped up to get these:

I just had one, and it was milk chocolate with vanilla ice cream.  So yummy!  And thankfully just 60 calories   I also had a few grapes after dinner as we chatted.

Chris and I brought my dad’s car home, and in the morning we’ll be stopping by to pick up Liz on the way to my uncle Erik’s house for brunch.  My dad is on call and not sure if he can make it, but hopefully he can.  My cousin Nick is back from Marine Corps basic traning for a few more weeks; I can’t believe he went into the military!  I’m curious to see what he thinks of it all.

I hope you’re all having a very Merry Christmas Eve out there!  I’m off to watch 2 Days in Paris.  Love the scenery!

Au revoir!

Crazy Christmas December 25, 2008

A late Merry Christmas to everyone!  Another rather funky day that started off not so hot and ended up well. 

Woke up feeling like a zombie, got ready quickly, wrote out Christmas cards, and headed out.  The sideroads still sucked, but thankfully my dad’s car got thru it all no prob.  Chris and I picked up Liz, and my dad, and headed to my uncle Erik’s for brunch.  A family friend and his girlfriend were there, and their dog, and my uncle ended up ix-naying having the doggies in the house.  At least it was pretty and snowing

The usual breakfast prep chaos was underway when we got there, and we just kind of got out of the way.  I realized the table was only going to fit 7-8 people, and there were 10 of us, so somehow I knew Chris and I would be relegated to the breakfast bar.  No matter how old we get, we are still the kids of the bunch I guess.  Sad thing was no one really paid much attention to us or cared we were off to the side.  Oh well, we just killed the bottle of champagne on our own! 

Breakfast tasted good, but was quite sinful.  Thankfully I did not ever feel full! Coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 and a few glasses of champagne were my bevvies. 

 Love the bubbly!

My first plate, clockwise from the bacon on the left: 1/2 pc peppered bacon; bear claw pastry with almonds (SO yummy); bread pudding; baked spiced french toast; egg casserole with bacon, olives, potatoes, onions, cottage cheese.

Second plate:  apple crisp with whipped cream.  Apples were good, crumb topping tasted a little funky, yet for some reason I ate it all anyway.

Then my mom was telling me “eat this, try this, eat this…” so I had one of her chocolate chip cookies.  Mmm. 

After breakfast the family friends left, and I thought we were going to open gifts but my grandma suddenly had ants in her pants and couldn’t stand hanging out there any longer since we “weren’t doing anything”.  So for whatever reason we all went to her house to open the gifts, and prep the meat for dinner tonight.

No food there, thankfully!  I did get a few really great gifts, tho:  a grill pan and a kitchen scale.  Yay!  OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh, and 2 jars of Barney Butter Crunchy!  My dad went ape shit on the gifts…if I knew he was getting 2 jars of the BB I’d have had him get the smooth, too.  But whatever, I excited I get to try BB now, and will soon be reviewing it to get my free T-Shirt from Jennifer

Chris and I ended up going to my mom’s for the day since we didn’t have a car and live a long distance from where the action was (read–my dad didn’t want to drive us home/couldn’t give us the car/we had no chance in hell of getting home at this point).  Lily was so funny in the car on the way over first half standing/half laying on the floor and seat, and then she laid down and put her head on the box in my mom’s lap.  So cute!

My mom’s backyard. It was snowing while we were there!

I had some coffee in this cute penguin mug.

My mom and Lily checking out the presents and the tree:

Chris wasn’t happy at all about not being able to go home and relax between family events, but it all turned out just fine.  He was able to read and then watch the Lakers/Celtics game.  I helped clean up my mom’s kitchen, and in the process ate a few things: a spoon of pumpkin pie mix; a few little slices of parmesan (gift from the uncle–the real stuff); and a bite of a chocolate chip cookie (”taste this one”). 

Chris put a red ribbon around Lily’s neck…I got a pic as she laid on me while I sat on the couch (not something she gets to do here at our house since she’s not allowed on the furniture [mostly]).  LOVE the LB.

Around 5 Erik picked us up and back to Grandma’s we went.  Non-meat eaters beware…plentiful meat pictures below.

Erik set off some fireworks when we got there.  Fun!

Beef tenderloin searing in the skillet before going into the oven:

My cousin Nick in his dress uniform (Marines).  He looked really nice…still can’t believe he’s in the military!

We watched the beef like hawks, meaning it took forever to get done.  My dad kept opening the oven to take the temp, readjusting the oven temp, etc., and like an hour later we sat down for dinner and it.was.so.good.  Clockwise from the potato:  twice baked potato; french green bean/onion/red pepper veggie medley (baked?); beef tenderloin seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper, and cooked with a few slices of bacon on top for additional moisture.  Wow!  I also ate one 1/2 piece of the bacon.

This is my mom’s “chappin’” fruit salad: apples, banana, orange, maraschino cherries, walnuts, and whipped cream mixed in.  Yowza. I should have stopped eating before I had this.

I also had a few glasses of yummy champagne (three types of champagne in all!), and an incredible Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinor Noir (2004?).  After dinner my family cleaned up the dishes, and threw away far too many recyclable items.  So, I did some sly garbage diving involving removing aluminum cans, foil, paper, and plastic from the trash.  Yay for recycling!

Soon thereafter we had dessert:  homemade pumpkin pie (my mom made it this afternoon) with too much freshly whipped cream.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Okay, NOW I was way overly full and the discomfort lasted until a few hours later.  Not like gut-busting full, but sorta painful tummy from too much food.  It was worth it, tho, to have all that yummy food I suppose. 

My dad gave Chris and I his car again (he can walk to work), and that means I can get to the gym no matter what tomorrow!!!!!  Awesome… AND there’s a yoga class at 10:30.  All the classes have been cancelled this week so far, but it seems like the roads are improving enough that it will be on tomorrow.  We’ll see.  Either way I plan on spending at least 2 hours at the gym to rev myself up and burn off some of today’s indulgences.  Yee-haw.  Seriously.

Shit, looking at www.tripcheck.org the road to the coast is mostly clear even at the summit now, so maybe Chris and I could make it down there tomorrow after all.  We’ll see what happens.

I think I’m going to add another page to my blog–”The Three R’s”–to throw in add’l recycling links, suggestions, Master Recylcer stuff, etc.  Hope it helps inspire you to be green, reduce, reuse, recycle, and think more about reducing your impact on the environment.  Hope you’ll visit that page, too!

Aw, the LB is curled into such a tiny ball right now.  She contorts herself into some of the most uncomfortable looking positions sometimes…I don’t know how she sleeps in them.

Nighty night!

“Exercise the demons!”…and a Barney Butter review! December 26, 2008

I haven’t watched Fletch in awhile, but that line sprang to mind when I was thinking of a title with “exercise” in it. 

I woke up SO tired and with that dragging feeling, but know I got enough sleep.  I think it was from eating all that rich and random food, and drinking throughout the day yesterday.

For breakfast I had steel cut oats with almond milk, cinnamon, raisins, and a big spoon of Barney Butter crunchy.  Very tasty, indeed!  The butter is so good since it has big crunchy chunks of almonds in it, the flavor is rich but not overpowering, and it is not too sticky like peanut butter can be.  I greatly looked forward to having it on its own later.

I also had coffee, and could tell I was a bit dehydrated, but wanted to head in for yoga at 10:30.  The drive was okay, but for big chunks of compacted snow/ice and slushy side streets.  I got in 15 minutes on the elliptical, then headed in to a whopping class size of four.  We didn’t have music, but that was okay by me.  This instructor is pretty fast paced and does more difficult sequences, and today was working hard to help us perfect our moves.  I swear I was in warrior 1 and then warrior 2 for like 5 minutes each.  Murder on the thighs!  I think I may have tweaked a knee, my foot is still aggravated (but not by yoga), and otherwise I felt drained afterward.  I did a set each of bicep curls, incline chest press, tricep press, lat pull down, and abs before heading to the elliptical for another 15 minutes.  The drained feeling was not fun   But I felt good leaving since I was there working out for 2+ hours! Yay!

Home I went to play with Lily and make lunch.  I knew I needed to save some calories for the Barney Butter I wanted, so I opted for a great salad like I had earlier this week, with one addition: spinach, turkey, apple, egg white, shaved parmesan, pepper, and red wine vinegar.  The parm was fabulous in it…mmm, mmmmm, mmmmmmmmmm.

I was rather full after this, so I held off on the apple/Barney Butter lunch dessert I had planned for an hour or so.

When I did have my lunch dessert, it was fabulous.  I had a little over half an apple with a bit tbsp of Barney Butter, and ended up eating the apple plain first so I could savor the nut butter all by itself.  Very tasty, indeed.  I licked every bit of it off that spoon, and the plate where it touched

So, Jennifer and the whole Barney Butter gang, you have one great product!  Thanks to all you bloggers out there, too, who have mentioned Barney Butter previously and intrigued me enough to ask for it for Christmas.  And, thanks to my dad for buying me two jars of it

Chris and I ventured out to Costco and PetSmart to get some late Christmas shopping done, which was quite fun but for the disgusting traffic.  You’re going to love this–I’m totally excited about the new sports bras and socks I got, you don’t even know.  My socks are all at least 5-10 years old (!!!!), and aren’t quite so padded or smooth anymore.  We also got lots of wine, and some gifts for my dad.  Lily also got some piggy ears!  Gross, but she loves them.

We stopped by Fajitas on the way home for the usual feast and imbibing, but I held back a bit thankfully.  I only had 1/4 to 1/3 of the casuela, and didn’t eat as much soup, so I wasn’t gut busting full when we left. 

I hadn’t planned on eating anything after dinner, but now I’m getting hungry and can’t decide between Barney Butter and parmesan cheese.  Hm, there’s also cottage cheese…. I’ll have to report back later on what I actually do.

How are you all doing today?  Christmas food hangovers?  I hear ya.

Malware sucks December 27, 2008

Our computer was pinged with a malicious software program last night, and Chris spent most of today getting rid of the damn thing.  It started last night when he was online and suddenly got bombarded with messages about a program being allowed to change settings (!).  Damn thing sneaked in, changed settings to allow itself, and then proceeded to try to appear like a bonafide Microsoft program.  A red shield icon with an “x” in it appeared in the system tray, and a bubble saying our computer wasn’t protected kept popping up.  If you clicked on it the computer would try to go to a website with links in it, and then proceed to upload all sorts of info from your computer.  Thankfully that did not happen to us.

We had heard of this malware before, and since it looked fishy we didn’t click on anything.  I was asleep, and Chris worked with it a bit, gave up, and then resumed today.  We uninstalled the program, which was called “MS Antispyware 2009″ published by CrucialSoftLTD, but the damn icon was still there in the system tray.  Eventually we did a system restore, which made everything better   Yay.  And, we blocked the website in Internet Explorer, increased security settings, and hope it won’t happen again.  Bleh.  Go to your internet tools/settings RIGHT NOW and block this website (I’ll type it craftily so it does not appear as a link here): http colon backslash backslash helper-security dot com.  Hopefully that will help prevent you from accidentally clicking on anything should it get loaded on your computer somehow. 

Anyhow, on to eats and activities!

Last night I did end up having cheeses instead of Barney Butter… first I had a ~1″ cube of parmesan, and then ~1/2 cup lf/ff cottage cheese mixed.  They were okay.  Chris and I played chess; did I mention that yesterday? He won each game.  I hit the hay around 11:30.

Today I got up just before 8 so I would have plenty of time at the gym before pilates at 10; I had plans to go to lunch and shop some with my mom afterward.  I had a bigger breakfast than normal since I knew I would be busting ass for 2 hours at the gym:  1/4 cup steel cut oats with 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup water, 1 T raisins, and dashes of cinnamon; and a piece of whole wheat toast with a T of Barney Butter   Mmmmm! I ate these while  trying to figure out what the hell was going on with the computer.

On to the gym! I did a quick warm up, 5 leg exercises, and then ~30 minutes of cardio.  Pilates was busier than yoga yesterday, but still a smaller class than usual.  I did okay on some moves and totally sucked on others, but I got a good workout.

I rushed home to shower, got an update on the computer malware crap, and hurried to my mom’s house.  My dad wanted his car back by 2:30ish, so my mom and I only had about 2 hours to do much with.  We were going to eat lunch at Pizzicato, but my mom saw the Chinese place next door and decided she’d rather have that instead.  It was a buffet!  And very yummy.  Let me see if I can even remember what was on this plate, clockwise from the string beans: sauteed string beans, veggie chow mein, egg foo yung (covered), veggie tofu stir fry, pork potsticker, General Tso’s chicken, Kung Pao chicken (covered) other chicken I don’t remember, broccoli beef, honey BBQ pork, sweet and sour chicken.  And hot & sour soup on the side. 

Phew, I finished off most of that plate :shocked: and had a few bites of my mom’s desserts: orange jello cube, small palmier, few bites of doughnut.  I was quite full afterward, but all the food was good at least.  I ate too fast, tho.

On to Target!  There was so much Christmas stuff on sale since people weren’t able to get out to shop before Christmas.  I bought the last of the gifts I needed, and we headed out about an hour later.  I totally forgot to get my new crew socks.  Damn.  Still wearing holey ones!

I got to my dad’s a little after 2:30, he dropped me off here at home, and the computer saga continued.  In the process of removing the malware Chris removed a few other components that weren’t malware, so the system restore ended up being our best option.  Thankfully that worked well and all is normal now

Chris hinted he wanted to go see Maria, but I wasn’t feeling that up to it.  Too bad I wasn’t feeling that up to cooking, either.  I was so tired!!!  So, we went to Fajitas after all, and I had an exact repeat of last night:  tortilla soup, casuela, and la casa.  Chips and salsa, too, of course.

I know, rather boring since you saw the exact same things yesterday!!  I need to figure out a good dinner for tomrrow night.  I also need to clean and organize a boatload of shit that’s accumulated over the last 3 days… better get up early again!

The snow is almost entirely melted now, with some slushy stuff still around here and there in the yard.  It is like 50 degrees, too.  No more snow   Boo. 

Can’t believe tomorrow is Sunday.  I totally don’t want to go back to work, ever.  I’m such a lazy ass, I tell ya.  I wish I could just be a domestic goddess who volunteered as a garbologist regularly.  How ’bout you?

Busy bee! December 28, 2008

Wow, the last Sunday of nearly two weeks off of work.  Like Andrea, I’m not sure how it is going to feel to be at work tomorrow!  I just spoke with Erin and she, Andrea, and I are going to dinner tomorrow night.  Yippeeeee!  I’m so excited!

Today was a very busy day; I felt like I was going non-stop from 9 to 9, but in a good way.  My oatmeal this morning was nummy; it consisted of:  1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp raisins, big dash of cinnamon, and a few tsp of Barney Butter.  Tasty goodness!

I headed to the gym for yoga, and was dismayed at how dirty and ugly everything looks outside now that all the snow is gone.  It made me want to live in a snowier area several times today.

Yoga was great, I sweated a lot, and I’m glad I went.  I felt so good, in fact, that I headed to Target afterward to get crew socks and check out the grocery section.  The grocery area is pretty expansive now, and the prices seem really good on some items.  It could be dangerous, though, if I go there more often and end up shopping in other areas! I love Target. 

Once home I made a quick lunch that was very tasty indeed:  sundried tomato flatout with one egg white, 4 slices of warmed turkey, a little parmesan cheese, spinach, a few small slices of Fuji, a dash of red wine vinegar, and ground pepper.  Mmmm!  I also had the rest of the Fuji and about 1/2 cup of lf/ff cottage cheese.  A perfect lunch

Love the detail of the parmesan rind!

I think I got online for a few minutes, watched TV for a few, and then started my cleaning fest:  unloaded, loaded, and ran the dishwasher; put away snow clothes; cleaned kitchen counters; swept floors; washed wine glasses; put away Christmas wrap and decor (